DUESTERDIECK, dQ-"ester-dike, FRIEDRICH HERMANN CHRISTIAN: German Protestant; b.
at Hanover July 14, 1822; d. there Apr. 23, 1906.
He studied in Göttingen and Berlin and was lecturer at
Göttingen 1846-48, director of studies at the
theological seminary at Hanover 1848-54, pastor at
Schwichelt 1854-58, and director of studies at Loccum 1858-65. In 1865 he was appointed consistorial councilor at Hanover, and
became councilor of the supreme consietory seven years later,
while from 1879 until his retirement from active
life in 1900 he was general superintendent. He
wrote Qua
de Ignatianarum epistolarwm anthentia
dtiorumque teztuum rations et dignitate hue uaque
prolatca aunt sententim
(Göttingen, 1843);
De rei
prophetieee nature ethics
(1852);
Die tueltliche
Bildung des Geistlichen
(Hanover, 1873);
Die
Revision der Luther'schen Bibeliibersetzung
(1882);
Kritisch-ezegetisches Handbuch abet die Offenbarung
Johannes
(Göttingen); and
Inspiration and Kritik
der heiligen Schrift (1896).
DUFF, ALEXANDER: First missionary of the
Church of Scotland to India; b. at the farmhouse
of Auchnahyle, Moulin (25 m. n.n.w. of Perth),
Perthshire, Apr.
25, 1806;
d. in Edinburgh Feb.
12,
1878.
He studied at the grammar-school of
Perth and the University of St. Andrews under
Dr. Chalmers and others, and was licensed and sailed
for Calcutta in 1829, lying all his books by shipwreck on the way. He resolved to make an educational institution a leading feature of his work
in India, and had the valuable support of an enlightened Hindu for his school in Calcutta, which
was conducted on two principles-first that the
Christian Scriptures should be read in every class
able to read them, and second that through the
English language Western science should be taught,
notwithstanding the revolution it must cause in
many Hindu notions. Duff prepared various textbooks, including one on Christian ethics and the
elements of political economy. His school rapidly
became popular and influential. The teaching
of English, however, roused opposition among the
European residents, including some of the earlier
missionaries, and his whole method brought him
into conflict with the Hindu College, already established, which aimed to avoid offense to Indian sentiment by maintaining a secularist atmosphere.
Duff won the confidence of the governor, Lord
William Bentinck, and T. B. Macaulay (afterward
Lord Macaulay) added his powerful advocacy to
the cause of English education; eventually the
neutrality of government guaranteed security for
Christian work as well as for Indian customs.
With growing knowledge of India Duff made his
influence felt in every social movement, and ulti
mately as editor of the
Calcutta Review
he was one
of the chief unofficial factors in politics and ad
ministration, his advice being listened to with re
spect both by the authorities in India and commis
sions at home. Returning to Scotland in ill health in 1834,
Duff made a tour of the country and much increased
the interest in his mission, though met by apathy
at first. His addresses in the General Assembly
were truly eloquent, and he was felt to be the equal
of Chalmers. Attempts were made to keep him
in Scotland, but he returned to India and prosecuted
his work there. At the disruption of the Scottish
Church in 1843, like all other missionaries, he threw
in his lot with the Free Church. As the property
of the mission belonged legally to the Establish
ment, Duff was stripped of everything, but friends
rallied to his support with the result that the
efficiency of the work was immediately doubled.
The storms that were stirred up by the conversions
which took place from time to time were safely
weathered, and the college still remains one of the
leading educational institutions of India. At the
General Assemblies of the Established and the
United Free Churches of Scotland held in May,
1907, steps were taken to unite the two missionary
colleges founded in Calcutta by Dr. Duff. The happy
consummation of this union in the foreign field is
being hailed as the first step toward the final re
union of Scottish Presbyterianism. In 1850 Duff
again returned home, and sought to rouse the Free
Church to new and more energetic efforts in the cause
of missions. He was called in 1851 to the chair of
the General Assembly. He also visited America
in 1854, under the auspices of Mr. George H. Stuart,
of Philadelphia, and made a deep impression both
in Canada and the United States.
He went back to India, and continued his labors
for some years; but, his health failing, he returred
permanently to Scotland in 1864. Appointed
convener of the' Foreign Missions Committee, he
had the chief management of the foreign work of
the Free Church and has left his mark on its business
details. He showed his catholicity by the
deep interest he took in South African missions,
and especially by the share he had in organizing
the Livingstonia mission on Lake Nyasa&. In
1867 he was appointed first professor of Evangelistic
theology in the Free Church. Dr. Duff took an active interest in many im
portant movements of the home Church. He was
an active promoter of the proposed union of the
Free, United Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian,
and English Presbyterian churches, which, how
ever, fell through. He was moderator a second
time in 1873. To the end his advice and counte
nance were sought alike by Indian statesmen and
by all manner of religious societies in England
as welt as Scotland. His principal publications
related to the India mission.
(R. W. Stewart)
Thomas M. Lindsay.
Bibliography:
Consult the biographies of George Smith,
London, 1899; J. Marrat, in Too Standard Bearers
in the
East, ib. 1882; Thomas Smith, in Men Worth
Remembering, ib. 1883. Further: Lai Behari Day, Recollections of A.
Duff, ib. 1879; W. P.
Duff, Memorials of Alexander
Duff, ib. 1890 (by his son).
