and inspiring emotions; of sacrifices for its sake in the field and on the scaffold; of high examples of military skill and civil prudence; of literary and scientific fame; of commanding eloquence and profound philosophy, and of fascinating poesy and romance; all of which a Scotchman feels ennoble his existence, and all of which he is conscious have inevitably sprung from the circumstances of his native land. So that the very configuration of the soil and the temper of the clime have influenced his private virtues and his public life, as they unquestionably have given a form and colour to those works of creative genius which have gained the sympathy and admiration of the world. No, gentlemen, it is not true that the only real happiness is physical happiness; it is not true that physical happiness is the highest happiness; it is not true that physical happiness is a principle on which you can build up a flourishing and enduring commonwealth. A civilised community must rest on a large realised capital of thought and sentiment; there must be a reserved fund of public morality to draw upon in the exigencies of national life. Society has a soul as well as a body. The traditions of a nation are part of its existence. Its valour and its discipline, its religious faith, its venerable laws, its science and erudition, its poetry, its art, its eloquence and its scholarship, are as much portions of its life as its agriculture, its commerce, and its engineering skill. Nay, I would go further, I would say that without these qualities material excellence cannot be attained. But, gentlemen, the new philosophy strikes further than at the existence of patriotism. It strikes at the home; it strikes at the individuality of man. It would reduce civilised society to human flocks and herds. That it may produce in your time much disturbance, possibly much destruction, I pretend not to deny; but I must express my conviction that it will not ultimately triumph. I hold that the main obstacles to its establishment are to be found in human nature itself. They are both physical and moral. If it be true, as I believe, that an aristocracy distinguished merely by wealth must perish from satiety, so I hold it is equally true that a people who recognise no higher aim than physical enjoyment must become selfish and enervated. Under such circumstances the supremacy of race, which is the key of history, will assert itself. Some human progeny, distinguished by their bodily vigour or their masculine intelligence, or by both qualities, will assert their superiority, and conquer a world which deserves to be enslaved. It will then be found that our boasted progress has only been an advancement in a circle, and that our new philosophy has brought us back to that old serfdom which it has taken ages to extirpate. But the still more powerful-indeed, I hold the insurmountable-obstacle to the establishment of the new opinions will be furnished by the essential elements of the human mind. Our idiosyncracy is not bounded by the planet which we inhabit. We can investigate space and we can comprehend eternity. No considerations limited to this sphere have hitherto furnished the excitement which man requires, or the sanctions for his conduct which his nature imperatively demands. The spiritual nature of man is stronger than Codes or Constitutions. No Government can endure which does not recognise that for its foundation, and no legislation last which does not flow from this fountain. The principle may develope itself in manifold forms shape of many Creeds and many Churches; but the principle is divine. As time is divided into day and night, so religion rests upon the providence of God and the responsibility of man. One is manifest, the other mysterious; but both are facts. Nor is there, as some would teach you, anything in these convictions which tends to contract our intelligence or our sympathies. On the contrary, religion invigorates the intellect and expands the heart. He who has a due sense of his relations to God is best qualified to fulfil his duties to man. A fine writer of antiquity—perhaps the finest has recorded in a beautiful passage his belief in Divine Providence, and in the necessity of universal toleration : ‘Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, καὶ ταῦτα, καὶ τὰ πάντ ̓ ἀεὶ, с These lines were written, more than two thousand years ago, by the most Attic of Athenian poets. In the perplexities of life I have sometimes found in them a solace and a satisfaction; and I now deliver them to you, to guide your consciences and to guard your lives. 19. SPEECH AT THE BANQUET GIVEN BY THE CITY OF GLASGOW TO THE LORD RECTOR ON THE SAME DAY. MR. DISRAELI, who on rising to return thanks was loudly cheered, said— MY LORD PROVOST AND GENTLEMEN,-I must thank you most cordially for the kind manner in which you have received the toast which his Lordship has just proposed, and for the courteous and munificent hospitality you have extended to me, without any reference to political opinion, as the Lord Provost has very properly intimated. I have always thought it to be one of the happiest circumstances of public life in England that we have not permitted our political opinions to interfere with our social enjoyments. I believe it is a characteristic of the country; at least, I am not aware that it is shared by any other. For instance, if you are on the Continent and wish to pay your respects to |