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of the news, and especially of the politics in the paper. "Wanted-a Clerk and Reporter for a new newspaper in Aberdeen." દ There now, mother," I said, "that is the place for me." Nonsense, boy," was her reply. But I did not think so; and, after consulting several friends who knew the kind of work on such a situation, and who all dissuaded me from it, I applied for the situation. In course of post the Editor replied, saying, "I like the tone of your letter. What can you do?" "I have written for the Youth's Magazine, for the Weekly Journal, and I think I could be of service to you. Try me, and if at the end of three months I fail, it will cost you nothing, if I succeed we shall come to terms." "Can you write shorthand?" "Yes," was my reply. "Then you'll do, for none of the other candidates can write shorthand." In three months' time he could not do without me. Then I got permission to attend college, and so kind were the professors that I had special privileges while attending, and not only did I learn the classics, but chemistry, anatomy, natural history, and physiology. Thus I came to know much which in after life was invaluable.

While in this new position, and only twenty-six years of age, I resolved to devote all my spare time to preaching on the Sunday, but I could not see my way to give my whole life to the ministry. The late Dr. Wardlaw urged it on me. My father, who had now become a true Christian, joined in the entreaty. But I replied, "Jesus did not come forward as a public teacher until he began to be about thirty years of age, and I shall follow his example." And well it was for me I did so, for before thirty I had become an editor of an influential journal in England, entered into partnership in social and moral life with the great and good Joseph Sturge of Birmingham, taken part in some of the grandest and greatest conflicts for civil and religious freedom in which England has ever been engaged, and mingled with all classes of society, from the queen on the throne to the beggar on the dunghill.

Another phase of life now presents itself. Health giving way in England, I once more returned to my native land. There, in a very important post, I was happy; and the greatest of all European journals invited me to represent its interests over the whole of Scotland. All this was gratifying; but the claims of the outcasts pressed heavily on my heart, and the Sunday was given to them. A strange state of feeling met me on my return to this Scottish city. Here there were new views" and "old views," and for the life of me I could not see why these Christians should look aslant on each other. In a state of innocent ingenuousness, if I may so speak, I was passing up one of the

streets of the city where I lived, when two ministers were looking at a bill in a window announcing a public meeting in the church of the Rev. Fergus Ferguson, sen., and among the speakers were, "J. H. W." "Can you stand that?" said the U.P. minister to his brother, who was an Independent, and a large hearted brother. "I am afraid," he replied "we must leave him alone." "I would expel him," said the other minister. "But we wont," was the response. I met the two, and afterwards heard that this was the purport of their

conversation.

But yet another phase of this new life. I was pretty high in my Calvinism when I was led to study Free Will, and on finding that it was an ultimate fact in consciousness, I cast anchor there. Soon after I attended a meeting in a little church at a place called Blackhills, when, among the speakers, this same F. F. was prominent. He said, among other good things, "The city needs water. Well, you convey it by pipes; but they must be pure, or else you might mix poison with the water, and the effects would be in proportion to the quantity passing through. Lead pipes sometimes carry poison, and great care is necessary to ensure the purity of the water. Now, God gives us the water of salvation in the Bible. Here you have the fountain (holding it up). God is desirous to satisfy the wants of every soul, and he has appointed the means of grace through which he gives his blessing. If his ministers, and his evangelists, and agents, are godly men, then the water of life will go to perishing souls in a pure state, or at any rate, not mixed with deadly error; but if they are not godly men, then, though the truth may do good as preached by them, it will be by its own force alone, and no thanks to them for the blessing that follows." In a measure, this to me was new doctrine, and I said, if such be your "new views," surely they must be true views. From that time forward to the present have I felt the force of the illustration used by that devoted Christian minister. He knows nothing of this; but if the acknowledgment now written by the minister who was benefited by the address, and who has been called to occupy no mean post in the great army of Christ's church militant, can be of any solace to his declining years, he is heartily welcome to it, with an earnest hope and prayer that he may be yet long spared to do valiant service for the Master.

Having settled down to do Christian, political, and social work in a great city in Scotland, there was the fond hope that I would live and die there. But not so. Come over and help us" was the cry from across the Border, and with others I heard and yielded to the call of duty, the work being begun

and well established at home. Before crossing this border-land again, a few words may be said about the work of God in Scotland. It is only when one lives for years in England that this can be rightly estimated. I have mingled with every denomination of Christians, have had the ministers of seven different Evangelical bodies preaching for me when absent from home, have seen much of Christian life, of sectarian strife, and religious discord as well as religious unity, and I must say that, taking it for all in all, there is no country in which there is more that is really good and great than in Scotland. In England we have, perhaps, more feeling, and I love the English people, for they are so confiding, so kind, and so trustworthy; but for real grip of truth, give me Auld Scotland.

I may at some future time give you a reminiscence or two of experience in English life; but meanwhile this must be reserved. Only from love to my "ain countrie," and to glorify the Maker as the God of Providence as well as of Grace, do I venture on what to some may appear egotistical, but which I know to others, especially the young, will be encouraging, and strengthening to their hearts. J. H. W.-L.

CHRISTIAN MIRACLES AND THEIR EVIDENTIAL VALUE.*

BELOVED BRETHREN,-Accept from me, in name of the Academy Committee, and of the Evangelical Union which that Committee represents, a cordial welcome to our theological hall. We are glad to know that "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in your hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus." May that light shine with ever-growing brightness, till all earthly measures of it are lost in the blaze of glory that lights the City of God! Many hearts unite this day in the fervent supplication so beautifully expressed of old, “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace!" Very urgent at the present time is the call for labourers in the Lord's vineyard. We are persuaded that your ambition is so to serve him as to secure his approval. In such a quest self-denial becomes easy. Love, the impelling power, makes all labour light, and sweetens toil. Thirty eventful years have now elapsed since the Evangelical Union Academy was first opened. As I write, memory recalls that little band of brothers

*

Lecture delivered by REV. PROFESSOR HUNTER at the opening of the E. U. Theological Academy, Glasgow, on 5th August, 1873.

met in the small vestry of Clerk's Lane Chapel, Kilmarnock. I can see again the amused expression on the earnest face of our revered though not then venerable-tutor, as he told us to find out what had perplexed the whole college. We lacked much that you have, but we were possessed by an intense thirst for knowledge, and especially for the knowledge of the Book of books. Our enthusiasm, lovingly and skilfully guided by one of the best of human teachers, enabled us to overcome many obstacles. Gradually we acquired the power of finding out truth, and with the power came confidence and joyous service. We cared only for what would save, and strengthen, and sanctify souls. For literature, as such, we had neither time, means, nor inclination. Our Greek Testaments and Hebrew Bibles were our standard authorities. To these, all other books were made subservient. At the close of the Academy, we were stationed in one place for ten months. Three services each Sabbath, and two or three during the week, placed us beyond the reach of ennui. We never tasted the curse of idleness. A very small sum per week kept us in bed and board, in books and clothes, and afforded a small margin for charity. We often find ourselves wondering at the recollection of energies that seem to have been almost tireless, and an economy that kept us ever free of debt, though we could frequently say with an apostle, "silver and gold have we none." The work was hard, but our enjoyment was great, and the good Lord graciously blessed our willing labours, and made us to triumph for souls delivered from the power of Satan and brought into the glorious liberty of Christ. Excuse the utterance of these reminiscences. Not called to pioneer work such as we had, you will certainly find occasion to endure hardness as good soldiers of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will find your abilities taxed to the uttermost. Your opportunities of acquiring stores of learning, and of cultivating literary tastes, are preparing you for the battle of giants that seems to be imminent. Beware of overwork at present. Strive to proportion the study to the strength. An overtaxed brain will take a terrible revenge; but judicious work will give force and clearness. Again and again we have been called to mourn the loss of noble men whose zeal consumed their strength. We thought of them as labouring in the heat of the day, and lo! their work is done in early morning. Their rest is glorious. Faithful until death, they wait for the crown which the Lord will give on that great day. With similar zeal let us combine watchful prudence that foresees danger, and prepares to avoid it if no duty calls, and to encounter it calmly when the honour of the Master, or the welfare of his Church, is at stake. If we rightly read the signs of the times, we are on

the eve of a gigantic controversy, not of church against church and creed against creed, but of the Church Universal against the abettors of avowed unbelief, and the lovers of the Bible against the cavils, scoffs, and arguments of scepticism. In that battle our theology will give us immense advantages. We need not speak with bated breath and lurking doubt. We preach an honest Gospel. The time has come when men must renounce all "double references" and such like "hidden things of dishonesty," or find themselves distrusted as insincere. Infidels hold up to scorn the God who expresses in the warmest possible terms his intense desire to save all men, while he has secretly settled to take only a certain number. There is such a manifest contradiction between the open profession and the reputed practice, as in some measure accounts for the progress of infidelity among church frequenters. During the past thirty years, this slander upon God has been greatly modified. Many have lost faith in Calvinistic decrees. Many more are hesitating. The few old men who cleave to the creed, are beginning to feel that here is an open joint in their armour. Let it once become a question between these dark spots in Calvinism and the honour of the Book of God, and these decreta horribilia will soon be consigned to the tomb of all the Capulets. Let us continue to hold up a clear, consistent, God-honouring theology. In sweet accord with Scripture, in fine harmony with the truest mental philosophy, cherishing in our hearts a true philanthropy, honouring all good men for their labours of love, let us not sacrifice truth upon the altar, even of our affection. Then, with God for our confidant, we need not fear any foe.

The special subject on which I desire now to address you is, Christian Miracles and their Evidential Value. We shall confine our attention to Christian miracles, because they are of pre-eminent importance.

Before we can reach our subject, however, we are compelled to attend to some preliminary objections. Unbelief has ever had its disciples and defenders. The positions occupied by these differ with the ages, in form at least, though not essentially. Hence arises the need for those who would be "established in the present truth" to make themselves acquainted with prevailing forms of falsehood. Only thus can we "be ready always to give an answer to every one that asketh a reason for the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience." Meekness and ignorance are ill assorted, more especially when "a reason" is required. It is so much easier to act the braggart, or raise a cloud of sophistical dust; but then, how shall we keep the "good conscience?" At present, men boldly assert that miracles are impossible, and therefore