whom it would be desirable to give a full-length portrait. I refer to Dr. Candlish, certainly one of the most popular and effective preachers in the Free Church of Scotland. But I am not in possession of the materials for such a portrait, having heard him preach only once, and being imperfectly acquainted with the events of his life. He is probably about forty-five years of age, rather short of stature, and not particularly imposing or prepossessing in appearance. His face is rather long and sallow, but set off by an immense forehead, dark bushy hair, and a pair of fine black eyes. He stands bolt upright in the pulpit, and speaks in a clear, strong, deliberate, yet rapid voice. Judging from his published discourses, and the single specimen which I heard, I should think him destitute of pathetic power. He is evidently most at home in the regions of ratiocination. His language is copious, energetic, and harmonious.. In clearness and finish it is decidedly superior to that of Chalmers, and little inferior to Robert Hall's. It possesses a stateliness, combined with a bounding energy, which render it very effective. His method is remarkably lucid, and his reasoning strong and convincing. In fancy, in touching pathos, in overwhelming energy, in the vivid lightning flashes of genius, he is greatly inferior to Chalmers; but in clearness of definition, in compactness and purity of style, in strength of logic, and in completeness of arrangement and finish, he must be acknowledged superior. His discourses are highly evangelical. They abound in clear and instructive statements, and defences of

the cardinal truths of the Gospel. If deficient, it is in directness and pungency of appeal, in holy pathos, in solemn and subduing unction.

As a debater, Dr. Candlish stands pre-eminent. He may not possess the ponderous strength of Cunningham, the overpowering energy of Chalmers, the quick and versatile humor of Guthrie, or the eloquent polish of Buchanan. But he possesses, in unusual combination, clearness of method, logical acumen, force and beauty of style, and an easy, graceful, commanding elocution. When Chalmers dies, we predict that Candlish will be the leader in the courts of the Free Church of Scotland.

Dr. Candlish has published quite a number of occasional sermons, and a volume of lectures on the record of the Creation in the book of Genesis. These lectures are interesting and instructive, but to our taste, they are too diffuse and elaborate, and not sufficiently critical, or rather exegetical and compact. They say much about a thing, without actually saying the thing itself. But this is rather the fault of their design or plan, than of their execution, which as a whole indicates a high degree of talent. They contain many fine passages, and valuable suggestions.

Among his published discourses, one of the best is on the "Incompetency of Reason, and the Fitness of Revelation;" from Acts xvii. 23. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." The following passage from that discourse will give a fair idea of his power. Speaking of

the mournful condition of those who delight to investigate the works of God, but have never found God himself, he says:-"They may feel a proud and high satisfaction, arising from the importance of the knowledge acquired in the successful employment of their powers and faculties of mind. But brethren, they scarcely meet, in all the various and diversified tracks which they take, and in all the endless varieties of objects which encounter their judgments-they scarcely ever meet their God; they scarcely ever find him in the way; they scarcely ever seek him. In the wondrous elements, the richly scattered treasures of power, and wisdom and goodness, through which they make their progress, they cannot shut their eyes to the presence of God; they must acknowledge a God: but it is God with attributes of their own choosing, not the God of Scripture,-the God of nature, not the God of justice. Him they exclude from their view; Him they do not like to retain in their thoughts; and in the circumstances in which they cultivate the idea of a God, if mingling in their researches at all, they strip their ideas of all which might remind them of their unsettled controversy with Him. Conceive of a man in such a state, so blind as to have exercised his powers of discovery, in the full blaze of all the glory and the terrible majesty of a just God and a Saviour, without really finding him, condemned to carry on his future work of discovery with a clear and startling apprehension of all the moral attributes of God-his holiness, his justice, his truth-all as manifested

in the cross of Christ, and all still carried on in a carnal mind and a self-condemned heart. Where now will be the joy of his lofty inquiries? Where now the triumph of his lofty powers of knowledge? Every object he contemplates now, is connected with the idea of a righteous God; every subject he can examine now, is fraught with the presence of a righteous God; every new ray of light that meets his eye, reveals to him a righteous God; every sound carries to his ear the name of God, repeated by a thousand echoes. He can make no experiment now that will not show him more of the wonders and terrors of God. He can look at nothing, he can think of nothing, that does not speak to him of God, and remind him of his justice and all the bold traces of his profound discoveries regarding nature, now do but suggest reminiscences of nature's God as a God of judgment; and so the very faculty which was ever his pride and admiration,--the capacity of deep reflection and enlightened inquiry, does but add new sting and torture to his reprobate mind, by suggesting always, everywhere, and in all things, new images and representations of that awful, that Almighty Being, whom he has chosen to make his foe."

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CHAPTER X.

Ride into the Country-The Skylark-Poems on the Skylark by Shelley and the 'Ettrick Shepherd'-Newhall-'The Gentle Shepherd'-Localities and Outlines of the Story-Its Popularity in Scotland.

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"TIs a beautiful morning in early June. The sun is peeping over Arthur's Seat, and glancing from the turrets of the old Castle. The carriage is ready, and Sandy the driver is cracking his whip with impatience. So, take your place, and let us be off. Passing Bruntsfield Links' we plunge into the very heart of the country, so rich and varied, with park and woodland scenery, handsome villas, and sweet acclivities. Yonder is Merchiston Castle, the birth-place of the celebrated Napier, the inventor of Logarithms. A little further on, we reach the smiling village of Morningside, and pass some pretty country residences, with pleasant grounds and picturesque views. We enter a narrow and thickly wooded dell, through which tinkles a small rivulet, called the Braid Burn. the bottom we come to the Braid Hermitage, as sweet a sylvan retreat as ever greeted the eye of the rural wanderer. Those rocky heights above us are the Braid Hills, from which can be enjoyed some of the most splendid views in Scotland. Leaving the carriage a few minutes we ascend that lofty eminence, and gaze, with delight upon

At