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One wonders if the old man had convinced himself on this subject; if he found the evidence of nature more satisfactory to his soul than the teaching of the Churches; or if it was irritation with the prejudices and narrowness of his nonjuring brethren, and the equally narrow and unenlightened views of a slumbrous Kirk, that led him to this curious institution, unique of its kind among all the shows of mental athleticism. The prize was one of solid value, amounting in 1855, which was the time fixed for the second competition, to a sum of £1800 for the first, and £600 for the second prizeman. It is doubtful whether such chances often fulfil their purpose by bringing out either the best arguments or the best writers on a subject of such importance. However, the names of those successful in the first competition were at least those of well-known men, to whom afterwards, in their very different spheres, the highest awards of their professions fell. The gainer of the first prize on that occasion was William Lawrence Brown, a distinguished theologian in his time, and who afterwards became Principal of Marischal College, in Aberdeen. The second was John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury.

These were respectable predecessors in the competition, to which, as it approached a second period, John Tulloch, full of ambition and energy, and lacking advancement, now turned his eyes. He had begun, at least, to prepare for it in 1852, and it is evident that it was carried on behind all his lighter and more popular work, an undertaking of the gravest moment, which he fully expected to be the stepping-stone to fame, and to which he returned with continued zeal in every interval. One can well imagine how the greatness of the subject would take possession of his mind and fancy; and how, as he trudged far afield through all weathers to hillside farmhouse or cottage, to the bedsides of the dying, to console and advise in all the nameless troubles that come to a country minister's ear, his thoughts would return to that

high argument; and how every combination of cloud and hill, and every blazing sunset, and all the adaptations of Nature for the sustenance and protection of the living multitudes which are nourished by every sod and every stream, would give it illustration and enrichment. There are some eyes which see her only "red in tooth and claw, with ravine;" but there are others to whom Nature appears as a benignant mother telling the still greater love of the Father of all. Tulloch was one of these. The "homely nurse" was dear to her foster-child in all her aspects. He had at all times that softening sense of delight and kindred in the mere fabric of the world, in open air, in changeful skies, and summer and winter, and all the vicissitudes of earth and heaven, which is one of the richest of natural inheritances. And an undertaking more congenial to his mind than to show how every one bore witness to the Creator could not have been conceived.

It is a more sacred thing to draw the domestic curtain from the peaceful manse and show the evening scene, near the fireside in the little study, or in the lingering daylight of the prolonged sweet summer evening of northern skies, when the outdoor occupations were over, notwithstanding that at any moment Duncan or Sandy might come lumbering to the door in heavy ploughman shoes to bring some village trouble to the solution of the minister; and when the children were asleep, and the young mother free to take her share of the work, copying in her more legible writing the sheets which in their original form would have daunted the most courageous examiner, notwithstanding that her ear was ever alert to a murmur from the little cribs above. She was his first judge and critic, making her modest comments, as well as his untiring secretary; and the work was thus a joint work, his helpmeet filling up everything that was wanting in him with her softening presence and steady patient work. He was still under thirty, she twenty-six-a pair formed for

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all the enjoyments of life, young in heart as well as in age, fond of all simple pleasures. One wonders if any circumstances of ease or wealth or gaiety, or all that makes what in other spheres is called life, could have embodied a greater happiness or afforded a more beautiful spectacle than these laborious nights and days.

Thus passed the peaceful years at Kettins, with increase of children and care, yet much unfeigned and wholesome pleasure in life. I have often thought that George Eliot, in one of the most touching and beautiful of all her creations, that of Milly Barton, must have somehow in the spirit had a glimpse into the manse of Kettins, and seen the young minister's wife, three days after the birth of a big, peaceable, thriving baby, sitting up propped with pillows, not to darn the family stockings, but to laugh and cry over that bewildering manuscript, and go on with her copying! These are heroisms of which no one ever hears, which, when they are told, have a way of being turned by the ignorant into something like a complaint, as of an exacting husband or a cruel fate. No such meaning was in them. The work was hers as well as his, and the incident, told with tender pride and pleasure, formed one of those sacred traditions which make the history of a family noble and dear.

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CHAPTER V.

THE VACANT CHAIR-THE BURNETT PRIZE.

IN the end of the year 1853, when Tulloch had been four years at Kettins, and had made himself known by his work in the Reviews, to an extent, I think, quite unusual with the writers of anonymous periodical literature, the little world of the University in St Andrews was much moved by the prospect of an approaching vacancy. Old Dr Haldane of St Mary's College, who had seen all these young men grow up, and trained many of them-he who had been too infirm to "introduce" Tulloch to the people at Kettins- was now on the brink of the grave; and the anxious question who was to fill his place had become a matter of immediate importance: for he was old as well as ill, and his recovery had ceased to be looked for. The University of St Andrews consists, contrary to the Scotch custom, of two colleges-one which bears the name of the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard, the other St Mary's. The former has been for a long time devoted to the secular Arts and learning, the latter exclusively theological. The Principal of the United College was Sir David Brewster, and it was from him, through the medium of Dr Brown, the second Professor of Theology, that the communication which caused, it may easily be imagined, a great commotion in the manse of Kettins, arrived one November morning in the midst of all

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the parochial and literary work going on there. These two gentlemen, after much consultation together, had decided that one of them, Dr Brown, was the most fit person to succeed to the position of Principal; and that among the many younger men who looked to a professorship in the University as the height of their ambition, Tulloch of Kettins, already so well known to all the neighbouring country, and especially in St Andrews, was the best choice that could be made for the chair which Brown should leave vacant if his candidature was successful. Dr Brown's letter proposed, accordingly, a union of claims and interest to procure these two appointments. He had himself the maturity and experience needed for the first, and was in some respects the most natural substitute for the old Principal; while it seemed fully recognised between himself and Sir David that the minister of Kettins had the best claim to the reversion of the second. Tulloch, as has already been seen, had regarded every recent vacancy with interest, and always entertained the hope of occupying the position of Professor. Such a proposal as this was, however, so much more real than any speculations of his own, that it was suggested by those whose suggestion alone contained almost a promise of success.

Dr Brown enclosed the draft of a memorandum drawn up by Sir David, which it was intended to send to all persons of influence who could further the views of the two candidates. The singular argument used in this circular is very significant of the temper of the time. The United College had been separated by the abolition of Tests from any formal connection with the Established Church, and contained many men of very liberal and advanced views; and it was highly desirable, in the opinion of Sir David and his supporters, that the heads of the Theological College should also be men of liberal and large minds, and free from narrowness and prejudice. Tulloch lost no time in signify