tercentenary celebration of 18[64]) I had the satisfaction of receiving a letter, dated 13 December, 1864, in which he wrote of it as a book which is, to my thinking, the most able and important volume ever printed about Shakespeare.' The book was published by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co., who paid him fifty pounds for it; and it shortly went into a second edition. But for some unexplained reason, though every copy of both editions was sold, the publishers (in 1871) estimated that they had lost over one hundred pounds upon it. It reached a third edition in 1880,' and a fourth edition in 1892, and will, I imagine, keep a permanent place in our literature. The reader of this book cannot fail to grasp a very important lesson-namely, that much of the charm of Shakespeare is due to his wonderful familiarity with Holy Writ and to his natural use of its language, without cant, slang, conventionality, or profaneness-such as too often disfigures the pages of some, even of eminent writers, who use Scripture freely. And through this familiarity lighter English literature has gained a dignity both of style and matter which has never entirely left it. When we think of Montaigne and Rabelais we realise the blessing of Shake speare. Another Shakespearian publication was his admirable Tercentenary Sermon at Stratford-on-Avon (Sunday, 24 April, 1864), 'Man's excellency a cause of praise and thankfulness to God.' In it he draws inspiration from the judgment of John Keble in his 'Oxford Lectures on Poetry,' one of the few books in modern Latin that have an abiding place in our literature of this century. He points out Shakespeare's consistency, especially in his religious tone In the third edition he added a considerable appendix of additional illustrations, together with his Stratford Tercentenary Sermon, and a valuable index compiled by Miss M. Barter. and his perpetual reference to a high standard of virtue, his consistency as the poet of the English nation and of home life, his sympathy with classical literature as opposed to mechanical and physical philosophy, marking his mind as a kind of antithesis to that of his contemporary, Francis Bacon. He points out also his claims to our regard in virtue of his personal character, his meekness, modesty, and gentleness. I wish that this sermon could be prefixed to one of the many cheap editions of Shakespeare now issuing from the press. It would be a great help to young students as indicating to them what sort of beauties to notice, instead of, or in addition to, those more or less important philological and critical points to which lecturers too often alone direct their attention. The Shakespeare for the Young' was never completed, but three volumes, containing twelve of the Historical Plays,' were published by Messrs. Blackwood in 1883, with useful marginal explanations, introductions, and longer notes. Had the whole been completed, and then each play published cheaply in parts, the book might have met with the success it deserved, and have been largely used for reading in clubs or by the fireside, and for examinations. As it is, I fear it is too little known, chiefly, perhaps, because the plays most often desired for reading aloud were left unedited. The same period (1866) saw the beginning of a new plan for the City of Perth, in which the Bishop and his family took a deep and continuing interest-the foundation of St. Andrews School Chapel near the great railway station. Since 1859 he had worshipped with, and ministered to, a solid and well-to-do community in St. John's Church; but he now began to feel that more might be done for the poor, and that the spirit of Congregationalism and the system of pew-rents was injuring the religious life of the Church. The scheme was put forward in a sermon before the congregation of St. John's, 'The claims of the poorer brethren in assemblies for Christian worship'-based naturally on the teaching of St. James. He appealed for funds to build a church to be called St. Andrews, intending to add schools and a schoolmaster's house to it. The school-chapel was all that was then built, and it was opened 23 August, 1868. An infants' school was added later. The Bishop practically became its incumbent, being assisted by the Rev. James Christie, who was ordained by him a month before as his curate. It is pleasant to note the name of Bishop Forbes, of Brechin, as a subscriber of ten guineas to this new church, and to find the Bishop of St. Andrews confirming for him at Dundee in April 1868. The Bishop's correspondence contains many notes from the Bishop of Brechin, asking for his services as a preacher, or for help in regard to an inscription and the like. The following letter, which belongs to this period, shows the Bishop's thorough knowledge of Anglican theology. It refers to a portion of Jeremy Taylor's famous work of which I must candidly confess my previous ignorance. It is dated 3 August, 1866. In answer to an unknown correspondent who writes to me from Dublin describing himself a doubter,' but as he trusts 'a humble and candid' one, I would simply recommend a small portion of Bishop Jeremy Taylor's 'Ductor Dubitantium,' which contains a moral demonstration, proving that the religion of Jesus Christ is from God' (see Book I., chap. iv., rule 2; Vol. xii. 39-66, Heber's edition), and of which the pious Bishop Horne declared that no tract ever came from the pen of man better calculated to dispel those doubts and difficulties which may arise in the mind of a believer, or to work conviction in that of an unbeliever who can bring himself to give it a fair and attentive perusal.' And the reason why I give this advice is, because it is not with us as it was with those to whom, as eye · witnesses of them, the evidence of miracles-and in many instances the evidence of miracles alone-was first offered, and, to some of them at least, proved sufficient. But our case is that of persons to whom God presents a combination, or rather an accumulation of evidences-all of which are to be taken in, as it were, at once by the mind's eye, if we are to do justice to the Divine Goodness and to the responsibility of our own position. I have pleasure in complying with the request of my correspondent, and I pray God to bless the advice which I have offered. Another letter in the same month (21 August, 1866), and addressed to Major Scott, of Gala, is also of interest of another kind: Pecuniarily I can do little to promote the cause of 'Keble College,' but all I can do (as I trust, honestly) I do most cheerfully and thankfully by enclosing a cheque for 3i. 6 My copy of the Christian Year' was a gift, in 1829, from my dear father-one of the first to recognise in the book the merits which are now universally acknowledged--as may be seen from a letter of his in the memoirs of that good layman, Joshua Watson (vol. i. p. 311): 'He is full of beauties and goodness. I have given a copy to each of my three boys.' I also possess a copy of the first edition, 1827. You refer to the attitude assumed by Mr. Keble, on a painful occasion, towards our Church, as a matter to be regretted but also to be forgiven and, as far as may be, forgotten. I agree with you entirely; and I rejoice to think that several communications which I had with him subsequently were all of a nature to render that desirable course more easy and natural. Among the rest he was so good as to send me from the author' a copy of his 'Life of Bishop Wilson,' the last work which he published. And it is a circumstance not a little remarkable that on the very last page of that work he had occasion to print in an 'Erratum' certain words of Bishop Wilson's 'Sacra Privata' which had been omitted in their proper place, and which, while they are irreconcileable with the teaching of Eucharistical Adoration,' are strictly in accordance with that recommended and prescribed by our Episcopal Synod. The years 1866-7 were marked in several ways by a growing intercourse between the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, which were of considerable importance to the latter, and not without influence on the development of the larger body-helping it to throw off something of its often unconscious Erastianism. The laying of the first stone of Inverness Cathedral by the Archbishop of Canterbury was an event which, at the moment, excited no little comment. The annual Episcopal Synod was held in that pleasant northern city on 16 October, 1866, and on the next day Archbishop Longley, who had been tutor to Bishop Eden (as well as to Bishop Wordsworth), laid the stone in the presence of all the Scottish Bishops and of the Bishop of North Carolina, U.S.A. (Bishop Thomas Atkinson). Bishop Wordsworth chronicles this as 'a distinction won so deservedly by the character which the esteemed Primus of our Church has borne through the whole course of his life.' A remarkable feature of this gathering was the sympathy of Inverness Presbyterians, many of whom contributed to the building fund. Nevertheless it stirred up no little controversy, in which the newspapers took part. The London 'Times,' for instance, wrote strongly in condemnation of the Archbishop's action. Fortunately the Scotsman' took a more impartial view. The Bishop of St. Andrews preserved the memory of this incident in a Latin quatrain, which may be inserted here: 3 Jupiter e coelo fulsit tonuitque sinistro Anglus, et inde sequens nil nisi fumus erat. 'See The Lambeth Conference—a Synodal Address, 7 November, 1867, p. 1. 2 See Archibald's Historic Episcopate, &c., p. 349. 3 See Public Appeals, &c. ii. 530. The reader will again notice the spelling coelum (as if from koîλos), which my father and uncle generally |