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splendid." These brilliant addresses were discourses on some ecclesiastical or theological topic, which had become matter of current interest. And a few days after they had been read in St. Mary's College, you might often find them in some Eeview or Magazine. But they were always stimulating : as the prelections of a humdrum professor never could be. And a special pathos was sometimes in them, if Tulloch was at the time in one of those dark moods of which Mrs. Oliphant's biography most truly tells. Well I remember the audible hush, once, when the Principal looked up from his lecture (he always sat to lecture) and said, as last words, " Gentlemen, you will not fully understand these things till you have been taught them by experience or till your lot has been plowed by the furrows of sorrow." Somehow, what Tulloch said always got home wonderfully. Adaptation was perfect.^
(2) It is equally certain that we have to buy character, reputation, and an honoured and trusted name. There is no market in the world where these can be picked up cheap. You can buy a tawdry reputation, a short-lived popularity or notoriety, at a very costless price, just as you can buy sham jewels for a few coppers from any pedlar in the streets. But to win a name which will keep its white, stainless honour through the wear and tear of years ; to win the enduring respect of good men (and there is no other respect worth a straw) ; to win the daily and the final " Well done " of the Great Judge — that is never a costless business. It means the persistent climbing of the rugged hill of duty ; it means the daily fight with temptation ; the daily treading down of self-indulgent ease ; the daily sacrifice in the service of friends and fellow-men; and the constant plodding on in the straight path, swerving not to right or left through evil repute and good. If we cannot face that music and endure that discipline, we shall never win the prize. The good and honoured name does not drop into our lap as a gift of fortune. It must be dearly bought.
^ Turn your energies towards your moral cultivation. In doing so you will accumulate imperishable riches. All that your worldly care can bring will be the doubtful possession of riches of doubtful value. In the possession of the moral wealth of a noble and disciplined character, you possess that which can neither wither nor be stolen. What we have we must leave at
^ A. K. H. Boyd, Twenty-Five Years of St. Andrews, i. 126.
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the threshold of the grave. What we are goes with us into the other world. Eiches will drop from our dying hand into the grasp of others. Character passes with us into the presence of God. Character is everything. This, rather than worldly riches, is the true end of life. The perfecting of this is the true purpose of God in life.^
(3) We must also buy the higher and richer experiences of the Christian life. Some people talk smoothly, and even glibly, about the life of holiness, the " higher life," as if it could be reached easily by a simple act of trust. It is not to be attained in that way. It means sacrifice. The higher life always means giving up things we like and love for the sake of God and our fellow- men. The religion which costs us nothing in time, thought, labour, or money, is not worth picking up in the streets. Most people pay as much for their religion as it is worth, especially if they pay very little, because in that case it is worth so little. The Bible cannot be God's book to us, full of rich teaching and comfort, unless we take the trouble to read it often and prayer- fully. We cannot understand the helpfulness and mighty power of prayer unless we steal time from our manifold engagements, to commune with God in prayer. We cannot enjoy the communion of saints unless we sacrifice our petty prides, snobberies, and mighty regard for class-distinctions. We cannot realize the sweets of Divine forgiveness unless we renounce our grudges, un- reasonable dislikes, and our own unwillingness to forgive; and we cannot have Christ as our Companion and Comforter unless every day we try to do not our own will but His. Every advance towards the higher life involves sacrifice. It costs nothing to descend ; it is always costly to ascend.
^ " Never fear to let go," he says in his philosophical notes ; " It is the only means of getting better things, — self-sacrifice. Let go ; let go ; we are sure to get back again. How science teaches the lesson of morals, which is ever. Give up, give up ; deny your- self,— not this everlasting getting ; deny yourself, and give, and infinitely more shall be yours; but give — not bargaining; give from love, because you must. And if the question will intrude, ' What shall I have, if I give up this ? ' relegate that question to faith, and answer, ' I shall have God. In my giving, in my love, God, who is Love, gives Himself to me.' " *