Leading Articles on Various Subjects

The present volume is issued in compliance with the strong solicitations of many, to whose desire deference was due. In selecting the articles, I have been guided mainly by two considerations,--namely, the necessity for reproducing the mature opinion of a great mind, upon great subjects; and for making the selection so varied, as to convey to the reader some idea of the wonderful versatility of the powers which could treat subjects so diverse in their nature with such uniform eloquence and discrimination. I trust that the chapters on Education will prove to be a valuable contribution to the speedy settlement of that question at the present crisis. Those on Sutherlandshire are inserted because they possess a permanent value, in connection with the social and economical history of our country. Some of the articles are of a personal character, and are introduced, not, certainly, for the purpose of recalling old animosities, but solely to illustrate the author's method of using some of the more formidable figures of speech; while over against these may be set some on purely literary subjects, which show the genial tenderness of his disposition towards those who aspired to serve God and their generation by giving to the world the fruit of their imagination, their labour, and their leisure.

I have not determined the selection without securing the counsel and approval of men on whose judgment I could rely. It only remains for me to thank them, and in an especial way to thank Mr. D. O. Hill for the portrait which forms the frontispiece. An impersonal reference to a similar portrait taken at the same time will be found at page 184, in the article on 'The Calotype.'

JOHN DAVIDSON.

London, March 8, 1870.

CONTENTS

PAGE

THOUGHTS ON THE EDUCATIONAL QUESTION, 1

LORD BROUGHAM, 105

THE SCOTT MONUMENT, 111

THE LATE MR. KEMP, 119

ANNIE M'DONALD AND THE FIFESHIRE FORESTER, 123

A HIGHLAND CLEARING, 136

THE POET MONTGOMERY, 146

CRITICISM--INTERNAL EVIDENCE, 151

THE SANCTITIES OF MATTER, 161

THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER STEWART, 170

THE CALOTYPE, 179

THE TENANT'S TRUE QUARREL, 190

CONCLUSION OF THE WAR IN AFFGHANISTAN, 199

PERIODICALISM, 206

'ANNUS MIRABILIS,' 215

EFFECTS OF RELIGIOUS DISUNION ON COLONIZATION, 223

FINE-BODYISM, 232

ORGANSHIP, 240

BAILLIE'S LETTERS AND JOURNALS, 249

FIRST PRINCIPLES, 262

AN UNSPOKEN SPEECH, 269

DISRUPTION PRINCIPLES, 280

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR, 293

THE POETS OF THE CHURCH, 302

THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, 315

A VISION OF THE RAILROAD, 327

THE TWO MR. CLARKS, 337

PULPIT DUTIES NOT SECONDARY, 358

DUGALD STEWART, 369

OUR TOWN COUNCILS, 378

SUTHERLAND AS IT WAS AND IS; OR, HOW A COUNTRY MAY BE RUINED, 388

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO THOUGHTS ON THE EDUCATIONAL QUESTION.