INTERNATIONAL UOOKFINDEKS You name it - we find it P.O. Box 8008, Beverly Bills, California THE LIFE OF JAMES THE LIFE OF JAMES M C COSH Cftteflg EDITED BY WILLIAM M1LLIGAN SLOANE WITH PORTRAITS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1896 Copyright, 1896, BY CHARLES SCRIBNEK'S SONS. SSttttocmtg JOHN WILSON ANI> SON, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. CONTENTS PAGE JAMES McCosn, 1811-1894 1 CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY 3 II. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE .... 10 III. LIFE AT GLASGOW UNIVERSITY 24 IV. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. LIFE AT EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY 37 V. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. FIRST PASTORATE. ARBROATH 50 VI. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. SECOND PASTORATE AND DISRUPTION OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH 67 VII. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. MEN AND SCENES OF THE DISRUPTION 85 VIII. FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 102 IX. PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 125 X. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 144 XI. PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHING 166 XII. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. - - TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 181 XIII. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. - - TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON, continued 198 XIV. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. - - TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON, continued 215 VI CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XV. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON, continued 227 XVI. LIFE IN AMERICA 241 XVII. AFTERMATH 259 BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 INDEX 283 LIST OF PORTRAITS ETCHING BY GUSTAVE MERCIER FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1888 Frontispiece PHOTOGRAVURE FROM A PORTRAIT PAINTED IN 1847 To face page 102 PHOTOGRAVURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF A PORTRAIT BUST BY BAILEY, PRESENTED IN 1883 TO PRINCETON COLLEGE BY THE CLASS OF 1873 166 PHOTOGRAVURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ALTO- RILIEVO BY ST. GAUDENS IN THE MARQUAND CHAPEL, PRESENTED IN 1889 BY THE CLASS OF 1879 .... 198 PHOTOGRAVURE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1892 241 JAMES MCCOSH 1811-1894 have seen a century rise and wane ; to have spent threescore years of active, influential life in its very noon ; to have moulded in some degree the thought of two generations in three lands ; to have shared in Scotland's latest struggle for religious liberty ; to have wrought in the great enterprise of Ireland's intellectual emancipation ; to have led a powerful educational move- ment in America, and to have regenerated one of her most ancient universities, these are the titles of James McCosh to public distinction. He was a philosopher, but no dreamer ; a scholar, but no recluse ; a preacher, but no ideologue ; a teacher, but no martinet ; he was a thinker, a public leader, and a practical man of affairs. For these sufficient reasons those who were closely associated with him during the last three years of his life determined to secure, if possible, a memorial of his many activities. He was induced to set down from time to time such remi- niscences as appeared to him instructive or entertaining, and these were intrusted for keeping to his son and a family friend as materials for his biographer, when the 2 JAMES MCCOSH time should come for a critical estimate of his life and work. That time is, of course, still distant, but in the meanwhile such has been the desire of his co-workers and pupils, and of many in the general public, for some permanent record of the facts and dates of his life, that it was thought best to arrange the available material, and to publish it as early as possible for the gratification of those concerned. What is set down in the following pages as fact has been submitted to his family and scrutinized in the light of authentic records ; what has been taken verbatim from Dr. McCosh's letters or remi- niscences is so marked. For the opinions expressed, the writer alone is responsible, but in forming them he has had valuable assistance from many quarters. In particu- lar, he is under great obligations to Professors Ormond and Scott, and to the Eev. J. H. Dulles, all three of whom were students in Princeton within the period of Dr. McCosh's administration. He asks the reader's indul- gence for the repetitions and somewhat irregular chro- nology incident to the plan of the book. CHAPTER I ANCESTRY TN the parish churchyard of Straiten, a village of Ayrshire in southwestern Scotland, which is situ- ated on the banks of the Girvan Eiver, and not far from Loch Doon, stands the tombstone of Jasper McCosh, who died in 1727. The earliest recorded ancestor of James McCosh, he lies among the forefathers of his race, a stock renowned for their devotion to principle amid the persecutions attendant on the misguided efforts of Charles II. to impose episcopacy upon the Scotch Presbyterians. The name is Celtic, and the McCoshes, sons of foot, are scattered throughout the neighboring counties, being numerous also in Irish Ulster, whence, in all proba- bility, they emigrated into Scotland. But they had become in time so intermingled with Anglo-Saxon blood that they were an integral portion of the true Lowland Scotch. The "wild Scots of Galloway," as they were called hi the earliest days, were merged in the Teutonic migrations which peopled England and southern Scot- land, being so anglicized that many of the McCosh clan, for example, translated their Celtic name into the English equivalent, and under the name of Foot or Foote settled in various portions of Great Britian. The descendants of Jasper McCosh laid no claim to aris- tocratic descent, but they were for all that a proud 4 JAMES MCCOSH family. Moral and charitable, they cherished their inde- pendence, and considered the virtues of industry and fru- gality upon which it was based as second only to their devotion and piety. For twenty years their ancestors had endured persecution and even martyrdom for " Christ's crown and covenant," as they designated their ecclesias- tical principles ; and although much had occurred in the interval to revolutionize the character of their faith and conduct, they were still proud of the noble endurance, the lofty purpose, and the undying heroism of their ancestors. Though they belonged to what is generally designated the middle class, they were people of substance and refinement, being for the most part large farmers, tending their flocks and herds on the hills above, and cultivating the dales below with assiduity and success. To be one of this class, to have neither poverty nor riches, is a decided advantage for the student of human nature, since it enables him, without the separation of any social stra- tum, to hold easy intercourse both with those beneath and with those above. The farmers of the lands " between hill and dale " in Ayrshire were favored by neither soil nor climate, and were forced to hard labor, careful management, and great frugality in order to increase the store which they had inherited from those who for ages had been engaged in the same struggle. Originally the land had been divided into small plots, granted to the retainers and dependents of petty chieftains, who paid their rent by fighting in their masters' quarrels, whatever these might be. With the advance of civilization, such services had become less and less valuable to the owners, while the progress made in agriculture necessitated not merely better tillage and the ANCESTRY 5 use of improved implements, but required for the best economy that the size of the holdings should be greatly increased. The minor tenants had therefore become tradesmen or farm-servants, or else had emigrated, the small farms having been absorbed in the larger ones. The proprietors had become in large measure absentee landlords, spending their increased revenues in travel, or in introducing their families to the higher circles of Lon- don society. Finding it easier and more satisfactory to collect their rents from a single large tenant than from a number of petty ones, they favored the substantial farmers at every point, and left the peasantry to desert their little homes and become artisans in towns, or else to wander into foreign lands and become wealthy, suc- cessful colonizers in all parts of the globe. For ages these plain people, enlightened by their parish schools and their church, had been evolving a well-known type of character which is admirably delineated in the autobiographical notes of Dr. McCosh given in the next chapter. The " canny " or " able " Scot is a cosmopolitan, present wherever there is work to do, money to be got, and honor to be won. At home they displayed their powers in the only line open to them, namely, in their farming, which they brought to a state of perfection unsurpassed, if indeed equalled, in any other land. This was made possible only by the capital of the larger farmers, but in the process it was impossible to form and consolidate a body of peasant farmers, who might have lived contentedly at home as good citizens, and have prevented the development of many unfortu- nate social tendencies. It has been good for the world that so many of Scotland's ablest sons have settled in other countries ; but there was a time in their own 6 JAMES MCCOSH when their high idealism and sturdy courage were sorely missed. Andrew McCosh, a descendant in the third generation of the Jasper before mentioned, and the father of James, lived at a time when the state of society in Scotland, though picturesque and interesting from a human point of view, was deplorable in regard to morality and piety. By good management and thrift he became the tenant of half-a-dozen small farms, aggregating in all about a thou- sand acres, for which he paid as many pounds to the proprietor in annual rental. He was, of course, an intel- ligent man, and thoroughly capable in the management of his affairs. From him his famous son inherited his fond- ness for that quiet reflection to which the sire, like many of his race, was much given. The notice of his death in the local paper, " The Ayr and Wigtonshire Courier," bears testimony to his virtues, and to the esteem in which he was held in the neighborhood. It was probably written by the Eev. Dr. Paul, a nephew of the Sir Henry Mon- creiff so influential at the time; he was then pastor of Straiton, and afterwards became minister of St. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. The eulogium runs as follows: "Died at Carskeoch, July 9th, 1820, Mr. Andrew McCosh, for many years tenant in that farm. We notice the death of that excellent and exemplary man with feelings of deep- est regret. By this neighborhood, in which he lived, we scarcely believe a greater loss could be sustained. To his family and connections he was ever kind, sympathetic, and faithful, and such, from the natural sweetness of his disposition, he probably would have been, even though he had not been actuated by any higher feelings. In his transactions with mankind his great object was to do ANCESTRY 7 justly. His unaffected simplicity of manner, his freedom from artifice and guile, were proverbial among all who knew him. His modesty spread a covering over all other virtues, improving what it was intended to conceal The property with which God had entrusted him he seemed to consider as a loan which would afterwards be required at his hand with interest. As a friend of the poor, his loss will not soon be forgotten. Poverty, sickness, and old age always found in him a sympathizing heart, a relieving and protecting hand. Cheerfully did he per- form the offices of kindness of which his Saviour had set him an example. The poor, the maimed, were admitted to his home and served from his board. He knew that they could not compensate him, but wherever these were the effects and expression of a Christian faith, we know that they will be remembered at the resurrection of the just." That this measured praise was well merited seems clear to all who knew Dr. McCosh intimately. The memory of his God-fearing parents was one of the strongest influ- ences in his life. His own tribute to them is as follows : " I was only nine years of age when my father died, in 1820, but I remember so much, and saw so much of his work remaining, as to know that the account given above is correct; and I am proud of it. Almost every evening a beggar, or a family of beggars, was apt to appear about nightfall ; they got a bed in the stable, and a substantial supper and breakfast. I remember that my father kept in his kitchen a poor idiot man, whom we youngsters used to plague, and that we were rebuked for it. He gave homes to several poor women on his farm. He was kind to all poor relatives, sending them meal, and carting coals 8 JAMES MCCOSH for them. This kindness was always shown in a delicate way. We were four miles from the parish church, our house being on the Doon, and the church being on the Girvan, and we often spent the interval between the forenoon and afternoon services in the home of a genteel family, whose father had lived by smuggling claret and brandy, which he carried up from the sea-coast by a band of armed men and horses into the interior. The strong hand of the law was brought to bear upon him, many sharp fights took place between him and the sol- diers, and he was reduced to poverty. We carried with us into the man's house a considerable stock of provisions, of which we partook ourselves, and left the larger por- tion to the family. We children were ordered to say nothing about it to any one. " The story of the way in which my mother's uncle treated a sturdy beggar became well known in the neigh- borhood. My grand-uncle, on giving him blankets for the night, asked him what security he would give that they should not be stolen, and was assured that he gave God Almighty as security. Next morning the man and blankets were off, with no hope of their casting up again. The thief wandered all day among the mists of the moun- tains, and in the evening he asked quarters at the same house without knowing it to be the same. My uncle saluted him, told him he had given good security, and invited him to stay one night more, and the beggar was so impressed with the scene that there was no more thieving. " My mother, Jean Carson, was the daughter of James Carson, a large farmer in a wild, moorland district of Scotland at the top of Loch Doon. When my father ANCESTRY 9 took her to his home as his wife, she is described as a modest and retiring young woman, but as the cares of a family were thrown upon her, her native energy developed, and she ruled well her household. She was early left a widow with a large family, consisting of six daughters and myself, whom she reared with care and tenderness, and showed great skill and ability in the management of the farms she was left. On her mother's side, she was connected with a well-known Covenanting family, named McClymont. Her father's family were Scotch Covenant- ers, who had fought at the battles of Drumclog and Both- well Brig, and maintained for twenty-eight years the lib- erties of Scotland, and had often to hide in the dens and caves of the earth on the banks of the Stinchar, near the house of the persecutor, Sir Archibald Kennedy, of Culzean Castle. One day Mr. McClymont returned home, and looking out of his window he saw a company of soldiers riding furiously towards his house, and had only time, before they reached it, to hide among some raspberry bushes. They demanded of his wife where her husband was, and she said that they might seek for him. Then they insisted that they must have food for their horses, and she pointed them to a hay-stack. They placed a guard over the dwelling, and began to cut down the hay. One of the troopers, seeing the tempting raspberries, started to pull them. She saw that her husband was in danger, but she was equal to the emergency. She pulled berries till she found one with a large worm in it, and showed it to the English trooper, who was so disgusted by the sight that he returned to the hay-stack, and her husband was saved. I am sure that I owe much of my character by heredity to this woman." CHAPTER H AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE 1811-1824 T WAS born on April 1, 1811, at my father's farm-house, * called Carskeoch. If any one has a choice of a place of birth and training, let him fix upon a farm-house (I learned when in Ireland to commit Irish Bulls), and always to be under a father or mother, without whom no external advantages can benefit the child. The boy is thus surrounded with objects fitted to interest him and call forth his energies. Here I wandered at my own free will, following my thoughts and fancies among green and heather, hills and valleys, among trees and rocks and brooks (Scottice burns). Here I became in- terested in wild plants, such as lilies, roses, meadow-sweet, and foxgloves. Here I found birds flying, chirping, or curiously building their nests. Here I had sheep and lambs (every boy should have his motherless lamb as a pet) ; here I had horses and foals, hens and ducks, geese and turkeys. Here I had my collie dog, called "Fam- ous," and my pony, called " Cuddy." The boy should watch the ways of all these creatures; he should care for them and feed them ; in short, should make them his friends. I had to hold intercourse with servant lads and lassies tending the cows and working the horses. It is a sphere fitted to call forth reflection and independ- AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE 11 ence. It was in such a scene that I was reared, in a good stone house, with comfortable rooms and bed-rooms, and a garret where the men-servants slept; grouped around about were the farm buildings, a milk-house, a stable, a barn, and a cart or carriage house. Carskeoch was pleasantly situated, within a quarter of a mile of the river Doon, about ten miles from its mouth, on the bay 1 of Ayr, and with a considerably wide view all around. Following the river upwards, we had first extensive meadows, now cut up by lately discovered iron works, then a romantic glen, through which the river flowed from the lake above, and on that lake a ruined castle which was famous in the days of Bruce. I do not believe that natural scenery has had so much influence on character as is sometimes imagined, but I know that Loch Boon, on which I have so often fished, and the wild scenery between Ayrshire and Galloway, have created within me that intense taste which I have for mountain scenery. Following the Boon downwards we have " Ye banks and braes of bonnie Doon," and, at the mouth, Eobert Burns's birthplace. The river flows from east to west ; north of it are heather hills, and south of it the cultivated fields of Scotland, running on towards England. The region was never visited by Sir Walter Scott, who was the main instrument of making romantic certain parts of Scotland, and so is not as well known as some other districts not so romantic. I may here give a picture of the character of the dis- trict with which I was at one time so well acquainted. The region had passed through stirring scenes in the days of Wallace. Now and then some knowing man showed 1 A recess of level ground surrounded by hills. 12 JAMES MCCOSH me a tree in which the Scottish patriot had hid from his English persecutors. We all knew the " barns of Ayr," which he had burned. In the Reformation and post-Reformation periods there had been fierce contests among the barons of Ayrshire and Galloway. Afterward there had been a strong Covenanting movement in the southwest of Scotland, among a people who had been trained by their ministers in the stern principles of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and were resolved to resist the prelacy which was attempted to be imposed on them. There must have been much religious life in the days of the Covenant, otherwise the people would not have submitted to such privations ; the hearts of the great body of the people must have been deeply moved, otherwise they would not have submitted to such suffering. But the religious life in later ages had been suppressed by the blight of moderation, and now religion had very much disappeared. Immorality followed, and there was a low tone of duty among the people, while drinking and licentiousness prevailed. The stream which had rushed over rocks and precipices was now flowing through a level plain. The people had comparatively few tradi- tions, and the young were not much interested in them. The Reformation had done little but set aside the fables of the Middle Ages. The Patronage Act of 1711, which took away the power of appointing ministers from the heritors and parishioners, and gave it to patrons who often forced worldly ministers into the pulpit, had effaced the remembrance of the glorious struggles of the Reformation and the Covenant. There were tombstones in nearly every parish which told of men who had been AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE 13 shot for Christ's Kingdom and Covenant, but these were now moss-grown and little attended to. The great body of the people, immersed in matters connected with the cultivation of their land, admitted that these old worthies had been very good men, but congratulated themselves on living in more enlightened times. The few traditions took a superstitious turn. When I was a boy, an old lady told me that her father, who was one of the tenants, had been among those who bore the body of Sir Archibald Kennedy, the persecutor, to his grave. It was a dark and furious night. At first the coffin was so heavy that they could scarcely carry it. As they entered the graveyard, a black raven was heard croaking from a tree above them. Suddenly the coffin became lighter; the contents had evidently been carried away. In the same night, and at the same hour, a fiery ship was seen crossing the Bay of Ayr at a tre- mendous speed. A bold skipper challenged it, " From whence to where," and the answer was, " From Hell to Kirkoswald, to Sir Archibald Kennedy's funeral." A few minutes after, the same ship was seen returning, and was again saluted, "From whence to where," and the answer was, " From Kirkoswald to Hell, bearing Sir Archibald Kennedy." It was during the last century that the character of the Lowland Scot was formed. That character is a distinc- tive one. It is different from that of the inhabitants of the other countries of the British dominion. The Low- lander is nearly as obstinate as the Highlander, but he is not so fiery. He has not the impulsiveness and flighti- ness of the Irishman, his wit, or his warm display of friendship or enmity. He is naturally of an anxious 14 JAMES MCCOSH spirit, though he tries to hide it, being in this respect like the Yankee. He has not the self-sufficiency of the Englishman, who carries his point by his good sense and composure. The Scot is proverbially " canny," that is, cautious in taking up his position, but apt to be obsti- nate in holding by it. He is strongly bent on being inde- pendent, but if it expose him to danger, slow in exhibiting it. When he sets out on any undertaking it is very diffi- cult to make him turn back. The following incident is characteristic. I remember being placed on one horse, to lead a second horse behind me by a halter ; I held by the halter till I was pulled over the horse's tail, a very picture of the young Scotchman sticking by a cause which he might easily abandon. The common people of Scotland attained a consider- able amount of intelligence at an earlier date than any other community in Europe. This they owed to John Knox, who insisted on having a school in every parish, an academy in every burgh town, and a university in every large city. In every school the Bible was taught : in some districts it was the Book of Proverbs that was used as a text-book, and helped to give the people their shrewd- ness. I have to add that the Shorter Catechism, drawn out by the Westminster divines, was committed to memory in the schools, and in nearly every family, and being the best logical compend of the system of doctrine laid down in the Bible, it gave to the people the logical turn for which they are distinguished in their thoughts and expressions. This education did not and could not produce the genius of Burns, of Scott, or Carlyle, but it came out in the massive sense by which they were dis- tinguished among literary people. Douce Davie Deans AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE 15 and Jeanie Deans (and I may add Effie Deans) are per- fect pictures of Scottish characters. Of all the people I have met with, the Scotch have the least of what we call " manners " in their intercourse with the members of their family, with their neighbors, and with the world generally. The Scot loves his wife and family, and would make any sacrifice for them, but he seldom or never utters a word of compliment to them. He doubts the sincerity of such words and acts, and is apt to regard them as hypocrisy, having some selfish end in view, and speaks of them as Frenchified and un- worthy of an honest Scotchman. I confess I have often been repelled by the cool manner in which Scotch people, after long absences or in critical emergencies, often meet with each other. I remember going up to a most excel- lent man to comfort him when he was trying to restrain his tears as he hung over the body of his son, just de- ceased. I was chilled when all that he could utter was, " This is a fine day, sir." We can thus account for some of the oddities of Thomas Carlyle. I have known a number of ministers like him. He was at one time nearly becoming a minister, and a curious minister he would have been. We are amazed to read that he was often cold and indifferent, at times rude to his wife ; but he loved her all the while, and would have died for her at any time. Scotchmen are often described as being cold and selfish, but the bareness is only on the surface, beneath which there is often a well of tender affection. With no pre- tensions or promises, they stand by their families and friends as resolutely as any people on the face of the earth. When they give their assent, possibly in few 16 JAMES MCCOSH words, it is commonly found that you can trust them. The parts which they acted at the Eeformation, again in the Covenanting struggle, and at a later date in the Free Church movement, are proofs of their resolution and courage on great questions of principle. I have often thought that it would be better for themselves, and for their influence over their fellow-men, if, instead of restrain- ing and concealing their feelings, they would allow them full expression, as the Irish do. In the seventeenth century the Lowlands of Scotland had been ploughed and harrowed by the great Covenant- ing struggle. For a time the fruits were reaped in a gen- eral religious life throughout the country, with family worship in most of the households in which there was a profession of religion, where also young men and women were trained in the doctrines of the Shorter Catechism. But all this was changed when the Government sanctioned the Patronage Act of 1711, taking away the power of appointing ministers from the parishes, and giving it to the Patrons, the crown with its political ends claiming one-third of the benefices, and the other two-thirds being given to private noblemen or gentlemen who had no interest in the spiritual welfare of the people. The result was the formation of a class of ministers who were called Moderates, because they often preached on the text, " Be moderate in all things," and sought to allay the heats of the previous century. Young men of a worldly spirit were appointed to the ministry, commonly well educated and of good manners, but with no spiritual life. I have before me a volume of sermons by the minister who baptized me, an accomplished man who after- wards became the Professor of Moral Philosophy in the AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL. EARLY LIFE 17 University of St. Andrews. It is gracefully written, in short and well-constructed sentences, and it has fine sen- timent; but it does not contain one sentence of gospel truth, that is, of Jesus set forth as the Eedeemer of sinners. Blair's sermons, so graceful yet so powerless, were the models all over the country among the younger ministers. They were greatly admired by young men and women of note, but had no moving influence on the great body of the people, as they did not speak of sin and salvation, subjects which the latter would have understood from their own experience. The degeneracy in religion was followed by a degener- acy in morals. It is a law of God's government that religion is the main instrument of keeping up a high mor- ality in a district, and that where religion loses its hold, the restraints on vice are removed. It was so in Scot- land in the latter two-thirds of the last century, and in the earlier one- third of this. In particular, two vicious habits, which have exercised so prejudicial an influence on Scottish character, became prevalent at this time. First, there was intemperance. The great body of the people did not drink to excess, but there was use of ardent spirits on all occasions, at christenings, at weddings, at all family and all social gatherings. The farmer could not sell a horse, a cow, or a calf, without being obliged to give drink to the buyer. On New Year's Day the children were accustomed to give presents to their teacher, the boy and girl who gave the largest sum being king and queen for the day (I was king for several years), and the teacher had to give them toddy to drink. The consequence was that many young men, including a number of my companions, one of them a most amiable 2 18 JAMES MCCOSH young man, and a dear friend of mine, fell before the temptation. When at school I often saw staggering along the streets the most gentlemanly farmer in the neior i am full of isaik-T, the spint with' u !>? couatraineth me." Toward the close of his divmuy studies in Edinburgh, he finally ventured to sketch an outline of the plan he had been evolving, and to read it as a paper before the Theological Society. His effort met with prompt recog- nition, and he felt encouraged to go forward. But enter- ing, soon afterward, upon the active life of a pastor, he was prevented from laboring steadily on his theme, first by the composition of sermons, and then by his zealous participation in the disruption struggle. occupations, however, were no hindran.ee .to r^\ w\ ^\wfc\>&wo<\ 6 lectual growth ; on Msne contrary, xhey gave reality to his speculations, and stamped his thought with a con- FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 103 creteness which it never lost. The basis of his philo- sophic creed being the intuitionism of the Scottish school, experience modified it into the forms of his special philos- ophy. Many discriminating critics have seen in the heavy parish work of Green, during the years he spent as a hard-working rector in East London, the preliminary training which made him England's most noted popular historian. Similarly, McCosh, by his severe novitiate as a defender of spiritual truth among plain people, gained the ability to write profoundly and yet lucidly upon metaphysical questions, so that in the end he became essentially an interpreter, a philosopher for the many as well as for the few. During the generation preceding his own it had been established by a long and varied induction in all parts of the knowable world, that nature was uniform, and this concept was expressed in his day by the formula that all events take place according to law. This thought was used for the purpose of undermining Chris- tianity, and " Combe's Constitution of Man," a book to which reference has already been made, was considered by large numbers to have shown conclusively that God was but another designation for the "laws of nature." As if to fortify this position Mill's Logic appeared, con- taining what seemed to be a demonstration of the theory of uniformity which completely excludes the supernatural from the sphere of nature and man. The reading of these books made McCosh very uneasy, and in every leisure moment he pondered what might be meant by the uni- formity of nature, and how such a uniformity stood related to the personal Creator. Considering the alter- nation of day and night, the rotation of the seasons, 104 JAMES MCCOSH and similar phenomena, lie seemed to discern that the principle underlying them was quite different from the ."law or laws of causation," as that fire burns and light shines, the former being complex, a result of combina- tion which implies arrangement and design. His exten- sive reading in the sciences of geology and biology roused an intense interest in the religious problems arising from their development, and this was another element in his processes of reflection. Simultaneously, his sermonizing and spiritual ministrations impressed upon him, ever more and more deeply, the practical force of Scriptural teaching as to the law and government of God. This brought the whole subject of the divine government, physical and moral, into great prominence before his mind, and he found that there was no comprehensive book on the subject to guide his thoughts. He deter- mined to write one, but as his scheme took form his self-examination suddenly revealed the fact that he had been trained in a philosophical system, the one so long prevalent in Scotland, which took no notice of so obvious a fact as sin. This called up the novel problem, novel, that is, to the Scottish philos- ophy, of the relation between moral law and sin. Meditating upon such themes, the clergyman seemed to feel as never before that the Creator is not only benevo- lent but holy, and thus, tracing natural and moral law alike to their source while at the same time taking cog- nizance of sin, he concluded that God governs this world by laws much mightier in their sweep than is ordinarily apprehended, and that these so cross and co-operate as to secure the accomplishment of the divine purpose, in spite of apparent contradictious and interruptions. The FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 105 conclusion of the whole matter was that God's moral nature makes man both moral and responsible. And if this were true, religion could not be what Morell's "Philosophy of Eeligion," a rationalistic book imbued with transcendentalism, antipodal in its teachings to Combe's "Constitution of Man," and also widely read, taught that it was: namely, the possession of certain religious intuitions, the examination of these by the reason, and the rising by reflection upon them from the particular to the general. No sooner did McCosh's heavy though pleasant labors in founding congregations of the Free Church throughout the district assigned to him relax a little, than he be- gan the composition of a book for the purpose of setting forth this line of thought. The result was " The Method of the Divine Government, Physical and Moral." During the period of writing, the author received much encour- agement from his intimate college friend, William Hanna. It was he, likewise, who aided in the work incidental to publication. The author showed his book in manuscript to Dr. Cunningham and Dr. James Buchanan. Both approved, and the latter suggested some changes which were adopted. The volume was published in 1850, and through Dr. Guthrie copies were sent to the two Scotch- men then most eminent in the world of abstract thought, Sir William Hamilton and Hugh Miller. The former announced his decision at once: "Aloof from any dif- ference of opinion, and though I have as yet only read the work in part, it appears to me worthy of the highest encomium, not only for the excellence but for the ability with which it is written. It is refreshing to read a work so distinguished for originality and soundness of think- 106 JAMES MCCOSH ing, especially as coming from an author of our own country." Hugh Miller said, in the " Witness," that the work was of the "compact and thought-eliciting com- plexion which men do not willingly let die: and we promise such of our readers," he continued, "as may possess themselves of it, much entertainment and in- struction of a high order, and a fund of solid thought which they will not soon exhaust." Many of the author's personal friends had thought that it was risky to publish so stout a volume as a first venture; but under the sanction of men like Hamilton and Miller, the first edition was exhausted in six months. An American edition was published very soon afterward by the Carters, and that, too, sold rapidly. The book passed through twenty editions in less than forty years and still has a sale in both Great Britain and America. Time, therefore, may be said to have passed its judgment upon the " Divine Government." The book succeeded for two reasons, because it was timely, and because it had intrinsic worth of a high order. Although Hamilton had spent twenty years expounding Kant, though Coleridge's " Aids to Eeflection " had attractively presented transcen- dentalism, and though Carlyle was turning German thought into English literature, yet German speculation had for all that exercised little or no influence on the British public. Cousin had been rather the fashionable novelty, and the "Positive Philosophy" was attracting attention. The distinction between Mental and Natural Philosophy, which was then well-nigh universal, is most enlightening for the comprehension of contemporaneous opinion as to the classification of the sciences, their rela- tion to each other, and to philosophy. From this some- FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 107 what circumscribed and chaotic condition of thought, the two tendencies noted above had already emerged, each in its own way doing great harm. McCosh was not con- cerned to write anything which would be in the air ; he desired to combat, and did attack concrete thinking as it then existed. Consequently, although it is possible to trace in this his first volume the origins of all his sub- sequent philosophical writing, the book is in no proper sense a constructive essay. The style is easy and flow- ing, popular and in places picturesque, sometimes even rhetorical as the taste of the time required. The con- tents display the writer's most striking characteristics : passionate earnestness to battle for the right, keen per- ception of an enemy's snares and wiles, catholic compre- hension of the intellectual state among those whom he seeks to win. His readers were in the main not philo- sophical experts, but laymen; professional men in law, medicine, and theology, but not metaphysicians ; merchants, teachers, bankers, the thoughtful multitude which wants to know in the vernacular, and dislikes the fog of techni- cal terms too often used by experts to hide the lack of definition in their conceptions. Such men rose from the perusal of the " Divine Government " with the assurance that they were more reasonable in their Christian faith than those who sought to substitute for it a vague materialistic interpretation of the universe. In later years its author thought the volume " lumpish," and disliked the passages he had introduced to win readers not disposed toward philosophy. He felt that he could either have lengthened or have abridged it profitably, but like every man with a message to deliver, he was unwilling to tamper with what had been his best work at the time it was done. 108 JAMES MCCOSH In 1850, the year in which the " Method of the Divine Government" was issued, the British government estab- lished in Ireland a Queen's University for the promotion of non-sectarian education. It included three colleges, situ- ated respectively at Galway, Cork, and Belfast. That in the last-named city was the strongest, and there were many candidates for its chairs. An old Edinburgh University friend of the author, Professor Gibson of the Theological Seminary in Belfast, sent a copy of McCosh's "Divine Government " to Lord Clarendon, the famous Whig states- man, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This was done on the professor's own responsibility and without the knowl- edge of his classmate. The volume was accompanied by letters recommending McCosh for the vacant chair of Logic and Metaphysics in Belfast, both from the sender and from the president of the college. The recipient sat down on a Sunday morning to glance through the volume, and becoming interested read throughout the whole forenoon, forgetting to go to church. Convinced that such a book could come only from the pen of a competent and sound thinker, the Earl inquired further as to its writer's qualifi- cations as a teacher. The replies were enthusiastic, and McCosh was appointed to the professorship without any application on his own part, directly or indirectly. The letter informing him of the fact was therefore a surprise, and threw him into a dilemma. On the one hand, he was reluctant to leave his ministerial office ; on the other hand, he had the opportunity to follow his natural bent, to cul- tivate his aptitude for metaphysics, and to exercise a pow- erful influence on the opinions of young men. He turned for advice to Thomas Guthrie and Hugh Miller, both of whom felt he should at least consider the offer with care. FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 109 Professor Gibson wrote on October 4, 1851 : " I can readily sympathize with you in your perplexity. It is a serious thing to abandon, under any circumstances, the direct work of the ministry, and the step should not be taken unless the way were made plain. There is no doubt, how- ever, but the person who may fill the vacant chair will be brought into immediate contact with the future pastors of the church. " Such considerations induced McCosh to pay a visit to Belfast, in order to see how the position and its opportu- nities might appear on closer inspection. He found that there existed considerable local jealousy, a feeling directed not so much against himself or the doctrine he had ex- pounded, as against the introduction to so important an office of a stranger from over the sea. Careful scrutiny showed that the whole movement turned about the dis- appointment of one man, who had considered himself the most prominent candidate. Being an editor, his journal had been able to create the antagonism without revealing its true cause. Professor Gibson, who was McCosh's host, had invited a company of gentlemen to dine with his friend, carefully selecting those whose favorable opinion would be most influential in the community, among them Dr. Cooke, the leading Presbyterian clergyman of the city. After dinner, the host, with a somewhat quizzical expres- sion, addressed his guest very pointedly, and inquired whether he was familiar with the Irish custom of singing at that hour. "Without awaiting an answer he introduced his son, a lad with a fine voice, who immediately began to sing Thackeray's now well-known ballad, which had just been written to satirize the Irish exclusiveness that had flickered up in relation to the recent appointment, and 110 JAMES MCCOSH which had been published in the latest number of " Punch." The verses and introduction, as there printed, are as follows : THE LAST IRISH GRIEVANCE. On reading of the general indignation occasioned in Ireland by the appointment of a Scotch Professor to one of HER MAJESTY'S Godless Colleges, MASTER MOLLOY MOLONY, brother of THADDEUS MOLONY, ESQ., of the Temple, a youth only fifteen years of age, dashed off the following spirited lines : As I think of the insult that 's done to this nation, Red tears of rivinge from me faytures I wash, And uphold in this pome, to the world's daytistation, The sleeves that appointed PROFESSOR M'COSH. I look round me counthree, renowned by exparience, And see midst her childthren, the witty, the wise, Whole hayps of logicians, poets, schollars, grammarians, All ayger for pleeces, all panting to rise ; I gaze round the world in its utmost diminsion ; LARD JAHN and his minions in Council I ask, Was there ever a Government-pleece (with a pinsion) But children of Erin were fit for that task ? What, Erin beloved, is fhy fetal condition? What shame in aych boosom must rankle and burrun, To think that our countree has ne'er a logician In the hour of her deenger will surrev her turrun ! On the logic of Saxons there 's little reliance, And, rather from Saxon than gather its rules, I 'd stamp under feet the base book of his science, And spit on his chair as he taught in the schools ! FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 111 false SIR JOHN KANE, is it thus that you praych ine? I think all your Queen's Universitees bosh ; And if you 've no neetive Professor to taych me, I scawurn to be learned by the Saxon M'Cosh. There's WISEMAN and CHUME, and His Grace the Lord Primate, That sinds round the box, and the world will subscribe ; J T is they '11 build a College that 's fit for our climate, And taych me the saj'crets I burn to imboibe ! 'T is there as a Student of Science I '11 enther, Fair Fountain of Knowledge, of Joy, and Contint ! SAINT PATHKICK'S sweet Statue shall stand in the centher, And wink his dear oi every day during Lint. And good DOCTOR NEWMAN, that praycher unwary, 'T is he shall preside the Academee School, And quit the gay robe of ST. PHILIP of Neri, To wield the soft rod of ST. LAWRENCE O'TOOLE ! The stranger's amazement, not to say consternation, under the amused observation of the merry company, was a better introduction to their good graces than any other which could have been devised by his host. When it was announced that the verses were by no less a man than Thackeray, the guest was quite as merry as the others. The poem was copied into all the local journals, and dissipated all opposition in the truly Irish way, a fit of laughter. Soon afterward, McCosh accepted the ap- pointment, and when he removed to Belfast he was re- ceived with heartiness and true Irish kindness. The first care of the new professor was to fix upon the method he should follow in his teaching. He had no 112 JAMES MCCOSH faith whatever in an argument for the teaching of mental science sufficiently common, both then and now, that even if there be no truth in its subject-matter, it is fitted to brace and discipline the mind. Throughout life he remained firm in the conviction which in later years he thus expressed : If truth is not aimed at and gained, the tendency will be to bewilder the mind, and the end will be a feeling of disappointment, discontent, and ennui. There will always be a painful contrast drawn between the solid results reached in modern physical science and the inanity and emptiness of mere speculation, and the student in his struggles will be as one that beateth the air. It is a realistic philosophy founded on the facts of our nature that is fitted profitably to exercise the minds of young men, to stimulate and cultivate their observing and think- ing powers, and to send them forth with important prin- cipies incorporated into their very being, to interest and guide them through all their future lives. Trained in the Scottish school of philosophy, he was not satisfied either with its methods or with its results. It seemed to him, when confronted with the solemn responsibility of training unformed and receptive minds, that he should in the main follow the experimental method, emphasizing what he found by introspection in his own mind, and in that of others as he could discover it, either by personal intercourse with his fellow-men, or by the perusal of the best biographies. This prin- ciple he sought to follow in his teaching of philosophy in the wider sense of Psychology and Metaphysics. But he had also to teach Logic, and in that department espe- FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 113 cially he felt the method of the Scottish school to be loose and unscientific. This had been pointed out by both Hamil- ton and Whately, who sought to restore both theoretically and practically the rigid correctness of Aristotle. Accordingly, in the composition of his lectures, Pro- fessor McCosh strove earnestly to supply the omissions of the Scottish school. In his conclusions, Psychology was held to be the first discipline of all mental science. In constructing a system he gave a new and improved arrangement of the relations which the mind can dis- cover, which he held to be those of identity, of whole and parts, of comprehension, of resemblance, of space and time, of quantity and action, of property and causation. Following Aristotle, he introduced into his teaching a discussion of the phantasy or pictorial power ; and from his own speculations he brought forward what he called the recognitive power, that by which the idea of an event happening in the past is obtained. The mental powers he divided into two classes, the cognitive and the motive, including under the latter the feelings, the conscience, and the will. What was then designated as Metaphysics he sought to strip of the mystery which had been thrown around it, regarding that department of mental science as concerned with the fundamental laws of the intellect- ual faculties. As to Logic, he became persuaded, after a long course of careful reading and reflection, that no im- provement was possible in that portion of it which deals with reasoning, but he was otherwise impressed with that part which deals with the notion in thought and form in language. Accordingly, he examined that divi- sion of his subject with interest and zeal, and concluded that in the notion were three simple forms, the singular, 8 114 JAMES MCCOSH the abstract, and the general, with a fourth, which was a compound of these. These views he developed in the treatise on Logic, which he afterwards published. Queen's College had not, of course, the prestige of the ancient universities, like Dublin, Edinburgh, Oxford, or Cambridge ; but it had a very enthusiastic, ambitious, and active body of students, young men for the most part who had no particular influence of birth or wealth, but who knew that the authorities, in their zeal for securing the most efficient public service possible, were scouring all the institutions of learning, and that their chance in a new institution would be better than in an older one. Among such students, Professor McCosh was able to arouse a lively interest, and one more general, as he always felt, than any he was afterwards able to awaken in America. It was his delight to encourage the most promising, to stimulate their ambition, and to assist them in securing employment suited to their powers. One portion of his method as a teacher, and that upon which he laid the greatest stress, was his requirement of written work from every student of his class. These papers he criticised, and such portions as seemed original or excellent in any way he was accus- tomed to read to the class as a whole. This exercise brought him into very close contact with his students. He was fond of examining their aptitudes and characters, partly from human sympathy, partly as a portion of what may be called his laboratory work. From the first he was astute in his judgments, and his greatest pleas- ure was to see his predictions verified. No one can have so vivid a picture of a great teacher as his pupils. Two of the most distinguished have recorded their impressions FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 115 of Professor McCosh as lie appeared and taught in Belfast, and one of them has added an account of his other activi- ties at the same time. The first of these relations is by Sir Eobert Hart, whose extended fame as the director of the Chinese custom-house was a source of unceasing satis- faction to his former teacher. Professor McCosh recog- nized his eminence, as only one very able man can recognize another, in the beginning of their relations, guided his studies, and pointed out his career by choos- ing him as the candidate of Queen's College to compete in an examination for a position in the consular service of Great Britain in China, open to all the colleges of the three kingdoms. Hart stood first, received the appoint- ment, went to China, won the confidence of the Chinese by his integrity and ability, and is now the first among all foreigners in the Emperor's service. He has done much for China in the institution of reforms, and is the mainstay of his country's relations to the Empire. Among his many important enterprises, that of establishing an institution of western learning for the Chinese is not the least worthy of mention. The gratification felt by Dr. McCosh when, on the graduation of his son from Princeton, Sir Robert Hart wrote to offer the young man a position in China, was very great. Sir Robert Hart writes as follows : " I have a very vivid recollection of Dr. McCosh's first appearance at the Queen's College, Belfast, in 1851. His name was already on people's lips, and the large class- room in which he was to deliver his introductory address was filled to overflowing, everybody having hurried there to welcome the new arrival, and show Ulster's sympathy with Scotch learning. I can see him as he passed up the hall to the desk in the corner, a tall, broad- 116 JAMES MCCOSH shouldered man, with a fine head and handsome face, somewhat bent forward, and a general look that was more clerical than professional. The paper he then read was long, learned, and eloquent : it spake the thoughts of a man who believed what he said, who regarded men- tal science as the study of studies, and who, as its teacher, magnified his office, and it was pervaded by freshness of mind and clearness of expression. " I presume his lectures at Princeton were the same he delivered at Belfast, but probably retouched and ex- panded. I wonder, however, if he ever took up one point on which I once asked him for an explanation without getting it, and that was the process the mind goes through in questioning, ought there not to be an Interrogative faculty on the list ? He pulled his long nose for a moment, and then left me, but never recurred to the matter. " His lectures were quite captivating, but dealt with very dry subjects, and, although I followed the Logic course at sixteen, and took Metaphysics at seventeen, they interested me so much that for a time my chief ambition was to win the lecturer's commendation, and head the class. I wrote quickly in those days, and so, noting down most of what he said, I was able to repro- duce his own language at examinations and in essays, and with this he was always much pleased. He held that mind and universe, being the creation of the same hand, correspond, that the one knows, and the other is 'known, and that reality corresponds to knowledge. This agreed with what consciousness tells everybody, and supplied a firm foundation to build on. To all of us he was very kind, while somewhat exacting, especially so FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 117 to the more earnest students; and he was also very stern, although readier to help them out of a difficulty than to push them further into it, with the idlers and the inattentive. He used to invite us to his breakfast- table occasionally, and in that way set up a bond of sympathy between his classes and himself which did not exist in other departments. Professors, as a rule, held their heads very high, and it was only in the lecture- room that students came in contact with them. On special occasions he sometimes consented to appear in the pulpit, and then his sermons draped orthodoxy in robes that told all it was Professor McCosh who was preaching. "During my last year at college he talked with me very kindly about my plans for the future, and very frankly told me in what directions he thought I might prove a failure, and in what others a success, but it certainly never occurred to either of us to foresee where the fates would carry us, or what work the future really meant for us. Since parting in 1854, we never again met, and the letters that passed between us have not been numer- ous. He always evinced a very friendly interest in my person and in my work, and on my side I always cher- ished the hope of seeing him again, and looked forward with very pleasant anticipations to visiting him at Princeton when crossing America some time on my way to Europe, but the dear old man is dead, and the ex- pected meeting will not come off as planned." The other account is by Dr. Macloskie, professor of Biology in Princeton University. It displays with great fulness the characteristic will-power and tenacity of 118 JAMES MCCOSH purpose which Dr. McCosh displayed in championing what he believed to be right, whether it was popular or not. " We were a noisy crowd of undergraduates who were assembled, somewhere about the year 1855, in the Library of Queen's College, Belfast, for the reception of the noblemen, distinguished judges and divines, whom her gracious Majesty had sent as Triennial Visitors of the Institution. The group about myself set themselves to the interesting problem of determining by personal inspection which of the great men on the platform was the finest-looking, and possibly there was some prejudice in our unanimous decision that the handsomest and most commanding of them all was our own Professor McCosh. Yet even then he was beginning to show the studious stoop which somewhat marred his noble bearing. We were also well aware how much his personality of mind preponderated over President and Vice-president and our other distinguished professors in the administration of the college ; and when the news spread that the only Professor whom we regarded as a Black Sheep had been detected in his delinquencies, and had decamped, we learned that it was McCosh who had secured the evi- dence and raised such a stir that the culprit adopted the better half of valor. Hence the Doctor's name be- came a terror to evil-doers; and in his class-room the most unruly of the students was absolutely quiet. " His class exercises and lectures were then at their best. He was not good at declamation in public; there was a slight hesitancy in his extempore utterances on the platform, and perhaps too much logic and too little " padding " for popular assemblages. But in expounding FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 119 philosophy or drilling students the hesitancy disappeared; and his written lectures and carefully prepared sermons were very fine, not even omitting " padding " or illustra- tions of high order. As, a few days ago, I sat beside his coffin in his library there rushed up before my memory the lecture on the Association of Ideas in which he described a funeral, the death-scene, the hearse and the mourners, and all the accessories, as here realized over himself. Before leaving home on that morning of the funeral I had stated that I would read the passage of Scripture from which he preached about thirty years ago at the opening of Lecumpher Church (County London- derry, Ireland) ; whereupon my wife promptly told me what was the subject of the sermon ; and on my inquir- ing how she knew that, she replied that her friend, Mrs. Eobson, had been present, and had afterwards given her an account of it. It is not bad preaching that makes an impression lasting even at second-hand for thirty years. And in fact it was a sermon that none but a great man and a true Christian could preach, showing expository power, fire, and poetic imagination, and exhibiting Christ alone as the sinner's Friend. Another of his best appear- ances was before the Young Men's Association in Bel- fast, where he gave lectures on Kenan's " Life of Jesus," shortly after its publication. I have before me a news- paper cutting of the first of these lectures, and I regard it as the finest specimen known to me of vigorous and profitable apologetics. It would be as racy and accep- table in 1894 as it was in 1864. I would also add that all his college lectures, as well as his philosophical books, are illuminated with " bits " in defence of Christian truth, which greatly helped the faith of his students. 120 JAMES MCCOSH "Among the community at large he was singularly active in promoting good objects, and his fertile mind was always devising new schemes for advancing morality and religion. During all his life his plans never lay dormant; but so soon as his mind was clear about the plan, he attempted its execution. In this way he did not fail to disturb the peace of those who wished to be let alone; so that whether we judge him by the good he attempted, or by the sort of opposition he encountered, the verdict will be the same. In the year of the Great Revival (1859), whilst some worthy men held aloof, or even attempted to condemn the movement, and to fore- bode evil results, Professor McCosh was active in trying to give it a right direction. He conducted Bible classes, and encouraged others to the same. One of his Bible classes, which required long journeys across Belfast, was at Lepper's Row, for the mill- workers, where with the help of his distinguished pupil, Mr. Thomas Sinclair, he started the organization which has developed into Dun- cairn Church. About the same date he united with Rev. L. E. Berkeley in founding the Bible and Colportage Society of Ireland, which has ever since continued to send trained missionaries with the word of God and other Christian literature to all parts of that country. McCosh to the last regarded colportage as the most suitable form of evangelization for the circumstances of Ireland. It was the sight of the great philosopher going about in Belfast with his collecting book in hand trying to secure support for colporteurs, that first made me a convert to the cause. "The ecclesiastical condition of Ireland was at that time anomalous: the rich Episcopalian minority being FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 121 sustained as the Established Church; a sop thrown to the Presbyterian middle-class minority in the shape of a Eegium Donum or partial endowment; which helped them to acquiesce in the wrong done to the Koman Catholic majority, who were poor and left out in the cold. When the right time arrived Dr. McCosh lectured and wrote in favor of Disestablishment and Disendow- ment, and argued from his experience in Scotland for the inauguration of a Sustentation Fund by the Irish Pres- byterians. This was the opening of a struggle, which ended in the carrying out of all his views, greatly to the furtherance of religion as the people of Ireland now con- fess. But he gave offence by his first advocacy of such measures, and he was reproached with intermeddling in what he as a foreigner could not understand. After disendowment had become an accomplished fact, and McCosh had gone to America, one of the ecclesiastical leaders said to me that the incident in his own public career which he most bitterly regretted was an unkind speech which he had delivered against McCosh in the debate on disestablishment. This may go beside the fact that the American ecclesiastic who wrote most severely against Dr. McCosh for his advocacy of susten- tation, afterwards delivered an enthusiastic eulogy of him at an annual meeting of Princeton Theological Seminary. It is pleasant to recall these things now that all the actors are gone to their reward. McCosh's utterances on behalf of a Sustentation Fund in America were the sequel of his observing the benefits of such measures in Scotland and Ireland; and notwithstanding opposition his proposals are already bearing fruit in this country It was characteristic of the man not to be 122 JAMES MCCOSH frightened by personal criticism from the advocacy of a good cause (and I have never known him to advocate what was not good). " During my student-days the great work on ' Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation ' was published under the joint authorship of Dr. McCosh and Dr. George Dickie. I call it a great work as my verdict after having read it over again within the last year. The contributions of both authors were excellent, though possibly one of them may not have estimated at its full value the share of his colleague. Dickie was a man greatly beloved, of fine scientific genius, and a Christian through and through, in his quiet manner a contrast to McCosh, and he put into this book the careful observa- tions of his life-time. The book, though presenting what I regard as the best summary of the old argument for Natural Theology, would not apply in our time without some readjustment. Its ' Typical Forms,' borrowed from Goethe and other Nature-Philosophers of the last cen- tury, would need to be transformed into the Types or Phyla by heredity of our day ; and its ' special ends ' are very like Darwin's ' survival of the fittest,' but giving prominence to the principle of Design, which Darwin so carefully eliminated, and which is now forcing its way back even into Evolution-Biology. Dickie's method of argument by marshalling long hosts of carefully observed facts, which point towards the goal, is so strangely sug- gestive of Darwin's method, that if the relative dates of their works were reversed, one might imagine that Dickie copied Darwin. " As McCosh was the only name then known to the public for authorship, he got the lion's share of the FIRST EPOCH OF A LIFE-WORK 123 praise ; Dickie's share was naturally overlooked, and he felt disappointed. Some of the Dublin University pro- fessors remarked to me at the time that the mistake con- sisted in not publishing two books ; as the part of each, if made a separate work, would have been more popular than their joint production. What really ruined the run of this book was the appearance soon after its publication of Darwin's ' Origin of Species/ which carried the whole controversy into new regions. This may explain, in part, the hostility to Darwinism of my revered friend, Dr. Dickie, whose carefully drawn and really sound lines of argument were overwhelmed by the new theory ; just as Louis Agassiz, in the New World, was annoyed to find all the speculations which had lifted him to emi- nence buried by the same influence. Asa Gray tried to show to the American people that Darwinism was prob- ably true, and was quite consistent with Christianity ; but Gray's influence was confined to scientific circles, and he had as little success in his efforts to Darwinize the American public as he had in his effort to lead Dar- win himself back to theism. Agassiz was the scientific oracle, and when he called Darwinism infidelity, the pop- ular response was : Just so. " It was in this juncture that McCosh showed his char- acteristic readiness to learn, his honesty in discarding his published opinions, and his courage. First in his 'Christianity and Positivism,' he pointed out the reli- gious bearing of Darwinism, and signified his acceptance of it when properly understood, and he followed this up by a series of contributions and booklets, as 'Develop- ment : what it can do, and what it cannot do,' and by his paper before the Presbyterian Alliance in Philadel- 124 JAMES MCCOSH phia, 1880. He knew enough science to keep clear of mistakes on that side, and he got all his later works read in proof by some of his scientific friends; so that his writings are respected by scientists, and they always commanded a hearing from the public. During those years there was much agitation among the churches about Darwinism, or as we have come more conveniently to term it, Development or Evolution. Our Methodist brethren dismissed one of their professors, and the Southern Presbyterians dismissed another for teaching it ; a good and wise divine of our own made a dangerous mistake when he published a book on the subject, treat- ing it as if it were a theological or anti-theological dogma, himself grievously misunderstanding it (as non-scientific writers nearly always do), and so far misleading the peo- ple that an attempt was made in the Presbyterian Church to do for Evolution what another ecclesiastical body once attempted to do for the movement of the earth. I could give many illustrations of the blunders and bad spirit which I observed among able Christian men on this ques- tion, and the brunt of the storm fell on Dr. McCosh, whose religious sincerity was sometimes questioned. " But these matters may now rest. He, by his writings, averted a disastrous war between science and faith, and in ' his ' college, men have studied Biology without discarding their religion. At length over all America a happy modus vivendi has been reached ; whilst the intelligent public are not sure whether Evolution is sound or erroneous, they are convinced that it is not dangerous to Christian- ity. I suspect that future writers will represent this as the best service that Dr. McCosh or any other Christian apologist has rendered in our day." CHAPTER IX PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 1856-1868 '"PHE benevolent and religious work of Dr. McCosh during his residence in Belfast deserves more than passing mention. As is so often the case with strong natures, his avocations were as useful and arduous as the business to which he had devoted his life. His social connections were from the beginning very extensive, men and women of all classes recognizing in him that vigor- ous humanity which transcends the limitations of birth and station in all directions. Accordingly, he secured invaluable assistance from every social rank. One of the outcast districts in the great manufacturing city was Smithfield, and in that slum quarter, with the assistance of two noble co-workers, Miss Stevenson and Miss Simms, he established a school which grew to have six teachers and sometimes as high as six hundred pupils. Though it was ultimately connected with the national system, the teachers were then as always expected to in- culcate piety and morality both by precept and example. Nearly two- thirds of the scholars were of Koman Catholic families, and sometimes the priests grew alarmed at the possible religious influence which might be exerted over the members of their flocks, at intervals even forbidding their attendance at school. But such episodes were of 126 JAMES MCCOSH short duration, and the school continued to thrive until it was firmly established. To a man of Dr. McCosh's ardent piety, such philan- thropic work seemed secular, and he yearned for more spiritual exercise. Selecting as a coadjutor Mr.- Thomas Sinclair, his ablest student at the time, he began in a large, neglected quarter of the city the work of building up a congregation and organizing a church. Visiting from house to house, they inquired for the Presbyterian families which they knew to be sparsely scattered through the neighborhood, and when one was found the well- known name of the younger man served as an introduc- tion for both. These families had for the most part come from the country, and sadly needed pastoral attention. If any proved indifferent, Dr. McCosh suggested communi- cating with their former pastors, and, as he soon had an extensive acquaintance with the ministers throughout the north of Ireland, he would thus have been able to establish a personal influence. But ordinarily even the most careless were startled by the thought of permitting those they had loved in their country homes to be in- formed as to their present condition, and consented to reform. A little knot of regular hearers was soon gath- ered in a school-room secured for the purpose. With his old habits of parochial visitation strong upon him, Dr. McCosh then began a regular canvass of the quarter, pass- ing no door without a summons. The Eoman Catholics were at first very hostile, but as he avoided all contro- versial questions he made many warm friends among even them. He was fond of recalling that they were never unwilling to talk both of the Saviour and of his love for sinners, and especially anxious that the Protes- PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 127 tants who attended no place of worship should be cared for. Concerning the latter, he thus obtained much in- valuable information, and within a few months he had collected an audience of a hundred and fifty for his regu- lar services. On one occasion only was a threatening demonstration made against the two evangelists. They wisely avoided a conflict, but as they displayed no fear the surly working-men who threatened them dispersed. Choosing his opportunity, Dr. McCosh made ready to organize his congregration, and to that end invited the people on a certain week-night to hear a sermon from Mr. Killen, a clergyman located at no great distance in the country. They came and listened eagerly. On the next Lord's Day, their leader plumply suggested that they should elect officers, and call the preacher. They were amazed, and at first declared themselves utterly unable to pay a salary ; but finally they yielded to persuasion, and took the proposed steps. The benevolent and wealthy father of young Mr. Sinclair came forward at the crisis, and erected a church and school-house, thus giving the final impulse to a movement well started. The congrega- tion soon became numerous and strong. Dr. McCosh was among the first to recognize a fact which in our day is thoroughly understood, that the hold of the saloon upon the masses lies partially in its social attractiveness. His intimacy with working-men convinced him that their intemperance was often inci- dental to the desire for relaxation, which took them to the comfortable and cheerful resorts where drink is sold. Accordingly, he interested his friends in a project to pro- vide the temperate working-men with a similar meeting- place, where drink was not sold. A house was secured 128 JAMES MCCOSH and furnished for the purpose ; the men who frequented it were made to feel a sense of responsibility and pro- prietorship. Dr. McCosh gave his constant personal supervision to the enterprise, and the place soon became popular. Many were preserved from temptation, and the organizer felt amply repaid for his labors in the opportunities he found for the study of human character, which in its different phases was the subject-matter of his investigations. In fact, he looked upon such observa- tion of mankind, which to many others would be casual, not merely as instructive amusement but as the indispen- sable complement of his metaphysical speculations. Probably the most important of Dr. McCosh's avoca- tions was the scientific study of educational systems in their relation to the people. The inhabitants of Belfast, which is a great manufacturing centre, and confessedly the most enterprising town in Ireland, were much like those of similar cities elsewhere. The Scotch professor found himself at home among them from the beginning, for they seemed to him refined and highly intelligent; taste and culture being fostered by the Royal Academical Institution, which they had founded for the purpose. In their manners he found them to combine the stability of the Scotch with the liveliness of the Irish, very many of the upper classes being, in fact, of Scottish origin. The successful and wealthy families, like those of Great Britain, were aristocratic and exclusive, and during the American War of the Rebellion, then raging, they sym- pathized for the most part, like the English upper classes, with the South. In this, Dr. McCosh was utterly op- posed to them, and he made himself heard with no uncertain sound. The plain people, on the other hand, PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 129 were earnest in their devotion to the cause of liberty, and so also were their friends and relatives among the Ulster farmers. The classes of Queen's College had many members from among these enterprising, indus- trious, serious people, and Professor McCosh became deeply interested in them, studying their needs with care. In so doing he was thrown much with the Pres- byterian clergy. The Free Church movement in Scot- land had been followed with great sympathy by the orthodox Presbyterians in Ireland, and the consequence was that a movement for establishing more rigid tests had been successfully inaugurated. Those who would not subscribe to the Westminster Confession, a considerable number, were compelled to leave the ^church, and they formed a denomination which was similar in character to the American Unitarians of the Channing type. The leader of the orthodox was Dr. Cooke, the ablest of the Unitarians was Dr. Montgomery, both men of great power. Irish Presbyterianism, therefore, became rigidly Calvinistic, and as the people were now harmonious, they also became combative, in particular they met the Roman Catholic intolerance with equal narrowness, emphasizing the political tenets of the Eevolution of 1688, and iden- tifying themselves with the Orange societies until the enmity between the two classes had become bitter. The Presbyterians were the stronger, and their aggressive attitude barred the way to any missionary work among the Roman Catholics. This was a source of disquietude to McCosh, and he often censured the Protestants severely for repelling rather than wooing their fellow-countrymen. Of course the Presbyterian clergy were quite as resolute as he was. Their people were shrewd, intelligent, and 9 130 JAMES MCCOSH laborious, but poor, so that their stipends were small, and the Eegium Donum, a gift from the government of some seventy pounds, which each settled pastor received as a supplement to his salary, was of great importance to them. Hence they stood in a conservative relation to the state, were stanch in their attachment to Church and creed, and polemic in their attitude generally. Dr. Mc- Cosh was not the man to fight with negative weapons. He desired the abolition of the Eegium Donum, in order to give the clergy their independence, but suggested the raising of a great sustentation fund to take the place of the government bounty, as had been done in Scotland to make good the absence of .state support to the Free Church. In order to counteract the tendency to narrow- ness and exclusiveness which sundered the various classes of the Irish population, he devoted himself to the reform of education, both primary and intermediate. This involved him in a great agitation, but throughout he kept his intimacy with the able ministers of Belfast, Dr. Cooke, Dr. Morgan, Mr. McNaughton, Mr. William Johnston, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Knox, a fact most credit- able to them and to him. Dr. Cooke was a thorough conservative, eloquent as an orator, magnetic as a leader, abounding in pointed wit, in readiness of repartee, and in genuine feeling. Of course he and Dr. McCosh disagreed on vital points, and the latter was often exposed to the artillery of his opponent's wit, but it was characteristic of both that their final parting was emotional even to tears. The force of the double agitation against state interference in the Church, and an imperfect educational system, lay of course in its righteousness. The religion of great numbers among the Protestant laboring-classes PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 131 was nothing but a hatred of " Popery," and the faith of the Orangeman was his antagonism to the Romanist. Many of the Orangemen attended no church, and, being powerful and fearless, felt they had done their whole duty when they had defeated their opponents in the too numerous riots which were called Catholic disturbances. The ignorance of the masses was as complete as their indifference, at least in regard to anything beyond the rudiments of education. The primary schools were excel- lent as far as they went, but, leading to nothing, the formal knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic had no civilizing influence. In order to support the colleges, grammar and high schools were essential, but quite as much so in order to foster habits of reading and medita- tion among the masses ; above all, in order to encourage the able and ambitious, an easy path upward must be provided. The material was admirable ; what was needed was the machinery and the emancipation of the most powerful class, the clergy, which might be expected to carry on the work. Thus it was that the two projects, that for a Presby- terian sustentation fund and that for strengthening and completing a national, as opposed to a denominational educational system went hand in hand. Dr. McCosh never claimed to have originated either, but he took up both, and infused new vigor into them. The Sustentation Fund he saw established and increasing to such an extent as to assure him, before he left Ireland, that when the day of disestablishment came and the Eegium Donum was withdrawn, the Presbyterian Church would not be left crippled and inefficient. He was fond of recalling his co-laborers, Sinclair, Gibson, McClure, Hamilton, 132 JAMES MCCOSH Kirk, and others, who were also his intimate and dear friends. His efforts in the cause of Intermediate Educa- tion brought him into contact, not only with these admir- able men, but also with others of even greater eminence. The Endowed Schools were all in the hands of the Irish (Episcopal) Established Church ; consequently, both that body and the Eoman Catholics were opposed to any measures of reform which would strengthen Presby- terianisin. Dr. McCosh wrote a widely circulated pam- phlet advocating the completion of the National System as inaugurated by Lord Derby. Although himself an integral part of it, he thought it imperfect. Nevertheless it seemed to him the best possible in a country so divided, and he took every opportunity of defending it, not only in its then existing form, but also in its proposed exten- sion. It was attacked on the ground of its irreliglon, as being non-sectarian, and Mr. Gladstone, then prime minis- ter, sympathized with those who brought the charge. To Dr. McCosh it seemed that for the sake of diffusing education throughout the country it would be well to take the risk of not providing a sufficient religious train- ing in government institutions, leaving home and church to supplement the school. The more earnest he became, the more he was brought into prominence, and finally he was a champion, making frequent journeys, first to Dublin and then to London, in behalf of his cause. This threw him into closer contact with those who had before been friendly acquaintances, with Mr. Kirk of Keady, with Sir Hugh Cairns, then member of Parliament for Belfast, with Lord Dufferin, and with Lord Meath. The result of their united efforts was to save the National System for many years. This success has been one of the factors PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 133 in the steady elevation of the Irish masses, and of their emancipation from the destructive superstition to which for so long they seemed bound. Of course Dr. McCosh was not forgotten in the land of his birth. In the spring of 1856, his tried and true friend, Dr. Guthrie, wrote gleefully that the directors of the Theological College of the Free Church in Glasgow needed a professor of Apologetics, and that their hopes were centred on the professor of Logic and Metaphysics in Queen's College, Belfast. " There stands Glasgow College," he said, " and I am for making the very best of it. You would make a grand professor, no doubt of that. Then our Church would be much the better of your practical wisdom ; then we would get you among ourselves, no longer sundered by that abominable Irish Channel ; then I think you would like it to be engaged in the direct service of Christ and the Church." This was an honorable and attractive call, and as such re- quired serious consideration, the more so as some oppo- sition was speedily developed among the ultra-conserva- tives of the Free Church, "John Hieland men," as Dr. Guthrie called them, and it might clearly be Dr. McCosh's duty to lead the opposition to a dangerous movement. But, after long and careful deliberation, the offer was declined in these words, which were read to the General Assembly on May 31, 1856 : About eight or nine years ago, after I had, in my own limited sphere, fought the cause of the Free Church, and when public matters had settled down into a quiet state, and my position locally was a little ambiguous, I had occasion, apart from all human counsel, to review myself, 134 JAMES MCCOSH with the view of deciding (so far as man can decide) my future career. I came to the conclusion that, beside the ministerial office, which I was fond of, God gave me but one other means of usefulness, and that he had bestowed one, just one, special talent; and I resolved, instead of dividing my energies, which I had previously done, among several things, henceforth, after discharging my primary duties of preaching and visiting, to devote my remaining life, shorter or longer, to the cultivation of a Christian philosophy. In coming to this conclusion, I did not find it necessary to estimate the extent of my power in this respect ; it was enough for me that it seemed to be my gift bestowed by God, and to be used by me to His glory. I have adhered hitherto to that resolution, and hence my published works and my acceptance of the chair here ; and all my plans for years to come (if so spared, and if not spared, God may raise up a far fitter instrument) are in the same direction, and look to the establishment of a philosophy prosecuted in the inductive manner, resting on facts, and confirmatory or illustrative of true religion. But apparently the General Assembly had become con- vinced that they needed the man. In spite of Dr. McCosh's stand, he was formally elected " to be Professor of Apologetics and Theology in the Divinity Hall at Glasgow." The call seemed urgent, but the unwilling candidate knew himself better than his friends, and firmly declined. The fact was that Dr. McCosh's many activities had made him a personage in Great Britain as well as in Ire- land. One of his interests was the substitution of exami- nations for patronage in the appointment of candidates for the civil service. Having given important assistance PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 135 to that much-needed reform, he was one of the first chosen to be examiners. Among his associates were many men of great eminence in the world of philosophy. One of these was Principal Grant of Oxford, who said that Dr. McCosh's Moral Science Papers were considered by many to be the most judicious of all which were set, and most generously complimented his colleague on a result so satisfactory. This success was not strange, because in his hours of leisure the busy professor and philanthropist was acquiring a thorough knowledge of German, and was using it to become familiar with German philosophy. Without any rigid and enslaving division of his time he was never- theless so diligent and so versatile that he kept steadily onward in many different fields simultaneously. The British thinkers had just discovered the world of German learning, and constructive thought was no longer possible without some familiarity with it. McCosh was immersed in a new philosophical investigation, and determined to know what had been done on similar lines among Conti- nental thinkers. In a few years he became adept and to such a degree that his horizon was far wider than that of any except a very few of his contemporaries. Aware of all that had been accomplished in the home of Kant, it was a natural curiosity which prompted him to journey thither. Some account has already been given of the volume entitled " Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation." Dr. McCosh himself recalled its origin and fate as follows : As I walked or rode out in summer to visit my coun- try people, I looked at the trees and shrubs. Notwith- standing that these were so torn by the wind or by cattle, 136 JAMES MCCOSH I noticed that there was some sort of order in their growth, and in the forms that they took. I had never studied botany, which was not in the College Course, and in Glas- gow and Edinburgh was taught in the summer when we had gone to our homes. Despite the difficulties I felt, I resolved to study the forms of plants, and made myself, if not a scientific botanist, at least an enthusiastic amateur, observing some fresh points which botanists had not noticed. I found that, when normally grown, the leaf resembled the tree, and that the branches took the same general shape. I saw that the venation of the leaf corre- sponded to the branches of the tree, and to its general ramification. I noticed, in particular, that the veins of the leaf went off at the same angles from the midrib as the branches did from the trunk, and as the smaller branches did from the larger ; that when the angle of the veins was narrow, the leaf became linear, and the whole tree and its branches also became linear ; and that when the angle of the leaf was obtuse, the tree and its branches were also swollen out. I became intensely interested in these discoveries. The tree stood before me as a unity in its branches and in its branch lets and its leaves. 1 1 (Note by Professor Macloskie of Princeton.) " When Dr. McCosh's theory about leaves was first published (1851), it excited interest ; and it is summarized in Balfour's ' Classbook of Botany,' with some suggestions of difficulties because of variations of angles of ramification within the same plant. His argument has been reinforced, and has received scientific expla- nation by the discovery of the continuity of the tissues of leaf and stem. The leaf is now regarded as a projection in a plane surface of the stem, or branch, which bears it ; and their correspondence is not a matter of type but of genetic identity. This fact is demonstrated in Part II. of the splendid Memoir of Gravis on the Vegetative Organs of Urtica Dioica (1886), which was crowned by the Royal Academy of Belgium. Since the branches are a fragmentation or tributary system of the mother-stem, the results of Gravis's investigations amount to an indorsement of McCosh's theory." PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 137 Surrounded by these objects I went out to my parish work, and addressed the people with 'additional zest from having such proofs of the order of the works of the God I served. I did not know German at that time ; but I turned to the ordinary botanical works in English, and could find no traces of such a correspondence of leaf and plant being known. I sought the acquaintance of Dr. Balfour, professor of Botany in the University of Edin- burgh, and was encouraged by him in my researches. I read a paper before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, and another paper before the British Association for the Advancement of Science. They listened to me very re- spectfully ; but they were afraid to commit themselves to my views. I remember that one of them thought that the branches of the tree, instead of going out according to strict mathematical law, went out as they best could. Others looked on my discovery as a pleasant fancy. I challenged my critics to go with me into any botanic gar- den, and I convinced all who had the courage to go with me. Notwithstanding the doubts of British men of Sci- ence, I persevered in my researches in various countries, in different parts of Scotland, in some parts of England and Germany, and on the High Alps. I had the happiness of securing the concurrence of my colleague, Dr. Dickie of Queen's College, Belfast. My views, meanwhile, of the order of nature were en- larging. Dr. Dickie and I agreed to publish a joint book on "Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," in which was expounded the general order which runs through Creation, while we showed that there were special ends served in the different organs of plants. 138 JAMES MCCOSH We expected that this would be a contribution to natural theology. When I went to Berlin in 1858, 1 took this volume with me, and presented copies of it to such men as Alexander von Humboldt and Professor Braun. I have referred elsewhere to the reception given to it by Hum- boldt. I was delighted to find that the views I pre- sented of the forms of plants were already familiar to Dr. Braun and others, and that Dr. Braun had given to his views a mathematical organization, such as I had not done. I confess that along with my joy there was a slight mortification that I could not claim the discovery, which had been previously made by certain German botanists. From this date I gave less time to my botani- cal researches, as I knew that the interesting views which I had presented would be preserved. Dr. McCosh's travels on the Continent have fortunately been described by himself. His first journey to America, though preliminary to the most momentous change of his life, he briefly mentions. Before giving his account of both we may be permitted to give the record of a few more incidents of his Belfast life. Among other distin- guished Scotchmen who had been interested in his career was the Duke of Argyll. They had met frequently and corresponded with more or less regularity as topics of common interest arose in the world of thought. To this friendship was due one of the professor's greatest social pleasures which he thus described: I have not had much intercourse with the aristocracy of the Old World. With one family, however, I was in- PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 139 timate, that of Viscount, afterwards Earl, Dufferin, and now Marquis of Dufferin. His mansion "Clandeboy" was within eleven miles of Belfast. He was a descendant of the great orator Sheridan, a graduate of Oxford, and of a fine literary taste. He had more special tact than any man I have known, a tact, springing not from cunning or deceit, but from a keen sympathy with those he met with, and a desire to gratify them. I believe I owe my acquaintanceship with him to a good word spoken in my behalf by the Duke of Argyll. He was anxious in his retired place to have some literary intercourse. He kept what he called a prophet's chamber for me, and often invited me to dine and spend a day or two with him. He was laying out his demesne, grading it, and forming small lakes, and, as I was fond of these pursuits, he consulted me at times. He provided a good horse for me, and we rode, often galloped, over his extensive grounds. He entertained a large amount of company, and I met with a kind of people whom I did not usually fall in with, noblemen and artists ; and it was a new life to the abstract metaphysician. He honored me on one occasion by inviting me to meet Earl Carlisle, at that time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. There was a very distinguished company, and they all placed me on an equality with themselves. Earl Carlisle drew particu- larly toward me, and we talked much on religious and literary topics. Ever afterwards I was invited to pay my respects to him at the Castle when I visited Dublin, and was commonly asked to dinner. At Clandeboy all was becoming. Every morning there was family worship, in which all the household 140 JAMES MCCOSH was assembled. His Lordship conducted it himself, even when the Bishop of Down and Conner was present. One day as we were riding in the park, after a gallop we loosened reins, and were walking leisurely. I had the courage or impertinence to say to him: "My Lord, I fear you are not fulfilling the end of your life." He looked at me sternly, and asked me somewhat imperiously what I meant. I told him that I said what I meant, and meant what I said. I told him that he had high talents and accomplishments ; that he had extensive patrimonial in- fluence in his descent, and extensive property, and that something great and good was expected of him. "But what," he asked, "do you expect of me?" I at once answered that I expected him to devote himself to states- manship. He inquired thoughtfully and earnestly, "Do you think I have the talents for this work ? " I answered him that I thought he had, and that he had only to de- vote himself to the work to do much good, and rise to distinction. We rode very leisurely the rest of the way to the castle. It was evident that he was thinking ear- nestly. I know not for certain whether this conversation had any influence on his future career, but very soon after he was deep in political affairs. He was sent out to Syria to quell a disturbance. I congratulated him on his return on his success in pacifying Syria. "Yes," said he, "as the sand of the desert is pacified till the next breeze." I did not wonder when this youth rose to be Governor of Canada, and then Governor of India, in both of which positions both he and his most estimable lady did much good. I may be allowed to add that it was thus that I dealt with my higher students, and often stirred them up to high efforts in their various vocations. PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 141 His mother, a granddaughter of Brinsley Sheridan, commonly lived with him. I never knew a son more attached to a mother. I remember on one occasion of his taking me into a quiet room where there was a por- trait of his mother ; and then how he devoted an hour to pouring out his affection, and reciting her high qualities. I believe that he regularly devoted such an hour a sacred one to meditation on his mother. After Lord Dufferin was launched upon his distinguished career, he appears to have cherished the memory of his acquaintance with Dr. McCosh, and among the latter's papers is a letter requesting an opinion on the then absorb- ing question of intermediate education. There are also many charming and intimate letters from the Duke of Argyll, whose correspondence ceased only with the close of his friend's life. The following is characteristic of the relations which existed between them : MACHARIOCH HOUSE, CAMPBELLTOWN, Sept. 21, 1867. MY DEAR DR. McCosH, The sight of the Belfast hills from this coast, as well as the paper you lately sent me containing a letter from you on the Endow- ment question, remind me that I have not yet thanked you for your very kind review and criticism on the Reign of Law. I received it when in the thick of the Reform Discussions in Parliament, and I laid it aside till I should have some leisure to read it with care. Since I came to Scotland I have been as busy as out-of- door pursuits would allow me in preparing an opening address for the Young Men's Christian Association in Glasgow, and this I have just completed. 142 JAMES MCCOSH It gave me great pleasure to find that on the whole our agreement is so great OD the questions raised respecting "Law in the Kealm of Mind." I think that substan- tially we are at one, and I find this impression strength- ened as I read more carefully over again your excellent metaphysical works. I hope during this winter to be able to devote some time to a revised edition (the fifth) of the Keign of Law, when I shall take advantage of the notes so kindly sup- plied to me by you. I am afraid I must avow on the other hand, substan- tial disagreement with you on the Endowment question. I think indeed that " Free churches are the future of the world," and that the upshot of present controversies will be a general severance of churches from Endowment; but though this result may at any time be rapidly precipitated, yet in the ordinary course of events it is still a long way ahead of us. But what I clearly hold is that " the state " is not a person, with the same duties and obligations as an individual; and that there is no violation of any duty in the payment of more churches than one, should other considerations, or existing facts, recommend such a course. It seems to me as clear a proposition as any proposi- tion can be that money derived from a common fund to which men of all creeds contribute, not only may, but ought to be divided on a common and not on an exclu- sive principle of distribution. The state is nothing but an aggregate of individuals, and if they are divided be- tween (what you or I may deem) truth and error, so likewise must be the influence they exert in matters of religion. I confess I do not think it just consistent PUBLIC LIFE IN IRELAND 143 with that primary virtue which Christianity enforces as much as any dogma that all the funds provided by ancient laws for pious uses in Ireland should be appropriated exclusively to the pious use of a small minority of the People. Would the Irish "state," if it were separate, tolerate this distribution? Pray let me have your paper, to be read before the S. S. Association. AKGYLL. CHAPTER X AUTOBIOGKAPHICAL. TEAYELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA TT was on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 18, 1858, that I sailed from Leith on a steamer bound for Hamburg. I had better spare the details of a voyage by no means pleasant, in a strong, clumsy vessel fitted for freight rather than passengers, vigorously ploughing its way through terribly angry waves, bent on tossing us up and down on our berths, and pulling our stomachs into as agitated a state as they themselves were. For our comfort, the stewardess informed us that she had never been out on so fearful a night except once, when one of the ships of their line had been wrecked. It is curious that on such occasions our feeling is apt to be callous- ness. All next day we were in the midst of fearfully agitated waves, which would have looked grand if we could have calmly contemplated them. Beyond them the piercing eye could discover no land on the British or Continental sides. On the third day, the wind was in a balmy humor, and the sea, his passion exhausted, was rocking himself, like a passionate child, to rest. Passing some interesting villages we arrived at Hamburg on Thursday night. Perhaps the most eminent man in intellectual philoso- phy in Berlin, at the time, was Professor Trendelenburg. I attended some of his lectures. His class, which amounted TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 145 to only thirty-three, met at a quarter past the hour, this seems the custom in Germany. He came in quick, a tall, thin, somewhat ungainly, intellectual-looking man. He mumbled so fast, and in so low a tone, that I scarcely heard him, and did not fully understand him. One-half of his students were languid, and took no notes. He is an Aristotelian, and has written fully on the Categories. He invited me to his house, and was very kind to me. I got much instruction from him. For scholarship he may be regarded as the Sir William Hamilton of Berlin, but he had not the impetuosity of the Scotchman. He did much to undermine the supremacy of Hegel. The most striking metaphysician I met with in Berlin was Michelet. He was first pupil and then assistant to the great speculator Hegel. He was an extreme and decided pantheist. He wore spectacles, had rough hair, and had on a somewhat ungainly dress. He began his lectures before he sat down, and after he sat down he rose up as if by impulse. In delivering his lecture, he was now sitting and now standing, waving his hands in all directions, now touching his head with them, and now whirling them all around. His face was now grave and earnest, and anon covered with smiles. The attend- ance in all was only twenty-one, and not more than half of them took notes, but a few big-brained, bewildered- looking fellows drank in the whole discourse greedily. His utterance was clear, and I understood him thor- oughly. He showed that all things are identical, .God and the world, you and me, truth and error. It would have been amusing, had it not been melancholy, to hear a mature man uttering such extravagances. He has for- 10 146 JAMES MCCOSH tunately outlived his day, and now there are few even in Germany who believe in him. I got from him a list of late philosophic works, all of them of a low tendency. After visiting the graveyard together, we drove out to Charlottenburg. There we saw the monument to the late King and Queen, the patriotic Queen who resisted so vigorously the inroads of Napoleon. This is the finest monument to the dead I have ever seen. The repose is so perfect, " She is not dead, but sleepeth." We returned to the city in an omnibus. We had carried on the philosophic discussion all this time. Two ladies in the omnibus joined in it. They had seen me at some religious meeting, and probably knew who Michelet was, and they attacked the Hegelian philosophy, and de- fended Christianity very keenly. Being very wearied I gave up the discussion to them, and sat rejoicing in it, the more pleasantly as I found that the ladies dis- comfited the philosopher. On coming into the city he took me into a cool restaurant. I had been obliged to . think in English, to translate it into German, and turn the answer back into English. I retired to my hotel towards one in the morning, so completely exhausted that it was not till next morning that I understood the message left me by Graf von Goltz, Secretary to the King, offering me a seat in his box in the theatre on the next Sabbath evening. I hastened to explain to the Count my conscientious convictions against theatre-go- ing on the Sabbath, and had difficulty in making him understand me. On that Sabbath evening it was said there was a masked ball in the city, with an attendance of thirty thousand. I also got acquainted with Hengstenberg, an eminent TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 147 evangelical divine at that time. He, like most other distinguished men, had an hour, a Stunde, for receiving visitors. I went at the hour, and found him walking up and down his garden at the rate of at least four miles an hour. I joined him, and we talked of English theology. He approved of the Puseyism, and high churchism at that time prevalent in England, and fight- ing with the rationalism. I could not agree with him, as I believe the Eomanist tendency leads intelligent young men to scepticism, which, as its blankness is discovered, drives people to high churchism. I found Hengstenberg very impetuous, and we had not much pleasant intercourse. The best known physical philosopher in Germany at the time was Alexander von Humboldt; Dr. Sydow introduced me to him. At the time he was living with the King at Potsdam ; but in a few days he came into town, and it was arranged that I should meet with him at his house. He received me most graciously, giving me a seat of honor while he sat beside me. He was rather a small but handsome man, with not a very large, but decidedly marked head. He asked in what language I should wish him to speak, German, French, or English. I told him that I would understand him either in German or French if he spoke slowly, but would take it as a com- pliment if he spoke in English. Upon this he immedi- ately addressed me in my own tongue, with a slightly German accent ; bnt his English flowed easily and grace- fully, and was thoroughly correct grammatically and idiomatically. The story in Berlin was that he was learning his thirtieth language to keep his mind from failing. I had sent a copy of my work on "Typical 148 JAMES MCCOSH Forms in Creation and Special Ends " to him, and I was specially anxious to know what was his opinion of my theory of the forms of plants, that there was a beautiful correspondence between the form of the tree and its several branches on the one hand, and of the leaf and its leaf-stalks on the other. He told me that he had noticed the correspondence, but added that he thought he had discovered two exceptions, one a South American plant which I had never seen, the other the Portugal laurel. I explained to him how I could reconcile to my view certain forms which seemed to be exceptions. Upon this he at once declared that I had established my point, and added, " You may say that I think so to any one." On getting this sanction, I stopped giving so much time to my botanical observations, and turned towards psychical studies, which were ever my favorite ones. After having been with Humboldt a quarter of an hour, and gained my practical end, I proposed to depart ; but he would not allow me. He insisted on my remain- ing with him some time longer. We discussed all sorts of topics secular and sacred. He passed on to discourse of the injurious imputations which had been cast on his religious principles by certain Jesuits, and in doing so, spoke in terms of strong indig- nation of the way in which the great German Leibnitz had sought to prejudice the Electress of Brandenburg against the English Newton, because of the supposed irreligious tendencies of his works. He branched off into the latest discoveries in science ; showed me curious natural objects which he had picked up in various parts of the world , and he encouraged me to speak of religion and of the reconciling work of the Saviour. TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 149 Finding that I was going to Heidelberg, and that I would there see Bunsen, 1 he sent through me his warm regards to him. " You are going to visit Bunsen," he said ; " you must by all means do so ; " and he proceeded to speak of him in the language of the greatest admira- tion and affection, adding, " I do not understand some of his writings, but I have formed the very highest opinion of his Bibelwerk." It is not for one who had so imper- fect an acquaintance with Humboldt as I had to attempt to reconcile what he said to me with harsh expressions about Bunsen, scattered throughout his letters to Varnhagen. Were his feelings toward Bunsen softened in his later days, or was he rejoicing in the Bibelwerk because he saw that it would further very different ends from those contemplated by Bunsen ? In speaking of the controversy going on between Brewster and Whewell as to the plurality of worlds with living inhabitants, he expressed his astonishment that Whewell should have taken up the position so perversely, of denying that the planets and stars must be inhabited. He thought it very unreasonable to suppose that God should have left so many material bodies uninhabited. I regarded him as here expressing unequivocally his belief in the existence of the good God. On parting he held my hands for several minutes, and I pressed him strongly with the obligations and privi- leges of the gospel. It was on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 4, that I waited on Bunsen at his pleasant villa, near Heidelberg, with a letter of introduction, with which I had been i Christian Karl Josias, Chevalier von . . . The distinguished scholar and diplomatist. 150 JAMES MCCOSH favored, from the Duke of Argyll, a special friend of Bunsen's. As I went up to his residence, a carriage passed out having in it a gentleman of a singularly grave and noble countenance, and I was sure this must be Bunsen himself. Not finding him at home, I left my card and introductions, and in the same evening I had a kind letter 1 from him, inviting me to visit him next day, and pressing me to give him as much of my time as possible. Next day I secured my first interview with him, and on each successive day, to the Sunday following, inclusive, I waited on him by appointment, at dinner, or for coffee, or for tea, and on each occasion had length- ened conversations with him. And what a talker ! Interesting as many of his writ- ings are, they are not nearly so much so as was his con- versation. The man himself was an object of the highest interest to all who could appreciate him. With a head that rose like a dome, he had a heart from which there glowed a genial heat as from a domestic fire. He talked of education in Germany and in England, of re- ligion, of theology, of philosophy, of the state of the 1 CHABLOTTENBTTKG, 5th Aug. 1858. DEAR SIR, Although I hope to see you this afternoon at 3 o'clock, as you kindly promised to my daughter yesterday, I cannot wait so long to bid you a hearty welcome at Heidelberg 1 I have so long wished to know you personally (as the Duchess of Argyll, our common kind friend, knows) that I am desirous of securing as much of your time as you can bestow upon Charlottenburg. If you make a prolonged stay, I will not monopolize you, but if you should remain here only to-day and to-morrow, I hope you will have your tea with us at h. p. seven both days The most remarkable establishment here is Bunsen's great Laboratory, the greatest, I understand, in Europe. You will find in my very learned and acute (only a little deaf) cousin a man whose simplicity equals his science. Yours sincerely, BUNSEN. TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 151 Romish and Protestant Churches on the Continent, and interspersed the grand theoretical views which he de- lighted to expound with anecdotes of kings, statesmen, philosophers, and theologians of the highest name, with whom he had been intimate. But his noble enthusiasm ever kindled into the brightest flame when he spread out before me his own intended works, as illustrative of the Bible, of philosophy and history, and as fitted to help on the education of the race. I have met with many tal- ented men, with many good men, with not a few men of genius ; but I have had the privilege of holding confiden- tial intercourse with only three whom I reckoned " great men." One, the greatest, I think Dr. Chalmers ever rises up before my memory as a mountain, standing fair, and clear, and large. The second, Hugh Miller, rises as a bold, rocky promontory, covered all over with number- less plants of wild exquisite beauty. The third, Bunsen, stretches out before me wide, and lovely, and fertile, like the plains of Lombardy which I had just passed through before visiting him. I have referred to the fondness with which he dwelt on his contemplated publications. He was now, in his retire- ment, to give to the world the views on all subjects historical, philosophical, and theological which had burst upon him in their freshness when he spent so many of his youthful years in Rome. I confess, however, that, deeply interested as I was in his speculations, as these came forth with such a warmth and radiance from his own lips, I had all the while an impression that he would require to live to an antediluvian age in order to commit all his theories to writing, and also a very strong conviction that his views belonged to the past age rather 152 JAMES MCCOSH than to the present, and that some of them would not, in fact, promote the cause of religion which he had so much at heart. It ever came out, that he drew no dis- tinction between the natural and preternatural. He was a firm believer in mesmerism and clairvoyance (in favor of them he mentioned some circumstances which seemed to me to have no evidential value), and was apt to connect them with the inspiration of the writers of the Bible. 1 He talked in terms of intense affection of Alexander von Humboldt, with whom I had had some intercourse a short time before. On my reporting to Bunsen how kindly Humboldt had spoken of him, he said, "I am bringing out a certain portion of my Bibelwerk before other parts which should come earlier, in order that it may fall under the eye of Humboldt ere he is removed from us." The way he said this showed the great love he had for Huniboldt ; and he intimated pretty plainly that he hoped the part of the Bibelwerk to which he referred might help to draw Humboldt towards deeper religious convictions. Whether any such end was accomplished, I have no means of knowing. I have doubts as to whether the means were fitted to attain the object fondly desired, for Bunsen was already in a very ambiguous position in his own country. Eespected and beloved by all, except the enemies of civil and religious liberty, his 1 In Schleiermacher's letters, written in 1817 (Life, translated by F. Rowan, p. 260), the writer says of animal magnetism: "My opinion, in regard to the nature of these mental phenomena, and to their truth, ia this : any distinction between the natural and supernatural, between the comprehensible and the incomprehensible, I do not, upon the whole, recognize." TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 153 speculations, philosophical or theological, carried, I found, very little weight in Germany. The great divines of the orthodox school, while they loved him for his piety, just regretted the more that in his opinions as to the authen- ticity and inspiration of the Old Testament he was adher- ing to views which had been very prevalent in the earlier part of the century, but had been for years abandoned by all who had given their attention to the subject. The rationalists, who, in the days of their strength, had hated Bunsen for his warm evangelical piety, were rejoicing, now that the tide was against them, that they had in him an unconscious auxiliary in their work of under- mining the inspiration of the Bible; but they set no value whatever on his own speculations and opinions. His venerated name is being extensively used by the rationalists of this country ; it is right that they should know that he ever spoke of rationalism in terms of strongest disapprobation and aversion, and he wished it to be known everywhere that he identified himself with the living evangelical piety of Britain. While Bunsen was able to retain his piety, in spite of the vagueness and wanderings of his speculative opinions, it is difficult to see how any young man, trained in Bunsen's creed, could ever rise to a belief in the Saviour. What I have now said indicates pretty clearly the state of theological belief of late years in Germany. The rationalists of the two last ages, though their immediate power was restricted to their students in the universities, had yet, through them, as they were scattered over the country, spread a most baleful influence, resulting in a general disregard of religion among all classes, beginning with the educated, and going down to the lowest. But 154 JAMES MCCOSH since 1848, when the country became alarmed at the extremes to which infidelity led, there has been a slight reaction in favor of orthodox doctrine and evan- O gelical sentiments. This has been specially felt by students aiming at the pastoral office, who have very much abandoned the old rationalistic and Hegelian pro- fessors, and are crowding the class-rooms of those who defend the inspiration of Scripture, and the old doctrines of salvation by the Cross of Christ. The great German theologians of the age now passing away, and of the present age, have, with unmatched erudition and pro- found speculative ability, defended the Bible from the assaults made upon it; and as it was from Germany we got the bane, so it is from Germany, or rather from Eng- lish writers who can use the stores of German learning, that we must look for the antidote. But to return to Bunsen. I am able to say what I believe I can say of no other with whom I had so much intercourse that we never conversed during these five days, for ten minutes at a time, without his returning, however far he might be off, to his Bible and his Saviour, as the objects that were evidently the dearest to him. Some of niy British readers will be astonished when I have to add, that one evening he told me that he " was not sure about allowing that God is a Being, and that he certainly could not admit that God is a Person." The question will be asked, "How was it possible for one entertaining such theoretical views to love his God and Saviour, as Bunsen seemed to love them, supremely?" Having a considerable acquaintance with the Hegelian philosophy, and having only a short time before listened to the lectures of some of the most devoted disciples of TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 155 that school, I think I can understand this inconsistency, though I would never think of defending it. Bunsen had been trained in the first quarter of this century, when Schelling and Hegel (of whom he always spoke with profound admiration) ruled in the universities, and he had so lost himself in ideal distinctions and nomen- clature that his words were not to be interpreted as if the same expressions had been used by another man. He was forever talking, in Kantian phraseology, of the forms of space and time. I labored to show that there were other intuitive convictions in the mind as well as those of space and time, and, in particular, that we all had an immediate consciousness of ourselves as persons, and that this conscious personality, duly followed out, raised our minds to the contemplation of God as a Being and a Person. One evening, in his house, I thought I had shut him up to a point, but the conversation was interrupted by the breaking up of the large company, and I had not another opportunity of taking up the subject. 1 The following letter written to Mrs. McCosh from Berlin is inserted here at the risk of repetition, being as 1 INVEBAKT, Sept. 2, 1858. DEAR DR. McCosn, It gave the Duchess and myself much pleasure to receive your note, showing that you had so fully appreciated one of the most remarkable men of our age. You would probably not fail to dis- cover the wide difference between Bunsen's views on many points and the popular theology of all the British churches. A vague sense of the dif- ference has always attracted a certain amount of jealousy and suspicion to him in this country, but no man can be with him without feeling that he is what you describe. I am, dear Dr. McCosh, Yours very truly, ARGYLL. 156 JAMES MCCOSH it is so interesting in itself and so characteristic of the writer's keenness in observation: BERLIN, Thursday, June 17, 1858. MY DEAR ISABELLA, Yesterday I received your letter with Councillor Gibson's inclosed, and to-day his pamphlet has arrived. I am delighted to hear that the question of intermediate education is being kept alive. I could not write prior to the Board meeting, but will answer his note soon. I proceed to make you acquainted with some other per- sons I have met with since I wrote you. I had better finish off the Divines. I called on Hengstenberg at his hour for receiving calls, four to five, and found him walking up and down his garden at the rate of four miles an hour, and those who wished to converse with him were ex- pected to walk along side of him. A succession of young men came in and encompassed him on each side and behind. I found that his son, who visited Ireland and lived with Professor Gibson, and was in my house, was here on a visit from his parish in a country town, and I conversed with him. In the short conversation I had with the father he spoke against the British members of the Evangelical Alliance for favoring Bunsen. I told him that in Britain Bunsen was much beloved personally, but that his theology and philosophy had little influence ; that Dr. Hengstenberg himself had greater influence, and that his influence was for good, inasmuch as he brought men back to the study of the Word. As he has a strong tendency to high churchism, I told him that in Oxford the younger men in the natural recoil were be- coming naturalists. He asked where I lived, but neither he nor his son has returned my call. TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 157 From Trendelenburg, the greatest logician here, I have received much kindness. I told you that I heard him lecture. On calling on him with a letter from Thomson of Oxford he asked me to his house, and I went at eight in the evening. His wife is a thin, retiring, kind lady. She had been a short time in the scientific Mrs. Somer- ville's family, and gave me some anecdotes of that lady, all showing how humble and Christian she is. There were three daughters present, half between girlhood and womanhood, bashful and somewhat awkward. A few students had been invited for the same evening, and sat on the one side of the table, and the young ladies on the other ; the latter cordially enjoyed the scene, and looked and whispered to one another knowingly, but scarcely ever took part in the general conversation. As eatables, I had first presented to me sour curds with the mouldered black bread of Germany, and sugar to mix with them. I took some, and found it palatable enough ; then we had weak tea in very small cups, and the offer of little slices of ham, which I declined. Dr. Trendelenburg talked at times to me, and at times to his students, and when he was occupied with the latter I conversed with Frau Pro- fessor (be sure when you come to Germany to give people their proper title). I asked where she went in the holi- days alas the holidays of her boys were in summer, and of Dr. Trendelenburg in autumn, and he was so busy she seldom had any opportunity to leave town. I left a little after eleven, pleased with my evening. I came home with a law student. He told me he would have to serve a whole year as a soldier, and this at his own expense. All young men must, between eighteen and twenty-three serve three years for pay or one year for 158 JAMES MCCOSH nothing. He spoke of the soldiers as spreading immo- rality. I confess that they do not appear to be so im- moral as our own. As we crossed the Unter-den-linden, we saw great floods of people coming home from the gardens beyond the gates ; men and women, old and young, and certainly all were conducting themselves most appropriately. Lest you complain that my friends are too learned, I will now introduce you to a very different person. I long hesitated whether to deliver Lord Dufferin's letter to Graf von Goltz, who is Aide-de-camp, Adjutant-General, and chief friend to the Prince of Prussia, brother to the king, and now, in fact, sovereign, as the elder brother's mind seems hopelessly gone. At last I picked up courage and presented myself. Never man got a warmer reception ! What could he do for me ! He would make his servant go round with me ! He would take me to the theatre and opera on Sabbath ! He would introduce me to a gentleman who had made Shakespeare the study of his life ! I was determined not to go to the theatre ; determined especially to keep the Sabbath as I keep it at home. I did not know well what to say, but I turned off the con- versation to some things I wanted to see. He told me he would call on me, and I bolted off. Not wishing to have another talk about Sabbath theatricals, I actually left my hotel at the hour I expected him to call. When I came in I found he had been here, and I was congratulating myself upon my cleverness in avoiding him. I thought myself as clever as the preacher in Greyfriars who, when he went out of [anglice, forgot] his sermon in the pulpit, pretended to faint and had to be carried out into the vestry where, when all the people had left him except a few, he TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 159 opened his eyes and said, " Have I not done this cleverly ? " But I was premature in my vanity, for the count left a message that he was sorry he had missed me, that he had been summoned to Potsdam to wait on the Prince, but that he had handed me over to Dr. Firmerich, who would expect me " Nach Mittag " on Sunday. Here I was hi a fix, and my first idea was to write Dr. Firmerich, but this was formidable, so I put a bold face on it, and after being at church in the forenoon, and taking dinner, I slipped over to Dr. Firmerich's, and found him a most gentle- manly and accomplished man, and his wife a most de- lightful creature. I let them know at once that I had not come to Berlin to see plays, told them how the Scotch people read their Bibles on Sabbath. Like a thorough gentleman, he saw my meaning and intimated he would call on me the next day. This he did, and he gave me two hours of his time; took me to the office of public instruction, one of the great government offices ; intro- duced me to Dr. Schultze, the acting minister of educa- tion, who told me to use his name and visit any school in Prussia ; talked most volubly of the system, to which I said " Ja " now and then, though I did not understand one-half ; told me where to get documents, and promised to answer any inquiries I might make at any future time. I must call once more on Dr. Firmerich, as his lady lent me a book. After this interview with the nobility, you must allow me to go back to the scientific gentlemen. I have been a good deal with Professor Braun, the great botanist, a kind, benevolent old man. He drove me on Saturday last to the Botanic Garden, where we would have spent a few pleasant hours, but we were overtaken with a 160 JAMES MCCOSH dreadful thunderstorm with impetuous rain, which drove us home sooner. The Botanic Garden has an immense collection, but is greatly huddled. This afternoon at four he took me to the meeting of the Academy of Science, where I saw the most distinguished scientific men in Berlin, such as Dove; the two Eoses (one of them, the chemist, like Grattan but with a bigger head) ; Mitscherlich; a big-bellied old man ; Du Bois Reymond, a fiery-looking, rising physiologist; Poggendorff; Encke, who gave a name to a comet. I did not understand the papers read, and had time to look at the men and at a bust of Leibnitz, the founder of the Academy, and who has the fullest head I ever saw. Professor Braun took me home with him for an hour, and showed me books and papers of his own and others, and I am satisfied that he anticipated me many years in his discoveries as to the spirals of cones. I think I told you that Sydow proposed of his own accord to introduce me to Baron von Humboldt, the man of greatest scientific reputation now living. I thought it best to give Sydow a copy of " Typical Forms " to present to him. And here I may as well mention that on the forenoon of Sabbath last I went to the Neue Kirche to hear Sydow. His audience could not be more than two hundred and fifty and of them two thirds were females. He is a very able man, but his preaching was not the simple gospel as we understand it, and hence, I suspect, the thinness of his audience. After the public service there was a baptism in the vestry at which I was present. A good many ceremonies are added. Five men and one woman put their hands on the feet of the child, and took an obligation. There was more than one cross- TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 161 ing; in particular, the water was sprinkled with three crossings as the names of the persons of the Trinity were pronounced. After the baptism we returned to the church, where was a marriage before the altar ; it was done with rings, the minister blessing the couple as he laid his hands on them. But to return to Humboldt, Sydow told me that the old Baron had been at Potsdam, but that he had ap- pointed Tuesday at one to meet me. On Tuesday I was at his house at the very hour, entered a large gateway, and went up a stair as in all houses here, rang a belL A servant appeared, and in a minute I was in the pres- ence of the venerable old man. He is a little man, with his chin leaning on his breast, but particularly lively in his countenance and manner. He told me that he was not strong, but strong enough to see me ; quite as strong as a man of eighty-nine could expect to be. " Typical Forms " was on the table ; he said he had been reading it, so he expressed himself, not only with pleasure, but with the highest admiration, and was struck with the large knowledge displayed in it, not only of what had been done in England but on the Continent. I told him I followed the inductive method, building my views on facts. " Yes," said he, " but there are fine generaliza- tions. . . . You are associated with another in the work," he said. "Yes," I said, "my colleague, Dr. Dickie, who has large scientific knowledge." " This is wise," said he, " for some of our German philosophers have committed great blunders from theorizing without knowing the facts." He agreed that there was a general conformity between venation and ramification, but doubted whether it held in every case, and instanced certain laurels. 11 162 JAMES MCCOSH Often had I measured the laurels, and told him so, and was on the point of disputing with him when I thought it better to stop. The conversation flowed on Where was I going ? To the Rhine ? I would see Bunsen, and he spoke of Bunsen. He liked the first volume so far of his great work, but did not fully understand the second, but was deeply interested in his new work, the translation of the Bible. He took great pains to show me he was no materialist ; he thought materialism unphilosophicaL He had been charged by the Jesuits with being a materialist, but it was wrong to bring such charges ; even Leibnitz had traduced the great Newton to the Electress of Brandenburg. He talked of Whewell, and the plurality of worlds ; thought it most accordant with his view of God's character that the worlds were inhabited, and might have many common bonds of union. I added they might have all some con- nection with the work of Christ. He spoke with fervor of the late discoveries as to the sun being the source of so much influence. He would have spoken much longer, but I thought it wrong to trouble him more, and rose. He held my hand in his, " But I hope you are not dis- satisfied with my religious views ! " I told him I was pleased to find him this very day speaking of God, and I hoped also of Christ as connected with His works. I parted with him, but he followed me through the ante- rooms, and pointed me out curious things found in his wide travels. " You must call on Ehrenberg, and speak of your views, and say that Alexander von Humboldt sent you." He shook hands a second time at the door, and I found that I had enjoyed one-half hour of continu- ous talk from this eloquent old man. But you will be complaining that I am getting scien- TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 163 tific again. So I will conduct you to a very different scene, Mr. Solly, Lecturer on English Literature in the University, had asked me to go with him of an evening to a garden concert. I went at six to his house, and we walked, only a mile, into the Thiergarten. Then we entered the Concert Garden. The entrance cost us five pence each. ... I did not see a person, male or female, misbehave. It was a most pleasant German scene. . . . Dr. McCosh returned from Germany in September, 1858. For eight years he led the regular, laborious life of his profession, and then desiring a thorough change he sailed for America. Throughout the war of the Eebellion he was a stanch supporter of the Union. His books had an extensive sale in the United States, and he was desirous of correcting by observation the many impressions he had derived from his extensive reading. His journey included the cities of New York, New Haven, Boston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia. Besides he visited Har- vard, Yale, Princeton and many other institutions of learning. He has left only the following paragraphs as a record of this journey : I had conducted large classes through Logic and Meta- physics in Queen's College ; I had written and published my examination of Mr. John S. Mill's " Empirical Phil- osophy ; " I was wearied, and I put my feet into a ship to take me to America. I travelled some thousands of miles in that country, and visited some of the most important colleges and theological seminaries. But I am not to describe the scenes I looked on, they are all known ; 164 JAMES MCCOSH nor the persons I met with, and from whom I received kindness, such as the Eev. Dr. Adams, the Eev. Henry B. Smith, the Hodges, Mr. Carter the publisher, and others, all of whom have been described by others better than I could do it. I made, at the time, however, one or two general observations which may be of some value as coming from an impartial stranger. The first is that on attending the churches of various denominations, especially the Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Congregational, I was ever constrained to ask, "But where are the laboring classes ? " No doubt they were in many cases concealed by the circumstance that they often dressed as well as the classes above them in the social circle ; but it is certain that as a rule the working- classes do not join s6 heartily as in Great Britain and Ireland, with the middle and upper classes in public worship. I am afraid there is a greater separation of classes in the new and democratic than in the old and aristocratic countries. Though I have abandoned State Churches, yet I believe they tend to bring the rich and the poor classes together. In Brechin, Lord Pan mure, with seventy thousand acres of arable land, including whole parishes of hill land, sat on the opposite side of a church passage, and could have shaken hands with a weaver earning two dollars a week. The Americans will need to learn a lesson from the history of the Church from early times, and mix somewhat of the territorial with the congregational system. Another observation made by me was that the colleges, while they had not the prestige nor the consolidation of the European ones in such departments as classics and mathematics, had nevertheless a better capacity for TRAVELS IN GERMANY AND AMERICA 165 development in a variety of ways. It was long before European colleges would admit the modern languages, and the later sciences, such as geology and palaeontology, into their academic curriculum; whereas those branches were admitted at once into the American colleges. CHAPTER XI PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHING HTHE indefatigable assiduity of Dr. McCosh's daily life as a teacher, philanthropist, preacher, and public agitator, was simply the reflection of an intellectual activity so restless that sluggish minds can scarcely grasp it. Or rather, it was the complement of a rest- less thinking, both constructive and critical, which soon found expression in a third important work. In 1860 appeared "The Intuitions of the Mind, Inductively Con- sidered," a volume of marked originality and vigor, which contains the author's systematic philosophy as he had finally developed it. The great truths of which he was for nearly thirty years to be the champion are all clearly stated in it. With natural affiliations to Reid and the Scottish school, he had been a pupil of Hamilton and a diligent student of Kant. Hegel he never under- stood, and the Idealists he underestimated. From Ham- ilton he accepted the philosophy of consciousness and the chief elements of his psychology, but, in opposition to the negative Hamiltonian metaphysic, he reasserted the positive principles of the Scottish school as represented by Reid. He was vastly superior to Reid in scholarship, his reasoning being more comprehensive and more con- vincing, the apprehension of his task clearer, and the mastery of his materials more complete. What he took From a portrait bust by Bailey, presented in 1883 Princeton College by the Class of 1873 to CHAPTER XI PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHING HPHE indefatigable assiduity of Dr. McCosh's daily life as a teacher, philanthropist, preacher, and public sr. wm* rim ply the reflection of an intellectual -wi*.* ;k** *jgu'"*V'. minds can scarcely ib \ - K i$m >n- . which coitm !:*> --: he had fioaliy h'.o,--?*-*; ru tvltU ma>, was to make a judicious lher uf our Ktudents, and of the branches taught, will now require some new modifications, but I hope they will run in the same line. Hitherto all the students had been required to take the same course of study, being the good old solid one handed down from our fathers. But this was felt to be irksome by many who were weary of studying Mathe- matics, Latin, and Greek all the four years of their course, while there were new and attractive branches of literature and science from which they were excluded. The principle on which we acted was that an endeavor should be made to introduce into the college every \o ^^Si\7) ^ ^ Q?&\ m > S^ -J&MES' FDR-TWEMTY' 1 YEARS- - PRESIDENT-OP- OCTOBER, -JUNE-XM^ -.?CTCj CLAS^ ^? COSg; -PRTNtETDN -COLLEGE- XKV 1 1 -/"A- D-GGG LXV U I - Ifc/A-D-CCC-LXXXVUI- |BN-hi5-HC^CREY-THE- OF'M'I^GC C '_xX I X.- TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 199 care to leave out all that was fictitious and pretentious. But, as we projected new branches, we discovered that they were so numerous that we could not impose them all without burdening the minds of the students on the one hand, or on the other making them " Jacks of all trades and masters of none." Every one sees that the day of universal scholars, such as Aristotle, Scaliger, and Leibnitz, has gone by, and can never return. Not only have the physical sciences been multiplying, but all departments of philology, of historical, social, and phil- osophic study. Hence the necessity of allowing elec- tives in the curriculum of study. We need to lay restraints on electives. Surely we are not to allow candidates for A.B. and A.M. to choose what studies they please. These two degrees have hitherto had a meaning, and it should be kept up, so that those who have gained it may be recognized as scholars. An indiscriminate choice holds out a temptation, which many are not able to resist, to take the easiest subjects, say narrative history, or those taught by easy-going or popular teachers, who may or may not exact syste- matic study. I hold that there are branches which are necessary to the full development of the mind, which every educated man ought to know. No one, I think, should be a graduate of a college who does not know mathematics and classics, the one to solidify the reasoning powers, and the other to refine the taste. On a memorable occasion I defended Greek as an obliga- tory study in our colleges. 1 Greek and Latin have been, 1 The debate on this subject between President Eliot and Dr. McCosh attracted widespread attention. It took place in New York, on Feb. 24, 1885. Dr. McCosh 's remarks were as follows : I was asked to come into a debate which was to be three-cornered. 200 JAMES MCCOSH in fact, the main instrument in transmitting to us a knowledge of the ancient world. Greek is the most per- President Porter of Yale, as well as President Eliot, was to have taken part in it. It has now become two-cornered, if such a term were per- missible, and I am called to criticise directly what is known as the new departure of Harvard. I am glad that the matter has been brought to a crisis. The movemenj; has been long going on at Harvard in a silent way, and it is time that the public and parents should have an opportunity of knowing what is the system adopted in one of our foremost colleges. President Eliot has formulated the question in a manner that is large, loose, vague, showy, and plausible, but I think I shall be able to show the fallacies that underlie his reasonings. The sacred word " liberty " has been used as a catchword to lure students, and youug men are made to believe that they will be permitted to choose those studies in which they can ob- tain the highest grades with the least labor. I am not antiquated, and although I am an old man, I am not old-fashioued. My aim all through my professional life has been to elevate learning, and I hope to see every new branch of true learning introduced into our colleges, but I cannot indorse the course which Harvard has pursued. I believe that men should have freedom in choosing their studies ; but the freedom has limits. Men are free to choose their colleges, and the departments which they will follow in these colleges, whether law or medicine or theology ; but there liberty should cease, and it should be understood that certain branches must be studied. To hold the contrary leads at once to a reductio ad absurdum. What if a medical student should neglect physiology and anatomy and materia medica, for music and the drama and painting ? It is evident, therefore, that there must be some restrictions. Now a college curriculum should have two elements or characteristics. First, there should be required studies for all who pursue a full course for a degree ; and secondly, the attendance at lectures and recitations should be compulsory. The required studies should be disciplinary, affording true mental training. Such studies are English, Greek, Latin, German, French, history, mathematics and physical science. Later in the college course should come biology, geology, political economy, and the mental sciences. All these studies should be so spread over the years passed by a boy at school and at college, that each step naturally leads to another. In other words, they should be logically arranged. The degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts were instituted as incentives in those higher studies which have always been regarded as affording the best training for the human mind, and I contend that those who wish to obtain these degrees should be obliged to pursue the studies with which they have always been associated. Other degrees may be instituted, such as Bache- lor of Science or Bachelor of Literature, and different requirements may TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 201 feet language, and contains the highest literature and thought of antiquity. The learned professions generally, be prescribed for these degrees ; but let not M.A. and B.A. be awarded for proficiency in French or German or music or painting alone. In the college curriculum the mental sciences are of special importance. Young men should be taught to know themselves as well as to know the out- side world. They should be taught that they have souls, for thus only can they be saved from drifting toward materialism. In Princeton we believe in a trinity of studies, science, philosophy, and the languages. Berlin University, to which President Eliot has referred, has through its pro- fessors given eloquent tribute to the usefulness of the classic tongues, and I have known scientific men who told their pupils to study Latin and Greek as a preparation for physics and astronomy. Now, at Harvard, a young man has 200 courses from which he may choose, and many of these courses I am compelled to call dilettante. I should prefer a young man who had been trained in an old-fashioned college in rhetoric, philosophy, Latin, Greek, and mathematics to one who had frittered away four years in studying the French drama of the 18th century, a little music and similar branches. I now come to my second point that attendance upon lectures and recitations should be compulsory. If a young man has freedom to choose his studies, he should not be allowed to come to the lecture-room one day and stay away the next. Professors at Harvard have complained to me that the optional system there in force often results in forcing them to lecture to empty seats. It may be said that it is enough if the student passes his examination at the end of the term. It is true that a man may become a scholar without going to college ; but being there he should certainly get all the advantage possible from his course. I have had experience in Europe of this optional system, and I have not found it beneficial. It invariably leads to cramming, and conscientious work is superseded by a feverish effort before the examination day. In Germany it is true that the system is practised with success. But the Germans have one great safeguard, which we have not, in the Bureau of State Ex- aminers, who stand in the path of every man who would obtain a position, whether civil or ecclesiastical or military. If Massachusetts should insti- tute such an examining board, then Harvard might safely follow her present course. I have a few words to say on specialties. Men have different talents and different vocations, and special studies should therefore be provided for them. Elective studies should be of two kinds. First, branches which would not be good for all, but may prove profitable to a few. Such studies are Hebrew, Sanskrit, and, among the sciences, paleontology. Secondly, there should be elective courses in the higher departments oi 202 JAMES MCCOSH but particuarly the churches, have a special interest in retaining this tongue. Suppose it not to be required in our colleges, it would soon come not to be required in our schools, and so a large body of our students would be ignorant of it. Now, suppose a student to have his heart touched by a divine power about the time when young men commonly choose their profession in life. He feels himself called on to devote himself to the work of the ministry of those studies whose elements are obligatory to all. Thus all young men should study mathematics, but only those with a special mathematical taste can master quaternions, functions, or quantics. In Princeton we continue these elective studies side by side with obligatory and disciplinary branches, so that in the junior and senior years there are certain required and certain elective branches. In Harvard, however, everything is scattered like the star dust out of which worlds are said to have been made. In a college we should have specialists, but not mere specialists, for such are bigoted and intolerant. The truest and best specialist is the one who is well acquainted with collateral branches. From a too great choice of studies arise certain grave evils. Young men on entering college do not know their own minds, nor what is to be their future calling, and if left to themselves make wrong selections which impair their future usefulness. On the question of government, I hold that a college like a country needs a government. Young men need moral training as well as intel- lectual training. But the result of all this should be to teach them inde- pendence, and train them to think and act for themselves. I don't believe in the spy system, neither do I believe in allowing young men to drink and gamble without giving them a warning or a counsel. You tell me he is a man and must govern himself ; but what can you say of his mother's agony and his father's grief ? We can expel him, you say. But this is itself discipline, and if we may expel why may we not advise and rebuke ? It is a serious problem, What is to be the religious teaching of our col- leges ? Huxley recommends that the Bible be used in schools. Herbert Spencer admits that there is no moral power in science. Emerson man- fully advocated the continuance of prayers at Harvard, but I am approaching the subject of religion. In conclusion I have only to say that all who desire to see the cause of American scholarship prosper are discouraged by the new departure of Harvard, and the universities of the Old World would be shocked to learn that in America's oldest college the students are no longer required to fol- low those studies which the wisdom of ages has pointed out as being at the foundation of all true education. TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 203 the Word. But in order to do this he has to learn the lan- guage of the New Testament, beginning with its letters. Here an obstacle is presented which will effectively pre- vent many from going to the work to which they are called. It is certain that a college which does not require Greek will not prepare many to go forth as ministers or mission- aries. This would be a great evil, not only to the churches, but also to the community generally. The devout young men who are studying for the ministry have a restraining and elevating influence in a college. In Princeton there are certain branches which are required of all in the Academic Department : Latin and Greek, English, Oratory, Essay Writing, French and German, Physics, Astronomy, Geology, Psychology, Logic and Ethics, Eelation of Science and Eeligion. Again, we have a fixed course for every year. In the Freshman and Sophomore years there is little or no variation allowed ; but when a student has learned the rudimen- tary branches, and enters the Junior class, we believe that he may be allowed, in addition to the required studies, a choice, both hi Junior and Senior years, among a large number of the new subjects introduced into the colleges, additions being made to them every year. I reckon that usually in these two upper classes about one-half a student's time is given to the required and the other half to the elective studies. In choosing, he may take the old branches, or he may take the new ones. The advantage of all this is that the student may consult and gratify his tastes, we find that an intense interest is taken by certain students in the new studies, or the student may elect the branch or branches fitted to prepare him for his intended pro- 204 JAMES MCCOSH fession in life. One meaning to be a minister will probably elect some branch of philosophy; the intend- ing doctor will probably take botany and zoology ; and the lawyer history or social sciences. Both in the required and in the elective courses a college should seek to instruct students carefully in the fundamental principles of the branch which they are studying. There is a loud demand in the present day for college education being made what they call " prac- tical." I believe that this is a mistake. A well-known ship-builder once said to me, " Do not try to teach my art in school ; see that you make the youth intelligent, and then I will easily teach him ship-building." The business of a college is to teach scientific principles of all sorts of practical application. The youth thus trained will start life in far better circumstances than those who have learned only the details of their craft, which are best learned in offices, stores, and factories, and will commonly far outstrip them in the rivalries of life. He will be able to advance when others are obliged to stop ; he will be ready to take advantage of opportunities which are lost to them, and will commonly advance the branch in which he is interested. I have often been asked, "How do the American colleges stand in comparison with the European ones ? " I believe I can answer that question. The scholarship of the great body of the students is as high in America as in Europe ; but they rear in Great Britain and in Germany a body of rijte scholars to whom we have noth- ing equal in the New World. This led me to propose that we should institute fellowships in Princeton College. At an early stage there were friends who established TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 205 fellowships in Mental Science, in Classics, in Mathe- matics, and Experimental Science, and at a later date in Biology, each providing $600 a year to the stu- dent who stood highest in a competitive examination. Latterly, some of our younger alumni have been adding university fellowships, one in Social Science, one in Biological Science, one in English, and probably one in Philosophy, each yielding $400 or $500 a year, and open to the graduates not only of Princeton, but every other authorized college. These Fellowships have given a powerful stimulus to study, and have enabled us to produce scholarship of a high order. This may be the proper place to refer to the prizes re- ceived during my presidency : the Lynde Prize, for Power of Debating ; the Alexander Guthrie McCosh Prize, for the best Philosophical Essay ; the Baird Prizes, for Ora- tory ; the 1876 Class Prize, for a debate on Politics ; the Class of 1883 At water Prize, in Political Science ; the White Prize, in Architecture. When I became president, the number giving instruc- tion was ten professors, four tutors, two teachers, in all sixteen, beside three lecturers extraordinary. Some of the younger classes were taught solely by tutors. I think it of importance to have a succession of young men teaching in a college to give fresh life to it, and out of whom to draw professors ; but I believed that every class should have at least one man of experience giving it instruction, and it was arranged that all Freshmen should be under one or more professors. The professors then were chiefly men of mature life, of high ability and character. In adding new branches, we had to get new professors. It was my duty to call the attention of the 206 JAMES MCCOSH trustees to suitable persons for the new or vacant offices. In doing so I looked out for scholarly men, wherever I could hear of them. If I found that they were not available, or not likely to promote the moral and religious welfare of the students, I thought no more of them ; and I continued to inquire till I was able to recommend one whose influence would be altogether for good. In pursu- ing this course we have taken several able men from other colleges. But I have often had great difficulty in getting a full endowment for a professor's chair, more difficulty than in getting a building; so we set ourselves earnestly to the work of rearing professors. We kept our eye upon our promising graduates, and appointed them tutors or in- structors, with a small salary, and then raised them, if they were good teachers, to the position of assistant pro- fessors, or full professors. Thus the Board of Trustees has chosen three professors from the class of 1874, and six from the class of 1877. So we have been adding new professors from year to year. The number of professors is now thirty-five, with three tutors and several assist- ants and lecturers, in all upwards of forty. We have three professors of Mental Philosophy, three of Greek, two of Latin, three of Mathematics, three of English, in- cluding Oratory, two of History and Political Science, three of Modern Languages, two of Physics, two of Astronomy, two of Chemistry, three of the Natural Sciences, including Botany, Zoology, and Geology, three of Engineering, and two of Art. We have professors who teach the Harmony of Science and Eeligion, who teach Anglo-Saxon, who teach Oratory, who teach Pedagogics, who teach Sanscrit, who teach Physiological Psychology, TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 207 who teach Physical Geography, who teach Anatomy and Physiology. Every student is required every year to write a num- ber of essays. I am not sure that there is any college in America which has so well an arranged system of essay writing. Princeton College has always paid attention to public speaking, and we have kept this up, by requiring every student, unless incapacitated by physical weakness, to speak before a public audience. The strength of our college lies in its staff of professors. I am proud of those whom I have recommended to the trustees. We give instruction in a greater number of branches than are usually taught in the universities of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and in nearly all the branches taught in Germany. I have pleasure in stating that the faculty has all along stood in the most pleasant relationship towards me. I regard all the members as personal friends. I am bound to say that they watch over the interests of the college with great faithfulness. Along with the increase of professors, our friends have purchased for us a large increase of scientific apparatus. In several departments almost every new instrument of value has been provided. When I came here, the natural- science collection, saving only what was done in physical geography by Dr. Guyot, was particularly defective, fit only to be burned. Now we have most valuable collec- tions in biology and geology. For several years we have been enabled to send companies of students to make summer explorations in the West. Lying on the ground at night, they were employed all day in collecting plants and fossils, some of which are very rare and of great 208 JAMES MCCOSH value. These have been placed in our museum, which is visited in consequence by many scientists. Our professors have not only been attending to their work in the college as instructors, but have been widen- ing the field of knowledge, each in his own department. I at one time thought of printing a list of the books, pamphlets, and articles published by our professors since I came here, but I found that it would take sixty pages to do it. It is proper to add that the students issue three peri- odicals. " The Nassau Literary Magazine " has all along been an organ of a high character, and contains solid articles of superior literary ability. The " Princetonian " some years ago was in the way of attacking the faculty. Now it is conducted in the most admirable spirit, only it gives more space to gymnastics than to literature. " Pray," said an Oxford Don to me, after reading several numbers, " are you the president of a gymnastic institu- tion ? " It shows the spirit that reigns in our college that we have had a religious organ, the " Philadelphian," containing high-class articles fitted to do good among the students. Our School of Science has a body of able professors. It gives instruction in mathematics, in the various branches of physical science, and in modern languages. We seek to make its students educated gentlemen, and not mere scientists. We require Latin (or, in engineering, French) on the part of those who enter. All the students receive instruction in English, and write essays. To preserve them from the materialistic tendencies of the day, they are required to attend the classes either of Psychology or Logic. It is evident that this school, TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 209 which has now three hundred and ninety-two students, will rise every year in public estimation. Our two de- partments, the Academic and the Scientific, send out every year a large body of educated young men to occupy important positions all over the country. As we added branch after branch, it was found that we could arrange them, the old and the new, into three grand departments: Language and Literature, Science, and Philosophy. We did not separate these absolutely, but we have constantly kept the distinction in view. I remember the day when Mrs. Eobert L. Stuart came down to Princeton, and handed me $154,000, to enable me to establish a School of Philosophy. As the head of the college, I have endeavored to give each of our varied departments its own place, and care- fully to arrange a balance of studies, so as to keep the minds of the students from being one-sided, and there- fore narrow and exclusive. But while I was president I became also a professor, and I am glad that I did so, for I was thereby brought into closer relationship with the students, and came to know them better. Following my tastes, I have endeavored to create and sustain an interest in all branches of Mental Philosophy. I have usually been teaching three departments : Psy- chology, the History of Philosophy, and Contemporary Philosophy, and have branched off into Esthetics and Metaphysics. The other two mental sciences, Logic and Ethics, have been taught by Professor Ormond and Pro- fessor Patton. I strove to make the study attractive, and have commonly had under me upwards of two hun- dred students, many of them elective. In connection with my classes I had library meetings in my house, 14 210 JAMES MCCOSH in which papers were read on philosophic subjects by alumni and others, and were afterwards discussed by students of the upper classes, and occasionally by pro- fessors. The attendance was at first about a dozen, but it soon rose to from seventy to one hundred and fifty. Many will remember all their lives the stimulating effects of these meetings. In my teaching, I have followed the plan of the Ger- man professors, first lecturing on the subject, and after a time giving my expositions to the world in published volumes. The public has not always followed my phi- losophy, but has given me what greater men than I have not been able to gain a hearing, both in this country and in Great Britain. I am gratified to find my college lectures on Psychology and Logic in a great many upper schools, and in a number of colleges in America. Dr. Duff, the great missionary, sent me a message on his death-bed, to prepare a text-book on Mental Science for India, to save them from materialism diligently taught them by books from England. This I have now done in my two small volumes on Psychology, which have been sanctioned by the University of Calcutta, while steps are being taken to have them adopted in other colleges in India. Pupils of mine are using them in Japan and Ceylon. My pupils may be pleased to learn that the lec- tures which I delivered to them are reproduced in these distant lands. So early as my college days in Scotland, I was so ambitious as to hope that I might some day produce a work on Philosophy; little did I dream that it would be used in Western America and in Eastern Asia. From an early period of my presidency we have had TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 211 post-graduate students. We have always thrown open our doors to them. We encourage them because it is out of them we hope to make scholars. In our crowded cir- riculum we cannot expect in the under-graduate course of study to produce a high erudition in any one depart- ment; but when students come up to us after graduation, and take up earnestly one or two departments, we can carry them on to very high attainments, and it may be prepare them to be professors. The number of our graduate students has been gradually increasing; this last year we have had seventy-eight. I have commonly had upwards of forty, most of them students from the seminary, studying the higher questions of philosophy. These graduate classes will force us on to become a university. We have devised and published a way by which higher degrees of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Sci- ence, Doctor of Literature, and Bachelor of Theology may be obtained from us by the graduates of any college, without residence, by pursuing a course of study and standing an examination. This is a measure full of promise, and I hope will be carried out when I retire. It will gather round us a body of men eagerly pursuing high studies. I think I may claim to have taken great pains to keep our graduates in close connection with the college. I have set up a great many alumni associations (there are in all eighteen), and have often visited them, travelling hundreds and some years thousands of miles for this pur- pose, and reporting the state of the college as I went along. I have enjoyed these meetings with the gradu- ates, and have returned with a most valuable knowledge 212 JAMES MCCOSH of what the community expects of the college. I pro- posed, several years ago, that the alumni should have authority to appoint an advisory committee, with power to give recommendations to the Board of Trustees, and to enter any class-room. The proposal was not adopted. It may come up in some future year. I am not to give an account of our finances, which have been carefully watched over by Mr. John A. Stewart and Mr. Charles E. Green. Some of our friends do not let their left hand know what their right hand doeth, and so I am not able to speak with precision of the gifts we have received. I believe that nearly three millions have been contributed to the college during my tenure of office. The principle on which we have pro- ceeded has been never to contract any debt, and never to lay up any money. Only on one occasion did we con- tract any large amount of debt, and Mr. R L. Stuart, who contributed $100,000, joined some of our trustees in paying it off. I may mention here that, to encourage struggling young men, we have funds contributed by generous friends whereby we give scholarships of $100 a year each, and $30 more if they intend to be ministers, to one hundred and seventy students. Dr. Duffield manages these funds with great care and kindness. I am sorry that my space does not allow of my men- tioning the names of the many contributors to our college funds. Some of them have been referred to in the course of my narrative. I must refer to a few others. The Hon. John I. Blair has watched over our college with very great care, has endowed the chair of Geology, and has lately given $20,000 to the increase of professors' TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 213 salaries. Mr. Lynde has given three prizes for excel- lence in debate. A gentleman who has given us only his initials has founded a Mathematical Fellowship, and a large prize to the Freshman class. Mr. Charles 0. Baird has furthered oratory hy his prizes to the Junior class. We have received a most valuable set of papers on the late war from Mr. Pierson. You may notice that kind friends have enabled me to complete the work begun by Dr. Maclean, and to hang up in the Museum portraits of all the presidents of the college, and of other eminent men connected with it. In consequence of the improvements of our teaching and our courses, our numbers have been slowly but gradually increasing. Years. Students. Years. Students. In 1867-8 264 1878-9 473 1868-9 281 1879-80 481 1869-70 328 1880-1 488 1870-1 364 1881-2 537 1871-2 379 1882-3 572 1872-3 376 1883-4 523 1873-4 417 1884-5 519 1874-5 408 1885-6 497 1875-6 483 1886-7 539 1876-7 472 1887-8 604 1877-8 496 It will be thus seen that our numbers have more than doubled from two hundred and sixty-four to upwards of six hundred. I think it proper to state that I meant all along that these new and varied studies, with their groupings and combinations, should lead to the formation of a Studium Generale, which was supposed in the Middle Ages to constitute a university. At one time I cherished a hope 214 JAMES MCCOSH that I might be honored to introduce such a measure. From my intimate acquaintance with the systems of Princeton and other colleges, I was so vain as to think that out of our available materials I could have con- structed a university of a high order. I would have embraced in it all that is good in our college; in par- ticular, I would have seen that it was pervaded with religion, as the college is. I was sure that such a step would have been followed by a large outflow of liberality on the part of the public, such as we enjoyed in the early days of my presidency. We had had the former rain, and I hoped we might have the latter rain, and we could have given the institution a wider range of usefulness in the introduction of new branches and the extension of post-graduate studies. But this privilege has been denied me. I have always been prepared to contend with the enemies of the college, but I am not ready to fight with its greatest benefactors; so I retire. The college has been brought to the very borders, and I leave it to another to carry it over into the land of promise. CHAPTER XTV AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TWENTY YEARS OP PRINCETON (Continued) this improvement of education was going on, we had to contend against degrading college cus- toms, some of which have come down from colonial times, and were copied from the schools of England. There were " rakes, " secretly issued by the members of one class against the members of another. We had horn-sprees and foolish bonfires kindled in the campus, the embers often endangering the whole college buildings. Worst of all, we had the " hazing " and the " smoking " of students. I re- solved to put down these, when I found that they had the serpent's power of prolonged life, and that it was difficult to kill them. I tried first of all to make the class con- demn them, and often succeeded ; but at times we had to exercise discipline on the offenders, who were commonly supported by a considerable body of students. I would not be giving a true picture of the times when I entered on my duties unless I mentioned one or two cases. At that time morning prayers were held at seven, and the students came out rubbing their eyes, with their great-coats thrown loosely over their shoulders, and but- toning their clothes. One morning I saw a student with his head all " shaven and shorn. " I called up a tutor, and asked him whether the student had had fever. 216 JAMES MCCOSH " No, " said he ; " did you not hear that he had been hazed ? " I told him that I had not, but added that the whole college would hear of it before we had done with it. Knowing that if I called the hazed student to my house it would only be to expose him to farther indignity, I asked a professor to give me the use of his study, and invited the student to meet me there. When I asked how he felt on being hazed, he replied, " Very indig- nant. " I said I was glad to hear it. He told me that a company of students, disguised, had come into his room late at night, that they gagged his mouth lest he should cry, and his ears lest he should identify them ; that they had shaved his head, then put him under the pump, and left him tied on the campus. I asked him if he had any friends. He answered, " Few, sir ; I am a poor Irish boy, but one man has helped me ; " naming Chancellor Green. " My dear fellow, you have a noble friend. " I wrote a letter to the Chancellor, and ordered the student to set off with it next morning before dawn, and tell what had been done to him. Next morning, a little after eight, I saw the noble form of the Chancellor pass my window and enter my study. Hitherto he had been very cold toward me, I believe he did not see the propriety of bringing over a Scotchman to be the head of an American college. He asked me somewhat sternly, " Are you in earnest ? " I answered that I was never more in earnest in my life. " But, " said he, " I have often found when I tried to uphold the college in putting down evils there was a weak yielding. " I told him that he might find that this was not just my character. He asked me what I meant to do. I answered that I was a stranger, newly come to this country, that I had asked TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 217 for a conference with him an alumnus, a trustee, and as the head of the law in New Jersey to ask his advice. " Can you not, " said he, " summon the perpetrators before the faculty ? " " Yes, " I replied, " but I have little evi- dence to proceed on. The student thinks he knows two of those who gagged him, but is not sure ; and students capable of such deeds reckon it no crime to lie to the faculty. " " What then are we to do ? " I replied that I wished him to say. But he again asked, " Are you in earnest ? " I said " he might try me. " He then pro- posed that we should start a criminal process, and said he would engage the attorney-general as prosecutor, and would see that the jury was not packed. I said, " I accept your terms, " and added, " You may now go home, Chancellor, the case is settled. * He asked, " What do you mean ? " looking at me with amazement I simply mentioned that I had been dealing with students for six- teen years, and knew that the case was settled. I felt that the time was come when I should be as cold to him as he had been to me. I thanked him for coming to me when I meant to go to him, and bade him good-morning. I asked a professor to send for one of the students sup- posed to have been guilty, and to tell him that the great Chancellor had been here, that he was that day to engage the attorney -general as prosecutor, and that if the guilty parties did not send me an apology in forty -eight hours they would all be in prison. In a few hours I received a humble letter, signed by about a dozen students, con- fessing that they were guilty, expressing their sorrow, and promising that they would never commit a like offence. I sent a message to the professors, asking them to be in their place next morning at prayers, and the 218 JAMES MCCOSH students were prepared for something to come when they saw them all assembled. I took out the paper sent me, and read it till I came to the signatures, when I put it in my pocket, saying, " I accept the apology and the promise, and neither the faculty nor any other shall ever know the names. Let us read the passsage on repent- ance, 2 Cor. vii. " I never saw the college more moved. For some years hazing was considerably subdued ; but it continued in other colleges which have not had the courage to grapple with it, and has reappeared in this college once and again, and has led to some very painful scenes. It has for the present disappeared, as I retire from the presidency, I trust finally. As a happy consequence of this act I gained the friend- ship of Chancellor Green, who ever afterwards stood by me in the Board of Trustees and beyond it, telling those who opposed my measures that in opposing me they would have to oppose him. His family became deeply interested in the college, and have been our most gener- ous benefactors. I was gratified when his family asked me to be a mourner at the funeral of that man, one of the greatest that New Jersey has produced. 1 I may state that this was the first and last case in which I resolved to carry discipline into a criminal court. I thought it right to let the college know that the crim- inal courts could interfere in such a case ; but it is better that the faculty should exercise discipline in a paternal spirit Another incident may be given. A company resolved to " smoke " a student. They entered his room, 1 Mr. Courtland Parker said to me, as we rode in the same carriage at Chancellor Green's funeral, " When the Chancellor summed up the evi- dence and addressed the criminal condemned to die, I always felt that I had a picture of the Day of Judgment." TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 219 vigorously puffing out tobacco fumes, hoping thereby to sicken him. The faculty sent them home to their fathers and mothers. At the close of one of my Bible recitations about twenty students remained behind, and asked to speak with me, and they spoke feelingly of the pain which the dismissal of their companions would give to fathers and mothers and grandmothers. I saw at once that I had before me, not those who had been engaged in the foul deed, but the best students in the class, who had been elected as most likely to have an influence over me. It occurred to me that I might catch them in the trap which they had laid for me. I said to them, " Do you approve of the deed which has been done ? " " No, " they answered heartily. " But how, " I asked, " do you propose to stop such acts ? " They were staggered. I saw out of the window two hundred students gathered like a thunder-cloud on the campus, threatening rebel- lion. I said, * Gentlemen, go out to these students and ask them to pass a resolution condemning the offensive practice ; " and I promised that if they did so I would ask the faculty to rescind their sentence. I passed by the crowd on my way home, and heard a student denouncing the abominable deed that had been com- mitted by the students. The company was divided and soon scattered. They had planned on that after- noon to rise in a body and leave the chapel. No one rose, and the threatening cloud passed away. When these emeutes took place we were always favored with the visits of interviewers from the New York news- papers. I remember that one day when I was coming down from New York, I had a dozen reporters on the same train, all bent on carrying back a sensational story 220 JAMES MCCOSH founded on some small disturbance which had occurred the night before. At one of these times a reporter from a reputable journal called on me for information. I told him that I would give him this, but that he must pub- lish what I said to him, which he agreed to do, and so I began : " Whereas a certain newspaper, " naming it, " had been publishing vile stories against Princeton College, evidently written by sub-editors from a rival college, the alumni and students of Princeton are about to form a combination in which each member binds himself never to buy a copy of that paper. " The reporter wrote a while, and then put his pen behind his ear, and said, "President, this will never do," and promised to speak to the editor ; and in a day or two after the editor wrote me, asking me to appoint a reporter from among the students, and we were troubled no more from that quarter. I mention these things in order to give me an oppor- tunity of explaining that these scenes of disturbance, which were reported years ago in so exaggerated a form, almost always rose from our putting down debasing cus- toms. I could not in dignity answer the distorted reports, and many believed them. We have now, happily, put down all these old barbarous customs, and of late years I have no complaint to make of the news- paper press. It seems inclined to speak good of us rather than evil; as to myself, I am sure it praises, vastly more than they deserve, the efforts I have made for the advancement of the college. I do not wish to fight old battles over again, but if I am to give a correct account of the period, I must mention the important historical events. TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 221 When I became connected with Princeton, the secret Greek Letter Fraternities had considerable power in the college. The trustees, years before, had passed a law requiring every entering student to come under a solemn obligation to have no connection whatever with any secret society. I felt from the beginning that the college was in this respect in a very unhappy position, the students signing a pledge which a number of them knowingly violated. On inquiry I discovered that while some of the societies did mean to foster pleasant social feelings, and to create a taste for oratory, yet their influence was upon the whole for evil. I soon found that the societies sought to get the college honors to their members, and to support those who were under college discipline. I felt that as the head of the college I must put an end to this state of things. I was powerfully aided, or rather led in carrying this out, by the late Dr. Atwater, who had more credit than I in suppressing the secret societies. One courageous student set himself vigorously to oppose the attempt to get the college honors for members of the fraternities. The difficulty was to get evidence ; but certain lodges got photographs taken of their members. These fell into our hands. The offenders stood clearly before us. I summoned them before the faculty. They did not deny the charge, and we sent them homa In a short time each sent in a paper in which he promised to give up, while in college, all connection with secret societies. I retained these papers for a time to secure that the promise should be kept, but I have shown them to no one. The faculty restored the students, who, I believe, kept their word. Now the great body of the students would 222 JAMES MCCOSH earnestly oppose the reintroduction of these fraternities into our college. Most of the professors in the American colleges profess to lament the existence of such societies, but have not the courage to suppress them. I am sorry to find that of late some eminent men belonging to other colleges have been defending these secret organizations. One of the greatest evils arising from the Greek letter societies is that they tended to lessen the numbers and usefulness of our two noble societies, the Whig and the Cliosophic. These form an essential part of our educa- tional system. They have done as much good as any other department of our college teaching. They have helped mightily to prepare our young men for the pulpit, the bar, and the senate. I may be permitted to suggest that the customs connected with initiation into the Halls might be profitably abandoned. I farther think that the societies should be so opened that from time to time each should have great public debates open to ladies as well as gentlemen. Not till then can we have the highest style of popular eloquence. I feel a great pride in remembering that I intro- duced gymnastics into the college. The sentence of my inaugural, in which I declared that there should be exercises in the colleges to strengthen the bodily frame, called forth acclamations so loud that they might have carried the roof off the building. Since that time gym- nastics have had an important place under careful super- intendents, and our students have manfully kept their own. From the gymnastic exercises within our walls and grounds much good has arisen and no evil. The bodily frames of our students have been strengthened, and their health sustained by the manly exercises, while TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 223 habits of mental agility and self-possession have been acquired, of great use in preparing young men for the active duties of life. But there may be, there have been, evils arising from the abuse of competitive games, especially with profes- sionals. The applause given may create an enthusiasm which should rather be directed to study. Some may prefer the approving shout of ten thousand spectators on the ball-field to the earning of a class honor or a uni- versity fellowship. The youth who can skilfully throw a ball may be more highly esteemed than one of high schol- arship or character. Your strutting college heroes may consist of men who have merely powerful arms and legs. It is acknowledged that some of our greatest gymnasts have been as scholarly and pious as any members of their class. There is no necessary or even usual connection between gymnastic eminence and immorality ; but there may be some half-dozen or ten in each class of a hundred who devote so much time and mind to the games that they neglect their studies, and virtually lose their college year. The games may be accompanied with betting and drinking. They may tend in some cases to produce the manners of a bully or a jockey rather than of a scholar or a cultivated gentleman. The talk of the students in the campus may be more about the nice points of foot- ball than of literature or science. The style of gaming may become professional instead of being promotive of health, and the great body of the students, instead of joining in the exercises, may stand by and look idly on, others playing. The question presses itself upon us, " How are we to get the acknowledged good without the accompanying 224 JAMES MCCOSH evils ? " The question is keenly discussed ; I hope it will continue to be discussed till it is satisfactorily settled. Twice have I made the attempt to bring the principal Eastern colleges to an agreement. The col- leges were willing to unite, except one or two, who trade upon their gymnastic eminence to gain students. As these stood out nothing could be done. But things have come to a crisis. Harvard and Yale now profess to see the evils that arise from competitive games. Let the discussion continue ; let it be publicly conducted ; let it be known what position each college takes ; let fathers and mothers say what they wish for their sons ; let the public press speak boldly. The issue within the next few years will be that we shall have the good without the evil. Meanwhile, let Princeton proclaim that her repu- tation does not depend on her skill in throwing or kicking a ball, but on the scholarship and the virtue of her sons. If any one tells me that in a college with hundreds of students there is no vice, he is either deceiving himself or is endeavoring to deceive others. We acknowledge that there are evils in our college, but we do all we can to repress them. Of late years there has been very little vicious conduct in Princeton College ; what exists is obliged to hide itself. The great body of the students discountenance it, and do not, as they were often tempted to do in former years, defend those who may be under discipline. I hold that in every college the faculty should look after, not only the intellectual improvement, but also the morals of those committed to their care by parents and guardians. I am afraid that both in Europe and America all idea of looking: after the character of students TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 225 has been given up by many of our younger professors. Their feeling is, " I am bound to give instruction in my department, and to advance the study in all quarters; but as to looking after the private character of any student, I do not recognize it to be part of my duty, and I shrink from it, I decline to undertake it. " I have been very careful not to let this spirit get abroad among our young instructors. Oar law enjoins that every pro- fessor is bound in duty to- watch over the welfare of the students, many of whom are far from home. We have a tutor or officer in every college building, whose office it is to see that those living there conduct themselves properly. We have abandoned the spy system, and our officers do not peep in at windows, or through keyholes, a prac- tice at which the student would generally contrive to outwit his guardian. With us everything is open and above board. We proceed on the principle that the col- lege stands in loco parentis. The youth is treated as he would be by a parent We listen patiently to every one against whom a suspicion is entertained, or a charge brought We dismiss no one without evidence, and latterly there is rarely, if ever, a case in which the cul- prit does not confess his guilt. Our penalties consist in sending home the youth for a shorter or longer time to his parents, that they may deal with him. For sixteen years I had the somewhat invidious task of looking after the morals and discipline of the college. Since that time this important work has been committed to Dean Murray, who has shown more patience than I did in the discharge of his duties. Parents may be satisfied when they know that he is looking after the best welfare of their sons. 15 226 JAMES MCCOSH I could weep this day, if I did not restrain myself, over some who have fallen when with us. But I am able to say that when parents join with us in the exer- cise of discipline, it commonly succeeds in accomplishing its end, the reformation of the offender. We have the privilege and the advantage of a great many of the youths sent us having been well trained at home. I am able to testify that God has been faithful to his promise, " Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. " There is a much more pleasant relationship between the professors and the students of late years. It is a much easier thing now to govern the college. This is especially so since a provision has been made for a con- ference between the faculty and an elected committee of the students as to judicial cases. I doubt much whether such a measure could have been made to work beneficially in some earlier years, as the students might have chosen representatives to fight with the faculty. This confer- ence, long contemplated by me, has been carried into effect by Dean Murray, with the happiest results. I believe the moral tone of the college is, upon the whole, sound at this present moment Lately the students, with my consent and approval, held a mass- meeting, and denounced the base men who send them obscene publications by mail. At the same meeting they voted unanimously for No License in this town, and helped greatly in carrying this measure in the borough. I cannot tell how happy I am to think that when I give up my office in the college, there is not a place for the sale of spirituous liquors in all Princeton. CHAPTER XV AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON (Continued) T^ROM the beginning Princeton has been a religious college, professedly and really. It has given instruc- tion weekly on the Bible, and has required attendance at prayers daily, and on public worship on the Sabbath. The prayers in the chapel are conducted by the president and professors in their turn, and the preaching by those of us who are ministers, and very frequently now by eminent divines who are invited to visit us. Dean Murray conducts public worship with great acceptance once a fortnight. Our Sabbath services of late years are not found to be tedious by the students. Every Sabbath afternoon at five there is a meeting of the whole college for prayer, and a ten-minutes' address, which is com- monly interesting as well as useful. There is much talk in certain quarters of the impor- tance of giving instruction in the English Bible in col- leges. Let me tell those who are recommending this to us, that this has always been done in Princeton. We are not ashamed, neither professors nor students, of the gospel of Jesus Christ In entering upon my work here I found some difficulty in inducing those who had previously conducted religious instruction to continue to do so, so I undertook the whole 228 JAMES MCCOSH work myself. For eight years I gave Bible instruction weekly to every student. My course lasted four years, and in these I carried the students in a general way through the Bible. I am not sure that I acted wisely in undertaking all this work. At the end of the eight years I divided the work among several others, reserving always to myself an important part, the Pentateuch and the Epistle to the Eomans, on which the Seniors were required to recite. Latterly I have given up the whole Bible instruction to seven or eight others. Dean Murray gives instruction to the Seniors in the doctrinal teachings of the Gospels and the Epistles. The majority of the students have always been pro- fessors of religion. One year there were two-thirds, and this year there are three-fifths. I am able to testify that these students as a whole, and with some human infirm- ities, live consistently with the profession which they make. At this present time we have three hundred and sixty-five names on the roll of the Philadelphia Society, which is the special religious association of the college, and which has been the centre of the spiritual life among us for many years. We have had our times of gracious revival. I remem- ber one year which began with a season of great religious apathy. The number attending our prayer-meetings was very small, perhaps twenty or thirty. But we had a few devoted men, some of whom had come from another college, who prayed as earnestly as ever men prayed, saying to God, " I will not let thee go except thou bless me. " One night there was heard in our campus the noise TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 229 of a company who had been drinking. We summoned before the faculty a number of students, whose names had been called as they were returning to their rooms. We had difficulty in making them confess. After deal- ing for more than an hour with one young man, now a lawyer in high standing, in which he continued parrying me off, he burst out : " President, I can stand this no longer. I was drinking, and I fear I am getting fond of drink. " We sent the band home for a time. They returned, deploring their conduct. Our act of dis- cipline was blessed by God. The college was moved, many betook themselves to prayer. Prayer-meetings were numerous and earnest. Dozens were converted, and have ever since continued steadfast in the faith. In 1876 we had a deep religious revival. Meetings for conference and prayers were held by the students every day and every night. Every student, indeed every member of the college, felt awed and subdued. It was estimated that upwards of one hundred were converted. I know that the great body of them, if not all, have con- tinued faithful, are leading consistent lives, and are doing good over wide regions in this land and in others. On one occasion some strange fire mingled at times with the fire from off the altar of God. There was a jealousy of the faculty on the part of a number of the students. Some of the strangers who came here to address them kept studiously away from the president and professors, lest it should be thought that the work was a scheme of the college authorities ; but the few evils that appeared were overwhelmed and lost sight of in the midst of the good that was done. When the excitement was some- what dying down, the students felt the need of the wise 230 JAMES MCCOSH counsel of their college instructors, and came to put confidence in them. In later years the religious interest has not so often taken the form of what is called a revival ; but all along we have had, every year or two, seasons of deep religious earnestness, as in 1870, in 1872, in 1874, in 1882, in 1886. At the beginning of this year we had such a time on the occasion of the visit of Professor Drummond and two professors from the University of Edinburgh. At these times the meetings for prayer were frequent and well attended, and there were short meetings for worship conducted by students in the college entries, about nine at night, to which all students in the entry were invited. On these occasions pains were taken to secure that every student, especially such as had made no profession of religion, was spoken to about the state of his soul. It may be said truly that no student has left our college without the way of salvation having been made known from the pulpit on the Sabbath, by the weekly Bible instruction of professors, and by the repeated personal appeals of his pious fellow-students. In 1877 a convention was held in Louisville for the purpose of organizing societies for Christian work in every college. One of our professors, Dr. Libbey, was induced to become a leader in this movement. He and Mr. Wishard, a student of ours engaged as secretary, visited a great many of the colleges of the country, and succeeded in establishing Christian associations in them. These have ever since been the centres of religious life, and have great influence in promoting religion in the colleges. By means of them the colleges can combine to further any good cause. They are in friendly rela- TWENTY YEARS OF PRIXCETON 231 tionship with the Young Men's Christian Association of America, In 1886 two of our students, Mr. Wilder and Mr. Forman, sons of missionaries, being stimulated by resid- ing in the summer in Northfield, under Mr. Moody, resolved to visit the colleges in New England, Canada, and the Middle States, in order to engage students, young men and young women, to devote themselves to the work of the Lord as missionaries in the foreign field. They succeeded in getting no fewer than twenty-five hundred to profess their readiness to go where Christ might require. This is, I believe, a genuine work. At this present time there is a very deep interest, greater than has ever been before, in foreign missions among the students of the college and seminary. A meeting for prayer is held after the morning service in the chapel, attended by about thirty persons, all purposing to go abroad as missionaries. A year ago the college students raised the funds to pay a missionary, and Mr. Forman has been sent out as the Princeton College missionary to India. Princeton College, during my presidency, has sent out at least three hundred men as ministers, or preparing for the ministry. I know of at least twenty- five missionaries sent out during the same period to the foreign field. Thank God, we have had scarcely any avowed infidelity among us. Not above half a dozen out of our two thou- sand and more students have left us declaring that they had no religious belief. Several of this small number have since become decided Christians. The truth which had been addressed to them here stuck as a barbed arrow in their hearts, till God gave them relief. One young 232 JAMES MCCOSH man while here had set himself against all religion. Three years after graduation he was elected to deliver the master's oration, and he came back among us to give a noble defence of the truth. On another occasion, I sent for a young man who had just graduated, of whom I feared that he had no religious faith. After talking with him seriously, I asked if he would allow me to pray with him. He declined, saying that he did not believe in a God to whom to pray. So we parted. I had hope of him, knowing that he had a pious mother. I gave him a letter which helped him to get a govern- ment position in Washington. Some years after, I had occasion to deliver some lectures in Cincinnati, and was living in a hotel there. A stranger, who turned out to have graduated at Princeton before my day, came up to me and asked, " How is it that you make infidels in Princeton ? " I answered that this was not just our voca- tion. He then began to tell me of a young man who lived in the same boarding-house with him in Washing- ton, who had been an open-mouthed infidel, perpetually quoting Huxley and Spencer, and avowing himself an agnostic. I guessed who the young man was at once. After keeping me in a state of anxiety for a time, he said that he might be able to report something that would gratify me, and he told me that this young man had gone to his mother to convert her ; " But, " he added, " she floored him, " and now he is a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is delivering addresses on religion. Not long after, this youth called on me with his newly-married wife. On the same chair on which he was seated when he declined to pray with me he now asked me to pray with him. He is now a min- TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 233 ister of the gospel, and when I saw him last he was purposing to become a missionary. I pray that there may be a like issue in the case of the few who are still wandering. Happily, I have never had any difficulty in dealing with students on the religious question. I have had under me Catholics as well as Protestants of all denom- inations, Jews, and heathen. I have religiously guarded the sacred rights of conscience. I have never insisted on any one attending a religious service to which he conscientiously objected. With scarcely an exception, the students have attended our daily morning prayers in the chapel, and also our weekly religious instruction. We allow them to go to their own place of worship on the Sabbath. The Episcopalians have a St. Paul's Society, which we encourage. It is an interesting fact that during all my presidency no one has left the Presby- terian Church while in college to join any other communion. In the instruction we give by lectures and recitations, we do not subject religion to science ; but we are equally careful not to subject science to religion. We give to each its own independent place, supported by its own evidence. We give to science the things that belong to science, and to God the things that are God's. When a scientific theory is brought before us, our first inquiry is not whether it is consistent with religion, but whether it is true. If it is found to be true, on the principle of the induction of Bacon, it will be found that it is con- sistent with religion, on the principle of the unity of truth. We do not reject a scientific truth because at first sight it seems opposed to revelation. We have seen 234 JAMES MCCOSH that geology, which an age ago seemed to be contrary to Scripture, has furnished many new illustrations of the wisdom and goodness of God, and that the ages of geol- ogy have a wonderful general correspondence with the six days of the opening of Genesis. It will be remem- bered that the late Dr. Stephen Alexander defended Kant and Laplace's theory of the formation of the earth (sub- stantially true, though it is now shown that it has over- looked some agencies at work), which was supposed to be inconsistent with religion. I have been defending Evolution, but, in doing so, have given the proper account of it as the method of God's procedure, and find that when so understood it is in no way inconsistent with Scripture. I have been thanked by pupils who see Evo- lution everywhere in nature because I have so explained it that they can believe both in it and in Scripture. 1 I i BERKELEY, CAL., March 1, 1888. DR. JAMES McCosn : MY DEAR SIR, Many and hearty thanks for the heantiful little vol- ume of your lectures received a few days ago. I have delayed acknowl- edgment until I had read it. I have now done so with intense interest. I am convinced that you are doing a good and very important work in show- ing that evolution is not necessarily atheistic, nor in any way antagonistic to a true religious belief. The Church has been, and still is, in serious danger of again placing itself in antagonism with scientific truth. . . . With great respect, Yours very truly, JOSEPH LE CONTE. Ex-President White, of Cornell, considering the same subject in a series of articles published in the " Popular Science " Monthly, wrote as follows : "In one of his personal confidences he has let us into the secret of this matter. With that hard Scotch sense which had won the applause of Thackeray in his well-known verses, he saw that the most dangerous thing which could be done to Christianity at Princeton was to reiterate in the university pulpit, week after week, solemn declarations that if evolution TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 235 believe that whatever supposed discrepancies may come up for a time between science and revealed truth will soon disappear, that each will confirm the other, and both will tend to promote the glory of God. During all this time a careful Providence has been watching over us. We have had no fire or flood to devastate us. The health of our students has been remarkably good. There have scarcely been any deaths within our walls. In making this statement I have to mention one sad exception. If I did not restrain myself I would weep as I think of it. In 1880, seven or eight young men were taken away by typhoid fever. I do not feel as if I were specially to blame, as the sanitary arrangements were not committed to me ; but we college authorities were so far to blame, and I am afraid that we have scarcely made atonement by immediately after, at a large expense, making the sanitary condition of the college thoroughly satisfactory. For hours, day and night, was I employed in visiting the dying, and com- forting their parents. The thought of these weeks is the most painful remembrance of my Princeton life. I am led, this day, to look back on my past life in Princeton. I believe I can say truly that I have coveted no man's silver or gold. The little I have laid up for old age I owe to a revered father who cultivated the by natural selection, or, indeed, evolution at all, be true, the Scriptures are false. McCosh tells us that he saw that this was the certain way to make the students unbelievers ; he therefore not only gave a check to this dangerous preaching, but preached an opposite doctrine. With him began the inevitable compromise, and in spite of mutterings against him as a Darwinian, he carried the day. . . . Other divines of strong sense in other parts of the country began to take similar ground namely, that men could be Christians and at the same time believe iu the Darwinian theory." 236 JAMES MCCOSH % land in Scotland, and to a beloved son, whose remains I have laid in your graveyard, expecting at no distant day to have my own laid beside them. I owe no man any- thing, but love to all men, gratitude for the favors bestowed on me, far greater than any I have bestowed on others. I trust I have lived for a higher end than riches, or power, or fame. For sixteen years I was a laborious minister of the gospel, having in one of the churches I served upwards of one thousand four hundred communicants. For the last thirty-five years I have been instructing young men, and in Princeton have commonly had each year two hundred young men studying philos- ophy under me. For all this I have to give account to God. I trust I have not been unmindful of the injunction to be " given to hospitality. " My income, happily we may suppose, did not admit of my giving extravagant enter- tainments; but when college duties did not prevent, I often asked the fathers and mothers of students quite as frequently the poor as the rich to come to my house, and in this way I became acquainted with the families of many of the young men. From time to time I had class-receptions, in which the students were brought into closer relationship with one another, with my family, and the people of the town. I sought to give every student an entertainment in my house once a year. By these means I have endeavored in a small way to make college life less monastic and exclusive, and to cherish pleasant social feelings. In this respect, and in every respect, I have been aided by Mrs. McCosh, pro- vided to be my comfort, and who is appreciated by the students as being their friend in health and in sickness. TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 237 It would be altogether a mistake for any one to sup- pose that the life of a college president is a dull or monotonous one. If he has any life in himself, he will be interested in the whole life of the college, and no institution has more life than a college. The students feel this in the recitation-rooms, in their own rooms, on the campus, and at their games ; and why should not the president's heart beat responsive to theirs ? There is something happening every day, almost every hour of the day, to call forth feeling ; sometimes, I admit, of disappointment or sorrow, more frequently of hope and joy, as notice is brought of the success of this or that young man. There are the father and mother presenting their boy, their hearts trembling with anxiety, while the youth is wondering at what is to happen. I have been liable every hour to have calls made upon me. It is a mother asking how her son is doing, and is so pleased when I can report favorably. It is a student waiting on me to consult about his studies or his financial diffi- culties, to ask me to help him to get a certain position, or to teli me of the death of a father or sister. I was never disturbed by such calls; I often gathered a con- siderable amount of knowledge from them. The callers never stayed too long, or annoyed me by improper requests. I have found, when I was following some deep philosophic theme, and had run aground, that I was relieved by a student coming in to divert my thoughts, and I returned to my studies to find the difficulties gone. I have rejoiced when I found any young man advancing in his studies, particularly when he was eagerly pursu- ing some high branch. I confess that I scarcely know what to do with myself after I am separated from these 238 JAMES MOCOSH interesting associations and employments on which so much of my happiness has depended these many years. For the last thirty-five years my intercourse has been chiefly with young men. My heart has been in my work, and I have delighted to lecture to them, to listen to the questions they put to me when they were per- plexed about some of the deeper problems of philosophy or religion. Two circumstances so far help to reconcile me to the position I have now to take. The first, that I am to be succeeded by one in whom I have thorough confidence that he will carry on the work which has been begun ; no, but that he will carry on a work of his own. Possessed of the highest intellectual powers, he will devote them all to the good of this college. With un- rivalled dialectic skill he will ever be ready to defend the truth. I am not sure that we have in this country at this moment a more powerful defender of the faith. Carrying at his side a sharp two-edged sword, he uses it only against error. I can leave with confidence these young men to his care, believing that he will watch carefully over their training in knowledge, in morals, and in religion. I am particularly happy when I think that philosophy, and this of a high order, and favoring religion, is safe in his hands, and will be handed down by him to the generation following. I feel that I will have to say, " What have I done now in comparison of you ? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer ? * Secondly, I am pleased to find that I have still some place in this college. I should like to bring forth some " fruit in old age. " My life has had two sides, one employed in thinking, and the other in action; and I TWENTY YEARS OF PRINCETON 239 have not found the two inconsistent I am sure that the metaphysics I have taught have been all the wiser, because I have become acquainted with men and man- ners. .1 have been identified with important public events in Scotland, in Ireland, and now in the higher education in America, and I should like to leave some record behind of what I have done and seen, especially in helping to form in the district in which I lived the Free Church of Scotland. But if I am spared to do any important work, it must be in a different field. It is not without feeling that I take the step which I now take. It recalls that other eventful step in my life, when I gave up my living, one of the most enviable in the Church of Scotland, when the liberties of Christ's people were interfered with. I am sorry to be separated from the employments in which I have had such enjoy- ment. I regret that I no longer stand in the same rela- tion to all the students of this college. I may feel a momentary pang in leaving the fine mansion, which a friend gave to the college and to me, it is as when Adam was driven out of Eden. I am reminded keenly that my days of active work are over. But I take the step firmly and decidedly. The shadows are lengthen- ing, the day is declining. My age, seven years above the threescore and ten, compels it, Providence points to it, conscience enjoins it, the good of the college demands it I take the step as one of duty. I feel relieved as I take it I ask forgiveness of God and man for any offence I have given in my haste. I leave with no unkind feeling toward any. I should be sorry if any one entertained a malignant feeling toward me. It has been a high 240 JAMES MCCOSH honor and an unspeakable privilege, that I have been at the head of this noble institution for such a length of time, and that so many spheres of usefulness have been thrown open to me. I leave the college, in a healthy state, intellectually, morally, and religiously, thanks be to God and man. I leave it with the prayer, that the blessing of Heaven and the good-will of men may rest upon it, and with the prospect of its having greater use- fulness in the future than even that which it has had in the past 11 has hp*> 0.SVK-V M v ;* '..;kg pr .-^ jtir in the int < i; thr H -. 44*- /-. Two important reasons do IUK if the narrative. It is true as was said at the time, that the president had examined the most famous institutions of learning in their practical workings, that he had studied the best educational methods, that he knew the human mind profoundly, that he possessed a rare native sagacity. How is shown by the mi nut** >? t&<. fffcftw* ment >A tht,' schools of svic-r for the inaiation of a tyrt increase oi* y^:r. ^turn of suitable bvu ar> , and From a photograph taken in 1892 CHAPTER XVI LIFE IN AMERICA 1868-1888 T T has been given to few college presidents to see the work of their hands prosper in the measure recorded in the last chapters. Two important reasons do not appear on the surface of the narrative. It is true as was said at the time, that the president had examined the most famous institutions of learning in their practical workings, that he had studied the best educational methods, that he knew the human mind profoundly, that he possessed a rare native sagacity. How true this was is shown by the minutes of the trustees, in which they record the fact that " the period of Dr. McCosh's presi- dency will ever be memorable in the history of the college for the introduction of a wisely-balanced and carefully guarded scheme of elective studies and of post- graduate and non-resident courses, and for the establish- ment of the schools of science, of philosophy and of art ; for the initiation of a system of fellowships and an increase of prizes and other methods for stimulating study and research; for the great enlargement of the library, museums and scientific apparatus ; for the im- portant additions to the number of eminent and well- qualified professors and instructors; for the erection of suitable buildings, whose architectural beauty and 16 242 JAMES MCCOSH effective arrangement have revolutionized the appearance of the campus; for a very considerable increase in the number of students, whose religious life and moral tone and manly character have been objects of earnest solici- tude, as well as their intellectual training. " But after all these results were not due alone to Dr. McCosh's experience and technical training ; paramount to that, if not superior to it, was the hold he had on the country at large by reason of that remarkable personality to which reference has been made, and through this public reputa- tion upon the students who came under him. Being the great virile, intense man he was, he was also a great citizen ; as such he commanded the hearty support of his nearest associates, attracted the attention of those further away in order to win their confidence, and thus widened his circles of influence until there were few intelligent Americans who did not know about him and appreciate his efforts. No youth felt that he was venturing on unknown seas when he came to Princeton. This eminent citizenship was supplemented by a family life singular in its strength and harmony. No public man ever owed more to the support of his home surroundings. Himself an absorbed thinker and a bold polemic, it was natural that he should be indifferent to the little cares of daily life and unconscious of the sore- ness felt by his antagonists. But throughout his career he was strengthened and supplemented by a wife who thoroughly understood the value of tact and considera- tion, who perfectly realized the proportions of income and expenditure in the material and social markets of the world, and who, animated by devotion and Christian fortitude, thought no pains too great to be taken in the LIFE IN AMERICA 243 spheres of hospitality, charity, and personal attention for those who touched the McCosh household either in its private or its public relations. The president's house was the social centre of the college and the community. Its appointments avoided the extremes of parsimony and luxury, so that men, women, and young people of every rank were receptive to the influences of its geniality and comfortable simplicity, without any sense of either lack or superfluity. A wholesome prudence and economy kept the head of the household free from any feeling of being hampered and without harassing anxiety for the future. There is no human perfection ; but such matters were so nicely adjusted in that home that the freest play for personal activity was left to every member of it, and from this Dr. McCosh profited in his educational and ecclesiastical avocations to a degree which cannot be overstated. The Isabella McCosh Infirmary, a solid, commodious structure erected and equipped for the most part by those who had been the beneficiaries in some form of Mrs. McCosh 's bounty in the way of kindness received, testifies to the gratitude of the subscribers and to the nature of Mrs. McCosh 's personal labors among the students. The eldest son, Alexander Guthrie McCosh, a successful merchant of great integrity, a man of ex- cellent parts and pleasing address, a tender son and a Christian gentleman, dying untimely, left his earnings to his parents, and by increasing their fortune increased their beneficence. His name will continue to live in the handsome prize, founded by his parents, of which Dr. McCosh has made mention. The other son and two daughters survive. They were one and all equally help- ful in their way, the eldest daughter having been for 244 JAMES MCCOSH years a fellow-worker with her father, acting as his amanuensis. Before considering the activity of Dn McCosh in the departments of good citizenship less directly connected with Princeton College, a word should be said in addition to his own statements for the purpose of emphasizing the importance of his educational philosophy. Con- vinced that a " studium generale " embracing all the liberal arts was the very core of a true university, he began his work by strengthening the old American col- lege curriculum as he found it. Wisely niggard of every national and local influence already in store, he promptly won the confidence of the professors already installed, some of them men eminent in science and philosophy, and then proceeded to reorganize the higher departments of each discipline under the heads of science, literature, philosophy and the fine arts, in order to make the two final years of college introductory to the highest specialization in such university courses as he hoped eventually to found. This device, at first somewhat mechanical in its general arrangement, soon fostered the beginnings of a real organic life, and these he proceeded to develop historically and singly, as material in teachers and students presented itself. In this way the advance of Princeton was not by innovation, but by cherishing the things that were, and by the development of her natural vigorous life. Those possible benefactors who had hoped they might give wisely found that they could do so to any extent, and the streams of endowment recapitulated by him flowed for a time in an unobstructed channel with a steady stream. The process continued almost to the last without a break. To the choice of teachers LIFE IN AMERICA 245 equal care was given. Men familiar with other institu- tions and with education in both continents, specialists of eminence and trained teachers were sought with as- siduity to fill vacancies, but when found they were not necessarily chosen; one final test was imposed by Dr. McCosh in his own mind, that they should be likely to acquire enthusiasm and to develop loyalty for those things for which Princeton stood. Perfectly aware that system was nothing without men to work it, he used the faculty meeting as a forum for the discussion of educa- tional questions, reducing its judiciary function to a minimum. It became therefore a means of unifying the sentiments and methods of the instructors, of inspiring them with a feeling of co-operation, and above all else of giving them an opening for the enforcement upon the president of the opinions they derived from their own experience. The procedure of the college was thus the expression of a co-operation between the president and professors, in which each had a full constructive share. Dr. McCosh has clearly explained his attitude toward the students, his theory and practice of discipline, his method of rooting up evil practices in the college world. He not only realized that boys and young men would soon be men doing the world's work, he appreciated that the college was composed of its units and would be the resultant of the forces thus put into it. " A college depends, " he once said, " not on its president or trustees or professors, but on the character of the students and the homes they come from. If these change, nothing can stop the college changing. " Every student therefore was to him a personality. He might not know the name nor recall the face of a young man, but there is 246 JAMES MCCOSH no instance of his having mistaken any stranger for a Princetonian, and every member of the college was his " boy. " Walking and talking, he yet found time for greetings to right and left of him as he passed through the college field. He was never too busy to pause and exchange a few friendly words with the youngest fresh- man, and as he has told the reader he was literally never too absorbed to stop and listen to any tale of injustice, indignation, repentance, sorrow, or happy confidence. He was proud to declare that no man ever entered or left the college without a personal interview with him. This was bound in the long run to have its effect. There was always a nucleus of loyal, ardent men among the undergraduates, but around it there was clustered in the opening years of his administration a mass of critical, dissatisfied, lawless students, wishing themselves else- where, ready for disorder, untrue to the best traditions of the place and to themselves. This spirit only passed as the improvement in the organization and work of the institution became evident, as the paternal character of severe discipline was understood, and as the fearless march of president and professors toward a lofty, invigor- ating, democratic university life became impressive. Then at last the Princeton youth became a pattern of loyalty, an enthusiast for the college which in lifting itself was lifting him. Idleness banished, work well regulated, sport substituted as far as possible for vice, the moral responsibility quickened by a strong, simple faith, such was Dr. McCosh's theory of the process in which college students with all their imperfections were to be fitted to lead the life of their respective communi- ties to higher things. LIFE IN AMERICA 247 As time went on and the callow graduates became experienced men, they developed an indescribable fervor of personal affection for their former guide and counsel- lor. They recalled how he had stimulated their think- ing, checked their follies, built up their habits, fostered their independence and respected their personality, and were both humbled and grateful. The scenes at com- mencement time when the " old boys " came back and, announcing their names, grasped the " Doctor's " hand and gazed into the " Doctor's " eye, were scenes of sober gladness which were profoundly significant of a great educational work. Oftentimes Dr. McCosh was the man of granite, severe and commanding in his class-room, fearless to enter and quell any riotous demonstration, physically impressive and sometimes stentorian in his tones. But every true heart recognized another in him, and on that point the young are not in the long run to be deceived. At times too he discovered the strong vein of sentiment which was in his nature. His sighs over a young man hardened in vice were those of a father, and tears of joy sprang unbidden to his eyes on the return of a prodigal. His emotions were easily reached by a tale of suffering, and no good student left Princeton for lack of means, if the president knew him to be laborious and self-denying ; none but the recipients of his bounty were ever aware of his acts of kindness unless it were those generous friends to whom he appealed when the demand was beyond his own means, and who desired him to be the almoners of their bounty. Dr. McCosh has spoken of his fondness for nature. It is essential to the understanding of his character and work that his creative imagination should be justly esti- 248 JAMES MCCOSH mated. He never was old, for he lived in the present and future to his last hour; the products of experience were for him merely the elements of new constructions which he visualized and then critically examined. If they bore his tests of value he sought to realize them with all his energies ; if not he smiled at his own con- ceits and put them away without a regret. In his enjoy- ment of natural scenery this came out distinctly. On his first visit to America he spent some time among the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, whose gentle beauties he fully appreciated. President Hopkins of Williams College recalled a visit from Dr. McCosh as among his most pleasant recollections and has thus described it: " It was during the summer vacation ; the weather was fine, and we were quite at leisure to stroll about the grounds and ride over the hills. Eiding thus we reached, I remember, a point which he said reminded him of Scotland. There we alighted. At once he bounded into the field like a young man, passed up the hillside, and, casting himself at full length under a shade, gave himself up for a time to the associations and inspiration of the scene. I seem to see him now, a man of world-wide reputation, lying thus solitary among the hills. They were draped in a dreamy haze suggestive of poetic inspiration, and, from his quiet but evidently intense enjoyment, he might well, if he had not been a great metaphysician, have been taken for a great poet. And, indeed, though he had revealed himself chiefly on the metaphysical side, it was evident that he shared largely in that happy temperament of which Shakespeare and Tennyson are the best examples, in which meta- physics and poetry seem to be fused into one and become LIFE IN AMERICA 249 identical. " The explanation of Dr. McCosh's passion for nature was that out of its elements he could construct his imaginings without fear of using deceptive or base mate- rial. Eeposing in the world of beauty with perfect confi- dence, he gave free course to that association of ideas and that kaleidoscopic rearrangement of her suggestions which is the best repose. It was curious that at the age of seventy -two he should have caught hay fever, an irritat- ing annoyance from which he never escaped, and that in consequence he should have been compelled to spend a certain period every year among the northern hills of New Hampshire. This constant association with their charms ended in utterly captivating him, and the weeks he spent at Franconia or at Jefferson were among the most delightful of his life. While Dr. McCosh was primarily a thinker and teacher, and while his force was thrown into educational questions such as the retention of Greek for the bachelor's degree, the question of elective studies or the system of university development, yet he never forgot that he was an ordained clergyman. His plea for Greek was partly based on its necessity in preparing candidates for a learned ministry. Though in no sense an ecclesiastic, yet he was profoundly interested in his own denomina- tion and in the question of church unity among Protes- tants. This he felt could be accomplished only by federation, never by amalgamation. Presbyterian union in particular lay near his heart. The idea of some alli- ance between the various churches of Presbyterian polity throughout the world seems to have occurred to many persons simultaneously. Dr. McCosh was one of them, and for twenty years he labored earnestly in the cause, 250 JAMES MCCOSH making addresses, writing articles, expounding plans and assisting in the work of organization. He was con- vinced that in the Federal and State governments of the United States there was an excellent model for a certain degree of centralization. A few of the great principles as a doctrinal basis and a certain church-order, namely, the parity of ministers and representative councils em- bracing the eldership, being pre-supposed, the central council, he thought, should admit each church on its own standards as long as these embraced the cardinal truths of salvation; if at any time any organization departed from those principles in act or profession it should be cut off from the union. " Without interfering at all with the free action of the churches, " the central council, he explained, " might distribute judiciously the evangelistic work in the great field, which is the world, allocating a sphere to each, discouraging the plantation of two churches where one might serve, and the establish- ment of two missions at one place, while hundreds of other places have none. In this way the resources of the Church would be kept from being wasted, while her energies would be concentrated on great enterprises. When circumstances require it, the whole strength of the Church might be directed to the establishment of truth and the suppression of error and prevalent forms of vice. More important than all, from the heart of the Church might proceed an impulse reaching to the utmost extremities, and carrying life to every member. " The proposition was well received and Dr. McCosh lived to see the Pan-Presbyterian alliance a fact. Three times he crossed the ocean to promote its interests, and his cor- respondence in regard to it was immense. He was dis- LIFE IN AMERICA 251 appointed that as time went on its work did not arouse greater interest nor accomplish the ends for which he had hoped, but he died in the conviction that its loose federation would grow stronger and stronger, resulting eventually in the organic unity of all Presbyterians. One of the burning questions in the fellowship of the General Assembly during the latter years of Dr. McCosh's life concerned the revision of the Westminster standards. In this he had an intense interest and he carefully prepared for the Presbytery of New Brunswick, to which he belonged, the following statement, which needs no comment : Ever since I became a teacher of the science of mind I have given more attention to philosophy than theology. In doing this, I have been able to serve religion more effectively than by any other course which I could take. My philosophy is realistic, being an exposition of the facts of our nature, and being so, it must be favorable to the Scriptures, which reveal to us what we are, as no other work has done. But I have been watching all along the signs of the times, and feel it to be honest to make known my views in every crisis of opinion in the Church. Hitherto I have not favored a revision of our standards, but the time has come when we must face the question which is now being put in the Presbyterian churches all over the world. I know there is some risk in stirring up the inquiry, but there is more danger in trying to ignore or suppress it, which, in fact, cannot now be done. Our students, our young men generally, and our laity are raising the question, and it is the plain duty of the Church to face it boldly and to guide the 252 JAMES MCCOSH movement in the right direction. There are some pas- sages in the Confession of Faith and in the Larger Cate- chism of which it may be doubted whether they are founded on the Word of God, and which are offensive in their expression. Farther, there is a want of clear and prominent utterance, such as we have in the Scriptures, of the love of God as shown in the redemption of Christ, which is sufficient for all men, and in the free and hon- est offer of salvation to all men, non-elect as well as elect. For the last thirty-nine years of my life my intercourse has been chiefly with young men, who are apt to open their hearts to me as knowing that I sympathize with them. Most of our young men have not paid much attention to the Confession, but they will now do so, and as they do so, they will find certain passages knotty, crabbed, and hard to digest. I do fear that some of our best young men who meant to become ministers, may be allured away to other professions, and that those who go on to preach the gospel will find themselves annoyed and hindered by unwarranted expressions star- ing them in the face. In these circumstances, I am of opinion that the Church should, as speedily as possible, leave out a few obnoxious passages not at all needful to the completeness of the expression of the system of doctrine, and put in the very front a full declaration of God's love to men and a free offer of salvation. This being done for the present, the Church should hold itself ready to meet the wants of the years and ages as they roll on. I am not sure whether the present terms of subscription to the standards will be sufficient in the distant or even in the near future. Some of our younger men are saying, " Nobody believes all the Confession, LIFE IN AMERICA 253 everybody rejects some parts, I may reject what dis- pleases me. " At this present time we get more than half our erudition from Germany, but also more than one-half of our heresies. Our Confession meets the heresies of the seventeenth, but not the more insidious ones of the nineteenth century. The Church has now to see that it has professors in our seminaries equal in learning to those in Germany. Ever since the Eeforma- tion, the Church has been amending its Confession. I confess that I should like to have in the Presbyterian Church a shorter and simpler creed than the Westminster Confession. At the same time our creed, be it shorter, or be it longer, must contain the saving truths embraced in the consensus of the churches. I believe that in the age on which we have now entered, the Church will have to engage in a fight for " the faith once delivered to the saints." I hold that the Presbyterian Church is quite fit for that work. I deny, as is charged, that the great body of its ministers are Arminian or half-Arminian. I deny that Charles Hodge or Alexander Hodge has departed from the Confession of Faith. They may differ at times in the aspect they present and the phrases they use, but the truths are the same as those of the old Pauline theology. In connection with his firm convictions as to unity being essential for successful effort in Christian work, Dr. McCosh often contemplated the possibility of union among all the Protestant denominations. In the main he was not encouraged, so immovable seemed the obstacles of doctrine, practice, and feeling which separate them. But there was one tenet sacred to all which he felt might 254 JAMES MCCOSH be used to spur them to harmony of action, the binding force of the command " to preach the gospel to every creature. " Since this cannot be done without combined action, and since there is no immediate prospect of all the churches becoming one at present, it should be done, he reiterated in public and in private to the very close of his life, by a denominational federation. His plan was as follows : First, in following out these views there should be such an understanding and co-operation among denomi- nations as to secure that the gospel be preached in every country and all over every country. The eyes of every church should be over the whole world of human beings to see that in every country the glad tidings of salvation be proclaimed. The increase of post-office facilities, of travelling, of telegraphs, should make this easier than in any previous age in the history of the world. We have no right to keep to ourselves and to keep back from others the gracious announcement that the Son of God hath left the bosom of the Father and come into the world to save sinners. If there be any nation or region which has not heard the joyful sound, it is the impera- tive duty of every church to see that the message be pro- claimed there, and join with other evangelical churches for that end. Secondly, every minister may have a district allotted to him. It is on this that I most fondly dwell. This district should, if possible, be immediately round his place of worship. I have often been extremely dis- gusted at seeing, in the old country and in this, a con- gregation fed with the richest truth from Sabbath to LIFE IN AMERICA 255 Sabbath, in the midst of a district where the people were miserably degraded, while yet nothing was done for them. Where a minister cannot have a district close to his church, let him have one in a convenient position. The minister is to feel that he has an oversight of that district, and to make himself responsible that every one has a Saviour proclaimed to him. The minister should labor in that district and should make his own people interested, especially in its young and in its poor; he must welcome every one who comes into his district to do good. Sometimes this mixed work may tend to pro- duce a little confusion and altercation, but things will soon settle themselves when there is anything of the spirit of Christ, and the district may need all the laborers. It is clear that the parochial plan cannot be estab- lished exclusively where the congregational plan has preoccupied the ground, but let the congregations every- where combine so much of the parochial system as that each have a district allotted to it. In this district the minister should labor and take with him into it all the members of his congregation who are willing to work in Christ's cause, to visit the sick, to set up Sabbath schools, and to assist all who need spiritual help. These selected districts scattered all over the land may come to embrace all the spiritually destitute districts, and to spread gospel agents over every district, all over the land. It is by some such method that I expect the gospel to be preached to every creature. I may be permitted to state that as a parochial min- ister in Scotland I took advantage of both methods, the congregational and the parochial. My colleague and I 256 JAMES MCCOSH had upwards of fourteen hundred members in our church to whom we preached the gospel, and we were able to look after every individual, male and female, old and young, in the district. The consequence was that in a parish of six or eight thousand inhabitants there were not a dozen who did not go to the house of God more or less fre- quently. I confess I should like to see this system spread over the whole of this country. Working on this method, every degraded district would come to have its agents, male and female, working in it In this way the whole land might be covered with agents working for Christ. The wealthier and more moral and Christian districts might be left to provide ministers for them- selves, and the more degraded districts have evangelical agents provided for them. It is in this way I confess I expect to have the whole land covered with gospel mes- sengers, so a degraded one may feel that he has a Chris- tian friend to whom he can apply in time of need. It is a plan which can be adopted by any church with- out the breach of any denominational principle. Instead of a grand church union being adopted first and then evangelistic work following, it will be by the church work that church union is produced. It might easily be supposed that a man between the ages of fifty-seven and seventy-two would have exhausted all his energies in the various activities of a college- presidency, of authorship, of teaching and of leadership in church discussions. But it would be a serious omis- sion in the record of Dr. McCosh's American life to pass by the activities of his citizenship. As one of his most famous pupils said in a beautiful prose threnody delivered LIFE IN AMERICA 257 after his instructor's death, the Doctor was born an American and a Princetonian. When once he had decided to accept the presidency of Princeton he accepted along with it the position of leadership in patriotism. Always mindful of his origin and passionately devoted to the land of his birth, he was nevertheless naturalized at the earliest moment, and taking a warm, intelligent interest in American politics, performed with scrupulous fidelity the duties of his citizenship. In particular he always kept his hand on the local interests of Princeton, exerting his influence for the choice of good men to office, securing wise legislation and restraining the little tem- pests sometimes awakened by the conflicting interests of town and college. Temperance legislation was his special care, as the saloon was his horror. In the interest of sobriety among his students he used every force to check and regulate the sale of intoxicating drink among the whole community, shunning no antagonisms, sparing no foe, using every weapon for the attainment of an end paramount to all others in importance. He. .was there- fore a personage to be reckoned with in local politics, and as such took no pains to withdraw himself from the profane touch. As is well known, the presidents of our leading col- leges are summoned repeatedly by the newspapers to help in forming public opinion through the expression of their own views. From this Dr. McCosh never shrank ; he took care to get the best information, to weigh it care- fully and to state his conclusions clearly. And in this he was able so completely to assume the American stand- point that he never aroused native jealousy ; for the most part it was entirely forgotten that he was not born in 17 258 JAMES MCCOSH the land of his adoption. In general he was a stanch Republican, but at the same time he was thoroughly independent; understanding that his position required broad views, he felt free to criticise the party of his choice unsparingly when occasion required. Throughout the contest for Civil Service Reform he gave substantial support to every effort put forth for its furtherance, and the interest awakened among his students by his efforts early led to the formation of a Civil Service Reform Asso- ciation in Princeton College. During the years in which he was influential in the management of the two last series of the " Princeton Review " he was constantly put- ting forward as themes for discussion in its pages every- thing that made for purity in politics. CHAPTER XVII AFTERMATH 1888-1894 A T the age of seventy-seven the President of Princeton College found himself still in the full enjoyment of all his powers, his intellectual force not diminished, and his physical strength still sufficient to meet all his demands upon it. The institution to which he had so long heen devoted was prospering as never before, the numbers of its teachers and pupils were steadily in- creasing, the work done by its scholars and writers was improving and commanding attention, the loyalty and enthusiasm of the corporation and alumni was only equalled by that of the undergraduates. Dr. McCosh himself felt no need of repose; his armor was neither heavy nor galling ; the stately home he occupied and the honors with which every year met him in his high social station were constant reminders of the distinction he had attained, yet with iron will he determined to forego his hard-earned rewards, to resign his place and its emoluments completely and unreservedly. He feared lest the infirmities of old age might gradually cloud his judgment, lest the advancement of Princeton might thus suffer a check, lest the dignity and influence of a long life might be impaired by feebleness at its close. Look- 260 JAMES MCCOSH ing into the future, he saw himself for some years still active in public life as a philosopher, lecturing, writing, and revising, but that was all. The same will-power which made him resign, kept him from meddling with affairs which were no longer his, and relegated him to the class of those who, having deserved well of their country, are content to see the fruit of their labors pros- pering in the hands of trusted successors. A regular attendant at the religious services of the university, for two years a commanding lecturer in its halls, deeply interested in every detail of its progress, he was other- wise a private man ; " a model ex-president " was the high compliment paid to him by his successor. In 1889 Dr. McCosh was invited to lecture on the Merrick foundation before the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- sity. He chose for his theme, " The Tests of the Various Kinds of Truth. " The lectures, afterwards published in a volume with that title, were quite up to the writer's highest standard, and were received with every mani- festation of respect and interest Dr. McCosh himself was kindly entertained, but, unfortunately, the weather was very bad, even for March; the lecturer caught a heavy cold which turned into a severe attack of bron- chitis and confined him for weeks to a sick bed. This warning made it clear that similar invitations must there- after be declined, as they were, though most regretfully. In the same year Dr. McCosh delivered two courses of college lectures in Princeton, both of which were after- wards published. That on " First and Fundamental Truths " is a successful attempt to present his system of thinking objectively ; the other, on " Various Kinds of Truth," was a vigorous defence of reality. The central AFTERMATH 261 concept of the latter he further elucidated in the lectures delivered from time to time during the following year. This course was also printed in a slender volume entitled " The Prevailing Types of Philosophy, can they reach reality logically ? " In addition to these philosophical discussions he began another which was completed and published two years later, also in pamphlet form. The title of this, which was really the author's final attempt at constructive work, is " Our Moral Nature. " Its value lies in its promise rather than in any fulfilment. It displays extensive reading and foreshadows a method by which the writer's philosophy could be used in a con- structive Christian ethic ; but beyond this, as might be expected, it does not go. Dr. McCosh's last public appearance of note was at the International Congress of Education held in connec- tion with the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in July, 1893. One of the members of that body has written that in the main he was the most noted figure of the assemblage. In spite of his extreme age he ex- hibited much of his native vigor and adroitness when called on to preside, quelling the unruly, checking the eccentric, and promoting wise discussion. His own contribution was a paper on "Beality: What Place it should hold in Philosophy ? " which is printed in the proceedings of the congress. The many famous men pres- ent delighted in showing deference to such a brilliant old age, and cordially paid their honors to the Christian philosopher who at eighty-two was not only a Nestor in council but also like an Ajax in battle. During this journey Dr. McCosh's health was still vigorous ; though much feted by his friends and pupils in the great western 262 JAMES MCCOSH capital, he suffered no inconvenience and in the visits which he was able to make to the great fair he became an interested student. His impressions of what he saw were clear and deep ; he apprehended perfectly the signifi- cance of such an exhibition in its time and place, and returned with abundant matter for wise reflection. Upon his mind there was made one indelible impression, a con- viction of the splendor and strength in American civili- zation, a certainty as to the dangerous tendencies of its superabundant idealism, and an abiding sense that to the end he should sound the trumpet note of his own realistic message. Almost immediately he began the composition of his last published work, with the significant title " Philosophy of Eeality : Should it be favored by Amer- ica ? " The interrogative titles to the pamphlets which mark the close of Dr. McCosh's career as a writer are highly significant. He had been a polemic, a born controversialist, a " defender " throughout the years of his vigor, and he remained so to the very end. The celebration of Dr. McCosh's eightieth birthday was a delightful occasion and awakened wide-spread public interest, showing as it did how strong was the love of his co-workers and pupils. But it was not a public affair. In the morning President Patton with the faculty of the College called in a body to offer their con- gratulations. They carried with them a handsome piece of silver and a beautifully engrossed and illuminated ad- dress on parchment emphasizing their ties of personal regard and expressing their satisfaction at having been his co-laborers in a great work. Then came a delegation repre- senting the one hundred and fifteen of his pupils who were then teachers in various American colleges and AFTERMATH 263 universities. They too brought a similar tribute, a mas- sive silver pitcher, with an inscription taken from Aris- tophanes' " Clouds. " 1 Such an experience has been en- joyed by few teachers; among those represented were men of note in many lines, and a few who had gone far from some of their teacher's fundamental positions. But each and all felt that Dr. McCosh 's receptivity for new ideas, if only they were good, was the most remarkable quality of a man whom they knew to be busy at eighty incorpor- ating some of the latest results of German research in a new edition of his Psychology. Accordingly this charac- teristic had been selected by their committee as the point to be emphasized and on that account was chosen the Greek inscription engraved on their gift. The third event of the day was the presentation of a beautiful silver cup by representatives from the Princeton Club of New York, the associated alumni living in and near that city. As may be imagined, the recipient of all these testi- monials was deeply moved. It was with great satisfaction that among those who ytvoiro TavBptaTrtf, Sri irpojuwv rrjt y \LK'IO.S is r^fv rpvcrtv av TOU irpdynaffiv xput-ri^frai Kal aoQtcu' iira.ffKt'i. Arist. Clouds, 1. 511. These lines may be rendered, Prosperity attend him, since while passing on Into the vale of man's decline He yet with newer learning's tint His mind imbues And wisdom cultivates. The context is ironical, but the passage loses nothing of its force be- cause of that. 264 JAMES MCCOSH had graduated from Princeton during his administration Dr. McCosh could number so large a number of clergy- men. During 1892 he was interested in establishing from his own means a foundation of .250 at Brechin, the an- nual interest of which was to be used for enabling any deserving young man of good moral character connected with his old congregation to prosecute his studies with the view of entering the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland. The following year he instituted a bursary at the same cost, which was to be awarded annually to the scholar attaining the highest eminence in the public school of Patna, the village nearest his birthplace in Ayrshire. In these acts of beneficence, which gave sub- stantial proof of his devotion to Scotland, and in found- ing the prize at Princeton in memory of his son, he found the keenest enjoyment. Yet it must not be thought that Dr. McCosh was spared the ordinary sorrows of advancing age. The house which he built for his occupation is commodious and exquisitely located, with a distant view across fertile lowlands toward the seashore. In his daily life he was cherished by all the cares which affectionate, thoughtful consideration can bestow. The students who throng the neighborhood greeted him with deep respect as he came and went on his daily walks, and the little chil- dren playing on the wayside hailed his appearance with shouts of delight, crowding to claim a ride on his " staff," as he always called it, or listening to his quiz- zical remarks with keen enjoyment. Wherever he appeared in the college field, or on the village street, or as he drove through the country by-ways which he so loved, he was recognized by every passer, and saluted AFTERMATH 265 with pleasant smiles. And yet for all that, he felt the burden of the body. Explaining his point of view he reasoned, like the philosopher he was, " that the ordinary happiness and comfort of mankind proceeds from two sources : first and largely, from healthy sensations which we feel ; secondly, from the gratification of the appetences, natural and acquired. But old age is apt to be deprived of both of these. Health with its springs of felicity is giving way to irksomeness and pains. Specially our appetences cannot be gratified. We try to exert our- selves in our pleasures, we find that we cannot do so. " But from first to last there was no querulousness ; even toward the close of life his sense of humor came to the rescue at the most trying times. To one who assisted him in a moment of physical exhaustion, and who bore only with great exertion one share of the weight of his massive frame, he turned with a deprecating smile and the exclamation in broad Scotch, " Hech, mon, ye had an awfu' tussle." From time to time throughout the last three years of his life Dr. McCosh jotted down the reminiscences which have furnished the foundation of this volume. The occupation gave him some pleasure, but on the whole his feelings were those of regret, in fact at the close he was sorry that he had ever entered on the task, although he was unwilling to destroy a syllable of what he had written. The reason for this frame of mind is one which displays his character in the strongest light he had been led to a stern self-examination, and the results were not to his liking. He wrote with unflinching severity a condemnation of his own faults which would have moved the bitterest critic, if such there ever were, analyzing 266 JAMES MCCOSH his course, as he seemed to feel that he should, for the benefit of those he had influenced through his long life. But this stern duty faithfully performed, his buoyancy and faith reasserted themselves, and probably the last words he wrote were these : Farewell, hill and dale, mountain and valley, river and brook, lake and outflow, forest and shady dell, sun and moon, earth and sky. * * * Welcome what im- measurably exceeds all these Heaven with its glory ! Heaven with its angels that excel in strength ! Heaven with the spirits of just men made perfect ! Heaven with Jesus himself, so full of tenderness ! Heaven with Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The asterisks stand for a tribute to his wife and family such as only a modest true-hearted, humble man could write to those who had supported and cherished him. Dr. McCosh's last illness was short and painless. As is well known to all who were near him in his advanced age, he grew more thoughtful in his expression, more gentle in his looks and gestures, more considerate and more spiritual in his conversation down to the very close of his life. He died on November 16, 1894. As at the end he lay in his chamber surrounded by all who loved him, speaking in tender accents from time to time, and then relapsing into gentle slumbers, the scene was not calculated to overpower the emotions, it seemed rather as if the natural was making its easy transit to the super- natural. And in the serenity of passing existence the onlooker seemed to see the strong man who had run his course, the warrior who had fought his fight, the captain AFTERMATH 267 who had weathered the storms of doubt. But whatever thoughts arose, one was central, here was a great man who, having weighed the inexorable queries of whence, and what, and whither, was leaving the shores of life and passing confidently beyond the gateway into eternity, calling with undying conviction even as his tones grew fainter : God is real, His universe is real, man is not left without a guide in the world. He was fitly buried with stately academic ceremonial ; throngs of men, high and lowly, listened to the eulogiums pronounced over him ; the press of this and other coun- tries paid becoming tributes to his memory. In his death as in his life there was a note of triumph. Whatever esti- mate the future may put upon his contributions to the history of thought, he will have an imperishable monu- ment of substantial dimensions in what he accomplished as philosopher, teacher, and man for the age in which he lived. One of his eminent pupils has paid him this just and loving tribute : u Young to the end, through sympathy with youth, Gray man of learning ! champion of truth I Direct in rugged speech, alert in mind, He felt his kinship with all human kind, And never feared to trace development Of high from low assured and full content That man paid homage to the Mind above, Uplifted by the " Royal Law of Love." The laws of nature that he loved to trace Have worked, at last, to veil from us his face; The dear old elms and ivy-covered walls Will miss his presence, and the stately halls His trumpet-voice ; while in their joys Sorrow will shadow those he called " my boys." Robert Bridges. BIBLIOGEAPHY BY JOSEPH H. DULLES following list covers a period of sixty-one years, from the time that Dr. McCosh was twenty-two years old until the year of his death. It is arranged chronologically and thus constitutes an expose* of his literary life. The absolute chronological sequence is broken in the cases of the Baccalaureate Sermons and the Philosophical Series, which are kept together. The list does not include all of Dr. McCosh 's contributions to the religious press, but does contain the more important of these. It embraces three classes : books, papers read before learned societies and articles contributed to vari- ous periodicals, and distinct pamphlets. The books may be distinguished by small capitals. The pamphlets are given as bound in paper, although in one or two cases there is no separate cover. Italics have been used to indicate the periodicals or published proceedings in which his various articles have appeared. On the Use and Functions of Preaching and the Advantages of Systematic Theology to a Preacher of the Gospel. Being a sermon delivered as a valedictory address to the Adelphi Theological Society, March 16, 1833. Edinburgh, 1833, 31 pp., 12mo., paper. Review of J. H. Hilton's " The Work of the Holy Spirit in Con- version." [Unsigned.] The Edinburgh Christian Instructor, vol. TI, Dec., 1833, pp. 831-841; continued in vol. HI, Jan., 1834, pp. 34-44. 270 JAMES MCCOSH Report and address by the Kirk Session of the Old Church, Brechin, on the subject of Intemperance. Brechin, 1841, 10pp., 12mo., paper. [Unsigned.] Recollections of the Disruption in Brechin. Intimation from the Old Church Pulpit, Brechin, Nov. 13, 1842. (Printed for private circulation.) Brechin, 1842, 12 pp., 12mo., paper. Does the Established Church acknowledge Christ as its Head? The Question answered by the official statements of the Judges and Statesmen of the Land and the Acts of the Established Church. 2nd edition, revised. Edinburgh, 1846, 16 pp. 8vo., paper. A Tribute to the Memory of Dr. Chalmers. By a former pupil. Brechin, 1847, paper. Aids in Prayer. For the use of the young. 3rd edition, with selec- tion of hymns. Brechin, 1848, 18 pp., 16mo., paper. THE METHOD OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT, PHYSICAL AND MORAL. Edinburgh, 1850, viii -f- 540 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1851, 515 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1852. The same. 5th edition, revised, London, 1856, 8vo. The same. 7th edition. London, 1860, 8vo. The same. 9th edition. London, 1867, 8vo. The same. New York, 1869, 8vo. The same. New York, 1874, xiv -}- 549 pp., 8vo. On the Method in which Metaphysics should be prosecuted : being the introductory lecture of Dr. McCosh in Queen's College, Belfast, 12th January, 1852. Reprinted from the Belfast Mercury of Tuesday, Jan. 13th, 1852. Belfast, 1852, 16 pp., 16 mo., paper. For Love's Sake. A Farewell Sermon, preached in the "West Free Church, Brechin, Aug. 24, 1854. Brechin, 1854, 25 pp., 16mo., paper. The Necessity for an Intermediate System of Education between the National Schools and Colleges of Ireland, in letters addressed to his Excellency the Earl of St. Germains, Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland. Belfast, 1854, 22 pp., 8vo., paper. TYPICAL FORMS AND SPECIAL EXDS IN CREATION. By James McCosh and George Dickie. Edinburgh, 1855. The same. New York and London, 1856, viii -{- 539 pp. 8vo- The same. 2d edition. Edinburgh, 1857, viii -f- 556 pp., 12mo. BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 The same. New edition. London, 1862, 8vo. The same. New York, 1869, viii + 539 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1876, viii -|- 539 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1880, viii -}- 539 pp., 8vo. The Imagination ; Its Use and Abuse. A lecture delivered before the Young Men's Christian Association, in Exeter Hall, Jan. 20, 1857. London, 1857, 35 pp., 12mo., paper. Reprinted in the Exeter Hall Lecture Series, 1856-1857, pp. 377-411. London, 1857, 12mo. A Sketch of a Tour on the Continent of Europe, with remarks on the lower and higher Educational Institutions in Prussia. The substance of a paper read before the Belfast Natural His- tory and Philosophical Society, April 13, 1859. In the Pro- ceedings of the Society, pp. 1-4. Belfast, 1859. Sir William Hamilton's Metaphysics, Dublin University Magazine, vol. LIV, August, 1859, pp. 152-166. The Ulster Revival and its Physiological Accidents. A paper read before the Evangelical Alliance, Belfast, Sept. 22, 1859. Bel- fast, [1859], 15 pp., 12mo., paper. The Shifting Scenes of Life : An Address to Youth. Belfast, [no date], 35 pp., 16mo., paper. The Mental Sciences and the Queen's University in Ireland: Being a letter to the Secretary of the Queen's University. Belfast, 1860, 8 pp., 8vo., paper. THE INTUITIONS OF THE MIND, INDUCTIVELY INVESTIGATED. London and New York, 1860, viii + 504 pp., 8vo. The same. New and revised edition. London, 1865, xii -f- 448 pp., 8vo. The same. New and improved edition. New York, 1869, xvi -|- 448 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1870. The same. 3rd revised edition. New York, 1872, xiv + 451 pp., 8vo. The Association of Ideas and its Influence on the Training of the Mind. A lecture delivered before the Dublin Young Men's Christian Association, the 3rd of April, 1861. Dublin, 1861, 36 pp., 12mo., paper. THE SUPERNATURAL IN RELATION TO THE NATURAL. Cam- bridge, [England], 1862, xii + 352 pp., 12mo. The same. Belfast and New York, 1862, xii -f- 370 pp., 12mo. 272 JAMES MCCOSH Introduction to the Complete AVorks of Stephen Charnock, B. D. Being pages vii-xlviii of vol. I of The Works of Stephen Charnock. Nichol's Series of Standard Divines. Puritan Period. Edinburgh, 1864, 8vo. The Present Tendency of Religious Thought throughout the Three Kingdoms. A paper read before the British Organization of the Evangelical Alliance, Edinburgh, July 6, 1864. Edin- burgh, 1864, 32 pp., 8vo., paper. Supplement and Questions to Dugald Stewart's " Outlines of Moral Philosophy," In the " Outlines of Moral Philosophy," pp. 125- 164. London, 1865, 12mo. The Religious and Social Condition of the United States as gath- ered in a summer's tour ; with the Formation of an American branch of the Evangelical Alliance. In the Proceedings of the Evangelical Alliance, 1866, pp. 15-24. AN EXAMINATION OF MR. J. S. MILL'S PHILOSOPHY. Being a Defence of Fundamental Truth. London and New York, 1866, viii -f- 406 pp., 12mo. [The London edition inverts the order of the title, reading : A Defence, etc.] The same. 2nd edition with additions. New York, 1869, x + 470 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1871, 8vo. The same. New York, 1875, 8vo. The same. London, 1877, 8vo. The same New York, 1880, 8vo. Waiting for God. A sermon preached in Great Queen Street Chapel, April 26, 1867, in behalf of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society. London, 1867, 29 pp., 12mo., paper. Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life. A sermon preached in Surrey Chapel, May 8, 1867, before the Directors and Friends of the London Missionary Society. London, 1867, 28 pp., 12mo., paper. Compulsory Education. A paper read before the National Asso- ciation for the Promotion of Social Science. Belfast, 1867. In the Transactions of the Association, pp. 379-385. London, 1868. The Present State of the Intermediate Education Question in Ireland. Being the substance of a paper read before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, Bel- fast, 1867. In the Transactions of the Association, pp. 456-458. London, 1868. BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 Moral Philosophy in Great Britain in Relation to Theology. A paper read before the Evangelical Alliance in Amsterdam, 1867. The American Presbyterian and Theological Review, New Series, vol. VI, Jan., 1868, pp. 3-20. Also printed separately under the title : Present State of Moral Philosophy in Great Britain in Relation to Theology. London, 1868, 13 pp., 8vo., paper. Recent Improvements in Formal Logic in Great Britain. The American Presbyterian and Theological Review, New Series, vol. VI, April, 1868, pp. 65-85. [The original form of the treatise on Logic.] Mill's Reply to His Critics. The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, vol. XVII, April, 1868, pp. 332-362. Reprinted in The American Presbyterian and Theological .Reinew;, New Series, vol. VI, July, 1868, pp. 350-391. The Duty of Irish Presbyterians to their Church at the present Crisis in the Sustentation of the Gospel Ministry. Belfast, 1868, 32 pp., 8vo., paper. PHILOSOPHICAL PAPERS. Containing : I. Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Logic. II. Reply to Mr. Mill's Third Edition. III. Present State of Moral Philosophy in Britain. London, 1868, 8vo. The same. New York, 1869, v + 413-484 pp., 8vo. [Paper II. is also found as Appendix II in An Examination of Mr. J. S. Mill's Philosophy. 2nd edition. New York, 1869.] Academic Teaching in Europe. Inaugural Address ; in Inaugura- tion of James McCosh, D.D.,LL.D., as President of the Col- lege of New Jersey, Princeton, Oct. 27, 1868, pp. 35-96. New York, 1869, 8vo., paper. Hopkins' " Law of Love and Love as a Law." The New York Observer, April 15, 1869. Address at the Semicentenary Celebration of the Presbyterian Board of Education, May 25, 1869. In the Proceedings of the same; pp. 19-23. Philadelphia, 1869. Baccalaureate Sermons: Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life. Being the Bacca- laureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 27, 1869. Princeton, 1869, 25 pp., 12mo., paper. Lessons Derived from the Plant. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 26, 1870. Princeton, 1870, 32 pp., 12mo., paper. 18 274 JAMES MCCOSH Unity with Diversity in the Works and Word of God. The Bac- calaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 25, 1871. Princeton, 1871, 30 pp., 12mo., paper. Faith in Christ and Faith in Doctrine Compared and Contrasted. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 23, 1872. Princeton, 1872, 31 pp., 12mo., paper. Printed also in The Mercersburg Review, vol. XIX, July, 1872, pp. 414-438. On Singleness of Eye. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the CoUege of New Jersey, June 22, 1873. Princeton, 1873, 24 pp., 12mo., paper. Living for a High End. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 21, 1874. Princeton. 1874, 22 pp., 12ino., paper. The Royal Law of Love ; or Love in Relation to Law and to God. A Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 27, 1875. New York, 1875, 30 pp., 16mo., paper, The same. Brechin, 1875, 22 pp., 12mo., paper. The World a Scene of Contest. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 25, 1876. New York, 1876, 32 pp., 12mo., paper. The Propriety of acknowledging the Lord in all our Ways. The Baccalaureate sermon preached before the College of New Jersey, June 16, 1878. New York and Princeton, 1878, 26 pp., 12 mo. Dr. McCosh on Hazing Old College Customs in Danger. The New York Ledger, Jan. 6, 1872. Address at the opening of the new Gymnasium at Princeton Col- lege, Jan. 13, 1870. The Presbyterian, Jan. 22, 1870. The Evangelical Alliance. Postponement of the Conference. The New York Observer, Sept. 1, 1870. Published also in The Evangelist of the same date. Address at the dedication of Dickinson Hall, Princeton College. The New York Observer, Nov. 3, 1870. THE LAWS OF DISCURSIVE THOUGHT. Being a text-book of formal Logic. London and New York, 1870, xx + 212 pp., 12 mo. The same. New York, 1876, 12mo. The same. Revised edition. New York, 1881, 12mo. The same. New York, 1890, 12mo. Body and Mind. The Independent, April 6, 1871. BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 Materialism. The Independent, April 27, 1871. Darwin's Descent of Man. The Independent, May 4, 1871. The Support of Ministers. The New York Observer, May 4, 1871. The Sustentation of the Ministry. The Evangelist, May 4, 1871. Competitive Examinations. Address at the opening of the new academic year at Princeton College, Sept. 13, 1871. The Presbyterian, Sept. 30, 1871. CHRISTIANITY AND POSITIVISM : A series of lectures to the times on Natural Theology and Apologetics. Delivered in New York, January 16 to March 20, 1871, on the Ely Foundation of the Union Theological Seminary. New York and London, 1871, viii + 369 pp., 12mo. The same. New York, 1875, 12mo. QUESTIONS OF MODERN THOUGHT. Lectures by Drs. McCosh, Thompson and others. Philadelphia, 1871, 8vo. Crisis of the Sustentation Fund. The Evangelist, March 28, 1872. On Prayer. The Contemporary Review, vol. XX, Oct., 1872, pp. 777-782. Prayer and Inflexible Law. The Independent, Dec. 5, 1872. Berkeley's Philosophy. The Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review, New Series, vol. II, Jan., 1873, pp. 2-29. Sustentation of the Ministry. The Independent, Feb. 13, 1873. Notice of Dr. Burns. The Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review, New Series, voL n, April, 1873, pp. 337-341. Sustentation of the Ministry. The Presbyterian, May 10, 1873. Upper Schools. An address delivered before the National Edu- cation Association at Elrnira, N. Y., Aug. 5, 1873. In The Addresses and Journal of Proceedings of the National Edu- cational Association, pp. 18-23. Peoria, 111., 1873. Dr. Guthrie's Early Ministry. The New York Observer, Aug. 7, 1873 ; concluded Aug. 14, 1873. A Marked Defect in our Educational System. The Evangelist, Sept. 4, 1873. College Regattas and Saratoga. The New York Observer, Feb. 19, 1874. The Sustentation Fund and Consolidation. The Presbyterian, May 2, 1874. Published also in The Evangelist, May 4, 1874. Federation of Presbyterians. The Evangelist, Sept. 24, 1874. THE SCOTTISH PHILOSOPHY, BIOGRAPHICAL, EXPOSITORY, CRITI- CAL, FROM HUTCHESON TO HAMILTON. London, 1874, 8vo. The same. New York, 1875, viii -}- 481 pp., 8vo. The same. New York, 1880, 8vo. 276 JAMES MCCOSH IDEAS IN NATURE OVERLOOKED BY DR. TYNDALL. Being an examination of Dr. Tyndall's Belfast address. New York, 1875, v + 50 pp., 12mo. What is to become of the Sustentation Fund? The Evangelist, Feb. 25, 1875. Does the Church wish to Extinguish Sustentation ? The Evangel- ist, April 1, 1875. Does the Church wish Sustentation to go down ? The Presbyterian, April 3, 1875. The Church must now settle the Sustentation Question. The Presbyterian, April 17, 1875. What should now be done with Sustentation? The Evangelist, May 13, 1875. Published also in The Presbyterian, May 22, 1875. On Prayer. In The Prayer-Gauge Debate. By Prof. Tyndall, Francis Galton, and others, pp. 135-144. Boston, 1876, 12mo. Prepossessions for and against the Supernatural. A Criticism of Dr. Carpenter. The Popular Science Monthly, vol. IX, May, 1876, pp. 21-29. The Princeton College Communion. The Evangelist, July 27, 1876. Is the Development Hypothesis Sufficient? The Popular Science Monthly, vol. X, Nov., 1876, pp. 86-100. THE DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS : is IT SUFFICIENT ? New York, 1876, 104 pp., 12mo. Discoveries in Science and Speculations in Philosophy. In the Report of Proceedings of the First General Presbyterian Council, Edinburgh, 1877, pp. 187-194. Edinburgh, 1877. Elements involved in Emotions. Mind, vol. II, 1877, pp. 413-415. Broad Churchism in Scotland. Edinburgh, 1877, 15 pp., 12mo., paper. On American Preaching. The Evangelist, Sept. 27, 1877. On the Intercollegiate Association. The Evangelist, Oct. 25, 1877. Contemporary Philosophy : Historical. The Princeton Review, vol. I, Jan., 1878, pp. 192-206. Contemporary Philosophy : Mind and Brain. The Princeton Re- view, vol. I, March, 1878, pp. 606-632. Discipline in American Colleges. The North American Review, vol. CXXVI, May-June, 1878, pp. 428-441. An Advertisement for a New Religion. By an Evolutionist. The North American Review, vol. C XX VII, July, 1878, pp. 44-60. [Reprinted in The Conflicts of the Age. See below.] BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 A Criticism of the Critical Philosophy, in reply to Professor Mahaffy. The Princeton Review, vol. II, Nov., 1878, pp. 889-915. Final Cause : M. Janet and Professor Newcomb. The Princeton Review, vol. Ill, March, 1879, pp. 367-388. Law and Design in Nature. The North American Review, vol. CXXVIII, May, 1879, pp. 558-562. The Confession of an Agnostic. By an Agnostic. The North American Review, vol. CXXIX, Sept., 1879, pp. 274-287. [Re- printed in The Conflicts of the Age. See below.] Theologians of the Day : Joseph Cook. The Catholic Presbyterian, vol. II, Sept., 1879, pp. 184-190. Herbert Spencer's "Data of Ethics." The Princeton Review, vol. IV, Nov., 1879, pp. 607-636. Course of Study in the Academical Department of Princeton Col- lege. The Princeton Book, pp. 125-134. Boston, 1879. THE EMOTIONS. New York and London, 1880, x -}- 255 pp., 12mo. Development and Growth of Conscience. The Princeton Review, vol. VI, July, 1880, pp. 138-144. A Presbyterian College in America. The Catholic Presbyterian, voL IV, August, 1880, pp. 81-84. The Importance of Harmonizing the Primary, Secondary and Col- legiate Systems of Education. An address delivered before the National Educational Association at Chautauqua, N. Y., 1880. In The Addresses and Journal of Proceedings of the National Educational Association, pp. 138-146. Salem, O., 1880. Criteria of the Various Kinds of Truth. The Princeton Review, vol. VI, Nov., 1880, pp. 419-440. Reprinted in The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, vol. XXX, Jan., 1881, pp. 122- 144. [See also: Philosophical Series, No. 1, Criteria, etc., and Tests of Various Kinds of Truth. Both below.] How to deal with Young Men trained in Science in this age of unsettled opinion. In the Report of Proceedings of the Sec- ond General Council of the Presbyterian Alliance, Philadel- phia, 1880, pp. 204-213. Philadelphia, 1880. Reprinted as a pamphlet. Philadelphia [no date], 23 pp., 16mo. On Evolution. Article in J. G. Wood's Bible Animals, pp. 727-755. Philadelphia, 1880. On Causation and Development. The Princeton Review, vol. VII, May, 1881, pp. 369-389. Reprinted in The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, vol. XXX, Oct., 1881, pp. 750-771. 278 JAMES MCCOSH The Christian knows no man after the flesh. A sermon preached at the installation of the Rev. John S. Mclntosh, in Phila- delphia, March 17, 1881. The Preacher and Homiletic Monthly, vol. V, May, 1881, pp. 434-444. What Morality have we left? By a New Light Moralist. The North American Review, vol. CXXXII, May, 1881, pp. 497-512. [Reprinted in The Conflicts of the Age. See below.] Religious Conflicts of the Age. By a Yankee Farmer. The North American Review, vol. CXXXIII, July, 1881, pp. 25-42. [Re- printed in The Conflicts of the Age, under the title : Review of the Fight. See below.] THE CONFLICTS OF THE AGE. [Anonymous. Four papers orig- inally published in The North American Review, viz. :] 1. An Advertisement for a New Religion, by an Evolutionist. 2. The Confession of an Agnostic, by an Agnostic. 3. What Morality have we left ? By a New Light Moralist. 4. Review of the Fight, by a Yankee Farmer. New York, 1881, 90 pp., 8vo. The Senses. External and Internal, being Psychology Part I. Cambridge, [England], 1882, 86 pp., 8vo., paper. The Concord School of Philosophy. The Princeton Review, vol. IX, Jan., 1882, pp. 49-71. The Scottish Philosophy as contrasted with the German. The Princeton Review, vol. X, 1882, pp. 326-344. Reprinted in The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, vol. XXXII, Jan., 1883, pp. 96-114. Philosophical Series : 1. Criteria of Diverse Kinds of Truth as opposed to Agnos- ticism. Being a Treatise on Applied Logic. New York, 1882, viii -j- 50 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1884, 8vo. 2. Energy, Efficient and Final Cause. New York, 1883, 55 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1884, 8vo. 3. Development: What it can do and what it cannot do. New York, 1883, 50 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1885, 8vo. 4. Certitude, Providence and Prayer. New York, 1883, 46 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1885, 8vo. 5. Locke's Theory of Knowledge, with a notice of Berkeley. New York, 1884, 77 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1885, 8vo. BIBLIOGRAPHY 279 6. Agnosticism of Hume and Huxley, with a notice of the Scottish School. New York, 1884, 70 pp., 12mo., paper. . The same. London, 1885, 8vo. 7. A Criticism of the Critical Philosophy. New York, 1884, 60 pp., 12mo., paper. The same. London, 1885, 8vo. 8. Herbert Spencer's Philosophy as culminated in his Ethics. New York, 1885, 71 pp., 12mo., paper. On Manly Sports. The New York Ledger, April 7, 1883. A Study of the Mind's Imagery. [In conjunction with Professor H. F. Osborn.J The Princeton Review, vol. Xin, Jan., 1884, pp. 50-72. Oversight of Students in Princeton College. The Evangelist, April 17, 1884. The Place of Religion in Colleges. In the Minutes and Proceed- ings of the Third General Council of the Alliance of the Re- formed Churches holding the Presbyterian System. Belfast, July 2, 1884, pp. 465-470. Belfast, 1884. Learning Worshiping its King. The Pulpit Treasury, vol. IJ, Aug., 1884, pp. 241-242. The Origin of Evil. The Pulpit Treasury, vol. II, Nov., 1884, pp. 438-439. Evolution and Development. Article in the Schaff-Herzog En- cyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. New York, 1884 and 1891. David Hume. Article in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. New York, 1884 and 1891. John Locke. Article in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia of Re- ligious Knowledge. New York, 1884 and 1891. Scottish Philosophy. Article in the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge. New York, 1884 and 1891. The New Departure in College Education, being a reply to Presi- dent Eliot's defence of it in New York, Feb. 24, 1885. New York, 1885, 23 pp., 12mo., paper. The Course of Study in Princeton College. Education, vol. V, March-April, 1885, pp. 353-359. What an American University should be. The Independent, July 9. 1885. Reprinted ; New York, 1885, 16 pp., 8vo., paper. Habit and its Influence in the Training at School. A lecture delivered before the students of the Phillips Exeter Academy, Nov. 19, 1885. In The Phillips Exeter Lectures, pp. 25-4G. Boston and New York, 1887, 12mo. 280 JAMES MCCOSH What an American Philosophy should be. The New Princeton Review, vol. I, Jan., 1886, pp. 15-32. Religion in College : What Place it should have. Being an exam- ination of President Eliot's paper read before the Nineteenth Century Club, in New York, Feb. 3, 1886. New York, 1886, 22 pp., 12mo., paper. On Home Rule. The Evangelist, April 22, 1886. The Providence of God. The Pulpit Treasury, vol. IV, Aug., 1886, pp. 238-239. Realism : Its Place in the various Philosophies. The New Prince- ton Review, vol. II, Nov., 1886, pp. 315-338. PSYCHOLOGY : THE COGNITIVE POWERS. New York and London, 1886, 12mo. The same. New York, 1891, viii -j- 245 pp., 12mo. PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOTIVE POWERS, EMOTIONS, CONSCIENCE, WILL. New York and London, 1887, vi + 267 pp., 12mo. REALISTIC PHILOSOPHY DEFENDED IN A PHILOSOPHIC SERIES. 2 vols. Vol. I. Expository, v -f- 252 pp. Vol. II. Historical and Critical, v -f- 325 pp. New York and London, 1887, 12mo. [This work consists of eight philosophical treatises originally published separately. New York, 1882-1885. See above, Phil- osophical Series.] College Fraternities. The Academy [Syracuse, N. Y.], vol. H, 1887, pp. 372. Christian Philosophy. The Pulpit Treasury, vol. V, Aug., 1887, pp. 238-239. THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF EVOLUTION. The Bedell Lectures for 1887. New York, 1888, xii + 109 pp., 12mo. The same. Enlarged and improved edition. New York, 1890, xii -f 119 pp., 12mo. GOSPEL SERMONS. New York and London, 1888, 336 pp., 12mo. Twenty Years of Princeton College. Being Dr. McCosh's Farewell Address, delivered June 20, 1888, New York, 1888, 68 pp., 8vo., paper. Dabney's Refutation of the Sensualistic Philosophy. But What Next? The Presbyterian Quarterly, vol. II, July, 1888, pp. 274- 282. Robert Elsmere and his new Christianity. The New York Ledger, Dec. 29, 1888. Reprinted as False Philosophy in Robert Els- mere in Our Day, vol. Ill, Jan., 1889, pp. 13-16. Robert Elsmere's new Christianity Examined. The New York BIBLIOGRAPHY 281 Ledger, Jan. 5, 1889. Reprinted as False History in Robert Elsmere in Our Day, vol. Ill, Feb., 1889, pp. 146-151. Examination and Education. In The American Supplement to the Nineteenth Century for March, 1889, pp. 18-22. The Present State of the Evolution Question. The Independent, Oct. 3, 1889. Is there Final Cause in Evolution ? The Independent, Oct. 10, 1889. The Teacher, his Trials and Triumphs. The Independent, Nov. 14, 1889. FIRST AND FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS : Being a Treatise on Meta- physics. New York and London, 1889, x + 360 pp.,- 12mo. Whither? O Whither? Tell Me Where. New York, 1889, 47 pp., 12mo., paper. THE TESTS OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TRUTHS. Being a Treatise of Applied Logic. Lectures delivered before Ohio Wesleyan University on the Merrick Foundation. New York and Cin- cinnati, 1889, 132 pp., 12mo. The same. New York, 1891, 12mo. [This work is a slight enlargement of Criteria of Diverse Kinds of Truth, Philosophical Series, No. 1. See above.] Federation of Churches to secure that the Gospel be preached to every creat^^re. The Christian Union, Feb. 6, 1890. Reprinted, with slight omissions, in Our Day, vol. V, April, 1890, pp. 359-363 ; also in The Church Revieio, vol. XVII, April, 1890, pp. 132-134. The Good that may arise from Revision. The Independent, March 15, 1890. The Religious Aspect of Evolution. Article First. The New York Ledger, May 3, 1890. Article Second, May 10, 1890. Evils arising from the Church being controlled by the State. A paper read before the American Institute of Christian Phi- losophy, June 3, 1890. In Christian Thought, 8th series, 1890, pp. 1-6. Recent Works on Kant. The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, vol. I, July, 1890, pp. 425-440. The Moral and Religious Oversight of Students. In Proceedings of the Second Annual Convention of the College Association of the Middle States and Maryland, held at Princeton College, New Jersey, Nov. 28th and 29th, 1890, pp. 83-86. THE PREVAILING TYPES OF PHILOSOPHY, CAN THEY REACH REALITY LOGICALLY? New York, 1890, vii -f 66 pp., 12mo., flexible cloth. 282 JAMES MCCOSH John Witherspoon and his Times. Philadelphia, 1890, 30 pp., 24mo., paper. Federation of the Churches. The Homiletic Review, vol. XXI, May, 1891, pp. 396-401. OUR MOBAL NATURE. Being a brief system of Ethics. New York, 1892, vi -j- 53 pp., 12mo. Keality : What Place it should hold in Philosophy. A paper read before the International Congress of Education of the World's Columbian Exposition, at Chicago, July 28, 1893. In the Addresses and Proceedings of the same, pp. 682-686. New York, 1894. PHILOSOPHY OF REALITY : SHOULD IT BE FAVORED BY AMERICA ? New York, 1894, x + 78 pp., 12mo., flexible cloth. INDEX AGASSIZ, Lours, and Darwinism, 123. America, Dr. McCosh's first trip to, 163-165. Anderson, John, friendship of, with McCosh, 48, 49. Arbroath, McCosh's pastorate at, 55 et teg. Argyll, Duke of, his friendship with Dr. McCosh, 138, 141; his letter to Dr. McCosh, 141-143; his note to Dr. Mc- Cosh concerning Bunsen, 155. Athletics and Gymnastics in Princeton College, 222-224. Ayr, the district of, character of, in Dr. McCosh's early youth, 11 et seq. BEOG, JAMES, 89. Blair, John I., donations to Princeton College, 212. Bonner, Robert, donation to Princeton College, 192. Braun, Professor, Dr. McCosh visits, 159, 160. Brechin, Dr. McCosh's pastorate at, 67 et teq. Bridges, Robert, his tribute in verse to Dr. McCosh, 267. Buchanan, Robert, 89. Bunsen, Dr. McCosh visits, 149-155. Burns, Robert, 19. CANDLISH, ROBERT SMITH, 89. Carlyle, Thomas, imitated by clergy- men, 81. Carskeoch, the birthplace of James McCosh, 10, 11. Carson, Jean, mother of James McCosh, 8, 9. Chalmers, Thomas, Dr. McCosh's trib- ute to, 40-42, 89 ; regarded as the ablest defender of the churches established by law, 47. Church in Ireland, the, agitation in, 130 et seq. Church of Scotland, Disruption in the, 74-81, 86-88; men and scenes of Dis- ruption, 88-101 ; Erastianism, 86,87; The "Moderates," 86, 87. Church unity, Dr. McCosh's interest in and views on, 249-251, 253-255. Clarendon, Lord, reads "Method of Divine Government," 108. Combe's "Constitution of Man," 103, 105. Cooke, Dr., and the Church in Ireland, 130. Cunningham, William, 89. DARWIN, his " Origin of Species," pub- lication and effect of, 123. Dickie, Dr. George, joint author with Dr. McCosh of " Typical Forms and Special Ends of Creation," 122, 123. Disruption, the, in the Church of Scot- land, 74-81, 86-88; men and scenes of, 88-101. Dufferin, Marquis, Dr. McCosh visits, 139-141. Dunlop, Alexander M., 64, 90. ELIOT, President of Harvard, Dr. Mc- Cosh's debate with, on the subject of elective and required studies, 199-202. Erastianism, 86, 87. Evolution, Dr. McCosh's position to- wards, 122-124, 234. "Examination of J. S. Mill's Philoso- phy," by McCosh, 170-172. 284 INDEX FETTERCAIRN, Dr. McCosh preaches at, 97, 98, 99. Firmerich, Dr., Dr. McCosh visits, 159. Fordoun, Dr. McCosh preaches at, 97. Free Church Movement, in Scotland, 74-81, 86-10L GERMANY, Dr. McCosh's travels in, 144-163. Gibson, Professor, of Belfast, instrumen- tal in obtaining chair of Mental Sci- ence for Dr. McCosh in Queen's Col- lege, Belfast, 108, 109. Gladstone, Sir John, and the Free Church, 98-101. Gladstone, William E., 100, 101. Glasgow University, Dr. McCosh's life and studies at, 24-36. Goltz, Graf von, Dr. McCosh visits, 158. " Gospel Sermons," bv Dr. McCosh, 52. Grampian Mountains, the, 91. Gray, Asa, and Darwinism, 123. Greek, as an obligatory study, 199- 203. Green, Chancellor, Dr. McCosh's inter- view with, concerning hazing, 216- 218. Green, John C., donations to Princeton College, 193, 194. Guthrie, Thomas, his character, 59. 60; as a preacher, 60-63, 89: goes to Edinburgh, 65. 66; his letter to Dr. McCosh concerning the Church of Scotland, 82-84. Gymnastics and Athletics in Princeton 'College, 222-224. HALSTEAD, GENERAL, donation to Princeton College, 195. Hamilton, Sir William, 39, 40; his words to McCosh, 51; his opinion of " Method of Divine Government," 105; his death and posthumous writ- ings, 170. Hanna, William, 105. Hart, Robert, his description of Dr. Mc- Cosh as a man and a teacher, 115-117. Hengstenberg, Dr. McCosh meets, 146, 147. Hogg of Kirkliston, 90. Hopkins, Mark, recalls a visit of Dr. McCosh, 248. Humboldt, Alexander von, Dr. McCosh meets, 147-149. INGLIS, DAVID, 92, 93. Inglis, Robert, 92. " Intuitions of the Mind," by McCosh, 166-170. Ireland, the Church in, agitation in, 130 et seq. JEFFREY, FRANCIS, 38, 39. KENNEDY, SIR ARCHIBALD, his funeral, 13. Knox, John, intelligence of the common people due to the work of, 14. LAIRD, JOHN, 55, 59. Leaves, Dr. McCosh's theory of, 135, 136. Le Conte, Joseph, his letter to Dr. McCosh, 234. Lee, Robert, 59. Leslie, Sir John, 39. Libbey, William, donation to Princeton College, 194. Library Meetings, introduced by Dr. McCosh, 180, 209,210. Lochlee, the parish of, 91, 92. " Logic," by Dr. McCosh, 177. Lumsden, James, 59. McCosH. ALEXANDER GUTHRIE, eldest son of Dr. McCosh, 243. McCosh, Andrew, father of James McCosh, 6 ; eulogium to, 6, 7; his charity, 7, 8; his death, 20; his religious character, 21. McCosh, James, ancestry, 3-9 ; his father, Andrew McCosh, 6, 7, 8; his mother, 8, 9 ; his birth and early life, 10 et seq. ; his words on the moral and religious character of the district in which he lived, and of Scotland, 11- 19 ; his words concerning Robert Burns, 19; destined for the ministry, 21 ; first schooling, 21 ; early reading, 22 ; sent to Glasgow University, 23 ; his life and studies at Glasgow Univer- sity, 24-36 ; his reading of literature INDEX 285 while at Glasgow, 26, 27 ; hi* essays, 28; his work in Mathematics, 29, 30; his bent toward Philosophy, 30, 31; his ideas concerning social relations of professor and pupil, 32, 33, 35, 36; his life and studies at Edinburgh Uni- versity, 37-49 ; his words concerning Walter Scott, 38; concerning Francis Jeffrey, 38. 39; concerning John Les- lie, John Wilson, and William Ham- ilton, 39, 40 ; concerning Thomas Chalmers, 40-42, 89; concerning Dr. Welsh, 42, 43 ; forms resolution never to call on any one unless he had busi- ness with him, 42, 43; his reading while at Edinburgh, 44, 45; his atten- tion to the natural sciences, 45; the beginning of his " Method of Divine Government," 46 ; preaches about the country, 53, 54; his idea of a sermon, 52; tutors for a time, 54; becomes pastor at Arbroath, 55; his work and life there, 56 et seq. ; his words con- cerning William Stevenson, Robert Lee, John Laird, and James Lums- den, 59; concerning Thomas Guthrie, 59-63, 89 ; receives and declines a call to Edinburgh, 64, 65; his words con- cerning Alexander Dunlop, 64, 90; accepts call to Brechin, 67; his de- scription of Brechin, 68, 69; his life and work at Brechin, 69 et seq. ; his words concerning his wife, 73, 74; his words concerning the Disruption in the Church of Scotland, 74-81; accepts call to professorship in Queen's Col- lege, Belfast, 78, 108-111; one of a deputation to visit England to make known the claims of non-intrusion, 80, 81 ; letter to, from Thomas Guthrie concerning the Church of Scotland, 82-84 ; his earnestness, 85; his de- scription of the men and the scenes of the Disruption, 88-101; his words con- cerning William Cunningham, Robert Smith Candlish, Robert Buchannn, James Begg, 89, 90: concerning Hugh Miller, 90; his labors in behalf of the Free Church, 91-101 ; ambitions to become an author, 102 ; his philo- sophic creed, 103-105; his "Method of Divine Government " published. 105 ; criticisms of and success of "Method of Divine Government," 105-107 ; his opinion in later years of " Method of Divine Government," 107; becomes professor at Queen's College, Belfast, 108-111; his method and principles in teaching philosophy, 111-114; his character and qualities as a teacher, 114 et seq. ; Robert Hart's description of, 115-117; Pro- fessor Macloskie's words concerning, 117-124; his share in authorship of " Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," 122; his attitude toward Evolution theory, 122-124, 234; his benevolent and religious work in Bel- fast, 125-128; works for temperance, 127, 128 ; his scientific study of edu- cational systems, 128 ; his attitude toward the American Rebellion, 128, 129, 163 ; his work for the Church in Ireland, 129 et seq. ; favors a sustenta- tion fund and a national educational system, 130-133 ; receives and de- clines call to professorship in Glasgow University, 133, 134; his importance as a personage in Great Britain and Ireland, 134, 135; his words concern- ing the work " Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," 135-138: his friendship with the Duke of Argyll, 138-141 ; his acquaintance with and visit to the Marquis of Dufferin, 139-141 ; letter to, from Duke of Argyll, 141-143; his trav- els in Germany, 143-163; his words concerning Professor Trendelenberg, 144, 145, 157 ; concerning Michelet, 145, 146 ; concerning Hengstenberg, 146, 147, 156 ; his meeting with Humboldt, 147-149, 160-162; his meeting with and impressions of Bunsen, 149-155 ; his words on the state of theological belief in Ger- many, 153, 154; his letter to Mrs. McCosh concerning his travels in Ger- many, 156-163; visits Graf von Goltz, 158; visits Dr. Firmerich and Profes- sor Braun, 159, 160; his words con- cerning Sydow, 160, 161; his record of trips to America, 163-165; his phi- losophy and teaching, 166-180; his "Intuitions of the Mind," 166-170; Professor Orraond's characterization 286 INDEX of, 168; his "Examination of J. S. Mill's Philosophy," 170-172; his " Supernatural in relation to the Nat- ural," 172; success of his works, 172; his confession of faith, 173-175; his "Logic," "Psychology," and other important works, 175-178, 210; his power as a teacher, 179, 180; his man- nerisms, 179; introduces Library Meetings, 180, 209, 210; becomes president of Princeton College, 183, 184; letter to, from Lord Shaftesbury, 185-187; his inauguration, 187; his words on the condition of Princeton College on his coming, and donations made, 190 et seq.; defends Greek as an obligatory study. 199-203 ; his de- bate with President Eliot on subject of elective and required courses of study, 199-202 ; his comparison of American colleges with those of Great Britain and Europe, 204; hoped to form a stadium generate, 213, 214, 244; his words concerning hazing and other similar college practices, 215 et teq.; his interview with Chancellor Green concerning hazing, 216, 217; his experience with newspaper re- porters, 219, 220 ; his words on Greek letter societies, 221, 222; his words on gymnastics and athletics, 222-224; his words on morals and discipline, 224-226; letter to, from Joseph Le Conte, 234; Andrew White's words concerning, 234; his hospitality, 236; his words on the life of a college president, 237, 238 ; his tribute to Dr. Patton, 238; his life and work at Princeton, 241 et seq.; his character as a man and a citizen, and an estimate of his services as a teacher and college president, 241-249, 256-258; his home and his family, 243; his relations to his students, 247-249; his buoyancy and love of nature, 247-249; his in- terest in and work for Church unity, 249-251 ; his words on the revision of the Westminster Standards, 251-253 ; bis views on union of Protestant de- nominations, 253-255 ; his interest in Civil Service Reform, 258; work of his last years, 259-262 ; lectures be- fore Ohio Wesleyan University, 260; at the International Congress of Edu- cation at the World's Fair at Chicago, 261 ; celebration of his eightieth birth- day, 262, 263; establishes a founda- tion of .'250 at Brechin, 264 ; his last days, death, and burial, 264-267; tribute to, from Robert Bridges, 267. McCosh, James, Mrs., Dr. McCosh's words concerning, 73, 74. McCosh, Jasper, 3. McClymont, Mr., pursued by the Eng- lish, 9. Macloskie, Prof. George, his description of Dr. McCosh as a man and a teacher, 117-124; his note on Dr. McCosh's theory about leaves, 136. Makgill-Crichton,*90. Mansel, his philosophical works, 170. Marquand Henry G., donations to Princeton College, 192, 195. Maule, Fox, 90, 93. Menmuir, the parish of, 93-95. " Metaphysics," by Dr. McCosh, 178. " Method of Divine Government," by Dr. McCosh, beginning of, 46; pub- lication and success of, 105-107; au- thor's opinion of, in later years, 107. Michelet, Dr. McCosh's description of, 145, 146. Mill, J. S-, his philosophy, 170. Miller, Hugh, 90; his opinion of " Method of Divine Government," 106. " Moderates," the, in the Church of Scot- land, 86, 87. Monboddo, Lord, 97. Moncreiff, Henry, an opponent of Mc- Cosh in debate, 46. Murray, Hamilton, donation to Prince- ton College, 194. Murray, James O., Dean of Princeton faculty, 225-228. ORANGEMEN, their condition, 131. " Origin of Species," by Darwin, pub- lication and effect of, 123. Ormond, Professor, his characterization of Dr. McCosh as a philosopher, 1G8. PANMUKE, LORD, 92, 93. Patton, Prest. Francis L., his words concerning Dr. McCosh's " Examina- tion of J. S. Mill's Philosophy." 171 j Dr. McCosh's tribute to, 238. INDEX 287 Prime, Dr. W. C., donation to Princeton College, 195. Princeton College, its character, 182, 183; Dr. McCosh chosen president, 183; Dr. McCosh's coming begins a new epoch in history of, 187-190; condition of, 189, 190; endowments and new buildings given to, 192-195, 212, 213; courses of study in, 198 et seq. ; required and elective courses in, 203, 204 ; fellowship in, 204, 205 ; prize competitions in, 205 ; increase in pro- fessors, 205-207; scientific apparatus and collections, 207; periodicals, 208; School of Science, 208, 209 ; Philos- ophy courses, 209, 210 ; post-graduate courses, 211; finances, 212; number of students, 213; hazing and other degrading college practices, 215-220; Greek letter societies in, 221, 222; gymnastics and athletics in, 222-224 ; morals and discipline, 224-226; re- ligious work in, 227-233; typhoid fever epidemic, 235; Dr. McCosh's labors in, as a teacher and a president, and the results, 241-245. "Psychology," by Dr. McCosh, 177, 178. SANDFORD, DANIEL, a professor at Glasgow University, 29. Scotland, character of the Lowland people, 13-19; the Church of, Dis- ruption in, 74-81, 85-101. Scott, Sir Walter, 38. " Scottish Philosophy," by Dr. McCosh, 177. Smith, Quintin, first teacher of Dr. McCosh, 21, 24. Stevenson, William, 69. " Supernatural in relation to the Na- tural," by Dr. McCosh, 172. Sustentation Fund, the, for the Church in Ireland, 130-132. Sydow, Dr. McCosh's words concerning, 160, 161. THACKERAY, W. M., his ballad "The Last Irish Grievance," sung, 109, 111. Trendelenberg, Professor, Dr. McCosh's description of, 144, 145. "Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," by McCosh and Dickie, 122, 123, 135-138. WELSH, DR., 42, 43. Westminster Standards, Dr. McCosh's words on revision of, 251-253. White, Andrew his words concerning Dr. McCosh in the " Popular Sci- ence " monthly, 234, 235. Wilson, John, 39, 40. Wilson, William, 49. Witherspoon, John, his ancestry and character, 183, 184. A2> THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara STACK COLLECTION THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. 10m-5,'65(F44. r >8s4)476D mmm