unseen Saviour, when the old economy should fall, and then in peaceful old age to pass to the eternal home. All this marked difference of destiny by which they were each to follow the Saviour, is contained in the reply, 'If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?'" It would not be fair to Mr. Hull to come to a severe judgment with regard to his sermons as a whole, as they were not prepared with the idea that they would ever be read by the public. In preaching them they had the benefit of that revision which a preacher will always give to his sermons, if that be the mode of his preparation and delivery. As a rule, the introductions are the most carefully prepared portions as we have them in these volumes. They are less complete in thought, less perfect in expression, as they approach the close. If it was Mr. Hull's habit to wax warm, and become more impressive as he uttered his last words to his hearers, we have but slight indication of it here. We are not referring to what is vulgarly termed the peroration, but to that perfectly natural mode in which a speaker seeks to intensify and concentrate the full force of all his energy when he is aiming at the good of his hearers. We are too thankful to obtain the sermons as they are to wish to advert with more care to the defects which may be detected. They are marvellously beautiful sermons, stamped with the living earnestness of the preacher. Many readers will observe the course which Mr. Hull took with the apparent contradictions of doctrine and faith which we meet, with in the necessary statements of theological truths. He harmonises them, not by lessening the vigour and point of both the statements which are in apparent contradiction, but by admitting the truth of both, and claiming that they both affirm a still deeper truth to which they are equally related. This he does in common with Robertson. We do not derogate from the claims which the younger preacher so fully substantiates, when we say that it is quite probable that Mr. Hull received the suggestion from Mr. Robertson's sermons. The influence of Robertson is often apparent in the sermons of Mr. Hull. There must have been very strong sympathy between them. There is more of Robertson visible in Hull than of Wordsworth in Tennyson. In the case neither of poet nor preacher would the one have been what he was unless the other had lived before him. There are differences which will immediately be perceived. Many would say that the tone of the Baptist preacher is more evangelical than that of the clergyman: Mr. Hull touches certain aspects of experience which obtain for him another audience than that which is given to Mr. Robertson. It is equally true to say this of the latter. There is somewhat more of the intuitive power of real genius in Robertson, and unquestion ably, what with the culture of Oxford, and the longer career, he had acquired by intense cultivation the exquisite faculty of expressing his best thoughts in a terse, clear, and forcible way, which Mr. Hull might have emulated had his life been prolonged. The delicate physical organisation which both of them must have possessed, combined with a mental vividness and clearness of perception which was so strikingly similar, would always have induced a sympathy of great tenderness and reality. We should be disposed to affirm that while Mr. Robertson gave evidence of by far the greater intensity of logical grasp and energy, Mr. Hull was before him in fervour and freedom of fancy. We have many indications that Mr. Hull had some difficulty in repressing the ardent and daring imagination which was ever ready to soar towards realms which are rarely approached by even thoughtful men. We frequently meet with passages of exceeding beauty and vigour, such as could alone be inspired by poetic genius. The following brief extracts will illustrate our words : "We stand in blind, bewildered grief before the veil of adversity, while, had we the keen, clear eye of faith in the spiritual world which surrounds us, we should be able, in quiet blessedness, to trace the glorious pattern which sorrow is weaving for us." "All longings to realise the Father, all prayer for a present sense of the invisible, all passionate outcries for more light, wrung from us by the dark mysteries of failure and sorrow, are the aspirations of the heavenly nature within us yearning for the image of the Lord." "Regarding Christ simply as a man, could His idea of redeeming the world have been inspired by the spirit of His age? So strong was that spirit against Him that, in its stormy outbreak, His life went down." "Before the magnificence of royalty, and the splendour of the Cæsarean nobility, he (Paul) had stood unappalled under the power of a faith that, grasping eternity, looked on earthly grandeur as the fading shows of a fading world." "Christ passed into darkness with one grand appeal to the Father. Had He not risen, His whole doctrine would have become meaningless-His whole life a stupendous riddle. Human life would have become darker than before. The light of His life having gleamed and gone, would have left a deeper gloom on the world, just as the lightning-flash in the night leaves behind it a denser darkness." "His apparent defeat was really His mightiest victory-the grandest apparent failure the world ever witnessed was changed to the noblest conquest, when He rose from the tomb, and led 'captivity captive."" Upon the departure of Christ he wrote:-"The old sceneries of Galilee, with their lakes and hills, had caught a heavenly light from. the revelation given by the Saviour that God was a Father, and life His service, and that there was an eternal home beyond. But over this new world a cloud of desolation was sweeping downwards in the chilling thought that He the Friend and Brother was going, and that they would be left alone amid a wild and mocking race, who cared not for them, and had crucified their Lord." "That is a poor and lifeless Christianity which is built only on a creed. We need a Divine person as our fellow. That is not the highest Christianity which rests at the cross. We need a living person to win and weave around Himself the holy affections of the soul. When that is so, then and then only do faith, and hope, and love bloom into their glorious maturity." The following passage is full of the life-like vividness and vigour of the style of Robertson. It will suggest comparison with many portions of his sermons: "Men work under human approbation. This is often an undetected power. It is supremely hard to work in desolate solitudehard, indeed, to work for the good of men, and receive in return persecution and scorn. The thundering acclamation of the people is an inspiring, all-rousing power. But there was little of this in Christ's life. His popularity soon died away. At one time He was followed by many, but when He spake of the cross to be borne, the many left Him. Amid the hosannas of the people who hoped to crown Him as an earthly King, He stopped to weep over doomed Jerusalem! In that solitary, unpopular life what could have made Him so earnest but the conviction that by every step He was fulfilling a commission from the Father?" There is apparent in every page of Mr. Hull's sermons that deep sympathy with man, that "enthusiasm of humanity" which will be found to underlie all effective preaching. Without this we could never have had the fervent and beautiful words which ever meet us as we read on and on. Not seldom are we reminded of one other quality in which he resembles Robertson. There is a deep undertone of sadness, a pathetic, pensive refrain, which ever breaks from his heart upon ours. Occasionally this slightly frets the heart, and while it sends it to God, leaves an uncomfortable, and, as we cannot help thinking, unfair impression as to the strength and value of human blessings. Shades of melancholy are not so common in Mr. Hull's pages as in Robertson's. But they are not absent. Indeed, how could they be, since he had so tender and sensitive a nature? Under all circumstances there was a triumphant and glorious victory expressed over whatever was felt to be dark and sad. His heart was always deeply replenished from the fountains of Divine consolation. There was much of the prophetic earnestness in him. He came to us as a spirit of light and life from the world on high, and shed upon the minds he influenced during his brief day of life the holy balm of heavenly grace. He saw vividly and quickly what it took some men long to see. In words as of living fire he told us what he saw and felt; and then passed beyond the veil to Him from whose bright presence he came. The wear and tear, the feverish agony, and the weary toil of our existence was known to him, though the day was short during which he did his work. He gained a place amongst us, and a fame of lasting excellence. His words abide for ever, full of strength and grace, to help and comfort us in our strife and care. Denied the popularity which his compeers have received, and known to but few, he now obtains kindly and loving remembrance from thousands of grateful hearts. For the quickening and inspiration of men he preaches still. We can hardly help asking to what high mental and spiritual stature he would have attained had he continued with us to this time. Much theological discussion and speculation has been rife since he left us, in the autumn of 1962. The "thoughts of many hearts have been revealed." Daring questions have been flung into the arena of religious inquiry. The person and work of the Christ have been considered and pronounced upon; the origin and claims of Holy Scripture have been fearlessly discussed by men of almost every school of thought; the position and authority of the Christian preacher have been now and then ruthlessly criticised. The new sentiment was beginning to express itself before Mr. Hull's premature departure. He would have encountered all this with characteristic bravery and spirit; and many of his sermons give us full preparation for the conflict as it is still being waged. They touch chords in our mysterious nature which will ever respond to the skilful handling of Divine musicians. The hearts of men are open to the appeal which issues from another heart that has fellowship with its deepest wants and sorrows. Such a heart was the divine possession of Edward Luscombe Hull. 431 ANDREW MARVEL AND HIS FRIENDS. A STORY OF THE SIEGE OF HULL. BY MARIE HALL, née SIBREE, Author of "Sermons from the Studio,' CHAPTER XXXVII.-MARVEL'S WANDERINGS AND RETURN. AFTER bidding adieu to Francis Maye, Andrew decided to visit Spain, for he shrank from the thought of returning straight to Rome, where he might meet many Englishmen, some of them, perhaps, old friends. He wanted to lose himself for awhile amidst the wild scenery of the Pyrennees, to escape from observation and indulge at will in the sorrow that threatened utterly to unman him. On his way through France, he wrote a brief letter to his sister Ann, telling her that he had heard the worst news that could be told him, and that now he did not know when he should see home again; he was going to travel in different lands, and he informed her where and how a letter might reach him. For many weeks our poet led a wandering life amongst the mountains, lodging with hunters and shepherds, sometimes sharing the couch and the coarse fare of a bandit's cave, and taking his first lessons in Spanish by listening to its rudest patois. The bracing mountain air, and the hardy life he led these first few months, did much to re-establish Andrew's health, and with returning vigour and stronger nerves his mind became calmer; his disappointment was as bitter and his love undiminished, only these feelings flowed in a deeper channel-too deep for curious eyes to scan. But who shall describe the secret anguish that he suffered during those lonely days, climbing the rugged heights, or sitting on some lofty peak listlessly gazing on the gloomy grandeur around him? The noble gifts that had hitherto ministered so largely to his enjoyment of life were now become so many sources of pain. It was useless trying to forget; Alice had been the centre of every hope since boyhood, she had haunted every dream, and been the bright ideal of all that was beautiful, good, and pure. If her memory must fade, then his whole past life must fade from memory too. He had half-resolved to forbid Ann mentioning Alice's |