And to that bequest it is now my duty to turn; for, clearly, the very first necessity of the case is to know what that service specially is which the Testator expected to be rendered to the University and the public in return for his own munificence. I have spoken of Lord Gifford as pondering in his mind what best boon he could find it within his power to bestow upon the public; and about the very first words of the Extracts from his Trust Disposition and Settlement bear me out in this. " I, having fully and maturely considered my means and estate, and the modes in which my surplus funds may be most usefully and beneficially expended, and considering myself bound to apply part of my means in advancing the public welfare and the cause of truth:" from these words it is plain that Lord Gifford, finding himself in possession of what appeared to him more than was necessary for the satisfaction and fulfilment of all his private duties, claims, wishes, or intentions, felt himself in presence with the rest of a public burden which he was bound to discharge. How, for the public welfare and the cause of truth, that could be most usefully and beneficially effected, was the next thought. And so, as he says further, "being of opinion that I am bound if there is a 'residue'as so explained, to employ it, or part of it, for the good of my fellow-men, and having considered how I may best do so, I direct the 'residue' to be disposed of as follows:--I, having been for many years deeply and firmly convinced that the true knowledge of God, that is, of the Being, Nature, and Attributes of the Infinite, of the All, of the First and the Only Cause, that is the One and Only Substance and Being; and the true and felt knowledge (not mere nominal knowledge) of the relations of man and of the universe to Him, and of the true foundations of all ethics and morals, -being, I say, convinced that this " knowledge, when really felt and acted on, is the means of man's highest well-being, and the security of his upward progress, I have resolved, from the 'residue' of my estate as aforesaid, to institute and found, in connection, if possible, with the Scottish Universities, lectureships or classes for the promotion of the study of said subjects, and for the teaching and diffusion of sound views regarding them." From these words there can be no doubt that the conclusion of Lord Gifford's mind as to how, in satisfaction of a public obligation which he felt lay upon him, he could best employ an expected "residue" of his estate, was the institution and foundation of certain lectureships in Natural Theology. The lectureships in question, in fact, are, within inverted commas, formally described as established for Promoting, Advancing, Teaching, and Diffusing the Study of Natural Theology." That is express; there is no possible mistake of, or possible escape from, the bare term itself; and just as little are we allowed any possible mistake of, or possible escape from, what Lord Gifford himself literally prescribes as his own whole will and meaning in the term. Natural Theology is, for Lord Gifford, in precise "other words," and with the same distinction of inverted commas, "The Knowledge of God, the Infinite, the All, the First and Only Cause, the One and the Sole Substance, the Sole Being, the Sole Reality, and the Sole Existence, the Knowledge of His Nature and Attributes, the Knowledge of the Relations which man and the whole universe bear to Him, the Knowledge of the Nature and Foundation of Ethics or Morals, and of all Obligations and Duties thence arising." All here, we see, is formal and express; and everything is done that can be done by capital letters and inverted commas, by word upon word and phrase upon phrase, to cut off the very possibility of any failure to understand. That is the technical scroll, style, title, and designation of GOD ALL IN ALL TO LORD GIFFORD. 7 the business that is in hand. That is the Purview of the Lecturer: these are his Instructions. Further, indeed, and more expressly as regards the lecturers, he says this: "I have intentionally indicated the general aspect which personally I would wish the lectures to bear, but the lecturers shall be under no restraint whatever in their treatment of their theme provided only that the 'patrons' will use diligence to secure that they be able, reverent men, true thinkers, sincere lovers of, and earnest inquirers after, truth." These, then, briefly are Lord Gifford's views in regard to the lecturers; while, as for the lectures, we have already learned that they are to promote the teaching and diffusion of "sound views" in respect of Natural Theology. Now the whole question here is-What did Lord Gifford mean by "sound views"? This, in the first place, is plain, that Lord Gifford wished the "sound views" he desiderated to be independent of Revelation; but, in the second place, Revelation apart, he undoubtedly expected the phrase to be understood as it is ordinarily understood -and that is on the serious and affirmative side. Unless we can suppose that Lord Gifford could, in such serious and solemn circumstances, descend to a paltry quibble and an unworthy irony, we must believe that the phrase bore for him, and must have borne for him, the only signification that is given to it in current usage. But we can say more than that. Lord Gifford himself expressly tells us, "I have intentionally indicated, in describing the subject of the lectures, the general aspect which personally I would expect the lectures to bear;" and with such an avowal as that before us, there can be no great difficulty in coming to a certainty of assurance as regards what was peculiarly meant by the expression "sound views." Lord Gifford tells us that his personal expectation as regards the general aspect of the lecturers has been "intentionally indicated" by himself, and that we shall find as much in his description of the "subject" of the lectures. We are not even allowed a moment's hesitation in the reference, then; for not only do we know that the subject is Natural Theology, but we know also, and that, too, in all fulness and completeness of detail, Lord Gifford's own definition of the subject. We need but recall a phrase or two here to have the whole before us again, and to feel relieved from all doubt relatively. "The First and Only Cause," "the Sole Being," "the greatest of all possible sciences, indeed, in one sense, the only science, that of Infinite Being," - surely when Lord Gifford solicits " sound views" on such subjects, and so expressed, he is speaking affirmatively, and not negatively; seriously, and not mockingly. The whole tone of any relative wording all through is one of reverent belief in, and reverent desire for, the realization of religion. His solemn last words are these: "I give my body to the earth as it was before, in order that the enduring blocks and materials thereof may be employed in new combinations; and I give my soul to God, in Whom, and with Whom, it always was, to be in Him, and with Him for ever in closer and more conscious union." These sublime and solemn, almost aweing, last words comport but ill with " sound views," in the construction that would make them only ironical and -a mock. I have no desire to strain the situation to any undue extreme; it is not my wish to make a Saint Simeon Stylites of Lord Gifford in the matter of Revelation, nor yet an antique ruling elder in rigidity of Confession and the Creed. As to that I know nothing. How it was situated with Lord Gifford as regards any particular religious body or persuasion, is beyond my ken. I know only this, and the document so long before us bears ample testimony to the fact, that, during these suffering last years of Lord Gifford, it must have been the subject of religion that occupied his whole mind and heart. The proof is his Testament and Will, in which he is not content to concern himself only with the things of earth and his worldly relations, but in which he draws nigh also to his God and his heritage on the other side. "I give my soul to God," he says, "in Whom, and with Whom, it always was, to be in Him, and with Him for ever in closer and more conscious union." What, in a religious sense, Lord Gifford personally felt, and what, in a religious sense, as regards his lecturers, he personally expected or desired, I shall hold now to have been made conclusively plain. It is equally plain, at the same time, that Lord Gifford had no wish in any way to trammel his lecturers, or to bind them down to any express articles, provided always that whatever they advocated was advocated only by them as "reverent men, true thinkers, sincere lovers of, and earnest inquirers after, truth." No doubt that is true; though I think we may also take it for granted, from the whole tone and general drift of his expressions, that it was the serious side he would wish to see triumphant in the world, and prevailing in the lives of men. "My desire and hope"- this is his own, most unambiguous declaration towards the close"my desire and hope is that these lectureships and lectures may promote and advance among all classes of the community the true knowledge of Him Who is, and there is none and nothing besides Him, in Whom we live and move and have our being, and in Whom all things consist, and of man's real relation to Him Whom truly to know is life everlasting." Now, coming from such considerations as these, it is not unnatural that the question should suggest itself, And how of the lecturer, how is he situated in regard to the momentous interests which have been before us? Of course there is no necessity in the bond that the lecturer, whom it has been the care of the patrons to |