moral problems is a great safeguard against false theories of education. If there are ineradicable vices in our methods of culture, the flood will come and sweep our methods of culture away. Mankind has a happy habit of breaking its own idols; the spirit of iconoclasm has more than once saved society. The highest result of education is not intellectual refinement but moral force, and every age wins its own moral victories, supplies its own moral inspirations. Culture may be transmitted, but not moral vigour. The outward graces of humanity find a resting-place in the convolutions of the brain, and are handed down in a balanced nervous system. The native charm and easy grace which we see in some men are derived from the intellectual toil and strenuous self-conquest of their fathers; the fathers smelt of the oil, the sons are children of the light; the old man is the better workman, the young man the more finished gentleman. But moral vigour, as distinguished from ethical ideas and virtuous habits, can only come to him who makes it his own by struggle and resolve and toil; you secure your inheritance with your own sword and your own bow. And one civilisation is in advance of another by virtue of the moral force which is in it, and by virtue of this alone. The Cavaliers had a nobler birth-roll than the Puritans, but the Puritans are the authors of a better England. Composure, sweetness, grace, a balanced intellect, a richly-stored memory-these are, after all, not the highest gifts to man. The reason that looks before as well as after, purpose swelling into passion, courage, endurance, directness- these are nobler far. Peace is an element of enjoyment; strife is the condition of strength. The smooth-faced Greek must go down before the furrowed Goth, on whose hard features shall come at length a fuller beauty than the Greek ever knew." In March, 1881, Mackennal returned to Leicester to lecture on "Science and Literature as Instruments of Culture." The brief summary in the proceedings of the Society is not too brief to retain character: "Science and Literature are our methods of studying the two worlds of which we are inhabitants-the world of nature and the world of man. These diverse worlds cannot both be studied by the same method. The facts of nature are measurable in time and space, and may be expressed in mathematical formulæ. But man writes his own history not in the amount but in the character of the work he does, and science has no instruments with which to measure this. Science and Literature divide between them the field of education. Science leads up to the inclusive unity; Literature brings us back to individual variety. As instruments of culture the one liberates us from selfconsciousness, impresses on us the sense of order, certainty and repose; the other lures us from the material and the superficial into the presence of the informing spirit." The second volume published by Mackennal, entitled, "The Life of Christian Consecration," published in 1877,* contains sermons preached in Leicester. The sermons are exact and often profound in exegesis, lit up with a vigorous and healthful optimism, careful in their literary form, and stimulating in their spiritual substance; but the thought moves on a level which is steadily above the popular range, and they lack the qualities of picturesqueness and vividness of illustration which in Dr. Maclaren's sermons have secured attention for a range of thought not less elevated. One quality which added much to the impressiveness of Mackennal's sermons when heard is less conspicuous in print. He had remarkable power of introducing quotations from Scripture to drive home his points, and they were introduced with a change in manner and an inflection of voice which made his hearers feel that here was the word, not of man, but of God. In Leicester Mackennal first made some reputation as a writer. He became editor of The Christian Spectator, and contributed to it articles which his friends were glad to preserve. He also published a number of poems, chiefly sonnets, signed only with his initials, or sometimes without signature; but though these were afterwards collected, no copy seems now obtainable. It is said that on a certain Sunday in 1876, one of the deacons of the Gallowtree-gate Church came to Mr. Mackennal and reported that a lady and gentleman who * Hodder and Stoughton. were strangers to him had been present at the services, and had expressed their sense of the privilege of taking part in such devout and helpful fellowship. "Indeed," said Mr. Mackennal, "I hope they will settle with us." The lady and gentleman in question proved to be Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Haworth, of Bowdon, and their visit led to Mackennal's removal to Bowdon. When the invitation to Bowdon became known in Leicester a determined effort was made to keep Mackennal. He had frequently urged his church, but hitherto without effect, to resolve to abandon the Gallowtree-gate premises, and move out into the fast-growing suburbs. "It is,' he wrote, "from Conservatism that the churches are suffering; the Episcopalians are alert, up to the times, or striving to be so, while our people are quite contented to be as their fathers before them were." Now, under the stress of parting, the church was willing to undertake a removal if he would remain and help them over the time of transition. At a special church meeting a resolution was passed that: "This meeting, hearing with regret that an invitation has been given to the Rev. A. Mackennal from another church, is of opinion that a further effort should be made to offer to Mr. Mackennal a new church, as an earnest of the deep feeling of love and esteem in which his ministry is held by this church and congregation.” Promises of financial support were given, and an offer of £8,000 for the old Chapel was at least entertained. But Mackennal had by this time made up his mind that he ought to accept the invitation to Bowdon, and was not to be dissuaded. He wrote to Mr. Baines : "I shall tell the deacons to-night that I am going. It will be a great trial in many respects for me to leave Leicester, and, of course, I am not ignorant that a new Pastorate is a new venture, but I cannot feel myself justified in refusing. Everything has been tending in this direction for a year past; this change is only the natural consequence of causes and thoughts that have gradually prepared the way for it. If anything could have over-ridden what seems to me the direction of wisdom and of duty, it would have been the unfeigned love I have for very many people in Leicester, and the ungrudging confidence and affection with which it is repaid. But I am a public man, given up to a particular service, and the claims of the service are supreme. I honestly believe that my best friends here will be among the foremost to bid me go. "Let me assure you that no trace of mortified personal feeling mixes with my determination. I have heard a word in one or two quarters of regret that my service has not been more appreciated by the congregation. Such is not my feeling. I do not remember a single instance in which any person has made me feel that. That consideration increases the pain, but it also and still more largely mitigates the pain of my parting. It is of some interest to note that the proposal to build a new church in the suburbs was not allowed to lapse, and at length issued in the erection of the church now known as Clarendon Park. On January 28th, 1877, Mackennal preached his farewell sermon at Leicester. It is an evidence of the regard in which he was held that the whole sermon is extant in an unusual form, a copy written by a member of his congregation in a large clear hand. CHAPTER V HOLIDAY LETTERS "What's become of Waring Since he gave us all the slip, Boots and chest, or staff and scrip, Any longer, London town."-BROWNING. His MACKENNAL was an expert traveller. For many years he seems to have devoted his summer vacation to botanising or sight-seeing in the British Islands or elsewhere. letters record visits, in some cases repeated, to the Scottish Highlands, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, North Germany, France, Canada, and the United States. His correspondence, and the letters of his companions in travel mentioned below, give glimpses of one who has the perfect art of voyaging, careful to take little baggage, but to get into it every necessary for comfort; carrying with him a "mind at leisure from itself" to note everything; observing the botany and geology of a district, or its architecture and history; never hurrying over the ground or forgetting that he was to get refreshment in travel; interested in people of all kinds, comparing physical and mental qualities of race with race, or the natural features of one district with another; a good walker, and choosing to walk or climb on foot rather than travel in any other way, and often out-walking his companions; at ease in all sorts of company, and |