on; but here and yonder one and another of the young and glad, of the comfortless and lonely, knew "that there had passed away a glory from the earth.”

For that quiet life had taken strong hold upon many. Albert S. Hunt was never one of the lavish, flexible souls who win sudden and fleeting popularity. He was habitually serious, and believed from his youth that he lacked in affability. His friendship was of slow growth, but its roots struck deep, and held. Wherever he went people trusted him. He had a fine sense of honor and was scrupulously true. He believed not only in "the daylight doctrines of Methodism,” but in daylight living by Methodists. A certain impression of selflessness, charity, and high purity went out from him. Into its atmosphere the sinful and the sad loved to come, that it might bathe them as with heavenly light. He was tolerant of imperfection, and could without apparent repugnance be close to the narrow, the severe, the unrefined. He had no word of bitterness for an enemy. He preferred to be silent where he could speak no good. But it was only among his intimate friends that he felt he was understood. Some men shine brightly by friction, flash when struck, are at their highest in excitement and debate. Not so with him. He was at his best in the circle of his closest friends. Anecdote and humor flowed freely then; memory unrolled its treasures. He opened in the genial air of friendship. Only there could it be known how fragrant was his heart.

He was self-controlled, a man of judicial balance. He had the sense of history which distinguishes the real reformer from the cheap iconoclast. He lived simply. Careful in financial habits, by judicious investments he had accumulated such a property that he was able to make generous bequests to the causes to which his life had been given. His richest gifts went to Wesleyan University. Here he had studied, taught, and preached. He had received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the college in 1873; he had become a trustee in 1888. It was fitting that the library which he had gathered through many years, and which seemed to his imagination like an assembly of familiar friends, should here find a new home. His means had sufficed to bring together fifty

three hundred volumes, besides twenty-three hundred pamphlets-few simply for age or curiosity, fewer in any for eign language. Four fifths of them were theological books, including the standard doctrinal and historical works of the Christian Church-a library indicative of catholic sympathies and of cultured taste, fine editions and handsome bindings adding an air of richness to the whole.

The book-plate which he designed was appropriately covered with white lilies. Its motto, "Give me light," was significant of the fearless and guileless nature of the man. Let none mistake his meekness for weakness. There was no pretense of strength, but the firm chin, the dilating nostril spoke the resolution that lay behind that gentleness. Confidence was bestowed on him oftener than received from him; he was the support, others leaned on him. He was like the Matterhorn -not so high, it may be, as some of its clustering neighbors, but lonely, clean, and strong, drawing to itself the wandering cloud that loves to be the comrade of that solitary height. His character can best be measured, not by comparison with showier men, but by the simple, old-time sayings of that Sermon on the Hill which echoes like a divine summons down all the years: "Blessed are the meek: ... blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:

.. blessed

are the merciful: blessed are the pure in heart: blessed are the peacemakers." By these he lived; the rewards of these he inherits.

Herbert Welch

ART. II.-MĊGIFFERT'S APOSTOLIC AGE—A CONVERSATION.

GERARD, Dolan, and Karl are friends who have been trained in different ways and to different habits of thought. Gerard is an intelligent and enthusiastic layman, the teacher of a large Bible class, and an active member of the Congregational Church. Dolan is a minister in the Presbyterian Church, full of good works, an able preacher and pastor, and universally beloved among his people. Karl is a Baptist minister, equally devout and efficient in every good word and work. They meet to spend a social hour, and their conversation takes the turn which appears in the following pages. There are many who may be interested in hearing these friends talk:

Gerard. "My dear brethren, I am especially glad to be with you this quiet hour, for I want to hear what you think about this new book which has provoked so much criticism and seems to be disturbing some people very deeply. I have so little leisure that I cannot give much attention to these critical questions, and, indeed, if I had the time, I fear I have not sufficient scholarship and ability to deal with the points at issue. What do you think, Dolan, of McGiffert's History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age? I see that the General Assembly of your Church has expressed itself quite adversely."

Dolan. "I confess, my dear friends, that I am not only deeply disturbed but also very much grieved that the successor of our late Dr. Philip Schaff, nomen venerabilis, should have presumed to publish views so utterly subversive of the Christian faith and so inconsistent with the standards of his own Church, which he is solemnly sworn to maintain. You will understand, therefore, that my opinions and sympathy are in full accord with the action of the General Assembly, and I indorse the overture of the Pittsburg Presbytery which declares this book 'the most daring and thoroughgoing attack on the New Testament that has ever been made by any accredited teacher of the Presbyterian Church in America.""

Karl. "Doubtless your opinion, Dolan, is in harmony with

that of a majority of the ministers and members of your Church, but I am persuaded there is a large and increasing minority who think quite differently. I have conversed with several of your most distinguished divines, who assure me that, while not agreeing with Professor McGiffert in many of his views, they see no good reason for disturbance or alarm in the Church. The critical judgments and results reached by this eminent scholar are nothing new; they have been under discussion for more than half a century, and not a few of them are nearly as old as Christianity itself. It seems to me that we ought to be very cautious how we commit the Church to the hazardous issue of making the foundations of the Christian faith depend on a question of the origin, authorship, and date of any ancient writing. I, for one, should feel deeply disturbed if I were obliged to think that my faith in Christ and in God rested on such a basis."

G. "I infer from what Dolan says that McGiffert has made some hostile attack on the New Testament and opened questions which tend to unsettle Christian faith. May I ask if these questions are of such a nature that a layman like myself can comprehend them and judge for himself as to their character and tendency? Will you not tell us briefly just what the points at issue are, and wherein you think the positions of this new book are inconsistent with loyalty to the faith and fellowship of the Church?"

D. "The author tells us in his Preface that the scope of his volume leads him to touch on a large proportion of all critical questions within the province of the literature, the exegesis, and the theology of the New Testament. On all these questions he seems in general to depart from traditional beliefs. To begin with, he expresses doubt whether John the Baptist knew or believed Jesus to be the Messiah before the time he was cast into prison (p. 11), and finds it difficult to accept the statements of John i, 29-34, as historical. In the face of explicit statements of the three synoptic gospels (Matt. xvi, 28; Mark ix, 1; Luke ix, 27) he says (p. 24) that 'we cannot be certain that Jesus declared that the Son of man would return within the lifetime of some of those whom he addressed.' Our first gospel is not from Matthew the

publican, but 'evidently from the pen of a Christian of the second or third generation, and the apostolic name which has attached to it in tradition is due simply to the fact that it was supposed at an early day to be a translation of the Logia of Matthew, doubtless because it incorporated the greater part of that work and superseded it in the use of the Church' (p. 576). The tradition, also, which makes Luke the author of the third gospel and of the Acts 'can hardly be maintained' (p. 433). The gospel was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, during the last decade or two before the end of the first century (p. 577). As for the fourth gospel, we are told (p. 616) that it contains a large body of genuine apostolic matter; and though the picture of Christ is onesided its several features are in the main trustworthy, and though the discourses, in the form in which we have them, are the composition of the author they embody Christ's genuine teaching, at least to some extent. So much we can be sure of, even though we ascribe the gospel to a disciple of John instead of to John himself, and more than this it is impossible to claim even if we ascribe the gospel to John. So that the question of authorship is, after all, of no great practical importance."

G. "Am I to understand, then, according to this new book, that not one of our four gospels is certainly from the hand of an eyewitness of the things recorded?"

D. "Well, I have given you the author's statements mainly in his own words. He does not absolutely deny the Johannine authorship of the fourth gospel, but rather admits that the language of John i, 14, and the opening words of the First Epistle of John involve the claim of a personal disciple and eyewitness of Jesus Christ, and that this fact seems to make direct Johannine authorship necessary' (p. 615). He affirms that the first epistle was certainly written by the same hand as the gospel.' He also admits the general accuracy of the traditional origin of Mark's gospel, and thinks that Mark derived much of his information from Peter and that many of Peter's characteristics appear in the writing. Nevertheless, Mark has incorporated additional information received from Christians in Jerusalem, and seems also to have