ave look, Raphael replied: "No, Michael,
there is no mistake. The name of this imp of blasphemy is--I hesitate to
say it--the Free----------" *

* Was it the _Freethinker?_

But at this moment my guide again hurried me along. We reached the
splendid gate once more, which slowly opened and let us through. Again
we flew through the billowy ether, sweeping past system after system
with intoxicating speed, until at last, dazed and almost unconscious, I
regained this earthly shore. Then I sank into a stupor. When I awoke
the fire had burnt down to the last cinder, all was dark and cold, and
I shivered as I tried to stretch my half-cramped limbs. Was it all a
dream? Who can say? Whether in the spirit or the flesh I know not, said
Saint Paul, and I am compelled to echo his words. Sceptics may shrug
their shoulders, smile, or laugh; but "there are more things in heaven
and earth than are dreamt of in _their_ philosophy."

PROFESSOR BLACKIE ON ATHEISM.

(January, 1879.)

Professor Blackie is a man with whom we cannot be angry, however
greatly his utterances are calculated to arouse that feeling. He is
so impulsive, frank, and essentially good-natured, that even his most
provoking words call forth rather a smile of compassion than a frown of
resentment. Those who know his character and position will yield him the
widest allowance. His fiery nature prompts him to energetic speech on
all occasions. But when his temper has been fretted, as it frequently
is, by the boisterous whims of his Greek students in that most
boisterous of universities, it is not surprising if his expressions
become splenetic even to rashness. The ingenuous Professor is quite
impartial in his denunciations. He strikes out right and left against
various objects of his dislike. Everything he dissents from receives one
and the same kind of treatment, so that no opinion he assails has any
special reason to complain; and every blow he deals is accompanied
with such a jolly smile, sometimes verging into a hearty laugh, that no
opponent can well refuse to shake hands with him when all is over.

This temper, however, is somewhat inconsistent with the scientific
purpose indicated in the title of Professor Blackie's book. A zoologist
who had such a particular and unconquerable aversion to one species of
animals that the bare mention of its name made his gorge rise, would
naturally give us a very inadequate and unsatisfactory account of it.
So, in