On this view, it has been argued, though Dr. Caird does not expressly draw the inference, orthodoxy is not essential to "salvation," and heathenism is not a barrier to the blessings of heaven. One distinguishing characteristic of all Dr. Caird's sermons--and, indeed, of everything to which he applies himself--is that they are carefully and conscientiously manipulated. He does not commit himself to a mere superficial treatment of the subject in hand, but, like John Bright--to whom in more than one respect he presents a striking parallel--he takes the utmost pains to provide thoroughly acceptable and nourishing pabulum for his hearers, believing that whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well. No man alive has furnished a more fitting illustration of the lines-- "The heights by great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight; But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night." Every sentence which Dr. Caird utters in his discourses is turned and polished with the consummate art of which he is such a master until it is a sparkling gem. Hence his diction bears the most crucial test; like his oratory, his composition is unique. When the British Association held its meetings in Edinburgh in August, 1871, Dr. John Caird was selected to preach the sermon which it is customary to deliver before the _savants_ at any town at which they may happen to meet. On this sermon a pungent critic in a well-known metropolitan magazine, who rejoices in the _nom de plume_ of Patricius Walker, Esq., has the following remarks:--"Mr. Caird (who spoke somewhat huskily, but with much emphasis) was on the broad Liberal tack. He quoted passages from Herbert, Spencer, Comte, and other modern philosophers; not showing them up as monsters or deluded--O dear no!--or taking refuge behind his Bible or any 'cardinal doctrine' of faith, but professing a profound respect for these writers, and bringing his facts and logic against their facts and logic. It was a clever exercise and a very curious discourse to hear in the High Kirk of Edinburgh, but it was hard to suppose it could do anybody much good. Says Caird, 'I'll quote and then refute, Each modern philosophic _doot_'-- And so he did; but each quotation Seem'd to outweigh the refutation. Some of the old-fashioned worshippers must have felt uncomfortable, like the villager who, after a clever sermon on the Evidences of the Existence of the Deity, said he never thought of doubting it before." Professor Caird is one of her Majesty's chaplains for Scotland. REV. DR. NORMAN MACLEOD.