About this time, also, in answer to a request from a believer in miracles,] “that those who fail to perceive the cogency of the evidence by which the occurrence of miracles is supported, should not confine themselves to the discussion of general principles, but should grapple with some particular case of an alleged miracle,” [he read before the Metaphysical Society a paper dealing with the evidence for the miracle of the resurrection. (See volume 1.)

Some friends wished him to publish the paper as a contribution to criticism; but his own doubts as to the opportuneness of so doing were confirmed by a letter from Mr. John Morley, then editor of the “Fortnightly Review,” to which he replied (January 18):—­]

To say truth, most of the considerations you put so forcibly had passed through my mind—­but one always suspects oneself of cowardice when one’s own interests may be affected.

[At the beginning of May he went to Edinburgh.  He writes home on May 8:—­]

I am in hopes of being left to myself this time, as nobody has called but Sir Alexander Grant the Principal, Crum Brown, whom I met in the street just now, and Lister, who has a patient in the house.  I have been getting through an enormous quantity of reading, some tough monographs that I brought with me, the first volume of Forster’s “Life of Swift,” “Goodsir’s Life,” and a couple of novels of George Sand, with a trifle of Paul Heyse.  You should read George Sand’s “Cesarine Dietrich” and “La Mare au Diable” that I have just finished.  She is bigger than George Eliot, more flexible, a more thorough artist.  It is a queer thing, by the way, that I have never read “Consuelo.”  I shall get it here.  When I come back from my lecture I like to rest for an hour or two over a good story.  It freshens me wonderfully.

[However, social Edinburgh did not leave him long to himself, but though he might thus lose something of working time, this loss was counterbalanced by the dispelling of some of the fits of depression which still assailed him from time to time.

On May 25 he writes:—­]

The General Assembly is sitting now, and I thought I would look in.  It was very crowded and I had to stand, so I was soon spied out and invited to sit beside the Lord High Commissioner, who represents the Crown in the Assembly, and there I heard an ecclesiastical row about whether a certain church should be allowed to have a cover with IHS on the Communion Table or not.  After three hours’ discussion the IHSers were beaten.  I was introduced to the Commissioner Lord Galloway, and asked to dine to-night.  So I felt bound to go to the special levee at Holyrood with my colleagues this morning, and I shall have to go to my Lady Galloway’s reception in honour of the Queen’s birthday to-morrow.  Luckily there will be no more of it.  Vanity of Vanities!  Saturday afternoon I go out to Lord Young’s place to spend Sunday.  I have been in rather a hypochondriacal state of mind, and I will see if this course of medicine will drive the seven devils out.