Litchfield enquirer., 1881-08-04
Three Fishers.
N &E HEs E@ E Robertson Smith, The "Heretic.

& Al "a
 Robertson Smith, The "Heretic." 2
 Passing along Union-st., Aberdeen, in a westward direction, about two o'clock of an afternoon, when the colleges of the Granite City are in session, the chances are that you s will meet-or might have met before he was suspended-a slimfy-built young man of small stature. Accompanied probably by a student-a budding dvine-to whom he is chatting cheerfuily, and carrying beneath his arm few books, there is very little about his general appearance to attract the attention of a stranger. If You happen to stand aside for a mon,enL however, you twill perceive that one of two persons, proceeding in the same direction as yourself, nudges his companion ' as they pass the little man., and both turn and look after him. = A mere boy he ~iooks and yet there is something unusually striking about the round, cheerful, beardless face and dark brilliant eyes, shaded by a soft wide - awake hat-somethingy which tells of hard ~stndy and deep thought. la few minutes he leaves the. student and, hurrying along Crown-st., enters the door of his'house. You then discover that the person you have been watching is none other than MT. William Robertson Smith, a. Free Church professor, the accomplished scholar, the learned writer. the keen debater, who has, during the past few years fairly outwitted the ''Fathers and Brethren" in General Assembly, and. who has shaken ecclesiastical Scotland to it's very cen
 A very plain house s outside is that inhabit- ed by MT. Robertson Smith, and, as becomes the residence of scholar, it is as plain inside. Beyond an excellent library, furnished with ail the latest leading works iu theology, phi losophy and philology, there is very little for a visitor to notice. The only residents Tn the house are the Professor and his house-keep- CT. He seldom entertains company, except when some of his friends from the South Professor Candlish, or mayhap Professor Lindsay-pay him visit and then few of the local clergy of his Church, one of his col
 leagues in the College, and several others, are invited to meet them. The Professors vol ability IS great, and he keeps up running fire of talk the whole evening. The next move on the.p part of his friends at Presbytery, Synod or Assembly is discussed, and many of what his opponents consider felonious little schemes are matched then and there. The charges which have been brought against Professor Smith by section of his Church have been as varied as they have been numer- ous. Appro aching Holy Writ as Helrew scholar, unsurpassed at the present day, he has played sad havoc with some of the old traditional notions which, in Scotland partic- ulalry, have gathered daroundit He questions whether Moses left in writing any other laws than the Ten Commandments; looks upon the story of Ruth, not as literal picture of what occurred, but as as graceful prose idyl;" much of what is generally ascribed to Solo mon he thinks was not written by him at all while the sketch of Jonah, he regards as a parable attached to historical name.
 Mir. Smith was born at Keig- Tough, beau tiful spot near the Vale of Afford, Aberdeen s.. T. \. A. n
 William Pirie Smith, D. D., Free Church minister there The lad may be said to have occupied an educational hotbed for the first dozen years of his life. He could read Hebrew at six years of age. He was educa ton at Aberdeen University, where he had a most distinguished career, graduating with ffonors in logic, philosophy and mathemat- ics. After leaving Aberdeen he spent several years at the Universities of Berlin, Bonn and Gottingen, his attention while there being Semc dresed t after o Scotland, and when only twenty four years of age, he was appointed Professor of Oren tai Languages and Old Testament Exegesis in in the Free Church College, Aberdeen. His distinguished talents and scholarly research soon brought him into notice. and he was Echoseu member of the Bible Revision Con- mittee. He was, more recently, engaged as one of the staff of contributors to the new edi- tion ot the Encyclopedia Britannica ;" and it is in connection with his writings on Bibl- cal subjects to this publication that the pro. ceedings for heresy were first taken. It is now over four..years since Professor Smiths article on the Bible, appeared in the Encyclo- p9dia. Several of the views set forth regard ing some of the books of Scripture-notably the writings of Moses-were considerably In advance of those generally entertained in the Church to which he belongs. These views might, however, have passed unnoticed had Professor Smiths abilities not excited the jealousy of an Established Church professor in Edinburgh University, who, with the evi- dent intention of at once damaging Professor Smiths reputation, and doing an injury to the Church over the way" called attention to them. --at ----
 AWhen Professor Smith occupies any of the pulpits in Glasgow, Edinburgh or other of the large towns in Scotland, the churches are crowded, and on recent occasion hundreds failed to gain admission But he cannot be said to be a successful preacher. Ills place is in theclass-room or lecture hall, and not in the church. During the years of his suspen. sion Professor Smith visited Europe and Ara. bia for linguistic purposes. He travelled much in these countries, and his researches will be of great value to the learned world. ho otouSuI hoitie copies or many anclent ln- scrlptions to be found on the monumental stones and buildings there, and several, which have hitherto baffled the learned, he has it is believed been able to decipher. He has been again and again asked to leave his chair for occupations more distinguished and remuner ative; but he continues to stick to it and is determined to show that freedom of inquiry is not incompatible with the standards of the Free Church. The youth and talent of Scot. land is on bis side; and whether he win this last fight or lose it he will have the satisfac tion of having done much to advance the real and permanent interests of truth. If the Free Church parts with Professor Smith i, will not only lose it's most distinguished scholar and ablest debater, but one of the most sincere Biblical critics which the centu " has produced. The London World