258 EDITOR. 



his clue from his clients ; and the element of a controlling 

 Committee ; and either of them would, I am convinced, 

 be fatal to the Witness. It is with great diffidence that 

 I in any case oppose my judgment to that of Dr Cand- 

 lish ; but in this matter I possess peculiar opportunities 

 of information. The Witness has been not merely an 

 organ through which I have communicated with my 

 readers, but it has also led my readers to communicate 

 much with me. I have received many a hint and sug- 

 gestion in many a note and letter, signed, initialed, and 

 anonymous ; and have thus felt, as with a stethoscope, 

 how the heart of the Free Church has been beating out- 

 side the disturbing influences of Edinburgh society. 

 And it is in a large measure from the knowledge thus 

 acquired though I am not without other sources of 

 information that I derive my convictions regarding the 

 ineligibility of the scheme of improvement suggested by 

 Dr Candlish. The Doctor seems convinced that the 

 Witness, as at present conducted, is in imminent danger 

 of sinking. I will stake its life any day against that of 

 a Witness redolent of the peculiarly unwholesome atmo- 

 sphere of the Parliament House, and under the direct 

 control of a Managing Committee ! 



' I must speak ;my mind on this point with the full 

 freedom which the urgency of the crisis demands. And, 

 first, let me indulge in a few general observations, which 

 may, I trust, be found, ere I conclude, not much beside 

 the mark. 



' I remark, then, in the first place, that the destruction, 

 or even very considerable diminution, of the Sustentation 

 Fund, would be one of the gravest evils which could 

 befall the Free Church. The Fund constitutes the 

 great heart of her material frame, the all-important 

 muscle, if I may so express myself, whose propelling 



