not then suburban, but here and there was a large handsome Georgian
house. I learnt nothing at Cheshunt, and did not make a single
friend.

In 1851 or 1852 I was transferred, with two other students, to New
College, St. John's Wood. On February 3, 1852, the Principal
examined our theological class on an inaugural lecture delivered at
the opening of the college. The subject of the lecture was the
inspiration of the Bible. The two students before mentioned were
members of this class, and asked some questions about the formation
of the canon and the authenticity of the separate books. They were
immediately stopped by the Principal in summary style. "I must
inform you that this is not an open question within these walls.
There is a great body of truth received as orthodoxy by the great
majority of Christians, the explanation of which is one thing, but
to doubt it is another, and the foundation must not be questioned."
How well I recollect the face of the Principal! He looked like a
man who would write an invitation to afternoon tea "within these
walls". He consulted the senate, and the senate consulted the
council, which consisted of the senate and some well-known
ministers. We were ordered to be present at a special council
meeting, and each one was called up separately before it and
catechized. Here are two or three of the questions, put, it will be
remembered, without notice, to a youth a little over twenty,
confronted by a number of solemn divines in white neckerchiefs.

"Will you explain the mode in which you conceive the sacred writers
to have been influenced?"

"Do you believe a statement because it is in the Bible, or merely