R,CHARD MONCKTON MILNES was born in the year - OUDL Home

258 W. E. Heitlandness from men of different or deficient creed, and themselvesheld intercourse on equal terms with freethinkinglaymen of undoubted sincerity. The little society 1 thatused to meet at Trumpington Vicarage in the 'sixtiesmarked a stage in this liberalising movement, which wenton all through the 'seventies, and helped to keep Cambridgefree from the curse of bitterness. The Professorseven arranged for lectures on non-Christian religions.I was present on an occasion of the kind. E. H. Palmerwas to discourse on Islam, and his reputation drew alarge audience. The Divinity Faculty was represented byWestcott and others. Palmer was not the man to attunehis utterances to the orthodox proprieties of the place,and treated his subject freely. Towards the end of hisaddress he remarked that Muhammad in his later dayswas driven to use a certain amount of imposture; butover this he passed lightly, hinting that such lapse wasnot peculiar to the Prophet among religious enthusiasts.I noticed a slight shudder in some of the company at thisfrank avowal. Then the meeting, which had opened withprayer, ended with a few earnest words from Westcott,conveying our joint thanks to Palmer. He told us thathe had himself given much study to the chief religions ofthe world, and had come to the conclusion that Christianityas known to us in our own Church was the best ofall. This, coming in all good faith from the Regius Professorof Divinity, may serve to illustrate the innocentsincerity of the speaker. The declaration was quite unexpectedand hardly called for, and it was not easy torepress a smile. The fact that a meeting of the kind couldbe well attended is evidence of the interest then taken byserious students in religious topics. F. D. Maurice, whodied in 1872, had been a stimulating leader in many goodmovements, but in religious matters the indefinite nature1 See H. Sidgwick, a Memoir, pp. 184-7.