connected with this great _Encyclopaedia_ from its first
beginning nearly a century and a half ago until now, he was
surpassed by none, if equalled by any, in the range of his learning
and in the capacity to bring learning to bear upon editorial work.
He took infinite pains to find the most competent writers, and was
able to exercise effective personal supervision over a very large
proportion of the articles. The ninth edition was much fuller and
more thorough than any of its predecessors; and good as the first
twelve volumes were, a still higher level of excellence was attained
in the latter half, a result due to his industry and discernment.
Not a few of the articles on subjects connected with the Old
Testament were from his own pen; and they were among the best in the
work.

The appearance of one of them, that entitled "Bible," which contained
a general view of the history of the canonical books of Scripture,
their dates, authorship, and reception by the Christian Church, became
a turning-point in his life. The propositions he stated regarding the
origin of parts of the Old Testament, particularly the Pentateuch,
excited alarm and displeasure in Scotland, where few persons had
become aware of the conclusions reached by recent Biblical scholars in
Continental Europe. The article was able, clear, and fearless, plainly
the work of a master hand. The views it advanced were not for the most
part due to Smith's own investigations, but were to be found in the
writings of other learned men. Neither would they now be thought
extreme; they are in fact accepted to-day by many writers of
unquestioned orthodoxy in Britain and a (perhaps smaller) number in
the United States. In 1876, however, these views were new and
startling to those who had not studied in Germany or followed the
researches of such men as Ewald, Kuenen, and Wellhausen. The Scottish
Free Church had theretofore prided itself upon the rigidity of its
orthodoxy; and while among the younger ministers there were a good
many able and learned scholars holding what used to be called
"advanced views," the mass of the elder and middle-aged clergy had
gone on in the old-fashioned traditions of verbal inspiration, and
took every word in the Five Books (except the last chapter of
Deuteronomy) to have been written down by Moses. It was only natural
that their anger should be kindled against the young professor, whose
theories seemed to cut away the ground from under their fe