spiritualistic philosophy and in the questions raised by the newer Biblical criticism. Drummond took no special interest in these discussions. Philosophy was simply a subject in the Arts curriculum which he had to "get up" for his degree. The theological atmosphere of the New College had been electrically charged by the influence of men like Professor Robertson Smith and Professor W. G. Elmslie, who had championed the newer views in the weekly meetings of the Theological Society; but Drummond stood aloof. He had little experience of religious doubt and struggle for faith; as far as outsiders could judge, he was content with the traditional evangelicalism of his church. Neither in the theological nor in the philosophical sphere had his intellectual awakening begun. Nor had he yet thrown himself with enthusiasm into any sphere of practical Christian activity. But from the session of 1873-74 he was another man—with the same fascinating personality, with his fascinating personality indeed indefinitely accentuated, but with a keenness of intellectual edge and with a contagious warmth of spiritual enthusiasm that excited the increasing wonder of his friends. The occasion—I will not say the cause, for Drummond himself would have been slow to admit as much—of this extraordinary renascence in his life was the first visit of Mr. D. L. Moody to Scotland.
Mr. Moody's evangelistic meetings were held in the Free Assembly Hall, which forms part of the New College buildings. He produced a deep and widespread impression upon the spiritual life of Edinburgh. Drummond was fascinated by the personality of the American evangelist, and was fairly caught in the sweep of the movement of which Mr. Moody was the center. Along with several of the foremost students in the New College, he took part in addressing evangelistic meetings. His power of impressive speech, and his gift of dealing with individuals in the inquiry-room, attracted Mr. Moody's notice, and nothing would satisfy the evangelist but that Drummond should consent to accompany him in his evangelistic tour and be especially an evangelist to young men. Drummond was within a few months of completing his theological course; but he was hot in this new work. He gave up his classes, and spent the next two years in evangelistic work among young men in the chief cities of Scotland, England, and Ireland. From 1874 onward, evangelism was the master passion of his life.
Even in those early years Drummond had his own message to deliver and his own way of delivering it. He had no quarrel with the traditional evangelicalism, but there were many points in traditional evangelicalism on which he simply laid no emphasis. He found the heart of Christianity in a personal friendship with Christ, and it was his ambition as an evangelist to introduce men to Christ. Friendship with Christ was the secret of a pure manhood and a beneficent life—the true strength for overcoming temptation and the true inspiration for manliness and goodness. It was a simple message; but, delivered with the thousand subtle influences radiating forth from his strong and rich personality, it evoked a wonderful response in the crowded meeting and in the quiet talk in the streets or in young men's lodgings. There was little dogmatic teaching in his message; it was not to a theological creed but to Christ he burned to get men introduced. He had little of the ecclesiastical instinct; what interested him was, not connection with an ecclesiastical organization, but that which constituted the heart of church fellowship and activity—a personal link with Christ. This was at the root of the extreme individualism of his earlier years. He had not learned, as he learned later, to appreciate the spiritual worth of organized social life, and he was quick to detect the weakness of churches and ecclesiastical methods. He was a man of one idea; the sphere of his vision was monopolized with the incomparable worth of the friendship of the individual with Christ. After all, a noble kind of individualism, and an individualism which goes far to explain his non-ecclesiastical temper and catholicity of spirit, and which goes far to explain also the success of his early evangelism.
Drummond's rare influence over men.
Mr. Drummond returned to Edinburgh in the autumn of 1876 to complete his theological course at the New College. His was already one of the best known names in the evangelistic world, but he bore himself with a modesty which was the constant admiration of his class fellows. Of the impression he produced upon his fellow-students in those months, it is difficult to speak without seeming to indulge in the language of exaggeration. To those of us who were privileged to enjoy his companionship in after-dinner walks in West Princes Street Gardens, or on quiet Sunday evenings in his rooms, the personal influence of Henry Drummond was a priceless
