that "the law of the Lord is a perfect or undefiled law, converting the soul," disposing and enabling men, by the restraints which it imposed, and the hopes which it inspired, and the consolations which it administered, and the quick and searching truths which it delivered, to prepare for that holy presence into which no defiled and unconverted soul should ever enter. There are, however, some passages in Scripture which appear to speak very differently of the law of God in this period, and which it may be useful to explain. St. Paul, in particular, speaking of the law of God, which was given by Moses, says, that it " was weak and unprofitable;" that " it made nothing perfect," that it was not faultless, but required a second or better covenant; that it never, in short, "made the comers thereunto perfect." (Heb. vii. viii.) If then the law was thus imperfect, it may be asked, as St. Paul himself does, For what purpose was it given? How can it be undefiled? Wherefore serveth the law? To this question, we answer, that it served for various good and excellent purposes; it was added, says St. Paul, "because of transgressions," that we might know ourselves, and behold therein, as in a glass, the spots of our soul, and the hardness of our corrupt hearts. "The law entered," as he again observes, "that the offence might abound,"-not that men might commit more sins, but that they might be the more sensible of their own actual guilt, of their own weak and sinful condition; that sin, in short, by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful, and consequently, that the grace, which pardoned it, might the more abound and might be the more distinguished. Through Adam, we were all born in sin, inheriting a corrupt nature from a corrupt stock; but it is possible that we should not have known our sinful state, if positive laws, the picture of holiness and truth, had not been set before "I had not known lust," says St. Paul, "except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;" nay, he “ was alive once," he says, "without the law;" he thought himself righteous, not knowing the righteousness of God. When then the law or commandment came, "sin revived, and we died," for our own actual, as well as original guilt; and this might seem harsh and unjust dealing on the part of God towards man, if the end of all this had not been shewn to be most gracious and merciful; viz. that we, feeling ourselves weak and cursed by the law, might look the more earnestly unto Christ, who should take away the curse of the law, by being himself made a curse for us. In itself, then, the Mosaic institution was not perfect; for the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away sin, nor could present obedience, on our part, make amends for our past disobedience, and satisfy the justice of God. But, in respect to its end, it was perfect and undefiled; for it directed men to Christ the great teacher, sent of God to convert our souls; the true Paschal Lamb, who should take away the sins of the world; the harmless, the undefiled High Priest, who should offer up himself once for all. In this sense, the law is said to be spiritual, " to be ordained unto life;" and many through faith rightly received it, "waiting patiently for the consolation of Israel," looking not to the letter of it, which "killed," but to the spirit of it, which "gave life." Happy would it have been for the Jewish people, to whom it was especially addressed, had they all faithfully received it; they would then have received Christ, their Messiah, of whom it spoke; but they regarded only the external parts of the law,

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and not the life and spirit of it; they valued the outward form, but not the inward power, of godliness. The law of God consequently became of no value to them; and the gospel of Christ, of which it spake, became a stumbling-block unto them; they comprehended it not; they hardened their hearts, and closed their eyes against the great mystery of godliness, that they might not be converted and healed.

3. The law of God, however, under the gospel dispensation, which in the fulness of time succeeded, still continued the same, although the Jews rejected it; it still spake of righteousness, and of that same faith, by which the fathers in old times had obtained a good report; so that "he that believeth on the Son of God hath life; and he that believeth not the Son of God, hath not life." It still claimed obedience from man; and so far was our Saviour from making void the law in any one respect, that, on the contrary, he expressly declares, "he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it;" to fulfil its types and ceremonies, to fulfil its prophecies, to enlarge and extend its moral precepts, and to enforce on all the observance of them, by clearer and higher promises. Our Saviour came, in short, to convert our souls, to speak peace to his people, that they turn not again. He was the great end of the law, the completion of the promise given to Adam when he fell, and renewed at sundry times, and in divers manners, through the prophets. Although many ages had passed away between the first commandment which was given to man, and the coming of Christ, yet the great end of the law was never forgotten; one lengthened chain reached throughout, and even continued the same in directing men to Him who should bruise the serpent's head, and be the life and light of the world, and convert our souls, and thus restore us again to the paradise we had lost.

When we take this connected view of the law of God, what a wise and merciful and mysterious scheme does it present towards the children of men! Of what infinite majesty and justice does God appear, that when the law was broken, which was intended to preserve us in happiness, the breach of it could not be healed but by a greater sacrifice and satisfaction for sin than man could make! Of what value must that image of God have been, in which we were first created, which required such a price to be paid for our restoration to it! How corrupt and ignorant must we have made ourselves, to require the law of God to be revealed for our instruction in righteousness; how fond of our own conceits, how unwilling to receive heavenly truths, how blind to the wants and real interests of our own souls, must we have been, when a law full of curses and threatenings was necessary to persuade us to seek the living God!

Having thus then pointed out the origin, progress, and end of the Divine law, viz. that it hath ever had in view the conversion of our souls, little need be added to recommend your attention to it ;you that value your own souls,-you that value your own peace, here and hereafter,-you who have respect to the statutes and judgments of the Lord, to those Scriptures which were written for your instruction, and must, through Christ, lead you to salvation. know, indeed, that there have been, and ever will be, different descriptions of men, who in their hearts dislike the law of God;

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such as the profligate and profane, the open scoffer and unbeliever, who find it a powerful check upon their actions; and the enthusiast and half-informed Christian, who think that the law and the gospel differ, and consequently that they may ever continue in sin, in order that grace may abound. Against all such persons, who are either so negligent of God's law as to despise it, or so zealous for the glory of his grace as to pervert it, the purity and excellency of the Divine word must ever be defended; and he can be no faithful minister of God's word, who does not put you all in remembrance of these things; who does not shew the profligate and unbeliever, that the law of God hath not yet passed away, but is still in force, threatening vengeance on the lawless and disobedient; and who does not also shew the believer in Christ, that his faith, without a holy and religious life, will profit him nothing. The Lawgiver and the Saviour are now closely connected; "The words which I speak unto you," says our Lord, "the same shall judge you at the last day." The law of God, therefore, must be maintained and magnified in all its parts, as well as the grace and mercy of Christ; they have, as it were, met together and kissed each other, and cannot now be separated without injuring man, and reflecting upon the truth and justice of God. You cannot take away the law of God without introducing discord and division upon earth, and creating fresh misery and trouble for man. You cannot take away the grace of the gospel, without leaving man a hopeless and helpless being upon earth, and giving to God the appearance of injustice and austerity. The gospel of Christ informs us where grace relaxes, and where law and justice still bind; and it will ever be our highest happiness, here and hereafter, that we have looked diligently to both; that we have not despised the statutes of our God, nor neglected the great salvation offered us by Christ; that we have taken his law as 66 a light unto our paths, and a lantern unto our feet;" and yet have made his free and his unbounded grace the source of comfort when we fall, and of humility and diffidence when we stand. Let us look then into this perfect law of liberty; for if we must be judged by it, it must surely be our best and safest course now to be guided by it. We see in the natural world, that every creature of God, except man, follows closely the law of its nature, and thus preserves both itself and others. The sun, for instance, does not approach too near the earth to burn it, nor depart too far from it to destroy it with cold; the moon does not withhold her light; the earth does not refuse to yield her increase; but all things, even fire and hail, snow and vapour, says the Psalmist, fulfil God's word, and run their unwearied course, in obedience to their great Creator, and according to their respective laws. But man alone, presumptuous man, hath found out a way for himself; he will be, he says, a law unto himself, free and independent. Thus, with his mistaken notions of liberty, hath he filled the world with violence, and himself with misery and tears. Let us not, however, hesitate to turn unto the Lord our God, to receive the wisdom which hath come down from above. We cannot hesitate a moment, if we are wise. A regard to our great Creator's glory should urge us, that thus by our obedience we may shew how good and how perfect all things were at first made ;-a regard to our great Redeemer's love should urge us, that thus the blood, which he shed in mercy for our sins, may not be found

an unprofitable thing;-a regard to our own present happiness and interest should urge us, that thus the perfect law of liberty may teach our souls, and give us peace; that thus clearer prospects and brighter hopes, than this world can give, may be opened to us; that our unruly passions may be softened and subdued; that our anxious cares may be removed; that our faith may be increased, and our charity exercised; that we may be formed again, as it were, after the image of God, in righteousness and pure holiness; and enter once more within the bowers of his sanctuary, even within the mountain which he hath purchased with his right hand. H. D.

MR. EDITOR, I am not surprised to find that the present representatives of the family of Bishop Lowth should feel some dissatisfaction at any remarks calculated to depreciate the character of their illustrious ancestor. The natural partiality of kindred might well excuse a little jealousy of this sort, even were the subject one less open to diversity of opinion, than the warlike and eventful career of the learned Metropolitan. But the question is, not what may be the harmless partialities of a relation, but what ought to be the discretionary responsibilities attached to the office of an editor and biographer. Conceiving it to be equally his duty to avoid, on the one hand, an indiscriminate approval, and, on the other hand, an unnecessary exposure of the faults and imperfections of his author,-to exhibit, generally, the grounds of his own preference, without beguiling the reader into an undue estimate of their authority; entertaining this opinion of my simple line of duty, I have undertaken a favourite and welcome task; whether on just principles, or no, let others judge. Right or wrong, they are the principles I have ever held upon the subject, and have conscientiously attempted, in the present instance, to illustrate.

But I am accused of " grave" and "unfounded" misrepresentations. This is a serious charge; and, if borne out, must implicate something worse than the literary capabilities-no less than the literary honestyof the writer. So completely, however, is the charge of your correspondent "VERAX" left without support, that it is no easy matter to decide to what portion, or portions, of his Letter it is intended to apply. Were I to admit the justice of every word he writes, the charge would still remain without a shadow of evidence; but I have only to reply very briefly to each of his topics of accusation, to shew that they are really all, without exception, unjust in their inferences, and, in most cases, positively untrue as matters of fact.

With respect to Lowth's qualifications as a divine, controversial or

practical, I have said all that I intend to say. The reasons of my judgment are to be found in the volume to which it is prefixed, and are therefore open to public examination and comparison. Less than this, I felt I could not say more, I am resolved I will not say. I deemed it necessary, on many accounts, to certify that I regarded the Bishop's views of Divine truth as extremely defective. Such is my opinion, founded on the contents of the very Sermons, whether old or newbeautiful, eloquent, and elaborate, as they are-incorporated with the rest of his Remains. My reasons for that opinion involve the grand point of christian theology—the vexata quæstio between God and man, life and death, time and eternity; and it is not under the circumstances of a polemical correspondence, that I shall choose to enter on the discussion of that solemn and momentous inquiry.

For this defect in the Bishop's Sermons, your correspondent thinks that an excuse (if excuse were needed) might be found, in the consideration, that, as so many of those acknowledged and published by his Lordship were delivered on particular and local occasions, the preacher might not deem it necessary to dwell at length on fundamental articles of faith. I believe it is the general opinion of the Church, that, on no occasion we should deem it more necessary than on these, to unfold the great motives and principles of religious conduct; and I am sure, that on no occasions have many ministers of her communion more faithfully exemplified the noble sentiments of St. Paul, in the second chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians.

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Your correspondent has given a complimentary turn to Mr. Cadogan's anecdote, of which I cannot discover that it is susceptible. A moment's reference to the original narrative, however, will speedily set that point at rest; where the writer thinks it necessary to apologize for Mr. Cadogan's boldness with his Lordship, on the plea, that "it came from one, who, in all probability, might have obtained a bishopric, had he made it his object."

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But as the strongest testimony that could be adduced to the religious views and apprehensions of Bishop Lowth, your correspondent rests upon the eulogy pronounced by his successor, Dr. Porteus. reader will find the passage, quoted at full length, at the conclusion of my short Memoir; and he will probably be not a little surprised to discover, that not one syllable is there recorded to the purpose. One might reasonably have expected, that a testimony from one Prelate to another, and particularly to a deceased predecessor, would say the utmost that could be said on a topic so appropriate and so important. Bishop Porteus felt the delicacy of his situation; for he was a man as far above Lowth in spiritual, as he was below Lowth in intellectual attainments. He saw the strong points of his subject, and enforced them admirably: and he also knew the weak points, and most studiously and cautiously avoided them. He extols the literary talents and domestic virtues of the late Bishop; the universality of his genius; the inoffensiveness and irreproachableness of his conduct; the unassuming and conciliating gentleness of his manners; and even the natural

* Cecil's Memoir of Cadogan; prefixed to Mr. Cadogan's Sermons, and incorporated in Mr. Cecil's Works.