The first object is to prove "the fact of such an influence being exercised or dispensed." The concluding paragraph under this head sufficiently exhibits our author's opinions..

"It is thus that this divine influence, sometimes denominated the grace of God, may approach us in various channels; in the ordinary operations of our own minds, or by the events and vicissitudes of life. By any modes, which the wisdom of God may suggest, he may work in us both to will and to do; and the doctrine of spiritual influences is no other than the doctrine of the particular providence of God, which extends its paternal solicitude to every individual; which affords to each one the means of knowledge and virtue as is best suited to his condition; which adapts the discipline of life to his improvement ; and assists the virtuous proficiency of every one, as far as seems proper to infinite wisdom and goodness.' p. 176.

He next speaks of " the mode of its communication;" that it is not irresistible, but wholly persuasive, not at all infringing the moral liberty of man; that its operations are not to be distinguished from those of our own minds; that it is not arbitrarily bestowed, but according to that universal and equitable rule of providence, by which more is given to those, who have well used that which they have. The sermon closes, like the other, with a practical application of the doctrine.

A similar general method to that which we have remarked in these three sermons, is pursued in the xivth, in treating of the doctrine of Conversion. The doctrine is treated altogether with a view to its practical effect. In all the allusions to a variety of opinions and false notions on the subject, not a word is said to excite hostile feeling toward those who may hold opinions different from those of the preacher, or to exasperate a dislike, and create prejudices against their doctrine, or language, or persons; but he applies himself directly to the consciences and hearts of those before him; he does not assume the air of a controversialist, or a combattant, and encourage them to go abroad, and wonder at and triumph over the follies and absurdities of others; he endeavours to bring them to look at themselves, and test their own characters by the truth; satisfied that the doctrines of the gospel are good for nothing, except so far as they promote the formation of sober, solid, rational piety and morality. We have no love for any other doctrinal preaching. We cannot conceive that any other should be profitable. Faith without works is dead. Right thinking is valuable only as it is accompanied by right living. All the truth in the world will not save him, "who holds the truth in unrighteousness." There is indeed another sort of doctrinal preaching, which is easier. It is easier to repeat our arti

mon.

cles of faith, and insist on their saving efficacy in every serIt is far easier to declaim on modes and peculiarities of belief, and get up a holy zeal for maintaining the pure system of revealed doctrine. But calmly to set aside the wrong and fortify the right, and lead the hearers to condemn their own, rather than the errors of their brethren,-this is a task indeed; and those ministers, it appears to us, deserve no little commendation for their fidelity, who can pursue this course, unmoved by disappointment, and unseduced into the more easy, more flattering, and more ambitious, but less useful practice of agitating opinions, instead of "teaching and warning" men.

Of the sermons which are exclusively practical, some are upon subjects the most interesting and important which a preacher can select, and present the most sound and judicious views of christian morals and practical piety. We have not room for an analysis of them, but may convey a general idea of what they are by a few remarks and extracts.

It may be said of them, that they are eminently serious in all their views of life, duty, and responsibility. While they do not phold a gloomy religion, built upon dark views of the condition of man, and the government of God, but on the contrary, imply that it is a cheerful thing as being a message of great joy from a benevolent parent; they yet represent it as demanding of us high duties, and calling us to a solemn account. They do not skim the surface of morality, and allow to the christian all that latitude, which the false liberality of the worldly would incorporate into their religion, letting down the standard of duty and purity to the inclinations of every individual. They set the standard of moral attainment high. They represent the pursuit of christian excellence to be arduous, and its success not the result of indolent or transient exertion. They show him who has entered the list for the prize, that there is some hard fighting to be done, some sacrifices to be made, and a long discipline of watchfulness and self-government to be gone through. In this view we consider the volume as highly valuable; and we cannot help hoping that it may give to some,-who have suffered themselves to be persuaded, without knowing any thing about it, that liberal preaching, as it is called, is loose, flattering, accommodated to the taste of the worldly, and wholly wanting in the solemnity and pungency of the original gospel-more correct and candid notions respecting it.

As specimens of the serious preaching, to which we have here referred, we may point out Sermon iii.. on the comparative claims of Religion and the World; which explains our proper

concern with the world, points out the dangers to which it exposes our religious characters, and enforces the necessity and reasonableness of a life strictly and entirely devoted to religion:Sermon xii. containing Directions for judging of ourselves :Sermon xv. on the difficulties of Christian virtue; which speaks of the Sifficulty of conquering sinful habits, of avoiding the snares of temptation, and, sometimes, of submitting to the present sacrifices which are required:-Sermon xvi. which exhibits the deceitfulness of sin, and the tremendous evils which follow it :Sermon xviii, which enforces the all-important maxim that DUTY should be the supreme object :—and Sermon xxi. on the uncertainty of life.

It is evident from the remarks we have made, that these sermons are in the truest sense religious and devotional. The duties of the first table are not neglected in the care to inculcate those of the second. Though they are really moral discourses, their morality is not of that sort which crowds away and neglects piety. Man's duties are all built on the foundation of his accountableness to God, and enforced by the idea of his relation to Jesus Christ and a future world. The two first sermons, on the Incomprehensibility of the Deity, are specimens of this devotional character; which treat of the causes of this imcomprehensibility, and the lessons of humility, charity, and faith, which it should teach us. Sermon xxii. on the Christian's hope, and xxiii. on the doctrine of Immortality, may be referred to also as illustrating our remark; whose complete illustration, however, is to be found in the expressions of devotional sentiment which meet the eye on every page, and are interwoven with the train of thought upon every topic.

Another class of these sermons, and an important one, consists of those in which great stress is laid upon the gospel as a divine communication. This topic is frequently introduced, and much insisted on; the authority of the religion is urged upon this ground, and men exhorted to its study, reception and practice, by reasons drawn from this source. Some of the most

powerful and eloquent passages in the volume are amongst those, which maintain this claim of christianity to our implicit obedience and love, and treat of its infinite excellence and value. The fourth sermon, on the reception of the gospel; and the sixth, entitled, Christianity a divine communication; are examples. Also the seventh, Christianity a rule of life, and the eighth, On motives to the distribution of the scriptures, are full of these earnest declarations of the worth of the gospel, and of the importance of deep personal interest in it. We must be satisfied with a single extract.

"Do we regard the gospel in that serious light in which these considerations place it? We have faith in it; we would not ourselves think, nor would we have others suppose, that we do not believe it: But is our faith any thing more than some indefinite sentiment of its authenticity? We perhaps respect it as a valuable system of virtue and happiness; as a rule of duty sanctioned by reason and experience; as a fund of consolation abundant and suffi cient for human necessities. The early impressions and prejudices of education, and the customs of society, have taught us to revere it. We are the friends of christianity; we cheerfully yield our support to its institutions; we have a satisfaction in its ordinances: But with all this we are deficient in our duty, we have not an adequate impression of its essential importance and proper character, unless we possess a deep conviction of its divine origin and authority; and until this sentiment is habitually associated in our minds with all that it teaches and commands. Let our hearts answer, whether this feeling is foreign from us; or if we constantly and cordially cherish it?

"We inquire, in the next place, if our conduct corresponds with such views of the gospel? Is it not to be feared that there are in this respect great and criminal deficiencies? We are criminally deficient, if the doctrines of christianity are not the subjects of our habitual and familiar meditation; if we can ever look upon them with indif ference; if the sacred scriptures are not considered by us as invaluable; if their precepts have not in our regards an authority superior to all other considerations; if the ordinances of the gospel are not observed by us with punctuality and seriousness; if, in fine, christianity, in all its instructions, precepts and institutions, is not the subject of our deepest interest, and the authority to which we refer all our desires and purposes, all our pleasures and employments; if it is not the first object of our thoughts, respect, and affections.

"We must then condemn the indifference which we sometimes plainly express both in our words and conduct. We must regard, as incompatible with christian duty, the slight connexion which our religion appears to have with our ordinary duties and pleasures; the higher preference and interest which we discover in regard to other objects and concerns; the disuse and neglect of the sacred scriptures; and the strangeness and distance which the subject of religion actually holds in respect to many of us. With many persons, who flatter themselves that they believe the gospel, and who would consider themselves as injured, were they charged with being wanting in regard for it, it seems to have little more interest than the concerns of a foreign and distant country. It is not the subject of their public profession or avowed consideration. It does not distinctly show itself in their private conduct nor in their families. They make it no topic of instruction, advice, or persuasion with their friends or children. They furnish no proof of their christianity, but the equivocal testimony of a decent and orderly life, which a

common respect for society is sufficient to produce; or an occasional and careless attention to its public institutions; an attention, which, from whatever motives it proceeds, may perhaps be sufficiently accounted for in the force of early practice and education, the authority of public opinion, a listless curiosity, or the mere love of excitement and variety.

"Is such conduct, christians, consistent with the character of our religion? Does it answer the claims which a direct and immediate communication from God has upon us?" pp. 94-97.

After the full account that we have given, and the large extracts that we have made, it cannot be necessary for us to speak more particularly of the character of the volume before us. We have enabled our readers to form their own judgment. If we were to proceed as rigid critics, we undoubtedly might point out some defects of plan and execution, imperfections of style and unhappy modes of expression. We never have seen the volume which is not obnoxious to such criticisms. But we are too well satisfied, that this work is calculated to do good to the cause of religion, to set the example of exposing its trifling blemishes of the kind adverted to. Few volumes of better sermons are printed, or which we could recommend with greater assurance, that we were doing service to religion, by helping the circulation of a useful book.

The only point of consequence, in which we should differ much from the author, would probably be one, which does not at all affect the merit of the sermons, but is a mere matter of opinion in regard to their general structure. They appear to us to be hardly sufficiently textual. The text, in almost every instance, is prefixed to the discourse as a motto merely, and the subject is treated almost, in some cases entirely, without any reference to it. This we think to be an imperfection. We know that it cannot always be avoided; but as a general rule we should say, that the train of thought and manner of treatment of a subject should be made to appear, at least, to have been suggested by the text. The connexion between the text and sermon should be made as close and necessary as possible; and we should even prefer, that an exactly philosophical division of a subject should be sometimes sacrificed, for the sake of a division drawn from, or made to appear contained in the text. We cannot at present give all our reasons for this opinion, which

we

are sensible is only an opinion; but having taken this opportunity to state it, we will observe briefly, that our principal reasons are, we have always found that it is a mode more satisfactory and interesting to hearers in general; it