SAMUEL CHANDLER, D. D. F. R. S. and A. S.

The man decorated with all these marks of literary honour, was, as may be supposed, one of the most eminent among the presbyterian ministers of his day. He derived his descent from ancestors remarkable for piety and zeal. His grandfather, who carried on business at Taunton, was one of the noble army of confessors who suffered in the cause of nonconformity. Henry Chandler, his father, was a dissenting minister first at Marlborough, then at Hungerford, afterwards at Bath; and was always deservedly held in high estimation by the body: the few pieces which he published, discover him to have been a man of talents. His son Samuel, the subject of this article, was born at Hungerford in 1693; and after having acquired a considerable knowledge of the Greek and Latin classics, he engaged in a course of theological study first under the tuition of Mr. Moore, at Bridgwater, and afterwards with Mr. Jones, at Gloucester.

In 1716, he was called to the pastoral office by a congregation of presbyterians at Peckham. While he was in this place, like many others, hastening to be rich, he engaged in the South Sea scheme, and lost the fortune which a little before he had gained by marriage. To support his family, which was reduced to straitened circumstances, he for some years kept a bookseller's shop in London. In 1726 he was chosen assistant at the Old Jewry, which was then one of the most respectable dissenting congregations in England; and on the removal of Mr. Taunton. From this gentleman, by his first wife, the daughter of Mr. Mason, is descended John Mason Good, a distinguished writer of the present day.

Leavesley their pastor, he was appointed his successor. In this situation he continued during the remainder of his life for almost forty years, preaching with great ability and acceptance, respected by his people, and retaining a full audience to the last. Some of the Scotch nobility and gentry, who at that time had more zeal for the principles of their church than, with very few exceptions, they manifest at the present day, formed a part of his congregation.

Dr. Chandler was a hard student all his days; and it was no difficult thing to find him in the midst of his books. In the earlier part of life he experienced several attacks of fever, which threatened a termination to his literary pursuits; but by betaking himself to a vegetable diet, the seeds of the disease were intirely eradicated; and though after twelve years he returned to his former way of living, his health continued vigorous till the year before his death, when a direful scourge of studious men robbed him of his ease and rest, and warned him of his approaching end. He finished his course on the eighth of May, 1766, in the seventy-third year of his age, and receiv ed the funeral honours of Bunhill Fields, with the general respect of his denomination.

With abilities naturally great, a deep and strong foundation of classical and philosophical knowledge laid at the school and the academy, and a solid superstructure of biblical and theological learning, reared by the assiduous labours of more than half a century, it is no presumption to assert, that he is intitled to a place among scholars of the first class. As a preacher he presented to his audience, on every sub, ject, much good sense and solid reasoning, expressed in language more remarkable for strength than sim.

As a

plicity and elegance; and in his delivery he displayed much energy, but was deficient in grace. writer his works are both numerous, and on a diversity of subjects. The deistical controversy engaged his attention from first to last, and he wrote many volumes on the subject; on miracles; on the history of Joseph; on the prophecies of Daniel; on the life of David in two volumes, a very considerable work; and several others. He published some pieces in favour of civil and religious liberty, for which he was a strenuous advocate. He was the author also of a multitude of sermons, printed singly on particular occasions; and four volumes of his discourses were published from his manuscripts after his death. Applying his critical skill to the sacred Scriptures, he wrote a commentary on Joel; and intended to have given another on Isaiah, but did not accomplish it. Some years after his decease, a quarto volume appeared, containing his notes on the epistle to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Thessalonians.

That such a man should have offers of preferment in the church if he would conform, need not excite surprize. That he did not accept them is a thing of course. Such virtue, in a man elevated as Dr. Chandler was, and indeed in any dissenting minister of principle, is not to be ranked high, and discovers no traits of heroism. An obscure or unsuccessful individual among dissenting teachers may conform, and benefit by the change; but should a minister of any note turn to the establishment, no preferment which he could receive, would be sufficient to purchase a veil thick enough to hide his blushes, or to enable him to hold up his head in society, and look men of uprightness in the face.

Of the doctor's religious sentiments, it is not easy to speak with certainty. In a sermon preached in 1752, to the society for promoting religious knowledge among the poor, " on the Excellence of the Knowledge of Christ," he speaks the language of Calvin, and in very striking terms, and it was at a

« The doctrine of election hath been made a very thorny and difficult point; and yet there is no man of common sense, but instantly perceives upon the first mention of it, that as eternal life must be the gift of God, it is impossible he can ever obtain it, unless God is determined to give it him, i. e. unless God elect or choose him to the possession of it. Many disputes have arisen about the corruption of human nature, and yet nothing is more evident than that it must be introduced by the first offender, hath passed from him through all the various successions of his posterity, and every man, I imagine, finds somewhat of it in himself; and if he be a wise man, will be much more concerned how to cure it, than busy and solicitous to know how he came by it. Large volumes have been wrote, I wish I could say, to explain the doctrine of justifica tion; and yet 'tis what every man knows, that an offender, who hath forfeited his life, can be restored to life and fortune only by the undeserved favour of his prince; and 'tis a principle of natural religion, that an offender against God can have no claim to forgiveness, but from the unmerited grace of God; and that therefore the justification of sinners, i. e. the forgiveness of their past sins, their full restoration to the divine acceptance, and an interest in the promise of eternal life, can, as to such, in no sense be the claim of past works, or due in justice to any former piety or virtue; for if that were the case, and they could usually urge such a claim, they would have no need of the Gospel justification, which supposes men sinners, destitute of the claim to life and happiness, and restored to both only by the unmerited grace of God, through the redemption that is in Christ. The doctrine of imputed righteousness, i. e. of the righteousness of Christ so reckoned to our account, as that we by reason of it are entitled to pardon, favour, acceptance with God, and the blessing of eternal life, is too strong for the digestion of weak and delicate stomachs. And yet what more true in theory, what more frequently confirmed by a fact, what more universally allowed and acknowledged, than the two principles

time of life when men have commonly made up their mind, for he was in his sixtieth year: but the usual phraseology in his writings bears a greater analogy to the arminian system. Like many of his denomination, he does not appear to have been sensible of the importance of bringing forward the doctrines of the Gospel into full and constant view. It used to be said of him, that after any illness he always preached in a more evangelical strain'.

Dr. Chandler was a man of a public spirit, greatly concerned for the prosperity of the dissenting cause, and on every occasion employed all his talents and influence for its support, To him the dissenters are indebted for the fund which has relieved the necessities of so many of the widows and orphans of their ministers. The design originated with him, he prevailed with many of his opulent friends to contribute to its establishment, and he continued to cherish it as long as he lived.

In the year previous to his death, when he was frequently attacked by a painful disorder, he felt that there was something better than learning, and which on which this disputed article depends: viz. that the good effects of one person's merit may reach far beyond himself, and be very extensively beneficial to others; and that these very beneficial effects may reflect back, and contribute greatly to the reward, honour, and happiness of the person to whose merits they are owing, Thus a father's merits are often imputed to, i. e. placed to the account of, and derive hereditary honours to his family, and he himself is rewarded in the reversionary privileges conferred upon his posterity." Page 27, 28.

f This gave occasion to an anecdote which is told of him: a gentleman who occasionally heard him, said to one of his constant auditors, as they were coming out of the place of worship, pray has not the doctor been ill lately? Why do you think so, was the answer. Because the sermon was more evangelical than those he usually preaches when he is in full health.