that rarest of all combinations, - the closest communion with the future and the eternal, with a conscientious and busy discharge of all the duties of to-day. Such was John Howe: the rude elements of this various excellence were, indeed, bestowed at his birth; but it was the power of the gospel of Christ, and that alone, which developed and expanded them; which directed them to the noblest objects; which controlled, purified, and exalted them. As his reception of the gospel was an illustrious tribute paid to its truth, so his character and life were an emphatic exhibition of its power. That he had his faults, we are certain; for he was man: while all the excellencies he possessed, he would have been the first to attribute solely to the influence of the Spirit of God. That these were many, we may judge from the language of Spademan, his friend and coadjutor,-language already quoted, and worthy of being quoted again,that "it seemed as though he was intended to be an inviting example of universal goodness."

CHAPTER XII.

ANALYSIS OF HOWE'S WRITINGS.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. - HIS POSTHUMOUS WORKS. -THE LIVING TEMPLE. THE TREATISE ON DELIGHTING IN GOD.THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE RIGHTEOUS.-THE VANITY OF MAN AS MORTAL.-THE TRACTATE ON THE DIVINE PRESCIENCE.THE CALM AND SOBER INQUIRY INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF A TRINITY IN THE GODHEAD. THE REDEEMER'S DOMINION OVER THE INVISIBLE WORLD.-HOWE'S FUNERAL SERMONS, AND OTHER OCCASIONAL DISCOURSES.

As this volume is already much larger than I at first intended it to be, I feel myself compelled to strike out much of what was already written for this department of the work, and to compress what has been retained, within the narrowest possible limits. I had intended to illustrate the whole by short extracts; but this part of my design I must also abandon, and content myself with referring to the author's works.

It is my intention to confine my remarks to those pieces which Howe himself prepared for the press, and for which alone, therefore, he is responsible. These are contained in the two folio volumes of Calamy's edition.

Of his posthumous writings, as they are often called, the greater part are not his writings in any sense. They are merely notes of extemporaneous sermons, taken by some of his hearers who wrote short-hand, and published after his death. Those notes are, I acknowledge, in some respects, very valuable. They contain many thoughts worthy of the great man from whose lips they fell. At the same time, it is equally obvious that the continuity of thought, which so eminently distinguished him, has been often lost; that the transitions from one topic to another are often exceedingly abrupt; and that sometimes very different topics are confounded together. These are defects which will always be more or less consequent on such an inadequate method of preserving the discourses of a public speaker.

Though, therefore, the notes in question are very valuable, they are in no respect worthy of comparison with the writings which Howe himself prepared for publication; and it would be in the highest degree unjust to make him answerable for them. This would be the case, indeed, even if they had been faithful transcripts of the discourses in question—since those discourses were merely ordinary pulpit exercises, and not prepared with the remotest idea of publication.

Almost all Howe's controversial pieces, (being

so closely connected with his own history, and that of his times,) have been already made the subject of remark. These are, his "Letter to a Person of Quality," in reply to Stillingfleet; his sermon on "Union among Protestants;" his two discourses on the "Carnality of Religious Contention;" and his tract on "Occasional Conformity."

The remaining works will be considered, not in the order of their publication, but according to their magnitude or importance. The circumstances under which they were severally produced have already been detailed, and will not be alluded to in this portion of the volume.

I have only further to advertise the reader, that no remarks will be made on peculiarities of style or manner-these points having been already discussed, in considering Howe's cha

racter as an author.

The first work which, in accordance with the principle of arrangement laid down, demands our attention, is the "Living Temple." It is by far the largest, most important, and most elaborate, of all the author's publications. It was published originally in two parts. Between their appearance an interval of nearly thirty years elapsed. The first was given to the world in 1676, the year after his return from Ireland-the second, in 1702.

The whole work professes to be "a designed

improvement" of that notion, that a good man is the "Temple of God;" and forms, in fact, a system of theology,—an exposition of all the great principles of religion, both natural and revealed. As the idea of a 66 Temple" obviously presupposes an object of worship, and his willingness to hold intercourse with his worshippers, the author devotes the first part to an elaborate demonstration of the "existence and perfections" of God, and of his "conversableness with men."

It was certainly the ablest work on the atheistical and deistical controversies which had yet appeared; and, it may be added, one of the earliest.

The crisis at which the first part of the "Living Temple" was written, was a most important one. It was but too evident that the controversial genius of the age was about to take an entirely new direction. The spirit of sceptical speculation was rapidly advancing. It continued to advance till, at length, it boldly questioned all the fundamental principles both of ethics and theology.

Hitherto there had not been the remotest danger from such a source. The danger, for at least many years after the Reformation, was rather of an opposite nature. Men so recently, and, in thousands of instances, so partially emancipated from a system of the most abject