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truth, especially when it is contrasted with the general tenor of the volume, and the direct assertion of the "innocence with which life is begun.' The justice of this remark will be abundantly confirmed by the following quotations. Speaking of piety, he says,

"But, most of all, it is suited, in our opinion, to the innocence of the youthful mind, to that sacred and sinless purity which can lift its unpolluted hands to Heaven; which guilt hath not yet torn from confidence and hope in God; and which can look beyond the world to that society of kindred spirits, of whom is the kingdom of Heaven. The progress of life, we know, may bring other acquisitions; it may strengthen religion by experience, and add knowledge to faith. But the piety which springs only from the heart,-the devotion which nature, and not reasoning inspires, the pure homage which flows unbidden from the tongue, and which asks no other motive for its payment than the pleasures which it bestows,-these are the possessions of youth, and of youth alone." pp. 47, 48.

In another place, we find him tracing the errors of men entirely to the evil example of others. After saying, that "the young came out of the hand of nature, pure and uncor rupted," p. 240, he adds,

"If, accordingly, the young were left only to nature and themselves, it is reasonable to think that they might pass this important period of life without danger; and that whatever might be the strength of their passions, diffidence and conscience would be sufficient to command them. But

unhappily for them, and unhappily for the

world, it is at this time that 'evil communications' begin to assail them; that they are deceived by the promises of vice and folly; and that all the purity of early life is sometimes sacrificed, even at their entry upon this important world." pp. 241, 242.

And as if this were not sufficient, he would even persuade us, that it requires little short of the most coercive means to despoil youth of its innocence.

Christ. Observ. No. 158.

"The young, as we see, are often corrupted; but I fear it is not, in general, by the young that they are corrupted, by those of their own age, and their own inexperience. The truth is, that to produce this mighty effect upon human nature, to break down all the barriers of modesty and timidity, to silence the dictates of conscience, and dissolve all the habits of earlier purity, requires a much more powerful influence than the young are willing to yield to their fellows. It is the example of of those who enjoy rank, and wealth, and those of a more advanced age, the influence talents, which are only adequate to the And to us, production of this fatal effect. my elder brethren, it is a reflection of no common interest,-that our folly and imprudence may thus poison the minds of the pure, and introduce guilt and wo into the innocent family of God." pp. 247, 248.

We charged our author with omitting the doctrine of human corruption; but after reading these extracts, the first asserting the innocence of human nature, the second tracing its evils exclusively to the contaminating influence of example, and the third implying the difficulties which nature itself opposes to that influence, can any one refuse to admit, that his delinquency is not that of omission merely, but that he does in fact deny and renounce the important doctrine in question.

This grand and fundamental defect in our author's system, will prepare our readers to expect only a very partial and inadequate recognition of the doctrine of Atonement. If the extent of the patient's disorder be unseen, it is not to be expected that the remedy prescribed for its cure should be valued or applied.

But is not that author or minister chargeable with placing the salvation of men in the utmost peril, who neglects to set before them Jesus Christ, in his office of Saviour, as the grand object of faith, as the only foundation of a sinner's hope, and the only source of a new and holy life; or, who assigns to Him and the salva

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tion he has purchased for us, a subordinate, when they ought to occupy the chief, place in our esteem? But it seems almost a necessary part of a system, which rejects the doctrine of man's depravity, to lay little or no stress on the expiatory sacrifice of Christ. And as the Divine wisdom would scarcely be more impeached by supposing it to have adopted an expedient, which in this case might be considered as unnecessarily costly, than by having provided means inadequate to the end proposed; so is a statement on this point naturally resorted to, which attaches little importance to that "peace-offering ;" for were this made a prominent part. of the system, it would imply, that man is naturally at enmity with God. It remains now to see how far these apprehensions are verified in the work before us.

In the sermon on the Spring, from Job xlii. 5. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee," our attention was arrested by a comparison, which Mr. Alison institutes between that season and the Gospel of Christ. Our readers will judge of our disappointment, when we tell them, that the text is explained exclusively of the sight which Job had of God, in the display of his natural works, without any reference to that spiritual apprehension of the Divine holiness which can alone account for the striking act of contrition that instantly followed-" Therefore I abhor my self, and repent in dust and ashes;" and when we add, that after having stated the spring to be an emblem of the Gospel of Christ, as it reminds us of the darkness and gloom by which it was preceded, "that winter of humanity which prevailed until the Son of God came to give us light," he sums up his view of this eminently Christian subject, in the following words:

the second place, an emblem of the Gospel which his coming hath shed on all the conof our Lord, as it reminds us of that light cerns of men. It is in this magnificent and beautiful view that the Gospel is always predicted by the prophets, and represented by the followers of Jesus. It is the 'Dayspring from on high,' which has come to visit us. It is the morning spread upon the mountains.' It is the Sun of Truth, which shone upon those that sat in darkness, and in the shadow of' more than mortal death; and when we look, accordingly, on the state of the world since the coming of our Lord, nothing can more accurately resemble the influence and the beneficence of spring. Wherever His religion has spread, a new verdure (as it were) has been given to the soul of man. Whatever blesses, or whatever adorns humanity, has followed the progress of his doctrines; laws have been improved, governments enlightened, manners refined, and the mild and gentle virtues of humanity and peace have sprung into new life and fragrance. Even the desert,' (in the beautiful words of the prophet,) and the solitary place have been glad,' and in many a 'wilderness' of life-in many a 'solitary place' of wo, where the eye of man comes not, the light of Heaven has been revealed, and many a flower of Faith and Hope have blown, unknown to all but the Sun of Righteousness' which cherished them." pp. 33-35.

It is impossible not to allow that this is beautiful: it is in our author's best style. But mere beauty of expression and elegant allusion form, in our minds, no compensation for a jejune and barren statement of a most important truth. Appearances indeed may in some degree have been saved hy the comparison itself; and still more by the expression, in the same page, "the Saviour who redeemed us;" but realities are sacrificed in a description which reflects no discriminating light on the character or offices of Christ, and which is incapable of personal application. A chord indeed has been touched, which vibrates to the heart of the Christian; an allusion to his Saviour has struck upon his ear, but the notes are scarcely become audible when they die away. The expecta"The appearance of spring is, therefore, in tion of something peculiarly Chris

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After all, however, we should have found nothing to censure, nay, some thing perhaps to commend in the above passage, had it appeared in a volume, which in other parts distinctly set forth Jesus Christ as the Sun of the Christian system. But since it is almost the only reference made throughout the volume to this vital subject, and since in other places we meet with expressions which would seem to leave no place for the Saviour in our author's scheme of doctrine, we cannot withhold the opinion to which we have been forced to come, that his views of religion, as they appear in these sermons, are lamentably defective.

Of the other fundamental doctrines of Christianity, such as the influences of the Holy Spirit, justification by faith, and the Holy Trinity, we do not feel obliged to pronounce definitively respecting our author, as he has not afforded us the opportunity of judging, by his almost total silence on them. The first of them, indeed, is incidentally mentioned in three or four places, but in a very loose and indefinite manner; whilst the growth and maintenance of all good disposi tions within us, with singular infelicity, are ascribed, not to the operations of the Holy Spirit, but either to "diffidence" or "conscience," or to "a feeling of delicacy, and fearfulness of doing wrong, incident to youth." And if the silence main tained on the other points be in any degree excusable, as not naturally. arising out of subjects selected, many of them, for particular occasions, yet we may fairly inculpate his choice of subjects when it was perfectly free. It is, therefore, difficult to discover

*See pp. 64, 92, 268.

any reason why the subjects of Christian doctrine adverted to above, should be so entirely excluded; except it be, that an inadequate sense was enwhat other principle can the fact be tertained of their importance. On explained, that a Christian divine should usher a volume of sermons into the world, with the intention, doubtless, of leading men to salvation, in which the fundamental doctrines of his religion are scarcely recognised, and made to yield on all occasions to some minor points of morals or manners. It is for the Prebendary of Sarum to determine, how far in this instance he has conformed to the spirit, or even to the express language, of the church whose vows are upon him, and in all whose formularies are inscribed the sublime mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

And here, it is but justice to our author to state, that his acknowledgment of a particular, as well as general, Providence, in conducting the affairs of the world, is clear and full. In a sermon preached at a period when this country had most to dread from the threatened invasion by France; and when the peace of the continent had placed at the disposal of its ruler the undivided resources of that vast empire, we find the following enlarged and enlightened views.

"We read the history of particular na-tions; but we seldom extend our conceptions to the nobler history of Man. We mighty empires which, in their hour, have read with rapture the history of those subdued, or have enlightened the world, and for which, perhaps, the prejudices of our education have given us an unnatural respect. We follow their progress with a kind of national exultation, and we weep at last over their fall, as if, with them, all the honours of humanity had perished.

"It is only when we enter the counsels of God,' that we descry a nobler prospect. It is then we see, that in the eye of him that inhabiteth eternity, all nations

are only as the dust in the balance;' that, in the progressive system of his Providence,

they have all appeared in their successive order, for the improvement of the ages that were to follow them; that in their prospe rity, or their decay, they have alike given the lessons by which mankind are to be made wiser and better;-that there is a final period to which all their errors are conducting them; and that then the mighty prophecy of Revelation will be fulfilled, when, under its unseen but unceasing influ ence, 'one like the Son of man shall reign: and when a dominion shall be created in righteousness, that shall not be destroyed."" pp. 76-78.

At a moment of almost national despondence, it is gratifying to see the independence of his mind soaring above second causes, and look ing confidently to a time when the troubles which then agitated the world would cease.

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"The war, however, with all its hopes, and all its fears, will cease. When the ends of the Almighty are accomplished, nature will reassume her reign of peace; the devices of man will fail,' and the counsel of God alone will stand. Yet a few years, and all that trouble, and all that bless humanity, will rest in their graves. The great designs of the Almighty will proceed, and victor and vanquished will alike appear before the eternal Throne." p. 91.

It is evident, also, that our author is a man whose views on subjects of philosophical research are liberal and comprehensive. In a

sermon on

"liberty of thought," we find an ingenious distinction adopted between employing it as an end in itself, or as a means for the discovery of truth, in order to explain the contrary ef. fects to which it has given birth. He traces to the first, the audacity of the philosopher "who has dared to approach to the investigation of nature, only to inscribe his feeble name upon the altar where he ought to have worshipped," as well as all the anarchy and confusion excited on the boasted pretence of liberty; and with equal justice ascribes to the second, under God, some of our highest attainments in general and religious knowledge. We should wish to have given our readers a

quotation from this sermon, but we are desirous to save sufficient space for a few remarks, the object of which will be, to show the effect produced on our author's general views of religion, as they are exhi bited in this volume, by his partial and very inadequate recognition of its leading truths.

1. The religion of our author is almost entirely of an external character. It enters not into the spiritual nature of the law of God. It scarcely refers to those internal mo. tions by which the soul apprehends its future destinies, and almost rises to their level. It is little conversant with the surrender of the heart and its affections to their only rightful Sovereign. Like that of a large class of men in this and every age, it both borrows too little from the spirit of its Divine Master, and is too much accommodated to the cold and secular atmosphere of this world. When he urges men to piety, it is not on the holy principle of a "faith which worketh by love;" it is not on the nature of the engagements by which the Christian has renounced all participation in the pleasures of sin; it is not from the motive of gratitude for what Christ has done and suffer. ed for us ;-but he makes his appeal for the most part to our love of reputation; to our ambition of surpassing others; to the pleasure of doing good; while he holds up to our imitation the examples of men, who have immortalized themselves by their virtues. Now it is not to be expected, that such inferior motives as these should produce more than outward decency of life, and an outward compliance with the duties of religion; whilst, perhaps, the best apology for those who pursue this mode of instruction, is, that they intend no more. And it is this, indeed, which justifies what appears to us the damning praise of these sermons by the Edinburgh Reviewers.* The jus

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tice of that commendation we are forced to admit ; but in our view, no stronger reproach can be urged against a minister of the Gospel, than that his instructions from the pulpit remind us of the moral essays put into the mouth of a pagan philosopher, though it be by a Christian writer, or those funeral orations of the French school which were intended to celebrate the successful march of ambition, rather than the humble and unobtrusive walk of real piety.

2. But in the second place, the defect in question, has given to the religion of our author a fictitious character. We might even style it the religion of romance, arrayed as it is in that variety of richness, and dress, and colouring, of which he undoubtedly seems to possess an inexhaustible store, and to which works of fiction owe, if not all their interest, at least much of their attraction. Here, much is sacrificed to the ornamental expression; and if a sentiment of deeper hue and more solemn cast find its way into the work, it frequently loses much of its religious weight, by the imagery in which it is conveyed. Even the quotations from Scripture do not display a knowledge of its general scope, so much as an acquaintance with its picturesque and sublime parts; and our author's common places respect not Him who " can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth," but Him" who inhabiteth eternity."

But there is another sense in which the charge we now prefer is common to our author, and a large class both of writers and readers. Their religion is a fictitious religion, as founded in false views of human nature, and of the relation in which at present it stands to God. It must be recollected there may be an Utopia in religion, as well as in politics; and we conceive ourselves justified in calling by that name a scheme which, contrary to the voice of Scripture and experience, as

sumes that man is naturally good and virtuous; which addresses him as if he had always loved God, and been in a state of reconciliation with him; which represents the justice of God as taking vengeance only on atrocious crimes, and his mercy as extending to the outwardly decent and moral, without a sufficient reference to the motives that actuated them; which consists in vague and indiscriminate statements of duty; which attempts the reformation of the manners, without rectifying the hearts, of men; which ascribes effects to causes incapable of producing them; which transfers the new creating energies of the Spirit of God, to the mere contemplation of the works of nature;* and which robs the Gospel of its own "proper indi viduality," the atoning sacrifice of Christ; and attributes, either avowedly or by implication, either in whole or in part, the justification of the sinner to his own works.

In winding up these remarks, we must disclaim all desire to impute defects where they have not been forced upon our notice, and all personal feelings but those of the highest respect for the author. It was the pleasure we had derived from his former work, which raised high our expectations from these sermons, and which of course increased our disappointment in the general result. Still, however, we are unconscious of writing under any impressions but those of kindness towards himself: even the observations which seem to have been directed against him individually have, in truth, been aimed at that too lax system, which tends to merge the grand peculiarities of the Gospel of Christ, in the inferior lights, the

* See a romantic and beautiful passage to this effect, pp. 329, 330, on Autumn, which concludes with these words: "Every unkind passion falls with the leaves that fall around us, and we return slowly to our homes, and to the society which surrounds us, with the wish only to enlighten or to bless them."

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