Page images
PDF
EPUB

tion. Thanks be to God, I enjoy serenity and peace; and I am persuaded this peace is built upon a good founda tion. I have searched and examined,-I have considered the sentiments and views of the apostles,-I have remarked the path that hath been trod by the confessedly wisest of mankind from the beginning,-I have enquired for the old path which the Scriptures recommend, I have been anxious to avoid mistakes; and I hope I shall not be suffered to be mistaken."

During his last illness, that reserve,-that constitutional reserve, which was so strongly interwoven into his frame, and was one of the shades of his otherwise excellent character, prevented him from speaking so much and so freely upon the prospects which were before him, and the hopes with which he was animated, as was much to be desired; yet, what he did say was strong and full, expressive of the solid confidence he entertained, through the glorious Gospel of our great Redeemer, of entering upon a happy inmortality. He discovered no strong emotions; he indicated no particular elevations of soul in the view before him, but with an unruffled composure of spirit he waited for the great event.-To a friend, who wished to know the state of his mind, he said, He had then no doubts or fears, although in the course of his life he believed he had suffered as much in this respect as most men; adding, that he apprehended the doubts and fears of Christians were chiefly owing to the want of searching themselves more deeply. To another he said, He was as happy as a man could be; and that his mind was full of what he should say to his people, should he recover. A loose paper found in his study, written probably a very few weeks before his death, contained the following words, written with a pencil :-"Just bidding adieu to the scenes of time, I am going, I trust, where all mysteries will be unravelled; and I shall read with full intelligence, that book which has been my sweet, though often dark, study here below." Among other affectionate things, spoken on the last evening of his life to his dear partner and another friend present, he said," I say, all of you mind your children, and bring them up in the fear of the Lord." He departed about eleven o'clock that night, 12th Nov.

1801.

It is a circumstance very remarkable, that exactly on that day nine years, on which his wedding anthem was sung, to

express

express the joy of his people on his nuptials, on the very same month, and on the very same day of that month, after the above interval of nine years, his funeral-anthem was sung, to testify their sorrow at his death.-A sorrowing widow and three children (two daughters and a son) survive to lament their loss. May they look to Him who engages to "plead the cause of the widow, and to be a Father to the fatherless children!" An heavenly friend never dies. That strong aversion from ostentation and parade which he had always manifested through life, continued with him to the last, and was particularly conspicuous in his funeral obsequies, which were conducted according to his own directions, very strongly expressed in a paper left behind him, containing very minute instructions respecting the plainness and unostentatious simplicity of those rites. Equally solicitous was he that no improper eulogy might be paid to his memory; for in the paper just mentioned, in the request which he makes to Mr. Stevenson, one of his oldest friends and fellow-students, to preach his funeralsermon, he says, " If Mr. Stevenson should be living, I request him to speak over my grave, and to preach a sermon the same morning or afternoon, as shall be found most convenient; begging him, however, to abstain from every thing which may have the least appearance of flattery or undue praise. My intention in all this (referring both to the funeral and sermon) is evidently to avoid parade and expence. The former is ridiculous, and the latter is needless."

It ought to be mentioned, as a very honourable testimony of the liberality of the congregation of Bocking, and of their affliction for the memory of their late pastor, that, unsolicited, they have raised amongst themselves a sum to the amount of four hundred pounds and upwards, to be invested in the hands of trustees; the interest to be applied to the maintenance and education of his children, until they arrive at the respective ages of twenty-one years, and then the principal to be divided in that manner, and in those proportions as shall most accord with the benevolent intention of the donors.

May the all wise and gracious Head of the church, in due time fill the vacant pulpit with another pastor after his own heart, who shall feed the people with knowledge and with understanding! I am, Sir, yours,

A. Z.

ON SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

An Extract from a Letter written by the late Rev. Mr. Thorowgood, from Sutton-Ashfield, in the year 1773; in answer to this Question, "Whether the serious reading of the Scriptures alone is not sufficient to give one a just Knowledge of Theological Subjects, since the Holy Scriptures are acknowledged to contain a perfect Revelation of the Mind and Will of God ?"

IF, upon the account of the perfection of the sacred Scriptures, both in matter and form, it be unlawful to reduce them to human method, or to study them in an order different from that in which they are delivered to us, it will also appear to be unlawful to discourse of them in a different manner in public assemblies; and if we follow this principle to its farthest consequences, we shall find ourselves obliged to be contented with reading the Scriptures as they are, for the instruction of our hearers; and, in fact, every thing that can be alleged against studying human systems, may with as much propriety (mutatis mutandis) be said against human preachings. Is the order of revealed truths infringed in human systems? Equally so is it in public discourses. Are they the reasonings of men upon inspiration, which are presented to us in systems, and not naked inspiration itself? They are also the reasonings and arguings of men upon inspiration, and not inspiration itself, which we hear in sermons. If the bare perusal of the sacred Scriptures is all that is necessary, nay, all that is lawful for students in theology, it is all that is necessary, and all that is lawful for the rest of mankind: for the sacred Scriptures are given as an infallible rule, as well to the vulgar as the learned. If we stand not in need of the reasonings of those who have lived before us, we have no reason to urge upon our contemporaries or successors, why they should attend to our reasonings, or peed our assistance.

Is it then lawful as well as profitable to study divinity in a systematic form, say you? It is our duty to study the Scriptures. For what end? That we may understand, that we may retain, and that we may practise the things therein revealed. Every end is to be attained by some particular means; and it is the part of a wise man to make choice of those means which are best adapted

for

for the attainment of the end proposed. To understand the sacred Scriptures is the end. To study them is the general mean: our wisdom consists in adopting that mode of study which is most adapted to this end. Shall we then read the Scriptures in their own order? Yes; but, whilst we are doing so, there is some particular passage which perplexes us, which appears inconsistent with some other passage, or to which we can affix no determinate meaning; what shall we do in this case? Shall we disregard it, and go on in order? That would not be to understand it. Shall we then forsake the order, and turn to those passages which are something similar, or which relate to the same thing? This seems to be the readiest way to obtain satisfaction. Suppose, then, we collect into one point of view all the passages that speak of this subject; we may then compare them together, and, from a collective view, form a better judgment than we could from a particular one. This seems to be an innocent, and, in a sort, a necessary procedure. Well, suppose we follow this method with respect to other doctrines and other difficulties:-we shall then have a collection of texts of sacred Scripture, ranged under their proper heads, and we shall then have forsaken the order of Divine Revelation, and have formed one of our own; and this I call a system of religious truths in its first rudiments, and such as we may suppose was first composed: and now does it not appear, I will not say lawful, but even absolutely necessary to follow such a process? Or can we really understand the sacred Scriptures without it? If we do not make these collections with pen and ink, we must make them in our thoughts, i. e. we must turn from one passage to another. This I call the first rudiments of a system; for what else is a complete system, but an ar1angement of the sense of different passages of Scripture, under their proper heads, as the person who makes such an arrangement understands them; and such a system we must each of us make for ourselves, if we would understand the Scriptures; and we must too give our own sense, or insert our own explications, as well as collect the words of sacred Scripture: for when two texts clash, or appear inconsistent with each other (as such there are) we must employ our thoughts, our reasoning powers, to endeavour to reconcile them; and we must fix upon the most probable sense which can be given them; for to believe them both impossible, since they are contradictory. We must then form an opinion; and if this opinion be published for the VOL. X. assistance

N

assistance of others, it will indeed introduce our own reasonings into our collection; but this cannot be more culpable than to form and to embrace the opinion in our own minds, which is unavoidable.

But, besides understanding the Scripture, we have to retain and to practise its injunctions: this must be regarded then in our collection or system; and man is so constituted, that the memory requires to be assisted by art; and we have always found that a chain of connected sentiments is more easily retained, than a disjoined, unconnected discourse of the same length. There is something in the human mind naturally prone to method and regular disposition; and if we actually find that method, dependence, connection, is most adapted to the memory, these are the means which are proposed to use. Remembrance is the end. The best means are to be chosen to promote that end. Wisdom and duty inculcate such a choice; and if, upon actual trial, we find such a method to be really the best mean, wisdom and duty inculcate that method.

ON THE VARIETY OF

OPINIONS RESPECTING PREACHERS.

A MIDST the various privileges we enjoy in the present day, that of a Gospel ministry must not be considered as the least. We have ministers of extensive knowledge, diversified talents, and great zeal; men whose minds are enlarged by science, whose hearts are expanded by the benevolent system of the Gospel, and whose aims are directed to the best and noblest ends. These characters are justly appreciated by those who are accustomed to reflect, and who desire to improve. No good man can consider their important office, or hear their delightful message without feeling emotions of gratitude to Him who hath raised them up, and qualified them for the honourable employ of instructing and consoling mankind: but although this be the case, it is evident that the opinions of hearers respecting them are not the same. What seems to engage the attention and impress the heart of one, has not always that effect upon another: and here I do not allude so inuch to the ignorant dogmatical professor, whose taste is capricious, who hears without judgment, and determines

« PreviousContinue »