"I shall conclude with observing these two things. First, that from what has been said, we may easily perceive how fallacious are the hopes, how insidious the promises of those visionary reformers who profess to amend the world in a day. The second is, that there is encouragement enough still to all good men to proceed in the gradual reformation of manners: I repeat the gradual reformation of manners because that is the only method by which any habits, and particularly habits of religion and virtue, can be formed." Sermon XIX. "Vices of Chris. tians no Argument against Christianity." The objection is as uncandid as it is peculiar, for in no other instance, whether of education, arts, philosophy, or civil society, is it allowable to argue against any institution from its perversion and abuse: and it is the same freedom of will which leads to the misuse of the divine as leads to the misuse of the human institution. If the hypocritical assumption of Christianity cannot be denied, yet the false assumption proves the excellence of the thing which is falsely assumed and after all, the objection is unfounded and unjust, if the question be argued on its only proper ground, a comparison of Pagan with Christian times, under which mau has been improved, is improv. ing, and will continue to be improved, Sermon XX. "On the Existence and Attributes of God." "The proofs of God's existence and at tributes have been deduced by learned men, from a great variety of considerations, all of which have their weight in impressing upon us these important truths, But many of their arguments are abstruse and difficult, and not adapted to a popular and mixed congregation. I shall confine myself therefore in this day's discourse to a much simpler and easier method, and which I trust will be more interesting, namely, to an examination of such arguments only as are adduced in Scripture as proofs of God's existence and attributes, in order that as we have often been taught from hence what we ought to believe, and how to live, so we may be also taught, how in regard to divine truths we ought to argue. "I shall exemplify this in the proof of the existence, the power, the intelligence, the wisdom, the goodness, the providence, the justice, and the nuity of God, and of all these severally in their order, as briefly as may be. It has alway been considered as one of the chief recommendations of our soundest philosophers, such as Bacon, Newton, and Boyle, that they were the first who discarded all imaginary theories, and founded their systems on experiment and fact. Such we shall find to be precisely the mode of arguing adopted in Scripture." A beautiful simplicity most wor. thy of the occasion, distinguishes the method and execution of this discourse. Sermon XXI. "On the Doctrine of a particular Providence." The purport of this discourse appears to be to reconcile the supreme provi. dence of God with the instrumen. tality of mediatory agents: but the argument is intricate and perplexed. Sermon XXII. "On the Inspira tion of the Holy Spirit." By divine inspiration I presume to be meant, an extraordinary communication of knowledge or alteration of affections, proceeding immediately from God.' I say extraordinary communication to distinguish it from the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, which God has promised to all faithful Christians: and I say, proceeding immediately from God to distinguish this from every other sort of knowledge, all of which proceeds from God, but through natural means which he has appointed. "On this definition it may be useful to remark, that as God does nothing superfluous, all knowledge, actually acquired by the help of our natural faculties, is rightly excluded from any pretensious to inspira tion, for inspiration would be in this instance superfluous. But this remark requires two restrictions. For first, it extends no farther than to such knowledge as is certain or undoubted; it does not extend to matters of probability or to those which admit of a doubt. For when our natural faculties have done their duty, and doubt is the result, then begins the province of inspiration, and all knowledge afterwards acquired is as much owing to miraculous intervention, as if the whole from the beginning had been miraculous. "Again, the remark extends no farther than to knowledge actually acquired by the help of our natural faculties, and not to such knowledge as under other circum stances may or might be acquired by them. For if it was not actually acquired by means of those faculties, the acquisition of it is as much miraculous as if it were naturally placed beyond the human reach. To illustrate this by an example--when the Apostles spoke a variety of languages they did no more than has often been performed by human study: yet as they did not acquire this power by any industry of their own, no one doubts that the gift was miraculous, and it is therefore justly classed among the instances of inspiration. By these rules we shall avoid the admission both of superfluous inspiration and of superfluous faculties." This is the nature of inspiration, and the evidence required to attest this inspiration, is miracles. In the application of this criterion to the writers of the New Testament, it will be remembered that Christ himself working miracles, guaranteed the inspiration of the Apostles; that the Apostles claiming inspiration did themselves work miracles; and that the Evangelists Mark and Luke, wrote under the instruction of apostles who had wrought miracles. The extent of this inspiration is argued according to the preceding remarks upon its nature, and it is shewn in conclusion that such inspiration is neither unnecessary nor detrimental. Sermon XXIII. "Salvation a System of Mercy." That mercy predominates in all the dispensations of God, is shewn from the distribution of natural gifts, and the promises of Scripture are alleged in testimony of the peculiar and unmerited blessings which Christianity secures. "The frequency of God's mercies, and our daily and constant experience of them, are the chief reasons why we are so little sensible of the obligations under which we lie. It is evidently so in regard to the continuance of our lives, the plenty with which we are fed, and the temporal plea sures which we enjoy. The same complaint may be made in regard to the favours which we receive through Christ. The sinner thinks that he has of himself some pretensions to pardon, and trusts to impunity even in the act of committing sin; and heaven and immortality instead of being humbly hoped for and requested as a favour through Christ, are considered REMEMBRANcer, No. 33. as a debt strictly due to our piety and obedience. That forgetfulness of God's mercies should prevail in the ordinary · practice of the world, may excite no wonder; but it is matter of great surprise, that even among speculative men, who will enter into the discussion of Christianity and its doctrines, this free grace of God is oftentimes overlooked, though it be the main principle of our religion, and is incessantly inculcated by Christ and his Apostles. But that it has been overlooked is evident from hence, that many difficulties have embarrassed the minds of Christians, and many objections have been raised by unbelievers, which could never have arisen had they attended to this single principle." This view of the free grace of the Gospel is made to remove three principal objections: 1. That as all mankind are equally the children of one common Father, Christians as such can claim no peculiar advantages: 2. That God will make allowances for the errors and ignorances of unenlightened nations, and vain: and 3. That if Christianity therefore Christianity is preached in were necessary, its influence would not have been contracted in space and time. : "These questions would be proper, and carry great weight with them, if Christianity was no more than a system of equity and justice but they are not proper nor applicable on any other supposition. If the Gospel be a dispensation not of equity and justice, but of mere grace and favour, there is something not only irrational, but impious in such demands. It is to demand what is not our due, to take away from God the freedom of his own conduct, and the distribution of his own bounties, which he bestows on whom and when he pleases: it is to depreciate the merit of his goodness, and to lessen the gratitude of those who are most indebted to him." Sermon XXIV. "On the Utility of a Mediator." A stronger word than utility would have been justi fied by the argument of this discourse, in which a character of unreal, of imaginary perfection, is assumed, and when that character is drawn to the full, it is shewn to be unworthy of the progressive fulness of the blessing of God, or of com. 4 B parison with the infinite perfections and merits of Christ. The case of the innocence of little children is more briefly insisted upon; and it is shewn that in both instances, the forgiveness of sins and the immortality proposed by the Gospel, are gifts of God, which man is not ca pable nor worthy of achieving. "The Scriptures themselves no where enter into imaginary cases, but are intended for real life and real manners, and are every where addressed to the actual consciences of men. They go therefore upon a supposition which every man arrived to maturity will bear witness to for himself, that all have sinned. But if the rewards offered to us by Christ are so great that neither perfect innocence, if it does exist, nor perfect virtue if it could exist, would preclude the utility of Christ's mediation, its utility to ourselves is too obvious to be enlarged upon. The forgiveness' of sins, though there should exist cases which may not require it, is to us the first thing necessary. We have pains and punishments to dread, as well as happiness and immortality to hope for." Sermon XXV." On the Sermon on the Mount." "The Sermon consists chiefly of positive and of some few negative precepts. In both of these we shall find the same 1 idea uniformly pursued. In the positive precepts to urge us on as far as possible to active virtue; in the negative precepts to draw us off as far as possible from vice.” Sermon XXVI. "Purity of Heart." Sermon XXVII. "The Duties of Magistrates and Subjects deduced from the divine Authority of civil Government." The uses of upholding this doctrine are shewn in its application to the several cases of those who make, of those who execute, and of those who obey the laws. The doctrine itself, however, is very gratuitously restricted when civil government is represented as the original intention and commandment of God in no other sense, than as it furnishes a remedy for the weakness and necessities of mankind, and for the disorders consequent upon those necessities and in the assertion, that "when the supreme govern ment, by whomsoever administered, is wilfully and habitually misapplied, in the opinion of wise and reasonable men, to the subversion of liberty and justice, it loses all the characters and the very essence of a divine institution." If the Apostle had meant that his doctrine should be received with these limitations, he taught the Romans to resist and not to obey their emperors, for assuredly the civil government in their hands was wilfully misapplied to the subversion of liberty and jus. tice: the Apostle nevertheless required submission to that authority, for conscience sake, because it was the ordinance of God. The preacher must have forgotten the circumstances under which the precept was delivered. The reader is now in possession of the substance of these Sermons, and capable of judging of the opinion which we have already pronounced of their merits. They are not expository, they are not hortatory: they are not adapted to domestic or parochial instruction:* they were well calculated for the congregation for which they were prepared, and it is not surprizing, that such as were present at their delivery, should be desirous of reading them. Men who are accustomed to hear the exceptions of infidelity, will have pleasure in knowing that those exceptions are not unanswer. able, and by pursuing in their own minds the suggestions of these Sermons, they may find their doubts resolved, and their faith confirmed ; and when their minds are thus fa vourably disposed to a candid con templation of Christianity, they will be prepared to receive with more pure affection the peculiar doctrines and duties which it unfolds. IF funeral sermons were exposed to severe and impartial criticism, the composition of them would be an affair of considerable difficulty. To say neither too much nor too little of a deceased friend, to describe his good qualities without exaggeration, and allude to his faults and infirmities without harshness, to satisfy his admirers without provok ing his opponents, is a task which the generality of preachers are not able to perform. It may be considered, therefore, as a happy cir cumstance, that when such a task is required the performance of it is submitted to lenient judges. Reflections upon death naturally sof ten the heart, and the feelings not merely of the righteous, but even of the worthless and profligate, are rendered more patient, more charitable, more tolerant, and more forgiving, by assisting at a death-bed or a funeral. If the deceased were esteemed and beloved, we bend over his corpse with a mixture of submission and regret; if our judgments had compelled us to enter tain an unfavourable opinion of him, pity pleads more powerfully than she ever pleaded before, and we hope, although we cannot be lieve, that we have been mistaken; while, if the death to which our attention is called, be that of a respected opponent, we are eager to withdraw our minds from all points of difference, we forget the suspicions and jealousies which contest necessarily engenders, we fix our whole thoughts upon the excellence which commanded our approbation, and bear our humble testimony to its sterling worth. This is no ideal picture; but the events which it: pourtrays may be witnessed daily in the world, and they are sufficient to counterbalance the difficulties of a funeral discourse. For if a preacher confines himself within any reasonable bounds, the disposition of his auditors will be so decidedly in his favour, that an assent will be given to his arguments, and an attention paid to his exhortations, even beyond what they strictly deserve. The profane and the immoral will be compelled to confess that the Christian who has lived in righte ousness, and died in peace, has chosen a much better part than theirs. The careless and, lukewarm must own that the interest which we all have at stake, is too great to allow any room for indifference. And the controversialist may learn a lesson of humility and moderation, from finding that one whom he judges to be speculatively wrong, has nevertheless been practically right. Thus the death of the pious becomes as beneficial to others as his life: it converts, it rouses, it unites. It becomes a center of attraction towards which the thoughtful of every description. tend. A conviction that we have a common origin, and a common goal, a sense of common frailties, common wants, and common blessings, a desire to imitate what is truly good, even though it has been practised by those with whom we disagree, these are the proper effects of funeral sermons; and we do not hesitate to say that these effects will be produced wherever the preacher does his duty. We are sorry to add, that we cannot refer to the two Sermons before us in support of this opinion. We took them up in the hope and in the expectation of finding that there were some subjects upon which all churchmen might agree. We thought, that the death of a venerable and respected Clergyman might suggest some topics, which would tend to staunch the bleeding wounds of the Church, and to reconcile her children to one another. And as our anticipations were eager, our disappointment has been great. Not that Mr. Wilson is insensible to the great power and efficacy of his subject. On the contrary, he knows it but too well; and instead of employing it in furthering the great cause of religion, has diverted it into the miserable channels of sectarianism. Upon a careful consideration of these Funeral Sermons, it will appear, that they are little better than controversial pamphlets in disguise; that Mr. Wilson assumes throughout the character of champion to a party, and flings down the gauntlet of Calvin upon the grave of his departed disciple. We proceed to establish the truth of these assertions. From a text upon which we shall shortly venture to make a few remarks, (2 Timothy iv. 6-8.) the preacher proposes "to employ the testimony, first of the Apostle himself, and then of the beloved and venerated subject of the present Discourse, for the purpose of urging his Christian brethren to renewed earnestness in occupying the station of those who are removed from us, in running the same race, and wrestling in the same combat." And while the first Sermon considers and comments upon the words of the Apostle, and illustrates them by describing the character of Mr. Scott, the second presents us with an account of his last illness, and death, and with the practical application of the whole. Of these two Discourses, the first is by far the best. We do not mean to say, that we can assent to every position that it contains; but, generally speaking, the Apostle's declaration is paraphrased with spirit, and the character of Mr. Scott is well drawn. The panegyric is occasionally excessive, but the partiality of a zealous friend may be easily forgiven. We give the fol 1 "To these more public labours, I proceed to add the characteristics of his pri vate life as a Christian, which corresponded to them, and were indeed, under the divine blessing, their spring and source. All he did as a writer and a minister proceeded from what he was as a humble be liever in Jesus Christ. In this view also, he fought a good fight, finished his course, and kept the faith.' "Determination of mind in serving God formed the basis of his character, and gave strength and firmness to every other part of it. Whatever else he was, he was most decisive in religion. From the time he began in earnest to investigate the doctrines of the Bible for himself, he not only adinitted them as true, in proportion as he discovered them, but acted upon them, governed his temper and conduct by them, fearlessly professed them before men, and cheerfully suffered whatever reproach or difficulties they might occasion. No one could ever mistake him. He always avowed what he conscientiously believed to be true, whatever others, even his dation, reserve, subterfuge, concealment, nearest connexions, might think. Intimiambiguity, love of the world, were not his faults. The manner in which Be had slowly and reluctantly arrived at truth at first, gave him such an assured confidence that he was right, when he was once fully satisfied upon any doctrine or precept, that nothing afterwards could turn him aside. The fashionable opinions or praetices of the day, the number or station of his opponents, the distractions and divisions of parties, the plausible appearance of certain errors, the reputation for piety or talent of those who incautiously favour. ed them, made no difference to him. A powerful discriminating judgment, and an intimate acquaintance with every part of Scripture, gave such a tone of firmness to all he did, that he seemed like a giant taking his course between different contending bodies, regardless of what they might attempt, and set only on attaining his own object. No doubt he frequently erred by want of sufficient consideration for the feelings and prejudices of others, and sometimes was betrayed into rudeness and |