some time ago, but I cannot bring down my mind, from the elevating thoughts that do now arise, into that depressing one of his death; I must look beyond it, into the regions of light and glory, where he now dwells. *

The only thought that is now before me, is to triumph on the behalf of religion, to make our due boast of it, and to be lifted up, (I had almost said proud) upon this occasion. How divine, and how pure a thing, must that religion be, in itself, which produced so long a series of great effects, through the whole course of his shining life! What a thing would mankind become, if we had many such! And how little need would there be, of many books writ for the truth and excellency of our religion, if we had more such arguments, as this one life has produced. † Such single instances

*It is not for any mortal creature, to make a map of that Canaan which lies above: it is, to all of us, who live here, on the hither side of death, an un

known country, and an undiscovered land. It may be, that some heavenly pilgrim, who, with his holy thoughts and holy desires, is continually travelling thitherward, arrives, sometimes, near the borders of the promised land, and the suburbs of the new Jerusalem; and gets upon the top of Pisgah, and there has the perfect prospect of a fair country, which lies a far way off; but, he cannot tell how to describe it; and all that he hath to say, to satisfy the curious inquirer, is only this, if he would know the glories of it, he must go and see it.'.. Bp. Rust. Funeral Sermon for JEREMY TAYLOR.

+ We may, and should, while we, conscientiously, and closely, attend to all the duties of this present life, never lose sight of the fact, surely most consolatory and delightful, that we are citizens of an eternal polity, and are privileged to select examples from among, and hold sweet communion with, the wise and good of all ages; our ETоTтαι and encouragers, in the heavenly course, as we trust they will, through God's mercy, become our everlasting companions. 'I cannot conceive why,' says a delightful writer, 'except upon an antiquated prejudice, Christians of the present day so generally shut their eyes, upon the glorious list of examples exhibited to us by the history of the Church.

Be the reason what it may, on such, the author of the epistle to the

have great force in them: but, when they are so very single, they lose much of their strength by this, that they are ascribed to singularity, and something particular in a man's humour and inclinations, that makes him rise above common measures. It were a monopoly, for any family, or sort of men, to engross to themselves the honour, which arises from the memory of so great a man : it is a common, not to be inclosed: it is large enough, to make a whole nation, as well as the age he lived in, look big, and be happy: but above all, it gives a new strength, as well as it sets a new pattern, to all that are sincerely zealous for their religion. It shews them, in the simplest and most convincing of all arguments, what the human nature is capable of, and what the Christian religion can add to it, and how far it can both exalt and

Hebrews, assuredly, did not act. What a sublime commemoration of departed worthies he has made, in his eleventh chapter: his words come pealing upon the reader, like the sound of a trumpet, summoning to the battle with the world; name follows name, and action succeeds action, like so many stirring notes, till he concludes, with a strain that makes the heart leap! Yet how has this list been extended since his days; how much more magnificent is our retrospect! So glorious a procession never yet passed before the eyes of man: through a long and glittering line of martyrs, and confessors, and just men made perfect, we arrive at the human form of the Captain of our Salvation, and bless and adore the divine Majesty.'.. Rectory of Valehead.

In the judgment of our Church,.. next to the habitual recollection of our baptismal covenant, the devout participation of the holy eucharist, the affectionate study of the sacred volume, and that which naturally pervades each and all of them, constant and fervent prayer, . . we are called to the contemplation of the Christian cloud of witnesses, as, after these paramount means of grace, the holiest and happiest occupation, in which we can be engaged; the surest method, of obtaining the height of virtue, and the depth of peace, here; and the most effectual preparative, for that perfection of bliss, which awaits the triumphant church, in the mansions of eternity.'. . Appendix to Bp. Jebh Sermons.

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reward it. I do not

I do not say, that every one is capable of all he grew to; I am very sensible, that few are; nor is every one under equal obligations. For the service of the universe, there must be a vast diversity, in men's tempers; there being so great a variety of necessities, to be answered by them. But every man, in every employment, and every size of soul, is capable of being, in some degree, good in the sight of God: and all such, shall receive proportioned degrees, of wisdom, knowledge, and joy; even though, neither their goodness, nor these accessions to it, rise up to the measure of him, who was a while among us, indeed, • one of a thousand,' and is now, but one of those, Iten thousand times ten thousand,' that are about the throne; where he is singing that song, which was his great entertainment here, as it is now his endless joy there: Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty; and just and true are thy ways, O King of Saints.' To follow him, in the like exercises here, is the sure way to be admitted to join with him in those above; to which, God of his infinite mercy bring us all, in due time, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen, Amen.*

* As a fit conclusion to this noble discourse, and especially as an incentive to young theologians, I cannot do better, than extract the following important passages from Mr. Boyle: ..

• You will not do right, either to THEOLOGY, or to the greatest repository of all its truths, the BIBLE, ̧if you imagine, that there are no considerable additions to be made, to the theological discoveries we have already; nor no clearer exposition of many texts of Scripture; nor better reflections on that matchless book, than are to be met with in the generality of commentators, or of preachers, without excepting the ancient fathers themselves.

I meet with much fewer than I could wish, who make it their business to search the Scriptures for these things,.. such as unheeded prophecies, overlooked mysteries, and strange harmonies, . . which, being clearly and judiciously proposed, may make that book appear worthy of the high extraction it challenges, and, consequently of the veneration of considering men;.. and who are solicitous, to discern and make out, in the way of governing and of saving man, revealed by God, so excellent an economy, and such deep contrivances, and wise dispensations, as may bring credit to religion: not so much as it is Roman, or Protestant, or Socinian, but, as it is Christian. But these good affections, for the repute of religion in general, are to be assisted by a deep judgment. For men, that want either that, or a good stock of critical learning, may easily overlook the best observations, which usually are not obvious; or propose as mysteries, things, that are either not grounded, or not weighty enough: and so, notwithstanding their good meaning, may bring disparagement, upon what they desire to recommend.

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And, indeed, when I consider, how much more to the advantage of those sacred writings, and of Christian theology in general, divers texts have been explained, and discoursed of, by the excellent Grotius, by Episcopius, Masius, Mr. Mede, and sir Francis Bacon, and some other late great wits, in their several kinds, than the same places have been handled, by vulgar expositors, and by other divines 2;.. and when I remember, too, that none of these newlynamed worthies was, at once, a great philosopher, and a great critic, I cannot but hope, that, when it shall please God, to stir up persons of a philosophic genius, well-furnished with critical learning, and the principles of true philosophy, and shall give them a hearty concern for the advancement of his truth;.. these men, by exercising, upon theological matters, that inquisitiveness and sagacity which has made, in our age, such a happy progress in philosophical ones, will make explications and discoveries, that will justify more than I have said, in praise of the study of our religion, and the divine books, that contain the articles of it. For these want not excellencies, but only skilful unveilers. I despair not, but that a farther use may be made of the Scripture, than either our divines or our philosophers seem to have thought on. clopedias, and pansophias, even that men of an elevated genius have aimed at, are not diffused enough, to comprehend all, that the reason of a man, improved by philosophy, and elevated by the revelations already made in Scripture, may (by the help of free ratiocination, and the hints contained in those pregnant writings,.. with those assistances of God's Spirit, which he is still ready to vouchsafe, to those that duly seek them,) attain to in this life. Neither the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, nor that of the power and effects of matter and motion, seems more than an EPICYCLE, if I may so call it, of the

The ency

a' I am persuaded, that if the choice and best of those observations upon texts of Scripture, which have been made dispersedly in sermons, within this your majesty's island of Britain, by these forty years and more, leaving out the largeness of exhortations and applications thereupon, had been set down in a continuance, it had been the best book in divinity which had been written since the apostles' time.' Lord Bacon. Works, ii. 313. This praise is certainly hyperbolical: but if it had not possessed some bottom of truth, so wise a man would scarcely have hazarded it.

great and universal system of God's contrivances; and makes but a part of the more general theory of things, knowable by the light of nature, improved by the information of the Scriptures. So that, both these doctrines, though very general, in respect of the subordinate parts of theology, and philosophy, seem to be but members of the universal hypothesis: whose objects I conceive to be the nature, counsels, and works of God, as far as they are discoverable by, for I say not to us, in this life.'.. BOYLE. Excellency of Theology. iv. 16..19. Lond. 1772.

Works,