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1834. 
 
 WORKS 
 
 puDi.isiiiD nv 
 
 J. HATCHARD AND SON, 
 
 187, PICCADILLY. 
 
 Preparing for Publication, in one small volume. 
 A LIFE of the Rev, REGINALD HEBER, late Lord Bishop 
 of Calcutta. By Thomas T a YLon, author of " The Life of Cowper." 
 
 BISHOP OF CHESTER'S WORKS. 
 
 1. A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION of the GOSPEL accord- 
 ing to ST. JOHN. 8vo. and 12mo. In the Press. 
 
 2. A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION of the GOSPELS of ST. 
 MATTHEW and ST. MARK, in the form of Lectures, intended 
 to assist the Practice of Domestic Instruction and Devotion. 
 Pourth Edition. 8vo. or 2 vols. 12mo. 9s. bds. 
 
 3. A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION of the GOSPEL of ST. 
 LUKE, Third Edition, in 1 vol. 8vo., or 2 vols. 12mo. 9s. 
 bds. 
 
 4. SERMONS on the PRINCIPAL FESTIVALS of the 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH; to which are added. Three Sermons 
 on Good Friday. Third Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. bds. or l'2mo. 
 64-. bds. 
 
 5 THE EVIDENCE of CHRISTIANITY, derived from its 
 NATURE and RECEPTION. Fifth Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. or 
 ]2mo. 6s. bds. 
 
 6. A SERIES of SERMONS on the CHRISTIAN FAITH 
 AND CHARACTER. Eighth Edition, 8vo, 10s. 6d. bds., or 
 12nio, 6s. bds. 
 
 7. APOSTOLICAL PREACHING CONSIDERED, in an 
 Examination of St. Paul's Epistles. Also, FOUR oERiMONS 
 on Subjects relating to the Christian Ministry, and preached on 
 different Occasions. Seventh Edition, enlarsed. 8vo. 10s. 6(/. 
 bds. 
 
 8. A TREATISE on the RECORDS of the CREATION, 
 and on tiie INloral Attributes of the Creator. Sixth Edition. 2 
 vols. 8vo. IL Is, bds. 
 
 . TiVE -LI3F-J:, affdvi SELECTION from the LETTERS of the 
 late Rev. HENRY VENN, M.A. Successively Vicar of H„d- 
 dersfielJ, Yorkshire, and Rector of Yelling, Huntingdonshire, 
 Author of " the complete Duty of M.m," &c. The Memoir of his 
 Life, drawn up -by the late Rev. .Tohn Venx, i\I.A. Rector of 
 Claphani, Surrey. Edited by the Rev. Henhy Venn, li.D., In- 
 cumbent of Drypool, Yorkshire, late Fellow of Jesus College, 
 Cambridge. 8vo. boards, 12s. 
 
 SERMONS. By the Rev. Joun Venn, M.A., late Rector of 
 Clapham, Surrey. Fifth Edition, 2 vols. 8vo. fis. bds. 
 
WORKS PUBLISHED 
 
 BY THE RIGHT REV. 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 
 
 THE MINISTERIAL CHARACTER OF CHRIST, prac- 
 tically considered. New Edition. In the Press. 8vo. 
 
 By HUGH PEARSON, D.D. 
 
 DEAN OF SALISBURY. 
 
 1. MEMOIRS of the LIFE and CORRESPONDENCE of 
 the Rev. CHRISTIAN FREDERICK SWARTZ, during nearly 
 Fifty Years a Missionary in India ; to which is prefixed a Sketch 
 of the History of Christianity in India, from its first Introduction 
 to the period in which Swartz arrived. Second Edition. 2 vols. 
 8vo. 1/. 4s. bds. Illustrated with a Portrait and Map. 
 
 2. SERMONS preached before the late King. 8vo. 12s. bds. 
 
 By the Rev. CHARLES BRADLEY. 
 
 1. PAROCHIAL SERMONS, preached at Glasbury, Breck- 
 nockshire. Fifth Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. bds. 
 
 2. SERMONS, preached in the Parish Church of High Wy- 
 combe, Bucks. Ninth Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 1/. Is. bds. 
 
 3. SERMONS, preached in St. James's Chapel, Clapham, 
 Surrey. Third Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. bds. 
 
 4. PSALMS and HYMNS, Selected and Arranged for Public 
 Worship. Second Edition. 2s. 6d. bound. 
 
 By the Rev. HENRY BLUNT. 
 
 1. ELEVEN LECTURES on the HISTORY of our LORD 
 and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. Part I. Second Edition. 
 l2mo. 5s. 6d. canvas. 
 
 2. TWELVE LECTURES upon the HISTORY of ST. 
 PAUL. Part I. Fifth Edition. 12mo. 5s. 6c?. canvas. 
 
 3. Ditto. Part II. Fourth Edition. 12mo. 5s. 6d. canvas. 
 
 4. TWELVE LECTURES upon the HISTORY of ABRA- 
 HAM. Sixth Edition. 12mo. os. 6d. canvas. 
 
 5. NINE LECTURES upon the HISTORY of ST. PETER. 
 Tenth Edition. l'2mo. 4s. 6s. canvas. 
 
 6. EIGHT LECTURES upon the HISTORY of JACOB. 
 Tenth Edition. 12mo. 4s. 6d. canvas. 
 
BY J. HATCHARD AND SON. 
 
 By the late Rev. WILLIAM HOWELS. 
 
 SERiMONS, &c. &c. with a Memoir, by Charles Bowdler. 
 2 vols. 8vo. 24s. cloth bds. 
 
 Hon. miss C. GRIMSTON'S PRAYER BOOK. 
 
 THE FORMS of MORNING and EVENING PRAYER, 
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 the First Lessons, to be read on Sundays, and the Second Eos- 
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 36s. morocco elegant. 
 
 THE SACRED CLASSICS, or Cabinet Library of Divinity. 
 Publishing in Rlonthly Volumes, at 3s. 6d., cloth, lettered, con- 
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 Christianity; select Sermons by tlie most eminent Divines, the 
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 choicest Examples of Devotional and Sacred Poetry. Edited by 
 the Rev. R. Cattermole and Rev. H. Stebbing. 
 
 By the Rev. ROBERT MEEK. 
 
 1. REASONS for ATTACHMENT and CONFORMITY to 
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 2. MUTUAL RECOGNITION and EXALTED FELICITY 
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 3. THE CHURCH of ENGLAND, a faithful Wituess 
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 12s. bds. 
 
 By W. NEWNHAM, Esq. 
 
 1. A TRIBUTE of SYMPATHY, addressed to Mourners. 
 Seventh Edition. 12mo. 5s. bds. 
 
 2. THE PRINCIPLES of PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, 
 IMORAL, and RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 1/. 8s. bds. 
 
 3. A MEMOIR of the late Mrs. NEWNHAM, of FARN- 
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 12mo. 5s. 6d. bds. 
 
 4. ESSAY on SUPERSTITION; being an Inquiry into the 
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WORKS PUBLISHED 
 
 By the Rev. W. CUNNINGHAM, A.M. 
 
 VICAR OF HARROW. 
 
 1. SIX LECTURES on the BOOK of JONAH. 12mo. 3s. 
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 2. SERMONS. 2 Vols. 21s. bds. 
 
 By the Rev. FRANCIS GOODE, M.A. 
 
 LECTURER OF CLAPHAM, AND LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, 
 CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 THE BETTER COVENANT PRACTICALLY CONSI- 
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 &c. &c. 8vo. 10s. 6d. bds. 
 
 By the late Rev. LEGH RICHMOND, A.M. 
 
 LATE RECTOR OP TURVEY, BEDFORDSHIRE. 
 
 THE ANNALS of the POOR; containing^ the Dairyman's 
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 are added. The Cottage Conversation, and a Visit to the Infir- 
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 A new Edition, 18mo., with ten highly-finished Wood-cuts, 
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 The same work in a neat foolscap volume, illustrated with a 
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 By the Rev. ROBERT ANDERSON. 
 
 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION of ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE 
 to the ROMANS. Second Edition. 12mo. 7s. cloth. 
 
 By the Rev. HUGH M'-NEILE, 
 
 RECTOR OF ALBURY, SURREY. 
 
 1. LETTERS to a FRIEND, who has felt it his duty to 
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 ceders. 12mo. 3s. bds. 
 
 2. POPULAR LECTURES on the PROPHECIES relative 
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 3. A VOLUME of SEVENTEEN SERMONS. Second 
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BY J. HATCHARD AND SON. 
 
 By the Hon. and Rev. GERARD T. NOEL, 
 
 CURATE OF FARNHAM, AND PREBEND OF WINCHESTER. 
 
 1. SERMONS intended chiefly for the Use of Families. Now 
 Edition. 2 vols. 12mo. I'i*. bds. 
 
 2. A BRIEF ENQUIRY into the PROSPECTS of the 
 CHURCH of CHRIST, in connexion with the Second Advent of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Second Edition. 12mo. 5s. bds. 
 
 A SELECTION of PSALMS and HYMNS, corrected nnd 
 revised for Public Worship. Fourth Edition, 18mo. 3s. 6d, bound. 
 
 By the Rev. SAMUEL CHARLES WILKS, A.M. 
 
 1. CHRISTIAN ESSAYS. Second Edition. 8vo. 12s. bds. 
 
 2. THE ESSAY on " The Signs of Conversion and Unconver- 
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 3. CORRELATIVE CLAIMS and DUTIES; or, the Ne- 
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 4. FORTY FAMILY SERMONS. 8vo. 12s. cloth. 
 
 By the Rev. JOHN HAMBLETON, M.A. 
 
 MINISTER OF THE CHAPEL OF EASE, ISLINGTON. 
 
 l.SERMONSontheFIFTY-THIRDCHAPTERoflSAIAH, 
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 10s. 6rf. bds. 
 
 2. A BRIEF HISTORY of the' SOUL, in a Course of SIX 
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 BY DR. DEALTRY. 
 
 RECTOR OF CLAPIIAM, AND PREBENDARY OF WINCHESTEH. 
 
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 THE COURSE OF CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. By the 
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WORKS PUBLISHED 
 
 By the rev. FRANCIS CLOSE, A.M. 
 
 PERPETUAL CUnATE OF CHELTENHAM. 
 
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 HISTORICAL DISCOURSES on the Book of Genesis. 
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 COURSE of NINE SERMONS ; intended to illustrate some 
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 2. FOUR COURSES of PRACTICAL SERMONS, 4 vols. 
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 CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY ; a Collection of Letters, Ad- 
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 LETTERS to the YOUNG. By Maria Jane Jewsbury 
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'!*•-.. 
 
 .•f> 
 
 PHIITCIITOXT 
 
 
 tr^-^ 
 
REMARKS 
 
 CLERICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. H. RAIKES, A.M. 
 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE DIOCESE OF CHESTER. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1831. 
 
LONDON t 
 
 IBOTSON AND PALMER, PKINTERS, SAVOY STREKT, STKAND. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The present state of Clerical Education . Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The necessity of a regular Education for the Ministry 
 considered, and the limits which may be assigned 
 to it . . . 28 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 The Study of the Bible considered as the substance 
 of the knowledge required in the Ministry. The 
 peculiar advantages belonging to this scheme 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Different plans of study which have been recom- 
 mended, considered. The method already sug- 
 gested, shown to be preferable ; and the objections, 
 that it is deficient in system, or may lead to latitu- 
 dinarianism, answered . 63 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Interpretation of Scripture. The different means 
 that may be made use of for this purpose, and the 
 assistance that may be obtained in each. — Com- 
 mentators. — Works of criticism. . 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The study of the Evidences of Religion. Its necessity 
 and extent . . .12] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The doctrines of the Church to be collected from the 
 Creeds and Articles. Works to be consulted for 
 the explanation of these, and for the application of 
 particular truths . . 158 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 History of the Church, external and internal. The 
 means for prosecuting the study. Histories, me- 
 moirs ; caution to be used in the study of biogra- 
 phical notices . . 185 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Parochial duties. — Preaching. — Sermons, written 
 and extempore. — Catechising. — Exposition. — 
 Cottage Lectures. — Schools and district visit- 
 ors . . . . 208 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Conclusion . . . 280 
 
REMARKS 
 
 CLERICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The present state of Clerical Education. 
 
 It has often excited surprise, that a 
 church richly endowed like that of Eng- 
 land, and claiming, on various grounds, 
 a prominent place among the Protestant 
 churches of Europe, should be destitute of 
 any specific system of religious education 
 for its ministers. The ditierence between 
 the learning required in the church, and 
 the means of professional instruction of- 
 fered; between the actual character of 
 the clergy, and their apparent prepara- 
 tion for tlie office, has long been one of 
 the anomalies which abound in our con- 
 
a£ the present state 
 
 stitution, and has formed one of the 
 many instances where individual exer- 
 tion and personal devotion supply the 
 deficiency in public institutions. For it 
 would be idle as well as unjust to assert, 
 that any real absence of professional 
 knowledge has ever been proved against 
 the establishment. Every succeeding age 
 has seen the faith maintained by the learn- 
 ing and the industry of the clergy. Every 
 succeeding age has seen some accessions 
 to theological knowledge, some refine- 
 ments in sacred criticism, some bulwarks 
 raised round our common faith by their 
 diligence and zeal. At no period has 
 the church forfeited its character of being 
 the source of sound learning ; at no pe- 
 riod have its members had occasion to 
 blush for the insufficiency and ignorance 
 of the champions whom she sent forth 
 into the field of controversy ; at no period 
 has the cause of falsehood or of error 
 been overwhelmed by such prepondei^ 
 ance of strength, as when the church 
 

 OF CLERICAL EDUC. 
 
 ^nKfti^ 
 
 raised up her force, and came forth clad 
 in the whole armour of God, to meet the 
 unbeliever or the sceptic. To establish 
 this fact, it would only be necessary to 
 refer to those volumes which are now 
 regarded as the standards of religious 
 truth ; and whether we look back on the 
 long protracted contest with the pa- 
 pists, or to that struggle with infidelity, 
 which, in the successive fields of atheism, 
 deism, and Socinianism, has exercised the 
 strength, and tried the hopes of the 
 Christian world ; we shall find, with all 
 due respect for the very valuable labours 
 of many among the dissenters, — the more 
 valuable, indeed, as coming from them, 
 unsolicited save by a sense of common 
 interests, and uncombined, save in the 
 spirit of our common faith; — we shall find 
 that the bulk of the force, the main strength 
 of the army has been furnished from the 
 bosom of the church ; and a long list 
 of names filling die highest situations 
 and dignities in it, will supply the re- 
 
 b2 
 
4 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 cord of the most powerful and efficient 
 defenders of the truth. 
 
 But while this has been confessedly the 
 case, we feel that it has resulted from a 
 providential combination of circumstances, 
 rather than from any specific provision for 
 the purpose. Theology has never been cul- 
 tivated as a science, with a view to such 
 effects. No system was organized in our 
 universities, for the purpose of raising up 
 such combatants, or of supplying them 
 with the arms which they needed. The 
 confiscated wealth of the monasteries at 
 the period of the Reformation, was not 
 applied to the promotion of sound learn- 
 ing and religious education. The exist- 
 ing government of the country never saw 
 the expediency of encouraging those stu- 
 dies, which proposed as their object the 
 maintenance and defence of religious 
 truth. Political animosities and jealousies 
 thwarted every endeavour of the kind 
 which has been made ; and from the time 
 of Edward VT., it is hardly possible to 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. O 
 
 specify a measure which was introduced 
 with this view, or which was carried on 
 to its accomplishment. 
 
 The men who did come forward on 
 behalf of truth, were generally self-taught 
 in all that regarded divinity. From their 
 college studies no doubt they had derived 
 the habit of close reasoning, accurate 
 perception, and extensive information ; 
 they had gained, in the course of their 
 academical education, the tone of scho- 
 lars, and the application of scholars ; but 
 their attainments in theology were gene- 
 rally made in other places and under less 
 favourable circumstances. 
 
 The greater part of those works to which 
 the Christian student now refers as the 
 standard depositories of truth, were not 
 produced in the quarters which we might 
 have expected; but in the busy scenes of 
 the world, amidst the excitement of spi- 
 rit produced by political or religious con- 
 troversy. They were not composed to 
 anticipate future errors, so much as for 
 
6 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 the purpose of meeting those which had 
 risen, and were spreading ; and the he- 
 resy which excited alarm, was generally 
 the occasion of beginning the inquiry 
 which led to its defeat. That inquiry, 
 no doubt, was then commenced by minds 
 which previous education had disciplined 
 and prepared for controversy ; and truth 
 was soon perceived, and powerfully main- 
 tained in religious questions, when pur- 
 sued by those who had been accustomed 
 to its investigation previously. 
 
 But under all these advances, the 
 science was prosecuted by individuals, 
 rather than by the community. Men 
 came forward as they were wanted, and 
 the call of every emergency was met 
 by a sufficient supply ; but still the study 
 was not pursued with the regularity which 
 it deserved, nor did it meet with that 
 species of encouragement which its im- 
 portance required. It followed, indeed, 
 from the desultory mode in which the- 
 ology was studied, and the nature of the 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 7 
 
 patronage bestowed upon it ; that encou- 
 ragement was only given where great and 
 peculiar success had been obtained. The 
 few individuals who obtained opportu- 
 nities of distinguishing themselves, were 
 generally met with the adequate measure 
 of reward. Their labours were appre- 
 ciated, their application was honoured ; 
 but the few who arrived at this distinc- 
 tion, were nearly the whole of those who 
 were thus employed. The great body of 
 the clergy, conceiving themselves released 
 from any such necessity of exertion, 
 shrunk back from the contest ; and de- 
 volving on a few the task of contending 
 for the common faith of all, turned their 
 attention to other objects. By degrees 
 this division of labour became a sort of 
 professional rule. The scientific part of 
 theology was separated from the prac- 
 tical, and was suffered to be the province 
 of a peculiar description of persons. The 
 circumstances in which men were placed, 
 or the turns of their minds, were allowed 
 
8 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 to decide the line which they adopted : 
 and no one imagined that he was called to 
 take up the study of divinity as a science, 
 unless he was placed in the very neigh- 
 bourhood of controversy, or was conscious 
 of a peculiar predilection for its weapons. 
 The universities soon ceased to sup- 
 ply the means of a knowledge for which 
 there was no demand. Their libraries 
 offered to the few who seemed called to 
 the study, the means of obtaining the in- 
 formation which was necessary; but as 
 this information was not to be obtained 
 without labour, as there was nothing to 
 facilitate its acquisition, or to encourage 
 the pursuit, the numbers who sought it 
 there became small ; and the great multi- 
 tude even of those who were devoted to 
 the sacred ministry, remained in quiet 
 and unreproached ignorance. But while 
 the church still sent forth her champions, 
 while every revival of error was met by 
 its appropriate answer, and the zeal and 
 piety of a few individuals were supplying 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. \J 
 
 the deficiencies in the system, no one ven- 
 tured to suspect their existence. Some 
 great names were always at hand, wliich 
 might be brought forward to redeem the 
 character of the establishment, and to 
 vindicate its claim to literary and theo- 
 logical eminence ; and while this was 
 done, no one thought it necessary to in- 
 quire as to the source from which that 
 knowledge was derived, or to consider 
 the degree in which it was diffused through 
 the whole body of the clergy. 
 
 This, however, was a state of things 
 which necessarily grew worse. While 
 every other science had a regular pro- 
 vision made for its cultivation, and theo- 
 logy alone was excluded from partici- 
 pating in such advantages ; the others 
 naturally grew and flourished, and the 
 neglected study withered. The increased 
 activity of the public mind, the energy 
 of inquiry, the excitement of emulation, 
 flowed into the channels which were al- 
 ready traced for their reception, and 
 
 B 5 
 
10 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 poured out all their fulness there. In 
 one university the sciences ; in the other^ 
 general literature and logic, embraced all 
 the attention and diligence of the rising 
 generation. Each institution adopted its 
 own peculiar studies ; studies which it 
 cherished by all the aids of instruction, 
 and encouraged by its honours and re- 
 wards. To these it directed the minds 
 of its students at their first admission ; to 
 these it guided and facilitated their pro- 
 gress ; and these it held up, throughout 
 their career of labour, as the objects of 
 honourable ambition. But among these 
 theology held no place. The one science 
 which treats of the highest interests of 
 man ; the one science w hich has eternity 
 for its field, and the Deity for its subject; 
 the one science which includes all things 
 necessary for every man to know, formed 
 no part in the regular studies, was cheered 
 by no academical distinctions, was en- 
 couraged by no rewards ; was left to be 
 acquired by the unassisted labours of the 
 
OP CLERICAL EDUCATION. 11 
 
 solitary student, and hardly admitted to a 
 place in the regular course of University 
 studies. 
 
 The consequence of this partial ar- 
 rangement was obvious and necessary: 
 literature flourished, and theology was 
 neglected. The increased activity of the 
 public mind showed itself in more in- 
 tense and intelligent application to the 
 favoured studies ; but its energies were 
 confined and limited to these. Scien- 
 tific researches were successfully pur- 
 sued, criticism was cultivated, discoveries 
 were made ; but theology remained in a 
 state of comparative torpor : and the 
 studies connected with divinity, gene- 
 rally speaking, were either begun under 
 the impulse of occasional excitement, or 
 prosecuted under circumstances little fa- 
 vourable to calm and consistent advance- 
 ment. The progress of the evil, however, 
 was checked in a degree, and remedied 
 by that individual feeling, which in all 
 free institutions, is ready to rise up and 
 
12 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 supply the defects of the general system; 
 and it has not gone to the same extent 
 which it would have reached under other 
 circumstances. Truth has found cham- 
 pions whenever it has been assailed ; and 
 the minds which have been devoted to 
 its service, if less prepared than might 
 have been wished, with the peculiar lite- 
 rature of theology, have still brought with 
 them the energy and acuteness which 
 had been gained in other studies. In 
 this way the great principles of faith have 
 been maintained inviolate ; the doctrines 
 of the gospel have been vindicated ; our 
 ark has been preserved ; and if the in- 
 fluence of religion has not been so widely 
 extended as we might have wished ; if 
 scepticism, though foiled in its attacks 
 and repulsed, still lives and threatens 
 from a distance; we feel that our foun- 
 dation stands firm, that no ground has 
 been lost, and that we may assume the 
 aggressive whenever we choose. 
 
 But is this the position which will sa- 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 13 
 
 tisfy the real Christian ? Will he, whose 
 heart is devoted to his Master's service, 
 who burns with zeal for his honour and his 
 glory, whose spirit is moved within him 
 at the sight of the prevailing irreligion of 
 the w^orld, whose feelings melt in con- 
 sidering the souls which are being daily 
 lost to God and to happiness, — will he be 
 satisfied by thinking that the integrity of 
 the gospel is maintained, and that the 
 principles of his faith are placed beyond 
 exception or dispute ? Will he be satis- 
 fied by knowing that there are men of 
 learning and of talent ready to check any 
 rising invasion of infidelity, and to vin- 
 dicate the truths of revelation, whenever 
 any open or notorious attack shall be 
 commenced ? Will he not rather feel that 
 his wishes go far beyond this sort of se- 
 curity? Will he not feel that this is a 
 state of things which neither satisfies his 
 duty to God nor to man? Will he not 
 feel, that this cold neutral position does 
 not answer the purposes for which the 
 
 \ 
 
14 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 gospel was given, for which the church 
 was founded, nor realize the wishes of 
 that heart into which the gospel is re- 
 ceived ? Will he not rather wish to see 
 the kingdom of God come with power, 
 and to see its truths and its consolations 
 carried into every corner of the land with 
 an energy which nothing can resist ; and 
 instead of knowing that there are some 
 men who are capable of contending ear- 
 nestly and powerfully for the faith ; will 
 he not rather desire that all the people of 
 the Lord were prophets, and that the same 
 degree of knowledge, which he rejoices 
 to think is possessed by some, were gene^ 
 rally diffused among the clergy? 
 
 Nor is this any wild or unreasonable 
 expectation. The circumstance that the 
 clergy exist as a separate and distinct 
 body; the immunities they enjoy; the du- 
 ties they profess; all imply the necessity 
 of some peculiar qualifications. Educa- 
 tion of a very expensive kind is even now 
 considered as an indispensable prelimi- 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 15 
 
 nary ; and a regular course of academical 
 study is required, with few exceptions, 
 from all who enter on the ministry. The 
 years which are pcissed in either univer- 
 sity involve a great detail of every species 
 of literature. The expense that is in- 
 curred, the labour that is exerted, exceed 
 beyond measure the average of remune- 
 ration that is looked for; and it would 
 excite surprise and admiration, if a com- 
 parison could be drawn between the 
 charges attending the preparation for the 
 ministry, and the pecuniary reimburse- 
 ment which is expected. 
 
 No one, under these circumstances, 
 would wish to increase the expense or 
 the length of the system of education at 
 present pursued. In many cases, the 
 best interests of the church are materially 
 affected by these hindrances; and num- 
 bers of zealous and devoted men would 
 never have attained to the office which 
 they coveted, if private or associated 
 bounty did not enable them to overcome 
 
16 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 the difficulties of contracted means, and 
 to pass through the requisite course of 
 college studies. All that could be con- 
 templated in this case, would be a change 
 in the line of study; all that could be 
 recommended, would be such an employ- 
 ment of the time that is necessarily passed 
 in the university, as might give a pro- 
 fessional character to its studies ; an op- 
 portunity offered to all of obtaining the 
 first degree, by such attainments in theo- 
 logy as might be deemed a sufficient test 
 of application, and might at the same 
 time offer some materials for future use- 
 fulness. The examinations at Oxford 
 have exhibited a gradual approach to this 
 desirable object. In every successive 
 modification of the plan, theology has 
 assumed a more prominent place. The 
 doctrines of the Church of England have 
 been made familiar to the minds of every 
 student. He has been compelled to re- 
 mark their conformity with Scripture, and 
 their dependence upon Scripture; and has 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 17 
 
 thus been prepared to give some reason 
 of the hope that is in him, from the course 
 of his academical reading. 
 
 The approach which has been made in 
 this case seems to show the facility with 
 which a more complete system of pro- 
 fessional instruction might be generally 
 introduced ; and if the attentions of the 
 heads of houses in either university were 
 seriously drawn to the importance of the 
 object, no doubt could be entertained as 
 to the conclusion they would arrive at. 
 A regulation, which should allow young 
 men intended for the ministry, to substi- 
 tute studies more purely professional, for 
 those which are pursued by others, during 
 the last two years of their residence; 
 would offer to the future parochial clergy 
 a means of theological knowledge which 
 must be considered as invaluable. They 
 might with ease, during this period, gain 
 such a degree of acquaintance with the 
 original languages of the Scripture, with 
 ecclesiastical history, and with the prin- 
 
18 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 ciples of exegetic divinity, as might give 
 a cliaracter to all their future labours, 
 and increase their usefulness incalculably. 
 The universities need not apprehend 
 that any detriment would arise to literary 
 eminence from such an alteration. Com- 
 petitors would still be found, in undi- 
 minished numbers, for all academical 
 honours ; and none of the excitement of 
 emulation would be lost by the arrange- 
 ment. In fact, it is well known that the 
 individuals who engage most deeply in 
 the studies of the place, are not those in 
 general who look forward to the parochial 
 ministry. They are mostly men who 
 are aiming at the various employments 
 connected with literature, or at the active 
 situations of the world. These, there- 
 fore, would of course pursue the regular 
 course of study, and proceed to their 
 degrees through the usual stages. The 
 situations to which they aspire, and which 
 merit seldom fails of obtaining in either 
 university, will insure to them facilities 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 19 
 
 for cultivating in later years those purely 
 professional studies which will fit them 
 for the sacred ministry. In these cases, 
 therefore, the studies which are recom- 
 mended in general as occupying the two 
 years immediately preceding the first 
 degree, may be deferred without risk of 
 inconvenience from increased expense. It 
 is probable also that the persons who 
 pursue this plan, would adopt a line of 
 theological study, diflering in some re- 
 spects from that which may be regarded 
 as necessary for the parochial clergy. 
 The situations in which they are placed, 
 the advantages which they possess, may 
 induce them to cultivate, in the learned 
 leisure of colleges, those branches of di- 
 vinity for which the minister of a parish 
 has neither leisure nor opportunities. The 
 criticism of the sacred text, the refine- 
 ments of controversy, would properly form 
 the occupation of those who remain at- 
 tached to the university, and the literature 
 of religion would become the natural pro- 
 
20 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 vince of those who are exempt, by resi- 
 dence in college, from the cares and avo- 
 cations of common life. At the same 
 time, those who, from various causes, are 
 less drawn to follow their example, and 
 give up all idea of competition for aca- 
 demical honours, might be turned into a 
 path more profitable than that in which 
 they are at present wasting their time; 
 and might be adopting, under the sanction 
 of their superiors, a line of reading which 
 would be the foundation of their future 
 usefulness as parochial ministers. 
 
 It is, therefore, hardly possible to con- 
 ceive that any injurious effect should arise 
 from such a plan, to general study; but it 
 is obvious that it would offer to many, 
 who, from despair of excelling in literary 
 attainments, are now sinking into habits 
 of most pernicious languor, a new line of 
 pursuit, better fitted perhaps to their 
 habits of mind, and rendered more at- 
 tractive, from its manifest bearing on their 
 ultimate employments in life. That mass 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 21 
 
 of unprofitable indolence which now forms 
 the shame of our public seminaries, as it 
 unquestionably forms the burden of those 
 who conduct them, might in this way be 
 diminished. Studies of undeniable ne- 
 cessity might be placed before every in- 
 dividual, and the general standard of 
 clerical attainments might be raised by 
 no less a measure than that of two years' 
 systematic and directed study. The 
 bishops then might insist without fear on 
 a higher degree of theological attainments 
 than they are now compelled to admit. 
 Cases of gross and deplorable insufficiency 
 would no longer occur; many scandals 
 might be prevented, more might be ob- 
 viated ; and the younger clergy, instead 
 of shrinking from the high and important 
 posts which they are called to fill, and 
 sinking into despondency under the bur- 
 dens of an office for which they are not pre- 
 pared, would be found capable of meeting 
 all and bearing all, through the resources 
 which they had already accumulated 
 
22 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 There is reason to hope that this la- 
 mentable defect in our system is in the 
 way of being retrieved. The subject was 
 ably and judiciously brought before the 
 notice of the university of Cambridge by 
 Dr. Adams, in the sermon which he 
 preached at the commencement, 1830 ; 
 and the strong and decisive language 
 held by the Bishop of London in his 
 charge, can hardly be read with indiffer- 
 ence. Dr. Adams suggests anticipating 
 the batchelor's degree by one term, and 
 giving a full year of three terms to the 
 study of divinity alone. The expense 
 implied by this extension of residence 
 will probably offer difficulties which can- 
 not be surmounted ; but the fact that 
 such a representation has been made in 
 such a quarter, is alone a circumstance 
 that may encourage hope for the future. 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 23 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 It may seem desirable to throw into the form 
 of a note some remarks which it is necessary to 
 introduce at this point, as to the line of study 
 pursued by candidates for the ministry in other 
 countries, or in other denominations among our- 
 selves. Of the course required in the German 
 churches I am miable to speak particularly; but 
 no one who knows the state of German theology 
 will suspect that any defect in erudition is 
 included among its failures. An excess in learn- 
 ing, rather than a deficiency, a want of some- 
 thing very diiferent from human power, is appa^ 
 rently needed there ; and their wanderings from 
 the truth are not the result of indolence, but of 
 proud, self-sufficient exertion. In the Swiss 
 churches, two years are given, at the close of the 
 academical course, to the exclusive study of 
 theology ; and every candidate for orders is 
 supposed capable of reading the Scriptures in 
 their original languages, ajierto libra. In 
 the American episcopalian church, the full 
 course of study in the seminary at New York 
 
24 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 occupies three years, each year comprising two 
 sessions — in all, about ten months in each year. 
 None are admitted into the theological classes 
 till they have undergone an examination which 
 ascertains the fact of their being well acquainted 
 with the Latin and Greek languages ; and the 
 course of theological study through which they 
 pass, embraces, 
 
 1. Oriental and Greek literature, comprising 
 the knowledge necessary to the critical study of 
 the Scriptures in the original languages. 
 
 2. Biblical learning, i. e. every thing relating 
 to the criticism of the sacred text. 
 
 3. Interpretation of Scripture, comprising 
 the principles of interpretation, and the meaning 
 and practical application of the Bible. 
 
 4. The evidences of revealed religion, external 
 and internal; including a review and refutation 
 of infidel objections, and also a view of moral 
 science in its relations to theology. 
 
 5. Systematic divinity in all its branches, in- 
 cluding a particular view and defence of the 
 system of faith professed by the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church. 
 
 6. Ecclesiastical history in general, and the 
 history in particular of the Church of England, 
 and of the North American Episcopal Church. 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 25 
 
 7. Tlie nature, ministry, and polity of the 
 Church, particularly of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church, its liturgy, rites, and ceremonies. 
 
 8. Pastoral theolof^y and pulpit eloquence, 
 exj)laiiiing and enforcing the qualifications and 
 duties of the clerical office, and also including 
 the performance of the service of the church, 
 and the composition and delivery of sermons. 
 This last branch of study was for years under 
 the direction of the late Bishop Hobart. He 
 informed the friend, by whose kindness I am 
 furnished with these particulars, that the stu- 
 dents attended him every Saturday, during each 
 term or session ; when they were engaged for 
 several hours in recitation, and in the delivery 
 of sermons composed by themselves ; and on 
 certain days they read in turns, as a devotional 
 exercise, the service of the church. These ser- 
 mons, as well as the mode of reading the 
 liturgy, and of preaching, were made the subject 
 of the professor's remarks. The students as- 
 semble daily in morning and evening prayer; 
 divine service is regularly celebrated, and the 
 sacrament statedly administered in their chapel 
 every Sunday. The students also have charge of 
 a large and flourishing Sunday school. 
 
 At reading this ample and enlightened scheme 
 
 c 
 
26 THE PRESENT STATE 
 
 of study, it is impossible to avoid a feeling of re- 
 gret, at thinking of the very inadequate means 
 placed within the reach of the most zealous 
 English student. Where indeed can we hope to 
 see all these advantages united, except in some 
 future Institution, such as the Bishop of London 
 recommends in his most important charge ? 
 
 The course of education pursued by the Pro- 
 testant dissenters in this country is hardly less 
 comprehensive. A short notice, given in the 
 Congregational Magazine for August, 1829, 
 which describes the classical examination held 
 at Highbury College, may be taken as a spe- 
 cimen. The class of the first year were ex- 
 amined in the Georgics, the first six Books of 
 the iEneid, the Analecta Minora, and the first 
 book of the Odyssey ; the second year, in the 
 Odes and Epodes of Horace, three books of 
 the Odyssey, and an oration of Lysias ; the 
 third year, in| Cicero's first, sixth, and ninth 
 Philippics, the first book of Herodotus, and the 
 (Edipus Tyrannus of Sophocles ; and the fourth 
 year men, in the tenth, thirteenth, fifteenth, and 
 sixteenth Satires of Juvenal, the two first books 
 of Thucydides, and the book of Job in Hebrew. 
 On the following day they were examined in 
 theology, and several branches of literature ; 
 
OF CLERICAL EDUCATION. 27 
 
 when it appeared that they had respectively pur- 
 sued a course of study in mental philosophy, 
 ethics, civil and ecclesiastical history, the inter- 
 pretation of scripture, evidences of scripture, 
 systematic theology, Hebrew antiquities, and 
 philology. 
 
 When we add to this sketch of the plan of 
 study, that Dr. Henderson presides over the 
 college at Highbury, and that Dr. Pye Smith, 
 author of that invaluable work, " The Scripture 
 Testimony to the Divinity of Christ," is the 
 theological and biblical tutor at Homerton ; 
 and that both of these gentlemen, in addition to 
 more than usual acquirements in ancient and 
 oriental literature, are thoroughly acquainted 
 with the works of the great German biblical 
 critics and divines ; we can have no hesitation 
 in saying, that advantages are offered to those 
 under their direction, superior to any which are 
 to be found at present in either of the great 
 Universities. 
 
 c 2 
 
28 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The necessity of a regular Education 
 for the Ministry considered, and the 
 limits which may be assigned to it. 
 
 It is possible that the remarks which have 
 been made above, may have awakened 
 some considerations as to the nature of 
 that education which is to be deemed ne- 
 cessary for the clergy in general ; and the 
 suggestions which have been hitherto of- 
 fered, have merely proposed a mode in 
 which present deficiences may be removed, 
 without stating the point it is desirable to 
 attain. It is also possible, that the im- 
 portance attached to a regular system of 
 education may seem to be unfounded; 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 29 
 
 and that cases may be mentioned — cases 
 of which it would be unjust and idle to 
 deny the reality — where all the work of 
 the ministry has been effected, with a pe- 
 culiar measure of success, without any 
 such preparation. No one, for instance, 
 would deny that many souls have been 
 converted, that extensive good and per- 
 manent good has been produced by the 
 labours of men, who had little advantage 
 from education ; but who have exem- 
 plified the truth of Bishop Burnet's re- 
 mark, that a great deal of piety with little 
 learning, w ill do more than a great deal 
 of learning with very little piety. 
 
 In reply to this last objection, it is 
 obvious to state, that no argument is ever 
 justly drawn from cases which must be 
 pronounced exceptions to the general 
 rule; to which we must add, that it is 
 natural to expect, in this particular case, 
 that such exceptions should be of more 
 frequent occurrence than in any other. 
 The sovereignty of God, the sufficiency 
 of his grace, the wonders of his goodness 
 
30 
 
 THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 and his power, are unquestionably exhi- 
 bited, from time to time, in the spiritual 
 world, in effects for which we can dis- 
 cern no adequate or proportionate causes. 
 The presumption of man is humbled by 
 observing the changes which the grace 
 of God produces through means which 
 were despised; hope is encouraged in 
 the faithful and patient by the same ; and 
 these occasional deviations from the ordi- 
 nary mode of proceeding supply proofs, 
 which the humble and awakened mind 
 knows how to appreciate, both of the power 
 and benevolence of God. But as men 
 do not learn the course of nature from 
 the study of those phenomena which sus- 
 pend or interrupt it ; no more is the will 
 of the Deity to be inferred from the occa- 
 sional and isolated acts of mercy which 
 occur in his providence. That will is 
 more clearly revealed, more certainly de- 
 duced from the general course of his dis- 
 pensations, than from those which are 
 detached; and just as it forms no excep- 
 tion to the general necessity of labouo 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 31 
 
 that God has sometimes fed his people 
 with bread from heaven ; so it forms no 
 exception to the general necessity of 
 learning in the ministry, that God has 
 sometimes made use of ignorant but zeal- 
 ous men, for the purpose of reviving a 
 spirit of religion. 
 
 But if there are some few cases ol' 
 eminent usefulness, which are only to be 
 explained and accounted for in this man- 
 ner; it is also necessary to admit, that the 
 want of education alleged is often rather 
 imaginary than real; that it consists in 
 the absence of qualifications which have 
 no direct bearing on the subject ; and that 
 it is compatible with an abundant posses- 
 sion of those means which are most de- 
 cidedly influential. A man, for instance, 
 may be considered illiterate, if tried by the 
 standard of human attainments, who still 
 may be, like ApoUos, mighty in the Scrip- 
 tures. He may be destitute of outward 
 graces, and still may be able to speak to 
 the souls of his hearers with a power 
 
32 THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 which they cannot gainsay or resist. He 
 may be ignorant of this world's wisdom^ 
 and still be deeply read in the intricacies 
 of the human heart. He may have re- 
 ceived none of those artificial assistances 
 by which man endeavours to supply the 
 want, or to increase the elTect, of natural 
 powers ; and still he may have been en- 
 dued with an unction and a power from 
 above, which shall set all the feeble imi- 
 tations of man at defiance. It is easily 
 possible to conceive a person such as 
 this ; one who should be to all appear- 
 ance destitute of education, and who 
 should still possess, in a degree which 
 education cannot reach, that great power 
 of moving men's minds, for which it is 
 the office of education to prepare the 
 preacher; and who in his Bible only, 
 thus read, marked, learned, and inwardly 
 digested, should have obtained just the 
 only knowledge that is wanted for the work 
 of the ministry; the knowledge, without 
 which no saving efiect can be produced ; 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 33 
 
 but with which, when duly and affec- 
 tionately exerted, the man, whosoever he 
 may be, becomes at once a scribe rightly 
 instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 But the reply to this objection leads to 
 the position which it now seems necessary 
 to make ; and the singular and unac- 
 countable success which has been vouch- 
 safed to some who possessed one qualifi- 
 cation alone, seems to mark its great, its 
 paramount importance in the ministerial 
 education. With a very slight alteration, 
 the language of Chillingworth, who says 
 '* that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is 
 the religion of the Protestant," may be 
 repeated, and even with greater correct- 
 ness, as to the knowledge requisite for 
 the minister. The Bible, and, we may 
 add with safety, the Bible alone, is the 
 learning essential to the Christian mi- 
 nister. Other accomplishments he will 
 need ; but he will need them only in re- 
 ference to this, and in subordination to 
 this. He will need the knowledge of 
 
 c5 
 
34 THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 languages; but it will be merely that 
 he may understand more accurately the 
 meaning of the word of Scripture. He 
 will need a knowledge of antiquities ; but 
 it will be merely that he may comprehend 
 more fully the peculiarities of expression 
 he meets with in the Scripture. He will 
 need, more or less, those sciences which 
 are usually taught under the names of 
 logic, rhetoric, or philology ; but he will 
 only need them that he may be able to 
 state more clearly, and to impress more 
 deeply, through their help, the inferences 
 he deduces from the Scripture. To enable 
 him to extract from Scripture something 
 of its inexhaustible riches of wisdom and 
 of knowledge, he will need every aid 
 which study, or experience, or learning, 
 can afford. To enable him to meet the 
 obstinate deceitfulness of the human heart, 
 and to apply to the conscience those 
 wholesome truths which it is unwilling to 
 admit, he will need every art which the 
 schools of rhetoricians used to offer ; but 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 35 
 
 these will be merely used as means for a 
 certain end, and they will be all sought 
 in order that they may be turned to that 
 purpose. The comprehension of Scrip- 
 ture, the interpretation of Scripture, and 
 the application of Scripture, these will be 
 his employments ; but, under all the 
 varieties of his work, Scripture will be the 
 material on which he is employed; and 
 nothing will possess any value in his eyes, 
 nor seem to contribute to the accomplish- 
 ment of his end, except it is derived 
 from the authority of Scripture as its prin- 
 ciple, or tends in some way or other to 
 maintain and impress it upon others. 
 
 In conformity with this principle, by 
 which the preparatory studies of her mi- 
 nisters are to be regulated, the Church 
 of England seems herself to have been 
 guided. She does not despise antiquity ; 
 she does not neglect those human means 
 which may add dignity to her offices and 
 solemnity to her worship; she does not 
 reject the use of that light which God 
 
36 THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 kindled originally in the intellect and 
 reason of men ; but she endeavours so to 
 use, so to employ and exercise them, that 
 they may act in subordination to the re- 
 vealed word, and display and manifest 
 forth its powers to greater edification. 
 In the same manner the studies of her 
 ministers are to be applied, not to the 
 neglect, far less to the exclusion, of the 
 Scripture; but simply and entirely to the 
 development of its statements, to the elu- 
 cidation of its mysteries, for the purpose 
 of inquiries carried on in the most reve- 
 rential respect for its authority, and in 
 the most entire submission to its conclu- 
 sions. That sacred volume which is 
 placed in the hands of her ministers at 
 the moment of their ordination, is not 
 merely the token, but it forms the sub- 
 stance of their future labours. Thence- 
 forward that book is to be their all. In 
 that, they are to trace their own cre- 
 dentials. In that, they are to find the 
 terms of the reconciliation which it is 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 37 
 
 their office to proclaim to others. In that, 
 they are to seek the remedy for the va- 
 rious evils which it will be their duty to 
 combat or relieve. Nothing that they 
 can find within that book can be neglected, 
 for all is given by inspiration of God; 
 and in its various applications is profitable 
 for reproof, for correction, for instruction 
 in righteousness. Nothing that they can 
 say will possess authority, unless it be 
 derived from this ; and nothing which is 
 derived from this can be rejected with 
 impunity by those to whom it is ad- 
 dressed. 
 
 Look at it in whatever way they choose, 
 the claims it possesses are paramount, 
 are irresistible. As coming from God ; 
 as being literally his word — the word 
 which the Creator utters to his creature 
 man, the knowledge which infinite wis- 
 dom sees fit to communicate — what can 
 demand such reverence? As addressed 
 to man himself, as containing the message 
 of reconciliation, the means by which the 
 
38 THE NECESSITY OF 
 
 sinner may find peace and acceptance 
 with God — what can be of so much im- 
 portance for men to hear? As offering 
 comfort to those that are wretched, light 
 to those that are in darkness, hope to 
 those who are in despair — what can be so 
 welcome? As opening heaven to the 
 view of man, as unfolding the purposes 
 of God towards ourselves ; as clearing up 
 the doubts and uncertainties of our pre- 
 sent state by the realities of that which is 
 to come ; as raising us above ourselves, 
 and as showing us things which are be- 
 yond all nature — what can be so glo- 
 rious ? 
 
 Would we indeed wish to know its 
 real value, its real excellence; compare it, 
 not with one only, but with all the other 
 books which the wit or the industry of 
 men have formed — and what will be the 
 result ? There are books, no doubt, which 
 have done much towards increasing know- 
 ledge, enlarging the intellect, purifying 
 the mind, and improving the state of 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 39 
 
 man ; but what would the combined effect 
 of all appear, when weighed against the 
 force of one single text of Scripture, 
 resting, as it does, on its authority of the 
 word of God? Compared with this, 
 what are the consolations or the advan- 
 tages which other books supply, but pal- 
 liatives of an evil which they cannot heal ; 
 narcotics, which stupify the sense instead 
 of relieving the pain ; delusions, which 
 increase the danger by cloking its ad- 
 vances ; miserable expedients, adopted 
 by wretchedness to delay the misery which 
 cannot be averted ; while Scripture only 
 discovers the evil in order to apply the 
 cure, and offers a real and positive re- 
 medy for every evil of which we are 
 conscious. 
 
 In this way, if the Scriptures form in 
 one sense the sum and substance of a 
 Christian minister's attainments, in ano- 
 ther sense they are the point to which 
 every ray of knowledge must be made to 
 converge, in order to produce that light 
 
40 THE NECESSITY OP 
 
 which it is his office to dispense to 
 others. As officially charged with the 
 exposition of the law of God^ he must 
 not only be familiar with its text ; he 
 must not only know the various materials 
 of which the volume is composed, and 
 the way in which they harmonize or 
 clash with each other; but he must bring 
 to the study of these separate portions, 
 a mind prepared by exercise, fraught 
 with knowledge, capable of perceiving or 
 of extracting truth, and of exhibiting, 
 with distinctness and with force, the 
 truth which he collects. 
 
 Whatever may be the simplicity of the 
 study proposed, it would be idle to sup- 
 pose that a preparation like this can be ac- 
 complished without labour. Whoever con- 
 siders for a moment, the nature of the mate- 
 rials which are thus brought before him ; the 
 infinite sublimity of the subjects of which 
 they treat; the circumstances under 
 which they were delivered, and under 
 which they have been handed down; must 
 
CLERICAL EDUCATION. 41 
 
 feel that there is not an acquirement 
 witliin the reach of human intellect^ not a 
 talent or a faculty in our nature, which 
 may not be employed, which is not re- 
 quired in this study. The simplicity of 
 the object, therefore, does not imply the 
 facility of its acquisition. So wonder- 
 fully constituted, indeed, is that record 
 of divine truth to which our attention is 
 called, that while the humblest intellect 
 may comprehend something, while the 
 slightest measure of conscientious and 
 faithful application is sure of being met 
 by its proportionate degree of light ; 
 there is in it a breadth and depth, which 
 the greatest powers and the most un- 
 bounded diligence will never be able to 
 fathom. The way-faring men, though 
 fools, shall not err therein ; while angels 
 still may be engaged in studying the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ, through the 
 mysteries they behold in his church. 
 
 If, then, we are induced to name the 
 Bible, and the Bible only, as the minister's 
 
42 THE NECESSITY OF, &C. 
 
 appropriate learning, it must be under- 
 stood that it is the Bible, as diligently 
 studied under all the assistances which 
 moral discipline and general literature 
 supply ; that it is the Bible, as illustrated 
 by philology, as analysed by meditation 
 and study ; as considered in all its seve- 
 ral parts, and in its application to the 
 wants and necessities of the heart; and, 
 above all, as read with prayer and with 
 reflection ; and as interpreted in the very 
 spirit which it inculcates. To think other- 
 wise, would be to substitute the letter for 
 the spirit, the form for the substance; 
 and he knows little of the office he under- 
 takes, — has little considered the great- 
 ness of the work, and the extent of its 
 responsibility, who imagines that a hasty, 
 and partial, and imperfect study of the 
 Bible, may supersede the necessity of 
 other acquirements, and qualify him at 
 once for the perilous distinction of be- 
 coming a guide to others. 
 
43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Study of the Bible considered as the 
 substance of the knoivledcje requiredin 
 the Ministry. The pecidiar advan- 
 tages belonging to this scheme. 
 
 In proceeding to consider the study of 
 the Bible as the peculiar employment of 
 the Christian minister, it is obvious that 
 we deviate in some respect from the 
 plans which have been generally pro- 
 posed. The importance of the minis- 
 terial office, an importance which no 
 representation can over state, has induced 
 those authors who have written on the 
 subject, to accumulate every accomplish- 
 ment and every talent in the list of the 
 
44 STUDY OF THE 
 
 qualifications essential to its discharge. 
 The idea that they form of the Christian 
 minister, resembles the portrait which is 
 drawn by Cicero of the orator — a com- 
 bination of powers and acquirements 
 such as the world never saw in any 
 human being. It was perhaps hardly 
 possible for those who felt deeply the 
 nature of the office, to state its require- 
 ments in more measured terms. They 
 would have felt that every concession 
 which was made to the nature of their 
 readers, every approximation to the ave- 
 rage standard of men, was a deduction 
 from the honour due to God, and in- 
 jurious to the interests of religion. They 
 argued that a cause like this deserved, 
 nay, required the exertion of every 
 talent, the possession of every kind of 
 knowledge, in order to be exhibited with 
 justice ; and they determined that the mo- 
 del which they drew, should at least bear 
 witness to their zeal. 
 
 But it happened here as in other cases, 
 
BIBLE RECOMiMENDED. 45 
 
 that the noblest motives sometimes fail 
 of realizing their intention, and that ear- 
 nestness defeats its own purpose. The 
 standard of knowledge/^which was fixed 
 in this case, with a reference to the im- 
 portance of the question, rather than to 
 the means of those who were to under- 
 take it, so much exceeded the general 
 level, that it overwhelmed the minds 
 which it professed to direct and to assist. 
 Young men who were anxious for some 
 information as to the course of reading to 
 be pursued in the two years which would 
 occur between their leaving the Univer- 
 sity and taking orders, and who would 
 have applied with cheerfulness to the 
 study of a few select authors, were 
 daunted and dispirited when a whole 
 library was set before them. The inter- 
 val which remained at their disposal was 
 obviously insufficient for any extensive 
 course ; and they found that the directions 
 which they thus received were unprofit- 
 able, because they were incapable of 
 
46 STUDY OF THE 
 
 being applied. They needed some other 
 directions, which should select from the 
 copious list before them, the few volumes 
 which they might have time and ability 
 to master ; and if they did not succeed 
 in obtaining these from private sources, 
 they either sunk down in despondency 
 at the prospect of exertions which ex- 
 ceeded their powers, or else caught some 
 imperfect and inconsistent views, by pro- 
 miscuously consulting the books that fell 
 within their reach. 
 
 Though there are works therefore al- 
 ready before the public, which treat di- 
 rectly of this subject, and treat of it with 
 a fulness and an accuracy which it is not 
 hoped to approach at present: the pecu- 
 liar circumstances of the case seem to 
 require a smaller work, which in subor- 
 dination to them, and preparatory to 
 them, may trace a line of study, some- 
 what more definite, and more applicable 
 to the case of the generality of candi- 
 dates for the ministry. Those two va- 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 47 
 
 luable volumes, the Christian Student, 
 by the Rev. E. Bickersteth, and tlie Cln-is- 
 tian Ministry, by the Rev. C. Bridges, 
 supply a fund of information; and, what is 
 of far greater value, of devout and spi- 
 ritual feeling-, to which every clergyman 
 will naturally have recourse for guidance 
 and direction. The object of the present 
 attempt is to trace a simple plan of study, 
 which may seem more within the reach 
 of those who are appalled by the appa- 
 rent magnitude of the course suggested 
 in more valuable works ; and to prevent 
 the waste of the important interval of 
 time devoted to preparation for the mi- 
 nistry, by supplying a scheme which all 
 may be capable of following. 
 
 In every pursuit we are aware that 
 something is gained by simplifying the 
 question, by dismissing all collateral 
 and superfluous inquiries, and by clear- 
 ing the subject in discussion of every 
 thing that may distract or divide the at- 
 tention of the student. This advantage 
 
48 STUDY OF THE 
 
 unquestionably belongs to the studies 
 which form the preparation for the mi- 
 nistry. If we can distinctly ascertain the 
 nature of these studies ; if we can sepa- 
 rate them from other inquiries which are 
 extraneous or unnecessary ; if we can in 
 this manner discriminate that which is 
 essential, from that which is incidental ; 
 there is no doubt that a considerable 
 saving of time may be effected, and that 
 the labour employed may be employed 
 with double advantage from the manner 
 in which it is directed. Now this appears 
 peculiarly the case in the preparation 
 for the office of the ministry. It possesses 
 beyond any other pursuit the quality of 
 unity. The nature of the office, the end 
 to which it is directed, the means by 
 which it is to be accomplished, are all 
 eminently simple. One single idea con- 
 veys the nature of the office ; one single 
 way is named as the object of attention ; 
 one single book contains the record of 
 the means by which all is to be accom- 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 49 
 
 plished. Nor is there any thing in the 
 external circumstances of the individual, 
 which can affect this character of his 
 office. Whatever those circumstances 
 may be, whether he be called to fill the 
 higher dignities in the church of Christ, 
 or to occupy its humbler posts of duty ; 
 whether he be called to minister among 
 those, who in the opinion of the world 
 are wise, or among the simple and illi- 
 terate ; he has but one road before him ; 
 he has but one end to seek ; he has but 
 one way in which to follow it. In every 
 position that he fills, he comes as the 
 minister of reconciliation between God 
 and man, with feet shod with the prepa- 
 ration of the gospel of peace. To every 
 rank in society he has but the same mes- 
 sage to deliver; lie has but the same 
 terms to offer, " Repent, and believe the 
 gospel." To every description of men, 
 to the high and to the low, to the wise 
 and to the ignorant, he has but one law 
 to publish as the rule of life. To every 
 
 D 
 
50 STUDY OF THE 
 
 moral agent he has but one way to 
 preach as the way of salvation. In every 
 place and in every age, there is but one 
 record of the will of God, which it is his 
 business to explain, to inculcate, and 
 apply, and this therefore must supply the 
 substance as it does the authority of his 
 doctrines. The Christian minister then 
 should labour to fix strongly on his mind, 
 the real character of the scriptures which 
 he is commissioned to teach, and the uni- 
 versal value of the parts they are com- 
 posed of He should remember that 
 they not only include, in a general sense, 
 the credentials of his office, the message 
 with which he is intrusted ; but he should 
 also remember, that every line may con- 
 tain some statement or some modifica- 
 tions of the will of God, which he is 
 ordained to publish ; he should remember 
 that all was given by inspiration; and 
 that man can never be justified in neg- 
 lecting that which his Maker has been 
 pleased to utter. I^he authority which 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 51 
 
 Scripture derives from its original, slioiild 
 uever depart out of his mind ; its sacred 
 character, its essential majesty as the 
 word of God, its inestimable value as the 
 way of salvation — all these qualities should 
 ever be present, either when he is ap- 
 plying to the study in private, or using 
 the truths which it conveys, as part of his 
 public ministration. 
 
 There is reason to fear, that for a long 
 time the word of God has not been met 
 with this peculiar and specific reverence. 
 Men have been occupied with commen- 
 taries, when they ought rather to have 
 been searching the original. Indolence 
 has flattered itself with the idea of ar- 
 riving at truth in a more compendious 
 way, through the inquiries of other men. 
 Great names have been used to justify 
 this illusion ; and men have hoped to 
 enter rapidly into the labours of others, 
 by adopting their conclusions, instead of 
 seeking simply and earnestly for truth, 
 through prayer and study of the Bible. 
 
 D 2 
 
52 STUDY OF THE 
 
 In this way the systems of men, and the 
 opinions of men, if not the command- 
 ments of men, have sometimes been 
 taught instead of tlie doctrines of scrip- 
 ture. The truths of revelation have been 
 proclaimed with more of system and less 
 of freedom, than properly belongs to 
 them ; and the statement, which in the 
 writings of the commentators retained 
 something of its original strength, has 
 been a still fainter and feebler copy, when 
 taken into the hands of those who pro- 
 ceeded in this way to explain and to 
 apply them. But surely we must be 
 aware that men act in a very different 
 manner from this, with regard to human 
 laws. The advocate does not cite the 
 comment, but the statute : the physician, 
 the artist, refer to the rules of their 
 science, instead of resting on the ex- 
 planations. They know the value of cer- 
 tainty where authority can be had ; and 
 instead of substituting conjectural for 
 ascertained truths, they go to the foun- 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 53 
 
 tain-head of knowledge, and each desires 
 to be the commentator for himself. But 
 in the study of theology, the reverse has 
 too often been witnessed. The import- 
 ance of the cases involved, the haste 
 under which the decision was too often 
 to be formed, have induced men to study 
 the record of the Scriptures through the 
 medium of explanations and notes, in 
 order to arrive at its meaning more expe- 
 ditiously. In this way, the real use of 
 the commentary has been forgotten. In- 
 stead of being made subsidiary to the 
 original, it has occupied the place of 
 the original. Instead of being the in- 
 terpretation of the oracle, it has been 
 consulted as the oracle itself; and the 
 consequence has been, that the inferences 
 drawn, and the answers received, have 
 been vague, and cold, and ineffective. 
 A more regular preparation for the mi- 
 nistry, a more serious consideration of 
 its nature and of its duties, might have 
 obviated this evil. A man who had di- 
 
54 STUDY OP THE 
 
 gested the whole body of Scripture^ and 
 who from long familiarity had become ac- 
 quainted with its mind, would never have 
 adopted this mode of resolving his doubts, 
 while the source of truth itself was with- 
 in his reach. He would naturally have 
 preferred the authority of the word of 
 God, whenever he knew that it might 
 be quoted without danger of contra- 
 diction ; and would thus have avoided 
 a course, which was only recommended 
 by its ease. His statements in this way 
 might have been less guarded, but they 
 would also have been less vague and 
 general : and while practice added cor- 
 rectness to his judgment, it would never 
 have been deficient in that authority, 
 which can only be derived from the cer- 
 tainty of truth. 
 
 The first then, we might ahnost add 
 the last, part in the preparation for the 
 ministry, seems to be a deep, and full, 
 and accurate knowledge of the Scripture. 
 The scripture read, marked, learnt, and 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 55 
 
 inwardly digested, forms the peculiar 
 qualification for him who aims to be 
 "a scribe, instructed unto the kingdom of 
 heaven." Without this, a clergyman can 
 do nothing, nothing effectual, nothing as 
 it ought to be done, let his other ac- 
 complishments be what they may. With 
 this, he may, he will, he must be a mi- 
 nister of good, a means of grace to 
 many, whatever may be his lack of lite- 
 rary attainments. 
 
 Without this, he may excite the natu- 
 ral feelings, he may amuse the imagina- 
 tion, he may touch the heart; but he 
 never can speak with the power of a ser- 
 vant of God, nor ever exhort and rebuke 
 with all authority, as becomes his office. 
 Without this, he may produce, under 
 favourable circumstances, a transient ef- 
 fect; he may use the general truths of 
 the Gospel, as a means of artificial ex- 
 citement ; but he never can win souls to 
 Christ, nor prove himself a wise master- 
 builder, by the endurance and stability of 
 
56 STUDY OF THE 
 
 Ijis work. But with this single power, 
 though destitute of every other, he may 
 be like the youthful David, a glorious in- 
 strument in the hands of God, casting 
 down imaginations, and every high thing 
 that exalteth itself against the knowledge 
 of God, and bringing into captivity every 
 thought to the obedience of Christ. 
 
 Nor is it difficult to mark the reason of 
 this difference of effect. Whenever a 
 man adopts another mode of speaking, 
 whether it be argument and reason, or 
 that species of oratory which addresses 
 itself chiefly to the feelings, he speaks 
 only from himself; he merely produces the 
 conclusions of his own mind, the results 
 of his own reflections. The authority 
 belonging to his statements is therefore 
 simply human. They may be listened to 
 with attention, if they are strong; they 
 may be received with interest, if they are 
 luminous or brilliant ; or with feeling, if 
 they are pathetic ; but each of his 
 hearers is unconsciously sitting in judg- 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 57 
 
 iiient on what he utters, and considering 
 the degree of attention to be j)aid to it, 
 instead of listening in order to learn and 
 to obey. In this way a man may affect, 
 may persuade, may touch, but he cannot 
 command ; and the very word of God, 
 which he is commissioned to promulgate, 
 lies useless and dormant, in hands which 
 prefer the use of an inferior weapon. ' 
 
 Again, it follows from the very nature 
 of moral instruction, that its statements 
 must be general. Moral evidence does 
 not reach the exactness of demonstration, 
 nor can moral truth be taught with uni- 
 versal, undeviating strictness. Differ- 
 ences in situation, diiferences in know- 
 ledge, will require different applications 
 of truth ; and he who does not speak to 
 the conscience with authority, as speaking 
 from revelation, is obliged to avoid all 
 that is strong, all that is peculiar in his 
 teaching, in order to avoid painful and 
 unnecessary collision with the consciences 
 of his hearers. This was eminently the 
 
 D 5 
 
58 STUDY OF THE 
 
 failing of those great and learned men 
 who are known under the name of the 
 Latitudinarian Divines^, and who, to the 
 injury of the church, quitted the high 
 vantage ground of Scripture, and came 
 down to combat on the field which their 
 adversaries themselves had chosen. All 
 that could be hoped for there, was a drawn 
 battle. An effectual pursuit was impos- 
 sible in a region so filled with resources 
 for the fugitive ; and there accordingly 
 the interminable fight has been carried on 
 ever since between truth and falsehood ; 
 and there it may be prolonged indefi- 
 nitely, while the enemy, broken and dis- 
 comfited in successive contests, still knows 
 that he has ever some shelter in which 
 he can take refuge. 
 
 But Scripture abhors generality. The 
 word of God is described as " quick and 
 powerful, and sharper than any two- 
 edged sword, piercing even to the divid- 
 ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the 
 joints and marrow, and a discerner of the 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 59 
 
 thoughts and intents of the heart ; " * and 
 Scripture, instead of resting on statements 
 without application, and offering truth 
 without pressing its acceptance, never 
 states a doctrine without applying it to 
 the heart, nor exhibits truth except for 
 the purpose of showing its necessity. In 
 this way it cuts off every unfounded hope, 
 speaks with the uncompromising decision 
 of infinite wisdom, addresses each indi- 
 vidual by speaking through the medium 
 of conscience, and plainly tells to all what 
 must be believed and must be done, in 
 order that they should be saved. 
 
 The man then, who, in the discharge 
 of his duties as a minister, prefers rea- 
 soning or moral suasion to the simple use 
 of the word of Scripture, seems to act in 
 contradiction to every received rule. The 
 advocate at the bar, who knows that he 
 has law on his side, will never endanger 
 his cause by consenting to argue its merits 
 on general principles. He knows on the 
 * Heb. iv. 12. 
 
60 
 
 STUDY OF THE 
 
 contrary, that any such discussion would 
 be superfluous where the letter of the 
 statute has decided the question, and he 
 shuns it as a symptom of weakness. The 
 ambassador who comes charged with the 
 terms of an amnesty which he is com- 
 missioned to proclaim, will never be ar- 
 guing the expediency of submission, when 
 he knows that he has his sovereign's ulti- 
 matum in his hand. Either of these men 
 would feel tiiat their conduct was un- 
 reasonable and wrong, if they neglected 
 the certainty which they had in their pos- 
 session, for the precarious result of argu- 
 ment or persuasion ; and are glad to decide 
 the conclusion of their hearers by an au- 
 thority M'hich admits of no doubt. Why 
 then should he, who comes as an ambas- 
 sador from God ; why should he, whose 
 office it is to speak as from the oracles of 
 God — why should he lay aside the powers 
 he is charged with, and lower himself to 
 the arts and usages of other men ? Why 
 should he neglect the credentials he is 
 
BIBLE RECOMMENDED. 
 
 Gl 
 
 clothed with, the seal with which he is 
 trusted, and drop those pages which bear 
 the mighty stamp of their original in the 
 words, " Thus saith the Lord," for the 
 sake of arguments which possess no pa- 
 ramount authority? Why should he be 
 urging motives which may be met by 
 counter reasoning, or which are open to 
 cavil ; when he has in his hand those 
 which are raised above exceptions ? 
 
 Alas ! is it not obvious, that while men 
 have been engaged in this lengthened, 
 fruitless course, time has been passing, 
 souls have been perishing, and breaches 
 many and wide have been made upon the 
 church of Christ? Is it not notorious, 
 that the victories gained in this mode of 
 proceeding, have been few, and ques- 
 tionable, and undecided'* The regular 
 may have been made more regular; the 
 moral, the intellectual part of mankind 
 may have been amused, enlightened, or 
 confirmed in the paths they had chosen ; 
 but no brands have been plucked fi-om 
 
62 STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 the fire, no sinners have been converted, 
 no inroads have been made on the king- 
 dom of ignorance and vice ; and Satan 
 may have seen with satisfaction the ener- 
 scies of the Christian world exerted in a 
 form, which would never endanger the 
 security of his empire. 
 
 But it is otherwise with the word of 
 God. From that there is no appeal; 
 against that there is no resistance to be 
 offered. Men must either be convinced 
 and believe, or must throw off the self- 
 delusion of religion together with its 
 semblance. In this case, they cannot 
 protect their disobedience by a long-pro- 
 tracted combat; they cannot be defend- 
 ing their sins by disputing the authority 
 which condemns them. The contest must 
 be at once decided ; and they must soon 
 be made to feel that the Scriptures are to 
 them the savour of life unto life, or of 
 death unto death. 
 
63 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Different platis of sUidy ivJiich have been 
 recommended, considered. The me- 
 thod already suggested, shown to be 
 'preferable ; and the objections, that 
 it is deficient in system, or may lead 
 to latitudinarianism, answered. 
 
 It still may be urged against this view 
 of the study of theology, that it labours 
 under the insuperable fault of want of 
 system. The nature of the sacred vo- 
 lume itself, composed of a variety of 
 parts, and those parts joined together 
 according to rules which are not always 
 obvious or satisfactory; some of them 
 historical, some didactic ; some poetical. 
 
64 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 others prose ; in general following chro- 
 nological order in their arrangement, and 
 in some particulars deviating from it : 
 these circumstances may be named as a 
 source of inevitable confusion and error 
 to the student, who takes the Bible as his 
 plan of study. 
 
 There are two other modes of proceed- 
 ing ; of which the one deserves attention 
 from the authority which recommends it ; 
 and the other from its general adoption ; 
 but neither of which seem free from ob- 
 jections of still greater weight than those 
 which may be urged against this. The 
 first of these methods proceeds on the 
 idea, that the student may commence the 
 study of divinity, with a mind exempt 
 from all pre-conceived ideas on the sub- 
 ject. He is to take up his Bible as he 
 would any other book which treats of a 
 new science, and to begin his theological 
 labours with examining the claims which 
 the book possesses, and the genuine- 
 ness and authenticity of its parts. The 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. G5 
 
 obvious objection to this plan, is its im- 
 possibility; the utter impossibility that, in 
 a Christian country, such a state of mind 
 should ever be really and truly brought 
 to the study in question ; or that the at- 
 tempt to produce it should be any thing 
 more than a fiction devised for the pur- 
 pose, an imaginary rather than an actual 
 frame of mind. By the time of life when 
 men have gone through their preparatory 
 courses of education, and are beginning to 
 enter upon theology, they mast have 
 adopted a system of belief which is incom- 
 patible with this philosophical state of in- 
 difference. If education, if example, if the 
 influence of parental piety, has not al- 
 ready decided their opinions to the side of 
 truth, the interval cannot have been 
 passed in neutrality, and the enemy will 
 have been stocking the ground with tares, 
 which has not been occupied with wheat. 
 However specious, therefore, the idea 
 may seem of commencing the study at 
 once, and from a given point, the practice 
 
66 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 is impossible. The study has been begun 
 unconsciously at a much earlier period. 
 The mind has taken a bias which must 
 effectually prevent all such impartiality 
 of consideration as is supposed, all such 
 rectitude of judgment as is essential to 
 the discovery and reception of truth ; 
 and men w^ould only deceive themselves, 
 if they thought that it was possible to 
 begin the study of theology with minds 
 which should combine the maturity of 
 ripe reason with the simplicity of child- 
 hood. 
 
 Another objection, and one which in 
 the present case seems insurmountable, 
 arises from the circumstances of those to 
 whom it must be recommended. That 
 time is short, and art is long, is the 
 reflection excited in the mind of every 
 student when he contemplates the extent 
 of science, and compares it with the pe- 
 riod he can devote to its pursuit ; but 
 the time which can be given by the pa- 
 rochial clergy to studies purely profes- 
 
OP STUDY CONSIDERED. 67 
 
 sional, must of necessity be more limited 
 than that which is at the disposal of the 
 general scholar. In their cases, there- 
 fore, much which it is desirable to know, 
 must be taken for granted. Other men 
 have laboured, and they must be thank- 
 ful if they are permitted to enter into 
 their labours ; nor can it be thought 
 requisite for them to ascertain, by per- 
 sonal inquiry, the truth of facts which 
 have been already proved beyond the 
 limits of reasonable doubt. A general 
 acquaintance with the foundation of their 
 faith is all that can be expected from 
 them. The critical discussion of points 
 connected with these must be devolved 
 on others who possess leisure and oppor- 
 tunity for such inquiries ; while they 
 must give the whole of the little time 
 they can command, to questions of indis- 
 pensable necessity and daily application. 
 Though this long and regular scheme of 
 study, therefore, might be desirable for 
 the clergy if it were practicable, it could 
 
68 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 hardly, under any circumstances, be re- 
 garded as practicable for the parochial 
 minister. His time is too precious to be 
 spent in such abstractions, and happily 
 his work does not require such refine- 
 ments in order to its performance. A field, 
 white already to the harvest, is already 
 spread before him, and is calling for his 
 presence. Every day that passes may 
 see some precious ear shedding its pro- 
 duce, if he delays his hand ; and into 
 that field he is not required to carry the 
 lancet of the surgeon, or the apparatus 
 of the philosopher. The sickle of the 
 labourer is the instrument he will have 
 to wield in doing his Master's work ; and 
 perseverance, and diligence, and patience 
 are the qualities he will want in his pro- 
 fessional duties, rather than critical acute- 
 ness, or profound learning. 
 
 The other system which is more gene- 
 rally adopted, commences the study of 
 divinity with the doctrines of any parti- 
 cular church, and uses Scripture chiefly as 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 69 
 
 supplying the confirmation and illustra- 
 tion of the positions which are laid down 
 in them. This plan of study is usually 
 recommended on the grounds of its supe- 
 rior facility, and its superior certainty. 
 It is urged, that in adopting this course, 
 the mind is never exposed to the danger 
 of running into erroneous views ; but is 
 gradually formed to the standard which 
 is wished, and cast, as it were, into the 
 shape most agreeable to truth. The con- 
 clusions, likewise, to which the student 
 arrives in this vvay, are those which he 
 will subsequently have to admit, and to 
 maintain as a minister of the church of 
 England ; and they are such as may be 
 unhesitatingly admitted, since they ex- 
 hibit nothing but what is sound and 
 authoritative. 
 
 Compared with this, the attempt of 
 reaching the same standard of religious 
 opinion by a general study of Scripture, 
 is objected to as being circuitous, and 
 not totally devoid of danger. It is urged 
 
70 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 that truth is hid so deeply, and sur- 
 rounded with questions so embarrassing 
 to the mind of a youthful inquirer, that it 
 would be rash and presumptuous to seek 
 it at once from the Scriptures; and that 
 time would be lost, and labour wasted, in 
 the endeavour to collect it from the midst 
 of materials which exclude all idea of 
 system through the circumstances under 
 which they were formed. 
 
 The objection will be found more spe- 
 cious than real, whenever it is calmly 
 considered. In every course of study, 
 there is no doubt but system, or rather 
 method, must be diligently observed. 
 The absence of method will occasion the 
 loss of time, and include the risk of form- 
 ing many rash and ill-founded conclu- 
 sions. The absence of system will pro- 
 duce an irregular, uncertain knowledge, 
 and leave the mind open to perplexities 
 and doubts. But it behoves us to bear 
 in mind that there is a danger on either 
 side. There may be too much, or there 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 71 
 
 may be too little of system. Some sub- 
 jects admit of more, some admit of less; 
 and the attempt at a very close and 
 accurate system may be as detrimental to 
 the cause of truth in some cases, as it 
 would be favourable to it in others. It 
 seems hardly necessary to prove that the 
 subject before us is one of those, which 
 by its very nature must scorn the tram- 
 mels of system, and must suffer most 
 deeply from any unreasonable and anxious 
 endeavour to impose them. The truths 
 which revelation discloses, and which it 
 is the province of theology to discuss, 
 must from their very nature exceed 
 the comprehension of man ; and though 
 it is impossible that he should suppose 
 that they are without a plan ; and though 
 it is hardly possible that he should not 
 see the plan to which they belong, and of 
 which they form the parts ; he cannot pre- 
 tend to grasp them all at once, or to 
 decide ,with confidence as to the pro- 
 portions that they bear with regard to the 
 
7*2 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 whole scheme. That beautiful harmony 
 which does exist in fact, and forms the 
 essential character of truth, can no more 
 be properly learned from a mere system 
 of divinity, than the loveliness of the 
 human form could be inferred from a 
 skeleton. It must be gathered, and be 
 gathered gradually, from the Bible. It 
 must be studied in the several parts of 
 which the Bible is composed. It must be 
 learned from the way in which they 
 modify each other ; and will finally be 
 gained, with most certainty, by an accu- 
 rate acquaintance with all and each of 
 these, taken not separately, but con- 
 sidered in their union with each other. 
 
 If a student, therefore, begins with 
 system, there is great danger that he may 
 never rise to the freedom and the fulness 
 of truth. His views may be cramped, 
 his judgment be distorted, his whole 
 scheme of divinity be narrowed and hu- 
 manized by setting out on such a plan ; 
 just as there is danger that his time may 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 73 
 
 be wasted, and liis knowledge unpro- 
 ductive if he neglected system altogether, 
 and forgot that it was the end to which 
 bis researches were finally to lead him. 
 The plan which should avoid either ex- 
 treme; which should begin by tracing 
 the outline faintly, and should gradually 
 increase in precision and in accuracy 
 with increasing knowledge, seems the 
 thing to be desired; and it is not too 
 much to say, that these conditions are li- 
 terally fulfilled in Scripture. The first 
 few chapters of Genesis exhibit a sort 
 of vision of the whole of religion. The 
 man who has mastered these at the be- 
 ginning of his course, has gained a key 
 which may be used to unlock every suc- 
 ceeding mystery in the other dispensa- 
 tions he will read of; and if he really 
 carries in his mind the facts which are 
 there described, and the prophecies which 
 there are uttered ; he will be at no loss to 
 account for the reason of the various sur- 
 prising events which follow. The scheme 
 
74 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 of redemption gradually unfolds itself to 
 his view, as he advances through the 
 Bible ; at first dimly seen through the 
 distant patriarchal prophecies ; then more 
 sensibly described in the types and em- 
 blems of the Jewish law ; and then pro- 
 claimed with clearer tones by successive 
 prophets, till the full day breaks forth 
 in the gospel. In a scheme thus gra- 
 dually advancing to complete develop- 
 ment, and actually gaining development 
 from every successive dispensation, it is 
 not too much to say, that there is enough 
 of system to regulate a course of study. 
 A plan is exhibited which includes every 
 doctrinal truth, and under which, every 
 scriptural statement may find its proper 
 place. A plan is exhibited, no less, no 
 other, than the very plan which the Deity 
 has pursued in effecting the object He 
 had in view, the redemption of man ; and 
 if this plan of study seems less correct, 
 less systematic than that which is usually 
 proposed, we may perhaps feel, that it 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 75 
 
 is on that very account better suited 
 to the intellect of those by whom it is 
 handled ; and that imperfect beings are 
 hardly fitted for any system wliicli pre- 
 tends to more perfect accuracy. 
 
 Let the student of divinity then begin 
 with his Bible, and use that at least 
 as the syllabus of his course, and he will 
 have no want of system to complain of 
 He will there have the scheme of redemp- 
 tion sketched before him, not by the hand 
 of man, but by the Spirit of truth. Let 
 him be content, likewise, to take what he 
 finds there, as it is, and as he finds it , 
 nor yield to the prurient curiosity which 
 tempts him to pry into that which God 
 has hidden from man. Let him leav€ 
 the eternity which precedes, and the 
 eternity which is to follow, in the ob- 
 scurity which belongs to it, nor wish to 
 be wise above what is written. The 
 rising pride of his intellect may be hum- 
 bled by the limit thus placed on its in- 
 quiries. The conviction of his ignorance 
 
 E 2 
 
76 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 and weakness may be frequently and pain- 
 fully impressed upon his mind ; he will be 
 unable to gratify his own imagination, 
 or that of his hearers, by a clear detail 
 of the whole of God's purposes towards 
 man ; but his walk may be all the safer, 
 and his labours not less fruitful on this 
 account. The message of reconciliation 
 may be urged with as much effect, the 
 blessedness of a holy godly life may be 
 inculcated as forcibly, as if he were able 
 to lift up the seals of God's decrees, 
 or to describe, with the faculties of an 
 eye-witness, the things which God has 
 prepared for them that love Him. 
 
 The diffidence of statement which 
 will naturally follow from this conscious- 
 ness of limited knowledge, will suit best 
 with the condition of those whom he ad- 
 dresses, and the nature of his own state. 
 The presumption of the self-righteous, 
 the bold speculations of the visionary, 
 the empty curiosity of the mere inquirer, 
 will find no food, no encouragement, in 
 
OF STL'DY CONSIDERED. 
 
 77 
 
 the views which he promulgates; but 
 those who hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness will be fed ; those who mourn 
 w ill be comforted ; those who are in- 
 quiring the way to Zion, with their faces 
 thitherward, will be directed ; those who 
 are sunk in the lethargy of indifference 
 will be awakened; and of all the real 
 servants of God, not one will fail of 
 having his portion of meat in due season. 
 And who shall say that a ministry cal- 
 culated to produce such fruits as these, 
 is deficient in any essential requisite? 
 Who shall deny, that the man, who, dwell- 
 ino' on the truths which are revealed, 
 leaves those which God has reserved 
 to himself, in the shade which infinite 
 wisdom has ordained they should remain 
 in, is a scribe instructed unto the king- 
 dom of heaven ; and while he brings forth 
 out of his treasure, things both new and 
 old; while he illustrates, confirms, and 
 proves God's present dealings with his 
 people, by the light of those which 
 
78 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 are past, what does he leave to his 
 people to require, or which of them 
 will fail of receiving his portion in due 
 season ? 
 
 But it may be objected;, on another 
 ground, that a scheme like this is of too 
 latitudinarian a cast ; and that it is incon- 
 sistent with the reverence and attachment 
 due to the principles of the church, to 
 begin the study of divinity without imme- 
 diate reference to her formularies and 
 articles of religion. The objection would 
 have greater weight, if there were any 
 one principle or doctrine of the church 
 of England which was not founded on 
 Scripture, and which did not derive from 
 Scripture the authority it possesses . The fe- 
 licity of members of the church appears pe- 
 culiarly to be this, that nothing is required 
 from them which is not read in Holy Scrip- 
 ture, nor which may be proved thereby : 
 and while the church of Rome, conscious 
 of the fatal deviations it has made from 
 the one foundation of truth, shrinks with 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 79 
 
 a sort of instinctive dread, from any ap- 
 proach to a standard which would prove 
 the extent of its departure, and lead to its 
 subversion ; it seems to be the privilege 
 of a Protestant to proceed with confi- 
 dence in a study which will make him a 
 better churchman, as well as a more en- 
 lightened Christian; and strengthen his at- 
 tachment to his brethren as well as his love 
 for God. In point of doctrines, then, the 
 minister of the church of England looks 
 fearlessly to Scripture, as the source he 
 is to draw from. The articles of his 
 church profess to be no more than deduc- 
 tions drawn from Scripture. Acquaint- 
 ance with Scripture soon proves that this 
 claim is well founded, and that the for- 
 mularies of his church only echo back the 
 truths which are revealed in Scripture. 
 But it is also his peculiar privilege to re- 
 cognize in his articles the same generality 
 of statement, the same comprehensive 
 scheme, the same exemption from the 
 narrowness of human views, which he 
 
80 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 had remarked before in Scripture. No- 
 thing seems bound there, which had 
 been loosed before ; nothing is left loose 
 there, which had been bound ; nothing is 
 asserted there, which he has not already 
 seen asserted in the word of God; no- 
 thing is neglected there, which has been 
 revealed as necessary to salvation. His 
 views may be rendered clearer by the 
 manner in which these truths are now 
 presented; his conclusions may be acce- 
 lerated by remarking their coincidence 
 with all that he has collected ; but he will 
 turn from the articles to Scripture with a 
 confirmed impression of their truth ; or, he 
 will look from Scripture to the articles, in 
 order to express his own inferences more 
 distinctly in the language which he meets 
 with there. Attempts no doubt have 
 been made, at various times, and by dif- 
 ferent persons, of which it would be dif- 
 ficult to deny the injurious tendency, to 
 substitute the word of Scripture for every 
 authorized confession. But no such mea- 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 81 
 
 sure is supposed here. The formularies 
 of the cluirch are not to be superseded 
 by tlie Bible ; but the character of those 
 formularies is to be vindicated, and their 
 power learnt, by a previous study of those 
 Scriptures, which they cite as the source 
 of their authority. Creeds and confes- 
 sions are not to be thrown aside, as su- 
 perfluous or unnecessary ; but men are to 
 be taught their necessity, are to be made 
 to feel their importance, by acquaintance 
 with the truths which were originally re- 
 vealed in Scripture, but are summed up 
 and stated there. Nothing is proposed, 
 in short, more than what regularly oc- 
 curs in the course of nature. The effect 
 is to follow the cause. The conclusion is 
 to be drawn when the premises have been 
 learnt; and instead of anticipating the 
 result of religious inquiry, by adopting, at 
 once and without examination, the au- 
 thorized statements of doctrine, die mind 
 is to be led to those conclusions, by that 
 general acquaintance with the whole of 
 
 £ 5 
 
82 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 revealed truth, which must, with ahnost 
 universal contingency, produce them. 
 
 In a system of study projected on this 
 plan, there is nothing that can properly 
 be called latitudinarian. No doubt a 
 certain degree of liberty is offered to 
 inquiry; no doubt the mind is allowed to 
 investigate truth with freedom; but it 
 does not behove truth to deprecate such 
 a scrutiny, nor can any real advantage be 
 gained by deferring it. This is an in- 
 quiry which, sooner or later, must be made 
 by all, unless obviated by a slavish sub- 
 jugation of the intellect; and which, if 
 it is begun later, we know must be carried 
 on under circumstances little favourable 
 to its successful progress. The mind, if 
 upright and honest, naturally suspects 
 the integrity of those conclusions to 
 which it is guided by the bias of au- 
 thority; scans with a morbid jealousy the 
 nature of its own convictions, when they 
 tend to the side of self-advantage; or 
 else is tempted, as we know from affecting 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 
 
 83 
 
 narratives is frequently tlie case in the 
 church of Rome, to prolong the assent of 
 ignorance by the silence of hypocrisy or 
 the sophistry of unbelief. 
 
 If any thing like latitudinarianism, 
 therefore, is ever to be admitted in the 
 ministerial studies, let it be in the pre- 
 paratory stages. Let the inquiries which 
 are made there, be subject to no other li- 
 mit than those which sound criticism and 
 a well-regulated heart impart. Let them 
 be carried on with the freedom of a mind 
 which is honestly seeking for truth, and 
 with the humility of a mind conscious of its 
 own weakness and dependance. Let them 
 be pursued with diligence, but with dili- 
 gence sanctified by that fear of the Lord 
 which is the beginning of wisdom; and from 
 inquiries such as these, thus free from the 
 usual causes of obliquity and error, what 
 can the cause of truth expect, but the 
 most hearty and conscientious accept- 
 ance ; an acceptance grounded on con- 
 viction, and strengthened by the scope 
 
84 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN 
 
 and bearing of the studies which pro- 
 duced it? 
 
 Studies such as these, far from leading 
 to uncertainty and doubt as to essential 
 points of doctrine, form the only founda- 
 tions for a firm uncompromising faith. 
 The man who has been accustomed to 
 shrink from this free and liberal discus- 
 sion, and has been taught to view truth 
 under one aspect only and in only one 
 direction, may be staggered when he 
 hears of the diversity of opinions which 
 prevail on the same subject, and which 
 are held with unquestionable sincerity by 
 others. He may be tempted to regard 
 the least deviation from the view he had 
 himself adopted, as impeaching the inte- 
 grity of the subject of his belief; and will 
 be overwhelmed by the multitude of his 
 opponents, if ail are to be considered as 
 such who differ from him in the way in 
 which they describe the truth which they 
 believe in common. Certainty, in the 
 case of such a person, can only be gained 
 
OF STUDY CONSIDERED. 85 
 
 by the sacrifice of independence and of 
 candour. He must resolve not to tliink, 
 in'order to be free from doubt ; and will 
 live in the continual fear of meetinij with 
 some new statement, which must shake 
 the stability of his own conclusions, if it 
 is admitted as reasonable or just. But 
 who would prefer the exactness and rigour 
 which might be gained by such a process, 
 to the confidence of one who has surveyed 
 the whole of revelation, and allowed the 
 full and proper weight to each of its com- 
 ponent parts; who has entered on the 
 study with the conviction, that he was 
 about to contemplate a depth and width 
 of wisdom which no finite intellect is capa- 
 ble of comprehending ; who was disposed 
 to admit all he met with in the sacred 
 record, in its plain literal sense ; and who, 
 expecting that he should find in it many 
 things exceeding the limits of his under- 
 standing, was still ready to believe that all 
 might be reconciled in the wisdom of God, 
 though he himself was incapable of per- 
 
86 OBJECTIONS TO THIS PLAN, &C. 
 
 ceiving the agreement at present -, who, in 
 this way, was equally prepared to yield to 
 truth and to resist the doubt ; to give the 
 truth its proper value, and to assign the 
 doubt to its proper cause ; and who can 
 find in the largeness of Christian wisdom, 
 respect for those who differ from him in 
 their views of truth, without any diminu- 
 tion of confidence in his own ? 
 
87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Interpretation of Scripture. The dif- 
 fei^ent means that 7nay be made use of 
 for this purpose, and the assistance 
 that may be obtained in each. Com- 
 mentators, works of criticism. 
 
 The Bible, then, presents itself as the pro- 
 per subject for the Christian minister's 
 studies. Of this we may say with fuller 
 justice, than was said of models of lite- 
 rary taste, " Nocturna versate manu, 
 versate diurna." All that the minister 
 wants, all that he has to say, all that lie 
 has to do, is to be found here. The 
 message which he has to communicate, 
 the arguments by which it is to be 
 pressed, the authority by which it is to be 
 
88 HELPS IN THE 
 
 supported, are all included in this book. 
 Let him but make- this book his own, com- 
 prehend its bearing, embrace its views, 
 imbibe its spirit ; and he then will be a 
 workman that need not be ashamed, 
 rightly dividing the word of truth. 
 
 But this work is not without its diffi- 
 culties. It is not possible that a book 
 produced under similar circumstances, 
 composed of Revelations made at various 
 times, and to various persons ; treating 
 of subjects the most awful and mys- 
 terious, conveyed to us through the me- 
 dium of language no longer in common 
 use, and open to all the varieties of in- 
 terpretation which belong to such a re- 
 cord, should offer no difficulty to any 
 mind, or be equally clear to all. We 
 might reasonably hope that all should be 
 capable of understanding that, which was 
 necessary to be known by all; and we 
 have the express encouragement of pro- 
 phecy for hoping, that no earnest, humble 
 inquirer after truth will be disappointed 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 89 
 
 ill his pursuit.* But there is obviously 
 a difference betvveep the case of him vvlio 
 merely seeks knowledge for his own gui- 
 dance, and that of him who seeks it for 
 the professed purpose of guiding others. 
 The former case is simple and plain : one 
 series of wants is proposed ; one appli- 
 cation of the word of truth may be suffi- 
 cient for its relief; the man knows his 
 own ailment, and can feel when it is met. 
 The case is different where a variety of 
 moral conditions are to be examined, and 
 where the state of many is to be consi- 
 dered. Self-experience here oilers no 
 assistance, or merely rises to conjecture. 
 A wider knowledge of Scripture, and a 
 deeper acquaintance with the human 
 heart, will be needed ; for the minister 
 cannot venture to hope that the state of 
 all shall be alike, or that all minds should 
 be open to the arguments which are found 
 conclusive in the case of some. 
 
 Hence arises a new view of his duty 
 
 * Isaiah xx\, 21 ; xxxv. 8. 
 
90 HELPS IN THE 
 
 as an interpreter of Scripture. Scripture 
 he has to apply ; but in order to apply 
 it usefully, he must know how to inter- 
 pret it properly, to deduce the proper 
 sense, to draw the natural inference, and 
 to feel that the doctrine which he incul- 
 cates is really the doctrine of Scripture, 
 and not an imagination of his own, which 
 he has grafted on the letter of it. And 
 here it is important to mark the difference 
 between the studies of the minister, and 
 those of the private Christian. The mercy 
 of God has ordained that conviction 
 should invariably follow a humble and 
 faithful application to the word of truth, 
 under circumstances which in other re- 
 spects might seem most unfavourable to 
 the acquisition of knowledge; and we 
 are compelled continually to remark with 
 astonishment and delight, the manner in 
 which the inquiries begun and carried on 
 in this spirit are guided to the truth, even 
 in questions where the learned and wise 
 are lost in perplexity and doubts. 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 91 
 
 But we cannot but feel that the case of 
 one who is called to minister to others, 
 differs materially from that of common 
 individuals. We can conceive that in 
 them one single test of truth is sufficient, 
 the reference to a conscience awakened 
 and enlightened by the grace of God. 
 We can conceive that in them the testi- 
 mony of the Spirit, testifying with their 
 spirit, might ascertain the great subject 
 of inquiry; and that dismissing all at- 
 tempt at explaining w^hat they felt, they 
 might satisfy themselves with the con- 
 clusion of the man who had received his 
 sight; " One thing I know, that whereas 
 1 was blind, now I see." But this can- 
 not be the case with him, whose office it 
 is to apply to others the truth which is to 
 produce conversion ; and who therefore 
 in his proceedings towards them, or in his 
 inferences with respect to them, cannot 
 be guided by that testimony of con- 
 science, and that inward witness of the 
 
92 HELPS IN THE 
 
 Spirit, which he may have felt was all-suf- 
 ficient in himself. It will not do for him 
 even to refer to his own experience, and 
 imagine that the case of one is the case 
 of all. It will not do for him to employ 
 on every person the same system which 
 he has found profitable to himself; and 
 endeavour to repeat on others a process 
 which may have taken place in one. He 
 must be acquainted, not merely with his 
 own mind, but with tliat which may be 
 regarded as the mind of Scripture ; and 
 must be so far master of its whole system 
 as to be able to supply to each particular 
 case the assistance which it needs, and 
 which its own peculiar circumstances may 
 require. "The priest's lips/' we are told, 
 "should keep knowledge, and they should 
 seek thelaw at his mouth, for he is the mes- 
 senger of the Lord of Hosts."* All that 
 God has revealed to man is entrusted to 
 the minister by the very conditions of his 
 office; and all that is entrusted to him for 
 * Malachi ii. 7. 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 93 
 
 this purpose, he must be capable of di- 
 viding and imparting to others. 
 
 Nor again must we suppose that the 
 general diffusion of the Scriptures, the 
 facilities offered to all of examining and 
 inquiring for themselves into the record 
 of salvation, make any material altera- 
 tion in the minister's office. It is true 
 that he no longer has any exclusive pri- 
 vilege of dispensing the word of God. 
 All who hear him are capable, equally 
 capable perhaps with himself, of applying 
 to the Scriptures for instruction ; and all 
 are commanded, and in duty bound to 
 seek it there. But he knows little of 
 men, who imagines that either the per- 
 mission to possess the Scriptures, or even 
 the injunction to search the Scriptures, 
 will supersede the necessity of the minis- 
 terial office. Of all who are permitted or 
 commanded to read them, many will not 
 avail themselves of the permission, nor 
 comply with the injunction. Of the few 
 who do so, still fewer will employ their 
 
94 HELPS IN THE 
 
 powers properly ; will read so as to pro- 
 fit by what they read ; or will deduce, 
 even from the study of the Bible, that 
 simple and collected view of divine truth, 
 on which alone ^^ pure and undefiled re- 
 ligion" can be raised. Their application 
 to the pursuit too often will be found to 
 have been formal, languid, or irregular. 
 It will have been begun under motives of 
 excitement, or carried on in a spirit on 
 which no blessing can be hoped. The in- 
 ferences drawn, the system imagined, 
 will bear the marks of the circumstances 
 under which they were formed. Their 
 knowledge will require revision, their 
 views correction ; and their general im- 
 pressions of Scripture truth must be sub- 
 mitted again and again to the influence 
 of a mind more experienced in comparing 
 spiritual things with spiritual, and more 
 acquainted with the intricacies of error 
 to which human weakness is exposed. 
 
 If a Christian congregation therefore 
 can no longer be considered as entirely 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 95 
 
 dependant on tlieir minister for that bread 
 of life which came down from heaven ; 
 if the Bible is so generally distributed 
 as to become the sort of common pos- 
 session of man; it does not follow that 
 he, whose office it is to dispense it, is 
 exonerated from the duties of his calling. 
 Much still remains to be done in the way 
 of doctrine, of reproof, of correction, of 
 instruction in righteousness. The duties 
 of the ministry are altered rather than 
 suspended by the circumstances under 
 which it is to be exercised ; and as wide 
 a field of labour is opened, in guiding the 
 vague and perverse inquiries of men; 
 as there would have been in simply de- 
 livering, as the prophets did of old, the 
 oracles of God to an ignorant, but sub- 
 missive people. It is not therefore merely 
 acquaintance with Scripture, but know- 
 ledge of the whole Scripture, which con- 
 stitutes the qualifications for the office 
 now. It is not merely familiarity with 
 the language, and facility in quotation, 
 
96 HELPS IN THE 
 
 though either of these are most important 
 qualifications^ which fill up the whole of a 
 minister's accomplishments. Beyond these, 
 he must be expected to possess that ge- 
 neral view of the revealed will of God, 
 which nothing but long and persevering 
 study of the whole Bible can produce. 
 He must not only be familiar with its lan- 
 guage, but he must understand the weight 
 and the bearing of that language. He 
 must not only be familiar with the text, 
 but he must know how to combine and 
 to apply it, and to deduce from passages 
 which appear at variance with each other, 
 the simple harmony of truth. 
 
 Unless he is capable of doing this, the 
 conclusions which he draws for himself 
 may be erroneous ; nor will he be able to 
 fulfil his office of redeeming and correct- 
 ing the errors of others who are under 
 him. Unless he is capable of doing this, 
 those statements which he is compelled to 
 make, those statements of doctrine which 
 in his case cannot be confined to his own 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 97 
 
 breast, and be slowly and gradually 
 moulded to the standard of truth ; but 
 which he must publicly and continually 
 profess, will be deficient in consistency 
 and soundness. Appointed to lead the 
 blind, he will be found blind himself; and 
 instead of guiding- others into truth, he may 
 be unconsciously assisting their departure. 
 We cannot then but feel, that that 
 measure of scriptural knowledge which 
 is sufficient for others, may be found 
 very far below the requirements of the 
 ministerial office ; nor do we magnify the 
 nature of that office, in saying that the 
 knowledge by which others may be made 
 wise unto salvation, is not all that is 
 needed there. A wider acquaintance 
 with the record of truth, a more ample 
 view of its bearing upon others, a deeper 
 knowledge of its meaning, a more per- 
 fect understanding of the mind of Scrip- 
 ture, is necessary for him, whose office it 
 is to give to each of his Lord's servants 
 their portion in due season, than for 
 
 p 
 
98 HELPS IN THE 
 
 others ; and we cannot but feel, that that 
 limited and imperfect view of truth, 
 which in the case of many humble and 
 sincere believers, has been guarded from 
 the consequences to which it might have 
 led, and been blessed to their salvation, 
 would have been a very perilous and in- 
 adequate foundation for a public ministry 
 of the word. 
 
 That office involves not merely the 
 feeling of the power of the truth ; not 
 merely that secret interpretation of the 
 word, by which the Spirit of God takes of 
 the things of Christ, and shows them unto 
 us ; but likewise, that interpretation of 
 the word, by which man communicates to 
 others the insight he has gained into his 
 Maker's will ; and leads them, if not to 
 the same feelings, at least to the same 
 views and knowledge with himself And 
 while all possess the Scriptures, all are 
 authorised to look for the right interpre- 
 tation of Scripture, to him whom they be- 
 hold as their minister. In this way we 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 99 
 
 might say, that after the preliminary steps 
 have been passed, after a general ac- 
 quaintance with the text of Scripture has 
 been gained, a new labour will then be- 
 gin, that of interpretation of the Scrip- 
 ture. The process will succeed by which 
 the precious ore may be extracted from 
 the materials which have been collected ; 
 and by which the truths of Scripture may 
 be exhibited in their purest form and in 
 their justest application. 
 
 With regard to the interpretation of 
 Scripture, two courses present them- 
 selves. The first, the most common, 
 the easiest, and in some respects the 
 safest, consists in the interpretation of 
 the text by means of commentaries or 
 notes. In these we have the embodied 
 results of the inquiries instituted by men 
 of learning, industry, and piety; in these 
 we are put in possession of the experi- 
 ence and conclusions of preceding gene- 
 rations, and are allowed to enter at once 
 into the labours of those who have ex- 
 
 f2 
 
100 HELPS IN THE 
 
 erted themselves most effectively in the 
 same field. 
 
 The other course, the less common, 
 the less easy, and in general the less safe, 
 begins with a study of the principles of 
 interpretation, and consists in an appli- 
 cation of these to the text of Scripture. 
 
 The first method, is that which has 
 been most generally made use of in this 
 country : the other has been chiefly 
 cultivated on the continent. The first 
 comes recommended by the sanction of 
 the great names which are thus brought 
 forward as authorities : the latter pos- 
 sesses the advantage of a nearer and 
 more immediate reference to the source 
 of truth itself The first, perhaps, im- 
 poses too much restraint on the activity 
 of the mind : the other gives too wide a 
 scope to its conjectures. The one is 
 in danger of producing taraeness, and an 
 excessive deference to human opinions : 
 the other of leading to vague and in- 
 consistent speculation. Each probably 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 101 
 
 would be more useful if exercised in com- 
 bination with the other ; nor need they 
 ever be considered as incompatible. 
 
 The habit which has been established 
 in this country of referring for every 
 difficulty to commentators of established 
 reputation, renders it unnecessary to dwell 
 on the superior advantages which in 
 general attend this system. It may not 
 however be useless to remark, that there 
 are advantages attending the other mode 
 which are not to be overlooked or neg- 
 lected. The attempt at making Scripture 
 its own interpreter, tends to form and to 
 preserve a reverence for Scripture. It 
 naturally produces a habit of searching 
 Scripture, of meditating on Scripture, of 
 digesting Scripture, which alone may lead 
 to very important results. It is calculated 
 likewise to strengthen the mind by the 
 exercise which it involves ; and it must 
 lead to a general acquaintance with the 
 text, to facility in referring to particular 
 passages, and in comparing one with 
 
102 HELPS IN THE 
 
 another, whicli seems to be of all accom- 
 plishments the one most to be desired for 
 him who is to preach the gospel. 
 
 But if interpretation of Scripture is to 
 be chiefly carried on by the means of 
 commentaries, it is necessary that the 
 student should well understand the cha- 
 racter of the author to whose guidance 
 he commits himself He should be aware 
 of the peculiarities of doctrine, of the 
 peculiarities of manner and of statement, 
 he will meet with in each : he should al- 
 ways remember, that in passing from the 
 text to the comment, he is passing from 
 the word of God to that of men ; from 
 that word in which there can be no error, 
 to that in which there may be error of 
 every kind ; and instead of lending a full 
 and entire submission to the interpreta- 
 tion which he meets with, he must not so 
 completely surrender the independence of 
 his mind, as to take for certain the view 
 which is presented, till he feels that that 
 view is founded upon truth, and sup- 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 103 
 
 ported by its liariiiony witli other parts of 
 Scripture. 
 
 Each of the great commentators, whose 
 works are in general circuh\tion, pos- 
 sesses failings or merits peculiar to him- 
 self. All may be consulted with advan- 
 tage, if consulted with discretion; but 
 nobody perhaps will be disposed to as- 
 sert of any one, that it precludes all ne- 
 cessity of referring to others. The series 
 of commentaries which is usually arrang- 
 ed together under the names of Patrick, 
 Lowth, and Whitby, contains unques- 
 tionably much of sound learning and use- 
 ful information ; together with merits of a 
 higher kind in Lowth's notes on the Pro- 
 phetic Books ; but at the same time it is 
 obviously and greatly deficient in that 
 warm and lively application of divine 
 truth to the heart, which forms the es- 
 sence of religion ; and this deficiency is 
 most deeply felt, in that portion of the 
 Bible where it might be least expected, 
 
104 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 the comment on the New Testament by 
 Whitby. 
 
 The commentary on the whole Bible, 
 published under the name of Matthew 
 Henry, possesses again qualities peculiar 
 to itself. In no other work of the same 
 kind will the reader find such richness of 
 spiritual improvement, such a diversity 
 of views, the result of so much close and 
 devotional reflection on the word of God. 
 At the same time, this work, which is a 
 perfect storehouse of materials for the 
 preacher, would offer a very questionable 
 satisfaction to the man who sought for 
 the solution of some knotty point, or the 
 elucidation of some obscure passage. He 
 would probably find the difficulty lost 
 sight of in some touching generality ; and 
 would feel that his author was more anx- 
 ious to apply what was evident, than to 
 clear up what was doubtful.* 
 
 * That M. Henry was a non-confbrnust, could 
 not be discerned by any reader of his commentary. 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 105 
 
 The great work of Mr. Scott would 
 seem to approacli nearer to expectation, 
 if we did not find it labouring- in some 
 degree under objections peculiar to itself. 
 Asa general summary of scriptural truth, 
 it is unrivalled ; as the production of a 
 whole life devoted to the study of the 
 Bible, it deserves the attention of every 
 one who seeks for the mind of Scripture ; 
 and the integrity of the author offers an 
 assurance that whatever liis statements 
 may be, they are only such as he con- 
 sidered to be fair and legitimate de- 
 ductions from the word. It must how- 
 ever be remembered that he takes the 
 Calvinistic view of the seventeenth article, 
 as far as the doctrine of personal election is 
 concerned ; though he is too honest a man, 
 and too faithful an interpreter of Scrip- 
 ture, to introduce these points, except as 
 he thinks that Scripture leads him, or to 
 allow them to have any practical influence 
 on his instructions. His bias, though 
 perceptible, is never offensive, even to 
 
 F 5 
 
106 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 tliose who differ from him ; and he seems 
 to have felt more strongly than preceding 
 commentators, the difficulty of reducing 
 Scripture to any thing like system. The 
 student who consults this work, may have 
 occasion perhaps, to regret still more the 
 want of that close and pointed explana- 
 tion, which alone relieves doubt satis- 
 factorily ; and may find different views 
 so blended together in the commentary, 
 as to be sometimes left in doubt as to the 
 real meaning of the passage he examines. 
 
 But if in this way it may occasionally 
 disappoint the inquiry of one who seeks 
 for accurate information, it will seldom be 
 consulted without advantage. To those 
 who know how to appreciate the pecu- 
 liarities of the author, it will continue to 
 supply a source of pure scriptural inter- 
 pretation. Generations yet unborn shall 
 drink from its streams and be refreshed ; 
 and a new era of the church may be dated 
 from the period of its publication. 
 
 The Family Bible, published by the 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 107 
 
 Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, exhibited the realization of a plan 
 which had often been contemplated be- 
 fore. By selecting from commentators, 
 or writers of approved reputation, the 
 notes which seemed necessary for the il- 
 lustration of the text, the Editors hoped 
 to avoid the jealousy which might have 
 been excited by any novel or original ex- 
 planation; while at the same time it seem- 
 ed probable, that from the wide field of 
 theological literature, they might be able 
 to collect passages which should meet 
 every question that arose in the study of 
 the Scriptures. Proceeding on this plan, 
 they have collected many important re- 
 marks and many valuable illustrations ; 
 while it is also obvious, that many diffi- 
 culties remain unanswered, and that jus- 
 tice can hardly be done to any passage 
 which is quoted in separation from the 
 context. Another objection, and one of 
 greater importance, must also be made to 
 this plan; that it precludes all attempt at 
 
108 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 a continuous or connected explanation 
 of the text of Scripture ; and that it is 
 better calculated for solving particular 
 difficulties, than for yielding general im- 
 provement. 
 
 These four form the commentaries in 
 most general use ; and it is perhaps ob- 
 vious, from what has been said, even in 
 this cursory review, that each should be 
 consulted for specific purposes ; and that 
 none of them is fully sufficient for all. 
 The meaning of an obscure passage may 
 be more distinctly explained in the Fa- 
 mily Bible. The general tone of doctrine 
 may be most satisfactorily traced by 
 Mr. Scott. Practical improvement may 
 be found most amply developed by 
 Matthew Henry; and more of learn- 
 ing may be displayed by Patrick and 
 his associates. He, therefore, who pro- 
 fesses to interpret Scripture by the help 
 of such guides, must be aware of the 
 character and power of those on whom 
 he leans; and instead of seeking all he 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 109 
 
 wants from one, must be content to take 
 from each, that which is most likely to be 
 found in it. 
 
 In addition to these connnentaries, 
 which include the whole of the Bible, 
 there are others which are confined to 
 the New Testament; and will naturally 
 be referred to for assistance there. Of 
 these, none will be consulted with more 
 general satisfaction, than that by Dod- 
 dridge, whose tone of mind and spirit 
 seem eminently to have qualified him for 
 the office of commenting on the doctrines 
 of the gospel. Soundness of judgment 
 and spirituality of feeling are combined 
 in this excellent work ; and the few, but 
 valuable notes which are subjoined, show 
 what Doddridge was capable of doing 
 in the criticism, as well as in the elucida- 
 tion of the text. 
 
 Tlie work of Macknight may also be 
 referred to with profit. Bold, and acute 
 in his remarks, he has carried to the 
 language of the New Testament some- 
 
110 HELPS IN THE 
 
 thing of that innovating spirit which has 
 more frequently been exercised on tlie 
 Hebrew of the old. The interpretations 
 which he produces by this system, are 
 not always such as can be admitted; 
 his knowledge of the Greek language was 
 evidently superficial, and his remarks in 
 consequence are frequently rash and un- 
 grounded ; nor is his conmientary calcu- 
 lated to excite warm or devotional feel- 
 ings. At the same time his work may be 
 often consulted with advantage. His ob- 
 servations are generally original, and some- 
 times just ; and the different renderings 
 which he offers, serve to break the mono- 
 tony of our views, and can hardly fail to 
 awaken attention, if they do not bring con- 
 viction. The work of Mr. Slade on the 
 Epistles must however be mentioned as a 
 safer and more profitable guide in this 
 species of commentary ; and is particu- 
 larly intended, as well as admirably cal- 
 culated for the use of students in divi- 
 nity. Hammond's commentary on the 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRITTURE. Ill 
 
 New Testament is learned and pious, 
 though his views are tinctured by the 
 party-feelings which tlie civil wars ex- 
 cited, and by a phantom of the gnostic 
 heresv which seems to have haunted his 
 imagination. Guyse's commentary on 
 the New Testament, if it is more easily 
 accessible, may be used with profit and 
 satisfaction. For the purpose of family 
 reading, few comments have met with more 
 general acceptance than that by Burkett; 
 and for private devotional study, the trans- 
 lation of Quesnel's Reflections on the 
 New Testament seems peculiarly adapted. 
 The man who is unsatisfied with these 
 assistances must ascend higher. He must 
 go to the Synopsis of Poole, and amidst 
 the multitude of conflicting opinions which 
 he meets with there, he raust endeavour to 
 collect that which approximates the near- 
 est to reason. In this maze of doubts, how- 
 ever, a more enlarged degree of informa- 
 tion will be wanted to direct him. He must 
 not only know the names of the authors 
 
1 12 HELPS IN THE 
 
 which are cited, but he must also know 
 the churches to which they belong, their 
 creeds, their denominations, their private 
 opinions. Beyond this, he must also be 
 guarded against the shock which may be 
 felt at seeing the variety of opinions held 
 and maintained with regard to a single 
 text. Some short acquaintance with this 
 wonderful work, will perhaps lead him 
 to remark, that for acuteness of mind, for 
 that which we commonly call good sense, 
 none of the commentators cited is fit to 
 be compared to Calvin ; and should this 
 lead him to consult the commentary of 
 Calvin, he will be surprised to find, that 
 in closeness of practical application, in 
 freedom froui all the abuses of what has 
 been called his system, few commentaries 
 can be put in competition with his. 
 
 As a sequel to Poole's Synopsis, as 
 adding to the treasure of old things that 
 of later inquiries, the Recensio Synop- 
 tica of the Rev. J. S. Bloomfield must 
 likewise be named. But like the pre- 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 113 
 
 ceding great work, of which it carries on 
 the plan, it will only be made use of for 
 the purpose of occasional reference, to 
 clear up some particular difficulty, or to 
 learn the opinions which have been formed 
 by others. Here indeed it possesses this 
 advantage, that the learned editor acts 
 the part of the moderator among the 
 authors whom he cites, and instead of 
 leaving the student to wander among their 
 conflicting statements, he accompanies 
 these with such remarks, as tend to direct 
 the judgment which should be formed from 
 their conclusions. 
 
 One other source of knowledge may be 
 named in addition to these, and that is, 
 the assistance to be derived from diiiereut 
 versions. Every language has its pe- 
 culiarities, and every version has its me- 
 rits or defects ; but it frequently happens 
 that a passage which is rendered ob- 
 scurely by one, is rendered more clearly 
 by another translator ; and that a diffi- 
 culty which arises from the idiom of one 
 
114 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 language, lias no place in the idiom of 
 another. The student therefore who pos- 
 sesses the power of turning to any fo- 
 reign version of the Scriptures, such 
 as the German, the French, the Italian, 
 or the Latin, has the means of collect- 
 ing the views which other translators 
 have taken of the text; he may in a 
 manner be consulting Luther, Martin, 
 Diodati, or Beza ; and may assist his 
 own views of the original, by that 
 which he sees these eminent men have 
 taken. 
 
 Such then are the means before us for 
 the interpretation of the sacred text ; and 
 to these means, every one who aims at 
 the character of one rightly dividing the 
 word of truth, will necessarily apply with 
 diligence and perseverance. But still 
 let him bear in mind that these are only 
 means — means which by God's blessing 
 may be, and often are, rendered abun- 
 dantly fruitful ; but which still depend 
 upon that blessing for their result. Let 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 115 
 
 these inquiries therefore be begun, con- 
 tinued, and ended in prayer; let the stu- 
 dent remember tliat the wisdom and tlie 
 piety of those whom he follows, offer him 
 no security from error, no assurance of 
 arriving at truth, if they are consulted 
 with a careless or a supercilious spirit. 
 Let him bear in mind that sensibility to 
 the power of truth is distinct from the fa- 
 culty which perceives it; and that whatever 
 may be the means of acquiring- theological 
 knowledge, the only way of being made 
 wise unto salvation, is through faith which 
 is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 It remains that something should be 
 said of that other method of interpreting 
 Scripture, to which allusion has been 
 made already, and which consists in ap- 
 plying to Scripture those rules, which are 
 used in reference to other books ; and in 
 seeking for its meaning by a more atten- 
 tive study and comparison of its lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Much that is to be done in this line. 
 
116 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 has of course been anticipated by the 
 commentators whose works have been 
 considered ; and the use to be made of 
 this method must depend on the circum- 
 stances in which the student is placed. 
 Caution at all events must be strongly 
 recommended. All rash and unusual con- 
 clusions must be deprecated, and it must 
 never be forgotten that in a book, on 
 which the industry and talents of man- 
 kind have been employed for so many 
 centuries, it would be unreasonable to 
 imagine that discoveries should be made 
 by any occasional exertions. The works 
 which might be named to the English 
 reader, as offering assistance and di- 
 rection in studies of this nature, unfor- 
 tunately are few in number. Stuart^s 
 Elements of Interpretation, a translation 
 of part of Ernesti's " Institutio inter- 
 pretis Novi Testamenti," may be safely 
 recommended as exhibiting briefly the 
 chief rules to be followed. The essays 
 which accompany Macknight's translation 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRTPTURE. 117 
 
 of the Epistles, will also ofiTer some use- 
 ful hints. Bishop Van Mildert's Banipton 
 Lectures treat generally on the Interpreta- 
 tion of Scripture; and in the Introduction 
 to the Scriptures by the Rev. T. H. 
 Home, (vol. ii. pt. '2,) fuller information 
 may be found, and references to other 
 sources of knowledge, should the student 
 be anxious to carry his inquiries farther. 
 
 But whether any attempt is made at 
 this method of interpreting Scripture by 
 itself, or no ; there are some books to be 
 named which would be essential to its 
 success, from the information they afford 
 respecting the several parts of Scripture ; 
 and which are hardly less necessary to 
 one who merely aims at a general know- 
 ledge of the Bible. Among these may be 
 named Gray's Key to the Old Testament, 
 and Bishop Percy's Key to the New, as 
 books which give, in comparatively small 
 space, an abundance of useful know- 
 ledge. Besides these general introduc- 
 tions, Graves on the Pentateuch must be 
 
1]8 
 
 HELPS IN THE 
 
 named as a book of first-rate importance 
 to the study of the Old Testament; with 
 which, Faber's Horas Mosaicag, and Owen 
 on the Scripture miracles, may he read 
 with advantage. 
 
 Fleury on the Manners of the Israel- 
 ites^ translated by Dr. A. Clarke, is a 
 pleasing and useful illustration of the 
 early books of the Bible ; and Prideaux's 
 Connection of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment supplies almost all the information 
 that can be wanted with regard to the 
 later history of the Jewish people. From 
 sources like these a general knowledge of 
 the component parts of Scripture should 
 be gained before any inferences are at- 
 tempted from the comparison of their lan- 
 guage; and the character of the Bible 
 should be thoroughly understood^ before 
 it is made its own interpreter. 
 
 Bishop Lowth's Lectures on Hebrew 
 Poetry must not be omitted in a notice of 
 works essential to the interpretation of 
 Scripture. No person seems to have 
 
INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 119 
 
 cauglit the peculiar character of the sa- 
 cred writers with so much accuracy of 
 taste as he did; and though his notes 
 upon Isaiah are marked by a boldness of 
 conjecture, which can neither be justified 
 or defended, he has probably done more 
 than any English writer to the illustration 
 of the Old Testament, by his remarks on 
 the stile and spirit of its writers. All the 
 other information which the young student 
 may require, he will find collected in Mr. 
 Home's Introduction to the Scriptures; 
 a work, the result of very extensive and 
 laborious reading; and which, while it 
 offers in a very clear and lucid arrange- 
 ment the elementary knowledge that is 
 wanted, enables the reader to prosecute 
 his inquiries further, and to judge for 
 himself, by the copious references it gives 
 to the original sources of information. It 
 is hardly requisite now to recommend a 
 book, which has gained such extensive 
 circulation; but it is important to convey 
 to every student the intelligence of the 
 
120 HELPS IN THE INTERPRETATION, &C. 
 
 resource which it is in his power to 
 obtain. That knowledge of Jewish an- 
 tiquities which used to be sought in 
 Reland, Jennings, and other similar 
 works, is now condensed in a few pages 
 of this valuable summary. The results 
 of Lardner's laborious investigations, of 
 the researches of Michaelis, and other 
 eminent divines, are comprised in the 
 introductory descriptions of the different 
 books in the Bible; and information 
 which could hardly be found in any 
 work whatever, is presented in the bib- 
 liographical notices which are intro- 
 ductory to the study of Scripture criti- 
 cism. 
 
J21 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Tlie Study of the Evidences of Religion. 
 Its necessity and extent. 
 
 Hitherto we have been engaged in 
 considering the studies and the means 
 of knowledge, which seem necessary 
 to the minister himself, or which supply 
 the materials of his usefulness among 
 those, whose hearts God has opened, 
 and whom his grace has prepared to 
 receive with meekness the engrafted 
 word. Another description of know- 
 ledge succeeds, which must be de- 
 voted to a different object, and addressed 
 to a different class of hearers : a descrip- 
 tion of knowledge which may be called 
 
 G 
 
122 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 his defensive armour; tlie knowledge 
 which he will need against those who are 
 opposed to the truth, who doubt or who 
 deny the authority of the word which 
 he is commissioned to preach. In order to 
 be fully prepared for his office, he must 
 not only be acquainted with the truths 
 which it his privilege to inculcate; he 
 must not only be instructed in the whole 
 tenor of that message of reconciliation 
 which he is ordained to convey, and be 
 capable of declaring its purport in every 
 variety of form and application ; but he 
 must also be prepared to prove, that the 
 credentials of his office are authentic ; to 
 show, that the message he delivers really 
 comes from God ; and that every word of 
 invitation or of threatening which he 
 utters, is founded on the authority of 
 eternal truth, and stamped with the name 
 of God. In a word; he must be master of 
 the evidences of religion, as well as 
 acquainted with the Bible. 
 
 It is perhaps hardly necessary to add. 
 
OF RELIGION. 123 
 
 that it is probable there never was a 
 period in the church, when this species of 
 knowledge was more imperiously, or 
 more generally called for in its ministers. 
 Infidelity has always existed. Each suc- 
 ceeding generation has witnessed some 
 rising of the carnal mind, some attempt 
 to impeach the truth of God's word, and 
 some effort made to shake off a yoke 
 which was intolerable, by undermining 
 the foundations of religious belief. But 
 hitherto these attempts have been chiefly 
 confined to those who had leisure for spe- 
 culation, and learning to justify their 
 inquiries. The infidels, the sceptics of 
 former ages were comparatively few in 
 number ; and were only met in those 
 walks of life where the parochial minister 
 was unknown. But the case is obviously 
 altered now. The diffusion of knowledge 
 has brought with it the evils as well as 
 the benefits which belong to intellectual 
 advancement ; and just as in a flood, the 
 first burst of the water carries on its sur- 
 
 g2 
 
124 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 face the accumulated rubbish and filth, 
 from which the following stream is free ; 
 so the first burst of the flood of know- 
 ledge, has brought with it a mass of irre- 
 ligion and infidelity from which succeed- 
 ing ages, we trust, may be exempted. As 
 it is, the effects are too general, too 
 obvious to be doubted. Infidelity is found 
 in the cottage as well as in the palace. 
 It has filled, it has deluged the land with 
 its poison ; and there is no situation so 
 retired, no sphere of duty so humble, 
 where a minister may not be compelled 
 to hear, where he may not be required 
 to answer objections, which formerly 
 used only to be heard in the haunts of 
 literary speculation, or in the open oppo- 
 sition of the world. For these then he 
 must be prepared — and for these he 
 must be prepared, in proportion to the 
 importance of the contest they involve. 
 In fact, he is called to prove, to 
 make good, the very credentials of his 
 office, the very foundations of the faith 
 
OF RELIGION. 
 
 125 
 
 which he preaches. He is called to show 
 why, and by what authority, he speaks 
 what he does speak. He is called to show, 
 why he requires attention and obedience 
 to his words ; and if he fails in this, if 
 he does not succeed in showing the ne- 
 cessity there is to believe the word, and 
 to admit what he utters, as deductions from 
 it ; his whole office is neutralized by this 
 want of authority ; and his reasoning will 
 be used in vain, when addressed to minds 
 blinded by passion, or by appetite. 
 
 We must not imagine, therefore, that a 
 knowledge of the evidences of religion is 
 any superfluous part of a parochial mi- 
 nister's education. On the contrary, he 
 will probably be soon led to remark, if 
 his mind is drawn out in tiie inquiry ; 
 how little difference is produced by situa- 
 tion or circumstances, in the objections 
 he will have to hear, and the arguments 
 he will have to combat. He will be sur- 
 prised to find how limited is the scope 
 of the human mind in this respect ; how 
 
126 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 near the peasant stands to the philo- 
 sopher^ when they both stand opposed 
 to God ; and how little the acuteness of 
 a cultivated mind rises above that of the 
 uneducated, when they are each sunk 
 alike in scepticism and cavil. Learning 
 no doubt may serve to dress up the 
 objection which is urged, with a little 
 more of plausibility in one case, than it 
 possesses in the other ; but the strength 
 of the opposition lies in that perversion 
 of will and alienation from God, which is 
 common to both; and the real root of 
 doubt is that evil heart of unbelief, which 
 belongs alike to the learned and the un- 
 learned. The circumstances which cause, 
 or which strengthen doubt, may be col- 
 lected and accumulated by research, in 
 the case of the man of education. He 
 may be able to arrange his objections 
 more scientifically, and may claim a higher 
 species of evidence with some greater 
 appearance of consistency ; but the doubt 
 begins, and the strength of doubt exists 
 
OP RELIGION. 127 
 
 in the unwillingness to admit a truth 
 which is unwelcome; and it often hap- 
 pens that the natural subtlety of the un- 
 tutored mind is as hard to meet, and as 
 hard to overcome, as the practised acute- 
 ness of the literary sceptic. 
 
 Of this we may be sure, that divine 
 truth finds a welcome reception in no 
 heart which is not prepared to receive it 
 by the Spirit ; and the same disposition 
 to cavil, the same tendency to doubt, the 
 same desire to elude or to escape convic- 
 tion, exists in all, who are not drawn of 
 God to believe the gospel. Till this be- 
 comes the case, opposition to divine 
 truth, either openly avowed or secretly 
 felt, is the character of every man that 
 lives, and influences the exercise of all 
 the faculties he possesses. In that state of 
 mind, the increase of acuteness which edu- 
 cation produces will be employed, not for 
 the purpose of removing, but of discover- 
 ing difficulties. Increase of knowledge w ill 
 be used, not to disperse, but to collect ob- 
 
128 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 jections. The very means of religious im- 
 provement may be turned against the 
 cause they are intended to promote ; and 
 the Bible may be read with perverse dili- 
 gence, in order to find reasons why the 
 Bible should not be believed. 
 
 No man, therefore, can be considered 
 as qualified for the office of the ministry, 
 who is not prepared to meet the opposi- 
 tion of the evil heart of unbelief in all its 
 forms and circumstances. Wherever his 
 lot may be cast, however humble or re- 
 mote may be his sphere of action, he must 
 not expect to escape the general necessity 
 of contending for the truth once delivered 
 to the saints. He will soon have occasion 
 to find, in the simplest minds, the root of 
 that infidelity which sheds its bitter 
 fruits over the whole surface of the world ; 
 and as soon as he prevails on his people 
 to think and exercise their reason on re- 
 ligious subjects, he will be surprised to 
 see how naturally errors and doubts 
 spring up, like weeds which have long 
 
OF RELIGION. 129 
 
 lain dormant in the bosom of the earth, 
 but begin to vegetate as soon as it is 
 turned. But he will also find that a busy 
 agent is now at work, sowing tares 
 among the wheat. He will meet with the 
 cavils and doubts of the learned brought 
 down to the comprehension of the igno- 
 rant, and circulated with malignant ac- 
 tivity wherever they can find admittance. 
 He must be prepared to hear on the road, 
 or in the market-place, the objections 
 and doubts which used only to be whis- 
 pered in private ; and will often find man 
 only quick to do evil, and showing no 
 signs of reasoning powers except when 
 he is arguing against the truth. He must 
 be prepared, therefore, to combat all the 
 current arguments of unbelief, and in 
 every diversity of form ; in the form of 
 objection and of doubt, as well as that 
 of open denial ; in serious discussion or 
 in sneers and ridicule. He must likewise 
 be prepared to meet them at every turn 
 and on any occasion, as brought forward 
 
 o 5 
 
130 
 
 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 in conversation incidentally, as well as in 
 regular argument ; and instead of waiting 
 to consult books, instead of deferring the 
 question for consideration ; he must be 
 ready, in season and out of season, to 
 stand the assault of the enemy, and to 
 give to every one that asketh him, not 
 merely a reason of the hope that is in 
 him, but a proof of the unreasonableness 
 of the unbelief which asks it. 
 
 This habitual preparation implies not 
 merely study, or that acquaintance with 
 the subject which is gained by books ; 
 but likewise that readiness of reply and 
 that facility in argument, which are only 
 formed by exercise. It implies familiarity 
 with the topics which are usually brought 
 forward, and knowledge of the fallacies 
 on which their arguments are built. It 
 implies a general acquaintance likewise 
 with those devices of the infidel and 
 sceptic by which they lie in wait to de- 
 ceive; and quickness and decision in 
 detecting them. Nor let the Christian 
 
OF RELIGION. l^^ 
 
 minister shrink from the painful and dis- 
 tressing office of examining those systems 
 of error which are at present afloat in the 
 world. Painful as the employment may 
 be, and foreign from the tone of mind 
 which he wishes to encourage, he must 
 study the diseases he will have to cure, 
 even in the regions of infection. The 
 value of souls requires the exertion, 
 and the importance of the end justifies 
 the self-exposure. For the sake of know- 
 ing how to answer the objections of 
 the unbeliever, he must learn what those 
 objections are ; he must ascertain their 
 grounds and their extent; and must be 
 prepared to show, in some simple and 
 conclusive way, their fallacy and unsound- 
 ness. Less then this cannot be required, 
 for less than this would be insufficient; 
 and the individual minister himself must 
 feel, that nothing less than this was pro- 
 mised, when he declared, in reply to the 
 (question in his ordination service, that 
 he would be " ready with all faithful dili- 
 
132 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 gence to banish and drive away all erro- 
 neous and strange doctrines contrary to 
 God's word." 
 
 But it is also desirable that this pre- 
 paration should be commenced by a deep 
 and attentive consideration of the first 
 principles of religion. It is desirable 
 that the foundation of belief should be as 
 firmly established as its superstructure ; 
 and that nothing should be left un- 
 guarded^ where it is possible for an at- 
 tack to be made. But it is also important, 
 that, antecedently to any discussion of 
 the objections which may be made against 
 the system of revealed religion, the mind 
 should be strongly impressed with the ne- 
 cessity of those great truths on which the 
 whole is grounded. Unless this be the case, 
 it is not probable that the inquiry will be 
 carried on with that ardour which is essen- 
 tial to success ; and the mind, instead of 
 seeking for conviction, or endeavouring 
 to produce conviction in others, will re- 
 main satisfied with a state of indecision 
 
OF RELIGION. ] 33 
 
 which is inconsistent with any idea of 
 truth. Even in cases of professed be- 
 lief, a languor and an indifference on the 
 subject is sometimes seen, which is hardly 
 to be reconciled with sincerity, and which 
 renders the truth that is admitted inopera- 
 tive; and it is therefore desirable not 
 only that men should believe, but that 
 they should know the whole grounds on 
 which they are called to believe, and feel 
 the magnitude of the truths which they 
 profess. 
 
 As an introduction then to the study of 
 the evidences of religion, it is desirable 
 that a man should be acquainted with the 
 metaphysical arguments by which its es- 
 sential truths are proved. He should 
 feel, that distinct from those arguments 
 by which revelation may be vindicated 
 against objections or cavil, there is a 
 chain of reasoning which addresses itself 
 to the intellect, and deduces both the being 
 and attributes of God from the very na- 
 ture of things. If this branch of study 
 
134 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 was begun with Clarke's celebrated Es- 
 say on this subject, it might then proceed 
 to consider the necessity of such a reve- 
 lation as that of the gospel, from the state 
 of mankind at large, in the way in which 
 it is discussed by Leland,* or in the 
 Treatise of Dr. Ellis. -]- 
 
 When this has been done, and the 
 foundation of faith has been thus firmly 
 laid, the student may go on, with greater 
 security, to consider the evidence which 
 may be derived to its support from facts. 
 He will thus feel that he has not a religion 
 to seek, but a religion to prove ; and that 
 the evidence he collects hereafter is merely 
 for the purpose of adding confirmation to 
 what he already believes. 
 
 In this part of his inquiry, the first 
 step should be to ascertain the nature 
 of the proof which he is to aim at, 
 
 * Advantage and necessity of the Christian Reve- 
 lation shown from the state of religion in the 
 Heathen world. 2 vols. 8vo, 
 
 -|- Knowledge of Divine Things from Revelation. 
 
, OF RELIGION. 135 
 
 and to distinguish the different species 
 of moral evidence and demonstration. 
 Much of the doubt that has prevailed in 
 the world has arisen from no other source 
 than ignorance of this most important dis- 
 tinction. Many elaborate systems, which 
 have only involved the cause of truth in 
 uncertainty, might have been spared, had 
 this been kept in view. Men would not 
 liave been professing to demonstrate moral 
 truths, if they had remembered that the 
 attempt, in strictness of speech, was as 
 vain, as it would be to ascertain the merit 
 of works of literature by calculation ; and 
 they would have done more towards re- 
 moving error if they had begun by pro- 
 fessing less, and had not promised demon- 
 stration on a subject which, from its na- 
 ture, was incapable of receiving that sort 
 of proof. 
 
 On this particular point several books 
 touch incidentally, and few will be more 
 useful than the essay prefixed to the new 
 edition of Butler's Analogy, by the 
 
136 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 Rev. D. Wilson. Gambier, on Moral 
 Evidence, treats of it more specifically ; 
 and a little volume recently published 
 under the name of The Nature of the 
 Proof of the Christian Religion, states 
 the importance of the question briefly 
 and distinctly. 
 
 When the nature of that evidence 
 which religion is really capable of, has 
 been ascertained, the study will be pur- 
 sued with greater ease and security. 
 More evidence will not be required than 
 the case demands, and the mind will be 
 prepared to acquiesce in that species of 
 evidence which is all that the case admits. 
 Demonstration will not be looked for 
 where moral truth alone is to be proved ; 
 and even the reason will find, that there 
 is a degree of probability on which it can 
 repose with confidence. 
 
 It is desirable that this distinction 
 should be continually kept in view, not 
 merely for the purpose of regulating the 
 studies preparatory to the ministry, but 
 
OF RELIGION. 
 
 137 
 
 likewise for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the sort of conviction which may be 
 subsequently hoped for. A man can 
 hardly be expected to conduct a course 
 of argument with the patience which is 
 desirable, if he imagines that the truths, 
 of which he is firmly assured, must pro- 
 duce immediate conviction in the minds 
 of those with whom he reasons. He will 
 have to unlearn these sanguine feelings 
 by a long and painful experience, if he is 
 not originally aware of the real nature of 
 the evidence he produces ; and he may 
 be in danger of judging too severely of 
 the character of those with whom he 
 argues, if he thinks that the truth he 
 urges with sincerity, must be admitted as 
 self-evident. 
 
 But with this preparation, he will not 
 be led to doubt the soundness of his own 
 conclusions, because they do not con- 
 vince others ; and will feel that the evi- 
 dence of divine truth is sufficient for all 
 
138 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 moral purposes, even if it does not rise to 
 the level of rigid demonstration. 
 
 Among the works which may be named 
 on this subject, the great difficulty con- 
 sists in choosing one, where so many pre- 
 sent themselves to the choice. Among 
 the many that may be named, the great 
 work of Grotius, De Veritate Religionis 
 Christianas, must not be deprived of the 
 place which it justly deserves. Stand- 
 ing as it does among the very earliest of 
 modern works on the truth of Christian- 
 ity, it has not left much to be done by 
 its followers in the way of direct evi- 
 dence; but either in the text or in the 
 notes, it has supplied a body of proof 
 which meets almost every case that can 
 be imagined. Whether the character of 
 the eminent man, who, in the midst of 
 political turbulence and literary renown, 
 found time to compose this work, or the 
 purpose for which the work itself was 
 written, be taken into consideration; it 
 
OF RELIGION. 139 
 
 deserves a more attentive and deliberate 
 study than is usually bestowed upon it 
 now. Of more modern works, and of 
 those which treat generally on the subject 
 of the evidences, it may be sufficient to 
 name the work of Dr. Chalmers,* or the 
 Essays of Mr. J. J. Gurney,f as contain- 
 ing, in a very moderate size, a collective 
 view of tlie arguments in favour of reve- 
 lation. To these may now be added the 
 recently published work of the Rev. D. 
 Wilson on the Evidences. J Either of 
 these works, and most especially the last, 
 will supply the student with that general 
 knowledge of the subject which it is 
 essential to gain ; and from which he 
 may proceed to consider the several pro- 
 vinces of proof more fully and more par- 
 ticularly, according to the opportunities 
 he may have. 
 
 * Evidences and Authority of the Christian Reli- 
 gion. 
 
 -j- Essays on the Evidences of Christianity. 
 
 X The Evidences of Christianity stated in a popular 
 and practical manner. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
140 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 In descending from works which treat 
 of the evidences generally, to those which 
 consider them more in particular, we 
 should name first the well-known Treatise 
 of Leslie, entitled a Short and Easy Me- 
 thod with the Deists, as a work against 
 which an answer has not been attempted, 
 and which deserves the closest and most 
 attentive meditation. The reasoning in 
 this treatise approaches as near to de- 
 monstration as it is easy to imagine ; nor 
 can a better foundation be laid for sys- 
 tematic belief than the train of evidence 
 which is developed here, and the method 
 in which the proof is conducted. It has 
 been published separately, as well as in 
 several collections, and may therefore be 
 easily obtained. In a compressed form, 
 it is included, with some other standard 
 works, in the little volume called the 
 Pleiad, which has been published by 
 Archdeacon Wrangham in Constable's 
 Miscellanies. Among these will be found 
 Doddridge's Three valuable Discourses, 
 
OF RELIGION. 141 
 
 a work which should not be omitted in a 
 list of books upon the evidences. 
 
 Bishop Douglas's Criterion of Miracles 
 is an important illustration of the nature 
 of that evidence which they supply ; and 
 as it has been abridged and published by 
 the Rev. W. March, it may be easily 
 procured by all, and at a very trifling 
 cost. 
 
 But with regard to the external evidence 
 of Christianity, the well-known work of 
 Paleyhas almost superseded every other. 
 The peculiar qualities of Paley's mind, 
 its simplicity and acuteness, fitted him 
 beyond most men for the object which he 
 here undertook. In his hands the subject 
 lost its dryness and abstraction, and was 
 for the first time presented to the reader 
 in a form which awakened curiosity and 
 disarmed prejudice. That happy talent 
 which Paley possessed of attaching him- 
 self to the important points of a question, 
 and of rejecting those which were inmia- 
 terial, enabled him at once to cut off a 
 
142 
 
 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 variety of considerations which used to 
 embarrass the enquiry, and to offer it to 
 the general reader with an appearance of 
 candour, which at least conciliated his 
 respect. He also saw, by a kind of in- 
 tuition, the line of argument which would 
 be most conclusive ; he well knew how 
 to follow this with the strictest logic, 
 and to present its results in the simplest 
 and most perspicuous form. Tn these 
 respects the truth of the gospel history 
 v.as a subject which he was peculiarly 
 qualified to discuss. He delighted in tra- 
 cing the truth which he there saw clearly 
 marked before him; and the honesty of his 
 own mind made him rejoice in rejecting the 
 idle and sophistical cavils by which it had 
 been obscured and contested by others. 
 The soundness and simplicity of his 
 reasoning, together with the candour 
 which he exhibits on every occasion, 
 render this work one of the most generally 
 useful books that ever has been pub- 
 lished ; and it is probable that no man 
 
OF RELIGION. 143 
 
 ever sat down to the study of Paley 
 in a proper frame of mind, wlio did not 
 rise from the perusal convinced at least 
 of the historical truths of the gospel. 
 
 This great work has not only eclipsed 
 those which preceded it, but it has left 
 little to be done in the same line by those 
 who came after him. 
 
 In addition to those which have been al- 
 ready named as general summaries of the 
 evidence, the work of the Bishop of Chester 
 on the Records of the Creation is still to be 
 specially noted, on account of the origina- 
 lity of view by which it is characterized, 
 and for the explanation which it offers of 
 some difficulties connected with modern 
 philosophy, or which have risen out of the 
 present state of society. Witli regard 
 to the evidence deduced from prophecy, 
 the work of Bishop Newton is the most 
 satisfactory manual ; and the little com- 
 pendium published by Mr. Keith under 
 the name of Evidence of the Christian 
 Religion derived from the literal fulfil- 
 
144 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 ment of Prophecy, gives in a very clear 
 and easy form, a summary of this branch 
 of proof. 
 
 Beyond these general or particular 
 statements of the evidences of divine 
 truth, replies to the cavils and objec- 
 tions of unbelievers must be chiefly 
 sought in the publications which have ap- 
 peared in answer to them. Bishop Wat- 
 son^s replies to Gibbon and Paine, Mil- 
 ner's answer to Gibbon, and Scott's 
 answer to the Age of Reason, will enable 
 any candid mind to see the fallacy and 
 irrelevancy of the arguments which are 
 most frequently urged. The revival of 
 tliese refuted sophisms, and of the ribal- 
 dry of Paine by Taylor, has led to Dr. 
 Pye Smith's very satisfactory reply,* and 
 to the able work entitled Remarks on 
 the Diegesis.-j- To the above might be 
 
 * Answer to the works of Robert Taylor, 8vo. 
 price Is. 6d. 
 
 -\- Remarks on the work of the Rev. R. Taylor, 
 styled the Diegesis. Cadell. 1830. 
 
or RELIGION. 145 
 
 added, as treating more generally of 
 the same subject, Faber's Difficulties of 
 Infidelity ; Deism Refuted, or Plain Rea- 
 sons for being a Christian, by the Rev. T. 
 II. Home; and Cecil's Reasons for Re- 
 pose. 
 
 But beyond the general objections of 
 the sceptic and the infidel, the minister 
 must likewise be prepared to meet a 
 more subtle and refined assault from 
 writers of the Socinian school : an as- 
 sault which it is more difficult to meet, 
 as it is cloked under the profession of 
 belief, and is begun by asking concessions, 
 which seem too inconsiderable to be de- 
 nied. The study of this controversy, 
 which exhibits more perhaps than any 
 other of the sophistry of the heart of man, 
 would soon carry us beyond the limits 
 which this essay imposes. It must suf- 
 fice us now to refer the student to the 
 great work of Archbishop Magee on the 
 Atonement, where he will see the varied 
 powers of a great and accomplished mind, 
 
 H 
 
146 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 tracking the spirit of deceit through all 
 its hiding places, and using all the wea- 
 pons of learning, reasoning, and wit, for 
 its discomfiture. The Scripture Testi- 
 mony to the Messiah, by Dr. J. P. Smith, 
 in its enlarged and revised form, may be 
 referred to also as an admirable digest of 
 the controverted texts ; or Wardlaw on 
 the Socinian Controversy may be read : 
 and he who wishes to see a complete 
 analysis of the spirit and tendency of So- 
 cinianism, should turn to Fuller's Cal- 
 vinism and Socinianisra compared. 
 
 But there is one other work to be men- 
 tioned under this head, without which no 
 system of moral evidence will be certain 
 of producing satisfactory convictions; and 
 that is Bishop Butler's celebrated Ana- 
 logy of Religion. If there is one book 
 in the English language which more than 
 another deserves, and more than another 
 requires, deep reflection and frequent pe- 
 rusal, it is this. To a careless or a hasty 
 reader, it may offer little attraction and 
 
OF RELIGION. 147 
 
 may promise little information. Its lan- 
 guage will appear involved, its reasoning 
 inconclusive, its tone spiritless and flatj 
 but the man who overcomes the first 
 feelings of distaste, who grows familiar 
 with its phraseology, and gives himself 
 time to extract its meaning, will feel that 
 the views which he has gained, the frame 
 of mind which he has derived from its 
 study, will do more towards establishing 
 his faith, than any other course of reading 
 which he could have adopted. 
 
 In point of fact, indeed, difficulties will 
 exist under every system of evidence 
 which Revelation can adduce ; for which 
 an explanation resembling this given by 
 Butler is required, in order that they may 
 be removed. It is not in the nature of 
 things that every difficulty should be 
 done away by a method of proof which 
 only accumulates probabilities. After all 
 that has been said on behalf of the truth 
 of the gospel, men may doubt as to its 
 credibility ; and it is only by showing 
 
 H 2 
 
148 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 tliem that it is unreasonable to doubt, 
 that it is unnatural not to be decided by 
 such a preponderance of proof as may be 
 adduced on behalf of Christianity ; that 
 the essential deficiency of this species of 
 evidence is supplied, and that its deduc- 
 tions are rendered conclusive. 
 
 This link in the chain of evidence is 
 most admirably supplied by Butler; while 
 arguing from the state of things which 
 exists at present, and the evidence by 
 which men are usually decided in other 
 questions, he shows that there is no dif- 
 ficulty involved in revealed religion, which 
 supplies just ground for its rejection; but, 
 that on the contrary, the difficulties are 
 such as it was reasonable to expect, and 
 such as offer no hindrance to belief in 
 other cases. This work of Butler's should 
 be read in the edition which has been re- 
 cently published by the Rev. D.Wilson; 
 who has added to the many services 
 he has rendered to the church of Christ, 
 by the strong and discriminating Ian- 
 
OF RELIGION. 149 
 
 gufige in which lie has recommended its 
 study to the younger clergy ; and by the 
 excellent analysis of the work itself which 
 he has prefixed. 
 
 Of that peculiar branch of evidence 
 which is called the internal evidence, no- 
 thing has been yet said; and yet it is of 
 the two species of evidence the most ef- 
 fective, the most peculiar. The subject is 
 casually treated by Paley ; more speci- 
 fically by the Bishop of Chester and the 
 Rev. D. Wilson in the works already 
 mentioned. It was made many years 
 ago the subject of an essay by Soame 
 Jenyns, which, though limited in its plan, 
 still deserves attention, and which was 
 one of the first attempts to attract atten- 
 tion to this mode of proof. Some beau- 
 tiful and striking remarks on the ques- 
 tions are to be met with in Mr. Erskine's 
 essay. But of all the different branches 
 under which the evidence of religion may 
 be considered, this is the one in which 
 most remains to be done, and in which the 
 
150 
 
 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 most interesting discoveries are yet to 
 be made. 
 
 Under the name of internal evidence 
 it lias been usual to include two species 
 of evidence, which, in their nature, are 
 almost as specific and distinct as those 
 which are usually spoken of as internal 
 and external. 
 
 There is an internal evidence of the 
 genuineness of the sacred books, derived 
 from the marks of undesigned correspon- 
 dence, from coincidence of statement and 
 harmony of doctrine; and there is an evi- 
 dence of their divine original arising from 
 the more than human wisdom and purity 
 of the doctrines they inculcate, and, above 
 all, from their exact correspondence with 
 the wants and feelings of which man is 
 conscious. 
 
 Of the first of these kinds of evidence, 
 Paley^s Horae Paulinse presents an ad- 
 mirable specimen ; a specimen which 
 has been ably followed by Mr. Blunt in 
 his two works, the Veracity of the Books 
 
OF RELIGION. 151 
 
 of Moses, and the Veracity of the Gos- 
 pels and Acts, argued. This species of 
 evidence, however, is comparatively nar- 
 row in its sphere of operation. It is per- 
 haps better calculated to confirm the 
 faith of those who are disposed to be- 
 lieve, than to produce conviction ; and at 
 all events it must not be put in compe- 
 tition with that which arises from the 
 harmony between the word of God and 
 the wants of man ; and which makes man 
 feel the real character of the gospel by the 
 power with which it speaks to his heart 
 and his conscience. This evidence, of 
 which every one carries about within him 
 the arguments and the proofs, is not only 
 the most convincing, but it is also the 
 most useful, because it is the most uni- 
 versally applicable. Men who have not 
 leisure or knowledge sufficient for appre- 
 ciating the power of external evidence, 
 may be capable of feeling the influence 
 of this in the largest measure; and if the 
 faith of our common people is to rest on 
 
152 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 any other basis than that of respect for 
 authority, it must be raised on this. It is 
 to be res^retted that a view of divine 
 truth, which admits of so many important 
 applications, should hitherto have been so 
 much overlooked, that it is not easy to 
 point out any work which treats of it 
 specifically. The Sermons of Dr. Watts 
 on the Inward Witness approach nearest 
 to this character, and they may be found 
 in an abridged form in Archdeacon 
 Wrangham's Pleiad. The general sub- 
 ject is also admirably discussed in Mr. 
 Wilson's Lectures on the Evidences of 
 Christianity, and in his Introductory Es- 
 say prefixed to his Edition of Butler^s 
 Analogy. 
 
 In connexion with the subject of evi- 
 dence, some notice must also be taken 
 of the argument by which the inspiration 
 of Scripture has been ascertained and 
 proved ; since it is obvious that the authen- 
 ticity of Scripture cannot be maintained, 
 unless satisfactory proof can be adduced 
 
OF RELIGION. 
 
 153 
 
 that the Scripture is indeed the word of 
 God. 
 
 Doddridge's Lectures give a view of 
 the difTereiit opinions which have been 
 held on this point, and of the different 
 degrees of inspiration which have been 
 asserted. Dr. Dick's work on the In- 
 spiration of the Old and New Testament 
 may be read with advantage. A good 
 summary of the question may be found in 
 the Preface to Scott's Bible, and some 
 important materials are collected in the 
 Appendix to the first volume of Mr. 
 Home's Introduction. The recent work 
 of Mr. Haldane on the subject likewise 
 deserves attention, though it asserts more 
 than is necessary, or even safe to do, with 
 regard to the verbal inspiration of the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 From the sources above mentioned, it 
 is hoped that such a knowledge may be 
 gained of the evidence on which the 
 Christian religion rests, as may not only 
 give the student a well-grounded convic- 
 
 h5 
 
154 THE EVIDENCES 
 
 tion of its truthp but may also enable 
 him to answer the doubts, and to si- 
 lence the cavils which he meets in the 
 course of his ministry. 
 
 But let him beware while engaged in 
 this study, useful and necessary as it is, 
 of the growth of a cold argumentative 
 frame of mind. The truths of religion 
 are so sacred, that the very necessity of 
 adducing proofs in their behalf is a kind 
 of outrage done to their character; and 
 the pious mind feels that it is one of the 
 evils of the present state of circumstances, 
 to be required to use arguments in a case 
 which ought, in all propriety, to be only a 
 matter of feeling. 
 
 If, however, things are so ; if we must 
 really take pains to prove to the intellect 
 what the heart ought long ago to have an- 
 ticipated ; and men must be convinced, 
 by reasoning, of the reality of a blessed- 
 ness which they do not feel ; let the man 
 who engages in this pursuit be on his 
 guard against its chilling, deteriorating 
 
OF RELIGION. 155 
 
 influence. It is not without sometliinGT of 
 violence done to liis own feelings^ tliatthe 
 man who has been brought up in liabits 
 of undoubting, unquestioning belief, sits 
 down to the study of the evidences of re- 
 ligion. At first, his impression will be 
 wonder at the laborious process which is 
 required to produce belief; and he will be 
 surprised at the long and circuitous course 
 by which men endeavour to arrive at the 
 conviction of a truth, which, to him, appears 
 self-evident. But, gradually, his intellect 
 will become interested in the studv ; a 
 spirit of inquiry may be excited, which, 
 increasing in activity and boldness, may 
 go on till it rises into scepticism. 
 Truths, of which he never suspected the 
 integrity, may be questioned first and 
 then doubted. The firmness of his original 
 impressions may be shaken, by observing 
 the difference of conclusions drawn by 
 other men. He may begin to distrust 
 the correctness of his views, when he 
 sees the industry and erudition displayed 
 
156 TEIE EVIDENCES 
 
 in those who vary from him in their in- 
 ferences. The study will gradually as- 
 sume a more secular and literary charac- 
 ter. Even the truths of revelation may 
 be carried to a human judicature ; and, 
 imperceptibly, he may find himself sitting 
 in judgment on the word and purposes of 
 his Maker, and discussing the claim of 
 Scripture to reception ; as if all the 
 glory of the Divinity were departed from 
 it. It is iuipossible to avoid feeling that 
 these effects have been already frequently 
 produced ; and that even the study of the 
 evidences has been carried on in such a 
 manner, as to produce a clear, cold con- 
 viction of the truth of Christianity, with 
 little or no sense of its peculiar privileges 
 or comforts. 
 
 The student, then, must be on his 
 guard against a danger like this. He 
 must endeavour to preserve in his mind 
 a feeling of reverence and veneration for 
 the truths which he discusses. At every 
 successive display of light, he must pause 
 
OF RELIGION. 
 
 157 
 
 and worship. He must endeavour to 
 keep united in his feelings, joy in the 
 truth whicli he is examining, with know- 
 ledo-e of the foundation on which it rests ; 
 and he must check every tendency to the 
 temper of mere intellectual inquiry, by 
 beginning, continuing, and ending all his 
 studies with prayer for guidance and il- 
 lumination. 
 
158 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The doctrines of the Church to be col- 
 lected from the Creeds and Articles. 
 Works to be considted for the expla- 
 nation of these, and for the application 
 of particular truths. 
 
 It has been the object of this sketch to 
 suggest a course of theological reading 
 adapted to the case of those students 
 who are preparing for the parochial mi- 
 nistry. It has been assumed that for this 
 purpose a course of study, of which the 
 Bible itself should form the substance^, 
 and which should merely be extended to 
 other books^ in order to illustrate and 
 explain the Bible, was best suited to the 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 159 
 
 opportunities they possessed, as well as 
 to the nature of their duties. 
 
 It was hoped that in this way views of 
 divine truth might be formed, more en- 
 larged, more general, more agreeable to 
 the greatness of the Being whose opera- 
 tions are contemplated, and to the in- 
 firmity of those who are engaged in the 
 study, than any which have taken the 
 shape of a regular system : and though 
 it was obvious that a limited plan of 
 study like this, must omit many things 
 which it was very desirable to know ; it 
 seemed capable of including more of that 
 which was absolutely essential to minis- 
 terial usefulness, than any other which 
 it was easy to point out. But in discard- 
 ing system, or in ceasing to make that 
 the chief object of pursuit, it is not meant 
 that there is any want of certainty in 
 religious truth, or that it is desirable, or 
 even possible, for the mind to be in a 
 state of indecision on points of vital im- 
 portance. The word of God is not in- 
 
160 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH; 
 
 consistent with itself, though we may not 
 always be able to perceive its agreement. 
 In the midst of the most painful inquiries, 
 we must feel assured that the difficulties 
 which obstruct our progress are apparent, 
 not real ; that they belong not to the 
 subject, but to the nature of the beings 
 who are engaged in contemplating it. 
 And though consciousness of human in- 
 infirmity, and of tlie limits of human 
 knowledge, should induce every one who 
 thinks upon the subject, to think with 
 humility, and to speak with caution; it is 
 not less true, that certainty may be gained, 
 and that certainty must be had on points 
 of chief importance, in order to have 
 peace. 
 
 This degree of certainty, this species 
 of conclusion, the church herself requires 
 from all who undertake the office of 
 ministers. The assent which is given 
 at the time of ordination to the Articles 
 of religion, assumes them as the standard 
 of belief for every individual who sub- 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 161 
 
 scribes them. What t\\ej assert, he as- 
 serts. What they deny, lie denies. As far 
 as they go, he is supposed to go ; and 
 where they stop, he does not go further. 
 The latitude of the language in which 
 they are drawn up, their specific disa- 
 vowal of every doctrine which may not 
 be proved from holy Scripture, show that 
 they impose no yoke on the conscience, 
 nor infringe the liberty of the mind. Still, 
 nothing less can be implied from the act 
 of subscription, than that as far as the 
 Articles conclude, so far must the minister 
 of the Church of England have concluded 
 likewise ; that he must have obtained 
 that degree of conviction which their lan- 
 guage naturally expresses, and which 
 enables him on this occasion to use it as 
 his own. 
 
 It is presumed, therefore, that a dili- 
 gent and faithful study of the Bible, 
 accompanied and assisted by much of 
 prayer for divine guidance, will lead to 
 such inferences on points of doctrine. 
 
162 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH ; 
 
 as we find embodied in the thirty-nine 
 Articles. This result might seem to be anti- 
 cipated with undue confidence, this conclu- 
 sion to have been presumed too hastily and 
 too universally, if the language of our 
 Articles had been less general and less 
 liberal than it is. A complaint might 
 have been raised with justice, that the 
 Church of England expected that the 
 same deductions would be drawn from 
 the Bible by all her ministers, if the 
 wording of this confession did not meet 
 the varieties of human views by the 
 moderation of its own positions; and 
 harmonize in this respect, as well as in 
 others, with the book from which it is 
 drawn. 
 
 No better proof, indeed, can be given 
 of the singular felicity with which the 
 Articles of the Church of England are 
 framed, than the obvious fact, that faithful 
 men, both of the ArminianandCalvinistic 
 school, have signed them with equal sin- 
 cerity; and just as they have agreed 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 163 
 
 in supposing that tlieir own peculiar doc- 
 trines were the doctrines of the Bible, 
 have agreed in admitting that these ar- 
 ticles contained a proper and satisfactory 
 exhibition of their views. No doubt, 
 if either party, in later times, when con- 
 troversy had sharpened the temper, and 
 quickened the acuteness of men, had at- 
 tempted a modification of their language ; 
 it would have become more specific, and 
 might have suited the taste of individuals 
 more exactly. But there is good reason 
 to fear, that just as the language ceased 
 to be general, it would have ceased to be 
 scriptural ; and that any alteration would 
 have ended by excluding many, whom it 
 was manifest that God had received. 
 
 Such as they are then, the Articles of 
 the Church of England are oti'ered to 
 every one who undertakes the office of its 
 ministry, as a body of conclusions, to 
 which it is supposed he will arrive by the 
 study of the Holy Scripture ; nor is there 
 any thing violent or unjust in the suppo- 
 
164 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH ; 
 
 sition^ whatever may be its appearance 
 at first. The general harmony of the 
 Articles with the whole tenour of the 
 Bible ; their precise and definite accord- 
 ance with it, in all points of obvious ne- 
 cessity ; their caution on those which are 
 mysterious; their reserve on those which 
 are not essential; their general ac- 
 knowledgment of the sovereign authority 
 of the word of Scripture, render them a 
 summary of religious truths, which the 
 experience of thousands and tens of 
 thousands of men, eminently qualified for 
 pronouncing such ajudgment, has agreed 
 in considering satisfactory ; and from 
 which, few indeed have revolted, who 
 have not equally revolted from the wider 
 standard of truth in the Bible. In things 
 fundamental, or of essential necessity 
 therefore, the Articles offer that degree 
 of certainty which man is capable of at- 
 taining, and at which man is bound to 
 aim. In minor points, less exactness is 
 required and less exactness is attempted ; 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. IG5 
 
 but in these, wlierein tlie unity of faith, 
 the reality of religion consists, precision 
 is attempted, for precision is desirable, 
 and doubt would be intolerable. 
 
 The result which it would be most 
 agreeable to observe, would be to see tlie 
 student arriving, through the study of 
 the Bible^ at those very conclusions which 
 he finds laid down in the articles ; and to 
 observe the satisfaction with which he 
 would discover those inferences which he 
 had drawn for himself from the Scrip- 
 tures, embodied and expressed in the lan- 
 guage of his church. 
 
 It is not too much to believe that this 
 has continually been the case ; and the 
 very same conviction which satisfies us 
 of the truth of the Bible, and leads to the 
 hope that every honest and diligent in- 
 quirer will at last be satisfied of the fact; 
 encourages an equal expectation, that the 
 same inquiries, carried on in the spirit of 
 humility and prayer, will end by con- 
 ducting to a similar uniformity of senti- 
 
166 
 
 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH ; 
 
 ment with regard to the doctrines con- 
 tained in it. 
 
 The Articles considered in themselves^ 
 as the standard principles of the Church 
 of England, include the three Creeds, 
 which have been, from the earliest pe- 
 riod of ecclesiastical history, the stand- 
 ards of Christian belief. As such, as 
 well as from the place which they bear 
 in the formularies of our church, they 
 also must be considered as statements of 
 divine truth, received by the man, and 
 professed by the man, who ministers in 
 its offices'; and must form part of his in- 
 troductory studies. Of these, the creed 
 of the apostles presents, in the simplest 
 form and with the least of technical lan- 
 guage, the truths which seem essential to 
 the Christian faith. That of Nice ex- 
 hibits the same, with a little more of the 
 phraseology of religion, and some of those 
 explanations and cautions which the 
 growth of error had rendered necessary. 
 The creed which bears the name of Atha- 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 167 
 
 nasius, appears in a more scientific garb; 
 filled with the limitations and denials 
 which the acute and controversial temper 
 of the Greeks had entailed upon the 
 church, and offering to the eye of faith a 
 melancholy picture of the variety of errors 
 which had sprung* up since the time of 
 the apostles. 
 
 Each of these creeds, therefore, will re- 
 quire some distinct consideration, with re- 
 gard to the truths which they assert in 
 common, and the different method in which 
 they express them. On the Apostles' 
 Creed, the great work of Bishop Pear- 
 son should certainly be read with atten- 
 tion; and when the student has gone 
 over this, he will be able to appreciate 
 the variations of statement which occur in 
 the following confessions. If he wishes 
 for more particular information, with re- 
 gard to the Athanasian Creed, he must 
 turn to the work of Waterland; or he 
 may find the most important topics, well 
 put together, in a little volume by the 
 
168 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH ; 
 
 Rev. T. H. Home, called the Scripture 
 Doctrine of the Trinity ; and he will also 
 find the character of the creed admirably 
 vindicated in a pamphlet by the late Mr. 
 Richardson of York. 
 
 It is desirable that the study of the 
 Creeds should precede the study of the 
 Articles ; and it is to be hoped that the 
 study of the Creeds, taken in the order of 
 their ages, will be the best preparation 
 for the study of the Articles. We may 
 learn, at least, from this comparison of 
 the Creeds, how the progress of error re- 
 quired, at each successive period, some 
 specific provisions on the part of the 
 church. We may see how the simple 
 statement of truth, which was sufficient 
 in the earlier ages, was superseded by 
 a more technical and precise mode of ex- 
 pression in later times. We may see the 
 effect which was caused, by the necessity 
 of asserting truths that were impugned, 
 or of denying errors which were at- 
 tempted to be introduced : and we may 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 1 G9 
 
 thus learn, tliat every confession of faith 
 will bear the marks of the age in which it 
 was composed, will be the echo of the 
 controversies which prevailed at the time, 
 and will be, in some degree, directed 
 against the particular errors of the day. 
 
 Neither our Articles, therefore, nor 
 the Creeds which they include, will be 
 properly understood, or justly appre- 
 ciated, except through the medium of 
 history. They all beai* marks of the 
 circumstances under which they were 
 formed ; and though it may be sufficient, 
 in general, to refer to Scripture for proof 
 of the doctrines they maintain, we must 
 look to other sources of information in 
 order to know why those doctrines were 
 asserted, or why they were asserted in 
 such a manner. The pointed accuracy of 
 the Creed of Athanasius may appear an 
 idle and impertinent precision to those 
 who view it by itself; and who only 
 compare the phraseology of its statements 
 with the larger and more popular lan- 
 
 i 
 
170 DOCTRINES OP THE CHURCH; 
 
 guage of Scripture. But acquaintance 
 with the opinions which were current in 
 the church at the time when it was drawn 
 up, knowledge of the monstrous heresies 
 which abounded, and which all professed 
 to be deduced from Scripture, will enable 
 us to take a fuller and more favourable 
 view of the nature of the work. We 
 shall then see that the instrument was 
 wisely formed to meet evils which were 
 actually pressinr^, and actually threat- 
 ening ; and, instead of condemning the 
 peculiarity of the language, we may 
 learn to respect the vigour and acute- 
 ness of the mind which raised up such 
 a barrier against the encroachments of 
 speculative error. 
 
 The same rule must be attended to 
 with regard to the Articles of our church. 
 It is necessary that we should know some- 
 thing of the opinions which had been 
 formed, something of the state of the pub- 
 lic mind, and of the public feeling, at the 
 period when they were drawn up, in order 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 171 
 
 to account for the positions that are laid 
 down, and of the extent to which some of 
 these statements are carried. Unless 
 this be the case, surprise maybe felt at .the 
 variety of points which are introduced 
 as essential; and when the simple con- 
 ciseness of Scripture is brought into 
 comparison with the laboured exactness 
 of human language, men may be tempted 
 to think, that more is required in our 
 Articles than is justified by divine autho- 
 rity; and that the founders of our church 
 imposed an unnecessary burden on the 
 conscience. 
 
 It would be wrong, therefore, to 
 commence the study of the Articles, 
 without some previous knowledge of the 
 state of religious opinions in the church 
 when they were framed ; for scriptural 
 as they are, and scriptural as they may 
 be shown to be, we may doubt whether 
 the imposition is scriptural, whether 
 there is no unnecessary burden laid upon 
 the conscience, if no circumstances appear 
 
 I 2 
 
172 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH; 
 
 to render it necessary. With this easy 
 preparation of historical knowledge, a 
 preparation which does not imply more 
 than a general acquaintance with the state 
 of religion in the world at that period, the 
 Articles may be read with advantage and 
 satisfaction by every one who is master of 
 his Bible, and is capable of tracing the 
 coincidence of statement between them. 
 He will thus see, that the Articles merely 
 aim at carrying the sense of Scripture to 
 the several points which the perverseness 
 of men had confused ; that they endea- 
 vour to be general, wherever they can be 
 general with safety ; and that they only 
 go into particulars, in order to meet the 
 errors which have been introduced. 
 
 But as the chief object of the student 
 will be, to mark the harmony which exists 
 between the doctrines he professes and 
 the truths which are revealed in the Word 
 of God, he will find that this is most ef- 
 fectually done, by carefully and diligently 
 comparing the two together. Previous 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 173 
 
 familiarity witli Scripture will take off the 
 chief dilKculty of this eniployiuent ; and it 
 will be a most beneficial exercise to take 
 each Article separately, and to search out 
 the texts of Scripture on whicli its several 
 positions rest. The work has been al- 
 ready performed by Archdeacon Welch- 
 man ; and, with some supplementary ma- 
 terials, in a volume published by Dr. 
 Wilson;* it is also done in two smaller 
 publications more recently printed at 
 Oxford ;-j- but it would be advantageous 
 for every student to attem]it for himself, 
 and, as a private exercise, what is more 
 completely done in these. He will thus be 
 able to learn, more fully than by any other 
 process, the correspondence that exists 
 between the Articles of his Church and 
 that Word from wliich they derive their 
 authority, and will not only obtain the 
 
 * Tlie Thirty-nine Articles of tlie Church of Eng- 
 land illustrated. 8vo. 
 
 t The Articles of tlie Church of England with 
 Scripture proofs. 
 
174 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH; 
 
 fullest satisfaction for his own faith, but 
 the fittest means for fixing the faith of 
 others. 
 
 If this mode of studying the Articles 
 seems insufficient, the student will naturally 
 wish for some work explanatory of the 
 doctrines which they contain. Of these, 
 that of Bishop Burnet will be found most 
 generally satisfactory. His orthodoxy is 
 unquestioned, his learning various, his 
 piety genuine, and his knowledge of 
 mankind and experience of the world 
 more extensive than usually possessed by 
 men so eminent in theological attain- 
 ments. He takes what is called the Ar- 
 minian view of the question, but he knew 
 too much of the worth and excellence of 
 many of those from whom lie differed on 
 these points of doctrine, to be unduly 
 biassed against them, or the opinions 
 which they held. The pupil, the friend, 
 and the admirer of Leighton, he would 
 not have differed from one whom he knew 
 so well, and respected so highly, except 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 175 
 
 iVoin the deepest conviction ; still less 
 would he have denied^ with Leighton's 
 memory before him, that the most pro- 
 found humility and the most exemplary 
 holiness were compatible with sentiments 
 opposite to his own, as to some of the 
 deep things of God. 
 
 These peculiarities in Burnet's case, 
 not less than his learning and his piety, 
 recommend him to our acceptance as an 
 interpreter of the Articles. Other men 
 of equal ability, equal learning, and it is 
 possible of equal piety, might have been 
 less fitted for a task so delicate as this, if 
 they lacked the personal feeling which, in 
 his case, disarmed the mind of controver- 
 sial jealousy, and prepared him to view 
 the opinions opposed to his own, in the 
 form and features of a friend. That mo- 
 deration, too, which prevails in Burnet, 
 is as far removed from laxity or indif- 
 ference as it is from violence ; and, what- 
 ever may be the original leaning of the 
 reader's feelings, there will probably be a 
 
176 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH; 
 
 tendency in every candid mind to ac- 
 quiesce generally in his conclusions. 
 
 Bishop Beveridge's explanation may 
 be equally recommended, though it only 
 extends to the first thirty Articles. He 
 holds the scales perhaps with a more im- 
 partial hand than Burnet, and is scrip- 
 tural^ learned^ and holy. 
 
 A different opinion must be given of 
 Hey's lectures : though learned and can- 
 did, they are desultory and inconclusive ; 
 and, in some places, carry candour to an 
 extreme which deserves a different name. 
 They are better calculated to amuse the 
 mind of a literary student, than to fix the 
 opinions of a young theologian. If read 
 at all by him, they should be taken up at 
 a time when the judgment is formed, and 
 when the mind is desirous of general in- 
 formation, rather than seeking for parti- 
 cular directions. A young man who 
 should enter on the study of the Articles 
 with these as his only guide, would be 
 embarrassed rather than assisted by 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES 
 
 177 
 
 tlie succession of inquiries proposed to 
 his attention, and find that he lost in 
 certainty more than he gained in in- 
 formation. 
 
 Beyond the Articles, and the boots 
 which we have suggested as explanatory 
 of them, the Homilies of the church of 
 England will naturally form part of the 
 studies of him who looks forward to the 
 ministry ; and with these should be read 
 the Catechisms which go under the name 
 of Nowell, and those masterly works 
 which are published with them in the 
 first volume of the Enchiridion Theolo- 
 gicum. From these, if from any sources, 
 the real doctrines of the Church of Eng- 
 land are to be drawn ; and here, before 
 the stream had been fouled by contro- 
 versy, and while truth seemed flowing in 
 its purity fi-om the rock of the reforma- 
 tion, it may be sought with more success 
 than in the coloured statements which 
 followed afterwards. A distinction must 
 however be always observed between 
 
 1 5 
 
178 
 
 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH : 
 
 those works which are recognized by the 
 church as authorities, and those which 
 possess no other claims than their own 
 merits. And though it may be desirable 
 in the course of study, to read some of 
 the works of the earlier reformers, either 
 those included in the Series published by 
 Mr. Richmond, or those in the cheaper 
 selection which is now in the course of 
 publication ; we must remember that what- 
 ever may be the intrinsic value of these 
 writings, or the character of their au- 
 thors, they must not be taken as stand- 
 ards of opinion. 
 
 To complete the view which may have 
 been formed by these studies, to add 
 something of harmony and arrangement 
 to the knowledge collected from other 
 quarters, it may be expedient afterwards 
 to take up some work which should give 
 a connected and general idea of the whole 
 body of Christian doctrine. None per- 
 haps can be used for this purpose more 
 conveniently than Robinson's Christian 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 
 
 179 
 
 System. It is a clear, sound statement 
 of gospel truth ; and without entering 
 very particularly into the various points 
 which have been most agitated by con- 
 troversy, it enables the reader to see 
 what has been the scheme deduced from 
 Scripture, and to regulate his view of 
 different doctrines, by observing their 
 relation to and dependance on each 
 other. 
 
 If he has leisure to combine wiUi this, 
 Dwight's System of Divinity, he will find 
 there some eloquent and powerful dis- 
 cussions of the attributes of God, accom- 
 panied by much useful and original ap- 
 plication of the subject to the conscience. 
 As a book of study, its value is materially 
 diminished by the total absence of re- 
 ferences to other authorities ; but it well 
 deserves reading, not merely as a con- 
 nected system of divinity, but also as an 
 able exhibition of some of its most im- 
 portant doctrines. 
 
 In the last volume, which treats of 
 
180 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH ; 
 
 Church Government, the prejudices of 
 the author are offensively manifested ; 
 and here, as well as in some few points 
 where the peculiar doctrines of his party 
 are involved, his judgment seems less 
 clear and his reasoning less conclusive, 
 than it does where the essential truths of 
 the gospel are alone discussed. 
 
 In addition to these works, which pre- 
 sent doctrine in the form of system, or 
 which illustrate the doctrines of our 
 church as embodied in her Articles, it is 
 desirable to mention a few more which 
 the student may find it necessary or 
 desirable to possess. On the liturgy 
 itself it will be sufficient if he can obtain 
 the edition of the Book of Common 
 Prayer which has been published by 
 Bishop Mant with notes, or Shepherd's 
 Commentary. Either of these will include 
 the information he is likely to want, and 
 obviate the necessity of referring to larger 
 works. With regard to Church Go- 
 vernment in general, he must be referred 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 181 
 
 to Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, as the 
 great authority on the subject. Some 
 excellent treatises of a simpler kind, but 
 well adapted for circulation, and giving 
 considerable information on the nature 
 of our services, and the foundation of our 
 establishment, may be found among the 
 publications of the Bristol Church of 
 England Tract Society. For the pur- 
 pose of distribution, the Village Conver- 
 sations on the Liturgy, by the Rev. G. 
 Davys, may be warmly recommended ; 
 and an excellent paper on the Scriptural 
 Grounds of Episcopal Government is to 
 be found in the Essays and Tracts of the 
 late Mr. Hey of Leeds. 
 
 On different heads of doctrine, and on 
 the practical or experimental use of them, 
 the student may read with advantage 
 Scott's Essays, Hooker's Sermons on Jus- 
 tification, Beveridge's Private Thoughts, 
 Witherspoon on Regeneration, and Fa- 
 ber on the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Archbishop Leighton's works must not 
 
182 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 be omitted in the enumeration of books 
 which tend to form the tone and character 
 of a Christian minister ; and from many 
 of Baxter's practical treatises, from Dod- 
 dridge's Rise and Progress of Religion, 
 Scougal's Life of God in the Soul of 
 Man, and similar works, he may learn 
 how truth is to be brought home to the 
 heart in its most solemn application ; and 
 how the doctrines of the Gospel may be 
 most effectively used for reproof, for cor- 
 rection, for instruction in righteousness. 
 
 The Selection from the Works of the Bri- 
 tish Divines, formed by the Rev. C. Brad- 
 ley,^ and the series more recently published 
 in Edinburgh-j- include many valuable trea- 
 ti ses of this sort, which it may not otherwise 
 be easy to obtain separate ; and the many 
 minor works, which, either as re-publica- 
 tions of detached parts of authors, or as 
 
 * Select Britisli Divines, edited by the Rev. 
 C. Bradley. 
 
 -j- Select Christian Authors, by Chalmers and 
 Collins. 
 
CREEDS AND ARTICLES. 183 
 
 original productions, are continually is- 
 suing from the press, offer very important 
 resources to those who can exercise dis- 
 cretion in the use of the materials pre- 
 sented to them. Unquestionably excep- 
 tions may be made to some treatises in 
 almost every collection, and to some ex- 
 pressions in almost every treatise ; but 
 these exceptions are frequently as much 
 matters of taste as of judgment; and the 
 reader sometimes revolts from an ex- 
 pression because it is peculiar, as much 
 as if it was untrue. But even where the 
 difference is real, it is not necessary, in 
 order to derive useful instruction from 
 a book, to coincide in all its statements. 
 Much may be learned from many authors 
 without any entire surrender of the judg- 
 ment to their opinions ; and it is to be 
 hoped that the man who has once settled 
 his mind on the foundation of the Church 
 and her Articles, may be trusted with 
 different views, without any danger to 
 the soundness and consistency of his own 
 
184 DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH, &C. 
 
 faith. We might even add, that unless 
 he takes this sort of liberty in his studies, 
 and overcomes the offence which he feels 
 at statements or language which differ 
 from his own, his field will be unneces- 
 sarily narrowed, and that he never will 
 possess that wide and extensive acquaint- 
 ance with the subject which is desirable. 
 It is probable that expressions may 
 occur in some of the treatises above 
 alluded to, as Avell as in many valuable 
 works of the earlier divines, which savour 
 of the bias of the time and circum- 
 stances at which they were written, and 
 which it would not be expedient to adopt. 
 But the good predominates in a large pro- 
 portion. Truth is frequently stated with 
 great correctness, and with considerable 
 power, even in those works which seem 
 most objectionable on these grounds : and 
 it is not too much to hope, that a mode- 
 rate exercise of discretion, may enable 
 the student to select that which is profit- 
 able, while he rejects that which is ques- 
 tionable or injurious. 
 
185 
 
 CHAPTER VIIT. 
 
 History of t lie Church, external and in- 
 ternal. — IVie means for prosecuting 
 the study. Histories, memoirs; caution 
 to be used in the study of biographical 
 notices. 
 
 In speaking of doctrines we have made 
 some allusion to history ; for in truth, the 
 history of the Church of Clu'ist is pro- 
 perly a history of doctrines ; the rise and 
 fall of these being in this case the events 
 which it is the principal business of the 
 historian to trace and to delineate. But 
 the history which is here to be studied, is 
 limited in its extent. Instead of being 
 
186 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 occupied in recording those multiplied 
 changes which the will of man has been 
 endeavouring to produce on the surface 
 of the earth ; it is engaged in watching 
 and describing the various agencies by 
 which our Maker has been accomplishing 
 the one great object of his purpose, the 
 redemption, the restoration of mankind. 
 In the earlier period of the world, this 
 history therefore is confined to the state 
 of the Jewish people, the nation which 
 God chose as the depository of his will, 
 as the instrument of its final accomplish- 
 ment. From the period of the Christian 
 era the channel is widened; the stream 
 flows on, gaining width and depth as it 
 advances, and comprising within its space 
 the records of nations innumerable; and 
 thus we feel that it will increase, till the 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the 
 kingdom of our Lord, and one history 
 shall suffice for all the posterity of Adam. 
 Down to the time of the Christian era, 
 therefore, the records which the Old Tes- 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 187 
 
 tament itself includes, will form the chief 
 subject of study ; and otiier histories will 
 only be consulted or read in proportion 
 as they refer to this, or contribute to 
 throw light upon it. At the point where 
 thei?e records of the Old Testament begin 
 to fail us, or the period of the captivity 
 of Judah, the great work of Prideaux, 
 '^' The Old and New Testament con- 
 nected in the History of the Jewish 
 people," &c. immediately presents itself, 
 and carries on the thread of history to the 
 time when the Gospels resume it. This, 
 therefore, is a book which must be re- 
 garded as forming an essential part of 
 the study which is here being traced. 
 
 The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles 
 follow in course, as being parts of that 
 chain of history which God has seen fit 
 to reveal by inspiration. With them, 
 and subsequently to them, Josephus 
 should be read, on account of the light 
 which his independent narrative tends to 
 throw on the later period of the Jewish 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 people. With his work ceases their his- 
 tory as a nation ; and we cannot but 
 adore the providence, which in this way, 
 permitted a Jewish pen to convey to all 
 the world, the narrative of the tremendous 
 judgments by which God cast off ' the 
 people whom He had chosen^ and exe- 
 cuted the sentence they had brought upon 
 themselves by their unbelief. 
 
 In the history of the church of Christ, 
 which from this time occupies its proper 
 place as the peculiar people, the chosen 
 generation, two lines are to be followed. 
 
 The external history may be pursued, 
 which is occupied with the circumstances 
 in which the church was placed, with its 
 trials, its struggles, and its progress as a 
 community ; — or that which is internal 
 may be preferred ; the line which traces 
 the existence of the real people of God, 
 as a people separate and distinct from 
 others. The first is found in the Eccle- 
 siastical History of Mosheim, chiefly 
 known in England through its transla- 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 
 
 189 
 
 tion by Maclaine. The other is offered 
 to us in the work begun by the Rev. 
 Joseph Milner, carried on by his brother, 
 the Dean of CaHisle, and still proceeding 
 under the Rev. John Scott. Neither of 
 these works can be neglected by him 
 who wishes to become acquainted with 
 the history of the church; for neither by 
 itself would be sufficient. The work of 
 Mosheim, if read alone, might seem to 
 impugn the very fact of any other than 
 the nominal existence of Christianity ; 
 and we should doubt whether a spark of 
 real piety remained, amidst the accumu- 
 lations of folly and corruption which he 
 records. That there was such a rem- 
 nant still existing, is shown with sufficient 
 probability by Milner ; and though from 
 the very nature of things, truth was likely 
 to be hid out of the sight of any general 
 observer, and to be mixed with much 
 alloy even in the minds where it was 
 retained ; no one can read Milner's his- 
 tory without secret delight at observing 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 the succession of men who were raised 
 up from time to time, and by whom the 
 lamp of life was conveyed from one to 
 another through the darkness of the 
 middle ages. 
 
 With the era of the Reformation a new 
 state of things began. Different nations, 
 in succession, threw off the yoke of the 
 See of Rome ; and in different degrees 
 and forms asserted their independence, 
 and adopted distinct religious establish- 
 ments. The histories, before alluded to, 
 give general information as to the mea- 
 sures which were pursued on the Con- 
 tinent, and the peculiarities of the Lu- 
 theran and Reformed churches. The 
 Reformation in this country proceeded in 
 a somevvhat different order : and as it 
 had the advantage of commencing with 
 the higher classes, and was chiefly ac- 
 complished by the means of men who 
 added, in no ordinary measure, learning 
 and wisdom to piety and zeal, it had less 
 of a revolutionary character than the 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 191 
 
 changes which were effected abroad, and 
 more completely realized the idea of re- 
 formation which its name implied. On 
 this account, as well as others, the his- 
 tory of the Reformation in England de- 
 serves a specific and attentive study; and 
 the materials are abundant and of no dif- 
 ficult access. 
 
 The History of the Reformation, by 
 Burnet, will naturally be first suggested ; 
 and though, as a composition, it is un- 
 inviting, and destitute of the warmth and 
 interest which personal feelings threw 
 into his History of his Own Times ; it has 
 received such sanction from the highest 
 authorities of the land, and includes so 
 many documents of importance, that it 
 will ever form the standard of such in- 
 quiries. Strype's Annals may be con- 
 sulted by those who have leisure for 
 more accurate research ; and Collier's 
 Ecclesiastical History, or Fuller's Church 
 History, may be read instead of Burnet, if 
 they fall into the student's hands. But in 
 
192 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH, 
 
 either of these latter authors he must 
 guard against that party feeling which, 
 growing out of tlie controversies of the 
 day, warped, more or less, the rectitude 
 of mind in almost all the later ecclesiasti- 
 cal historians. 
 
 It might seem superfluous to be adding 
 to these names Burnet's History of his 
 Own Times, if it was not felt that the his- 
 tory of these times was, in a peculiar 
 sense, the history of the Church of Eng- 
 land. The principles of church govern- 
 ment, if not the doctrines of religion, 
 were at that time the chief causes of dis- 
 union in politics. The civil wars had 
 partaken more or less of the character of 
 a religious contest ; and the times which 
 followed must be contemplated, not 
 merely as giving rise to the civil consti- 
 tution of Great Britain, but also as 
 having drawn out and fixed the nature ot 
 her church establishment. For the pur- 
 pose of chronicling the events which were 
 passing at this crisis, Burnet possessed 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 
 
 193 
 
 singular advantages. He knew the tem- 
 per of most of the parties wliich were so 
 busily engaged ; he had mixed in every 
 line of society, both at home and abroad ; 
 and borne no ordinary share in some of the 
 great movements which had taken place. 
 But in addition, he knew and felt the 
 importance of the ministerial office. He 
 was capable of appreciating the blessed 
 influence which belongs to an order of 
 men, set apart for the purpose of incul- 
 cating, by precept as well as by exam- 
 ple, the great truths of the gospel ; and 
 he felt what might have been done for 
 England, had that spirit, which he de- 
 lineates so touchingly in his Pastoral 
 Care, been spread through all her clergy. 
 He viewed the events of the day there- 
 fore, with the eye of a Christian, as well 
 as with the glance of a politician; and 
 those remarks on the state of the clergy, 
 with which his history closes, may be 
 read, even now, as some of the most in- 
 structive to be met with. Should Bur- 
 
 K 
 
194 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 net's works, or the others wliich have just 
 been mentioned, seem to be beyond the 
 student's reach, he will find their absence 
 well supplied by Mr. Soame's History of 
 the Reformation of the Church of England; 
 which indeed, in many respects, is better 
 adapted to the exigences of the present 
 time than the works which precede. 
 
 The history of the church in later 
 years, whether external or internal, must 
 be collected from other sources. Its ex- 
 ternal state indeed, offers little which 
 can be considered as matter for history. 
 Peace is proverbially unproductive of 
 those events which add interest to his- 
 torical narrative. Since the times of the Re- 
 volution no change of importance has been 
 produced in the constitution of the Church, 
 and no work in consequence has appeared, 
 which deserves the name of a history. 
 
 The internal condition of the Church has 
 however been more productive. Beyond 
 those controversial works which, from 
 time to time, have issued from its bosom. 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 195 
 
 and which may offer the materials for 
 some future annalist ; a variety of me- 
 moirs and biographical notices, the most 
 delightful and not the njost unprofitable 
 species of literature, have appeared of 
 late years ; which contain the history of 
 the Church in the history of individuals; 
 and describe the progress of opinions 
 and the growth of religion, by record- 
 ing the characters which divine grace 
 has raised and formed within the Church. 
 In resources of this sort no age can bear 
 comparison with this. The labour of the 
 inquirer, no doubt, may be increased, 
 when he has to collect from many, and 
 frequently from discordant authorities, 
 the tone and temper of the time ; but edi- 
 fication is gained from the very circum- 
 stance which augments the difficulty of 
 forming general views. The details of 
 private life, which are thus laid open ; 
 the various pictures of the good man's 
 walk with God ; the exhibition of per- 
 sonal trials and personal efforts, conspire 
 
 k2 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 to render this species of reading as pro- 
 fitable as it is generally found attractive. 
 The chief difficulty will be found in the 
 selection that it is desirable to make, 
 and in the deference due to the several 
 authors which may be read on either 
 side ; and this difficulty increases in 
 proportion as we approach to the con- 
 troversies of recent times, and have rea- 
 son to suspect that the statements which 
 we meet with are coloured by party spirit. 
 The earliest narratives will therefore be 
 read with the least suspicion ; and the lives 
 of those who contended for the very funda- 
 mentals of the gospel, will in some re- 
 spects be more edifying than those of men, 
 who were divided on points of less import- 
 ance. To this cause, as well as to the sim- 
 plicity of the historian's style, we may as- 
 cribe the popularity of Walton's Lives ; a 
 book which may safely be recommended to 
 every Christian student. These lives are 
 found in Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical 
 Biography, combined with other memoirs 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 197 
 
 of equal interest ; and forming a series 
 with which every clergyman should be 
 acquainted. 
 
 The Life of Wesley, by Southey, may 
 also be read with advantage, if allowance 
 is made for the defective views of the 
 author on some important points of reli- 
 gious truth. With the Life of Wesley 
 should be combined that of Fletcher, the 
 most interesting if not the most eminent 
 among his followers. And the records of 
 his parochial ministry, at Madeley, may 
 show us the result which mio;ht have 
 been produced, if the fervour which burst 
 forth in the system of the Methodists, had 
 been restrained within the bounds of dis- 
 cipline, and had animated instead of di- 
 viding the Cliurch from which it issued. 
 
 As we descend in time, our stream 
 grows richer in this species of literature. 
 The lives of Newton and Cecil are each 
 of them replete with interest for the Chris- 
 tian student, as memorable instances of 
 the power of the grace of God, and in- 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 structive narratives of a very influential 
 ministry. The Remains of Mr. Cecil are 
 peculiarly valuable to the student, as the 
 reflections of a profound and original 
 mind, exercised with all its energies, not 
 so much on those mysteries which God 
 seems to have reserved to himself and 
 to have withheld from man, as on those 
 great truths in which the reason of man 
 seems permitted to exert itself, and which 
 form the basis of ministerial usefulness. 
 
 The series of Biographical Memoirs, 
 recently published by the Religious Tract 
 Society, may also be recommended here; 
 and some personal narratives are men- 
 tioned in a note below, which may be read 
 with interest and advantage.* Succeed- 
 ing years, it is trusted, will enlarge a 
 list, which with regard to ministers of the 
 
 * Life of Archbishop Sharpe, by Sliarpe ; Life 
 of Bishop Porteus, by Hodgson; Life of Bishop 
 Wilson, by Stowell; Memoirs of Rev. Dr. Stew- 
 art ; Life of Bishop Micldleton ; Life of Bishop 
 James; Memoir of Rev. L. Richmond, by Grim- 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 199 
 
 Established Church, is still very limited, 
 and inadequate to the value which such 
 documents possess in reference to those, 
 whose future progress may be influenced 
 by the examples set before them. 
 
 But under the influence of that Spirit 
 which was raising up such men as these 
 within its bosom, the Church has begun 
 to grow, and spread itself abroad. It 
 has assumed, for the first time perhaps 
 since the apostolic ages, a missionary 
 character ; and, instead of remaining 
 fixed within itself, and limiting its efforts 
 to self-preservation, it has begun ag- 
 gressive movements on the waste of 
 heathenism, and has attempted to extend 
 to the millions which lie in darkness the 
 knowledge of salvation through the 
 Gospel. 
 
 A new species of history, that of the 
 
 shawe ; Life of Rev. Thos. Scott ; Memoirs of Rev. 
 T. Robinson, by Vaughan ; Memoirs at Rev. Thos. 
 Lloyd ; Memoir of the Rev. Rasil W'oodd. 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 Conquests of the Church, has thus been 
 commenced, and we trust is beginning to 
 unfold itself more largely. The memoirs 
 of the few devoted men, who have led the 
 way in this glorious work, form the first 
 fruits of triumph which are to mark the 
 extension of the kingdom of Christ among 
 men. 
 
 The lives of Brainerd and Schwartz 
 and of the American Pliny Fisk, together 
 with those of our own Brown, and Bu- 
 chanan, and H. Martyn, immediately pre- 
 sent themselves here as objects of study; 
 and with these may be read Crantz's His- 
 tory of the Missions in Greenland, Bucha- 
 nan's Christian Researches in the East, 
 and those of Jowett in the Mediter- 
 ranean. 
 
 To these must also be added the Re- 
 gisters of the Church Missionary So- 
 ciety ; not merely as containing the annals 
 of the Missionary Church, but as abound- 
 ing in biographical notices, full of in- 
 terest in themselves, and exhibiting, under 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 201 
 
 every diversity of circumstance, the power 
 of the grace of God and of his word. 
 
 These last indeed may be considered 
 as forming to the theological student, what 
 the records of the year do to the states- 
 man or politician. But they not merely 
 increase knowledge by the information 
 they convey. They also tend to awaken 
 devotional feelings by the touching sim- 
 plicity of the narratives they include, 
 and by the warmth and fervour which 
 are characteristic of new converts. 
 
 In this manner, and by studies con- 
 ducted on such a plan as this, it seems pos- 
 sible that a knowledge of history may be 
 gained which should add consistency and 
 clearness to our acquaintance with the doc 
 trines of religion, by exhibiting these doc- 
 trines in their practical application. Those 
 who possess leisure or taste for nicer and 
 more accurate investigation, will find no 
 difficulty in enlarging a list, which is here 
 purposely narrowed, with a view to the cir- 
 cumstances ofthose for whom itis prepared. 
 
 k5 
 
202 HISTORY OP THE CHURCH, 
 
 One caution alone should be added to 
 the student who pursues historical in- 
 quiry through the medium of biographical 
 notices or memoirs. It should be borne in 
 mind, that the author in this case is 
 almost precluded, by the nature of his 
 employment, from forming a calm and dis- 
 passionate judgment of the events which 
 he is describing. He naturally adopts 
 more or less the feelings and views of 
 the person whose life he is describing ; 
 and whatever may be the deference due 
 to his intelligence or general integrity, 
 some consideration must be had for the 
 bias under which he writes. The per- 
 sonal history of the men who have stood 
 foremost in theological as well as in poli- 
 tical contest, has too often been composed 
 by those who felt more strongly for party 
 than for truth ; and has assumed the cha- 
 racter which their followers chose to give 
 it, as a defence or vindication of their own 
 peculiar views. The sacredness of truth 
 is thus sacrificed to the warmth of feeling, 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 
 
 203 
 
 and the reader who trusts himself im- 
 pHcitly to every statement which he meets 
 with, is in danger of being carried 
 about by every wind of doctrine, and of 
 adopting the views of eacli successive 
 party to which the subject of the memoir 
 may belong. The biography of men of 
 piety is not wholly exempt from this ten- 
 dency. Piety is mixed in most with some 
 peculiarities of doctrine or of practice ; 
 and the individual who undertakes the 
 office of historian, is generally biassed in 
 favour of those opinions which render the 
 character unfit for general imitation. Per- 
 sonal or party feelings in this way give 
 a prominence to qualities which it might 
 have been desirable to leave in the shade ; 
 and much of general good is sacrificed 
 to private partiality. For religion, though 
 it strengthens every moral principle, and 
 directly inculcates veracity and candour 
 in statement, does likewise involve con- 
 siderations of such magnitude; that the 
 increase of strength is not always in 
 
204 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 proportion to the increase of the power 
 which warps the judgment of the wri- 
 ter. 
 
 The few books which have been named 
 above, are probably as free as any from 
 this general objection; bat the caution 
 must not be considered as unnecessary, 
 when a wider course of reading is con- 
 templated. Nor can any thing be con- 
 ceived more injurious to peace of mind 
 and stability of opinion, than to be adopt- 
 ing the peculiar views of every author, 
 and varying with the subject of each 
 successive memoir. Excellent as each 
 may be, none are to be taken as universal 
 models. In each there may be some- 
 thing to be imitated, in each there may 
 be something to be avoided ; and even 
 that which is good in one case, may be 
 inapplicable or inexpedient in others. 
 As a common rule it may be assumed, 
 that the general impression, rather than 
 the particular imitation, is the object to be 
 considered ; and mixed and imperfect as 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 
 
 205 
 
 human characters always are, it will be 
 the part of wisdom to take that which is 
 decidedly good, and to reject that which 
 is questionable in its own nature, or in- 
 applicable to the condition of him who 
 reads. 
 
 To this we must also add, that the 
 most remarkable, and in many respects 
 the most instructive characters, have ge- 
 nerally been formed under circumstances 
 which gave a peculiar tone to their opi- 
 nions ; and in some degree unfitted them 
 as models, for universal application. 
 
 The early events of Mr. Newton's, of 
 Mr. Cecil's, and even of Mr. Scott's 
 life, were calculated to affect the sub- 
 sequent character of their religious views. 
 The extraordinary circumstances through 
 which the life of Newton was preserved, 
 till the African blasphemer was made 
 a preacher of the gospel, inevitably af- 
 fected the system of religion he adopted, 
 and the doctrines which he favoured. 
 
208 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 But while we can conceive the effect 
 which they must have had in his case, 
 and can easily understand the fondness 
 with which he dwelt on that grace, which 
 had made him what he was; it is but 
 reasonable to make allowance for the bias 
 under which he argued, and to impute to 
 the peculiarities of his history, some of 
 the peculiarities of his system. The case 
 is in a certain degree the same in every 
 marked or unusual character ; but it 
 is not necessary to assume that those 
 views are the only true ones, which are 
 held with sincerity by them ; or that the 
 wonderful means by which some men are 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth, 
 must put the stamp of certainty on all 
 their conclusions. It is manifest that 
 God leads men by different ways to the 
 same end. And it is not unnatural to sup- 
 pose, that the particular views of each 
 may derive some tinge from the circum- 
 stances through which they pass ; while 
 
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL. 207 
 
 their belief of those great truths, which 
 are common to all, remains the same, 
 untouched and unaffected by those 
 events which are peculiar to them- 
 selves. 
 
208 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Parochial duties. — Preaching. — Ser- 
 mons, written and extempore. — Cate- 
 chising. — Exposition. — Cottage Lec- 
 tures. — Schools and district visitors. 
 
 The preceding chapters have been de- 
 voted to the consideration of the studies 
 by which a clergyman may be fitted to 
 fulfil the important duties of his office. 
 A line of reading has been traced, which 
 seems calculated to supply the informa- 
 tion he will stand in need of; and though 
 it is not supposed that all the books which 
 are named, will be read by every indivi- 
 dual who is looking forward to the minis- 
 try ; still the list is intentionally so nar- 
 
OUTLINE OF PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 209 
 
 rowed, that it is hoped something- will be 
 known of all, or that the knowledge they 
 offer will be collected from other sources. 
 But while the line of study, which is to be 
 the preparation for the ministry, is in 
 these respects easily traced ; it is obvious 
 that the ministry itself includes many 
 things which are hardly to be learned 
 from books ; and that after the education 
 has been accomplished, and the learning 
 been acquired, which seem essential to 
 the office ; the exercise of the office, 
 and the employment of those acquisitions 
 open a new field of inquiry and reflection. 
 
 The object of the present chapter 
 therefore, shall be to describe certain 
 parts of the ministerial office, which have 
 not been touched upon before; and to 
 name some of those usages and methods 
 by which the parochial duties may be 
 most easily discharged. 
 
 Under the first head, must be named 
 that which is the spring and source of all 
 the rest, a sense of the importance and 
 
210 OUTLINE OF 
 
 nature of the office itself. Unless this is 
 gained, and deeply impressed upon the 
 mind, even in the very outset of pre- 
 paratory study, the progress will be un- 
 steady, irrelevant, and inconclusive. The 
 acquirements made, will be deficient in 
 that which constitutes their usefulness ; 
 and the man will neither learn much, nor 
 know how to employ that which he has 
 learned, to the best advantage. 
 
 On this subject, therefore, a few booki^ 
 may be named, which should be read 
 during the interval of preparation; for 
 the purpose of exciting and of forming 
 right views of the office which is con- 
 templated. 
 
 Among these, it is easy to name at 
 once Herbert's Country Parson, and Bur- 
 net's Pastoral Care, as books which every 
 candidate for holy orders should endea- 
 vour to make his own by perusal and 
 meditation. They are not works, which 
 are to be read once for the information 
 they may give, and which then may be 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 211 
 
 laid aside ; but tliey must be read and 
 meditated upon, till the very spirit of the 
 authors seems transferred into him that 
 reads, and he begins to feel as they did. 
 
 The age at which Herbert lived, and 
 the difi'erence in habits of life which has 
 since taken place, may seem to render 
 the Country Parson less profitable than si- 
 milar works ; but it is not only valuable in 
 itself from the primitive simplicity of its 
 tone, and its warm and ardent piety ; but 
 it is also valuable as exhibiting what was 
 the character of the country clergyman in 
 the views of those, who approached to 
 the very era of the Reformation. Of 
 Burnet's Book it is impossible to speak 
 too highly, or to recommend it too warmly 
 even to men of the present day. These 
 two, with some other valuable tracts, have 
 been published by the Clarendon Press, 
 under the title of The Clergyman's In- 
 structor, and are easily and cheaply pro- 
 cured. To these it is impossible not to 
 add the Reformed Pastor of Richard 
 
212 OUTLINE OF 
 
 Baxter; a book too widely known and 
 too generally valued to need a word in 
 its behalf at present. It will be read 
 with most advantage in the abridgment 
 published by the Rev. D. Wilson, and 
 with the spirit-stirring preface he has 
 added. In addition to these, the Essays 
 by the Rev. C. S. Wilks* may be named, 
 and the valuable work of the Rev. C. 
 Bridges ;-[- and this last, not merely for 
 the general informatron which it gives, 
 but for the remarks specifically addressed 
 to this point, and the spirit which per- 
 vades the whole volume. It is to be 
 hoped that any young man who shall 
 have read these works attentively, and 
 meditated on them, will need little more 
 in the way of instruction. It is to be 
 hoped, that the feeling which breathes 
 through them will be made the means of 
 
 * Correlative Claims and Duties, by the Rev. C. S. 
 Wilks. Signs of Conversion and Uuconversiou, &c. 
 by the same. 
 
 -}- The Christian Ministry, by the Rev, C. Bridges. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 213 
 
 kindling a similar warmth in his own 
 heart, and send him forth to the work of 
 the ministry in that spirit of Christian 
 devotedness and zeal, which alone can 
 make the office a source of comfort to 
 himself, and of blessing to others. 
 
 But beyond those general feelings 
 which it is essential to form, there are 
 certain specific duties involved in the 
 ministerial office, wliich demand more 
 particular consideration. He is called, 
 specifically called to preach the word. 
 This is the chief, the peculiar part of his 
 work; and without overlooking or un- 
 dervaluing those several branches which 
 may be subsequently discussed ; it is in 
 the pulpit that he appears as the ambas- 
 sador for Christ, as the herald of salva- 
 tion, the messenger of reconciliation. 
 For this purpose his previous education 
 has been including studies, the chief end 
 of which was to strengthen his reasoning 
 faculty, or to enlarge his powers of illus- 
 tration. For this purpose, literature has 
 
214 
 
 OUTLINE OF 
 
 been added to theology ; and some know- 
 ledge of the art of explaining and en- 
 forcing truth, has been combined with 
 knowledge of the great truths which are 
 to be believed. Little, it is true, has been 
 done towards realizing this end, by the 
 resources which a common education in- 
 cludes. The materials for the preacher 
 are in some degree provided; but the 
 art, the proper, the specific art of him, 
 who is to employ them, who is to exercise 
 his powers in persuading, in convincing 
 others, as yet is left to be acquired where 
 it may be, from experience, from imitation, 
 from reflection, or the mere bias of con- 
 stitution. 
 
 It is impossible to contemplate calmly 
 the situation of a young man, who is first 
 called to appear in this most important, 
 most responsible post ; and who ascends 
 the pulpit with little advantage from pre- 
 vious instruction, and with none from 
 previous exercise. It is impossible to 
 see him, preparing to teach others, and 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 215 
 
 to see hundreds hanging on his lips, for 
 that word which is to feed their souls ; 
 without mourning over the circumstances 
 under which this part of the ministry is 
 generally commenced. He may have 
 knowledge, he may have zeal, he may 
 have affection, he may have qualities 
 which hereafter may render him emi- 
 nently useful ; but his first efforts in 
 preaching are generally nothing better 
 than experiments, and experiments which 
 only lead to conviction of error. He 
 naturally begins by imitating the manner 
 of some one whom he has been accus- 
 tomed to admire, or by attempting some 
 mode which he has been imaffininc: to 
 himself; but his first efforts are attempts 
 in an art which he has never studied, and 
 where he has no adviser to direct him. 
 Even the theory of the system is un- 
 known ; and it is probable that years 
 must elapse, before experience and re- 
 flection will lead him to discover that 
 mode of preaching which is suited to his 
 
216 OUTLINE OF 
 
 powers, and best calculated to edify his 
 hearers. 
 
 With regard to the composition of a 
 sermon, Claude's Essay affords the best 
 and almost the only system of rules to be 
 followed by a preacher. Some valua- 
 ble remarks on the subject are also to be 
 found in Mr. Bridges' Christian Ministry, 
 and in the work of Mr. Budd on Infant 
 Baptism. These indeed are more likely to 
 be profitable to the student at present, 
 than the more elaborate work of Claude ; 
 and both, but especially the remarks in Mr. 
 Budd's volume, deserve long and serious 
 consideration. 
 
 Beyond the general views which may 
 be derived from hence, as to the nature 
 of preaching ; the mere arrangement of 
 a sermon requires some preparatory 
 study. For this purpose the Thesau- 
 rus Theologicus of Beveridge, or any 
 more recent work of the same kind, 
 should be consulted; in order to accustom 
 tlie mind to the manner in which a text 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 217 
 
 may be drawn out, divided, illustrated, 
 and applied. The skeletons of Sermons, 
 and the Horee Homileticas of Mr. Simeon 
 are eminently useful for the same end, 
 by the numerous models for composition 
 which they contain. And though it may 
 be desirable for a young minister to 
 aim at greater simplicity of arrangement, 
 than is usually met with in these works, 
 they are still admirably calculated to 
 show the way in which a subject may be 
 divided, as well as to enrich the mind by 
 the copious illustrations they supply. By 
 the attentive study of these, something 
 may be done, even in private, as to the 
 composition of a sermon. The mind 
 may become accustomed to the division 
 of a subject, and the arrangement of its 
 parts. The habit of reasoning closely 
 and with connexion may be formed. A 
 power of illustration may be gained. But 
 much will still be wanting to make the 
 preacher what he ought to be, or to fit 
 him for the office he is to fill. That still 
 
218 OUTLINE OF 
 
 remains, to which the orator of anti- 
 quity assigned the most important place 
 among the qualifications of his art ; and 
 though Action, in our acceptation of the 
 word, differs much from that which was 
 implied in his ; there can be no doubt, 
 that the way in which a sermon is pre- 
 pared, and the way in which a sermon is 
 delivered, is a point of too much conse- 
 quence to be left to the discretion of 
 every inexperienced judgment. It is not 
 easy to suggest a plan by which this 
 defect may be immediately supplied ; but 
 no one who appreciates the importance 
 of the office, can avoid indulging a wish, 
 that previous to ascending the pulpit, 
 previous to entering on the public duties 
 of the ministry, there had been some 
 preparatory discipline, by which the 
 powers of the preacher had been exer- 
 cised ; and some judicious admonition by 
 which the tone and style of his preaching 
 had been formed. 
 
 The talents of men are so various, the 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 219 
 
 situations in which they may be placed 
 are so different from each other, that 
 it would be vain to suppose, that any 
 system laid down in books should meet 
 all cases ; or that any one style of preach- 
 ing should suit every man, and be adapted 
 to every congregation. For these points, 
 something of personal instruction, the 
 remarks and advice of men of age and 
 experience seem indispensably neces- 
 sary ; and resources such as these, may 
 perhaps hereafter be obtained. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, it is necessary to 
 say that there are certain primary qua- 
 lities, which seem almost essential to use- 
 fulness ; without which, no great or per- 
 manent edification can be reasonably ex- 
 pected, and which everyone should regard 
 as the means through which a blessing is 
 to be sought. Of these it might be ob- 
 vious to mention, clearness in statement, 
 both as regards division of subject and 
 language; seriousness of manner; ear- 
 nestness of tone ; and that indescribable 
 
 L 2 
 
220 OUTLINE OF 
 
 mixture of fervour and of affection^ which 
 is usually known by the name of unction. 
 These not being the results of any parti- 
 cular talents, but rather the expression of 
 that state of mind which we feel to be 
 implied in the office ; are looked for in 
 all who undertake it, and may justly be 
 required from all : but even these may 
 be mixed up in degrees and combinations 
 so different from each other, that while 
 we feel that all are requisite, it is im- 
 possible to state how much of each must 
 prevail in any particular case. Subor- 
 dinate to these, come those other qua- 
 lities, which, as they are less essential, 
 may vary indefinitely in the case of dif- 
 ferent individuals, without detractingfrom 
 the usefulness of each, and which form 
 what is commonly called their manner. 
 At present this in general arises from imi- 
 tation ; from the insensible imitation of a 
 style of preaching associated with early 
 impressions ; or the more laboured imi- 
 tations of a stvle which has struck the 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. '221 
 
 fancy in later years. But in either case, 
 imitation may produce a style little suited 
 to the powers of the person whose choice 
 is thus decided; and the line which was 
 marked out for him by his own peculiar 
 constitution, the line in which there would 
 have been the most effect, with the least 
 of effort, may be deserted, in the vain at- 
 tempt of rivalling the success of others. 
 
 If men were generally aware of the 
 charm that belongs to simplicity ; or, if 
 they did but bear in mind, that gifts may 
 be various in quality, while they are equal 
 in amount; and that each man's duty 
 rather leads him to cultivate his own gifT, 
 than to covet those of others ; the gene- 
 ral style of preaching would be less am- 
 bitious than it is at present, but probably 
 more useful; and men, instead of labour- 
 ing to assume and to support a tone 
 which was not natural, would be im- 
 proving one which was capable of in- 
 definite improvement, if they followed up 
 the course which strictly seemed their own. 
 
222 OUTLINE OF 
 
 Peculiarities of manner would unques- 
 tionably remain, and might be more 
 strongly developed on this plan ; but in 
 truth, manner does not signify much, 
 where other qualities of greater import- 
 ance are not wanting. It is a matter of 
 experience, that those peculiarities of 
 dialect or action in a preacher, which are 
 most offensive to strangers, produce no 
 unpleasing effect on those who are at- 
 tached to his ministry. In that case, 
 familiarity removes the sense of his de- 
 fects ; and while they are associated with 
 qualities which excite veneration and re- 
 gard, they rather increase than weaken 
 their influence. If we find likewise that in- 
 spiration itself produced no uniformity of 
 style or manner ; if the language of one 
 apostle differs from that of the other, 
 though all speak by the same spirit ; we 
 seem authorized in wishing that every 
 man should assume the tone and the 
 manner which is natural to him ; and 
 while he endeavours to speak as the 
 
PAROCHEAL DUTIES. 223 
 
 oracles of God, sliould still deliver liis 
 message according to the powers which 
 he has received. 
 
 Another question of this kind, and one 
 which is frequently agitated, relates to 
 the use of written or extempore sermons ; 
 and the importance attached to the sub- 
 ject may perhaps preclude its being left 
 among the non-essentials, where thecourse 
 which each individual adopts, should be 
 decided by the peculiarities of his mind, 
 and his position in the Church. 
 
 One thing seems certain, that though 
 the power of preaching extempore may 
 probably, and in some degree be gained 
 by all, it is acquired with much greater 
 facility by some men than by others; and 
 that if there is one talent which more 
 than another deserves to be considered 
 as a gift, it is this. Learning will not 
 produce it ; knowledge, imagination rea- 
 soning powers, warmth of feeling, piety, 
 all the qualities which seem essential to 
 ministerial usefulness, may be possessed 
 
224 OUTLINE OF 
 
 in a very considerable degree, and still, 
 if they are not compounded in a manner, 
 which it is not for man to specify or 
 describe, they may fail in producing this 
 result, and impede, rather than facilitate, 
 the power which is wished for. To 
 some men it seems to come with a sort 
 of spontaneous ease, which we are unable 
 to account for. In the case of others, 
 not inferior to them in any quality which 
 may seem essential to the faculty, it is 
 laboured for, and laboured for in vain. 
 The thoughts rise too rapidly, or too 
 slowly ; the feelings are too weak to give 
 force to the delivery, or so strong that 
 they obstruct it : the imagination is too 
 fertile, or too barren ; and the mind, 
 which can reason powerfully and con- 
 clusively in the retirement of the closet, 
 loses all self-possession in public, through 
 the weakness of a nervous temperament, 
 or the diffidence of extreme humility. In 
 a case like this, it would be unjust to 
 impose one only method for all, where 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 
 
 225 
 
 the state of none was the same ; or to 
 lay down one system, to which every 
 intellect and every character sliould be 
 formed. 
 
 That each system has its advantage, 
 the most zealous advocates of either are 
 found to concede. And since it seems im- 
 possible that all should adopt one plan 
 with equal facility, or practise it with 
 equal success, it seems best to advise, 
 that each taking the line to which the 
 peculiar frame of his mind directs him, 
 should labour to excel in the manner 
 which is most natural to him, without 
 aiming at any laborious eminence in 
 that for which he feels no bias. 
 
 Each, however, should bear in mind the 
 failing to which his peculiar method is 
 most exposed, and be on his guard against 
 it. The preacher who writes his ser- 
 mons, must remember, that compositions 
 prepared in the study are apt to come 
 out in the language of the study, too 
 learned, too refined, too elevated for com- 
 
 L 5 
 
226 OUTLINE OF 
 
 moil hearers; and should labour to obtain 
 clearness of statement and simplicity of 
 language. Those sermons also which are 
 written in retirement^ are naturally apt 
 to be deficient in animation ; they become 
 essays rather than addresses, and as such 
 are too often systematic, cold, and un- 
 impassioned. This evil must be met by 
 awakening, even in the closet, the feelings 
 of one who stands as the minister of God, 
 and who sees the eternal interests of his 
 hearers at stake; it must be met by a 
 spirit of Christian love, excited by prayer 
 and meditation. The danger which still 
 remains of coldness, must be avoided by 
 warmth and fervour in delivery ; nor can 
 we doubt, that by God's blessing on 
 exertions such as these, all the peculiar 
 evils of written composition might be 
 obviated, and as large a measure of use- 
 fulness be obtained, as it is possible to 
 hope for. 
 
 Nor must the extempore preacher for- 
 get, that his style is still more exposed 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 227 
 
 to danger, though the voice of public 
 feeling may speak strongly in its favour. 
 That facility of utterance, which probably 
 decides his choice as to the line of preach- 
 ing he adopts, too often leads him to 
 forget the necessity of previous study, 
 and preparation for the pulpit. The ap- 
 parent success of his ministry seems a 
 convincing proof of the power which ac- 
 companies it. The crowds which are 
 attracted, are considered as seals, which 
 it would be incredulity to doubt; and 
 while fluency of speech, and an animated 
 enunciation of certain great truths, con- 
 tinue to secure their attendance, no doubt 
 rises as to the blessing under which he 
 is labouring, or the sufficiency of the gos- 
 pel which he preaches. But during all 
 this time, his hearers may have only been 
 attracted to the talent which dazzled 
 them, not converted to the truth as it is 
 in Jesus. Their impressions may have 
 been lively, but not deep nor abiding: 
 their views of the gospel may have been 
 
228 OUTLINE OF 
 
 strong, but neither full nor consistent ; 
 and after several years of brilliant dis- 
 play, and general admiration, he may 
 find that his congregation is drawn away 
 to some newer and more attractive rival ; 
 or falling into inconsistencies of doctrine 
 or practice which affect the very integrity 
 of their faith. Knowing that such may 
 be the case, and often has been so, let 
 the extempore preacher remember, that 
 the gift in which he glories, was not 
 given to supersede the necessity of study, 
 of meditation, of laborious cultivation of 
 his mental powers, but to assist in their 
 development, and to contribute to their 
 usefulness. Like the gift of tongues in 
 apostolic times, it is the most specious, 
 but it is also the most illusive quality in 
 the preacher ; and though when properly 
 employed, when discreetly used, it may 
 be a powerful instrument of good, he 
 must never lose sight of its real nature, 
 nor cease to consider it merely as an 
 instrument which depends on other qua- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. *229 
 
 lities for the good which it is to pro- 
 duce. 
 
 Bat while there are some advantages to 
 be named on this side, let not any one to 
 whom God does not seem to have granted 
 the qualities essential to it, be tempted 
 to despondency on that account. Some 
 of those individuals whom the grace of 
 God has made eminently and widely use- 
 ful, have never seen fit to adopt the 
 practice. Their heart has spoken through 
 the medium of the pen ; and the feeling 
 with which they delivered in the pulpit, 
 what had been prepared in the closet, 
 has rescued their ministrations from the 
 charge of coldness and languor. 
 
 Let but a sermon be prepared under 
 the influence of prayer ; let it but be 
 aimed at the souls of men, and be de- 
 livered from a heart overflowing with 
 love to those who are addressed, and the 
 difference will be small, whether it lies 
 on paper before the preacher, or is only 
 lodged in the recesses of his mind. Its 
 
230 OUTLINE OP 
 
 final success depends upon the grace of 
 God; and that grace will generally ac- 
 company the most faithful labours^ and 
 the most earnest prayers, whatever may 
 have been the manner or mode in which 
 they have been exerted. 
 
 Nor should we forget to bear in mind, 
 that those evils which seem to belong to 
 written sermons may be more easily de- 
 tected and avoided, while those which be- 
 long to the extempore mode seem inhe- 
 rent in the system itself. The present 
 practice of the Scottish Church is strongly 
 in favour of the adoption of written dis- 
 courses ; and if extempore addresses are 
 best calculated to produce effect, it is 
 probable that edification will be more 
 generally promoted by those which are 
 written. 
 
 At all events, the dangers connected 
 with extempore preaching are so many 
 and so obvious, that it should never be 
 attempted by those, who perhaps are 
 most disposed to adopt it — by the young. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES 
 
 231 
 
 the warm, and the inexperienced. It 
 should be deferred till the judgment has 
 gained maturity, till the mind has been 
 enriched with a large variety of know- 
 ledge, and till some security has been 
 gained by these acquirements against the 
 dangers of sameness and precipitancy. 
 
 Too much importance has undoubtedly 
 been given to that which is merely hu- 
 man in this question ; and men seem to 
 have lost sight of their absolute depend- 
 ence on the grace of God, in comparing 
 the degrees of excitement produced by 
 the instruments their Maker employs. 
 Greater good would be effected, more of 
 solid edification would be gained, if they 
 thought more about the truths which they 
 heard, and less about the manner in which 
 those truths were delivered. On the 
 other hand, ministers would feel less of 
 reserve, less of that embarrassment which 
 frequently prevents exertion, if they 
 agreed in considering their powers merely 
 as gifts which God bestows in various 
 
232 OUTLINE OP 
 
 measures to different men. If the quick 
 extemporaneous preacher did not despise 
 his slower brother, and if the deliverer 
 of his studied sermon did not judge his 
 more brilliant brother ; but if each, in the 
 fulness of Christian charity, believed of 
 the other, that God had received him, 
 and looked to the edification which fol- 
 lowed, rather than to the effect w^hich was 
 produced. 
 
 But while these peculiarities must be 
 left in some degree to the judgment of 
 individuals, there are other points of less 
 dubious character, and which must be 
 universally impressed as being necessary 
 to all. Of these one of the first is clear- 
 ness of statement. Knowledge of the 
 truth and faithfulness are comparatively 
 of little avail, if they are not accompanied 
 by accuracy of view, and clearness in 
 the exhibition of doctrine. The circum- 
 stances under which sermons are deli- 
 vered, the difficulty that there is in many 
 places of easy and confidential inter- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 233 
 
 course between the minister and his peo- 
 ple, render it peculiarly necessary that 
 the statements of important truths, as 
 uttered from the pulpit, should be in- 
 telligible to all his hearers. Nor is this 
 a faculty of such easy acquirement as 
 might be supposed. The language which 
 education renders simple to some minds, 
 is too elevated for the comprehension of 
 others ; and a statement may be made, 
 which shall be correctly true in itself, 
 and intelligible to literary hearers, which 
 shall still be raised above the compre- 
 hension of others. In other cases, a man 
 may understand a doctrine, and still may 
 not be capable of explaining it distinctly: 
 he may not have accustomed himself to 
 watch the progress by which the mind 
 advances to truth; and from want of 
 habit, may literally be incapable of ex- 
 plaining the things which he perfectly 
 comprehends. In still more cases, the 
 comprehension of truth itself has been 
 imperfect. The views have not been 
 
234 OUTLINE OF 
 
 cleared and regulated by reflection or 
 discussion ; and the confusion which pre- 
 vails in statement is merely the exhibition 
 of the confusion which exists in the 
 mind. 
 
 But in all these cases, the effect pro- 
 duced by a sermon, even the sermon of a 
 wise and pious man, will be very uncertain 
 and very inadequate. Dull and torpid 
 as the minds of men commonly are, a 
 very moderate defect in clearness will 
 prevent its being at all understood ; and 
 much and painful disappointment may 
 be felt at the want of success in some 
 laborious and faithful ministry, where all 
 might have been attributed to this defect 
 alone. 
 
 Connected with this, is simplicity of 
 language. Language is the vehicle by 
 which our thoughts are conveyed ; and it 
 is not merely necessary that the arrange- 
 ment of these should be luminous, but 
 the medium in which they are presented 
 must be likewise clear, or else no light 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 235 
 
 will be transmitted. One of the chief 
 advantages belonging to extempore ser- 
 mons, seems to be the inducement to 
 adopt a more colloquial, and therefore a 
 more intelligible sort of language; but 
 whatever may be the mode of preaching, 
 it should be remembered, that from neg- 
 lect of this, a man may speak in his 
 native language, and yet be speaking in 
 an unknown tongue to great part of his 
 congregation. 
 
 In former times, the conceit of learn- 
 ing induced preachers to fill their ser- 
 mons with quotations from ancient wri- 
 ters, and thus to sacrifice edification to 
 display ; or at best, to seek the one 
 through the means of the other. That 
 conceit is exploded, but one error in- 
 variably succeeds another; and the con- 
 ceit of intellect may perhaps be as in- 
 jurious in our days to common edifica- 
 tion, as that of erudition was in the time 
 of our ancestors. 
 
 To men of literary habits, and excited 
 
236 OUTLINE OF 
 
 imaginations, a language abounding in 
 metaphor and allusion, possesses con- 
 siderable attraction ; but they are apt in 
 the meanwhile to forget, that that bril- 
 liancy which amuses a few, leaves many 
 in utter darkness ; and the figures of 
 speech with which a multifarious litera- 
 ture has enriched our tongue, are to the 
 many, as unintelligible as the Greek and 
 Latin quotations of the earlier divines. 
 
 But it would be a mistake to suppose, 
 that simplicity of language precludes ele- 
 gance, or force, or any of those qualities 
 which are essential to oratorical effect. 
 The great orator of Athens indeed, may 
 alone be named as sufficient to prove, 
 that tliey are capable of combination in 
 the largest measure ; and our own ex- 
 perience may probably have convinced 
 us already, that turgid language has 
 generally weakened the impression that 
 was intended, and that the greatest effect 
 has been produced by the simplest words. 
 
 To these should be added, application 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 237 
 
 of the subject. A sermon without an ap- 
 plication, is like a letter without an ad- 
 dress. It may be good, useful, instruc- 
 tive, but it seems to belong to no one ; 
 and no one tlierefore takes it to himself, 
 or is profited by it. 
 
 We cannot but remember the force 
 which a very simple parable possessed in 
 the mouth of one man of God, when the 
 application, " Thou art the man,'^ was 
 immediate, and personal, and irresistible. 
 And though this is an illustration, rather 
 than a model of the rule, it shows what 
 the effect of application may be. Most 
 of the very powerful preachers have 
 dealt much in application, which is 
 indeed, in the case of the Christian mi- 
 nister, all that was implied by the pe- 
 roration of the Roman orator. Those 
 great masters of the art laid down their 
 rules for this most important member of 
 the speech: and showed their sense of its 
 value, by the labours they bestowed on 
 its production. In the preacher's office, 
 
238 OUTLINE OF 
 
 it is not to be the result of any artificial 
 arrangement, it must rather be the over- 
 flowing of a heart, filled with the im- 
 portance of the truths which he has 
 been explaining, and bursting with love 
 for the souls of those whom he is ad- 
 dressing. It seems, as if his sense of 
 the value of the doctrines he had been 
 considering, constrained him to turn to 
 those whom he beholds ; and to carry 
 to them individually, or in the several 
 divisions, under which his personal know- 
 ledge induces him to regard them, the 
 inferences which press on his observation. 
 He sees some careless, who must be 
 awakened ; some disobedient, who must 
 be rebuked; some doubting, who must 
 be satisfied ; some fainting, who must be 
 comforted; some going on unto perfection, 
 who must be directed ; and his duty will 
 be, to apply to each, according to their 
 several degrees or wants, the truth he has 
 been deducing from his text. 
 
 The application which is made under 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 239 
 
 such a rule as this can hardly be offensive. 
 The love which makes it particular, will 
 prevent its being personal ; and he who 
 shows that he only speaks with earnest- 
 ness, because he is anxious for the good 
 of others, will seldom find his warmth 
 misinterpreted by those whom he ad- 
 dresses. 
 
 But the pulpit, however great the value 
 of the ministrations belonging to it, in- 
 cludes merely a part of the clergyman's 
 duties. There are other employments of 
 a kindred nature, hardly inferior to it in 
 value, and essential to its usefulness. 
 Among these, we must name exposition, 
 or facility of expounding Scripture, and 
 accompanying the explanation of the 
 sense by application to the cases of men. 
 In many places, this has been found a 
 very valuable substitute for the pulpit 
 ministrations of part of the day ; and has 
 supplied a more general and connected 
 view of Scripture truth, than was easily 
 given through the medium of sermons. 
 
240 OUTLINE OF 
 
 In all places it should be regarded as an 
 essential accomplishment to a clergyman ; 
 and whether practised in church under 
 the name of an expository lecture ; in the 
 parish workhouse, as an address to those 
 who from age and weakness cannot 
 attend church ; in the parlour or the cot- 
 tage ; it should be regarded as a special 
 means, under God's blessing, of diffusing 
 a general and an experimental knowledge 
 of divine truth. 
 
 The difficulties which may be felt, or 
 the evils which may be feared in the case 
 of extempore preaching, have no exist- 
 ence here. The circumstance that it is 
 Scripture which is before the eye, pre- 
 vents the rambling, incoherent language 
 which sometimes prevails in an unpreme- 
 ditated address. The succession of doc- 
 trines obviates the danger of monotony ; 
 and those who have the least of natural 
 fluency, may soon gain sufficient facility 
 to explain with clearness, what they have 
 well understood and previously digested. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 241 
 
 Next in importance to this habit of 
 exposition, stands tliat of catechising, 
 or instruction by question and answer. 
 By this word it is not necessary merely 
 to understand the hearing and explain- 
 ing of the Church Catechism ; but the 
 general exercise of that mode of instruc- 
 tion of which the Church Catechism is at 
 once a specimen and a model. It is pro- 
 perly, the Catechesis, or that mode of 
 oral instruction, by question and an- 
 swer, which seems to have been intro- 
 duced by the apostles ; * which has been 
 practised under one form or other by the 
 Church of Christ in every age and in 
 every country ; and which seeras^ under 
 God's blessing, the only instrument by 
 which the dulness and aversion of the 
 mind can be overcome, and religious 
 truth be grafted on the heart. It is in 
 itself the simplest, but at the same time 
 the most efficient means for diffusing the 
 knowledge of the gospel ; and it not only 
 * Lukei.4; Gal. vi. 6. 
 
 M 
 
242 OUTLINE OP 
 
 assists the effect of preaching, but is 
 actually so essential to its success, that 
 unless the mind has had some previous 
 training by this sort of instruction, the 
 most powerful addresses from the pulpit 
 may be heard in vain. 
 
 It is desirable, therefore, to keep in 
 view the separate provinces of these two 
 offices. It is the business of catechising 
 to instil into the mind the first simple 
 truths of the gospel, its doctrines and its 
 duties, and thus to render man a Chris- 
 tian in knowledge, as well as in name. 
 Preaching the word assumes the fact, 
 which catechising implies. The Chris- 
 tian preacher addresses himself to a con- 
 gregation whom he considers as Chris- 
 tians; and instead of beginning again 
 with them the rudiments of the faith, he 
 conceives himself called to feed them, not 
 as bahes, but as men ; and to draw out, 
 and illustrate, and apply those truths 
 which they have already received and 
 heard. If he is mistaken in this idea, if 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 243^ 
 
 neglect or circumstances have debarred 
 them from this elementary knowledge, 
 his office is in some measure neutralized : 
 he does not possess the means which 
 ought to belong to him; and he must 
 adopt some specific mode for remedying 
 a defect, which will otherwise impede, if 
 not destroy, his usefulness. In every case 
 therefore, where ignorance exists as to 
 the elementary truths of the gospel, cate- 
 chising, assiduous, persevering catechising 
 must be the minister's resource : for the 
 instruction which catechising offers, is the 
 specific cure for that ignorance which he 
 has to combat; and unless he succeeds 
 by this or other means in removing it, 
 his preaching will be comparatively un- 
 productive. 
 
 Catechising, therefore, must be re- 
 garded as the appropriate system to be 
 followed towards those, who may be de- 
 nominated babes in Christ; whether young 
 in years, or young in knowledge. In the 
 case of children the course seems easy 
 
 m2 
 
244 OUTLINE OF 
 
 and plain. Practice, and perhaps no- 
 thing but practice, soon produces facility 
 in the exercise, and enables the minister 
 to adapt his language, tone, and illustra- 
 tions, to the capacity of his hearers. His 
 chief effort must be, to keep himself down 
 to their standard— to remember, that there 
 is no degree of ignorance, which he must 
 not expect to meet; and that there is no 
 truth, which is not more clearly under- 
 stood by being recalled to the consider- 
 ation, and presented under some new 
 form. He will soon perceive, that from 
 the earliest age, men are disposed to 
 rest in words instead of rising to the 
 ideas which they express ; and to shelter 
 themselves by every possible evasion 
 from the trouble of thinking. The diffi- 
 culties of the work, it is probable, will 
 appear to multiply as he advances, and 
 discovers the extent of the darkness by 
 which he is surrounded. But the dis- 
 covery must increase his diligence instead 
 of overwhelming it. If the prospect 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 245 
 
 seems arduous^ he must remember, that 
 it merely includes realities which he is 
 called to combat ; and he must embrace 
 the more thankfully, and use the more 
 diligently, those means for its relief, which 
 are sanctioned by so many promises. 
 
 As a cheering proof of what may be 
 effected by this system in a situation 
 of no ordinary difficulty, the Horae Cate- 
 chetical of the Rev. W . S . Gilly should cer- 
 tainly be read. The nature of the sys- 
 tem, the details of the process by which 
 it is to be carried on, may be studied 
 advantageously in the different books 
 which have been published on the sub- 
 ject by Mr. Gall, of Edinburgh. The 
 steps to be pursued may perhaps be 
 varied beneficially, according to circum- 
 stances ; but as models of catechetical 
 exercises, these books will be useful in 
 describing the slow and gradual method 
 in which the foundation of religious know- 
 ledge must be laid. Every clergyman 
 who enters on a cure which has been 
 
246 OUTLINE OF 
 
 long neglected, and seriously applies to 
 the work of edification, must be content 
 to give many painful hours to this simple 
 but important office. " Precept must be 
 upon precept ; line upon line ; here a 
 little, and there a little ;"* and for those, 
 who, either in years or in knowledge, are 
 of tender age, catechising must long be 
 considered as the special medium of reli- 
 gious instruction. Nor need the minis- 
 ter confine himself to the Church Cate- 
 chism for this exercise, though he will 
 naturally make use of that as the body of 
 his parochial divinity ; but the Scripture, 
 either read in series, or in the portions 
 selected by the church service ; the 
 Liturgy in all its several parts ; all, in 
 short, that must be understood in order 
 to edification, may form from time to 
 time the subject matter of his catechetical 
 exercises. 
 
 He will find considerable advantage 
 likewise — an advantage in which he him- 
 
 * Isaiah xxviii. 20. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 247 
 
 self will share — if he succeeds in carrying 
 this system to those of a later age. In 
 the Protestant churches on the Continent, 
 this mode of instruction does not cease 
 till the individual has been admitted to 
 the table of the Lord ; and the examina- 
 tion during the two years immediately 
 preceding this act — the most critical and 
 important period of life— generally ex- 
 ceeds in frequency and closeness any of 
 the earlier time. The system of Bible 
 classes, which was chiefly made known in 
 England by a posthumous publication of 
 the Rev. B. Allen, of Philadelphia, has 
 been adopted by several clergymen with 
 regard to young people of superior at- 
 tainments in religious knowledge, and in- 
 variably with very satisfactory results. 
 
 The general catechising of the adult 
 part of the population is attended with 
 greater difficulty, and can only be recom- 
 mended conditionally. The practice of 
 Baxter at Kidderminster, shows what 
 may be done even in this respect ; and 
 
248 OUTLINE OF 
 
 where a minister's love for his people 
 has been proved by years, there is 
 every reason to hope, that the influence 
 he has gained will overcome the reluc- 
 tance that might be felt, and induce 
 many of all ages to submit to such an 
 usage. But where this is not done, a 
 zealous minister may still find that there 
 are other means by which the same re- 
 sult may be obtained. The parents may 
 be catechised through the children : the 
 instruction, directly addressed to the 
 young, may be indirectly raised towards 
 the old; and in those cottage readings 
 which now generally form part of every 
 well-digested parochial system, it is not 
 difficult to get a few to be catechised, 
 through whom a whole party may be 
 taught all that is necessary for them to 
 know. 
 
 These cottage lectures form another, 
 and an important branch of parochial use- 
 fulness. In many of our larger parishes, a 
 considerable number of people are almost 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 
 
 249 
 
 precluded from the opportunity of attend- 
 ing the regular services of the Church. 
 Distance of home, badness of roads, bodily 
 infirmity, or the care of children, offer im- 
 pediments which no zeal can overcome, 
 even where the church accommodation is 
 abundant ; and from these causes, many 
 mothers of families, and many other per- 
 sons from the circumstances alluded to, 
 are cut off from all participation in these 
 means of grace. The occasional visitswith 
 which the faithful pastor will endeavour 
 to relieve these disabilities, must of ne- 
 cessity, if his charge is extensive, be 
 rare, and in consequence unsatisfactory ; 
 and it is expedient, therefore, to collect, 
 at stated places, and at certain times, all 
 those scattered individuals who cannot 
 be expected to attend at church. In 
 most hamlets some cottage can be se- 
 lected, which shall offer space for the 
 few who may be assembled together ; 
 and the persons who cannot by any pos- 
 sible exertion reach the parish church, 
 
 m5 
 
250 
 
 OUTLINE OF 
 
 may be instructed to meet their minister, 
 at the house he may choose to appoint^, 
 during the week. To this point, there- 
 fore, may come the mothers who are 
 unable to leave their children ; the old, 
 the invalid, and the weak. A portion of 
 Scripture may be read to them, and ex- 
 plained in a familiar manner; a few 
 prayers, selected from the Liturgy, may 
 be used ; and by this simple means, the 
 bond of parochial communion may be 
 preserved, and a knowledge of divine 
 truth be kept alive in minds, that might 
 otherwise have been languishing in soli- 
 tude and ignorance. It is a plan which 
 has now been tried in various situations, 
 and with the most satisfactory results; 
 nor is it easy to imagine, how the super- 
 intendence of a large parish can be car- 
 ried on in any other manner.* It is in 
 small assemblies like these, where the 
 instruction given assumes something of 
 the domestic character, that catechising 
 * See " Parochial Hints," publisiied by Hatcbard. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. *i51 
 
 of this indirect sort may be attempted 
 witli the greatest ease. Young persons, 
 above the age of those who attend 
 schools, may be frequently collected 
 here ; to whom, and through whom, those 
 questions may be addressed, which are 
 intended to enlighten and inform the old. 
 The simplicity of their answers may, in 
 some cases, be more instructive than the 
 language of the minister : they will pro- 
 bably express the feelings, the thoughts, 
 of the circle to which they belong ; they 
 may frequently be made the instruments 
 of seeking that information which is de- 
 sired l>y others ; and, at all events, that 
 excitement of the reasoning faculties 
 which questioning produces, will be 
 transferred from them to those who 
 listen ; whose minds will be anticipating 
 the reply almost before it is uttered ; and 
 who thus will share, as much as is pos- 
 sible, in all the benefits belonging to this 
 method of instruction. 
 
!252 OUTLINE OF 
 
 These may be considered as the chief 
 branches of direct parochial ministry. 
 In these three forms, as a preacher, 
 as an expounder, or as a catechist, the 
 clergyman appears regularly as a dis- 
 penser of the bread of life, as doing the 
 work of an evangelist, as an ambassador 
 for Christ. There are other duties, how- 
 ever, connected with these, and subser- 
 vient to these, which he will not neglect. 
 His parochial schools will naturally claim 
 a part of his attention ; though the share 
 he takes in their superintendence and ma- 
 nagement must depend on his health, his 
 strength, and the extent of his other avoca- 
 tions. It is desirable, at all events, that 
 he should previously be well acquainted 
 with the system of infant, of national, 
 and of adult schools; and capable of 
 exercising over any, or all of them, that 
 superintendence which must, in general 
 cases, be required from him. In small 
 parishes the management of the Sunday 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 253 
 
 school sometimes rests entirely upon the 
 minister, and no one can be found to 
 whom it can be delegated with comfort. 
 In such a case, and while his own duties 
 are easy, this may form a natural part 
 of the employments of the day ; but, 
 otherwise, whenever help can be found, 
 and his own precious time hardly admits 
 of such deductions, he should consider 
 that it is rather his duty to raise up Sun- 
 day school teachers, than to act in that 
 capacity himself; and should aim at 
 forming- others for the office, instead of 
 taking it exclusively as his own. In fact, 
 no Sunday school realizes its character, 
 unless it is conducted by voluntary teach- 
 ers. This circumstance alone vindicates 
 its peculiar character, and separates it 
 effectually from the ordinary school of 
 the week-day. All restraint beyond 
 that which may be necessary for the re- 
 gularity and quiet of the proceedings ; 
 all harshness, all show of discipline, 
 should be avoided as much as possible in 
 
254 OUTLINE OF 
 
 a school of this kind. Freedom and kind- 
 ness should prevail in all its arrange- 
 ments, and love should be the motive by 
 which the whole is carried on. But no 
 machinery can be contrived to act in this 
 manner, except through the attendance 
 of voluntary teachers, interested in the 
 welfare of the children, and anxious to 
 lead them forward in Christian princi- 
 ples as well as in Christian knowledge. 
 They come to the office with a freshness 
 of feeling, which can hardly be looked for 
 in one wearied out with the business 
 of teaching through the week, and inca- 
 pable of laying aside the manners which 
 he has found it necessary to be assuming 
 in general. They awaken no associations 
 of fear or dislike in the children's minds; 
 but, on the contrary, are likely to possess 
 some claim on their respect and their 
 regard. Having no wish to exercise se- 
 verity, they naturally try to win the affec- 
 tions in order to draw out exertion ; 
 and it is only by the employment of an 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. !255 
 
 agency such as theirs, that advancement 
 in knowledge can be combined with the 
 enjoyment of sabbath rest. The clergy- 
 man, then, who succeeds in forming a 
 body of voluntary teachers for his Sun- 
 day school, has realized no ordinary ad- 
 vantage. He has secured, in all pro- 
 bability, the efficiency of this most im- 
 portant means of knowledge ; he has 
 relieved himself from a charge which 
 must often exceed his strength, and 
 might affect the frame of mind which 
 he desires to preserve ; but beyond this, 
 he has opened to the individuals whom 
 he induces to act as teachers, a field of 
 the most interesting and edifying em- 
 ployment. Labours thus communicated 
 are doubly blessed. They bless hini who 
 invites co-operation, and those who are 
 made partakers; and by extending to 
 many, those cares which might be over- 
 powering to one, they make all happy 
 through the division of a work which 
 would have been otherwise a burden on 
 
256 OUTLINE OF 
 
 him who had to bear it all. Wherever 
 teachers of this kind can be found, ready 
 to conform to the system which is laid 
 down for their proceedings, they can 
 hardly be too numerous. It is desirable 
 in schools of this kind, to assimilate the 
 mode of instruction as much as possible 
 to that which is pursued in families ; and 
 if the class under the care of a single 
 teacher did not exceed eight or ten chil- 
 dren, the teaching would become more 
 particular, more affectionate, and more 
 interesting to both parties. But, what- 
 ever may be the number of teachers en- 
 gaged, the tone of instruction made use 
 of in conducting a Sunday school, should 
 be peculiar and distinct. Emulation, and 
 the other means of excitement which are 
 thought necessary in other schools, should 
 be absolutely deprecated here; and as 
 the only instruction to be given is that 
 which leads the soul to God, through 
 that way which He has opened in his 
 Son ; the tone, the manner in which that 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 257 
 
 instruction is conveyed should harmonize 
 with tlie subject, and be as much as pos- 
 sible conformed to the spirit of the gospel 
 wliich is taught. 
 
 But this is not easily accomplished, 
 where the classes are large and the 
 teachers few. Some degree of quickness, 
 if not severity of manner will seem neces- 
 sary, to check the indolence and un- 
 steadiness which in this case must be 
 looked for ; and the peculiar character of 
 the school will be sacrificed to the dis- 
 cipline which is required to preserve 
 its efficiency. To this we must also add, 
 that it is hardly possible that teachers 
 should feel the same lively interest in the 
 welfare and progress of the children, 
 where their attention is divided among 
 many, as when it is limited to a few. 
 The feeling which assumes a sort of pa- 
 rental character, when directed towards a 
 small number, melts into general bene- 
 volence when diffused over many; and 
 none can obtain much regard, where many 
 
258 
 
 OUTLINE OP 
 
 are claiming some. If a clergyman, there- 
 fore, possesses the means of increasing 
 the number of his voluntary teachers, he 
 will find it his advantage to admit as 
 many as can be employed without con- 
 fusion. The school will be benefited by 
 this enlargement of its resources ; but 
 what is of hardly less importance, a 
 greater number of individuals will hereby 
 become engaged in a work, which tends 
 perhaps more than any other to decide 
 the character, and to form a taste for the 
 purest species of benevolence ; the bene- 
 volence which aims at the spiritual good 
 of our fellow-creatures, and pursues it by 
 personal sacrifices and personal exertions.* 
 
 * The most beautiful exhibition of the extent to 
 which Sunday school instruction may be carried, 
 and of the benefits which may thus be imparted to 
 every class of society, is to be found in the manu- 
 facturing districts of Lancashire. The Sunday schools 
 of Bolton contain twelve hundred cliildren, taught 
 by gratuitous teachers ; many of whom have never 
 left the school, but having been originally admitted 
 as children, and having passed through all the classes, 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 251) 
 
 Nor should this species of assistance, 
 which is essential to the efficiency of a 
 Sunday scliool, be neglected with regard 
 to daily or national schools. If co-ope- 
 ration can be obtained from the laity for 
 these objects, there is no doubt that the 
 interests of the school will be materially 
 advanced ; the monotony of the system 
 will be relieved; animation and intelli- 
 gence will be excited in the children by 
 the questions which are addressed to 
 them by their stated visitors ; and every 
 
 have risen from the rank of scholars to that of 
 teacliers, at the time of their confirniatiou, and have 
 continued to attend in this capacity the schools which 
 they first entered in another. There are teachers in 
 those schools of thirty-five years of age, who have 
 never been absent a single Sunday since the period 
 of their first admission, except from causes which 
 prevented tlieir attendance. 
 
 Wlio that hears of such a plan as this in opera- 
 tion, can avoid regretting-, that the Church was ever 
 influenced by jealousy of a system, which seems more 
 than any other calculated to promote its security and 
 to extend its usefulness ? 
 
260 OUTLINE OF 
 
 one who is aware of the difficulty that 
 there is in awakening the powers of 
 thought, and still more the sensibilities of 
 the heart, to the object of religious edu- 
 cation, will feel that no means should be 
 neglected which contribute to so desira- 
 ble an end. 
 
 Another portion of a minister's duty 
 is next to be considered, which invites 
 this species of co-operation more im- 
 periously. As parochial minister, he is 
 charged with the whole of the parish 
 committed to his care. The charge has 
 been committed to him, without any re- 
 ference to the amount of its burdens, or 
 to his powers of sustaining it; and he, 
 in accepting the charge, stands pledged 
 to the fulfilment of the duties which his 
 official character implies. But these, to 
 say the least, imply personal knowledge 
 of the individuals included in his charge. 
 He is called to watch for their souls as 
 one that must give account; he is to 
 teach and to premonish, to feed and pro- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 2G1 
 
 vide, for the Lord's family ; he is so- 
 lemnly exhorted never to cease his labour, 
 his care, and diligence, until he hath 
 done all that lieth in him, according to 
 his bounden duty, to bring all such as 
 are committed to his charge into that 
 agreement in the faith and knowledge of 
 God, and to that ripeness and perfect- 
 ness of age in Christ, that there be no 
 place left among them, either for error in 
 religion, or for viciousness in life. But 
 how can this be done, without personal 
 knowledge ? How can these essential 
 parts of ministerial duty be accomplished 
 without a real acquaintance with the per- 
 sons included in his sphere ? In the 
 smaller parishes, or even in cases where 
 the population does not exceed two or 
 three thousand, it is to be hoped that the 
 assiduity of a diligent minister will in a 
 moderate period, accomplish this object, 
 and enable him to obtain a personal ac- 
 quaintance of the individuals in his flock, 
 at least of the adult part ; and that his 
 
262 
 
 OUTLINE OF 
 
 Speculum Gregis may be found lying on 
 his table, filled with the names and cir- 
 cumstances of all, and enriched with many 
 observations which his experience has 
 collected for future guidance. 
 
 In such cases therefore, little more 
 may be necessary, than a general visita- 
 tion of the parish, commenced at his first 
 entrance, and a statement of the results 
 of his first inquiries exhibited in the form 
 of that Speculum Gregis,* which now 
 forms, it is hoped, the basis of proceed- 
 ings in many of our country parishes. 
 With this aid to his memory, and with 
 knowledge which accumulates upon him 
 from the observations of every day, the 
 shepherd may hope to know every sheep 
 in his flock ; and that, not only by face, 
 but with some degree of understanding 
 of their spiritual attainments, or spiritual 
 wants. 
 
 There are, however, other cases where 
 this is impracticable from the number or 
 "^ Published by Rivington, price 2s. 6d. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 263 
 
 distance of the inhabitants ; and where a 
 conscientious minister must be constrained, 
 liovvever reluctant lie may feel, to resign 
 some portion of the office which he con- 
 siders as his own, and to devolve it upon 
 others. And strange as it may seem, 
 the more conscientious the minister, the 
 more speedily, the more decisively will 
 this arrangement be formed. The man 
 who feels for souls, as a minister is bound 
 to feel ; who sees them daily carried away 
 from God by the torrent of sin, acting on 
 ignorant and unstable minds ; the man 
 who feels most deeply his own insuf- 
 ficiency for the work, by taking the 
 largest and the highest view of its im- 
 portance ; this man will be the first to 
 ask for succour and assistance in a work 
 to which he feels himself unequal. His 
 prayers no doubt will be incessant for 
 this object; he will feel, and he will 
 value the resource of prayer; he will 
 rejoice to apply it to himself in the fullest 
 extent of the promise. But he will like- 
 
264 OUTLINE OF 
 
 wise know, that the use of prayer does 
 not exclude the use of means ; nor the 
 amplest reliance upon prayer encourage 
 him who prays, in expecting impossi- 
 bilities. He is conscious therefore, that 
 it would be idle to expect from prayer, 
 such a measure of strength as should 
 raise him above the level of man ; nor 
 will he think that he can do by prayer 
 alone, what God has ordained should be 
 done by the agency of others. He asks 
 therefore, not for powers such as man 
 does not possess, but for a full measure 
 of that help which may be derived from 
 man ; and he rejoices to see the answer 
 to his prayers exhibited in the willing and 
 faithful co-operation of those whom God 
 raises up for his assistance. 
 
 In such a situation therefore, the mi- 
 nister must learn to consider himself not 
 so much as the personal visitor of his 
 people, as the former, as the inspector of 
 visitors. He must submit to the circum- 
 stances of his case, and instead of ex- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 265 
 
 liausting his strengtli in a vain endeavour 
 to do that singly, which requires the 
 labours of many ; he must aim at forming 
 such an organization of his parish, as may 
 enable him to do, through others, what he 
 cannot do by himself; and reserve to 
 himself the office of directing and of regu- 
 lating their labours. 
 
 The first step to this, will be to excite 
 in the more decidedly pious of his people, 
 a steady spirit of Christian feeling for 
 the souls of their fellow-creatures, that he 
 may thus secure in them a body of agents, 
 to whom he may delegate the office of 
 visitors with confidence and satisfaction. 
 When this blessing has been obtained, 
 the rest will follow naturally. He will 
 proceed to divide his parish into dis- 
 tricts, and assign to each district its pro- 
 per visitor, and to the visitors their 
 specific line of duty. In forming this 
 division, he may follow the plan which is 
 so admirably traced out by Dr. Chalmers, 
 in his Christian and Civic Economy, and 
 
 N 
 
266 OUTLINE OF 
 
 adopt that system so far as it may be 
 suited to the local circumstances of his 
 own position; or he may adopt a plan 
 less formal, and in some respects of easier 
 application, and assigning to those re- 
 sidents in his parish, on whose discre- 
 tion and principles he can depend, a cer- 
 tain number of the poorer inhabitants in 
 their immediate neighbourhood, he may 
 request them to exercise statedly over 
 these families that sort of superinten- 
 dence which Christian feeling suggests, 
 and which the respectability of their cha- 
 racter may seem to justify their assuming. 
 A plan in some measure resembling this 
 has long been in operation in the city of 
 Geneva, and probably was established 
 there at the very period of the Reforma- 
 tion. The whole population is arranged 
 under divisions which still bear the name 
 of dixaines, and which, it is probable, 
 originall)^, like our tithings, included 
 only ten families. Each of these divisions 
 has its appointed superintendent, and 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 2G7 
 
 weekly reports of the state of the inha- 
 bitants are made to the assembled clergy 
 by the persons charged with their inspec- 
 tion.* It is equally obvious, from the 
 duties still enforced upon our church- 
 wardens and overseers, that a similar 
 species of assistance was contemplated at 
 all- periods by our own church; and in this, 
 as well as in other cases, we shall often 
 find that nothing more is wanted than to 
 follovv out the original scheme, to adapt 
 it to the change of manners and the in- 
 crease of population, in order to make it 
 meet all the exigences of the present 
 moment. 
 
 There are many places where this 
 mode of local division, for the purpose of 
 superintendence, may be introduced with 
 greater ease than the more general sys- 
 
 * It is interesting to know that the reports made 
 of the twenty-one dixaines into which tlie city of Ge- 
 neva is divided, are drawn up nearly on the same 
 plan with that given in the Speculum Gregis. It is 
 also interesting to remark, that the same species of 
 
 N 2 
 
268 
 
 OUTLINE OF 
 
 tern of district division. It may be car- 
 ried into effect where the minister has 
 not the power of accomplishing the other; 
 and if it is found expedient to commence 
 with this, it will be easy at any time, 
 when circumstances are favourable, to 
 graft the other system upon it, and to 
 make this plan preparatory to one which 
 shall be more full and perfect. 
 
 But in one way or other the thing must 
 be done. The conscience of the minister 
 must not be allowed to sleep under the 
 neglect of duties, from the idea that they 
 are impracticable; nor must he shrink 
 from the attempt, because it will be 
 necessary to admit the co-operation of 
 others. It is possible that there may be 
 some inconveniences attending this en- 
 largement. Some dangers may be appre- 
 hended, some evils may arise ; but what 
 danger is there so much to be dreaded, as 
 
 parochial register was found among the exemplary 
 Clergy, who have kept alive the flame of the gospel 
 amidst the desolation and the snows of Iceland. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. '2G9 
 
 the loss of souls ? or what evil can be put 
 in competition with that of wilfully con- 
 signing to the consequences of ignorance 
 and irreligion a large portion of those 
 who are entrusted to his charge? But 
 generally speaking, the dangers have va- 
 nished in proportion as they were ap- 
 proached. A moderate degree of pru- 
 dence on the part of the minister, has 
 averted the mischiefs which might have 
 been apprehended ; and while the anti- 
 cipated evil has been trifling, the good 
 produced has been abundant beyond ex- 
 pectation. The ignorant have been en- 
 lightened ; the irreligious have been 
 awakened ; the sick have been comforted ; 
 multitudes have been brought back to 
 those habits of religion and piety which 
 are the only securities for happiness ; 
 and the most averse have been softened 
 by this practical exhibition of the spirit 
 of the Gospel of Peace. 
 
 The power to be delegated to visitors 
 may vary according to circumstances ; 
 
270 OUTLINE OF 
 
 but it may be expedient in these cases to 
 give all that liberty to Christian feeling 
 which does not interfere with ecclesiastical 
 order. The Scriptures may be read and 
 explained ; tracts and books selected by 
 the minister may be lent or distributed ; 
 information may be gained as to the 
 means of education possessed, and in- 
 formation given as to the means by which 
 deficiencies may be supplied; the sick 
 may be comforted, and the intervals of 
 the minister's visits be supplied by the 
 calls and prayers of the visitor. In this 
 way a general influence of religion may 
 be diffused through all the parts of the 
 parish, without any violation of the pro- 
 per authority of the minister or his office, 
 and all may be made to feel the bond 
 of that communion by which they are 
 connected.* 
 
 "^ This jolan has been already adojDted in several 
 of our largest towns, either in parts or entirely. 
 Sheffield, Birmingham, Brighton, Lancaster, may all 
 be referred to at this moment, as exhibiting the ope- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. '27 J 
 
 It is hardly necessary to state the ad- 
 vantages which result to the parochial 
 minister from this sort of co-operation. 
 He not only collects in this way a degree 
 of particular information, which it would 
 be out of his power to obtain by per- 
 sonal exertion, but he likewise exercises 
 a most important economy of time. Those 
 hours which he might have felt bound to 
 employ in reading to the sick and bed- 
 ridden ; those numerous calls which he 
 might have been compelled to make, for 
 the purpose of prosecuting any particular 
 inquiry; those days which he must have 
 passed in leading the ignorant to the 
 first rudiments of knowledge, are by this 
 division of labour reserved for the more 
 specific duties of his office. He may 
 thus feel in the retirement of his closet 
 sanctuary, that his own work is being- 
 carried on by others ; the prayers which 
 
 ration of a system, wliicli above all others seems 
 needed in the present state of our overgrown and 
 closely peopled cities. 
 
272 OUTLINE OF 
 
 he utters in secret may be mingled with 
 the many supplications, which are rising 
 from those whom he has deputed to this 
 work and labour of love ; and, unseen him- 
 self, he still may be the spring which sets 
 at work a system, by which a whole 
 parish is brought under the influence of 
 the gospel. 
 
 Nor let it be forgotten, that the very 
 employment of the visitors is, as far as 
 they themselves are concerned, a most 
 important spiritual benefit. Those who 
 are aware of the difference that exists 
 between passive impressions and active 
 habits ; who know the fugitive nature of 
 the first, and the necessity of introducing 
 habits of practice, in order to give any 
 thing like stability or reality to religious im- 
 pressions, will feel that the adoption of a 
 system such as this, tends more than any 
 other measure to form and to establish 
 the moral character of man. Those feel- 
 ings of religion, which if they had not 
 been embodied in action, might have led 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 273 
 
 to nothing, or perhaps might have ended 
 in some morbid frame, gain strength, and 
 firmness, and development as soon as 
 they^are brought into practice; and we 
 may safely say, that bodily exercise does 
 not contribute more to bodily health, 
 than the practice of religious duties does 
 to the soundness of religious feeling. 
 Every person who is drawn into this 
 course of occupation, derives from it a 
 sort of security against error. His reli- 
 gion gains strength, his principles gain 
 consistency by exercise ; and while thus 
 engaged in doing good to others, he soon 
 experiences in his own heart the fulfil- 
 ment of the promise, which says, "He that 
 watereth, shall be watered also himself" 
 
 One other topic of parochial duty re- 
 mains to be considered, and that is the 
 visiting of the sick ; unquestionably one 
 of the most anxious and delicate parts of 
 the ministerial office ; but still not de- 
 serving that pre-eminence which is some- 
 times given it, as if it absorbed the whole 
 
 N 5 
 
274 
 
 OUTLINE OF 
 
 of the minister's attention. The fact is 
 too certain to be denied, that men gene- 
 rally die as they have lived ; and those 
 who for years have resisted the applica- 
 tion of truth, are rarely touched by it 
 effectually at the time of their departure. 
 As long as life remains, hope continues 
 to linger; nor will any conscientious cler- 
 gyman fail to redouble his efforts, at the 
 moment when the object of his solicitude 
 and prayers seems passing for ever from 
 his sight. But though his struggles then 
 will be increased by the circumstances 
 under which they are being made ; he 
 will have acted unwisely and presumptu- 
 ously, if he has neglected such endea- 
 vours in former times, from any confi- 
 dence of the assistance he is to derive 
 from the effects of sickness on the mind. 
 
 Little, to speak in general, is to be 
 expected on a sick bed, beyond the 
 clearer exhibition, the livelier develop- 
 ment of the principles which have been 
 formed before. And though the limited 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 275 
 
 experience of most ministers can supply 
 them with some instances to the contrary, 
 instances sufficient to encouraa^e the most 
 earnest exertions ; it still cannot be de- 
 nied, that if any one was to defer making 
 these endeavours till sickness prepared 
 the soul to receive them, he would gene- 
 rally find the heart closed against the 
 perception of religious truth by habitual 
 apathy, ignorance, or pride; or pre- 
 vented, through the influence of pain and 
 disease, from lending even ordinary atten- 
 tion to it. Still, though the clergyman 
 will feel that his church, his lectures, his 
 confirmations, his schools, are his most 
 hopeful fields of labour, he will not neg- 
 lect the sick room. He knows that it is 
 possible that some hearts, which have 
 resisted his application in former days, 
 may be subdued and open to receive it 
 there. He well know s, that the grace of 
 God sometimes uses the chastisement of 
 sickness, as the means of humbling and 
 awakening Christians; and that he may 
 
276 OUTLINE OF 
 
 find the pride of the heart, and the levity 
 of the mind, overcome by the terrors ot 
 the outward state. All this will encou- 
 rage him to make the effort, or to renew 
 the effort, with the hope that it may be 
 now attempted, under circumstances 
 more favourable than before. With 
 regard to the visitation of the sick, we 
 are left at perfect liberty, by the 67th 
 Canon, as to the form to be made use 
 of j but beyond the authority which the 
 Liturgy possesses, there are few publish- 
 ed forms which seem capable of more 
 general usage than that in the Book of 
 Common Prayer.*' By addition of some 
 parts of the Litany, by the introduction of 
 other Psalms or portions of Scripture, 
 adapted to the case, and by a slight modi- 
 fication of the language of the Collects 
 in the service appointed, a form may be 
 composed of easy and general application. 
 The chief difficulty of the work consists 
 in awakening and directing the emotions ; 
 * "Slack's Manual for the Sick" may be recoinmeaded. 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 277 
 
 which having long been dormant, are 
 either prone to subside into habitual 
 apathy, or to grow irregular in tlieir 
 struggles into life; and in this, the proper, 
 the peculiar sphere of the clergy seems 
 to lie. If the parish is large, and the 
 minister's time mucli occupied, it is al- 
 most necessary to invite the assistance of 
 others ; and it seems desirable that dis- 
 trict visitors, or even neighbours of ap- 
 proved piety, should be charged with the 
 office of reading appointed parts of Scrip- 
 ture, or devotional works selected by the 
 minister, and of praying with the sick ; 
 while he reserves for himself, and for the 
 subject of his own visits, the discussion 
 of those points which seem to be of a 
 more delicate and specific kind ; and 
 prayer more peculiarly adapted to the 
 case of the individual.* 
 
 In small parishes the minister's visits 
 will naturally be more frequent ; but it is 
 
 * See, on tbis point, " Lay Helpers," by the Rev. 
 Thomas Sims. 
 
278 OUTLINE OF 
 
 probable, that in those which are large, 
 his absence may be well supplied by the 
 agency above named; and that, if his 
 visits are rare, they will be 7nore valued 
 and more impressive from that very cir- 
 cumstance. In a service which more 
 than any other requires that union of 
 faithfulness and delicacy, which is the 
 result of deep piety and long experience ; 
 where either extreme is to be avoided ; 
 where equal care is to be taken that the 
 broken reed be not bruised, nor the 
 smoking flax quenched, it is hardly 
 possible to derive much assistance from 
 books. The few pages given to it 
 by Mr. Bridges are eminently useful. 
 An old book called " The Sick Man Vi- 
 sited," by Spinckes, may supply a young 
 man with some idea of the manner to 
 be pursued ; but otherwise he must be 
 left to the guidance of his own heart and 
 feelings; a guidance which is not likely 
 to deceive him, if he does but add to 
 natural sympathy for those whom he ad- 
 
PAROCHIAL DUTIES. 279 
 
 dresses, a sense of the incalculable value 
 of the soul.* Under these impressions 
 he will soon find, that the sick room is 
 the place of study and spiritual observa- 
 tion; the place where he is to watch 
 the working's of the conscience and the 
 mind, and from whence he is to draw the 
 most affecting and experimental parts of 
 his knowledge. 
 
 * At this point, and indeed at other parts of this 
 essay, it might have seemed natural to refer to a 
 work lately published, under the title of Deatli-bed 
 Scenes. The ability with which some of tlic dia- 
 logues are drawn up would have justiBed the re- 
 ference, if there had not been graver reasons for re- 
 fusing to recommend to the notice of the younger 
 clergy a work which is open to many objections on 
 the ground of doctrinal statements, and which ex- 
 hibits a very unfortunate picture of ministerial ac- 
 tivity. Without dwelling on the general spirit of 
 the book, the views of the author on the subject of 
 justification can hardly be reconciled with those of 
 the Church of England ; and the manner in which 
 tile administration of the Sacrament is described, 
 seems replete with danger for an incautious imi- 
 tator. 
 
280 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Thus far an attempt has been made to 
 sketch, however briefly and imperfectly, 
 a plan of theological study and minis- 
 terial duty which seems capable of gene- 
 ral adoption. Far from aiming at a por- 
 trait of all that might be wished for, or 
 all that might be expected in a clergy- 
 man, the present essay must rather be 
 regarded as a sketch of that average 
 of attainments, and that average of ex- 
 ertion, to which every one may aspire, 
 and below which no one should be con- 
 tented to sink. Other works, which in- 
 clude a wider scope of study, or which 
 take a more enlarged view of the subject, 
 
CONCLUSION. 281 
 
 may be regarded as tracing the character 
 of the accomplished divine; of tlie man 
 who is to stand forth as the champion of 
 truth, and who is to meet and to stem 
 the torrent of general irreligion or pre- 
 vailing error. The object of this essay 
 is merely to state the qualifications of one 
 who is to carry on the work in the limited 
 sphere of a parish ; who is to be one of 
 the many ranged on the side of God ; 
 and it is in consequence adapted to the 
 means which are now possessed for cleri- 
 cal education, rather than to those which 
 might be desired. It is the representa- 
 tion of what we feel may be done, rather 
 than that of which we wish might be done. 
 There are unquestionably other branches 
 of knowledge, other attainments, on which 
 it might have been desirable to insist; 
 other features of character on which it 
 might have been gratifying to dwell ; but 
 these are either to be found amply stated 
 in books to which reference has been 
 made, or will present themselves in the 
 
282 CONCLUSION. 
 
 course of inquiry to him who is seriously 
 engaged in the pursuit. 
 
 For the present necessity therefore, for 
 men whose period of education is cur- 
 tailed by the expenses inseparable from 
 residence in our universities ; and who 
 have noteventhere the means of learning all 
 that they ought to know, this hasty sketch 
 must be sufficient. To them it may con- 
 vey some hints by which the precious 
 interval of leisure may be improved, and 
 their attention may be directed to points 
 where it will be most advantageously 
 employed. Still the real, the only efficient 
 remedy for the deficiency complained of, 
 must be sought for from the universities. 
 To them is entrusted the education of 
 those, who fill what are called the learned 
 professions ; and from the circumstances 
 under which the clergy enter on the duties 
 of their calling, the interval must be 
 short which elapses between the time 
 in which their knowledge is to be ac- 
 quired, and that in which it is brought 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 283 
 
 into exercise. Unless some change, there- 
 fore, can be edected in the system of 
 academical education, the great majority 
 of the clergy must enter on the duties of 
 their sacred office, with a degree of pre- 
 paratory knowledge so inadequate to the 
 important interests which will immediately 
 devolve upon them, as must excite in 
 every serious mind the liveliest feelings 
 of anxiety and alarm. The character of 
 the Church, it is true, may be vindicated 
 by a few names of distinguished emi- 
 nence, but the influence of the Church 
 will be impaired, the progress of religious 
 feeling will be retarded by the number of 
 those who remain destitute of the neces- 
 sary qualifications ; and all the efforts 
 made by some will be neutralized by the 
 insufficiency which continues to exist in 
 others. 
 
 To the universities, therefore, the ap- 
 peal must be made, and the appeal must 
 be repeated : and while all due acknow- 
 ledgment is offered for the ardour with 
 
284 CONCLUSION. 
 
 which secular learning is prosecuted^ and 
 for the splendid bounty with which exem- 
 plary attainments are rewarded by them, 
 they must be implored to compare the 
 encouragement and assistance offered to 
 the student of science, and that which 
 is extended to him who is occupied with 
 the study of divinity. 
 
 If an inference were to be drawn as to 
 the relative value of the studies, from 
 the provisions made for their pursuit, 
 the comparison would place divinity be- 
 low every thing that is dignified with the 
 name of literature or science ; or else 
 it would lead us to suppose, that the study 
 which involves the future as well as the 
 present happiness of mankind, was so 
 simple as hardly to require cultivation. 
 
 That it includes much that is profound, 
 as well as much that is obvious to the 
 humblest capacity, no one who is con- 
 versant with the history of man, can 
 pretend to doubt ; but on these grounds, 
 how can the present neglect of the study 
 
CONCLUSION. 285 
 
 in our universities be accounted for ? The 
 advance of knowledge has discovered as 
 many difficulties as it has removed. The 
 mysteries of revelation still offer depths 
 which no human intellect has fathomed ; 
 and the increase of acuteness in those 
 who deny the truth, calls for a propor- 
 tionate increase of knowledge on the part 
 of those who are to maintain it. But 
 the science which is beset with these 
 peculiar difficulties, the science which 
 alone extends its influence beyond the 
 limits of this world, is the single science 
 which remains in comparative neglect. 
 On the mathematician, on the scholar, 
 every ray of patronage is poured, every 
 species of assistance is lavished. His 
 industry is cherished, is directed, is re- 
 warded with a liberality which deserves 
 every encomium ; and we might rejoice 
 with a well-grounded pride over the en- 
 couragement bestowed on diligence in 
 these studies, if the feeling was not 
 checked by observing the comparative 
 
286 CONCLUSION. 
 
 neglect under which the study of divinity 
 is pursued. 
 
 And yet the object for which our uni- 
 versities were established is unquestion- 
 ably intimated in the phrase which de- 
 scribes them as sources of sound learn- 
 ing and religious education; nor is it 
 possible to deny the fact, that in the 
 minds of those who founded these magni- 
 ficent institutions, the first of these ends 
 was subordinate to the second ; and that 
 learning was chiefly desired, as offering 
 the security and the means of religious 
 improvement. The partial encourage- 
 ment at present bestowed on literature, 
 the indifference shown to the other study, 
 are virtual departures from the spirit of 
 the institutions, and involve forgetfulness 
 of the very principle of their foundation. 
 
 But beyond this, if there is truth in 
 the word which tells us that wisdom is 
 the gift of God alone, and that no effort 
 in its pursuit shall prosper if unblessed by 
 Him ; there is reason to fear that any 
 
CONCLUSION. ^87 
 
 partiality which is shown, any dispo- 
 sition to forget that most important branch 
 of knowledge which is occupied directly 
 with the things of God, for the sake of 
 other attainments, may carry the causes 
 of its own failure in itself There is rea- 
 son to fear that learning may not flourish, 
 at least that it may not produce its sweet- 
 est and most wholesome fruits, where 
 religious education is neglected ; that it 
 may lead to the knowledge of things with- 
 out rising to that higher degree of attain- 
 ment which alone deserves the name of 
 w isdom ; and that God may withhold his 
 blessing, where the paramount claims of 
 his service are not acknowledged. 
 
 It would ill become any one to impeach 
 on light grounds the wisdom of systems 
 of education which have been long es- 
 tablished, or to complain of any want of 
 success, where it is unquestionable that 
 so much has been done. Still less is it 
 consistent with a spirit of friendly and 
 dutiful remonstrance, to indulge in any 
 
288 CONCLUSION. 
 
 thing which sounds like taunt or accu- 
 sation. 
 
 At the same time it is not to be denied 
 that the exclusive attention which has 
 been paid by one of our universities to 
 mathematical study for nearly a century, 
 has been comparatively unproductive ; 
 and that while all the energies of the mind 
 have been tasked to their utmost, and 
 been forced by every sort of excitement 
 into one single channel, the great dis- 
 coveries in science have been made in 
 other places, and originated with men who 
 were formed under other systems. The 
 same remark may be applied with refer- 
 ence to other subjects, to the sister uni- 
 versity; and while both have agreed in 
 slighting the great science of the things 
 of God, the question may be asked, 
 whether this unbounded devotion to hu- 
 man literature has produced that pre- 
 eminence in literary attainment which 
 was expected ; and raised this country 
 above its competitors on the continent of 
 
CONCLUSION. 289 
 
 Europe ; or wliether there is not reason 
 to fear that the neglect of our Maker's 
 claims may have withheld that blessing 
 which alone gives efficiency to human 
 exertions. 
 
 There is ground for hoping that the 
 attention of our universities is already 
 drawn to the subject, and that eiforts are 
 being made to facilitate and encourage the 
 studies connected with the sacred mi- 
 nistry ; but it is requisite to bear in mind, 
 that the nature of the case does not admit 
 of delay, and that the necessity of some 
 change of that sort is urgent. The ge- 
 neral diffusion of education, and above 
 all, the diffusion of religious knowledge 
 imperiously requires a higher standard 
 of education for the clergy. The irregu- 
 lar system of study which has hitherto 
 been considered as sufficient for the can- 
 didates for orders, will not meet tl)e 
 growing demands of an intelligent, en- 
 lightened people. Well educated them- 
 selves, they will look for superior attain- 
 
 o 
 
290 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ments in those who are regarded as their 
 spiritual guides ; and in proportion as 
 they feel the value of religion^ they will 
 measure by a higher standard the qualifi- 
 cations of those who appear as its mi- 
 nisters. But there is no fact more im- 
 portant to be kept in mind by those who 
 watch over the welfare of a country, than 
 this; that those who are to lead and to 
 direct the feelings and judgment of others, 
 must always be in advance of those who 
 are to follow them ; nor will any system 
 work well or last long, where its heads 
 are not raised above the level of others 
 in the qualities implied by their office. 
 
 A clergy, therefore, in order to main- 
 tain that influence which is essential to 
 its usefulness, and ultimately to its ex- 
 istence, must rise above the standard of 
 the people in professional knowledge, as 
 well as in personal sanctity. Deficiency 
 in either respect must produce a species 
 of contempt, which, if it tends immedi- 
 ately to neutralize its powers of doing 
 
CONCLUSION. 291 
 
 good, will eventually lead to its destruc- 
 tion by impeaching- its necessity. In a 
 well educated community, it must be a 
 highly educated body in order to ensure 
 respect. In a religious community, it 
 must be a devout and sacred body ; and 
 that moderate standard of moral or intel- 
 lectual attainments which secured the pre- 
 eminence of the clergy in the midst of the 
 grosser habits and limited knowledge of 
 old times, will not serve the same purpose 
 when the general character of the nation 
 is raised in either case. 
 
 But it is hardly possible to deny that 
 in neither of the universities are those 
 resources open, which the importance of 
 the subject demands. In neither of the 
 universities is that encouragement given 
 to the study of theology, wliich might 
 have been expected in institutions founded 
 and endowed as they are. In neither of 
 the universities is any adequate effort 
 made to meet the growing call of the 
 times, or to supply that specific instruction 
 
 o 2 
 
292 CONCLUSION. 
 
 for the sacred ministry, which seems es- 
 sential to its influence. Lectures are 
 given, but their scope is so limited, the 
 attendance on them is so formal, that it 
 would be idle to expect any real or ge- 
 neral advantage from them ; and while 
 the young contrast the energy with which 
 other studies are cultivated — the close, 
 and accurate, and searching investiga- 
 tion with which progress in them is ascer- 
 tained, with what they see in the divinity 
 lectures, there is but one inference they 
 can draw, as to the value attached to the 
 different objects of pursuit. 
 
 Books no doubt exist, from which the 
 student may derive almost all that it is 
 essential for him to know ; and it may be 
 replied, that where these means of know- 
 ledge are to be had, it is unnecessary to 
 be adopting any other mode of imparting 
 the knowledge which is needed. But it 
 would be injurious to the very character 
 of an university to suppose, that the soli- 
 tary, unassisted industry of an individual 
 
CONCLUSION. 293 
 
 superseded all its use or necessity. It 
 was not without reason that the pious 
 and enlightened men to whom we owe 
 those magnificent institutions, collected 
 into one point the scattered machinery of 
 knowledge, and provided the means of 
 ampler improvement by uniting all to- 
 gether. The multiplied powers of the 
 press at present have not dispensed with 
 the necessity which suggested that ar- 
 rangement. Beyond the facility of getting 
 books, we know that there are in the col- 
 lision of minds, in the emulation of study, 
 in the assistance of superior judgments, 
 means of improvement, which no isolated 
 application can equal ; and the same prin- 
 ciple which congregates the students in 
 science, in law, or in the arts ; invites 
 the assemblage of all who are engaged 
 in the study of divinity. In their case, 
 as well as in that of others, beyond 
 the obvious advantage of reading under 
 the direction of persons of matured know- 
 ledge, and of profiting by the comparison 
 
294 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of mutual acquirements ; there are certain 
 means of improvement to be found in a 
 university, which can hardly be looked for 
 in private life ; and these means it may 
 confidently be stated, a university is bound 
 to offer to all who are engaged in the 
 studies preparatory for the ministry. 
 
 Among these, we might name first, in- 
 creased facilities for the acquirement and 
 cultivation of the original languages of the 
 scripture, together with such regulations as 
 shall ascertain the progress made in their 
 study. Much time is saved in all studies 
 like these, by beginning them under the 
 direction of one who is thoroughly master 
 of the subject. If this is not the case, the 
 commonest idioms involve difficulties 
 which occupy many precious moments 
 for the unassisted student: and what is 
 worse, the fear of these difficulties deters 
 many from attempting a work, which 
 would have been begun without a ques- 
 tion, if it had but been begun by au- 
 thority. 
 
CONCLUSION. 5295 
 
 Another advantage is that which may 
 be derived from lectures on the diflerent 
 branches of divinity. It is idle to object 
 to tliis, that books are already in cir- 
 culation, which contain all that a course of 
 lectures can convey ; for if this was a 
 valid reason, it would impeach the wisdom 
 of our whole academical system. The 
 study of natural philosophy has not been 
 neglected by the press at Cambridge ; 
 and yet the zeal with which science is 
 prosecuted there, renders all the nume- 
 rous publications inadequate to the end 
 they are aimed at, and requires the assist- 
 ance of lectures to combine the informa- 
 tion which is collected, or to present it 
 in some form better adapted to the com- 
 prehension. And if this is deemed neces- 
 sary in science, where the object of study 
 is so simple, and every step in the pro- 
 cess is the necessary result of previous 
 demonstration ; it can hardly be neglected 
 with consistency in a study like that of 
 theology, where the materials for inves- 
 
296 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ligation are so widely scattered, and 
 open to so much contradiction. If the 
 mathematician too^ from year to year finds 
 it expedient to desert the beaten path, 
 and adopt some new method of proof 
 as more clear and convincing; it is not 
 too much to expect that similar improve- 
 ments may be continually introduced in 
 the investigation of moral or religious 
 truth ; and that the skill of a lecturer 
 may know how to adapt his argument 
 to the intellects or feelings of his hearers, 
 with an accuracy which cannot be ex- 
 pected in the author who writes for the 
 world at large. The very multitude of 
 books likewise which are already in cir- 
 culation, renders some guidance neces- 
 sary with regard to selection and discri- 
 mination. Each author has perhaps some 
 merits of his own, which it may be de- 
 sirable to notice ; each has some bias ; 
 with which it may be important to be 
 acquainted; one maybe suited for one 
 species of readers, another for another ; 
 
CONCLUSION. 297 
 
 and the man wlio sits down to the study, 
 without some directions to determine his 
 clioice, may find that he has been wasting 
 his time on unprofitable speculations, or 
 unconsciously been contracting notions 
 from the influence of which it may not be 
 easy to escape. 
 
 But beyond these, there are other 
 advantages which belong more peculiarly 
 to public institutions, and which are not 
 to be looked for in retirement. 
 
 Among these, we might name oratory, 
 or the power of expressing opinions with 
 facility and distinctness. It is in vain to 
 close our eyes against the growing neces- 
 sity of this accomplishment, or to argue 
 against its cultivation from its frequent 
 abuse. Like every other power, it has 
 been often and greatly misapplied : but 
 while it possesses the character of power, 
 it must be needed to support that cause 
 of truth, against which such a combina- 
 tion of power is directed. In every 
 country where popular assemblies have 
 
 o 5 
 
298 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 weight, and the influence which man pos- 
 sesses, depends on the effect he can pro- 
 duce on the minds of others, this talent 
 will be valuable; but to no class is it 
 more generally necessary than to the 
 clergy. In their public ministrations, 
 whether they choose to exercise it regu- 
 larly or not, it will impart a facility of 
 improving or applying occasional events, 
 which may be attended with peculiar use- 
 fulness, and may obviate some painful 
 embarrassments. But there are other 
 situations now, into which the clergy are 
 continually called, and in which they are 
 even compelled by a sense of duty to 
 appear, where nothing but the possession 
 of this faculty will enable them to appear 
 with comfort to themselves, or with be- 
 nefit to others. 
 
 And if these occasions are foreseen, 
 it is right that they should be anticipated ; 
 nor should a clergyman be left to make 
 trial of his strength, in arms which he 
 has never proved. The object of his 
 
CONCLUSION. 299 
 
 education should be to prepare him for 
 every duty to which he may be called on 
 entering on the ministry ; and it is de- 
 sirable that he should not quit the uni- 
 versity, without having gained by ex- 
 ercise something of the self-possession 
 and facility, which will qualify him for 
 delivering his sentiments in public as a 
 speaker. 
 
 In some theological institutions this 
 exercise is carried on under the eye of 
 the tutor, and each student is required to 
 declaim before him on a given subject. 
 For obvious reasons it is to be wished 
 that the practice for clerical students 
 should take place in this manner ; and 
 it is to be hoped, that if it was considered 
 as part of the stated course of study in 
 the universities, it might tend to remove 
 that confusion of ideas, and that embar- 
 rassment of speech, which frequently im- 
 pair the usefulness of very able and de- 
 voted men, and might enable them to meet 
 the calls of duty with alacrity and effect. 
 
300 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The assiduous labour which was be- 
 stowed on this accomplishment by the 
 Romans, the incessant practice which 
 is spoken of by Cicero and Pliny, as 
 forming part or their domestic habits, 
 show the value which they ascribed 
 to exercise of the talent ; and if it 
 was but made a part of our regular 
 system of education, it would cease 
 to be considered, as it is at present, 
 a gift which belongs exclusively to a 
 few, but which is beyond the reach of 
 all who possess no natural tendencies to- 
 wards it. 
 
 This at least seems necessary to be 
 borne in mind by those who preside over 
 our seminaries of education, that it is not 
 the amount of knowledge which man pos- 
 sesses, but the amount which he can pro- 
 duce, the amount he can render available, 
 which really constitutes his usefulness; 
 and that the work of education is only 
 half accomplished, if it merely supplies 
 ideas, without also adding the power of 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 301 
 
 expressing' them with clearness and with 
 force. But if the necessity of this exer- 
 cise is doubted, as far as relates to pub- 
 lic speaking, no question can be raised as 
 to the necessity of exercise in recitation or 
 reading. There are other parts of the mi- 
 nisterial office nodoubtof much greater im~ 
 portance_, than that of reading the church 
 service in an impressive and appropriate 
 manner ; but there is none in which it is 
 more generally open to remark ; none in 
 which it is more easily open to improve- 
 ment. All, even the most illiterate of our 
 hearers, perceive the difference between 
 the efl'ect "produced by the Liturgy, when 
 read with devotional feeling, and when it 
 is hurried over with carelessness or irre- 
 verence ; but few^ perhaps even of the 
 clergy themselves, know the influence it 
 possesses, when it seems breathed from 
 the soul of the minister, and to come as 
 the very language of his heart. 
 
 Teaching, it is true, will not give this. 
 Instruction, exercise, rules for modu- 
 
302 CONCLUSION^ 
 
 lating the voice, or raising the tone, can 
 only imitate the effect which naturally be- 
 longs to deep spiritual feeling ; but they 
 may obviate many things that offend, they 
 may prevent that inarticulate utterance 
 which so frequently occurs in the case of 
 studious and retired men ; they may as- 
 sist and regulate the expression of feel- 
 ing, though they cannot produce it; and 
 may thus prepare the clergy to conduct 
 with more propriety their beautiful and 
 unrivalled form of service. The re- 
 verence due to Scripture seems again to 
 require that those portions which are 
 read in church, should be read in a man- 
 ner which may excite the attention, and 
 aid the understanding of the hearers. 
 The general circulation of the Bible has 
 in some degree dispensed with the neces- 
 sity, which probably induced the framers 
 of our Liturgy to introduce so large a 
 measure of Scripture into the service of 
 Morning and Evening Prayer; but it is 
 desirable that every member of the con- 
 
CONCLUSION. 303 
 
 gregation should be made to feel, that 
 Scripture is heard with peculiar advan- 
 tages, when heard in church; and that 
 the tone and manner of the reader, is in 
 harmony with the dignity of the truths 
 which he is repeating. As to the im- 
 portance of delivery in a sermon, no one 
 can venture to doubt ; and it is painful 
 to think how much of knowledge and of 
 piety are deprived of the effects which 
 they ought to produce, through defects of 
 manner, or faults of utterance, which 
 might have been easily corrected by a few 
 judicious hints in the course of education. 
 It is true, that these may be consi- 
 dered as trifling circumstances, if com- 
 pared with the more essential qualities of 
 the clerical character. But whatever they 
 may be in themselves, they are not to be 
 despised when viewed in reference to 
 others. Far from being unimportant in 
 this sense, they are actually the means on 
 which the influence of more essential qua- 
 lities depends. The piety of the ofliciating 
 
304 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 minister can only communicate itself to 
 his congregation, by the feeling which his 
 tone in reading the prayers expresses. 
 The portion of Scripture read in church, 
 will derive its peculiar influence from the 
 solemnity with which it is pronounced ; 
 and much of the value of every sermon 
 will be lost, if there is nothing in the 
 manner of its delivery to render it im- 
 pressive. But to secure this accomplish- 
 ment in general, there must be instruc- 
 tion, and there must be exercise. Few 
 men are capable of discerning their own 
 errors, few^er still of correcting them ; 
 and unless this can be done for them in 
 the course of their preparation for the 
 ministry, their usefulness will be dimi- 
 nished, and much edification must be 
 lost. 
 
 To these we might also add, as another 
 object to be attended to during resi- 
 dence in the university, the formation of 
 a clerical character. Great benefit has 
 unquestionably arisen from the manner 
 
CONCLUSION. 305 
 
 in which the clergy of the Cliurch of Eng- 
 land have been mixed among the laity. 
 That line of distinction, which in Popish 
 countries separates the priesthood from 
 the body of tlie people; which seems to 
 preclude the operation of the common 
 sympathies of our nature ; and which was 
 designed to raise the sacerdotal class to 
 a pre-eminence which no Christian mi- 
 nister would desire, has had no existence 
 here. The clergy have been placed in the 
 centre of the population, not '' as Lords 
 over God's heritage, but as ensamples 
 to the flock." No other privileges have 
 been assigned them, than those which 
 are essential to the due discliarge of their 
 office. No power has been given them, 
 except that which is spiritual; no in- 
 fluence, but that which sanctity of morals 
 and general usefulness can add to the 
 station which they fill. 
 
 By that blessing which usually accom- 
 panies the diligent use of means, it was 
 possible that they might thus acquire an au- 
 
306 CONCLUSION. 
 
 thority, which no one would be willing to 
 dispute, while it was only grounded upon 
 affection, and was only exerted for the 
 sake of doing good ; but all that they 
 could do among those around them, arose 
 from the degree of their acceptance ; and 
 all the power they possessed, was a 
 power conceded by those over whom it 
 was to be exercised. In a word, the 
 clergy of the Church of England have 
 not been priests, but ministers. United 
 with their brethren in one common fel- 
 lowship of service, as well as in one com- 
 mon nature, their specific office has been 
 that of stewards of the mysteries of God ; 
 their duty, that of giving to each of their 
 fellow-servants, the measure of spiritual 
 things which might be considered as his 
 portion. But this peculiarity in their si- 
 tuation, which has led to so many be- 
 nefits, which has checked all unreasonable 
 pretensions of the one class, andraised the 
 general tone of feeling in the other, by 
 blending ministers and people together, 
 
CONCLUSION. 307 
 
 lias not been without its dangers or its 
 evils. 
 
 The clergy have sometimes shared too 
 largely in the feelings of those by whom 
 they were surrounded. They have been 
 carried away by a stream wliicli they 
 were intended to check ; and though like 
 salt they were scattered over the surface 
 of society, in order to correct its ten- 
 dencies by their influence ; it has some- 
 times happened that the salt has lost its 
 savour by exposure, and that its peculiar 
 qualities have been overpowered by those 
 of the mass which it was mixed with. 
 Even in cases where this has not oc- 
 curred, it is still obvious that secularity 
 — that conformity with the habits and 
 views of the world in which their lot was 
 cast, — must always have been a danger 
 to which the clergy were peculiarly ex- 
 posed. He knows little of man, who 
 does not feel that moral sympathy is one 
 of the most powerful agencies to which 
 the human mind can be exposed ; nor 
 
308 CONCLUSION. 
 
 can we expect that any one should resist 
 the contagion of an atmosphere which he 
 is constantly breathing; unless he is 
 guarded against its influence by a special 
 system of precaution^ in watchfulness, in 
 meditation, and in prayer. 
 
 But part, and the most important part 
 of this precautionary system, consists in 
 the early habits of mind, in the tone 
 of opinion, and the modes of life which 
 are adopted at the age when the cha- 
 racter is most ductile, and the feelings 
 are being formed. The convictions of 
 later life may unquestionably operate 
 with sucli force, as to overcome the ha- 
 bitual levity of the mind, and to produce 
 a line of conduct consistent with the sa- 
 cred character of the clerical office ; but 
 it is not always that these convictions are 
 effected, nor is their application so re- 
 gular or so uniform, as to preclude the 
 recurrence of many lamentable deviations. 
 It is long before a reformed character 
 becomes a consistent one. Early errors 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 309 
 
 j)rocluce irregularity even in the influence 
 of truth ; and men who are awakened to 
 serious feelings in later years, not only 
 have to regret the opportunities which 
 they have lost ; but they often find that 
 their way is embarrassed by the effect of 
 early errors, long after those errors have 
 been detected and renounced. 
 
 In order then to ensure that consistency 
 of character which is desirable in the 
 clergy, and to obviate the various scan- 
 dals and hindrances which arise from its 
 absence, it is important that some steps 
 should be taken to fix its tone and stand- 
 ard, while the student is yet residing in 
 the university. It is not necessary for 
 this purpose to withdraw him from so- 
 ciety ; it is not desirable to give any 
 austere or separate tone to his character ; 
 but it does seem expedient that he should 
 be called betimes to consider the nature 
 of the office he is about to undertake, 
 to remember the importance of the habits 
 which he is forming, to anticipate the 
 
310 CONCLUSION. 
 
 duties and obligations of his future calling, 
 and to avoid every practice which may 
 tend to detract from his usefulness. 
 
 Nor let any young man revolt from 
 this suggestion, as if it threatened the 
 imposition of a yoke which would fetter 
 the independence of his mind, or of a 
 badge which would mark him out to any 
 unpleasant observation. No other pe- 
 culiarity is required or expected in the 
 clerical character, than a stronger, a more 
 decided exhibition of the qualities which 
 constitute the real Christian ; no restraint 
 is imagined, no habit of life is suggested, 
 except such as has a tendency to in- 
 crease and to secure their development ; 
 and while we feel that there is in these 
 a sweetness and an excellence, which 
 engages the affections and commands the 
 respect of all who contemplate them with 
 impartiality, no fear need be entertained 
 of the discipline which is recommended 
 in order to promote them. 
 
 Whatever might have been the cir- 
 
CONCLUSION. ' 311 
 
 cumstances of a priesthood, there is ob- 
 viously nothing in the Christian ministry, 
 which is not compatible with, nay, which 
 does not imply and require, the largest 
 possible measure of all things lovely and 
 of good report. The liveliness of youth, 
 therefore, is not to be forbidden ; it is 
 only to be regulated and softened. The 
 affections are not to be checked ; the 
 nobler feelings of the heart, the exercise 
 of the imagination and the reason, are not 
 to be prohibited ; they are only to be 
 purified by the elevation given to them, 
 and raised to a region where they may 
 expand with safety and abide for ever. 
 
 There is nothing that adds dignity to 
 the character, or sweetness to life, which 
 is not directly encouraged and promoted 
 by the habits which it would be import- 
 ant to recommend for this purpose ; and 
 if the account could be fairly stated, 
 of the usages which it was necessary to 
 resign in order to produce this early 
 consistency of character ; it is certain 
 
312 CONCLUSION. 
 
 that every man of common sense and 
 common feeling would admits that no- 
 thing was excluded except that which he 
 himself perceived to be low and de- 
 grading in its tendencies ; nor any thing 
 required, except that which added dig- 
 nity to his cliaracter, and contributed im- 
 mediately to the peace and tranquillity of 
 his mind. Without making any allusion, 
 therefore, to those indulgences which are 
 confessedly of a vicious nature, and 
 which every Christian will be anxious to 
 avoid ; the chief difference which it might 
 be desirable to see in those who were 
 intended for the ministry, should be a 
 gradual assimilation of the youthful cha- 
 racter to that which belongs to their 
 profession; a calmer frame of mind, a 
 more meditative and serious tone of cha- 
 racter, a retirement from the frivolous 
 and absorbing amusements of the world, 
 an early cultivation of pious and de- 
 votional feelings, a careful selection of 
 associates whose views and habits should 
 
CONCLUSION. 313 
 
 be in decided accordance with their own. 
 Tin's niiglit be considered as forming the 
 natural preparation for the future minis- 
 ters of the gospel. In these things they 
 would begin to taste betimes that sweet- 
 ness of religion, which gives warmth and 
 energy to its otfices. By these means 
 they would keep themselves unspotted 
 from the world ; and from a youth thus regu- 
 lated, thus sanctified, and thus protected, 
 they might pass to the work of the mi- 
 nistry, blameless in the opinion of the 
 world, free from its fetters, and untouched 
 by its pollutions. 
 
 There can be no doubt that timely and 
 serious attention to these points, however 
 trivial they may seem, might obviate many 
 painful and overwhelming recollections, 
 and remove many hindrances to future 
 usefulness ; and that in this way, an in- 
 fluence, which consistency of character, 
 and seriousness of behaviour can give 
 even to the young, might be obtained for 
 that period of the ministry which is na- 
 
 p 
 
314 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 turally deficient in experience or autho- 
 rity. But beyond the advantage which 
 may be derived from this source with 
 regard to the ministry ; there is a degree 
 of professional character, a peculiar com- 
 bination of feelings and of habits which it 
 is desirable to form in the clergy for 
 their own sakeS;, for the sake of that re- 
 spect which is due to their office, and the 
 comfort which arises from consistency 
 between manners and profession. The 
 office which the candidate for the mi- 
 nistry contemplates is peculiar ; the duties 
 which he will have to perform, the place 
 which he will have to fill in society, all 
 are peculiar ; and it seems naturally to fol- 
 low, that there should be something pecu- 
 liar in the general habits of his mind and 
 conversation, in order to preserve con- 
 sistency with the situation he must oc- 
 cupy. The peculiarity too in his case is 
 of a sacred character, and the very cir- 
 cumstances which constitute the differ- 
 ence between his case and that of other 
 
CONCLUSION. 315 
 
 men, arise out of his connexion witli the 
 service of God, and derive their specific 
 character from thence. 
 
 He must remember therefore, in every 
 position and at every moment of his life, 
 whose he is, and whose work he is engaged 
 to do ; and he must endeavour to avoid, 
 not merely those acts which are incon- 
 sistent, but those likewise which would 
 be unbecouiing. The levity of manner, 
 the coarseness of habits, which in other 
 professions might excite no remark, should 
 therefore be carefully avoided in this ; or 
 rather, a strong and lively sense of duty 
 should produce that propriety of de- 
 meanour in his case, which arises from 
 a sense of expediency in that of others. 
 His private habits, his personal appear- 
 ance, his ordinary recreations, his tone of 
 language, must all be regulated by a more 
 scrupulous sense of propriety than is ex- 
 ercised in other cases.* He must always 
 bear in mind, that whatever may be tiie 
 * Isaiah Hi. 11. 
 
 p 2 
 
316 CONCLUSION. 
 
 disposition to note inconsistencies in other 
 men, there is a kind of morbid acuteness 
 in perceiving the errors or indiscretions 
 of a clergyman ; and that many who are 
 incapable of appreciating the excellencies 
 of his character^ will be capable of ob- 
 serving any incorrectness which may seem 
 to justify their indifference or opposition. 
 But it is not easy to assume at once a pro- 
 priety, which extends to every part of the 
 behaviour, and obviates every sort of in- 
 discretion. Generally speaking, this can- 
 not be accomplished at all, unless it is 
 begun betimes; and that calm and gentle 
 tone of manners, that mild and sanctified 
 conversation, which we feel to be pecu- 
 liarly adapted to the Christian minister, 
 can hardly be expected, except as the 
 result of a long continued discipline 
 during early life. The attempt to as- 
 sume this suddenly at the time of ordina- 
 nation, though a praiseworthy, may fre- 
 quently be an ineffectual, effort. Early 
 habits have then generally gained an in- 
 
CONCLUSION. 317 
 
 fluence wliicli it is not easy to shake off'; and 
 tiie violent struggles made to break loose 
 from the world, and to adopt a line of 
 conduct in harmony with the office, gene- 
 rally involve consequences painful to the 
 individual who makes them, and injurious, 
 for a time, to the moderation of his spirit. 
 But those changes which are then pro- 
 duced with so much difficulty, are effected 
 with comparative ease in the retirement 
 of a college. At a distance from the 
 associations of early life, in a place emi 
 nently favourable to reflection and to 
 liberty of choice, a young man may there 
 gradually form the character of his future 
 ofl!ice, and, unobserved and unopposed, 
 may assume the tone and manners of one 
 who must soon be called " to reprove, 
 to rebuke, to exhort with all long-suffer- 
 ing and doctrine." 
 
 In this way he may emancipate himself 
 from the influence of domestic connexions, 
 and begin to assert and to secure that re- 
 spect which is essential to his usefulness ; 
 
318 CONCLUSION. 
 
 and thus, with no violence done to his 
 feelings, with no attempt at obtaining 
 premature authority, he may gradually 
 grow into the proper dignities of his of- 
 fice, and allow no man to despise a youth 
 which presents itself in the seriousness 
 and piety which form the proper qualities 
 of the ministry. 
 
 In touching on these minor points, we 
 must not forget the simplicity of habits, 
 the indifference to external things, and 
 superiority to worldly comforts, which 
 are implied in the ministerial character, 
 and which every clergyman must aim at. 
 It was a striking, and an important admo- 
 nition, which Paley addressed to the 
 younger clergy of his archdeaconry, when 
 he said to them, '' Learn to live alone." 
 That acute observer knew that it was a 
 rule, the observance of which would con- 
 tribute much to their usefulness, much to 
 their independence, much to their re- 
 spectability. But we must, also feel that 
 it is a rule, which they will hardly be able 
 
CONCLUSION. 319 
 
 to adinitj unless they have been prepared 
 for its observance by habits of" medita- 
 tion, of study, and of retirement. A 
 young man who passes at once from the 
 excitement of society, or even from the 
 cheerfuhiess of domestic life, to the soli- 
 tude of a country curacy, is exposed to 
 trials from within and from without, which 
 no one can contemplate with indifference. 
 His mind, in such circumstances, too often 
 sinks under the change ; and he either is 
 overpowered by languor, or is driven to 
 some unworthy resource, in order to 
 escape from a burden which overwhelms 
 him. 
 
 It would have been well if the indi- 
 vidual, before be exposed himself to it, 
 had sat down, and having counted the 
 cost of the work he was undertaking, had 
 prepared his mind for the trial by pre- 
 vious discipline, and the formation of a 
 spirit which could bear it. If, for in- 
 stance, he had gained in the course of his 
 college life, something of the firmness 
 
320 CONCLUSION. 
 
 and zeal of the missionary ; if he had 
 accustomed his mind to dwell much and 
 long on the consolations belonging to the 
 work he is engaged in ; if he had become 
 familiar with the resources which he 
 needed, and had tasted their abundance 
 and sufficiency, he would not have drooped 
 in the solitude where his ministry was to 
 be exercised; nor would he have been 
 driven prematurely to seek for those do- 
 mestic consolations, which frequently im- 
 pair the usefulness of a minister by the 
 anxiety connected with an unprovisioned 
 family. 
 
 As it is, the younger clergy too often 
 seem to forget the wise caution of the 
 apostle, when he says, " But I would 
 have you without care fulness. '^ Inex- 
 perienced and unthinking, they do not 
 foresee the burden which they are bring- 
 ing on themselves, and the complicated 
 trials they are preparing for their faith, 
 by early and improvident marriages ; and 
 from impatience of the loneliness of their 
 
CONCLUSION. 321 
 
 new condition, hastily seek a resource, 
 wliich in many cases compromises their 
 peace of mind and independence for the 
 future. It is surely unnecessary to prove, 
 that the Gospel which inculcates entire 
 dependence upon God in the trials to 
 which we are called, never encourages 
 imprudence or unnecessary exposure to 
 difficulties ; and while it is obvious that 
 in this case men frequently incur a long 
 and overwhelming burden of anxiety, in 
 merely flying from the weariness of soli- 
 tude ; there is reason to hope that a more 
 exalted tone of piety, a frame of mind 
 more raised above earthly comforts, and 
 more accustomed to seek and to find its 
 happiness in God alone, might in many 
 cases raise our clergy above the sense of 
 those privations from which they can 
 hardly escape with prudence. 
 
 Beyond these advantages to be derived 
 from the formation of a clerical character 
 in those who are intended for the mi- 
 nistry, we might also mention those which 
 
 p 5 
 
322 CONCLUSION. 
 
 result from sympathy and union among 
 themselves, and which the increase of 
 professional feeling would strengthen and 
 enlarge. It is in the power of every old 
 and established clergyman, to render great 
 and peculiar assistance to his younger 
 brethren in the ministry ; and the good 
 which he can do, he is bound for his 
 Master^s sake to attempt, towards all his 
 fellow-servants. The experience which 
 every man of advanced life has gained, 
 his knowledge of men and books, probably 
 will enable him to offer some useful hints 
 to those who are just entering on the 
 ministry. But besides these, the very 
 circumstance of possessing a settled home, 
 something more or less of domestic so- 
 ciety, enables such persons to offer to the 
 lonely and unfriended curate, that sort 
 of support and relaxation, on which the 
 cheerfulness of his mind and the use- 
 fulness of his ministry may materially 
 depend. 
 
 But from all, of every age and of every 
 
CONCLUSION. 323 
 
 degree, that measure of co-operation and 
 of help must be expected, which men, 
 engaged in the same work, serving the 
 same Lord, struggling under similar diffi- 
 culties, are bound to oifer to each other. 
 Even in common Christian society, no 
 man liveth for himself. Whatever means 
 he may possess, he possesses not for his 
 own purposes, but for the good of others. 
 But this feeling, which holds good with 
 regard to all in its general sense, must 
 be supposed to have a still closer and 
 more particular application to those who, 
 like the clergy, are engaged in one office ; 
 fellow-servants of God, and fellow-work- 
 ers; and who know that the success of their 
 common labours must depend, in no or- 
 dinary degree, on the union which exists 
 among themselves. 
 
 On this account, every thing which 
 tends to strengthen this spirit of union is 
 not less to be encouraged than the very 
 feeling from which it proceeds. The 
 assemblage of the clergy at the stated 
 
324 CONCLUSION. 
 
 periods of visitations, may be rendered 
 useful in this view by the acquaintance 
 they produce, and the intercourse to which 
 they give occasion. Other clerical meet- 
 ings of a private kind, either monthly or 
 quarterly, and under regulations which 
 may be adapted to local circumstances, 
 but which shall give a religious character 
 to the conversation, are found to con- 
 duce to the same result, the increase of 
 friendly feelings and religious union. By 
 means such as these, knowledge is easily 
 communicated, groundless prejudices are 
 abated, the monotony of a secluded paro- 
 chial residence is broken ; and all men 
 may hope to derive that encouragement 
 in labour, and that wholesome excitement 
 of mind, which it has pleased our bountiful 
 Creator to connect with social inter- 
 course. 
 
 I have thus far traced, faintly and im- 
 perfectly, some of the means by which 
 
CONCLUSION. 325 
 
 the usefulness of our parochial clergy 
 may be enlarged, and the high duties of 
 their sacred calling may be more efficiently 
 discharged. My chief qualification for 
 the office has consisted in a knowledge of 
 the deficiencies which exist at present, 
 and in a deep and earnest desire that they 
 should be removed. Nor in doing this, 
 if I am conscious of my own motives, am 
 I swayed by a merely professional feel- 
 ing, by zeal for the order of which, how- 
 ever unworthy, I am a member, nor by 
 jealousy for the ^interests of the church as 
 by law established. My views, I trust, 
 have a much wider and more extensive 
 scope than this, and one which may 
 justify every effi^rt that can be made for 
 its attainment. I cannot but feel, that, 
 with all its defects, defects in part in- 
 separable from a human institution, and 
 in part resulting from the circumstances 
 under which the Reformation was brought 
 about, the Church of England has been 
 the means of incalculable good to the 
 
326 CONCLUSION. 
 
 country. I believe that it only requires 
 a more perfect realization of its scheme, 
 a more general adaptation to circum- 
 stances^ in order to accomplish as much 
 of good as we are permitted to expect in 
 this world. I believe that its scheme of 
 parochial division, its gradation of orders, 
 its provision for the discharge of duty, 
 and its system of superintendence, enable 
 it to offer to every part of the community 
 as ample means of edification as can be 
 expected from any national church. I be- 
 lieve that, amidst the variety of extreme 
 opinions, its doctrines approach nearest to 
 the golden moderation of truth, and are 
 most exactly conformable to Scripture. I 
 believe that, beyond every other system of 
 religion, it is calculated to embrace and 
 unite men of all sentiments, and is thus 
 suited to combine together, in the unity 
 of the Spirit and in the bond of peace, 
 the population of the country at large. 
 
 I believe then that any measure which 
 tends to raise the character and to increase 
 
CONCLUSION. 3*27 
 
 the usefulness of the parochial clergy, 
 tends equally to promote the welfare of 
 the nation; for, to borrow words which 
 carry conviction with them, " If our be- 
 loved country ever retains its greatness 
 and its comforts, they will be preserved 
 to her by religion alone; and of religion 
 the principal instruments must always be 
 the parochial clergy."* 
 
 But in order to render the parochial 
 clergy universally what they ought to be, 
 in order to make them the channels of 
 spiritual light, and spiritual comfort, and 
 spiritual good, to a population such as 
 ours; there must be an increase in the 
 i^eneral attainments of the bodv. It is 
 necessary that all must be what many now 
 are. The standard must be raised; the 
 character must be elevated; and attain- 
 ments and qualities must be possessed, 
 which shall meet the demands, and com- 
 mand the respect, of an enligiitened, 
 active people. The means which are 
 * Bishop of Chester's Charge. 1829. 
 
328 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 now offered for this purpose are obviously 
 inadequate. More is left to the voluntary 
 efforts of the individual than it is just or 
 safe to do ; and those great seminaries of 
 learning where the education for the mi- 
 nistry is carried on, seem to have been 
 hitherto so much occupied with other 
 branches of knowledge, as to have for- 
 gotten the necessity of making any spe- 
 cific provision for this, at least any pro- 
 vision proportionate to its consequence. 
 It surely is hardly necessary to remind 
 these eminent and enlightened bodies of 
 the great and glorious trust which is 
 committed to their charge. It is surely 
 unnecessary to repeat to them, that the 
 destiny of the nation lies in their hands, 
 and depends on the impulse given to the 
 intellect, and the bias impressed on the 
 principles of the rising generation. 
 
 But it may perhaps be permitted to 
 add, that it is not science, that it is not 
 literature, that it is not the intellectual 
 improvement of the higher ranks in so- 
 
CONCLUSION. 329 
 
 ciety, which gives stability to national 
 welfare, or constitutes the real happiness 
 of a country. These brilliant attainments 
 reach only to a few, and cannot and do 
 not extend to the real wants of human 
 kind. Beyond the power of these there- 
 fore, and below the level of their opera- 
 tion, exists a depth of misery, a depth of 
 restless, craving, and contagious misery, 
 which nothing can allay, nothing can cure, 
 but the application of the gospel. That 
 salt alone will heal those bitter waters, 
 and change that barrenness of soil ; but 
 in order that its application may be ge- 
 neral and effectual, it must be conveyed 
 through the hands of an enlightened and 
 well-informed, as well as zealous and de- 
 voted clergy. The materials already 
 exist. Our universities abound in intel- 
 ligence, in activity, in diligence, in know- 
 ledge. All that can be wished for is, that 
 the highest interests of men may obtain 
 the preference which is due to them ; and 
 
330 CONCLUSION. 
 
 that the studies which are directed to 
 their advancement may be cultivated with 
 the care and assiduity they deserve. 
 
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