been compiled, and how legally precise is the correctness which the Editor has been solicitous to observe. In fact, if sometimes the antiquary appears, and sometimes the influence of a professional regard to precision, the most conspicuous feature in Mr. Williams's part of the work, is a spirit of piety, together with an enthusiasm which does him honour, in regard both to his subject and the divines of other days. There is much good sense and justice in the following observations.

It cannot escape remark, that those associations with eternity which, by a moral necessity, attend written lives, gain, infa case like the present, special ascendancy: they seize the mind with a firm grasp, and, if duly cherished, disentangle it from the world. Having traced the earthly sojournings of the heaven-bound traveller, and impressed the increasing development of principles as unvarying as they are immortal, every advance towards the final hour оссаsions new and refined excitements. At length placed in imagination upon the brink of that river which "has no bridge," we gaze upon the pilgrim as he draws nigh to the water, and listen to his parting salutation; as the billows rise and swell around him, every thing irre levant and unhallowed is absorbed in personal interest; the "reign of stillness" commences, and other cares and other thoughts, save those of future and interminable existence, are silenced and suppressed.'

In all that Mr. Williams says on the subject of the value of religious biography, we fully concur; and his caution is judicious: Let the eye be intently fixed upon high examples, and not upon those who rank at best only as inferiors in the ⚫ school of Christ. There is no lack of religious memoirs and obituaries in the present day; but these have too often a tendency to depress and obscure the standard of Christian excellence, rather than to excite a holy emulation. These tributes of friendship, memoirs, remains, and diaries, may, we admit, awaken serious thoughts in the young; may have a softening influence on the heart, exciting sentiments of a pensive and religious character; and sometimes they may console the reader by the faithful disclosure of kindred infirmities. Of the most feeble performance of this description, positive error being excluded, who would venture to say, that it could do no good? Still, it will not be maintained that these pensive or consolatory sentiments are of that high order which it is the proper end of religious biography to produce. There is always, it is to be hoped, existing among us, a staple Christianity of a quality not inferior to these specimens, in the lives and characters of some at least of the men with whom we are surrounded; affording the basis of Christian friendship and the cement of all improving intercourse. There are many individuals who, had they died at one and twenty, would have furnished matter

for most interesting remains, and whose living examples would weigh against many an octavo volume, but who, perhaps, will live so long as to escape from biography, which of late has only embalmed the remains of the young, and to forestal this sort of posthumous reputation. Still, the present is not, we fear, the age of heroic models; or if it be, the medium of the times we live in is not favourable to our seeing them in that impressive light in which the saints of other days stand out to our imitation. If there be any optical illusion in the forms and colours which the distant objects of biography present, it is a beneficial one. Of this, any one may, we think, convince himself, who will compare the impression produced by the perusal of such lives, with that which is excited by the best specimens of modern biography. When we contemplate real excellence, the imagination becomes the friend of virtue; and the imagination is always most excited by that which is venerable with antiquity or shadowy with distance. Let us hope that posterity may derive many of its models from the present age; but we must take ours from the days of our fathers. On this subject, we cannot do better than transcribe the sentiments of two eminent men, as given by Mr. Williams in the form of

notes.

"It doth us good to read and hear such true, holy, and approved histories, monuments, orations, epistles, and letters, as do set forth unto us the blessed behaviour of God's dear servants." "

Bishop Coverdale."

"The names of the ancient fathers should be very precious with us, and the remains of their life and labours; the first Reformers in our own land; in other lands; the good old puritans; those ministers and Christians who have been eminent in our own country. We should not despise the way of our Fathers, but be ashamed to think how short we come of them. We must regard their testimony, and, as far as it agrees with the word of God, put a great value upon it. We must follow them as far as they followed Christ."-Matthew Henry. Orig. M.S.

These may be taken as a fair sample of the notes. We shall give a few more interesting specimens. The following is inserted in illustration of Mr. Henry's' plain and practical way of preaching.'

Let your preaching be plain. Painted glass is most curious: plain glass is most perspicuous. Be a good crucifix to your people: preach a crucified Saviour in a crucified style. Paul taught so plainly that the Corinthians thought him a dunce. Let your matter be substantial, wholesome food; God and Christ and the gospel, faith, repentance, regeneration. Aim purely at God's glory and the salvation of souls. Study, as if there were no Christ: preach, as if there had been no

study. Preach plainly, yet with novelty; preach powerfully, as Micah, as Paul; in intension of spirit, not extension of voice. To this end, get your sermon into your own soul. It is best from the heart to the heart. Preach prudentially,-as stewards, to give each their portion. Get you sermons memoriter. How can you expect your people should remember and repeat, if you read? Yet use caution. Our memories are not of brass: they are cracked, in all, by the fall. Beware of giving occasion to say,-I may stay at home in the afternoon; I shall hear only the same song. Mr. Porter at an Ordination.”—From a M.S. in the handwriting of P. Henry.' p. 25.

These, it will be seen, are not Mr. Henry's expressions, but Mr. Porter's, although he may be supposed to have approved of the sentiments. The dangers of antithesis, however, may be illustrated by the very unguarded and elliptical expression, (if indeed it be correctly cited,) Study as if there were no Christ.' What the Preacher doubtless meant was, Study your sermons as if there were no promise of aid from the Spirit of Christ. The reason given why a preacher should not read his sermons, will not be deemed very forcible. Mr. Henry's own method was decidedly different from that which is here recommended, the getting them memoriter; a practice which has been, we are aware, very successfully adopted by some of our most popular ministers, but against the general adoption of which we should be disposed to issue onr caveat. The following account of Mr. Henry's method is given by his Son.

He wrote the notes of his sermons pretty large for the most part, and always very legible. But even when he had put his last hand to them, he commonly left many imperfect hints, which gave room for enlargement in preaching, wherein he had a great felicity. And he would often advise ministers not to tie themselves too strictly to their notes, but having well digested the matter before, to allow themselves a liberty of expression, such as a man's affections, if they be well raised, will be apt to furnish him with. But for this, no certain rule can be given: there are diversities of gifts, and each to profit withal.

"He kept his sermon-notes in very neat and exact order; sermons in course according to the order of the subject, and occasional sermons according to the Scripture order of the texts; so that he could readily turn to any of them. And yet, though afterwards he was removed to a place far enough distant from any of that auditory, and though some have desired it, he seldom preached any of those hundreds of sermons which he had preached at Worthenbury; no, not when he preached never so privately; but to the last he studied new sermons, and wrote them as elaborately as ever; for he thought a sermon best preached when it was newly meditated. Nay, if sometimes he had occasion to preach upon the same text, yet he would make and write the sermon anew; and he never offered that to God which cost him nothing.' p. 60.

In a note to this paragraph, the Editor refers the reader to the Lives of Dr. Staunton, Dr. Robert Harris, and Demosthenes; for what purpose, is not stated. Some further particulars respecting Mr. Henry's preaching, are furnished in an additional paragraph, taken from his manuscript papers.

How sensible he was of the dislike frequently felt to practical preaching, as well as of the importance of such preaching, appears in the following extract. Having explained, in a course of sermons, the Redeemer's sayings as recorded in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew's Gospel, he pressed, in his last discourse, the importance, the necessity, of doing, as well as hearing, from the Divine assurance that a stormy day is coming shortly, when hearers only will be found fools, and suffer loss; whereas hearers and doers will be owned for wise people, and will have the comfort of it. "What ado," he remarks," some one will object, is here about doing, -doing! If I had preached these sermons I know where, I had certainly been called a legal preacher, if not a papist, a jesuit, a preacher of works; and some would have said, We will never hear him again. If to preach on these things be legal preaching, then our Lord himself was a legal preacher, for you see they were his sayings all along that I took for my text to each sermon. Such a preacher as he was may I be in my poor measure! I cannot write after a better copy; I cannot tread in better steps. His sayings must be done, as well as heard, that we may answer his end in saying them, which was to promote holiness,-that we may approve ourselves his true kindred, that God may be glorified,-that our profession may be beautified, and that our building may stand. But they must be done aright: the tree must be good. All must be done by faith and in the name of the Lord Jesus (Heb. xi. 6. Col iii. 17); with evenness and constancy; with humility and self-denial; in charity; and with perseverance and continuance. Do all you do as those who are under a covenant of grace, which, though it requires perfect, yet accepts of sincere obedience. While the hand is doing, let the eye be looking at Jesus Christ, both for assistance and acceptance. This is the life of faith. Be resolved in duty. Look often at the recompense of reward."' pp. 136, 7.

These are obviously notes for a sermon, and may be taken as a specimen of the sort of preparation for the pulpit which Mr. Henry was accustomed to make in writing, as well as of his striking, pithy, and practical style of discoursing. When ' he grew old,' says his Biographer,

'he would say, sure he might now take a greater liberty to talk, as he called it, in the pulpit; that is, to speak familiarly to people; yet, to the last, he abated not in his preparations for the pulpit, nor ever delivered any thing raw and undigested, much less any thing unbecoming the gravity and seriousness of the work. If his preaching were talking, it was talking to the purpose. His sermons were not

common-place, but even when his subjects were the most plain and trite, yet, his management of the was usually peculiar and surprising.' p. 192.

From the additional Notes, we take the following as bearing on the same subject.

Mr. Baxter, noticing the objection as put by the Quakers,-You read your sermons out of a paper, therefore you have not the spirit, →→→says: "It is not want of your abilities, that makes ministers use notes, but it is a regard to the work and the good of the hearers. I use notes as much as any man when I take pains, and as little as any man, when I am lazy, or busy, or have not leisure to prepare. It is easier to us to preach three sermons without notes, than one with them. He is a simple preacher, that is not able to preach all day without preparation, if his strength would serve; especially if he preach at your rates." Church History. 4to, p. 471,'' p. 441.

In the body of the work, some interesting and characteristic details are given respecting Mr, Henry's marriage; among others, the following traditionary anecdote, which may rank among the good sayings of old times,

After Mr. Philip Henry, who came to Worthenbury a stranger, had been in the country for some time, his attachment to Miss Matthews, afterwards his wife, became manifest; and it was mutual. Among the other objections urged by her friends against the connexion was this,-that although Mr. Henry was a gentleman, and a scholar, and an excellent preacher, he was quite a stranger, and they did not even know where he came from. "True," replied Miss Matthews, "but I know where he is going, and I should like to go with him."

p. 64.

The remarks on family worship at p. 72, &c. would furnish matter for a highly useful tract. In the Appendix, Mr. Williams has presented to us some curious and interesting documents; in particular, the notes of a public discourse at Oswestry between the Bishop of St. Asaph and some nonconformist ministers, of which Mr. Henry was one,-printed from ⚫ an authentic manuscript.' The specimens already given of the additions and illustrations will, however, sufficiently attest the merits of the Editor's performance, and recommend the volume to the attention of our readers, as a valuable accession to every religious library.