Human Understanding, of his friend, John Locke. Soon after the publication of this work, the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen did themselves honour in voluntarily conferring upon him the degree of D.D. On this Dr. Johnson very aptly remarks, 'Academical honours would have more value if they were always bestowed with equal judgment.'

Indeed, the great bibliographer's critique on the life and writings of Dr. Watts is altogether so fair and candid that it honours alike both reviewer and reviewed. Dr. Watts is described as being one of the earliest among the Nonconformists who shone as a master of polished diction. His two great prose works have achieved a high position, while of his poems the great doctor's opinion, with that of others, may be summed up in the words smooth, nervous, judicious, touching, eloquent.

Dr. Watts' sun was beginning to set, the gentle ministrations of Lady Abney and her daughters were soon to be needful no longer, the six and thirty years of happy tranquillity were closing, the summer-house was less frequented, Mark Lane meetings had for some time been abandoned, and the charms of poesy began to fail. Then comes the limit of the bed-chamber, he being no longer able to leave his couch, and the application so often addressed to others becomes immediately personal; yet he dwells on the 'sweet Cowley,' more than the 'awful Calvin.' Hark what the Doctor says to Philip Doddridge when asked how he does, 'Waiting God's leave to die'! Wondrous words, and how fitting at the close of such a life!

Seventy-four years had passed, and the 'leave' came on the 25th of November, 1748. And so the casket of this rare jewel was laid quietly away in Bunhill Fields, among some others whom we shall by-and-by find

'Nearest the eternal throne.'

GEORGE WHITEFIELD.

XX.

T is something to take a blank mind, and fill it with right ideas and principles, so that he who has it shall henceforth be able to occupy a station of honour and wealth as long as he lives; it is more to take a mind in a blank state regarding spiritual realities, and become the means of filling it with spiritual ideas and principles, so that its possessor, when called into eternity, shall be admitted to the world of thrones and dominions, angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, and 'the spirits of just men made perfect,' where he shall feel at home in the presence of the God of the universe, and thus reach, and enjoy for ever, the highest state of existence of which created intelligences are capable. Here we see the noblest work of God; and he who is called to be a co-worker with the Deity in its performance, has an employment so exalted, that angels would consider themselves honoured if they were so engaged. GEORGE WHITEFIELD has been called 'the greatest of preachers.' Those who lived in the same age, and saw and heard him and others, said he stood without an equal. Ought not his life to be made a study? Here, again, we see piety was the great secret of most distinguished success, in the greatest and best of all employments. When about fifteen years old, he put on his blue apron, washed mops, cleaned rooms, and became a common drawer' in the Bell Inn, which was kept by his mother, in Gloucester, his native city. When he tasted and felt that the Lord is gracious, he became desirous of spending his life in making known the great salvation to perishing sinners, and its attainableness by them in this life. He was told it was possible for him to realise his desire to be devoted to the ministry, if he went to Oxford as a servitor, or 'poor student.' He resolved to try and ascend the Hill Difficulty, and he went to the famed city, and

afterwards provided for his expenses chiefly by serving his fellowcollegians. At no distant time afterwards, he became a member of the Holy Club,' and was willing to suffer persecution for righteousness' sake rather than deny his Saviour, or prove unfaithful to his trust. Those who beheld him at that time little thought that the 'Poor Scholar' would yet become the 'Prince of Preachers'; but that came to pass. Like the two Wesleys, he felt severely at first' the spirit of bondage' unto 'fear,' but afterwards came the 'Spirit of adoption,' crying in him, 'Abba, Father,' and soon the joy of the Lord became his strength.

When he presented himself to the Bishop of Gloucester for ordination he had not a guinea in the world, and in this respect, as well as others, he proved himself to be a successor of the Apostles, who went forth to execute their commission without scrip or purse.

He was a most successful evangelist, and has been called the John Baptist of Methodism. He felt of the powers of the world to come; and when his views and feelings were embodied in human language, and uttered in human ears, many who listened called him mad. But people of all classes, from the Society of Friends to members of the High Church party, flocked to hear him. His popularity soon became so great that had he been allowed the use of the churches they could not have contained the vast congregations that collected to listen to him; so he made a virtue of necessity, and went out into the highways and hedges to compel the multitudes to come in. When he was addressing the Kingswood colliers in the open air, he was reminded of his Divine Master, 'who had a mountain for His pulpit, and the heavens for a sounding-board.' He blessed God that 'the ice was broken,' and he had taken the field for the benefit of the poor pitmen, who were ready to perish 'for lack of knowledge'; thus he became the first in modern times to break through that formal way of preaching the Gospel which 'thought it almost a sin to try to save souls in any place which had not been consecrated by a bishop.' The same thing was soon done by him afterwards in London, when scores of carriages, hundreds of horsemen, and thirty or forty thousand on foot flocked to hear him.

What was the secret of that power which produced such