I may take him from his error, and put him into the way of truth. If he fear, I may scatter his fear; if he grieve, I may wipe off his tears; if he presume, I may teach him to fear; and if he despair, I may lift him up to a lively hope, that neither fear nor grief, neither presumption nor despair, swallow him up. Thus may I raise a dead man from the grave, a sinner from his sin; and by that example many may rise with him who are dead as he; and so by this friendly communication we may transfuse ourselves into others, and receive others into ourselves, and so run hand in hand from the chambers of death." *

"For as the grace which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,' (Titus ii. 11, 12,) so must our charity enlarge itself, and, like the sun, non uni aut alteri, sed statim omnibus in commune proferri, display its beams universally on all, on every man that is a brother and a neighbour;' and now, under the Gospel every man is so. He is my neighbour and brother who loveth me, and he is my neighbour and brother who hateth me. He is my neighbour who bindeth up my wounds, and he is my neighbour who gave me those wounds. He is my neighbour who taketh care of me, and he is my neighbour who passeth by me on the other side. (Luke x. 30—37.) And my goodness must open and manifest itself to all men, must be as catholic as the church, nay, as the world itself. Whosoever maketh himself our debtor, maketh himself also the object of our mercy; and whatsoever the debt is, forgiveness must wipe it out and cancel it."+

"In Christ they are called to the same faith, baptized in the same laver, led by the same rule, filled with the same grace, sealed with the same seal, ransomed with the same price, comforted with the same glorious promises, and shall be crowned with the same glory. And being one in these, they are to be as one in all duties and offices which are required to the perfect accomplishment of these. They must join hand in hand to uphold one another on earth, and to advance one another to that glory which is prepared for one as well as for another in heaven. Now this union, though the eye of flesh cannot behold it; yet it must appear and shine and be resplendent in those duties and offices which must attend it. As the head infuseth life and vigour into the whole body, so must the members also anoint each other with this oil of gladness. Each member must be busy and industrious to express that virtue without which it cannot be so. Thy charity must be active in thy hands, in casting thy bread upon the waters; (Eccles. xi. 1 ;) vocal in thy tongue, in ministering a word of comfort in due season; compassionate in thy heart, leading thee to the house of mourning, and making thee mourn with them that mourn, and lament with them that lament. It must be like the sun which casts its beams and influence on every man. "Each member is lame and imperfect by itself, and stands in need of this uniting. What the hand is, that is the foot; and what the eye is, that is the hand, in that respect it is a member for all are members. St. Paul in the pulpit was no more a member than the Thessalonians to whom he writ. He that is a perfect man is no more a member than he that is a new-born babe in Christ: and he that is least holds his relation as well as he that is greatest in the kingdom of Christ. Now if all be members and the same body, each must concur to cherish each other, that the whole may be preserved. Take but an arm from the body, but a hand from that arm, but a finger from that hand, and the blemish is of the whole. In the church of Christ communis metus, gaudium, timor: Here we are all one, and

Sermon xxvi., vol. ii., pp. 30, 31.

+ Sermon liv., vol. ii., p. 606.

'all men's joys and sorrows and fears are one and the same.' As each man, (as I told you before,) so each Christian, is as a glass to another; and they are mutually so. I see my sorrow in my brother's tears, and he sees his tears in my sorrow: he sees my charity in my alms, and I see his devotion in his prayers: I cast a beam of comfort upon him, and he reflects a blessing upon me.'

XIII. THE INTRODUCTION OF GREEK AND LATIN QUOTATIONS INTO SERMONS, A PRACTICE CONDEMNED BY THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. FARINDON'S THEOLOGICAL AND PERSONAL CHARACTER.

DURING the reign of James I., a sort of learned pedantry was introduced into the English pulpit, and soon became fashionable. Men who aspired to eminence as Preachers, and to the reputation of learning, brought into their sermons not only a multiplicity of divisions and terms of art, but also a profusion of Greek and Latin quotations, partly from the heathen moralists, and partly from the Fathers of the church. A few of them were doubtless able to do this from memory; but the probability is, that others accustomed themselves to the reading of those ancient authors for the express purpose of selecting from them pithy sentences, and half-sentences, as the ornaments of their public discourses. To such an extent was this practice carried, that some of the sermons which were preached at that period may be almost said to be written in three languages,-English, Greek, and Latin; devout and sensible men conforming to the custom, simply because it had become the law of the caste to which they belonged: just as many otherwise upright men have violated their consciences and good sense by submitting to what are popularly called "the laws of honour." The author of the following sermons, of course, fell into this practice, which was not generally abandoned by the Episcopal Clergy till the following age, when Tillotson, Barrow, South, Scott, and Sharpe superseded it by their own example. Yet it may be fairly doubted whether any man, from the reign of James I., when the custom was generally introduced, to that of Charles II., when it was as generally discontinued, ever succeeded in it better than Anthony Farindon. The learned quotations which he has embodied in his sermons are often so beautiful in themselves, and are so appropriately introduced, that few modern readers, it is presumed, would wish to see them expunged. His method of citing ancient authors will teach theological students "the right use of the Fathers" as well as of the classics. Unlike a great portion of our old Divines, he employs them only as his servants, not as his masters. Whenever he is wishful to use a stronger expression than usual in the enunciation of his sentiments, if a phrase from one of those master-minds which may answer his purpose be brought to his recollection, he instantly enlists it into his service, and gives it in the emphatic language of the original, with a forcible English translation as its accompaniment. Among the Fathers Tertullian was his chief favourite, on account of his frankness and terseness; and Nazianzen, Hilary, and Augustine held the next place in his affections. But his reading was vastly

* Sermon lxiii., vol. iii., p. 105.

+ Concerning Dr. Donne, the celebrated Dean of St. Paul's, who was partly contemporary with Farindon, his biographer says, "As he usually preached once a week, if not oftener, so after his sermon he never gave his eyes rest till he had chosen out a new text, and that night cast his sermon into a form, and his text into divisions; and the next day betook himself to consult the Fathers, and so commit his meditations to memory." (Walton's "Life of Donne," p. 59. Edit. 1675.)

excursive, embracing the entire range of human knowledge; and his discourses display the result,-in the immense compass of varied erudition which they embody, and which he had the rare art of rendering perfectly easy of comprehension to men of ordinary capacities.

But, though Farindon avoided the chief blemishes of this practice, yet such a mode of addressing mixed assemblies in the name of God, and on subjects which affect their everlasting destiny, is not to be commended. It is not in good taste: for a Christian Preacher is supposed to be so impressed with the truth and importance of his message, and so concerned for the salvation of his hearers, as to have no time to tax his memory, for the purpose of recalling corresponding thoughts and expressions in languages. with which his hearers are not familiar. Nor has the practice any tendency to the use of edifying: for what possible benefit can a popular assembly derive from sentences which they do not understand? Many of our old English Divines, in the true spirit of their own Articles and incomparable Liturgy, vehemently censured the Church of Rome for praying in an unknown tongue; and yet it never seems to have occurred to them, that in the delivery of God's word they violated their own principles, by a partial use of languages of which only a few favoured persons among their hearers had any knowledge.

It is worthy of observation, that the Westminster Assembly of Divines, who acted under the sanction of the Long Parliament, in their "Directory for Public Worship," which they published in the year 1644, condemned this vicious pedantry, as being incompatible with that simplicity of purpose which the evangelical ministry requires. They suggest that the Preacher of Christ's Gospel should "perform his whole ministry plainly, that the meanest man may understand; delivering the truth not in enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect; abstaining also from an unprofitable use of unknown tongues, strange phrases, and cadences of sounds and words; sparing citing sentences of ecclesiastical and other human writers, ancient or modern, be they never so elegant." Considering the spirit of party which then prevailed, and the quarter from which this advice came, it might be expected that the Episcopal Clergy would not immediately change this learned mode of addressing their congregations. Nor was it quickly adopted by their own brethren, the English Presbyterians, as may be seen in "the Morning Exercises;" some of the sermons in which have as many Greek and Latin quotations as those of their Episcopal contemporaries. Yet the recommendation of the "Directory," being dictated by sound sense and Christian piety, after having been long neglected, is now generally acknowledged to be the more excellent way, even by the most learned Preachers, when they address auditories as learned as themselves. The most accomplished College and University Preacher in these times would be unable to preserve his own gravity, either in the composition or the delivery of his sermon, if, after selecting a text from St. Paul, he were required to support both his doctrine and phraseology by citations from the whole train of Greek and Roman moralists, poets, and historians, and from the principal Fathers, both of the Greek and Latin churches. Yet in certain quarters, two hundred years ago, unless something of this kind were attempted, a pulpit orator would have felt that he had scarcely maintained the proper dignity of his order, or presented a sufficient display of his own acquirements.

Farindon had many requisites of a good Preacher; and when we read his

discourses, recollecting at the same time that two-thirds of them are posthumous, not having been written for the press, but published just as they were delivered, we can easily account for the esteem in which he was held by his congregation. His mind was richly stored with the treasures of both ancient and modern learning; and his correct judgment qualified him so to apply it as to insure the full benefit of it to his readers. He had a readiness and force of expression, in which few men have excelled him; and great richness and power of imagination, enabling him to embellish any subject, and represent it to the best advantage. He was a man of ready wit; and possessed an admirable insight into the vast variety of human character, a faculty of incomparable service to a Christian philosopher engaged in the momentous duty of instructing mankind respecting the divine method of salvation devised by Infinite Wisdom, which when accepted by the penitent alters the natural tendencies of their spirits, and exerts the most benign influence on the final destiny of themselves and others. He had a manly firmness of mind, attempered by gentleness, kindness, and generosity; so that he did not shrink from the task of exposing mischievous error, by whomsoever it was advanced and patronized, yet with a just decorum both of spirit and manner. He was familiar with his Bible, and understood theology as a science; and was evidently addicted to prayer, which sanctified his studies, and gave a holy unction to his expostulations and appeals to the conscience; his spirit having been disciplined and softened by disappointment, persecution, and sorrow. His sermons are free from that multiplicity of artificial divisions which disfigured the pulpit-discourses of many of his contemporaries, and perplexed their hearers and readers. In this respect they are models of simplicity, and of the manner in which popular instruction should be imparted. In regard of their general tone, and cast of thought, they reflect as in a mirror a perfect image of Christianity as it was taught and practised in the early church, but without the errors which many even of the most eminent Fathers mixed with evangelical truth. To the leading dogmas of Popery he was decidedly opposed; and in the course of his ministry he bore a strong and persevering testimony against them, as a sinful and dangerous departure from the doctrine of Christ, and of his inspired Apostles. On this subject his testimony is the more valuable, because of his intimate acquaintance with ecclesiastical antiquity, which enabled him from his own knowledge to denounce the peculiarities of Rome as pernicious novelties and errors.

The imagery of Farindon's Sermons is eminently beautiful, original, and varied, equal to that which characterizes the compositions of any writer who was his contemporary, except, perhaps, those of Milton and Jeremy Taylor. He had, however, no sympathy with the bitter sarcasm of Milton's prose writings; and if his sermons do not rival the occasional gorgeousness and splendour of Taylor, they excel them in their general elevation of thought and uniformity of diction, as well as in their superior doctrinal purity. In these qualities they very far surpass the unimaginative discourses of his contemporaries,-Andrewes, Brownrigg, and Sanderson. Numberless passages occur in the Sermons of Farindon, which might be cited as specimens of a true, powerful, and well-sustained eloquence; the sentiments being impressive, the illustrations elegant and appropriate, and the phraseology terse, nervous, and stirring.

But the great and crowning excellence of his discourses is the spirit which pervades them, and their adaptation to promote sound practical religion. In these respects they are the more remarkable because of the

character of the times in which they were written and preached. The author lived in an age of unexampled intellectual conflict; when various parties both in the Church and the State urged their rival claims with eagerness and pertinacity. Almost every question affecting civil government, theology, and ecclesiastical order, was canvassed in the pulpit, and in books of every size. Men disputed concerning the divine right of Kings, and the lawfulness and necessity of popular checks upon the royal will; the foreknowledge of God, the nature and order of his decrees, the extent of redemption, the freedom of human agency, the possibility of falling from a state of grace; the right of private judgment in matters of religion, and the necessity of an infallible authority in the church, to which all should implicitly defer; the subjects of baptism, and the right mode of administering it; and they disputed with no less warmth whether the church should be governed by Diocesan Bishops, by Bishops and Presbyters united, by Presbyters only, or whether the members of every separate congregation of Christians should not govern themselves. For a time no Act of Uniformity was in force; so that the pulpits of the parish churches were occupied by Baptists, Independents, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, each of them contending that their peculiar opinions and forms were of divine authority, to the exclusion of every other: while the Erastian maintained that all right of interference in matters of ecclesiastical order and discipline is vested in the civil power, so that the duty of Ministers is merely that of persuasion. The people were extensively taught, that if they could trace in themselves certain given marks of election, they were as absolutely secure of eternal life as the angels in heaven. In many quarters a sort of wanton evangelism was vehemently inculcated; the holy law of God being placed, as it has been in more modern times, in the same category with the devil and sin. It is not therefore surprising that spiritual pride, censoriousness, lax morality, and a spirit of bitter exclusiveness, were in several quarters generated and nurtured. In many a sermon there was a direct discrepancy between the doctrine and the application, and between both and the holy Scriptures, as Farindon has pertinently shown in the general introduction to his volumes; where he adverts to the perplexities and self-contradictions in which not a few of his contemporaries were involved when addressing their congregations from the pulpit. Their exhortations contradicted their creed; their creed neutralized their exhortations; and the people knew not which to believe.

Farindon belonged to an order of men who had long enjoyed the royal favour, with the exclusive patronage of the State, and some of whom regarded their entire hierarchy, not merely as venerable for its antiquity, but as being divine in its origin and arrangements: and hence the tone of charity and moderation which characterizes his sermons cannot but produce a high opinion of his principles and temper. He had his own views of divine truth, which he was not ashamed to avow, and was well qualified to defend; but he had learned from an authority more than human that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God;" and that "the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." With these rules of conduct in his eye, a heart disposed to compliance with the divine will, and his mind thoroughly imbued with the spirit of meek and patient submission which the early Christians so strikingly exemplified, Farindon made the one object of his ministry the inculcation