only mock the husbandman while they pass in brilliant career over his parched neids. I would not have you ignorant of the subjects just mentioned, or of any other that can be consecrated to usefulness, which is aided by variety of knowledge. They will afford you many happy facilities of illustrating a truth which rises much higher than themselves; and they often supply the attractive adorn ings of genuine eloquence. But this, as to you at least, is their principal office. Your administrations must be pregnant with more vital qualities; they are to be 'clouds of blessing.' Genius may mould them into various forms, and taste may illuminate and vary them with colours dipped in heaven;' but whatever ray you cast upon the fringes of the cloud, let the body and substance of it be charged with the concentrated vapours of the spring, tremulous to the impulse of every breeze, and impatient to pour the vital shower upon the thirsting earth." (Vol. ii., p. 185.) The intense feeling produced by the following long-sustained apostrophe in the sermon on " The Building of the Temple," will never be forgotten by those who heard it. We quote it for the purpose of illustrating the remark already made, that his pulpit addresses were principally characterized by "solemnity, and depth of emotion." "Think, in the work of building and extending the church of God, of the thousands of the pious into whose fellowship you come; the hallowed band overlooked by the world, but dear to Christ. What tears do they this moment shed over human misery; what sacrifices are they making, even in poverty, for this blessed cause; what delightful emotions of hope swell their benevolent bosons, whilst they anticipate the joyous days and brighter scenes of the Redeemer's dominion! What fervent prayers, 'Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly,' call him from the skies! Who, then, am I,' that I join this chosen race; that I have communion with them; that I am allow ed to deepen their sympathy, to partake their hope, to weep with them that weep, and to rejoice with them that rejoice, in such a cause, and for such results? Venerable men, pale with those studies, the fruit of which was the transfusion of the word of God into the modern tongues of men; restless Evangelists of a former age, by whose preaching Christendom was filled with the sound of salvation; VOL. XVII. Third Series. inprisoned Confessors, bound, that the word of God might not be bound; martyrs, smiling in tortures, who died that the truth might live, and give light to the world; am I associated with you? What am I? and what is my people? "Fathers of the Christian church! names never to be blotted from her records, who attached yourselves to your Master's cause, when a vain philosophy would have torn from his brow the diadem of his divinity, and counted that precious blood which was shed for many for the remission of sins, as a common thing; Apostles! especially Paul the aged, in labours more abundant, in painfulness, in watchings, in stripes, in bonds, in deaths oft, to make all men see the fellowship of this mystery of love and salvation;Prophets! who all turned aside from falling empires, and the sublime sweeps of that judicial desolation of nations which marked your day, to see this great sight, and to be entranced with the glories of Messiah's future kingdom of in strength, to whose ken all the secrets grace and peace;-Angels! that excel of nature lie exposed; who yet turn from heaven's most stupendous scenes, to that to you more stupendous scene, God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; whose highest joy is when a sinner repenteth, and whose delightful employ it is to forward this work, whether by leading an Apostle from prison, personating a man of Macedonia,' crying, 6 Come over, and help us,' or ministering to the heirs of salvation, whether found in Africa, the Indies, or the pole; who flutter over negro huts and Indian cottages; is it with you we have fellowship? "Above all, is it with thee, O Saviour, who, having once offered thy soul a sacrifice for sin, now seest thy seed, prolongest thy days, prosperously fulfillest the pleasure of the Lord, hast thy portion with the great, and dividest the spoil with the strong; do we go with thee into the wilderness to seek the lost? Do we share thy reproach? Do we partake thy triumphs? Lord, what are we, and what is our people?' (Vol. ii., p. 342.) the mountain without hands, he Referring to the stone cut out of says, "This stone is rolled by you into many heathen lands, and it no sooner touches them than it begins to increase. Its first apparent magnitude may, indeed, be small, and unbelief and discouragement may suggest that the stone can never fill the land. We grant all your difficulties. Power is indifferent to it, or against it. MARCH, 1838. Р The room seems fully occupied by dark- when God commanded that the waters sea. Where the billows had swelled and tossed themselves, there the mighty hills arose, there the lovely valleys swept. In the midst of this magnificence and beauty walked man, created in the image of God. Then the beasts of the field lay down in rich verdure, and the birds of the air found their resting-place. God had commanded, and it was so. We mean not that the kingdom of Christ shall meet with no obstruction in its progress, or that its growth shall be visibly regular and gradual. It is enough that it advances upon the whole. Our anxiety is only to determine that the mass of Christianity which we fix in heathen lands is indeed the stone which God hath cut out of the mountain. It may suffer in the mighty convulsion and strife, and what man may have attached to it may be ground off in the attrition; but here is the faithful word of God: And it became a great mountain.' We are contented to write the divine command, Let the dry land appear;' and the his torians of the future church shall complete the sentence, and write, And it was so. (Vol. iii., p. 197.) 999 We have quoted somewhat largely from Mr. Watson's sermons, because we think that, unfinished as is the state in which they were for the most part left, it is in them that the peculiar and distinguishing features of his mental character are to be seen. As the Minister of Jesus Christ he regarded preaching as his principal work, and other employments (not being directly connected with pas toral duty) as supplemental and subordinate. Even his ordinary preaching, therefore, was always remarkably profitable. It was eminently pastoral; it was edifying and establishing; and it was so not merely because of the heavenly unction and power with which it was manifestly connected, but likewise because of the large quantity of well-understood truth which it contained. And this was the result of continued labour. His mind had been so exercised and disciplined that the subjects which he studied passed, as it were, into his intellectual substance, and became entirely his own. There are cases in which the chief care appears to be to strengthen and store the memory; and although, in process of time, a vast number of sub. jects may be embraced, and these may be clearly perceived, and so judiciously arranged that each shall have its own proper habitat, and the possessor be enabled to exhibit and to employ them to the best advantage, still such a mind will be only an extensive museum. All that may have been acquired will be like so many foreign substances floating in the mind; in it, but not of it. Then studies been rightly have early directed, and their proper objects effectually secured, when the mind, in a manner, dissolves the substances which are cast into it, and diffuses them through itself. This power of intellectual digestion and assimilation, which makes all the difference between the expression of original thought, and the recital of accurately remembered commonplaces, Mr. Watson's sermons, even in the comparatively imperfect form in which they are left, prove him to have possessed in a very large degree. The fifth volume contains his own Life of Wesley; and his " Observations on the one written by Dr. Southey. What the former was intended to be, will best be shown by quoting the entire preface; as modest and unpretending as it is brief : "Various Lives or Memoirs of the Founder of Methodism have already been laid before the public. But it has been frequently remarked, that such of these as contain the most approved accounts of Mr. Wesley have been carried out to a length which obstructs their circulation, by the intermixture of details comparatively uninteresting beyond the immediate circle of Wesleyan Methodism. The present Life,' therefore, without any design to supersede larger publications, has been prepared with more special reference to general readers. But, as it is contracted within moderate limits chiefly by the exclusion of extraneous matter, it will, it is hoped, be found sufficiently comprehensive to give the reader an adequate view of the life, labours, and opinions of the eminent individual who is its subject; and to afford the means of correcting the most material errors and misrepresentations which have had currency respecting him. On several points the author has had the advantage of consulting unpublished papers, not known to preceding biographers, and which have enabled him to place some particulars in a more satisfactory light." Members of the Wesleyan societies and congregations, and those persons who wish to investigate the entire question relating to Methodism, will refer, of course, to the larger work by Mr. Moore, as containing the fullest information on the subject. Even these, however, will find it an advantage to peruse Mr. Watson's shorter memoir. To the younger branches of Wesleyan families it was, and still continues to be, a most acceptable present; and for general circulation it is admirably suited both by its character and size. were providentially raised up, as well as on the relations of Wesleyanism to other sections of the great Christian community, are enlightened and liberal, without the least concealment or compromise of important principle. His "Observations" on Doctor Southey's Life of Wesley, though occasioned by the errors and misstatements of that celebrated work, yet refer so much to the great principles of evangelical truth, as to possess a general and permanent interest. In point of fact, Southey's volumes on the one hand, and on tions," may be taken as specimens the other, Mr. Watson's Observaof the controversy between the evangelical, experimental religion of the Protestant Reformation, and the philosophy of the modern English Neologists. mences The sentences in which he comSouthey's account of Mr. Wesley's his inquiry into Doctor conversion, will show the general style of the "Observations," and the manner in which disputed statements are referred to general principles: "It would be difficult to fix upon a more interesting and instructive moral spectacle than that which is presented by the progress of the mind of the Founder of Methodism, through all its deep and serious agitations, doubts, difficulties, hopes, and fears, from his earliest religious awakenings, to the moment when he found that steadfast peace which never afterwards forsook him, but gave serenity to his countenance, and cheerfulness to his heart, to the last moSouthey's caricatured representation, and ment of a prolonged life. Even in Mr. in despite of the frequent recurrence of flippant and fatuous observations, it has an awe which frowns down ridicule, or kindles indignation at such an intrusion on scenes so hallowed. The heart is not to be envied, whatever affectation of philosophy it may put on, which can suffer itself to be so far misled by those minor circumstances of the case which, by forgetting times and circumstances, may appear somewhat singular and extravagant, as to overlook those great considerations which force themselves upon all but the lightest minds, when the history of a mind so impressed and in How well Mr. Watson executed his task, we need not now say. From the time of its first publication, the "Life of Wesley" has been popular, in the best sense of the word; and the continued demand for it in its separate form proves the validity of the judgment pronounced by its earliest readers. It is a masterly performance, and shows very plainly that, in addition to his other talents, he possessed, in a very high degree, that of biographical composition. The narrative is perspicuous and elegant; the views of Mr. Wesley's character and proceedings are comprehensive and just; and the reflections on the state of the world and of the church when the Wesleys fluenced is candidly and honestly laid open. His were inward conflicts, which many besides have felt, but which are seldom brought forth from the recesses of the bosom they have so variously agitated. Yet they are not cases of merely individual concern. We all have errors to be dissipated, a natural corruption to be overcome, a peace to make with God, a relation to an eternal world to render sure or hopeful. The careless may smile at accounts of conversion; but the serious mind which, in the wilderness of its thoughts, eagerly looks out for a guiding hand and a directive star, cannot be uninterested in such examples. Others are seen, in the early stages of religious experience, toiling in the same bewildered paths as ourselves; and the process of their deliverance points out that desired track which may lead us also into the light and peace for which we seek. To the rule of the holy Scriptures such accounts of individual conversion are to be carefully subordinated; but they are of ten instructive and invaluable comments upon them, because they are the realizations of its moral theory." (Vol. v., p. 360.) The sixth volume is principally occupied by the "Conversations for the Young," and "A Defence of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missions in the West Indies" against the charges alleged against them by Mr. Marryatt and others. In addition to these larger pieces there is an "Introductory Essay to Scougal's Life of God in the Soul of Man;" and "A Letter to William Roscoe, Esq., containing Strictures on his late publication, entitled 'Considerations on the Causes, Objects, and Consequences of the present War.'" The first of these will require from us little more than a passing notice. The subjects on which it treats are too numerous and varied to admit of any thing like a detailed account of them here; we can only say, that they constitute a complete introduction to the study of the holy Scriptures, both as to their matter and form. Its value as a family book is indeed admitted by all who have read it; and no Wes esleyan, who wishes to give his chil dren any thing like a liberal education, should neglect to furnish them with this hand-book of scriptural information. We refer to the mem bers of the Wesleyan societies particularly, only because the book was written by a Wesleyan Minister; the book itself is as free as possible from every thing bordering on sectarianism. It is eminently catholic in its doctrine, and its whole tendency is to increase the attachment of the youthful reader for the sacred volume, by making him better acquainted with its contents. The "Defence of the Wesleyan Missions in the West Indies" was called for by the bitter and unfounded attacks that were made on the Missionaries, both in and out of Parliament. The advocates of slavery well knew where the strength of their opponents lay. To them it had long been obvious that if the slaves were instructed and christianized, they must be emancipated; to discredit the character of their instructers at home, and to obstruct their proceedings abroad, became, therefore, their necessary plan. But, in legal phrase, "they took nothing by their motion." Mr. Watson's 66 Defence" was triumphant, and the cause of justice and humanity was strengthened by the very means employed to crush it. This pamphlet is rightly included in the general collection of his Works, not only as referring to a most important period in the history of Christian Missions, but as containing a number of facts, principles, and arguments, permanently important. The "Introductory Essay" to Scougal is, of course, short; but as beautiful in expression as it is evangelical in sentiment. Brief as it is, it is one of his happiest productions. The want of religion is forcibly described, the gate of religion is opened, the glories of religion are exhibited, by it. The miseries of man, without God, are most affectingly depicted; and the happiness of man restored to God is shown with solemn exultation. We take the concluding paragraph as a spe cimen : "But these are the possibilities which the Gospel opens to faith; and he only who attains them proves how rich and precious are its promises, and how complete are its triumphs in man. Then are. the religious affections fanned by courses of holy action; and these, again, give to that its vigour, and infuse into it its hal lowed character. Then the soul finds its true centre in Christ, and abides in him, its wisdom, righteousness, and strength; and then, to vary a sentiment of Pascal, instead of receiving into our minds the true and genuine impression of earthly things, we strike a tincture of our own spirituality on all the objects we contemplate.' We then transact the affairs of life and the visible church, as the angels in the vision of Jacob, in ascents and descents upon a ladder, whose foot is indeed on earth, but whose top reaches unto heaven! (Vol. vi., p. 361.) The "Letter to Mr. Roscoe" was occasioned by a pamphlet, written by that gentleman, "On the Causes, Objects, and Consequences of the present War," and was published in 1808. It is impossible to read Mr. Roscoe's historical productions without feeling that he had studied the philosophy of Athens much more than the theology of Jerusalem, and that he loved it much better. He belonged to a school which wishes to retain the credit of the Christian name, while it rejects all the sacred peculiarities of the Christian profession. It is impossible that men like Mr. Roscoe and Mr. Watson should think alike on those great political questions which in volve so many religious and moral references. Opposite principles cannot conduct to the same conclusions. Mr. Roscoe was most thoroughly Unitarian, and Mr. Watson as thoroughly Evangelical; and, till it can be proved that the doctrines of the divinity and atonement of Christ, and of the divinity and operations of the Holy Spirit, and those necessarily connected with them, such as justification and regeneration, are doctrines without any practical influence, doctrines which may be put into Christianity, supposing them not there originally, without altering it, or taken away without mutilating it, we must believe that a scheme of morals drawn up by a man like Mr. Roscoe would essentially differ from one drawn up by a man like Mr. Watson. We recommend to the reader the perusal of this Letter. We, who believe in the correctness of the evangelical principles of Mr. Watson, believe that the victory remained with him; they who think that Mr. Roscoe's principles were correct, or, which amounts to the same thing, who believe in the complete isolation of the principles of Mr. Watson, will, as a matter of course, he of opinion that his attack was pointless and inefficient. The seventh and eighth volumes contain the "Remarks on the Eternal Sonship of Christ; "his "Affectionate Address to certain Trustees, &c., in the London South Circuit," and forty-one "Reviews," published originally in this Magazine. There are likewise some smaller pieces, and several Sermons, taken down in short-hand as he delivered them. The "Remarks" on our Lord's Eternal Sonship, are important not only as containing a masterly defence of the doctrine itself, but as showing the principles on which all such controversies should rest. It is impossible to read this part of his works without perceiving that, with Mr. Watson, complete submission to the oracles of God was a practical principle, and one of which he ne ver lost sight. This was, indeed, a remarkable feature in his character. Great as were the powers with which his Maker had gifted him, and carefully as they had been cultivated, he never employed them for the purpose of making discoveries in religion, except by the investigation of the inspired records. By diligent inquiry he had satisfied himself that God had spoken to man, and that the Scriptures, as commonly received by Protestant churches, had been given by divine inspiration. In these, therefore, he believed that God spoke; and he came to them sincerely and consistently, saying, 66 Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." He continually felt, be continually asserted, the supremacy of Scripture, as necessarily grounded upon its inspiration: and as while he lived, both by his preaching, writing, and conversation, he endeavoured to produce in others a conviction like that which he felt himself; 30 being dead, he yet 66 |