neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,"-yet it is something to show, by a brilliant example, that the possession of the most acute and vigorous intellect is no bar to the reception of those Christian doctrines which, though far above, are no wise opposed to human reason.

The religious character of Dean Milner presented a remarkable union of light in the understanding and warmth in the affections. Having deeply studied the scheme of Christianity, and possessing a knowledge of it, perhaps as accurate and complete as the capacity of the human mind will admit, he was distinguished by a fervour of feeling not often found in conjunction with high intellectual attainments.

His religious sentiments, however, together with the growing influence which those sentiments obtained over his character and conduct, are sufficiently unfolded in the following pages-and that, not only in formal treatises, of which some few which were found among his papers after his decease have been inserted in this Memoir-but also in his familiar letters, and in the still more private records of his secret meditations.

Of the regular discussions on religious subjects contained in this volume, those respectively entitled, "A Dissertation on Jonathan Edwards's Posthumous Remarks on Faith and Justification by Faith,"-" Remarks upon Dr. Kipling's Work on the Articles of the Church of England," "Thoughts on Baptism and Regeneration," and "An Exposition of the Confession in the Church Service," are, perhaps, among the most important.

* 1 Cor. ii. 14.

The value of familiar letters, as materials for a biographer, is universally acknowledged. Sir James Mackintosh somewhere observes, that "It is impossible to read a considerable number of any man's letters, however separately insignificant, without insensibly gaining a just notion of his character.”

The truth of this opinion will, probably, be generally admitted; and, as I trust, that the numerous letters and extracts from letters, which have been selected for the present work, far from being deemed "separately insignificant," will be found to possess an individual, and, in some instances, a powerful interest, I venture to hope, that their aggregate value will be materially enhanced.

Among the letters professedly treating of religious topics, one addressed to the late Charles Grant, Esq., on Calvinism and Arminianism, one to the late Archbishop of Canterbury, on the subject of the Bible Society, and one to the present Archdeacon R. Wilberforce, on the rite of Confirmation, may be mentioned as peculiarly valuable.

Of the private religious memoranda which have been admitted into the following Memoir, it is needless, here, to say more, than that an inspection of the irregular and diminutive fragments of paper upon which many of them are written, might convince even a sceptical observer, that he saw before him a genuine record of the writer's most secret thoughts; and, as Dean Milner has himself remarked, in his Life of his brother," It is, perhaps, impossible, under any circumstances, in the present state of our existence and capacity of mutual communication, to penetrate more effectually, or with greater certainty, the secret recesses of the human heart, than by reading memorandums of this nature."

Another source of whatever interest may be thought to belong to this Life of Dean Milner, will be found in the various reminiscences of him, so characteristic in themselves, and so graphically expressed, with which I have been favoured by many eminent persons; among whom I may particularize Mr. Baron Alderson, the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay, Lord Teignmouth, the Rev. Temple Chevallier, the present Dean of Ely, and the present Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Were I, however, to offer my grateful acknowledgments to each, by name, of those who have enabled me to enrich my book with their personal recollections, these prefatory observations would be extended much beyond their due limits; and still less can I allow myself space to enumerate the kind friends who have placed at my disposal letters written by my late relative, or who have otherwise assisted me in the execution of my task as his biographer. I must not, however, omit to mention, among those to whom I am especially indebted, His Grace the Archbishop of York, who has, most kindly, permitted me to publish some highly interesting epistolary correspondence between himself and his late friend the Dean of Carlisle, and the Right Hon. the Earl of Lonsdale, who, both by the communication of letters, and by other kindnesses, has rendered me essential aid. My best thanks are likewise due to the Rev. William Richardson, the nephew of the late Rev. William Richardson, of York, for some invaluable letters from the late Dean to that excellent and highly valued friend; and to the Rev. Edward Stillingfleet, for some most interesting and characteristic letters from the pen of the late Rev. Joseph Milner. From Archdeacon R. Wilberforce, I have received the most effective assistance, in the shape of valu

able letters, from Dean Milner to his dear and intimate friend, the late William Wilberforce; and, among the multitude of other friends who have conferred upon me kindness of a similar nature, I am bound to mention the Rev. William Mandell, of Queen's College, Cambridge,— William Smyth, Esq., Professor of Modern History, in the same University,-the Rev. George Cornelius Gorham, to whose active friendship I am especially indebted,the Rev. William Jowett, the Rev. Richard Kerrich, the son of one of Dean Milner's oldest and most intimate friends,-Colonel T. P. Thompson, to whom a similar description would be applicable, the Rev. John Fawcett, G. G. Babington, Esq.,-and Mrs. Maclean, the daughter of the late Professor Carlyle.

To those numerous kind friends, whose names are not inserted in this already long catalogue of benefactors, but who, by their assistance in various ways, have greatly facilitated the execution of this undertaking, I must be content, in this place, thus generally to present the expression of my gratitude. There yet, however, remains one obligation which must be particularly acknowledged; I mean the important favour, on the part of the President and Fellows of Queen's College, Cambridge, of the loan of Opie's fine portrait of Dean Milner, for the purpose of its being engraved for this work.

Of the manner in which I have acquitted myself in this endeavour to lay before the public an authentic account of the life and character of ISAAC MILNER, I must leave others to judge. If I cannot claim for myself the praise of absolute impartiality, I can truly say, that I have laboured to guard against the influence of that favourable bias which is commonly, and often justly, imputed to those who venture to become the biographers

of near and dear relatives. It may be, however, that, notwithstanding my utmost vigilance, some traces of such a bias may be detected in the following pages; if I have not magnified Dean Milner's great and good qualities, I may be suspected of having diminished or veiled his foibles and imperfections. I know not, that I have given any cause for such a suspicion, but if it be so, my excuse, though not my justification, must be, that having lived, from infancy to womanhood, with him whose character I have attempted to portray, my intimate and most familiar knowledge of him,-the most severe of all the tests to which human infirmity can be subjected,—has left upon my mind such a conviction of his greatness and his goodness, as, combined, doubtless, with the inevitable effect of the recollection of benefits innumerable and always utterly unrequitable, conferred with unwearied and most tender affection throughout the seasons of infancy and childhood, and the still more capricious and exacting period of youth, may have rendered me unwilling to censure, or, perhaps, unapt to perceive those slight blemishes which, at the time during which I possessed the advantage of daily contemplating the admirable character of Dean Milner, were lost in its general excellence.

The main facts of the early portion of the career of Dean Milner are already notorious; and if his private, and especially his religious character, be more fully displayed in the following pages, or exhibited in a stronger light than has hitherto been cast upon it, it is chiefly by means of his own writings, his confidential letters, and his private meditations, a species of evidence the most convincing imaginable.

The name of ISAAC MILNER has been long enrolled