wk ruL. Ihof PMUips.JLi. London. Published "by Jackson k Waif ord .Aug? 30,1853. MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE AND WRITINGS JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D., ELD. F.E.S., F.G.S. LATE THEOLOGICAL TUTOE OF THE OLD COLLEGE, HOMEfiTON. JOHN MEDWAT. LONDON: JACKSON AND WALFORD, 18, ST. PAUL'S CHTIKCHTAED. 1853. LOUDON : REKD AND PARDON, PHINTERS, PATKENOSTER SOW. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY OF THE REV. JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D., F.E.S., etc., etc. ;- TO THE CHRISTIAN MINISTERS, TOWARDS WHOM HE SUSTAINED THE RELATION OF THEOLOGICAL TUTOR; — TO THE CHURCH, OF WHICH HE WAS THE PASTOR; — ABOVE ALL, AND WITH DEEP HUMILITY — TO THE GLORY OF THAT DIVINE SAVIOUR, WHOM HE DEVOTEDLY SERVED BY HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS: — THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. PEEPACE. Upon the death of Dr. Pye Smith in the early part of 1851, it was justly expected among his friends, and was soon made known in the proper quarter, that an account of his Life would be prepared for publication. — In stating briefly some of the causes of the delay which has arisen, the Reader will perhaps be better prepared for the narrative which is to follow. Towards the middle of the year in which Dr. Smith died, his family were pleased to communicate to me their desire that I should undertake the Work which had been announced. An answer could not, however, be given at once ; that is, not in the affirmative : — for, besides the totally unexpected nature of the application, and my want of experience or practice in writing for the Press, it seemed important to ascertain by actual inspection, the number and quality of the materials which might be available in carrying out the design. When this had been somewhat carefully done, the resolution was formed to attempt the duty; — the fears that were felt being in a measure obviated, by the great kindness which accom panied the proposal, and by a scarcely less than filial veneration for a beloved Tutor and Friend. Although — as I venture to hope — diligence was not want ing, the process of arranging, collating, and using the materials placed in my hands, has been far from rapid. To such a be ginner as myself, the difficulty was increased, by an entire absence of anything like a Diary or Journal for nearly the vi PEEFACE. whole of Dr. Smith's life— by the restraint laid upon his Cor respondence for many years— by the rareness of copies of any of the Letters which he wrote— by a want of chronological order in those which he received— in a word, by a remarkable deficiency everywhere visible among his Papers and Books, serving to show that he never contemplated the preparing of a biography of himself, and never provided means for any one to do it on his behalf. Hence, in some parts, the com parative thinness of the thread of the narrative ; and in others, the aid which has been sought from his numerous contribu tions to the literature of his country. It behoves me also to confess that the failure of a class of documents, much and deservedly prized in the Memoirs of eminent persons, and which greatly facilitate an Editor's duties, offered an induce ment, not to say a reason — too frequently, I fear, complied with — to endeavour by remarks of my own to furnish in formation respecting traits of character or lines of conduct, which indeed belonged prominently to the man, but of which scarcely any or no information could be given from his own pen.— And as his extraordinary silence concerning himself could not fail to bring upon his biographer — whoever he might be — an increased weight of responsibility, the Reader will need no further apology for my earnest wish to avoid undue haste in committing the following pages to the public verdict. I desire to offer my most sincere thanks to very many of Dr. Smith's Correspondents and Friends, whose various contributions have served to render the Narrative what it is. The use which has been made of their Letters and suggestions, will show them respectively the high value which hag been set upon their kindness. To one Friend, formerly a companion at Homerton College, and who, while the work was in progress at Ventnor, afforded me his personal counsel and encouragement— in conference with whom the manuscript lost some of its defects :— to the PREFACE. Vll Rev. William Froggatt, of Newport, in the Isle of Wight, my warmly affectionate acknowledgments are thus publicly recorded. The Family of Dr. Pye Smith have claims upon my gratitude, which will not soon be forgotten. The confidence implied in the first application was great — for their sakes alone, I could rejoice to learn that it is not, on the whole, considered to have been misplaced. With a frankness which cannot perhaps be surpassed, they placed before me all the means at their command for increasing my knowledge of the character and life to be delineated ; and during the comparatively slow progress of the work towards completion, their patience and generosity of feeling have continued. With firmer health, my power of sustained application might have been greater than I have known at any period since the labour has been in hand : — but whatever were the difficulties which lay in my path, the occupation was its own reward — emphatically, ' a labour of love : ' and if it shall prove of service in suggesting motives or methods for the promotion of Christian piety, learning, and zeal, this particular life will not have been written, as the real life was most surely not lived, in vain. To GOD alone be the praise of all the good effected by the Original while he was with us, and of any which may arise from this attempt to preserve an impression — fainter indeed than the long cherished one in my own heart — of mental and moral worth not often combined in the same degree, nor always directed to the same high purposes. HOMERTON, July, 1853. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Ancestry and Kindred — Birth and Childhood — Early Training — Early Note Books — Apprenticeship — The " Great Change " . . . .1 CHAPTER II. Completes his Apprenticeship — Advantages of this — Dedication to God — Diary — Intimacy with Medical Students — Letter of Mrs. Pye — His earliest known Letters — Sabbath Evening Memorials — Becomes a Member of the Christian Church — Sabbath Evening Memorial on the day of his Union with the Church — Death of a Sister — Sabbath Evening Memorials — Occasional Memorials 16 CHAPTER III. Occasional Memorials — These Memorials finally discontinued — Collects for the Baptist Missionary Society — Letter to the Rev. John Fawcett — The " Iris " Newspaper — Edits the " Iris " for Six Months — Mr. James Montgomery's Correspondence — Mr. Montgomery's Reminiscences of this Period — Earliest known Publications 27 CHAPTER IV. Views respecting the Christian Ministry— Preliminary Difficulties — Letter to his Mother— To his Father— To the Rev. J. Brewer— Presides occa sionally at Church-Meetings— His Services in his Father's business— His Subjection to his Parents— Letter to his Parents— Parental Objec tions overcome— Letter to the Rev. M. Phillips— To the Church— Enters i CONTENTS. PAGE Rotherham Academy— Rotherham Academy in 1796— His Great Facil ity in acquiring Knowledge — " Lectures on the Human Mind " to his Fellow-Students— His Latin Orations— His Last Latin Oration— Distri bution of his Time at College— Letter to Rev. J. Kirkpatrick— Visit to Wymondley Academy— Chester— Letter to Dr. WUliams —Leaves Rotherham ... 38 CHAPTER V. Homerton College — Application to Dr. Williams to recommend a Tutor for Homerton — Letter of Dr. Williams, recommending Mr. Pye Smith — Homerton Committee apply to Mr. Smith — His Communication to the Committee — Letter to his Mother — Difficulties — Letter to Rev. Thos. Towle, stating Difficulties — Difficulties Removed — Letter to Mr. Towle accepting Invitation to Homerton — Enters on Resident Tutorship — Inaugural Services .......... 58 CHAPTER VI. Inaugural Address at Homerton — His wide range of Duties as a Tutor — His Faith and Temper as a Christian favourable to the Success of his Plans — His Early Plans steadily pursued in Later Years — The Ulti mate Triumph of his Early Labours — Enters on his Duties — Respon sibilities of Domestic Management—Letter to an Uncle — To Dr. Williams— Letters to and from Dr. Williams— Letter to the Students at Rotherham ......... 69 CHAPTER VII. Introductory — His First Marriage — His Children 91 CHAPTER VIII. Collects Specimens of Minerals— Sermon on the Prosperity of a Christian Church— Sermon on the Permission of Sin— Opening of College Hall for Preaching-Formation of a Church there-Advantages of this to the Tutor : To the College : To the Church, in having the Tutor for Pastor -Constitution of the Church-Church Covenant-His Ordination- Confession of Faith 114 CHAPTER IX. Letters to Belsham-Their Occasion and Scope-Their Style-Letter from CONTENTS. XI PAGE his Aunt, Mrs. Pye— Origin of Eclectic Review— Autobiography- Becomes Theological Tutor — Death of an Infant— Rev. Abraham Booth 138 CHAPTER X. Tract on the Lord's Supper— Pastoral Letter— Church Book— Defence of Out-of-Doors Preaching — Eclectic Review : Dr. Priestley's Notes on the Scriptures ; Dr. Priestley's] Memoirs — Decided Piety essential to the Discovery of Scripture Truth — Good's Lucretius— Homer — Death of a Student — Brief Memoir — Piety the Great Attraction to the Tutor- Advice to a Young Minister — Eclectic Review : Porson : Dunbar's Edi tion of Herodotus — Mill Hill Grammar School — Diploma from Yale College — His Yorkshire Property 152 CHAPTER XI. Resigns Resident Tutorship — Self-Examination and Holy Watchfulness — His Tutorial Duties — Deafness — Advice to a Young Minister — Eclectic Review : Middleton on the Greek Article — Letter from Dr. Middleton — Improved Version of the New Testament — Various Readings — Illustra tions of the Four Gospels — Butler's Edition of Stanley's iEsehylus — Letter from Dr. Butler — His Numerous Engagements — Eclectic Review 172 CHAPTER XII. Week Evening Lectures on the Evidences of Religion— Sermon on the Death of the Rev. J. Barber — Sermon on the Apostolic Ministry-^Illness of his Father — Letter to his Mother— Last Letter to hiB Father — Letter to his Widowed Mother— Old Gravel-Pit Meeting House~^Secured for his Congregation— Arrangements for Public Worship— Course of Ser mons—Sermon on the "Adoration of Christ" ^— Anti-Paedobaptist Members — Eclectic Review: Hales's Analysis of Chronology— Letter to Rev. Wm. Walford — On the Intermediate State — College Difficulties — Exculpatory Letter — Committee of Inquiry — "Vindiciae Academicae" — Letter of Rev. Robert Hall- — Beneficial Results — Sermon on the Sacrifice of Christ — Rev. Wm. Walford becomes Classical Tutor at Homerton ............ 188 CHAPTER XIII. Discourse at Dr. H. F. Burder's Ordination — " Regium Donum" — Latin Grammar and Synoptic Tables — Sermon: "Reasons of Protestantism" — Eclectic Review : Parson's Adversaria — Continental Tour — Eclectic xii CONTENTS. PAGE Eeview : Horsley's Psalms— Letter to a Bereaved Mother— Sermon on the Death of the Princess Charlotte 212 CHAPTER XIV. Death of his Son, Philip Henry— Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Leader ; to Mr. Walford ; Written Address to his Congregation ; and Passage in the Preface to ' The Scripture Testimony,' on that Event— Severity of the Bereavement — Letters to his Children — The Father, as he appeared to his Children— First Volume of The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah — His Sermon Books — Tutorial Duties — Counsels and Cautions to the Students — Himself an Example of his own Rules — His Manner as a Tutor 233 CHAPTER XV. ' Prudence and Piety," a Sermon to Young People — Missionary Sermon at Surrey Chapel — Sermon on Liturgies and Free Prayer — Second Volume of Scripture Testimony — Letter on Card-Playing — Sermon on the Means to Ascertain the Truth of Religious Sentiments — Letter to the Young Ladies of his Congregation — Letter to a Dying Student — To the Bereaved Parents — Sermon on Mr. Lavington Rooker's Death . 253 CHAPTER XVI. "Vindication of Christians at Geneva" — Efforts to prevent Persecution in Switzerland — Letter to the Widow of Dr. Ryland — To John Morley, Esq.— To J. B. Williams, Esq.— To a Church on the Removal of its Pastor — Eclectic Review : Rev. Andrew Fuller's Works — Letter from Alexander Haldane, Esq.— His generous Services— On a Christian Pastor's holding a Professorship— Milton's Treatise on Christian Doc trine — On " Pernicious Principles "... . 267 CHAPTER XVII. Letter to Robert Haldane, Esq., on the Canon and Inspiration of the Scriptures-Bible Society Controversies-Papers on the State of Religion on the Continent— Controversy respecting Dr. Hafther's Preface— Dr ' Carson's Pamphlet against Dr. Smith- Passages from the Pamphlet- Dr. Carson's Denunciation of Dr. Smith's Motives-Recklessness of Dr Carson's Generalizations-Mr. Robert Haldane's Unavailing Efforts to circulate Dr. Carson's Writings-The Style an Insuperable Barrier to then- Success-Left Unnoticed by the generality of those whose Views CONTENTS. Xiii PAGE he Assailed — " Sloth," " Ignorance," " Cowardice" too hastily ascribed to the Opponents of Messrs. Haldane's Views of Inspiration — Dr. Carson never noticed in Dr. Smith's Publications — Dr. Smith's Apology to Mr. Alexander Haldane — The summing up 283 CHAPTER XVIII. Letter to an ' Anxious Inquirer ' — Second Letter — Letter of Congratulation — Sermon on our Lord's Resurrection — Eclectic Review : Greek Lexi cons : German Neologists : Antisupernaturalists — Letter to his Mother — His Mother's Death — Publications : President Edwards — Second Edition of Scripture Testimony — Eclectic Review : Porson's Literary Character : Sheppard's Divine Origin of Christianity : Personal appear ance of Jesus of Nazareth — Letter to a Friend — Letter to his Daughters 312 CHAPTER XIX. Death of Rev. W. Walford's Daughter — The Father's Mental Prostration — Dr. Smith and Mr. Walford — Answer to Taylor's ' Manifesto ' — Sermon on the Holy Spirit — On Prophetic Interpretation — Tract on Church Discipline — Abstinence from Fermented Liquors — College Diary — His Daughter, Sarah Edwards Smith — Her Death — Advice to a Son — Death of Mrs. Pye Smith — Letter of Dr. Smith on that Event — Funeral Sermon for Dr. Robert Winter 330 CHAPTER XX. Controversy with Dr. Lee— Sermon, ' Necessity of Religion to the Well- being of a Nation' — Sermon, on the Temper of Christians towards each other — First Letter to Dr. Lee — Second Rejoinder to Dr. Lee — Letter to Dr. Burton, Baptismal Regeneration — Letter from the Bishop of London — Remarks on the Controversy with Dr. Lee — ' Hints and Queries ' — College Diary — Alarming Illness — Letter to his Children — Letter from Rev. R. G. Milne — From Dr. Cardwell — Letter to his Deacons — To the Students of his Class — Diploma of LL.D 360 CHAPTER XXI. Mr. Walford's Recovery — Letter to- a Lady on the Death of her Mother — Letter to Rev. John Clayton, sen. — Monumental Inscription for Mrs. Clayton — Letters — Contemplates Resigning the Pastoral Office — Pastoral Duties and Counsels — Thoughts respecting a Co-Pastor — Letter to 370 383 xiv CONTENTS. p Charles Lyell, Esq., F.R.S.-Love of Accuracy-Letter to a Student- To his Daughter . CHAPTER XXII. General Election-Election for Middlesex— Speech at the Mermaid Tavern —Attacked in the Newspapers— His Views of the Duty of an Elector— His Loyalty— Letter to the Bishop of Norwich— Letter to his Son- Visit to Morpeth and Newcastle— Paper ' on a Failing in some Books of Science '—Letter in Return for a present of Wine— Schleusner's Lexicon —Presented with a Silver Salver— Letter of Acknowledgment— Letter of Condolence ...-•••••••• CHAPTER XXIII. Progress of Geology— Motives to Study Geology— Reluctance to engage in Controversy— Renewed attention to Geology— Lecture to Young Men on the Creation and Deluge— Incipient Contributions to Geology— Letter to the Rev. Ingram Cobbin— Becomes a Fellow of the Geological Society —His Solicitude for the Progress of Geology— Defence of the Science and its Patrons— Progress of Inquiry— Congregational Lecture of 1839 • Scripture and Geology ' — Letter to Charles Lyell, Esq. — Testimonies Respecting the 'Scripture and Geology'— Permanent Value of the Work 406 CHAPTER XXIV. Admission to the Royal Society — Letter of Acknowledgment to Seventy Friends — Second Letter of Explanation and Inquiry — Superintends Classical Studies at the College — Letter to a Wesleyan Minister — Letter to Dr. Olinthus Gregory — Attends British Association at Glasgow — Letter to his Daughter — Letter to Dr. Wardlaw — Letter to Professor Phillips, F.R.S. — Publications — Letter to his Son — Attends British Association at Plymouth — His consistent Nonconformity — General Election — Anti-Corn-law Conference — His Address at the Conference — Petition to Parliament — His Motives in seeking the Repeal of the Corn- laws — On the Repeal of those Laws — On the Sabbath Question — Eclectic Review: Dr. Lant Carpenter's Sermons — Lecture before the Baptist Missionary Society ......... 437 CHAPTER XXV. Second Marriage— College Duties — Proposes a Reduction of his Salary as a Tutor— Repeats the Proposal— Change in the Classical Tutorship— CONTENTS. xv Invited to become Resident Tutor— Advantages of his being the Resident Tutor at this Time— Letter to the Treasurers— Enters upon Residence at the College— Letter to Sir J. B. Williams— Pastoral Letter to his Church —Letter to Rev. E. Bickersteth— Rev. E. Bickersteth and Dr. Smith— Anti-State-Church Association—' Dissenters' Chapels' Bill '—Re-ar ranges College Library— Interrupted by Illness— Discontinues Afternoon Service at his Chapel— Close of 1844 ,459 CHAPTER XXVI. Renewed Health— Eclectic Review : Pascal's Thoughts : Dr. Henry Edwards, Modern Pretension— Contributions to Biblical Cyclopaedia— Translations of Passages from the Hebrew Scriptures — Method of Quoting Authors— Desire for Definite Information— Mythic Theory- Social and Private Intercourse with the Students — Letter to the New York Intelligencer— Attends British Association at Cambridge— Letter to Mrs. Pye Smith— Visit to Sheffield, etc.— Letter to his Children- Letter to Rev. Thomas Thomas . . 478 CHAPTER XXVII. Co-Pastorate — Invitation to Rev. John Davies — Mr. Davies becomes Co- Pastor — Pastorate of Mr. Davies — Letter urging the Observance of the Lord's Supper — His Deafness — Remarks on Ordination — Excursion to the Channel Islands— Letters to his Daughter — Letter to Rev. J. S. Wardlaw : Infant Baptism — Attends British Association at Southampton — Rev. Thomas Adkins — Undertakes Secretaryship of the College — His Motives for taking the Office — Notes of a Sermon on the Activity and Decline of Life — Mindful of his Advanced Age — Letter to his Son at Sheffield — Attends British Association at Oxford — Variety and Number of his College Lectures — Letter to Mr. Charles Reed : Government Education Measure 494 CHAPTER XXVIII. Fourth Edition of the Scripture Testimony — His Views of the Song of Solomon — Controversy respecting that Book — Withdraws his Disquisi tion upon it — His Views of Inspiration — Autobiographical Notice — Plan and Execution of the Scripture Testimony — Copies of the Work given away — Letter to B. P. Seaman, Esq., M.D. — Testimonies and Acknow ledgments — The Four Discourses — The Relation of the Scripture Testi mony and the Four Discourses — Usefulness of his Works in India : Conversion of a High Caste Brahmin 512 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIX. PAGE Fourth Edition of Scripture and Geology — Letter to Mr. S. J. Farrer — Memorial respecting his Declining Health — Attends British Association at Swansea — Letter to his Daughter — The West Riding Election in 1848 — Attack of Paralysis — London Peace Society— Attends Peace Congress at Paris — Letter to his Children — To his Son — To Henry Rutt, Esq. — To J. E. Ryland, Esq.— To Dr. Dewar— To E. Baines, Esq.— His Hand writing — Resolutions of College Committee respecting the Close of his Tutorship — Meeting at the Congregational Library : ' Tribute of Respect ' — Resigns his Pastorship — Letters — His Pastoral Character — Preaching — Prayers — Church Ordinances — Pastoral Visiting .... 537 CHAPTER XXX. , , , ' -. ¦ » »' i t i! Closing Ministerial Services— Address at the Founding of New College Final Address prepared for Mill Hill Grammar School— Resigns his Tutorship at Homerton— Farewell Address at Homerton— His Charac teristics as a Tutor — His Beneficence— Supernumerary Services— His Characteristics in Company and Conversation— Occasional Impulses- Summary of his Character: Love of Liberty: Love of. Knowledge: Eminent Piety : The Three Combined— His Public Work Completed . 566 CHAPTER XXXI. Mrs. Pye Smith's Account of his Removal to Gun^ord1— Letters and ' Notes— Letter to Rev. George p Clayton— To James Burn, Esq.— To Edward Baines, Esq.— His Vigorous Will and Failing' Energies— His last Note to W. A. Hankey, Esq.— Notes to his Children— Increasing : i - <¦ Debility— Last Visit to Homerton and London— The Pye Smith Testi monial : The Address : The Reply— Remarks on his Reply-r-Patriot Paper on the Testimonial-^tapid Decay of Strength— His Last Notes to his Children-Mrs. Nash's Narrative of his Last Days-Concluding Remarks . . . .608 Appendix . List of Publications of which the late Dr. Pye Smith was the Author ! 645 LIFE REV. JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D., F.E.S. CHAPTEE I. ANCESTRY AND KINDRED — BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD — EARLY TRAINING — EARLY NOTE BOOKS— APPRENTICESHIP — THE "GREAT CHANGE." The maternal and paternal ancestors of the subject of this memoir were natives of Yorkshire. To begin with the maternal side — the name of Pye may be traced in the parish registers of the town of Leeds, from the days of the Commonwealth down to the commencement of the eighteenth century. Three per sons of the christian and surname of John Pye, who are entered as having lived in Vicar Lane, are supposed to have belonged to successive generations of the same family. They were probably engaged in the woollen manufacture, for which Leeds has been long celebrated. When the last of the three died, in 1719, he left two children, John and Mary. The son became a Congregational Minister, and was from 1745 to his death in 1773, pastor bf the church at the Nether Chapel, in the town of Sheffield. The widow of this Eev. John Pye survived him very many years ; and not having children of her own, she took a deep interest in the pursuits and progress of John Pye Smith, to whom she was great-aunt, and whose baptismal name was a pleasing memorial of her departed husband. Mary Pye, sister of the pastor at Sheffield, was married to BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. Mr. Joseph Sheard, by whom she had a nurnerous -toU> ^ »™w, The Christian graces te^Cg^S^ ° ^ ^ ¦»**»*«¦"" largely in the life of her ^ustrious ^dtn "e*ei»PW" reappeared EARLY TRAINING. daughters, the1 latest surviving died in 1837. The son, John Pye Smith, whose history is now to be detailed, was born May 25, 1774, in a house which was long ago pulled down to widen that part of the town of Sheffield. A single anecdote has been preserved of the period of his mere childhood— that at the age of five years he declared him self a man, and therefore, in his style of " putting away childish things," he 'plunged a knife into his drum, thus throwing it aside as a toy which ho longer comported with his sense of maturity. A very early inaptitude for play, no doubt, character ized him. Born and nurtured as he was among books, and probably bringing with him into the world a strong predis position for using them, his opening impulses would soon diverge from the common pastimes of a child. It is, however, not a little singular to observe how this remarkably premature avowal of! his- manliness was sustained by the freedom and vigour of his pursuits in after life. For one whose learning was so extensive and accurate, the degree in which he^was self-educated, even from his earliest years, will appear surprising. From the magnitude and solidity of the finished structure, the foundations might be supposed to have been laid with consummate skill, under the superintend ence of the ' best masters. There" is, however, no evidence whatever that this was the case ; on the contrary, all existing . means of .forming an opinion unite in pointing to the fact, that books, and not living teachers, were his early, as they continued to be throughout life, 'his prime and almost his sole guides in the acquisition of knowledge. His native town had, indeed, in his boyhood, a grammar school, but his name has been sought for in vain among the, list of scholars : nor is there the slightest reason to suppose that he ever went to a distance from home, until as a young man he entered Botherham academy ; nor is he; known ever to have referred to, any master from whom he received regular lessons, except one who taught him writing — an omission not likely to have happened to so good a memory and grateful a heart as his, if indeed, there had been anything of the kind to recollect and acknowledge* In his eighteenth year, a friend wrote to him from London, urging this question on his notice — "What are your thoughts respecting the work of the ministry ?" The answer, of which there is a rough copy in Pye Smith's handwriting, states, on b % 4 EARLY TRAINING. D786, the one side, the considerations which he deemed favourable to his entertaining the question, and on the other the un favourable circumstances are given. Among the former, this occurs :— " I have been providentially distinguished m a manner very peculiar. Not only blest with a facility of receiving in struction, but I have had most unusually favourable oppor tunities and providential occurrences for the Attainment of useful learning, as perhaps very few have enjoyed, and the greatest part of these was before I had any acquaintance with (I humbly trust) experimental religion." ... ,. This phraseology leads the mind to" incidents and aids) such as could scarcely have been expected from his original position in life; and thus, while agreeing with:' a well-known' sense of the word providential, we can easily understand hov^ his entire silence respecting any regular cburse of classical '"instruction under good masters, either at school or at home, ayose from the fact, that at that period the son of a Nonconformist book: seller in a country town,' would be deemed qjiite out of the reach of the advantages of what was called "grammar learning. One "of the considerations' which he enumerates as un favourable to his1 entering th^1 ministry, in reply to his Lohdoii friend; is' thus expressed : — '¦" In' my present station^ I find thai some acquaintance with the languages is" 'almost indispensably necessary.1 Besides. I appear to be fixed in. this situation pT, life. I am become so necessary to my father, as to have almost the entire management of one of the most important parts of his business ; and if1 Providence should ctisable my father from, personal attendance on trade, he has iio' other that* could carry, it on." At the time when he thus' wrote, -whatever his real attainments were, or promised to be, there would appear to have been no disposition to draw them away from the' interests,1 of the business. He was evidently' not educated for "any. of the learned professions. ! ' .»otjf.Tl.r 'The 'anecdotes and traditions of that early time' agree in their testimony to; "these facts. Thus the Letter of l^ already quoted, goes on to say,- that " the Rev. Jehoiada' Brewer, then the. pastor at Queen-street chapel, "and Mr. Smith senior,' were' most mtimate friends ; and as asmall compensation for having a regular peep at the few periodicals of that day, undertook to teach h,s son, John, the Latin language, his pupil' being then'' A;T- 12-] EARLY NOTE BOOKS. 5 probably .^put. t.en pr , twelve yearSipld." Mr.,Brewer con- tinuedr for many years , to take , a deep iinterest, in everything relating to this rpupil, and the latter returned the feeling with an ardour of gratitude and, affection which might almost be called intense., It. was not, however,, without difficulty that the somewhat .desultory rpourse of classical reading was persisted ip. The boy had (to go on errands,, and at such times he would occasionally forget wha^t he had to do, owing to the claims of a book or a. lesson, over .which he would be seen poring by the road side. A conflict which he, had, with his Virgd. is also among ,rtiier most current of ( the anepdptes pf that part of his life. Some word or passage resisted his utmost efforts to find qut the meaning ;, fhe became excited, fell into a passion, threw the well-bound vojume pn the floor, and was not satisfied until he had kicked it almosttp pieces. But, in this instance, re action answered |o .. action j the stroke rebounded, so as power fully to affect himself. He grew patient and plodding, and for the future, was r careful to bring his. judgment, and not his temper, iq, be.ar 'upon difficulties; and thenceforth he went on his way as one who had secured the secret of victory. Six small note-books remain, the, dates pfr which, as given by Pye Smith himself, sh.pw; them to ...haye^ bean written from the rtwelithj-'tp "th,e ..sixteenth year.pf his age; that is, during the tinie usually sefapart for a, classical eduea,tiqm,. A-hrief account of tne.pp^tents'.of these ;wipf not only. supply important ald£fpr. 'settling the question of his early training, hut ^b&futiire mam will be seen in miniature ih.jthis likeness. of the boy. , -u The first+pr.t:hf series, 17136, begins with " A Chronological List of Men eminent for Learning or Genius, from the earliest. Ages to, those "pf Gptiiic ignorance and darkness." The page. is divided i^tp three columns, : (the first for tha age -when. th,e,: authors ' flourished, ; tiie, second contains the name of,e,atcJij fmd the work or service for which he, was celebrat-ed ; and [the -thprd, . is allotted to the "names of the best |Jnjglish.rtransj.a|pr^'rri Homer, in large, capitals, is .at the, head of. the. .lisj;,, and PrpcopiuSjaVtiie end, rjeaclun^from j3.c. 907 tp, a.d^. h%%^ Tjj,ej+ whole was probably copied cfrpm ,som,e printe^ catalogue ; _,bu^D the correctness of the spelling and the care in pnnctuation/, could scarcely have been greater in his rlater lijfe;; npi; is |Jjar.p '^a slightest j^yiee of any pen .except his own,,, Iliis list is; followed £ by upwards' of twenty pages( of passages frpii^ Ovid, ajjd Virgil, 6 EARLY NOTE BOOKS. [] 786— 89. the choice of which seems to have depended on beauty of sentiment, pregnancy of expression, or occasionally on some pecuUarity of idiom. Next, from the article " Grammar," in Chambers's Dictionary, he copied the account pf ancient and modern grammars for sixteen different languages. On a sub sequent page he transcribed a number of i Latin ¦-, epigrams, " from the blank leaves of an old book." Here we meet w$h the earliest specimen of his- critical- skill: — " Concerning the above epigrams, it is observable— 1st, That those (Which-,I have marked 1 and 2 seem to be written by the; same person,; and that 3, 4, and 5 seem all to be written by a different person, and No. 6 by another person; 2nd, That the last word on the second and last lines of No. 2 are written in such a manner as to be, to me, not legible ; accordingly, I have made as good a/«c simile of them as I was able." Three ofthe. prime qualities for all investigations, whether of words or, things, are singularly apparent in this brief passage fromithe notebook,©! a bpy under thirteen years of age*-r« cartefuh dmmmination. of km ma terials ;— accuracy and modesty of statement, in not calling! the words which he could not decipher illegible, ,but in simpjy saying "they are not legible to me ;"— and -a. determination Jo make the best use Jie could of such means as he had. at hand, waiti-rtg for further light updn difficulties, for he retain* a fac simile of the words he could not read, A' as good as he was able"— painstaking indeed, but not over-confident. Coming to 1788> there is a note-book, which has the, follow ing amongi other papers; "Of the- different Ages, relating to the Purity of the Latin Tongue,"; copied from a quarto vofame of the posthumous works of William Bowyer, a very learned printer of the -last century; a paper, from .the- Adventwer, Iso. 105 on the style and beauties of the. poet Menander/with he Greek illustrative passages, inserted ; an account of Bpnd, E^cvcir. tl" H°raCe' '^ °f Des <*•*«* from Si JfificyclopffidiaBntannica; the Greek Fr>i=tl«^4K t j- ¦ transcribed from the Phil21? S , 1Stleto,tbe Laodiee»s, Leusden- thlZn ™0#to ^ormo-GrcecusGmemUs.oi tfive paKes frirr tT"*,*** ^rman .alphabet • four by nearlTwotid aV K J™"*^ <* England; followed ^ZlT^;liz T *** Critica of Tou* to Ml!. 13—15.] EARLY NOTE BOOKS. 7 mars, works orr'thes accents, the particles, on quantity and pronunciation ; and although some of these may have been mentioned as a guide to. books which: might be sought after and purchased in the business, yet when we find the lad writing several- pages of extracts respecting the use of the Greek accents, -his interest 'evidently appears to,,h:aye,)been a literary* one. --'-'r'- ':¦ -.{ ... . ,„ Nearly the whole of one /book' .for 1789* is occupied with Richard Bentley's emendations of Horace, placed side by side with the-i;ext as it stood before the critic's time. , Two pages follow containing " a list of the works offWilliamiEmerson5,the Mathematician " : and two or three more relating to the life of Dr. John Joftin, "abridged from the Universal Magazine, for 1787."' Another-ifeook'c for the same year, and the last which we shall notice, 'begins with an account/ of some editions of Horace, copied from the Analytical Review,' for May,i 1789. ; then there is a passagetdescribing the way of getting admission to the Beading Room of the British Museum ; several pages follow ifrpm1 Blair's Lectures and Knox's Essays, on the cha racteristic 'qualities of the Greek and Latin authors ; a list of books recommended by Dr. .Cotton Mather is transcribed ; this is- followed by some curious quotations, from the Dispu- tationes Theologica of the elder Voetius : and towards the close there is'arfc index of < seme of the Homericj verbs* copied from Bowyer's P<0sthlu*nous Tracts already mentioned, jju,,-- 1-,.>n,H wo'Thes very 'miscellaneous nature of the contents af^hese> books —considering them, to haveibeen mada between thertwelfth and sixteenth year of Pye Smith's age— greatly confirms the evid ence elsewhere adduced, that he was not able to secure the advan tages of a regular education in classioaLlearning. Notsuch variety of works would have been within his reach at ahy public ischpol : and if these had. been at hand, such a use as he, made of them ''would have' been1 incdnsistent with ?hisu drilling according to 'rule: nor would a domestic tutor have been justified, on jpapre accounts ^han- one, in thtfs allowing .a-ipupil to wander away ''eompletelyifati'^illdn so many directions..' The bookseller's shop fwais; his > high-sohool ; in which many works wererjbeing accumulated, not,; indeed* of very ready salejiat: that lear^y^ay in the town: of Sheffield^bat' which served to furnish -some Hew stimulus to the reading propensities of i the boy, and in rthis 8 EARLY NOTE BOOKS. [1786-89. sense were of a value far more preeious than cduld be' com puted in the day -bodk or ledger* The posthumous volume of Bowyei'' came in Pye Smith's way just at the time when he' was beginning to open his clear and searching eye, with a kind of intelligent surprise, updh the wide field of literature. In the author he found an ex ample of great amplitude of learning, combined with great accuracy; those two prime elements of success which 'the young bookseller would have to keep in vieW if he meant to tread in the steps of one whom he perhaps regarded as the facile princeps of English printers' and publishers'. How^ high ambition soared at this period of youthful energy1 and impulse it would be impossible to say," judging merely fromwhat he was in after life. The numerous1 extracts which he was care fully making were, however, far too remote from a religibufc tendency, to warrant the impression1 that his diligence flowed from a proper source ; and of this none was evel* more deeply- convinced than he was at a later period. t Having thus glanced at the foundations, there are several important particulars in which the' completed superstructure harmonized so fully with' them, that the coincidences deserve to be briefly pointed out. The early note-books supply ample evidence of that versatility of pursuits, which is also met* with in his later years. Had he been tied down to the routine1 of & school, this tendency might have been iii sdme 'Measure re pressed : ]to have subdued it entirely would have been impossi'-' ble ; for it seemed to belong to the deeply-seated characteristics of his nature. But when left, as it was to 'itself, from his- com paratively isolated position, it grew with a rapidity and to a strength, like' that which is seen to mark certain productions * Some idea may be formed of the books at his command in early life, from the following passage of a Letter Jo his father, dated " Homejcton, I£arch.27, 1810." "There was in your catalogue of 1795, ,a book which I should be very glad to have, and I think it is probably; not 'sold'.^ft ~U' ZlUT Carmen TogYai. How glad I should be if 590, Erpenius, be yet on the shelf. But I fear of this there is no hope. Also 596, Peritsol,— 21 19, Hemeccius.-3812, Schurman-4061, Reland. Anything in Arabic, or relating to thjat. language." , t He referred probably to this state of things in one of the unused papers prepared for the Testimonial festival in 1851 ; for he speaks of •• purposes con- ' ceived in sanguine eagerness, or sinful self-reliance, irregular plan^fragmeratary studies, foolish vagrancy of literary ambition, the sure disapppintment of en- STTh toiTp S° muc^ *? gh'en Kmits ¦ • • ¦ the ™™? °^<* wd' be to me deeply humbling and almost heart-breaking." 4£T. 12—10.] EARLY NOTE BOOKS. 9 pf the, vegetable, kingdom, , where the soil and circumstances are favourable, and all intermeddling is avoided. This must be; noticed next, that whenever he made an inroad upon, any pew branch pf study,, the regular method of approach being perhaps neglected in his ardour of conquest, he no sooner found, himself , in possession — quasi possession rather — than he, woujd, set |tp, work, with singular zeal, and apparently without much care as, to , the pains it might cost, to secure everything that, was needful, to make good and accredit his title. The accuracy, the sort of passion {for accuracy, for which he became r(emarkable, and which .can be traced in his manuscripts no less than,infhis printed works— which, indeed, was seen even in his last7lpurs,( among us -77. comes out as a, principle that was beginning to, be „ cultivated, in the earliest of these note These qualities rendered., perseverance almost, inevitable .: for how coul^. there.be great breadth pf , reading with great exact ness, unless great diligence had been subjoined ? Yet. in his early years, he never had. that stimulus tp, exertion which arises from contact — often it becomes conflict — with, other minds, ar dent perhaps, as, Ins own : and ther(e is no evidence that whenthe decisive struggles were being made, ther,e .wag any fully com petent; person at hand to; commend,, and so encourage him. Not, a single prize is heard of;, nor a single examination for honours. ...His, parents were not in the usual sense literary at all... Their son, was no doubt, at times a wonder to them,- and, at. times a joy ;, but clear, intelligent appreciation of his pursuits ampng.bopks could not »e iiad, in that quarter. And yet as there was no saying what he, might become by-and-by, either, as a gppd,.bppks,e,llei?„1:or , something else which the devout mother " pondered in her heart" as far better, all the facilities they could provide were gladly put in his way : and he, having these, went on; hot indeed as one who saw a prize before him, but rather as one feeling , after it, determined withal npt to. suffer it to elude his grasp for any lack; of diligent, searching on his part A fine model so far — and; not the less a model because he had no thought of being one. His greatness, was really inclosed in that germ,— that he could work while he scarcely knew how, and long before he or any about him could have had 'even a dim foreshadowing of "whereunto this would grow." His future was hidden,, indeed, as every one^s must 10 EARLY NOTE BOOKS. [1790. be; yet it was sure to come, if— while he must wait— he would but work. Among the lasting consequences of his early self-training, may be mentioned the fulness and value 'of his information. Having from the first been accustomed to depend on his own researches, books, the most trustworthy sources of knowledge, furnished him with materials on which he could rely -.and when these were reproduced in any form which suited his purpose in after life, a confidence was felt in his statements which was rarely found to be misplaced. Had he been less catholic, more cramped in his pursuits^ at the Outse't^uhis capacity 4for service might hate been permanently 'lessened. Another result was the fearlessness with which he ever5 pressed on in search of truth. The freedom with which he read and thought in his early days never forsook him.1 When a mere boy, he grew familiar with varieties of opinion ; he had to, test the strength' of conflicting arguments;* nor could- he remain contentedly in the 'dark on any question about1 which light was to be had. This, however, though ' so perfectly natural to one of his temperament, and in his circumstances at the time/ had no' small influence in strengthening that habit of independent inquiry which in later years'Was often1 carrying him to'the very roots of the most difficult questions, notwithstanding' '< 'the labour, nay, the opposition which he would have to submit to in his progress. His great fairness — amounting, ds some have thought, to a sort of chivalrous generosity— in putting the> argu ments of opponents in the clearest and best light, sprang, no doubt, from the frankness of his nature, — and was ! in • time, moreover, largely nourished by the -honourable spirit of Christianity. But no small benefit in this respect arose un consciously to himself from his' course of early training; He could afford to he fair; for he had tried the strength ©f the evidence on both sides of the greiat questions of human inquiry. Thus the width' of the basis on which the structure Wa* raised gave it an aspect 'of^repose' as vfell as security; nor was it-the less enduring, merely because at the beginning he 'had been left to carry on the work alone. The facts which have been stated are stated solely aS foots, and are not intended to be turned into principles or prece dents. Great benefits sometimes accrue from a state of things not only difficult but hazardous to character : these, however, -KT,1C.] APPRENTICESHIP. 11 are generally, conferred upon persons who are exposed to the danger from necessity, while if any place themselves or others in, , contact with it from choice, they are^ far more frequently than not, losers by their rashness. In this particular instance, were we to say, that a Divine hand had first interposed, to set aside largely the (action of human hands, so as to leave scope for theiohildls mental inclinations to grow in their own way — and then had subsequently taken the instrument, thus in a sense self-formed, to employ it < in a manner and ' for purposes not contemplated by man, (the , sentiment would well agree .with Dr. Pye Smith's most deeply-cherished conviction — that in proportion as he had, been able to serve his,, generation according to the Divine will, the disposition, the means, and the result must be ascribed solely to; God. — "Any use which it has pleased the, Lord to make of -me does indeed ,awaken surprise,, for it, is a most convincing instanca of the power, of infinite grace." To Dr. Olinthus Gregory. June 27, 1840. His free and generous Intercourse with his students, and very much that was characteristic of his method of lecturing, may; also be traced with; .considerable certainty tp the unre strained manner, in Lwhich his own mind was formed even from ,-hJs very boyhood; — at such; a depth the roots are to be found of qualities which endeaEed,him,,to many to the end, of his days. In April, .179,0,., Pye Smith was bpundi apprentice tp his father; the indenture, mentioning the three branches of book seller, bookbinder, and stationer as included in the, business to be learned. Thus another, and a somewhat decisive step was taken; to connect him closely with trade. ' It is the more im portant to notice this, especially in relation to his; father's pur pose, inasmuch as in a Letter to, a friend, Mr. Smith senior speaks with great confidence of an important change having taken place in;his son's, conduct, the commencement of which he assigns to a date about three months, before tiie apprentice ship, and the continuance pfc which up to the, time when his Letter was written, July 27, he speaks of in terms of gratitude and hope. As Christian parents accustomed to our Noncon- .formist. method of regarding genuine conversion as indis pensable for; the, work of the ministry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, had been ; restrained from indulging any definite expectations— to say. nothing of plans— ^with a view to their son's entering upon 12 THE GREAT CHANGE. [nan. & that office, by a want of satisfactory evidence in his character, and conduct of his having yielded himself to God, At the time when he was apprenticed he had passed,' nearly twp years, beyond the age usual for such an arrangement with lads in his position in life ; a delay which might have originated in ,tbe desire of his parents, or at the request of his mother, to afford an extended opportunity for prayer to be ' answered, and for religious training to take its full' effect in his conversion'; and should this be secured, they would then be ready' to released him for the work for which in many other respects they could not fail to perceive his qualifications. When, however, they saw boyhood passing away without the change which they most of all desired — when increasing years ' seemed to be adding increasing vigour to a style of character which as Christians they must deplore — they then resolved to lose. 'ho niore time in arranging for his apprenticeship'. And, though -the", JLetter^ expresses clearly enough the strength of the father's best hopes respecting his son, yet, either because the J signs' of the er eat change came too late to' justify an alteration of their plans, pr because the time had not sufficed to satisfy them of the permanence of the benefit, they determined to complete, with out more delay, the proceedings which were to bind him "to business for five years longer. The account of the change referred to in the foregoing Letter may be given in his own words.1 In a paper prepared to be read on his admission to the church assembling at Queen- street Chapel, Sheffield, dated November 21, 1792, this passage0 occurs : — " Though very few possess such religious advantages as I have been favoured with, from the manner' of my1 educa tion, yet I confess (and I desire to do it with the "deepest contrition of soul) that I did early break through those engageJ- .' ments. I greedily pursued after sin, and drank in iniquity like'.1 water; being restrained from the most abandoned1 and openly scandalous conduct only by the care of my parents and friends. Such was the manner of my life till I was hear sixteen years! of age. My conscience was become almost entirely insensible either to the terrors of the law or the glories of the Gospel though I always sat under the faithful preaching of it. But at" last, He who had so long withheld his highly provoked veil-1" geance was pleased to commission free and sovereigri grace to bow my rebellious and hardened heart to the' obedience of MT- 10] THE GREAT CHANGE. ] 3 Christ. I date my, first serious impressions from reading the truly excellent Mr, Alleine's Alarin to the Unconverted." In a book of Family Memorials, which he began to write soon after he went to Homerton, tliere is a page referring to these par ticulars of his early history. And still further on in life, when he had been upwards ,of three years in the prominent post of tutor, an^ on the very public occasion of his ordination to the ministryrj-a service whiph took place in New Broad Street Chapel, Lpndpn— he again ,i^tr^duced.,the subject in a similar style. ¦• Ju4ging fr,om the untarnished purity of his longi public career, from his, high attainments as one who " walked with God," and especially from, the .holy temper of his mind, the impression is perhaps very general that in his early days he niust ^ave; passedjiwi^h comparatively few aiid, slight tempta tions^ .through^ ^ process, the several stages of which wpre. scarcely distinguishable pne from another, so early ,dld the light begin tp shine, and so almost naturally m lus.case^id it continue to shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. ^.lasj ,np, jhe, would say ; the, change was not. gradual; the line which separated what he had been from what he became was wide enough, even at,,the ppint of junction, to be fpr ever impript-ed pn his memory andiheart. The contrast between, the two was. great; and ,the vivid recollection of the one seemed ever, tp be operating as a motive to renewed pro gress in, the( t3irgction,,of the other ; so that he had few; equals for the degree in which he made, the past to bear beneficially on the present and thus on the future- By keeping these par ticulars in sight, very much to be met with, in subsequent pages will receive its best elucidation. His prpfpund submission to the r sovereignty of ,<^jpd, ^he,, manner, inr which he confessed, deplored,, and deprecated all, sin, apd jfche still more surprising tone and style of his grateful and joyous emotions, as one who had been permitted,. tp, experience, the renewing and sanctifying grace ofthe. Divine Spirit, arose in no small .dpgree put of these early fact^, which, ap,,the papers abpve-mentipned show, would have occupied, a prominent placp* b,ad his, hfe, been written by his own pen, and,which, therefore, .deserve to be carefully; kept in view here. , i . ., . ..; , ,--,..,,',,- The freedom frqm restraint whiigh marked his pursuits as a boy, had been long enough indulged to give a very strong bias 14 THE GREAT CHANGE. [1Tt>°- to his character; so that when arrived at the point where the new course begins, it cannot be matter of surprise that the change should form quite a crisis in his history. Yet it 'Oc casioned no loss of power; his intellectual and moral 'foWeS Was not abated by it : only the direction was altered : and occurring when it did, all the energy of such a nature as his' was ready to be acted upon, and then to act, in conformity- with the new motives; — in this way, 'both time and the peculiar circum stances under which the change was accomplished, would-be favourable to the greatness of the future results. That in dependence of inquiry which he carried with him throughout life, would occasionally urge him nearer than men in general deemed safe, towards the edge of the precipice bey oiid which the great abyss stretches away unexplored, unfathomable : and there he would stand awhile noting down, calmly enough, what he saw, or thought he saw. But this habit, which was formed prior to his conversion, found its safeguard in the process through which he then had to1 pass. The intensely ' vivid realities of his early experience were like so many Alpine sum mits on which the light always seemed- to rest, and which to himself were ever visible, whatever might >be< the distance ¦ ©f the horizon towards whiclrhe was at times disposed to wander beyond the common range, or even the common' ken. Although the region might never : have been examined, much less; laid down in any existing charts — utterly wanting therefore in roads and even way-marks— to himself these Alpine summits invari ably furnished a sure clue to his position (¦ At timss, indeed — as is not unfrequently the case in mountainotis districts — he might perhaps think himself nearer to them than he really was ; yet, even then, they were never out of his sight; nay, often, with a skill and celerity which could scarcely fail to excite ad miration, he would show those who had the patience to 'watch his career how much closer he was to them than.^; had sup posed. Now if his early religious history had been of a less marked and decisive kind-if there had been none of these Alpine summits-or if, admitting their existence, they had been hazy and mdistinct-he must in that case either have confined himself strictly to the; established routine of things: or had he TJT^0 f° bey°nd' he migH like some <**»«. ^ve wandered too far ever to find his way- back. To-such a mind, it was plainly of the first importance, that the great rallying ¦ffiT- 16-] THE GREAT CHANGE. IS points of devout thought and emotion should be found within the limits of its oWn experience ; that there- should always be a creed in the heart which the head should never be allowed to call in question ; great facts in the life, which would give to religion a Substance and a. reality, which no subsequent in quiries pr'disgassions could disturb. With a view, moreover, to a just estimate of his character and the force pf hig example, great stress must be laid on these particulars of lrjs early life. Forif it be supposed that nature, as it is termed,-ihadi done much for him, so that the results of his eminent piety, visible in his long, public career, are not to he set down to the. credit of Christianity alone, the soil having been pf .itself exceedingly well prepared for a more than commonly free growth !of pthe fruits of holiness, the truth respecting him will be very imperfectly apprehended ; nor will that grace: which made him what he was, be sufficiently thought of as fully competent' to make others like him also. A more heroic man as a* "disciple of our Lord, a truer and a braver athlete in the great conflict with all evil, it would not be easy to find.; Of strong impulses, of a quick and glowing temperament, and able to act powerfully on others, it was no easy thing for him at the outset to "put on Christ." He could not glide into the wholei armour of God just as though he had 'been, .ori ginally made for it Accordingly, : how correctly soever he might, express an important article of his. belief in the words, " Not I, but rthe. grace of God which was with me," it was no less true, that to his own vivid apprehension therei lay in these Words the secret of all that he was, in direct contrast with what he felt he would have been if his maturity had risen naturally upon the foundation of his early years. Barely, indeed, has a motto-, after such constant use, preserved so much of its original brightness, with the inscription as deep and -the letters as legible as . though the;wondr;0.usriohligation it recognizes and 3celebrates had been of the most recent date ; but, in' truth, the greatness of ithe, mercy bestowed upon him in the sixteenth year of his fags, grew more' and more surprising the- longer: he lived ; the very rate of his progress in the Divine life*.- serving to affect his heart the more deeply with; the memory of the impulse which, at the 'first, had sent him forward in the new and, heavenward direction; - CHAPTEE II. COMPLETES HIS APPRENTICESHIP— ADVANTAGES OF THIS— DEniCATION TO GOD — DIARY — INTIMACY WITH MEDICAL STUDENTS — LETTER OF MRS. PYE — HIS EARLIEST KNOWN LETTERS — SABBATH EVENING MEMORIALS —BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH— SABBATH EVEN ING MEMORIAL, ON THE DAY OF HIS UNION WITH THE CHURCH — DEATH OF A SISTER — SABBATH EVENING MEMORIALS — OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS. Pye Smith's term of apprenticeship was allowed to expire before any decisive steps were taken with a view to the Christian ministry. The time, however, was not lost in rela tion to his ultimate pursuits in life. He was still in free, daily contact with books; and from a variety of motives in hisown mind and in the minds of his parents, every available oppor tunity for increasing his knowledge would be improved. Nor was it of less importance that his character should pass through a course of discipline, under the influence of his; newly-embraced religious principles ; partly to reveal to him self the points which might still be exposed to danger, and partly to render him practically conversant with the only sure grounds of defence and safety ; and it was not a disadvantage, but the contrary, that this process should be carried on while b£ was in connexion with the world of business, instead of being confined within the somewhat artificial limits of college life. Soon after the date of the great change, he drew up a paper, the design of which wijl be learned from the following passages : — " Hoping that the Lord in rich and infinite grace has been pleased in some measure to shine into my heart, and to give me some degree of the knowledge of God and of myself, but being, at the same tile experi mentally sensible of my own weakness, sinfulness, and inconstancy, ilm JET. 16.] DIARY. 17 induced to make this solemn Covenant with God ; hoping that he will enable me by his Divine grace to keep the same, and that he will carry on the good work which I would fain hope he hath begun in my soul, notwith standing every obstacle which the wickedness of my own heart may raise. I therefore bow my knee at the throne of Divine grace and mercy. "•O Lord ! thou Father of all living, Searcher of hearts, and. Trier of the reins of the sons of men, be pleased to look down in a way of mercy upon a vile, guilty, wretched worm of the earth, who presumes to approach thy awful throne, encouraged by thy gracious promises and invitations contained in thy most Holy Word. " I ask, Most High God, for the deepest contrition and sorrow upon account of the sins I have committed against thine Infinite Majesty. Let me be humbled in the dust before Thee, under a proper sense of the evil of sin, and hatred to it as the greatest'evil. " I adore Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast devised a way whereby Thou canst be just, and' the justifieriof the ungodly, even the new and living way, The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. Grant, most merciful Lordi that even I may be washed in his blood, and clothed in his perfect righteousness. Make me to rely upon and trust to Him" by a true and living faith: it is thy Gift, O Lord; oh, bless me with it. ,."-.'.i". ."¦ ., " Be Thou wife me, Great God, at all times : preserve me from sin of every kind : let me hate it more and more ; and let me be saved from it. Particularly, O Lord,i Preserve me fr™ the sins of pride, hypocrisy, vain glory] self-righteousness, and all imaginary excellency. On, let not these have' the' dominion over me. "I now solemnly, 0 Lord, smrender myself to Thee, heneeforth to be thy willing servant, .with, a full resolution to forsake all sin and iniquity. O God of Grace, afford me grace and strength to keep this my engagement with all my power and might. ' "Without Thee I can do nothing.' Oh, give me grace to help in time of need. "Now, 0 God pf heaven and earth, have mercy upon me: hear and grant these weak and imperfect petitions. Forgive the sin of my best duties; and give me out of thy fulness grace upon grace, for the sake and merits alone of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with Thyself, O Father, and the Divine Spirit, one living and true God, be endless and equal praise, adoration, and worship, ascribed by all creatures, in all ages, through all eternity. Amen. "'I sign this covenant iri token of its (I hope) sincerity. , " John Pye Smith." * For about six weeks in 1791, he kept a record of his religious feelings ; yet not without omitting several days from the date when it was begun to that of the last entry. "Lord's-day, April 17.— By reason of my own wicked and corrupt heart's taking occasion of 'several great occurrences in favour of freedom, rights, &c, and an unbecoming attachment to some learning, I have woe fully deprived myself of the life, enjoyment, and comfort of religion in a * The date of this paper iff 1790 : it is at the top, and in blacker ink than the rest ; but in his own -writing. — Ed. C 19, DIARY. [1791. verv great measure ; yet on Sabbath-days I have generally been favoured with some quickening, more or less. But notwithstanding all tins dread ful provocation, I trust the Lord has been pleased to favour me this day with such a renewal of strength as shall abide (I would fain hope) updn my soul I have this day had as quick a sense, I think, as ever I had, of my own vileness and unprofitableness to God; yet (I would humbly and reverentially trust) I have felt my mind in some measure delighted with the intrinsic and native excellency of the Blessed God. I trust I could love Him entirely for his own sake. ..... O may the Lord, m rich mercy to me, a hell deserving wretch, be graciously pleased, to keep me during the worldly part of this week in a particular manner near himself j so that he may be honoured and glorified. Amen and Amen. " 19 and 20. — These two days I have considerably varied. Some times, through rich mercy, possessing a sense of religion upon my soul ; and at other times lamentably drawn away by the natural levity of my mind, and the outward objects which have presented themselves suitable thereto. I have no hope but in the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Oh, that I may know him, and the power of- his resurrection ! "21. — How is the gold changed ! How am I now reduced! This day has been marked with the blackest ingratitude, levity, and conformity to this vain world. Ah, what should I be if I was left to myself ! • " 24, Lord's-day. — Notwithstanding my infinite un worthiness > and con tinual guilt, the Lord, I trust, is repeatedly favouring the most unworthy of his servants and chief of sinners with his gracious and Divine influ ences. I have continually experienced the bad effects of my necessary and unnecessary dealings with the world on week days, in deadening my warmth and life for God. " Lord's-day, May 1. — I have generally found, that when I am enabled to be most watchful and spiritual in the beginning of a week, I have con tinued in some measure so for the latter part of the week ; and so, on the other hand. " 3. — May I not with reason ask, Can the love of God be in a heart so full of sin, the world, and self? If I have ever through sovereign mercy been made a partaker of the grace that bringeth salvation, I am certain that I am a very unprofitable servant indeed. " 5.— This night I feel myself as it were bewildered and perplexed at the recollection of my great sinfulness, my cowardly conformity to the world, and as it were alienation from God. This dead, cold frame has very much of late prevailed against me. Oh, may the Great Redeemer make perfect his strength in my weakness. " 16.— I have not to-day lived as I would wish. I find' that when I would do good, evil is present with me ; yet I have reason to praise and magnify the Lord for all his special goodness unto me. " 17.—' Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.' i Hene'si a test for my Christian profession. Am I careful and desirous to fulfil the commandments of the Redeemer ? t ," f ~? *aj ^7?re made more and more a Partaker of His holiness,!. I feel much sin daily in my thoughts, words, and practice. O that I were co™^ w 7? * GQd; y6t' th°USh i™™able evils have compassed me about, I have reason to sing of the goodness and mercy of " 31.-I have to-day been much as I too frequently am-in an unfruit- MT. 17.J INTIMACY WITH MEDICAL STUDENTS. 19 ful, earthly frame ; yet, blessed be the Lord, notwithstanding my great and repeated provocations, he does from time to time afford me some gracious quickening. O for life, spirituality, uprightness, vigour in the Christian course !" Such were the trials, and such the feelings which marked the commencement of what proved to be a long and an eminently honourable Christian pilgrimage. — "Without were fightings; within were fears." 't He became acquainted with two medical pupils in his native town : Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Benjamin Eobinson, and Mr. W. Moorhouse, whose valuable communication respecting these early years has already been quoted. The, three young men used to rise at four o'clock in the morning to read Greek to gether. "After reading a few times," says Dr. Smith, in a statement taken down in writing by one of his sons, " I pro posed to introduce the subject of religion at one of our meet ings. They acceded : and as they both attended the Unitarian Chapel, I chose for my subject ' the Evidences of Christ's Divinity.' Eobinson said, ' Well, I think you have invincibly proved your point,' and never afterwards went to the Unitarian Chapel. I was seventeen when I first thus defended this doctrine. Moorhouse, however, acknowledged his incapability to answer me ; but still went with his friends to Mr. Groves's." Part of a Letter from his great-aunt, Mrs. Pye, will show how that judicious person was aiding the culture of his piety at this time. It is dated January, 1792. " My dear Nephew John Pye Smith, — I thank you for your acceptable Letter. I should have answered it sooner, but various things have occurred to prevent me, some of whieh, I suppose, you have been made acquainted with. It gave me great pleasure that you wrote to me in so serious a style; and also that I hope you have 'a relish and experience of the things of God. • Go on; my dear child, and as you grow in years, may you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. When I read your Letter I am ashamed to think that I am so veiy deficient in expressing myself to what you' have done in your Letter to me. You have said all ; I cannot say more, nor with greater propriety. I don't say these things to make you proud of yourself: NO ; I hope it will make you more humble, and more thankful: because every good and every perfect gift is from God. May we have our eye more to God and his glory. Endeavour to be useful in the world/ and to the cause of Christ." We now come to the earliest keown of his own Letters, three c 2 20 HIS EARLIEST KNOWN LETTERS. [,T92' of which have been lent by a very aged lady who knew him when he was quite a child— Mrs. Kirkpatrick, of Homerton. " July 24.— There appears to be an uncommon energy in those words, of the Apostle Paul, where he declares concerning Moses, that when he was solicited on the one hand /by all ttuUworldly splendour, honour, and mag nificence have of the most attracting; and on the other hand, the.despise.d, suffering, and afllicted state of the people of God,— 'he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.' But it is easy to multiply words. I have, often written and spoken with apparent earnestness some of the most interesting and important truths, while I have felt little of tie power of those, truths upon my own mind. But now, I trust, I hearftly beseech^thej Spjrit pf all grace, that he may enable my respected correspondent and myself at all times to ' endure as seeing Him who is invisible." " Aug. 24. — How beautifully does the beloved disciple describe the fleeting, vain, and transitory state that we live in. ' The world passeth ojooy,and the fashion thereof.' Disappointment and misery are always annexe^-to our dearest worldly enjoyments. This we find true by constant experience; but so foolish and ignorant are we, we repeat our folly and consequently our griefs, daily. And indeed, thus we ever shall do, if left to ourselves, if left unacquainted with that which the Psalmist, says is better than life, I have often questioned the reality of my religion from the circumstancijj of not being favoured with spiritual joy and happiness in so glorious a manner as others of whom I have heard. But, setting aside the ponsi- deration of our own enjoyment and happiness, surely we are .bound by every tie, the most endearing, the most sacred, the most.obligatory, ,.|p glorify the Lord our God. Is He not infinitely, supremely, andj only Worttiy of our highest esteem and love ? To the contemplations of, a renewed mind He appears ' glorious in Holiness.' We can have no better evi dence of the change of our natures than this, spiritual discernment. , "Oct. 19. — Frequently the sovereign hand of God blasts our most fa vourite hopes, and effectually contradicts our most desirable wishes, , ^That which we think is absolutely essential to our happiness and usefulness is often suddenly taken from us. But after all, tye&sgflis p he, man whom tfa Lord chastiseth. Let Him but enable us to reap, from it , the' fruits qf righteousness, and we shall gratefully adore His correcting hand." While it may be inferred perhaps from some of these passages that at the age of eighteen, Pye Smith had' grown familiar with the theology of Howe and Jonathan Edwards, others of them clearly evince a very close self-scrutiny: so, that his knowledge of books and of his own heart went < on together. He seems never to have, resumed a regular diary after that of a few weeks' duration in 1791. But in August of the, next year, he adopted the plan of writing down his thoughts in the evening of the Lord's day on separate pieces of paper. These, together with a book which he. also , used .occasionally for the same purpose, and the records in which are not always con- ¦^T- 18-] SABBATH EVENING MEMORIALS. 21 fined tq the Sabbath, will supply the immediately following materials, ,,A 1(, , " Lord's-day - Evening, August 19th, 1792. — To-night I read over the solemn covenant I made some time ago, wherein, ' I declare myself in violably engaged on God's side ; declaring irreconcilable war with the world, the flesh, and the devil.' O that this transaction may be more and more abidingly impressed on my mind every day! I have begun this week. O my God, keep me through the busy part of it in Thy fear, love, and fellowship. Should I see the next Sabbath-day, O let me not have to reflect on so ungrateful a week as the last has been. " Lord's-day evening, August 26. — I have proceeded a little farther in the solemn work of self-examination. I hope that I did it with serious ness, caution, and dependence upon God. Eternal thanks to His holy name, I hope He hath testified to His own work. It will be profitable to repeat this awful yet very beneficial work every Sabbath-day. But all my duties are defiled. My best 'days are abundantly sufficient to condemn me. ' Enter not into judgment With me, O Lord.' ' Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift of his Son.' " Now, having begun another week, may God enable me to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, being fruitful in every good work to His gldf y. Let an abiding "sense of His increasing mercies to me, excite me to holy, humble, grateful obedience ! Let Jesus be exalted ; let me be abased ! Create truth in my very heart, O Lord ! Amen. " Sept. 2.— The principal end of my writing these memorials on Sabbath evenings is, that they may be a means of quickening me in the divine life amongst the snares and temptations of the week. 0 most holy God ! let this valuable end be answered. O reign in my heart. O keep me near Thyself. May Jesus be more' precious — holiness more delightful — sin more hateful in my esteem than ever. May God bless me with the saving and sanctifying influences of His Spirit more and more every day ! Even so. For the sake of Jesus Christ nry Lord. Amen. '" Sabbath evening, Sept: 9. — This day I trust I have been enabled to lbok unto 'God for a blessing upon His word and ordinances. I bless God for any gracious manifestations of Himself to me. I have reason to be ashamed and confounded on many accounts; more particularly let me recollect, with grief, the wandering and distraction of my mind in public prayer to-day. O may this week be spent in acts of love and gratitude to God! O that my zeal, diligence, ardour, and constancy in Divine things may abundantly increase ! " Sept. 23.— =\The last week I have been severely exercised with the impetuosity of my raging lusts, imprudently and sinfully stirred up by reading' ih'a book before I knew what' it was. I have paid dear, for my wicked curiosity, in proceeding further after I found the impropriety of it. May God help me to take warning from these things. " I am this week to confer with Mr. Brewer about that serious duty, Church fellowship. 0 may the Lord preserve me from all rash, hasty pro ceedings! May he give me His blessing! I would commit this, and all my ways, to the hands of my faithful and compassionate Redeemer. O mould my spirit at thy will ! Amen and amen. " Oct. 7. — The last week was a memorable one. I ought continually to call it to mind, in order to abase and humble me. Upon taking a review of it this morning, in order to confess and lament my case before God, 22 BECOMES A MEMBER C179a- I found the most awful reason to criminate myself, particularly for these " 1. That after I had (I trust) enjoyed something of God the last Sab bath-day, I gave way in the. evening to some unprofitable conver sation, which brought a backwardness into my mind towards Divine things. . " 2. That I wasted precious time, by lying too long in bed every mqrn- ing (except one), thereby inducing guilt, darkness, and perplexity into my heart, and robbing the Most High of the moments which ought to be spent in seeking His face. " 3. The hurry, deadness, indifterency, and want of affection in duties, particularly secret ones. " 4. The consequent barrenness of my soul every day. " These things I have spread before the Lord, and lamented them. And I trust He has not, in His wrath, cast me off; but has manifested Himself unto me graciously in his ordinances to-day. O that this week, on which I am entered, may, by the rich goodness of Jehovah, be spent in His love and fear ! May Jesus be my support and strength in doing and suffering every duty. ,. . . Let my glory be in thy salvation! See Alleine on John viii. 29." " Lord's-day evening, Nov. 18.- — When I take a retrospect of the two last weeks, I find much to abase and humble me before God, and, I trust, much matter for the greatest thankfulness on spiritual accounts. Let me for the future carefully guard against these following things : — 1. I have been too un watchful and heedless after secret prayer in a morning. 2. I have been too negligent and backward in secret ejaculatory petitions amongst my worldly avocations. 3. I have not taken such a precise and circumspect care as I ought, that my table become not a snare to me. . , With respect to the frame of my mind in the duties of the day, I have peculiar reason to bless my God. I lay the crown at the feet of free grace. -.. ... , ,,.. .......,-,.¦. " I have now before me a week of the most awful and important ,b,usiT ness. O my God, strengthen me ! Let integrity and uprightness pre serve me, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. Amen and amen." ' The " awful and important business " of that week was his admission, on a profession of his own faith and hope, into the Church of Christ. As the paper which he wrote for the occasion has been already quoted in the narrative of the circumstances ofthe change in his, character in 1790, it will be. referred to now for the light which it sheds, incidentally, on the delay of his membership until about two years and a half later. " For a long time I was greatly distressed on various- accounts, principally arising from my ignorance of the nature of religion, and of the different opera tions of the Holy Spirit, of which the enemy of souls, no doubt, took advan tage. I was firmly persuaded that I could never have real religion unless I experienced far greater degrees of terror than I had as yet' known. I'also imagined that after I had been for some time in such a state of distress and terror, God would in a moment communicate religion to my soul by some ^T- !8.] OP THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 23 sudden suggestion, banishing all my fears, and filling me with the highest joys. At another time I endured very great anxiety of mind on account of a notion which I had got, that true faith consisted in a firm persuasion of my own particular-interest in Christ. But I afterwards gave thanks unto God, that my first experiences were not of that kind I had so earnestly desired them to be. It was discovered to me in due time, that I must not judge of my spiritual state from violent workings of my passions, which (if God permitted) might be excited by the devil ;— but from inferences deliber; ately drawn from a comparison of myself with the scriptural descriptions of real religion. In this manner I was enabled gradually to derive com fort and good hope through grace. " If it shall seem good to this Church of Christ to admit me into com munion with them in divine ordinances, I solemnly call upon, and earnestly intreat every individual to deal 'faithfully with me; to warn, advise, reprove, and in every respect to watch for my soul, as we shall assuredly give an account to the Great Head of His body, the Church. " John Pye Smith. " November 21, 1792." This paper clearly shows that he had been entangled for a time with an error which has troubled, and continues to trouble, not a few : — namely, that if the result which Christianity is designed to produce in the hearts of men, is not effected in one particular way, we have great reason to doubt whether it has been secured at all: — the process, means, and circumstantial accompaniments of the change, are thus for a time raised into greater importance than the change itself. Nor is it to be wondered at, if the very cure should be delayed by the patient's anxiety, which is apt to become morbid, about the modus operandi of the remedy. Yet here also, as in many previous instances, the actual training through which this anxious inquirer was passing— in termitting* and painful as it was then — turned out eventually to be of great advantage to himself, and through him to very many others. By increasing his solicitude at the time, it furnished constant occasion for deep thought, for much reading of the best kind, for a weighing of evidence as supplied by his own experience as well as by books, on both sides of the' question : so thatjby not coming as early and as easily as he had expected into the liberty ofthe Gospel, his own nature, and no doubt all his habits, would be held for a time under a restraint, alike trying "and salutary to one of his temperament. This was, however, to him an unexpected widening of the range of his moral history in its earliest stage, and as such it proved a last ing gain to all his expositions of Divine truth in his long public g4 DEATH OF A SISTER. C1793- life —for having verified it as a fact, he would thenceforth ever teach as a principle, that the operation of the Holy Spirit in renewing and sanctifying the human heart, must be viewef according to the measure of a Divine prerogative, and nofc.by narrow and technical rules deduced from a limited number of cases of conversion. He was thus made to see from the beginning— and with that intense mental insight which only, a severe process can effect— how impossible, and therefore how improper it was, to attempt to tie up the Infinite One to forms. Happy was it for himself, and happy for multitudes comingin future years under the effect of his extended usefulnesSjuthat the new nature was not allowed to set as though it had' been cast in a rigid human mould. He was, in truth, being led by^ a way that he knew not. On the Lord's day after his admission to the Church, he renewed his dedication to God in a written paper, similar in purport to the one mentioned in the- earlier pages of this chapter. And in the evening he wrote : — "This has been the long anticipated day on which I have sealed my engagements to my God by my first approach to His sacred table. Last Friday evening, our honoured pastor gave me the right hand of fellowship* in the name of the Lord and of his people to whom I am hoW joined. " " God has spoken peace to my soul, let me not turn again to folly. The Lord keep me 'looking for that blessed hope' which shall shortrytbe revealed. 0 that I may never be unmindful; of the solemn charge I received on Friday night — of the engagement which I this< day signeld to the Lord — and of the awful seal of it which I have to-day partook of. O for the presence of Jesus to my soul, to the strengthening my: graces and nourishing me up to eternal life ! Amen and amen." " Dec. 5, 1792. — On the evening of this day, at twenty minutes ^>ast 11 o'clock, it seemed good to a God whose nature is infinite holiness, wisdom, and goodness, and whose ways are all equal, right, and gracious, to take out of this world my late dear sister Ruth. She was born June 8, 1782, so if she had lived to the 8th, (the day on which she was buried,) she would have been ten years and a half old. This dispensation of Providence j is a very heavy stroke upon my parents, particularly my father. When they had been married near twenty-one years, and of five children had 'never known what it was to lose one, till the youngest— the darling— at a time when her faculties were just beginning to expand with the' most promising appearances of future usefulness— is taken away by the awful hand,' of death: — this is a distressing circumstance indeed. : " Yet how much goodness and mercy have been mixed- with this judg ment ! Yea, it has been all mercy. We have cause for the greatest thankfulness upon many accounts; a few I will remark ¦:— 1. That my dear sister was not cut off by a sudden and unexpected stroke. 2 That JET. 1.8.] OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS. 25 during her long illness she was so very little afflicted with pain, and knew nothing of those pangs which so generally attend death ; her departure resembled a falling asleep. 3. That the Lord put it into the power of my parents to manifest their affection to her, by affording her every attention, and procuring her every help, during her lingering disorder — a consump tion of , the lungs, which terminated in a dropsy. 4. Above all, that though her uncommon taciturnity and extreme reservedness in the last stages of her illness prevented our conversation with her — rather, hers with us — on Divine subjects, yet we have various reasons to hope she was properly affected withithe, things of God. About three or four weeks before her death, I had been endeavouring to explain to her the nature of salvation, as it includes things done for us, and things done in us. Speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit, and the encouragement there is to pray for His saving operations, she asked, ' But how must I pray ?' Now, this question, from her who had been taught to repeat her prayers from the time that she could speak, evinced (I conceive) a knowledge that something else was required in prayer than the external act. A few days after that time, she said to her mother, ' It is said, that him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out ; but I don't know how to come : but I said in prayer last night, I will come as well as I can.' Add to this her evident con tinual thoughtfulness, her delight in hearing prayer, hearing the Scrip tures read, hearing spiritual conversation, singing, &c. We had no reason to think that she was at all influenced by the slavish fears of hell, or the apprehensions of death. She -never discovered any such thing. I there fore have good hope that God has delivered her from this evil world, and admitted her to the happy regions of eternal felicity, where she shall sorrow and sin no more for ever." ' Hi's next ^abbath evening memorial is dated December 23. " Since the time I wrote the last memorandum of this kind; the exercises of my mind, and the dealings of God with me, have been various. I had that, day -made- my first approach to the Lord's table, and sealed my solemn (and I firmly trust sincere) vows by that holy ordinance. But, alas ! my subsequent frame of mind did not answer, as it should have done, to my " obligations. ., Barren, cold, and lifeless seasons I have frequently felt since. Yet the Lord has not forsaken me. He hath dealt bountifully with me ; and here would I say to his praise, Hitherto the Lord hath helped me ! i"iDec.;24. — This evening I was led to reflect upon two things, which I am assuredly sensible have been great hinderances to me in the work and service of God : — , : , " 1. I have freeuently lain in bed too long in the morning ; by which I have brought guilt into my conscience, barrenness and deadness. into my soul, averseness, to, drawing near to God at a throne of grace; and have irrecoverably lost .those most valuable portions of time, which might so very profitably be spent in prayer, meditation, reading the Scriptures, and other valuable and useful-books. -• " 2. I have often indulged the appetite of hunger to, the disturbing of my mind, and unfitting me for spiritual duties. " Considering the bad effects of, these two underminers of my peace— and the happiness and utility that will result from the contrary conduct, in humble dependence upon Divine strength — I have to-night solemnly renounced them before the Lord, and resolved to maintain a strict and constant opposition against them. 26 OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS. - [ ' 79;i- " In order thereto, I solemnly resolve to use the following helps, and any others that I may afterwards discover :— " 1. As soon as I awake in a morning, provided I be in health, I will look or feel at my watch, and if it be five o'clock or after, I will imme diately arise. . " 2. I will be very careful at my meals, to give over with some appetite for more ; and I will never read anything, unless necessitated, till I have returned thanks to God for my food. " O Lord, undertake Thou for me ; and be for ever with me. Amen. " Dec. 30.— Lord's Day.— This day I have been honoured by the Lord of love and mercy with permission, opportunity, and a heart to make a solemn renewal of my afore-written covenant with God. What am I, poor worthless wretch, that I should be admitted to sit down with the King at His table ? — a table richly spread with the infinite and inexhaustible trea sures of grace and glory: — Grace ! Grace ! — Worthy is the Lamb that was slain ! " Monday Morning, Dec. 31, 1792. — Yesterday I was at the Lord's table. I have renewed my covenant engagements ; I have acknowledged, that I am not my own ; I have taken the awful oath unto the Great God and our Saviour. I trust I had a glimpse of the King of Grace in the hdly ordinance : Blessed be His Holy Name for any token for good ! — But the work is not done. Having discerned the body and blood of my Lord' in the appointed symbols, it remains for me by faith to continue feeding upon Him, to the increased exercise of repentance, love, new obedience, and every grace. To this end, I shall find my account in frequently recollecting the views I had, and the dedication I made at the sacred ordinance ; and that both statedly, in my secret, retirement— constantly, in my daily walk and, carriage, — occasionally, in seasons of difficulty, — when the adversary op poses, — when corruptions grow strong, — when afflictions fall out. Nothing can have such an influence upon me to quicken me in every difficult and self-donying duty. ' God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Thereby may the world be crucified unto me, and I to it. Amen." CHAPTER III. OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS; — THESE MEMORIALS FINALLY DISCONTINUED — COLLECTS FOR THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY — LETTER TO THE REV. JOHN FAWCETT — THE " IRIS " NEWSPAPER— EDITS THE " IRIS " FOR SIX MONTHS— MR. JAMES MONTGOMERY'S CORRESPONDENCE — MR. MONTGOMERY'S REMINISCENCES OF THIS PERIOD— EARLIEST KNOWN PUBLICATIONS. Although about the time at which this narrative has arrived, communications took place between Pye Smith and some of his friends respecting his becoming a minister ; our clearest guide for a year or two further is still to be found in those occasional records of his feelings and conduct of which such use .has been already-made; and which — accordingly — will still be quoted. ' l1 " January 1, 1 793.- — Now another important period of time is concluded : — another year is gone. The good hand of God upon me has spared me to the first morning of a new year, and has inclined and enabled me to begin it with Him. ' Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless His holy name.' " I. Let me recollect and recount the mercies and goodness which I have received in the course of the past year. "1. He hath redeemed my life from destruction. Many whom I knew a year ago are now numbered with the dead : and one very near to me I shall see no more till the Judge appear. — I am alive ! 2. He hath con tinued unto me health of body, and comfort of circumstances and friends through the past year. How differently have many been dealt with. He crowneth me with loving kindness and tender mercies ! 3. He has appeared signally for me in a way of providential goodness in a gracious variety of respects ; particularly in one recent instance. 4. He has dignified* me in making me of any service to Him in doing any good to His people, either in furthering their temporal or spiritual concerns. 5. When I have wandered from Him, He hath restored my soul : He hath from time to time healed my backslidings, and manifested to me pardoning love and re- 28 OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS. [17118. claiming mercy. 6. He has averted from me many, many evils — delivered from many snares and temptations — and prevented me with the rich ,and suitable blessings of His goodness. 7. He has mercifully enabled me in some good measure to cleave unto Him. He has kept His unworthyi servant from fatal apostasy from His good ways. 8. He has honoured me with a name in His house, and the public confession, and seal of His covenant — and innumerable other great and undeserved favours. Ah !: what am I, O Lord God, or what is my father's house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto ? Thou hast preserved my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. " II. I would record, for my humiliation and admonition, some out of the innumerable transgressions of the past year, for which I desire to be,ash.amed and confounded before God. " 1. I have sadly and scandalously wasted a great part of that precious, talent — time. How many of the most important and valuable hours hav/fl I completely lost by lying too long in a morning ! How much is for ever lost in vain loitering, useless occupations, trifling and unprofitable conversar tion! 2. I have very often grieved the Holy Spirit of God by my provocations, and have thereby brought guilt, barrenness, and unfruitfulness into my heart and life. 3. Though I have, I trust, heartily renounced a,ll idols, taken the Lord God to be my God, and devoted myself unreservedly to Him,— yet, O how foolishly and falsely have I dealt in His covenant ! "III. In humble prayer for and dependence upon Divine strength, I would make these resolutions. The Lord in mercy help me to act up to them ! " 1. I Will be more diligent and assiduous to answer that important ex hortation—' Redeeming the time.' To that end, I will much consider the shortness, uncertainty, yet infinite value of time. May God impress it on my mind ! 2. I will be more heedful of my heart, and more watchful over my ways than I have been. Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe. 3.' As a fallen guilty, and helpless sinner, I will by Divine help live more upon and look more steadily to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, the Life of grace and the Hope of glory. 4. As I may die this year, I will be much- in - exercising thoughts of death, judgment, and eternity. 5. I will, the Lord being my helper be more earnest and lively in duties-prayer, reading, meditation, and hearing." 8 Thus he began the year with God, himself, and with duty.'"/,. "March 31, Lord's-day evening._I was enabled to be importunate with my God during part of the last week and this day for His ZuhL bleslS ES? ^"Tr^^1^ ** solemf^nd LlJS HtTove to "nd t ^ ^ ^^ T MieVe the Lord ** — - to .awi-Let *!££?#: — ^Hhallglo^ MT- 10'] OCCASIONAL MEMORIALS. 29 immutable love I shall see His face, and serve Him without the intervention of the darkness of temptation, the guilt of corruption, and the veil of flesh. Lord, meeten me for the glorious season. Graciously afford some drops from that pure river which flows from Thy throne ! " May 26. Lord's-day evening.— In the solemn ordinance of the Lord's Supper; of which I this day did partake, I hope He who binds up the broken-hearted did not leave me alone and destitute. I cried unto the Lord and He heard me. Blessed be His holy name for ever. Oh, Thou Glorious Redeemer, help me to remember Thee continually. " June 30. Sabbath evening.— Another month has revolved, and I have been called again to present myself at the table of the Lord. Had I the fire and powers of an archangel, I could never utter the loving kindness and rich grace which the Lord has manifested to me. Not only hath he de livered me from going down to the pit of eternal ruin, (where I most justly deserve to be,) but He is sovereignly pleased from time to time to revive my graces, to strengthen my soul, and to enlarge my feet. But let me re member I stand not in my own strength. Let me not lean on that broken reed. O may the Lord Himself keep me still in communion with him ! May He keep me lowly, meek, humble, penitent at His feet. Lord Jesus ! Deeply impress Thine adored name upon my heart ; and O let me not depart from Thee!" Brief records of the same land occur for July 30 ; August 25 ; and Sept. 30. The last for the year is f' October 29. Tuesday morning. — The principal use of writing these small memorials, is, to be a remembrancer to myself ofthe vows I make, the views, I have, and the obligations I am under when I am brought to the table of the Lord. JCet me then henceforth remember, that to answer this design I ought to peruse them oftener, that they may be more strongly im pressed upon my heart. " ¥($$• January 26. — This day I have been permitted to sit down in the presence of the Great King. Infinite is my guilt and vileness ; I have broken the most solemn vows, and the most sacred obligations, but yet I am encouraged to look towards God's holy temple ! Blessed be His holy name, that I have any consolatory hope that He is still mindful of and gracious to me. O that I may experience the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Im- manuel in a more divine and truly glorious manner than I have ever yet known ! A sight of His glories will be the bane of every lust : only that can effectually mortify the strong corruptions which I have to fight against. Give me habitually, Lord Jesus, to be exercised in acts of holy and self- abasing love and admiration, excited by the consideration of Thy infinite amiabjeness and inexpressible love and condescension. With such glances of heavenly day, O shine upon my path, and guide me through this barren land ! Amen." The next is for March 2 ; which is followed by one for April 5; and, tiien there is a pause until Dec. 28, beyond which no others are to be found. , The last is as follows : — 30 THESE MEMORIALS FINALLY DISCONTINUED. [179-1. " Since the above was written, many events both in the natural and the spiritual life have occurred to me. I have walked in various paths, i but here I raise my Ebenezer; through the good hand of my God I am arrived at the present day ; mercy, in rich and sovereign variety, has been exercised towards me. To-day I have been publicly avowing that I am the Lord's. The remembrance of my manifold defections has caused just shame and con fusion of face ; but I hope I can testify to His praise that God hath not for saken me, nor hath my God forgotten me. As I have now so repeatedly and solemnly sworn to be His, O that His grace may unite my heart in His fear. Let Jesus's love crown the end of this year, and be the future con templation and joy of my soul so long as my abode is here. O let Thy mercy come unto me, even Thy salvation according to thy word !" These memorials were but irregularly kept from the first ; as time went on that irregularity increased, until at length, when the book is only a little more than half filled, they were relin quished, with no trace subsequently of anything of the kind having been resumed. His early acquaintance with the Puritans, both in their Lives and Writings, made him familiar with Diaries ; and knowing that many good and holy men had derived benefit from such records of personal experience, he could not help trying a similar plan for himself. But, in truth, his was not a character ever likely to profit much by this kind of composition. He could not go elaborately into the details of his history, much less continue to write out from day to day an analysis of his feelings : for throughout his - whole life, no man scarcely could be a more inapt or reluctant subject for his own pen or tongue than he was. It is implied in the one for Oct. 1793, that he did not read them often enough ; probably he could not make them with sufficient fre quency and warmth of interest— to secure any efficient help from them. When therefore they were found to Vail, he had the wisdom, the courage, the grace to cast them aside entirely, and to betake himself with intenser earnestness than ever to the Divine Eedeemer; committing himself, by stated and especially by ejaculatory prayer, to One who was able to keep him from falling. And if the altered plan was in fuller har mony with the cast of his natural character, it was also the foundation on which there rose in after years the striking eamce of his personal piety. Here again, the knowledge which he acquired by experience -as distinguished from that supplied by books -increased his competency for the offices which he subsequently filled Try MT. 20.] COLLECTS FOR THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 31 ing as were these early lessons, and remote as they then seemed' from all prospect of ever being available for the good of others, they were neither lost upon himself nor to the world. Rather, they were like seeds retaining their vitality in a dormant state for years, but which, when the circumstances favourable to their germination had arrived, were as active for life and fruitfulness, as though no time had been lost in the meanwhile. He was still being led by a way that he knew not. Among the Missionary Societies of a comparatively recent origin, the priority is due to that formed by the Baptist De nomination, and which selected India as the field for its first operations. Towards the end of 1792, a meeting was held at Kettering, when a few names which will ever be illustrious — Ryland — Sutcliff-^Carey — Pearce — Fuller — took their place at the head of what has become a catalogue of worthies, each great section of Evangelical Christians having its own repre sentatives, by whom as a whole the Church is now seeking the salvation of the world. When Carey sailed for India in 1793, the work was practically begun. It is deserving of notice, that as early as the next year, and therefore before popular feeling was alive to the subject, Pye Smith had heard of the move ment, and was ready with the following appeal to his friends on its behalf • — " Animated ',„we trust, with sincere thankfulness to the God of all grace for the door which He has opened and the encouragement He has afforded, to the truly noble design of making known the unsearchable riches of Christ to our poor benighted brethren, the Hindoos ; — and, at the same time de sirous of doing every thing in our power to further a purpose so unspeakably excellent, — we, whose names are under -written, do think it our indispensable duty, next to our fervent sup plications to Him who alone gives the increase, to contribute as Providence has enabled us towards the sum required for this work; believing that our mites thus employed are only rendered to that God to whom ourselves and our all are unreservedly due." The names follow, with the sum contributed by each ; his own being among the number. The amount was sent to the Rev. John Fawcett, of Brearley Hal], accompanied by a note : — " Reverend Sir, — Inclosed is a bill, value £6. . 14. .0, being the amount of a subscription privately made by a few young g2 THE " IRIS " NEWSPAPER. E1796- persons of Rev. Mr. Brewer's Congregation, for the benefit of the mission to Bengal. We lament that our exertions in so good a cause were, from a peculiar combination of circum stances, necessarily confined to a very narrow circle. But we hope that this small contribution will be acceptable to the Head of the Church, and that His blessing will be upon it." Although in 1794 and 1795, the way was gradually opening for him to enter the Christian ministry, the details may be reserved until the time when he was admitted to Rotherham Academy: and as this took place in 1796, we shall go at once to the beginning of that year for the incidents by which the development of his character may be progressively traced. In January, 1796, Mr. James Montgomery, the Proprietor and Editor of the Sheffield Iris, had to sustain an action for libel, which was tried at the Doncaster sessions. The matter charged as libellous had appeared in that Paper in the pre ceding August : in substance it was this. In a noisy demon stration of a multitude of people in the town of Sheffield, the Sheffield Volunteers were called out, by whom two men were killed. The Editor of the Iris had the courage to intimate to his Readers, that the Colonel of the Volunteers, in issuing the orders which led to this sacrifice of human life, had acted with greater precipitation than the case seemed to warrant; especially as the persons killed had taken no part in the so- called riotous proceeding, which the Volunteers were com manded to put down by force of arms. For giving utterance to this opinion in a style which most persons at this day would deem humane, and therefore laudable, the Poet-Editor was sentenced to pay a fine of £30 — and to" be imprisoned for six months in York Castle. The Iris, which had not long before come into Mr. Mont gomery's hands, had to be carried on during his absence by some one who was thought competent to superintend both the editing and the printing ; and who, moreover, would not shrink from the risk which might be involved in even a temporary connection with an oppressed, and we may say, persecuted organ of public opinion :— a risk of no small magnitude in 1796, as compared with what it would be now. It must also be added, that as the Paper was not at that time a very profitable .ET.T2.] EDITS THE " IMS " NEWSPAPER. 33 concern, no motive for encountering either the risk or the labours of editorship, could have been suggested by any prospect of pecuniary gain. Just in these circumstances, the services of John Pye Smith — whether asked or offered, we know not — were accepted ; and from February 5th to August 5th he discharged the editorial duties. Such an office at that period did not, it is true, demand very large attainments ; for those early Papers, especially the provincial ones, drew upon books and upon other Papers for their materials, to an extent which can scarcely fail to excite a smile as compared with the modern newspaper press. The correspondents of that day did a great deal towards filling the columns from week to week : they were often ceremoniously, and sometimes obsequiously polite ; and some of them would indulge in pleasant allegories, often too feeble to be amusing, apparently with a view to catch the at tention of Readers half awakening out of a long sleep. But as the public mind has become more and more intelligent and energetic, the Press has increased in power and influence ; growing with the growth of the Body Politic, and in its turn largely aiding that growth : — like plants which as years roll on, are constantly enriching the soil by which their own luxuriance is increased. If we are correct in tracing Pye Smith's contributions during his editorship, the short paragraphs which at that day held the place of the elaborate leaders of the present, will supply the following gleanings : February 19. " It is pleasing to turn from viewing the gloomy aspect of politics, to contemplate the generally flourishing condition of science and literature." February 26. A passage which assigns one of the causes of the then existing scarcity of provisions to " the destruction of the old English system of small farms, and their ingurgitation by the rich and overgrown farmers." May 6. An error in a matter of fact is corrected ; and a request is made, that the Editors of other Papers who had copied the error would now copy the cor rection : — eminently characteristic in both parts. Having men tioned in the same Paper some riotous proceedings at Hull in consequence of the high price of food, this is added in Italics : — " To the Dealers in Provisions we say, ' Do unto others as ye would they do unto you;' and to the Poor we repeat, that Riots must necessarily increase the price of food, and bring the vengeance of the Laws on the Guilty." — Such was the way 34 MR. JAMES MONTGOMERY'S CORRESPONDENCE. [l796. in which he sought to discharge what may perhaps be called the most hazardous part of his duty :— the insertion of remarks or comments on public events from the Editor's own pen. Several motives would join to produce this tone of modera tion. His own position, and probable risks, would stand- con nected in thought with Mr. Montgomery's : — his friends, his relations, and especially his mother, could not fail to ply him with cautions and entreaties : — there was also the decisive ripen ing of his views in favour of the ministry ; and the growing power which his judgment was securing over his impulses. Added to which there would be his fine sensitiveness of feeling in regard to the property of another, acting like a check on all such utterances of opinion as might, perchance, be turned to the disadvantage of the Paper. Happily, therefore, though) he was new to the service, and the waters were far from calm, his place at the helm was followed by no disaster to himself, nor to the interests which had been temporarily entrusted, to his hands : but when the time came for his Superior to resume his post, he could do it without having to encounter difficulties which had arisen during his absence. A few brief extracts from Mr. Montgomery's Letters, will show the watchfulness and affection of the Poet-Editor- for his substitute at Sheffield during the months over which: we have been passing. • ¦ " York Castle, January 23, 1 796. My dear Friend,— You haye. now stepped into my place, and you will not long be there before the anxieties and vexa tions attendant on the discharge of any painful public duty will begin to harass you." " January 30.* I am exceedingly glad to find you take so tender andiat*- tive a concern in my welfare at home : give my best respects to aU, the men, and tell them I rely much on their diligence and friendship." ''~ " February 13. I have little room to spare to make any further observa tions respecting the Iris : be firm, cool, and moderate ; you never can sink into dulnesB, if- 1 estimate your talents right. But beware of .being hurried away by generous indignation, imprudent zeal for truth, or the dread of cen sure from any party." " April 2. Your Letter received this morning contains no bad news!: but yet it has given me inexpressible concern. It hurts me exceedingly- to 'find, though your friendship and modesty combine to conceal it as much as pos sible from me, that you are very much harassed, and find great difficulty, care, and anxiety attending the discharge of that trust, which I was happy * "York Castle" and "My dear Friend" will not require to be repeated : they are, however, to be understood where the contrary is not intimated. En'. /6T. 2a.J mr. Montgomery's reminiscences. 35 for my own sake, but uneasy from the beginning for yours, to repose in you." " May 1. My captivity now begins to decline down the hill, and I shall only have nine weeks to stay here on Tuesday next: but I fear I shall not return immediately to Sheffield ; the Doctors here say it will be absolutely necessary for me to go then to Scarboro' for the benefit of sea bathing and drinking, at least a fortnight. Of this I apprize you thus early, that if I should be obliged to go there you may be prepared to indulge me with your kind and invaluable services a few weeks longer than we expected. . . ' . The management and arrangement of the Iris has continued to afford me much satisfaction. I shall tremble when I resume it into my own hands, lest its credit should fall with the resignation of its present Editor. But tell that Editor from me not to hack and hew Pitt quite so much in the London News; and to be particularly careful in the Sheffield News not to insert any home occurrence without the most indubitable authority." " July 4. I take up my pen with pleasure to snatch a few of the last mo ments of my imprisonment, to inform you that I shall be set at liberty as early as I please to-morrow morning. Pray, insert in the next Iris a plain unvarnished paragraph just.mentioning the circumstances, and adding that in consequence of having suffered considerably in my health during the four first months of my imprisonment, I have, by the advice of the Doctors, gone for a short time to Scarboro'; so that it will probably be a few weeks longer before I have the happiness of paying my personal respects to the friends of the Iris I am exceedingly impatient to return, and ease you of those irksome burdens which you have so patiently borne for me during these six unfortunate months." " Scarboro', July 17. You will not be angry at my impertinent advice, because it is not given under the idea of instruction or injunction, but merely that some of the hints I throw out may assist you in pursuing that path of moderation and security which no man living is more capable of following than yourself. If any riots happen before my return, do not tell any dan gerous truths — nor any wilful falsehoods : — the latter part of this advice is unnecessary, but you must particularly be on your guard to observe the former." * At the Autumnal Meeting Of the Congregational Union held in October, 1849, at Sheffield, Mr. Montgomery dined with about two hundred and fifty gentlemen at the Music Hall in that Town. In returning thanks to the company for their good wishes respecting his health, he said — " It was about fifty-seven years since he came to Sheffield, not knowing more than an individual by name. His earliest Christian friend in Sheffield, of this denomination [the Congregationalists] was John Pye Smith, now one of the most learned and distinguished of their ministers, but then a young * Among Dr. Smith's books there is a copy of the Poetee Minores Grcsci. Cant. 1652, on the fly-leaf of which in his early handwriting this occurs : "J. P. Smith; e dono Jacobi Montgomery, amici dilecti, poetseque preestan- tissimi. 1796."— Ed. Dg 36 EARLIEST known publications. [1796. man about his own age, in the establishment of his father. During six months in which he [Mr. Montgomery] was absent from home — [This allusion to Mr. Montgomery's second imprisonment was received with loud applause, the whole company rising] — John Pye Smith had the courage to step into his dan gerous place, and conducted the Iris to his entire satisfaction. From that period till Dr. Pye Smith's removal from Sheffield, their intercourse was fre quent, but little of it related to politics, in which they incurred dangers that wiser heads might have avoided. In attending the meeting last night, he had been forcibly reminded that in those early days he occasionally accom panied his friend John Pye Smith in preaching expeditions to the villages, not to assist, but to enjoy the benefit of hearing his friend. He remembered that they went on one occasion to Laughton, where Mr. Smith preached in the morning in the house of a substantial farmer, and in the afternoon to a large congregation in the farmer's barn. He knew that this system of itine rancy in the villages had been maintained for many years after that time i but it was interesting to recall the early labours in this field of a man whose labours had made him so distinguished." — Newspaper report. At the chapel in Queen Street with which Pye Smith was connected, there existed a " Society for Religious Improve ment," composed probably for the most part of young men about his own age. Essays or Tracts were occasionally written by some of the number, which if approved were then printed, and circulated by sale or gratuitously with a view to the spread of Christianity in the town and neighbourhood. One of these was prepared by him as early as 1795: this, however, as is stated on the title-page— was an abridgment; and was entitled " Narrative of the Last Moments of the Hon. F*** N*** a convert from Christianity to Infidelity." * He also prepared " An Essay to Illustrate and Enforce the Duty of Christians to enter into FuU Communion with some Particular Church :" —The subject was introduced with an admirable Address to the Society of which he was a member. tianS^ Frien^- ^ ^^ «*»*& t0 enfOTCe «» ^P°rtant Chris- Sat £ X^ C°mplian?r * y™ -quest, I now present to you. d^rvelt deed on ^ 'T ^ ^ y°U haV6 ^ f^ured „/«,- t^^&s^^^.^r"7^ me to-request ^ 6 «s. i cannot doubt but you will join me in beseeching Society nl«Z Zt\Zt?: ^ ^ Dunt°n- Mr- Cr08s of tae T™* WorkTfrom aHdiJion nubLh T5 £%** *" AbridSmei* * Dunton's discovering Zt te "ourte^ il ^^ in 1819 ' ** that in 1850, on iET. 22.] EARLIEST KNOWN PUBLICATIONS. 37 the God of all grace to afford His blessing to this imperfect endeavour for advancing His glory among the children of men. " Your association for the valuable purpose of enlarging your acquaintance with the nature and evidence, the doctrines and precepts of our Divine and holy religion, is truly laudable: and it will be to you highly beneficial, if you are solicitous to increase in the practical influence, as well as the intellectual knowledge, of the truth of God. " Permit me, my dear friends, to urge this consideration with the earnest ness resulting from a sense of its infinite importance. ' Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.' " To labour after an extensive and intimate acquaintance with the grand contents of the Scriptures, is the duty of all who enjoy the means of so doing. In the present day of evangelical light, ignorance is the fatal disease, and will one day appear to be the destroying sin of multitudes. But, as you value your eternal interests, beware of resting in a religion of mere speculation. Light in the understanding, without purity of heart and uprightness of life, will only give aggravation to your guilt, and add pungency to your future misery. Or, if you possess all these in a measure, and so are partakers of that grace which will assuredly end in glory — yet, should you become remiss in the exercises of internal piety, you may get full of barren notions of divine things, but your souls will be empty, your consciences will be defiled, your spiritual vigour will be impaired, and perhaps the next rude assault of temp tation will lay your honour in the dust. Your only method of preservation from these dreadful evils, is to walk humbly and faithfully with God, de pending on the fulness of the Lord Jesus for all needed supplies of grace and strength. " That the only wise God, our Saviour, who alone is able, may keep you from falling, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, is the sincere prayer of Your unworthy Brother, "Erastes. « Dec. 17, 1796." The style of the Tract throughout resembles in a remark able degree that which is found in his later works ; and even at that early period, the plan of adding illustrative notes, which is not a characteristic of young authors, appears to have been decidedly formed, as it is known to have been constantly kept up by him in later years. Maturity of judgment beyond his age, and great accuracy and order in the arrangement as well as the expression of his thoughts, evidently belonged to him at the time when the Tract was written : and yet it must be re membered that he had been for the most part self-taught, and had hitherto been left to acquire and digest his materials amidst the cares of business. CHAPTER IV. views respecting the christian ministry-preliminary difficulties -LETTER TO HIS MOTHER-TO HIS FATHER-TO THE REV. J. BREWER -PRESIDES OCCASIONALLY AT CHURCH-MEETINGS-HIS SERVICES IN HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS-HIS SUBJECTION TO HIS PARENTS-LETTER TO HIS PARENTS-PARENTAL OBJECTIONS OVERCOME-LETTER TO THE REV. M. PHILLIPS— TO THE CHURCH— ENTERS ROTHERHAM ACADEMY -ROTHERHAM ACADEMY IN 1796-HIS GREAT FACILITY IN ACQUIR ING KNOWLEDGE— "LECTURES ON THE HUMAN MIND " TO HIS FEL LOW-STUDENTS - HIS LATIN ORATIONS -HIS LAST LATIN ORATION —DISTRIBUTION OF HIS TIME AT COLLEGE — LETTER TO REV. J. KIRKPATRICK— VISIT TO WYMONDLEY ACADEMY— CHESTER— LETTER TO DR. WILLIAMS — LEAVES ROTHERHAM. It has been seen that as early as 1792, a few months prior to the date of his joining the Christian Church, Pye Smith had received a Letter from a friend on the important subject to which this chapter is devoted. An imperfect copy of his answer remains, showing, that his thoughts were not at that time leaning towards the work of the ministry; but were rather on the side of continuing in his business as a book seller. By the next year, however, some change had taken place, for he felt it to be his duty to engage in occasional services as a lay preacher. Yet even here he had to meet with difficulties ; his parents were disinclined to fall in with his desires, as may be learned from a copy of a Letter, under date 1793, designed for his Pastor, Mr. Brewer, but which was not sent until February, 1794 : — " As far as I can know myself, I can sincerely assert that my leading views in this affair are simply to arrive at some satisfactory determination respect ing what has long occupied my thoughts in a hesitating and uncertain •ST. 22.] PRELIMINARY DIFFICULTIES. 89 " To answer this end, therefore, I will state some objections (all of which, except the last, were made to me by my father) with replies to them. " If you undertake any such public engagement, you will draw a number of observers upon you, who will bestow the most curious and critical attention, and will probably pass a severe and ill-natured censure upon you.* To this, I think, no very elaborate answer is needed. May it ever be far from me to desist from the performance of any duty on account of such persons as these, or even to give myself one moment's anxiety to please them. It would be a sad degradation of the Christian character to be influenced by such a con sideration as this. " You are now engaged in the acquisition of several branches of learning, which, together with your necessary attendance upon business, leave you little or no leisure to make proper preparations. This objection derives all its weight from an erroneous supposition. It takes for granted that to collect proper matter to fill up ten minutes or perhaps half an hour once in three or four weeks, would occupy an unreasonable portion of time. I think that the little remnants of time which I can employ in this manner will not trespass upon my necessary avocations, except a little time immediately previous to the performance ; and this will not, I apprehend, be thought an unreasonable request, provided that other objections can be removed. " In your present situation, which has the advantage of being in some re spects a literary life, you will be more useful, and certainly less embarrassed, than even in the capacity of a preacher of the gospel. This is again a conclu sion from premises not proved. You, Sir, have some knowledge of what have long been my sentiments about the sacred ministry. But, in order to give my ideas more precisely upon this subject, I take the liberty of inclosing part of an answer to a Letter which I received in July, 1792. I am now still more satisfied of the truth of the principle upon which I then expressed myself — that no one should ever presume to take this honour upon himself unless clearly called of God. " There is no need whatsoever for your offices. This is a more rational ar gument than the former. If what it asserts be true, there is at once an end of the matter. It would not become me to contradict it. If any facts exist sufficient to confute it, you are best acquainted with them. " Is it not an unbecoming forwardness in you to wish to enter into an en gagement of so public a kind? I apprehend that every Christian, so long as he is in this flesh, has reason to lament imperfection in motive as well as in action. As far as I have been able by serious research and prayer to know my own heart, I can sincerely assert that my impulsive motives are earnest and humble desires that God may be glorified; and (if agreeable to His will) that I may be in some degree instrumental to promote His honour among my fellow-creatures. But I do not pretend that I do not feel other base consi derations sometimes ; yet I dare affirm that I allow them not, neither do I act upon those principles." The original draft of the above Letter was left in this un finished state ; and in that state the writer copied and sent it to Mr. Brewer with a short note explanatory of his reasons for • The Letter relates to lay preaching, excepting in one or two parts. — Ed. 40 LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. [1790. so doing : and evidently with a desire, perhaps an expectation, that the Pastor would confer with Mr. and Mrs. Smith on the subject. Two Letters then follow, belonging from their con tents to the same period, but without any date or address on the outside; and which, on that account, and because they were found among Dr. Smith's own papers, were probably never out of his possession. The first was to his mother ; to whom he thus wrote : — "Iflam not deceived, I think you have an objection to such characters as preaching tradesmen, from an idea that they are usually regarded in a con temptible light. Too many, indeed, are contemptible, and deservedly; but it is for other reasons than because they are merely either preachers or trades men. With regard to what you have said concerning the work of the min istry, I must observe that in what I wrote yesterday no such thoughts were in my mind. Since the conversation I had with Mr. Brewer last winter, I have uniformly regarded it as my duty to continue in my present situation, till Providence should clearly show the. propriety of a change. It would he an act of ungrateful disobedience for me to put my father to such inconve niences as my absence would probably occasion. In so doing I could not rea sonably look for a Divine blessing. In the conversation just referred to, Mr. Brewer was of the same opinion ; he added, that he conceived it was my duty to embrace every opportunity for study and improvement in literature, par ticularly sacred literature : and he intimated, what he had before positively and fully declared, that it would be proper for me to attempt serving the cause of Christ in an occasional manner. This is the substance of the advice he gave me." This Letter was evidently written before the term of his apprenticeship had expired; and although he yields up the point respecting the stated ministry during that term, he puts in a plea at once cogent and becoming, suited to his position as a son, and yet clearly expressing his sense of a higher duty— that he should be allowed in the meanwhile to study the Scriptures and to preach occasionally, if he could do this with out detriment to his filial obligations. Nor is it without its significance, that he had to fall back on the opinion of Mr. Brewer, in support of this moderate request. Although the next Letter is also without a date, there are references and expressions which show it to have been written either towards the end of 1795, or early in ] 796 :— written, therefore, after the close of his apprenticeship, which ter minated April 2, in the former of these two years. It will ac- •ST. 22.] LETTER TO HIS FATHER. 41 cordingly be read as the production of a young man who was then, to use a common phrase, his own master. " It is now five years and a half since I began to be seriously concerned about eternal things. Through Divine mercy, though on ten thousand ac counts I have reason for shame and self-abhorrence, I humbly trust that that concern has not been of a slight and transient kind. To be unfeignedlyand universally devoted to God is, I hope, the object of my ambition. To be en abled in any way to promote His cause among men would be the rejoicing of my soul. For a considerable time my mind has been influenced by a powerful inclination towards the greatest and most momentous of all engage ments, — the service of God in His sanctuary. Yet, as such a propensity, considered alone, should have little regard as a reason for important action, — I have hitherto thought it my duty to observe strict silence on the subject, except to one or two intimate friends. I have constantly committed this affair unto the Lord, praying and hoping that He will direct my paths. " My reason for making known the state of my mindto you is this. — Time and opportunity for the service of God are hastening away, and the inclina tion of my mind towards the sacred work does not wear off, but increase ; it would therefore be very desirable to bring the matter to some issue. If God has any work for me to do in His Church, the present favourable opportunity for beginning a course of study to very great advantage ought not to be ne glected. But if it is not so, it is time that I should lay aside all thoughts of it. I am indeed not able to form a satisfactory judgment upon this great concern. I trust that my eye is single. Perhaps if the matter were fairly stated to a few of our most serious and judicious friends, their deliberate opinion might decide it : I am sure it would be of very great weight with me. Mr. Brewer, whose kind friendship, instruction and advice will never, I hope, be faintly remembered by me, is in possession of some papers upon this subject, which I put in his hands near two years ago. These will show what has been the state of my mind for above three years. " My object is to know what is in reality the way of duty. Whatever that may clearly appear to be I will thankfully and cheerfully walk in it, by Divine help." Mr. Brewer, to whom such frequent references have been made, appears to have resigned the pastoral office at Sheffield, and to have accepted one in Birmingham, early in 1796. When his purpose to make this change became known, his attached pupil and member, Pye Smith, wrote a long Letter to induce him to remain at Sheffield. Without quoting from this paper, it is due to the Beader to mention it, since it presents the first example that has been found of a peculiarity in Dr. Smith's style which can scarcely fail to have excited attention — namely ; a sudden transition from pleading with man to an earnest appeal or supplication addressed to Jehovah. In this way, and with his own pen, what might have been in many cases the 42 OCCASIONALLY PRESIDES AT CHURCH MEETINGS. fl796. silent ejaculations of the heart, are made legible: His devout aspirations have for the time a kind of self-recording power, by which they are brought into view with all the freshness and energy of life, as distinct from a mere reference to them as prayers which he offered in private. Writing to Mr. Brewer he says : — " Can you forsake a people who love you as their own souls, and who are ready to do anything that they can for y0U ? — " The unanswered question, the line that leaves the matter in suspense, are instantly followed by an appeal com mencing thus : — " But to whom should we go, 0 Lord, but to Thee ? Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. 0 prepare mercy and truth to go before us. We are called by Thy name ; we are thine ; Father of all mercy, be gracious unto us !" When the Church at Queen Street Chapel were about to invite the Bev. James Boden to become their Pastor— an office which he subsequently undertook, and sustained for a long course of years of useful labour — an address was pre pared to the " congregation at large," of which there is a copy in the handwriting of Pye Smith. It begins thus : — " Our dear Christian Friends, — The situation in which we now are is indisputably of the utmost importance. Destitute of a stated pastor to go before us in the Lord, we look up to the Great Chief Shepherd for His guidance and protection; and we earnestly entreat your union with us in the exercises of fervent prayer and supplication, — now more than ever urgent and necessary. After serious deliberation, it has ap peared to us advisable to consider on the propriety of giving a solemn invitation to the Kev. James Boden, to accept of the pastoral office among us. Though the right of electing a minister belongs to us as a Church, entirely, solely, and exclusively; yet we consider the concurrence of our much esteemed brethren who compose the great body of the congre gation, as of the highest importance." During the vacancy in the pastoral office at Queen Street, Pye Smith was occasionally called upon to preside at Church- meetings. A fellow-student of his at Eotherham who still survives, the Bev. John Hammond of Handsworth, says, in a Letter recently received, that at a Church-meeting held in July, 1796, " four of us were admitted, when he gave us a JET. 22.J HIS SUBJECTION TO HIS PARENTS. 43 serious lecture." A Letter addressed to him at Homerton, in January, 1809, by the Bev. William Thorp, then of Bristol, but who when a young man lived at Sheffield, contains the fol lowing passage : — " Be pleased now to accept my warmest ac knowledgments in return for the advantages I derived from our former intimacy. It is to you, Sir, together with the instruc tions of our worthy pastor, upon whose ministry we then attended with delight, that I owe the rudiments, and much more than the rudiments of whatever knowledge I have since acquired." In these various ways his activity and his talents were constantly finding employment, prior to the time — which was now close at hand — when he gave himself up entirely to the Christian ministry. The opposition which had been mani fested at home against his lay preaching arose from an appre hension that he would not be content with that; while the true ground of the reluctance must be sought in the fact, that as an only son, and as one eminently qualified to acquire and com municate information respecting books, the father could not be easily reconciled to the thought of losing his services : for besides any pecuniary advantage which might be anticipated from retaining him in trade, the parents would feel a degree of pride in the prominence which a child of theirs was gra dually acquiring among literary men. Three or four notes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge remain to show, that the young bookseller was not at that early period unknown to that emi nent person — in one of which Coleridge says, " If I can serve you or Mr. Montgomery in any possible way, I shall be happy to hear from you." And under date, 1798, a Letter addressed to him by the late William Roscoe, already distinguished for his Life of Lorenzo de' Medici, pub. in 1796, concludes thus — " I am very sorry your short stay in Liverpool prevented me from enjoying more of your society; but hope to be more for tunate on your next visit to this neighbourhood." But while it is easy to appreciate the force of parental re luctance in a case like this, the son's obedience and docility must by no means be overlooked. In addition to the ardour of his natural temperament, it is well known that young con verts in particular are apt to ascribe to their zealous desires and purposes an authority before which most other claims ought to give way : and as the master to whom he was bound was also his father, his conduct would not have been without 44 LETTER TO HIS PARENTS. [1796. precedent had he put forth urgent pleas for an early dissolu tion ofthe tie, that he might the sooner be at liberty to enter the ministry, especially as the age at which he ought to begin his studies was rapidly passing away. He appears, however, to have patiently continued his course not only to the close of the term of his indentures, but to nearly eighteen months beyond ; although for the whole of the latter part of that time he was striving more and more to meet parental objections, as one who was increasingly conscious that a hand which seemed to beckon him away from trade was ever in sight. In the month of August, 1796; being on a visit at Hanley, in Staffordshire, he renewed his appeal to his parents thus : — " For upwards of five years the taste and inclination of my mind has been fixed upon the evangelical ministry, in a manner perfectly different from the crude and transient vagaries of an unsettled disposition. The late conduct of my friends and the Church in bringing me forward without any director indirect interference or manoeuvres of mine, has served still more to confirm and settle that inclination. Experience has long and uniformly taught me that my faculties are some way incapable of, and inadequate to a commercial life. Yet I hope that my general conduct has been such as that you will not attribute this to wilful inattention. That which has ever appeared to me as the grand difficulty was the inconvenience which I apprehended would result to you from my absence. On this head I would only say, that if my removal should be with the countenance and approbation of Providence (and God forbid that it should ever take place otherwise) no really ill conse quence would result from it. With regard to the advantages to be obtained from a short residence with a tutor so pious, prudent, and learned as Dr. Williams, they are too great and important to be faintly desired. These facts I commit to your candid reflection and the overruling guidance of our gracious Lord." This Letter not only brought the question afresh and in all its bearings before the attention of his parents, but it is re markable for containing a strong expression of his inaptitude for commercial life ; not disinclination merely, but something like incompetency : an early dictate of his self-observation which was borne out by incidents that occurred from time to time in after years. He was, indeed, scrupulously exact in all money transactions ; kept books of account for his private as well as public affairs ; had his receipts and disbursements so punctually posted up, that a balance could be struck almost at any moment : and yet he would probably have failed in business for this sole reason, that his confidence in others was ever apt ^T. 22.] LETTER TO THE CHURCH. 45 to exceed the limits which a just regard to his own interests required. And if imposed upon in any way, he could bring himself to submit to the wrong far more easily than resort to strong measures to obtain reparation. In relation to this whole class of questions, he belonged to that order of persons who from natural disposition, or from the force of Christian prin ciple, find it " more blessed to give than to receive." To his communication from Hanley, either no answer was sent, or none is to be found. Probably it was met by full con cession ; if not in words written or spoken, yet by parental kindness making arrangements for new plans, both for him and for the family soon to be deprived of his active services. But, in truth, this is explained in a Letter, addressed to the Bev. Maurice Phillips, at that time Classical Tutor at Rotherham. " The kind attention with which you have always treated me, while it must command my truest gratitude, encourages me to request of you direction with regard to circumstances in which I find myself in some perplexity. I need not recall to your recollection the conversation which you once intro duced at our house, on a subject to me of the highest importance. After I had the pleasure of seeing you last at Masbrough, I called on Mrs. Pye. She advised me with great affection and regard on the momentous topic. Among other things she remarked, that it was highly proper that I should again freely open my mind to my father. The propriety of this appeared evident : I therefore took the opportunity of being in Staffordshire a few days after wards, to write to my father a brief statement of the case. On my return home, I find that the grand objections have ceased to exist, and that my parents consider it as a sort of settled point that I am to change my residence. " Here my difficulty arises. Hitherto I have cautiously refrained from any interference of my own, wishing to have the completest evidence of the agency and approbation of Divine Grace and Providence. But at present my ground is different. Now, I conceive, it becomes a duty to attend to this affair in the same way as to any other occurrence in which I might be called to act. May I then be permitted to ask — Does anything remain to be done by me ? Am I to take any step whatever ? Or am I to leave it entirely alone ? " An early answer from Mr. Phillips gave him encouragement to proceed ; and pointed out the next step to be taken ; which was, to submit his desires respecting the ministry to the con sideration of the Church of which he was a member. With this advice he complied in these terms : " It is now near four years since you honoured me with admission into your communion. For that admission, for the privileges of gospel orderand 46 LETTER TO THE CHURCH. [lTOfl. fellowship, and for all that love and care which I have enjoyed among you, —I beg you to accept my sincere thanks. I am now under the necessity of requesting your serious and impartial attention to a circumstance of the greatest importance. For several years my mind has been more or less occu pied by a strong propensity to engage in a work, however despised by the profane and infidel world, the most holy and honourable upon earth,— the sacred work ofthe Gospel Ministry. These inclinations would probably have remained a close secret in my own breast, had not many of my religious friends from time to time inquired into my sentiments on the subject, and favoured me with their advice and encouragement It is not per haps necessary to mention any names. It may suffice to say, that I princi pally allude to several valuable members of this Church, and to a consider able number of respectable ministers. Notwithstanding these things, there were difficulties which kept me in a state of suspense, till you, as a Christian Church, thought proper to call me to make occasional attempts to speak of the glories of Jesus and His salvation. Since that time, my doubts and diffi culties have been in a surprising and unexpected manner removed. By the advice of many of my friends, concurring with the disposition of my own mind, I have been led to think of devoting myself wholly to the service of God's sanctuary. With such views it is very desirable to have an opportu nity of retirement for purposes of study and improvement. Such an oppor tunity, and that of the most favourable kind, now presents itself. The esta blishment of the Yorkshire Academy at Eotherham under a tutor, so eminent for learning, wisdom and piety, as Dr. Williams, affords the greatest advan tages of this kind." " If you, my dear Friends, approve of this design, and are willing to give it your countenance and approbation, you will greatly oblige me by trans mitting such a recommendation as you may think proper to Dr. Williams." The recommendation of the Church was forwarded to the Committee of the Academy ; and soon after a Letter was sent to Pye Smith by Dr. Williams, to let him know that he might enter Eotherham "as soon as he pleased." Speaking of the Committee of the Institution, Dr. Williams says, — " They approve of your coming; but the idea has been suggested, that too great openness and decision in political sentiments would be improper in this situation, and in a theological student. For my own part I am satisfied you are beforehand with them in this opinion. The grand object of your studies will be those things which pertain to the souls and everlasting interests of men." Besides earlier indications which Pye Smith had given of warm political feelings, when it is remem bered that he had stood only a few weeks before this date in the place of Editor of the Iris, the caution of the Com mittee can easily be accounted for. But the delicate manner in which Dr. Williams alluded to the past, and the way in JET. 22.J ENTERS ROTHERHAM. 47 which he anticipated, and thereby as it were obtained security for the future, show, that if the elder was gentle in his course of treatment, the younger was understood to be happily open to the full influence of such a method:— impulsive, perhaps, from the vigour of his nature, but of a tractable disposition, and therefore always accessible to mild and kind advice. Writing to a correspondent, September 10, he says : — " This morning I am going to Masbrough, as a student in the Academy under Dr. Williams and Mr. Phillips. Some time spent in such a retirement, with such advantages for study and improve ment, will, I hope, with a Divine blessing, be of the greatest service to me." * He was now therefore fully committed to the work of the ministry, from which he never after withdrew his hand. Scarcely could any one's judgment be more enlightened or any heart be more keenly yet intelligently alive, in regard to the duties and responsibilities of the work, than his was at this time : and it would be all but impossible to find an instance in which the earliest impressions were retained tbroughout a long life in such purity and vigour. His creed in all its great features remained unchanged ; while his piety was constantly growing in power and moral beauty. The foundations con- * Rotherham, or in early days often called Masbrough, Academy, — now Rotherham College — was established for the purpose of educating young men in classical and other learning, in the languages and criticism of the Scrip tures, and in Christian theology, to prepare them for the Christian ministry among Evangelical Nonconformists. The Institution was begun in 1756, under the Rev. James Scott, of Heckmondwick, near Leeds. Prom 1783 to 1794, it was carried on at Northowram under the care of the Rev. Samuel Walker. It was then removed to Rotherham ; and in 1795 Dr. Edward Williams was ap pointed Theological Tutor, an office which he held until his death, March 9, 1813. In his earlier years he had occupied a similar office in the Academy at Oswestry, whit h he resigned in order to become pastor of the Church assem bling in Carr's Lane, Birmingham ; and from the latter he removed to Rother ham. Besides editing the writings of Doddridge — President Edwards — and others — often with valuable annotations — his own productions as an author evince no small measure of originality and vigour of mind. The most con siderable of these — An Essay on the Equity of Divine Government and the Sovereignty of Divine Grace — attracted much attention for many years as a metaphysical treatise on a difficult branch of theology, and is still read with interest by the inquisitive student. The coincidence is a little singular — that the longest-continued of Dr. Pye Smith's -colleagues at Homerton, the Rev. Wm. Walford, joined the Church in Carr's Lane at the time when Dr. Wil liams was the Pastor : so that under somewhat different circumstances, both Tutors had been under the care of one whom Mr. Walford justly commends as " a man greatly esteemed for his erudition and piety." — Ed, 48 ROTHERHAM ACADEMY. [l790. tinued undisturbed, though not unexamined ; it was the super structure that was ever giving fresh signs of progress. In a Letter to a friend, dated October 17, he mentions the titles of several books he had been permitted to borrow; choosing-from a larger number : they include among others, Baxter's Saints Rest— Life of Halybur ton— Sermons by Wishart— Watts on the Humility of Paul— Flavel's Touchstone of Sincerity— Saint Indeed— and Sacramental Meditations. Thus early, at least, he began a practice which he idid not relinquish throughout the whole of his busy life, and which he was accustomed to press in the kindest manner on the atten tion ofthe Students who came under his care: — that was, to have always in course of reading a book or books of, the purest and most heart-searching style of practical religion^ This was adapted both to invigorate the sense of duty, and also to enlarge the reader's knowledge of moral obligations : the con science would be informed as well as quickened by daily icom* munion with the best authors. i At the time when Mr. Pye Smith entered Botherham* the whole Academic Body did not probably exceed ten or twelve. Among so small a number, and at that early day, there was scarcely any external stimulus to great mental exertion : no frequent examinations, no direct trial of strength betweeni,man and man; nor any of those incitements to success which abound in the National Universities. His curriculum, ac cordingly, had to be run, if not altogether without companions^ certainly without competitors : — a state of things which: ought to be known, both for the sake of placing- his actual attain ments in their true point of view, and also as Serving to ac?iti count for the scarcity of materials by, which his course of studyi I. and his success while at college* can now be ascertained! There' was not at that time, nor until albout forty years late^ftnytK chartered University to hold out the opportunity of matridul,aM tion or the honours of a literary degree, to the- members of Nonconformist Institutions : and it is scarcely necessary to:adihi;f that the Tutors— as compared with their successors in our day- must haveishared in some of the disadvantages- of that want of., stimulus among the students of which mention hasbeen made.- >j- The following particulars are supplied by the Letter of Mr,i> Moorhouse, written in 1838 :-« Previous to his entrance at JET. 22.] ROTHERHAM ACADEMY. 49 Botherham Academy, Mr. Smith was not only a superior linguist, but was skilled in natural history, anatomy, and some branches of medicine. In the latter, he occasionally prescribed as a mere act of friendship for his fellow-students. A small serpent having been killed not far from the eollege, he dissected and embowelled it, and had its skin properly spread open on a pasteboard accompanied with his learned description of its genus, species, scales, &e. The students had no greater amuse ment than to get young Smith into the library rostrum, to de claim on any subject he thought proper; for they were sure of both instruction and entertainment. In anatomy his knowledge was even then extensive. He lectured in the library on the subject to his Tutors, the Students, and some friends from the neighbourhood ; borrowing for the oecasion a human skeleton from some medical friend. " There was one thing in Mr. Smith which completely puz zled all the Students, if not his Tutors also : namely, his time, manner, and eourse of study. I do not think he had any class mates except in Divinity : for all looked up to him not as a class-mate so much as an oracle. They all saw, and probably envied his treasures of knowledge newly acquired, flowing in from some quarter, but could not imagine where he had them ; as they had apparently the same sources as to books, instruc tion, &c. It was observed that he never appeared a hard, fagging student, nor a plodding reader, poring his eyes out over books. He seemed to tear out their entrails by vio lence ; and one might almost think him an exception from the common aphorism — Sine labore, Dii dant nil mortalibus. He burned no midnight lamp: he paid occasional visits among his numerous friends; and took his regular turn to supply distant congregations, and probably was in no excessive hurry home to the Muses. Yet his mind was always at work, always in advance, always accumulating. I believe the whole secret was, his most uncommon quickness of perception and judg ment, which enabled him to see through systems of every kind at a glance, or with comparatively little application : — though, doubtless, he must have had his toilsome moments as well as inferior minds." — Several of the facts, and the entire spirit of this communication, are corroborated by the testi mony of the Bev. John Hammond, in a Letter lately received from that gentleman. 50 ROTHERHAM ACADEMY. [1796-8. But there .are materials of a more definite kind both as to date and subject; and which, as being in Pye Smith's hand writing, may be said to speak for themselves. Among them is a " SyUabus of a few Lectures on the Human Mind, delivered"— he says— "to my fellow-students, in the winter of 1796 and 1797 :" (i. e. in his first year) the plan of which is thus stated,—" The imperfection of human knowledge.— Of ourselves— Of ex trinsic objects.— Of God. Yet, under all these : humiliating circumstances, our knowledge of the properties and, relatipns of things is almost without limits. It, is proposed J,*} attempt a rude series of Lectures on Pneumatology— Natural Theology, and Moral Philosophy. A vast field."— The manuscript Is of a small quarto size of about thirty pages; containing therefore little more than a series of Axioms, .Definitions, S.c^pjiaj and Corollaries, very much in the style of ,his(inqte, books ^ later years; and like them supplied with\re|erences^ to works on the several questions. Besides Locke, who. is the, leading authority, he quotes or refers to Beattie's Essay on Truffle Hartley Qn Man — Ditton On the. Resurrection — Paley's Evi dences—the art. Metaphysics in the Encycl. Brit. — Beid Qfyibhe Human Mind— -Grotius, de Veritate — S-' -Gravesande,, r^« J^i- dentid, &c. One passage may be.igiyen, as serving;, ^^us- trate the maturity of his intellect and style, of writing at this period: — "We may infer that the causes, of tho^, various degrees of certainty with which we apprehend . truthj^ arise from ourselves ; and are to be imputed to fye .narrpWj ljntitsfipf our understanding, to the diminutive and cont^cto^. extej$3of all human knowledge, and.,to the imbecility of our reaspnj^g faculties. Tp Him whose infinite intelligence .discerns Jhejend from the beginning, whose all-pervading wisdom comprehj^ndji in a simple and, uninterrupted view, all beings ( and /relaiions^ all causes an r ¦ ' ; < < < >; At the conclusion, speaking of the Bible, he remarks : — " Here we have a rule of life and manners, including in one word of universal comprehension — love — *very duty His Latin oration for the anniversary in 1800, the last year of his residence at the Academy, was on the Grand distinction between the Christian Church and the world. The contrast between the two in many points of principle and conduct, is briefly but very clearly stated. Speaking of the forgiving spirit of Christ towards His enemies, and of the implacable temper which some professing Christians cherish — as though they had in this particular studied Virgil rather than the New Testament— he pours out a glowing expression of fine feeling, such as was not uncommon to him in after years : — f o ,1;,.... " Quae Turnus, Latino ad pacem hortanti, plerique hominum qui se Christianos jactant sasvo corde effantur. ; v M ' Et nos tela, pater, ferrumque haud debile ; dextr a ¦ ¦ • - 1 Spargimus, et nostro sequitur de vulnere sanguis.' Mn. xii. 50. " 0 quanto sublimior sinceri Christi sectatoris virtus, qui injuriis omnibusque malis lacessitus, fortiter audax omnia per- peti, casus iniquissimos invicto amore et mansuetudine sus- tmet'! Hie patientia sanctorum. Hie decus et tutamen regnj ciivini." JET. 26.] HIS LAST LATIN ORATION. 53 Before the life of the Author of this passage comes to a close, the Beaider will have occasion to perceive that it was not artistically (thrown r>in for the sake of heightening the effect of the composition : — and, indeed, it is pervaded by so genuine a tone, 1801, on several occa sions in which the two Societies were mutually interested, each had appointed a Committee to meet together and consider and report. In the year 1808, the King's Head Society, with the approbation of the Fund Board, appointed a permanent -Visit ing Committee, consisting of an equal number of persons from each body, which was to meet monthly at Homerton; and to superintend the affairs of the College. In the year 1817, subscription to the articles; of the Society being' abolished, a Managing i Committee was appointed to conduct the affairs! of the Society. The Managing, Committee met at the King's Head. The Visiting Committee, consisting iof two members pf each Society, met at Homerton. Gradually the business of the Society fellinto the hands i of the. Visiting Committee, until the year 1824, i when the1 two Committees were, united -in onej and called ' The Committee; All the members of this Committee, including those nominated by the Fund Board, were appointed by the Homerton College Society. By this1 Committee' the affairs ofthe Society have since been conducted." ; " '!<¦ ,r ¦ The list of Tutors before and after the union of the two Institutions is replete with honourable namesj Among tiiem Dr. Smith mentionsMr. John Eames, called by Professor John Martyn, of Cambridge, " that learned and judicious member of the Eoyal Society."— Dr. John Walker, whose province was Classical and Hebrew learning, "in which there is reason >td believe that he possessed no ordinary degree of attainment." —Dr. Zephaniah Marryatt. " His learning must be- presumed to have been very great; as it was upon good grounds affirmed that he was intimately acquainted with the whole compass" of Greek and Latin Literature, the Fathers; and the principal JET. 26.] LETTER OP DR. WILLIAMS. 61 writers of , the middle ages. Tins prodigious amount of reading could scarcely have been sufficiently digested ; and for it he had made imprudent sacrifices of healthy power, in having through many years sat up* in study two, and sometimes three, whole nights in a week. His religious character stood very high ; his usefulness, as both a tutor and a preacher, was great; and he died in the joy of faith, in the year 1754." — Dr. Conder ; Dr. Daniel Fisher; Dr. Benjamin Davies; Dr. Gibbons; Dr. Henry Mayo ; the Bev. John Fell ; the Eev. John Berry. And next in this succession of erudite and good men, the honoured Tutor thusispeaks of himself: — "John Pye Smith, a native of Sheffield, and great nephew of one of the Society's early students [Bev. John Pye], and who had just completed his course in the Academy of Masbrough, under Dr. Edward Williams and Mr. Maurice Phillips, was invited to be Mr. Berry's successor. The course of duties to which he was thus called by the King's Head Society and the Congregational Fund Board, he entered upon' in January 1801." Early in >the year 1800, when the Classical Tutor then re siding at Homerton intimated his purpose to resign his office, a joint committee of the two Societies was appointed to confer upon the best means to be used to fill up the expected vacancy. The Minute Book of the College records, that on Monday, March 17, a prayer meeting was held at Broad Street to seek Divine direction : a special service, it would seem, for the oc casion ; serving to show the piety and earnestness of the men to whom the business had been entrusted. One of the members of this Committee — the Bev. Joseph Brooksbank — applied to Dr. Williams for information respecting the suitableness and qualifications of Mr. Pye Smith : and in reply Dr. Williams sent the following letter. " Eotherham, June 5, 1800. " It is with great pleasure I comply with your request, and that of the joint Committee, in reference to my young friend, Smith. The questions you put I shall endeavour to answer with all the plainness and impartiality in my power. Mr. Smith, who has lately entered on his 27th year, the four last of which have been spent in my family, is a man of real as well as ready abilities. He has a good 'understanding,' well cultivated; his ' personal religion ' is I hope unexceptionable ; his ' natural 62 LETTER OF DR. WILLIAMS. [l800. temper' is good, open, generous, benevolent, and grateful; his 'prudence' even in smaller matters can very seldom indeed bfe impeached, considering his natural vivacity, and perhaps I may add his too sanguine expectation, which, however, time and ex perience will correct. As to ' his ability to communicate know ledge to others,' I know no one of his age equal to him: ' His acquaintance with Latin and Greek,' is very considerable; Latin in general is familiar to him, which he writes with ease and elegance. For the time he has learned Hebrew (about tWd years and a few months) his proficiency is very respectable, and which he construes into Greek freely. He has some acquaintance with modern languages : perhaps there are few who have noH resided on the continent, or are not in the constant habit of teaching it, more at home in the French. " He has not paid so much attention to the intricate' parts of the Mathematics as perhaps could be wished ; not for want of abilities for that kind of study, but owing to a pressure of other business. Whatever he learns, he wishes to' draw from the fountain : this accounts for his preferring to read Euclid in Greek, when he went through a few books of him about twd or three years ago. There are few branches of natural philosophy which he is not well qualified to teach in the popular way. I may add, his acquaintance with Moral Science* Logic, Ethieby Pneumatology, Physiology, Anatomy, and Chemistry, is by no means inconsiderable. He has some acquaintance with Botany, the Materia Medica, and the Theory of Physic — which things I notice for the sake of giving you an idea of his active turn of mind, and the comparative ease with which he imbibes knowledge. " He certainly ' does possess, with habits of sufficient ap plication, a mind likely to make future attainments in every kind of useful knowledge, suited to such an official capacity' as* that in question, and even now possesses a considerable fund. His acquaintance with History, civil and ecclesiastical, with Literature in general, and with books, is far greater than migh* be expected from his years. ^ " I think the Committee act a wise part in turning their views to a young .person, in whom discordant habits are not fixed, who has a public character to form, and under the: in fluence of religion, a rising, honest 'reputation' to seek; especially one who has, besides vigour of mind, a good constitution, and JET. 26.] HOMERTON COMMITTEE APPLY TO HIM. 63 an, orderly method of study — one who is not a mere scholar, divine, or preacher, but also acquainted with business to a degree sufficient for the situation — who has a prevailing desire to please and oblige, as far as consistent with integrity— and a remarkable ascendency over young minds for their good. SuGh a young person, I believe, is Mr. Smith. ." It would be possible, indeed, as you may infer from the preceding account, to point out some traits that if added would form the character more complete ; but— taken as it is — I do not know a superior for the situation at Homerton. " P. S. Should you come to a resolution to treat with Mr. Smith, he would consider his being at liberty to accept a pastoral care a very material circumstance." Acting in conformity with the recommendation which is im plied in the whole strain of the Letter of Dr. Williams, the Committee at once opened a communication with Mr. Pye Smith; and a correspondence between him and the Bev. Thomas Towle, who was their chairman, began. This led to an arrangement for a personal conference between the re spective parties, which took, place early in July. A statement in Mr. Pye Smith's hand-writing, but without a date, arose in all probability from this interview ; the Committee desiring to have his opinions upon the points mentioned, and he complying with their wishes in the manner following : — ¦- " The Joint Committee of the King's Head Society and the Congregational Fund Board, having requested of the undersigned his sentiments relative to the particulars of information communicated to him, — he submits the following brief observations : — "It is with, peculiar pleasure and the highest satisfaction that he learns the careful and decisive plan adopted by the . Societies in relation to that great and fundamental article, the admission of Students. With regard to particular arrange ments, he considers the views of the Societies as justly de manding approbation, and he professes a cordial coincidence with them. " He readily meets the proposition of the Committee that, supposing a connection with the Societies in the capacity of a Tutor, he shall engage not to accept of a pastoral charge, unless it shall satisfactorily appear to the Societies, in the event of 04 LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. [1800. any such application, that such a charge is fairly and fully com patible with the due fulfilment of the duties of his academical function. The Committee has heard him state the several reasons, powerful in his apprehension, for which he could not make an absolute and unlimited engagement, in no case what ever to accept of a pastoral office. " Admitting these fundamental provisions, and granting such a reciprocal harmony as appears to exist with respect to sub ordinate particulars, he is free to declare that, should a wise and holy Providence lead to such a connection, the engage ments of a Tutor are agreeable to his inclinations ; that, relying on Divine support and hoping for the prayers of the Con stituents and the people of God at large, he would labour in the cultivation and improvement of his own mind, and the adoption of every other means in his power, in order to the conscientious and satisfactory discharge of his important duties ; and that with regard to all other regulations and arrangements, he should cheerfully confide in the care and wisdom of the Societies. " John Pye' Smith." Notwithstanding the attractions of such an office in the vicinity of London, to a young man who had hitherto lived in a country town, the Eeader sees how clearly and firmly Mr. Pye Smith expressed his attachment to the Christian pastorship, by treating it as a question which in his case was not to be fore* closed by the current arrangements. Nor is it less instructive . to notice the stress which he lays on that " fundamental article, the admission of students;" and the sort of pledge which he gives respecting the labour he would bestow upon the cultivation and improvement of his own mind, with a view to the better discharge of his duties. As it is probable that he went from Chester to London to meet the Joint Committee, so on his return from Londpn he went at once to Chester, and not to Sheffield : which led to his addressing a Letter to his mother respecting his new prospects and feelings. " From this, as well as from what I wrote, last week, you will perceive the state of my mind with regard to this most important object. I have endeavoured to view it in every light that I can, and I trust I have earnestly entreated. JET. 26.] LETTER TO MR. TOWLE. 65 Divine, teaching and direction,— and I seriously think that I could not have clearer light or more convincing satisfaction on such a question than I appear to have in this instance. But beforel fully make, up my conclusion, I hope to see my dear friends in person, that we may more particularly converse on every part of the subject. The number of Students is 12 or 14." : There were however at that time, difficulties connected with the resident tutorship at Homerton, which could not fail to make a young man hesitate before he accepted even the most cordial invitation to enter upon the office. Besides the care and management of a large miscellaneous family; including the whole Body of Students, and the servants necessary for the establishment ; the arrangements of that day required that the furniture for the household should be provided by the Tutor, just in the same way i in which the head of a boarding school provides for > the accommodation of his pupils. The College Library, however, and it is presumed the Hall, and a room for the Committee's use, were furnished by the Institution. Now as Mr. Pye "Smith had perhaps never had a single week's ex perience in housekeeping, and as the outlay of money, which the1 above plan involved, was somewhat formidable to him at that period, he could not go forward without further consid eration and advice. He wrote accordingly to Mr. Towle; stating the ' facts, and their ' bearings on his 'feelings, in the frankest manner. • - " Since I left town I have endeavoured to make the truly important object 'before me the subject of my most serious reflection, and — I trust— earnest prayer to the Father of mer cies. Besides my correspondence with my friends, jn York shire, I have had opportunities of personal conversation with a few friends to whose judgment I pay great deference. Their general sentiment is, that the call of providence is very clear, and that therefore my path1 of duty is plain. But, Sir, I must freely ackndwledgVto "youy'that I feel myself perplexed and agitated to a very distressing degree, and that the burden of anxiety seenls rather increased than alleviated. The principal considerations which" have so- forcibly pressed upon my mind I will take the liberty of submitting to you. " The situation to which the Society has done me the honour of inviting me appears to my view more and more solemnly p 0(3 LETTER TO MR. TOWLE. [l800. important and arduous. But that part of the office to which I now more particularly refer is the charge of temporal con cerns. To you I need not enlarge on the nature and magni tude of this charge, and the indispensable necessity of its being attended to in the best manner. But when I consider the un remitting care and attention requisite to the proper discharge of it, viewing it in conjunction with the great work of the ministry and the constant studies and labours of tuition, and then comparing the whole with my youth and inexperience, dt appears altogether a burden to bear which with suitable pro priety and success I cannot flatter myself that I am adequate. In connection with this, it becomes me to take into the account the sum of money necessary to be sunk at the commencement of my engagement. For this I must be under obligations to my friends ; and my mind revolts at any measure, which would be productive of real inconvenience to them, or would include a sacrifice of my own independence. " The unerring Searcher of hearts, I trust, knows that my single desire is, to be conformed to His will and devoted to His service in whatever way He may appoint. If it be His wise and holy pleasure that I should enter upon the arduous situation proposed, I am persuaded that He can and will make ' His grace sufficient for me.' Out of weakness He can perfect strength. But here is my difficulty, considering the whole con nection of circumstances, to ascertain what is the Divine will." To this Letter Mr. Towle sent an answer, dated August 6, full of wise and well-considered suggestions, and confiding and affec tionate in style, as though a father had been writing to a son. On the 14th of the same month he sent also a Letter, the design of which was to inform Mr. Pye Smith that at a general meeting of the Society, it was resolved that "in future " they would "pro vide the Furniture necessary for the accommodation of the Tutor and Students in the Academy at Homerton, at their ex- pence." " This material part of the business "—to use Mr. Towle's words—" being thus happily determined," the way was open for Mr. Smith to state his acceptance of the office to which he had been invited— which he does in these words :— "It would be superfluous to say that the resolution of the Society adopted on the 12th inst. which you, Sir, have in so obliging a manner transmitted, could not but greatly add to my encouragement. JET. 26.] CHOSEN RESIDENT TUTOR. 67 When I survey the whole, I am clearly convinced that for me to keep my own mind in longer hesitation, or to hold the Society in further suspense, would be very unnecessary and unreason able, as well as a most unjustifiable return for the distinguished kindness shewn me by you and the other gentlemen of the So ciety. To you, therefore, Eeverend Sir, as the chairman of the Society, I signify my compliance with the invitation of that Society to the office of Eesident Tutor in their Academy at Homerton, upon the terms of the propositions which have been officially made. But at the same time, I feel that the charge I now take upon me is one of solemn and weighty responsibility ; to support which with comfort and success I have peculiar need of the prayers of all my friends, and the daily renewed supply of the Spirit of Christ Jesus. I assume the awful charge with fear and trembling, but with a supporting confidence that He who has, I trust, called me to it will exalt His own praise by ordain ing strength out of weakness." Besides other Letters from Mr. Towle, that gentleman wrote one dated September 12th, to apprise Mr. Pye Smith that the Congregational Fund Board and the King's Head Society had each held a special General Meeting, the result of which was, that he had been chosen Eesident Tutor to the Academy at Homerton " with perfect unanimity." He concludes thus : — " And now, my dear Sir, that God may sanction the important business which has given rise to the— on my part — very pleasing intercourse that has commenced and continued between you and myself,— with His blessing, is the earnest prayer of friends here, and of no one more than of " Your affectionate friend and brother," &c. In this confiding, generous, eminently Christian style, did the good men of that day and their new Tutor go through these preliminary arrangements. How much may be learned by tracing the first steps of the process, as well as by contem plating the subsequent results ! — Are not the issues of things included in their germs ? — As Mr. Berry kindly met the wishes of the Society by retaining his office up to Christmas, 1800, Mr. Pye Smith did not enter upon residence until the new year. Writing to an Uncle at the close of January, 1801, he thus states his feelings and some historical facts relating to his new f 2 68 inaugural services. De position. " To trouble you with the detail of particulars which you already know, or will hear more immediately from my mother, would be an unnecessary occupation of time and paper. Your friendly and affectionate mind will join with my dear Aunt in joy and gratitude, that my prospect here not merely equals but exceeds our hopes. O that my heart may ever say with increasing fervour— What can I render to the Lord for all His benefits to so unworthy a worm! ... We entered this house on January 5th. On the 14th the students came ; and on the 16th was the time appointed for our solemn opening by prayer and other suitable exercises." The new Tutor's Inaugural Address to the Students was subsequently printed : but as copies of it are now scarce ; and as it lays open in his own carefully chosen words the varied duties to which he was about to dedicate his time ; his motives and methods in discharging those duties ; the suggestions and hopes he had to offer to the students ; and his warm desires for their piety and abundant usefulness, it is entitled to a place in these memoirs of his life. Portions of it, moreover, reveal in such an artless manner the simplicity and confidingness of his disposition, as to furnish in that respect an insight into his character, important to complete the likeness. That it was written under the influence of very animated feelings, partly the result of his vigorous impulse in the pursuit of knowledge, and partly of his new prospects for turning that impulse to the best account, will be obvious to every Eeader. But highly charged as it is with qualities drawn from such a source, the whole of his subsequent history only serves to show with1 how little of abatement, on the score of a too sanguine expectation, this earliest of his productions as a Tutor may now be contem plated. Earely has so full a schedule of duties and modestly expressed promises, been filled up by a life of such usefulness, of fifty years' duration ; and, indeed, unless great diligence had been united with much prayer for Divine succour, the spring time of his hopes and the realized fruits, could never have borne that close resemblance to each other which in his case they do:— but at the close of all, is he not heard to say:*— " Not I ; but the : grace of God which was with me ? " The Address will commence the following chapter. . < j CHAPTEE VI. INAUGURAL ADDRESS AT HOMERTON — HIS WIDE RANGE OF DUTIES AS A TUTOR— HIS FAITH AND TEMPER AS A CHRISTIAN FAVOURABLE TO THE SUCCESS OF HIS PLANS— HIS EARLY PLANS STEADILY PURSUED IN LATER YEARS — THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF HIS EABXY LABOURS — ENTERS ON HIS DUTIES — RESPONSIBILITIES OF DOMESTIC MANAGE MENT — LETTER TO AN UNCLE— TO DR. WILLIAMS— LETTERS TO AND FROM DR. WILLIAMS — LETTER TO THE STUDENTS AT ROTHERHAM. " An address to the Students of the Congregational Academy at Homerton, delivered on the occasion of entering upon the office of Eesident Tutor, by John Pye Smith. " My dear Friends, " I stand before you in circumstances of peculiar and interest ing importance. To suppose for a moment that you are not sensible of this, and that you do not, in some degree, feel for me, would be doing great injustice to your understandings or your dispositions. It will not surprise you if I say that the feelings of my own mind, on this occasion, are indeed solemn and affecting. In a sense, my all is at stake. The situation upon which I am now entering, in obedience, as I humbly trust, to the voice of God and duty, is one which involves a responsibility the most awful and awakening, and which is con nected with a train of consequences that will have the most material influence upon my peace of mind, my social enjoy ments, my usefulness through life, everything, in a word, dear and valuable to me as a man, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and as a minister of His gospel. If, through rich grace, I am kept humble and faithful, and am enabled to be diligent and successful in the discharge of the great duties before me, my most favourite wishes will be gratified, the hopes and prayers 70 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [l*01. of my friends will be answered, and the whole will redound to the glory of our God and Saviour. If, on the other hand, I should prove incompetent to support the burden of my engage ment, and to fulfil its extensive and indispensable duties, I shall'have the unhappiness of failing at the very outset of life, and shall entail upon the remainder of my days the bitterness of disappointment and regret. " I have no hope of escaping such a distressing consequence but in placing my first and constant dependence on that Al mighty and Faithful Arm which ' giveth power to the faint, and to them who have no might increaseth strength;' and, subordinate^ to that divine and gracious aid, in my best en deavours, in some degree, to deserve and to maintain the esteem and confidence of our honoured Constituents, and of you, my dear brethren. My first wish, therefore, is to fix the impression on your minds and my own, with a deep and abiding effect, that, except the Lord unite our hearts, strengthen our hands, and bless our endeavours, vain, utterly vain and fruit less will be all our efforts. Next to the establishment of this great principle, and my reliance on the continued friendship of the two respectable bodies which unite in supporting' this Academical Institution, I turn my eyes and fix my hopes, my dear friends and pupils, upon you. My interests, my comforts, are intimately involved in yours. To be the instrument of directing your successful progress in the path of sound and sohd knowledge, adorned and sanctified by the principles' of real holiness and Christian love, will be the joy and honour of my life. But without your cordial and steady concurrence; my best intentions and utmost endeavours must be ineffectual. ' It is yours, to crown me with blessings, or to pierce me to the soul with sorrow and distress. Without the aid of your candour and affection in friendship, your diligence and improvement in studies, your love of order and harmony in domestic society, and your fidelity and fervency in the spirit and practice of vital godliness, — without the fulfilment of these requisites on your part, I totally despair of seeing our union blessed with success and happiness. " These considerations, gentlemen, will obviously present to your minds the reasons of my desiring to commence my course of exertions, in the office upon which I now enter, with a par ticular and affectionate address to you. In this address my JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 71 leading objects are to lay before you a general account of those plans of scientific and literary instruction which I have formed ; and also to urge upon you and myself the serious consideration of those reciprocal obligations and duties, the due fulfilment or the neglect of which must ensure or destroy our mutual use fulness and comfort. — Far be it from me to arrogate super cilious consequence to myself, or to accost you in the style of an imperious dictator. As my beloved brethren in Christ Jesus, as my associates in our common labours for the advance ment of His kingdom, as candidates for the honourable and holy service of His glorious gospel, I entreat you in the spirit of meekness and love, I beseech you by everything precious and sacred, that ye would deeply consider your infinite obliga tions to your Lord and Eedeemer ; that ye would walk suitably to them and worthily of them : and that ye would strive together in your prayers to God, for yourselves and for me, that He may graciously condescend to crown with His blessing our important relation. " The departments of literature which were assigned to the province which I have been led to undertake, in the proposals made to me by the Joint Committee of the Society and the Fund Board, are so many and so various as to form an object of very serious magnitude for the efforts of an individual. Yet it would have been highly culpable in me to have acceded to those proposals, if I had not felt a degree of hope that I should find myself equal to the engagements, by the exercise of con stant diligence, and in reliance on the blessing of the Most High. Your consideration and candour will teach you not to expect from a young man, in his first attempts, upon a field of exertion so very extensive, the same enlarged comprehension of mind, the same depth and accuracy of knowledge, and the same fulness and felicity of elucidation, which you will be en titled to demand even from that very person, after the lapse of years, with increased opportunities of experience and improve ment. The subjects themselves are such as are congenial with my taste, ; and, in various degrees, according to circumstances and occasions, they have from my earliest youth occupied my attention. That attention, if life and ability are granted to fulfil my designs, it will now be my endeavour to employ with increased ardour and industry. I may here also observe, that the wise and salutary regulation of the Society in forming a -2 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [1801. separate establishment for preparatory classical learning, will not only tend to secure superior improvement to the student, but will also be highly advantageous to the resident tutor, since it will put into his hands more complete opportunity and liberty to bend his attention to higher objects. " Having premised these remarks, I proceed to the particular consideration of those departments of science and literature which it is my professional engagement to occupy. These naturally divide themselves into two classes, Sciences and Languages. The course which I intend to pursue, with regard to each of these classes, I will now in a brief manner describe. In the present age of such universal and successful attention to all the branches of natural knowledge, the study of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, more than in any past period, forms an object of real importance and necessity. This necessity is rendered still greater by some other peculiar circumstances of the times. The facts of physical science, by many who. arrogate the style of philosophers, are perverted and abused to support the cause of materialism and infidelity. By no methods can we fairly demonstrate the futility of this false philosophy and vain deceit, and detect the corrupt sophistry and disingenuity of its advocates, than by the honest investiga tion and the satisfactory deductions of a just and solid philo sophy. Thus we may snatch the usurped weapons out of the hand of impiety, and, using them according to their native in tent, ' rise through nature up to nature's God.' " On these accounts I have felt particularly desirous of having it in my power to deliver a perspicuous and comprehen sive course of lectures on Natural Philosophy, illustrated by suitable experiments. This course will comprehend the fol lowing subjects, in the order in which I repeat them : — History of philosophical knowledge — Principles and rules of philo sophical investigation— General properties and laws of matter —Mechanics— Hydrostatics and Hydraulics — ^Pneumatics and Acoustics— Optics— Magnetism— Electricity — The recent dis coveries known by the name of Galvanism. " These subjects, together with Astronomy, which I reserve for a separate course, form the whole of what is usually in cluded in a course of Physics or Natural Philosophy. But I should think this course incomplete and unsatisfactory, unless succeeded by a comprehensive view of those delightful studies, JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 73 which are now the favourite subjects of attention throughout the whole scientific world, Chemistry and Natural History. I propose, therefore, to bring forwards a general view of Chem istry, according to the lucid and beautiful arrangement of the pneumatic theory, and to follow that course by another on the principal subjects of Natural History. This latter course will include the following particulars : — The Physiology of animal bodies, with a more particular description of the human frame — Phytology or the science of vegetable nature, with an ac count of the Botanical System of Linnaeus — Geology and Mineralogy — And, lastly, several subjects in Natural History which cannot be so conveniently arranged under the foregoing heads. " These three connected and successive courses, two lectures being delivered every week, will occupy the term of two years. Partly in order to prevent the multiplication of particulars in .the course just described, which is already sufficiently extensive, and partly for the sake of securing greater perspicuity and harmony, I shall assign the science of Astronomy to a sepa rate course, and shall treat it in its proper connection with the Use of the Globes and Geography. Another division of science which belongs to my office is the art of Logic. This subject will be introduced by three preliminary discourses on the nature of artificial Logic, the history of this study and the various forms under which it has been treated, and some prac tical observations and cautions on the use and abuse of it. In the course itself our text-book will be Dr. Watts's valuable treatise. With a portion of that work, previously assigned, my young friends will make themselves so thoroughly acquainted, as to be able readily to give the substance of it by answering a series of questions which will include the whole subject of that portion. After this, I shall offer a few observations, more or less largely as the case may require, in the way of commentary ; and shall then produce a series of valuable quotations, in illus tration of the subject in hand, from Locke, Crousaz, Duncan, Eeid, Gesner, and others. Our references to these authors will, I trust, be found singularly useful, as well as entertaining. " This course will be succeeded by a view of Ontology, in which we shall touch with brevity on the most useful of the scholastic distinctions, in order that we may have the more opportunity for a series of lectures on the Philosophy of the 74 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [lWl. Human Mind. My aim, in this course, is to inquire into the capacities of the intellectual faculty, the origin of ideas, the formation and importance of mental associations, the imma terial and immortal nature of the mind, its high and mo mentous destination through an everlasting existence, and a continued application of the whole to the discovery and, em ployment of the best methods for the improvement of this noble principle. The art of Composition and Ehetoric is, also, an important part of the work assigned to me. Though the gospel of Christ rejects, with noble superiority, the poor trap pings of oratorial affectation and the ' enticing words of man's wisdom,' yet we have examples of the first authority, thp in spired writers ofthe holy Scriptures, to show us the just and. beautiful connection between the most glorious of all subjects, and the genuine, the simple, the noble sublime of nature, genius and truth. Besides, it is a plain dictate of common sense that a Christian preacher has indispensable necessity for a ready, correct, and judicious command of language, that he may not darken the divine counsels by ignorant, unmeaning, ' and degrading expressions. " On this pleasing and useful subject, gentlemen, I propose to lay before you a course of lectures, of which this is the out line : — Nature and principles of taste and genius — General nature and powers of language, with an historical account of the formation of the English language, and some remarks on its structure and peculiar character — The kinds of style, the properties requisite to constitute a good style, and remarks on several common faults in writers and" speakers — An account of the nature of figurative diction, with a view of the most useful rhetorical figures, and cautionary observations on the employ ment of them— A survey of the principal kinds of composition, prosaic and poetic, with observations on the character and re quisite conditions of each. "A material part of this course will consist in a pretty copious selection of examples, under every division, but especially in treating on figurative speech, from the holy Scriptures, the Greek and Boman classics, and some of the finest English and French writers. These examples will pro bably appear to be the most valuable part of the whole course, and, I flatter myself, they will be found highly conducive to our pleasure and improvement. JET. 27. J AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 75 " When this course is finished, I design to read a few lectures on the Study and Use of History, arranged in the following method : — Origin of historic memorials, and diversity of such documents — Brief introduction to the study of antiquities, particularly of historical monuments — General divisions of history— A list of the chief historical writers in each division, with remarks on their respective characters and merits — Eules and observations on the most profitable method of reading and studying history — Enumeration of some of the great and use ful purposes, especially for a Christian divine, to which historical knowledge ought to be applied. "Mathematical studies will also demand a portion of our regard; and it will be our duty and interest to give to these pursuits as much attention as will comport with other engage ments. This remark is founded upon important reasons. Without an acquaintance with Geometry, Trigonometry, and some properties of Conic Sections, many principles of Natural Philosophy will be obscure or unintelligible. The indirect ad vantage of mathematical learning gives it, also, a particular claim to our consideration. A mind habituated to that con nection, closeness and rigid demonstration which are the eminent properties of mathematical reasoning, if under the conduct of a sound judgment and a spirit of Christian humility, will have acquired a distinguished superiority in the faculty of clear, precise and conclusive reasoning, on all subjects. But it would ill become a student for the Christian ministry to spend his time and talents in mathematical pursuits, to the neglect or exclusion of theological studies, and other important branches of human science. A well adjusted proportion of all our subordinate studies, and a due reference of them to the best ultimate end, is a matter of unspeakable importance. In this point, errors are often committed, and from such errors we have too much reason to apprehend a result the most bane ful to the interests of true religion. The method which I pro pose, for our attention to this department of learning, is to de vote a small portion of time to it each day ; so that the very moderate length of time occupied by the study will prevent it from becoming burdensome, and the constant recurrence of it will ensure our progress. I shall, therefore, expect from each academical student, every day, immediately after the morning lecture, a solution of a question in Algebra and a demonstra- 76 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [l801. tion of a proposition in Geometry, alternately. With respect to the higher branches of pure mathematics, the more abstruse properties of spherical and conical figures, and the method of Fluxions, it will not be expected that they can be professedly included in a course of education comprising such an extent and variety of objects, nor indeed am I possessed of sufficient mathematical knowledge to embolden me to the assumption of such an undertaking. Occasionally, however, we may have a student whose genius peculiarly excites him to the desire of excellence in mathematical studies. In such a case, whatever assistance or encouragement it may ever be in my power to render, shall gladly be at his command, so far as may be com patible with other duties. " In addition to these plans of instruction and improvement, all of which relate to subjects expressly assigned in the pro posals made to me by the Societies, I wish to add another scheme, which, I persuade myself, will be found of substantial benefit. This is a course of lectures on the Greek Testament; the design of which is to lay down, and practically to exemplify, the principles of sacred philology and biblical criticism. " These are the outlines of the plans, which it is my inten tion to pursue, with regard to scientific subjects, so far as I may be favoured with ability and successful effort. I have in timated that the course of lectures on Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Natural History, will take up two years, two lectures being delivered each week of academical residence. In each of the other departments, I propose to give one lecture every week ; by which method, if my calculations do not fail me, they will extend to the same length of time. Thus, the whole plan will take two years in execution, and thus each student will go twice over every part of that plan. The several series of lectures which have been now enumerated, recollecting that one of them will come in course twice in a week, amount to one each day ; and to this course I intend to assign the ap pointed time of morning lectures. Among these circumstantials, it may be proper'here to mention one particular of our plan, on which it wHl become us to lay great stress. All the students will be expected to take notes of the leading features, at least, m every lecture; and, before the delivery of each successive ecture, I shall request one of my young friends to recapitulate the heads of the preceding one, in each course respectively. JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 77 This will at once usefully exercise the faculty of memory, and will go far towards ensuring close attention and solid im provement. " It is now high time to proceed to the other class of the literary departments with which I have the honour to be entrusted, the study of the languages. To this class we shall, of course, devote the afternoon lecture. In consequence of the excellent regulation before mentioned, the establishment of a preparatory seminary, it may very fairly be presumed, that every student will enter the Academy respectably furnished with what is usually termed grammar learning. Our proper object, therefore, stands clearly before us. It is to preserve and increase the attainments in classical learning already ac quired, and to add to them the study of the Hebrew language. " For the purpose of improvement in the Latin and Greek languages, my first care has been to fix on a selection of suit able authors. Two requisites appeared essential in making this selection. The first is, that the books to be read be such as, by the purity and elegance of their composition, will exhibit an advantageous display of the characteristic idioms and beau ties of the language, and so be materially beneficial in forming a just and classical taste. The other essential condition is, that the subjects of the respective authors be not trivial, useless, corrupt or licentious, however adorned they may be with the beauties of diction, but valuable as the vehicles of important information and excellent sentiments. Keeping these objects in view, I trust that the works which I shall now mention, will meet with the fullest approbation : — The Odyssey of Homer. — It may appear strange that I mention the Odyssey in preference to the Iliad, and I shall, therefore, assign the motives of that preference. To the Iliad I freely concede the merit of possessing more splendid figures, and a sublimer style of general beauty: but what is its argument ? From the beginning to the end, the direful effects of wrath and revenge, and the disgusting scenes of war and carnage. The Odyssey, on the contrary, presents us with a richly diver sified succession of admirable pictures, exhibiting in animated description, not the field of warlike destruction merely, though enough of that, but the far more interesting scenes of domes tic manners, civil and social life, political institutions, mytho logical doctrines, religious rites, and moral sentiments. The 78 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [1801. Odyssey, in short, is a noble and inestimable treasure of Grecian antiquities.— Xenophon's Memorable Discourses of Socrates; to be succeeded by the writings of Epictetus, Cebes, and Theophrastus. From these authors we shall receive an entertaining and instructive account of the divi nity and the morals which the illustrious sages of classical antiquity could teach; a subject by no means uninteresting, to us, but calculated to be truly useful hi teaching us, while we admire the propriety and energy of those sentiments which natural religion could inspire, to deplore its essential defects, to ascertain its real extent, to appreciate its rightful claims, and gratefully to adore that infinite and sovereign mercy, which has given us a Bevelation so divinely efficacious to clear up the doubts of nature, to turn its conjectures into evidence, its reasonings into certainty, its probabilities into demonstra tion, and its darkness into the light of heavenly life and im mortality. — " Cicero on the Qualifications of an Orator, Qnintilian's Institutes of Eloquence, and Longinus on the Sublime. It is enough to mention these noble writings, the deserved admira tion of ages. Their important utility is so obvious, that I should be idly indeed employed in urging it. — Virgil's .ZEneid, to be followed by his Pastorals and Georgics, and then suc ceeded by select parts of Horace and Juvenal. Here, also, will advantage and pleasure be eminently combined. But if the iEneid has been read at the preparatory seminary, under the direction of its excellent and learned tutor, which we may presume to be very probable, it may now be omitted.— Grotius on the Truth of the Christian Eeligion, to be followed by select parts of Calvin's Institutes. Though these celebrated authors are not to be ranked among the classics, properly so called, yet the importance and excellency of their matter, and the well- known purity and beauty of their style, sufficiently entitle them to a place in this selection. " These elegant and useful works, form the collection of books, which I propose to be read in our afternoon lecture, according to an arrangement which it would be unnecessarily minute here to describe. I may, however, observe, that there appears no necessity for restraining ourselves to the term of two years in this part of our employ. To read the' authors now enumerated, with t,aste and profit, will sufficiently occupy JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 79 the whole space of four years ; or if not, suitable additions are at hand. To the use of the Greek and Bornan classics, for the purpose of improvement in their respective languages, we must add the study of the Hebrew tongue. My intention is that this study, so truly valuable and necessary to a divine, should hold the same rank in the afternoon lecture as Mathe matics do in the morning. By thus paying a moderate and regular attention to this object, we shall ensure a daily pro gress, without rendering the study irksome or fatiguing. One particular more I would just mention. The writing of exer cises is of such importance as a method of improvement in the study of any language, that I should deem our plan very materially defective, if a provision were not made for this purpose. I propose, therefore, to devote an hour, early in the morning of every day, to the production and examination of Latin and Greek exercises, and of English themes as trials in the practice of composition. " Thus, my dear friends, I have laid before you a delineation of those methods of academical instruction which are the result of much reflection in my own mmd, for which I have been making preparations according to my ability and opportunity, and which, therefore, I mean closely and diligently to pursue. —Circumstances, undoubtedly, may arise to render certain occasional modifications expedient; but, making due allow ance for such cases, we shall still strictly adhere to our general plan. You will readily grant that this whole course is of great and serious extent, and that it will require the closest appli cation of mind, and the most careful improvement of time, on my part. During the first two years, at least, all the powers and opportunities which I can command must be kept on the stretch of unremitted exertion. You will permit me also, to observe that the execution of these plans, with spirit and success, essentially depends on you as well as myself. Forgive the, repetition of considerations which have been urged before. The serious magnitude of the occasion will excuse me from being confined by the rules of rigid arrangement. Yes, my dear friends and brethren, without the support of your con scientious diligence, your regular and orderly deportment, your candid and affectionate friendship, my utmost exertions will be unavailing. Without this steady support and encouragement from you, my prospect is unhappy indeed. I must sink and 80 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [l801. faint under a load of distress and disappointment, too heavy for me to bear.— But I am persuaded better things of you. Had I no claim but upon your humanity, I could rest my hope even there alone. It will be the delight and glory of my life to spend and be spent for you ;— and will you suffer me to fall the victim of that misery, which must be the result of my best intentions neglected, my warmest hopes frustrated ? No, gen tlemen, I will not for a moment indulge a suspicion so inju rious to you, and so painful to myself. " Having engaged your attention so long already, I will not trespass much further upon it. It was my first design to have entered more into the consideration of our reciprocal duties, and the obligations we lie under to the cultivation of every thing becoming and amiable in our tempers and conduct. But I must refrain from enlargement, and shall, therefore, only request your serious attention to three objects of the most direct and interesting importance. These are Domestic Fe licity, Christian Love, and Fervency in the Spirit and Practice of Universal Holiness. If these objects are dili gently regarded, peace, mercy, and increasing success will be our portion. If they are neglected, which the God of love prevent, what can we expect but wretchedness and ruin ? " That our Domestic Felicity may be established on a permanent foundation, various essential requisites must be carefully attended to by each individual of us. The laws of our little community must be inviolably respected ; the love of order and social peace must be uniformly maintained; and habits of kindness, candour, and regularity must be carefully cultivated. With regard to this great object, I am sensible how much will depend on the internal regulations and manage ment of the family. This important particular lies upon me ; and I trust it is my determined resolution, so far as my power can reach, that everything shall be conducted in a manner strictly upright, kind, and liberal. It is, indeed, evidently impossible for me personally to undertake the direction of the minute affairs of family provision, and the like concerns. The extensive range of my duties as a tutor necessarily puts that out of my power. But I am happy in reflecting that those truly important articles of management are in better hands, and I have the fullest confidence that no exertion will be spared in the fulfilment of that great charge. Yet, after all, we JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 81 are encompassed about with the infirmities of our nature, and we must expect a portion of its trials and embarrassments. Permit me, then, gentlemen, to make one request, with respect to the whole of our future connection — a request which I earnestly desire to have continually kept in mind. Should a student at any time conceive himself aggrieved, from any possible cause of a domestic nature, I most particularly beg that he would not distress himself or his fellow students by brooding over it in secret, but that he would confidentially dis close the whole matter to me. I here solemnly promise to receive every such complaint with thankfulness, to attend to it with patience and affection, and to use my utmost exertion to obtain redress. Your cause, my dear pupils, is mine. Our interest is one ; let our hearts be one also. " But the blessing of domestic happiness will not be enjoyed, unless it be erected on the basis of Christian Love. God is love. The distinguishing genius and spirit of the Gospel is love. The amiable character of #the Lord Jesus, ' Divine, in carnate love,' is an eternal pattern of this heavenly disposition. All the precepts of our most holy religion unite in one common centre, and that is love — generous, disinterested, active, patient, unwearied love. If we are the disciples of Christ, we must, we ever must, cordially and fervently love one another. If we can evade this conclusion — that is, if we are not the followers and friends, but the disguised enemies of the blessed Saviour — then what do we here ? Why do we bear his holy name ? Why do we insult his eternal Majesty ? My brethren, if we are not dead to every solemn, every sacred, every affecting obligation, 'let us love one another.' 'Let love be without dissimulation.' ' Let brotherly love continue.' ' Love is of God, and he that loveth is born of God.' "Lastly, suffer the word of exhortation from one who sincerely wishes your best interest. We take for granted, and we have surely a just right so to do, that you are living Christians, the real subjects of regenerating and sanctifying grace. But it is of infinite importance, not only that you be sincere believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, but that you enjoy the full influence and comfort of your faith, that the evidences of your sincerity be clear and bright. No evidence will be found safe and happy, but the impression of God's image on your souls. Your situation is truly momentous. The eyes of G 82 INAUGURAL ADDRESS [l801. all are upon you. The prayers of God's people are daily rising to His throne on your behalf. The hopes and reasonable expectations of the churches are fixed upon 'you. 0 that you may fully answer, and far exceed them! — For this supremely desirable purpose, cultivate by every spiritual method, the spirit of UNIVERSAL, VITAL, ACTIVE HOLINESS. ' My son, be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.' Can there be a more miserable character than a careless, trifling, vain, unholy student for the ministry? I know from painful experience, that an academic life has its peculiar temptations, which, unless a vigilant guard be maintained, will induce barrenness, dark ness, and awful distress of soul. Let us, my dear brethren, watch with holy and lively zeal against these besetting enemies. Close and humble walking with God, maintained by a life of faith upon the Son of His love, will be our only protection from these evils. As means conducive to this great end, suffer me just to mention two duties of distinguished importance. Let us in the first place, conscientiously maintain spirituality and vigorous ardour in secret prayer. 'Watch unto prayer, and abound therein.' The frame of our minds and our habitual practice with regard to this duty, will diffuse their potent in fluence through our whole characters. To live near to God is the only way to live happily and usefully. Without holy com munion with God in our retirements, the spiritual life must languish and decline ; and dreadful may be the consequence. The other duty which I would earnestly recommend, is that of consecrating a fixed and regular portion of time to the devout reading ofthe holy Scriptures, and of the most awakening and lively writers on practical religion. The altar of heavenly truth will supply our souls with the sacred fire of purity and love. We shall thus dwell in the presence of God and walk in the light as He is in the light. The presence of God is the scene of peace and joy. Them that honour Him, He will honour. 'A cold, dead heathen,' says Dr. Bates, 'is less offensive and odious to God, than a lukewarm Christian :' and WtTL :that°faUthe0di0US aud offe»si™ objects, with which the holy Majesty of heaven , is insulted, a lukewarm, careless, unfruitful minister or student is the most awfully tZT, h^, ^^ EPPr0ach t0 a state s° wretched! Touch not the unclean and polluting thing. Cry mightily to God for help and deliverance. Abstain from all appearance, JET. 27.] AT HOMERTON COLLEGE. 83 and from every occasion of evil. ' And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly : and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ !— Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.' " Looking at the outline of this proposed course of tuition, a smile will be excited at its length and variety ; the whole being in the hands of one man about twenty-seven years of age, and new to the office ; and more surprising still, the whole to be included in the short space of four years. The sprightly criticism of his first pastor, Mr. Brewer, in a Letter from Birmingham in April this year, must have startled as well as amused the Student-Tutor : — " Do you not propose to do too much ? And will not some captious persons be ready to con clude that your Address contains a typographical error, and that instead of four years it should have been fourteen ?" And that Mr. Pye Smith himself came to see that he had greatly overtasked his time and strength, is clear from the following passage of a Letter which he wrote to one of the Treasurers of the Society in 1808 : — "From the beginning of my connection with the Academy to the resignation of Mr. Knight in 1805, I had a disproportionate and excessive share of duties ; much more than I could discharge with inward satisfaction ; and, at least, six times greater than those of the other Tutor. On the appointment of Mr. Hill to the Classical Tutorship, a more equal arrangement took place, which by a fair division of time and labour, facilitates the duties, and more successfully ensures the objects of both departments." But the outline of his purposes must be viewed in other aspects. His attainments are known to have been from the first very considerable : nor was this his only advantage ; for he had acquired such remarkable proficiency and readiness in the use of all the means of adding to his knowledge, that it would be scarcely possible for any set of students ever to get fairly abreast with him. His progress would continue equal to, if not be greater than theirs, so that the distance between him and them at starting would remain as it was, or increase in his favour. It must also be remembered — that he was free from the task, and for such a mind the retarding exigency of teaching the mere rudiments of Latin and Greek : g2 84 HIS FAITH AND TEMPER AS A CHRISTIAN [l801. bis Classical work with his students was an exhilarating exercise for himself. Hebrew, in its elements as well as its more advanced stages, was included in his department. At the commencement of his office, Protestant Noncon formists of evangelical sentiments had scarcely begun to feel the impulse which, towards the close of the last and the early part of the present century, was setting in very strongly in favour of scientific pursuits. The clerical profession was sup posed to demand a large amount of book learning: — and though some reverend persons had made for themselves an illustrious name, in consequence of the skill with which they had studied and the piety with which they had applied the facts of science, especially those of Natural History; — yet they were rather looked at as the exceptions to a rule than as patterns for imitation. Nor were there wanting good men among the Dissenters who were quite aware of the circum stance — perhaps they knew it in an exaggerated form — that in some cases, more especially on the Continent, natural philo sophy had been turned in the most offensive manner to the futile purpose of overthrowing Christianity ; nay, to discredit if possible, the elementary truths of Natural Beligion. This attempt had been .made so often or with such clamour and boasting, that some persons were ready to fear lest faith in the Divine Word should be injured by an increasing acquaintance with the Divine Works. Now perhaps, young as he then was and in a sense new to the world, there was no man who had a clearer, deeper conviction than Mr. Pye Smith that these fears were really without foundation. His Theism and his Chris tianity — the Book of Nature and the Bible — rested on a common basis — deserved the same credit — and culminated in the glory of the One Great and Adorable Jehovah. He could not tremble therefore, nor even doubt amidst the re cords of the creation. Some of the rooms might be dark, but none was haunted : and if even a human hand, was reverently used to take down a shutter, much light would enter and there would be less for the timid to fear ever after. His Christian character proved an admirable recommenda tion of the plan which he had ventured to lay down. A per fectly explicit avowal of the doctrines usually called Calvin- istic, served to accredit him to many good men who had MT. 27.] IN FAVOUR OF HIS EARLY PLANS. 85 imbibed some prejudices against the new class of subjects which he proposed to introduce into the Lecture room : and the depth, as well as the definite shape of his religious belief, not only inspired his own mind with confidence respecting both the safety and utility of scientific knowledge, but it imparted such a devout tone to his teaching on all branches of human learning as could not fail to give confidence to others also. Thus, while he carried his creed with him in a singularly life like manner into this less common and more suspected depart ment of academic training, he is entitled to the credit of having been among the earliest, if he was not the earliest, who strove to graft upon such a creed the just and large claims of true science. The combination of these qualities in one man, and that man occupying a public station, was of the utmost importance at the beginning of the present century for consum mating that union between the two great sources of knowledge, the Word and the Works of God, which has been maintained with growing harmony and benefit ever since. It may also be added — that the calmness with which he unfolded such an out line — to a large extent, though not entirely, on his own ven ture — and the calmness, considering the time and the persons, with which he, so young a man, was allowed to do this, affords an example of admirable discretion. Not the slightest con troversial tone was suffered to disturb even the mere surface of the Address : no attempt was made to show the folly or the impotency of trying to aid the cause of religion by muffling — if that were practicable — the voice of science. In short, such a spirit prevailed in the Advocate, that his great object went home to the hearts of others as though they too must hence forth give it a welcome, which would leave his course un fettered, because perhaps unfeared, for the time to come. Successive generations of students will remember the tena city with which their Tutor clung to lectures on different branches of Natural Science ; the use of which, in the skeleton form unavoidable from their number and variety, could not always be perceived. That tenacity however, embodied and enforced a true and great principle : which was this, that men set apart for the study and ministry of the Word of God should not be allowed to remain wholly ignorant of His Works ; and that principle was watched over and nurtured in one mind at least, but that a growingly influential one, 86 EARLY PLANS ULTIMATELY TRIUMPHANT. [l801. through a period of forty or fifty years, until at length the age was ripe and men were ready to do it the justice to which it is entitled. This young Tutor was as one before whom there lay a great Book, produced by a Divine Hand ; but written in such characters as were either misunderstood and perverted, or were not understood at all. To decipher these appeared most desirable— both to refute false renderings and uses, and also to bring out the true. The first thing to be attempted was to examine each separate page ; and so far as could be done at the time, to classify the several subjects. No one page might admit of being read thoroughly at once : nay, there might be a difficulty in reading any one thoroughly, until the others had been made to give up at least a part of their contents. But there was a still more serious obstacle ; a suffi cient amount of leisure and other indispensable requisites, might not be at the command of any duly qualified person, so as to allow of his completing the task, eager as he might feel to begin it : indeed, more than one life might well be em ployed on the work, and yet much, very much remain undis covered. What then was to be done ? Just this : — To find some one who would be willing to take his stand unflinchingly by the side of this Book — to hold it constantly open, or as much of it as he could — to turn over page after page, indicating their contents in outline, and pleading for attention being given to them so far as known, or as opportunity allowed them to be examined. And if this were done from year to year, success could not fail to attend the effort ; not simply in regard to what might be explained as time went on, but in the effect which would be produced in securing sooner or later the best arrangements for a fuller study of the whole. — The position which John Pye Smith took up in his Inaugural Address at Homerton in 1801, and from which he never after with drew, was connected in a remarkable manner with the opening of New College in 1850. The apex of the pyramid could not have been so much as conjectured by this comparatively isolated workman at the base : but he went on — as at an earlier period— with the present duty ; and God gave him to see his reward. In an age when things were either rigidly frozen or wildly fluctuating, his originality of thought assumed a practical form, marked by such sagacity that he could abide by MT. 27.] EARLY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. 87 his methods for half a century, until their triumph was achieved and he rested from his labours. Having thus opened his first session as Tutor, the business of the several classes began ; and, as before intimated, his residence in the Academy-house brought upon him domestic cares and duties in relation to the whole family. However suitable an arrangement of this kind might have been to the early circumstances in which the Nonconformists had to pro vide education for their expected pastors, with the increase of the body and with ampler methods of academic training, it became more and more perplexing to all the parties concerned, whether constituents, tutors, or students. Mr. Pye Smith's life up to 1801, had passed in a way which ill fitted him for that part of his task just alluded to ; his attention and indeed turn of mind having been completely devoted to books, a more entire stranger to the practice of one class of his duties could scarcely be found. He might perhaps, study to make himself tolerably familiar with the theory of such things ; but theo retical rules in the face of actual difficulties would be apt to provoke a smile, or might even increase the perplexity they were called in to overcome. Being unmarried, one of his sisters kindly came to superintend the daily routine of the family : but it can easily be imagined that from his desire for the comfort of the students, as well as for the tranquillity of his own feelings, and from the fact that the pecuniary responsibility rested with himself, he would have far more care upon his mind than was compatible with that entire devotedness to literary pursuits in which he would have delighted. To add to the burden, for the first year of this great experiment the average price of wheat per quarter was 115s. lid., while other articles of consumption were high in proportion. On the other hand, the sum allotted for the board of the students still remained according to that comparatively low scale which existed in many such cases prior to the commencement of the present century. Nor was the extraordinary dearness of the times adequately met by those occasional grants which the Homerton Committee made in aid of the domestic expenditure. Under such a combination of circumstances, which might be justly called " untoward," it could scarcely be a matter of sur prise that difficulties made their appearance. At first indeed, 88 LETTERS TO AND FROM DR. WILLIAMS. [1801. these were not permitted to touch the students, but fell with their whole weight on the Eesident Tutor, in the shape of expenses for the support of the academic family considerably beyond the stipulated means provided-for the purpose. Having moreover no private resources to depend upon, he would feel embarrassed and anxious concerning the future ; for with the utmost generosity of disposition, he united a keen sense of honour and punctuality in regard to all pecuniary obligations. Nor must these details be deemed of little value in such a narrative as this ; for if the links which connect one event with another in a man's life are worthy of being traced, then it is in the highest degree probable, so far as all existing evidence is concerned, that we have just been going over more than the mere antecedents to that great event in Dr. Smith's history— his first marriage. The following extracts from his correspondence' will show his pleasurable and grateful feelings, during the first three or four months of his residence at Homerton; and before he could have been fully aware of the perplexities which were gathering around him :— In a Letter to an uncle, dated January 31, he thus speaks of the Students :— " Their diligence and good behaviour are exemplary. I have never expressed a wish with which they have not most cheerfully complied. This is the more to be observed, since I may truly say that the house, with regard to its internal management, has undergone an entire change of measures." To Dr. Williams he says :— " With respect to myself I need not trouble you with minute particulars. Opportunities pro bably have occurred of your receiving information more fully from my excellent mother. . . . In gratitude to the amazing mercy of our God, I must say that my hopes have been every way exceeded, in the diligence, seriousness, and affectionate, respectful propriety of behaviour of the Students. They are in number twelve. ... In literary respects we go on very comfortably. . . All my wishes have been cordially met, and zealously supported by the compliance and exertion of the Students. A letter from you will be to me a treasure. I can truly say, my heart is with you. 0 that I could in person as well as in imagination, revisit those scenes so truly and in delibly dear to me. Peace be within your walls and prosperity MT. 27.] LETTER TO THE STUDENTS AT ROTHERHAM. 89 within your palaces ! My feeble but sincere prayers do not cease to be offered up for you." A passage from Dr. Williams in reply, will show how warm was the interest he continued to cherish for his former pupil. The letter is dated Eotherham, March 24. " Through a variety of channels I have learnt, with no small pleasure, that you go on comfortably. For your kind remem brance, and especially for your own communications both written and printed, accept my cordial thanks. Though I have not written sooner, you are daily in my thoughts, affec tions, and prayers; and be assured that I feel particularly interested in your comfort, credit and success. You are now at the head of a family; yea, though young, a father to the sons of the prophets. May you possess a double portion of the spirit of wisdom, and that prudence which is profitable to direct. You are now a Tutor of more than two months' standing : long may you continue a burning and shining light ; growing deeper day by day in humility and gratitude, in pro portion as human approbation smiles upon your exertions." After the next Letter to be presented to the Eeader, Mr. Pye Smith's correspondence appears to have met with a sudden and long interruption — either few communications passed be tween him and his friends, or if there were any, they have not come to hand — so that for years subsequent to this date, the narrative — deeply to the regret of the editor — will have to be carried on apart from such valuable aid. "Homerton, June 2, 1801. " To the Students now under the care of Dr. Williams and the Bev.. M. Phillips, in the Academy at Masbrough. " My very dear Brethren, — Grace, mercy, and peace be mul tiplied to you from the Ever Blessed Jehovah, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Fountain of glory and holiness, of sacred love and everlasting life! Long have I wished to seize an opportunity of uttering my feelings of re spect and affection towards you. In the society of most of you I have spent many days of peace and comfort. Those days can never return. A year ago I had the pleasure of making one of your number. Now we are separated by a distance of place, and on my part by circumstances of engagement, which 90 LETTER TO THE STUDENTS AT ROTHERHAM. [1801. render it next to impossible that I should ever see your Academic body in full assembly again. 0 that every memorial of the mutability and uncertainty of mortal affairs, may more disen gage us from earth-born cares, and more quicken our desires for that holy and blessed state where we shall sin, and sorrow, and die no more. " It is needless for me to inform you that my situation, with regard to prospects of comfort and usefulness, is eminently pleasing and promising, since you have no doubt had this in formation from various quarters. Next Wednesday your house and ours will be in circumstances of mutual sympathy. Our public examination on that day excites a considerable degree of interest and expectation, both within doors and without, as the method will be considerably different from what has been heretofore. . . "My dear Companions and Brethren, though separated,. we are yet — I trust — one. Our views, our desires, our feelings are unfeignedly the same. The pleasure and great advantage I received during my residence at Masbro' will never, I hope, cease to be remembered with flowing gratitude to the Author of every good gift, and to our dear and excellent Tutors. May each of you have all my mercies enjoyed there, in a tenfold proportion ! Walk with God and he will bless you. The only cause I feel of sorrow for the present and regret for the past is, the want of vital, fervent, pure, vigorous religion. Accept individually my affectionate respects, and present the same to our beloved Tutors. Farewell ! The Lord be your God. " I am your sincerely affectionate brother, " John Pye Smith." CHAPTEE VII. INTRODUCTORY— HIS FIRST MARRIAGE — HIS CHILDREN. The kind indulgence and candour of the Eeader will not, it is hoped, be asked in vain at this portion of the narrative. Among those who approach the subject of the chapter with any knowledge of the facts — whether from their Own observation at the time, or from the report of others — much difference of opinion will exist respecting the propriety of referring to it at any length, and also on the way in which this is done. The compiler, however, may be permitted to say, that ever since he has had occasion to contemplate the work in which he is now engaged, he has felt more and more the difficulty of being silent at this part of it. He is aware that upwards of twenty years ago death ended a connection which had been formed thirty years previously : but as his duties in this instance are not confined within the last twenty years, he feels conscientiously unable to ignore the pro minent, shaping influences of the preceding thirty. He could, indeed, have kept his hand from the work altogether; but to put out of the written life — for leaving out in such a case is putting out — that which the Divine Hand so obviously, for so long a time, and with such a range of consequences, permitted to be put into the real life, seems to involve a weight of responsibility which he must not venture to incur. Moreover, as the tribulation to the Sufferer was not lessened, but on the contrary, was heavily increased by coming from such a source — as compared with loss of health, with straitened circumstances, or with almost any other kind of personal or relative affliction — the true worth of his character and the greatness of his labours 92 INTRODUCTORY. [1801. for the public good can never be fairly known, unless the dis cipline through which the one had to pass, and the difficulties which lay so surprisingly in the way of the other, are known also. It is due to Dr. Smith's family explicitly to state, that in this part of his undertaking— as indeed in regard to all the materials placed at his disposal — the writer has been left to pursue his own course. And knowing, as he had an opportunity of doing, many of the facts during his six years' residence at Homerton from 1818 to 1824, he can at the same time enter with all but a brother's feelings into the reverence which the Children feel fins their Father's memory; nor less, into their tenderness and delicacy regarding the Source of his domestic griefs. In the attempt to prepare this chapter in the history of a real life, he is not sensible of any motive that is inconsistent with the purest benevolence ; nor does he know of any reason why the impartial Eeader, even though he may be a most sensitive one, should not go over the ground so as to obtain a fuller know ledge of the character of the subject of the narrative, and perhaps in some cases, the personal advantage of a more pene trating recognition in principle, or of a higher order of holy and honourable conduct, in regard to the relative duties, re sponsibilities, and privileges, which are so singularly, and yet in the most inextricable manner, involved in our social position. Not only has the compiler been most anxious to keep down the style of expression when adverting to the difficulties and de fects on the one side ; but if those difficulties and defects had not been met on the other by a very unusual combination of Christian excellences, this part of the story would have been dismissed with the brevity common in such cases. If therefore the Eeader seems to be detained awhile, as though the real life were not making progress at this particular stage, he will it is hoped find that in more respects than one, the very peculiar state of things which had an actual existence for thirty years is entitled to some expansion in the memoir. — May that expansion not be deemed too long, nor the details too minute, nor the spirit of it unbecoming, on the side either of censure or commendation ; and may the whole be crowned with the blessing of that Adorable Jehovah, in the history of whose Providential Government the following pages may not be with out their use ! JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 93 The Lady whom Mr. Pye Smith married was born in London. She had grown up accustomed to see a great deal of company, and had joined freely in the gaieties of the respectable circle to which she belonged ; but in the year 1800 she appears to have relinquished that kind of life, and became a member of a Dis senting Church in the City. The Homerton Tutor met this Lady for the first time in January, 1 801 ; early in May he made an avowal of his love, and in less than four months afterwards — that is, August 20th — they were married, she having just completed the thirty-first year of her age, and he being nearly four years younger. Her personal attractions are said to have been considerable, and her manners fascinating ; she had also great quickness in observing character, and a readiness and force in conversation which added much to her other charms. As her father had died some time before, the pro perty which he left at his death had come into the possession of his heirs, among whom this daughter was one. It is by no means improbable that this circumstance, and her seniority in years, combined with the want of fortune, so-called, on the husband's side, and his extreme readiness to yield to her influence, gave a confident style to her deportment even from the very first. His affection was of the most tender and fervent kind ; and scarcely if at all less glowing was his con viction — as recorded with his own pen at the time — that in this event " was most signally manifested the operation of an all- wise and infinitely gracious Providence " — a belief, probably, which remained undisturbed by any of those subsequent trials which it met with ; nay, which might even be confirmed by the fact, that the Divine providential government had included very much more of most painful discipline to himself from this union than he could ever have anticipated. Early in the month of September the business of the Academy began, when the newly-married couple had to take up their residence, the one to pursue his duties as a Tutor, and the other to direct and superintend the domestic arrangements. The haste with which such important changes had been despatched will be obvious at a glance. Enough time had not been allowed to ascertain the suitableness of each of the prin cipal parties to the other, nor to prepare for a new and mani fold set of duties, on which one of the two would have to enter 94 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [1801. without delay. This may be accounted for, partly on the ground of those attractions which the Lady possessed, and partly from a desire which the Eesident Tutor felt, to secure as early as possible a guide and helper in that portion of his cares which he was less able than many men to cope with : nor is it unlikely that the property of Mrs. Smith promised, in his estimation, both to obviate any existing pecuniary difficulties, and to prevent the recurrence of future ; so that the establish ment would go on harmoniously in all its parts. — And it must ever be kept in mind, that if blame attached to him for the suddenness of such weighty movements, his strength of nature and state of feeling held him up to the very spirit of his marriage vows for thirty long years of toil and sorrow. Had anything like this existed on the other side, no one would ever have had occasion to think that the then happy union had been too hastily formed. It has been already observed how the cares of domestic management were increased at this period by the high price of all articles of food, which could not fail to call for vigi lant economy on the part of the head of such a household. But as the several members which formed the one family had not been brought together in some of their principal relations until now, they had not got accustomed to each other's ways, tempers, and deportment, so as to admit of that ease and success in the operations of housekeeping, which are generally secured where the ties have been longer formed, and are per haps cemented by strong affections; and where accordingly, when a pressure is felt, it can be distributed with comparative readiness among the whole. The Students were strangers . to Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Smith was a stranger to them ; and if they were slow to appreciate the difficulties of her position at this moment, she, from the natural cast of her mind, would be inclined to be more distant and perhaps imperious in her manner than was desirable or proper. Then, also, that very strong sympathy which the Tutor had expressed for the Students in his opening Address, and which we have seen corroborated by his Letters a few weeks afterwards, could scarcely be kept up in the face of the new claims on his regard; especially in the event of any difference arising be tween Mrs. Smith and the Academic members of the family ; — and he had soon to hear of faults, and to give admonition or JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 95 advice, which tended to produce a distance between him and them. Hence, from this very early period may be dated the forming of a habit which proved often a source of great trial to himself and of deep regret to his friends in after years — that, namely, of his acting as the bearer of messages of reproof or displeasure from Mrs. Smith to other persons. But for the peculiarities of the Eesident Tutorship at this critical period, he might have escaped entirely such a misuse of his readiness to fulfil injunctions which he could scarcely hope to carry out with dignity or advantage. In less than two years from the time of his marriage com plaints were made by "several of the students," respecting, indeed, a very trifling matter in itself, but which led. ultimately to the withdrawment of two of the Body. In the same year, a large Sub-Committee of the two Societies was engaged to examine the state of the Institution, in so far as related to the conduct of five or six of the senior Students.. The allegations were such as could not be passed over, and the result was the removal of the young men ; but in the prosecution of the inquiry, the Committee felt constrained to refer to " unpleasant rumours having gone abroad respecting certain domestic arrangements." In these several cases it is, however, observ able, that the minutes speak in warm terms of admiration of the Christian temper and conduct of the Classical Tutor. And in the last case of the kind which occurred, which was at the close of 1807, when the circumstances were such as to induce Mr. Pye Smith to resign, somewhat suddenly, his office as Eesident at the College, a general meeting of the Committee desired their Treasurer to " express to Mr. Smith, in the most respectful terms, their acceptance of his resignation, and that, feeling the due value of his labours, they trust he will continue to execute the functions of Divinity Tutor." And as though this were not sufficient as an expression of their esteem and confidence, it was resolved at the same meeting — " That the sincere thanks of the Society be given to Mr. Smith for his zeal, ability, and persevering faithfulness, in discharging the arduous. duties of his office." Touching thus briefly on incidents spread over several years, but which have a common relation to this chapter, the following particulars will not be out of place. In 1807 he was induced — 96 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. of course with the full concurrence of Mrs. Smith — to invest a sum of money in the purchase of some freehold property in Yorkshire ; which was done, partly under an impression of the insecurity of the public funds (rather a prevailing apprehension at that period), and partly with a view to the greater benefit of their children in the event of the parents' death. It happened however, that owing to a variety of complicated circumstances, an expenditure was called for during several years, by which the resources of the family at Homerton were lessened ; and this so wrought upon the mind of Mrs. Smith as to prove to the end of her life an occasion of great additional discomfort to herself and her husband. Long after the time when any pecuniary pressure was either felt or feared, and even when property was being accumulated, it seemed impossible to dimin ish, much less to dispel, the effect of the disturbed action of her judgment in 1807. Confidence, or rather confidingness in the husband, which would have been his richest earthly treasure, and which he would have repaid to the joy and glad ness of a heart that could have trusted and loved him as it ought, was allowed to be shattered, and for no adequate reason whatever ; and from that date onwards the change proved as unavoidably, perhaps almost as heavily, oppressive to herself as to him. In such a relation, for one party to be the occasion of suffering to the other is sure to involve both as victims : if one is wounded or distressed, neither can be happy. To prevent mistake, exaggeration, and rumour from pro nouncing a verdict on this peculiar case, it is right to declare in the most explicit manner, that the cause of the calamity must not be sought in the personal habits, but in the mental disposition of Mrs. Smith. The temper and conduct may sustain irreparable injury by an excessive yielding to one set of impressions, which may be correct in a measure, and even useful in some of their forms, but which, if not sufficiently leavened by other and higher and more benign principles, may work as disastrously as though they had been sinful in their nature and origin : and yet, because such impressions are not absolutely wrong, they are at times cherished and even de fended, as though, like unmixed excellences and virtues, no harm could ever arise from allowing them to have a sort of uncontrolled domination. How often is the conscience en- JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 97 listed on the side of our defects, and greater pertinacity shown in maintaining a temper that ought to be suppressed or modi fied, than in cultivating the graces which should ever adorn the Christian life ! Let us suppose, for example, an " habitual apprehensiveness — a foreboding of evil — a suspicion of others — an undue regard to earthly things" — to exist in connexion with a low power of thought and with a character void of energy, there will then be in all probability, a settled depres sion of spirits ; — the factitious woes being too many, too mightjr, for the sufferer to strive against. But where — as in this in stance — the mind has sufficient force to deal with the creatures of the imagination, as though they had a real life — where there is sagacity to devise, and a determination to use one expedient after another to obviate or perhaps rectify evils which have their origin, for the most part if not entirely, in fear and sur mise — where, in a word, the attention, instead of being turned to the purifying of the " thoughts of the heart," is wholly given to direct and impel the suggestions which issue from it — who can calculate the breadth and length and depth of the trials which will follow ? Here then, we have the secret of the domestic infelicities in the midst of which Dr. Smith had to pursue his way for nearly thirty years ; so that all through that portion of his life up to the close of his first marriage, his free bearing as a man, and the healthful development of his fine natural and Christian character, were ever more or less subject to restraint, and not unfrequently requirements and claims were laid upon him of a deeply humiliating kind. Such then, having been his position and the nature of his difficulties, it is proper in the next place to enumerate some of those more obvious direct results, by which his course of con duct was often rendered as embarrassing to himself, as it was hard to be understood by others. Here the prominence must be given to the fact that as soon as his official and public duties were over, he had to keep himself in a state of very great isola tion, and as it were solitude ; like one excluded or cut off from society. This was urged on the score of economy ; but there were also motives arising from the temper of his companion, and from the claims to which the husband would be expected to attend, which could not fail to operate in favour of the re cluse life he had to lead. The Students suffered from this cause H 9M HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. for very many years ; for as there had been a collision with them, they in particular would be exceedingly unwelcome visitors at the Tutor's house. His heart was indeed open to them in the truest and most generous manner, but he could not make this clear by those acts of social kindness in which none ever felt higher delight than he. No one who knew him in later life, when his great deafness proved such a bar to con versation, can for a moment question how his early interest in his pupils would have found expression under his own roof, if indeed he had been sufficiently master there :— or say only sufficiently at home himself— to give them a welcome. His disposition and manner were scarcely less incompatible with the requirements of his domestic position, in so far as concerned his friends. For the kindness and warmth of his greeting were apt to awaken expectations which were almost sure to be disappointed : — he could scarcely see, much less entertain them at his house, and therefore intercourse either left off abruptly, no one but himself knowing why; or he had to apologise for not carrying it further. Yet the crooked could not be made straight ; nor the enigmatical clear. But he was ever ready meekly to bear all the blame. .The same calamity reached to his correspondence, which he had to keep within very narrow limits and at times to carry on by a circuitous channel : the expense being one of the things complained of, and the avoiding of visits supplying another motive. In this way there grew around him a degree of re serve — of retiredness into himself — the roots of which, indeed, were probably natural to his style of character, but which might have been largely counteracted had he not been in such a re markable manner shut out from a wider cultivation of the social affections than his own recluse mode of life could foster. Not being able to secure that interchange of thought and feel ing which thrives best by the domestic hearth and table,— his communications, both viva voce and epistolary, became from that time and remained to the last, to a most surprising extent free from those personal incidents which serve to enhance the attractiveness, and probably the value of biography. The Eeader will be prepared to learn that the same system of restraint was brought to bear on the whole subject of be neficence. Cautions and charges against an alleged ' imprudent' use of money were repeated so often, that at times perhaps his JET. 27.] HIS FLRST MARRIAGE. 99 conscience — innocent in reality — gave back some vague, faint echoes of the sound. But the efforts which he was constantly making — often to the sacrifice of much precious time — not only to overcome the hinderances placed in his own way, but also to remove every plea or pretext in which an habitual apprehensive - ness, an undue regard to earthly things, sought shelter and even authority, were such as would prove him to have been one of the most public spirited, benevolent men of his age : one who really gave largely in proportion to his opportunity, but who in doing so had to strive against objections, almost un precedented for number and subtilty. 0, how deeply instructive and touching is it, to go over documents which remain to show that from year to year he was using his ample knowledge, and his high Christian principles of duty and gratitude — arranging figures — citing examples — quoting texts — urging ex hortations, prayers, entreaties, pathetic warnings — to effect, if possible, the relaxation of a hand which he seemed to be aware had too firm a hold upon his own — to get the pressure relieved a little, and not for his own sake only : — and yet, doing all this in vain. Admirable traits of character, rarely perhaps called for among Christians at large, and not suspected even in him, are to be found in abundance in these recesses. How often must he have consented to be misunderstood, to expose himself again and again to misrepresentations which must have cut him to the heart — to put his nature into a sad disguise — to wear a veil himself if it could only be made large enough to conceal another also. The mind feels a sort of relief in contemplating the spectacle on the one side, by looking at the wonderful un selfishness brought out on the other. When the contest is over, the victor's prowess is judged of by the extent of his achieve ments as compared with the difficulties which had to be over come. But further ; his means and opportunities for study were far from being his own as they might have been during the time of his first marriage. When the hours of public duty were at an end, he could not at all be said to be master of the portion that remained. Free as he was from the interruption of visitors, he was free mainly for the sake of claims which were urged as being of greater importance than his literary pursuits. This fact comes out with singular force and in a manner which has no parallel elsewhere, in the preface to the first volume of the h2 100 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. first edition of the Scrip. Tes., which was published in 1818. The whole passage may be quoted for its autobiographical pur port and significance. " The indulgent Eeader will forgive a few lines of a personal character, which the long delay of the publication of this volume seems to lay the author under the unwelcome obligation of adding. The design of the treatise was conceived, and its plan formed, before the publication of Mr. Belsham's Calm Inquiry. When that work appeared, the writer was urged to draw up a reply to it. It appeared however, to him, that such a reply might be best combined with the execution of his previous design. He does not repent the having acceded to the de mands of his friends, but he does indeed regret that he per mitted any intimation of the intention to go abroad : for the unexpected and apparently unreasonable delay of the work has not only been unspeakably vexatious to his own feelings, but may have contributed to prejudice the cause.* The delay, he must be allowed to protest, has arisen from no perception of insuperable difficulties, from no failure of conviction as to the truth of his argument, or its importance to the cause of pure religion, and from no disinclination to the labour of research and reflection : but it has been occasioned solely by the in felicity of his circumstances. Had he been able to bestow upon this work as many months of unbroken time as have elapsed of years since it was begun, it would long ago have been com pleted. But far different has been his condition. To the ordinary duties of a pastor, performed he too well knows with much imperfection ; to those of the theological tutorship in the Academy at Homerton; and to the endless avocations which are the unavoidable lot of a dissenting minister in or near the metropolis, unless he can resolve to shut his heart and to refuse his share of time and toil to the strongest demands of public beneficence and Christian duty : — to these, it has been his lot to have, in addition, a large measure of disabilities and hinderances from private duties and afflictions. These have consumed the fragments of time, and have kept the capacity of exertion constantly filled. These have produced such dis appointments of hope, such destruction of hours, such weariness and discouragement of mind, as, notwithstanding the conviction * The work appears to have been announced fully six years before even the first volume was published. — Ed. JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 101 of truth and the obligations of promise, have often induced liim to throw aside his work for many weeks and months, and have scarcely allowed any other than short and unfavourable pit tances of time for pursuing it. When the will to labour has been most vigorous, the necessary time has been above the writer's reach ; and too often, when the opportunity has been presented, he was labouring under the incapacity of dejection and reluctance." The Eeader will observe that Dr. Smith is not here speaking of the heavy blow which fell upon him in the unexpected death of a beloved son : for though the same preface contains a passage of great beauty and pathos on that event, the Author is exact in marking the distinction between the obstacles which impeded for years the preparation of the first volume of the Scrip. Tes., and the sudden calamity which smote his, dwelling just at the moment when that work was issuing from the press. Here, then, we have an example of an eager, rapid, laborious, successful Student, ever liable to checks and delays ; not indeed from the world, nor from the infirmities of his own nature ; but within the sanctuary of his home ; and from a -quarter from which both by nearness of relationship and the bond of a common profession of Christianity, he might have expected encouragement and aid. But thus it was ordered by a Higher Power, and God's servant bowed to the discipline in the manner and with the results, which are next to be detailed. No one who knew him will for a moment question, that Dr. Pye Smith was in the highest degree susceptible to kindness and affection; while in the feeling and methods best adapted to a prompt and full return for whatever amount of generosity or confidence was bestowed upon him, few could be more richly endowed than he was, both by nature and by the graces as well as the principles of the Gospel. His enlightened sense of justice, nor less his emotions of gratitude, never could allow him willingly to remain a debtor to any for personal favours : — he was always more ready to give than to receive, and there fore ever ready to give more than he received ; and with this was combined — as might be expected — a delicate sensibility to wrongs and to all acts of unkindness or oppression : nor did he want power or courage to reprove and denounce in- pungent words, conduct which appeared inconsistent with the law of 102 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. equity and love. Who was ever better qualified than he to reciprocate in the highest measure all the benefits which could arise from the happiest conjugal union : — or who indeed was more keenly attempered to feel, and — if he had thought proper — to resent any deviations from the duty, respect, and tenderness to which as a husband he was entitled ? As therefore his trials did not arise from his own waywardness of temper, so their continuance must not be attributed to mere weakness on his part, as though if he had had more courage he might have secured relief. During the earlier years, there was perhaps no distinct per ception of the progress of encroachment, much less any appre hension of what it grew to be later. To one so confiding in such a quarter, and ever ready to give credit for the kindest intentions, the calamity would come on unawares: and while this was the case, like the meshes of an invisible net, fold after fold would be developed, until the difficulty of escape would present itself to his sensitive heart as a most grave reality. In the meanwhile, he was growing rapidly into a position of no inconsiderable importance. Not only were the newly realized ties of a parent beginning to take their strong hold of his nature ; but he was becoming eminently a public man. His profession as a Christian was equally modest and decided— he was the Pastor of a Church raised by his zeal, and constantly thriving under his ministry— he was the Tutor, the Theological Tutor of young men training to be Pastors of Churches— he had several times used the printing press for defending and diffusing the great foundation truths of Christianity.— All selfishness apart then, and because it was so, this structure was far too large, far too important, for a wise and good man to put it in any peril by resorting to strong expedients, with the chance of relieving himself of one kind of personal suffering. If the Eeader wiU now recall what was said about the little use which Mr. Pye Smith made of a diary, even in the early part of his religious experience— arising perhaps from its want of adaptation to his case in the circumstances which had induced him to try it— he will be somewhat surprised to learn that at the time of his marriage he adopted a method, not un common among good men as supplementary to a diary.:— that is, he drew up a solemn engagement to which, as in the sight .ET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 103 of God and by His grace, he resolved in the strongest terms to adhere in that intimate relationship on which he had then just entered. His signature and that of his bride are attached. A full practical compliance with the spirit and requirements of this document, would imply a very rare approach to perfection of conduct in conjugal life, or would speedily produce that result : for it leaves scarcely any duty, or remedy for oversight in duty, unsuggested, and unenforced. — But although this is the last engagement of the kind, found in his handwriting — the last probably, because he became convinced of the great undesirableness of a plan which to his daily experience for years had failed of its object — his own conduct was with the most conscientious exactness regulated by the terms, and even carried out in the spirit of that remarkable paper. The lamentable but egregious failure of one party to this volun tary obligation, might have been thought to exonerate the other. Not so, however, could he think. Yet the failure of one party, was the direct occasion of throwing upon the other an immensely accumulated burden : — just as though a weight which two persons had solemnly pledged themselves to sustain had not only been wholly removed by the one to the other, but in the act of removing it, had acquired an aggravated amount of pressure (now to be borne by one only,) greatly beyond the whole sum which the two had agreed to bear in common. And indeed, in all the intimate relations of social life, few things can be more obvious as matters of fact or more sug gestive of important lessons, both concerning the Divine government and human responsibility and duty, than this — that mere inattention on the one side— to say nothing of direct disobedience to Divine laws — is sure to augment and that greatly, the complexity and difficulty of obedience on the other. Every person who is studious to keep the right path, makes that path plainer, smoother, easier, as well as more pleasant to every one who has either to accompany or follow him. How few are competent to go alone, when even the companions of then- journey have evidently mistaken and lost their way ! Here however, a prominent trait of Dr. Smith's character comes into view. The covenant in question as well as the marriage vows made in public, had to his vivid apprehension and purpose a sanction far higher than that of a mere human 104 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. contract. To his mmd and with the utmost concurrence of his will, The Invisible One was present ; and that not simply as a witness but as the Supreme contracting party from whom the human parties were to draw their motives and their power to keep their mutual engagements. Hence as he thought, the failure of one of the latter could never exonerate the other : for though their pledges were of common obligation as between themselves, yet as before God each was bound by his own vow, even though the other should fail. Whatever therefore were his thoughts in later years respecting the slender knowledge he had of the lady prior to his marriage — if he ever regretted the step as one which he had taken with too much haste — we are not at liberty to entertain a doubt that he always regarded it as a most sacred duty to maintain inviolate a union volun tarily formed, and which he had surrounded with sanctions beyond any laid down by law ; — sanctions which would never cease to have a force on his own conscience and conduct, amply sufficient to render his course of action plain to him self, how perplexing soever, or even objectionable it might at times be in the estimation of others. Hence he persevered to the very last, in exercising the same patience and forbear ance under his own trials and sufferings ; and not less in the most generous and self-sacrificing attempts to place his companion in the fairest light before the world :— although his efforts to* do this were frequently made at a personal cost that entitles him to be numbered among heroes. To suppose that mere natural feeling, or simply prudential considerations could have produced such rare magnanimity for so long a time, is in the highest degree unlikely. His position was in no important sense dependent on his wife ; for his varied services to the Christian Church met with a recom pense more than equal to his wants. After, therefore, setting aside motives which are not of the highest kind, though they are far from being unworthy of attention, there is but one prin ciple which deserves to be regarded as the great sustaining, regulatmg, and impelling power through this whole period— namely, his piety. But real piety must have failed, unless also it had been eminent. He would have to secure grace almost above the measure of his crushing difficulties; for to seek merely in the ordinary sense of the word, would have left him— just where it leaves many others— baffled and broken-spirited. &T. ST.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 105 His methods and the fervour of his intercessions before God cannot, indeed, be placed upon record ; for he has left no account nor any memorials of his devout exercises. But in truth, they are not needed. The causes may be clearly traced in their consequences. In the subdued and pensive expres sion of his countenance — in his meek and unrepining temper — in the uniform devoutness of his manner — in his constant use of ejaculatory prayer — and in the fervour and unction of his public supplications — are revealed the unfailing fountains of his support. During those years he was as one who walked so closely with God, that of him in a measure, as of his Divine Lord in the highest sense, it might be truly said " the world knew him not." Can it be doubted that he came in time to view his trials as motives, and in that sense as aids, to attainments in the Christian life which a weaker kind of disci pline, suited to feebler natures, could not have enabled him to achieve ? His humility would for ever keep him from the thought — which we however, may warrantably think for him — that the rare severity of the discipline betokened a combination of Christian excellences or at least a power of realizing them, equally rare. No ordinary man — only here and there per haps, an eminently Christian man — could be trusted to stay for so many years in that deep valley of humiliation to which he grew inured, and in which, mostly out of sight, or coming into view at times only to be misapprehended, he was enabled to acquire elements of character of singular lustre and beauty. Few indeed would covet his probation ; but to be competent for it, and to gain from it as he undeniably did, is to be great in a Divine sense. His choicest pearls were fetched up from those depths. But besides this rare advantage to himself of which before long he would become cognizant, and which would therefore react beneficially on his purpose and plans to maintain a "patient continuance in well-doing," he would also enter tho roughly into the admirable principles laid down by the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. xii. 8, 9, 10). Thus, if Christ's strength might but be perfected by his servant's sufferings — that is, if more of that strength might be developed in himself, and then come into clearer light before others — he had really a Divine motive even to "glory in tribulation." And who was more ready or more able than he to put his personal feelings to almost any 106 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. kind of martyrdom, not simply as a test of his own submission and meekness, but also as an evidence of the abounding grace of his Divine Lord ? This, indeed, supplies the true key to his conduct here; nor less on many other occasions, which were either misunderstood or not understood at all at the time. Very much that was thought to arise out of weak points of character really sprang from an indomitable purpose to bear reproach with the lowliness and fortitude of a Christian, rather than assert his claims in the fashion of a common man. From an early period, the children could not be unac quainted with what had to be endured : nor with the amount of suffering which fell to the lot of their father : and as they also had their share, companionship in trouble tended greatly to heighten their sense of his worth. While they were mere chil dren, familiar only with domestic scenes, and neither able to hear of nor appreciate the success which was attending his efforts to promote learning and piety in the world, they could only think or feel according to the very perplexing and unfavourable set of circumstances which came under their daily notice. It was not therefore without emotions of sur prise — at times perhaps, of indignant surprise — that on the growth of their power and means of observation they began to perceive the singularly wide contrast between the public verdict on their father's character and claims, and the private, maternal one, which had been often laid down in words and confirmed by actions, as though it could not be reversed, and was in truth never to be questioned. Occasionally — as might be expected— the warm and less disciplined feelings of son or daughter, would glow with a desire to put a stop to the trial ; but the father in such cases sought to encourage them by language and example, to bear patiently that which he had borne so long. Nor did he plead in vain. Their own share of the discipline— aggravated as it was by the far heavier portion which fell upon him— was submitted to for his sake, and in compliance with his deeply affectionate wishes :— when perhaps, had they been left quite at liberty to yield to that sort of virtuous resentment, which rose on his behalf even more than on their own, there might have been some relief for which all parties would have rejoiced. Yet in the retrospect JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 107 of that period they cannot but be thankful that the rule accord ing to which their Father had judged it right to walk for many years, was not set aside by their means. He had no doubt long felt that the hand of God, which was singularly bountiful towards him in respect of health, income, dutiful children, efficiency of intellectual labour, and public and pas toral usefulness, was laid upon him in that one particular form, for the wise and holy purposes of his higher Christian training. It was, therefore, impossible for him to be in any way a party to methods which were out of harmony with what had grown to be the principles and habits of his life : and in this respect he showed the true martyr-spirit; for he not only bore his sufferings patiently and courageously, but he seemed reluctant to have them put away merely with a design to make his own course smoother than he believed it to have been made by a Higher Power. — Was he really in error in this ? — In such a case and with such a man, it was right to leave him to be " a law unto himself." A time however arrived, when some of the more tender plants of the household were found unable to bear the effects of a climate to which by long care and pains the parent stock had got inured. As soon as this was evident he had them taken to a more favoured situation, although by doing this he was seriously lessening his own comfort, and making the winter around himself more bleak and desolate. But his high Christian principle and that delicate attention to the welfare of others, which he carried faithfully into all the relations of life, would not allow him to consult his own ease at the expense of his children's. Thus the very same circumstances which brought out so strikingly his rare unselfishness as a husband, served to show in the same clear light, his gene rosity and tenderness as a parent. Bather than the children should suffer from their position, although they were his richest earthly solace, he was willing for their sakes to dwell alone himself. The domestic virtues usually flourish in the greatest vigour and beauty amidst the smiles and sunshine of domestic life — nourished in fact by that which they nourish — like tropical plants in a tropical soil, or as trees in close and loving proximity, helping to draw one another up. But in one most important point, the case now before the Eeader was distinctly the reverse of this ; the domestic virtues, if they 108 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. grew at all, could only do so by some hidden power of their own, which must not only be equal to secure their development with out external aid, but to the seemingly hopeless task of growing in a climate altogether uncongenial and even blighting, — just as though it were possible in some rare instance, to secure in the icy cold of Spitzbergen the perfection of a plant which had been known hitherto to ripen its fruits only in India or Japan. Yet — as we have seen — these virtues continued steadily to un fold themselves, and as new circumstances called them out as it were in new forms, it was ever more and more apparent, that the stock from which they grew had not even been injured, much less destroyed, by years of exposure to direct and indirect influences, the most unfavourable imaginable for any such pro ducts. Fidelity to a great principle and the high character of a good man, forbid the idea of any cause, motive, or power being adequate to such an effect, except that which is found briefly and glowingly depicted in the Latin essay delivered by him at Eotherham only a little more than a year before the time, when the occasion for testing the truth of eloquent words by a corresponding spirit and practice may be said to have commenced. And as looking back over the whole course of humiliating services and trials, with all that he had to bear, and with the way in which he bore it : comparing what he suffered and did, and what he became, yea, and is, in conse quence mainly of the plans which he pursued : — comparing these with any similar set of circumstances, not met in the same way, — his own words supply at once a key to his conduct and a test of his worth — " 0 quanto sublimior sinceri Christi sectatoris virtus, qui injuriis omnibusque malis lacessitus, fortiter audax omnia perpeti, casus iniquissimos invicto amore et mansuetudine sustinet! Hie patientia sanctorum. Hie decus et tutamen regni divini." The state of things above described, must be contemplated in relation to Dr. Smith's public usefulness. Independently of the influence upon the spirits, and therefore upon the systematic prosecution of his literary undertakings,— a fact touchingly in troduced in the passage quoted from the preface to the first edition ofthe Scrip. Tes.,— it is known that he was often called away from his studies, even for reasons the most trivial. Now if it be certain that the lost time would have been applied to JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. 109 higher purposes had the very inferior demands never occurred, no doubt can exist of the injury which the Church of Christ and the world have sustained from the interruptions which he had to encounter. But the question is one which cannot be settled without looking beyond the facts just mentioned. The comparative solitude in which his house was kept for nearly five-and-twenty years, had — as we have seen — a surprising effect in restraining both his social intercourse and his cor respondence : — which, had they been as much within his reach in his early as they were in his later years, might have left even less space than his actual circumstances had afforded for works of enduring value. Those home exigences which took him away from higher occupations, would before very long acquire a kind of settled form ; their limits would be fixed, their outline comparatively de finite : and then they could be met, perhaps in some re spects abridged, without quite the same loss of time or per plexity of feeling as at first. But, on the other hand as his experience did at length fully show, easy accessibleness to the class of extraneous claims, — the reception of visitors and the writing of Letters — opened demands upon his leisure to which he could assign no bounds. To such a man and in his position the ratio of increase, even when he approached the sixtieth year of his age, was most embarrassingly rapid : what it might have been at thirty and before the calamity of his deafness came in the way, it is not easy to conjecture : — but certainly his labours for the future would not have been free — not even perhaps so free — from the impediments of the passing hour, had his domestic trial never occurred. He might have become too public a man at much too early a date : he might have served the present but with far less of benefit to coming generations. Moreover, in the training of one whose whole sum of usefulness is derived only in part from his intellectual attainments, and in part also, — and that the most important both in quality and amount — from acquisi tions secured as it we're in the furnace of affliction, it was of immense advantage to leave the process of culture and ripen ing to go on according to one uniform plan, extending over many years, and to keep this as much as possible undisturbed by any such encroachments on his attention as perplexed him at a subsequent period. Had he passed at once from the 110 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. seclusion of Eotherham into circumstances in all respects favourable to the expansion of his generous impulses, the strong current of such a public career as that open to him at Homerton, might have proved— not indeed too much for his principles, but— unfavourable to the formation of that high order of Christian character on which the value of his labours largely depends. Nor is it at all improbable that in after years, when he had to devise expedients to lessen if possible the expenditure of time and thought upon ' extraneous claims,' he would now and then recur to the earlier state of things as one which on the whole had been far more favourable to his higher interests and exertions than any other. And we who can look at both, and compare their results, may with no small amount of evidence concur in the verdict. All those productions of his pen on which his celebrity as an author is based, and the value of which will carry down his name as an honourable one in the annals of the Church as long probably as our language shall be in use ; all with a single exception, were given to the world within the period of his first marriage. The Letters to Belsham — the Scrip. Tes. in a first and second edition — the Four Discourses on the Sacri fice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ — the full yet concise Answer to an infidel pamphlet, called Manifesto of the Christian Evi dence Society — besides several of the most valuable of his single sermons — and numerous articles in the Eclectic Eeview — were all published before the time of what some would call his restricted usefulness came to a close. And even the excep tion above referred to is more so in form than in reality. For though the Scripture and Geology did not appear until 1839, the basis had been laid and to a large extent the details of each of the separate lines of argument by which that work is distinguished had been examined with great care, long before he was called to deliver that series of the Congrega tional Lecture. His Syllabus of Theology — his numerous courses of manuscript Lectures on Church History, Natural and Moral Science, the Evidences of Christianity, the Exe gesis of the New Testament, and Pastoral Duties, were all not merely commenced but carried towards completion within the first thirty years of his residence at Homerton. Viewing therefore the whole subject from this point, so far is it from being certain that he would have done much more JET. 27.] HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. Ill had his early years been free from the serious difficulties with which they were known to be impeded, we should perhaps come nearer the truth were we to say that with his temperament and in his circumstances, he would have done less. As soon as ever he was at liberty to follow his own course, the number and variety of his pursuits and his readiness to meet all sorts of applications, seemed unfriendly to that concentration of mind and time upon a few great topics which in the earlier period resulted in the production of the works above named. And if the Source of his early difficulties cannot be entitled to credit for the good which was really accomplished, there is the more open, clearer space to see the operation of a Divine hand. That In finite Being, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in work ing was pleased to overrule the chief calamity of His servant's life not simply to promote his piety and devotedness as a Christian, but to give him an extent and permanency of useful ness which rarely fall to the lot of any one man. And these fruits to the world, as well as those which belonged to himself personally, were all matured and for the most part gathered and garnered up, while to a human eye the season was most un- genial: — so easy is it for God to disappoint our fears, to exceed our hopes, and to raise a monument to His own glory on a foundation which appears least of all suited to the purpose. That very much of the realized benefit is to be traced to the spirit in which the trial was met is obvious. The difficulties were not exasperated to himself by any chafing or violence of his own temper. As early as possible and as thoroughly also, he brought his mind into submissiveness to all the exigences of his position. And by devoutly recognising and imploring the aid of the Infinite Euler, he even grew into something like harmony with his circumstances. Hence, because he did not as it were stipulate for a certain amount of freedom from suf fering, or for a certain kind of openness of space for action, as a condition of devotedness to all duty, God was pleased to confer upon him a capacity for service, and a measure of success in using it,incomparablybeyondwhat anyone — including himself — could have expected. And this also gave additional emphasis and intensity to the great motto of his life — " Not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 112 HIS FIRST MARRIAGE. [l801. At length, November 23, 1832, the union which was formed in August, 1801, came to a close. To some who loved him with filial respect and tenderness, the long-continued pressure on his feelings was at that time becoming painfully evident in the effects produced upon his frame : but the corrosion— as might have been expected — sunk deeper, and wore out the vital powers earliest in the party with whom it had originated. It then soon became obvious that a restraint upon the full de velopment of character, had been removed from the survivor : not indeed that there was any unseemly elation of spirit or manner, much less any verbal allusions by which the world could be informed of a pleasing change having lately occurred at Homerton. No : it was impossible for so sincere a man, so fine a nature, so devout a Christian, to grow loquacious and vulgar. His thirty years' pilgrimage, with all its duties and sorrows, had been a genuine life on his part. He could not therefore act at the end of it, as though he had a mask to lay aside : and equally beautiful it was to see, that he had no mask to put on. He stood out with a simple dignity and majesty, as one who was sensible that Infinite Grace had enabled him to adhere to the terms of an engagement which had involved him in an almost incredible number and variety of humiliating trials — and that now, the probation was ended ! Incom parable man ! for the greatness of his sufferings, the greatness of his patience, the greatness of his victory : — and — may it not be added ? — for the greatness of his example. His true form and stature began to appear almost as soon as the restrictions under which he had been so long placed were set aside for ever. His time was seen to be far more at his command — or rather, at the command of those who knew and loved him, — his house grew to be an open one, a home for him self and his children and quite accessible to strangers ;— he could go out and visit Friends, near or more remote from his dwelling, because he felt he could be gladdened by their visits in return ; — then books began to come in with a speed which perhaps exceeded his power to master their contents at the time; — then too his benevolent spirit, freed from the sad entanglements by which it had been held in and disfigured, sought to make up for a long period of bondage by a larger indulgence in the luxury of doing good than might have been JET. 27.] HIS CHILDREN. 113 expected from his means. But by far the best of all the graces which now became visible, from which indeed his other ex cellencies drew their vitality and nutriment, was this, — that by some hidden virtue his heart had retained its susceptibility of generous and tender emotion entirely unimpaired. So that, comparing the actual development of character and feeling in the last twenty years of his life, with what might have been feared as the result of the former thirty, in how true and full a sense might it be said of him, as of the " three worthies," in the Book of Daniel, " upon his body the fire had no power, nor was a hair of his head singed, nor were his garments changed, nor had the smell of the fire passed on him:" — and for precisely the same reason — because " one like the Son of God" had been ever with him in the furnace. Four sons and two -daughters were born to Dr. and Mrs. Smith : three of whom still survive ; — Mary Euth, married to Searle James, son of the late Thomas Nash, Esq., of Foulmire, Cambridgeshire : — Ebenezer ; in practice as a Surgeon in London, is married to Mary Anne, daughter of the late John Foulger, Esq., of Walthamstow : — and John William ; a Solicitor at Sheffield, who married Caroline Phoebe, daughter of the late Edward Baines, Esq., M.P., of Leeds. In deference to the advice of some of Dr. Smith's oldest friends, as a mark of their filial veneration for the memory of such a Parent, and with the hope of transmitting to their own children associations and impressions " more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold," the sons have been induced to assume the double surname of Pye Smith in lieu of that of Smith. In Easter Term, 1851, Mr. John William, on account of his professional character, obtained the sanction of the Courts of Law and Equity at Westminster for this change ; and from that date his name has been entered accordingly on the Court Bolls. CHAPTEE VIII. COLLECTS SPECIMENS OF MINERALS— SERMON ON THE PROSPERITY OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH — SERMON ON THE PERMISSION OF SIN — OPENING OF COLLEGE HALL FOR PREACHING — FORMATION OF A CHURCH THERE — ADVANTAGES OF THIS TO THE TUTOR: TO THE COLLEGE: TO THE CHURCH, IN HAVING THE TUTOR FOR PASTOR — CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH — CHURCH COVENANT — HIS ORDINATION — CONFESSION OF FAITH. Besuming the narrative at the point where it was discontinued at the close of Chapter VI., it is gratifying to observe that the Committee of the College entered very readily into the plans of their Tutor, for in less than three months from the time when he began his duties, they voted a sum of money to com plete the philosophical apparatus under his direction. In an other particular also, they complied with his suggestion — they placed the Junior students — who for some time previously were educated at a distance from the Academy — under the care of the Seniors, that the whole number might be within the reach of his influence. In July of this year, a correspondent of his own, the Eev. James Kay, who had been his fellow-student at Eotherham, and who was then residing at Kendal, writes to let him know that " at his request" he had been endeavouring to obtain spe cimens of all the minerals found in that part of the country; and that "above 100" were then on the road to London. A Letter from his father in the following month says — " We intend sending you a box of Derbyshire minerals .... and we expect to send some more soon." This was early to begin such a collection, and as it was made at his own cost, it affords a strong proof of his zeal at that period to qualify himself thoroughly for some of those courses of lectures which he had engaged to deliver. The Eeader therefore must suppose that JET. 28.] SERMON ON THE PROSPERITY OF A CHURCH. 115 Mr. Pye Smith was now employed regularly with his several classes — devoting the chief part of the morning of every day to teaching the mathematics, and to lectures on some branch of Natural or Moral Philosophy : while the afternoon was applied to Classical and Hebrew lectures. But how he arranged his duties, or what length of time was given to each and to the whole, cannot now be ascertained. The probability however is, that from four to five hours a day were spent with the students during the first few years of his official career. Excepting the inaugural address at Homerton, which though printed was confined within a narrow circle of readers, the first of his published works after he became a Tutor was a Discourse on the Prosperity of a Christian Church, preached on the even ing preceding the ordination of the Bev. Thomas Craig, at Booking, which took place October 12, 1802. A few passages may be quoted for their truth and beauty ; qualities which can never fade. " Observe that vigorous Christian who well com prehends, who deeply feels, who steadily believes the whole coun sel of God. Watch the prudence, the patience, the tenderness, the exemplary vigilance of his character at home. Witness the simplicity and the fervour of his devotion, while he offers on his domestic altar the morning and evening sacrifice of praise and prayer. He walks before his household in the unconscious dignity of purity and love. The law of kindness is on his lips, and his family can witness that he has been with Jesus. See his conduct in the world as allied to the various parts of civil society. He recollects himself to be a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth, and that he has received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God." Speaking of Church order, he says, " 0 value the sacred munition ! Never permit the enemy to tread it down, or to persuade you that it is of no importance. Let the Eedeemer's ordinances be administered and improved with a strict and holy regard to the Scriptures, the edicts of His authority. Let the key of admission, and the acts of discipline, be faithfully regulated by the same revealed wisdom. Bequire what Christ requires, and forbid what He forbids." . . . . " It is a perversion of all the designs of Church fellowship, for brethren of the same holy community, children of the same family, to be strangers to each other, never or very seldom to hold sweet converse together on the things of i3 116 PRINTED SERMON [l803. God. In the Apostolic churches we read that 'all that believed were together,' and that ' they were of one heart and one soul.' It is not to be described what signal' blessings would result from the conscientious performance of this duty, and the cultivation of habits of respect without distance, and of intimacy without grossness and familiarity. It would have the most immediate tendency to encourage and maintain all the blessings of personal godliness, of tranquil peace, of firm union, and holy love. It would prevent suspicions and evil surmisings ; it would antici pate or correct misunderstandings; it would disarm slander and disappoint envy ; it would weaken the strength of temptation ; it would pour new streams of spiritual life and vigour into our souls; it would soothe many sorrows, and wipe away many tears: in a word, it would most eminently conduce to enrich a Christian Church with all the substantial blessings of unity and concord, prosperity and peace." In 1803, Dr. Daniel Fisher resigned his office as Theological Tutor at Homerton, and the Eev. James Knight was appointed in his stead. But as there was no re-arrangement of, the re spective duties of the Divinity and Classical Tutors on this occasion, Mr. Pye Smith's time was as fully occupied as before. Of the two or three and twenty separate sermons published by Dr. Smith, eleven were delivered at the Monthly Lecture of which mention has been already made in the account trf Homerton College. The first of the number was preached this year, on a subject which had been assigned to a minister, who was prevented by illness from discharging the duty, and whose place the young Tutor had been requested to supply. This will explain his position, in undertaking a topic the most difficult perhaps in the whole range of theological science :— The Divine glory displayed in the permission of sin. It is well known that questions which are anterior to all human history^ and therefore to all human experience, and on which Bevela-' tion sheds no light beyond giving the particulars of our crea tion in a state of innocence, the subsequent forfeiture of that state, and the Divinely appointed remedy, do not admit of being discussed in a manner which will secure general satisfaction. It will not accordingly excite surprise that this attempt, though JETi. 29.] ON THE PERMISSION OF SIN. 117 very carefully and most reverently made, brought into prom inence — as several good and thoughtful men believed — diffi culties of a graver kind than even those it was designed to obviate. With many persons such a subject would have been perfectly safe — safe, that is, for the preacher's reputation and repose — for by avoiding the perplexing, and in truth, the in scrutable points, by assuming the fact of the existence of sin, and then going on at once to show how the Divine glory is dis played in the economy of Bedemption, there could not have been any occasion whatever for complaint or controversy. But in this instance, the natural inclination of the preacher's mind, his own training under Dr. Edward Williams, the importance of his station as a Tutor, and probably the connection between the Monthly Lecture and the College, concurred to urge his in quiries forward from the known to the unknown, that if possible he might lessen the greatness of the mystery. Not, indeed, that he avows sentiments new in theology : for in the body of the discourse, and still more in the Notes which were added with a view to anticipate objections, he shows the harmony of his sentiments with those held by some of the most honoured names in ancient and modern theological literature. His first inquiry relates to what sin is: which "in its ab stract or formal nature " — is said to be — " a privation of that perfection, or moral goodness, which ought to be in an ac countable creature ;" p. 6. When actual sin comes to be spoken of, then it is remarked that " certainly it is not all a mere pri vation:— As an act merely, it is the exertion of natural powers, powers which constitute the distinguished excellence of the rational agent, which God has created, and which He con stantly sustains even by an actual concurrent agency, or else they could never be exerted. . . . The other part, then, of an act of sin is that which constitutes its sinfulness. It is a direction of natural power out of the line of eternal rectitude : it is an employment of natural power hi a manner not con formable to that perfect rule : it is a want of conformity to the law of the Divine government." pp. 10, 11. The next step is to "inquire in what sense sin is an object of the Divine permis sion." p. 15. God is said to be in no sense, " either immediately or remotely, either by direct consequence or by the most dis tant implication, the efficient cause, origin, or author of sin." He is " the acknowledged and adorable Author of everything that 118 PRINTED SERMON [1808. has a real and positive existence. . . . But sin is not one of the works of the Lord. It is a privation, an absence, a defect. It is not among the number of positive beings. It is not among the creatures which the Almighty Maker has formed. Absurd, therefore, and impossible, as well as awfully blasphemous, is the supposition that the Holy God can be the Author of sin." pp. 16, 17. " I. The sole and proper origination of sin is from the necessary condition and circumstances of created and finite ex istence, when destituteof a sovereign prevention." p. 19. "II. The acknowledged fact, that God did not interfere to prevent the occurrence of sin, was an exercise not of sovereignty, but of Pure Justice." p. 23 . And the argument is, that as men on the one hand had no right to expect an act of sovereignty on their behalf, nor on the other to complain of being dealt with ac cording to the principles of strict justice, if sin under such cir cumstances arose, God could not in any sense be considered its Author ; — and this, though sin is deemed inevitable on such conditions, and the penalty and consequences of sin are not only inevitable also, but just and equitable. It is especially due to the preacher to insert a note which he added to the above passage in his sermon. " After having reflected on this theory with aU the attention I am able to employ, I feel it my duty to profess an increasing conviction of its truth and importance in moral philosophy and sound divinity. But I am equally bound to acknowledge my apprehension, partly from the awful and difficult nature of the subject itself, and principally from the unskilful and inadequate manner in which I am painfully con scious it is here treated, that many difficulties may be raised against the theory here maintained, and those such as I have no hope of being able completely to answer." p. 73. He was fully alive to the pernicious, because perverted use which had been made of his method of accounting for the origin of evil by men who derived, or pretended to derive from it an excuse, and even a license for sinning. By too many the theory would be welcomed, not so much if at all because it was as some might think philosophically true, but simply because it operated on the conscience like an opiate. Cautions and admonitions of the most quickening kind are freely introduced, to prevent or denounce any sueh abuse of the principles which he advocated. Yet in multitudes of instances, warnings will not have any power beyond that of rendering the intellect subtle in the art of de- JET. 29.] ON THE PERMISSION. OF SIN. 119 vising palliatives for any course of conduct which the inclina tions and passions recommend. It may not be unworthy of consideration whether, seeing that the Scriptures give no kind of aid towards settling the metaphysical bearings of the subject, their silence should not be regarded as an evidence that the question is really beyond solution on such grounds, and that no important practical purpose can be served by attempting to settle it at all. The appeal which is made in this sermon, and indeed in many treatises on the same great mystery, to the words of the Apostle: — "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God ? " — may always be urged with the utmost propriety and force, provided it is kept in the same relation to such discussions which it holds in the Divine word. If, however, instead of being regarded as a barrier thrown across the very threshold, — for that seems to be its place and design in Eom. ix. 20, — it is carried to a point more or less remote from the commencement of a particular theory, and is there to be set up to stay further progress, or to secure acquiescence in that already made, the probability is, that more frequently than not it will be found quite inadequate to effect either of these purposes : and then — to use a nautical term — headway having been obtained, it may be no easy thing to restrain or even guide the course of inquiry according to any safe rule for such complex questions : — as the darkness thickens, not a few are apt to grow more and more desperate. The latter part of the sermon is inductive : the object being to show how "in several distinguishing and eminent respects, the glory of God is displayed by the permission, or rather the oc currence of sin." p. 26. Here there is an abundance of admirable passages: — "Never was the distance of God and creatures marked so strongly. Never could the absolute independence, all-sufficiency, and indefectibility of the Most High shine so ineffably bright, as when in contrast with the weakness and dependence, the mutability and defection of the creature. Is it credible that intelligent creatures could have duly known them selves, or have felt their proper rank in the scale of being, had they never known what dependent existence intrinsically is?" p. 29- " By not counteracting the defectibility of the creature, so as to prevent the occurrence of sin. God has established a SYSTEM OF MORAL LEGISLATION AND GOVERNMENT in a WOrld of free and accountable agents," p. 33. "By permitting the occur- 120 ON THE PERMISSION OF SIN. [l80i. rence of moral evil, God has provided an occasion for the exer cise of infinite mercy, and for the display of all the supereminent glories of Bedemption." How this has been done, is shown through several pages : — "But"— says the preacher — "remembering one important design of these Monthly Lectures, I cannot conclude without addressing my brethren who are students for the Christian ministry. — My dear friends, you have undertaken to oppose the dreadful ravages of sin. You have taken the solemn step of en listing yourselves under the banners of the Captain of salvation, in the warfare of heaven against that terrible foe. You are to vanquish its power, to detect its devices, and to labour as the instruments of Divine mercy in plucking its wretched captives as brands from the burning. With what armour are you fur nished ? What means will you employ ? Be assured that no weapon will be successful but the Doctrine of the Cross. Your sentimental ingenuity, your polished compositions, your talents, your learning, your eloquence, will effect nothing. Those arrows will not make the enemy flee. He will count your darts as stubble, and laugh at the glittering of your spear. Unless you lay all these things at the Eedeemer's feet, unless' you ac quire and employ them in the lowest subserviency to the supreme honours of His cross, unless you count them all but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord, — they will prove worse than nothing ; they will only serve to seal up you and your hearers in deeper delusions, the fatal symptoms of eternal death. O then, resolve to know nothing as the grand subject of your ministry, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. . . . But, 0 my dear brethren, seriously look to yourselves. How can you preach a Saviour if you know Him not ? How can you recommend Him to others, if He is not precious to your own souls ? How can you hope for success in the warfare against sin, if you are its partizans and vassals ? Cultivate, assiduously cherish, the living power of personal religion ; or else you will be the most miserable of men. May these solemn truths sink deep into your hearts and my own ! " After the publication of the Sermon, the Author received several Letters from eminent Nonconformist ministers of the day : some approving, and others complaining of the first part, while one or two expressed their inability or reluctance to go into the consideration of the subject. Among the writers were MT. 30.] FORMATION OF A CHURCH. 121 Dr. Wilhams, Dr. Bogue, Dr. Byland, and the Eev. Andrew Fuller. It is not unworthy of notice, that this Sermon stands alone among Dr. Smith's published works for having anything of a metaphysical character ; and even here that quality does not largely prevail. His mind appears to have been disin clined to follow out subtile trains of analysis and reasoning. In November, 1802, Mr. Phillips, of Eotherham, wrote to Mr. Pye Smith, to urge the necessity of his taking steps with a view to the pastoral office, and advised him in particular — if no other method presented — to form the students and the senior members of his own family into a Church, over which he might be ordained. But it was not until September of the next year that any movement appears to have been made in conformity with his friend's suggestion. He then addressed a Letter to the King's Head Society, requesting their per mission to open the Hall of the Academy for public worship on the Lord's day ; which was at once complied with. Thus that condition which he included among the terms of his accepting the invitation to Homerton — that as their Tutor he should not be precluded from entertaining the question of a pastoral charge at any future time — was now being acted upon. For although this first application referred to the use of the Hall for preaching only, yet in the event of the success of his ministry — of which his friends could not feel a doubt— means would then be adopted to proceed a step further. In January, 1804, he wrote again to the King's Head Society, to inform them, that "a wish had been ex pressed by several persons who statedly attended on his preaching at Homerton, that they might be formed into a Church under his care as their pastor, to meet for the present in the Hall of the Academy." As soon as the business assumed this shape, which was not consistent with earlier decisions of the Constituents of the College, by which they had hitherto restrained their Eesident Tutor from such an office, it was thought desirable to call a Special General Meeting to consider the subject. The result was a resolution —"that Mr. Smith's accepting and exercising the pastoral charge over a Church consisting of persons collected together at Homerton by his ministry, is compatible with a due ex ercise of his office as Eesident Tutor." By the words—" of 122 OF ADVANTAGE TO THE TUTOR. [l804. persons collected together at Homerton by his ministry" —the Committee plainly intimated, that the question was not involved in those difficulties which would have attached to it, had the Church which desired the Tutor for their Pastor been at a distance from the College; or if, in the vicinity, it had been at the time a large and flourishing body. Nor was this a superfluous caution on their part. For while, on the one hand, they were justly solicitous to avoid giving their sanction to their Tutor's attempting a new class of duties, which if remote in their sphere or of wide extent, would trench upon the claims of an Institution of which they were the guardians; they were also too sincerely attached to the principles of the Congregational polity, to encourage any one to become the Pastor of a Christian Church unless he had a fair prospect of being able, consistently with existing ob ligations, to meet the requirements of the Pastoral relation. — Such was the origin of the Congregational Church which a few years later assembled for Christian worship at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, and which continues to assemble there to the present day — a society consisting of not a few persons eminent for their social worth, for their great intelligence, for their liberal support of every good cause and for their enlightened, scriptural piety. Neither the Committee nor their Tutor could have foreseen at the time what they were doing for the future — a future still going on — when they cautiously, and not perhaps with out some misgivings, opened a room in a comparatively small house for Divine worship. Viewing this in regard to Mr. Pye Smith, it not only brought him into connection with a field of usefulness such as he had never entered upon before, and thus called into exercise talents and dispositions which for his own benefit, the lasting- benefit of multitudes, and above all for the Divine glory, required scope of this kind; but the increasing experience thus obtained of the pastoral life in all its relations, may fairly be deemed the crowning attri bute, without which his other high qualifications for the important post of Theological Tutor could scarcely have been pronounced complete. Instruction is sure to increase in value, in proportion as it is informed and animated by careful self-discipline acquired in the practice of the rules JET. 30.] OF ADVANTAGE TO THE COLLEGE. 123 which the Teacher lays down. Whatever belonged to the pulpit, in the different methods of presenting Scripture truth to the congregation, and the public devotions of the house of prayer — to the constitution, order, and government of a Christian Church-1— to pastoral visiting — or to the social in tercourse of a minister with his people — all these severally, and from year to year with that variety which was sure to arise in his own circle of actual duty, would come before the students in a richer, riper, mellower form than if books only had supplied the materials of the College lectures. And the benefit would be greatly enhanced by the fact, that his first feelings in connection with the realities of the office, were in all their freshness and vigour at the very time when he was beginning to expound its theoretical principles to the students. How plainly may the Divine interposition be seen in this whole arrangement ! The very caution shown by the Committee is a proof that they could not descry at that early day the benefits which were to accrue to the Institution guarded by their vigilance, when they consented to allow the latest of their Tutors, and the longest continued also, to undertake a'pastoral charge. Nor is a Divine interposition the less obvious on his part; for at that time there was no prospect of his exchanging the classical department for theology ; without which his experience as a Pastor must have been far less advantageous to the College. The decision of the Committee operated favourably in other respects. To say nothing of that strong because tender and loving link between the College and the Church, found in the man to whose heart both seemed alike dear, the early members of the latter would retain to the end of life recol lections and impressions of the most sacred kind, which had been kindled and nurtured within the College walls :— the nar rowness of the space tending to concentrate a more intense thoughtfulness upon it, like a point made luminous and warm also by the use of a lens. And this thoughtfulness was ever finding expression in liberal contributions and in earnest prayers, on behalf of the College. Nor can it escape notice, that as the neighbourhood in which the latter was placed, was the same as that in which the Church members lived, the Academic family could scarcely fail to derive some im- 124 ADVANTAGES TO THE CHURCH [l804. portant advantages from this source. Theoretically, indeed, it may be assumed that young men preparing for the Christian ministry ought to be safely independent of all that class of influences to which reference is here made. But as a question of fact — which has really to be considered — if it is found true that the best of principles are at one age or in one set of circumstances subjected to a heavier strain than at another, topical appliances at such times may not only be of important service in obviating evil at the moment of greatest danger, but also in adding to the power of resisting evil when principle is the only safeguard. Expedients to prevent contagion from taking effect may secure far more than immunity from present disease : — they may send the person forward with a stock of health which will render him proof, so to speak, against future infection. And this is eminently true both in a physical and moral sense, where the young are concerned;.' Even in cases where this local influence was not formally thought, of by any particular member of the academic family,, it was scarcely possible, except from some strange- forgetfulness, or from presumption which betokened moral weakness rather than strength, that it should really be without . weight on the conduct ; especially when it is remembered that for several years the church and congregation met for worship in the house where the students lived. Without presuming to touch the general question, respect ing the fitness of committing to one man a plurality of offices, there are peculiarities in this case, both as it regards the Pastor and his People, which favour the conclusion that the benefits of the arrangement were not confined to any one party. Pastoral visitation was the chief thing which was likely to suffer from the claims of the College : but even here the great conscien* tiousness and— so to say-agility of the young minister living in the midst of his comparatively small flock, would obviate in early years all ground of complaint. As time went on, he was cut off from this branch of duty more by his increasing deaf, ness than by any other single cause which can be • mentioned ¦ and this would have been the case irrespective of his duties elsewhere. On the other hand, the Church had the advantage of all the learning of the Tutor. So far as time allowed and the matter was suitable, his large accumulations were placed as JET. 80.] OF HAVING THE TUTOR FOR THEIR PASTOR. 125 freely before his people as before his pupils. The same frank ness, the same noble generosity in using his stores, marked each of the departments of what he seemed to regard as but one field of labour. That intimate knowledge of the sacred writings, that eininent skill in textual criticism, and that devout spirit of exposition, which he cultivated in the first place chiefly with a view to the duties of his theological class, came out in living power for the use of his congregation also. The Tutor alone mi;*, t have been satisfied with criticism, or the Pastor al ne with fervour of feeling ; but when College and Church had their Instructor in Mr. Pye Smith, it seemed as though he could not confine criticism to the one, and save the feeling ex clusively for the other : hence by a rare and most valuable com bination, the Tutor and Pastor were seldom found apart either in the class room or the pulpit. Totus in illis — might have been his motto ; for his lectures were devout, while his sermons were rich in valuable knowledge. To all who were inclined to appreciate a full, scriptural style of preaching, where the facts, doctrines, and duties of the Divine Word might be expected to find a place according to their relative proportions, the ministry at the Gravel Pit Meeting House was very attractive : and it became so in a larger degree, in consequence of the labours of the Pastor as a Tutor of the College. In other respects the union of the two offices was to the ad vantage of the Church. By imparting to some of the members, and by nourishing in others, a feeling of special interest in the training of young men for the sacred work, much was done to promote the growth of enlightened piety and zeal among them selves. The closer the sympathy between the mature and the young Christian — the deeper the solicitude which an organised Church feels respecting the welfare of the rising ministry — so much the better will it be for the elder of the two as well as for the younger. For if, on the one hand, age will impart caution and steadiness to youth, youth will give to age in return a degree of energy and freshness which its own lack of vitality cannot supply : — just as a tree covered with the hoar of years is seen filled with its friuts in their season because it has not tried to live on apart from the small and tender fibres which are ever being added to its roots. It is a sign of life as well as an aid to it, when they who have survived the growing age, are able to receive nourishment from their proximity to younger and more vigorous natures. 126 CHURCH COVENANT. [l804. The way having thus been prepared for the formation of a Congregational Church at Homerton, no time was lost in com pleting the arrangements. On the 6th of March, 1804, seven persons, six of whom had formed a part of the congregation during the preceding three or four months, met ; and on the ground of their confidence in each other's faith and piety, they agreed to unite in Christian Fellowship. John Pye Smith's name is found among the seven, his occupying the third place in the order; and as the minutes are in his own hand, the Eeader has an opportunity of observing the meekness and pro priety which seemed to characterise him on every occasion ; for not being at this moment in office, he is careful not to assume the pre-eminence. As soon as the Church was constituted by this voluntary union of Christians, the next step was to choose one to take the oversight of them in the Lord : and as their thoughts had been directed to one of their own number for this work, that one withdrew, and the rest agreed to invite him to be their Pastor. The invitation was given, and having been accepted, Mr. Pye Smith's Pastoral Eelation dates from that time. Among the proceedings of that small company, the place assigned to the " Church Covenant" must not be overlooked. This was a document prepared by Mr. Smith; it was read publicly, "all standing up in token of explicit acceptance." Some passages will not be without interest to the Eeader, nor are they without significance in reference to the. Author of the document : — " We, whose names are voluntarily subscribed to this Solemn' Covenant, do make the same in professed subjection to the will, and for the advance ment of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. " Renouncing all dependence on our own powers or merits, we lie down m our shame before a Holy and Sovereign God, and we profess that all our hopes flow from the free and everlasting love of the Father, through. the obedxence and sacrrfce of the Son manifested in the flesh, and by the effec- Z Eve?™ * ? W"^ ^ Thr6e Divine Persons ^°m ™ adore as the Ever Blessed Trrmty m One Eternal and Unchangeable Godhead. We an^wl re^ H *?" "• ** "^ ^ and ="* of His <*"»* • New TPSZV% T™^ ™™le& m the scriptures of the Old and atfcJS ' ^ PerfeCt ^ °f °Ur faith> and as **™g Solute 2 u ed^acTorT TT" - i ^ A* * CWL °f JeSUS ^ '^ iSiT^Xi* the/nr^S ?f His ™d> ™ declare our mutual SSZ^^ t t0*1**"**** ^ch His Word appoints, our sincere purpose to watch over and encourage each other in all the duties of JET. 30.] CHURCH COVENANT. 127 gospel fellowship, and our resolution to cherish the holy influence of un feigned and tender love, and that we will bear each other on our hearts in our approaches to the throne of grace. " We profess ourselves bound by every obligation to honour God in our families and before the world, by worshipping Him with our households every morning and evening, by dispensing Scriptural instruction to our children and servants, by our authority and influence, and by the holy con sistency of a good conversation in Christ. — We gratefully admire the con descension of Jesus in His appointment of the ordinance of Baptism for believers and their infant seed: and we acknowledge the children whom God has given or may give to any of us,' as one -with us in a peculiar covenant relation, and as specially entitled to our united prayers, our affectionate care, and every encouragement in our power to lead them in the good ways of the Lord. We also bless the love and wisdom of our Great Redeemer, for His institution of that ordinance by which His death as the atonement for our souls is showed forth : and we consider those alone as entitled to partake in that sacred ordinance, who make a serious profession of faith in Christ and act in correspondence with that holy profession. " This Solemn Covenant we make with the Lord our God, and with each Other, not in our own strength, but in a humble reliance on the power and grace of Christ, applied according to our constant necessities by the Holy Spirit. To this grace we look for strength to perform every duty, and for humiliation, repentance, and pardon in every instance of failure." The document received the signature of each of the seven persons present at the formation of the Church ; and then in succession, the signature of the members in after years, down to June, 1849. Long before the close, the Pastor's heart had the joy of finding in the honourable series, the name of every one of his four children who lived to be of mature age. Parental counsels, example, and prayers were in this respect crowned with God's blessing. Viewed as a composition, it will be observed that while the Covenant is quite explicit on the prominent truths .of Eevela- tion — the Trinity — the work of Christ-— and the Grace of the Holy Spirit — it does not enter into the peculiarities of the Calvinistic system; not however because the latter were in compatible with the Pastor;s belief, but simply because he did not wish to shut up his Church within narrower limits than appeared requisite for scriptural purity of communion. An evident absence of a dogmatic style' characterizes the doc trinal passages ; and in harmony with this, is the omission of every attempt to explain the articles which the subscribing parties agreed to profess. Equally clear is the large propor- 128 HIS ORDINATION. [l804. tion of practical matter as compared with the doctrinal ; serving to show that the principal design was to render the Covenant subservient to the purpose of regulating and matur ing the Christian life, rather than to furnish an elaborately prepared creed which might occasion controversies in the Church, or prevent its free growth from without. In all these respects it discovers the fine spirit and sagacity of the new Pastor, which was not the less remarkable, inasmuch as at that early day a considerable degree of strictness in these matters of form very generally prevailed. Yet, on the other hand, although it is well known that the practice of using such documents has rapidly declined in the Congregational Churches during the last few years, — and even the princi ple has been in many cases repudiated, — it may be well to state the fact, simply as a fact, that in Dr. Smith's pastor ship, " the Covenant was for many years read on the admission of new members to the Church almost invariably— but as those admissions became more frequent, it was only read occa sionally, perhaps three or four times a year :— it never fell out of use." Letter from Henry Butt, Esq., one of the Deacons of the Church at the Gravel Pit Meeting House : dated Clapton, February 16, 1852. The next step in the history of the newly-formed society was the public ordination of Mr. Pye Smith to the pastoral office. This took place on Thursday, April 11, 1804 ; and as the Hall of the Academy was not nearly large enough to accommodate the ministers and members of other Churches who were expected to attend on such an occasion, the Meeting House in New Broad Street, London, was kindly offered for the service. Among the engagements of the day the Confession of faith —to use a well-known phrase— held a prominent place. This was drawn up by the person to be ordained, and was then read m public, in the form of answers to a series of questions put to him by one of the officiating Pastors. His creea, some account of his religious history, his motives for becoming a minister, and his purposes and plans in entering upon the work, are the topics introduced ;-all of which were agreeable to the methods then constantly observed by the Congrega- tionalists, although in subsequent years the same uniformity JET. 80.] HIS ORDINATION. 129 has not been maintained. In stepping out of private life, and in thus seeking to be received into a fellowship of Pastors and Churches, the Pastor-elect of that day was not only willing, but commendably anxious to give that amount of publicity to his personal sentiments and feelings which might fairly be deemed commensurate — yet not more than commensurate — with the new and enlarged relationships into which he was entering. Nor can there be a doubt, that the frankness manifested on the one side, secured on the other a response of devout and affectionate sympathy, and a general cordiality of welcome, scarcely to be anticipated, at least by new men whose real position may be said to be as yet in the future, if while ex pecting the confidence of others they display a close reserve themselves. Of all Churches, none should be more thoroughly united than the Congregational : for if they have few or none of those mechanical bandages by which a rigid uniformity of outline is made visible in some communities — their life, their free action, should be the greater ; and as they are one in spirit and principle, their tendency to the truest and closest union should be spontaneous and strong. In like manner, no ministers ought to excel those of the Con gregational Body, in all that distinguishes the trustfulness of one mind in another. The very independence, which is their glory, seems to lose its charm whenever it is made a plea for isolation. Because they can if they think proper speak out of the fulness of the heart — no man forbidding or constraining them — taciturnity, shyness, reserve, should in their case be all but impossible. Accordingly, at ordination services, — if with less of technicality of detail than was at one time common — if the creed were not so expanded in the letter, nor the experience so circumstantially related — if with less of the license of liberty, there were more of that pro found love of freedom which would prompt the Pastor-elect to open his heart generously to his Fathers and Brethren in the ministry, a singularly vivifying influence would come down upon them ; of which he would reap the benefit in sym pathy and prayers, in wise counsels, in a cordial spirit of wel come, and in the kindest encouragement, which might tend to hold him up in honour, usefulness, and comfort to the latest hour of his life. The following was Mr. Pye Smith's confession of faith at K 130 CONFESSION OF FAITH, [l804. his ordination, which is here copied at length from his own manuscript. " So far, Bev. Sir, from being reluctant to comply with your request, or from deeming it any infraction of the right of conscience, I rejoice to have this very solemn opportunity of avowing those sentiments which I firmly believe to be the eternal truth of God. I decline availing myself of Scripture language, because ambiguity and error might be disingenuously concealed under it. I have endeavoured to be concise, but must beg leave to be explicit. " The universe of matter and finite mind I believe to be the work of a glorious First Cause, a Pure Spirit, possessing in an infinite degree all possible perfections. I consider the structure and operations of this universe as amply sufficient to enable all creatures possessed of ordinary understanding, to infer a complete scheme of moral obligations, if they have a proper disposition of heart. But, with regard to the human race, such is our wicked and utterly inexcusable perversion of our voluntary and active powers, that not an instance could ever be adduced, of one among the apostate children of men whose native disposition was good enough to make a right use of those bright intimations of Himself which God has so abundantly bestowed. " These being the circumstances of men, it has pleased God in his infinite and unmerited benevolence, to grant a super natural Bevelation of all religious truth necessary or useful for man to know. This Bevelation is attested to be real and Divine by a grand body of evidence, so various, clear, and full, that none can reject it who have the means of knowledge, except from the interested motives of reigning lusts, the in fatuation of enmity to' God and all goodness. — This Bevelation is contained in the Sacred Books which form the Old and New Testament, and which were composed by their respective writers under such a complete and plenary inspiration of heaven as was perfectly adapted and adequate to the design of each part. The genuine text of these Holy Writings, ascer tained by strict and sound criticism, I receive as a full, pure, unmixed declaration of Divine Truth, and as the unerring standard of religious sentiment and duty. "Taught by these infallible oracles, and disclaiming all submission to the authorities, explications, and evasions of JET. 80.] AT HIS ORDINATION. 131 men and sects, I profess my firm belief in the true, proper, and everlasting Deity of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father ; — in the true, proper and everlasting Deity of the Son, the Word of God;— and in the true, proper and everlasting Deity of the Eternal and Holy Spirit. I believe .that these scriptural terms are designedly expressive of a real plurality of subsistence in the one Godhead, a Trinity of Per sons in the perfect Unity of Essence. The knowledge of this truth, in all its infinite comprehension, can be possessed only by the Infinite mind, the Triune Jehovah himself. But in my apprehensions, it is a doctrine by no means antecedently in credible to the soundest dictates of reason, and is most satis factorily revealed in the oracles of God. " This Infinitely Glorious and Excellent Being, the Per fection of all natural and moral good, in His sovereign benevo lence has determined to diffuse His communicable fulness, by the creation of a material universe and a system of finite intelligence ; and by an almighty, wise and holy constitution of natural and moral government. The rule of God's moral government is a Law which makes only the demand of perfect love and obedience to Him who is infinitely deserving of it ; a law which is righteous, holy and glorious; a law whose obligation on every accountable creature is for ever unalien able and supreme. The violation of this law is sin; which whether viewed in single acts, or as an habitual state of the mind, I most firmly believe to be entirely voluntary and wilful on the part of the sinner, and to be in its own nature a crime infinitely wicked, base and hateful, and most justly deserving everlasting punishment. " God created the first man in a state of complete, yet necessarily dependent integrity, and by a constitution most gracious and wise, appointed him the covenant head of all his posterity. Being treated on the ground of absolute justice, and righteously left to himself, he voluntarily departed from his original rectitude, and brought himself with all who descend from him in the ordinary course of nature, into a state of sin, and a consequent train of misery, interminable except by a sovereign interposition of Infinite Power and Love. Such an interposition the Ever -Blessed God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has been pleased to make, by another con stitution usually called the Covenant of Grace. In this Cove- k 2 132 CONFESSION OF FAITH, [l804. nant the Three Adorable Persons in the Godhead sustain distinct offices, in harmonious co-operation and united glory. To the Father peculiarly belongs the exercise of the rights of Deity, as Sovereign, Lawgiver, Judge and Vindicator of recti tude. The Son constituted the Second Covenant Head of mankind, but with an especial respect to the objects of a personal and sovereign election, takes upon Himself the rela tion and responsibility of man, and becomes a subject of the Divine government, the servant and messenger of the- Father, the Mediator between God and man. To the Holy Spirit the charge is especially assigned of rendering efficient the whole work of saving mercy, by the personal application of its blessings to the souls of men. " At the time which Divine wisdom saw to be most fit, the Eternal Son of God, in correspondence with the federal rela tion that He had assumed, actually united himself to, the human nature, in the man Jesus. He was born in a mira culous manner, pure from any taint of original and actual sin. He gave the fullest evidences of His Divine character and mission. In his lowest humiliation the rays of His Eternal Majesty shone from beneath the fleshly tabernacle. In His representative and federal character, He rendered to the precepts and to the just sanction of the holy law those honours which only Deity could render. His obedience and His sufferings possess the value of Divine and Infinite dignity : so that in Him there is an infinite superabundance of justifying righteousness and atoning merit, in triumphant counteraction to the awful ravages of sin. Exalted from His humiliation to the delegated exercise of universal dominion, He reigns as the ever-glorious Prophet, Priest and King of His Church. He directs and accomplishes all the purposes and provisions of the everlasting covenant; and when He shall have completed them, He will consummate His media torial reign, by determining as an Omniscient and Bightequs Judge, the characters and the everlasting state of men and angels. " On this unchangeable foundation, the true and proper Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ and the consequent infinite value of His mediation, all the blessings of this constitution of grace are to be freely offered, as the gift of sovereign love, to every child of man without exception : and it is the indis- 2ET. 30.] AT • HIS ORDINATION. 133 pensable duty of all who have an opportunity of hearing this call from heaven, to believe these glad tidings, to repent, to renounce from the heart and for ever all their sins, and to give themselves entirely to the Lord Jesus as His faithful subjects and servants. — Yet, notwithstanding the amplitude and the sincerity of this most free and gracious call, so deep- rooted and desperate is the base wickedness of men, that we universally refuse to listen to the voice of heavenly authority and love. — Though there is no obstacle whatever in the way, except such as is created by the inexcusable badness of our own hearts, we still reject and trample upon the blood and the grace of Jesus; and many of our rebellious race have the audacious impiety of adding to their unbelief the blasphemous aggravation of imputing it to the pure and holy God ! " He to whom all things are naked and open, from eternity foreknew all this hardened wickedness of men : but still He resolved that amazing grace should triumph. In forming therefore the mighty scheme of natural and moral necessity, by which the universal system of positive being is indissolubly connected with Jehovah's sovereign will, — the Father chose in Christ an innumerable multitude of vile, guilty, and hell- deserving mortals ; and ordained them to holiness and eternal life. He gave them to the Mediator, as the especial objects of His redeeming love. — In the successive periods of time, the Holy. Spirit executes upon them His own gracious part in the economy of salvation. He communicates a spiritual discovery of the glory and beauty of God and His truth. He gives a right disposition of heart that they may be properly affected with that discovery. He effectually convinces them of the in finite vileness of sin, and the glorious fitness and equity of God's eternal vengeance against it. He leads them, humbled and self-despairing, to behold, love and accept the Lord Jesus Christ, with all His inestimable blessings, as He is freely offered in the gospel. He makes them partakers of a Divine nature, by communicating a measure of His own holiness. He carries on this work of spiritual renovation in all its parts and exercises, subduing sin, exalting the Saviour, and forming for the heavenly state, — till He infallibly conducts to that im mortal glory all His elect, redeemed and sanctified people.' — Most earnestly do we maintain the indispensable necessity of all holiness in heart and life ;— and that the sad distance of 134 CONFESSION OF FAITH, []804. believers from perfect purity is at once their inexcusable wickedness and their sincere lamentation. " I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, consisting of all the sanctified on earth and in heaven, vitally united to Christ their Head and Lord, and with Him forming one glorious body. I also acknowledge the scriptural institution of Congregational Churches, during the militant state of a part of the Eedeemer's followers — and the divine appointment of a gospel ministry for their instruction and government. Such Societies have the promise of their Saviour's abiding presence, while they remain faithful to His truth and His laws. They have an unalienable right in the name of Christ, to exercise godly discipline, and to choose their own Pastors and Deacons. Their pastors thus legally chosen and scripturally ordained, are authorised and bound by every principle of love and loyalty to Jesus their Sovereign, to labour in the word and doctrine, to use faithfully the keys of government, and to administer to proper subjects the seals of the gospel-covenant. — These Divinely instituted seals are Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is the washing with water into the name of the Ever-Blessed and Holy Trinity, and is the rite of initiation into the visible king dom of Christ, entitling its proper subjects to all Church-privi leges suitable to their capacity. It is to be administered to those who make an honourable avowal of faith in Christ, and to their infant seed ; but to none besides, till they credibly profess subjection to the gospel. The Lord's Supper is the partaking of bread and wine, as a commemoration of that great atoning sacrifice which Jesus presented when He made His soul- an offering for sin. To this holy feast none ought to be admitted except those who give satisfactory evidence of saving knowledge, faith, and love to the Eedeemer: but it is the happiness and duty of all such to remember their Lord in this affecting ob servance, with frequency, punctuality and holy devotion. " I believe in the divine appointment of civil magistracy, in the duties of conscientious subjection and loyalty, and in that of unresisting patience when called to suffer any consequences of declining to obey sinful commands though enforced by right ful authority. " I believe in the existence and agency of angelic spirits, both holy and apostate; in the conscious and active state of human souls after death ; and in the resurrection by the power of God JET. 30.] AT HIS ORDINATION. 135 of a refined and immortalised body from the germ of that which is sown in corruption. — I beheve that apostate spirits, and all who die out of Christ among men, will meet with no more than their righteous and equitable desert in the punishment of exclu sion from God and the infliction of just vengeance to an ever lasting duration. — And I believe in the everlasting life of per fect blessedness, as the free gift of the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, to elect angels upheld by grace ; and to elect men redeemed and called and preserved by the same riches of grace, out of all kindreds, tribes and nations under heaven. — Thus will the mystery of God be developed and finished ; and thus will the eternal state of angels and men be finally determined by the Lord the Messiah, at His glorious appearing as the Omniscient and Infallible Judge of the world. " With an habitual regard to that awful day, and under an awakening sense of my accountableness to that Holy Judge — I desire to preach these great doctrines, in their evidence, connec tions, and practical improvements, as the Truth which is accord ing to Godliness, the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God. " Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus ! " Comparing the " confession " with the Church Covenant, the brevity of the latter will appear more striking than when viewed simply by itself. There was great wisdom as well as a becoming modesty in this. If other persons were to subscribe to a creed of his compiling, he was careful— as we have seen — not to load it with articles, or to give it for the use of people generally technical or metaphysical expressions fitted only for the schools. But when called to speak publicly for himself, then it became him to indulge in greater fulness and nicety of language : and as he was known to stand in an important relation to an Insti tution for training young men for the Christian ministry, he might be fairly allowed to expound his sentiments concerning Christian doctrine at a length not called for merely by the cir cumstances of his ordination over a particular Church :— a con sideration rendered in a high degree probable by the fact, that the length of the answer which has been given is more than five times greater than that of the other three put together, as though he purposely abbreviated the latter, in order to leave ample time and space for the former, to which the greatest importance would be attached. 106 CONFESSION OF FAITH. [1804. In reviewing the whole, it is obvious that what he did on this occasion must not be looked at in the light acquired from a knowledge of his productions at a much later period of his life. The true point of observation is that which regards him as now for the first time, and therefore prior to all experience, entering on the responsibilities of the pastoral office. He had been a Tutor for more than three years, and his position was rapidly growing in firmness and power; yet with that simplicity which is one of the characteristics of true greatness, he was as far from pomp or pedantry at his ordination, as the meekest of his pupils could have been on going fresh from the College to take the oversight of a people in the Lord. Whatever might have been thought or felt by the ministers and members of Churches who were present, it must have been a touching sight to the true-hearted of his students to see him answering a series of questions in a public assembly with such humility and piety. The force of such gentleness could not fail to be felt. And as there was no lavish reference to the Divine Fountain whence he drew his principles and his spirit, the result might remind a spectator of the golden tinge on the tips of clouds, to be seen often when the sun itself — the source of light — is below the horizon. It may be proper to mention that although he now began his regular ministry as a settled Pastor, his services in the pulpit had been in such great request, that from the date of his coming to Homerton up to the opening of the College Hall for worship, he had preached at various places in London and the country more than two hundred and twenty times. It was not therefore from any want of ministerial work on the Lord's day that he was anxious to secure a congregation of his own; but rather to gratify an earnest desire for the pastoral office which he had cherished for many years ; and which — as the Beader will have observed — was not allayed, either by the flattering invitations he received to become a Tutor, or by an actual and a very acceptable discharge of the important duties of that function. Studious and literary as he eminently was, it is no less obvious that he was eminently zealous and laborious; and on this account his qualifications were of a higher kind, and had far more of adaptation to their real purpose — the training of young men for the Christian ministry — than if he had been content to confine his efforts to the lecture room of the College. JET. 30.] AT HIS ORDINATION. 137 Yet his early and ardent feelings of attachment to the pastoral relation might not have been sustained in full vigour for the benefit of his Theological Class, had not the accomplishment of his wishes by his own ordination tended first to mature his endowments as a Tutor, and then to perpetuate their vitality to the end of his public life. Nor can we over-estimate the advantages which his piety and activity would derive from his new class of duties. From this source, his Christian affections and their appropriate expression in words and deeds, drew no small part of the rich variety and fulness which were ever more and more unfolded in the progress of his earthly but heaven ward pilgrimage as a disciple of Christ. To be a Pastor of a Church, suggested motives of great power, and furnished means of remarkable adaptation to one of his temperament, for that constant growth in grace for which he was distin guished. If the inner man gave shape and direction to the conduct, it was like healthful exercise which does not exhaust but invigorates : — his ordination to a public work of the highest responsibility proved an abundant blessing to himself. CHAPTEE IX. LETTERS TO BELSHAM — THEIR OCCASION AND SCOPE — THEIR STYLE- LETTER FROM HIS AUNT, MRS. PTE — ORIGIN OF ECLECTIC REVIEW — AUTOBIOGRAPHY — BECOMES THEOLOGICAL TUTOR — DEATH OF AN IN FANT — REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. The work entitled, Letters to the Rev. Thomas Belsham on some Important Subjects of Theological Discussion, was first published in August, 1804. That edition, a copy of which the compiler of this narrative has never seen, appears to have been exhausted in about nine or ten months, when a second edition was issued in May, 1805. Not only was this the first of Mr. Pye Smith's productions which carried his name far beyond the limits of hie own circle of connections ; but there can be no doubt that it was the earliest visible link in the chain of circumstances which led to the greatest and most valuable of his labours. Brief as the ' Letters ' are, they abundantly show how well he was pre pared even at that period with the principles, the arguments, the learning, the calmness, the equity, and all the other qualifications for thoroughly discussing one of the most im portant, and the most widely-related of all theological ques tions. Nor could the work fail to excite expectations — which time so happily realized — that space and strength being given he would not be wanting in purpose of heart to use them to the utmost, in prosecuting the inquiry. One remarkable ex ample of clear insight into the then future of his life, is worthy of being mentioned ; and the more because it came from the other side of the Atlantic, where no knowledge beyond that supplied by the ' Letters ' themselves could afford a clue to his progress. In a communication from Dr. Williams to his former pupil, dated Harrowgate, April 6, 1806 ; a passage occurs as a postscript — the last clause of which contains a conjecture .7ET. 30.] LETTERS TO BELSHAM. 139 obtained from a single, and as it might be thought narrow point of view ; and yet it was admirably verified through a long course of years of ever-expanding usefuhiess : — " I have received lately a Letter from Dr. Green, of Philadelphia (to whom I had sent a copy of your Letters to Belsham) and I think it but right that you should have the following part of it : ' Smith's Letters to Belsham are indeed excellent, and there is a talk of reprinting them in this country. I think I have never seen the Calvinistic doctrines asserted and illus trated in so small a compass, with as much ability and clearness as is done by your young friend. There are a few blemishes in the style which however have no effect on the general merit of the work; and in my opinion he is more charitable to Dr. Priestley, and more civil to Belsham, than there was any call for. But if he has erred here, it is certainly on the safer side than the opposite. If Mr. Smith's life be spared, the cause of genuine religion will, I prognosticate, find in him one of its ablest advocates.' " The occasion of the ' Letters ' may be briefly stated. For seventy or eighty years prior to the time when they were published, the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House had had a succession of ministers of Arian or Socinian sentiments. After a pastorate there of more than twenty years, Dr. Bichard Price died in 1791. He was followed by Dr. Joseph Priestley, who remained in the office until 1794 : and then on his removal to America in that year, the Eev. Thomas Belsham occupied the post up to 1805, when he left for the Unitarian Chapel in Essex Street, in the Strand, of which he continued minister until near the close of his life, in 1829. Now as Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham held the same sentiments, and had been personal friends as well as connected with the same congrega tion, there were several motives to induce the latter to take public notice of the death of his celebrated predecessor, as soon as that event was known in this country. Dr. Priestley died February 6, 1804, and in the following April, Mr. Belsham delivered a discourse on the occasion, which was afterwards printed, and a copy sent by the author to Mr. Pye Smith. The ' Letters ' arose out of the contents of this Discourse. The vicinity of the two congregations — the one at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, and the other in the Hall of the 140 LETTERS TO BELSHAM. [l804. Academy — the exigencies of the new and small society, as con trasted with a body which at that time was numerous and inflaential — his office as a Tutor in a College from which more than one student had been removed for holding sentiments not in harmony with those which the Institution maintained- — above all, the clear and strong convictions of his own judgment and heart on the points at issue between Mr. Belsham and himself— compelled Mr. Pye Smith to enter the field of contro versy on this occasion. Other motives also had their weight, as may be learned from the ' Letters ' themselves. Foremost among these was one which arose from the exaggerated de scription which the Author of the Discourse had given of what he called Calvinism. This was deemed unfair, unjust, and, in substance, untrue — a caricature, and not a likeness. To correct the injurious tendency of such a representation — to put the doctrines of the Bible in a fairer light before the world, both for the glory of their Divine Bevealer and the good of mankind — appeared an imperative duty. Scarcely less important was it to examine the commendations which were bestowed on Dr. Priestley in the Discourse of his friend ; for indiscriminate eulogy is apt to produce confidence which may lead astray rather than guide in a safe path. The eminent talents and the great uprightness of character which distinguished the de ceased philosopher are, indeed, freely acknowledged ; but when he was set forth as a paragon of learning, on whose decisions implicit reliance might be placed, then it became necessary, to subject his claims to careful examination ; and the result is, on evidence which cannot fairly be set aside, that as a critical guide in controverted theological questions, Dr. Priestley is not an authority. Before coming to the style in which the 'Letters' are written, there is a passage in the Advertisement to the second edition which ought not to be left unnoticed. In some Re-. marks published by Mr. Belsham on the appearance of the first edition, Mr. Pye Smith's attention was directed to a part of his animadversions in which he had evidently mistaken the design of the sermon recently preached at the Gravel Pit Meeting House. On learning the fact, he thus alludes to it :— ^ He had egregiously misapprehended Mr. Belsham's meaning in a passage of his sermon animadverted upon in the eighth ET. 80.] THEIR SPIRIT AND STYLE. 141 Letter. The whole of that animadversion, which was of a nature totally unconnected with any other argument, is now expunged ; and the author gratefully acknowledges his obliga tion to his opponent for the correction of that error." — Any thing more frank and manly than this in such a case cannot be imagined. There is no attempt to evade the difficulty; no fencing with ambiguous words ; no sparing of the right term to mark, not an opponent's oversight, but his own. He had egrcgioudg misapprehended Mr. Belsham's meaning, and he has the courage to say so. He entirely omits the passage in which the error had occurred ; and he " gratefully acknow ledges his obligation to his opponent for the correction of that error." — 0 si sic omnes! The work, as will be supposed, is written throughout in a spirit akin to the above admission. Indeed the observation made by Dr. Green, of Philadelphia, has been in substance repeated by many — that Dr. Pye Smith was inclined to be too mild, too courteous in his controversial writings, of which defeot, as they think, these ' Letters ' to Belsham supply many examples. And there can be no doubt that some remarkably popular methods of advocating truth, owe a large portion of their influence and celebrity — over and above what is due to the pure force of argument and evidence — to the pungent and even sarcastic phrases used by their respective authors. Some theological leaders in almost every department into' which Christendom is divided, have employed then- prowess in wield ing terms of such cutting or crushing import, that few have had the courage, to say nothing of the power, to stand before them; — very much in the way in which elephants were used in Indian armies, sometimes to tread down the jungle, and at others to spread confusion and dismay throughout the oppos ing host. In other cases where the style has been less vehe ment and denunciatory, there has been a tone and an air of triumph clearly notifying to the reader on which side he was to look for victory. But the author of the 'Letters' could not indulge in either of these methods of conducting controversy. So far indeed was he from anything of this kind, that he could not stand by either to exult himself, or to wait for the applause of others to reach him, on the discomfiture of any opponent. His simply modest, his almost abashed looks at times hi imme- 142 LETTERS TO BELSHAM. [1804. diate connection with a thoroughly decisive argument, might have led a casual by-stander to imagine that he was a mortified, vanquished party:— but this would be quite a mistake; for these were the indications of his success :— serving to remind one of a noble-hearted General who had courage for everything excepting the sight of the havoc of that field on which he had won his laurels. On a calm review of the style of the ' Letters,' no one can now desire the absence of that quality by which they are pre eminently distinguished. The arguments, to which the im portance solely belongs, appear in stronger relief from the unobtrusiveness of the setting in which they are placed: and the judgment of the Eeader is likely to be prepossessed in favour of the Author's views, when he sees how completely he dispenses with all demands upon the feelings and passions in aid of his design. Yet this command of himself was infinitely remote from any indifference to the great questions in debate. It was neither a real nor an affected coolness. The depth of his piety forbade either the one or the other. He felt intensely the truth of his sentiments, for they were to him not opinions or beliefs merely, but the sole elements of his spiritual life; and because this was the case, his great desire was to commend them to others with as little of the alloy of human infirmity as possible. He had no party purposes to answer. In such a spirit, moreover, should a necessity arise for carrying the con troversy further, he would not be embarrassed at the outset by any injurious effect on his own temper hitherto ; nor would his course be impeded by a set of secondary complaints lodged against him on the other side. The way would thus be clear of all extraneous difficulties — an important consideration where truth and religion are concerned. Equally plain is it, that if an opponent should contemplate a rejoinder, he would have to address himself solely to the reasoning which had been ad duced ; from which, indeed,, there would be no means of escaping by outlets which heat of feeling and vituperation might have opened. Both parties would be kept to the point. Truth would be sought by its own light, and found on the strength of its own evidence ; while a model for controversial writing would be furnished, to the credit of the Author, and worthy of imitation by the Church. jET. SO.] UTILITY OF THE QUOTATIONS THEY CONTAIN. 148 Notwithstanding their comparative brevity, the ' Letters ' are marked by clear traces of the writer's determination to go to original sources for the facts on which he builds his infer ences and appeals. His power, and therefore his success — and as a further consequence his sohd reputation — lay much in the possession and vigilant culture' of this habit. And as his keen appreciation of truth had often been shocked by ex amples of seriously misleading errors, of egregious blunders, and even of seemingly wilful departures from accuracy of statement — all of which might have been avoided if care had been used to consult and cite the proper authorities — he was not only anxious to pursue an opposite course, but to make it evident that he did this by the abundance of his quotations. We are so constituted, that any man who can thus go back into the past, and live there long enough to become well acquainted with its productions, its life, will be sure to meet with a place of usefulness and therefore of influence in the present, pro vided he has the sagacity to direct his acquisitions to a wise purpose. Hence, in Mr. Pye Smith's case, with a competency of knowledge seldom at fault, and with the strictest integrity in using it, how rarely had he to retreat from ground which he had once deliberately taken in the field of controversy ! Be cause he was careful even to fastidiousness in laying in his treasures, he could not avoid being intelligently conscientious in applying them aright. If his literary credit was high and commanding, the great pains which he bestowed to ensure the sterhng worth of his accumulations, must ever claim the chief regard of all who would emulate his example. The number of illustrative passages from classical authors which have no direct bearing on the topics discussed, impart, it has been alleged, somewhat of a pedantic air to the work as a whole. This may be correct in point of criticism, and therefore it should not be used as a precedent. But the case wears another aspect. Many of the thoughts contained in the ' Letters ' were either suggested by, or reminded the writer of similar thoughts which he had met with in his classical reading. To avoid therefore the assumption of originality, or rather perhaps to sustain this early production of his pen by authorities which few would call in question — thus shelter ing his diffidence behind great names — he quotes to a larger extent than he otherwise would have done. Besides, as this 144 LETTER FROM HIS AUNT, MRS. PYE. [l804. was his first appearance before the world in a controversy where so much depended on the right interpretation of the original text of Scripture— -the passages quoted and their trans lation, would serve as vouchers of both his mental and moral qualifications for the service in which he had ventured to engage. The very fact of the classical passages being out of the range of the questions in dispute could not fail the more fully to accredit the writer when he gets upon debateable ground, and were therefore of no small benefit in furthering his main design. To have taken such a theme out of the common-places of theological controversy — to have raised it entirely above the ordinary sermonizing style — to have sur rounded it with a glowing interest, while, notwithstanding, it has none of the vulgarity of mere party feeling — and .to have done this at a time when such a method was new and un trodden — was to secure something for himself on the score of ability, but inconceivably more for the subject to which that ability had been applied. Among the congratulations which he received on the publica tion of the ' Letters,' he would not a little value some remarks addressed to him by his Great Aunt, Mrs. Pye. After referring to a conversation between Dr. Williams and herself^ respecting the work, she says : — " Now, my dear sir; we were also pleased with the spirit with which you have written these Letters. > Be humble and thankful, that the Lord has enabled you to stand- up so nobly in the defence of the great truths of the Gospel. The Lord bless you, and fit you more and more for your great work. The Lord has done great things for you, and I hope he will continue His goodness to you to the end of life." In a reply to this "dear and honoured" Lady, Mr. Pye Smith'; writes — " For the very kind manner in which you express your self concerning the Letters lately published, accept my sincere thanks. If it please the Lord to own the humble effort for establishing and promoting His cause, all the honour will be due to Himself, and nothing belongs to me but humiliation and gratitude." Mrs. Pye was at this date about seventy-five years of age: and it may not be unworthy of a brief record that, so far as the means of information extend, this venerable Lady was the first to use a name dear to her for her husband's sake, in the accurately distinctive manner which has long since become JET. 31.] ORIGIN OF THE ECLECTIC REVIEW. 145 general, to designate one whose paternal name was among the most common, and in that respect the least significant in our country. Her Letter begins " My dear Mr. Pye Smith." The writer died April 10, 1809. Between the appearing of the first and second editions of the Letters to Belsham, the Eclectic Review was started ; of which, as it was to be issued monthly, the first number came out in January, 1805. Whether Mr. Pye Smith took an active part in the preliminary arrangements, cannot perhaps now be as certained : the probability is that he did, both from his posi tion and learning, and also from his being among the earliest contributors to the work. For some years after the com mencement of the Review, it was conducted on a principle of compromise, which involved the maintenance of neutrality both on the points of difference between Churchmen and Dissenters, and on those also which separated the Wesleyan Body from other Nonconformists holding Calvinistic sentiments. From the very decided cast of Mr. Pye Smith's convictions on each of the subjects thus placed under an interdict, if he prepared articles for the Eclectic he would have to confine himself to works which did not touch either upon Ecclesiastical Polity or the controverted doctrines. And accordingly we find that while this compact lasted, his attention as a Eeviewer was directed chiefly to Philology and Natural Philosophy, with an article occasionally on Biography. The earliest of his contributions was a review of the Life of Gilbert Wakefield, inserted in the Eclectic for January and February. And as the Life had been written by its own sub ject, an opportunity was afforded for some introductory remarks on the interest attaching to autobiographical memoirs. These remarks are not a little singular as contrasted with the deep silence which the Eeviewer maintained respecting himself down to the close of his own eminently instructive life. — " It cannot, we conceive, reasonably be doubted that the first rank in utility, though not perhaps in splendour of biographical writings, belongs to the commentaries which individuals distinguished for talents, piety or remarkable fortunes, have given to their contemporaries or bequeathed to posterity, of their own affairs and the times in which they lived. An upright mind will be 146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [1805. more severe toward itself, more impartial in the representation of errors and faults, and more diffident in the assertion of meritorious actions, than either partizans or opponents, how ever cautious the former, or candid the latter may be. The records of inspiration, in a great measure, come under this description. Who is not charmed with the generous and open simplicity, which stands a supreme and unrivalled character in the histories of prophets and evangelists ? If the lives and confessions even of such enemies to our Divine religion as Herbert, Eousseau, &c, had not employed their own pens, the confederate cause of Christianity and true learning would have lost no little advantage. What benefits might not have been derived from biographies of Bacon, Newton, Leibnitz, Watts, or Lowth, written by themselves ? We should have been taught how to study, to write, and to live. We should have learned how to estimate those minute and generally neglected circumstances, which possess an importance superior to many brilliant events ; as they generally control the will, and form the character, excite and conduct the energies of talent, and modify the effect of direct influence." — Eclec. Rev. 1805, p. 49. How much might he have told us of himself in regard to all the particulars here mentioned ! What an example of studies carried on, and of large and accurate attainments made, in the face of a constant pressure of difficulty ! What were his methods ? And how did he gain and strengthen that christian character, which was far more rare and illustrious than his learning? Surely there was much in these things and in their manifold relations, which might have been made known with propriety and benefit. His qualifications for telling the story of his life were these — great exactness of self-observ ation — a spirit of penetrating analysis into motives — severity rather than undue leniency in dealing with the evidence of consciousness — a memory always to be trusted for facts — a heart keenly alive to every incident which in the retrospeet of the past might serve to awaken penitence or gratitude — and a style clear, strong, unsparing, ever more ready to be used in portraying his own defects than those of others. On the other side, there would be an intense detestation of all those devices of an unscrupulous egotism, which cares not for self- exposure if it can but attract notice. He would not, he could JET. 81.] ECLECTIC REVIEW. 1'47 not have written for display in any shape or sense. In deed the great probability is, that a sensitive apprehension lest he should be betrayed into this, was the secret of his strict reserve respecting himself. If the thought of preparing memorials of his life ever occurred to him, it only arose to be unceremoniously dismissed by his vigilance; like a phantom which could have no power over him even for an in stant, unless it chanced to trouble him in his dreams. Hence on his retirement to Guildford, when the close of all his public services left him at liberty to provide occupation ac cording to his own taste, he is known to have thought of beginning a course of classical reading : but either from the temper of his mind, or from a settled purpose, he never took up the idea of becoming his own biographer ; — nay, scarcely could hints be obtained from him having any intimate relation to his past life. In the absence therefore of the advantages which might have been secured from such a work from such a pen, it may not perhaps be difficult to profit from the example of his unobtrusive, expressive silence. Another article prepared by Mr. Pye Smith for the first volume of the Eclectic, was a review of a work entitled, The Economy of Nature Explained and Illustrated on the Principles of Modern Philosophy : by G. Gregory, D.D. This was popular in its day, but it has long since been left behind by the great progress which has been made in every branch of science to which it refers. And the review is chiefly interesting as serv ing to show the writer's diligence and care in keeping his know ledge up to the level of the current discoveries. Mineralogy and Geology were evident favourites. On the latter he quotes a passage from Dr. Gregory upon the vegetable origin of coal, "on account of the interesting nature of its subject, and the apparent truth of its theory." These were links in a chain, the end of which was far from being at that time visible. The articles contributed by him thus far, are distinguished by directness of application to the work examined, and by his usual courteousness of language. He neither supersedes the Author by Essays of his own, nor uses him as a kind of pack- horse to carry a burden imposed upon him by another. He is but a Eeviewer. Yet he is discriminating and faithful; and this l 2 148 BECOMES THEOLOGICAL TUTOR. [l80S, is for the reader's sake, not for the writer's. If he acts as a guide, it is in the public service. After having filled the office of Theological Tutor at Homer ton for two years, the Bev. James Knight, whose health was not such as to allow him to remain, resigned at Midsummer, 1805. Before this change took place, and while it was in prospect, there is reason to beheve that communications had been made to Mr. Pye Smith respecting his undertaking the vacant chair. He would, however, be thought by some of the constituents to$ young for the post: while the zeal with which he had avowed certain sentiments — as in the Sermon on the Permission of Sin — not approved by others, would furnish another ground for delay. And as these early friends of the Institution were at that time wholly unacquainted with his qualifications for the office which became more and more apparent as years went on. they acted wisely as well as conscientiously in not hastening the ap pointment. Nor had those who were in favour of the change any occasion to urge their views prematurely ; for the difficulty of finding a suitable person was so great, that the duties de volved upon him by a kind of necessity months before he was invited to undertake them in the regular way. Scarcely any doubt could exist respecting his own wishes, provided his qualifications for the Divinity Chair met the ap-^ proval of the constituents. He had been employed for five years in the routine of the classical department, with not a suf: ficient number of pupils nor their time largely enough devoted to classical studies, to afford scope for that constant enterprise and progress on his part, which his temperament and the rate of his acquisitions made almost essential to his personal com fort.- His other duties were becoming somewhat burdensome from the great demands which they made upon his time and strength; and yet the variety was too vast and too complicated to allow of little more than an arrangement of outlines, which the Tutor could scarcely fill up to his own satisfaction/or in a way to ensure the hearty interest of the Students. On the other hand, his theological predilections were remarkably strong— r his own creed was of a very decided cast— his love and aptitude for scholastic forms very fully developed— his experience of the pastoral relation served also to awaken a desire for a more direct mental and moral contact with those who were training JET. 31.] BECOMES THEOLOGICAL TUTOR. 149 to be Pastors than could be secured while he held the Classical Chair — and even his preparations for the pulpit would be facili tated by the functions of the new office. Under these consider ations no surprise can be felt, that he was ready to leave a path which was rapidly losing the power to fix and repay his atten tion, for one that would be quite new, and which was known to be of inexhaustible fertility to a mind like his. On the re-assembling of the College at the close of the vaca tion in September, no Divinity Tutor having been appointed in Mr. Knight's place, Mr. Pye Smith was requested to discharge the duties " provisionally." In the following December, the Secretary reported at the General Meeting of the Society, that the care of the Students had rested solely with Mr. Smith, who had " supplied every department with the assistance of Mr. A. Bishop, one of the senior students." Things went on in this way up to May 27, 1806, when a Committee which had been deputed to provide for the vacancy reported — that they had found great difficulties in fulfilling that trust — and that at length it had occuri'ed to them to suggest the retention of the office by Mr. Smith, and the appointment of a new Classical Tutor. When this was proposed to him, he replied — " That though he thought it Very desirable that the Divinity Chair should be filled by a person more advanced in life, yet if his constituents judged him to be sufficiently qualified for the office, and wished him to undertake it, he should consider it as his duty to comply with their wishes, and would fulfil the duties of it to the best of his abilities^" The Eeport then proceeds to recommend Mr. Pye Smith to be the Theological Tutor, and the Eev. Thomas Hill to be the Classical ; and the Special General Meeting having adopted this recommendation, Mr. Smith's formal appointment to the honourable post which he filled so long, and with such great distinction and benefit, dates from this time. To Dr. Williams in particular it must have been just cause for satisfaction and thankfulness, that the young man whom he had recommended to Homerton in 1800, had by his conscien tious diligence secured endowments which fitted him in 1805 to enter upon an office, which the venerable Tutor would re gard as perhaps of the highest dignity in the Christian Church : and then as a further result, that a second application came to Eotherham, which was met by Mr. Hill's being invited to the 150 DEATH OF AN INFANT. [1806. Classical department upon Mr. Pye Smith's taking the Divinity Chair. Thus the College in Yorkshire supplied Tutors for the older, and in some respects the more prominent one in the vicinity of London. By such Divine Providential arrange ments, a freer circulation is secured for the intelligence, piety, and affection of the whole Christian Brotherhood. No man then lives merely to himself, nor even to the party interests in which his lot may be at one time cast: but the collective Church can be enriched in any of its departments by the talents of any of its members. — Thus may it be on a constantly enlarging scale, and without end ! Early in 1806, the first death occurred in Mr. Pye Smith's family at Homerton. The circumstances will be given in his own words, transcribed from his Book of Family Memorials. Having recorded the birth and baptism of his third child, he then adds : — " This dear infant, whose name was John Baptist, was spared to us but a short season. He had been always very weakly, but in his eighth month he seemed to be acquiring vigour of constitution, and our hopes of his established strength were excited. At this time it pleased the Lord to cut short his small number of days. About the 17th of January, 1806, he began to give signs of indisposition, which on the 21st appeared to be decisive symptoms of spasmodic croup. Not withstanding our being favoured with the best medical aid, and some appearance of recovery in the last week of his illness, this distressing disorder finally brought down his delicate and suffering frame into the ruins of mortality. He placidly and sweetly departed on February the tenth, at half after five in the morning. — Our dear child was thus early taken into the bosom of our Covenant Eedeemer, the tender Shepherd who gathers the lambs in His arms, and who has declared, ' of such is the kingdom of heaven.' His mortal remains, the temporary triumph of the last enemy, were interred in the burying ground of St. Thomas's Square, Hackney, in the faith of a glorious resurrection in the likeness of his blessed Saviour, who is the Eesurrection and the Life." In a letter to Dr. Williams, dated Homerton, Feb. 24, the event is thus referred to—" The obligations of my dear partner and myself, for the very affectionate and sympathizing notice you have taken of our late solemn visitation, are great,- JET. 32.] REV. ABRAHAM BOOTH. 151 and I trust are felt by us. Our affliction was attempered with so much to alleviate it, and our hope from the covenant of our God is so animating, that we have reason to view it all as signally a cup of mercy. O that it may lead us to greater personal and relative devotedness to God ! " The same Letter contains a reference to the death of the Eev. Abraham Booth, an eminently devout and useful minister of the Baptist Denomination. " Mr. Booth entered into the everlasting rest on Monday evening, the 20th January. Not withstanding our difference in some sentiments, I would ever cherish the most affectionate memory of him. 0 how do I lament that I no more seized opportunity and sacrificed other engagements, to enjoy his most edifying and heavenly conver sation. In one of our last interviews, he discoursed on death, and his own death, with a holy solemnity and deep humility, the most impressive I ever witnessed. His conversation was never without the sweetest savour of Christ and holiness. His heart appeared to be always filled with the most just, pure, reverential, and transforming sense of the Divine character. As a friend he was faithful, steady, and affectionate. What reason I have to regret that I was no more constantly anxious to improve to the best purposes, the truly affectionate regard with which he honoured me." 0 the true and deep sympathy of minds raised by their piety above the ordinary level ! How pure the light, how holy the love, how complete the union and the joy, in proportion as the disciples of the One Lord approach nearer and nearer " unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." CHAPTEB X. TRACT ON THE LORD'S SUPPER — PASTORAL LETTER— CHURCH BOOK- DEFENCE OF OUT-OF-DOORS PREACHING — ECLECTIC REVIEW : DR. PRIESTLEY'S NOTES ON THE SCRIPTURES : DR. PRIESTLEY'S MEMOIRS — DECIDED PIETY ESSENTIAL TO THE DISCOVERY OF SCRIPTURE TRUTH — GOOD'S LUCRETIUS — HOMER— DEATH OF A STUDENT — BRIEF MEMOIR — PIETY THE GREAT ATTRACTION TO THE TUTOR— ADVICE TO A YOUNG MINISTER — ECLECTIC REVIEW : PORSON : DUNBAR'S EDITION OF HERODOTUS — MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL — DIPLOMA FROM YALE COLLEGE— HIS YORKSHIRE PROPERTY. Notwithstanding the new claims which arose out of his becoming the Theological Tutor, Mr. Pye Smith found time to publish during this year a pamphlet, the design of which will appear from the title : — " A concise statement of the Evi* dence for the obligation of Christian Churches to celebrate the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day : with the Testimony of Eminent Christian Divines in favour of the Divine Authority; ' Perpetual Obligation, and Great Advantages of that Duty." The following positions are laid down, and supported by a brief citation of texts and authorities : — " I. All persons to whom the Gospel comes, are under indispensable obligations to comply with the whole revealed will of God. II. The New Testament furnishes a rule of perfect sufficiency for the constitution, discipline, and ordinances of Christian Churches. III. This rule is principally comprised in the injunctions delivered by the Apostles to the churches which they founded, and in the Scripturally recorded practice of those churches. IV. It was the instituted practice of the apostolic churches to observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, as a part of the stated and regular service of every Lord's Day. MT. 33.] TRACT ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 153 Testimonies in favour of the weekly observance are then quoted ; beginning with the well-known passage from the Letter of Pliny to the Emperor Trajan. This is followed by a passage from the First Apology of Justin Martyr, which as being less known and from its very explicit bearing on the subject may merit the Eeader's attention : the date of the Apology is a.d. 154. " . . In all the services that we offer, we bless the Maker of all things, through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit : and on the day called Sunday, a meeting is attended by all (the members of the Church) whether they live in towns or in the country. There the memorials of the Apostles and the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as the time permits. The reader then giving over, the presiding minister preaches a discourse, for our ad monition and exhortation to practise the excellent things that we have heard. Then we all rise up and offer our prayers. When we have ended prayer, bread, wine, and water are brought forth ; the minister utters prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people testify their joyful consent by saying, Amen. The eucharistic elements are then distributed, and partaken of by each one ; and to those who are not present, they are sent by the deacons. Those members who are able and so disposed then give according to their choice. The money collected is put into the minister's hands, who distributes it to orphans and widows, to the sick and necessitous, and to prisoners and strangers ; so that he is truly a steward to the poor." To these early authorities are added the names of eminent modern Divines who deemed the weekly celebration of the Supper to have been the primitive Scriptural practice* Among these are Calvin — Dr. Ames — Dr. Thomas Goodwin — Dr. Owen — Eichard Baxter — Dr. Watts — Dr. Dod dridge — President Edwards — Dr. John Erskine — Archibald Maclean — Dr. Mason. The observance of the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day — thus forcibly recommended in the " Concise Statement." — was introduced by the Author into his own Church at Hom erton ; but at what exact date does not appear ; the probability however is, that it was somewhat prior to the time when the Tract was published. The practice was kept up for many years, yet scarcely at any period with the concurrence of all the members; and as time went on the number who joined 154 PASTORAL LETTER. [1806. with the Pastor in the weekly celebration became less and less, until it was laid aside altogether. His own convictions of Christian duty remained unchanged to the last, for when he was at Guildford, no longer able to attend public worship, it was perceived to be quite a solace to his heart to commemorate the death of Christ every Lord's Day in the retirement of his dwelling. The first pastoral Letter which has been met with, relates to this quesion. It is dated " Homerton, May 19, 1806," and was written to one of the members who did not at the time agree with the Pastor's views : — " Influenced, I trust, by a sincere desire to be the instrument of leading men into the whole truth as it is in Jesus, and the practice of all things whatsoever He hath commanded, I earnestly request your serious attention to the contents of the accompanying pamphlet. The necessity of duty obliges me to confess my most solemn and deliberate conviction, that while you continue in the voluntary omission ofthe Lord's Supper on every Christian Sabbath, so long you are violating the Divine Rule for the sanctification of that holy day, and are living in the guilt of disobedience to Christ as your King and. Saviour. " The distressing feelings of this conviction have long and painfully pressed upon my mind, nor can I rest satisfied any longer without com municating them to you. " I have adopted the present method as the most eligible on various accounts. In this pamphlet is not only a short statement of that evidence which has been powerful enough to preponderate against my own previous sentiments, habits, and wishes, and to compel me to a line of practice the difficulties and trials of which I could not but dread ; but it will also be per ceived that the duty for which I am pleading has been fully admitted, in its evidence, importance, and obligation, by many of the brightest lumi naries in the Christian Church. I could have much increased the number of such venerable testimonies ; but this cloud of witnesses, I hope, will be sufficient to attest and enforce the authority of God. To that authority I do hereby solemnly and affectionately invite, beseech, and charge you to yield implicit obedience ; remembering that for the fidelity of this appeal to your conscience, and for the manner in which you may receive it, we shall shortly answer to Him whose throne is for ever and ever, and the sceptre of whose kingdom is a right sceptre. O that we may not be found in that great day among those ' who would not have Him to reign over them.' " That your faith and practice may not stand in the wisdom and authority of men, but in the power of God; and that as you have received CHRIST Jesus the Lord, so you may walk in Him, in a full obedience to every part of His revealed will, is the earnest prayer of " Your affectionate servant in the work of Christ, " John P. Smith." It will be remembered that the Church Covenant contained MT. 38.] CHURCH BOOK. 155 no reference to the frequency with which the Lord's Supper should be observed. Whether the Pastor's mind was at the date of that paper made up respecthig the point, cannot now be ascertained. If it was, he was careful not to lay down a law on a matter of form, which might have prevented many excellent persons from joining the church, with whom on other grounds his agreement was complete. But for one of his strong convictions in regard to duty, and with his well- known love of order in all his pastoral relations, a silence still more remarkable is found in the entire absence of any refer ence to this question in the Church Book kept most carefully by his own hand. To account for this it may be presumed that not being able, perhaps not judging it proper, to make the weekly celebration a term of communion, he most wisely declined introducing into the Book any minutes on a subject on which the Pastor and the members had either come fo no decision, or not to one that was unanimous. Thus he avoided the danger to union and progress, which might have arisen out of a record of disagreement, and also the discomfort which his fine Christian feelings would have had to encounter whenever the sad page met his eye. Such incidents as these, which have their foundation in a character formed into sym metry by the operation of all the Christian graces, are rich in instruction for others ; while the man himself becomes the more attractive as an example, on account of that seclusion from the world within which his wise and holy course was going on. In the summer of this year, he appears to have made an attempt to convey religious instruction to a number of very poor and very ignorant persons living not far from his resi dence, by preaching to them out of doors, and by distributing Tracts : — examples of personal zeal and courage particularly worthy of notice at that early date, when it was evidently an uncommon thing ; and in his own immediate neighbourhood, where unpopularity or the charge of unfashionableness might be the penalty" pf what would be called his indiscretion, or his singularity. The Vicar of the Parish having heard of his conduct, sent him a Letter ; which, with Mr. Pye Smith's answer, will now be given. " Sir, — I think it due to you to acquaint you, that the irre- 156 LETTER TO THE VICAR OF THE PARISH, [l806. gularity into which, I am informed, you have fallen for a few Sunday evenings past, is contrary to the laws of the country, which, I am persuaded it must be no less your desire to observe, than that of every good subject to enforce. I am willing to believe that you will not suspect me of a wish to interfere with the conscientious and legal discharge of what you may feel to be your duty; and that therefore you will receive this intimation in the friendly spirit in which it is intended. " I am, Sir, &c. &c. " Vicarage House, Saturday, 12 July, 1806." Ryde, Isle of Wight, July 22, 1806. " Bev. Sir, — In consequence of having been some time from home, your favour of the 12th inst. did not reach me till last evening. I readily beheve, and feel myself obliged by, ' the friendly spirit in which it was intended ;' and I am happy to have an opportunity of offering to your candid con sideration a frank exposition of the motive and principles on which I have acted. My sentiments, and I hope my habits also, are totally adverse to intemperate measures even in the support of truth, or to disrespectful treatment of any of my fellow-creatures, especially of those who are invested ' with the sacred character, however widely my views of religion's truth may differ from theirs. " An unsought and unexpected opportunity led me to wit ness the deplorable condition of the poor who inhabit some crowded hovels in my neighbourhood. I found their exterior wretchedness even exceeded by their ignorance and profligacy. Some of them are unable, and the majority of them are un willing under various pretexts, to attend at any place of public worship. To see so many immortal and accountable ' beings destitute of the means of religious instruction cannot but excite Christian compassion, whether their being so destitute arise from their misfortune or their criminal neglect. From this sole motive, I have twice ventured, not without some appre hensions of personal hazard, to go to their own doors, and plainly lay before them the rudiments of Christian faith and practice. I have also distributed among them many small tracts, which I hoped might be useful to teach them repent ance and salvation, and the right performance of their duty to MT. 32.] IN DEFENCE OF OUT-OF-DOORS PREACHING. 157 God and man. — It is the former of these, I apprehend, which you (disapprove as ' an irregularity ;' and which you kindly admonish me is ' contrary to the laws of the country.' I trust, sir, that you will not deem it impertinent or unseasonable for me to offer a remark on both these opinions. Indeed, I think it is due to myself as a matter of just defence. " The regularity or irregularity of any act, can only be determined by its comparison with some rule. As a Christian and a minister of the gospel, I acknowledge no rule of duty but the immortal axiom of an illustrious divine of your church, * The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants.' Bringing my conduct, in the instance referred to, to this un questionable rule of authority, and after the utmost impar tiality of comparison, I must confess that it appears to me strictly regular. The commission and the injunctions of our Blessed Saviour to His ministers are the most unlimited con ceivable, as to the place and seasons of their services : and the example of our Lord and His Apostles, who frequently preached in the open air, even though they were not excluded from the Temple and the Synagogues, most decidedly sanction the imitation of them when circumstances render it expedient. " An implicit and punctilious observance of all the laws of our country, (except where the supreme law of God leads me to withhold compliance and patiently to endure the consequences) is a duty which I sedulously teach and conscientiously prac tise. But, with sincere respect and deference to you, I have strong doubts whether the practice alluded to be in reality contrary to the laws of the realm. In this place I have no opportunity of referring to authorities, and for this inability your candour will make allowance in reading what I may observe. But I am entirely mistaken, if preaching out of doors is a violation of the common, the statute, or the ecclesiastical law of England. — That no principle of our ad mirable system of Common Law, nor any decree of the Canon Law, is hostile to this practice, seems fairly to be inferred from the fact, that during the period of seventy years from the sera of the Beformation, numerous instances occur of Bishops and other dignitaries of your communion preaching in open places, and even in a most frequented part of London. — Nor am I aware that any statute exists prohibiting the conduct in question. The Conventicle Act and the Eiot Act seem to 158 ECLECTIC review: [1806. approach the nearest to such a prohibition. To apply the latter would be a ludicrous violence of construction : not to say, that the time legally allowed for dispersion would enable the minister, who might be officiating, peaceably to continue and conclude his service without danger. The Conventicle Act, and the Act of the 1st William and Mary which was designed to enervate it on certain conditions, respect (I think, but submitting to correction) assemblies for religious worship in buildings only. " Upon the whole, I conceive, that though worshipping out of doors be a case not expressly provided for by the protection of the Toleration laws, it is not contrary to the law. Perhaps upon the ground of that ancient and reputable custom which I have mentioned, it would bear an argument that the Common Law recognizes and approves it." The copy, in Mr. Pye Smith's handwriting, ends thus abruptly. He appears to have been in error, in confining the operation of the Conventicle Act to assemblies for religious worship in buildings only. Of this he was apprised in cour teous terms by his clerical neighbour, the Vicar of Hackney ; and there the correspondence closed. His contributions to the Eclectic Review during this year of • new claims on his time must not be overlooked. These were numerous enough to occupy a place in seven of the monthly numbers ; and amounted in the whole to about fifty-four pages. The works which came under his critical examination were— Dr. Priestley's Notes on the Scriptures— -Dr. Priestley's Memoirs- John Mason Good's Translation of Lucretius — Valpy's Greek Grammar — and Neilson's Greek Exercises. Much might be quoted from these articles which would repay the attention of the Scholar, and the Christian minister ; but space can only be afforded for a few passages which are either of general and constant value, or are illustrative of the personal taste, cultiva tion, and convictions of the Author. Socinian and other writers often attempt to impugn the authority of much that is found in the New Testament, by ascribing it to circumstances which were local or temporary ; so as to imply that phraseology, arguments, and appeals which had a suitableness and a use in Apostolic times, have long since s.t. 32.] priestley's notes on the scriptures. 159 lost their force. Against this principle or theory, the Eeviewer thus, puts in his plea : — " While, in order to elucidate the language of the Sacred Books, we admit the propriety of pay ing an adequate attention to the opinions, whether true or erroneous, current at the period when they were written ; we enter our earnest protest against the custom unhappily pre valent, of considering such interpretations as giving the ex clusive, or even the principal design of the inspired writers. This has been the darling aim of many modern interpreters ; and it is not difficult to perceive that their ultimate view is no other than to represent the Word of truth and salvation as a collection of obsolete records, furnishing some good moral precepts ; but as to fa,cts and doctrines, intelligible and interest ing only to the man of learned leisure and critical curiosity. On the contrary, it was the merciful intention of God, in giving these Holy Writings to the world, to teach the whole doctrine of Christ to all the sons of men. The cordial reception of this doctrine is enjoined, under denunciation of the most awful penalties, on all to whom the word of this salvation is sent. It is an impious contradiction to this benevolent pur pose, and an insult to the Scriptures, to treat them as little more than an obscure refutation of recondite, and to the bulk of mankind, absolutely uninteresting opinions." — Eclec. Rev., 1806, p. 107. " Another principle of interpretation, which Dr. P., in com mon with other Socinian writers, applies to the New Testa ment, is the supposition that the language of the sacred writers is so beclouded with extravagant metaphors, obscure allusions, and harsh idioms, that its genuine meaning lies at a very re mote distance from its apparent signification. We are warranted in drawing the conclusion to this extent, by observing the uniform manner of cutting many troublesome knots, which is adopted in the volumes before us. We readily admit that -the Scriptures are written in a style and idiom peculiar to the country, religion, and habits of the writers, and that a correct acquaintance with Jewish literature is a qualification necessary to an interpreter of the Sacred Books. But we are persuaded that the farthest extent to which this principle can be fairly carried, is entirely consistent with the clearness and perspicuity, which should characterise a book intended to be the guide of faith and morals to all the children of men, in every age, 160 eclectic review : [isofl. country, and condition. According to the notions of Dr. P. and his adherents, no book can be less qualified for answeruig its avowed purposes than the New Testament ; no book more unfit to be entrusted to the understandings of the general mass of mankind ; no book more likely to be misapprehended in the most egregious manner. The works of Homer and Herodotus are distinguished by peculiarities of idiom and dialect, in a degree little — if at all — inferior to those which occur in the Apostolic writings. But will any unprejudiced man assert, that close translations of Homer and Herodotus are not intelligible for all the great purposes of history to persons in modern times, who know nothing of Grecian and Ionic learning, and who never made antiquity their study?" — lb. p. 207. The Memoirs of Dr. Priestley above mentioned were written by himself; and therefore were contemplated with deeper in terest by the Eeviewer. The article is referred to here for the sake of a passage, in which Mr. Pye Smith gave strong expression to his sentiments respecting a question of the greatest importance to Theological Institutions. Dr. Priestley received his education for the ministry under Dr. Caleb Ash- worth, Dr. Doddridge's successor : and in that part of his Memoirs which relates to his life while a student, he dwells with evident complacency, not perhaps free from a tinge of satire, on the sort of balance of opinions maintained in the Academy by the extraordinary fact, that the Classical Tutor held and advocated doctrines the reverse of those taught by his Theological Coadjutor ! A wretched state of things cer tainly, whether we look at the design of the Institution ; if indeed it could then be said to have any design ; — at the in fluence of the Tutors;— or at the harmony, sincerity, and progress of the students. " In my time," says Dr. Priestley, "the Academy was in a state peculiarly favourable to the serious pursuit of truth, as the Students were about equally divided upon all the articles of theological orthodoxy and heresy; in consequence of which all these topics were the subjects of continual discussion. Our Tutors also were of different opinions ; Dr. Ashworth taking the orthodox side of every question, and Mr. Clark, the sub-tutor, that of heresy, though always with the greatest modesty." Upon this passage the Eeviewer thus animadverts : — " Truth, and j<:t. 32.] dr. Priestley's memoirs. 161 religious truth above all, loves the light. It has nothing to fear but every advantage to expect, from free inquiry, if the inquiry be indeed Free. But such a state of things as is described in the passage just quoted, may be called any thing more justly than free inquiry, or ' favourable to the serious pursuit of truth.' We speak from Experience. Such disputations as took place at Daventry have a tendency dia metrically opposite to the 'serious pursuit of truth.' The spirit of party, the ambition of superiority, the ostentation of talent, the arts of evasion, the disgrace of defeat, the in solence of conquest, the laugh of the seorner, and the sneer of folly and pride, are the rank weeds of this rotten bed. In such a polluted soil, and amidst its mephitic exhalations, no Holy Disposition can possibly flourish : but by none except holy dispositions will the knowledge of Divine Truth be even desired ; much less will its beauty be discerned, or its pursuit be seriously instituted. This is an axiom which should ever stand first and highest in the elements of sacred erudition. Its neglect is fatal. Its practical possession will lead to the heaven from whence it descended. ' The Scriptures ever assume it as a postulatum summi juris ; and Eeason must become a prostitute to Guilt, before she can be brought to doubt its reality or its importance.". — lb. p. 986.. Throughout his whole career, none ever had a higher con viction of the magnitude and wide bearings of these principles than Dr. Pye Smith. He was not, therefore, now merely uttering important truths from behind the screen supplied- by his office as a Eeviewer, but he spoke to the utmost ,eoi>' ceivable extent a cords. Hence the just and emphatic .appeal made in the passage to the state of the heart and of the affections, as giving from the very cutset that fatal bias to the judgment through the medium of the inclination and passions which, unless a moral change supewened, would ensure a victory on the side of error. Hence, too, that saga cious and generous concern which the Tutor ever manifested,. to effect the triumph of truth in theory and on the field of argument, by securing its triumph as a renewing and sancti fying principle in the moral nature. And this wise and Scriptural course he always kept in sight, in the professor's chair, in the pulpit, and through the medium of the press. Indeed it seems to have been inseparable from him, and M 162 good's TRANSLATION OF LUCRETIUS. [1807. that not so much on the score of propriety and usefulness, as from the true instincts of his own spiritual life. And the wonder is, that any person can expect to discover what a Bevelation from God really contains, except as he becomes in character and conduct what that Bevelation requires him to be. — " If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." The following passages from his review of Good's Trans lation of Lucretius, axe characteristic. " In the business of translation, there is a wide distinction between works purely addressed to the understanding, and those which are designed to engage the passions and excite the imagination. The former may with nearly unimpaired advantage be rendered into any language that is possessed of sufficient terms, and is sus ceptible of perspicuity and precision. The case is far different with compositions of the latter order. In poetry the con ceptions form only one essential part; the port and habit constitute another. The first may be translated, but the latter can at best be only imitated : and for any version fully to represent those essential characteristics of its original, the translator obviously should possess a degree of poetical genius and versatility of talent, even superior to the original author. How arduous, next perhaps to impossibility; . must be the attempt to produce a, worthy version of those great and exalted works of antiquity which are — in the truest sense — originals. Wondrous indeed must be that translation, which, faithful and spirited as it may be, does not deprive them of their characteristic peculiarities; as the most careful trans portation of some tropical plants from their native habitation to more rugged regions, though by skill and diligence they may be preserved in life, yet deprives them of their fragrance, beauty, and fruitfulness. Hence professed imitations may be frequently considered as conveying a more just idea of the character and peculiar merit of the best Greek and Eoman Poets, than any direct translations. " The mere reader of Pope or Cowper, pre-eminent as their very different excellences are, forms a less perfect conception of what Homer is, than the man who, with true taste and enthusiasm, derives his ideas by analogy from the study of Paradise Lost. The satire* I' of Pope and Boileau may be taken as a better specimen of the JET. 33.] DEATH OF A STUDENT. 163 Horatian manner, than any avowed version of the delicate and good humoured, yet pointed castigation of folly and vice in the Augustan age." — lb. p. 604. Speaking of Classical Studies and Biblical Literature, he says: — *' The pursuits are not inconsistent with each other, as has been frequently and honourably demonstrated ; and we hope will; be still further shewn by increasing attestations. To the ministers of the gospel especially, and to students for the sacred office, we earnestly recommend the ardour for pre eminence in ( the acquisition of solid classical attainments, in order to consecrate them to the service of the Divine Ee deemer. Their understanding, their taste, their dignity, and their usefuhiess, will hence derive inexpressible accessions. What Horace has so justly said on the subserviency of cul tivation to genius, may with equal justice be accommodated in this case ; * Alterius sic Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice.'" lb. p. 696. Touching as the narrative now does upon Classical ques tions, the following note, written by Mr. Pye Smith in pencil on the fly leaf at the end of his copy of the Iliad, may find a place here : — "Having attentively read over this immortal poem,- I must venture to say, that in simplicity, tenderness, and majesty it stands far above any rival among human productions ; but that in all those qualities, it falls inexpressibly short of the writings of Moses and Isaiah, and the discourses of the Lord Jesus. "I think there is a striking resemblance in the genius and style of Homer and of Moses." At the beginning of the year 1807, the Church Book con tains the following entry : — " January 5, a little before ten in the evening, our dear and greatly valued brother, Mr. George Hall, Junior, departed to his eternal rest. He was not quite nineteen years old. During the short course of his Christian life, he was a bright example of a truly Christ like and heavenly temper and conduct." This young man at the date of his death, had been about two years a member m 2 164 BRIEF MEMOIR [l807. of the Church under Mr. Pye Smith's care, and also a Student at the College somewhat longer. Thus a twofold tie existed between the parties. But in this instance there were bonds incomparably stronger than these outward and formal ones ; the evidence of which is supplied in a Brief Memoir which the Tutor prepared, as an introduction of about twenty pages to a selection of more than fifty from Mr. Hall's papers. The early training of the young man — the characteristics of his piety— his deep humility, love of retirement, earnest devotional habits — would attract the sympathies of his Pastor at an unusual number of important points. "He laid a good foundation in Latin and Greek letters at a respectable Grammar School : . but disadvantage- ously to his progress in Classical learning, he was removed in his fourteenth year, in order that he might embrace a favourable opportunity of beginning a course of medical studies. In this new situation, his ardent thirst for know ledge was remarkably evinced. He acquired in the three years thus occupied, a knowledge of chemistry, physiology, and the theory of medicine, so comprehensive and accurate, as to be a distinguished proof of his talents and industry." Speaking of a later period, when religion had set up its authority, we are told — that "it penetrated his whole soul, it elevated and sanctified his whole character, and it furnished instruction and holy excitement to all who had the happiness to know him." And later still, when Mr. Hall was a Student at Homerton, — " In this situation his character and deport ment were in the fullest accordance with the hopes enter tained of him. Unremitting diligence in study, a remark able preference of solitude, a most sweet and humble modesty, kind and amiable manners, deep and unaffected devotion, and exemplary self-government, were his distinguishing character istics. His tutors and fellow-students are. witnesses, and God also, how holily, and righteously, and unblameably he behaved himself among them. With a melancholy pleasure they cherish the memory of his exalted claims to their affection and imitation." — " No impertinent attempts were made to penetrate his sacred privacies; but there is abundant evi dence that he spent a very large proportion of his time in secret prayer. He well knew, and he practically exemplified the fact, that delight and frequency in that grand duty of the JET. 33.] OF MR. GEORGE HALL. 165 Christian are at once the means and the indication of all holy proficiency. During his residence in the Academy, he has been heard at the dead of night, when he supposed that no observation could reach him, to be most ardently pour ing out his soul to God. Nor was it possible for him to conceal the appropriated hours, or the sanctified influence of his devotional exercises. "In the month of November, 1806, the disease, which had been retarded but never eradicated, returned with symptoms of incurable strength and rapid progress. During his few remain ing days of weakness and languishing, Mr. Hall was a most in structive example of the power of pure and humble godliness. As in his whole previous course of rehgion he ever appeared at the greatest distance from all irrational enthusiasm, so in his last days the flame of holiness burned in him most brightly, as the noble exercise of sanctified reason. To ecstacies and raptures he made no pretensions, and he never spoke of his ap proaching great change but in a deeply solemn manner. He always manifested the most awful impressions of the infinite importance of Death and the Eternal World, while he anticipated his evidently approaching change with placid cheerfulness and undismayed hope." The selection from Mr. Hall's papers shows his thoughtful ness and piety and a clearness of style, which promised much for his usefulness and even celebrity had life been prolonged. The. last among them is further remarkable for having antici pated a great social movement, which took place several years after his time, when what is called the Temperance Cause began to be advocated. It is " On the impropriety of using wine, or spirits, as an ordinary beverage," and evinces the inde pendent opinion of a young man who had at one time been a diligent student of the human frame, and then subsequently had devoted himself to the Christian ministry. The paper closes thus: — "At last these stimulants can produce no action; of course, the weaker ones cannot, whose benign and lasting influence has been dispensed with and usurped. Thus the unenviable Bacchanalian dies prematurely, a victim to his senses so delusive when uhgoverned by reason: a victim to inattention to the loud and, repeated admonitions of that faithful monitor, Nature; whose laws, the bitter experience of thousands has proved, are never broken with impunity, l&Q PIETY THE GREAT ATTRACTION TO THE TUTOR. [l80T. and of whose laws many have found the faithfulness in a good old age, and a peaceful descent to that resting place whither we are all hastening, the grave. Can words then express the folly of using wine as a beverage, or of. those who slaughter their children with this dreadful liquor, ere their lips can tell them to desist, and who plant among their earliest ideas the belief, that this liquor is as needful, useful, and innocent as the bread they eat." Besides the interest which attaches to the Brief Memoir of Mr. Hall considered in its relation to him, it is of use here as serving to show the order of mind which most strongly engaged the attention and respect of his Pastor and Tutor. The qualities by which the former was distinguished were, with a remarkable degree of similarity, found also in the character and even habits of the latter. Here was a young man fond of retirement, early trained in classical learning, and then diligent in treasuring up the facts and principles of science, and with a temper and deportment every way admir able. Yet even these powerful claims on the sympathies of the elder of the two would not have secured their object, if the piety of the younger had not been seen as it were overtopping and crowning all his other excellences. No eminence in Classi cal learning, no scientific attainments, no general decorum of behaviour, can meet the high behests of the Christian minis try, if real, earnest, deep piety were wanting : and this the Tutor not only knew as a fact, but felt and revered as a great first principle. Cases would occur where the piety was finely developed in the temper and life of a young man, but where perhaps there was not either the aptitude or even the desire for knowledge, which the Tutor always rejoiced to witness; but the respect and affection which he was sure to manifest towards the " Christ-like " student, never left any room for doubt as to what he deemed the highest objects of value. It was singularly instructive, often deeply admonitory and quick ening, to see and to feel the sympathies of such a Tutor going out in quest of a piety akin to his own ;— seeking this in that circle which formed his Theological Class ; and when it was found, what efforts did he make still more to draw forth, and improve the quality of the very thing of which he was in search! Few of the number could avoid observing that JET. 33.] ECLECTIC REVIEW. lb 7 neither his learning nor their studies, were allowed for one moment to hold the chief place in his estimation and culture ; but that this was reserved exclusively for Divine Claims — in him and in them to be held supreme over all others. The .following passages from Letters to one who had re cently left the Academy, and who was not settled in a pastoral charge, will accord fully with the above suggestions. " My Dear Freend, — My unfeigned wish and prayer is that you may be truly holy, useful, happy, and humble. Christian humility, indeed, is the grand secret for the acquisition and sweetest enjoyment of all real good. I rejoice in every pleasing circumstance of your prospects ; but it will be your wisdom to expect the rising of some clouds. However, the meekness of wisdom, a conscientious following of the lowly Immanuel, a readiness for the self-denying cross, will carry us through every possible difficulty, in the strength of our Lord." And in a subsequent Letter : — " Under all these circumstances, what can I advise ? Does it not seem as if the Lord were ' hedging up your way with thorns,' in order to try your love and willingness to serve Him in a hard and rugged path ? — I do, indeed, see very great objections to your settlement at . Yet they are objections arising from difficulties, and difficulties should never deter us from duty. God often tries His people by calling them to very hard and self-denying services, that they may feel at once their own weakness, and the rich provision of all-sufficiency in Christ." Compared with the former year, Mr. Pye Smith's contribu tions to the Eclectic in 1807 were brief. They embrace a work on Natural Philosophy, by Margaret Bryan : and the Biblio graphical Dictionary and Miscellany by the late Dr. Adam Clarke. To these must be added an article in the number for March on an edition of Herodotus, in 7 vols. — printed at the Edinburgh University press under the superintendence of Professor Dunbar. As Professor Porson had edited the Clio, and then had left the work to be carried on by other hands, the Eeviewer took occasion to express an opinion, which, indeed, he would at times repeat to his students, and which was shared in by most persons who had heard of the 168 ORIGIN OF MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL. [l807. pre-eminent abilities of the great Cambridge scholar : — " From the superlative talents of Professor Porson, and from the obligations which he owes to his friends and admirers for all the deference with which they have treated him, we cannot but wish that he had employed himself, with the energy and resolution of which he is so capable, in an actual revision and restitution of the text of the great Father of History. It is deplorable that his amazing erudition and fertile genius should exist for so little benefit to the literary world, and honour to himself. What are the Letters to Gibbon, and the four tragedies of Euripides, in the long course of twenty years ?" The following passage will be at once recognised as eminently characteristic by all who knew much of Dr. Pye Smith ; — " The Latin translation of Lorenzo Valla, as revised by Gronovius, is printed at the foot of each page. Mr. Dunbar in his sensible preface, justly laments his having been compelled thus to subserve the commands of the book seller, and the laziness of school-boys. We do not know how the case is in Scotland, but we think that an intelligent bookseller ought to have reflected, that by Greek scholars in England and Germany the obtrusion of the Latin version will be deemed a blot and a deformity to the beautiful pages of this edition. The same price, we doubt not, would have been cheerfully paid, had this encumbrance been banished, even if the lines had been doubly or trebly leaded to fill up the page ; or if the laziness of the tyro must be compli mented, though to his own ultimate injury, why was not the translation printed separately ?" The Protestant Dissenters' Grammar School, at Mill Hill, near Hendon, Middlesex, owes its formation in no small degree to the zeal of Mr. Pye Smith. With him the idea is understood to have originated, of an Institution intended to secure a first-rate Classical and Mathematical education, together with the most diligent attention to the moral and religious training of the pupils:— an idea which has been subsequently copied and carried out by the settmg up of similar establishments in various parts of the country. The Institution, which was founded in 1807, was based on the catholic principle, of including among its patrons and friends, MT. 33.] DIPLOMA FROM YALE COLLEGE. 169 good men of various Nonconformist denominations, who agreed in the principal doctrines of Christianity. The late Eev. Joseph Hughes, Dr. Waugh, Dr. Winter, and a number of gentlemen whose names will occur in a subsequent page, took an active part in setting forward this important design. But to none was the School indebted for a warmer interest, or for more untiring services of almost every kind, than to the Homerton Tutor. Besides his readiness to aid in every case of emergency, when difficulties occurred in the management, when new Tutors were required, or when in later years a Chaplain was appointed, his attendance at the quarterly ex amination of the scholars was kept up with an assiduity and perseverance, which must often have put to a severe test even his indomitable energy. The whole of one day and a part of two others, was consumed- by this labour of love : and as the distance from Homerton to Mill Hill amounted to ten miles, it was at times with great personal toil, and perhaps some risk in the earlier years, that the journey to and fro was accom plished. Yet, as by the constancy of his attendance he could secure an accurate knowledge of the diligence and progress of the pupils from quarter to quarter, no ordinary impediment was allowed to keep him away. — And of this Institution in all its relations, as well as in regard to several other enterprises which he undertook in comparatively early life, he continued a stanch friend and a most active supporter, down to the very time when his strength finally failed. For his measure of service, the regularity and duration of it must ever be deemed extraordinary. An energy, which at the outset might look like the effect of a sudden impulse, would be sustained for years and years at so high an elevation as to prove it to be solely the result of conscientious principle. Duty animated by ardent feeling — the one supplying the rule and the other the life of his conduct — is the secret of his long course of strenuous labour in so many forms of public usefulness. During this year Mr. Pye Smith received the first of the many honorary distinctions conferred upon him. A diploma of Doctor of Divinity was presented to him by Yale College, New- haven, Connecticut. It bears date, Sept. 10, 1807, and has the signature of Timothy Dwight, who was at that time President of the College. The Letters to Belsham secured for their Author 170 HIS YORKSHIRE PROPERTY. [1807. this mark of respect from one of the oldest of the American foundations for the advancement of piety and learning. Mention was made in a former chapter of the purchase of some freehold property in Yorkshire, which took place this year. -The great delay which occurred in completing the arrangements, and the subsequent expenditure of money in repairs and alterations — together with the consequent per? plexity and complaints which arose — brought out traits of cha racter of an altogether uncommon kind. It so happened that Dr. Pye Smith's father had entered with great warmth,; of feeling into the son's plans: and as the property lay in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, the elder Mr. Smith undertook the management. The Letters which Dr. Smith had to write on these complicated affairs, between September, 1807, and the middle of 1810, reveal the following facts : — a very large consumption of time, very great mental anxiety, and a most exact method of keeping a record of all pecuniary transactions ; involving an extent of labour in this business alone which few men could have endured as he did : and yet in what a variety of other duties, public and private, was he constantly occupied during these corroding years ! Next, there would be the re spect, the kindness, the affection, which he ever maintained towards his father, though he was feeling deeply the con sequences of plans and projects which had originated at Sheffield. To this would be added — not simply the gene rosity, but the delicacy and tenderness which he expressed respecting the claims or interests of his tenants, as compared with his own. If he felt, as well he might, that he had fallen suddenly into a sea of difficulties of the most appalling kind, his character and conduct were equal to the emergency ; for he was enabled by Infinite Grace to struggle through without any appearance of harshness or severity towards others, and with scarcely a ruffle on his own Christian temper. Or if he thought, as perhaps he occasionally did, that he had been too precipitate, too eager, to embrace the prospect of worldly advantage which offered, he would have in his deep contrition a motive for patience under the discipline, and even for pro found acquiescence in it, as the just and merciful interposition of Infinite Wisdom and Love. Early in the trial, and there fore before he was deeply immersed in perplexity and toil, he JET. 33.] HIS YORKSHIRE PROPERTY. 171 wrote thus to his father : — " But how much reason have we to guard lest our minds become earthly, from the effect of these thoughts and attentions ! Indeed I find it very difficidt to keep my own heart from imbibing a carnal and worldly tincture while I am thinking, planning, and writing, about these matters. 0 that our hearts may be kept pure, humble, spiritual^ and universally obedient to the Lord Jesus ! " And again somewhat later: — "I now especially find the need of more spirituality, watchfulness, and prayer, lest these worldly cares corrode and destroy the vitals of religion. How miser able it would be to gain the whole world and lose our own souls ! " CHAPTEE XI. RESIGNS RESIDENT TUTORSHIP— SELF-EXAMINATION AND HOLY WATCHFUL NESS — HIS TUTORIAL DUTIES — DEAFNESS — ADVICE TO A YOUNG MINIS TER — ECLECTIC REVIEW: MIDDLETON ON THE GREEK ARTICLE — LETTER FROM DR. MIDDLETON — IMPROVED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT — VARIOUS READINGS — ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE FOUR GOSPELS — BUTLER'S EDITION OF STANLEY'S jESCHYLUS — LETTER FROM DR. BUTLER — HIS NUMEROUS ENGAGEMENTS — ECLECTIC "REVIEW. Although from the date of Dr. Pye Smith's settlement at Homerton, no period had been more to his personal satisfac tion and comfort than that which immediately followed the vacation of 1807, yet in December of that year he addressed a Letter to the Treasurer of the Institution, " signifying his desire to resign the office of Eesident Tutor." On the 29th a General Meeting of the Society was held, when the Letter was read, on which the resolution was passed which has been already noticed : — " That the Treasurer be desired to express to Mr. Smith in the most respectful terms their acceptance of his * resignation of his situation of Eesident Tutor of the Academy ; and that feeling the due value of his labours, they trust he will continue to execute the functions of Divinity Tutor." If this most unexpected change fell as a heavy trial at the moment when it occurred, it was not long before he found in the greater retirement and perhaps quietude of a separate residence, a relief from some cares and claims upon his time which he would highly prize. His sincere friends, whether personal or in relation to his office, would also rejoice at the change : the one for his own sake as a man, and the other because thenceforward his intercourse with the Students and 2ET. 34.] SELF-EXAMINATION AND HOLY WATCHFULNESS. 173 his influence on their characters, would not be put to any peril by circumstances in no way properly connected with his work as a Theological Tutor. A paper, which appears to have been written in reference to some of the personal difficulties which Dr. Smith had to encounter at this trying season, will show his conscientious and most sensitive self- scrutiny ; and the means which he used to bring his feelings and his conduct into conformity with the authority of Christ : — "Have I duly considered my sad defects of that meekness, which is very often and forcibly enjoined hi the New Testa ment ? Am I sufficiently impressed with a sense of its neces sity ? Does not the Scripture plainly teach that without it, I cannot hope to be in a state of salvation ?¦ — In what does Christian meekness consist, but in a constant disposition to bear slights and personal affronts with submissive patience, with benevolent pity for the authors of them, with generous forgiveness, and without any emotions of anger, resentment, or unkindness towards them? The choice is before me. Either to be what I profess, ' meek and lowly in heart,' like my Blessed Lord : or to be otherwise, and so ' have my portion with hypocrites and unbelievers.' If I be thus a follower of Jesus, I shall 'find rest to my soul.' I shall not be disturbed, agitated, and filled with alarming fears and apprehensions : I shall not be moved to anxiety, grief, or resentment, by the unjust or unkind treatment of relations and friends ; for I deeply feel that I deserve infinitely worse. On the contrary, I shall endeavour, by a conduct regulated according to the New Testament precepts and the example of my Lord and Master, to merit respect and love from men, and leave it to the Lord whether I have it or not." In February, 1808, Dr. Smith took possession of a house in the neighbourhood, and Mr. Hill, who had the Classical department, went to reside at, the Academy. Just to show the esteem in which the retiring Tutor was held, a Student writing to him in August, 1808, says — " I have always acknow ledged, and I shall have reason to say with my dying breath, that you are the most devoted and exemplary Christian that ever I knew. . . . All the improvement and knowledge which I possess, I owe to your exertions." The duties of the Theological Tutor having been so honour- 174 HIS TUTORIAL DUTIES. [l808. ably* mentioned by the Constituents of the Institution, and that at a time when he requested to withdraw from his place as resident ; it may now be proper to give an account of what these were, as far as the existing materials supply the necessary in formation. A brief extract from a Letter of his own, addressed this year to one of the Treasurers, will be a suitable introduc tion. " The Lectures given by Dr. Fisher and Mr. Knight were solely on Divinity and Ecclesiastical History, and the longest time ever employed in them did not exceed four hours and a half in any one week. In addition to those subjects, my engagements include an extensive course of Lectures on Science and General Literature, and the care of the highest Greek and Hebrew Classes. The usual time which my Lectures occupyis three hours and a half daily." — How was this time employed ?— The basis of Dr. Smith's strictly Theological course was fur nished by a quarto volume, prepared by himself, and called his Syllabus of Divinity ; and of which every Student was expected to write out a copy by the time he entered the theological class.* Two purposes were answered simultaneously by the manuscript volume : to the Tutor it was the text book of a series of expanded Lectures on the topics which it contained ; taking them in their order, and pursuing them at a length according to their respective degrees of importance in a scheme of systematic divinity. This course extended over three or four years. To the Student, the Syllabus was also a text book, supplying him with topics and references to appropriate Authors ; and these he was expected to use in preparing written compositions of his own, which it formed an important part of his duty to submit to the examination of the Tutor. Dr. Smith and the Student were alone on these occasions; when the former would take the Student's manuscript and read it, making any remarks or emendations with the tongue or pen as he went along ; the latter hearing and seeing in the meanwhile. No restraint was put upon these communications. Not merely the truth or error of the sentiments of the' young man, not merely the defects of his style, but his handwriting, his punctuation, everything in fact which seemed to require or be eapable of alteration for the better, would be pointed- out in the * This work, in the more complete form to which it was carried in later years, and under the title of First Lines of Christian Theology, is about to be published :— edited by the Rev. "William Farrer, LL.B.— Ed. JET. 34.] HIS TUTORIAL DUTIES. 175 most affectionate spirit that can be conceived. Nor would the weightiest of all claims, those, namely, of personal piety, fail to be enforced by suitable cautions or commendations. The Students were not always required to begin where the Syllabus began ; but having obtained permission, they were at liberty to take up some particular book into which the work was divided : nor were they expected to go on with the same portions at the same time, either among themselves or with the Tutor. Thus there were fewer inducements to plagiarism, and greater independence of thought was secured. Although this plan necessarily drew largely on the time of Dr. Smith, yet it gave to each particular Student very many of the ad vantages of private instruction. The culture of each one's mind, and heart was, to this extent at least, carried on by means which seemed specially designed for his benefit ; to individualize in this dehcate manner, afforded a tolerably sure guarantee of success. And as there was nothing whatever in the Tutor which could be called stereotyped, his personal intercourse with every member of his class was admirably adapted to elicit the largest amount of good, which could be secured in conformity with the mental and moral character of each. Ecclesiastical History came next in the order of duties. Four manuscript volumes remain to attest the Tutor's dili gence in this department. These as well as the Syllabus of Divinity, and other courses of Lectures, were compiled gra dually as they were needed ; but in the early years of his office, besides the business of the class-room there would be a, demand upon his time in preparation, which would not be called for to the same extent in later years. His routine of duty also included regular courses of Lectures on Biblical Antiquities and Criticism, on Polemical Divinity, and the Exegesis of the New Testament. To these must be added Lectures on Mental and Moral Philosophy — Bhetoric — various branches of Natural Science — all of which he was anxious. to keep before the attention of his class to the utmost limit of time and ability. It also appears from his note book of " Sub jects iof Sermons and Theses," that from the commencement of his labours as a Theological Tutor, Dr. Smith began a practice which he continued to the close of his office : — that of appointing the Students in rotation to deliver a dis course before himself and the class as a pulpit exercise. 176 ADVICE TO A YOUNG MINISTER. [l808. With such demands on the " three hours and a half daily," and with the allied preparation, had he not had extraordinary attainments and an extraordinary power and facility of vigor ous apphcation, he never could have met the claims of his position at that time at the College, his duties as a Pastor, his services as a Eeviewer; to say nothing of the manifold and most embarrassing cares which lay wholly out of the reach of the public eye, and which not only eat their way into what might be called his leisure, but into his very heart also. For nearly the whole of his public life — as was but too well known among his numerous Friends — Dr. Smith was afflicted with deafness, which increased so much that at length it was only with great difficulty he could be made to receive com munications by the ear. The earliest references to this trial are found in Letters to his father in April and June this year. In the latter of the two, when he was anticipating a visit to Sheffield during the College vacation, he speaks of the necessity of declining engagements to preach : — " Not only is it necessary for me to relax as much as possible on common accounts, but I have within these twelve days had an attack of fever, from which I have but just recovered ; and I am under Mr. Astley Cooper's treatment for my ear." Thus briefly, and as it were incidentally, does he pass over what was personal to himself. Having been applied to by a young minister respecting the Questions usual at Ordination Services, he wrote in reply : — " My Dear Brother, — I quite accord with' you in disliking the egotism and tiresomeness of constantly reiterating ' I be lieve.' But the form of an Essay is not, I think, adapted to the occasion. The Confession should resemble a declara tion of important facts : its composition should be grave, un adorned, precise, condensed so that every word should be weighty : and the spirit which it manifests in every sentence, should be a happy junction of firm conviction, and deep and modest humility. I presume also you would do well to have, either at the opening or the close of your confession, a very serious declaration that these are your sentiments on de liberate, free, and patient inquiry and frequent prayer. But avoid the appearance of seeming to think yourself fixed and .ET. 34.] ECLECTIC REVD3W. 177 infallible. Stedfast adherence to truth is perfectly consistent with modest diffidence — not of God's word — but of our own understanding." When Dr. Middleton's work, On the Doctrine of the Greek Article, appeared in 1808, it was put into Dr. Pye Smith's hands to be reviewed for the Eclectic. The papers came out in three successive numbers of that journal, and amounted in the whole to thirty pages. In conformity with the principle of selecting passages, by way of illustrating the personal or literary characteristics of the Eeviewer, the following will not be devoid of interest. "After having studied this elaborate and comprehensive volume with an attention which few publications deserve, we venture to assure the lover of classical and sacred philology that it will not delude his expectation. It is modest in pre tension, but in execution it displays extensive and well- employed erudition, an acute and discriminating judgment, and a talent of reasoning, patient, cautious, comprehensive and conclusive." — Eclec. Rev. 1808, p. 674. " The Student who is desirous of imbibing the pure streams of Grecian learning, secure from the deterioration of sub sequent ages, cannot be too earnestly exhorted to the assidu ous study of the oldest writers in the Ionic dialect, and above all of Homer. We have often lamented that in the universal plan of teaching in our schools, the common Greek, which was generally used by authors after the fall of Grecian liberty and the decline of Grecian genius, but which at no time was vernacular, is taught as if it were the pure idiom ; and youth are led implicitly to beheve that the Ionic and Attic were pro vincial deflexions from a common standard. It would be happy if the assumption of this gross and pernicious error were precluded by the use of an Ionic Grammar and Lexicon for initiation in Greek learning : and if some of our Burneys and Porsons would furnish the means for this improvement, the condescension would not degrade them." — lb. p. 675. Having given a very full outline, of the principles of the work in their relation to Classical Greek, the Eeviewer pro ceeds : — " We have now completed our view of the leading principles of Mr. Middleton's system : but for the fuller elucidation of these principles, for the admirable strain of 178 MIDDLETON ON THE GREEK ARTICLE. [l808. reasoning on their common basis, their respective applica tion, and their mutual consistency, and for the fruits of extensive erudition which adorn the whole, we must refer to the work itself. In our estimation, that scholar will have little reason to felicitate himself on his parsimony or his indolence, who neglects to obtain it, and to peruse it atten tively. The examples are in general selected from the ample collections of Mr. M. Occasionally we have substituted others, partly from a motive of convenience, and partly for the sake of giving additional light and confirmation to the rules. We have not satisfied ourselves, without diligently reading and comparing them in their respective connexions ; and to assist the reader in the same exercise, we have imitated Mr. M. in the particularity of our references, though we have seldom copied his notation. " It would be an arrogant pretension to affirm, that we have put Mr. M.'s doctrines to the test of an application to all the facts in the use of the article, throughout the vast extent of Grecian learning. Much remains to be done before either an advocate or an opponent can occupy this high ground. Thou sands of examples must be compared ; many readings must be weighed again in the balance of impartial and vigorous criti cism ; and scholars must imitate Mr. M.'s patience in amassing materials, his judgment and skill in examining them, and his candour and caution in forming the deductions from the scrutiny. Concerning the result of an universal investigation thus instituted and perfected, we have no anxiety either for the fate of the system or the honours of its Author. " In our own ' subsecive ' moments of conference with the ' mighty dead,' we have endeavoured to carry the recollection and comparison of Mr. M.'s observations through a moderately extensive course of reading in the Ionic, and the old and new Attic writers. Though these observations have been less numerous than we could wish, they have been of various nature, and in their issue very satisfactory to our own minds. Examples have occurred which appeared at first sight to militate against the system ; but the increasing habit of accurate attention has convinced us that they were really in accordance with it ; while to an amount beyond expectation, we have noted the recurrence ofthe mostdecided confirmations of therules." — lb. pp. 778, 779. " The Second Part of his elaborate work consists of, the £IT. 84.] LETTER FROM DR. MTDDLETON. 179 application of the Doctrine, established and elucidated in the first, to the most valuable of all purposes, the Illustration of the New Testament. The intelligent public will not need to be instructed that Scholia, many of which are large Disserta tions, by a critic like Dr. M.,* on more than seven hundred passages of the Christian oracles, must be a treasure of singular worth."— lb. p. 869. The following Letter from the learned Author of the work thus ably analysed and examined will be read with interest : — " Dr. Middleton begs leave to present his compliments to the Eclectic Eeviewer of the ' Doctrine of the Greek Article,' and to express a deep sense of obligation to the very learned, though unknown Critic. To thank him, whose duty requires him to act with strict impartiality, for a favourable decision — however grateful it may be to the object of that decision — is injurious to him who has given it : yet, in the present case, there are circumstances which admit and demand acknowledgment. Dr. M. has to acknowledge something more valuable than vague and general commendation : he has to rejoice that his work has fallen into the hands of a real scholar, of one who is more than competent to corroborate its principles if true, and to expose their weakness if false : he has to thank the Eeviewer for his patience in developing a Theory, which perhaps is not im mediately apprehended, and for the pains which he has taken to elucidate it to others who possess not the same perseverance. And from the extended examination of his Essay in the re spectable Journal in which it has first appeared, he ventures to hope that he shall obtain more than superficial notice from other Critics, whose prejudices may be hostile to the truths which Dr. M. has endeavoured to support. " Tansor, Northamptonshire, " 10 August, 1808." In the year 1809, Dr. Pye Smith was still more largely em ployed in preparing articles for the Eclectic. The first was a review of the so-called Improved Version of the New Testament, issued by the Unitarian party. To the examination of this volume he evidently devoted the most patient thought, not sparing time or labour to effect in a satisfactory manner the * Just before the publication of this third part of the review in the Eclectic, the Mr. Middleton of the former parts had received his diploma of D.D. — Ed. N 2 180 ECLECTIC REVIEW: [1809. great object of reviewing it at all ; which was to secure for him self, and to be able to show to others, an accurate and a well- compacted estimate of its true character and claims. The re view occupies in the whole about forty-five pages of rather close print. To propitiate and perhaps also to admonish a class of persons in the Christian Church, far more numerous when the article was written than at the present day, the Eeviewer, as one who could discern the signs of the times, thus writes :— " The friends of that religious system which we regard as founded in the perfect attributes and government of God, and as delivered by his inspired messengers, have been too inattentive to some of the means of educing and confirming its doctrines. Occupied, certainly to much better purpose^ in bearing the fruits of faith, the works of evangelical benevolence and practical holiness," they have not sufficiently adverted, to the necessity of Critical Philology, an object of great, though of subordinate importance for the students and advocates of Divine truth : the objects are by no means incompatible, and attention to one neither requires nor justifies neglect of the other. Of this neglect, however, a very different class of men addicted to study or speculation, and adversaries of sentiments which we deem scripturally pure, have carefully availed themselves ; and have employed their more abundant leisure in acquiring, and partially applying, the great resources of scriptural criticism. Hence the cause of error has often enjoyed a triumph to which it had no legitimate, claim; and that of revealed truth has been unconsciously betrayed by incompetent or injudicious defenders. We trust that the augmented efforts of its opponents will urgently stimulate its friends. The result of accurate research and impartial conclusion, furnished by competent learning judiciously em ployed, and accompanied by candour and integrity of spirit, cannot but be highly favourable to the advancement pf scrip tural knowledge. To accomplish this desirable purpose, let them candidly acknowledge and cordially imitate ,-^above all, let them scorn to depreciate — the laudable researches of those in whom they are compelled to behold so much that demands condemnation or regret. It was one of the resolutions of the admirable President Edwards, thankfully to accept of .ET. 35.] IMPROVED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 181 light or instruction from any quarter, though it were from a child or an enemy." — Eclec. Rev. 1809, pp. 24, 25. Having given a short account of ,the Authorised Version, the Eeviewer proceeds to examine the following questions. " Were the Hebrew and Greek languages, considered merely as languages, as well understood by the learned in 1607 as they are now in 1809 ? — Was the peculiar phraseology of the scriptural writers, especially in application to the New Testa ment, properly known and attended to, as it has been in more recent times ? — Were the means and opportunities which King James's Translators actually possessed, employed in the best and fairest manner for the improvement and perfection of their great work ? — Did the translators use a becoming care and precision in the selection of English words and phrases ; so that their terms should originally, and still, notwithstanding the lapse of two centuries, suggest the most proper and faithful idea of the original ? " — To these inquiries an answer is given in the negative, sustained in each case by illustrations and proofs : yet, as might be supposed from the impartial and benevolent spirit of the critic, in a style as remote as possible from what might be called slashing or condemnatory. He adds — " We do not wish to see our common version, now become venerable by age and prescription, superseded by another entirely neiv ; every desirable purpose would be satis factorily attained by a. faithful and well-conducted Revision." The next step enters briefly on the history of the Greek Text, which by the then recent completion of Griesbach's edition of the New Testament, the Eeviewer at that time believed to be " exhibited in a state so nearly approaching to its original and native form, as to exclude all probable expectation of any material improvement from future collations and critical labours:" — a judgment which has been in the main confirmed by subsequent inquiries in the same hue. And as the Improved version professed to follow Griesbach's text, in this respect the ground was common to the Eeviewer and the work which he had undertaken to examine. Here, however, an important, indeed the most important part of his duty began : — " our Eeaders " — he says — " may fairly expect us to point out the most signal instances in which this Text 182 ECLECTIC REVIEW : [l809. adopts readings different from those of the Eeceived Text ; and affecting, or supposed to affect, the sense and meaning of im portant passages. A small number of those instances possess a theological importance, as they bear some relation to the great controversy concerning the Person of Christ. This cir cumstance, through a lamentable defect of judgment and candour on both sides of that question, has led to some unhappy results. (1.) It has induced some injudicious de fenders of the truth, by pertinaciously contending for readings demonstrably spurious, to violate the indisputable rules of moral evidence, or to make erroneous assertions as to par ticular facts of that evidence ; and thus to bring dishonour up on the sacred cause which they have so unworthily maintained. (2.) The adversaries, therefore, of the great doctrine of the Eedeemer's Deity have boldly drawn the inference, that its assertors have no other foundation for this grand article of their faith than corruptions of the Scriptural Text. We earnestly hope, for the sake both of the truth itself, and of its misguided opposers, that the time is fast approaching when none but sound evidence shall be produced in behalf of a just cause : and when there will be no chance of evils again arising like those which we have here deplored."-^ lb. p. 237. This is followed by five pages, each divided into four columns, arranged to show all the most important variations in the several books of the New Testament, the Apocalypse excepted. The first column contains the passages as given in King James's version; — the second, the Eeceived Text;— the third, Griesbach's Text; — and the fourth, the passages as in the Improved Version. The labour expended upon these pages at a time when such comparative views were not to be had simply by copying, must have been very great : yet it was in this way that the Author was accustomed to work out results for his own satisfaction, no less than for the benefit of others ; — the pains bestowed giving him a kind of property in his acquisitions which scarcely any lapse of years could impair. To obviate the surprise which a large class of Bible-Beaders would be apt to feel at the number of variations from the Eeceived Text, the Eeviewer first explains the several probable .ET. 35.] VARIOUS READINGS. 183 sources of error in the existing manuscripts of the New Testa ment, giving as he goes along appropriate examples ; he then enters on a careful examination of the three passages around which the highest controversial interest has accumulated — Acts xx. 28. 1 Tim. iii. 16. and 1 John v. 7, 8. His judgment appears to have been made up in regard to each of the three at that early day, precisely as he was known to state his views in print or speaking to the end of his life : and the latest critical editions of the Greek Testament by Lachmann and Tischendorf are in favour of his decision. The Eeader will be pleased with his closing remarks on this branch of the subject : — " We have thought it right to enter thus minutely into the literary history of these texts, both from that regard, to truth which is our first duty to the public, and because we beheve that many good men have felt considerable anxiety on account of the exploded readings. Such anxiety is to the last degree unnecessary. Surely those excellent persons will reflect that Truth — Divine Truth — can never suffer from honest investigation ; and that no injury can be inflicted upon it by its bitterest enemies, comparable to the adduction of unsound arguments by its professed friends. In the great and general benefits which accrue to Scriptural Truth from these investigations, all the component parts of that truth must respectively participate, and in an eminent degree that capital one of the Deity of Christ. Its adversaries have indeed affected to raise a triumph on the result of the discussions connected with the three texts ; but with how much right, let the impartial judge. The first passage is rescued from countenancing the antiscriptural sentiment of passible Deity, the error of those ancient heretics whom Athanasius so zeal ously refuted. Of the second, though the reading is changed, the sense remains the same. And with regard to the last, they are, in our esteem, the best advocates of the Trinitarian doctrine, who join in exploding such a gross interpolation, and in protesting against its being still permitted to occupy a place in the common copies of the New Testament. The proofs of our Lord's true and proper Godhead remain unshaken ; de duced from the prophetic descriptions of the Messiah's Person in the Old Testament, — from the ascription to him of the Epithets, the Attributes, the Works, and the Homage, which are peculiar to the Deity, — and from those numerous and 184 ECLECTIC REVIEW : [l809. important relations which He is affirmed in Scripture to sus tain toward His Holy and Universal Church and toward each of its true members. This last head of argument, in par ticular, derives some accessions from the purifying fire of just criticism, through which the Text of the Christian Scriptures has passed." — lb. p. 249. The concluding part of the article is occupied by an exami nation of the manner in which the Improved Version is exe cuted : but as the topics of permanent interest are taken- up in the Eeviewer's great work, the Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, any reference to them here would be impertinent. , * His next contribution was a review of a work, coming also from the Unitarian party, entitled Illustrations of the Four Gospels : by John Jones. In the following passage there is an approach to raillery altogether unusual in Dr. Smith, yet admirably befitting the occasion : — " Mr. Jones has raised a huge and terrific spectre out of the supposed incunabula^' (A Gnosticism ; and he finds or fancies a train of perpetual allu sions to the malice and cunning of this monster, not only in the writings of John and Paul^ut in almost every paragraph and period of the other three Gospels. From our Author's assertions, comments, and conjectures, it would seem a fair inference, that the victory over Jewish obstinacy, the dissipation of heathen darkness, and the illumination of the world with the light of Eedeeming mercy, were not the most arduous labour of Jesus and His Apostles ; but they had at every turn the far more ponderous task of confronting the audacious' malice, and refuting the blasphemous impieties of Dositheus and Simon Magus, with their tremendous troop of about eight and twenty more of John the Baptist's apostate disciples. Mr. J. has the Gnosiphobia in so dire a degree, that he exhibits an example— at once humbling and instructive— of the amicable concord that often subsists between extreme credulity and a disdainful reso lution to disbelieve where there are rational grounds of evidence. He perpetually relies for the basis of important reasonings, on the palpable romance of the Recognitions, and the other forgeries under the name of Clement of Eome ; while he considers the Deity of the Messiah, the expiation of the sins of men by His death, and the gracious influences of His Spirit, as the very MT. 35.] DR. BUTLER'S STANLEY'S JESCHYLUS. 185 weakness of prejudice, and scarcely worthy of being refuted by argument." — lb. p. 725. That amidst all his Theological investigations he was still keeping up his intimacy with the pursuits -of science, is shown by the fact, that in the October number of the Eclectic an article of his appeared on Murray's Chemistry, a^work in 4 vols. 8vo. In the next month, his fertile pen and singularly varied powers contributed a review of the first volume of Stanley's Mschylus, ' edited by the late Dr. Samuel Butler, for many years Head Master of Shrewsbury School, but who died Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry in December 1839. The learning which the Eeviewer brought to his task, the great animation which he showed in the numerous critical questions discussed by Dr. Butler, his clear and hearty appreciation of the merits of the work, with his modest reference to what he deemed defects, could not fail to engage the attention of the person who of all others would be most alive to such an article. As soon, therefore, as the learned Editor of the iEschylus had ascertained who wrote the review, he addressed the following Letter to the " Bev. Dr. Smith." "Shrewsbury, May 24, 1810. " Bey. Sir. — From the pamphlet* which accompanies this note, you, will learn my sentiments respecting the Eclectic Beview of the first volume of my iEschylus. Mr. Lunn has just gratified me by giving me an opportunity of conveying them to you ; and as I understand from him that your time is much occupied, I shall no longer trespass on it than while I subscribe myself, with much respect, "Your obliged and obedient servant, "S. Butler." , Dr. Pye Smith's contributions to the Eclectic this year exceeded eighty pages; and these not written in the Essay style where the pen becomes fluent with the force of the Author's own thoughts, but they are such as bear ample marks of that diligent reading of the works which came under his notice, and of that weighing of evidence, by which his labours * The pamphlet has not been found among Dr. Smith's papers.-^-ED. 186 HIS NUMEROUS ENGAGEMENTS. [l809. as a critic were to secure the approval of his own conscience, and to lay a just claim to the confidence of the public. It is further observable that the most important of the works thus carefully examined, were not only such as it became him to study in virtue of his position as a Theological Tutor, but they belonged in a peculiar manner to the series of means by which he was being disciplined and equipped for one of the great achievements of his life. While, however, he was active and persevering in this direction, he was going on regularly with his official duties, devoting three hours and a half daily to the students, besides the time required for preparation. To these engagements must be added all those which arose out of his Pastoral relation, such as preparing for two services among his people every Lord's-day — occasional services in the week — — visits to the sick — and, as appears from a book in which he kept an account of his sermons, preaching at some other chapel in the evening upwards of half the number of Sab baths in the year. The amount of writing which he also had upon his hands concerning his private affairs was really extra ordinary ; and this not of the easy, expeditious sort, belong ing simply to friendly intercourse, or to the ordinary routine of business ; but of an extremely entangled kind, where from the variety of interests involved it was impossible to avoid deep anxiety of mind, which — in expressing itself in long and frequent Letters — must have taxed his powers far beyond what he might have been thought able to bear without risk to his reason or even to his life. Nor was he in the mean while exempt from that class of smaller cares which appertained to his domestic circumstances. Yet he bore up with true Chris tian manhood in the face of all difficulties and all duties. Nor is he ever found uttering one single complaint which has him self for its object. A really feeble cry never escapes him. No moan is heard coming from that spirit during this period of intense toil and anguish ; deeply environed, as he surely was then, with the most harassing trials. — But he had the Divine Eefuge. To this he would betake himself with all that energy of imploring earnestness for which he was remarkable, and with a simplicity and singleness of purpose that might not indeed secure the external relief on which some minds would have been set, but which did secure the patience, the fortitude JET. 35.J ECLECTIC REVIEW. 187 that made him equal to the emergency — and in this respect a gainer by the discipline. In passing from 1809, two years will elapse before Dr. Pye Smith's contributions to the Eclectic Review can again be ascertained with certainty. Hitherto the information, on which indeed the fullest reliance may be placed, has been supphed by a communication which the Eeviewer himself made to his father at Sheffield, in reply to his urgent re quest on the subject. With this motive to overcome his silence respecting his literary labours, the Son, rather than the Author, felt it his duty to comply. But when an appeal could no longer reach him from such a quarter, there is then no further trace to be met with in his Letters or papers of his productions as a Critic. After an interval of two years (1810, 1811,) during which he was no doubt as actively employed in the work as before, but of which no definite intelligence can be obtained ; Mr. Josiah Conder, for many years the able Editor of the Eclectic, becomes our guide in pointing out, as he has most kindly done, the articles in that Journal contributed from year to year by the subject of this memoir. CHAPTEE XII. WEEK EVENING LECTURES ON THE EVIDENCES OF RELIGION — SERMON ON THE DEATH OF THE REV. 1. BARBER — SERMON ON THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY — ILLNESS OF HIS FATHER — LETTER TO HIS MOTHER — LAST LETTER TO HIS FATHER — LETTER TO HIS WIDOWED MOTHER — OLD GRAVEL-PIT MEETING HOUSE — SECURED FOR HIS CONGREGATION — ARRANGEMENTS FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP — COURSE OF SERMONS— SER MON ON THE " ADORATION OF CHRIST " — ANTI-P^DOBAPTIST MEMBERS — ECLECTIC REVIEW: HALES'S ANALYSIS OF CHRONOLOGY — LETTER TO REV. WM. WALFORD — ON THE INTERMEDIATE STATE — COLLEGE DIFFICULTIES — EXCULPATORY LETTER — COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY — "VINDICL3E ACADEMIC2E" — LETTER OF REV. ROBERT HALL— BENEFI CIAL RESULTS — SERMON ON THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST—REV. WM. WALFORD BECOMES CLASSICAL TUTOR AT HOMERTON. From the beginning of February to the end of April, 1810, Dr. Pye Smith was engaged in delivering a " Course of Lec tures on the Evidences of Bevealed Beligion." This was an extra service, a labour of love, intended for the benefit of the congregation under his pastoral care, to which the Monday evening in every week was devoted. Two of his published sermons were preached in the early part of this year. One in February on the death of the, Eev. Joseph Barber : the other in April on The Apostolic Ministry, Compared with the Pretensions of Spurious Religion and False Philosophy. The latter, extending to sixty pages, is replete with the fruits of his learning, piety, and zeal. A single passage, in which he graphically depicts the false philosophy of Greece, will repay attention as illustrating the Authors full command of the subject : — the text of the discourse is 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7, 8. JET. 36.] , ILLNESS. OF HIS FATHER. 189 " The Greeks, especially in those states in which literature flourished most, were an ingenious, inqiiisitive, penetrating and volatile people. Philosophical studies had been with them a favourite object of attention from an early period of their history. From Egypt and the East they had imported many truths and many errors, variously blended and disguised. These, with their characteristic liveliness of fancy and passion for subtile disquisition, they had augmented, transposed, and modified ; till their speculations assumed the form of defined systems, whose respective ad herents following some distinguished leader formed the great philosophic sects. Besides the accurate and physical sciences, which some of them deemed too humble pursuits, they disserted on the deity and all inferior beings, on the origin and essences of mundane things, on substances and forms, on matter and intelligence, on primary atoms and eternal ideas, on life, death, immortality, and mutations of existence, on the virtues and vices, on the chief good and deceptive appearances of it ; and on an end less variety of the most intricate questions in ontology and ethics. In the better days of Greece, illustrious men were not wanting who brought philo sophy from the clouds to dwell with mortals, and to assist them in the use ful practice of life. But those days were past. The prevalent taste was now for a vain and deceitful kind of philosophy, ostentatious in profession, destitute of practical utility, and set off with the paint and tinsel of a fallacious rhetoric. The avowed objects of its professors were, not so much truth and goodness, as victory and fame : and there are instances of their pretending to prove unanswerably either side of any argument, or both in succession. This misnamed wisdom was so much in vogue at Corinth, that it became proverbial to call pompous and inane discourses, Corinthian words. This is the sophistry which the apostle denounces as a foe to the simplicity and purity of the Gospel, and which in the text and its connection, he solemnly abjures." Domestic circumstances made it necessary for Dr. Smith to remain at home during at least the early part of the College vacation in 1810 ; it is not however known whether it was his intention to do so for the whole of it, as he had done the year before. This deprivation of his company for a few weeks at Sheffield occurring a second year, was a source of great regret to his parents ; more especially as his father wished him to see the state of the property which he had purchased in that neighbourhood in 1807. To lessen the disappointment of Mr. Smith, senior, and to gratify the fond feelings of Grandparents, it was resolved that Dr. Smith's daughter should pay them a visit. In a Letter of June 20, he wrote thus : — " We send our dear little girl in answer to your kind invitation, committing her to the protection of the Most High, and the assured care of our dear parents. Please to write to say that she is arrived, how she has borne the journey, &c, by Saturday's post. May 190 ILLNESS OF HIS FATHER. [l810. our Heavenly Father preserve and bless her, and bring her back to us in the enjoyment of every mercy ! I hope she will be dutiful and well-behaved, so that her Grandparents may have pleasure in her." Owing to some mistake in the arrange ments, the daughter could not go by the coach that day ; and as the Letter had not been previously despatched, an account of the disappointment was added, and it was sent on by post the next. The Grandfather thus replied : — " Some might be ready to suggest that our dear child's not coming last night was a matter of little consequence ; but we did not find it so. What ever may be thought of what many would call our weakness, the truth is we found it a very great trial. We have no doubt but it was ordered by Infinite Wisdom, and we hope to get good by the dispensation." Intimations had reached the family at Homerton, that at that time Sheffield had lost many of its inhabitants, especially among the young, by an epidemic fever. But the vagueness of these reports, added to the great care which they well knew their daughter would receive from all her relations in that town, induced the parents to keep to their original purpose. Accordingly on the 29th of June, Dr. Smith wrote to say, that they had some hope of sending her the next week. The next day, however, Mr. Bobert Leader, Dr. Smith's brother-in-law, wrote to apprise him that Mr. Smith, senior, had been seized on the Thursday with fever of so alarming a kind as to excite much apprehension for his safety. Thus that singular delay of the daughter's visit, which nobody could account for at the moment, which was felt most keenly by the grandfather, and in her child's measure by the granddaughter also— may be said to have been fully explained when this Letter came to hand. The house at Sheffield could not now welcome, nor with safety receive the little stranger ; and in the town itself, the prevailing malady might have taken hold upon the new comer with a severity which many of the residents escaped. Even the loving grandfather was quite beyond the reach of any real joy from such a source. His greetings would have been marked, at one instant perhaps with the distressing excitement of a feverish brain, at the next with the listless apathy of a state of collapse; — both equally mournful to witness, and for a wonder or a fear to the child. Here, then, by a signal inter position of the Divine Goodness, not by a happy conjuncture ;ET. 36.] LETTER TO HIS FATHER. 191 of accidents, a great mercy really lay wrapped up in circum stances which were at the time trying to all concerned : and this mercy came so closely in connection with what was very soon to follow, as to prove a source of relief and thankfulness amidst bereavement and tears. Dr. Smith wrote at once in reply to Mr. Leader's Letter : — " My very dear and honoured Mother, — We do indeed truly and deeply sympathise with you and my beloved relatives in this unexpected and heavy affliction. If I could view my duty as coinciding with my earnest desire and inclination, I should set out by this evening's mail : but my situation is really that of extreme and painful difficulty." — In fact, owing to Mrs. Pye Smith's expected confinement, it was quite im practicable for her husband to leave home for the length of time which a journey to Sheffield and back would have taken in that day of slow travelling. He could only express his deep Sympathy by Letter and offer fervent prayer. July 5th he wrote again to his mother, and also to his father thus : — " My very dear and honoured Father, " In the hope that this may find you in the earthly house of our dying tabernacle, I am anxious to have the painful pleasure of holding this imperfect intercourse with one whom I so dearly love. None can fully enter into my feelings. How dark and heart-rending the providence which forbids, -—insuperably forbids — my flying to you ! But the Lord, I doubt not, is with my dear Father; and better than a thou sand sons, and all the tenderness of human affections. Accept the most tender and affectionate love of your distressed and I may truly say overwhelmed children. O that you may be most graciously and divinely supported by the God of all grace ! 0 that the joy of His presence may be your perpetual consolation ! And, if it be His most condescending and mer ciful good pleasure, 0 that he may restore you to us, that we may again praise Him in the land of the living ! But if he reject our earnest prayer in this respect — for you, my dear Father, it is far better. We constantly endeavour to meet you at the throne of grace : — hereafter we trust to meet before the throne of holiness and glory ! Amen, amen. Ever yours/' 192 LETTER TO HIS MOTHER. [l810. The tidings from Sheffield, after fluctuating a little, grew all at once most sad, so that without his being aware of it at the time, the next Letter was written on the day when his father died : — " Homerton, July 9, 1810. " My very dear and honoured Mother, " Unsearchable as are the ways of the Lord, they are as suredly all right and holy. The short-sighted and imperfect views of flesh and sense might lead us to repine under the most cutting and heart-rending reverse which our hopes have this day experienced. But we are believers in the Lord Jesus. He lives : and the immortal life of His people is laid up with His. Blessed be His name, we are not left to sorrow as those who have no hope. If by this time, my Beloved Father has passed the important hour — we have reason to mourn on our own account, not on his. Heavy indeed is the loss and grief, and to me it is heavy beyond all that I can express. I not only participate in the feelings of filial love and gratitude, but I am sensible that those feelings are exceedingly increased by the circumstance of my being fixed at such a distance from my ever-honoured parents : and now that at this solemn and interesting season, I should be prevented by the indissoluble ties of duty and Divine Provi dence from attending on my dear Father — 0, this distresses me beyond measure. But I also ought not to repine. I am well satisfied that I am obeying the voice of duty. It is the hand of the Lord that hath done this ; and under His mighty hand I must humble myself. "O my much loved Mother, may you experience in the richest manner, the all-powerful, gracious, and consoling presence of Him who is the Father of the fatherless and the Protector of the widow, the Living God who is light and love. If we are indeed His obedient and submissive children — who can separate us from His love ? Can tribulation — or distress — or death ? Can the sudden and overwhelming dis appointment of our fond hopes ? Can the weight of sorrow redoubled ? No. No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that hath loved us ! These things, even these, shall work together for our good ! "And if it please the Holy and Eighteous Sovereign to bring us into that great trial which now we scarcely dare hope MT. 36.] LETTER TO HIS WIDOWED MOTHER. 193 to escape, let us not be unmindful of the alleviating circum stances which the mercy of the Lord has bestowed. My dear Father has been permitted to see his children either taken, I trust, to rest in Jesus, or comfortably and happily settled. His activity and usefulness have not been cut short, as in many instances in which the children of God have been called to many months and years of languishing and incapacity before their dissolution. My dear Parent has continued to confer blessings on his children ( — and with indelible grati tude I feel it, peculiarly on me, — ) and on the cause of Christ, to the last. It is but a little time, and we shall all follow ; and only the Lord knows in what order of succession. You, my dear Mother, and we shall, I trust, reap the benefit of my revered Father's prayers and counsels through our course of life and to eternity." The following was written July 13, after he had heard of his father's death : — " My very dear and honoured Mother, " I had ventured to cherish some fond hopes from the degree of comparative ease which my late beloved Father enjoyed on Sabbath day, and because we had no Letter on Wednesday. My feelings, not my judgment, excited them. Yesterday (Thursday) at near two o'clock, our painful suspense was terminated by my dear brother Leader's Letter. Notwith standing our minds were so prepared for this last stroke, it proved unspeakably heavy. The day which had begun in awful anxiety, became a day of bitter and overwhelming grief indeed. My peculiar circumstances of constant, and I may very justly say excruciating alarm, of conflicting fear and hope, of such distance from the interesting place, of perfect inability to leave home, — give an edge to my sorrow most cutting indeed. I am satisfied that it was the clear necessity of duty that prohibited me ; — I endeavour to calm my feelings by considering that it is the Lord who hath laid this trial upon me, and that I have no doubt of unknown purposes of mercy being answered by it : — but still it fills my days and nights with bitter mourning. We cannot doubt that my dear Father sleeps in Jesus, safe a"nd blessed, and will appear with Him in triumph : but I feel for you, my dear Mother ; and I am afraid I feel too selfishly for my own great loss. You will, I trust, be most graciously sup- o 194 OLD GRAVEL PIT MEETING HOUSE. [l811. ported and comforted. The Father of mercies and God of all consolation be ever with you ! " At the close of August, when Mrs. Pye Smith's recovery would allow the Doctor to leave home without any great anxiety, he went to Sheffield, where he remained a few weeks to comfort his beloved mother, and also to assist with her other children in arranging his father's affairs, so as to relieve her mind as much as possible concerning the future. Dr. Smith's services in the Hall of the Academy had been followed with such a blessing in the increase of the Church and Congregation, that towards the close of 1810 it became a matter of necessity to provide a larger place of worship for their use. The attention of a Committee appointed for this business, was directed to a Chapel hi the vicinity which was then unoccu pied: — this was the somewhat celebrated Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, which was built in 1716. It originally belonged to the Presbyterians; but the probability is that almost from its commencement there was a tendency in the Congregation towards a low style of doctrinal sentiments, which went on increasing through different shades of Arianism, until it reached the Socinianism of Priestley and Belsham. The Eev. Eobert Aspland, who was the minister at this "date, was probably less exclusively controversial, less dry as a preacher than his immediate predecessors, so that his popularity led to the carrying out of a plan for building a new chapel in what would perhaps be considered a more eligible situation. In this way, therefore, the old Presbyterian, and in the end Socinian Meeting House, became accessible to the Congregational Church of Evangelical sentiments, which had been formed about seven years before in the Hall of Homerton College. At' a Church Meeting held Nov. 6, the following among other resolutions were passed, evidently with a view to new arrange ments consequent upon the wider sphere opening to the Pastor and his People: — " That a certain number of pews in the body of the Meeting, at the discretion of the Committee, be appro priated to the accommodation, of the servants of the families belonging to the Congregation : — That the whole of the gallery be reserved for the free accommodation of the poor." The first of these provisions might have been intended to lessen the sense of distance between the several classes of worshippers, or JET. 37.] OPENING SERVICES. 195 to encourage the attendance and- attention of all upon the worship. It was also a mark of wisdom and kindness, to provide for the servants in a way which would not encroach upon the space set apart for the poor. The Pastor's heart could not be satisfied with a scanty or a precarious arrangement for the comfort of the latter. What he desired was, to meet their wishes as well as their wants ; and the plan adopted did this by at once securing for them ample room, while it spared them the pain they might have felt had they been thrust in among persons who did not belong to their class. The arrangements having been completed, the church and congregation assembled for worship for the first time in what was to them a new place on the Lord's-day, March 10, 1811. The opening services were conducted by the Eev. John Clay ton, senior, the Bev. George Collison, and Dr. Winter. From this date, Dr. Smith had two regular services on the Sabbath, and two on week days — a Prayer Meeting on the Monday evening, and a Leeture on Wednesday. The Chapel having had for very many years no inconsiderable notoriety as one of the chief sources of Socinian teaching in our country, the new Pastor, as his Sermon Book shows, devoted himself most ear nestly to the work of proclaiming in the same place, those evangelical doctrines which were inestimably dear to his own heart, and on which he rested all his hopes of being, made a blessing to others. Here again new motives and new opportunities arose for investigating with all possible care the questions whieh he had already repeatedly examined. Scarcely any man could have equalled him in the number and force of the inducements, which led him at one time or another into all the recesses of the Socinian controversy ; and very many of these sprang out of circumstances quite independent of his volition or arrangement. Having — for example — at this period begun a course of Lectures on the Wednesday evening on subjects such as these : — " The Use of .Scripture History " — " Crime, and Punishment of the Builders of Babel " — " Origin, Extent, and Consequences of Idolatry " — he received " a respectful Letter from an unknown writer, calling upon him to vindi cate himself and his fellow-worshippers from the charge often adduced against them, of what has been denominated ' Chris- o 2 196 ANTIP.EDOBAPTIST MEMBERS [l811. tian Idolatry !' " — This appeal was met by his first preaching and then publishing a discourse entitled — The Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ Vindicated from the Charge of Idolatry. In the conspicuous post which he now occupied as a Pastor as well as a Tutor, he was ever ready to act as one who was set for the defence of the Gospel ; as one, moreover, with whom the interest, the- arguments, and the evidences on the great theme of our Lord's Divinity, were seldom allowed to suffer from want of use. A short time before the removal from the Academy to the Chapel took place, two persons who had been members of an Antipsedobaptist Church desired to unite -with the one under Dr. Smith's care. This being the first case of the kind, which had arisen during his pastorship, the Church Book contains a series of resolutions which claim a wider notice, both as show ing the fine spirit of the writer towards all the parties con cerned, and also as supplying an example which may be imitated with advantage in the like circumstances : — " That the difference of sentiment between us and Mr. and Mrs. , as to the right of the infant seed of God's people to the ordinances of church-membership and baptism, (though the affirmative of that question is considered by us as a scrip tural doctrine and an important privilege, yet) cannot on sohd and scriptural grounds, be made a bar to the communion of saints. — -That while on our own part we exercise this duty of Christian forbearance, we confidently rely on a correspond ing disposition in Mr. and Mrs. , and that they will candidly avoid the introduction of discussions on the ques tion of baptism as what, under these circumstances, could not contribute to Godly edifying and holy love. — That with this exposition of our mutual views, we cordially give the right hand of Christian fellowship to Mr. and Mrs. -, and receive them as a brother and sister in the Lord, that they and we may walk together in the observance of the or dinances, duties, and privileges which belong to the Churches of Jesus Christ.— Finally, that- if the sentiments of Mr. and Mrs. on the subject of Baptism continue the same as they now are, and if at any future period they should have a comfortable prospect of union with an Antipeedobaptist Church, and should be desirous of availing themselves of it, JET. 37.] HALES'S ANALYSIS OF CHRONOLOGY. 197 we now profess our cordial readiness to assist them in the attainment of that object by such dismission and recom mendation as the circumstances of the case may require." In 1812, Dr. Smith contributed an article to the Eclectic Review on Dr. William Hales's New Analysis of Chronology. The paper contains the following remarkable pre-intimation of the Eeriewer's sentiments, as they were given to the world in a more expanded form nearly thirty years later : — " Many modern geologists are daily confirming themselves and others in in fidelity, from the unfounded assumption .that the Mosaic cos mogony is contradicted by indubitable facts and discoveries in mineralogical science. We are sorry to say that when this objection was adverted to in the admirable lectures read by an illustrious Professor at the Eoyal Institution last year, the answer which was produced was of that flimsy kind which could satisfy no man, and must have left the objection to operate with more mischievous force. The false assumption rests on the idea, that according to the Scriptures, the antiquity of the created universe does not much exceed six or seven thousand years. From long and attentive consideration, we are convinced that neither the Book of Genesis nor any other part bf the Bible authorises any such conclusion. Certainly the Bible teaches, that the formation of man, and of the pre sent species of organised beings which people our planet, took place at the late date referred to : and this fact is verified by the traditional testimony of all nations, by the recent origin of the arts and improvement of life, and by all the literary monu ments of mankind. But this by no means justifies the in ference, that the earth as a terrene body had not previously existed for a period of duration not to be assigned. The magnificent exordium of the Hebrew prophet and inspired teacher, is a simple declaration of the fact — that the whole de pendent universe did, at some period or other in the retrospect of countless ages, derive its existence, form and properties, from the Infinite and All-Perfect Intelligence which we call God. — Moses then takes up the planet which was to be the theatre of those great measures of Jehovah's moral government, the history of which it was his immediate object to record : and the very terms in which he describes it carry to our conviction the intimation of a pre-existent state, and a dissolution from 198 LETTER TO REV. WILLIAM WALFORD. [l812, that state into a dark, chaotic, decompounded mass." — Ec. Rev. 1812, p. 301. The following Letter was addressed to the Eev. William Walford, subsequently Dr. Smith's colleague at Homertoaii but at that time pastor of a Congregational Church at Yarmouth, " Homerton, Sep. 11, 1812.. " Dear Sir, — I am much concerned at the appearance of treating your Letter with neglect. Having been from home six weeks, I am now, indeed, taking the first opportunity of giving the best answer in my power to your inquiry, though I fear it will not be very serviceable to you. The know ledge I have of Arabic literature is extremely little; and the perpetual occupation in which I am kept by other duties and engagements seems to forbid the hope of any future progress. — Chappelow's Elements are little more than extracts and abridgments of Erpenius, whose grammar was several times printed in Holland, in small- 4to., but Schultens's edition is the best. I think they are about equally serviceable ; but of the two, if both could not be had, I prefer Erpenius. The rules and observations are more perspicuous than in Chappelow, but the latter excels in the disposition of the Conjugations. To Erpenius there is an excellent appendage of Adages and Fables, which form good and easy lessons. I have Richardson's Grammar lately republished. One may get some good from it ; but it is not adapted to the uses of the Biblical student, being composed for the use of commercial and military men in India. " Castell's Lexicon I think very inadequate and discouraging ; from the nature of its plan and the disagreeable clumsiness of the Polyglott type. Golius's leaves scarcely anything to desire, but it is scarcely attainable. Willmett's, 4to. 1784, is a most excellent and satisfactory work. I have both, but in my small experience, I think I have never had necessary occasion to turn from it to Golius. There is in it a troublesome oversight, in that the initial letters of many grammatical terms and connecting words are used, to reduce the space, as borrowed from Golius, but the table of ex plication is not given, at least it is wanting in my copy. These abbrevia tions are so numerous and many of them so peculiar, that the task of con jecturing them is often very unsatisfactory. But upon the whole, if I could not have both, I think I should even prefer Willmett to Golius himself. " I am, &c. &c" Two circumstances occurred during this year which led to a great deal of discussion among the members of Dr. Smith's Church, in the Committee and among the Constituents of the Academy, and more or less in the Nonconformist community at large. All the personalities of the controversy were" long ago set at rest for ever ; nor would it be possible, even were it worth while to attempt, to revive an interest in the questions then so warmly contested. The motives which induce any JET. 38.] DIFFICULTIES AND DOUBTS. 199 reference to the subject are — fidelity to the facts of the actual life of Dr. Smith — a desire not to overlook any of his publica tions — and the introduction of a Letter which brings out some admirable traits of character not to be met with elsewhere in his correspondence. In the progress of the Lord's day morning exposition of the Scriptures — the epistles to the Corinthians being the books — the Pastor had arrived at 2 Cor. v. 1 — 4 ; and as this came in the regular course, he did not go out of his way to introduce, nor could he conscientiously turn aside to avoid the passage. Now just at that period, notwithstanding his earher convictions, his mind was unsettled respecting the state of the human spirit during the interval of its separation from the body. The Scriptural evidence was not to his apprehension sufficiently clear to enable him to decide either one way or another — that is, whether for the conscious or the unconscious condition of the disembodied spirit. In this dilemma, with a frankness, a simplicity of purpose, which showed his fidelity to his sense of duty, he clearly and calmly avowed the difficulties which impeded his progress, and which, as he felt at the moment, the conflicting testimony of Bevelation did not allow him either to overcome for himself, or to conceal from others. On the Monday he received a Letter apprising him of the strong feelings that had been excited, and which would probably increase, by the position in which he had left the subject of inquiry the day before. The following week the Doctor went with his family to Hastings. While there, free from his numerous claims at Homerton, he resumed and steadily prose cuted his examination of the question in all its bearings, that he might if possible remove his own doubts and his people's misgivings, by attaining to as much of certainty as could perhaps be hoped for in the case. Writing from Hastings to one of the earliest and steadiest of his friends — William Alers Hankey, Esq. — he says — " I thank you for the friendly anxiety which you again manifest on this subject. Happy is the mind that rests in a 'full assurance' of Scriptural satisfaction on this point ! I am painfully harassed with the apprehension that I may subdue my judgment to an acquiescence with my incli nation and wish, rather than to the obedience of faith. The fear of this, I think, operates in a manner more powerful than 200 ON THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. ['812. could readily be conceived by one inexperienced with such a trial. It seems to drive me back into the tempest again, when I had hoped to be nearly in the port. I have had some similar seasons of distress on great points of Christian doctrine, but never so long continued, nor so equally balanced as in the present instance. I bless God, that if I can depend upon the strongest dictate of my own consciousness, I have no dlfficulty in bowing to the authority of His Word : my only difficulty is to ascertain what His word does declare.— Long have I, how inadequately, alas ! yet fervently implored divine light on this point: and since writing the preceding sentence, I have spent some time in revising my materials from the Scriptures and repeated entreaty to be "guided aright. For some moments my satisfaction increases, and I have said with some grateful affec tions, ' Lord, I believe ; help me against my unbelief.' Then again, the clouds return, and I dread being under a delusion, or a transient impression. Yet I do feel a growing hope that the views which I have been this day contemplating, especially from Luke xxiii. 43, 46 ; 2 Cor. v.; Heb. xii. 23 ; will abide and grow stronger." The hope thus expressed with such exquisite self-scrutiny and diffidence was realized. On the first Lord's day morning after his return home, the results of his six weeks' examination and prayer were given to his Congregation. He took the same passage as before for his text, and presented the evidence in favour of the prevailing belief among Christians in a light at once satisfactory to himself and to his people. It is worthy of notice how in this as well as in other instances, Dr. Smith's inquiries forty years ago took a direction in sub stance and even in form, closely resembling those of some celebrated persons in much later days. A very learned Prelate of the Episcopal Church, whose writings are distinguished for their variety, their usefulness, and their transparent style, published when he was " A Country Pastor," a small volume entitled A View of the Scripture Revelations concerning a Future State.* Three of the Lectures in this work are headed respect ively — "General Considerations on the Intermediate State:" — " The Intermediate State one of Consciousness:" — " Argu- * Loud. Fellowes : fifth ed. 1842. ET. 38.] A RECENT WORK ON THE SUBJECT. 201 ments for an Intermediate State of Sleep." — The learned Author, with a plainness which is eminently characteristic of him, lays down without the slightest reserve that which he deems the Scrip tural evidence on both sides : and so far is he from affirming or denying either side with certainty, that he considers the question to be among those about which certainty is at present unattainable, and therefore among those which we cannot include with articles of faith, a definite reception of which is essential to salvation. The popularity of the Work shows that it has not been neglected; and the absence of any effectual refutation of its positions further shows how differently the whole subject is viewed now from what it was at an earlier date. In truth, while persons are to be found who carry their inquiries into such questions, and who arrive at a result not in harmony with the popular belief, very many will feel that a debt of obligation is due to any competent investigator who, without shrinking from the trouble or the obloquy of going in the same track, is prepared to make known to the world and to evince by sound argument, that no vital truth of Christianity - is endangered ; no, nor so much as disturbed, by a difference of belief on this particular point. Nor will important practical in ferences be wanting on either side where the teaching of Scrip ture is not felt to be sufficiently explicit to settle all doubts. In this case, for example, if the final judgment with all its conse quences should be, as to the spirit's own consciousness, instan taneously near to the moment of our departure from the body, then — as Archbishop Whately suggests — purgatory becomes as impossible in fact as it is unscriptural in theory ; and the ever lasting future of every accountable being follows, without the slightest sensible delay, upon the close of his present course. Perhaps one of the chief sources of difficulty to many persons in looking at the whole question, has arisen from a sort of vague apprehension, that they will be conscious of their being in a state of unconsciousness. Yet however the subject itself may be determined, precisely the same assurance ought to be cherished ofthe wisdom of the Divine arrangement, precisely the same hope, consolation and joy, in the grace and love of God towards all who ' die in the Lord.' The absence or the in tervention, the length or the brevity of an interval of repose prior to the resurrection, cannot be said either to disturb the fact, or really to shorten the duration of the immortal day 202 on the intermediate state. [i8ia. whieh is approaching. Hence, that faith which confidently embraces the reality of the future blessedness of the righteous, ought with equal confidence to rise above every fear concerning the existence and the characteristics of the Intermediate State. Not indeed to think as reverentially, as devoutly, as thankfully and affectionately of the Divine perfections and dealings, in whatsoever way this question is supposed to be left by Bevela tion, arises from unbelief. The settlement of the point on either side, should not be suffered to interfere for a moment with our profoundest conviction of the revealed result : for in both cases alike, there is the same sure ground of unlimited trust for the redeemed and sanctified; and the same "certain fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries." Who then can complain or what can reason or piety suggest to the contrary, should it be found to be true that the whole human race must be allowed to com plete its course before the several members enter upon the wondrous activities of their future being ? If the chrysalis state of butterflies and moths, as compared with their subsequent winged and perfected forms, be supposed to supply a good and beautiful illustration of the change which will take place from the corruptible, mortal body to the one which will be raised in ' incorruption ' and 'glory'; — even the chrysalis state itself, in which the faculties of the insect appear to be wholly dormant for a season, may afford no inapt analogy of the condition of man between death and the resurrection. And just as the chrysalis state in the mere insect, — instead of being the anni hilation or extinction of its existence — is the sure and im mediate precursor to the highest degree of life of which it is capable ; so it may be with man — his powers and sensibilities may be in a state of profound repose for a time, and yet that repose be an inevitable link of connection between the earliest, humblest stage of his being and the expanded, glorious, life which is to follow. We say not that this will be the case ; but simply that if it should be, faith may rest with as much complacency in the wisdom and benevolence of this part of the Divine economy, as it is understood to do in regard to the general or simultaneous resurrection of the bodies of mankind at the last day. — The Eeader will excuse a digression which may in a measure show, that if in this instance Dr. Smith was JET. 38.] . COLLEGE DIFFICULTIES. 203 a little too much in advance of his own age to be fully under stood by it, he the more thoroughly prepared the way for the next. Shortly after the commencement of the Academic session in September, the complaints which had been spread abroad re specting the sermon on the Intermediate State acquired new vigour, in consequence of the sudden withdrawment of one of the Students after only a few weeks' residence at Homerton. Judging from appearances close at hand, a very strong feeling was just then setting in against the Theological Tutor. A casual observer might have thought that the current was wholly in one direction : but it was not so in reality. Above the layer of clouds nearest the earth, and therefore most within sight, might be descried by a careful eye patches at a higher elevation, which were evidently holding on in a course of their own, quite irrespective of that popular breeze which was just then acting rather vehemently on their neighbours lower down. The grounds of complaint were all of one class. They did not touch with the weight of a feather any part of the moral character or conduct of Dr. Smith ; there he was even above suspicion : nor did they call in question the excellency of his Christian temper, or the constancy of his Christian efforts as a Pastor or Tutor. For all the higher and all the milder virtues of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he was an eminent advocate and pattern. Yet these complaints were such as could not be left unnoticed, unexamined, unchecked, un- refuted. The honour and power of his office in the College and in the Christian Church, were as precious in his sight as his personal credit, and far more precious than his personal comfort. If others therefore would not bring on an inquiry, some because they could not for fear of a defeat, and some because they had too much confidence in the man to deem this requisite, he himself would call for it. But as these complaints came to him for the most part indirectly — mere rumours of what others had been saying of him — and as some of his personal friends had imbibed unfavourable impressions, he was under a necessity of writing to them for the particulars. One of the Letters written for that purpose has been generously sent for use in this Memoir. For the facts which it contains, 204 EXCULPATORY LETTER. [l819. the motives it discloses, the explicit disclaimer of the charges brought against the writer, and for the fine Christian temper breathing through the whole— at once tender and courageous — it cannot fail to be read with deep interest. " My dear Sir,— It was not till within these very few days that I have been told of your having expressed, strongly and extensively, apprehensions, or even a belief, that I had fallen wholly or partially into some alarming errors. Surely, my heart has said,— surely Mr. would not do this without full proof, without personal inquiry ; yea, had the mournful state ment proved in fact true, without efforts to recover the unhappy wanderer. Could he in whose friendship I have confided and felt myself happy, he whom I have always so respected and loved — could he lend his aid to give currency and effect to misconceptions and misrepresentations, the existence of which, in any circles of wise and good men, I can hardly bring myself to credit ? " If what I have heard be correct, I am wounded in the house of my friends, and condemned without investigation. It is, indeed, an unwelcome office to become a self- vindicator. My daily prayer is, to walk penitently before God, and humbly before man : and so far from palliating any, I desire ever to confess and abhor every aberration of the understanding or the heart, of the tips or the life. But, on the other hand, it would not merely be a mean pusillanimity widely remote from Chris tian humility, but it would be falsehood and wickedness, and treason to the best of causes, were I to permit gross untruths, (though I judge not the motives of their origination and diffu sion) which vitally affect my Christian and official character, to remain without contradiction and protest. ' My witness is in heaven ; my record on high.' ' I say the truth in Christ ; I lie not : my conscience also bearing witness in the Holy Ghost,' — I have passed through painful conflicts of mind with respect to matters of faith, but with grateful acknowledgment of mercy, I can say that for many years, I have enjoyed an almost uninterrupted ' full assurance of the understand ing' upon the great points of the Trinity in the Perfect Unity of the Godhead ; the true Deity, atonement, righteous ness, and supremacy of the Eedeemer ; the true Deity, and saving work of the Holy Spirit ; the riches, freeness, and JET. 38.] EXCULPATORY LETTER. 205 sovereignty of infinite grace ; the perpetuity of the Divine law, and the holy efficacy of the Gospel; the resurrection of the dead ; and eternal judgment :— in the full, fair, un ambiguous sense of those terms as understood by judicious Calvinists. For the evidence of this solemn profession, I appeal to my private and public conversation, preaching, and prayers ; in the bosom of domestic intercourse, or in that of friendship ; in the academy, in the pulpit, and from the press. Artful management, ' varnish and burnish,' in the things of God, I have always abhorred. My tongue has freely spoken what my heart and conscience believes and feels. On two points which, on either side, did not seem to me to affect any of the great truths above men tioned, I long laboured under extreme embarrassment, not in submitting to the testimony of God in His Word, but in ascertaining what that testimony really is. And here I readily admit the charge of indiscretion, as it respects my fellow-creatures, in the disclosure of my difficulties : — but should I be just to myself, were I not to say that into this evil I have been led, I humbly trust by a dread of guilt before God, the guilt of mental reserves and equivocations. " It is not true that I knowingly administer poison to the minds of my pupils. It is not true that I lay before them truth and error, argument and sophistry, indifferent as to the im pression on themselves or the result to others, or careless of the depraved tendencies of the human heart. It is not true that I do not earnestly press the evidences of the truths of God, according to my own convictions, in their grandeur and im portance, in their harmony and dependence, and in their essential connection with holiness of character, and all prospects of usefulness in the ministry. It is not true that I countenance the preaching of a mutilated gospel and a Saviour shorn of his beams. It is not true that I deal out nostrums and trifles, and visionary speculations, to fill the mind in lieu of the sound and life-giving doctrines of faith and godliness. — My plans of theological tuition are ever open to the welcome inspection of friend or foe. With my execution of them, I am, indeed, never satisfied : but the plans themselves, if I am not grievously mistaken, will be found in full accordance with what I have here declared. " I beseech you, my dear sir, to take any method you please, 206 committee of inqulry. [i8is. or can suggest to me, of satisfying yourself. I ask not for an atom of indulgence. Apart be all friendships and partialities, when the cause of Christ is concerned. I ask only for the award of unbending justice. Let my feehngs, character, and interests be at once sacrificed, if the sacrifice be due to Him who is over all, God blessed for ever." And then in a subsequent Letter — " I humbly conceive that no man in this world of im perfection and mistake, is entitled to bring accusations against another, (accusations which must principally depend upon testi mony,) and then refuse to hear the accused. This is the rule of common law and natural justice ; how much more of Christian equity !" Early in 1813 a Committee of Inquiry having been appointed, the whole subject was gone into at Dr. Smith's earnest request; beginning with the sermon respecting the Intermediate State, and then taking up the various rumours affecting the soundness and stability of his theological sentiments in general. Nothing could exceed the openness and manliness of his avowals. No point was left unnoticed, unexplored, unexplained, however much it might seem to be for a moment unfavourable to his personal interests. Indeed, the latter were wholly merged in his enlightened zeal for the truth of the Gospel, and for the prosperity and efficiency of the College. — The Committee, in cluding the Treasurers, consisted of eleven persons, nine of whom agreed in a Eeport, from which there were two dissen tients. — A single clause may be quoted : — " Viewing Dr. Smith in the light in which his literary productions have placed him, your Committee regard him generally as an able and zealous advocate of the essential truths of Bevelation ; and particularly as a powerful yet candid opponent of that class of errors which is directed against the doctrine of the Trinity, as a fundamental principle of Christianity. — Viewing him as a minister, they beheve the public voice is in unison with their own, in assigning to him a distinguished place among those who are regarded as decidedly maintaining the sentiments usually known by the term Calvinistic. — A character so acquired and so long sup ported, your Committee consider as affording this Society, and the denomination of Christians to which it is attached, a well- established basis for their surest confidence." .ET. 89.] VINDICLE ACADEMICE. 207 It could scarcely be expected that in a case like this, the decision of the Committee — nearly unanimous as it was — would be quietly acquiesced in by the two dissentients, and by those who thought with them out of doors. Hence they who differed from the majority expressed their opinions through the medium of the press. By way of rejoinder Dr. Smith published three pamphlets in quick succession, bearing the title of Vindicice Aeademicce, and reaching in the whole to about 160 pages. Two or three passages eminently and indeed beautifully personal, claim insertion in an account of the Writer's life. — "My reli gious sentiments I have ever carried, and hope that I ever shall carry, written as it were upon my forehead. To friend or stranger, to an archbishop or to a babe, who may ever seriously ask me a question upon my faith, I trust I shall ever be happy to return a serious and explicit answer. . . . Perhaps I have carried my notion of the duty of openness, and the evil of re serve, to an excess. — But to this side still would I incline, rather than to its opposite of concealments and reservations. . . If in relation to some of the most difficult questions that can occupy the attention of the human mind, I have paused, and paused long, before I could venture to draw a positive con clusion; — if I have declined to confound the gradations of moral evidence in one undistinguishing and headstrong pre tence of confidence ; — if so long as hesitation existed I have not refused to own it, when a just occasion demanded the acknow ledgment ; — this will not greatly surprise nor deeply offend the man of sense or the thinking Christian. " The duty of my situation is not only to present important sentiments, in the light of those evidences which have satisfied my own mind ; but to afford all the assistance which study and experience may enable me to furnish, for acquiring a practical habitude in those methods of investigation, which the Author of truth has appointed for its sanctified attainment. ' I sit in a circle of pious young men, inquiring after sacred knowledge, and anxious to grow in its acquisition. My object is, not to pour my own sentiments into them, solicitous for nothing but their yielding recipiency ; — but to enable them to see with their own eyes, and judge with their own understandings ; to show them how they may for themselves unveil the lustre of Heavenly Truth, discover her genuine evidences, and 208 LETTER OF REV. ROBERT HALL. [l813. detect the adverse errors. It is my earnest desire and prayer and endeavour that my pupils may go forth into the service of the churches, not hke men of the tenth century, but able to appear with advantage as defenders of the Gospel in this day of spreading knowledge and universal discussion. Not overlooking the different habits of mind, the diversities of comprehension, the possible combining of undesigned asso ciations, the corrupt tendencies of the fallen heart, and what ever else goes to constitute the modus recipientis ; — not, I trust, negligent of these important considerations — it is my endeavour to direct the mind into what may seem the most profitable line of action for the talents of each individual, to encourage proper inquiries, to communicate (so far as the length of our course permits) a comprehensive and exact view of the Christian Doctrines, to enable my youthful brethren to deduce theological truth from the pure fountains of inspi ration, to arm them against the errors of the age, and to inculcate the high necessity of a humble heart, holy character, and fervent prayer, in order to the attainment, the preserva tion, and the enjoyment of ' the truth as it is in Jesus.' If He with whom is ' the residue of the Spirit ' shall graciously honour me with continued and increased success in this high aim, I shall be amply encouraged, and more than compensated for a few trials and oppositions." — Vin. Academ. first part : pp. 6, 7, 8.* The resolutions adopted by the Committee of Inquiry, with Dr. Pye Smith's defence of himself from the press, appear fully to have answered the purpose for which they were given to the public. Letters of congratulation reached him from many quarters, and among others from the late Eev. Eobert Hall, who says : — " Permit me to embrace this opportunity * In the last of the three pamphlets published by Dr. Smith on this occasion, entitled " Sequel to Vindicia Academical," the following passage occurs, in which he avows his decided sentiments on a point of practice eliciting very general discussion :— " With regard to novel-reading, my opinion has been often and strongly expressed, that the indiscriminate or the frequent indulgence of it is most baneful to the literary taste and to the best principles of the heart ; and has a tendency very injurious to the proper feelings, the holy occupations, and the solid consolations of a real Christian. Yet there are works of fiction whose character is pure, and their tendency useful ; of which no judicious Christian would disapprove, and to which no man of cultivated understanding ought to be a stranger." — pp. 14, 15. JET. 89.] BENEFICIAL RESULTS. 209 of expressing my satisfaction at the triumphant vindication of yourself from charges which tended deeply to affect your respectability and usefulness as the Head of an Academical Institution. It must give pleasure to all the friends of piety, learning, and talent, to find the possessor of these in so high a degree stand upon the ground you occupy with respect to your opponents." Several advantages arose out of the circumstances above detailed. Occasion was given to dispel vague surmises and rumours, which had for some time before gained currency respecting the unfixed or the unsound theological sentiments of the principal Tutor of the College. The explicit statement of his views bn all the prominent truths of Christianity, not only reassured his friends, but convinced some who might be hoping that opposition would drive him into their ranks, how widely and indeed unalterably he and they were separated unless a change took place from their side to his. Consti tuents and supporters would also learn how vigilant and faith ful, yet withal how temperate and wise, the Committee of management had proved in the hour of trial ; and patronage and support would flow in with renewed vigour. Candidates for admission to the Academy, with their respective Pastors and friends, would more clearly than ever see what was the style of sentiment, what the purity of motive, what the devout and earnest temper of mind which distinguished the Theological Tutor ; and would thence be led to judge of the qualifications most likely to find favour at the door and in the interior of the College. Accordingly there is abundant evidence to show, that the efforts which were called forth to surmount the difficulties which had unexpectedly arisen, did give an impulse to the Institution, the salutary effect of which was felt for many years afterwards throughout the whole extent of its interests. Ultimately, therefore, no one had any occasion to regret the circumstances which had occurred ; and least of all would the upright and self-denying Tutor regret them. Neither the time consumed, nor the thought or anxiety bestowed on these perplexities, produced any cessation in Dr. Smith's ordinary duties. He was still in the full dis charge of all the claims which arose from his Church and 210 SERMON ON THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST. [1818. from the College. Indeed, such was his power to do much within narrow and as some might think crippling limits, that he prepared and published a valuable charge delivered at the ordination of the Eev. James Tait, at Maldon, this year : and also the most elaborate of his printed discourses; that On the Sacrifice of Christ, which was upwards of sixty pages in length, besides nearly thirty pages of closely-printed notes. Dr. Magee's Work on Atonement and Sacrifice had appeared in a second edition in 1809, which the Homerton Tutor read at the time of its publication " with much interest and general acquiescence;" but when he was requested to preach on the same subject, he did not recur to Dr. Magee's book until he had nearly completed the Notes to his own sermon. He thus avoided any tendency to imitation on the one hand, as well as an anxious solicitude to keep clear of it on the other. That his mind should not be in trammels, was equally desirable for him self, and for the freedom, life, unity and vigour of his production. When however he had written the Discourse and most of the Notes, he then sagaciously anticipated rather an invidious part of the Critic's office, by "carefully reading" Dr. Magee's Work, comparing it as he went along with his own, and giving the result to the public under the four heads of — " Coincident Topics : " — " Apparent Differences : " — " Topics in Dr. Magee, not adverted to, or but slightly, in the Discourse : " — " Topics in the Discourse not included in Dr. Magee's plan." In the wide field of human labour he was never impeded, never felt embarrassed in any way, by either a mean or a morbid sensi tiveness respecting the nearness of his own path of inquiry at any time to that which another had been pursuing. However great the throng of literary travellers, he could hold on his own course as merchants do who are engaged in the same line, crowd the same exchange, and yet rejoice in each other's success ; a noble sympathy with true worth and excellence of every kind being one of his characteristic qualities. The subject also to which he gave his attention, could scarcely fail to come in for a large share of the benefit likely to arise from his method of investigation : for he was an independent witness for the truth, because he ever made it manifest that he was an independent investigator of its evidence, authority, and claims ; not indeed a solitary labourer, but in the fullest sense a free one. — The sermon to which these remarks apply, was the foun- JET. 39.] REV. W. WALFORD CLASSICAL TUTOR AT HOMERTON. 211 dation of one of the most valuable of his later works, The Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Prior to the College vacation this year, Dr. Smith's coadjutor, the Eev. Thomas Hill, was obliged to go into the country on account of his health, which for several years had been in a declining state ; and during the vacation he died. Towards the end of the year, the minutes of the Committee record — that the " unwearied diligence and application " of the Theo logical Tutor had sustained for five months " the whole burden of tuition." In this emergency, as well as in others both before and at a later period, Dr. Smith had the energy, the inclination, the capacity, to discharge the duties of the classical department in addition to his own. To serve the Institution was to serve — if we may appropriate his own words in another connection — ' the confederate cause of Christianity and true learning,' which ever lay near his heart. Nor could any man enter more thoroughly into the spirit and power of the voluntary principle, which was to him as a spring of well-doing, whose elasticity never failed, until indeed the hour came when nature itself could work no longer; and then the will yielded only to necessity. After some time had been spent in inquiring for a successor to Mr. Hill, the attention of the Committee was directed to the Eev. William Walford, who accepted an invitation to the Classical Chair, and entered upon residence at Homerton " in the last week of the year 1813."* * See Mr. Walford's Autobiography .- Edited (with a Continuation) by the Rev. John Stoughton. Lond. Jackson and Walford : 1851. P 2 CHAPTEE XIII. DISCOURSE AT DR. H. F. BURDER'S ORDINATION — "REGIUM DONUM"— LATIN GRAMMAR AND SYNOPTIC TABLES — SERMON: "REASONS OF PROTESTANTISM " — ECLECTIC REVIEW ; PORSON'S ADVERSARIA — CONTI NENTAL TOUR — ECLECTIC REVIEW: IIORSLEY'S PSALMS— LETTER TO A BEREAVED MOTHER — SERMON ON THE DEATH OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. In the early part of the year 1814, Dr. Smith delivered the Introductory Discourse at the ordination of his friend and neighbour, the Eev. (now Dr.) Henry Foster Burder, as Pastor over the Church assembling at St. Thomas's Square, Hackney. This was subsequently published with the other discourses on the occasion. As expressing his views on the principal object of the service of the day, he says, — " Ordina tion is an act which appears to me to be the scriptural right, and a part of the official duty of other pastors ; either those of the same church, if there be a plurality of elders in it, or those of neighbouring congregations who, upon the prin ciple of the communion of churches, are invited by any Christian Society, to assist in the settlement of its chosen pastor. This act of ordination I conceive to be scripturally performed when, after suitable and satisfactory knowledge of the candidate, the assembled elders, constituting what the apostle calls a Presbytery, separate the chosen brother by prayer with the laying on of hands. We are far, however, from supposing that the act of ordination, or this mode of performing it, communicates to the ordained person any quali fications, natural or spiritual, which he had not before, or that it confers upon him a mysterious and indelible character ; or that it invests him with any inexplicable kind of sanctity. Nor on the other hand, do we practise the laying on of hands in ordination, as a respectful conformity to a primi- JET. 40.] REGIUM DONUM. 213 tive and general custom. But we use this practice, because we regard it as sanctioned and virtually enjoined by the word and law of Christ; this is to us a sufficient warrant; this is all the authority we desire." In a Letter to his brother-in-law, Mr. Leader, dated Homer ton, Oct. 29, 1814, the earliest reference is met with to an office which the writer retained to his death, although not without great and pressing difficulties : — " Providence has put into my hands the opportunity of being serviceable to some of my poorer brethren hi the ministry, by my having been appointed one of the distributors of the Parliamentary Grant, formerly called the Eegium Donum. — The objects of the distribution are Dissenting Ministers of sterling piety, worth, and usefulness ; and who are obliged, notwithstanding real and becoming prudence and frugahty, to bear the pressure of pecuniary difficulties. As I fear it is impracticable to extend the donation to all who come under this description, it is the duty of the distributors to search out those who are most fit." It can scarcely answer any good purpose to trace in this narrative the different perplexed and warmly controverted passages in Dr. Smith's later years, which arose out of his firm retention of his post as a Distributor of the Regium Donum. A few remarks may perhaps be quite enough for any interest which the general Eeader is likely to feel in the subject. His appointment, it will be observed, occurred at a time when the sentiments of the Congregational and Antipsedo- baptist Communities, on the question of the unscriptural nature of all such grants, had not by any means attained either the wide or the firm hold which prevailed at a sub sequent period. It was not therefore with the light of later years, that he accepted an office which very many of his ministerial brethren and of his personal friends came at length to disapprove. — From the outset, as his Letter above quoted shows, he considered that Providence had put into his hands an opportunity of bemg serviceable to many of his poorer brethren in the ministry. Having — as may be assumed — satisfied himself according to the then existing evidence and state of public opinion that he could with a clear conscience undertake the trust, his well-assured sense 214 REGIUM DONUM. [l8U. of his vigorous determination to discharge the duties to the very best of his ability, added to the strongly benevolent feelings of his heart, constrained him to regard his appoint ment as an expression of the Divine benignity in making him an Almoner beyond the compass of his own means for doing good, and therefore as demanding not simply his con currence but his devout gratitude. When once engaged in the work, the applications which were constantly reaching him for aid acted with great force on all his sympathies as a man, a Christian, and a minister; so • that long before the time came for the principles of his conduct in this relation to be subjected first to inquiry, and then to the disapproval of very many of his brethren, the full current of his own feelings, especially when urged on by his previous efforts for the beneficiaries who were on his list, did not allow him to turn out of the course which he had taken. In pro portion as the evidence, which had satisfied his judgment in the first instance when he accepted the office, was looked at in later years under the circumstances just mentioned, it is not surprising that— to use his own words — he should continue to view his " situation as that of a Trustee for the benefit of others;" and that therefore he could not, as he further inti mates, deem it proper to resign it, though he might not know the motives, nor in every respect approve the plan of such bestowments. Yet he warmly contended for the right of the Sovereign to make during his lifetime, and to charge in perpetuity, what he (Dr. Smith) regarded as the private income of the Crown with a grant for such a purpose as that to which the Regium Donum was applied. This indeed was the ground on which he rested his main defence, nor could a doubt be entertained of the sin cerity of his convictions on this point. But, in truth, the distinction between the private and the public property of a Sovereign, who comes into the possession of both solely in virtue of his regal position, did not commend itself very widely to the approval of the objectors : and even had the distinction been more generally acknowledged, the question would still press with great weight, whether the actual possessor of the throne had a right to alienate in perpetuity a portion of those so-called private revenues which may be supposed to have been added to the dignity, with the express or implied design of .ET. 40.] REGIUM DONUM. 215 enabling the reigning monarch to gratify his private tastes, and especially to be a "cheerful giver," in whatsoever way his inclination or benevolence might suggest. Without dwelling upon the important fact that if this ' right ' were once admitted scarcely any limit, either in direction or degree, could be put upon its exercise, it is abundantly clear that to alienate revenue was to abridge the resources of his successors ; and therefore a perpetual charge upon any fund — whether private or public — would be wholly wanting in the life and grace by which streams of bounty flowing from the Crown must ever be distinguished, if they are really to show the heart of the Sovereign for the time being towards any class of his subjects. Dr. Smith and his co-distributors could appeal to an important fact — that the Regium Donum in England had been kept singu larly exempt from all suspicion of having been used for political or party purposes. In proportion to the multitude of the beneficiaries, £1600 a-year was happily too small an amount ever to be thought of as a bribe ; hence it was constantly applied without ever exposing the men who disbursed, or those who received it (in sums not exceeding £5 — in any one year), to any imputation which was inconsistent with their proper independence as citizens. — The difficulty was felt to press rather in another form. The reception of the grant, trifling as it was, seemed to violate a great Scriptural principle. Nor could those who held that principle in what, as they believed, was its pristine purity, contend for it as they deemed it right to do, so long as some of their own Body were willing to distribute and others to receive the Eoyal gift. — Hence arose numerous Letters and appeals to Dr. Smith: — hence also resolutions adopted by the Congregational Union, not only in reference to the grant generally, but to his particular share in perpetu ating it, as well by the sanction of his high name and character as by his pen. He was, however, unable to comply with the urgent but in every sense respectful wishes and requests of his brethren. Nor must it be omitted in justice to his whole conduct, that while he was receiving the Eesolutions of the General Body against the Grant, besides many private communications; — numerous Letters were reaching him on the other side ; some from correspondents not directly interested, and a still larger number from beneficiaries, whose pathos and appeals were 216 REGIUM DONUM. [1814. animated and enforced by a detail of the calamities which would befall the writers and their families were his aid withdrawn. Hence, while not the slightest doubt can exist of his readiness to sacrifice his personal feelings had they alone been concerned, he was really compelled, for the sake of numerous and needy clients who were not in circums,tances to dispense with his pleadings as their Counsel, to adhere to a trust which very many years before had been, as he believed, put into his hands by Providence solely for the good of others. For this reason, as already intimated, he did not relinquish his share of either the duty or the obloquy, as one of the Distributors of the Regium Donum, until his failing strength laid him aside from that and all such duties. It is not unworthy of notice in this place, that the year following his death the Parliamentary Grant, of which he had long been, in some important respects, the chief advocate among the Nonconformists, was omitted from the public estimates, and has therefore ceased as well to supply ground of accusation against those who maintain in common what is called the voluntary principle, or to be any longer an occasion of differ ence among themselves. Eeviewing the whole of the circumstances, the care, labour, cost, and trouble, in which Dr. Pye Smith was involved from year to year in consequence of his generous discharge of the duties of this trust, can scarcely be imagined by any one who has only public documents to guide him. The latter are not few, were all the Letters to be collected from newspapers and magazines, with the separate pamphlets which he wrote, in de fence of his principles or in vindication of his conduct as a Distributor : yet how would these be far outnumbered by his private correspondence, with applicants and recipients or with other parties, in relation to the Bounty. For although he could not be satisfied until he had taken great pains to ascertain the qualification, moral and pecuniary, of those who applied to him, his considerate respect for the feelings of beneficiaries strove to keep their names as long as possible concealed, and thus it might happen that some person would perhaps be in the receipt of £4 or £6 for a year or two or even more ; when at length a Letter would be sent to apprise the Distributor at Homerton of the real, or it might turn out to be no more than the surmised .ET. 40.] REGIUM DONUM. 217 unworthiness of that recipient; and then Dr. Smith would have to begin a correspondence with probably three or four persons, no one of whom he knew, no one of whom, perchance, he had even heard of before, in order if possible to find a just and safe course for himself in these new perplexities. Nor must it be left without mention, that while the Letters of many whom he zealously served were such as could not fail to fill his heart with joy and praise, that God had been pleased thus to enable him to be the means of sending some relief to pious and useful though very needy ministers : — there were also Letters which breathed another spirit, the writers of which thought they had as good a claim as any to be put upon his list, or if they were already there to be kept on it from year to year, because, forsooth, the Bounty only came through his hands, and was in fact a Parliamentary Grant, which must be distributed among certain men having a certain office, answering, as they assumed or asserted, exactly to their con dition and character. Scarcely can it be necessary to add, that no remuneration ever reached him for any of his services in this wide field of duty. They were from first to last labours of love. " Inas much as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." This was the spring which supplied these streams, and which kept them flowing up to the very edge of that winter into which the icy cold of death, congeals the human frame. The nearest approach which Dr. Smith ever perhaps made in earher years towards relinquishing his office as a distributor, was in the autumn of 1835. He was then but barely beginning to recover from a long and danger ous illness; his friends were justly solicitous for his safety; and apparently at their instigation he did acknowledge the necessity of " drawing himself as soon as possible within the circle of his own proper and immediate duties." He adds in a Letter to one of his sons : — " The trouble of the Parlia mentary Grant, and which no other could relieve me of, is not inconsiderable. Yet I will not resign this trust immediately, but take some more time for consideration. The fact of my resignation would seriously injure many good and laborious ministers. Am I at liberty without a stronger demand of necessity to desert their interests ? Beally I think not. I must talk further with my friends on this subject." But 218 REGIUM DONUM. [l814. the ' subject ' was either never formally discussed, or not with any other result than that of his steadily pursuing the same course for fifteen years longer. Another point deserves to be recorded. None of the con troversies which arose between Dr. Pye Smith and any of his brethren, respecting his tenacious adherence to this " trust," as directly opposed to their avowed principles and wishes in regard to the alleged inconsistency of such an office with his high position as a Protestant Dissenter, ever produced any real alienation between the parties. They never doubted the sincerity of his convictions, or the purity of his motives and conduct : and though they were surprised and occasionally grieved, by his refusing to comply with their repeated appeals to relinquish his share in what they deemed a virtual denial of the New Testament law for maintaining Christianity inde pendent of all payments from the State, they held him in the highest honour not merely as a Christian, but as one who understood and carried out his and their common principles in a spirit and on a scale which commanded the warmest respect of the whole denomination. At times, indeed, when the discussion grew more than usually warm, some piece of artillery which seemed to have been charged with heavier metal than could ever have been seriously intended for him, would go off when he happened to be in the way. No sooner, however, was it seen that he had received no real damage from the hasty explosion, than all parties appeared as though they would vie with one another in expressing their veneration for his worth. Here therefore, as well as in other instances, out of his conflicts he gathered his laurels ; and where the blame had been at one moment too severe, commendations and praises flowed in upon him almost the next. In some cases where a conviction prevailed quite contrary to his on this subject — the growth probably of younger thoughts and urged on by warmer impulses — a kind of filial respect and even tenderness for the supposed weakness, in this single particular, of one who was venerable for his virtues no less than for his years, would mark at once the great worth of the man, and the fine feeling which even in a moment of excitement induced the objector to his conduct to use language, which not unfrequently con tained on the whole more of praise than of blame. JET. 40.] LATIN GRAMMAR AND SYNOPTIC TABLES. 219 In conclusion ; no one probably can now regret Dr. Pye Smith's firmness in standing by the principle on which the Regium Donum was thought by him to be based. For none have really suffered by the conflict of opinion, occasioned in a great measure by his tenacity in that particular. And the victory achieved, say on the right side, has been rendered the more conspicuous, and as it may be hoped, the more salutary and lasting, in consequence of its having been secured in opposition to the well-known views of a man who in all other respects had not only the highest confidence of the body to which he belonged, but whose weight beyond it was pro bably greater than that of any other single member who can be thought of. Although Dr. Smith had now been Theological Tutor nearly ten years, his zeal for the promotion of classical learning con tinued unabating. To facilitate the progress of his students, and to encourage and assist others, he prepared at this time a Latin Grammar, which in 1816 went into a second edition; and which, as a valuable introduction to the language and to larger Grammars, would probably have long retained its place in the book market had not the publishers fallen into difficulties. He also prepared three large, very carefully arranged Synoptic Tables ; one, containing the Declensions and Conjugations ; — a second, the Syntax ; — and the third, the Prosody of the Latin tongue. For many years afterwards these Tables might be seen on the walls of the Studies at Homerton ; for the Tutor took care to present copies of them to young men newly admitted to the College, to be readily referred to in their classical reading in order to ensure accuracy. A passage or two from the preface to the second edition of the Grammar, may still be read with advantage : — " I would earnestly caution him [the pupil] against the use of Latin books with English translations. Offering a temporary and deceitful ease, they preoccupy the learner's judgment, prevent his exertion, and defraud him of his object. The attainments made by their aid are generally un substantial and evanescent ' as the morning cloud and the early dew.' — The old custom is highly to be commended, of directing classical studies, for a considerable time, almost exclusively in the channel of the best poets. This practice greatly contributes to the formation of a correct and elegant taste, and to arouse and nourish what may exist of native genius ; it trains the imagination to a proper activity and tenderness, and it gives strength and 220 " REASONS OF PROTESTANTISM." [l815. promptitude to the powers of the understanding. It has also another ad vantage of the first importance to the reputation of a scholar : it is the surest method, and almost the only one, of acquiring an habitual and un- doubting correctness of pronunciation. Neither will the pupil find any time lost as to the ulterior object of reading prose works, from having con fined himself to Virgil and Horace, till he has established a thorough intimacy with their language and manner. He will then readily and easily form an acquaintance with prose authors, he will have a clearer perception of the characters of the two kinds of composition, and he will more pro fitably discriminate the appropriate excellencies of each." Speaking of the works to be used hi acquiring a thorough knowledge of the language, he is careful not to conclude his preface without directing attention to the highest of all interests. " If to the prosecution of this course of study, the leisure hours were devoted which most young men can command on the six days of the week, I can scarcely doubt that an useful and grati fying measure of attainment would be made in three or four years : and then it might be hoped that warmer zeal, aided by satisfactory experience, would prompt the lover of these fair regions of literature, to urge a similar career in the Greek language. ... On that path the lover of knowledge and virtue will not only be charmed by the attractions of Ionic sweetness and Attic elegance ; but he will hear the dictates of Eternal Wisdom, in humble simplicity of words, yet with celestial majesty of sentiment from Teachers whom the Son of God commissioned, and the Spirit of Truth inspired." In May, 1815, Dr. Smith preached at the Monthly Association a discourse entitled The Reasons of the Protestant Religion. This was afterwards published, with a dedication to the Marquis of Lansdowne. It would not be easy to find within the same space elsewhere an array of such well-selected facts, or of such clear and powerful arguments against popery and in support of Protestantism. And although the Author employed strong and pungent words to denounce gross errors in sentiment, and outrages upon human liberty, with which he deemed the papacy chargeable, it must not be forgotten that he was ever a firm advocate of the civil and political rights of the Eoman Catholic subjects of the British Crown. — Among the latest, if it was not the last of his public services, he revised and prepared an edition of this discourse, which bears on the title-page the date of the year when he died. This second edition was " Enlarged and JET. 41.] ECLECTIC REVIEW. 221 adapted to the Popish Aggression of 1850, with some Eemark- able Disclosures of Eomanist Policy in the Age of the Ee- formation."* His contributions to the Eclectic Eeview during 1815, appear to have been confined to two articles of a widely different class : — 'the first, on the Adversaria pi Professor Porson, a work which was published at Cambridge in 1812, under the joint editorship of Professor Monk and the present Bishop of London : — the second, on the Persecution of the Protestants in the South of France. The Eeader must not be surprised at the dissimilitude which appears to separate one of these productions from the other ; nor must he ascribe the two to the same pen on the principle on which Eeviewing is sometimes done in the gross, the Author's table having to be cleared quite irrespective of the variety which may fill it. Dr. Smith evidently used a right of selection, con ceded to him by the Editor; so that the breadth, diversity, and direction of his own mental and moral tastes are to be learned from the articles which he wrote for the Eeview. Through life it was one of the most conspicuous features of his character — to indulge the widest range of vision in his power. Although books, especially the most solid, and among these all that related to Biblical and Classical learning, secured his chief attention, and often afforded him the most exquisite mental gratification of which he was susceptible : yet at the same time, scarcely any man could enter more warmly than he into all that related to the liberties, civil and religious, of every portion of human society whether at home or abroad. The very extent of his reading operated in harmony with the higher sympathies of his nature in producing this result. Not simply did books suggest principles and examples, by the application- or infringe ment of which the best interests of mankind might be advanced or retarded : but by supplying him with innumerable facts, of which his memory was most tenacious, it was as though he had feelers out in almost every direction whereby his heart was constrained to respond, with joy or sorrow as the case might be, to occurrences widely remote from his personal sphere of action, and which if they came at all to the knowledge of people * Lond. Jackson and Walford. 222 ECLECTIC review: [1816. generally, would only stir the most evanescent emotion. If it were possible for a man's actual, personal life — his conscious ness — to be both expanded and quickened, in proportion to his literary knowledge, the result could scarcely differ from that which seemed often to be realized by Dr. Pye Smith. That which he knew of the past was brought to bear in such a manner upon the events of the present day, that the latter had a vivid ness, first, to his own apprehension, and then in his verbal or written sentiments and appeals, which could only be fully accounted for by calling in the aid of the former : just as the moon in our hemisphere becomes conspicuous, in consequence of the intensity of the rays which fall upon it from a body which at the time is actually out of our sight. From some of the introductory remarks in his article on the Adversaria, the Eeviewer's moral and literary qualifica tions as a critic may be appreciated : — " He must have a mind very destitute of information, or very singularly constructed, who does not take a strong interest in the reliques which time has spared of the literature of antiquity. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to find an individual capable of reading them with readiness in their native form who, after the utmost care to exclude prejudice and exaggeration, does not regard the principal of them as the most precious gems of human genius. But those productions have descended to modern times more or less disfigured by literal and verbal alterations, producing obscurity, inappropriateness, and often complete departure from the sense of the author. . . . The skill of applying all existing means for the removal of these defacements, and for restoring the original purity of a work, is the Art of Verbal Criticism : an art sometimes unduly exalted by too sanguine admirers, but more frequently insulted by ignorant flippancy. It was held in honour at the revival of letters, and continued to be honoured for two centuries fol lowing. Then came the day of Perrault and his disciples in France, and of the wits and witlings of King William and Queen Anne's reigns ; whose furious endeavour seemed for a time triumphant, to sweep away all whom they denominated word-catchers, with the utmost virulence and folly and false hood of ridicule. But the storm spent itself; and none of the oaks of the forest were uprooted by it. The name of Bentley JET. 41.] porson's adversaria. 223 rose and still rises to higher and higher admiration. The country of Gataker and Stanley produced a Dawes, a Taylor, a Markland, and a Tyrrwhitt ; and finally a Porson, whose critical felicity at least equalled that of his most distinguished precursors, — happy, had his moral worth borne a similar rela tion to the temperance and purity with which the greater number of them were adorned. " The qualities and attainments which are necessary for respectability and success in these disquisitions are of no mean order. Profound and exquisite skill in language ; a judgment at once sedate and quick ; an intimate acquaintance with the laws of the mind, and the varied phenomena of thought, passion, and association; an accurate knowledge of ancient history, politics, arts, and manners ; — these are some of the prcecognita disciplinarum essential to the character of a real critic on the literary remains of antiquity. . . . It is only by legitimate criticism that the genuine text of the Sacred Writings has been ascertained, and guarded from the rust of superstitious ignorance on the one hand, and on the other from the rashness of innovation and hypothesis. To acquire the solid principles of this art, and to be well practised in their just and satisfactory exercise, the profane classics furnish the most advantageous means : and when those principles are thus acquired, with sound and temperate intelligence, the serious and accomplished scholar will apply them for the demonstra tion and preservation of purity in the text of Scripture." — Ec. Rev. 1815, pp. 355—357. Although for the months of July and August annually Dr. Smith was entirely free from any duties as a Tutor, he had gone on from year to year without availing himself of the opportunity thus afforded for obtaining rest or recruited energy by any lengthened absence from Homerton. During sixteen years, sometimes one vacation, and sometimes two were allowed to pass, without any change of scene whatever. Occa sionally however, duty and filial affection called him away to Sheffield for a few weeks ; and in rarer instances he went to the sea-side. His motives for this uniform, and as might be thought almost monotonously wearying round of labour were various: the claims of his pastoral office knew of no remission; his domestic cares and ties were always in force : and then 224 CONTINENTAL TOUR. [l816. the extent to which his time was absorbed by the College during the Academical Sessions, made the two months' sus pension from those duties exceedingly precious for his private studies, and the preparation of works for the press. Nor is it proper to omit, that his generous disposition and his constant solicitude for the welfare of his family, did not allow him at this period to secure the costly indulgence of extensive excursions or of long absences from home merely for his own gratification. But in the summer of 1816, he was pressed in the kindest manner to join a party of his immediate friends, in a tour which they contemplated making in France, Switzerland, and Italy. The late William Hale, Esq., for many years one of the Deacons of the Church at the Gravel Pit Meeting House, was the gentleman " to whose spirit and liberality" — to use Dr. Smith's words — " the whole of the enjoyment was owing." The party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Hale, their two daughters, and their son ; -Dr. Smith, and Monsieur Mejanel, " an agreeable, in telligent, and pious native of France, the son of a protestant minister, and himself one of the pastors of Montauban, till de prived by the restored government." The tour commenced July 15; and was extended to September 13 — pursuing the follow ing route — Calais— Eheims — Chalons-sur-Marne — Troyes — Dijon — Gex — Geneva — excursions in that neighbourhood — across the Alps into Italy — Lago Maggiore — Arona — Milan — Vercelli — Turin — Eivoli — Mont Cenis — Lans-le-Bourg. Then on re-entering France, they proceeded by way of Lyons — Macon — Autun — Paris — Calais — home : travelling for the most part in Mr. Hale's ' English Landau.' For the entertainment and instruction of his family and friends, Dr. Smith kept a journal of the tour; and the manuscript, which is bound in two volumes, contains nearly three hundred pages, closely yet very clearly written. But as the route has been very ex tensively traversed during the last thirty-five years ; as many tourists have given the public an account of what they saw and thought and felt as they passed along the line above laid down ; as moreover, the Hand Books for Travellers on the Continent have of late years furnished very ample and trustworthy details, historical, topical, picturesque, or descriptive, respecting the places visited by the Homerton party in 1816, — the Eeader can scarcely feel a desire to have any large portion of Dr. MT. 42.] CONTINENTAL TOUR. 225 Smith's journal of that early date placed before him in the present narrative. There is, however, one point on which these volumes give by far the fullest light which can be obtained respecting their Author's powers of observation when beyond the limits of his study, and the contents of libraries. While travelling, he appears to have kept his eye open, as though it were quite a practised one, for all the incidents of the journey. The features, clothing, and dwellings of the peasantry; the style of husbandry; the cattle and implements used ; the posi tion, size, beauty, and buildings of Towns and Cities ; the magnificence and sublimity of the Alps ; the luxuriance of Italy — besides all those suggestions coming up from his know ledge of civil and ecclesiastical history, and his studies in science — all are so well introduced in the memorials of his tour, as to excite no little surprise at the seemingly long slum ber in which his faculties as a student of the outer world had been locked up, while from year to year he was maintaining an intercourse with books as though they only had the power to engage his attention. Yet probably the interest which he now manifested in what was daily passing before him, was not wholly the result of a strong natural love for such scenes and subjects ; — it was in a measure the dictate of what he considered the present duty, with which he earnestly sought to comply : so that shut out from his usual course of improvement, he strove most assiduously to turn every new incident to a good account. Nor was this at all uncommon. Indeed, because he was con scientiously averse from allowing either his progress in know ledge or his personal comfort to depend on the agreement between his natural inclination and the accidents of the pass ing hour, scarcely any one could excel him in the facility and success with which he would seize upon almost any set of circumstances, and as it were compel them to do him service. The following are incidents, and expressions of personal feeling, which seem entitled to a place in a life of Dr. Smith. — When, for example, the travellers were at Eheims on the Sunday, the question arose how they were to pass the day in a city where, as they learned, there was no Protestant church : — " I advised " — says the writer of the Journal — " that besides performing divine worship in our hotel according to our own views of duty, we should in some part of the day Q 226 CONTINENTAL TOUR. [l818. go to the magnificent church which was close to our windows. The principal part of the forenoon, therefore, we spent alone. Our amiable and pious fellow-traveller, M. Mejanel, performed a religious service in French. Another service followed in Enghsh. After this, we went to the cathedral." Among other reasons for going to the latter, was one which few besides Dr. Smith would perhaps have thought of, and fewer still would have made the occasion of an improved rendering of a passage of Scripture, by which its import is shown more clearly to the English reader than in the Authorised Version: "reflecting also that the Apostle when at Athens (Acts xvii. 23), 'went through and attentively surveyed their religious usages,' I advised," &c. &c. — In some of his closing remarks on what he witnessed, he writes, — " I cannot wonder that Popery engages so deeply and retains so firmly, the affections of a weak, an uninstructed, or a carnal mind. It possesses the strongest instruments for engaging the passions, fascinating the under standing, and enchaining the reason of mankind. It pleases the gay, it terrifies the licentious, it awes the vulgar, and it affords a solemn and engaging gratification to the piously disposed. It does indeed appear to me to be a system out of whose tenacious grasp nothing can deliver its votaries but the exceeding great and mighty power of God." At Chatillon. — " Some of the family discovered our social worship, and spoke of it to M. Mejanel as a matter which had given them both surprise and pleasure to a high degree. This is not the only instance in which similar observations have come to our knowledge. Can we wonder that the better sort of Roman Catholics in France regard Pro testants as a class of persons systematically impious, when almost all the Protestants whom they have had the opportunity of observing, manifest a total contempt for every form or semblance of religion ? — Before we left St. Martin the rain ceased, and most of the afternoon and evening was fair. Our route was interesting and impressive beyond all power of verbal description. We quitted the banks of the Arve, and winded along the sides of the mountains which rise, at a, declivity approaching the per pendicular, from its rocky bed. Sometimes we could hear its waters roar when we could not see them; in other situations, we could look down a descent, vast, grand, and often terrific ; and through the projecting pines and ash-trees, we could catch interrupted glances of the torrent as it foamed and roared too far below for me, at least, to hear. In almost every direction snowtopped mountains seemed to shut us in, and to forbid for ever our escape. On our right the gigantic Mont Blanc raised his white and ample bosom to our view ; and his awful summit towered above the clouds as they rolled across." JET. 42.] CONTINENTAL TOUR. 227 At Geneva. — " John Calvin was its great benefactor as a statesman and politician, not less than as a theologian and reformer. His name is still held in the highest reverence ; and more than once I had the pleasure of hearing him spoken of as the Father of the Republic. . . . Through the kind introduction of Dr. Berger, the eminent mineralogist, Professor Jurine favoured us with the sight of some part of his Cabinet of Natural History. It is of the highest beauty and in superb preservation. Geology is the Professor's favourite study, and in the finest specimens of minerals, he is extremely rich." The University Library was visited, and several of its rarest works are described. " Geneva stands in need of a reformation and a reformer scarcely less than she did in the sixteenth century. . . . The introduction of a suitable minister, if such could be found, who would act on an independent plan, appears the more practicable measure. But he must be a man of rare qualities. He should unite the theological accuracy, the saga city, and the firmness of Calvin, with the sweetness of Flavel, and the fervour of Whitfield. He should be a Swiss, or a Frenchman, a scholar, and an orator. He should be prepared to meet and to suffer, every kind of opposition ; and he should have all the meekness of wisdom not to arouse unnecessary opposition. He should be a man who has the command of a ready and powerful pen, as well as of an eloquent tongue. He should be a man indefatigable in labour, humble in spirit, mighty in the Scriptures, and eminently a man of prayer. 0 that such a servant of Christ were raised up. 0 that the Christians of Great Britain may be honoured as the instruments of obtaining and encouraging such a man ! " " All the resident foreign Protestants with whom I have con versed on these subjects; seem to have in their minds an invet erate association of the arrangements of the magistrate with the exercise of rehgion. The education of ministers, their qualifications, their appointment to their charge, their right of continuing in their office, the hours and other seasons of public worship, the manner of conducting that worship, and the pecu niary funds for its support, — are all matters of direction and legislation, directly or indirectly, on the part of the civil gov ernment. . . . Beligious liberty exists only in pretence. Hence, there are no private prayer-meetings, there are no voluntary associations of ministers and congregations for their mutual quickening and improvement. — Having endeavoured to lay aside all prejudice and prepossession, still my conviction is 228 CONTINENTAL TOUR. [l816. strong, that the Political Establishments of Religion on the Con tinent have been the great cause of the decay of holiness and zeal among the Protestants. That the same cause has not produced similar effects in England, we owe, under the unspeakable benignity of our God, to the labours and sufferings and invin cible constancy of the Puritans and Nonconformists." Descending the Alps towards Italy : — " We expected to gain a grand view into the celebrated country before us, similar to that which we had enjoyed in the descent from the Jura. But no such point of view presented itself. Our path became gradually more and more approaching to a level. In a situa tion recluse and romantic, we passed a chapel and two or three stone-built cottages, sheltered with high and thick trees which formed a delicious shade, — And we were in Italy-. My imagin ation kindled within me. ' I am in Italy ! ' I exclaimed in silence to myself, again and again : — ' Italy, the country where .Eneas landed, the seat of mighty Eome, the native soil of Scipio and Csesar, of Cicero and Virgil; — the land where Paul preached, and where he finished his glorious course by the testi mony of his blood ; the country, alas ! where the mistress of abominations has for so many ages fixed her seat, and still holds her throne of tyranny and imposture.' " At Arona : — " We visited the colossal statue of St. Charles Borromeo, the Archr bishop of Milan and Cardinal. . . . It is a fine figure, of hollow bronze, representing the Saint in a preaching attitude, with a Bible under his arm. Too significantly, alas ! the Bible is shut. The countenance has a noble expression of mildness, benevolence, and serious earnestness." " Monday, August 19. — We commenced our journey towards France, across the Alps, by Mont Cenis." ..." August 21. — The country about Montmaillant exhibits every form of grandeur and beauty. The mighty Alps, from which the nearer mountains seem to sink and abase themselves : those lower and nearer mountains themselves are in a wondrous and engaging variety of forms ; some presenting bare preci pices of rock, others covered with mountain verdure ; some naked, others clothed two-thirds up their sides with forests, the forms and tints of whose foliage wore every variety of rich ness and beauty : the cultivated plains watered by the Isere, which is here a large and wide river." The party remained about a week in Paris : — " Jardins du JET. 42.] PRINTED SERMON. 229 Boi. — While our party were going to the Menagerie, I intro duced myself to the Intendant of this great establishment, the celebrated Abb6 Haiiy. This venerable philosopher received me with, not politeness merely, but with an urbanity and even kindness which I ought ever to remember with gratitude. I impute this most to his amiable disposition, but in part to my knowing Mr. Allen, Mr. William Phillips, and Dr. Olinthus Gregory. He took me into his study, and showed me his most precious specimens of mineralogy, one of which he par ticularly pointed out as having been presented to him by Mr. Allen. I there also saw his admirable instruments for the measuring of the angles and sides of crystals. I regretted the necessity under which I was of so speedily taking leave of this no less interesting than celebrated man. He is of small stature, thin make, fair complexion, rather sharp features, and apparently more than seventy years of age." The Abbe was born in 1743, so that Dr. Smith was correct in his estimate of his age in 1816. The Mr. Allen above-mentioned is, no doubt, the late William Allen, of Plough Court, Lombard Street, who was a member of the Society of Friends, and who attained great eminence in pharmaceutical and practical chemistry, and eminence no less great as a philanthropist. He died Decem ber 30, 1843. "Friday, September 13. — We were brought home in the enjoyment of great mercies to ourselves and our dear families. May we, and those whom we have had the happiness to find in safety and comfort, ever feel these additional obligations to our DrviNE Preserver, who holdeth our souls in life, and hath not suffered our feet to be moved." Placing together Dr. Smith's labours for the press during the year 1816, mention must first be made of a sermon preached in . February, before the ' Society for Promoting Beligious Knowledge among the Poor,' and "published by desire of the Eight Honourable the Lord Mayor and the other members of the Society." The subject of the discourse is, The Guilt of Neglecting the Knowledge of Christ. To the Eclectic Eeview he contributed five articles during the year; the most important of which were on Bishop Horsley's Translation of the Psalms, and Dr. Maltby's edition 230 horsley's PSALMS. [1817. of Morell's Greek Thesaurus. His animadversions on Dr. Priestley's formidable antagonist are exceedingly strong and pointed : — " Man is a paradox ; but some of the species furnish examples of this trite saying more than ordinarily striking and instructive. In this peculiar class of men, none will hesitate to assign an eminent station to Bishop Horsley. His Her culean talents found their balance in an equal weight of pride, self-confidence, and defiance. Among the numerous streams which diverge from the Fountain of all knowledge, he selected the widest and the deepest — the great rivers of the intellectual domain ; and of these, spurning all consideration of their mag nitude, their difficulty, or their remoteness from each other, he did not taste only, but he drank largely and deeply. He was a theologian, (which, alas ! cannot be affirmed of every mitred head,) a mathematician, a philosopher, a philologist, a critic, a lawyer, and a statesman ; and in each of these characters he courted all kinds of competition, he shrank from no man's rivalship, and he " never relinquished a claim which he had once advanced. " But we have now to do with this distinguished person in his proper province as a Divine and a Scripture critic. Here, though in the very temple of the Deity, he never ' put off the shoes from his feet,' he never divested himself of his lofty character. Stern, bold, clear, and brilliant, often eloquent, sometimes argumentative, always original — he was too often led by*his disdain of what is common into hazardous specula tions and hasty conclusions, and not infrequently into con fident assertions of dubious and paradoxical points. It is but too plain that under the influence — perhaps unconscious — of his hierarchical prejudices, he has a perpetual propensity to fill up the chasms of proof with the perishable material of human authority. He seems to have always taken it as an axiom — at least, a position which no man but himself was entitled to question — that weak evidence could be helped out by ecclesi astical decision, and that the strongest was defective if it wanted that corroboration. It is a painful feeling, but it is what the serious Christian cannot escape in contemplating the character, and reading the divinity works of Bishop Horsley, that spiritual and practical Christianity was a less object in his esteem than the pomp and majesty of a secularized religion, lifting, as Mr. Burke said, 'its. mitred front in courts and par- JET. 43.] LETTER TO A BEREAVED MOTHER. 231 liaments ;' and that the Gospel of Jesus was more an arena for the display of polemical eye and nerve than a provision of rest to the weary soul, a source of pardon and holiness to the con trite heart. We read him with interest ever new ; we look up with wonder to his colossal genius ; — we always admire, and we often approve ; but when we have closed the book ' the iron enters into our soul,' and the sentiment irresistibly occurs which melted into tears the Benevolent Eedeemer — ' If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace !' " — Eclec. Rev. 1816, vol. i. pp. 20, 21. Such a passage as this is of no little value in a life of Dr. Smith ; for it shows most strikingly how his general tone and style in treating questions of public or personal controversy in which he was at any time involved, arose from no want of power or facility to use even the very keenest words ; but that his remarkable mildness and gentleness resulted from the extent to which temper and language were held in subjection by the Spirit of Christ which was in him. The summing up of the article on the Psalms has been, for the most part, supported by the verdict of later times : — " The work, considered generally, though affirmed to have been left ready for publication by the deceased prelate, seems to carry marks of haste and .rashness, as well of a subserviency to hypothesis. Its effect, we apprehend, will not be to raise the Bishop's character as a critic. But we are glad, upon the whole, that it is pubhshed. In judicious hands it may be turned to useful purposes, but it will not be a safe guide for the unlearned." — lb. p. 32. In July, 1817, he wrote thus to a bereaved mother : — " It cannot be a subject of surprise that you feel your great loss more acutely from day to day. Your now glorified daughter when in her earthly sphere, filled up so large a space in the compass of parental and domestic, of literary and religious feeling, that the extent of the privation could not be discovered at once. Every morning and evening must be unfolding new circumstances connected with our dear friend translated from us, by bonds of association so strong that they cannot be duly appreciated except by those who feel them. But we earnestly entreat you never to overlook the unspeakable weight of those considerations which ought to fill you with gratitude and joy. Your beloved daughter is only as a favoured guest sent for before the rest, and very soon to be followed by those of her friends who through faith and patience are seeking to inherit the promises. Let us entreat you to turn the eye of your mind to these topics ; and above fell, 232 DEATH OF THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE. [l817. to the grace and love and glory of the Lord Jesus, who was the real spring of all that was so lovely and excellent in our dear friend whom you must feel it an inexpressible honour to have called your child. She was a stream, He is the source ; and He deserves, as He requires, the heart of unrivalled affection." When, later in the year, the Princess Charlotte was suddenly snatched away from the fond expectations which the nation at large had indulged, in the event of her being permitted to ascend the throne, Dr. Smith, in common with many ministers of all denominations, sought to improve the event in a sermon at the Gravel Pit Chapel. The discourse was afterwards published, and went into a third edition. Looking back upon the numer ous lamentations and forebodings for the future which were elicited in almost every quarter by that event in our national history, and comparing them with the manifold advantages which, for several years have come and are still coming to us, in consequence of a bereavement by which God in his prov idence opened the way for Victoria to ascend the throne and for Prince Albert to be her consort, — it behoves us to learn how incompetent we are to anticipate with anything like cer tainty, either in private or public concerns, the sequel of dis pensations which, at the moment of their occurrence, are submitted to as the heaviest of trials. — " Therefore judge nothing before the time." CHAPTEB XIV. DEATH OF HIS SON, PHILIP HENRY — LETTER TO MR. AND MRS. LEADER ; TO MR. WALFORD; WRITTEN ADDRESS TO HIS CONGREGATION; AND PASSAGE IN THE PREFACE TO ' THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY,' ON THAT EVENT — SEVERITY OF THE BEREAVEMENT — LETTERS TO HIS CHIL DREN — THE FATHER, AS HE APPEARED TO HIS CHILDREN — FIRST VOLUME OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY TO THE MESSIAH — HIS SER MON BOOKS — TUTORIAL DUTIES — COUNSELS AND CAUTIONS TO THE STUDENTS — HIMSELF AN EXAMPLE OF HIS OWN RULES— HIS MAN NER AS A TUTOR. Up to the date at which this narrative has arrived, Dr. Smith had been called to suffer several bereavements in his family and friendly circles. An infant child was removed in 1806; in 1810 his father died; in 1814 a sister. Death had also entered the Academy ; at one time taking away a beloved pupil ; at another, the wife of a valued colleague ; at another, that colleague himself: and similar trials to his feelings had arisen in other quarters. But in July, 1818, a stroke of a most unexpected kind came nearer, and sank deeper than any before. His eldest son, then a little more than fourteen years of age, who was at home from school for the holidays, was seized with an illness which in four days proved fatal. In so short a space, the vigour of health, and the elasticity and joyousness of youth came to the coffin and the grave. Only the father can tell his tale of woe. He thus wrote to Sheffield : " Homerton, July 9, 1818. " My dear Brother and Sister, — A heart-rending task I must perform. 0 what a stroke has the Lord laid upon me and my dear fellow- sufferers! My Philip Henry is snatched from us. He in whom his beloved Mamma and sister and myself felt 234 LETTER TO MR. LEADER. [l818. such a pecuhar delight, — who from his birth has been more than ordinarily the object of our affections and hopes, — is torn away by a sudden stroke. On Saturday forenoon he com plained of sickness. I thought it was a trivial thing, and alas ! treated it accordingly. On Sabbath morning we sent for Mr. Toulmin. But he perceived nothing alarming till Monday morning, when he found symptoms of inflammation on the peritoneum Every thing was done that human art could do; but, 0 it has been in vain! Yesterday morn ing he expired in his mamma's arms, at nine o'clock. — Engaging boy ! At the very age when importance was every day attaching to him more and more, — just turned fourteen ; and when our trembling solicitude was looking forwards to the fruit of all the anxieties and cares which have been expended upon him ; he is withdrawn, so unexpectedly, so painfully. \But, righteous art Thou, O Lord ! " On Monday he desired me to read from the Psalms to him : when I asked which, he said, ' The fifty-first.' His sorrowing mother and I suggested, as we thought he was able to receive them, the portions of scripture and hymns most suitable for him. Yesterday morning he said, 'Papa, say something to me.' I replied, ' What must I say, my dear ?' The answer he gave pointed to Scripture or hymns ; I cannot recollect which. Some time after he said, ' Papa, will you read to me the hymn which begins, Death — what a solemn word to all.' Frequently I saw his soul seemed engaged, I doubt not, in prayer and committing himself to the Divine Ee deemer. But the pains which he endured, and which evi dently he suppressed with pecuhar fortitude, the languor which oppressed him, and the melancholy succession of bleed ing, medicines, warm-bath, &c. which took up so great a part of the time, — were great hinderances to expression from him. But his attention, patience, endurance, sweetness, and silent lifting up his spirit (I trust) to heaven, were very observable. By my being very busy on Saturday, and preach ing three times on the Lord's-day, I had, to my extreme sorrow, little intercourse with him till the alarm of danger was given early on Monday morning. His dear and attentive mother was almost constantly with him, and from Monday morning day and night doing everything for him, with only a very short intermission. Divine grace greatly supported JET. 44.] LETTER TO MR. WALFORD. 235 her at the last moment, which I did not witness ; but O, our sorrow is unspeakably great. You, my dear brother and sister, have had experience of such circumstances : but how severe must be this stroke, from the dear child's age and all other circumstances ? — The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. 0 to be enabled from the heart to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord ! 0, my dear brother and sister, pray for us. We need your prayers, and our poor prayers are offered for you." On the 13th of July, he wrote to apprise his colleague Mr. Walford, who was then at Yarmouth, of the event. Without copying the information which in substance has just been given, some passages will show more fully the Father's feel ings on the occasion : — " My dear brother, I have heavy tidings to inform you of. My heart is broken. My dear child, who was clasped to the hearts of both his parents by peculiar circumstances of endearment, — my Philip Henry,— is no more on earth." — " 0 what a destruction of enjoyment and anticipations ! He was beginning to put away childish things. He was beginning, with attainments in some things far above what I have ever made, to be my instructive com panion. I had conceived plans, and we had actually com menced them, of association in some useful studies ; and I had looked to this vacation as the most pleasant of any that we had known. — But all is blasted ! ' God hath brought me into darkness. I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.' I am sure we shall have your pity and your prayers : but I hope it is not wrong to say, ' My stroke is heavier than my groaning.' Yet I ought not, and I trust I do not complain against God. ' His judgments are right.' 0 may some glorious good to my remaining children and to other young persons, be brought by Sovereign Grace out of this deep distress !" The deeply-afflicted parent could not forget his pastoral charge ; yet as his feehngs would not allow him for some time to dwell upon his bereavement in the pulpit, he pre pared an address which was read among his people. A copy of this, not in Dr. Smith's writing, has been kindly lent by Mr. Samuel Gould Underhill, one of the senior deacons of the Church at the Gravel Pit; and from it the following 236 ADDRESS TO HIS CHURCH AND CONGREGATION. [l818. passages are borrowed : — " It is my duty and my earnest desire to use means, that the best improvement may be made to my pastoral children and young friends, of that over whelming dispensation of God's holy providence which has filled me and my house with inexpressible sorrow. But I fear that it will be a long time before I can exercise such fortitude as will make it discreet for me to refer directly to this event in any public service. In this mode therefore I desire to com municate some sentiments : though I feel that the weight of my calamity and the weakness of my mind render me inca pable of doing it as I could wish. The hand of the Lord has smitten me, and the stroke lies heavy upon me : but it is not too severe. I desire publicly to glorify His holy name, and with my whole heart to say, ' He hath done all things well ;' yea, in the best manner. There is not a point in the multiplied sharpness of this visitation, though it pierces to the very core of my heart, which I do not fully believe and unreservedly declare to be in the most perfect accordance with the righteousness, the wisdom, and the grace of God. Many of His people have sustained similar, and even heavier afflic tions : and who am I that I should expect to enjoy an exempt ion ? — Dreadful as this shock has been to the feehngs of nature, I fervently pray not merely to submit to it, but to be thankful for it." Then, further on, he dwells upon the character and attain ments of his son, and of his blighted hopes as a parent. — " He was now beginning to step into the place of a friend and com panion. He had not, indeed, put away all childish things, nor all childish faults; but indications of a solid judgment, and other encouraging grounds of parental anticipation, were not wanting. His disposition was sincere, honest, and generous. He never took pains to show himself to advantage. He cheer fully bore others to be preferred before him. He received reproof with submission, and encouragement without being lifted up by it. His attainments had laid a broad and deep foundation for future excellence. But, O, what a frustration of hope is here ! I viewed the time as not very distant when he would reward all the cares of instruction, and would be my pleasant associate in useful studies. In some important branches of knowledge his attainments far exceeded mine. Already we had begun some plans of study ,%in which he would JET. 44.] PASSAGE IN THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 237 have been not only a learner, but my profitable companion, help, and guide. But now all these 'purposes are broken off,' and, as to the present state, are for ever destroyed. God saw it right that it should be thus ; and though immersed in distress and darkness, I know that it is right, and desire to adore and bless His holy dominion." A brief but most touching reference to the event occurs in the preface to the first volume of the first edition of the Scripture Testimony, which, after a long delay, came out at a later period of the year in which Philip Henry died : — " But scarcely has he sent the last sheets to the press " — so writes the Christian sufferer — " when all his other feelings are swal lowed up in one keen distress. He had a son, the joy of his heart, and the object of many a delightful though trembling anticipation. When those anticipations were beginning to be realized; when he was just stepping into the place of an asso ciate and a friend ; when his character and attainments were opening to prospects of exquisite gratification ; in the very fulness of life, health, and vigour ; it has pleased the All-Wise and Eighteous Sovereign to take him from the arms of his agonized parents by a sudden and overwhelming stroke. " ' Non sum ambitiosus in malis, nee augere lacrymarum caussas volo : utinamque esset ratio minuendi ! Sed dissimu- lare qui possum, quid illi gratise in vultu, quid jucunditatis in sermone, quos ingenii igniculos, quam praestantiam placidse mentis ostenderit ? — Tuosne ego, 0 mese spes inanes, labentes oculos, tuum fugientem spiritum vidi? Tuum corpus fri- gidum, exsangue complexus, animam recipere,.auramque com- munem haurire amplius potui ? ' * " But though the bereaved and sorrowing writer can so justly borrow these lamentations, he cherishes a hope which that illustrious mourner never knew. To the- Eeader who is not a father an apology may be due for obtruding the mention of domestic woe; but should he not approve, he will view as at least a pardonable weakness the wish to preserve a painful yet precious remembrance." While the warmest manifestations of sympathy and kind- * Quintilian Inst. Lib. vi. Procem. 238 SEVERITY of the BEREAVEMENT. [l818. ness were shown to the Pastor and his family by his affec tionate congregation, and while Letters of condolence reached him in great numbers from his brethren in the ministry and other friends, the pecuhar circumstances in which he was placed gave a character to the bereavement not easily to be conceived. Besides the varied endowments which the child who was taken away had, or, rather, was then beginning to cultivate with ad vantage and pleasure, and which, from the well-known mental and moral habits of Dr. Smith, would be pre-eminently prized by him both as a man and as a parent, the singularly isolated position in which the Father had to pass his domestic life imparted to such a Son, in the very bosom of his family, a preciousness which no words can describe. Here there were ties to bind heart to heart far stronger than those of mere affinity in blood. Hence the constant reference — deeply touching from its true import — to the benefits which the father was not only anticipating but beginning to realize, from one who was to be "his pleasant associate in useful studies." Not, perhaps, without many difficulties had the " broad and deep foundation for future excellence " been laid in that child's long course of school education. The faith and patience of the husband had often had to struggle with the surmises to which he would have to listen ; he could scarcely venture to hope all that the fond parental heart is wont to hope in such cases, lest indeed there should be some falling. off in the result, to which his attention would be sure to be directed. But now the solid evidence of success was at hand. The school course had been pursued with exemplary diligence and credit, and the child stood approved, and honoured, and greatly beloved in the domestic circle. And this was his own son — "the dear and sweet youth," as he would often say, in memory of his worth and the love he bore him. Who can wonder if, in his circumstances, he felt inclined to lean upon his Philip Henry, in one way or another beyond what was at that time practicable in the case of the younger children ? It is not necessary to suppose that the continuance of such a support — had God mercifully spared this son — would have proved to the disadvantage of a single member of the family : much less ought it to be assumed that he was removed, in order to correct a misplaced degree of confidence which the father was disposed at that period to indulge. Surer ground ^ET. 44.] SEVERITY OF THE BEREAVEMENT. 239 may perhaps be taken ; namely, that the Divine purpose required the putting aside of every hinderance which would be likely to interfere with the development of Dr. Smith's char acter according to the conditions which had been in force for many years already. No earthly prop was to be allowed to stand in the way of his almost exclusive habit hitherto of resting upon God. His principles as a Christian were to be matured and perfected, on the only foundation which could have supported them in such vigour for the last sixteen years of his life. And that he discerned this to be the case, and entered cordially into the spirit of the dispensation, appears to be evinced by the fact that when, several years later, his other children were, — from their age, their attainments, and their love and admiration for their father, — able to afford succour and solace to his feelings, he would scarcely allow himself to par take of the gratification to the extent to which he seemed pre pared for it in the case of Philip Henry, lest his doing so should make it necessary, as he might fear, for some fresh stroke of mortality to fall upon his dwelling. The keen sensibility which he expressed respecting the piety of the child was quite characteristic of his fidelity and con scientiousness as a Christian. Though afflicted and sorrowing in the most acute manner, he could not, for the sake of any tem porary relief to his own feelings, give a broader basis to his hopes respecting his son's salvation than the simple narrative of the facts appeared to justify. But was not this the highest form of human benevolence ? For by striving to keep the Divine standard of truth, duty and character where it ought to be kept, there would arise an increased earnestness of appeal to all who attended on his ministry, and a warmer solicitude for the full life of religion among the Students of the College. None could expect opiates from the man who when he seemed so greatly to need them himself — if indeed they could have done him any good — utterly eschewed their use. — And yet there were such hopes gathering around the dying boy, that every one can look upon the scene with a higher satisfaction than the sensitive feelings of the father would permit him in that moment of anguish to indulge. To him the pang^ of separation was of a pungency which scarcely anything could assuage except such an amount, or rather kind of evidence, as would have turned the dying chamber into a scene of tri- 240 LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. [l818. umphant preparation for heaven. But in later years, no doubt, he found cause for thankfulness and a sort of subdued joy, in the heavenward incidents of Philip Henry's brief earthly career. Before quitting the family circle, the following Letters to his children may be introduced, although in point of date they do not belong to this part of the narrative : — " My very dear child, — To-morrow the 15th of June you will have completed your 15th year. It may seem puerile to notice the coincidence of figures : but if the thought that such a co incidence can never happen to you again, be subservient to serious reflection, I shall not regret having mentioned it. — In a few more hours it will be fifteen years since your dear Mamma and I received you as the gift of God your Creator, a child of immortality committed to us to be trained up for His happy service, glory, and enjoyment. It is true that our attempts have been feeble and imperfect ; but they have been zealous and sincere. You are witness that we have endeavoured to lead you to the experimental and blessed knowledge of God in Christ : and I think it may be literally said that not :a day have we omitted to pray for you, and to implore the greatest of mercies on your behalf. But, alas ! we cannot command or insure the happy result ; that lies, under the efficacy of Divine Grace, with your own conscience and solemn resolution. Now, therefore, is the time when every moment calls you more earnestly still, to devote yourself to the Lord Jesus. To what a momentous period are you arrived ! You are come to that age in which the character is formed and usually decided for time and eternity. If at this time you can neglect the calls of the Saviour's mercy, and be insensible to His unspeakable and inestimable love, the probability acquires a most alarming and dreadful growth that you will continue to do so, and will in crease in hardness, disbelief, and impiety. 0 what a terrific thought ! May Eternal Mercy avert it, my dear,, dear child, from being realised in you! — 0 let it be your fervent and assiduous prayer and constant desire that your heart may, be engaged with the Saviour's glories, and your tempers and life sanctified to His service ! . . . " The fifteen years since we first embraced you with an affection more tender and joyous than you can easily con- JET. 44.] LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. 241 ceive, seem now but a mere span of duration ; so fresh is the recollection, and so short appears the interval. 0 what a poor parenthesis is time, cut out of eternity ! Yet this little period, — how momentous has it been ! And what will be the next fifteen years ! I beseech you to prize highly and cultivate diligently your present advantages for making useful acquisi tions of human knowledge and accomplishments : but let salva tion, Christ, and eternity engage your most intense regard. " This Letter is shorter than my affection would make it, did not time press hard upon me. But make up its brevity and imperfection by your own solemn reflection, your Bible, and prayer. Especially read Eccl. xii. ; John iii. and xv. ; Bom. iii. ; Heb. i. and the epistle of Jude. Our best love rests upon you. Our earnest prayers are poured out for you. Grace, mercy, and peace be with you for ever ! '¦ Your ever affectionate father." " My very dear boys, — It is now a considerable time since we heard from you. But we hope you are well, as indeed we have heard that you are from your kind and worthy Principal. Think what a mercy it is that you are so, when so many of your schoolfellows have been ill. Master Bankin is gone home- apprehended to be in a decline, and the visitation of death has now come so near to you. These are loud and solemn calls tp you to be deeply thankful for the continu ance of health and life, — and earnestly sohcitous that you may answer the great end of life, which your admirable and comprehensive Catechism has taught you is, ' to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever.' Imagination cannot conceive a greater, more honourable, or more happy design than this is. It involves all possible blessings, all possible happiness, all that can constitute serenity, joy and usefulness in life, victory over death, and the highest glory of your nature in the awful world of spirits; the world of eternity. The way to accomplish this blessed design is fully revealed to you in the gospel of our Lord and Eedeemer. Therefore, my be loved sons, I solemnly charge you, ' Eepent and believe that Gospel.' 0 yield your hearts entirely to the Adorable Ee deemer as your Prophet, Priest, and King. Then you will be happy, and you will supremely gladden the hearts of your parents. 242 FIRST volume of THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY [1818. " May you make the God of all grace your portion ; and may He confer His richest mercies upon you ! Adieu, and believe me, my dear boys, ever and tenderly yours." The following picture of the father by one of his children, cannot probably find a more appropriate position than here : — " It was in every-day life, in. the ordinary routine of common self-denial, that all his lovely characteristics were apparent. To reside with him, were to be convinced of the innocence, the meekness, the sanctity, the intrepidity of his whole being. In a thousand ways that cannot be described, his self-deprecia tion, acts of constant self-denial without letting them appear to be such, his exceeding kindness and thoughtfulness for others, his deep piety, were in our eyes to be equalled by no other person. His charity towards all men, his singleness of heart and purity of motive seemed almost angelic. Peni tential apphcation to the Eedeemer rendered daily efficacious, and a total surrender to God's authority as paramount and supreme, were exemplified in him till Duty became his nature : and as to his sorrows, the world might perhaps have envied them, if they could have known their value to him." It has been already intimated that the first volume of Dr. Pye Smith's largest work — The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah — was published in 1818. Besides the passages which have been quoted from the Preface in an earlier page, there are others which deserve some attention here, for their relation to the causes in which the work originated, and for their bear ing on some points of difference between the first edition and all subsequent ones. — On the title page of the first, the Scrip ture Testimony is said to "include a careful examination ofthe Eev. Thomas Belsham's Calm Inquiry, and of other Unitarian works on the same subject." This is not repeated in any later edition ; for when the second appeared in 1829, and still more in the third and fourth, the work had less of a directly contro versial style, and was more exclusively devoted to an elucida tion of the evidence of Divine Bevelation on the great subject of inquiry. — A fact, however, is mentioned in the first edition which the Author deemed it right to reprint in all the sub sequent ones :— namely ; that " the design of the treatise was conceived, and its plan formed, before the publication of Mr. JET. 44.] TO THE MESSIAH. 243 Belsham's Calm Inquiry into the Scripture Doctrine concerning the Person of Christ." This also is added, that " when that work appeared, the writer was urged to draw up a reply to it ;" but he thought " that such a reply might be best combined with the execution of his previous intention." Now as the Calm Inquiry was published in 1811, prior to that date Dr. Smith was contemplating the preparation of the work, the first volume of which he gave to the world in 1818 ; nay, more, the design was conceived and even the plan was formed, before Mr. Belsham's treatise came out. Since there fore at that early period, there could have been no desire to controvert the production of the Unitarian Author, to this fact may be ascribed the singular advantage, of having Dr. Smith's work in the form of an examination of the Scripture testimony on the subject, rather than in that of a particular controversy with Mr. Belsham. The region which is thus traversed is higher and more serene than it might have been in the other case ; and the results are in conceivably more important and satisfying. Yet the appear ance of the Unitarian treatise at such a time was exceedingly opportune for the more complete accomplishment of Dr. Smith's original purpose. The strong points on that side of the controversy were urged afresh, and with all the dialecti cal skill and cleverness which Mr. Belsham could command. His name, and his position in the leading Unitarian Chapel in London, where learning, wealth, and rank were accustomed at that time to congregate, added not a little to the authority of this matured production of his practised pen. As also he had been formerly Theological Tutor at Daventry Academy, and in Dr. Smith's early days at Homerton was the minister at the Gravel Pit Meeting House, greater weight would be likely to attach to the responsibility which the Author of the Scripture Testimony would feel in regard not only to the question in general, but to the method of treating it which the Calm Inquiry in particular had pursued. Hence, while the latter supplied important hints, or opened some lines of investigation which might not otherwise have been thought of at the moment, or added a new stimulus to motives which urged the Author to probe every question to the uttermost of his power, — it was happily not allowed to thrust aside the plan -on which he had originally deter- R 2 244 FIRST VOLUME OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. [l819 mined. Such a change might have confined his attention for the most part if not entirely to the track , baid down by Mr. Belsham, and thus have given to his own work a local and temporary interest, instead of the wide and enduring value it now possesses. Even in the first edition,' the array of evidence was maintained in as , unbroken a form as though no opposing suggestions had to be encountered ; and yet the latter were as fairly and as completely met, each one in its order, as though the book had been written chiefly,' or even solely with that design. It is also quite open to observation, that on this plan the Author was at liberty to refer to other opponents of Evangelical doctrine as well as Mr. Belsham ; indeed, it could not be fairly deemed inconsistent with his avowed object, to notice in his progress any attack upon the truth which it was his purpose to vindicate and establish. And if the subsequent editions do not contain some of the controversial matter, which from the freshness of certain Unitarian productions at the time when the first was pub lished is to be found therein, yet the original arrangement has been most closely adhered to, as being in comparison with every other the best for the argument, and the most complete and satisfactory for the Eeader's use. A trait of character not unworthy of regard is found in the fact, that the two deeply interesting passages relating to the Author's own difficulties and trials, which have already been transcribed from the preface to the first edition, were never allowed to appear in any later one. As soon as ever the occa sions had passed away which had constrained these references to himself, Dr. Smith withdrew the passages, notwithstanding their beauty and pathos as descriptive of his feehngs, and even their appropriateness as bearing directly on circumstances which might be said to have an historical value in connection with the work itself. Speaking of the first volume, in a Letter which he wrote to Dr. Wardlaw at the beginning of 1818, he says :-— " I can scarcely find half an hour a day to employ upon it." But if in this instance he had to " sow in tears," hp was permitted before long to "reap in joy;" and at once, with the true instincts of a generous and grateful heart, he removed all traces of the discouragements under which he had commenced and long pursued his course. It was a great thing to be able JET. 45.] HIS SERMON BOOKS. 245 — as he ever seems to have been — to take up at the very earliest opportunity notes of gladness and praise. "With the year 1819," says the Pastor ofthe Church at the Gravel Pit, " I begin this second book of Entries of Sermons. The preceding one has served through eighteen years. O how improbable it is that I shall fill this ! Perhaps a very small part of it is all that I shall occupy. Gracious Eedeemer ! may its contents be associated with more of holy energy and merci ful success in Thy work than the last has been ! " — These Sermon Books contain, in chronological order, an account of Dr. Smith's preaching engagements, whether at his own place or elsewhere. First, comes the date ; next, the part of the day of the particular service; then the subject of the discourse; and, finally, the text. His sermons to his own people were very generally textual, as distinct from the topical method ; yet he evidently sought to deduce from the text a subject, around which might be gathered a rich variety of scriptural illustrations. If a stranger preached at the Gravel Pit Chapel, his name was inserted hi the middle column of the book ; or if Dr. Smith preached elsewhere, the name of the place then occupied that column ; and as a single line generally sufficed for one entry, a great deal of information of a kind often required by the Pastor, was contained in a small space. The year 1819 'appears to have passed without any publica tion bearing Dr. Smith's name ; nor did he contribute anything to the Eclectic Beview which it is of importance to notice. His recent heavy bereavement, the completion of the first volume of the Scripture Testimony, and his being engaged in preparing the second, will account for this seeming quiescence of his active pen. In such a comparatively rare scarcity of materials of a public land, it may not be out of place to visit the interior of the College, where the regularity and devotedness of the Theo logical Tutor never failed to be an object of interest to the Students. Although at this date no change had occurred in the number and variety of his duties in that department— though he still taught all the divinity, all the mental and moral philosophy, and even all the science, comprehended in the •>46 TUTORIAL DUTIES. [l819. limited provisions of that early day — the time which he spent with the several classes was not what it had been in former years, Instead of the "three hours and a half daily," two hours or two hours and a half for five days a week, was the amount of his personal attendance at the College. The altera tion had arisen in part from the demands made upon him as an Author, in meeting which he was now seen to be serving his generation with great efficiency and success ; but it had grown gradually out of another and a more imperative cause ;— the Students found it quite impracticable to turn to a really good account that large attendance upon Lectures which was at one period expected. Mr. Walford's just and valuable claims as the Classical Tutor could not be slighted ; yet they must have been, if sufficient private study had not been given to prepare for them. Some also of the most important of the duties of Dr. Smith's department were likely to suffer, either in his attention to them in class, or in the Student's out of it, by attempting to do more than the inexorable narrowness of time and human strength allowed. Hence, to shorten the space passed in the Lecture room was seen to be required for the sake of those for whose benefit the Lectures were given. To secure, therefore, the great object which ever lay nearest his heart — the real and lasting improvement of the young men under his care — the Doctor consented to require a smaller portion of their time than at first. The following hints and suggestions, prepared by Dr. Smith for the Chairman at one of the yearly examinations at the College, may serve to illustrate his spirit and maxims, in rela tion to the moral responsibilities of his office ; and in con nexion with this paper it may be mentioned, that the Theo logical Tutor drew up from year to year the Questions on the several subjects of his numerous courses of lectures in which the Students of his class were to be publicly examined. The "solemn Exhortation" came at the close of this part of the business of the clay. " Respectfully requested that the Chairman, in his solemn Exhortation to the Students, would introduce the following topics.— i. To maintain with conscientious fidelity and care the spirit of vital, humble, tender-hearted piety. Every student has been admitted to the advantages of this Semi nary, upon the fullest profession of heart-devotedness to the Lord Jesus. JET. 45.] CAUTIONS AND COUNSELS. 247 This was the primary ground of a compact between him and his supporters. If he subsequently depart from the condition on his part, he has violated the compact, and is no longer the object on the faith of being which he was received to the patronage of the Institution. — ii. Cherish to the utmost the love of prayer ; — secret, — and social. — iii. Cultivate constant amiableness of temper and suavity of manners towards each other. Especially Senior to Junior Students. — iv. Maintain brotherly love. — If any one perceives or supposes a deviation from Christian propriety in another, he should pri vately remonstrate, and labour to convince and reelaim. — Avoid harsh re marks upon each other's prayers, or other religious performances. — v. Re deem and improve time. Love solitude in your study. Spend very little time in ordinary conversation. Strictly avoid all light, frivolous, and un- edifying conversation., — vi. Never practise debating upon religious doctrines. — Conversation upon controversies is undoubtedly proper, provided it be conducted with sincerity of spirit, unaffected seriousness, and a devotional frame of heart : but if with levity and jocoseness, petulance, arguing for victory, supporting what you do not believe, treating divine truths as topics of mere intellectual exercise, such conversations are pregnant with evil and danger. — vii. Avoid all unsuitable reading: such as would fill the mind with thoughts and expressions/impure, profane, licentious, or infidel. — Your time, memory, and imagination are not your own. They are con secrated to God. You are not at liberty to alienate them in any degree. — viii. Strictly observe all the Laws. The late revision has been with anxious care to secure and advance the real well-being of the Establishment, and of every particular member of it. The idea that any of the Laws are merely principles, hints, or general rules, is altogether erroneous. — ix. Remember that you should be exemplary as Church Members, even in your pro tempore connection. Else you are not likely to become good Pastors. Be constant at the Church Meetings and the Lord's Table: nothing but a strong necessity can justify your absence. Though it is proper that you should hear the best models of preaching in different evangelical com munions, yet this liberty should be discreetly used. Too much variety will vitiate the taste and perplex the judgment. Attend, at least once on the Lord's-day, where you are in communion. — x. In any case of difficulty as to sentiment, matters of practice, disagreement with a fellow-student, or worldly business which may befall you, — seek the advice and aid of your Tutors." It will be observed almost at a glance, that the foregoing topics are of a moral and religious kind, with scarcely a refer ence, much less any direct appeal to literary pursuits and acquisitions. — Could the stimulus have been applied more appropriately than to the heart and conscience ; — could a wiser, or a more salutary method have been introduced in such a connection? For all the great purposes of the Chris tian life, and therefore for all those of the Christian ministry, the lifting up, the purifying, the ennobling of the moral part of our nature, is the one thing needful. Let it be supposed 248 HIS MANNER AS A TUTOR. [1819. that the propensities and passions are kept under strict con trol, that the temper, conduct, and habits are such as a vigorous Christianity sanctions or creates — what freedom will there then be for the healthful action of the intellect — what pure and lofty motives to diligence — what well-directed efforts to acquire every kind of really valuable knowledge ; — above all, or in combination with and as the climax of all, what fervour, persistency and acceptance in prayer for the Divine aid and blessing, apart from which success is either unattainable, or there will be a mass of materials accumulated without enough of the true leaven to make them wholesome and salutary. And here it can scarcely be too widely known among Ministers, or Students for the ministry, or among the younger members of Christian Churches who are in quest of examples of eminent learning in alliance with eminent usefulness — that to Dr. Pye Smith was largely given the grace to walk by his own rules, as they are now submitted to the scrutiny and consideration of others. A still nearer view of the position, deportment, and duties of the Tutor may be presented. For by far the larger portion of his official life, he went on without any of the outward symbols of official dignity. He had no gown — no chair or desk of state — nothing beyond a place on a level with his pupils, excepting that he sat at the head of a table, on each side of which and therefore with one of his " young brethren " at each elbow, the ten, twelve, or fourteen Students were seated. The social and friendly aspect of the group ; their close proximity to their Tutor ; and his pre-eminently mild and affectionate looks and words, seemed often to draw out feelings towards him such as a highly endowed parent secures from children who can venerate his worth. Occasional digress ions from the particular lecture of the day, would lead to the discussion of topics not exactly included in any part of the College course. But these were not without their utility, then and afterwards. In some cases they met doubts, or removed difficulties, or supplied valuable materials for future thought ; — and while they elicited his exquisite tact, urbanity, and gen tlemanly and Christian bearing, they incidentally revealed the apparently inexhaustible variety, as well as the order and readiness of his mental stores. No attempt was ever made JET. 40.] HIS MANNER AS A TUTOR. 249 to silence any one ex cathedra. No partialities or prejudices were allowed to come into view — probably none existed. These digressions and discussions were of eminent service as -braining exercises. They fully brought out the very spirit of rule vi. in the paper already copied. Young men who were to mix with society, and who were to be qualified in more than one respect for the defence of the highest principles, could here go through at least a most profitable novitiate in dia lectics ; and that with one who was in every way fitted to be their guide and model. High honour, an exact regard to truth, a fair and full statement of difficulties, a diligent and pains-taking effort to overcome them — with no attempt at evasion, or the use of mere authority — no asperity of manner, no sarcasm, no raillery — a perfect command of temper and language, — these were the moral accompaniments of that full and ready mind which generously opened its treasures for the examination and benefit of the comparatively few pupils who surrounded Dr. Pye Smith at Homerton College. Eeference has been made to a provision which he sedulously kept up for the education of the Students as preachers ; in virtue of which every one of the theological class in rotation had to occupy the Hall pulpit. The plan was this— the Tutor gave to each a subject of discourse, weeks or perhaps months before his turn to preach arrived; and in the meanwhile, the young man's reading and thinking and preparation were sup posed to bear more or less upon the duty which he would by-and-by have to discharge. When the day came — Friday was the usual day — the class assembled with their Tutor at the head: the student whose turn it was then entered the pulpit ; the service began with singing, (the hymns being generally given out by the Doctor;) prayer was then offered by the preacher ; then a second hymn ; then the sermon ; a third hymn, and a concluding prayer. In a word, there were all the parts, and in their usual order, of a regular service on Lord's-days among the Nonconformist body to which the Col lege belonged. Now besides the opportunity thus afforded to improve and judge of every Student's qualifications* for conducting the several parts of pubhc worship, the casting of the whole into this set form gave a weight and a sacredness to the exercise which added much to its value. 250 HIS MANNER AS A TUTOR. []819. At the close of the service, the preacher for the day having resumed his place among his brethren, the Doctor would then review the duties in which he had been engaged ; malang occasional remarks on the prayers — their length, topics, style, manner, and method of utterance ; but the chief attention was directed to the sermon — to the suitableness or otherwise of the text to the given subject — the textual divisions — the distri bution of the matter — the kind of apphcation, and the space allotted to it— the length of the several parts and of the whole. Questions relating to doctrine — the use and meaning of Scrip ture passages — the style of language, whether pompous or plain, involved or concise, obscure or clear — tone of voice — method of delivery — posture and action — all secured thought and commentary from the watchful President at the head of the table according to what he deemed the requirements of the occasion. As this process took place before the whole class, every member could profit in turn by the remarks bestowed upon every other as well as upon himself : nor was the Doctor the only critic at these times ; for with a view to increase the benefit to the Students by quickening their interest in the engagements of the day, they also were at liberty, and were not unfrequently invited, to offer their re marks ; — his spirit and manner being an admirable guarantee for the propriety of theirs. It should also be observed, that by the Tutor's well-known and most valuable habit of judging of each one's efforts — not by any artificial standard of excel lence made and provided for all persons and cases alike, but — by the qualities found in each respectively, the criticism was for the most part just and generous to the preacher of the day, and was of a wider significance and value to the rest than might otherwise have been attained. At the period to which these observations apply, Dr. Smith's deafness was not nearly so great as it afterwards became ; for he was not then disqualified by that infirmity from entering pretty largely into the above particulars. Yet at times when he could not be sure that he had caught the exact words of the preacher, he would appeal to the other members of the class, or to the preacher himself for the needed information. Or if, as occasionally happened, he was pursuing a line of animad version on a mistaken because a defectively heard sentence or sentiment, the readiness, the gratitude, the grace, with which JET. 45.] HIS MANNER AS A TUTOR. 251 he would accept a correction from any one of the number, was not more interesting as a trait of Christian character in him than good and beautiful as an example to others. Although for the greater part of his Homerton life, the Classical and Hebrew Tutorship was in other hands, yet with a view to the direct bearings on the Christian ministry, Dr. Smith, as already mentioned, constantly carried on a series of Exegetical Lectures upon the Greek Testament among his pupils. These were intended both to enlarge their knowledge of the Holy Volume for the general purposes of the ministry, and also to put them in the right way of using The Book if ever they should be called to expound it to a congregation. And here, with a clearness and strength of conviction which could scarcely be exceeded concerning the great truths and doctrines of Christianity, the Tutor never hesitated to go into questions respecting the genuineness, authority, and meaning of any passage which might occur in the course of these lectures. If, for example, difficulties arose in the mind of any Student, or an objection were raised to the current explanation of a word or a text, the Doctor was not only a patient listener, but he would call to his aid Lexicons, Ver sions, and Commentaries, with all the diligence, simplicity, and frankness, of a warm-hearted fellow-pupil for the time being, so that if possible a satisfactory solution might be obtained. In all these things his manner was a constant lesson as much as his matter : — nay, however valuable the matter, his manner seemed always of the highest pitch and the rarest quality ; a thing well fitted to find its way into the very soul, and to be lodged there as an element of good for ever. With a countenance that was radiant from some inner light, and an eye clearly and calmly intelligent — but with an intelligence which Christianity had evidently turned into a source of living purity to himself and of manifold benefits to others — he sat among his pupils like a father in the bosom of his family ; rich in the possession of their confidence, and rewarded by their interest in his efforts to train them to be " good ministers of Jesus Christ." Even when he was constrained to animadvert upon the defects in the productions of his Students — whether in examining the composition of each one apart from the rest, or when 252 HIS MANNER AS A TUTOR. [l820. there was a muster of the whole class around the Hall table — the celebrated passage in which the Poet has given exquisite beauty to one of the loveliest of moral qualities, accords in no ordinary measure with the spirit and the results of Dr. Pye Smith's criticism : — " It droppeth, as a gentle rain from heaven, Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed ; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.'' Should the Eeader think that the Editor has been antici pating the sequel of the narrative, he may be permitted to say, that his care has been to insert the foregoing remarks in connection with that period of time when he had the best opportunity for knowing and loving the original. At a later date some changes had occurred, which might have required notice, but of which he could not have spoken from his own observation. CHAPTEE XV. " PRUDENCE AND PIETY," A SERMON TO YOUNG PEOPLE— MISSIONARY SERMON AT SURREY CHAPEL — SERMON ON LITURGIES AND FREE PRAYER — SECOND VOLUME OF SCRIP. TES. — LETTER ON CARD-PLAY ING — SERMON ON THE MEANS TO ASCERTAIN THE TRUTH OF RELI GIOUS SENTIMENTS— LETTER TO THE YOUNG LADIES OF HIS CON GREGATION — LETTER TO A DYING STUDENT — TO THE BEREAVED PARENTS — SERMON ON MR. LAVINGTON ROOKER'S DEATH. On the first Lord's day in 1820, the Pastor at the Gravel Pit Chapel preached a sermon to Young People, which was afterwards printed under the title of Prudence and Piety, and which has gone through a greater number of editions than any other of his single discourses. The dedication refers to the several parties for whose benefit this was published : — " To the Author's own children, the objects of anxious hope and fear : — To the Young Persons of his Congregation, whose Present and Eternal Benefit he earnestly desires as his joy and crown : — And to the Pupils hi the Protestant Dissenters' Grammar School at Mill Hill, in whose attainments, success in life, and Beligious Interests, he feels a sincere concern : — This Discourse is inscribed, as a Eecord of his Affection, his Best Wishes, and his Daily Prayers, as a Father, a Pastor, and a Friend." It would not be easy to find a composition which answers throughout more fully to its title. Prudence in regard to all the great interests of human life is recommended con cisely and clearly in the first part, while Piety is enforced in the second. From the sale and the gratuitous circulation of tins little work, who can estimate the amount of good which has been done ? Here it may be observed, that in the discharge of his regular 254 MISSIONARY SERMON. [l821. duties, Dr. Smith as a preacher did not hesitate to warn the young people of his congregation of the particular temptations and sins to which they were liable, and into which they would be in danger of falling, unless they maintained constant vigil ance and earnest prayer. At times, perhaps, his manner of doing this would not be welcomed ; yet its advantages, on the whole, must have been very great. The plainness with which he strove to guard all persons, but especially the young, against the insidious approach of a class of vices which can never be yielded to in any degree without disturbing, perchance destroy ing, the true sources of honour and happiness, was a striking proof of his fidelity to his office, and of a sagacious and truly benevolent concern for the welfare of those who were in any way under his pastoral care. But plain as were his words on these occasions, his motives and the fine expression of his countenance evinced such an intense loathing of all sin, — be spoke so clearly the purity and consequent felicity of -his own nature, — that the mind as yet untainted could scarcely fail to be struck with admiration; which, if it were followed up by courage, perseverance, and the imploring earnestness of suppli cation to God for help and protection, would have the effect in many instances of carrying the young through the most dan gerous period innocent and free. It was not the thunder of denunciation, nor the defiant voice of scorn, nor a vapid senti- mentalism, that did the good work in such cases ; it was a kind of holy compassion, rendered intense by the apparent nearness of the preacher to the source of Infinite Purity on the one hand, and to human souls exposed, almost unawares, to subtle but deadly temptations on the other. In the month of May, this year, Dr. Smith preached the annual sermon for the London Missionary Society at Surrey Chapel. The place was, indeed, in size greatly beyond the power of his voice ; and his generally calm, didactic style of pulpit address was not such as would suit the great multitude of persons assembled on the occasion. But as the discourse was afterwards printed, few could read it without being im pressed by the suitableness of the subject and the scriptural propriety of the sentiments for a missionary anniversary. The grand truth illustrated was — Christ in Heaven effecting His Work on Earth. As a characteristic incident, it may be just .ET. 47.] ON LITURGIES COMPARED WITH FREE PRAYER. 255 mentioned that the preacher wrote to the venerable pastor of the Chapel, the Eev. Bowland Hill, requesting his permission to dispense with the use of the gown when he came to occupy a pulpit where that was an almost invariable appendage to the officiating minister. To this the eminently plain-speaking Mr. Hill replied : — " My dear Sir,— It is nothing to us in what dress you choose to appear in Surrey Chapel. It appears to me that such as esteem it their duty to renounce their con nection with the Established Church should renounce her livery also." In February, 1821, Dr. Smith preached the Monthly Lecture, the subject of which was, The Comparative Advantages of Pre scribed Forms and of Free Prayer : this also is included among his printed sermons. On the side of Liturgies, the Eoman Catholics and the Episcopalians take their place ; on that of Free Prayer, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, and the Inde pendents, with several branches of the Wesleyan Body, and other Nonconformists, may be said in general terms to take theirs. The question itself is one of wide import, the discus sion of which has called forth great learning and great piety. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, — the observ ances of the Jewish Temple and Synagogue, — the writings of Christian antiquity,— -the different usages of modern worship, — and the experience, custom, taste, and feelings of individual persons, have been brought into prominence on each side of the subject. But if a difference in practice must occasion con troversy, a better representative of the non-liturgical party on the one side, and a fairer, calmer, more earnestly dispassionate opponent of the liturgical on the other, than Dr. Pye Smith, it would not be easy to find. His intimate knowledge of the Sacred Writings, his learning, and especially his devotional habits, added to a high sense of the claims and advantages of the duty as a part of Divine service, attest his fitness for the inquiry pursued in this sermon. And, indeed, a person who is incompetent, whether from a mental or a moral cause, to offer with acceptance Free Prayer in the Congregation, is scarcely more entitled to settle the question, or even to discuss it in some of its weightier relations, than a conclave of mutes to determine the manner of communicating thought and feeling among those who are able to speak. 256 ON LITURGIES COMPARED WITH FREE PRAYER. [lRII. At the time when the discourse was delivered, the Church of England had not begun to develope that rapidly increasing tendency towards rubrical observances which, during the last few years, has hurried not a few of her sons into the great abyss of ritualism, the Church of Eome. Looking at the history of Christianity, from an early period dowii to the present, it would seem as though — speaking generally — there was a natural antagonism between the two methods of cele brating public worship ; so that not only does each thrive best apart, but when a disposition in favour of forms is' indulged, the danger is imminent of its growing to an extent' which Protestants consider delusive and even perilous. Who, for example, can calculate the advantages, in regard 'to'1 purity1 of doctrine and vigour of Christian life, which' even the established Presbyterianism of Scotland, as contrasted with the Church of England, has derived through the medium of all the circum stances which have been directly or indirectly involved in the constant demand made upon the Free Prayers of the ministers ? Substitute for this demand a Liturgy, in whole or in part — whether by authority, or simply by connivance or' custom, would signify little — and what changes in a few' years m'us^ ensue ! The very standard of qualification for the ministerial office would be lowered in its most essential characteristic ; the1 spirit, the soul of devotion, would not then be' required to the same degree, to say the least, as now: and to require less for the prayers is to open the door to ' an ! inferior order of preachers, — pompous, perhaps, but inane — correct, but cold — ' alike unable to elicit in themselves or the congregation those devout feelings apart from which the service will be little better than a transient spectacle. And who can tell how far back the retrogression' might proceed? With what ease' and insidiousness would formalism find its way to the $ew"; the' disuse of free^ prayer by the minister leading, in very many cases, to its disuse in the social and family circle. The 'Scriptural bearings ofthe question, which are very fully brought out in the sermon, are open to the observation of all.' To consider, as many do, the Book Of Psalms as though it had been the Liturgy of the Jewish Church, Seems to leave that' Church with hardly anything of the kind until the time of David; while after his successor's days, religion, as well as -ET. 47.] ON LITURGIES COMPARED WITH FREE PRAYER. 257 national prosperity, rapidly declined. Nor was there any pre vision in the arrangements of the Temple service, either of a fitting place or of appointed and appropriate ministers for con ducting social worship, consisting of the joint prayers and praises of a congregation. Great celebrations sometimes occurred, when prayer was offered and vocal and instrumental music was introduced ; but apart from these very rare occa sions the Temple rites were sublimely symbolic ; — the devout attendant looked on, and thought and felt and prayed, as though he stood alone. In the New Testament, moreover, frequently as synagogues are spoken of, no mention is ever made of social or common prayer being offered in them. They were resorted to, as the Temple was, as places for the people to pray in separately, if they thought it right to do so, — and the Pharisees did this for ostentation (Mat. vi. 5) ; but beyond this, in so far as relates to prayer, the evidence will not carry us. The "eighteen prayers," of which Vitringa* and Dean Prideaux f speak, and which may be found at length in those authors, cannot be discovered near enough by several centuries to the time of our Lord and His Apostles, to be of any authority whatever in settling the question respecting the practice then. And although they may be thought to have been very suitable for the Jews generally, they were by no means such as One who was " Holy, Harmless, Undejiled, and Sepa rate from Sinners," could ever have used for himself or joined in with others. What care should be taken to avoid every attempt to fill up the silence of Scripture by human con jectures ! Inasmuch as the Holy Eedeemer's character and life were superhuman, we are not at liberty to trace his resem blance to us, even in our' religious exercises, except in the direction and only to the extent in which, with such perfect symmetry, He and his unique, course of action are portrayed in the Divine Writings. To all who are interested in the subject of Dr. Smith's sermon, a deeper question may be submitted : — Whether, Infinite Grace and Mercy haying provided a method of pardon and acceptance, and having called the attention of mankind to it by proclamations and promises, there would not have * De Synagoga Vetere, Lib. iii. Par. ii. cap. 14. f Connection of Old and New Tes. Part i. Book vi. 258 ON LITURGIES compared WITH FREE PRAYER. [1831. been some incongruity in supplying to any large extent the very words to be used in asking for the blessing ? — Hints and outlines are here and there given : and exhortations as well as commands are employed in great abundance ; — and there are also those wonderful models of Solomon, David, and others, stamped with a Divine Impress by their position in a Divine Book — but Forms of Prayer, in the' strict sense of the phrase, and for Congregational Worship, are not found in the Bible. — How remote this is from that which surely would have been the case had human sagacity contrived the volume, is rendered strikingly evident by the innumerable attempts which have been made in early and modern times to supply the Church with a class of compositions in which the Scriptures are seen to be deficient. Judging indeed from Bevelation as a whole, the prayers of the penitent on earth may be as reverently free, as are — we have reason to hope — the praises of the redeemed in heaven. In all such exercises, unfettered expression aids no less than embodies thought : just as the flowing forth of water from a fountain tends to promote as well as evince the life and freshness of the source whence it is derived. Even accuracy and conciseness may be bought — as Dr. Smith suggests — far too dear, — if, with a view to improve the language of devotion, forms are introduced which tend to impoverish its spirit. This part of the subject has how ever been treated very much as a matter of taste. The less erudite and more glowing style used by some Dissenters, has been placed by the side of the generally exact and simple phrases of the Established Liturgy; and the one has been made to suffer for a moment in contrast with the other. But is this a just view of the case ? Let the accomplished, classi cally-educated clergyman of the Episcopal Church, or indeed any one competently nurtured in heart and mind for all the duties of the New Testament ministry, become accustomed to the practice of free prayer ; let him lead in the clear, calm, yet mentally fervent manner in which such an one could lead the devotions of his fellow-worshippers, and wonderful power would accompany his words : nor would that power cease when the prayer was ended ; it would go with him — and , the people would feel it to be going with him — through the sermon. The whole service would thus be rendered sym metrical, stamped by the impress of a single mind ; the senti- JET. 47.] SECOND VOL. 'OF SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 259 ments would be in substance one, the spirit one, and the style chaste and correct throughout. Even the circumstance which some have urged as an objection, — that the minister is liable to have his thoughts or feelings influenced at times by occurrences which are strictly personal, is among the provisions by which the treasure " put into earthen vessels," is adapted to cases in the congregation which might not other wise be met. — But the subject to which the Homerton Tutor drew the attention of his Brethren and of the Christian Com munity in general upwards of thirty, years ago, has an interest and a magnitude attaching to it in the present day which may most deservedly recall into life and power that Discourse of his to which these remarks apply ; for still the conflict between forms and freedom in Divine worship is going on : and who can tell when, or how, it will terminate ? During the current year, Dr. Smith was appointed one of the Broad Street Lecturers ; a service which was instituted in the reign of Charles II. with a view to " support the doctrines of the Eeformation against the prevailing errors of Popery, So cinianism, and Infidelity." Six Nonconformist Ministers (four Presbyterians and two Independents) were united for upwards of twenty years in carrying on this weekly lecture ; but in 1695, the Presbyterians withdrew, and the whole number was made up from the Independent Body.* This Lecture, which was established by the liberality of the Nonconformist Mer chants and Tradesmen of London, has continued ever since, although — as might be expected — the large demands which the numerous Societies of modern days have made on the time of Christian ministers and people, have done a great deal to thin the attendance at Broad Street. Dr. Smith records in his Sermon Book, under date September 26, 1837, that he finished "the weekly lecture which was begun by Dr. Owen in 1672;" and that from the following Tuesday "a new series will commence, monthly." In the course of this year, the Author of the Scripture Testimony was able to complete and publish the second volume, which extended to more than eight hundred pages. * Neal's History ofthe Ptiritans, vol. iv. ch. ix. S 2 260 LETTER ON CARD-PLAYING. E1822' This work, even in the early and less condensed form in which it appeared as compared with subsequent editions, secured, very high commendations not only from Nonconformist minis-, ters and laymen, but from members of the Churclnof Engr land. The following remarks apply to the first edition, al though they were not written until some years' after the time1- when it was published. " We cannot conclude the! present notice of Dr. Smith's masterly production " [Answer to Tay-. lor's Syntagma] " without reminding our readers, that he 'is the Author of two large octavo volumes entitled ' Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,' concerning which the late learned Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Lloyd) several years since in conversa tion with the writer of this article, stated — that he considered it to be the ablest treatise extant, against the assertions and misihterpretatibns of the Modern Unitarians ; and that eminent Prelate subsequently showed that his Opinion re mained unchanged, by including Dr. S.'s work in the 'list of books which as Begius Professor of Divinity, he recom mended to be attentively studied by those who were desirous of pursuing an extensive course of theological literature." Christian Remembrancer, or Churchman's Biblical, Eccle siastical, and Literary Miscellany. October, 1829. In the Eclectic for 1821, Dr. Smith wrote a brief article oh the German Language, which he was then acquiring more fully for his own use ; employing for that purpose such frag* ments of time as might offer in travelling in a stage-coach, or while he was waiting for the commencement dfsome public business. Having been applied to for his opinion on the lawfulness of a Christian minister's engaging in games of chance, he wrote thus': ' " :': ¦• ¦" " 1. Card-playing and the like, are not, suitable instruments of unbend ing and refreshment after severe studies, because they are sedentary occu pations. They are great consumers of health, but never have I heard of their being restorers of that blessing. The recreations of a literary man should be those which: involve exercise in ¦ the open air, such as walking, riding, practical Botany, and the branches of ^atural History.— 2. These diversions are of ill-report. Admitting that some persons might practise them without sin, yet the example would be offensive to the great majority at least, of serious persons, and would be extremely likely to embolden JET. 48.] SERMON ON RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. 261 ottjerjs to venture on most sinful and ruinous courses. — 3. It involves a sad and most undeserved reflection upon the glorious religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, as if it were noT; sufficient to make us happy without borrowing recreations from the most profane and un'gddly of mankind.- — 1. Card-play ing and'other similar practices, occasion the excitement and action of many sinful, passions in \the, minds of the players; — inordinate desire, envy, jealousy, i discontent, anger, and, other majtayolent feelings. An, eager, thorough-paced card-player exhibits diabolical passipns. — 5. All games of chance seem to me to involve an appeal, in the spirit of levity and impiety, to' the decision of God. " Had I time, I could adduce the greatest and best of Divines, ancient and modern, in condemnation of these amusements, falsely so called." Excepting two .short papers in the Ecleptpc,i, the only publica- tion of Dr. Smith's in 1822,. was a. monthly lecture,; On^he M^eans of obtaining Satisfaction with Regard to the Truth of Religious Sentiments.; This subject is not only one which occasions deep solicitude to many sincere inquirers into the mqst important of all qn^stiqns ; but the real or the alleged difficulty of arriving at a solution, in which the mind may calmly and safely rest, has kept some in : a state of indecision and scepticism, and has driven others to the delusive refuge of an infallible earthly authority ! To take up, the subject therefore and to treat it as he has done, is . one of the many t examples in his long life, of an earnest desire to consecrate his attainments and talents, to the highest interests of mankind. The style is ethical, but the spirit is eminently Christian. Like bis dis courses generally, there is no sustained pressure on the feel ings ; none of that fervour of eloquence which hears the reader along with an all but irresistible energy. Hence, for .the pur pose of forcing an opening for the truth into hearts hitherto closed against it, the sermon is wanting in power; but for directing inquiry, for teaching, guiding,; guarding the mind in its pursuit of Divine. knowledge :— especially if., that mincl can generate warmth for its own use, and only wants light to7 re gulate the application of that warmth — this discourse, small as it is in size, will be found to cpntain all that is needed. That freedom of examina^tipn for |W^ich it pleads, was by no means the only quality in which , the Preacher's own practice was the parent of his advice to others : the self-diffidence, the constant sense of liability to errbr and prejudice, through the influence pf the feelings on the judgment; a becoming care to ascertain the full import of the Divine Word; the implicit yielding of 262 SERMON ON RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS. [1823. the understanding, the conscience, and the life to the authority of that Word; and a habit of prayer so formed that it might be said to be in close contact with all his pursuits : — these and the cognate suggestions he has offered, though less open to the public eye, were drawn really from his own practice, and were the invariable accompaniments of his intellectual labours. Fidelity to such a model therefore and the right use of his in structions, demand an attention as close to his moral teaching and example, as the Student may be inclined to give to his achievements in the wide field of literature. Indeed, as what he did so admirably in the latter was in all the more important relations owing to what he was as a devout man of God, he who would be like him in the power of using the pen must above all strive to be like him in the use and power of prayer. " Prayer " — says he towards the close of the sermon to which these remarks apply — " Prayer elevates the soul above the mists and darkness of this revolted world, and places us under the very shining of the Ever lasting Light. It tends to exterminate the greatest obstruction to the entrance of that light, the prepossessions of sin in the heart. It gives vigour and delicacy to the sanctified perceptions. It guides that holy mental sense, which is the characteristic of the real Christian, to the quick dis crimination and the delighted reception of truth and goodness. Through prayer, the hallowed medium of intercourse with Heaven, the devout mind ascends to its closest enjoyment of communion with the Lord God of Truth: and from Him descend the returns of prayer — ' every good gift and every perfect gift.' Such a direct influence of Divine grace in purifying, strengthening, and enlightening the faculties of the mind, is highly credible upon the principles of philosophic Theism, or upon those of any moral system which recognises a perfeet and an active God : and it is on the same principles of nature and reason, equally credible that prayer should be the general medium of that new impulse on the soul of man.1 But Revelation gives certainty to the hope of nature. Did Christ pray for his disciple on the brink of danger, that his ' faith might not fail;' and is it presuming or chimerical for us to pray that ' the Father of glory may give to us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Him :' — that is, as the preceding connection shows, of Christ? Is it visionary, is it fanatical in us to supplicate, with earnest hope and raised expectation, that ' we may be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inward man ; that we may be able to comprehend — and know — the love of Christ ¦; that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ?' Thus we may be assured that the exercise of filial desire and confidence in Him who heareth prayer, binding and strengthening all other means which we may have been enabled to use, will complete and crown our assurance that ' we have not followed cun ningly-devised fables, but have received the gospel, not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.' " JET. 49.] LETTER TO YOUNG LADIES OF HIS CONGREGATION. 263 The only document to be noticed in relation to Dr. Smith for the year 1823, is the following valuable Letter written in April. It was addressed " To the young Ladies united for religious improvement, in the Vestry-meeting at the Gravel Pit," a Society which held its first meeting, January 3, 1821; and is transcribed from a copy, but there can be no doubt of the care taken by the possessor of the original to secure accuracy. " My dear young Friends, — On returning from your Society on Wednesday, I found a very elegant writing-desk, with a not less handsome note informing me that it was an expression of your kindness. I beg to return my sincere thanks, and the assurance of my heart's desire and prayer that the best of blessings may rest upon you. — And allow me to add how in expressibly happy I should be in the evidence, that my poor attempts were made useful to the highest good of each one of you, in intellectual attainments, vital godliness, and all the amiable fruits of the Spirit. You feel, I trust and beheve, the importance ofthe female character, — its spontaneous tenderness, its influence through the whole range of human society, its reference to universal character and happiness, tmd the ob servable fact that females have been in every age, the first, the closest, the most constant, the most numerous of the Eedeemer's disciples. These and similar considerations furnish most in teresting reasons for your cultivation of all that is graceful, wise, and holy. Your duty is your dignity : — a pre-eminent conformity to the image of the Son of God. By cultivating this, you will enjoy the highest blessings, and will not only be happy yourselves, but be the delightful instruments of making others blessed ; filling an ever-widening sphere with the be nignity and purity of Him who worketh in you to will and to do of His own good pleasure. I remain," &c, &c. In 1824, Mr. Lavington Booker, son of the Eev. Samuel Booker, of Bideford, and grandson of eminent Nonconformist ministers, was obhged to relinquish his studies at Homerton, and to return home in consequence of the rapidly declining state of his health. About a fortnight before his death, Dr. Smith wrote a Letter to him, a part of which is now copied from the appendix to a sermon preached on the occasion of his decease. 264 LETTER TO A DYING STUDENT. [1824. " My dear Young Friend, — Short as has been the opportunity afforded me of cultivating your friendship, it. was sufficient to create in my mind a strong feeling of respect and affection, and to make the sudden separation, to me also so unexpected, in no small degree distressing. I had pleased myself with the expectation of Christian intercourse with you, and the hope of being rendered in some degree instrumental of aid to your preparai- tions for the work to which you had consecrated yourself, and which in so many other instances, has been the joy and crown of your family. The names which you bear, paterna in memoriam avitceque virtutis, could not but inspire a peculiar regard for you. But I am bound to declare, these in teresting associations excited no expectations that have not been realised. The personal qualifications with which the Author of nature and, grace' has endowed you, have been the strongest attractions to my esteem. It grieves me to think that I did not better know and more closely cherish so sweet and tender a plant, now soon to be removed to the heavenly paradise. But it will always be a happiness for me to reflect that I had any opportunities of knowing you, — that I was favoured to cultivate any christian com munion with you. I might adapt to you the words of the noblest of the Romans — ' Non libet tibi deplorasse vitam : nee te vixisse poenitebit ; quoniam ita vixisti ut non frustra te natum existimes.' But I am per suaded you say, with unspeakably greater approbation of soul-^-' Not I, but the grace of God which was with me.' ... The idea of seeing you no more in this land of shadows, sins, and sorrows, we feel to be distressful, but the distress is to ourselves. It is to those at the bottom of the valley that the shades appear darkest. The damp and dismal clouds gather and thicken upon us: but you are scaling the ¦ mountain's side. The region of gloominess is scarcely above your feet. To have seen you, the devoted ser vant of the Lord, growing in holiness and usefulness, a shining light through many of our earthly years conducting souls to glory, was a desire fondly cherished, and a hope sweetly entertained; But the Supreme Master forbids it : and not only has He the right, but all His orders are issued in wisdom and love. Are you called to suffer greatly ? O think of the Prince of sufferers — Jesus your agonised Saviour. Or is it the Divine will to yon, that hitherto the progress of disease has not been attended with severe symptoms ? Then here is a further motive for gratitude. : In all things, ' Look unto Jesus.' O that you may experience the most abundant bless ings of His presence, fortitude under all suffering, rich consolation under all sorrow, victory over every sin, and over all the temptations that may harass your mind, and the sure anticipation of His infinitely more blissful presence in that world of purity where you shall 'behold His glory.'— Farewell— farewell, my beloved friend ! Yet not, I trust, through, in finite grace, for ever, — not for ever !" ¦J r'l Under date, April 16, Dr. Smith wrote to the bereaved parents at Bideford. The following passages may be read with advantage : — " My dear Sir,— I duly received your painful but interesting and affecting Letter. The event which, though not unexpected, you justly call ' a dreaded event,' had been made known the evening before by Mr. Evans. From JET. 50.] LETTER TO THE BEREAVED PARENTS. 265 experience, which after six years still maintains a wound in our hearts, Mrs. Smith and I can in some measure sympathise with you and Mrs. Rooker. Had you not that consolation which surpasses all description, it would be impossible for me to suggest any adequate topics of relief to your minds. Even that glorious hope itself increases the pungency of grief by enhancing our sense of the present value of the treasure that is lost. Nor is this altogether a selfish feeling. The not 'laying to heart' the removal of the righteous, is a proof of criminal insensibility, though they ' enter into peace' such as they could not have enjoyed in this state of conflicts and sorrows. It would prove 'that we Had no love to spiritual excellence, if we did not mourn when it is taken from us. The anticipation of a bright ex hibition of exemplary holiness, and of the benefits to be derived by the Church of God, and of the greater extension of our Redeemer's kingdom, renders the withdrawment from the field of Christian labour of such charac ters as our dear Lavington a heart-rending stroke. To him 'to live was Christ ;' it was to love, to serve, to glorify Christ. To our partial view there is an extreme want of such examples. Our world can ill spare them. But, alas! it is one of the sinful infirmities of our guilty and wayward nature, that we are not duly sensible of the value of such possessions till we have lost them. Then we learn that we were not fit to retain them : that it was requisite that the Lord should lay them up among ' His jewels :'. that they were rather formed for the nobler services of the heavenly state than to be the associates of our weak and intermitting labours in this world of sin and darkness. Let us then, my beloved friends, turn from our sorrows and privations to the loftier themes of perfection in prospect. Faith is strengthened by the very attempt. You have walked with your inestimable son up to the gate ¦ of glory. You could not at present go farther. Here his Lord and yours has directed that you take a short Farewell of him ; a Farewell, distressing indeed to our human feelings and trying to the best principles of grace : but yet it is best; ; i "When one of our ^children visits the mansion of an old and esteemed friend, we enjoy the hospitality almost as if we partook of it personally, especially if we hope very soon to be added to the gratifying society. And have not you, my dear sir, and the tender partner of your sorrows, this hope full of immortality ?• Let not your heart be troubled, in our Father's house are many mansions. You have been permitted to send forward your beloved child, as if to arrange for your own going and> welcome at the appointed time. Ignorant though we are of the powers and employments of separate spirits, it appears highly credible that their admission to glory has an aspect ut special favour upon their surviving associates in the blessedness of God's everlasting covenant. This we believe ; but so fax we are sure that He who giveth grace and glory will withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly." Dr. Smith improved the death of Mr. Lavington Booker, in a sermon to the Congregation at the Gravel Pit. From the respect which he felt for the bereaved Parents, and froma desire to, sperthe their grief as much as possible, the manuscript was sent to Bideford ; and as a discourse which had been delivered 266 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECLECTIC REVIEW. [l824. in that town on the occasion, was unexpectedly withheld from the pubhc by the subsequent illness of the preacher, the Doctor readily comphed with a request to allow his to be printed, although it was not prepared under any such expectation. His contributions to the Eclectic were confined in 1824 to two short articles : one of them was on Dr. H. Foster Burder's Mental Discipline, a work which secured his warm recommend ation. CHAPTEE XVI. "VINDICATION OF CHRISTIANS AT GENEVA "—EFFORTS TO PREVENT PER SECUTION IN SWITZEELAND — LETTER TO THE WIDOW OF DR. RYLAND — TO JOHN MORLEV, ESQ. — TO J. B. WILLIAMS, ESQ. — TO A CHURCH ON THE REMOVAL OF ITS PASTOR — ECLECTIC REVIEW : REV. ANDREW FULLER'S WORKS — LETTER FROM ALEXANDER HALDANE, ESQ. — HIS GENEROUS SERVICES — ON A CHRISTIAN PASTOR'S HOLDING A PROFES SORSHIP — MILTON'S TREATISE ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE — ON " PERNI CIOUS PRINCIPLES." In 1825, Dr. Pye Smith published a pamphlet with the fol lowing title — A Vindication of those Citizens of Geneva, and other Persons, who have been Instrumental in the Revival of Scriptural Religion in that City. The history and design of this production may be stated as illustrating the character and courage of its Author. M. Cheneviere, at that time one of the Pastors of the Church of Geneva and Professor of Theology in the Academy there, prepared a " Summary of the late Theological Controversies " in that city, which early in 1824 was published in the Monthly Repository, a work sustained by the Unitarian party in this country. The controversies alluded to, arose out of an im portant change in the religious sentiments, and then in the preaching of M. (now Dr.) Malan : who had a few years before completed his education for the ministry so much to the satis faction of the Company of Pastors, that he not only received ordination at their hands, but was also appointed one of the Regents, or Tutors of the College. " Till 1815 or 1816 his religious views resembled those of the majority of his clerical brethren; his eloquence procured him admiration in the pulpit; and his high order of accomplishments made him a favourite 268 VINDICATION OF CHRISTIANS AT GENEVA. [l825t in the hterary and pohshed circles. Serious reflection, the conversation of Dr. Mason of New York, and of Mr. Haldane,* and the devout study- of the New Testament, were the means which operated a gradual, but at length very decided change in his religious sentiments and affections, and in his entire char^ acter. This change, of necessity, was indicated by his preach ing; and the impression, favourable and unfavourable, which it made upon the pubhc mind was very great." — Vin. p. 40. The concurrence of some other events about the same time, gave great animation to the zeal of several newly-awakened advocates of Divine Truth ; and as in so small and so compact a community as that of Geneva, the effects of any sudden departure from the usual course of things would soon be felt throughout the whole body, the Company of Pastors could not long remain insensible to the marked deviation in doctrine, in pungency of appeal, in persevering efforts, and in the conse quences resulting from all these, by which the new ministry was signalised. Geneva, which had long been favoured with the labours of one of the most penetrating and sagacious intellects of the Beformation— Calvin — had now for many years been drifting away both from the principles and the piety inculcated: by that eminent man ; and had been carried — partly by causes operating within itself, and partly by its nearness to the infidelity of France— in a direction altogether unfavourable to the reception of the truth in theory, to • say nothing ! of receiving it in power. Accordingly, while M. Malan's preach ing was not, on the one side, in conformity with 'the creed and teaching ofthe Pastors generally; it was, on the other, as much opposed to the prevailing manners and habits of thepeOple. So that where a great change in the life, as well as in the opinions of his fellow citizens, was required to render his' ministry welcome or even tolerable, it is not surprising that at the outset, when the contrast was most impressive and trouble some, power should have been called in to do — or at least to try to do— the work of argument. By the aid of Regu lations prescribing the topics and manner of preaching, M. Malan was soon found to be inadmissible to the City Churches, and; shortly after he was put out of his office as a Tutor of the College. As, however, " he nobly determined to pursue * The late Robert Haldatfe, Esq., of Aiorthrey*, Scotland.— Ed. : i'J .ET. 51.] VINDICATION OF CHRISTIANS AT GENEVA. 269 his ministry in whatever path should be open to him, he, fitted lip a small building, in his garden for the celebration of public worship."— Fire., p. 13. At a later period, with pecuniary aid from England, Prussia, France,, &c, a chapel was built for his use outside the city walls. Now M. Cheneviere himself having been among the most active of M, Malan's opponents, it will not excite surprise that his " Summary of the late Theological, Controversies at Geneva/' as, given in the Monthly Repository, was considered partial and injurious by M,. Malan's friends. Dr. Pye Smith ranked high among the,, latter; at that period; audi as his principles and, his knowledge, of the particulars — not to say, his position also — qualified him in no common degree for taking the other side, he wrote a series of Letters in which he detailed and discussed the facts of the case. These, were with justice admitted into the Unitarian periodical which had circulated M. Cheneviere's statements; and when Eobert Bakewell, Esq:, wrote some remarks in reply to Dr. Smith, the controversy was prolonged a little further with that gentleman. In 1825, the whole of his contributions to the; Repository were published in the pamphlet above mentioned, extending to 7;8 pages* In this form his defence of truth and freedom obtained a wider circulation! than before ; and on this ,also he could base the-; appeals, which he was then pressing on Christian England, for generous pecuniary aid to be extended toi the newly revived Evangelical ministry at Geneva. Speaking of the change which haditakennlaee in tbe'creed of the Genevese Pastors, he said ; — " The substitute for despised Calvinism has proved its insufficiency to l stem the torrent of moral corruption. Vain were , the .admirable , writings of Alphonsus Turretin and James Vernet, on the Evidences ; and Claims of Bevelation :. vain the various erudition, the powerful arguments, and the winning eloquence with which they pleaded for ,t' The Truth of thej Christian iEjeligion.',, Alas,! they thad drawn off the hejart's-blood of Christianity ; arid they dreamei of sustaining her lifo by [fine, disquisitions on the strength and symmetry of her; skeleton! ^Infidelity spread tremendously and, rapidly among iall ranks,; and dissolute maimers kept pace with,^; while ,t)iei clergy, .with very, few exceptions,! held on their blind career ; more and more consigning the Gospel of Christ to oblivion, preaching paltry philosophy and empty 270 VINDICATION OF CHRISTIANS AT GENEVA. [l825. morality with a vapid and ostentatious eloquence, as bad in point of taste as it was barren of good effect, servilely learning their sermons, and performing them in the pulpit as an actor on the stage, and exhibiting the miserable experiment of build ing houses on the sand, and with sand for all the materials." — Vin. pp. 29, 30. There were no directly personal, much less any party mo tives, to be met by Dr. Smith's vigorous action on this occasion. The first thing which would strike the mind of an observer of his conduct would be — his well-known an tipathy to every kind of persecution. No one could better understand or more vividly feel that error, in whatsoever form it might lurk, could never be properly dealt with by mere power ; and that truth itself could derive no real aid from violence. Next would come his deeply-laid convictions that the new doctrines, for which M. Malan and others were treated in a hostile spirit by their fellow citizens, were in fact exactly the doctrines which had rendered the City itself famous in the 16th century. How flagrant therefore was the incongruity, and as it were suicidal folly as well as pre sumption, in pretending to hold the Eeformation in honour, while the primary sentiments by which it had been distin guished were not only ignored but persecuted. This, however, would touch a still deeper conviction ; namely that these Reformation doctrines deserved all possible confidence and support, not as they were Calvin's, or Luther's, or Zuingle?s, but simply as they were the doctrines of Christianity itself. Here was their sure basis in his estimation ; so that he was not an advocate for Calvin, or Malan, against Cheneviere; but for Christ's holy Gospel against pernicious errors. Nor was even this an ultimate point, viewed simply in relation to conflicting sentiments and opinions; for he was never inclined to project or protract a controversy about mere words. His design in this case was, to remove obstacles out of the way of that truth by which alone men could be saved and sanctified. There is yet a further step. The doc trines which were opposed and persecuted at that time in Geneva, were not only the ' power of God to salvation to every one that believeth,' but Dr. Pye Smith knew of none excepting these which were consonant with the Divine per fections and Glory as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures. ET. 51.] EFFORTS TO PREVENT PERSECUTION. 271 Hence, had it been possible for him to lose sight of all the foregoing considerations, this last would have constrained him to rise up from his place and plead for the prerogatives of his God and Saviour; which, as he felt assured and with all the strength of evidence the case admitted, could' not be defended in theory, nor based on the sure ground of personal holiness, excepting as with the heart these doctrines were believed. This suggestion is fully borne out, not only by the general scope of the Vindication, but by those parts especially where the Author meets the discreditable ignorance or prejudice of M. Malan's opponents, respecting the nature, design, and tendency ofthe doctrine of Justification by Faith. About the same time that the Author of the Vindication, the Christian Cromwell of his age, was thus pleading for freedom in Geneva, the neighbouring Canton de Vaud called forth his exertions on a similar account. At Lausanne in particular, outrages had occurred hostile to religious liberty. Dissenters from the Established Church of the country were subjected to insult, reproach, and violence from the lawless multitude; and the magistracy looked on unmoved, if not with approbation. To draw attention to the facts, and to diffuse a salutary feeling on the Continent as well as at home, a meeting of the, Three Denominations of Protestant Dissenting Ministers was called at the Bed ^Cross Street Library. Nearly a hundred were present, and Dr. Pye Smith was placed in the chair. The following Besolutions were passed unanimously ; and were afterwards printed in French and English. Their preparation is in all probability to be ascribed, as well as the meeting itself, to the zeal and activity of the Chairman on the occasion ; than whom few were better informed respecting the particulars, or more deeply concerned for the success of the effort. " 1. That the members of ihis Body, though differing widely in their modes of interpreting Scripture, and in the doctrines which they conceive to be deducible from that sacred fountain, are unanimous in the persuasion that the forming of religious sentiments by free inquiry, the making an open profession of them, and the teaching and disseminating of them by argument and exhortation, by speaking, writing, and the observances of religious worship, or by any other peaceable and rational methods, is a right of mankind, inherent and imprescriptible, conferred by the Creator, essential 272 EFFORTS TO PREVENT PERSECUTION. [l825. to moral accountableness, and which can never be infringed without injury and insult to the sufferers, and deep criminality on the part of those who are guilty of the infraction. " 2. That it is proved, by the evident reason of the case and the universal experience of mankind, that there is no greater obstacle to the improvement of the human race in knowledge and happiness, to the solid interests of national economy, to the elucidation of religious truth, to the satisfactory termination of religious controversies, and to the eventual and universal triumph of the genuine Gospel of Christ, than persecution for the sake of conscience and religious profession. " 3. That, whether such persecution wear its most barbarous form of direct punishment for religious opinions, or whether it be exercised in the way of refusing protection, denying justice, or any deprival whatsoever of civil rights, it is in principle the same ; a high crime against God, and de serving the reprobation of all good men : according to the memorable declara tion of the Emperor Maximilian II., that 'he would never arrogate dominion over men's consciences, which is the prerogative ofthe Deity alone; that no sin was, in his judgment, more heinous, than for any man to wish to exercise such dominion ; and that those potentates who have attempted it, as they invade the sovereignty of Heaven, so they not unfrequently lose their own power on earth, and their names go down to posterity with infamy and reproach.' " 4. That, therefore, it is with astonishment and sorrow that this Body has received, from different and credible sources, the information, that in Switzerland, which used to be regarded as an asylum of those who fled from persecution, and particularly in the Canton of Vaud, under a Protestant Government and a Presbyterian Church, a severe persecution has been for more than a year exercised upon peaceable citizens, of spotless moral and political character, for no alleged crime, but the fact of their thinking it their duty to dissent from the Church Establishment of that country, and their attempting accordingly to hold assemblies for religious worship, in the way which to them appears most agreeable to the Holy Scriptures, and most conducive to their own moral improvement. This persecution has consisted in the disturbance of religious meetings, in affording countenance to assaults and cruelties inflicted by savage mobs upon innocent individuals, in the refusal of protection from such injuries when formal application has been made to the magistracy, in acts of the Government denouncing severe penalties upon all persons who may hold religious assemblies, however small, excepting those of the Established Communion, and in the infliction of those penalties, by fine, imprisonment, and banishment, upon various respectable persons, among whom are ministers of unquestioned character for piety, learning, and usefulness. " 5. That while this Body disclaims any pretence of a right to interfere in the affairs of foreign nations, it acknowledges itself bound by the obliga tions of humanity, to testify its sympathy with the oppressed and persecuted ; and by the principles of our common religion to use every lawful and practicable effort for the relief of innocent sufferers, and to contribute to wards removing the foul reproach of persecution from fellow-christians and fellow-protestants in any part of the world. " 6. That this Body indulges the hope that calm reflection and an ex- JET. 51.] EFFORTS TO PREVENT PERSECUTION. 273 perience of the mischiefs produced by intolerance will speedily lead the Government of the Canton of Vaud, to repeal the unjust and cruel edicts which it has issued against Dissenters, and to give effect to those principles of religious freedom which are the basis of the Protestant Religion and are a main support ofthe prosperity and happiness of our own country. "7. Finally, that we invite our fellow-Christians, and especially our - brethren in the holy ministry, of every denomination, to implore, in their private and public supplications at the throne of grace, the bestowment of present consolation and speedy relief upon all who, for conscience towards God, are enduring unmerited sufferings, from cruel mockings, bonds, and imprisonments; spoliation, destitution, and exile. "J". PYE SMITH, Chairman." From a reply addressed to Dr. Pye Smith it would appear, that the well-known liberal member for Norwiph, the late William Smith, Esq,, had been requested to apply to Mr. Canning, at that time Secretary of State for Foreign affairs, respecting the persecution in Switzerland; and with a prompt itude 'which marked , the character of that great statesman, he- lost no time in writing to the British Eesident in that country. Arid although the answer received dissuaded from any direct interference, there can scarcely he a doubt that the way in which the whole subject was seen to have been taken, up in England, had a sakitary inflnence in restraining, if not in suppressing, these outrages on the rights of conscience. Those who' are Old enough to remember the circumstances mentioned in this chapter, will notsopn forget 'the surprise which , was felt i when the intelligence reached this country that the stigmatizers of Calyinism because Calvin, as it was said, burned Servetus, had all on a sudden set up a perse cution df their own in the same land in this 19th century; as though they would show the world how other creeds than his could become intolerant, and that without having the apology of his much earlier age to plead for their folly or their violence. May it long be the glory of England to use the advantages of her' position as a watch-tower among the nations, from which some one or more of her free-hearted sons may ever keep a keen outlook, so that no wrongs in flicted upon human liberty, civil or 'religious, may pass un observed, unrecorded, undenounced ! Persecution will become increasingly, difficult, even among the enslaved, in proportion as the daylight of observation and history is thrown strongly upon it. It thrives best in the darkness and the dungeon. T 274 LETTER TO MRS. RYLAND. [182a- There it may, perchance, smoulder for a time— yet the very smoke, creeping through the crannies, is noisome : — the fire itself cannot be suffered to burn within reach of any of the senses of civilized humanity. And if this be the case for the current age, the Free Press of our Country— by recording the cruelties of despotic Powers and of ruthless Creeds in a style which will make it more and more infamous, and therefore more and more impracticable, to repeat the same or even similar outrages in time to come— is achieving a noble triumph for the future. Dr. Smith's Obituary Book will supply an introduction to the following Letter to the widow of the venerable person whose death it records :— " 1825, May 25. At Stoke's Croft, Bristol, the Eev. John Eyland, D.D., President of the Academy there, and Pastor of the Church at Broadmead, in that city : set. 72. I cannot express the eminent excellencies of this great and holy servant of Christ. Sweetness of temper, soundness of judgment, and tenderness of sublime piety, were his dis tinguishing characters. ' Quis desiderio sit pudor, aut modus Tarn cari capitis ?' " " Dear Madam, — Information derived from friends during the last two or three weeks, and Mr. Jonathan Ryland's favour of Monday received by Wednesday's post, were a solemn preparation for the event so soon to he realised. Letters from Mr. Dyer on Thursday and Mr. Crisp on Friday, brought the sad information of the loss which you and the Church of Christ have sustained. In this view of the event it is indeed a loss, and that of the first magnitude. But this is not a view on which it is proper, or even lawful for us to dwell. That amiable and holy man who had so long and so eminently served his Lord, is now supremely blessed in the faithful bosom of that Saviour : and on earth his name is added to the Calvins and Owens, the Edwardses and Fullers and Sutcliffs, and the whole cloud of witnesses to the evidence of truth and the power of holiness which this or any former age has produced. To a low and carnal mind these sentiments would only aggravate sorrow. But it will not be so with you. You, my dear Madam, and your bereaved family, partakers with you of like precious faith, have not, I trust, had before you in. vain the doctrine and the exemplification of our ever loved and revered friend, that genuine religion is the reverse of selfishness. "This. foundation truth he has taught in its ample bearings and divines consistency.) through his long and useful life with a 'demonstration of the Spirit and of pqwer,' and you have now seen ' the end of his conversation]*: so lovely in lowliness, and likeness to his Redeemer in the days of His MT. 51.] LETTER TO JOHN MORLEY, ESQ. 275 flesh; and thus you have a delightful confirmation of the great Christian axiom, ' Jesus Christ THE same yesterday and to-day and for ever.' I trust that many hearts are in deep sincerity adopting the affecting conclusion of Dr. Ryland's Life of Mr. Fuller— 'Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Thus may I also live and die, O God my Saviour ! Amen.' " Only a few days after the above Letter was written to an aged widow on the death of her venerated husband, the Provi dence of God visited the family of the late John Morley, Esq., with the loss of a beloved daughter, a bereavement which was felt with peculiar severity by a numerous circle of connections and friends. Though the occasions were in their leading features so much alike, and the time was near together when the Letter — from which some passages will now.be inserted — followed the one just given, the Eeader will not have to com plain of an unprofitable sameness in the two. " Dear Sir, — It is an old remark that lighter griefs find utterance, but heavy ones suppress it. The intelligence of the sudden and overwhelming stroke, which it has pleased the Wise and Holy One to inflict upon you and your family, brought astonishment and heaviness into our hearts. The mind shrank from believing it, and clung to the hope that the report might be a mistake : a sort of voluntary fallacy, which would live scarcely for a moment. From an indelible remembrance, I know how powerless are all human reasonings to soften the pungency of such grief. They cannot reach its seat. Only He who has wounded can heal. Nor does He heal by in fusing apathy. Piety is irreconcileable with insensibility. On the contrary, it makes the affections more tender, by making them more pure, more ele vated, more heavenly, more conformed to the Holy Redeemer. " The present privation with its dispiriting attendants, and perhaps a sad train of distressing consequences, is a mighty appeal to human feelings : but faith, ' the'evidence of things not seen,' brings a solemn but sweet serenity into the sanctified mind, by expatiating on the blessedness of those to whom ' to live was Christ,' when their ' earthly house of this tabernacle is dis solved.' These sacred views have been, I trust, rendered instrumental of support and sanctified consolation to you and your companions in tribula tion.' I cannot suppose myself adequate to the administration of topics to your meditation, suitable to this: mournful event, which have not already been made familiar to your' minds, either by your own direct attention to the Divine Word, or by the exhortations of your friends, or by the public ordinances of religion. Yet, my dear Friends; do we wish for any novel topics of consolation P Most certainly not. The perfeet word of God con^ tains everything necessary for the formation, establishment, and entire sanctification of the believer. Consolatory arguments not derived from that source would be suspicious ; yes, they would be fallacious. The old truth, the one and only gospel, the doctrines, promises, and precepts which have been the support of real believers in all ages : and — as inseparably con- T 2 276 LETTER TO J. B. WILLIAMS, ESQ. [l828. nected with these principles — access to the throne of grace ; — these are the perennial sources of true and holy comfort. These have always made glad the City of God. These will be at once the old and the new for ever ; — old by fact and experience j new as ever fresh and vigorous. We want, we desire no other. These will in their presence or effects flow on through the vast eternity. O that you all, and I and all mine, may enjoy the holy in fluence and practice of these principles in all present trials, in all that yet await us, in every personal pain, in every bitter sympathy, while life shall last, and when life shall confess death its conqueror. But that will not be. The life which Jesus gives will be victorious over death ; and he who thus overcometh shall inherit all things. " To my young friends let me say : See how empty and fallacious are human expectations ! A very short time ago, how full of enjoyment and every reasonable hope were the prospects of your dear Sister ! What an unexpected, sudden, painful change ! O then, be resolved, depending on Divine grace to follow her, in all the ways in which she was a humble fol lower of the Lord Jesus ! You may be called into eternity as early as she has been. Let the most necessary and interesting inquiry be faithfully urged in your hearts — ' How shall I appear at the tribunal of Christ ?' " In 1825, the present Sir John Bickerton "Williams published an enlarged and greatly improved edition of the Bev. Matthew Henry's Life of his father, the Eev. Philip Henry. And having sent a copy for Dr. Smith's acceptance, and another for the College Library, Dr. Smith thus wrote to the Author, under date June 27, 1825. " My dear Sir, — The reflection is truly painful to me that a fortnight, or perhaps a few days more, has elapsed since my receiving your Letter of May 19th, and the distinguished favour by which it was accompanied. My silence would have been inexcusable, if it had not arisen from causes above my control ; the extraordinary pressure of duties and extraneous but in- - evitable avocations, to a degree which I might not unjustly call overwhelm ing, but which is harassing and discouraging more than I can express. . . . It was an opinion early impressed upon me by my excellent father, that we have no piece of biography which does more honour to the heart and the talents of its author, or which is more calculated to be useful in all the aspects of divine and human wisdom, to all classes of persons, than the Life of Philip Henry by his ' own son ' in every sense of the expression. This opinion has been abundantly confirmed by my own matured convic tion. In proportion to my esteem of the original work, have I felt joy and gratitude for the fruits of immense research and of much pious labour, by which you have made it unspeakably more interesting and valuable. " It is, indeed, humbling and awakening to me to read your desire, that in the great privilege of intercessory prayer I may be mindful of you. I might, with deep reason, borrow the exclamation of the servant of our Lord — ' I have need,' very great need, to be thus favoured ' by thee ; and comest thou to me ?' But let it be considered as a reciprocal obligation. 0 JET. 51.] CHARACTER OF THE REV. ANDREW FULLER. 277 that we both, and both our families, may have a larger portion of the Spirit of prayer which so distinguished the exemplary subjects of your biography !" The following passages from a Letter which Dr. Smith wrote to a Christian Church, respecting the removal of its Pastor to what was deemed a very important sphere of pubhc duty, will show his mode of action in a case of no small delicacy. " My Christian Brethren, — Though I have not the happiness of a per sonal acquaintance with you, I am not an entire stranger to the pleasing character you maintain among the Churches of our Lord, nor am I un interested in your prosperity. A most heavy and sudden affliction pre vented my being a witness of your faith and order, and a partaker of your solemnities on the memorable day of the ordination of your Pastor. Ever since my high regard for him has kept up in my mind feelings of interest in your edification and happiness ; and in their continuance and increase I shall sincerely rejoice. These feelings are not inconsistent with the' fact which I think it my duty to avow to you, that I have made statements and given advice to your valuable pastor, the design of which was to procure his removal from you to a sphere of usefulness for which I regard him as peculiarly and specially adapted, which is far more extensively influential than any pastoral charge can be, and in which you, in common with all the Churches of Christ in our country, have a remote but real interest." Having stated the facts, the Letter concludes thus : — " This great ques tion is now committed to the influential grace and providential guidance of Divine Wisdom. It appeared to be my duty thus to inform you of this transaction, in order to prevent any misapprehensions, and to intreat your candid consideration of it. I indulge the hope that such a considera tion will lead you to a conviction, that the voice of duty, and consequently the authority of God calls your esteemed pastor to another field of labour, for more extended good. Then your prayers for him and yourselves will be poured out with holy freedom and fervour ; and I trust that you will have growing evidence that in the issue of the whole God is glorified, and your edification greatly promoted. I remain, " My respected brethren in the service of our one Lord, " Your obedient servant, " J. Pye Smith." Of two articles contributed by, Dr. Smith to the Eclectic Review in 1825, one was on The Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller. The Author is thus briefly characterised : — " He was not one of those men whose estimation is buoyed up by fac titious methods and transitory circumstances. The respect and honour which he enjoyed when living, was not what he had courted; but it was that which followed him, and forced itself upon him. His strong intellect, his uncompromising 278 LETTER FROM ALEXANDER HALDANE, ESQ. [1826. integrity, his lofty disinterestedness, his independence and penetration in theological sentiments, his manly and evan gelical stand against error, the severity of his frown upon all iniquity, and with all this, the child-like humility and tender ness of his religious character, drew to him the venerating love of such as viewed uncorrupt Christianity as the jewel above all price. But since death has drawn its veil over his personal characteristics, and in proportion as time is carrying back the remembrance of what he was, and is removing his friends into the eternal state, the imperishable monuments of his faith and knowledge, his sanctified and devoted energies put forth in his writings, must rise still higher, and vindicate their claim to be 'a possession for ever.'" — Ec. Rev. 1825. vol. i. p. 505. In March 1826 Dr. Smith went for a few days into Norfolk and Suffolk, to plead the claims of the Continental Society. He was absent eight days in the whole, including one Lord's- day, and during the eight days he preached nine times. Soon after his return he received the following Letter. " My dear Sir, — As a humble and most unworthy member of the Committee of the Continental Society, I cannot resist the inclination to express to you my sense of the important service you have rendered to this Institution during your late journey. The example you have so nobly shown of self-denying zeal, of laborious exertion and judicious economy, is unfortunately so unusual that I cannot but consider you entitled to the special thanks of every individual friend to the promotion of the Gospel abroad. The interest which you have taken in the state of rehgion on the Continent, and the talent you have brought into the field in support of calumniated truth, as well as the unwearied benevolence you have displayed on behalf of the exiled Swiss Ministers, have been long known to the religious world. But I much question whether anything you have done in regard to the Continent is more calculated to produce a beneficial effect in the way of stirring up others to emulation, than the example to which I have alluded, and which, pre sented as it is by one occupying so distinguished a place in the religious and hterary world, must I feel convinced be attended with permanent and extensive benefit. " I beg you will exeuse this intrusion on your valuable time MT. 82.] HIS GENEROUS SERVICES. 279 and eminently useful labours, and believe that it entirely pro ceeds from a desire to discharge a small part of the obligation under which I feel you have placed every friend to the best interests of the Continent. " I am, my dear Sir, " Most faithfully yours, " Alex. , Haldane. , " Hatcham Cottage, New Cross, "11 April 1826." The particulars mentioned with such high commendation by Mr. Haldane, were by no means of rare occurrence in Dr. Smith's life. Not a few persons can bear testimony to his self-denying and generous efforts in behalf of a needy cause, or to render aid to a brother minister. Often where he accepted his travelling expenses, he would in the best possible manner decline to receive anything more : and in not a few instances, he would request as a personal favour that even these might be applied as his contribution to the object or person for whose benefit he had undertaken the journey and the service. In the case of Societies, his economy of time and expense was obvious. He never seems to have thought; of doing what was usual, for the sake of those who had gone before, or who might come after him on such occasions. His principle was unquestionably the right one ; indeed, the only one which as a principle was entitled to the confidence of a truly great or eminently good man. Nor can there be a doubt that if it were common — common as a principle, and not from imitation — it would bespeak a high order of character, and would incite multitudes to acts of benevolenee far beyond the scale hitherto attained. What, in truth, is needed, is not so much the means of being liberal in the crude shape of giving, as the disposition to have done with all the forms of selfishness in craving and getting. The very absence of any sort of material net-work among the. Congregational Churches to bind up part with part — as in the Episcopal Church of England, among the different Presbyterian Bodies, and in the Wesleyan organisations— appeared to quicken Dr. Smith's motives to engage in labours of love. He considered it an ad ditional recommendation of the polity to which he was warmly attached— an evidence of its truth which his judgment would 280 MILTON ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. [lRSO. appreciate quite as much as his feelings — that it did involve a necessity for sueh high self-culture, and that it did not only require but afford such scope for the ' good man ' to be ' a law unto himself;' so that he had the will to undertake and the vigour to accomplish duties, which in a more confined atmo sphere he would not have risen to in thought, or might have shrunk from in conduct. If his was the purest form of Church order, he acted as one who knew that it demanded the highest style of 'practice ; and yielding to the instinct, he in no small degree secured for himself, and sought to confer upon others, the advantages of his belief— As " free," he the more thoroughly used his liberty " as the servant of God." Writing in April this year to a friend in Scotland, respect ing " the conjunction of a parochial Cure with a Professorship in a College," Dr. Smith says : — " I can easily conceive the possible occurrence of cases in which that conjunction of offices would be highly desirable. At this moment, for ex ample, how happy would it be for the Students at St. Andrew's if Dr. Chalmers had a small parish there, which would give him a regular opportunity of preaching the word of Christ. The want of that precludes his academical auditors from a most important means of good. Fully, however, admitting the general ineligibleness of such a combination of offices, I think that cases of exception are ever likely to occur, and that it would be extremely foolish to pass a prohibitory law to narrow the field of selection, and tie up the hands of a most important part of the community in all future time. It seems to me that the community should be at perfect liberty to avail itself of talents wherever it can find them, and that every particular case should be left to be decided by its own merits." *~ At the time when attention was drawn to the Poet Milton's newly discovered Latin Treatise on Christian Doctrine, of which the present Bishop of Winchester published a transla tion, Dr. Pye Smith without delay made himself acquainted with the character of the work, and, with his usual generosity, contributed the result of his examination in a series of six papers, extending in the whole to nearly twenty pages of small print and double columns, which appeared in the Evangelical Magazine for 1826. The plan was to place at the head of each 2ET. 82.] ON PERNICIOUS PRINCIPLES. 28 L paper some particular topic of doctrine or morals, in which the Treatise differed from the sentiments or practice held by the great body of Evangelical Christians ; and then to suggest heads and outlines of argument by which the errors might be obviated. Essay I. is on Milton's Doctrine concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit— II. On his notions respecting the An- thropomorphitism of the Bible. — III. The Abrogation of the Law.—IY. The Sabbath and the Lord's Day.—V. On Mar riage, Polygamy, and Divorce. — VI. On Veracity and Falsehood. A considerable amount of very curious, as well as interesting and valuable information, may be found in these several articles. They not only show the extent of their Author's reading, but the deliberateness, delicacy, and ripeness of his judgment, in regard to questions which he out of the common highway of human thought. The concluding passage may be of interest as a summary of the whole : — " It is a reflection worthy of being made, that the obliquities which un happily had forced their way, or insinuated themselves into the religious and moral theories of John Milton, appear to have had so little influence on his practice and his character. He never manifested the inclination to commit polygamy. To his recreant but repenting wife, he showed himself instantaneously and generously placable. His purity and chastity of life bid defiance to the tongue of calumny. He believed that it is in some cases a religious duty to hate the enemies of God or the Church, yet he was a man of generous soul ; and though he expressed himself with a majestic vehemence against the betrayers of their country and the foes of liberty and religion, rancour and malevolence lodged not in his breast. In spite of his bad theory on the obligation of veracity, the history of his life shows him to have maintained the loftiest integrity in circumstances of peculiar trial and temptation. And our anti-Paedobaptist brethren will pardon us for in dulging the remark, that though he maintained so strenuously their doctrine on the subject and the mode of baptism, he did not think proper, so far as we have any reason to believe, to abjure his own infant-sprinkling, and submit in his adult years to an immersion ' in the profluent stream.' " — Evan. Mag. 1826. p. 558. The same year, and extending partly into the next, Dr. Smith contributed a series of papers to the Congregational Magazine, entitled, An Exposure of the Pernicious Principles with respect to Personal Religion which prevail among Young Persons of Cultivated Minds. Five of these were published, amounting in the whole to upwards of thirty pages with double columns. In the same volume may be found some very valu able communications of his on the Doctrine of Assurance, 282 ON PERNICIOUS PRINCIPLES. [1826. designed to correct a supposed tendency to Antinomian senti ments in some Evangehcal Ministers on the Continent, and also to relieve the minds of many sincere believers from doubt and depression on the question of their personal salvation. The amount of his contributions to periodical works, in Letters, Essays, and Be views, could the whole be brought together into one collection, would be very great. Not only was he ever ready to meet to the utmost of his power the wishes of his Editorial friends; but his constant vigilance con cerning all important points of Christian doctrine and duty, and his love of fair dealing and freedom in every discussion, often sent him as a successful applicant to pages not generally open to members of his denomination. Very much of what he wrote on these occasions had only a purpose and use for the time then present ; but in that way he was serving, or attempt ing to serve, his generation. He was not " living to himself." And when it is remembered that, instead of being a man of leisure, his regular occupations were more than commonly numerous and imperative, the estimate of his voluntary services must stand deservedly high. Unless there had been incessant activity, with an unusual command and readiness of resources — a full stream in constant progress — the results, for his own age and for the future as well, must have fallen far short of what they now are. CHAPTEE XVII. LETTEK TO ROBERT HALDANE, ESQ., ON THE CANON AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES — BIBLE SOCIETY CONTROVERSIES — PAPERS ON THE STATE OF RELIGION ON THE CONTINENT — CONTROVERSY RESPECTING DR. HAFFNER'S PREFACE — DR. CARSON'S PAMPHLET AGAINST DR. SMITH — PASSAGES FROM THE PAMPHLET — DR. CARSON'S DENUNCIA TION OF DR. SMITH'S MOTIVES— RECKLESSNESS OF DR. CARSON'S GENERALIZATIONS — MR. ROBERT HALDANE's UNAVAILING EFFORTS TO CIRCULATE DR. CARSON'S WRITINGS — THE STYLE AN INSUPERABLE BARRIER TO THEIR SUCCESS — LEFT UNNOTICED BY THE GENERALITY OF THOSE WHOSE VIEWS HE ASSAILED — " SLOTH," " IGNORANCE," " COWARDICE " TOO HASTILY ASCRIBED TO THE OPPONENTS OP MESSRS. HALDANE'S VIEWS OF INSPIRATION — DR. CARSON NEVER NOTICED IN DR. SMITH'S PUBLICATIONS — DR. SMITH'S APOLOGY TO MR. ALEXANDER HALDANE — THE SUMMING UP. During the Homerton College vacation, in 1826, the Theo logical Tutor spent five weeks at East-Bourne, on the coast of Sussex. While there, he addressed a Letter to the late Bobert Haldane, Esq., of Airthrey, in Scotland, the principal part of which was on the Inspiration of the Scriptures generally, and on the authenticity of particular words or passages, such as the disputed term in 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 John v. 7, 8. A copy of the Letter, in the Doctor's handwriting, has been preserved, at the end of which he added, in pencil — " To this Letter Mr. Haldane returned no answer." But though unanswered by the gentleman to whom it was addressed, the Letter was not suffered to be in the end neglected. A vehement assailant of Dr. Smith's views as they had been submitted to Mr. Haldane, appeared in the following year in the person of Dr. Carson, of Tubbermore, in Ireland, who wrote a pamphlet, entitled, Review of the Rev. Dr. J. Pye Smith's Defence of Dr. Haffner's 284 LETTER TO ROBERT HALDANE, ESQ., [l826. Preface to the Bible, and of his Denial of the Divine Authority of Part of the Canon, and of the Full Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Edinburgh,'* 1827. Now while the Letter to Mr. Haldane is chiefly conversant with the second of the two subjects held up to censure in Dr. Carson's title-page, it does also contain a single clause in reference to the first. On both accounts, therefore, it is important to introduce it here, as supplying the first lines of a^controversy. which, in some of its details, is both instructive and curious : — " East Bourne, Aug. 4, 1826. " My dear Sir, — You and I know each other sufficiently to be quite at ease from the apprehension of giving offence by any plainness of speech. We shall love each other the more, if we save time and paper by an abruptness which in other circumstances we might think rude. The dis interested and noble attachment, which you have manifested for the interests of Truth and the Redeemer's glory, puts me out of all fear in freely expressing' to you some difficulties and doubts, relative to some things advanced by you in your last publication on the affairs of the Bible Society. "Your style of writing seems to imply it to be essential to the character of a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus, that he hold the following positions, or some of similar kind and effect : — " I. That some existing copy, or edition, of the original texts of the Scriptures is entitled, by a sort of prescription, to be considered as a safe and certain standard of textual accuracy. It is evident that, in assuming something like this, you are not referring to the edition of Kennicott or Jahn for the Old Testament, and those of Griesbach, or Matthai, or Knapp, or Vater, for the New, which are almost if not quite the only editions in which an enlarged and comprehensive endeavour has been made to ascertain the genuine text, by the careful comparison of all the sources of information. The chief of these, Griesbach, always enables us to form our own" opinion on every conflicting reading, by his summary of the evidence on each side : so that we are not the less indebted to him, though in any particular instance our judgment may draw a conclusion different from that which he has proposed. If, then, any such assumption as I have supposed exist in your mind, I shall be greatly obliged by having the edition of the Old Testament and that ofthe New specified, and the grounds of the preference1 laid down. " II. That those modem translations of the Scriptures, which were made more or less about twb centuries ago, and are usually called the, authorised versions, are entitled to an indisputable pre-eminence ; so that any deviation from them is, forthwith and without any further investigation, to be con sidered as false and ' vitiated ;' and that those who make them are guilty of what would indeed be aggravated and unprincipled wickedness, 'altering the translation of the word of God, as to them seems meet.' Mr. Haldane's Reply to Dr. Steinkopff, p. 144, 136.-— -Then upon what grounds of evidence does this assumption rest ? " III. That the Inspiration of the Scriptures consisted in this, that every phrase and word of the Scriptures were suggested or enjoined by the Holy JET. 52.] ON THE CANON AND INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE. 285 Spirit to the writers ; so that in fact, theirs was, or at least needed to be, no othe'r than a mechanical labour. Permit me to request your kind, but rigorous and scrutinizing attention to some brief remarks on this subject, in a Work entitled < Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,' vol. i. pp. 62, 63, and 27 — 29. Allow me also to ask and observe some things which now occur to me. — 1. How is this view of inspiration to be transferred to any versions f — 2. It appears to me to be clogged with very serious and inextricable difficulties ; and that the contending for it is likely to bring great detriment to the evidence and interests of evangelical truth. At the same time, it is one of those subjects which ought to be considered and settled without any respect of favour or disfavour to any system of doctrine. — 3. After the attention of about thirty years to this subject, a view, of which the following is an outline, appears to me to be the truth on this subject. Yet, I trust, I have well considered what you have advanced in your excellent Work on the Evidences and Authority of Divine Revelation. " (1.) That the essential seat of the inspiration lies in the thoughts and sentiments, whatever be the variety of phrase by which they may be ex pressed. The inspiration of God, therefore, extends to all metaphrases and translations, provided they be equipollent in meaning. " (2.) That though the inspired writers used the diction which was most familiar to them, according to their characteristic style and verbal habits, yet in all cases, the original Hebrew, Chaldee, or Greek, is the best expres sion of the ' mind of the Spirit.' For, either the very words and phrases were suggested by the Holy Spirit, (most probably so in prophetic declara tions and messages,) or were accepted, so to speak, by Him ; which two cases are precisely the same in practical effect. •• (3.) That in historical narration (under which I include all relations of the feelings, fears, sorrows, temptations, deliverances, &c, of individual be lievers, or of the Church as a Body ; e. g. the Book of Job, that of Lamenta tions, and many of the Psalms,) all that we want are due selection and faithful statement : and these, inspiration secures. " (4.) That in the didactic parts, the Apostles, &c, wrote as they were in the habit oT speaking. Each, in both kinds of communication, uttered what he ' had seen and heard,' what he ' had received from the Lord,' in the entire exercise of his own judgment and affections, and with, it may be, a perpetual variety of expression, pro re natd ; yet with a full consciousness of being taught and guided infallibly by the Holy Spirit. " (5.) That with regard to some parts of the Old Testament, there are extreme difficulties in applying the New Testament terms — •' the Writing — the Writings — the Holy Writings— the Oracles of God — what is written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.' E. g. I can find no determinate evidence that the Song of Solomon and the Book of Esther come under those denominations. That they are genuine books and the latter a true history, I have no doubt : but I do doubt whether they were included in the New Testament terms just mentioned. I fear that the narrator of Esther was influenced by a very weak and sinful fear of the Persian Court, and that thus he abstained from 'ascribing unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name ;' which, I think, a godly Jew could scarcely have kept himself from doing, when relating such astonishing dispensations of providential mercy and judgment. Yet the facts are not the less certain, 286 BIBLE SOCIETY CONTROVERSIES. [1826. nor is our instruction prevented, from the sad omission of any reference to the name, perfections, government, word, and worship of the Blessed God, " (6.) So my belief in the inspiration of the other historical books of the Old Testament, is not affected by the numerous and incontrovertible in stances of errors from very early transcribers, and which are in all existing copies and in the most ancient translations, having respect to names, numbers, summations, and other little circumstances. (See Kennicott's Dissertations ; Dathe Vet. Tes. passim, and other Authors.) Judicious and, honest criticism has done much towards the removing of these difficulties ; but they exist in full force in most, if not in all the old authorised versions. . . . Allow me to entreat you, my dear Sir, to give to this great subject a renewed consideration. To me it appears that the views, which I have thus briefly and cursorily touched upon, are the just result of what the New Testament intimates and warrants in the case." This is about half the Letter : the other is occupied with miscellaneous remarks which are of no special interest now. It is, however", in the latter part that the question occurs — " Could you favour me with a sight of Haffner's Preface ? " The first clause of the Letter shows Dr. Smith's motive for writing it to have been, a desire to call Mr. Bobert Haldane's attention to certain views respecthig the Canon and Inspiration of Scripture, which that gentleman had then recently stated in a publication animadverting on the affairs of the British and Foreign Bible Society ; which to the Homerton Tutor appeared untenable in the form and to the extent contended for by his friend in the North. Now to all who are familiar with the early history of that Society, it is well known that in the delight which was experienced on perceiving wide openings for the circulation of the Scrips tures on the Continent, the ¦ Committee of the Institution furnished aid, in the shape of money, printing paper, or books, for distributing Bibles as largely as possible, without laying down any rule which would exclude the: Apocrypha from the volumes intended for use in Foreign Countries. That such a plan ought to have been maintained in perpetuity, few persons of evangelical sentiments will in our day affirm : but that it was of great service in the, transition period when it was first introduced, few probably will deny. An impulse was given to Bible distribution not only in many Protestant, but in many Popish communities in Europe, which may be traced clearly to the absence for a time of any public discussion respecting the Canon of Scripture. It was, JET. 52.] STATE OF RELIGION ON THE CONTINENT. 287 notwithstanding, unquestionably proper that that discussion should at length come on ; and the initiative, or at all events the great impelling power, was found in Scotland. The con test was protracted, and the combatants in defence of the early plan were able and eloquent, yet as the age was ripe for the purer principle, the Committee in Earl Street, and the Society at large, yielded to the just wishes and demands of their Brethren in the North. Mr. Eobert Haldane was one of the earliest, and most efficient instruments in effecting this important change. It was probably in the same spirit and from the same motives, that the Bible Society was not at first very vigilant in keeping the copies of the Scriptures which they assisted to circulate on the Continent free, as tiieir issues in this country were, from additions of other matter, either in the shape of introductory remarks or of interspersed notes. But here also their want of due care in this respect, and the con sequences which might ensue from such an oversight, were urged on the attention of the Christian pubhc by the gentlemen who had begun and were vigorously carrying on the contro versy for excluding the Apocrypha from all Bibles distributed by the Society's agency. Dr. Smith, it is presumed, agreed with his countrymen generally at that early day in the plan, which was at length laid aside, of circulating the uncanonical books with the canonical ; and it is certain that he did not entertain any such dread of the injury likely to arise from the addition of other matter to the Scriptures, which was felt and complained of by not a few warm friends of the Society in England, and by a still larger number in Scotland. His habit of seizing upon the true and the good in almost every kind of publication, ren dered him inapt to detect, or at least slow to denounce the doubtful or the erroneous, in the manner which is common with a large class of critics. In order to impart1 information, and especially to prevent, if possible, the interest felt in this country in Bible distribution abroad from abating, or from being turned into a mere feeder of party feeling, whether on the one side or the other of the discussions which had arisen respecting the Apocrypha and its allied subjects, Dr. Smith contributed a series of papers to the 288 CONTROVERSY ON HAFFNER's PREFACE. [l880f Evangelical Magazine, upon The State of Religion on the- Con tinent. The first of these appeared in the number for January, in 1826, and was introduced by a short Letter to which he put his well-known initials, J. P. S., which served to accredit .him as the author of the, whole series under the abqve title. \ The,) second came out in February, the third in May ; and the- three consisted almost entirely of passages translated .from the, Be- , ports of different Bible Societies abroad. ,,,Some of. these, papers were .followed . by statements rebating tq contributions. which came to. Dr.. Smith; in, aid of ,%he Exiled.Swiss Ministers, ,' to which j his name in full was .subscribe/J,;- , andj. from , the manner in which the two;,s^ts of communications.' were printed, ( in the Magazine, the Beadejr would readily attribute both tp the same pen. » , , . . , . , . The fourth paper appeared, in the month of September, and was derived chiefly from the Report of .$,& Strasburgh Bibfe;^ Society for 1,824,. find from a speech delivered; by Dr. Haffner. , at the annual meeting. At that time Dr. .Smith had not seen,. nor did he see ,, until, the following month, , thf; c^le^rate^ Preface about which so much discussion^ afterwards,.arose. ., In.... the Magazine for October, a Letter was inserted on,,',' The,; State of. Beligion at Strasburgh," the writer, of which con-,. cealed his name under the, signature of Alethcia, in Greek characters. Besides calling in question, the correctness of^e^ impressions likely to arise from Dr. Smith's paper in the pre ceding mqntji on the general subject, Aletbeia, brought, charges against Dr. Haffner, in particular, saying, that "he is ndto-^ riouslyi a scoffer at vital , , jphri^tianity ;" that he "boldlv pub-., lishes his .disbelief of , the inspiration .ofjthe, Bible ;" quotingV( ais,o,t\yc- or three passages from a Preface, which he had, wrijften. to accompany fhe copies of the Scriptures issued by ^he ,Stp,s-(;} burgh Bible Society. Here, therefore, it hs, important to. notice,^ that ; the Preface, was., mentioned first of 9,11, in this di$cu§siqn . by Aletheia, and not by Dr. Smith ; apd .whatever lh,e latter said about it subsequently, was said, np^, so much, from chojce, as from ,that necessity which he,, felt h^irnself^ placed,,; under by .the course which, ,ha$ been, adopted i on, the other sijde. A Beply • appeared , in thf , Magazine, , fbr(. November, with, Dr, ^ Smith',s name in,,fuii, , Tl^e lauthpr uses what .wouj,d, berdeemMra strong expressions! for hiixi, , in denouncmg^the,, unfairness and, unqharitableness, as, he h.^^^flfitj^e.charges^whjjjh^had'b.eeh, .ET. OS. | CONTROVERSY ON HAFFNER'S PREFACE. 289 brought against Haffner as an infidel, &c. &c. ; he then refers to the Letter which he wrote to Mr. Bobert Haldane in August, a part of which has been already copied in this chapter, stating that his request to his " old friend " for " the loan of the Preface to the Bible," had not up to the date when he was then writing met with " any reply." He goes on to say, that failing of his purpose in Edinburgh, he had applied to a friend in the South of Germany to send him one, but he adds that " before this application could take effect, and in a manner the most un expected, and I must say providential, three days ago I was gratified with a copy of the work which I had so much longed to see." — Ev. Mag. 1826, p. 476.— If the Eeader will keep in mind this last clause, he will be struck with the astounding use which was made of it at a subsequent period. Dr. Smith was not satisfied with the fairness of the quota tions from the Preface, as they had been given by Aletheia in the former month's Magazine; indeed he questioned whether that writer had ever seen or read the whole of the production from which the extracts had been picked. With his wonted sense of equity, he sought to see all, and he did see all, before he ventured to pronounce an opinion ; and the result is given in this Letter in reply. The work of the Strasburgh Professor was entitled An Introduction to the Knowledge and the Profitable Reading of the Bible ; occupying " thirty-seven pages in large octavo." Dr. Smith goes on to say, that the Author is "cer tainly to be ranked among the theologians of Germany called Rationalists ;" but "that the fragments" which had been intro duced in Aletheia's Letter were " nearly all so garbled and mis represented, as to produce an effect very different from that which they have when read in $heit connection. Not only are they most injuriously separated from their connection, but even clauses of the very sentences professedly quoted are omitted, evidently for the purpose of making the dissevered fragments wear a more revolting aspect." — lb. p. 477. These were heavy charges, and charges which were not rebutted, and which could never be rebutted, by successfully showing, which was done, that the Preface contained a good deal of exceptionable matter, and was a very unfit accompani ment to Bibles circulated by the1 Christian benevolence of England. As an Introduction, however, it took its place among a multitude of works bearing that name; which, " what- u 290 CONTROVERSY ON HAFFNER's PREFACE. [18^0. ever may be the doctrines held or denied" by their respective Authors, Dr; Smith was " convinced " contained " the funda mental principlesi of Bible 'interpretation ; and that, all the great doctrines of vital Christianity — a Saviour properly divine, Eedemption, Sovereign Grace, and Sanctification by the Holy Spirit— are, by the fair application of those principles, irrefra- gabby deduced from the Sacred Word." He adds — " If I may venture to express my humble opinion, it will not be till those principles are made, use of, in a clear and judicious manner, for the deduction and elucidation of Scripture Truth, that the Protestant nations of the Continent will be raised from the death-like stupor of infidelity and formalism, and; the pure Gospel flourish again among them." — lb. It was only in. this aspect, and to this extent, that Dr. Smith defended Haffner and his Preface. He did not maintain that the Author held evangelical sentiments, or that his Work ought to be circulated together with the Scriptures. The Magazine for December contained three Letters in pro secution of the controversy. The first was from Aletheia, who now annexed his proper name as Alexander Haldane.* By an arrangement between the Editor and that gentleman, Mr. Hal - dane's Letter was submitted to Dr. Smith in manuscript/ whose Animadversions by way of Bejoinder, appeared in the same number: — and as the latter were sent to Mr. Haldane in manu script, that gentleman sent a Second Eeply,, which also was published with the rest. Could the whole be transcribed for the Beader's use, not the slightest fear as entertained of the conclusion he would come to respecting the side on which the victory remained in regard to all the leading topics which ha4 arisen in the course of the discussion^ On. one point, which is a little curious, and which brings into view the almost totally unused satirical capabilities of the Homerton Tutor, it may be worthwhile to state the particulars; especially as they serve at the5 same time to show his power of going. to; the roots of things for the principles by which his judgment and conduct were regulated. Taking advantage of the feminine termination of the. Greek word Aletheia, he uses rather freely in his first reply; the pro nouns she and her in relation to his correspondent. For this * The Writer of the Letter to Dr. Smith, p. 278 of this volume.,, ;j JET;' 52.] CONTROVERSY ON HAFFNER's PREFACE. 291 liberty he is reproved in sharp terms and at some considerable length by Mr. Alexander Haldane in his second Letter. The paragraph begins: — "It may seem almost cruel to damp the joy which the Doctor takes no pains to conceal, at what he conceives to be an inaccuracy in my signature ; he has, how ever, enjoyed his ovation, for I can scarcely dignify it by the appellation of a triumph, for a whole month ; and I must at length, however reluctantly, proceed to strip my learned opponent of his boasted laurels." The stripping part is effected thus : — "Unhappily the Doctor's learning or his memory have, for once at least, proved treacherous — for as every /Tyro knows who ever opened a Greek grammar;' or can construe John i. 17, Aletheia is an abstract noun signifying Veritas, or truth, and although feminine in its gender, is as appropriate a signature for a man as Veritas or Truth, which are both so hackneyed. This seems by some strange and unaccountable fatality, to have escaped the Doctor's recollection. In this instance, like another delebrated personage, he has been ' oblivious ; ' for I am sure he has too much candour to seek for a temporary victory over an opponent, by imposing the authority of his name on the credulity of the ignorant." — lb. p. 521. Dr. Smith replied : — " I can perceive no argument in this paragraph. I was not aware that it was so extremely common for anonymous writers to designate themselves by abstract nouns ; but, common or not, it appears to me to be a great violation of propriety in reason and taste. For that a man may assume to himself the title, not of Alethes, Philalethes, or some noun implying a person, but of an abstract quality,: seems to be the very summit of arrogknce. Such a style should be reserved for Him alone who, to express His absolute perfection,; is styled the Truth, the Life, our Hope, our Peace. He might as well call himself Beligion, Faith, Virtue, Love, or the, like. Yet, when a writer has chosen to -take so much upon himself, he ought to accept the fair consequences.'^ — lb. p. 524. — This seemed conclusive ; for not the slightest reference was made to' the subject afterwards. - • - - In the Supplement to the Magazine, which; was published about the middle of December, a Letter addressed to the Editor, appeared, in which Dr. Smith takes his: leave of the controversy. The first and last paragraph will now be given : — "Sir,— It is high time that the discussions between Mr. u 2 H i 292 dr. Carson's pamphlet '<'[i82fl. Alexander Haldane and myself should terminate. I therefore make no observation upon his rejoinder in the last number of the Evangelical'Magazine. It will be the most perfect satisfac tion to me if your impartial readers will seriously compare the several parts of the correspondence under the respective par ticulars ;and, if they think fit, will consult the lately pubhshed Minutes ofthe British and Foreign Bible Society, relating tolhe Strasburgh Preface. ''-' "It is my prayer that both myself and my antagonist, for whom I retain a sincere regard, may on all occasions* 'speak and act the truth in love,' and ' may in all things grow up into HIM who is the Head, even Christ.' •'Volu;|ne;, which has lately, issued, from the nPress :— the Memoifs,^ the . Lives of Robert Haldane of Airthrey, and of his Brother James Alexander Haldane : By> Alexander Haldane, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. * — While this valuable Work solves some mysteries in relation to other parties, it, does also suggest s.qme lessons respecting Dr. Smith which will probably give additional lustre to his character as a Christian gentleman, and to the worth and weight of his example in the field of cpntroversy. — The following particulars — stated, it must be confessed, with the utmost frankness and simplicity by the learned Barrister- will clearly enough, if not satisfactorily, explain, the manner of Dr. Carson's introduction to this arena, and the way in which he was sustained in it by those who procured ,his aid,t- : .1. , " The pastor qf Tubbermore, . in, , the ; npr,th , of Jreland,. was a' man pf deep spiritual attainments and of noble independence ; one , whose skill in the refinements of criticism, the subtleties of metaphysics, and the philo sophy of language, was such as to leave him buVfew competitors. But, in his isolated position and with his contracted means,: there! was a danger lest his abilities might be, unexercjse^like^a, piece of artillery whi|chfh^s ,£aj],en into, a, .ditch or wants, a gun-carriage. On yaxiQuis occasions it was, therft- * IiOnd. Hamilton)rA.dams, Mid Co. 1852. f The Editor owes it to himself to say, that several months prior to tile pub lication of the above " Melnoirs," he had carefully read the controveSsyfin'the Evangelical Magazine, of 18/2&;, and also Dr. Cars.on's Pamphlet .vbu^jie^Miied at that time to introduce the. subject into these., pages, ,.from an impression r|hat(jt was comparatively void of interest at the present day ; and that the pamphlet in particular could not be dwelt upon except with emotions of grief' and pit intimately to both Mr. Bobert and Mr. Alexander Haldane ; and no wonder,. for it was not some. sudden illusion fascinating the public eye and then vanishing as suddenly; — it had been the regular growth of many lyears of Christian culture, of diligence as a Pastor, great , efficiency as a Theological Tutor, and of acknowledged courage, and success in defending from theipregs the, 'JFaith: once delivered to the Saints.' How, titen; wasthe '.humble and amiable' minister! of the Gospel, of Tubbermore, inclined, and how allowed — it, might seem jharsh to say encouraged- — under such high patronage, to deal' with- a character founded upon such claims, and for which he was said to have fa high respect' ? An; answer to this- question will tend to illustrate the history of more persons, and of : more ways of managing controversy than one : — ,i " Had we no winter, summer would be thought . , , r ,- , , rv ¦ . , , , ^, , ' ' •- , : . ° , . Not half so pleasing ; and if tempests were not, Such comforts by a calm could not be brought ; ¦ For things;- sa/ve> by their opposites, appear not."1 1 ' >' •"It is due to the Author of the Memoirs to premise that he has given some specimens of the style, of Dr. CafgOn's work. He has not, however, done justice to it, — and he flight well shrink from such, a task, for the leading features by which.it is at once distinguished and disfigured cannot reflect credit upon the taste, the judgment, or the temper, of ahy 6f the parties concerned in that production ; , and, yet what the learned Barrister has done makes it necessary to do morej in order that the several names mixed up in the transaction*-Dr. Smith's especially — may appear in a' right aspect." Even the many passages about to,, be quoted will by no means exhaust the class to which they belong i muqhuless,, are, they, £(,&, severed from [the context, adapted to produce a false impression of the prevailing tone of the whole: — indeed, their number as shown by the pages, andjfli&j coarseness' of the langiiage?r bespeak clearly enqugh the rank-ocas of .fcfcpqffcin. which like indigenqus weeds they abound. Here it cannot be. out; of place just tp remind the Beader of the noble Vindication' of the Citizens of Geneva, Which— as he has heard — first appeared as a series of Letters addressed to the Editor of the Monthly Repository, 'tiiat the defence of the evangelical Christians of Switzerland might more certainly find its way to and abash their Socinian persecu- 2ET. 53. J ATTACK ON DR. SMITH. 297 tors : aud which, among other services rendered to calumniated good men, contained an able and a spirited refutation of the charges which M. Cheneviere had brought against Robert Haldane, Esq., of Edinburgh* "Mr. H."— says Dr. Pye Smith— "is a man of family, fortune, and talents, who has for many years devoted himself with a generosity rarely equalled, to the most benevolent purposes that can be enter tained by a human mind. There are few persons who are more addicted to cool reasoning ; or who have more correct views or more consistent practice on the subject, I will not say , of toleration, but of the entire rights of religious liberty," &c. Vin. p. 21. — The pamphlet from which this passage is quoted was published in 1825 ; in 1827 Dr. Carson's Review, dc. &c, appeared, with which Mr. Bobert Haldane's name is now so closely identified, and the style of which is in a sense match less, as may be seen from the following specimens : — " One of the most astonishing and detestable productions I have ever seen from the pen of a man professing strictly orthodox principles, is a paper, &c. &c, by Dr. Pye Smith, theological tutor of Homerton Academy, and his reply to the answer of Aletheia," p. 1. — " If Neology ought to be depre cated more than open infidelity, as more imposing and seductive to the bulk of men, the defence of Dr. Haffner by Dr. Smith is more to be abhorred than the work of Dr. Haffner himself," p. 2. — " When provisions, poisoned by the enemy, are served up to the Christian soldiery by their own officers, shall not multitudes be emboldened to eat the whole without discrimination, if not as being all equally nutritive, at least all as harmless," p. 3. — The Monthly Repository having thought proper to speak of Dr. Smith's reply to Mr. Alexander Haldane's charges against Haffner, as " able and complete, and highly honourable to his Christian spirit," — Dr. Carson ventures to deal with motives as well as facts : — •" If the praise of Dr. Smith is in the Churches of Christ, he must certainly be allowed to have a very con siderable share of the wisdom of this world, for we see that his praise is also high in the synagogues of Satan. This may be what the learned divine was looking for ; at all events, it was what might naturally be expected. But if he knows the grace of God in truth, these compliments will give him little satisfaction in the moment of contemplating his meeting with Jesus. He must have a peculiar kind of conscience, if he expects for this part of his conduct a ' well done, good' and faithful servant.' It is undoubtedly very pleasing to the natural vanity of our minds, to recommend ourselves to the esteem of all men. To the jiride of genius and of learning, there is nothing so seductive as the praise of the learned. To be willing to become no thing, or even less than nothing, in suffering the scorn and reproaches of literary insolence, is truly not the least fearful kind of martyrdom. But * Vin. pp. 20—27. 298 PASSAGES FROM DR. CARSON'S [l838. freedom from vituperation [freedom from vituperation ! — can that really be what the Author meant ?] has never been purchased by a disciple of Christ, but at the expense of cowardice or indecision. What, then, shall we say of him, whose defence of a Neologian has earned such eulogy from the Monthly Repository ? Such panegyric is the reward of treason. Was ever such a compliment paid to Jesus Christ ? And has the good-natured, impartial, and discriminating Dr. Smith, more candour than the Son of God ? Was ever such a compliment paid to the Apostles by the haughty children of self-righteousness ? And has Dr. Smith more prudence, and discreet liberality, than the ambassadors of Christ ?" p. 4. " The statement of Dr. Smith [respecting Haffner's Preface] is consistent with the supposition, that very little of the Scripture is from God," p. 7. — " Why speak of the alleviating circumstances in the guilt of error, if it is not with a view to his [Haffner's] acquittal, or mitigation of his punish ment? If all this does not insinuate that this faith has something in it valuable as a recommendation to God, I have much mistaken its meaning; and in any other sense, it is uselessly brought forward in this question. If we can have hope that such a faith as that of Dr. Haffner, will be accom panied with salvation, his Preface to the Bible is not so mischievous as we apprehend. But if it excludes from heaven, no temporal moral good should induce us to contribute to the damnation of mankind," p. 9. — " Had Jesus Christ paid a little court to the Rabbies, instead of being repelled and dis gusted by his doctrine, they might have been attracted by the truth. What a striking difference between the general tone of Dr. Smith's language, with respect to the danger of error, and that of Him whom he calls his master. This courtly divine falters in pronouncing the condemnation of the most hardened enemies of the Gospel. He speaks of painful fears, with respect to men whose doctrines are completely subversive of the Gospel, as if it were a doubtful matter whether God will really condemn unbelievers according to his word, or suffer them to escape by making himself a liar." p. 10.—" It is a false, it is a diabolical liberality, that by implication casts reproach on Jesus Christ and his Apostles. The whole tenor of Dr. Smith's Apology for Dr. H. is of this stamp. There is more respect for the feelings of the learned Neologian, than zeal for the purity of the Gospel." p. 11. Quite in harmony with his sense of justice and with all his Hterary habits, the Homerton Tutor . endeavoured, as we have seen, to obtain a copy of Haffner's work, before he ventured to form and give an opinion concerning it or the Author. Fail ing in his attempt in one or two quarters, he at length secured a copy in what he deemed an unexpected, and (he adds) ' I must say providential manner.' How must he have been startled and distressed if he ever read the following comment, written by one who was — we have been told — ' as humble and amiable as himself,' and who ' entertained a high respect for his personal character:' — " Here is a true Don Quixote, in defence of the Ncological Doctors of JET. 62.] ATTACK ON DR. SMITH. 299 Germany. When all expedients failed to enable him to enter on his exploits, the God of Providence himself is represented as interesting himself in vin dicating this Preface. — Who can doubt that the God of truth is on the side of Dr. H. in this contest ? Yes, Dr. S., it was, no doubt, providential. But it was that sort of providence that presents the knife to the assassin : it was that sort of providence that presented the rope to Judas Iscariot. After read ing the Preface referred to, will any Christian say, that God by his providence, expressed his approbation of Dr. S. in vindicating that blasphemous work?" p. 15. — "If by this Don Quixote expedition of theological chi valry, he has an eye to the approbation of the wise and learned of this world, there is no doubt, but, in the emphatic language of Jesus, he will have his reward," p. 20.—" It behoves Dr. S. to consider, that all courtesy with respect to the opposers of the Gospel, springs not from a desire of win ning them to Christ, but may proceed from a slight impression of their danger, or selfish insinuation. Apparent moderation of spirit may proceed from indifference towards the truth, while it pretends to descend as a grace of the Spirit. Indifference often assumes the garb of meekness," p. 31. Thus far the tirade on Dr. Haffner's Preface, which extends to the thirty-second page of the pamphlet. We now come to his ' Bemarks ' on the second branch of his subject, which ostensibly had for their basis the first volume of the Scrip. Tes. published nearly nine years before ; a sufficient length of time to allow of some substitution of reasoning for dogmatism, greatly to the Beader's advantage, not to say the Writer's credit. That Dr. Carson had seen this work is, however, an im portant feature in the whole case. If not known to him before or in any other way, he could now by the aid of volumes which he professed in part to have examined, become acquainted with Dr. Smith, whose sentiments, spirit, and character are very clearly impressed upon almost every page. There could be no doubt respecting the soundness of the learning of the Scrip. Tes. to the Messiah ; nor any of the Author's knowledge of the subject in all its relations ; nor of the strength of his faith in the doctrine which he maintained ; nor of the perspicuity of his statements regarding that doctrine. Nor could there be any doubt of his moral qualifications ; such as conscientious care to examine and adjust every tittle of evidence; a frank admission of difficulties with a firm retention of great truths ; a modest forbearance and courtesy towards opponents combined with the most faithful appeals on the danger of their errors. Added to all which and as pervading the whole, there was an eminently devout spirit and a most conspicuous submission to the authority of the Sacred Writings. How astonishing, 300 PASSAGES FROM DR. CARSOx's [1826. perhaps unprecedented, that a reputation personal and hterary, based upon such qualities and secured by the able advocacy of such doctrines, should have been put in jeopardy, if possible undermined or destroyed, by the united endeavours of Christian men who really knew his worth, and were of one mind and soul with him in regard to the design of his work upon the Person and Claims of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But if in his eagerness to begin the attack, Dr. Carson neglected to examine the Scrip. Tes. as a whole, and thereby lost his clue to the qualifications and spirit of the Author ; the very portions of the work on which he grounds his charges and inuendoes, were expressly designed by Dr. Smith to defend the Inspiration of the Scriptures against Dr. Priestley and other Unitarian writers. With the slightest possible exceptional clause respecting the Song of Solomon in the edition of 1818, (the one actually quoted in the pamphlet,) Dr. Smith states — that whatever construction is adopted of 2 Tim. hi. 15, 16, the passage " furnishes the strongest testimony to the inspira tion of each and every of the books of the Old Testament." Yet in the face of this declaration, and of a subsequent note equally explicit on the Inspiration of the New Testament, also quoted in the pamphlet, Dr. Carson — because he had a specific task to perform — was allowed to assail the Author of the Scrip. Tes. in the tone and manner following : — " Dr. Smith's account of inspiration appears to me to proceed on princi ples at variance with the fundamental laws of biblical interpretation. It founds on theory, and supports itself not by the declarations of the Divine Word itself, but by the supposition of difficulties and views of necessity. Whatever distance there may be between the views of Inspiration allowed by Dr. Haffner, and that contended for by this writer, they both build on the same objectionable foundation, though the religious sentiments of the latter permit him to ascribe a greater degree of divine assistance," p. 32.— " I have never met with a writer who betrays greater indistinctness in his conceptions than this author," p. 34. — ¦"¦ Infidels demand evidence with re spect to the Scriptures, not analogical to that in any other qf Ro.&'SjWorks ! and when Christians endeavour to satisfy them in this, they compromise the dignity of their God. Is it not enough that men have, the same kind and degree of evidence, with respect to the revealed will of God, that deter mines them in all other things ? Must Jehovah shut up everv avenue to evasion, before we will deign to accept his mercy ? Salvation is our own concern. Shall we then so doat on damnation, that unless one lise from the dead, we will not believe the message of reconciliation ?" p. 36. There now occurs the first of several passages , scattered JET. 52. J ATTACK ON DR. SMITH. 301 through this part of the pamphlet, in which the levity displayed by DrJ Carson in sporting with a creature on one side of a vicious comparison, incurably and very offensively taints his manner of referring to or bringing in the Creator, Bedeemer, and Sanctifier, on the other : — "Except it be for the same good-natured purpose, to make the toil of complete inspiration less necessary in God, I cannot see the use of substi tuting, in some cases, divine acceptance of words for infusion. According to this scheme, there is no need for the inspired writer to trouble the Spirit for the inspiration of every word : on many occasions his own know ledge of phraseology, subject to the Divine inspection, will sufficiently supply him. Such a scheme appears to me too bungling to ascribe to any man of common sense — to ascribe it to Jehovah is, in my view, little less than blasphemy. . . To set a penman of Scripture and the Holy Spirit to work on such a scheme strikes me as so ridiculous, that I cannot look at it but with contempt and abhorrence. Is it to make the work a little easier tp omnipotence, and to save some trouble to him who wearies not in working, that such a confused and jumbling plan is proposed ? " pp. 37, 38. Dr. Smith having said that ' extreme difficulties ' attended the idea of complete verbal inspiration, in cases where the same discourse or sentence of our Lord is related in different words by two or more of the Evangelists, he is replied to in this style : — "Instead of finding extreme difficulties in the things here mentioned, I hold that understanding in perfect contempt, that finds in them any difficulty at all," p. 39.— "Were there not some jumble in his mind .v . . variety of expression would never strike him as inconsistent with inspiration. ... I admit, for argument sake, that the doctrine of plenary inspiration has great difficulties, though I have demonstrated that it has none. What can my opponent make of the admission P Shall the existence of difficulties be a sufficient reason to deny what the Scriptures, with such a mass of evidence, assert P Then give up the Sovereignty of grace ; give tip particular redemption ; give up the divinity of Christ ; give up the Scriptures themselves ; give up the existence of God. It is a shame for any man acquainted with theology, to talk of difficulties as rendering any sentiment untenable," p. 41.— "Had he allowed himself coolly [? ! !] to examine his own reasons, he could not have allowed his mind to be entan gled by cobwebs that must break by the lowest exertion of human intellect. I should be surprised if a very child could be imposed on by such reasoning, however unable he irii^ht be to unravel the sophistry of it," p. 45. " His objections. ... appear rather to have been sought by study, to justify a sentiment originating' in some other cause. They are more like the forced thoughts of declamation, when it strains to make the best of a bad cause, than the serious scruples of a sound mind. Had he given up a. fortress com mitted to him by his sovereign, to forces so inconsiderable, there could not 302 PASSAGES FROM DR. CARSON'S D820> have been found a court-martial in the empire that would not have doomed him to lose his head. The doctrine of verbal inspiration is one of the fort resses committed to Christians by Jesus Christ. Dr. Smith cries ' mercy,' and strikes his colours," &c. &c. . . . " This theory, indeed, is one of the most inexcusable that ever was forged for the interpretation of Scrip ture," p. 49. To widen the field and to supply new matter for carrying on the attack, Dr. Carson next avails himself of an inference that Dr. Smith was the writer of an Article which appeared in thq Eclectic Review for November, 1825, on the ' Apocrypha Con troversy' — "and upon the assumption" — as Dr. Smith said in his Reply to Taylor — " he builds no small abuse :" — yet the article is not among those which have been assigned to the Homerton Tutor by the trustworthy Editor of that journal; and from the evidence of its style, it no more belonged to him than to his Tubbermore calumniator.* But to use a phrase of Dr. Carson's already quoted from his pamphlet, — ' founding on theory,' he writes away as one whose guesses were facts, to whom proofs were impertinences, and modesty, in their absence, a cardinal sin ; for after extracting a passage from the Eclectic, he says : — " To enter into the proof of the inspiration of these books, so rashly questioned by Dr. Smith, would be altogether a waste of time in this place," p. 63. — " Could he succeed in showing that a certain book belongs to the collective denomination received by the Jews as Scripture, and that it contained evidence of non-inspiration, he would prove Paul a liar, (2 Tim. iii. 15, 16,) and discredit the inspiration of every other book in the Canon. If one part of the volume attested as inspired by Paul, be proved to be un inspired, his attestation is worthless with respect to every book in the colla tion. Dr. Smith, then, is not only inconsistent with himself in this matter, but he actually labours in the cause of infidelity, with respect to Revelation * Dr. Carson's 'Remarks on Dr. Smith's Theory of Inspiration ' began with what was well known to be his from its place in the Scrip. Tes. Why then, should the decorum of honourable controversy be infringed or endangered, — by, first, assuming against several particulars of internal evidence, that he was the writer of a paper which was anonymous : — and, next, by assailing him per sonally on the sentiments contained in that paper through twelve pages, with out any intimation whatever by way of apology Should the surmise of his being the Author turn out not to be true ? The answer is too obvious. Dr. Carson had to reply tothe private Letter written by Dr. Smith to his ' old friend,' Mr. Robert Haldane, in Aug. 1826 : — and as the sure ground of the Scrip. Tes. did not furnish a basis wide enough to reach some of the sentiments, stated perhaps in confidence in that Letter, the fallacious theory that Dr. Smith was the author of the article in the Eclectic for Nov. 1825 was too readily laid hold of for the purpose. JET. 52.] ATTACK ON DR. SMITH. 303 in general." . . . " I am unwilling to suspect Dr. Smith of secretly designing to undermine the authority of Scripture ; yet I cannot clear him, but at the expense of his judgment," p. 64. The Biographer of Messrs. Bobert and Alexander Haldane follows Dr. Carson's example, in ascribing to Dr. Smith the article in the Eclectic, of November, 1825* He has given in the Memoirs, pp. 528, 529, rather a long extract from the pamphlet based on that fallacy, but he has omitted the intro ductory clause before the words, " Now what Canon," &c. &c, which are these — " But there are no bounds to the absurdity of this learned and ingenious writer. [All along confidently and rashly assumed to be Dr. Smith.] He tells us that the book of Esther and the book of Chronicles, though not inspired, are ' very properly included in our Canon, as both authentic and true.' Now what canon," &c. &c, ending with the extraordinary passage : — " I thank thee, great Jesus, that thou hast not left the making of our Bible to the ingenuity of learned doctors. Much of thy wisdom in it appears to them to be folly. Their learning is employed in mending thy work, and polishing what thy hand has left unfinished. Go, Dr. Smith, enrol thy name with that of him who, in the arrogance of his wisdom, boasted that he could have given a better model for creation, had he been admitted to the divine counsels. But let the Bible alone. It is the very wisdom of wisdom. The blemishes that the wisdom of this * At page 505 of the " Memoirs " an article in the Eclectic, for April, 1826, is referred to : the writer of which, the Biographer says, " was the chief advocate of the Apocryphists ; . . . was well known as the friend of James Mont gomery, and as being himself the author of some beautiful gems of sacred poetry, which the Christian world will not willingly let die." Now Dr. Smith was not the person thus described : he was not the ' chief advocate of the Apocryphists,' for he does not appear to have taken a prominent part in that controversy ; and although a well-known friend of Mr. Montgomery in early life, for many years there had been very little communication of any kind between the two; while the last descriptive phrase — 'the Author of some beautiful gems of sacred poetry,' &c. — is wholly inapplicable to the Homerton Tutor. If, now, the Biographer, or the Reader, will turn to a Note at the end of the above paper on the ' Conduct of the Bible Society ' (in the Eclectic for April, 1826) pp. 383, 384, he will perceive that the writer of that paper was also the Author of the Article on the ' Apocrypha Controversy,' in November, 1825. — But the surmise that Dr. Smith wrote the latter, groundless as it proved to be in the end, and not perhaps very firmly believed even at the time, was needed, in order to enable Dr. Carson to assail that part of the unpub lished Letter to Mr. Eobert Haldane, of August 4, 1826, respecting the Book of Esther and the Chronicles, concerning which the Scrip. Test, furnished no ground of attack whatever. — It is no part of our purpose to discuss the sup posed merits or defects of the two articles in the Eclectic above-mentioned ; but it is a duty to present such evidence as is at hand to prove that Dr. Smith did not write either of them. 301 THE RECKLESSNESS OF [l826. world finds in it, are often its greatest excellencies," p. 65. Then after nearly six pages more still ' founding on theory,' and in a style which indeed " secured its author against plagiarism," Dr. Carson adds, — " Now if the Book of Esther is really written in the wisdom of God, it will be no defence for Dr. Smith, that it is not in the style of human wisdom. God has presented it to him as his own work, by having it inserted in the Canon sanctioned by Christ, and attested as inspired by Paul. If, in the arrogance of his own wisdom, he presumes to see defects in it notwith standing such attestation, it is at his peril he rejects it. He indulges the very same spirit that induces all unbelievers to reject the gospel. Do I then say, that to deny the inspiration of this Book is damnation ? No — I say it is not damnation :" p. 71. We leave the sentence incomplete ; suffice it to say, that the word here used, and which is felt to be one of fearful import, was so great a favourite with ' the minister of the gospel,' of Tubbermore, that besides its introduction in several parts of the pamphlet, it is repeated in this place no less than five times in six consecutive lines. The whole closes in the same spirit, and without one word by way of palliation or apology : — in the very last paragraph, Dr. Smith is addressed personally, in the following unjust and offensive style ; — " You have denied the verbal inspiration of the Word of God, and every kind of inspiration to all the passages that any one may choose to consider not of a religious or moral nature, and you close by rejecting whole Books, on principles that will condemn the whole Bible. Your speculations are very crude— your sentiments are self-contradictory — and your half-formed conceptions show that you have been too hasty in giving your opinions to the world. You must go back or forward,— stationary yon cannot remain." These assertions, reckless of truth and daring in their generalizations, are grievously aggravated by the conjectural, and really baseless ' theory ' on which they were ' founded.' Surely — to use the words of an old writer— these are "the crude, and hasty, and untimely abortions of a self-full, dis tempered spirit." — " But the tongue can no man tame : it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father ; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren," says the holy Apostle, " these things ought not so to be.'' Low and even base motives are directly or by insinuation ascribed to one for whose character the Accuser is said to have JET. 02.] DR. CARSON'S GENERALIZATIONS. 305 had a high respect. The uniform opponent of Socinianism, whether in the field of argument or as a source of persecution for conscience sake, is held up to obloquy as a ' courtly divine,' who might perchance be looking for praise in what Dr. Carson is pleased to call 'the Synagogues of Satan;' that is, in Unitarian quarters. Dr. Pye Smith is reminded that the equity and moderation which he conscientiously sought to manifest in dealing with opponents, might arise " from indifference towards the truth ;" and as though this were not cutting near enough to the quick, it is added, that such moderation might " pretend to descend as a grace of the Spirit. Indifference often assumes the garb of meekness." The Pastor of Tubbermore is further careful to make a parade of his " contempt for the understanding and judgment" of the Theological Tutor at Homerton. As a matter of policy, this part of his work may be thought a little overdone ; for if there was " a world of obscurity and silliness in his reasoning," there was all the less occasion, or even excuse, to state this in words : — for what wise man would think of ' crushing a moth with a mallet ;' or what necessity to employ Dr. Carson to brush away " cobwebs ?" But when the author of the pamphlet attempts to graft with such an unsparing hand his own inferences on Dr. Smith's premises and positions : — when the entire Bible is made to follow the fate of the difficulties supposed by some to attach to the canonical authority of one or two Books : — when because verbal inspira tion was denied, Dr. Carson thought it just or expedient to as sert that Dr. Smith also denied "every kind of inspiration to all the passages which, any one may choose to consider not of a reli gious or moral nature," the outrage upon legitimate argument and even truth itself was too flagrant to admit of excuse or apology. Nor is it possible to overlook the fearful damage which might accrue to a vast multitude of persons who, because they could not adopt the sweeping decisions of Dr. Carson on the one side, were to be left exposed to the utter destitution of all Scriptural authority and teaching, which he seemed to exult in denouncing upon them, on the other :— as though, if he could not compel persons to acknowledge in his sense the validity of every document of the title deeds of a large estate, he would then do his uttermost to convince them of the worthlessness of all. Alas ! that that wonderful passage of ineffable tenderness and power, should have been read" by this learned man to so little advantage :— John xx. 24—29. x 306 DE. CARSON'S STYLE AS AN AUTHOR [UWH. In quoting rather largely from Dr. Carson's attack, the design has been to enable the Beader to form his own opinion of the quality of the article which was produced by the peculiar talents of a Christian minister, and put in circulation with the approval and by the purse of a Christian gentleman. The Editor shrank from the responsibility of substituting any words of his own for the ipsissirna verba of the hired champion : — less might, indeed, have satisfied; but there could not then have been that impressive, that monitory sense of the almost match less enormity of the mistake committed by each of the parties to this sad production. — But the sequel must be noticed. We are told in the Memoirs, that this " Beview of Dr. Smith's Defence of the Strasburgh Preface," . . . was the first of a series of publications, each written at the suggestion [ ! ] of Mr. Haldane, and each published at his risk ; so that during a period of nearly ten years, Dr. Carson was enabled triumphantly to maintain the field against all comers, while he not only de fended the Canon which had been assailed, but by overthrowing one adverse theory after another, proved to demonstration that the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures can never be success fully assailed, except through the sloth, the ignorance, or the cowardice, of those who choose to surrender without a struggle." p. 527. This is said; and yet, three pages afterwards, the Beader is very honestly told, that "it was not Mr. Haldane's fault if Dr. Carson's writings were not more generally sought after;" and as though to make every tittle of information and evidence complete, it is plainly intimated that they could not be rendered popular though Mr. Haldane " distributed gratuitously hundreds of almost every work he pubhshed." But can it be a matter for wonder or admiration that any controversial Author should keep the field against all comers, if he writes in such a way that his performances are considered a drug even when wealth makes a vigorous effort to circulate them as presents :— if it was not difficult for Dr. Carson to ' create a solitude,' wiser men — not to say better — should pause before they call the stillness ' peace;' or dignify with the honours of a triumph the mere isolation of the eombatant. Men of education and judgment would not generally look for arguments in the midst of a style groaning almost under a load of con temptuous epithets and phrases : in some minds it would create a positive aversion to the views of the Author ; — others would be JET. 52.] INIMICAL TO HIS SUCCESS. 307 morally incapable of reading what he wrote ; — others would not exactly know whether he was convincing or frightening them, and would be afraid to commit themselves to his guidance. In the circle of Dr. Smith's own friends — a large one in a case of attack like this — the pamphlet was self-excluded. Who could buy it, or give or receive it as a gift, or talk of it in any way approvingly ; unless they were prepared in that instance, to lay aside the ordinary courtesies of human society, and to forget the respect due to Christian worth ? The passages which have been given have, no doubt, gone far enough to produce quite a nausea for that kind of writing ; and in that view, as well as others, they may not be without their use. When, moreover, the learned Barrister speaks confidently of Dr. Carson's having " overthrown one adverse theory after another," and of having "proved to demonstration that the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures can never," &c. &c. ; he must be but very slenderly informed concerning the actual, the avowed state of sentiment on these questions at the present day. In what community of Christians, excepting perhaps the Plymouth Brethren, does anything like uniformity of opinion or belief prevail, whether among the ministers or the private members, on the points to which he refers ? Dr. Henderson's Work on Divine Inspiration came out years after Dr. Carson had published a volume, in which, according to the title-page, the Theories of Inspiration of Dr. Daniel Wilson, Dr. Pye Smith, and Dr. Dick, were " proved to be erroneous :" and though the same Dr. Carson followed Dr. Henderson's Work with what he calls a " Befutation" of the doctrine it contained on this subject, that doctrine prevails widely among Tutors, and Christian Ministers, and in Christian Churches still. In 1831, Dr.. Samuel Hinds, the present Bishop of Norwich, pubhshed An Inquiry into the Proofs, Nature, and Extent of Inspiration, and into the Authority of Scripture.* A single clause will show what are the sentiments of this learned Prelate of the English Church on the question :— " There are portions of the Bible which must have been written under a general commission, and others from special instruction. The pre dictive parts of the prophetical books must have been the result of positive and particular directions ; the history, on the other * Lond. ; Fellowes. Oxford : Parker. X 2 308 DR. SMITH'S VIEWS OF INSPIRATION UNCHANGED. [l.v'O. hand, and the apostolical epistles, may be more properly, perhaps, classed among the ordinary acts of an extraordinary agency — that is, the general inspiration to write — the general commission and qualification were given ; the details of their duty left, to a certain extent, to their own choice." pp. 119, 120. When this was written, Dr. Hinds was Vice-Principal of St. Albans Hall, Oxford.* It is scarcely necessary to say that Dr. Smith's own views of Inspiration remained unchanged down to the last edition ofthe Scrip. Tes., and, indeed, to the end of his life among us. So far, then, as can be ascertained from facts, Dr. Carson's 'demonstrations' have not been generally considered demon strative by those who have written on the question : and so far as probability is concerned, there is no little ground to appre hend that the attempt to force upon men one of two positions, elaborately carried by that Author to the widest attainable points of divergence, has had an unhappy influence in urging some who could not rise to the demand made upon them on the one side, to risk the consequences which, as he said, they must accept on the other. And is the learned Barrister-at-Law so familiar with the history of the controversy, so well read in the Writings which have appeared on both sides, and so competent as well as entitled to adjudicate on the motives of men richly endowed in intellect, of great moral worth, and of honourable stations in the Church — as to be qualified to assert, that if they " choose to surrender" the doctrine of "the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures," in the sense held by Dr. Carson and the Messrs. Haldane, the result must be ascribed to their " sloth," their " ignorance," or their " cowardice ?" If it is certain that they are all in error, it cannot be equally certain that the grounds of then- error are to be surely detected in any one or more of the qualities designated by the disparaging epithets here used: — and if even that were certain, the propriety of a creature's assuming the prerogative and authority of the Supreme and Final Judge, by such a style of pronouncing a verdict upon motives, must ever be, and for manifold reasons, denied. But * See also the views on this subject of Dr. Edmund Calamy — John Fred. Stapfer—Dr. Timothy Dwight—Dr. George Hill, Principal of St. Mary's Coll. St. Andrews — Dr. Leonard Woods, sen. — Dr. Henderson — Dr. Arnold. — Scrip. Tes. fourth ed. vol. i. pp. C3 — 69. JET. 52.] DR. CARSON NEVER NOTICED BY DR. SMITH. 309 it would be immensely to the advantage of Christianity, if, with the warmest zeal for the letter of Bevelation, there were a corresponding power to imbibe and exercise its spirit. The casket is indeed of value for the jewels which it contains ; but if the latter are not worn for use and ' ornament,' the chief purpose of contending for the former seems to be over looked. After what has been said, it is almost superfluous to add that Dr. Smith never replied to Dr. Carson's pamphlet. The arrogant tone of the whole, the gratuitous, the utterly ground less insinuations, the fanatical assumptions and assertions, — not only put it out of his power to reply, but made it impossi ble for him to think of replying with a due regard to his own character as a Christian and a gentleman; while the unsale- ableness of the thing, and its unacceptableness even as a pre sent, made it useless to attach the slightest value to it, in respect of any arguments which could have been fairly picked out of so jeering and contemptible a performance. And fur ther, — with a becoming concern for himself, and for the out raged claims of truth, equity, and soberness, the Author of the Scrip. Tes. never mentioned the name of Dr. Carson in any part of his work ; not even in that part devoted to the question on which the Pastor of Tubbermore had expended whatever skill and power he had in a succession of pieces published at Mr. Eobert Haldane's cost. This silence is rendered the more emphatic from the fact—that in the last ed. of the Scrip. Tes. Dr. Smith is careful to refer, in a perfectly courteous way, as it became him to do, to Mr. Haldane's views on the subject of Plenary Inspiration, contained in his work on the Evidences and Authority of Divine Revelation; and also to the Bev. Lewis Gaussen's work on the same side of the question: but Dr. Carson's productions, from the 'Beview of Dr. Pye Smith's Defence of Dr. Haffner,' in 1827, down to his ' Befutation of Dr. Henderson's Doctrine,' in 1837— that is "during a period of nearly ten years," when 'each of his publica tions was written at the suggestion of Mr. Haldane'— were left, as they deserved to be, unnoticed in a work which was distinguished for exact and varied learning, for conclusive argument, for fine Christian temper, and for a style the very opposite in every valuable quality of the 310 THE SUMMING UP. [1886. Tubbermore Pastor's. — " He that is void of wisdom " — says the Proverb — " despiseth his neighbour : but a man of un derstanding holdeth his peace." Beturning to the point at which this part of the narrative began — the controversy with Mr. Alexander Haldane in the Evangelical Magazine— the Memoirs refer in two places to a Letter which Dr. Smith wrote ten years afterwards, that is, in August 1837, to his ' old antagonist,' in which he " spoke with regret of the expressions he had used," p. 516. Again — "he himself acknowledged with his accustomed candour that in regard to Haffner, he ' reflected with sorrow on the tone and manner in which he wrote ;' and Dr. Smith was too good a man to allow his pride long to triumph over his piety," p. 524. The design of these references and expressions is not so clear as could be desired. Dr. Smith wrote certain things in regard to Haffner ; and he wrote these in a certain style, in reply to Aletheia, or Mr. Alexander Haldane ; the difficulty is to ascer tain whether he reflected with sorrow on his having defended the Preface, in so far as he deemed it entitled to defence after he had carefully examined it ; or whether his sorrow related to " the tone and manner in which he wrote " to his valued opponent on that occasion. From the character, courage, and Christian temper of Dr. Smith, and from the few words given from his Letter ; his design appears to have been to make an apology for any wound he might have inflicted on Mr. Hal dane's feelings as a gentleman, by a style of writing which is well known to have been quite out of his usual course, even in cases of controversy with persons of less mark in the Church of Christ than Mr. Haldane. If this view of the reference be correct, it will add another to many examples found in the same life, of a noble deter mination to obviate by a frank acknowledgment at one time the errors of feeling or of language into which he had fallen at another. Or if the reference includes what he did in regard to Haffner's Preface, as well as how he did it in respect of Mr. Haldane, then the example takes a wider range : for he is here confessing to an error of judgment as well as to a defect of temper ; — apologizing that he should have written not only in a wrong spirit, but in a wrong cause. Taking it, however, under one aspect, or both ; and comparing as rigidly as possi- JET. 52.] THE SUMMING UP, 311 ble the defects of his " tone and manner " in regard to Mr. Haldane, with the " tone and manner " of that venal pen which had been employed too lavishly against himself ; how wonder fully is it to his credit as a disciple of Christ, and how deeply to be lamented for all the other parties implicated in this con troversy, that he seems to have been the only one, according to the testimony of that most competent witness, the Barrister - at-Law, who by a ' good confession ' did not ' allow his pride to triumph over his piety.' May such worth ever find such commendation ; and in the end, truth and Christianity will secure a glorious victory ! CHAPTEB XVIII. LETTER TO AN 'ANXIOUS INQUIRER' — SECOND LETTER — LETTER OF CON GRATULATION — SERMON ON OUR LORD'S RESURRECTION — ECLECTIC REVIEW: GREEK LEXICONS: GERMAN NEOLOGISTS : ANTISUPERNA- TURALISTS — LETTER TO HIS MOTHER — HIS MOTHER'S DEATH — PUB LICATIONS : PRESIDENT EDWARDS — SECOND EDITION OF SCRIP. TES. — ECLECTIC REVIEW: PORSON's LITERARY CHARACTER: SHEPPARD'S DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY: PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF JESUS OF NAZARETH — LETTER TO A FRIEND — LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTERS. Fully to enter into the Letters which are now to be intro duced, the Beader will suppose Dr. Pye Smith to have been applied to by a comparatively young man who had been well educated, and who had also enjoyed the advantages of Chris tian training in his family, but who was beginning to feel the claims of rehgion with an urgency which made him not a little anxious to obtain the counsel of one much older than himself, and for whom, moreover, he had the highest respect. And on Dr. Smith's part, there was not only the interest which he would take in the subject itself, especially as recommended in this case by the frankness and just solicitude of the appli cant, but there was also the tie of relationship to enhance the force of every other motive. He thus wrote : — " My dear Friend, — It is not in my power to express the gratitude and joy which I felt in reading your most welcome and delightful Letter. In its contents I trust that I see the answer of those parental prayers, which have been poured out on your behalf from your earliest days; and I humbly venture to add, of those which a very unworthy relative of yours has often and fervently addressed to the Divine Majesty, since he had the pleasure of personally knowing you. " Notwithstanding the gladdening hope which I entertain that the change JET. 53.] LETTER TO AN 'ANXIOUS INQUIRER.' 313 of inward sentiments, as distinguished from intellectual theory, which you have described in a manner so interesting to me, is indeed a work of the Spirit of grace, — I shrink from the taking upon myself to pronounce, as it were, a decision upon the momentous question. I rather think that it is the duty of Christians to aid each other, by mutual direction and assistance to ' examine ourselves whether we be in the faith.' Without that evidence which arises from an earnest and self-renouncing application to the Divine Redeemer, and the attendant consciousness of an abhorrence of all sin, and affectionate pursuit of all holiness, a mind awakened to a just sense of the importance of eternity, the "glory of God, and the excellency of religion, could derive no solid comfort from the suffrage of a weak and erring fellow- sinner : and with that evidence such a suffrage may well be disregarded. My earnest request therefore is, that you would cherish by all possible means the life and earnestness of prayer, both that which is regular and that which consists in silent ejaculations. Such ' drawing near to God' you will indeed find to be productive of serenity and joy infinitely more desirable than anything that might be produced by the favourable opinions of men. In the devout reading of the Scriptures, I beg to recommend to you to select the parts which apply the most immediately to the description or exempli fication of heartfelt religion : e. g. Psalms xix. xxv. Ii. cxix., the discourses of our Blessed Lord, the epistles of Paul to the Romans, ch. i. — viii., to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Thessaionians, to Timothy, to Titus, to the Hebrews, those of Peter, and those of John. " You propose a specific question upon ' a strong apprehension of the atonement' to the mind. Now I apprehend that the modifications, if I may so call them, of religious impressions are distinguished by a variety as great as the different temperaments and circumstances of men ; while there is a community of character in all great and essential features. The influence of the Holy Spirit is not, I apprehend, to communicate facts, doctrines, promises, or warnings, in any other way than through the ordinary inlets of knowledge to the human understanding ; but that it consists in giving a new taste or disposition to the mind, in consequence of which it attends to divine things, perceives their intrinsic beauty and glory, is attracted and determined to them, and gives to them their just superiority in its affectionate estima tion. * That which you have described, as the predominant feeling of your mind, appears to me to include the great fact of a Divine mediation, rendering it honourable and glorious to the justice of God's moral govern ment to pardon sinners and bestow upon them all the blessings of holy character and reconciliation to God. But, upon this transcendent subject, 'the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord,' (Philippians iii. 8.) what reason we have to seek for more extended knowledge and deeper impressions ! It is the first step in vital religion, the very first act of sincere faith, to comply, simply, implicitly, unreservedly, with the Saviour's wondrous invitation, ' Come unto me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.' Such a humble and entire clasping and clinging, if I may so speak, * " Therefore the mind thus qualified, excited, and disposed, ought the more diligently to employ the scriptural means which God has so mercifully adapted to our intellectual and moral constitution, reading, reflection, and prayer, in order to ' grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.' " 314 LETTER TO AN ' ANXIOUS INQUIRER.' [1887. to Christ, as ' our wisdom and righteousness, our sanctification and re demption,' must be the perpetual principle of our life down to its latest moment. " On this and every other great subject, I know not where to find views and statements more scriptural, judicious, and luminous, than in the posthumous papers of my late inestimable friend, Dr. Ryland, in the 'Pastoral Memorials' which you saw on Sabbath evening. But for the present allow me earnestly to recommend your perusal and meditation AGAIN and again of the late Mr. Scott's two small Discourses on Repentance, — then on Growth in Grace ; — and after a time, on Election and Perseverance. All my experience convinces me that we may hope for solid satisfaction and the strengthening of faith and all holy principles, much more from the diligent study, with prayer, of such short treatises as these, than from a more excursive course of reading. When for some time these inestimable pamphlets have been the assistants of your meditations, I shall be greatly obliged by a few lines from you. If you should wish it, I shall be happy to recommend some other, perhaps larger, work to you ; but your own know ledge of Authors, and the hints and leadings which you will derive from Mr. Scott, will probably supersede any of my suggestions. Yet I would not now omit to mention his excellent volume of Essays, which would be a valuable auxiliary to the course which I have recommended. Yet I think that the three pamphlets, used as I earnestly request, will meet almost every question which you have indicated in your Letter, or which can arise in your breast. " May the Spirit of Jesus ever guide you, my dear friend, and fill you with his richest and most gracious influences ! May His providential care and every divine mercy be vouchsafed to you! Ever and affectionately yours." It will be observed that while the point on which the appli cant sought Dr. Smith's opinion was one which has occasioned deep anxiety to many at the outset of their really religious life ; inasmuch as it related solely to a moral and spiritual change of the highest possible magnitude to the individual person, the Letter writer could not presume to answer it cate gorically, for it was not a matter of fact within the range of his knowledge or experience. With a wisdom, therefore, and a diffidence every way characteristic, and yet with the truest concern for the welfare of his friend, Dr. Smith did not ven ture to use the language of confidence, but was content with giving such suggestions, as — if followed — would be likely to secure and attest the reality of the change ; which was in fact the great thing to be aimed at, and not any present impression that it had already taken place. The sustentation and growth of the new principle is the only legitimate proof of its exist ence in the human heart. JET. 53.] SECOND LETTER TO AN 'ANXIOUS INQUIRER.' 815 The former Letter was written in May; the one which follows, in August, 1827. " My dear Friend,— It has given me sincere grief, since receiving your last Letter, to have found myself continually prevented from writing to you by a host of hinderanoes. But I do assure you that my long delay has not been the fruit of indifference. Rarely, if once, has the day been in which I have omitted to implore for you at the throne of grace all that divine wisdom and guidance which you need for your highest enjoyment of peace and holiness, and for your possessing the happiness of being useful, richly useful, in the important sphere which you fill. The distresses of which you speak are those of which I doubt not that every real Christian is sensible, in a variety of degrees and modes. But I really do not feel myself qualified to treat them, in any manner that I can hope will be near so profitable as the discussions to which you have ready access in Doddridge's Rise and Pro gress of Religion, Witherspoon on Regeneration (the iii. vol. of his Essays,) and Mr. Scott's writings. Not having the books here, I cannot refer to the particular parts, and I am sure that to you those portions will sufficiently indicate themselves. I trust that you would also derive important benefit from studying the Third Part of the Treatise on Religious Affections, by President Edwards. I think that it would be advantageous to read the Third part, and well to enter into the spirit of it, before reading the Second. The first part is merely introductory. " May it not be that serious minds suffer acute distress sometimes from a cause which is little noticed, perhaps by very few ever imagined : — the in evitable changes in the use of language ? We in this country use the phraseology of devotional and of experimental piety which was established by our excellent countrymen in the seventeenth century, and we seem to hold ourselves bound to it with a remarkable and somewhat superstitious strait- ness. But we do not attend to the insensible alterations which time works in the acceptation of terms, and in the very complex associations of thought and secondary ideas which we group in our employment of particular phrases. Undoubtedly some conveniences attend the use of a kind of appro priate technology for religion, as it identifies us the more closely with our inestimable precursors ; but it is injurious if it betray us into the expecta tion of feelings comporting with our altered sense of words. For example, I doubt whether aycmr) and xaP^> which might be very properly rendered love nn&joy two hundred years ago, do not now require some more marked and scrupulously distinctive terms in translation, to prevent our misunder standing. When the former word is predicated of the Blessed God, I would not propose any alteration. The sovereign and rich and wondrous benevo lence of God to sinful man well suits the simple and majestic term — ' Herein is love ! — Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us ! — The love of Christ which passeth knowledge.' But when it is applied to the sentiment of an imperfect, sinful, human mind towards the Infinite One, I venture to think that some periphrasis (for I fear we have no single term exact enough) is desirable : such as ' a feeling of solemn but delightful reverence.' When applied to our fellow-creatures, ' benevolence, kindness, affectionate disposition, friendliness,' seem more faithful renderings. So I conceive that xaP" signifies, not so much what we usually mean by joy, 316 SECOND LETTER TO AN 'ANXIOUS INQUIRER.' [l8'27. which in modern use conveys, I think, some secondary ideas of agitation and turbulence ; but something like ' Christian cheerfulness, a happy serenity of mind.' '' Excuse these hints. You will improve upon them. Mr. Foster has some useful and ingenious thoughts on either this subject, or one closely allied to it, in one of his Essays. When I read it about twenty-three years ago, I felt repugnant to his positions : but I think I should be less so now. The writings of the Reformers had less of this strict technicality. " — To me it appears that the grand means (for, blessed be God, it is not a secret except to those who will not receive its rich evidence) of maintain ing happy cheerfulness in union with that penitent humiliation which we should ever preserve, is the habit of lowly but prompt intercourse with God through the Divine Mediator, by thought and ejaculation; 'rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement,' Rom. v. 11. O that I had more of this ! Then I should be better qualified to instruct or assist my young friend. But I am convinced that if we ever on earth ' rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,' it is in this mental union of Divine Grandeur in holiness, justice, wisdom, love, condescension, — with our meanness and vileness: and this, this is indeed a living fact, but it is so only ' through Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us.' " I think that Howe's writings would be particularly adapted to edify and to establish you ; particularly some parts of his Living Temple — his Blessedness of the Righteous, Redeemer's Tears, Delighting in God. If you had a convenient opportunity, I would recommend the reading of Mr. Scott on Election and Perseverance. "I am, my dear friend, affectionately yours." In the above suggestions concerning love and joy, there is great refinement, elevation, and accuracy of holy thought, evincing the sensitiveness and delicacy of a singularly devout mind ; presenting in this respect a very striking contrast to the freedom and almost flippancy with which the first of these terms is used by some persons. It may well excite wonder that the emotions of our nature may lawfully be directed to the Infinitely Great and Holy Jehovah : — yet, viewed in the light of our condition and capacities as formed by Him, it might have surprised still more had feeling been excluded from His presence while thought was admitted. But certainly the pro found reverence which ought ever to distinguish the exercise of the intellect when God is the object, ought no less to pre vail in the heart also. Hence love to Him must indeed be " a feeling of solemn but delightful reverence " — a kind of infinite complacency, not only in all that He does, but especially in all that He is. And joy, " a happy serenity of mind," or at times rising higher so as to be " unspeakable," may grow up in connection with such love. JET. 53.] SERMON ON OUR LORD'S RESURRECTION. 317 This part of Dr. Smith's correspondence closed thus in the following year : — " My dear Friend, — It was my wish and intention to have written a Letter of cordial pleasure and congratulation to you, on or near the time of your openly joining yourself to a Christian Church, and thus confessing before men your devotedness to Christ ; but peculiar hurry of engagements ( — from which I can hardly hope to escape — ) swallowed up the power of almost any optional act. I rejoice to hear of your continuing stedfast in the faith and holiness of the Gospel, and sincerely pray that the abundance of rich grace may ever rest upon you. . . . Without extravagance I can express a deliberate opinion that a recent posthumous work contains the materials for most satisfactorily meeting every point of difficulty and anxiety, to which you have adverted in some of those Letters which are to me so very precious and interesting. It is ' Pastoral Memorials, by the late Dr. Ryland.' If you once take it in hand, I think you will perhaps do as I do, make a paragraph or two the regular aid to private devotion. " Infrequent as are the allusions in Dr. Smith's Letters or other papers to his own private habits and experience as a Christian, the one just given has a double value. Should it, however, be deemed singular that he needed or used such aids in prayer, it is highly probable that the secret of his apparent independence of them arose out of the fact that he was not insensible to their worth. Considering the vigour of his mind, and the incessant energy with which he held on in the path of duty, there is perhaps hardly any peculiarity more remarkable or more suggestive, than his constant and most diligent use of a class of books as aids to personal piety in all its forms, which by many Christians are either not read at all or but slightly, as though scarcely any benefit could be gained from them. Are we wrong in supposing that in his case the stream of devout thought and feeling and action was deep and full, because — instead of leaving it so much to itself as some are apt to dp — he diligently strove to feed it through the medium of rivulets and channels which, though small in themselves, were in their tendency to a common result of immense service to his character ? Principle itself rose high, from the care bestowed to tend and strengthen it by rules. In 1827, there was published a volume of "Lectures on some of the Principal Evidences of Bevelation; delivered at the Monthly Meetings of the Associated Ministers and 318 GREEK LEXICONS. [lWl. Churches of the London Congregational Union." One of the course was by Dr. Smith — that, namely, On the Evidence of the Divine Origin of Christianity from the Resurrection of Jesus. Within the limits of thirty pages, all the more important par ticulars relating to the subject are detailed and examined with much clearness and power ; and few if any of the Author's smaller works equal this in condensation of the materials, and in cogency of argument. The plan of the Lectures was designed to counteract the tendency of a set of low infidel publications, which under the sanction of a so-called ' Christian Evidence Society ' — of which a renegade Clergyman, the Bev. Bobert Taylor, was the main stay — were industriously circulated to undermine if possible the facts, in order to overthrow the doctrines of Christianity. About the same time, at the request of the Christian Instruc tion Society, Dr. Smith prepared an Answer to what was called 'The Manifesto' of the infidel party; but as this Tract was much enlarged in subsequent editions, it will be more fully noticed further on. He was again occupied very extensively during this year in preparing articles for the Eclectic Review. The first was on the Memoirs and Remains of Joseph Brown Jefferson, who had been a student at Homerton, where he secured the high esteem of his Tutors and the affection of his brethren by his talents and his character ; but who was removed by death after only a brief settlement as a pastor over the Congrega tional Church at Attercliffe, near Sheffield. Dr. Smith's next contribution was on the Lausanne Persecutions ; an article written not for the mere purpose of making known the facts, though that was of importance ; — but to stir up British philan thropy to send relief to the sufferers. His third was on Greek and English Lexicons ; those of the Rev. Greville Ewing, Dr. Donnegan, and Dr. John Jones, being the text books of the article. — "It is certain'' — he says — "that the English, German, and other languages descended from the Teutonic, are more ready and perfect vehicles for conveying the meaning of the Greek, whether in single words or in composition, than is the Latin tongue. On the other hand, the advantages of universal conveniency and of maintaining the familiar use of Latin, are exceedingly important, and may well lead us to hesitate at 2ET. 53.] GERMAN NEOLOGY. 319 concurring in the wish to substitute vernacular Lexicons and Grammars for those by which we and our fathers were trained. It would be a serious calamity, if Boman studies should be sacrificed to Grecian. If ever an accomplished Greek scholar should be produced, who possessed but a mediocrity of Latin erudition, such a man would be the first to bewail bitterly his defect. Upon this question, however, we are not now allowed to have a choice. The custom of construing Greek into Latin is almost exploded in our schools ; and, it must be confessed, with no small gain to the progress and pleasure of the learner." Ec. Rev. 1827„ vol. i. p. 488. Two articles, amounting to fifty-six pages, were contributed by him on what was really one question ; the first, on the Neo logism of Germany, and the second, on Bretschneider's Vindica tion of the German Divines. Probably there was no person besides Dr. Smith who at that time had the knowledge of the facts, the learning, and the class of sentiments, so ably em bodied in these two papers. They bear intimately on questions still under discussion, and vexed with controversies. — A pas sage or two will show this. — " It is obvious that the most false and dangerous notions upon the Inspiration of the Scriptures lie at the basis of the Neologistic theory. . . . The testi mony of the Scriptural writers themselves, is our only source of evidence on this cardinal point. That testimony is admissi ble, and comes with its full force, as soon as their perfect integrity and credibility are established by that grand body of proof which has been so often and so triumphantly laid before the world by authors on the Evidences of Bevelation ; and that testimony is most decisive to the solemn affirmation that what they wrote and spake, was — ' the wisdom of God,' — 'the hidden wisdom,' — 'revealed unto them by His Spirit,' — ' the mind of Christ,' — ' the words which the Holy Spirit taught,'—' the commandments of the Lord,' — so that ' he who despiseth, despiseth not man, but God.' " — Ec. Rev. 1827, vol. ii. p. 18. On the Antisupernaturalists : — " If the doctrines of Christianity consisted of inferences and constructions, made by men's inductive faculties from data accessible to all mankind, — as the systems of natural science have been formed by the accumulated labour of ages and the felicitous application of distinguished individuals ; — if, in consequence of their very nature as referring to things spiritual, existing in 320 ANTISUPERNATURALISTS. [1828. the future state, and incapable of being made subjects of investigation and experiment, those doctrines were not such as must have been made known by a positive intervention of the Deity, or they could never have been known to man in the present state at all ; — if they were not contained in written documents whose most prominent declarations are, that their contents are not of men nor by men, but are oracles of God, the word of Jehovah, what the Spirit of the Lord spake, what were given by His inspiration ;— if those declarations were not so inextricably interwoven with all the other facts, doctrines, and precepts which they contain, that if the writers could be mistaken in this respect, not the smallest reliance could be placed in them in any other ; — if the hypothesis of the Antisupernaturalists (viz. that the assertion of miracles, prophecy, and a positive communication from the Deity, was made by Moses and the Prophets, by Jesus and the Apostles, as a wise and benevolent, artifice [ — what a code of morals'too would these men setup! — J to recommend their pure religion to the general mass of mankind, whose grosser minds arc not accessible to mere rational argument ;) were not indisputably fatal to their integrity, and did not without the possibility of escape, fix on them the charge of being deceivers the most wilful, deliberate, and audacious that ever lived ; — if these were not the broad facts of the case, then might Dr. Bretschneider's syncretism.be listened to; then might we inquire whether, as he complacently aifirms, 'in both cases a religious faith exists, which determines the mind to obedience, and produces practical religion.' " But we detect the source of this dangerous and fatal error in the notion, that there is so wide a difference between Religion and Theology, that the former is quite independent of the latter. Here, however, we must acknow ledge that, as in many other instances, the boundary line of truth and error is not to be drawn without care and accuracy. It may be a question solely of words. If by Theology we understand the history and knowledge of human representations and arrangements of doctrines and hypotheses, which is the sense in which the modern divines of Germany commonly use the word, the distinction may be sustained ; but if it bo so understood as to imply, that the subjects of theological disquisition are pure theories, and indifferent to the existence or the, exclusion of vital religion, we cannot but regard it as a false and very pernicious way of speaking. True religion must bo built upon true theology ; namely, the theology of the Scriptures, received by right apprehension and sincere faith ; and true religion is no other than the application of that theology to the affections of the mind and the conduct of the life, establishing in both the principles and the practice of genuine holiness." — Ec. Rev. 1827. Vol. ii. pp. 393, 394. In the year 1828 Dr. Smith contributed to the Eclectic three articles relating to the same subject as the foregoing: — they were, however, brief, and in part explanatory of what he had before written ; and also a review of Bussell's Works of the Reformers. He also published this year the first edition of the Work entitled, Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ, and on Atonement and Redemption, ;ET. 54.] DEATH OF HIS MOTHER. 321 Towards the close of 1826, information reached Homerton of the serious illness of Dr. Smith's surviving parent; and although she lived rather more than two years after that date, her state of health appears to have been gradually declining until her death, which occurred February 12, 1829. At the earlier period, her son addressed to her the following Letter : — " My dear and honoured Mother, — From my brother's Letter received on Tuesday night, we learn that you were the subject of serious illness. Though we know not what may be the Divine pleasure as to the issue of this dis pensation, it is a mercy beyond expression great that we can view it on solid grounds, as holy, wise, and gracious in the counsels of God ; and as also a fruit of his covenant-love towards yourself. From very early youth to a good old age, He has enabled you to cast yourself upon His grace and faithfulness in the Lord Jesus. He has supported you under heavy burdens, He has carried you through many troubles, He has wiped away the tears of many sorrows, He has answered your prayers, strengthened your faith, and given you, I do not doubt, a comforting and scriptural persuasion that 1 neither things present nor things to come shall ever separate you from His love in Christ Jesus our Lord.' The reflections of your mind upon past experiences of the work of the Holy Spirit in you, and of the dispensations of Divine providence, are, I trust, sweet and refreshing : but still more is it so to renew your direct and daily actings of faith in earnest applications to the blood and righteousness of the Saviour. It is by this communion of the soul with HIM, that sin is subdued, grace is strengthened, darkness is driven away, and holy consolation is enjoyed. " Our earnest and daily prayer is, that you may be favoured with a large enjoyment of those blessings, so long as it shall please the God of grace to prolong your sojourning in the valley of tribulations ; and that wThen He shall see meet to call you hence, it may be to that heavenly rest and joy in which, absent from a trying world and a frail decaying body, you shall be present with the Lord, shall be perfectly conformed to Him, shall behold His glory, love and enjoy Him without a cloud of sin or sorrow, and shall be for ever with Him. . . . That the God of all grace may fill your mind with all joy and peace in believing, and make you more than a conqueror through Him that hath loved you, is the earnest prayer of, " My very dear Parent, your affectionate Son." In April 1828, Dr. Smith embraced the opportunity of an ordination service which he had to attend a few miles from Sheffield, to spend two or three weeks in that town and its neighbourhood. He thus had the gratification of seeing more of his mother, then in the eighty-third year of her age, than he had been able to do for several years before ; and this must have been a great solace to his mind, when early in 1829 he received the tidings of her death. In reply he wrote thus to Mr. Leader, his brother-in-law : — Y 32-2 PUBLICATIONS PRESIDENT EDWARDS. [l829. " Homerton, Feb. 14, 1829. " My dear Brother, — We have just received your Letter announcing, as you remark, stroke upon stroke. Yet each of these three solemn events we have been long expecting. . . . With regard to our late justly beloved mother, we cannot but discern the manifestation of abundant mercy. The evening of her life, through the divine blessing upon your and our dear Sister's affectionate attentions, has been serene and comfortable. While nature was declining, she has been happily exempted from the sufferings which many undergo : and the closing scene was eminently merciful. . . . From the little that I know of her earliest religious experience, I think it probable that she has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus fully seventy years. Very many have been her trials and afflictions : but they had all a beneficial effect, and I have not a doubt that she walked habitually with God, and enjoyed the sanctifying consolations of His gracious presence. Of her we can most satisfactorily say that ' to depart and to be • with Christ' is now infinitely better than to have ' continued in the flesh,' — and that she is indeed ' blessed' as having ' died in the Lord.' We are peculiarly called to gratitude upon all these accounts. . . . Let us bless God that we had such a Mother, and so long continued to us : and our children that they had such a Grandmother, who so earnestly prayed for them, and the benefit of whose prayers, I trust, they will for ever reap. To dear Robert this must be a very pungent stroke. But let him and us reflect with thankfulness, that he was enabled to show such habitual respect and duteous kindness as he did. It will always be a comfortable topic of recollection ; and I assure myself that the disposition will be confirmed in all the feelings and exercises of filial duty to his Parents.. — Thus, my dear brother and sister, the Lord speaks in the language of corrective admonition and con solatory encouragement to us all. May we hear the voice !" The year 1829 was probably the most laborious of any in Dr. Smith's life, for the amount and variety of his hterary works. Early in the year he prepared an Introductory Essay to President Edwards's Narrative of the Revival of Religion in New England. This was published in that valuable series of works on the same plan which issued from the press of Mr. Collins, of Glasgow, a few years ago. A more complete agreement between two persons, both in sentiments and in order of piety, than that which existed between the President of Princeton College and the Tutor of Homerton, can scarcely be imagined. Not, indeed, that the latter is to be compared with the former, or would ever have thought of being compared with him, in the metaphysical tendency and force of his intel lect : but in the results and in a large measure the methods of argument adopted by the great American, and pre-eminently in depth and intensity of devotional character, Dr. Smith might JET. 55.] SECOND ED. OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 323 in strictest equity of human judgment be placed by the side of Jonathan Edwards. By one very important quality the productions of the two Authors are distinguished in nearly an equal degree : that is, by the constant prevalence of a deep tone of piety, the presence of which can be distinctly recog nized even when religion is not formally introduced ; — just as though the common air were enriched with some precious odour. In February Dr. Smith preached the Monthly Lecture, which was afterwards published ; and the second edition of which came out in 1831. This was On the Principles of Inter pretation as applied to the Prophecies. Towards the close of the year a second edition of the Scrip ture Testimony was published; — " much improved and enlarged." The sale of the first, within about seven years from the com pletion of the work, shows the value in which it was held by that rather limited circle of readers to whom such a production would be an object of interest. Gradually it became more and more a matter of knowledge, that the utmost reliance could be placed on the Author's statements and information, the soundness of his learned criticism, the safety of his unexaggerated inferences, and the fidelity, measured dignity, and force of his appeals. And as without having the dry, technical form of a word-book, the Scrip. Tes. had all the concise fulness of an' Encyclopaedia, in regard to the manifold leading or subsidiary questions which in early or modern times have been brought into this vital part of theo logical discussion, persons whose views were unsettled on the subject as a whole, or on any of its branches, would be ready to seek his aid; and even many firm believers of the truth which he defended, would be curious to see on the one hand the concessions he made to his opponents, and on the other the fresh acquisitions, either as materials or as arguments, by which the work was understood to be distinguished. A comparison of the preface to the second edition with that of the first, will show a very different state of feeling in the Author at the two periods. When the first was published, he had not only to lament difficulties which had occasioned delay long beyond what he had ever anticipated, but the loss of his beloved son, Philip Henry, spread a gloom over his prospects y 2 324 SECOND ED. OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. [l820. which was at the time too dense to allow him to trace the success of his work in the public estimation. Nor can it be concealed that, had his personal circumstances just then been of a less cheerless kind, he could scarcely have been free from apprehension respecting the result. His publications had seldom gone beyond the limits of a single sermon at a time ; and although his contributions as a Beviewer had secured for him the full confidence of many men of learning and judg ment, nothing certain could be affirmed, perhaps not even anticipated, respecting the sale, and in that sense the success, of two large volumes of nearly 1300 pages. In addition to the far greater wealth of the Clerical and Lay Members of the Established Church — as compared with the Dissenters — the mere number of Clergymen constitutes a very wide field for the circulation of any important theological work issuing from Oxford or Cambridge. Now Dr. Smith belonged to the smaller and poorer Body; he was also a most decided vindicator of then- distinctive principles, which he had advocated in the pulpit and by the press. When, therefore, a few years after the completion of the first edition, the sale evinced its acceptance; and the numerous testimonies of competent judges in Letters and Beviews left no room for doubt respecting its right to be placed in a high place of authority upon the most important of all questions, the learned Author — notwithstanding his great diffidence in regard to his own productions — could not avoid the use of a tone and style of language in the preface to the second edition which is marked by great firmness of feeling, as though he could now allow himself to be sure that the study and prayers and vigilance of years had not been in vain. He thus writes : — " In again bringing before the public the work on which I rest my chief hope of usefulness, my first duty is a humble and grateful acknowledgment to the Almighty and most Merciful One, for the degree of acceptance with which it has been favoured. That the faith of some Christians has been strengthened, and that others have been preserved from falling into the system of error whose plausibility had nearly imposed upon them, cannot but be to me a subject of the most encouraging reflection. — It would be affectation to say, that I deem this book a small and feeble contribution to the cause of religious knowledge. Had I thought it such, I should have been highly culpable for troubling the public with it. In the subject which it treats, I was led by personal circumstances and connections to take much interest, from an early period of life. Its composition and improvement, notwithstanding many interruptions, have been a principal occupation JET. 55.] SECOND ED. OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 325 during many of my best years. It was begun with an apprehensiveness against irrational prepossessions, over-statement of premises, and excess in conclusions ; amounting to jealousy, and by some censured as a blameable timidity. Of this caution, however, even if it has been redundant, I do not repent. In proportion to the solicitude and tardiness of the process, has been the satisfactory character of the result. I should be faithless to the most serious convictions, were I not to profess my belief that these volumes contain a body of proof, not invented by an erring mortal, but elicited from the records of Divine Revelation, in favour of the ancient and common faith of Christians ; a body of proof which can never be overthrown, and w hich time, so far from impairing, will but the more confirm and extend." — And then towards the close : — " It has been to me a reason for deep gratitude, that in the vigorous revisal of these volumes I have found not a single argument that I could retract ; while to many, continued investigation has enabled me to give accessions of strength. This edition is increased by more than one fourth of new matter ; besides innumerable modifications of words and paragraphs." In the interval between the two editions, the Author had very greatly extended his knowledge of German literature ; the fruit of which was used freely in enriching the volumes published in 1829. Just at the time when the mental produc tions of that country were beginning to attract general atten tion in England ; and hopes were excited in some quarters and fears in others that the result would be unfavourable to Chris tianity, Dr. Smith was ready with passages from a variety of German writers ; — some of them showing in a striking manner, how the truths for which lie contended might be served by the testimony of opponents — and some, how those truths had acquired the aid of friends whose names were until then strange to English ears. Bertholdt — Bretschneider — De Wette — Gesenius — Heinrichs — Bohr — Stolz — Storr — Tholuck — Wegscheider — and others are not to be met with in the first edition ; nor was Michaelis used so freely in that as in the second; and Seiler (contemporary with Michaelis) — a name held in great honour by Dr. Smith — is largely quoted in the second, but not at all in the first. Over and above the actual produce of his labours in this comparatively new field, Dr. Smith's example in cultivating it as he did clearly proved that if he could not, on the one hand, join with those who were ready wholly to decry the study of German Authors, — as though it were a sure inlet to irreligion and scepticism; he did not, on the other, lose his self-possession, — as though on a sudden he had become sensible that he was in the presence of an all but 326 LETTER FROM DR. TURTON. [l829. superhuman power, before which his intellect must surrender its independence, and work — if it worked at all — in fetters. While however his manliness and just Christian courage — based upon his deepest religious convictions— are obvious, every com petent Beader of the Scrip. Tes. must be sensible of the great loss which the argument — not the doctrine itself — would have sustained, if this new field of criticism had not just then been thoroughly explored by the Author. In 1829 Dr. Smith contributed several very valuable articles to the Eclectic. The first, of nearly twenty pages in length, was a review of Schleiermacher On the Gospel of Luke. In the following month an article of about the same length appeared relating to the Controversy on 1 John v. 7. The text-book for the latter was the then recently published Vindication of the Literary Character of the late Professor Porson; by Crito Cantabrigiensis ; since known to have been Dr. Turton, at that time Begius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, and now Bishop of Ely. How the review was appreciated by the learned Author of the Vindication, will be seen from the following passage of a Letter written by him to Dr. Smith :— "Cambridge, 11 June, 1829. " Bev. Sir, — Unless I very much mistake, Crito Cantabrig iensis is indebted to you for a Critique on his ' Vindication of Porson,' in the last number of the Eclectic Beview: — a cri tique, the perusal of which could not but afford him the highest satisfaction. Allow me therefore — laying aside my nominis umbra — to express in my real name my sincere thanks for the attention with which you have perused that work, and the very able and flattering manner in which you have pointed out its merits. I had previously seen some extremely favourable notices of the Work in the Publications of the day ; but yours is the only account of it which praises it for properties which if I have fulfilled my own intentions, constitute its principal value — the statement and elucidation of some of those grand principles which ought never to be lost sight of in Sacred criti cism. I also endeavoured to render a trite subject interesting, by a considerable variety of literary information ; and the lan guage you have used encourages me to hope that I have in some measure succeeded." JET. 59.] SHEPPARD'S DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY. 327 • The next article was an able and commendatory review of a work on the Divine Origin of Christianity, by John Sheppard, Esq. of Frome. A passage of exquisite beauty at the close of the paper deserves to be quoted, for the sake of the valuable yet by no means common-place sentiments which it conveys ; and also as illustrative of Dr. Smith's nice discrimination of judgment upon points respecting which positive information is slender, and where the temptation to indulge the fancy or to speak in a dogmatic style is great. Having suggested that a protest should be entered against " the malevolent assertion of Celsus, that ' Jesus was, as they say, little of stature, unsightly, and ignoble,' " he then proceeds thus : — "Not that we deem the glory of Christ to have consisted in external beauty ; not that we would foster any mode of ' knowing Christ after the flesh,' which would be only giving countenance to a worldly taste ; not that we doubt the influence of labour and hardship, poverty, sorrow, and manifold suffering, in producing a marked effect upon the limbs and countenance of the afflicted Nazarene ; not that we charge his enemies with a very gross exaggeration of appearances, when they said to a man of thirty- four, ' Thou art not yet fifty years old ;' not that we dare affirm the figure and features of Jesus to have been east in the most perfect mould of symmetry and beauty : — but simply that we acknowledge the obligation of seeking for truth upon all subjects, small as well as great; and when certainty is confessedly not attainable, of being satisfied with reasonable probability. Now let us attend in this surely not unlawful or uninteresting exercise of conjecture, to the glimmerings of evidence and the results of theoretical but impartial considerations. We look upon it as altogether alien from the meaning of the prophecy, to understand Isaiah liii. 2, 3, as at all a description of the bodily form or external manners of the Redeemer. The design is, we conceive, to describe in the prophet's style of poetical amplification, the objections of the Jews and of unbelievers universally, to the spiritual glories of the Messiah, his holy character, his expiating suffer ings, his grace to the unworthy, and his divine authority; — objections at once false and impious. Those who understand the principles of physiology will admit the incontestable truth of the assertion, that the miraculous pro duction of the human existence of our Lord by the immediate power of the Holy Ghost, did of physical necessity preclude the causes of formative defect and imperfection ; though the corporal frame thus produced, would "most probably be extremely delicate, and endowed with an unrivalled exquisite- ness of sensibility. There are some passages in the Evangelists which seem to imply, that the aspect and attitudes of Jesus bore a dignity and meek majesty in such insuppressible manifestations, as often struck even his enemies with admiration and awe. And it can admit of no doubt, upon some of the most certain principles of human nature, that the holy affections of our Lord's mind, existing in absolute perfection, never dormant or remittent, never interrupted by irregularity, or inadvertence, or successful 328 LETTER TO A FRIEND. [1839' temptation, but always intense and active, must have given to the entire action of nerves and muscles, which produces physiognomical expression, a character pure, sweet, and majestic, such as never belonged or could belong to any sinful child of man. Add to all this, the lofty communion which the soul of Jesus perpetually held with the perfections of Deity, and his con sciousness of his own personal union with that Infinite Essence, — and what must have been the effect?— We are incapable of appreciating it. It required to be modified and subdued by the deep abasement to which He stooped for the sins of the world, or human gaze could not have endured it."— .Ec. Rev. 1829, vol. ii. pp. 219, 220. To keep pubhc attention directed to the state of religion on the Continent, he contributed a paper on the Dissenters in Switzerland, which appeared in the same widely-circulated journal. He also prepared for the press and gave his warm recom mendation to an American work, Dr. Henry's Letters to a Friend, intended to relieve the Difficulties of an Anxious Inquirer. The Eeviewer of this publication in the Eclectic says — " the religious public are laid under fresh obligations to the learned Editor, who, amid his multiplied avocations, academic, pastoral, and hterary, has found time to discharge this humbler office of kindness and usefulness." Notwithstanding the amount of labour which he thus acconv plished in a single year, Dr. Smith was able to spend part of the College vacation at East Bourne. The activity and holy direction of his thoughts, during this season of so-called leisure and recreation, will appear from the following passages from a Letter which he wrote to a friend while there. " My dear Sir, ... In this place, with Mrs. Smith and my daughters, I am enjoying a few weeks of retirement from the never-ceasing urgencies of my station at home all the year round. But I would consider that these favourable means of recruiting health and gathering new strength are not given us for our own sakes, or for the gratification of any selfish and earthly desires ; but that we may have more motives and stronger means for growing in inward holiness and performing the actual service of our Lord. — No man has a right to live to himself, and no real Christian wishes to live to himself. True honour and conscientious satisfaction can be enjoyed only in the con sciousness of a humble, sincere, governing principle of dedication to God through the Divine Mediator, and of employing all our faculties, time, and opportunities as means by him entrusted to us, and conferring upon us the happiness of honouring Him JET. 50.] LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTERS. 329 " This is indeed the state of mind which we should above all cultivate. But it can only result from the union of the two great principles of the Christian faith, Christ for us, and Christ in us. By the former we rely upon the Deity, condescension, sufferings, death and righteousness of the LoEn Jesus for our acceptance before that holy and awful tribunal before which we must very soon appear : but it is by the latter only, by the work of the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, enlightening, humbling, and purifying the soul, that we can enjoy the evidence of an interest in the former class of blessings. In the word of God, and by the very nature and necessity of the case, these two cannot be separated : but our corrupt and too carnal hearts are ever seeking to effect such separation. Yet it is not the reality of either the one or the other that can subsist apart ; it can be only a resem blance. Such an artificial resemblance, in the one case, is a subtile An- tinomianism ; — in the other a plausible enthusiasm. 0 how difficult it is to avoid the evil, on the right hand and on the left ! What need have we for constant prayer, watchfulness, and the life of faith on the Perfect Saviour !" Towards the close of the year, when Dr. Smith's daughters were from home for a time, his parental solicitude was expressed in the following lines : — " As you are now, my dear children, so much the mistresses of your own actions, I do most earnestly desire and trust that you will labour to discipline your own hearts to the closest accordance, the most prompt, the most entire and unhesitating obedience to the will and authority of Jehovah. Too often, even where we may hope that there is the reality of religion, there is a great deficiency in particular branches of Christian morality ; and in none, I fear, more than in the habit of self- government and self-control. Yet this is a habit of the first necessity to every believer, in order to holy consistency of character and growth in grace. Without it, Beligion itself is a deformed, sickly, stunted plant: our usefulness on earth, and our happiness in heaven will be exceedingly impaired. 0, I beseech you, think much upon this great subject ! Let it be daily pressing upon your hearts. Be always aiming at this blessed attainment of holy Self-control, by faith, prayer, watchfulness, and strenuous exertion. ' Look to Jesus.' " How solemnly momentous your situation is ! Bemoved from parental inspection, advice, and monition; left to your own will and guidance, and exposed to the never-ceasing arti fices of evil spirits, — 0, my dear children, be constantly and to the highest degree importunate in prayer for self-knowledge, prudence, discrimination, humility, and the life of faith." CHAPTEB XIX. DEATH OP REV. W. WALFORD'S DAUGHTER — THE FATHER'S MENTAL PROSTRATION— DR. SMITH AND MR. WALFORD — ANSWER TO TAYLOR'S 'MANIFESTO' — SERMON ON THE HOLY SPIRIT — ON PROPHETIC INTER PRETATION — TRACT ON CHURCH DISCIPLINE — ABSTINENCE FROM FER MENTED LIQUORS — COLLEGE DIARY — HIS DAUGHTER, SARAH EDWARDS SMITH — HER DEATH — ADVICE TO A SON — DEATH OF MRS. PYE SMITH — LETTER OF DR. SMITH ON THAT EVENT — FUNERAL SERMON FOR DR. ROBERT WINTER. In October, 1829, an event occurred in the family of the Bev. William Walford — who had been for nearly sixteen years the Classical Tutor at Homerton, — which not only affected Dr. Smith's feelings deeply at the time, but which, by pros trating the energy of his Colleague, opened the way for a change, and indeed for a succession of changes in the Institu tion, which called into exercise in one way and another the varied resources of the Theological Tutor up to the date of his own retirement from that scene of labour. This event was the death of Mr. Walford's only daughter, who was removed after a comparatively short illness in the eighteenth year of her age.* They who have read Mr. Walford's Autobiography will not easily forget the account which the Author gives ofthe * This young friend, who became a member of the church under Dr. Smith's care in May, 1828, secured, by the high order of her piety and mental culture, the warm affection of the Pastor, and, indeed, of all who knew her. The funeral sermon " on the death of Dear Emma," from Phil. i. 23, is still remembered with great interest by some who heard it. From the notes kindly lent by Mr. Henry Butt, regret may well be felt that such an outline was not filled up by the preacher, and 'published for the general good. Heart and mind acted in full and deep concord on that occasion ; not unlike what is found in the noblest of John Howe's Funeral Discourses. — Ed. JET. 56.] DR. SMITH AND MR. WALFORD. 331 crushing effect of this bereavement. After having struggled in vain to shake off the heavy mental depression, he was obliged to resign his office at Homerton; and to seek — not, indeed, the solace, for that was quite beyond his reach, but — the seclusion of private life. Years had to be passed by him in a gloom which was rarely broken by a single ray of light, until at length his friends were ready to fear that the darkness would never be dispersed except by the dawn of the eternal day. With the true and touching fidelity of a Christian wife, Mrs. Walford was ever found by his side, as one looking out for a change in the scene ; nor did she wait in vain, although he had given up all hope. At the end of five years — who can estimate their length to the feelings of such sufferers ? — Mr. Walford was permitted to emerge from the deep shadows. He resumed the use of his books and his pen, and could once more enter upon duties and relish joys as though the wearisome parenthesis had never intervened. As the blight of the bereavement occurred in the middle of the College Session, temporary arrangements were at once adopted, and were subsequently carried on for several months, to afford time for every remedial measure to be tried with a view to Mr. Walford's restoration to his usual health. But on the failure of this hope, his resignation was reluctantly accepted, and the Bev. Daniel Godfrey Bishop, who had been educated at Homerton, became the Classical Tutor. The Committee wisely availed themselves of this change, to in troduce a housekeeper to whom was entrusted the domestic affairs of the Academic family ; so that from this time the Eesident Tutor was freed from a set of cares which — as we have seen — had often been a source of perplexity, and which were not exactly compatible with either the duties, the just influence, or the dignity of the Tutorial office. No one of Dr. Smith's other colleagues remained half the length of time at Homerton that Mr. Walford did ; and if the latter had not been overtaken by so severe a trial, the proba bility is that these two Tutors would have continued together quite up to the evening of their lives. Very unlike as they were in many respects, the combined influence of their char acters, their style of piety, their manners, their methods of teaching, was felt by not a few of the Students to be exceed ingly salutary. In each there was a very sincere and generous 332 answer to taylor's " manifesto." [lsso, solicitude for the welfare of all the pupils — a remarkable free dom from partiahties or prejudices in relation to particular individuals — nor was any attempt made by either of these truly honourable men, to impair the reputation and weight of the other among the Academic Body. They were eminently such men as could with the highest advantage be both respected and loved ; and the fidelity, the friendship, with which they clung to the Students ever after they had completed a reput able course at the College, could not fail to deepen the interest with which they were regarded while living, and as long as any remain who knew their worth the memory of each will be fragrant. It was in the year 1826, that some persons assuming to themselves the name of The Christian Evidence Society, under the leadership of the Bev. Bobert Taylor, A.B., issued a hand bill called, as briefly mentioned in a former page, their Mani festo. This was addressed " To all Clergymen, Ministers, and Preachers of the Gospel,"- — to certify that at the meetings of the above society, which had been holden weekly for several months, it had been decided by an " almost unanimous vote " ! that " the arguments hitherto adduced in defence of Chris tianity are sophistical and false"! — and further, that "the Eeverend Secretary of the Society hath in refutation thereof fully and unanswerably demonstrated that — The Scriptures of the New Testament were not written by the Persons whose names they bear : that — They did not appear in the times to which they refer : that — The Persons of whom they treat never existed : that — The Facts which they relate never hap pened." — Upon this a challenge was put forth, summoning all Christian Ministers, to go and argue the points at the Paul's Head in Cateaton Street ; or to submit to the imputation that their cause is a bad one, and that Christianity is incapable of ra tional defence ! And, further, with a view to take advantage of the neglect or contempt which so silly a vaunting would be likely to receive from the pubhc at large, the projectors resolved on securing that capital fulcrum for their purpose which would be supplied— first, by an ostentatious distribution of their 'Mani festo ' at the doors of places of worship and at public meetings for religious objects ; — and then, by the anticipated indifference with which the whole scheme would be treated. It was a sin- JET. 50.] ANSWER TO TAYLOR'S " MANLFESTO. 333 gular mark of extreme infatuation — the very fanaticism of fool ishness — that any number of persons could seriously believe themselves to be in the possession of evidence or arguments unanswerably demonstrative against Christianity, and yet that people generally could not be got even to listen to what they had to say, unless specially urged to do so by a handbill. Surely, it was not by such a method of puffing that Chris tianity secured, or that it retains its hold of the public mind. One of these challenges came into the possession of the Bev. John Blackburn, who at once, as the vigilant Secre tary of the London Christian Instruction Society, called the attention of his Brethren to this new mode of spreading in fidelity. Dr. Smith's sermon on our Lord's Besurrection, in 1826, contained some passages referring to and refuting the bold assertions of the ' Manifesto.' To him therefore, he being already prepared to meet the danger, or rather the menace, application was made for an answer to the mendacious hand bill ; to be pubhshed by the Christian Instruction Society, and sold at a low price to secure wider circulation. He comphed promptly with the request ; and not content with the produc tion as it appeared in a first edition in 1826, he went on add ing to its value until in the fourth, in 1830, the work exceeded a hundred pages in length.* Viewed in relation to Christianity as a whole, the Answer deserves a high place among productions of far larger size on the Christian Evidences. But it had at the time this special recommendation, that it took up in detail the several allega tions of Taylor against the genuineness ofthe Sacred Writings. The odd stories which he had scraped together and mangled ; the bold assertions in which he dealt ; the sweeping inferences which could not stoop to be exact; the unfair quotation of authorities; and his manifest ignorance of much that he pre tended to know ; — were pointed out with a care and singleness of purpose, which could not be overlooked even by his partisans ; clearly showing in Dr. Smith an honesty of heart and an amount of real learning fairly applied, which if the moral qualities of an advocate say anything in favour of his cause, must have placed Christianity in a noble position as contrasted * The Third and Fourth editions include a Rejoinder by Dr. Smith to a pamphlet of the Bev. Robert Taylor's entitled — ' Syntagma of the Evidences of the Christian Religion.' — Ed. 334 answer to Taylor's " manifesto." [i830. with the pretensions of the infidel ' Manifesto.' Should similar blunders still be committed, or similar assertions and impressions at any time prevail, the Ansiver will still be as suitable to the occasion as it was acknowledged and felt to be at first. Indeed scarcely any one, whether he has few doubts or none on the subject of Christianity, can read it attentively without great advantage ; for by annihilating the specific objections to which the prominence was then given, it not only sets them aside, but shows at the same time how easily all such objections may be obviated, when once they are sifted by a Christian scholar. A large amount of information is conveyed in the Answer. For, being fully aware how important it was on many accounts to observe as great an economy of space as possible, the facts which relate to Taylor's multifarious assertions are ranged in the closest manner ; and the inferences from them — now show ing the gross ignorance, and now the fraudulent dealing of the infidel writer — are brief but decisive. There are also some peculiarities which are rarely if ever met with elsewhere in Dr. Smith's works, — there are epithets and phrases which imply a strong sense of repugnance against the Reverend opponent of Christianity, as though he was not to be regarded as an honest- minded man who was really seeking after truth, though for a time under error. And can any impartial person, after having carefully read the publications on both sides, fail to perceive a wide contrast between the two ; not simply with regard to the conclusions arrived at, but in those important qualities of moral integrity in the pursuit and exact honesty in the use of materials, without which argument, and evidence, and even demonstration are no better than ' a delusion, a mockery, and a snare ?' Now Dr. Smith was extremely sensitive on a point of this kind. He could readily bear with opinions which differed from his own whenever the sincerity of an opponent was evinced by his fair dealing with the questions at issue ; and even his style of remark and rejoinder, strong as it might be, was obviously courteous. When, however, there was culpable remissness and negligence ; and still more when the will was employed to warp and garble and pervert testimony, then his patience — great as it was — would give some brief signs of being put to a heavier strain than a man of his known integrity of purpose could endure ; and his temper would glow with an indignation which had for its object — not, indeed, the errors as he might deem JET. 56.] ANSWER TO TAYLOR'S "MANIFESTO." 335 them of his opponent, but — the mental or moral obliquity in which they had originated. As an example of his style in this particular, and also as showing the sort of Author whom he had to cope with, a single paragraph may be quoted from the preface to the fourth edition of the Answer. The preface is confined to a work then recently published by Mr. Taylor, under the title of The Diegesis ; which he describes as " a Discovery of the Origin, Evidences, and Early History of Christianity, never yet before or else where so fully and faithfully set forth." And yet of this new and rare explorer of the records of the past, Dr. Smith thus writes : — "Notwithstanding Mr. T.'s multifarious collection of passages from authors ancient and modern, and all the malevolent artifice with which he perverts them, it is abundantly evident that of sound and accurate knowledge, he possesses but a scanty share. His frequent mistakes in the orthography of proper names, and other errors as to matters of common knowledge, mark the poverty of his information. He takes for granted, and upon the assumption he builds no small abuse, that Dr. Gilbert Burnet the Bishop of Salisbury, and Dr. Thomas Burnet the Master of the Charter House, were one and the same person. In like manner he identifies Dr. Bichard Bentley ( — for calling whom the Prince of Critics he takes occasion, by the way, to hurl his shafts at the writer of these pages ! — ) who has been dead almost a century, with a gentleman of our own time, the dis tinguished mathematician and astronomer, and an ornament of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta, Mr. John Bentley. Yet this scorner of Bichard Bentley, forsooth, talks with the most com fortable complacency of the Golden Verses as an unquestioned work of Pythagoras : and Dr. Watts's popular translation of a few lines from that ancient poem, Mr. T., with the same promptitude, ascribes to a worthy schoolmaster at Edmonton. How wondrously qualified, then, is this erudite gentleman to move a question against the genuineness of the passage in Tacitus relating to the Christians, and the two Epistles of Pliny and Trajan. In this hopeful adventure he long and boldly flounders." Several Letters were sent to Dr. Smith, speaking in high terms of the work. " The answer is complete "—said Henry 336 sermon on the holy SPIRIT. [l881. Drummond, Esq., M.P., of Albury—" but Taylor is not worthy of your putting your lance in rest: you must fly at higher game." The late Eev. Hugh James Bose, at that time Christian Advo cate at Cambridge, wrote, " I have read your pamphlet without a moment's delay, and thank you very warmly for it. It is powerful, clear, and indignant as it ought to be. The popular part I think most important, and rejoice to hear that so large a number of copies of so valuable and well-judged a reply to Taylor's vile abominations have been circulated." But the following testimony is still more gratifying ; and it may be but a sample of a rich harvest that will come to light when both sower and reaper will be permitted to rejoice together. A few months ago, one of Dr. Smith's sons called on a Gentleman who has for many years been most efficiently occupied in promoting the knowledge and love of the Gospel, who said — " I must tell you how much I owe to your venerable Father. His Answer to Taylor's Manifesto was the first link in the chain of my conversion, and present happy employments." The printed sermon on The Personality and Divinity of the Holy Spirit, was preached by Dr. Smith as a Monthly Lecture in January, 1831. The Author first considers the Origin ofthe term Spirit of God; — secondly the Meaning of the term, and other expressions referring to the same object, as they occur in the Old Testament ; — and finally the Doctrine of the New Testament concerning the Holy Spirit. Under the second branch, there is a very careful distribution of the passages in the Old Testament relating to the subject, arranged under a series of subdivisions ; so that the reader can find almost at a glance any particular text, with its meaning assigned to it according to the best judgment which a thoroughly learned and devout Bible-Student could form. A similar distribution is applied to the New Testament passages, which are arranged under the three heads of — Personality — Deity — and such as are used in the way of implication, allusion, or indirect reference. — One of the Appendices to the Scripture Testimony is On the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, in which the Author has pursued the same plan as that adopted in the sermon ; but the latter is much more extended, and the details as well as the inferences are much fuller, so that if the sermon could be printed in the future editions of the larger work its value would be enhanced. JET. 57.] SERMON ON PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION. 337 The second and ' improved ' edition of the sermon On the Principles of Interpretation as applied to the Prophecies of Holy Scripture, was published this year. It has been well called "a learned academical prelection;" such a discourse as would suit a theological class room, and many of the materials of which had, no doubt, undergone frequent revision for that particular use. The author proposes "the following as a just description of Prophecy. — It is a declaration made by a creature, whether human or of a superior order, under the inspiration and commission of the Omniscient God, relating to an event or series of events, which have not yet taken place, which could not have been certainly foreknown by any science or wisdom of man, but which will take place in the visible dis pensations of the Divine government in the present state." A brief account is given of the several prophets among the Jews ; with the leading subjects of their respective writings. Twelve ' Bules ' are then laid down, to guide students of this part of the Divine Word; several of these are illustrated by examples, and in passing along cautions are interspersed against various ways in which they are violated. Many pages of Notes are added, the most important of which were designed to counteract the objections of the German Neologians against the Genuineness of the Book of Daniel, and some parts of the prophecy of Isaiah. Thus in about seventy pages the Student of the prophetic Scriptures has at command a very carefully prepared set of suggestions and principles, which will aid him to distinguish between things that differ; — a part of a true system of inter pretation which can never be neglected without danger to the coherency of Divine teaching, and a positive diminution of the matter revealed. They, however, who feel an interest in Prophecy chiefly on account of the scope which they think is afforded by it to settle the time and manner in which certain great events are to be realized in the future history of the Church and the world, will find no encouragement here for their par ticular theories. Yet even they may derive benefit from the Eules which are laid down ; and especially from the example of the Author in stating his views in a style so remote from dogmatism. Where the subject-matter required, no teaching could be more clear and conclusive than his. But on questions about which moral certainty was not, as he thought, attainable, 338 TRACT ON CHURCH DISCIPLINE. [l«31. or not with the existing means of information ; there, although he had his opinions, and could state and defend them if occa sion called for it, he was careful to mark the distinction by his manner of treating the subject; and by doing this, he un doubtedly placed the great articles of his creed in stronger relief, than if he had manifested a positive tone of speaking in regard to points about which good men widely differ. On the one side of this question, a learned Episcopalian correspondent wrote to him thus : — " What injury has been done to Beligion by the rashness of those who pretend, from Scripture, to foretel events, and assign the times of their coming to pass ! I trust that your work on the Interpretation of Prophecy may be the means of checking this deplorable in fatuation." On the other side, the late Eev. Edward Bickersteth wrote thus : — " My dear Dr. Pye Smith, — Always believing you to love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, I could not but entertain and continue affectionate feelings towards you; — though we differ on some important theological truths, I trust our one object is the exalting of Jesus, and the honouring and con fessing his truth for the salvation of our fellow-men. I have indeed read carefully what you have published on prophetical interpretation, and am only the more confirmed in what I hold ; but who shall decide till the great day ? We must leave it to the Lord." At the request of a Society which was formed for the circula tion of small treatises respecting the principles, constitution, and history of the Christian Church, Dr. Smith contributed a tract on Church Discipline according to the Authority of Christ, Revealed in the Neiv Testament, which forms No. 20, of the Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge. Scarcely any person of any Eeligious Body, nay, scarcely could an infidel complain of the principles here laid down for regulating the affairs of a community united to carry out among themselves, and with no external aid whatever, a set of views which they are supposed to hold in common. All the means to which the Author gives the sanction of his matured judgment are moral; and the spirit in which they are to be used is such and such only as comports with the meekness and gentleness of Christ. The Tract well deserves wide circulation among Pastors and members of Christian Churches generally. It shows that the question JET. 57.] ABSTINENCE FROM FERMENTED LIQUORS. 331) which had the highest attraction for the Author was — not, which is the form of Ecclesiastical Polity most favourable to the power and authority of the minister, but — which is the form best adapted to mature his judgment, to regulate his feelings, to purify his motives ;¦ — in a word, to perfect his holy character. In August this year Dr. Smith furnished a short Preface to a republication in this country of an Essay by the late Professor Moses Stuart of Andover, against the use of all fermented liquors. Although his habits were ever most exactly consistent with the strictest temperance, it deserves to be known for the sake of his example in later life, that during many years from the date of his settling at Homerton he did not abstain totally from wine. When, however, the subject came fairly before him. through the medium of the newly-formed Temperance Societies, he at once adopted the practice of an entire abstinence from all intoxicating beverages ; and became a most zealous advocate of the principle. Occasionally when in a small circle of friends — perhaps at the dinner-table — the tones of his voice, no longer regulated by an ear which had lost its power, would be for a moment quite startling, as he uttered some brief but forcible sentences, urging the disuse or depicting the injury arising from the use of fermented liquors. At other times, when he happened to meet one who had adopted his own views, his expressions would quite sparkle, like his countenance, with an exuberant joy ; clearly showing what a light and glad heart he had with his spare regimen. Nor can it be altogether denied, that agreement with him here was occasionally urged as a passport to his favour in regard to some object in which the applicant might not be quite free from selfishness. There is authority also for saying, that whenever medical advice recommended a temporary relaxation of his rule ; if he complied in practice, it was with no small reluctance, and with a most undisguised want of faith in the prescription ; just as though he could not allow himself even to be benefited in any such way. Occasionally the solicitude of his children sought the aid of a little artifice, in carrying into effect for a few days the administration of some stimulant prescribed by a Physician. But he was so genuine an abstainer, that he could scarcely endure, much less linger after that under the name of medicine z 2 340 COLLEGE DIARY. [1631. which he had given up as wine or malt liquor ; and thus, in so apparently slight a matter, the thoroughness and deep sincerity of his nature rise up as things worthy to be looked at. When these experiments were being tried, it was very commonly feared, and not uncommonly said among his friends, that he was endangering his life by the rigidness of his rule. Happily however for himself and them, and for the credit of the cause for which he was thought to be suffering, he lived too long to justify any such apprehensions. Indeed, considering the great amount and variety of his mental labours, and the pecuhar difficulties which for many years lay directly in his path, the demands on cerebral energy were so great, that he might have been snatched away years before the hour of his tranquil de parture, had he not been led to avoid that sort of pressure on the finer vessels of the brain which not unfrequently arises from a long and regular though moderate use of stimulants. As an example of his zeal in this cause, the following para graph may be quoted from a Letter which he wrote when at Sheffield in July, 1831, to Mr. Edward Baines, of Leeds, an efficient co-worker in the same field : — " Being a member of the lately formed Temperance Society in London, I feel it an in dispensable duty to introduce the momentous subject wherever I am allowed. In consequence of representations, received in the most friendly manner, to the Vicar, Clergy, Dissenting Ministers, and other respectable persons in this Town, arrange ments are going on to hold a Meeting in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening, August 2nd. Mr. and Mrs. Leader entertain a hope of seeing you here about that time. Permit me then to solicit, that if you can make it compatible with your plan, you would confirm their hope, and engage to bear a part in the dis cussions of the proposed meeting. The only difficulty is to overpower prejudice : for the moment a man of sense grasps the principle, he must give it his approbation ; and if he be a man of integrity, he must become a practical supporter of it, on all considerations of humanity, patriotism, and religion." From this date to the close of Dr. Smith's work as a Tutor at Homerton, occasional references will be made to three small memorandum books, to which the name of College Diary has been given. The entries are for the most part daily; they relate to his attendance and particular duties with his theological JET. 57.] SARAH EDWARDS SMITH. 341 class ; and the occasions of his absence are also often inserted : but the notices are of the briefest kind, in nearly all cases not more than a single line for a day, so that but very little use can be made of them in a way to interest the general Eeader. — We copy the following incident, both to introduce and explain a Letter, addressed to Mr. Henry Eutt and Mr. William Under bill, two of the members of the Doctor's Church : — April 28, 1831, " Obliged to go to Town in consequence of a robbery committed on my person :" the robbery involved the loss of his watch ; a loss which was as speedily as generously supplied. "Homerton, May 7, 1831. " My clear Friend, — I beg to return my most respectful thanks for the very liberal present which you, in conjunction with some other members of our Church and congregation, whose names I have not the pleasure of knowing, have been pleased to make me, of a handsome Gold Watch. You will allow me to request that you would communicate my acknow ledgments to each of those friends who have been associated with you in this act of kindness, so seasonably devised, and performed with so much delicate generosity. It is my desire and prayer that, every time this memorial of your affection meets my eye, it may awaken in my heart the strong feelings of Christian love to its authors, a deeper sense of my increased responsibility, and more earnest solicitude to be made to them, through heavenly grace, the instrument of eternal benefit. " I am," &c. &c. Nearly fourteen years had passed away from the death of Philip Henry, when Dr. Smith was called to part with the younger of his two Daughters. One Letter written to the sisters, when they were absent from home in 1829, has already been given ; another in the following year thus expresses his Chris tian solicitude and love : — " To my very dear Euth and Sarah nry tenderest paternal affections unalterably turn Though so far from me, my imaginative faculty is daily looking at her : and my fervent supplications daily implore for her and her dear sister all holy amiableness, prudence, penetration, and the divine preservation. 0 that they may be filled with the richest influences of the Eternal Spirit; that so in the mmay be found every thing that is ' true, — grave, — righteous, — pure, — lovely, — -worthy to be well spoken of.' " And then in another' 342 SARAH EDWARDS SMITH. [l832. fragment — " Best love to my beloved ones. The Lord fill our dear Sarah with richest grace, for sanctification on earth and full meetness for glory ! — J. P. S." By transcribing the account which Dr. Smith inserted in his Book of Family Memorials respecting his daughter Sarah Edwards, beginning with her birth, the plan he pursued in such records, as well as the devout spirit with which all his domestic duties, joys, and sorrows were received and appreciated, will be evident. " Our sixth child, and second daughter, was born on Saturday, July 21st, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten. ... On October the twenty- first of the same year, we brought this our dear infant to the Sanctuary of God. I endeavoured to preach an appropriate discourse, on Gal. iii. 14. The name which we had previously given to our little girl is Sarah Edwards ; in the hope that if she. is spared to suitable intelligence, the force of association with the name of the holy and most exemplary wife of President Jonathan Edwards may, under the blessing of Infinite Grace, excite to imitation.* My dear companion having joined me in renewing our solemn profession of faith and devotedness to our God, in the covenant of His love, I baptized this our beloved child by the pouring of water, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the one God of heaven and earth. O that our dear little girl may become a partaker of the blessed influences of Divine Grace, and in time and eternity glorify and enjoy the Author of her being and the Giver of eternal salvation ! " Then on the very next page, although more than twenty years had intervened, the narrative is thus resumed : — " This beloved child was enabled by the Grace of God, to answer our purest desires, and to give most satisfactory and delightful evidence that the name of Sarah Edwards was indeed appropriate. Her intellectual capacities and faculties, and her affectionate and active powers, were all of a very high order. Before she had completed her sixteenth year, she gave good evidence of genuine faith and holiness. From that time her devoted ness to the service of Christ was decided ; and in her subsequent course she was equally distinguished, in the estimation of those who had the most * If the Life of this Lady, Mrs. President Edwards, could be published in a size which would place it within reach of the general class of Readers of Christian biography, great benefits might arise from the circulation of such a work. For the very early age at which she became decidedly pious ; for the rapid and yet sustained growth of that piety ; for a rare union of high intelli gence with personal attractions of no ordinary kind ; for the successful methods by which she facilitated the studies and promoted the public usefulness of her illustrious husband ; and for such skill in training her family that in after years the children ever showed a kind of spontaneous reverence to their parents ; — the wife of Jonathan Edwards is almost 'without a parallel in historv. — Ed. MT. 58.] DEATH OF SARAH EDWARDS SMITH. 343 searching opportunities of knowing, by the fervour of zeal for God and every department of his cause, and by a penetrating sagacity and cautious judg ment. It was manifest the Lord had given to her much of ' the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, so that she was of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.' " In the spring of 1831, anomalous, but cither permanent or often return ing indisposition showed itself. Her brother Ebenezer, who would have watched over her, was in France and Switzerland during this critical time. Upon his return, he saw the serious aspect of the case ; and all suitable means were used in accordance with the exigency ; for there was abundant reason to think, that both the heart was enlarged and the lungs inflamed, or even that tubercles were already formed. As soon as was practicable, she was removed to his house in Town, in order to enjoy a somewhat more mild and less variable temperature, and to be constantly under his eye and treated according to his directions. In all that he did, his opinion was corroborated and his course of practice approved by Dr. Cholmeley and Dr. Bright. Patience, sweetness, mildness, steady faith, its consequent hope, lively interest in the progress of the Redeemer's kingdom, attention of the most judicious, faithful, and affectionate kind to her relatives and friends, and the constant exercise of the devotional means by which intercourse with God is enjoyed, — these were the elements of which her habits were formed, these in their calm and constant development were the materials which made the history of her last five months of life. " The true and just description of her last scene I derive from the pen of my excellent friend Mr. Edward Baines, Jun., which, by a peculiar exten sion of kindness " [on the part of] " Mrs. Edward Baines, to whom it was written, I have been allowed to see and copy. . . . ' Her release was of the calmest and happiest kind, and together with her whole illness, afforded one of the most beautiful illustrations I ever knew of the power of religion to ennoble the character, and to support under the greatest afflictions and even in the hour of dissolution. Her sister was the only person with her at her death. The suddenness of the event surprised them, and her brother Ebenezer was out visiting a patient. On Thursday evening her dear father was with her, and she spoke of her approaching end with that wonderful composure and cheerfulness which nothing but the highest assurance can inspire. She said she wished to have inscribed on her tombstone, after her name, ' Not I, but the grace of God ' ; and that a sermon should be preached on the same text improving the event, in which nothing was to be said of her, but only the riches of the ' grace of God ' to be magnified. Her charac ter grew more sweet, more lovely, and more childlike to the very last ; her faith never wavered ; she had no triumphant or ecstatic feelings, but a calm and clear assurance of acceptance with God through her Saviour, combined with a deep sense of her own entire unworthiness of divine favour. Her spirituality of mind was remarkable. The importance of eternity, the ex cellence of religion, and the happiness of being reconciled to God, seemed quite to fill her mind. Never, never can I forget the elevation and sweetness of her manner, the deep piety of her sentiments, and the joyful anticipation she had of heaven. She seemed to pause on the threshold of that bright world, and, already radiant with its holiness and blessedness, to beckon in the most affectionate manner to her friends to follow her. 344 DEATH OF SARAH EDWARDS SMITH. [1832- ' After having suffered what her sister calls a tempest of bodily distress during the week, about eight o'clock on Friday evening it hushed into a calm. Miss Smith took up the Bible, and read to her the texts she could find in the Old and New Testament promising the presence of God with his people at the hour of death. She then knelt down and prayed, and at the close of the prayer, Sarah appeared to sink into a doze, yet not to be wholly insensible. Miss Smith thinking she was comfortable though very weak, read to her one of Mr. Jay's Morning Exercises, that for the 18th of May, which contained the passage from the 23rd Psalm in which David says exultingly, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.' When she had done reading the passage, which was short, she saw that her dear sister's head had sunk on her bosom. She took up the candle, but could not perceive her breathe : a gentle sigh told that she was still living ; and at short intervals, three more sighs, as soft as the breeze on a summer's evening, closed her mortal existence. ' "Was not this a ' gentle wafting to immortal life ?' Was it not a death worth the sacrifice of all this world's pleasures to ensure ? From the bottom of my heart I would say, ' May my last end be like hers ! O, in how important, in how glorious a light does such a death, so ' precious in the sight of the Lord,' show religion. Could philosophy work such wonders? What a mighty contrast between this death-bed and that of the worldling, — that of any man (be his virtues what they may) who has not an assured interest in the ransom paid by our blessed Redeemer ! . . . . ' Yesterday I saw the remains of the dear deceased. I never saw so beautiful a corpse. It was death without its terrors ; — so little like death, so much like sleep, that I could scarcely persuade myself it was but the tenement of clay. She looks very lovely : a serene smile was left on her lips, and her closed eyes rather indicated meditation than the absence of mind. It was ' the rapture of repose ;' and the sweetness of the expression was sublimed into something like majesty by the perfect immobility of the features, and the fine curve of a marble-like brow.' " Her sister prepared a memorial of the circumstances attend ing the last illness and death of her beloved Sarah Edwards, from which a single paragraph may be quoted for the fuller light which it sheds on one interesting passage in Mr. Baines's Letter, in which Dr. Smith was a party concerned : — the time referred to was the day before his daughter's death. " On Thursday morning our dear Father saw her ; and again in the evening quite unexpectedly to himself as well as to us, he entered the room. Dearest Sarah and I were alone ; but she, begging him to sit quite near to her, said that she had a request to make. First, she wished to know if there were any words in Scripture more brief and strong in expressing personal obligation to the Saviour than these— not I — but the grace of God. — She inquired whether there would JET. 58.] ADVICE TO A SON. 345 be any objection to their being separated from the sentence ? and being satisfied on this point, she begged him to cause those words to be engraven on her tomb ; also that they should be the text for a discourse to be preached on the Sabbath morning after her funeral by Mr. Binney — whose ministry she highly valued — unless Papa should prefer an older friend. ' Not,' she said, ' a funeral sermon. O no ! There must be no mention, no allusion to me ; for there is nothing, nothing in me ; but only to exalt the grace of that Blessed, Blessed Eedeemer who has brought me to himself.' Papa replied that he wished to undertake that service himself — at which she expressed warm satisfaction, and encouraged him without the least hesitation, that he would be supported in it. He wished her to desist from talking, fearing her weakness, but she proceeded in a louder and firmer tone than I had long heard — ' O no — how many far weaker than I have praised Him, have resolved and determined to praise Him. I cannot say that I have ever felt rapture or ecstasy ; but there have been times, in the night especially, when I have felt very, very happy. I have sometimes feared, as I always feel so calm and peaceful, that my confidence was a wrong one, but I have sifted it, and I have found it safe.' " — In Dr. Smith's Sermon Book, in a line with the date April 22nd, the following entry is found : — " On the text enjoined by my dear Sarah ; but, according to her injunc tion, without any allusion to her, 1 Cor. xv. 10." Happy parent ! to have such power and delicacy in respecting the wishes of such a Daughter, on whom so much might have been most justly said. But he could thoroughly appreciate the motive in which the request originated, and therefore com pliance was not simply a duty, but a sacred pleasure into which few could enter with higher zest, or with warmer approbation. A few months after the loss of his daughter, he wrote to one of his sons on a subject of great delicacy and magnitude, but in a manner which evinced his thoughtfulness and affection beyond what is common even among families where mutual confidence is warmly cherished. A part of the Letter may supply hints to other Parents ; and for that purpose it is now published in these memoirs. " You will probably be surprised at this Letter. It is on a 346 DEATH OF MRS. SMITH. [l,SW. subject of the highest importance in its aspects upon your sanctification, your usefulness, your personal and social hajipi- ness ; hi a word, your greatest interests for time and eternity. This subject has engaged many of my most attentive reflec tions, and most earnest prayers for divine direction and bless ing, during more than a year and a half. It is also one upon which it is my opinion (derived from the word of God, from reflection, from history, and from observation) that Parents ought to take the lead in advising and recommending on behalf of their Sons, when such a course is practicable, which in many cases, I acknowledge, it is not. Yet when the course which I am adopting with regard to you is practicable, I am thoroughly convinced that the probability is much increased of an issue the most blessed of God, and the most completely happy to all concerned. " My oft repeated and anxious advice to you, to guard your affections from being ensnared, and in the most important of earthly concerns, to make me your confidant in the very first commencement of the sentiment, has proceeded from no desire to stretch my paternal dominion beyond its proper bounds, and from no insensibility to your happiness. When the proper time shall have arrived, and a wise regard to all circumstances shall justify the measure, it is my desire and prayer to the Fountain of all good, that you may be united to a holy, amia ble, judicious, and every way suitable companion who will be a blessing to you, as you equally to her, for earth and heaven ; one that will be a worthy representative of her that is gone, and a heart-responding sister to the dear only one that is left to us." — Such were the principles laid down by way of intro ducing the special object of interest described in the rest of the Letter. A little later in the year, another bereavement occurred in Dr. Smith's family. The following note, written to the late William Hale, Esq., will explain the particulars. " My clear Sir, — After I left you last night, I found Mrs. Smith sinking into a state of still lower feebleness, the tran quillity of the preceding twenty-two hours broken up, and the most distressing indications of great suffering. This very pain ful state continued till about a quarter past viii.,° and then gradually subsided, nature seeming exhausted, and in ten JET. 58.] DEATH OF MRS. SMITH. 347 minutes the respiration, growing fainter and fainter, ceased without any convulsion. Two or three days ago my late dear wife commissioned me to express to you and Mrs. Hale her last solemn and farewell message, deeply sensible of the many kindnesses which you have shown to her, and earnestly desiring the best blessings to yourself and Mrs. and Miss Hale, and all your beloved family. . . . Mr. Bishop has kindly engaged for me three missionary students, whose services are, I trust, likely to be very acceptable. With kind regards and heartfelt thanks to yourself and Mrs. Hale, I am, my dear friend," &c. &c. The College Diary contains a memorandum under date November 23rd. " This evening, at viii.° 25', my beloved wife, Mary, exchanged, I trust, the sorrows of life for the heavenly rest. My academical duty was of necessity suspended till after the funeral, which took place on December 1st." Mrs. Smith's illness is said to have been " very long and in many respects distressing." A Student who was at College at the time has included this among his reminiscences : — " the Doctor, I think, partly from a sense of duty, and partly from real affection, did his utmost to render her last days as comfortable, as painful and fatal disease would permit. Many a time was he called away from his duties at the College to soothe his afflicted Partner, and with a mournful readiness he ever went." Many months after all the foregoing pages had been completed — excepting the chapter upon Dr. Haffner's Preface — a Letter was sent to the Editor, which the bereaved husband wrote to a gentleman, who from special circumstances was perhaps better acquainted with the difficulties and trials of Dr. Smith's conjugal relation, than any one else out of the family. The spirit and manner in which the peculiarities of the case are mentioned ; the deep sense which the Writer evinces in regard to his own sufferings, and the sufferings of those dear to him, from this single cause; and then the fine exculpatory and charitable reference to the ' permitted power of darkness ;' with the lan guage of Christian hope for the bright future of that troubled earthly life ; — are so much in harmony with the temper and conduct of the man as they were developed in and even by his great trial, that his history in that particular cannot be closed in any words half so appropriate and healing as his own. 348 LETTER ON THE DEATH OF MRS. SMITH. [1833- " Homerton, Monday, Nov. 26, 1832. " Bev. and Dear Sir, — It has pleased the High and Holy One, to take to Himself my late beloved wife, on Friday night, after a long and distressing illness. I have a comforting hope, I venture to say a persuasion, that she has departed to be with Christ. . . . That the grace of Christ had place in her heart is my belief; and I had more complete means of know ledge than any other person could have : but the actings and habits of the Divine principle were lamentably obstructed by that most extraordinary, indeed almost unexampled, pecuUarity of temperament which, with inexhaustible versatility, created its own miseries, in opposition to palpable facts and the plainest evidence. This deprived her of happiness in the midst of its ample means, and shed a melancholy blight upon those relationships and circumstances of life which, duly considered and wisely improved, would have been materials for abounding joy and constant gratitude. After the ex perience of thirty years, I cannot, in this instance, doubt the permitted ' power of darkness,' as an auxiliary cause of breaking to potsherds the comfort and usefulness of one who yet clung in faith and prayer to Him who saves invincibly. Can I do other than rejoice beyond expression in the confi dence that, when she quitted the earthly tabernacle, she dropped the veil of till then impregnable error, and now praises her glorious Deliverer for the glad development. . . " Now, the providence and authority of my Heavenly Lord calls me to a new order of attempted services to His Holy name, for what of years or days may be my appointed term. My need is extreme of faith and watchfulness, humility, wisdom, and sanctified activity, that I may ' work the work of the Lord ' in the ways that shall be in the most entire accordance with His approving will. Let me entreat, my Dear Sir, your prayers that I may be taught, led, disciphned, and made an instrument of some glory to Him on whose head the Crown must flourish." Dr. Bobert Winter, who had been for about thirty years the highly respected Pastor of the Congregational Church assembling in New Court, Carey Street, was removed by death in August, 1833 : and as between him and Dr. Smith there had been foi the same period great cordiality of esteem and .ET. 59.] FUNERAL SERMON FOR DR. WINTER. 349 affection, the latter was first asked to preach, and then to publish a funeral sermon on the occasion. The text is 2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8. Dr. Smith's discourses at such times, whether in print or in manuscript, are distinguished by the prominence given to the discussion of their respective texts, and by an absence of an extended eulogy of the person whose decease they were designed to improve. He spoke plainly, indeed, and warmly of excellences ; but it was not his custom to dwell upon them at any great length; and the space which was thus saved from portraying the virtues of a disciple of Christ, was occupied in exhibiting some or other of the great truths which had made the departed what he was as a Christian. Principles, in their actual bearing on character and conduct, were the grand topics on such occasions. CHAPTEE XX. CONTROVERSY WITH DR. LEE— SERMON, 'NECESSITY OP RELIGION TO THE WELL-BEING OF A NATION ' — SERMON, ON THE TEMPER OF CHRIS TIANS TOWARDS EACH OTHER — FIRST LETTER TO DR. LEE — SECOND REJOINDER TO DR. LEE — LETTER TO DR. BURTON, BAPTISMAL REGEN ERATION — LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF LONDON — REMARKS ON THE CONTROVERSY WITH DR. LEE — 'HINTS AND QUERIES', — COLLEGE DIARY — ALARMING ILLNESS — LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN — LETTER FROM REV. R. G. MILNE — FROM DR. CARDWELL — LETTER TO HIS DEACONS — TO THE STUDENTS OF HIS CLASS — DIPLOMA OF LL.D. The most extended printed controversy in which the Homer ton Tutor was ever concerned, began in the sixtieth year of his age. It arose unexpectedly to himself, was carried on with great reluctance, and was, moreover, with a gentleman whom he numbered among his personal friends, with whom he had corresponded during several preceding years and continued to correspond for years afterwards : — Dr. Samuel Lee, at that time Eegius Professor of Hebrew at Cambridge, and Pre bendary of Bristol. In February, 1834, Dr. Smith preached a Monthly Lecture on The Necessity of Religion to the Well-Being of a Nation, from Isaiah lx. 12. The preacher appears to have had in view the effecting of two purposes : — -first, to obviate, as it were indirectly, certain impressions and statements at that time very common, that those persons who did not approve of the principle of a State Establishment of Christianity were hostile to National Beligion ; and, secondly, to suggest to his Brethren a variety of considerations to aid them in seeking the spiritual welfare of the Community at large, and in maintaining a temper void of offence both towards God and man. Few passages are more impressive than the sketch which this sermon contains of the ffiT. CO.] SERMON ON THE NECESSITY OF RELIGION. 351 progress and ruin of "a nation of infidels." pp. 8 — 14. And then, on the other side, by way of explaining the subject of the discourse, the Author says;—" To my humble conceptions, a real National Beligion is nothing else than the sum total of the piety or personal rehgion of the individual Christians at any time to be found in a nation. Questions of no small difficulty and perplexity might be associated with this obser vation ; but it is not my present business to undertake a dis cussion of them." An Appendix, of greater length than the Sermon, was added to the published discourse, from which the following initial paragraph is quoted, for the sake of clearing the way to the commencement of the controversy : — " The publication of the preceding Sermon was requested, unanimously and not without expressions of kind feeling, by a numerous body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers and other gentlemen of the Congregational Denomina tion, who had listened to its public delivery. But it would be wrong to withhold the statement, that some of my respected Brethren, to whose judgment I pay much regard, professed that they joined in the desire only with the understanding that a Note or Appendix would be added, explain ing some hints of sentiment, which had been briefly expressed at the close of the sermon. It is my duty to remove any obscurity which might rest upon expressions ; and whether my opinions may coincide or not with those entertained by my friends, they know too well the rights of individual judgment and the duty of explicit avowal, and they are too much accustomed to the plain utterance of their own minds, to be offended at my obeying their call. I come, then, a reluctant visitor, into the crowded field of ecclesiastical controversy ; and resolved to retire immediately when I have delivered my short message." The " crowded field " here referred to, was at that time an unusually agitated one. Extreme parties on both sides were in a very high state of excitement. Not only were very many among the Dissenters urging their " grievances and claims " with unwonted energy and not a little bitterness, but under the high patronage which Mr. Gathercole had received, there was great reason to fear lest the Church of England in her zeal to defend her exclusive privileges, should quite lose the dignity becoming her venerable age, her avowed character, and her aristocratic position in the land. Language of intense vitu peration and contempt, seemed so strangely inconsistent with a really good Christian title, and was hkely if further encouraged to generate such low habits in the community, that we may 352 ON THE NECESSITY OF RELIGION [l834. wonder how any men who were at once scholars and Christians, could fall into such a style themselves, or bear with, much less patronize it in others. An earnest protest was, however, raised against this state of things by the Tutor at Homerton ; whose grave, and appropriate, and often touching rebukes, fell with just fidelity on Dissenter and Churchman alike. In the Appendix Dr. Smith seeks to throw light upon the question— how the head or king of a people may employ his great resources and influence, to diffuse throughout a nation the advantages of the gospel. But here, although the Author did not go nearly far enough towards the Establishment principle, to meet the wishes of even comparatively moderate Churchmen ; he went too far in that direction, to suit the views of many of his Brethren. He writes : — " My ardent wish and prayer is, that the Establishment may be improved, delivered from evils and defects of every kind, and meliorated, honoured, and blessed, to the highest perfection of conformity to the requirements of theHoly Scriptures. Whenthisis accomplished, she will no longer be dependent on state-patronage ; nor will a good civil government wish her to be so. When that time arrives the Episcopal Church will have a power immensely greater than that of any other denomination of Christians. Her venerable edifices, her hold upon the affections of English men in general, her endowments equitably distributed (for I trust that no spoliation will ever be suffered), and the unfettered activity of her ministers upon a system of freedom in worship ing and preaching in any barn or hovel or field, — will be likely, under the blessing of heavenly grace, to produce effects of the most glorious kind, in the advancement of genuine religion. There will be joy in heaven; 'God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.' " Also on the question of the " Admission of Dissenters to the advantages of the University," Dr. Smith avowed in this Letter to Dr. Lee views not in accordance with those held by many of his brethren. He says : — " Since my attention has been drawn to a more minute examination of the argument, my opinion has undergone a change. The end I think right and desirable in itself: no man (I almost believe) feels more strongly than myself veneration and love to the two English Universities j or surrenders his imagination to be more enraptured with their ' distant spires and antique towers,' and the associations of their history. But to attain that end, I do JET. 60.] TO THE WELL-BEING OF A NATION. 353 not see that the means exist. The University, apart from the Colleges and Halls, is only an idea and a name : but so far as I understand the case, each of the Colleges and Halls, in both Universities, is of the nature of a private trust, and is an investment for purposes which imply that the membership and the whole discipline lie in the Episcopal Church. I have heard of no scheme for surmounting the obstacles ; nor can I imagine any, that does not appear to involve tho committing of injustice upon the Fellows, the Tutors, and the Members of the House generally. Disappointing and mortifying as this is, I cannot relieve myself from it. That the supreme government in every nation has a right (potestas) to deal with trusts and establishments, either by having permanent Courts of Equity, or by special enactments upon the case, I admit : but the exercise of this political or legal right can never take place, in accordance with the principles of the universal moral law (quod jus et fas est,) unless a trust have become impracticable or contra bonos mores ; which cannot be said of any of your Academical Houses. Most sincerely shall I rejoice if the wisdom and goodness of His Majesty's Government should be able to adjust the matter upon satisfactory grounds. This, I humbly think, could take place only in concurrence with the University Authorities. One thing, however, I am sure of ; that the great body of Protestant Dissenters (I cannot answer for inconsiderate or unjust individuals, for some such are to be found in all large communities,) desire nothing excepting wrhat can be proved to be in the strictest sense Morally Right." Now although there are in the Sermon and Appendix many passages which an advocate for a State Establishment of Christianity would entirely disapprove, such passages as those just quoted and others of a similar kind, led the Author to anticipate objections from his Brethren, rather than from the Church Party : — hence his significant intimations at the com mencement of the Appendix, and his determination to avoid controversy should an occasion for it arise in that quarter. None such, however, did arise : but there appeared on the other side a Letter by Dr. Samuel Lee, reaching to eighty-eight pages, and entitled,— Dissent Unscriptural and Unjustifiable, Demonstrated in an Examination of Dr. John Pye Smith's Sermon and Appendix, entitled, &c. &c. This, instead of settling the question, as perhaps a demonstration should have done, seemed rather to open it in far greater width and complication than ever ; for it was an appeal to the public in regard to prin ciples and arguments about which Dr. Smith could not remain indifferent, whether from a sense of duty to his own convic tions, or from an earnest desire for the progress of truth in the world. But the history of his first Bejoinder to Dr. Lee is somewhat curious. 2 A 354 ON THE TEMPER TO BE CULTIVATED, ETC. [1834. In October, he preached for the second time during this year a Monthly Lecture ; the subject of which was— On the Temper to be Cultivated by Christians of Different Denominations to wards each other. To this discourse when it was published, an Appendix — as in the former instance — was added ; consist ing of a Letter by way of Rejoinder to Dr. Lee ; sixty-seven pages in length. Dr. Smith's reluctance to enter upon the controversy, and the manner in which it was overcome, are best stated in his own words : — " Reverend and Dear Sir, — On the first perusal of the public Letter which you did me the honour of addressing to me seven months ago, I felt a desire to correct what appeared to me misappi'ehensions on your part, and to show my reasons for dissenting from your principal conclusions. But a strong repugnance to this controversy, and the fact of having for every hour of every day a never-ending series of demands on time and labour, for duties more agreeable and of immediate obligation, brought down my excitement first to hesitation, and then to fixed unwillingness; notwith standing the instances of some of my most judicious friends, who feared that the interests of truth wrould in some degree suffer from my silence. The being unexpectedly called, however, to preach another Monthly Meet ing Sermon, and that on a subject (long before prescribed, as they all are, by a committee of arrangement,) which brought into view some of the topics on which you had expressed your disapprobation of my sentiments ; and the request of my Brethren for its publication, which it would have been almost a rude obstinacy in me to resist ; furnished a new opportunity, to have neglected which might have been not unreasonably construed into an affectation of haughty disregard, or a consciousness of having met with some invincible difficulties. I could not say that the latter was the case; and the sincere esteem and affection which I have for you must make me wish by no means to incur the appearance of the former." The subject of the Sermon to which this passage refers, was no doubt selected, by the Committee who arranged the list of Lectures, with a view to afford an opportunity for urging valuable suggestions at a time when great excitement prevailed on ecclesiastical topics. Among the concluding observations, the preacher strongly recommended three things:—" the union of ministers of all evangelical denominations in public meet ings for prayer — their free interchange of voluntary pulpit services— and their sitting down together at the Lord's Table, in the celebration of that which is pre-eminently the ordinance of Christian communion, the communion of all who ' glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and look for His mercy unto eternal life.' " JET. 60.] FIRST LETTER TO DR. LEE. 355 Although Dr. Smith heartily wished to avoid this particular controversy, yet when he was called upon as it were by name, option was withdrawn ; and therefore, true to his convictions, it became him to wield his resources of learning, and logic, and courage, in their defence. Hence, his First Letter to Dr. Lee. Nonconformity with the Church as by Law Established, is too readily viewed by Churchmen generally, as a thing with out any settled principles or hnes of demarcation whatever. The human enactments and provisions by which to some extent conformity is secured in the favoured Body, are so visible in every direction, and are felt in many quarters so deeply — that all persons and parties beyond the pale of these laws are very commonly thought to be in a state of license not to be described : — as though, indeed, there were no Bible for any but those who think it well to use the Book of Common Prayer. A painful sense of this grave misconception con strained Dr. Smith, in his First Letter of Eeply to Dr. Lee, to lay down a number of Theses, amounting in the whole to nineteen, in regard to which he was prepared for " a special discussion in each case," should his correspondent think proper to fall in with the proposal. This arrangement of topics was adopted both to prevent, if possible, the controversy from spreading out into a sort of waste of waters, that by keeping it within embankments there might be a higher probability of turning it to a good account ; and also to exhibit in detail the principles or grounds which rendered Dissent not only scriptural and justifiable, but according to the Writer's deep and well-sifted convictions, a most imperative duty. Under some of the propositions, as that relating to the two orders of ministers recognised in the New Testament, and on Dio cesan Episcopacy, annotations occur for the sake of showing the line of argument by which the Author was prepared to sustain his sentiments as a Dissenter. He then dwells at some length on the evident want of scope in the Established Church, for any proper development of Christian Fellowship with the disciples of Christ beyond its own pale. That ardent love of free intercourse with all good men, which was exuberant in his renewed nature and had been cultivated with no ordinary dili gence, made this objection to conformity exceedingly strong. To be restrained by a so-called Church Order, from manifest ing on the one side and receiving on the other those expres- 2 A 2 356 SECOND REJOINDER TO DR. LEE. [l880. sions of Christian fellowship, which are to the glory of the Divine Saviour and for the advancement of mutual piety and good-will, involved such a laying aside of his obedience to a Divine Law in deference to a human one, that he not only could never be a Conformist, but could not avoid protesting against the system which bore such marks of an earthly origin and structure. And, indeed, little as it may be thought of by evangelical churchmen, this line of rigid separation can never be fairly defended, except on the grounds maintained by those who deny the possibility of salvation to any who are not within the enclosure. , > Just before the close of the Letter, Dr. Smith exhibits' in two parallel columns, in about seven pages, a comparative view of the Established Church, and the Protestant Dissenting Churches, in their Head — Rule of Faith — Modes of Worship — Discipline — and Introduction to the Ministry. , , i! By way of reply to the above defence of Nonconformist principles, Dr. Lee published a Second Letter of ninety-seven pages, with a postscript of sixteen in answer to the animadver sions of one or two reviews of the controversy. This Second Letter from Dr. Lee was followed by a Second, Rejoinder from Dr. Smith, which is dated February 26, 1835. While this was brought out with great comparative celerity, it is distinguished by an accuracy of arrangement and a satisfaq- toriness of argument, in no degree inferior to the First. There are also indications that the Author now wished to escape from the peculiarities of the controversy as between Dr. Lee and himself ; and this being his closing appeal, he took the oppor tunity of laying down wider principles, and of addressing in that way a larger class of Eeaders than would appear to have been contemplated in the earlier stages of the discussion. In consequence of his recent familiarity with details, the whole subject had grown in comprehensiveness and power. The short prefatory notice to the Letter will confirm what has been already said, respecting the manner in which Dr. Smith was drawn into the discussion without ever having anticipated it in such a quarter ; it will also apprize the Eeader of the contents of this valuable pamphlet. JET. 61.J SECOND REJOINDER TO DR. LEE. 357 " The Controversy of the Author with his esteemed Correspondent origi nated in the most undesigned and unexpected manner, from an Appendix, intended to he entirely of a pacific character, to a sermon upon the ' Neces sity of Religion to the Weil-Being of a Nation.' In writing this Second Letter, he has been led into a length of discussion much greater than at its beginning he contemplated : he has therefore endeavoured to put his observations into some order, though it is a less perfect arrangement than he would have aimed at, had he been writing without respect to the com position of another." The following are the Principal Topics : — " On the Constitution of the Church of England ; — The Demand for a Specific Pre cept ; — On State Establishments of Religion ; — On the Voluntary Character proper to Religious Institutions; — On the Supremacy of the Crown in Things Spiritual; — On the Appointment of Bishops; — On Forms of Prayer ; —Miscellaneous Subjects ; " — such as " Comparative Number of Dissenters ; — Things deemed indifferent ; The Duty of Voluntary Support to Christian Institutions ; — Alleged Liberty of Alterations in using the Liturgy ; — Re crimination upon Dissenters ; — Correction of Misapprehensions." Under the several topics, the Eeader will find the principal heads of argument clearly specified, and sustained with an array of evidence and of appropriate authorities, well adapted to furnish materials for more extended service, were it necessary to carry the discussion of any point further than the Writer has carried it. In connection with the several branches are replies to, or animadversions upon Dr. Lee's statements. By such a method the Rejoinder reads off more consecutively than if the Author had not grouped his positions into classes; while at the same time, there is that sort of life and variety infused into the whole, by what may be called the personal element, which adds greatly to the interest, and thus to the benefit of the Eeader of the controversy. The tone is by no means apologetic :— nor, indeed, ought it to have been ; for not only was this a discussion between men of learning, but that sense of conscientious Christian integrity which animated the Writer forbade a timid, vacillating style of utterance. Yet while the language is felt to be firm and strong, it is so with out the least approach to heat or excitement; the pen never seems to have been hurried along by the temper. Hence arises a persuasion of the Author's perfect sincerity in what he wrote, and also, that he was urged to write rather from a sense of duty, than from any desire to enter "the crowded field of ecclesiastical controvesy." To this Eejoinder Dr. Lee replied in a Third Letter of 194 358 LETTER TO DR. BURTON [1830. pages, making with the two which he had before published enough for a volume of 395 pages ; — Dr. Smith's part of the dis cussion, if the two Sermons are included, reached to 257 pages, or omitting the Sermons to 198. The controversy was allowed to terminate with Dr. Lee's Third Letter, as it had begun with his First. Dr. Smith sent copies of the various publications above mentioned to several prominent members of the Established Church ; among whom was the late Dr. Burton, at that time Eegius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, between whom and Dr. Smith a previous interchange of Letters had taken place. That learned man objected very strongly, not only against Dr. Smith's denominating the 'Baptismal formularies of the Church' a ' Soul-Delusion,' but also to his venturing to say this solely, as was alleged, on his own personal authority. From a copy of the reply to Dr. Burton on the subject, some passages will now be given : — "As to setting up my own judgment against that of the Church of England, and the ' United voice of the Catholic Church for fifteen centuries, and of all the Reformed Churches,' I am sure you will admit that a Chris tian and Protestant is bound to adhere to his conviction of what the Holy Scriptures teach, even though all those venerable names stood against him. If I were in that case, which I do not concede, I should be very solemnly thereby called to suspicion of myself and to more jealous self-examination : but should my conviction after all remain, and if the matters of difference, according to my honest belief, were of vital concernment to the salvation of men, — I should have no choice left me ; I should be bound to declare my sentiment with the greatest earnestness. At the same time I should be highly culpable, if I did not do so in meekness and charity. But true Christian charity has no community of nature with indifference; it implies the warmest solicitude for the salvation of my brother's soul, and conse quently a dread of his becoming the victim of any error on the great question : — ' What must I do to be saved ? ' — I need not remind you, that the argument from the chances of being right between two or three private men and — as was assumed — the Church, was used against the Reformation. Whatever was a good answer then, would be a good answer now. " If you will allow, for a moment, the position to be put, that Baptism is not Regeneration, and does not (in any way that man can be assured of) confer Regeneration — meaning by that term a moral state of the soul be fore the Omniscient God— I think you will admit that the way in which the Church of England formularies speak, is adapted to produce a most dangerous ' soul delusion.' For the truth of my premise, I should appeal solely to the Holy Scriptures ; applying to the Fathers the doctrine of the Church of England (Art. xxi.) respecting Councils. It would be absurd to ^ET. 61.] ON BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 359 open in a private Letter any discussion upon the use to be made of the Fathers. Your Ante-Nicene Testimonies give a noble example of it. But that they erred in many things, and how we. should judge of their errors, — is a wide field. I would only say in a word or two my persuasion, with respect to the point between us. 1. That very early the notion of a divine and saving influence of or in Baptism, ex opere operato, did find its way into the Church, was spread widely, and was held with deplorable tenacity; and the terms New-Birth, Illumination, &c, were applied to it. 2. That it is not impossible to rescue some of the Fathers, by admitting that they distinguished, though obscurely and confusedly, between the Regeneration of Baptism and the Regeneration of the Spirit; and that they applied very imprudently and with dangerous tendency, the terms proper to the latter figuratively to the former. I seem to find my way to this candid construction in those cardinal passages ; Justin. Apol. I. § 79, 85. But, when I consider the general strain of the theology of the Fathers on this, as on some other subjects, I am filled with an approach to horror; and am reminded of the awful passage — 2 Thess. ii. 7. — 3. That the Scripture doctrine of Baptism is this. It is a sign and seal, — " i. On the part of God. An exhibition or declaration by an emblem, of the sinfulness of our fallen nature, the necessity of supernatural grace to purify (=make holy) our souls, and the promise of God to give it when sought in the faithful use of those means of instruction and devotion which He has appointed. " ii. On the part of man. 1. Adult Baptism. A credible profession by the person, analogous to the executing of a deed of contract or covenant, that he believes those truths and with his whole heart embraces that pro mise, dedicating himself to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; a profession which would not be credible or admissible unless the person had given previous rational evidence of holy faith, which implies actual regeneration by the Divine Spirit. — 2. Infant Baptism. A solemn acknow ledgment on the part of the Parents (or, in the case of orphans, those who take the place of parents,) of their own true faith and renewed dedication to God, and of their pledged resolution to use all the Divinely-instituted means (= instruction, prayer, and example,) to inculcate truth and holiness on the minds of the children whom they thus dedicate, and so to bring them up in ' the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' Hence I do not feel myself at liberty to baptize a child, unless one at least of the parents be a person who gives satisfactory evidence of true, vital, practical piety. " The doctrine which your words appear to maintain ( — O that I may be mistaken !) seems to me to be a refined form of the error, so natural to man, so pleasing, so congenial with the tendencies of our depraved hearts, — that God has, by a stupendous and perpetual miracle, annexed salvation (which is, in its essence, a state of mind, consisting of certain moral feelings to wards God, &c.) to an outward or mechanical act. Against this fatal error, even under the Mosaic dispensation which comprehended so many outward rites, the Spirit of God often and most awfully gave warnings: e.g. Jer. vii. 21- — 23; Hos. vi. 6; Isa. i. 11 — 14. This also appears to me very plainly to have been the great source of the corruption of an originally pure religion, patriarchal, Israelitic, and Christian ; — the source of heathenism, Pharisaism, and all the forms of dead Christianism, — in all times and coun- 360 LETTER FROM THE BISHOP OF LONDON. [1885. tries j — the trusting for spiritual and eternal blessings in names, professions, outward forms, or visible acts of any kind, Rom. xiv. 17, 18. " May God in His infinite mercy save us from error and sin, and lead us into all truth and holiness ! This is the sincere prayer of, " Rev. and dear Sir, yours most respectfully," &c. Among many acknowledgments which Dr. Smith received for his Sermon on the 'Necessity of Beligion to the Weil- Being of a Nation,' the following will be read with interest :— "Fulham, 30 June, 1834. " Sir, — I am quite ashamed of myself for having suffered so long a time to elapse, without thanking you for the very able and truly Christian Discourse which you were so good as to send me. For the sake of Christianity itself, as well as of the Church which is only an instrument to uphold and diffuse it, I wish that the spirit which pervades your sermon animated the great body of our Dissenting brethren — but alas ! moderation is scouted on all sides : and at a time when the political state of the country renders it pecuharly desirable that pious men of every denomination should unite their efforts to allay a too prevalent excitement and thirst for change, the ministers of the Gospel are now engaged in endeavouring to foment and extend it. I trust that your advice may have all the weight which is justly due to counsels proceeding from such a quarter, and that all those who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity will unite their prayers for the growth of a more Christian spirit in every branch of his Church. " I remain, Sir, with much esteem, " Your very faithful servant, " The Bev. Dr. Smith." " C. J. London." From a learned Professor of Oxford, the following was received : — " My dear Sir,— Pray accept my best thanks for the copy of your Bejoinder to the Second Letter of Dr. Lee, which you have done me the favour of sending to me. I have read it with much interest, not indeed agreeing with you in all your opinions and conclusions, but fully appreciating the skill and learning displayed in it, and the calm and Christian temper which pervades it. " I am, my dear Sir, very sincerely yours," &c. .ET. 61.] ON THE CONTROVERSY WITH DR. LEE. 361 Besides the passages already quoted, showing Dr. Smith's reluctance to engage in the discussion with Dr. Lee, he says when writing to Mr. Bickersteth, — " I was brought into the contest sorely against my inclination, and from what seemed an indefeasible call of duty." In one important aspect of Christian character, his aversion to enter ' the crowded field of ecclesiastical controversy ' shines as a virtue, and is highly to his credit ; but no less honourable was it in him to overcome that feeling when the circumstances appeared to require action. Both are in well-known harmony with the whole history of the man, in whom there was a singular power of being silent, in connection with a singular capacity for speaking with precision and force : — placid often, unmoved, as the surface of a lake reposing calmly on the very depth of its own waters ; yet capable of being acted upon so as to show, that mere stillness was not for a moment to be mistaken for stagnation or want of depth. His learning and urbanity had brought him into an amount of intercourse, with several leading members of the Two Universities, quite perhaps pecuhar to himself as a Dissenter. Looking at the chief topics of their correspondence, the points on which they differed rarely found a place ; and it is not un natural to suppose, nay, there is evidence to sustain the belief, that some of their number were ready to consider him as a Nonconformist rather from position than principle. It was not, therefore, without surprise that in the progress of this con troversy, they saw one who was thought to have scarcely a man ready for use in such a service, deploying — with infinite calm ness — column after column, as though there was to be no end of his resources ; — and these marshalled in such order, and with their appointments so complete, as to show plainly that they were neither hurried into the field on the spur of the moment, nor had been left without having been carefully trained, and often vigilantly reviewed long before. But in all such cases, the completeness of the arrangements is one of the results of that patience, which can wait until the proper time for action has come. It cannot pass unnoticed, that the Letters are models for the spirit in which they are written. Without asperity — without dogmatism — even without that milder form of dogmatism which consists in tacitly assuming the truth and certainty of 362 "HINTS AND QUERIES." [l835. some of the positions advocated — without any airs of triumph — without the faintest tinge of conceit or vanity, they are dis tinguished by the manliness of the real scholar, the courtesy of a gentleman, and the simple, earnest, truth-loving zeal of an eminent Christian. If it is well not to have been left without such matter on a question, or indeed knot of questions, whieh will long continue to excite inquiry and provoke discussion, still more important is it to have so good an example of the way in which the force of an argument shall be seen to depend more on the exquisite temper to which it has been brought, than on the mere physical strength of the arm that uses the weapon, much less on the vindictive spirit of the combatant, who per haps rather haggles than slays. Here and there an intimation may be detected of what the Author could have done, had he chosen to employ irony or sarcasm. His abstinence is noble, arising from no want of power, but simply from a wise and vigorous self-controul : — the more memorable for the ardour of his temperament, the keenness and quickness of his mental perceptions, and the copiousness of his early draughts from the classical fountains of sharp and pungent words. Truth had become so thoroughly native to him, that he seems to have nearly lost all disposition to serve it except in a spirit of pure and holy love. When Dr. Lee and Dr. Smith had ended their controversy, their Christian Friendship was happily found unimpaired ; and their correspondence reverted to its early channel, without the trace of either a ripple on the surface or any decrease in the depth of the stream. A paper written by Dr. Smith, with the heading Hints, and Queries, and designed for the use of a friend, but in no way connected with the foregoing discussion, may serve to show in a few words his views on Ecclesiastical Establishments. " I. It is a first principle that all true religion must be founded in Revela tion from God, and that the Revelation is contained perfectly and exclu sively in the Scriptures. — Does it not then follow that sentiments received and practices observed as religious, hut which are not founded in Divine Revelation, are not acceptable to God ? " H. In any human government, the admission of any authority in matters of state, (making laws, requiring obedience, and punishing non compliance, or in any other way exercising legislative powers,) besides that JET. 61.] "HINTS AND QUERIES." 363 of the known and legal sovereign power, would be a high crime, and if per sisted in, would amount to treason. But the Ecclesiastical Establishment of England is built upon an authority extraneous to and independent of the Holy Scriptures ; namely, the civil authority of the realm, the King, Lords, and Commons in Parliament assembled. By this authority were enacted its articles of doctrine, its ranks and orders of ministers, its mode of celebra ting worship and all other religious ordinances, even down to the very words to be used in the solemn acts of devotion, without allowing the smallest deviation, however called for by reason, conscience, or scripture. As the whole frame, constitution, and services of the Established Church stand upon this foundation, so the whole might be altered, or altogether repealed by the same authority. It is truly a parliamentary religion, hedged in by a parliamentary church. . . . " III. The New Testament contains no precept or example for the estab lishment of Christianity by the enactments, immunities, or penalties of human government ; it gives no description of the form and operation of such establishments, except in the awful predictions of the Antichristian power ; it gives no instructions for their creation and management ; it fur nishes no rules for the conduct of their officers. Such an establishment was, in fact, unknown till the fourth century, when it was formed upon the model of the Roman imperial authority. — If, then, such an Establishment be held to be right, and a valuable mode of supporting the true religion, it must follow, — that the Lord Jesus Christ omitted to make so important a provision for the promotion of his kingdom in the world, — and that other persons, long after, even persons notoriously worldly and irreligious, were by Him authorized to introduce this supplement, in order to make up the defects of the Saviour's work. — If this consequence be not admitted, it must follow that an Establishment is no part of the Christian religion, as it was constituted by its Divine Author, and that it is an invasion of His Sole Sovereignty and perfect wisdom. " IV. The great good which Providence has effected by the Established Church of our country, furnishes only a fallacious argument for conforming to it. The Word of God, and not the Acts of His Providence, is the rule of our duty. . . If the Acts of Parliament on which the Church rests were repealed to-morrow, there would not be one faithful minister of Christ the less ; but all such now in it would be freed from disgraceful and injurious fetters of restraint. Such a shaking would only bring down the dead branches and rotten fruit from the tree : the good fruit and the living leaves and boughs would all remain, and the tree of the true Church of Jesus would flourish the more for being rid of the noxious incumbrance. " These hints refer only to a few great and general principles. We have many other reasons why we deem conformity to the Church of England incompatible with a full and faithful obedience to our Holy Redeemer and Lord. J. P. S." The theory held by many excellent members of the Estab lishment — that if Evangehcal Dissent were merged in Evan gehcal Churchism, there might then be a power against Eomanism with which the latter could scarcely be able to 364 COLLEGE DUEL ALARMING ILLNESS. [l835. cope — promises more in appearance than the reality would justify. For by such a union the leverage against Eomanism in all its forms and entrenchments — within the Church and without — would be greatly shortened ; and the time would come when either a secession must take place in the direction of Protestant Nonconformity, or Protestantism itself would be little better than disguised, nay, might even be absorbed by real Popery. Pure religion, then, no less than human freedom in all its bearings, is greatly hidebted to the wisdom, piety, and conscientious zeal of such disciples of Christ as Dr. Pye Smith. Neither his position nor his principles are to be regarded as accidents; far less as subjects for a moment's regret or dis approval, by any one whose views of God's providential and gracious government go beyond the limits of a party and the prejudices of the passing hour. The year after the death of Mrs. Smith, Dr. Smith adopted the plan of inviting the Students to his house, that he might cultivate intercourse with them beyond that of the College routine. His solicitude for their welfare is also evinced by the following entry in his College Diary : — " 1834. June 20. Propose to the Committee to allow each Student who honourably passes trials, one year, or half a year's subsequent enjoyment of the house as a domicile if necessary ; with the condition of an observance of the Laws like any other Student, except being excused serving offices. This indulgence would very rarely be needed; but the knowledge of its provision would have a very tranquillizing effect on the mind of the Students who cannot help anticipating the future. The grants might be called Fellowships. It should be attended with an evident and exemplary employment of time, when the Fellow was residing."— The following entry occurs, under date—" 1835. March 23. In the afternoon, the Right Rev. Chas. P. Mac Ilvaine, D.D., Bishop of Ohio, delivered to us in the library a most faithful, judicious, and affectionate charge ; and offered up a prayer, of which the first few clauses were derived from the Liturgy, and the rest, toa considerable length, was entirely extemporary, but both parts peculiarly suitable, tender, and solemn." Within a space of a little more than a year, from the pub lication of the Sermon on the ' Necessity of Beligion to the Well-Being of a Nation ' to that of the Second Letter to Dr. Lee, Dr. Smith had carried through the press nearly 250 pages; on questions which at that time, and for one in his position, were more than commonly exciting. He also prepared a preface for JET. 61.] LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN ON HIS ILLNESS. 365 Seeley's edition of Jacob Abbott's Corner Stone, which was published in 1835 ; a work which he had to examine with great care, in consequence of the novel manner adopted by the American Author in stating his sentiments. Yet with all this extra labour, the College Diary and his Sermon Book show that his official duties, as a Tutor and a Pastor, were carried on with his wonted regularity. At length, however, the effect of such a constant strain upon his powers made itself visible, in an illness more sudden and alarming than any of which the records of his whole life make mention. He thus refers to this event in his College Diary, under date, " 1835, Sep. 2. — June 5. Succumbed under continued fever; — solemn admo nition. ' 0 that I may be spiritually benefited ' ! After three months, convalescence not yet complete. — O that I may live to God in Christ, pleniore corde ! — This day, Sep. 2. Our commencing Prayer Meeting. — I am yet under debility and my deafness distressing." The warmest wishes and the most strenuous entreaties of Dr. Smith's numerous friends — whether of his family, or of the College or Church, sustained by the advice of his medical attendants — all took a direction the reverse of the active one which he was endeavouring at this time to pur sue. But unless absolute prostration prevailed, inactivity was very irksome, indeed peculiarly unnatural to him ; so that on occasions like the present he suffered less probably from these comparatively slender exertions, than if he had subjected his desire for occupation to a rigid restraint : — his long course of generally good health, and his unceasing diligence, had supphed neither opportunity nor motive for acquiring the conservative habits of an invalid. The following passage from a Letter to Mr. and Mrs. John William Smith, written at Hastings, when his prospects for the future were overcast by the shadow of this sickness, is a fine opening out of the character of the man. The Letter is dated Aug. 7, 1835 :— " My very dear Children, — . . . Your dear Sister and I, with a ser vant, came here on July 22. Next week they will (if the kind Providence which has so befriended us, grant the fulfilment of our intention,) return home ; and I spend a week longer on the Kentish Coast, upon the higher and more bracing lands, hoping to arrive at home about the 21st. I have great reason to be thankful for the great benefit received by this air, bathing, sailing, and chaise-riding. When I left home, to walk at all was difficult 366 LETTER FROM REV. R. G. MILNE. [l83S. now I can walk a mile. I feel my general strength greatly improved. One point is a matter of serious anxiety ; the great increase of my deafness oc casioned by the fever (and, in that view alone, it was a favourable sign,) and which does not yield in any approach to a proportion to the improvement of my nerves and muscles. But this is my privilege and joy, to be in the Lord's hand, to lie wishfully and absolutely at the disposal of unerring wisdom, righteousness, and mercy. He doeth, and ever will do all things in the best manner. What ' seemeth good in His sight ' must be good ; not only good, but the best. " Yet with regard to this great deafness (which is such as to render me unable to estimate the pitch and tones of my own voice) I cannot be with out solicitude. Pray for me that it may not be a sinful solicitude, violating the divine precepts ; Mat. vi. 25, 31, 34. Phil. iv. 6. If it continue, I fear that I shall be incapable of preaching and pastoral duties. It would be very sinful in me to begin and continue a course of performances, in and out of the pulpit, of which the feebleness and gross deficiencies, would pre vent edification, produce coldness in the Church and Congregation, gradually waste and wear them away, and prove that the healthy and vigorous state of my people in spiritual things, the honour of Christ, and the advancement of His Kingdom, were in my estimation to be made subordinate to my gaining the stipend. No terms could adequately express the wickedness of such a state of mind in me. I hope ( — but let us all pray,) that I may never be given up to it. With respect to my academical duties, the case is very different, though the inconvenience would be not inconsiderable. I could deliver my lectures to 12 (my average number) or 30; and by the help of the best hearing trumpet that I can get, I could hear the examina tions, recapitulations, and frequent inquiries of the Students. At least I should like (Deo opitulante) to finish the existing term of my Divinity course, which will take about three years. I believe it would be the most informing, practical, and in every way profitable, of all past terms." The Bev. E. G. Milne, A.M., of Tintwistle, in a Letter to Mr. Ebenezer Smith, dated February 13, 1852, mentions a cir cumstance which came under his own observation during Dr. Smith's illness : — "When convalescent, Dr. Smith was removed to Walthamstow, where he spent a few weeks under the roof of your excellent and lamented father- in-law. During his stay there, my brother * and I had occasion to visit Mr. and Mrs. Foulger. On hearing that we were there, our beloved Tutor requested that he might see us for a few minutes. We were at first some what reluctant to comply with this wish, as his medical adviser had pro hibited his seeing any friends save those of his own circle. Dr. Smith, however, urged it. On taking farewell of him, he grasped our hands together ; and said with faltering tongue, while the tears rolled down his cheeks, — ' There is one signal benefit, my beloved young friends, I have reaped from this protracted affliction. — I hare been taught that lean come to God in no other character than that of a sinner.' To us in the novitiate * The Rev. W. C. Milne, now a Missionary in China. JET. 61.J LETTER FROM DR. CARDWELL. 367 of the ministry, the whole scene was very touching ; and though sixteen years have elapsed since we saw yom' beloved father in so lowly an attitude, and heard him utter language so self-humiliating and Christ-confiding, — we have daily reverted in thought to that interview, and trust that the ex perience subsequently acquired, has enabled us personally to adopt and act out the sentiment which was then so feelingly and unostentatiously ex pressed by one who had already earned the reputation of being a ' Man of God,' and ' a Father in Christ.' " Although departing from the immediate subject, it can scarcely be out of place to introduce here the next passage from Mr. Milne's communication. " In the last Letter I received from my brother William, he alludes to the responsible work in which he has been employed in conjunction with Dr. Medhurst, and Mr. Stronach, viz. : — the retranslation ofthe Holy Scriptures into the Chinese Language. By the blessing of God on their joint-labours, they had proceeded as far as the middle of the Book of Job. In his Letter William makes grateful mention of the Educational influences which had qualified him for taking his part in that work ; and concludes by observing — ' If I had time, I could dilate on the benefits I have realized in my Translatorial duties from the training and truth-seeking discipline of my venerated Tutor now in heaven, Dr. Pye Smith. The principles of transla tion and interpretation that he inculcated, have been of infinite value and assistance, especially in the Old Testament version.' " The same sentiment as the one mentioned in Mr. Milne's Letter, was expressed with a slight difference of phraseology to another of the Students when he saw Dr. Smith for the first time after his illness : — "My dear young friend" — he said to the Eev. A. C. Wright — " I have found that it would not do to come to God as a saint; I have had to come just as a poor unworthy sinner." Among other Letters of sympathy addressed to him during this season of affliction, one came from the Eev. Dr. Cardwell, the present Principal of St. Alban Hall, Oxford. The passage to be quoted is so greatly to the credit of the Writer as on that account to deserve insertion : — " My dear Sir, — ... I grieve most sincerely at the affliction with which it has pleased God to visit you ; not only because it has been the cause of much pain and suffering to yourself, but because it will, I fear, be the occasion of withdrawing you in great measure from the im portant station in which your services have been so valuable to the cause of truth and good order. I refer to the part you 368 LETTER TO THE DEACONS. [188S. have taken and the influence you have exercised in those dis putes, which have in many instances tended to widen the distance, and to exasperate the jealousies already subsisting between different parties of professing Christians. But when I say I grieve, I speak ' after the manner of men.' I know that the visitation, coming as it does from the Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort, is not without its purposes of good ; and I believe that in your case its purposes, though we may not be permitted to trace them, will be accomplished to the uttermost." A few days after, and while he was still at Hastings, Dr. Smith wrote to the Deacons of the Church at the Gravel Pit a Letter, a copy of which has been sent for use in this place by one of the number : — • " My dear Brethren, — The cause and the serious duration of my separa tion from the flock, which the Chief Shepherd, thirty-one years ago, com mitted to my trust, cannot but make a solemn impression upon my mind. I am at no loss to account for it as a dispensation of GOD. Such a rebuke I greatly needed. The coldness, the dissipation, and distraction from extraneous objects, the formalism, the sad deficiencies in unction, tenderness, and sympathy, and many other reasons loudly demanding a chastising rod, — have been brought powerfully to my perception ; and not, I hope, without deep humiliation and brokenness of heart, nor without hope, should it please the All- Wise Disposer to restore me to a capacity for the attempt, that my future endeavours will be more carefully and watchfully put forth, to feed the sheep and the lambs of Him who laid down his life for them. But, alas ! who is ' sufficient' for such a discharge of duties, ' watching for souls as he that must give an account ?' — Christ maketh sufficient, so far as we dare apply the gracious assurance, 2 Cor. iii. 5, 6. For that declaration has its just and well-founded application to all sincere ministers of the Word, as well as primarily to the Apostles : and the experience of Paul is also that of others who seek to follow him, though at so vast a distance and with such a slower pace ; Phil. iv. 13. If HE be pleased to capacitate and support me, I shall have still greater comfort and assurance in the fact that HIS grace is sufficient for me. " But in order that the ministry may be profitably exercised, duties of no little weight and importance lie upon those who sit under it. The first pro duction of the spiritual life in the soul of a child of man ( — for we are all by our fallen nature, full of artfully disguised enmity to God, dead in sins, unfeeling and hating to feel aright, — ) is of free, absolute, undeserved, sovereign, unconquerable grace. Afterwards, the sosl being made alive to God has a principle of activity which Christ has put within it; and which, therefore, it is our duty to cherish and strengthen. All the means which are appointed for that purpose, the believer is bound to use ; else he will 1 grieve the Holy Spirit of God,' and involve his soul in darkness and per- JET. 61.] LETTER TO THE STUDENTS OF HIS CLASS. 369 plexity out of which deliverance is very difficult. It is upon this principle that the Lord Jesus and His Apostles are continually pressing upon be lievers the obligations of personal watchfulness and advancing in the Divine life. 'Little children abide in Him: — He that hath this hope in HIM, ought himself also so to walk even as HE walked : — Giving all diligence, add to your faith fortitude, &c. — only let your conversation (your entire conduct and character,) be as becometh the gospel of Christ,' and how many other instructions of a similar kind fill the pages of the New Testament. They are essential parts of the gospel of Christ : if they be neglected, it is mutilated and deformed. " Ever also must Pastor, Deacons, and People ' strive together in their prayers' (secret, above all) to God for each other. If on either side that duty be neglected, or be performed in a cold and formal manner, the bane ful effects will be manifested in many ways. For the sympathy, the tender fellow-feeling, the affectionate prayers of my beloved people, I am indebted beyond my power to express. I humbly pray them to continue this course of love and piety ; for whatever may be the result of my personal affliction, it will assuredly bring a rich magazine of blessings into their own souls.'' With the following note, the account of his illness comes to a close. It was addressed " to the Body of Academical Students" — in other words, to the members of his class — superscribed to the Senior of that day : — " Homerton, Monday Morning, November 30, 1835. " My dear Friends, — The pain which I have suffered and still suffer in the tongue, palate, and gums, has led me to try the effect of a rigorous abstinence from speaking. I have observed this since yesterday noon, and with some success : so that it appears my duty to keep it up all this day. It would seem better to use the means promptly for getting rid of so severe a dis comfort, than to encourage its duration by speaking. On this account, I am induced to shut myself up all this day. The course of the experiment must determine whether I ought to continue it to-morrow : but I trust that at farthest, I shall be enabled to resume my public duty, and have what is always to me a cordial gratification, the pleasure of meeting you on Wednesday morning. I shall feel much obliged by any of my brethren officiating for me at the Prayer Meeting ; and remain, " My dear Pupils, yours affectionately," &c. Although great debility continued for many months, of which notices will subsequently appear, and although in particular his painfully increased deafness remained undiminished to the last, God was pleased to confer not only many years of life, but years of great and varied usefulness, far beyond what he or his friends might have anticipated even had this affliction not occurred. Among the Literary honours conferred upon Dr. Smith, he received in March this year the Diploma of LL.D. from Marischal College, Aberdeen. 2 b CHAPTEE XXI. MR. WALFORD'S RECOVERY — LETTER TO A LADY ON THE DEATH OF HER MOTHER — LETTER TO REV. JOHN CLAYTON, SEN. — MONUMENTAL IN SCRIPTION FOR MRS. CLAYTON — LETTERS — CONTEMPLATES RESIGNING THE PASTORAL OFFICE — PASTORAL DUTIES AND COUNSELS — THOUGHTS RESPECTING A CO-PASTOR — LETTER TO CHARLES LYELL, ESQ., F.R.S. — LOVE OF ACCURACY — LETTER TO A STUDENT — TO HIS DAUGHTER. A bkief notice in Dr. Pye Smith's Sermon Book at the beginning of 1836, shows the gratitude and joy he felt on the restoration of his former colleague to a capacity for ministerial service. On Lord's-day, January 10, the Eev. William Wal ford preached at the Gravel Pit Chapel : — " to the astonish ment and delight of all, after his distressing illness of six years ;" and then a reference is added to Psalm cxviii. 25, as expressing the Pastor's wishes for the future. The following Letter, dated January 19, was written to a Lady on the decease of an aged mother : — " My dear Madam, — The great and solemn event which you have been so long expecting, has now arrived. The wise and holy purpose of God is declared by the event : and equally does the gracious Sovereign declare what is human duty. In all cases of bereavement, that duty is a reverential and adoring acquiescence. But how great is your happiness, that your duty and privilege rise to a much higher point ! You have every great and commanding consideration to allay distress, and to diffuse a pure and sweet calmness through your mind. You have enjoyed the affections and the society of your late honoured parent, to a period with which very few of the followers of Christ are indulged. Nor only has it been so unusually protracted, but the degree and manner of the enjoyment have been equally remarkable. Separation or interruption has been by you scarcely known ; and when the inevitable decay of bodily powers, and consequently the obstruction of mental faculties have taken place, the period of painful sympathy has not been greatly prolonged. Your dear mother has not been detained a helpless sufferer, and incapable of holding communion with those .ET. 62. J LETTER TO THE REV. JOHN CLAYTON, SEN. 371 whom she loved, to a length of time comparable to that which many endure. Most abundantly have you shown the strength of filial love, to the sacrifice of your own health. God has graciously interposed, lest that sacrifice should be rendered too great : and most clearly He sets before you reasons for not mere resignation, but for thankfulness and sacred joy. " Now you have to reflect that she whom you so long and affectionately tended is raised above all need of the best efforts of the warmest mortal heart. She resteth from her labours in every respect; absent from the body, but present with the Lord; walking by faith no longer, but having the most near and spiritually sensible communion with the Redeemer in His glory. Surely you are called upon to distinguish yourself from those who sorrow as persons destitute of hope. What a mercy beyond descrip tion is that hope ! — the confidence of those who were partakers of like precious faith, resting upon the foundation of God's unchangeable covenant; in each of whose breasts the same hope lived, and when divided by the veil of death is, in the one case, refined into the celestial blessedness yet waiting for reunion, and, in the other, is blessed with an additional infusion of life from Christ. Bless God that you have had such a Parent, that you loved her, and she you so much, that you enjoyed her so long, and that you were enabled to contribute so essentially to her happiness. Surely your peculiar duty is thankfulness, and a sacred invigorating of every pure and devout feeling in following your Lord." The next Letter is also one of condolence and Christian sympathy. It was addressed to the late Bev. John Clayton, senior, on the death of Mrs. Clayton. The venerable Lady had attained the 91st year of her age; fifty-seven of which had been passed in that relationship with Mr. Clayton which was now dissolved : — "Rev. and dear Sir, — The disruption of a union which has subsisted, with happiness so peculiarly great, during a period of such unusual con tinuance, cannot but have inflicted a pang upon your heart, of unspeakable severity. But I trust, on no slight grounds, that ' the consolations of God are not small with you.' To very many of the strangers and pilgrims in the vale of tears, you have been the instrument of administering supports and considerations promotive of sanctification : and now the Great Disposer calls you both to a feeling of human need, and a renewed elevation of the heart to the Comforter, who abideth with you. It is impossible that this stroke of bereavement, though of necessity long expected, should not be the cause of pungent distress. This it must be, upon the principles of our common nature. Man is made to mourn. Even cold justice calls us to mourn, when the excellent, the beloved, and the valuable are taken from us : how much more when that union is dissolved which God ordained and blessed in Eden, and which nature, religion, and habit have wrought into almost our own identity ! — Yet how many topics of holy encouragement and comfort are placed before you ! The God of all grace has wise ends in view, from having ordained you to be the survivor. The new and strange feeling of solitariness will, I trust and pray, be happily lost in the higher 2b2 37 2 MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION. [1838. degree of Communion with the ever-present God, with whom is the Foun tain of Life, — pure, undecayed, ever active, heavenly life. The hours of fellowship with this Divine Friend, can never be lonely. What also must be the joy of reunion .' In the mean time, ' Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord ! ' They need no more our solicitudes and attentions. They are present with the Lord. With regard to them, sorrow and sighing have fled away ¦ their liberated spirits are before the throne of God and the Lamb, and they serve Him day and night in His temple." Dr. Smith was applied to by his friend and brother in the ministry, the Bev. George Clayton, of Walworth, "to assist in preparing a Latin inscription" for a monument which he wished to erect to the memory of his revered mother, who had passed the last nineteen years of her hon oured life at Gaines' Park, in the neighbourhood of Bomford. A pillar, surmounted by an urn, was erected in the Park; and the following inscription was supphed by the Doctor, which was forwarded to Mr. Clayton with the characteristic note which is subjoined : — "AD MEMORIAM MATRIS PRUDENTISSIMJ3 BENIGNISSIMJE OPTIMA CONSECRANDAM MjESTUS AC GAUDENS POSUIT FILIUS natu SECUNDUS." " Homerton, March 16, 1836. " My dear Sir, — I cannot think of any epithet that will express that kindness of heart which produces never- tiring assiduity, so well as Benignus. And though I can find no example of the superlative degree in Cicero ; yet that he might rightfully have used it ( — he never had such occasion as you have been blessed ivith, — ) I think we may safely argue from his having used the adverb Benignissime, and that Seneca has the masculine Benignissimus, and the elder Pliny the neuter Benignissimum. — Permit me to say that for this kind of composition, it is not considered a disadvantage that a school boy may not be able to construe it : that without some habitude and tact in the best Classics, an Englishman is sure to blunder in his attempt ; only provided that the composition be simple, pure, and unaffected. I fear that nine out of ten JET. 62.] LETTERS. 373 will stumble over the Ad consecrandam memoriam ; but I cannot invent anything" so proper. The best way in my power of expressing it in English would be something like this — ' To cherish the remembrance of a dear object by making it sacred.' " Writing to the Eev. Edward Bickersteth in February, Dr. Smith says : — " My cordial thanks for your ' Bemarks on the Progress of Popery.' With its stamina, all its great senti ments, I cordially concur ; above all, with the prominence given to the Doctrines of Grace, the 'Articuli stantis vel cadentis Ecclesia?.' But there are a few things in relation to which, 0 that I could converse half-an-hour with you." And in a Letter to the same estimable correspondent in the preceding May, he writes : — " I return my best thanks for your very kind Letter, and your ' Discourses on Prophecy ' which accompanied it. Their holy tendency is the same as that of all your other writings : and therefore I should have very little inclination to dispute with you upon the particulars wherein I fear we must differ, on the prospects of futurity." The following passage is from a Letter to his daughter, the date of which is not given : — " You are called to a continuity of severe trials ; but despond not. That you have been enabled to show so much affectionate and unwearied labour of love to your dear friend, is not only a pleasure which I am sure you have a heart to feel, but God will, I doubt not, mark it by tokens of His gracious approbation. Yet we are not permitted to know or prescribe, or in the smallest degree conjecture, how He will do this. It may even be by train ing you to the happiness of greater services — shall I say, greater sufferings ? — for the Redeemer's name. My heart's wish and prayer always has been, that you might enjoy much and suffer little : but this has been, though right for me humbly to desire, yet the effluence of a low and poor state of mind, too much attached to sensible and temporal objects. But I am persuaded, my very dear Child, that you have been led by sufferings to sublimer heights in experience and devotion than you could otherwise have attained." Although the Letter which is now to follow was written about two years earlier than the one just inserted, the accord ance of each in spirit and style may justify the placing of it here : it was addressed to a young friend : — " I love you very much, and humbly offer my unworthy but earnest prayers on your behalf, to the God of all grace and power. If it be for the 374 CONTEMPLATES RESIGNING [1886. grand purpose of His wisdom and love, He will expel your complaint, and gladden so many praying hearts by your restoration to health. If He do not immediately grant our requests, be assured that it is for the most holy reasons. There is nothing arbitrary in the Divine Will : ' God is love.'.— 0 trust in Him, my dear suffering young friend ! Trust, through the Re deemer, will not be disappointed ; though your faith and patience may be long tried. O reflect on the generous sympathy of that Divine Redeemer ; one with you in his humanity, and having all the gentle compassions and dignified loveliness of human nature sinless and perfect ; but in His superior and pre-existent nature ' over all, God blessed for ever,' and therefore having ' all the fulness of the Godhead,' all the infinite attributes of Jehovah, to protect, sanctify, comfort, sustain, deliver, and every way bless you." In consequence of great debility and his distressing loss of hearing, the Pastor had very serious thoughts of giving up his charge at the Gravel Pit, both in 1836 and 1837. Communi cations in relation to this contemplated change will be laid before the Eeader. They will show the state of his mind under these new circumstances, the purity of his motives, and his open course of conduct towards his people. The first inti mation occurs in a Letter to his daughter, dated June 24, 1836 : — " Through God's great mercy I feel quite well, though feeble. My deafness is very distressing. My proposition is to resign my pastorate, as soon as the Church can find a suitable suc cessor. And now is a proper time, when we are not declining. Thus I conceive it probable, under the Divine Will, that I may be useful as a Tutor for two or three years longer : but if I go on without remitting in the two departments, I regard as the probable result a rapidly fatal illness, or a melancholy prostra tion of useless incapacity. But by thus gradually retiring from the solemn labours of life, I may be preserved from being a burden to those whom I love." The next day he wrote the following to his Deacons : — " My dear Brethren, — In looking back upon the period of more than thirty-two years, that we have walked together in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel, we cannot but perceive a remarkable abundance and cogency of motives for humiliation on our own part, and for admiration and thank fulness with respect to the Blessed Author of our mercies. From a very small beginning, our number has gradually increased ; and we have scarcely known an interruption of our peace and harmony. But I apprehend that the time is come, at which it is my duty to make to you and to our beloved associates in Church communion a very solemn announcement. I have now entered on my sixty-third year, and the experience of the last twelve months leads me to expect rather a diminution than an increase of natural .ET. 62. THE PASTORAL OFFICE. 375 strength. After much reflection and prayer, and advising with you and other confidential friends, I am brought to the conviction that it is my duty to resign the Pastoral Office, at as early a time as shall be satisfactory to you. I bless God that this sentiment is not in the smallest degree con nected with any unpleasant feeling. It is altogether the contrary. Our present position as to union and comfort, and the hope of increasing spiritual prosperity, is encouraging. Such a time is much more favourable than a season of apparent declension would be, for the exercise of your prayers and endeavours in order to the obtaining of a devoted, judicious, zealous, and faithful Pastor, in the vigour of life, and possessing talents both solid and attractive. " With regard to myself it appears not an unreasonable hope, that by contracting my circle of exertions, I may be enabled for a small number of years longer, to serve the cause of Christ in the Academical department. I lay these views before you, requesting your continued prayers, the free imparting of your counsels singly or collectively, and the communication of the purport of this note to the other members of our Church, at such time and in such way as you may judge proper. " I have the happiness to remain, " My dear Brethren, Your affectionate and obliged Servant, J. P. S." It does not appear that any proceedings were adopted to carry out the design of this communication. To part with such a Pastor was no easy thing for such a Church. The next paper shows a favourable change in his health and prospects ; it is thus superscribed : — " Read at our Church Meeting, November 3, 1836. " About three months ago, under discouraging apprehensions of increased debility and deafness, I addressed a Letter to the Deacons of this Church to the effect, that whenever it might appear to them proper, I should be ready to resign, either wholly or in part, my pastoral charge. This was not from any diminution of affection for the Church to which I am bound by so many powerful ties, and which has shown so much attachment and kindness to me during the period of more than thirty-two years. But my motive was an apprehension lest, on the one hand, I should injure the prosperity of the Redeemer's cause among us, by a too long retention of my office ; and on the other hand, lest I should too timidly and too hastily abandon my post. I felt, therefore, that next to prayer and supplication for Divine guidance, I was taking the proper step for ascertaining the path of duty, by submitting the question to those friends upon whose judgment and fidelity I could so happily rely. " Since that time, my state of health and feelings of strength and com fort have so much improved, as to lead me to think that the subject may safely for the present be dismissed from our minds. At the same time, I earnestly request my dear friends, the Deacons and the Members of the Church universally, to continue their affectionate and earnest prayers for the enlarged blessing of the Holy Spirit upon the means of grace among us, and that we may be guided in the path which shall be most conducive to the edification of the Church and His own glory.' H76 PASTORAL COUNSELS. []837. With the new year the Pastor had to commence a new book as a record <5f his pulpit duties; he begins thus : — " 1837. In the infinite mercy of God, I have filled two of these Entry Books, each comprising a term of 18 years. This third book, which has but half the number of leaves, will probably be left unfinished by me. My present debility and infirmities sufficiently warrant that anticipation. O that I may be made and kept faithful unto death ! " January 1st, he took the two services on the Lord's-day; the subject in the morning being — " Our appointed time and its duties. Job xi. 14." And in the afternoon, " Christian diligence and circumspection. 2 Pet. iii. 14." But this was all that he could do with any regularity for many weeks ; he adds, therefore, after Jan. 1 : — " All the sub sequent interruptions are from my failures of health." Not being able to be present at the Church meeting, Febru ary 2nd, the pastor sent the following Letter to be read on the occasion : — " To the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ of which it has pleased HIM to make me overseer, grace and peace be multiplied. " My dear Brethren and Sisters, — It is a disappointment and grief to me that though my state of health is greatly improved, I must yield to the propriety of being absent this evening from your sacred assembly : and I apprehend that for some time to come I must be very cautious in exposing myself to the evening air. But I trust my heart will be with you, and that we shall have some reciprocal communion in prayer and praise. Unspeakable is the privilege of secret devotion ; for in it we are especially called to open our hearts and spread our wants and feelings before God, with the most minute particularity of that which is intimately personal, and which would not be often proper to be brought into our social adorations. Family worship has also its proper character, for affecting our own hearts and those of our children and inmates with the various blessings and duties of domestic relationship, that they may keep the way of the Lord, and may experimentally find that ' godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.' Yet both these great classes of the Christian's privileges are adapted to excite and direct our minds to a higher sphere of holy sociality. Universal experience has shown that Prayer-Meetings, when judiciously conducted, are most valuable auxiliaries to the vigour and comfort of religion in our hearts. The spiritual life becomes as it were more vital by contact. The united flames burn with a greater warmth and brightness, than each can ordinarily attain in a detached state. Sympathy in the trials and temptations, the sorrows and comforts of each other, is far more likely to become lively and tender, when we see and hear each other, than when we only call up the solitary creations of meditation. Hence new energy is acquired to ' the work of faith, the patience of hope, and the labour of love ;' and believers are quickened and strengthened for the bearing of all burdens and the practising JET. 03.] THOUGHTS RESPECTING A CO-PASTOR. 377 of all duties. To Him whose grace is all-sufficient ' we look, and are enlightened.' He shows himself to be continually with us ; He holdeth us by the hand ; He enables us to walk in the way humbly and therefore safely. " But all these and other advantages are in a way and measure still higher, the attendants and consequences of Church-Meetings. Here the union of believers with their Lord and with each other is presented in the most pure and engaging form that we can expect to enjoy on earth, excepting that ordinance which is in fact a part and parcel of Church- Meetings, the celebration of the Lord's Supper. To that divine and delightful institution we look forward at every Church-Meeting. It is kept in view by the whole plan and texture of the service ; and our exhortations and prayers and hymns of praise have an express relation to it. Thus, my dear Friends, are you to be employed this evening. Thus, I trust, our relation to the Blessed Saviour and to each other, yes, and to all who love Him, will be brought into deeper impression on our hearts." As the struggle continued between debility and an effort to recover full strength for Pastoral duties, the following paper was prepared : — "Read at our Church Meeting, May 4, 1837. "It is now six months since, in concurrence with my brethren the Deacons, I submitted to you the idea that any change in the pastoral relationship, or the mode of adjusting its duties, was not at the time of immediate urgency. I had then some experience, by Divine mercy, of improved health; and I cherished the hope of being enabled for a some what longer period, to discharge the duties of my station in such a manner as might not be wholly unsatisfactory to my brethren and sisters in Church- fellowship, nor without some tokens of the Divine approbation. But in the period that has since elapsed, my health was for a season impaired by the epidemic which prevailed in the winter, my medical advisers have not judged me capable, even after recovery, to resume the full exercise of pulpit duties, and that which I feel the most disqualifying and distressing of all is, the extreme failure of the sense of hearing. This latter affliction disables me from the performance of pastoral duties to a degree which I feel to be extremely trying to myself and disappointing to my friends. " I dare not now hope for such a restoration of the power of hearing, as will render me adequate to the discharge of pastoral duties by private con versation, which is so important a means of ministerial usefulness. It is my humble and earnest desire that the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ may sustain no detriment among us through my infirmities. I anxiously desire that the labours of pastoral visiting and oversight may be performed in the most lively and effective manner, still remembering that the power which must give success is of sovereign grace. . . . Having communicated these sentiments to my brethren, the Deacons, I am authorized on their part to say that they recommend the appointment of a co-Pastor, as soon as God may be pleased to lead the judgment and affections of the Church to the discovery and selection of a suitable person." Whether steps were taken to comply with the suggestions 378 LETTER to C. LYELL, ESQ., F.R.S., ETC. [18S7. expressed in this communication, cannot be ascertained from any papers in the handwriting of Dr. Smith ; but the facts, as they became apparent in the progress of time, show that nearly nine years had to pass, before a co-Pastor divided with him the duties and responsibilities of the ministerial office. So far was his work in future from being confined to the College — to which in these appeals to his Church he ap peared to cling with all the ardour of a first love — he was destined a few years later to bring the attainments of a long life of study into a form to be valued highly not only by enlightened and firm believers in Divine Bevelation, but scarcely less by men of Science. Not a trace of the lingering illness of 1835 and 1836 can be detected in the Congrega tional Lecture of 1839. The Beader will not be insensible to the generosity of Sir Charles Lyell, for placing at the service of this memoir a Letter so truly characteristic of Dr. Smith as the following : — " To Charles Lyell, Jun., Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c. &c. " Homerton, April 3, 1837. " Sir, — I assure myself that your candid disposition will deem unnecessary any apology for giving you this trouble. " Thinking it more than probable that a fifth edition of your ' Principles of Geology ' will soon be called for, I submit to you the question, whether it would not be desirable to alter the terms Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, into Eoccene, Mioccene, Pliocame ? My reasons for wishing that you may approve of this change are these : — i. The putting of a mere e, though pro nounced long, to represent the diphthong at, leaves the mind of a reader, supposing him to be ignorant of the intention of the terms, uncertain whether the compounds are formed with icawbs or kow6s.' — ii. Though writers of the seventeenth century very generally expressed at and ot, aj and ce, in proper names and other words used in English, by the simple long e, the practice has, for I think nearly a century, been abandoned by the best writers, excepting in a very few words which had got into such extensive use that a reformation could not reach them. I can recollect ce JE JE a; ce of this kind, only economy, Egypt, Ethiopia, penult, celibacy. I doubt whether eolian has not given way to molian. Few persons now write Cesar, Etolia, Phenicia, anacenosis, epicene, encenia, cesarean, egis, Eneas, Eneus ; but I humbly think that those authors who rank as good authori ties make a point of distinguishing at and m in all English derivatives, as Caesar, Ca3sarea (in which the penultimate diphthong is ft, which is legiti mately Latinized by e in some cases, and by i in others, but cesarean, or better caisarian has the penult a short vowel, being from mere Latin adjec tives ;) epiccene, anaccenosis, encomia, cegis, JEneas, (Eneus, &c. iET. 63.] LOVE OF ACCURACY. 379 " I take this liberty from a belief that the ' Principles ' are and will remain a standard work on the Science ; and that therefore every reason able objection, however of minor importance, ought to be precluded. . . . I apprehend also, that it is now more than ever incumbent upon our leaders in science to watch over the use of technical terms, for there is always a danger of improprieties which no circumstances can justify : . . . the use of Pliocene, SfC, is not an impropriety, I object to it only as a less eligible mode than the other. But for such instances as Plagiostoma spinosa, for spinosum, — Trionix for Trionyx, — Lymnea for Limneea (Xt/iiWa) and similar oversights, one can make no defence. I have somewhere seen idio- repulsive. Hybrid compounds ought not to be allowed, any farther than as a small number have, I fear, got established in our language ; for instance terminology. Termatology would be the proper form (taking repfia in the sense of terminus, which it would not indeed very well bear,) if we were obliged to multiply such words ; or rather I would take Onomatology. I wish that our good writers would incline, with wisdom and moderation, rather to imitate the Germans, and adhere, as far as elegance will permit, to compounds from our own Anglo-Saxon. " Intreating your kind indulgence for taking this liberty, I have the honour to be, " Sir, Your faithful and obedient Servant," &c. &c. It will not be out of place to introduce here other examples of the same habit. Thus in a Letter to Sir J. B. Williams in 1835, this passage occurs : — " On arriving at home on Wed nesday, I found yom- kind Letter, accompanying a copy, as a present from yourself, of your Life of Sir Matthew Hale. — Why did he write Mathew, as if the word had not been Mardaws ?" — Dr. Smith then gives the Hebrew characters to justify the use of a double t. The following was to an Author in Scotland : — " I would recommend a more minute system of reference to the works cited, that one may be able to go to the passages . . . with the mere mention of the name. — Retractions. Augustine's ' Retractationes ' are not re tractions, in the modern sense, though some of them are ; but they correspond to our revisions, reexaminations, improvements, corrections." — " Graves's " ; the elision in Graves' is a clumsy and inelegant mode. — The fault is common in some books, to put the name of an Author in the English form, and then follow it with a Latin construction ! E. g. Horace, de Arte Poetica. An egregious impropriety ; but we often see it in good divines ; as Jerome, in Evang. Matt. — As the Greek accents are intended to be used, consistency should be maintained ; the place of the accent, its form, the spirits, and the iota subscribed." Not only in the circle of his private friends, and among the 380 LOVE OF ACCURACY. [l837. young people of his Congregation and the Students, did this love of accuracy even in the smallest things show itself as though it were ever active and vigilant ; but in very many communications in Eeviews, Magazines, Newspapers, as well as Letters, the same quality was strikingly visible. To some persons, especially if their knowledge of such peculiarities were confined to only a few, and those the more minute specimens of the habit, Dr. Smith's conduct may have ap peared pedantic. Not so, however, to those who had a wider range of instances from which to deduce their estimate of his character and motives. There was a meaning, and therefore an importance attaching to very many of the corrections on which he insisted; for words rightly formed from Greek or Latin, showed in their English dress not simply their country but their purport at once ; while if not so formed, they ap peared aliens, or perhaps for the moment they led the mind astray. And even the smaller specimens are not to be con templated in an isolated form, suggesting the impression of a mind on the look-out for what some might call trifles ; but they are rather to be included as integral parts of a sym metrical whole, the real foundation and source of which can only be discovered in that intense and ever active love of truth which would not allow him to be satisfied unless an attempt was made in all cases alike — whether great or small — to secure obedience to her laws. Hence his accuracy in matters of fact; in dates and names; in stating the opinions which he had to con trovert ; and in minute points of criticism. The good and the true alike demanded and had his allegiance ; and as he was con stituted, fealty to the one involved the rights of the other also. At times it was not only instructive but was adapted to touch the conscience, to witness the moral feeling with which he would apply a correction to a verbal error, as though more than his taste had been wounded by the mistake which had been committed. No doubt, he was right ; nor can we con ceive of the perfection of human culture if his standard of excellence is slighted. — The servile motive of exposing his learning for the sake of show, and the cruel one of doing it for the sake of triumph, are refuted no less by his whole character, than by the conduct which he pursued on such occasions. JET. 68.] LETTERS TO HIS DAUGHTER. 381 To one who had completed his course of study at Homer ton, but who was not at the time in a situation which promised to be permanent, the kind-hearted Tutor thus wrote : — " My dear Friend, — I return my sincere thanks for your welcome Letter. It is indeed a subject of much gratitude, that you find so much comfort and encouragement in this early part of your ministry. May the Lord of peace himself, the Author of all consolation and success, increase those favours manifold ! At the same time, 1 cannot but agree with you in the apprehen sion that your situation does not promise to be a settlement for life. De sirable as such a kind of ministerial engagement is, when all the chief requi sites unite in one tendency, we cannot look upon it as a thing absolutely to be desired, nor very often to be expected. In many cases, probably the larger number, our great Master sees it meet to form his servants for a wider sphere of duty, by training and disciplining them in one of much smaller extent. Our unspeakable mercy is, that He knows what is the best, and that He will grant it to those who wait upon him in his own way. Very encouraging, as well as monitory and awakening, are the words of inspiration, 2 Tim. ii. 1 — 15, 19. . . . " It will always give me much pleasure to hear of and from you ; especially that your joy in the Lord, — in His dominion and grace, — is full. Life — how short ! Eternity is at hand. O, let us pray for each other, that each may be faithful unto death ! — Fear not, my dear brother, Christ is with you. " I am, my dear friend, Yours affectionately,'' &c. Dr. Smith spent part of the vacation this year at Belper, at the hospitable mansion of Mr. Strutt. While there he wrote thus to his daughter : — " My very dear Ruth, — Amidst the remarkable number, and I may say hurry, of my engagements at Sheffield, — for my time was much too short, — I struggled hard to get a Letter written to you, and at last I succeeded yesterday. But how was I pained when the thought arose, that I had put it into the post-office not addressed! I went there as soon as possible, but it was gone to London. There it is by this time, opened, and is on its way back to Sheffield. Your Brother or Sister will then direct it, and I hope that by Tuesday or Wednesday next, it will come into your hands. Learn from this, that we should never imagine ourselves exempt from the necessity of care and watchfulness. In such matters my habit is to he perhaps superabundantly anxious to prevent errors; yet here I have failed so egregionsly ! The greatest kindness has been shown me hy Mr. and Mrs. Strutt ; but thereby my time so taken up that it is now late and this Letter unfinished. Mrs. Strutt, , and I have to-day been to Matlock and Darley Bridge, twelve or thirteen miles and hack, exploring rocks and caverns." Again a few days later : — " Now, on the eighth day of manifold mercy, I am taking leave of this hospitable mansion, and the more than kind friends who have been assiduous 382 LETTER TO HIS SON. [1837. in every way beyond what you could well imagine, to benefit and gratify me. The only drawback to my enjoyment, setting aside my own infirmities, has been to be the object of Mrs. Strutt's unwearied assiduity, loading me with kindest and delicate attentions, and not merely supplying but constantly anticipating every want and wish. But you shall hear particulars, if we are spared to meet, and praise God for His gracious mercies. Yesterday I had a Letter from Ebenezer and Mary Anne. They are both well, and the dear babe of which they write as might be expected. O, what have we to be thankful for! My visit to John William and his Caroline was very delightful to me. The shortness of the time and the many occupations and engagements, did not allow me much free intercourse with them." The following clause is from a Letter to one of his sons about this date : — " Let it never be lost sight of, that the upright man, who ' shall never be moved,' and who ' shall receive the blessing from the Lord,' is one who with other characteristics ' sweareth' — i. e. enters into engagements — to his own hurt, and changeth not. See Psalm xv. and xxiv. O, infinitely better to have this blessing, this Divine preservation from being moved by adverse storms, than to gain the whole world by the least violation of holy principle." CHAPTEB XXII. GENERAL ELECTION — ELECTION FOR MIDDLESEX — SPEECH AT THE MER MAID TAVERN— ATTACKED IN THE NEWSPAPERS— HIS VIEWS OF THE DUTY OF AN ELECTOR — HIS LOYALTY — LETTER TO THE BISHOP OF NORWICH — LETTER TO HIS SON— VISIT TO MORPETH AND NEWCASTLE —PAPER 'ON A FAILING IN SOME BOOKS OF SCIENCE '—LETTER IN RETURN FOR A PRESENT OF WINE— SCHLEUSNER'S LEXICON — PRE SENTED WITH A SILVER SALVER — LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT — LETTER OF CONDOLENCE. The accession of Queen Victoria in June, 1837, was followed in the next month by a General Election. On this occasion the struggle of parties was more than usually vehement, arising from the fact that the youth and sex of the monarch afforded a kind of promise of increased ascendency, and perhaps for a long term of years, to those principles, Whig or Tory, which might happen to obtain the largest number of partizans in the New Parliament. Dr. Smith was not among those persons to whom political questions ever had been, or indeed could be, matters of even comparative indifference. Directly concerned as such questions are with the weal or the wrongs of our own, and more or less of other countries, he well knew how often they had interrupted or distorted the healthful development of Christianity, and had besides in many ways cramped the commercial hfe and the social comfort of nations. His sense of obligation to God, therefore, united with his love of mankind, compelled him in cases of pecuhar emergency to put forth a measure of activity in the political arena which could scarcely fail to attract notice, and if notice censure, in directions where his course of conduct and the use which he made of his influence 384 THE MIDDLESEX ELECTION. [l83T. were viewed as objectionable on party grounds. Speaking generally, his habits and his specific engagements ahke kept him from taking a prominent place either in speaking or can vassing at Elections ; nevertheless his political principles and sympathies were as decidedly formed, and on fitting occasions were as firmly and fearlessly avowed, as his religious convic tions ; to which, indeed, they belonged, and by a relationship far more rational and intimate, and therefore more commanding than any which could arise from merely personal fancies and predilections. At this particular crisis, for example, as he was an Elector for the West Biding of Yorkshire — North Derby shire — North Staffordshire — the Tower Hamlets — and for Mid dlesex — such was his sense of duty that having the means, he was not only willing to bear whatever inconvenience was in; volved in the use of his right in each of these five cases, but he did this without putting any one of the candidates to the slight est expense for his support. — Nor should that man be thought the least virtuous and patriotic among his fellow-citizens, who makes it a point of conscience to express and embody his trust in a particular Bepresentative, for services to be rendered to his Country and the world in the House of Commons, in the shape of a vote, free in every sense, instead of allowing his aid to be encumbered with that tax which is inflicted on the Candidate's purse — often in cases where it might easily be avoided — by the cost of bringing the Elector to the poll. The election for Middlesex was at this time marked by a sort of preeminence of acrimony. It was not practicable to disturb the balance of parties in the City of London; but since, by a pecuhar species of management, the Metropolitan County might perchance be made to yield a result unfavour able to the Whig Ministry then in office, this was selected as the great battle field of party; where — per fas aut nefas — Mr. Hume was to be harried out of the representation — an honour which he had shared with Mr. Byng in the preceding Parliament. The rival candidates were found in two gentlemen, one of whom, then a very young man, The Times spoke of as being in no way disinclined to " enjoy himself at Almack's, or at Crockford's" ; while the other appears to have been put forward as likely to enlist the sympathies of that large portion of the Middlesex constituency, to whom the benevolent and religious .ET. 63.] SPEECH AT THE MERMAID TAVERN. o85 Institutions of the Metropolis owe much of their support. Thus while the new candidates agreed perhaps very closely in their attachment to Tory politics, the wide difference between their personal tastes and habits fitted them the more thoroughly to achieve the success of that scheme which was to end in the defeat of Mr. Hume. The grave and the gay could be equally well suited in one or other of the two ; and it did so happen, notwithstanding the lavish use made of the hallowed name of religion, that the fashionable captain bore away the prize. In the course of his canvass, Mr. Hume met a number of his supporters at the Mermaid Tavern, Hackney. This being in Dr. Smith's immediate neighbourhood, he attended the meeting, to show by his presence his attachment to those liberal principles which were— as he feared— endangered by Tory efforts to carry the elections against the government. He was asked to speak on the occasion; and with his con victions of what he considered truth and duty, and his just courage in avowing his sentiments, he could not refuse. The following is part of his Address, as given in a printed copy which was soon after circulated : — " That though his being now called upon was most sudden and unex pected, and though to step publicly forward on such occasions was far from according with his feelings and habits, he could not but yield to the demand just made upon him. He was desirous of declaring himself ready to submit to his full share of the reproaches which, in some extremely bigoted and unjust periodical publications, are cast upon many religious persons for the part which they have deemed it their duty to take in reference to political measures. An assertion has been often made, and urged with as much confidence as if it were a maxim of self-evident truth, that religious persons ought to have nothing to do with the politics of this world. With equal reason might it be said, that men who fear God and keep His command ments, should never concern themselves with the provision of food and raiment for their families, the means of preserving the public health, agri culture or merchandize, the liberal or the mechanical arts, or any acts or proceedings which are intended to prevent or diminish evil, and to increase good in the communities of mankind. In his view some attention to politics was the duty of every man of cultivated mind; and in a most especial manner, if he be a man of Christian piety. For what are politics ? They are that branch of moral science which investigates the rights and duties belonging to men in their several stations and relations in civil society. Is not this an essential branch of morals ? And are not morals, in their entire comprehension, an essential part of religion ? Only our attention to politics should be serious, just, and in harmony with a due regard to all the other parts of Christian faith and practice. 2 C 386 ATTACKED IN NEWSPAPERS. [1887. " Further opprobrium was cast upon a numerous body of persons professing serious piety, when they declined to support certain professedly religious candidates for seats in the House of Commons ; but whom, with all their religion, and many estimable qualities with which they may be adorned, we cannot but regard to be men lamentably destitute of the mind, knowledge, and principles requisite for legislation and the conduct of national affairs. Should we put our persons and families under the medical direction of a physician, who is a truly pious and well-meaning man indeed, but who is the slave of mischievous theories, and is utterly destitute of the science and skill necessary for sound medical practice ? Or do those who are per petually harping upon this objection, select men to be their agents, clerks, and managers of business, to be their law advisers, and to conduct their suits, or even to be their cooks, grooms, or gardeners, who are ignorant and pre judiced persons, devoid of the penetration and prudence which the business requires ; but whose qualifications lie solely in their being religious persons, and their thinking themselves fit for any important and responsible station ? No ; verily : those reasoners understand too well the right course of cultiva tion and improvement for their farms and their merchandise. It is our earnest desire that all men should be religious in the truest and best sense ; and thus they would be infinitely better qualified to fill every situation in life and society, provided that they also took the requisite pains to inform themselves of the indissoluble obligations to do every thing that is right and just, and of the manner in which those obligations are to be discharged. This is the great object of our efforts as Christians, and in the exercise of the Christian ministry — to make men truly holy, and then they will most assuredly be virtuous and happy. How should we rejoice if all around us, rulers and subjects, statesmen and men of all Other descriptions, were thus religious ! But, unhappily, this is not the case. W hen we cannot have all we would, we must accept and be thankful for those measures of valuable qualities which we can obtain for the benefit of our country and mankind universally, since the influence of this favoured and powerful nation may be said with out exaggeration to rule the destinies of the world. Further, Providence has distributed talents among men with a wise diversity. All men are not adapted to all employments, nor are capable of them. We must look, then, with a view to obtaining specific objects, to instruments fit and likely for those purposes." Such were the general principles of Dr. Smith's address. Their soundness and pertinence will not be seriously called in question by any one who is .competent to form an opinion of the whole subject; and yet the part which he took procured for him a most severe attack in the Times, the Standard, and the Record. The first of these papers in particular, contained an article of great virulence ; but which by the power infused into it, evinced the position and weight of the man who was, if possible, to be put down ; and by the flimsiness of its charges against him, showed how perfectly unassailable he was in char acter and conduct. The object, however, was not really to 387 JET. 63.] VIEWS OF THE DUTY OF AN ELECTOR. injure the Doctor, but simply to defeat Mr. Hume's election for Middlesex; so that when the writers of these papers had effected their purpose, they probably would not be unwilhng to render homage to the talents and virtues of the Tutor at Homerton. On- his part, there would be pungent regret that such tempers, or at least such language, had been elicited; and especially would he deplore the unhappy licence in which one of these organs of public opinion had ventured to indulge, m which the Name of the Divine Eedeemer was bandied about with all the offensive levity of a profane jester. Nearly all parties without exception, act upon the principles stated and defended in the speech. A collusive use has indeed often been made, particularly of late years, of the religious element in the character of a Candidate. This is paraded in the foremost rank, and is set off with the most attractive colours, until many are induced to enlist under the idea that they will thereby promote the highest welfare of mankind. But the leaders of party are as thoroughly convinced as possible, that if the champion whom they usher in with so much ceremony had not been as deeply imbued with certain political opinions as he is said to be with rehgion, he would never have been invited to undertake the responsibilities of parliamentary life, even if his piety had been angelic. How much more manly and Christian-like is it, to adopt the plain method recommended in the speech, of avowing the real motives for pursuing a certain line of public conduct; — a course which is not only demanded by loyalty to the King of kings, but which can never be incompatible with the best service of our country. As an Elector, Dr. Smith did not consider himself such simply nor even chiefly, with a view to his own interests ; nor was the Candidate to whom he gave his support regarded as a sort of personal friend, whom he was to gratify at whatsoever cost to other parties. No one valued religion more highly than he did ; perhaps no one better understood its nature and claims : yet in his estimation, a religious Candidate ought no more to expect much less to demand the support of a religious Elector, simply on the ground of their common Faith — while he knows that far from representing the opinions or principles of that Elector, in the very matters for which he is a Bepreseri- 2c 2 388 VTEWS OP THE DUTY OF AN ELECTOR. [l887. tative at all, he represents the directly opposite principles and opinions — than a religious Barrister has. a right to a fee from a religious Plaintiff, that he may forthwith go into Court and plead the cause of the Defendant. These were Dr. Smith's convictions as really as his learning or piety was his ; and were only less frequently manifested, and might therefore have been less widely known, simply because the occasions for their active exercise were not of every day occurrence. Whenever they were called for by fitting circumstances, they were not only ready for service, but were actually used as under a high sense of duty, which could neither suffer them to remain in abeyance, on the one hand, nor place them at the mercy of mere party feeling, on the other. Indeed, if the same conscientiousness, the same knowledge of great principles, and the same regard for universal equity prevailed among Electors generally, all complaints respecting the partial limitation of the suffrage would before long pass away ; for such a Eepresentative Body would then be secured, as would concede rights of all kinds with a readiness quite equal to that of the community at large to appreciate and employ them : — and to advance faster than this, would be neither wise nor generous. While however all his leanings were in the direction of an ever-expanding liberty, he could not be impelled at any time into what might be deemed extreme views on that side. If no one was more prepared to hail every addition to the general sum of self-government which might be accorded to the growing maturity of the people — his intimate knowledge of history forbidding him to interpose a limit to future progress — yet as progress had been secured hitherto, not in the way in which a flood may sweep away obstacles, but rather as irri gation may be carried up through a country by a series of locks, each doing its part to raise the water higher and higher, and thus spreading fertility on every hand — so would he help on the national development. When quite a young man, indeed, he strove — not an uncommon thing with the young in many respects — to realize the future at once ; but as he grew older, he saw and felt the wisdom and love of that Divine arrange ment, by which the future is only to be arrived at through a diligent improvement of the present. And yet it must not be unnoticed, that the entire superstructure of his political prin ciples in mature life, rested on the foundation laid in his early .SIT. 63.] HIS LOYALTY. 389 years. He never seems to have had a quarrel with his early love of liberty, as though in his age he could repudiate the companion of his youth. Writing to his son at Sheffield at the close of 1835 — he says : — " In all things, so far as I can perceive or understand, the Spirit of True Eeform is to preserve and improve all that is good, never to change for the sake of changing; and while never compromising with badness, yet eradicating as a wise gardener does the weeds, taking care not to injure the garden. I would not break down the hedge, and bring in the wild boar of the wood to regulate the Eden. May " Almighty Mercy direct our govern ment and our country hi ' the good and right way.' " Dr. Smith's Loyalty was a most conspicuous feature of his character. To the House of Brunswick, as an embodiment both of a purer creed and a far more generous civil polity than distinguished the Steuart dynasty, he was ever ready to express more than his individual share of obligation for national benefits. In the prospect of the General Election of 1837, he thus wrote to his son at Sheffield : — " The struggle will be very severe ; but I trust that genuine Whig principles will decisively triumph. It is of unspeakable importance, as it will probably give a character to Her Majesty's entire reign. Never, not even in 1547, was there such a blessed prospect for the nation, and con sequently for the noblest interests of the whole race of man. How should we pray — without ceasing — for our lovely Sove reign, that the grace of Christ may be mighty in her and for her, that by the power of simple goodness she may drive away all the men of serpentine policy, who may try to wriggle them selves into her councils ; that she may carry out her Father's principles and the education which her admirable Mother has given her ; that she may be led to form the happiest marriage, and that her reign may be peaceful, glorious in every sense that will abide the trial of eternity, and (the reverse of that unhappy King of Israel who began so well and ended so ill, the awful apostate, though a son of David) growing in the noblest honours to extreme old age. By what perils is she surrounded — what difficult duties has she to perform — what consequences depend upon her wisdom and firmness. Then pray, and let all the people of God pray for the youthful Victoria, that she may be victrix mundi et mall" 390 letter to the bishop of Norwich. [isst. And during the progress of the election, he thus wrote from Belper to his son in London : — "If, as is but too probable, a larger number than we like shoald be returned of opponents to the Queen's noble and righteous inchnations, and tp the ministry of her spontaneous choice, the proper inference is, that we should be the more earnest in prayer for our country and our Sovereign, that her throne may be established in righteousness, and that in all respects the good cause may prosper, for we really want nothing but what is good and righteous. For our trial, and for a chastisement of our manifold national and more private sinfulness, which is indeed very great, these disappointments may be appointed. O that real Christians were more deeply affected with this consideration ! Labour, my dear son, all that you can to produce and deepen this impression." What copiousness, variety, and fervour distinguished his prayers for the Queen and the country, is top well known to his Church, and to very many other persons in the large circle of his friends, to need extended notice. Those who heard him for the first time on these occasions, could scarcely avoid feeling surprised at the great earnestness, and often the great length of his intercessions ; as though there was infused into them the warmth of feeling and the minuteness of detail, which are generally confined to the members of a man's own family. His, indeed, was just such patriotism as may be supposed to have characterized some of the best men of the best periods of the Jewish monarchy ; such, for example, as Zechariah manifested on behalf of that young king, of whom it is said, that " as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper ;" — a patriotism which has the Divine Word for its rule, and the Divine glory. for its chief end and impulse ; enlightened, just, and — by his great care to honour all men — expanding more and more into the God-like quality of being no " respecter of persons." The following passages from an imperfect copy of a Letter, in Dr. Smith's handwriting, will still further illustrate the features of his character here mentioned. It is dated Sept. 5th, 1837, and was addressed to the late Bishop of Norwich, who was also Clerk of the Closet to the Queen. The Writer's impression was, that in virtue of the latter office, Dr. Stanley might be able, without any impropriety, to bring under her Majesty's .ET. 63.] ON THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. 391 notice the particular subject to which the Letter refers. In this, however, Dr. Smith was mistaken, as the ' good ' bishop in the kindest manner assured him ; but the spirit in which the whole is written — tbe motives of the Writer — the blended courteous- ness and fidelity — and especially the sentiments expressed — render its insertion a duty to his memory : — " My Lord, — Recollecting the kind attention with which your Lordship favoured me two or three years ago, I have frequently felt the desire to offer my respectful congratulations on your accepting the episcopate (I do not call it elevation ;) and the assurance of my sincere prayers that the event may be productive of the greatest benefit to the cause of true religion, and to your own noblest honour and never-fading happiness. This will be the case if your Consecration Promises be faithfully regarded. Solemn and impressive indeed they are. ' Who is sufficient for these things ?' Not he who ' trusts his own heart,' and depends upon his own resolutions. The obligations of pastoral duty are unceasing and immensely great, but they are indispensable, both to the primary pastors of your splendid hierarchy, and to the shepherds of our little, and, as we believe, Scriptural flocks, which are but single congregations. What then is the weight of a diocese ! To whom can we look for grace and constancy but to the Supreme Shepherd (Heb. xiii. 20 ; 1 Pet. v. 4.) who invites our confidence, and whose grace is sufficient for us ? It was the apprehension of assuming and intruding that kept me back from earlier addressing your Lordship ; but I am now urged by a reason which I will unreservedly state. " Under the affectionate loyalty which fills millions of hearts towards our lovely young Sovereign, there is a circumstance which produces deep afflic tion in the minds of very very many who regard her Majesty with the warmest affection, and who in their closets and families daily pour out their hearts in prayer that the God of all grace may confer upon her the greatest possible blessings : and such as these are the Queen's best subjects. That afflicting and heart-wounding circumstance is, Her Majesty's having been induced to follow the custom of her Royal Ancestors in the Sunday's exhibitions on the Terrace of Her castle at Windsor. The accession of a Sovereign so beloved, and so inspiring us with the best hopes, furnishes a noble opportunity for abrogating that unhappy old custom. I am not one of those who entertain Judaical notions of the Sabbath, and transfer them without discrimination to the Christian Lord's day. My reasons for the sacred observance of the latter day, and the manner of such observance, are drawn from considerations rational and moral, and quite independent of the Hebrew positive law, though that involved the moral. In earnestly wishing that Her Majesty would command the absence of the military band, and would take her own Sunday walk in some delightful privacy of her magnifi cent domain, inviting to meditative piety, I am governed by such reason ings as the following. "i. The grand design of the weekly day of religious institutions is to bring the mind and the best susceptibilities of the heart, the most com pletely that can be under the influence of revealed truth and pure devo tion.— ii. Such is the constitution of our minds, that a whole day, recurring 392 LETTER TO HIS SON. [l838. regularly, is necessary to answer that design. If either before or after religious exercises, we open the mind to trains and associations of thought derived from worldly employments and recreations, and for which God has given us the ample time of six days, it is next to certain that the most valuable, pure, and sublime order of thought and feeling will be destroyed; — a loss infinitely to be deplored. — iii. Not only the morning service, hut that of the evening, is of religious obligation. — iv. Tranquil retirement after the public worship, is essential to reflection, self-scrutiny, and secret devotion, without which the sweetness and power of piety cannot be maintained. — v. The expectation of seeing the Queen on the Sunday afternoon tempts many, I fear, thousands from London and other parts to profane the whole day, travelling all the forenoon, and making jocund, often one may fear, intemperate parties in the evening. If Her Majesty knew those criminalities — (God ever avert such knowledge from her) — she would shudder at giving the slightest occasion for them., — vi. The example of Her Majesty and of her august Mother will be pleaded by countless multitudes of her subjects, for habitual disregard to the right observance of the Sunday. Fallen human nature readily draws examples to the worse application, but is dull and slow to apply them in the good direction. — vii. After devoutly reciting the fourth commandment, and then praying to the Omniscient and Most Holy One — ' Incline our hearts to keep this law,' — how tremendous it is to rush into the violation of it, — or to become the instrument of leading others to that violation. It is a melancholy and alarming reflection that neglect of the Lord's-day and its appropriate duties is in all ranks of society the usual commencement of a course which in myriads of instances terminates in dead formalism, or profligacy, or cold-hearted infidelity, and as the sure result a wicked life in this world, and eternal misery in the next. " Now, my Lord, I do most earnestly submit these considerations to your Christian judgment and fidelity, and I humbly implore that in the discharge of your high office near her Majesty's person, your Lordship would use your best influence to lead our beloved Sovereign's mind to those views and that course of practice, which you approve as a part of the holy and acceptable and perfect will of God.' " In the course of 1837, the Author of the Scripture Testi mony saw the third edition through the press ; of which he says in a prefatory note : — " The present contains an increase of new matter scattered throughout the work to the extent of about one hundred and fifty pages. But in consequence of a much more condensed mode of printing having been adopted, the work is brought into a smaller compass than in the former edition." The following Letter was sent to Sheffield, under date "Morpeth, August 18, 1838:— "My very dear Son, — How remarkable, that I should be writing to you from a region so far north of you, and in the exceedingly pleasing JET. 64.] VISIT TO MORPETH AND NEWCASTLE. 393 domesticity of a dear old townsman, friend, church-member under my pas torate, pupil, and brother-Pastor — the Rev. William Froggatt ! — I had long ago renounced the idea of attending this year's Meeting of the British Asso ciation, under an unreflecting and vague impression that its great distance was a determining objection, added to the diminution of motives occasioned hy my incapacity for learning by the ear, except in private intercourse. Yet I should not have allowed these objections to be decisive had the Meeting been at Norwich or Birmingham, Sheffield or Leeds. An invitation, how ever, from the Rev. Alexander Reid to preach at Newcastle for the Missionary Society, put a new element into the question ; and I saw it to be right, good, and prudent to go. Besides, I had not before adverted to the fact, that the geographical distance is in a sense quite altered by the new modes of travelling. By the steam-vessel, I have come to Newcastle with the best accommodation for little more than two-thirds of what it would have cost to go by land to Sheffield. After a very pleasant voyage, though an adverse wind produced much rolling and consequently the sickness of most, and about five hours of retardation, I arrived at Newcastle yesterday afternoon. As my engagements there do not begin till Monday, I gladly embraced the opportunity of coming here before breakfast this morning, to remain till Monday forenoon. " From July 3rd to the 25th, I had a most instructive and gratifying peregrination : a week at Mr. Addington's near Bristol ; another in Devon and Dorsetshire, making Axminster my head quarters, and extending west ward to Bere, and eastward to Portland Isle : thus comprehending Lyme (to which interesting town I went three times) Charmouth, Bridport, Dor chester, Meleombe Regis, and Weymouth. Then three days near Glaston bury, nearly four at Heytesbury, and parts of two at Bradford. I cannot now detail the many very gratifying and some singular adventures of my travelling. I hope to go, to tell them to you and dear Caroline, if our gracious Lord and Saviour will, — in about six weeks or two months. The time, as well as the hoped-for event on which it depends, is in His hand ; and could we wish it to he otherwise ?" The Bev. William Froggatt has kindly supphed the follow ing particulars, which will add much to the interest of the preceding Letter : — " I have a very vivid remembrance of Dr. Pye Smith's visit to Morpeth, in the month of August, 1838. An opportunity of serving the London Missionary Society, and the meeting of the British Association at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in that year, brought him into the north, and afforded me the honour and happiness of having him three days under my roof. He arrived from Newcastle early on Saturday morning, and after breakfast, I had the pleasure of conducting him to certain interesting geological points in our neighbourhood; taking with us, at his suggestion, a hammer. He was quite at home amidst the sandstone, and its related strata, of Northumber land, and made many instructive observations. We turned aside to survey the botany of the neighbourhood ; and I must confess that to me who had never before stood in any relation to him than that of an humble and 394 VISIT TO MORPETH AND NEWCASTLE. [l888. admiring learner, it did afford a somewhat peculiar gratification in being able to call his attention to two or three species of plants which he had not before seen. And never did pupil receive the most valued instructions of his Tutor with more humility and thankfulness than the venerated Doctor showed on that occasion. " The latter part of the day was spent in the house. Theology and geology, in one connection or another, were the principal topics of conversa tion ; and I refer to this for a characteristic incident which arose out of it. Mrs. Froggatt happening to observe that she sometimes found a difficulty in understanding books on geology, through want of some pictorial repre sentation of the order and distribution of the materials treated of, he in stantly asked for paper and water colours, and commenced the production of one, which he executed then and on the following Monday. The centre of the paper is occupied with a coloured representation of the succession of strata from the most recent to the most ancient ; and on the sides are their names, with various descriptive remarks, as to locality and organic remains, written in his remarkably neat and legible hand. It is highly creditable for the degree of artistic skill displayed in it ; and, as it was done on the spur of the moment, and without reference to, a single book, the minuteness and accuracy of its details strikingly exemplify his almost faultless memory, and his ready command over his various knowledge. We carefully preserve it, as an interesting memento of a visit which we had reason to regard as one of the most precious of the providential kindnesses granted to us by our God and Father. Mrs. F. had not seen Dr. Smith before, and was struck with his perfectly polite and gentlemanly manner, pervaded by that serene and placid piety, which no one privileged to be in his company could fail to notice. " On the Lord's-day, he preached morning and evening in my own chapel, and in the afternoon in the Presbyterian chapel. His fame as a theologian drew many of all denominations to hear him ; and he preached with great animation, and certainly with a most comprehensive and thorough mastery of the subjects which he discussed : but, through lack of the physical energy and ardour possessed by some preachers, the hearers were less impressed with his oratory, than with the amplitude of his know ledge. A circumstance, illustrative of his eminently Christian spirit, deserves to be mentioned in connection with these Sabbath engagements. Owing to my congregation having originated in a separation from the Presbyterian, and to some other matters arising out of the infirmities of even good men, there was not a good understanding between me and the Presbyterian minister. The conciliatory and loving nature of Dr. Smith was grieved by this, and longed to he the means of a reconciliation. He tried, but was unsuccessful. " Although he had preached thrice during the day ; yet, after taking a very slight and simple refreshment, he was quite ready for the pleasures of private intercourse, or rather for delighting us withjiie strain of affectionate and hallowed remark so habitual to him. Sitting, I on the one side of his chair, and Mrs. F. on the other, we had no difficulty in conversing with him; for he had great facility in the use of the ear-trumpet, which was instantly raised on the slightest intimation of a wish to speak to him. How kindly did he interest himself in all that related to my then ministerial JET. Si.] PAPER ON A FAILING IN SOME BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 395 position, while the benignant lustre beaming in his eye and countenance, as he uttered words of congratulation, or sympathy, or counsel, showed that he felt scarcely less pleasure than he was conferring. And when he had retired to the solitude of his bed-room, we could distinctly hear those fervid and piercing tones of supplication, which his deafness rendered inaudible to himself, but which had a singular power of arresting the attention of the casual and undesigned hearer. " In the afternoon of the following day, Dr. Smith was disappointed of a place in the only coach by which he could reach Newcastle in time for the evening sitting of the British Association. This secured me the enviable pleasure of driving him that distance in a friend's gig. As conversation was impracticable in these circumstances, he kindly suggested that he would take all the speaking, and at once resumed a subject which he had touched before. This was an account of a Geological excursion which he had been recently taking in some of the south-western counties of England. The particulars which he related were deeply interesting; and by those who share in my love and admiration for him — and who that knew him does not ? — I shall be pardoned for mentioning two or three. He had met, at one of the places which he visited, a former pupil there settled in the ministry, but belonging to a race of Students earlier than those of my own curriculum ; and he now dwelt with evident delight on his moral qualities, and the ripening of his attainments in various branches of knowledge. — In one of the quarries of the Isle of Portland, after surveying what was of geological interest there, he solicited the attention of the workmen while he read and expounded Scripture, and offered prayer ; and these rude artisans, little accustomed to such visits, reverently uncovered, and seemed favourably impressed. " Dr. Smith had much satisfaction in the society and hospitality of a gentleman eminent for his researches and labours in the Saurian department of fossils ; and in returning from Glastonbury, whither they had gone to see the remains of the celebrated Abbey there, this incident occurred. Being a short distance behind, he perceived that his companion unconsciously trod "on a serpent* lying in the path. On overtaking his friend, he mentioned the circumstance, which elicited the remark, (how grateful to Dr. Smith from a man of science !) that he should esteem himself happy, if he might trace in it any analogy of his belonging to the spiritual seed destined to bruise another serpent. " I should add, as illustrating another striking feature in Dr. Smith's character — his scrupulous regard to what he deemed pecuniary justice — that, on reaching Newcastle, he would insist on paying for the accommodation which the horse must have before its return." " The following Paper " — says Dr. Smith in a note prefixed at a later date to the manuscript — " was composed with the intention of being delivered at the Eighth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held at * " Dr. Smith was careful to mention to me both the genus and the species of the serpent." 396 PAPER ON A FAILING [l838. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in August, 1838. But upon a closer consideration, it appeared impossible to introduce it with pro priety at any of the assembhngs. To no one of the Sections* could it be supposed to .belong more than to another : and it would have been scarcely less compatible with the design of the General Meetings, which is to receive universal Beports, and particular abstracts of the labours of the respective Sec tions. The request was made by the gentleman who arranged the details of the Meeting, that the Paper should be published as a separate pamphlet ; but in consequence of the Writer's other occupations, it has lain without being opened until this day. " Dec. 12, 1840. " J. P. S." " On a failing characterizing some Books of Science, and greatly to be deplored. " It will not be deemed an intrusive, or in any way unsuitable occupying of the time of the British Association, to submit a few, and those very brief remarks, upon a topic which all must admit to be important, the character of collateral sentiment and the manner of expression, which ought to be adopted in compositions, whether ample dissertations or occasional papers, upon scientific subjects, in relation to the Author, Proprietor, and Supreme Agent of all nature. The attention which was given at the last Meeting of the Association, to the paper read by an honourable Senator upon a most important branch of Moral Statistics, besides other indications of mind and feeling, assure me that I am not unwarrantably trespassing upon the attention of my friends. " It cannot have escaped observation that many of the writings which have of late years been contributed to Science, especially Natural History and Geology, have been marked with the striking character of a design and study, effort and contrivance, so to discuss philosophical themes as to escape from any reference, or deduction, or association of thought whatever, that might lead the mind to a recognition of the All-Perfect Deity. It would be curious and amusing, were not the occasion too painfully serious, to observe in some Authors who have conferred great obligations upon Science, the studied evasions, the difficult management, the troublesome circumlocur tions, to which they resort, in order to escape some inference to which the course of their argument had directly led, but which would contain an indication of admiration, or gratitude, or homage in any way to the Being of infinite intelligence and greatness, and upon whom all inferior beings depend for their preservation, action, and happiness ; ' Who changed through all, and yet in all the same, Great in the earth, as in the a3thereal frame ; * " They are, Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Zoology, Botany, Medical Science, Mechanical Science, and Statistics." JET. 64.] IN SOME BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 397 Lives through all life, extends through all extent, Spreads undivided, operates unspent. To Him no high, no low ; no great, no small ; He fills, He bounds, connects, and equals all.' " I decline to adduce or allude to any instances of the irrational habit which has occasioned this paper ; for the object is not to disparage any production or to wound any mind ; but with all respectfulness and candour to invite the attention of reflecting men to an existing evil of great magni tude find most injurious effect ; and to engage those illustrious minds which form the glory of the philosophical world, to resolve upon a steady pursuit of a wise and temperate course of counteracting that evil. — May I be allowed to imagine a case ? Some weeks or years hence, a person under takes to write a narrative of the present Meeting of this Association, for the information of the millions through the civilized world who cannot have the happiness of beholding it. He takes commendable pains in collecting methodizing, and detailing his materials : he describes the congregated votaries of universal knowledge and unwearied research; the variety of objects to which they attach themselves; their different temperaments, inclinations, and talents ; the literary or mechanical productions of their genius and their skill; the exhibited specimens of natural objects, the models, apparatus, and other works of art, forming the splendid combination which has filled us with admiration and delight : he dilates upon the char acter and properties of each object ; he points out their beneficial uses, in a variety of astonishing applications to the service and comfort of human life ; and he fails not to observe that a vast amount of such materials, applications, and uses, are left without description, because space and time absolutely failed him. Yet with all this information, which the world would receive as exceedingly valuable, our supposed narrator takes especial care to avoid any mention of the prospective wisdom, the convenient provisions, the comprehensive arrangements, by which the Council, and the Secretaries, and the Committees of Sections, have anticipated our wants and wishes, and have secured so much enjoyment for every attendant upon this Anni versary ; and above all, he betrays a deeply anxious and uneasy solicitude to avoid all mention of our Noble President;* he drops not a single hint of our obligations to His Grace's deep interest in the Association and munificent care for our satisfaction and happiness : this supposed writer ,even bends himself to the meanness of exhausting language for the con trivance of forms and turns of speech — be they never so far-fetched and awkward, or even contemptibly absurd — that he may skulk out from gratifying the feelings of an upright heart, in paying the tribute of honour and thankfulness.— In what light should we regard such an historian ? " But — let us be guarded against misapprehension. I ask not that scientific compositions should deviate from their proper unity of object and simplicity of style. I plead not for bringing in the name and attributes of the Deity on every occasion that may even seem inviting ; nor for putting a theological clothing upon physical descriptions ; nor for drawing formal inferences or laying down doctrinal positions ; nor for interposing rhapsodi- * The Duke of Northumberland.— Ed. 398 PAPER ON A FAILING [1888. cal meditations or interjections ;— nor for anything in substance or form, that would partake of force or affectation. I ask for only what it requires some effort to avoid ; and that no restraint should be put upon the dictates of nature and just feeling : — that in the texture of thought and the style of expression, there should be such an affectionate readiness, when the subject demands or in reason invites, to speak frankly and gratefully of the Adorable God, as would be shown by a duteous child towards a wise and liberal parent, who had furnished him with all his means of knowledge and improvement. " If arguments be needful for the enforcing of this object, they may he found in such considerations as the following : — " 1. It would infuse into scientific disquisitions a character of elevation and dignity, promoting an habitual seriousness in the investigation of phenomena and reasoning upon them, and serving materially to counteract that inaccuracy in laying down facts, and that precipitate levity in arguing from premises, which sometimes degrade what is professed to be philoso phical inquiry. Such a habit of contemplating the manifestations of the Supreme wisdom, power, and goodness, would transfer into all physical inquiries a pure, penetrating, sagacious spirit, greatly favourable to the sifting of evidence and the discovery of truth ; and which would conduce much to fortify our minds against causes of error in collecting data, and of mistake in drawing conclusions. " 2. It would contribute in a very advantageous manner, to enlarge our views, and confirm our assurance of the connexion of all knowledge and the harmony of all truth. It brings a sublime pleasure to the mind to know even a little of the works of the Infinite One ; their indefinable antiquity, their overwhelming vastness and not less astonishing minuteness, their extent defying all our measures of space, their comprehension and variety, their mutual adaptations and influences, and their ever opening benefits. Yet the character of the diverging rays cannot be known, unless we not only compare them with each other, but trace them to their common centre : and if the mind be checked in its aspirings to that centre of all grandeur and beauty, this pleasure must be repressed and subdued to a frigid indifference, and we shall he abandoned to a low-minded and miserable inconsistency. The rational delight which the mind of man is capable of receiving from the studies of nature, can be obtained in its proper and pure essence only by ascending from the works to the Workman, from the marks of design to the Designer, from the ascertained laws of dependent existence to the Indepen dent Author of those laws, from the sensible world in which we are transient beholders to the contemplation of that into which we shall soon enter, and of which the importance to ourselves personally surpasses all our present power of comprehension. " 3. The cultivation of the habit which is so earnestly recommended, would bring to light in the courses of investigation, and frequently in unexpected disclosures of fact, many beautiful and instructive cases of analogy between the physical and the moral parts of the Divine dominion. The perception of such analogies is far from being an arbitrary assumption or a play of fancy : but it rests upon a principle which the closest and most powerful thinkers, in both ancient and modern times, have recognised as in itself so reasonable that it might be anticipated, while yet it is demon- JET. 64.] IN SOME BOOKS OF SCIENCE. 399 strated by instances without number : — the principle that all the works of God, however boundless in extent, and diversified in substance, form, and mode, have characters of affinity, as being universally and equally the offspring of the same Original Perfection, a perfection which in cludes in itself every kind of grandeur, beauty, and harmony. " 4. It would protect the pursuits of Science from much opprobrium, or at least suspicion ; which are attached to them in the opinion of many excellent persons, from no other cause than the spirit and tendency, scarcely less than atheistical, which have appeared in many philosophical treatises from the hand of men who have enjoyed high and not un deserved celebrity. " 5. Finally, if there were no other reason to be urged, there is one which is alone decisive ; the fact of an indispensable moral obligation derived from the infinite excellence of the Deity, and the greatness of our obligations to Him. It is upon the plainest grounds of reason and justice our DUTY to proceed in the way that has been now, humbly and respectfully but with the strongest conviction, recommended. That a moral principle, or a course of action, is right in itself, even if we could not immediately discern its beneficial results, is a consideration sufficient to determine the assent of every mind that is sound and upright. Lord Bacon warns us against what he calls ' the ambitious and dictatorial desire of knowledge,' as leading to a delusive notion of independence, but involv ing the mind in real misery by its departing from God : and he sets us the example of a fervent and pathetic prayer, that ' human attainments may be no prejudice to our Divine knowledge ; and that from the opening of new paths of sensible discovery, and a more abundant accession of infor mation upon the things of nature, our minds may not be thrown into any degree of infidelity and moral darkness.' Nov. Org. Scient. Prsef. p. 12, 13. " It will not be denied me to make another citation from the same illus trious man, if it were but, to protect us from evils of an opposite descrip tion. ' As for those who think that great attainments in science dispose the mind to atheism, and that to be unacquainted with second causes is a help to a pious veneration of the First, I would freely address them in the question of Job, Will ye speak wickedly for God ; and talk deceitfully for Sim ? It is perfectly plain, that the ordinary operations of God in nature, take place only through second causes. To pretend a different belief from this, is to set up a mere imposture under colour of doing honour to -the Deity ; and is nothing else than to offer to the Author of truth, the unclean sacrifice of falsehood. In the contrary extreme, it is a most certain fact and proved by abundant experience, that slight tastes in philosophy perhaps give a turn towards atheism, but the fuller draughts bring back to religion. On the mere threshold of philosophy, when second causes, being the closest to our sensible perceptions, work themselves into the mind; and it is attracted by them and rests satisfied in them ; it is then a too probable effect that the First Cause is forgotten. But if a man proceed farther, and consider the dependence, succession, and connexion of causes, and the operations of divine foresight, then he will readily believe that in the language of mythology, the first link in the chain of nature is fastened to the footstool of Jove. Let no man therefore, catching at the vain repute of 400 PAPER ON A FAILING [l88S. religious humility and submission, think that we can proceed too far either in the book of Scripture or in that of creation, in theology or in philosophy. Bather let us stir up every faculty, pressing on and pursuing with the noble aim of boundless proficiency, only guarding against using our know ledge as an incentive to pride, instead of pure benevolence, or for the pur pose of ostentation, instead of usefulness : and further, let us take care that we do not absurdly mix and confuse the distinct provinces of divinity and natural science.' De Augm. Scient. lib. i. p. 10, 11. " Though in reading this Paper I have sought the attention of the Association for a longer time than I intended, I am confident that this indulgence will be extended one moment longer, while I repeat the admirable words of Dr. Abercrombie, at the Edinburgh Meeting of this Association. " ' I am none of those who anticipate from the researches of physical science, anything adverse to the highest interests of man as a moral being. On the contrary, I am convinced that those who have made the greatest advances in true science, will be the first to acknowledge their own insignifi-: cance, when viewed in relation to that Incomprehensible One who guides the planet in its course, and maintains the complicated movements of ten thousand suns, and ten thousand systems in undeviating harmony. In fidelity and irreligion — are the offspring of ignorance united to presump"- tion ; and the boldest researches of physical science,-if conducted in the spirit of true philosophy, must lead us but to new discoveries of the power and wisdom and harmony and beauty, which pervade all the works of HIM who is eternal.' " * To the merely scientific or literary, the above Paper would wear the aspect of an attempt to introduce a homily in the wrong place. Among many who are regular in observing at set times the ceremonies of rehgion, it might be viewed with coldness and shyness, as requiring a larger measure of open and uniform Christian bearing than they are prepared for. A third class, with more of warmth than the preceding, would sin cerely approve of the design and perhaps of the matter of the document, but they would hesitate or perhaps even decline to commit themselves to it by any overt act, such as that of advising it to be read in public. Yet what really Christian mind can be insensible to its high merits ? It is plainly, forcibly, but without the slightest air of intrusiveness or vanity, stamped with the evidences of a piety which all good men must venerate: — genuine, ardent, enlightened; -deeply reverential towards, the Great Object of all true reverence, and at the same time respectful and conciliatory in its plead- * " Report of the Fourth Meeting of the British Association, held at Edinburgh; September, 1834 : p. xxiii." JET. 64.] LETTER ON RECEIVING A PRESENT OP WINE. 401 ings with man. Had the Paper been read by its Author, it could scarcely have failed to derive new claims on attention from a manner at once firm and modest. In his case, the absence of those glowing and impetuous appeals, by which the eloquence of some of our greatest Christian advocates has forced a way for unpalatable, or at least unseasonable truths, would have left him open to the full consciousness of the dehcacy of his position, against which he would have been sustained by no roughness of nature, by no airs of superiority, by no pedantry, but entirely by a humbling yet profound sense of obligation to God. — But probably the secret of that failing in some books of science, which he so deplored, and desired to prevent for the future, lay in many instances deeper than the language : — and where that was the case it might be very questionable how far the changes he recommended would be to, the advantage of such Authors, or even to their Eeaders. It cannot, however, be matter of surprise to any who knew him, that his self-diffidence kept him from tracing his own habit of referring to God as he has done in all his writings, to that constant, affectionate, and profound worship of the Deity which was his daily delight. — " Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." To a friend from whom he received a present of wine, intended to invigorate his health, Dr. Smith addressed the following Letter : — " My dear Sir, — It would be rude and ungrateful in me to decline receiv ing your very kind present, for which I return my respectful thanks ; and I assure you that if the time should ever arrive when the use of wine shall be prescribed to me, as a tonic or upon any other sound medical principle, I shall employ this Sherry of extraordinary excellence, with an especial recollection of your generosity. " But this your kindness lays me under a necessity of acknowledging that I have, for more than seven years, seen it my duty to abstain, not only from spirits, but from wine and malt liquors, for several reasons, among which are the following.— 1. It is not spirits only, but other inebriating beverages, which work such awful ruin upon all classes of the British popu lation, bringing down to temporal and eternal ruin countless thousands of our countrymen.— 2. To exhort those persons to a temperate and moderate partaking of these dangerous articles, is not adequate to answer the pur pose; for that limit would be "drawn with much imperfection and partiality, and even the men who attempted it would be perpetually and probably in danger of falling over the precipice.— 3. To bear a practical testimony 2d 402 schleusner's LEXICON. [l8S9. against this usage, is a duty which we owe to God and to our fellow- creatures. Our drinking wines, &c., though temperately, gives countenance to the intemperate, and encourages them in sin. See 1 Cor. viii. 13. — 4. Health and strength and length of life are more probably maintained by totally refraining from these substances, than by any using of them. Of course, where they are medicinally needful, they ought to be used ; bub as medicine, and not habitually. — 5. Many examples demonstrate that many persons are supported for labour, hard and long-continued, much better without than with stimulating drinks. — 6. The moderate use of them diminishes a sense of the evil and danger, and prepares the way for diseases and moral dangers, in a slow but insidious manner. — 7. We owe it to our country to labour to arrest the ruin, which intemperance is bringing upon its manufacturing and shipping interests. The destruction and loss of property from that cause, amounts to many millions sterling a year." Dr. Smith supplied two articles to the Eclectic Review during 1838 ; one on Dr. Edward Eobinson's Greek and English Lexicon for the New Testament, and the other on Professor Moses Stuart's Grammar. In the former, speaking of Schleusner's Lexicon, he says : — " We owe him much, and we should not forget our obligations. After about twenty years, during which the work met with extensive approba tion, and passed through four editions, it began to be perceived that this great performance was not perfect. It would have been a miracle if it had been so. . . . The complaints made were, that the work was too large and prolix, that it failed in precision as to the laying down of meanings, that in thatrespect it was sometimes erroneous, that the multiplication of meanings was extravagant, especially in the prepositions and other particles, and above all that there was not a philosophical spirit reigning through the entire process of deriving and classifying the significations. Wahl and Bretschneider, standing upon Schleusner's tower, have been more successful than he in those points which their more advantageous position enabled them to descry more clearly and explore more completely : yet we think it highly probable that impartial judgment, the fruit of longer experience, will bring back to Schleusner's Lexicon a considerable portion of the estimation which it seems to have lost. Apart from all other consider^ tions, the single circumstance of his frequently inserting at due length the passages cited from Philo, Josephus, the Greek and Latin classics, and other authors, instead of merely referring to them by figures which are extremely liable to be erroneous, confers upon his Lexicon a distinction of abiding honour."— Ec. Rev. 1838, voL L p. 272. In order to confine the ensuing chapter of this memoir to one subject, it may be permitted to introduce in this place two or three incidents belonging to the year 1839. On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the formation of the JET. 63.] PRESENTED WITH A SILVER SALVER. 403 Church at the Gravel Pit, the Pastor received from his affectionate People a valuable silver salver, as a memorial of the past, and with a view to perpetuate the memory of a long and happy union. The present was accompanied by a Letter signed by the four Deacons : and is dated March 6, 1839:— " Bev. and dear Sir, — It is with sincere pleasure we forward to you, on this day, the accompanying token of affection, refer ring you to the inscription for its design and intention.* — Though aware that the inclosure itself would be of little intrinsic value to you, the Church and Congregation were desirous of embodying this expression of their feelings in a form that might show to your children's children the esteem and regard in which you are held by those who have known and loved you longest and best. " Praying that every blessing may still attend you, we beg to subscribe ourselves, on behalf of the Church and Congregation, dear Sir, most truly and respectfully yours," &c. &c. A copy of Dr. Smith's reply has been furnished by Mr. Underhill, one of the Deacons : — "My dear Brethren, — This morning I was favoured with your Letter, accompanied by a magnificent present from the Church and Congregation which you represent. — Astonished indeed I was at such a token of affec tion. The delicate kindness breathed in the Letter, and the value of the present as a perpetual possession to my family, but still more as the ex pression of the generous sentiments entertained by the body of my Friends, are such as I cannot meet by any equivalent in language. The reflection overwhelms me when I think upon the privations and sorrows of many of the Redeemer's most faithful servants, ' of whom the world was not worthy.' It seems almost incredible that my providential lot should be such a con trast ; that I should be favoured with the Friends and Children whom the Lord has given me. I dare not hold forth to you, or to my own mind, any expectation of being able to show love and zeal corresponding to the degree of your kindness. My only refuge is the footstool of mercy. You will, I * The inscription was as follows: — " This tribute of affectionate regard was presented by the Church and Congregation assembling at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, Hackney, to the Rev. John Pye Smith, D.D., LL.D., on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the formation of the Church and his acceptance of the Pastoral office— As a memorial of their high esteem, and their unfeigned gratitude to Divine Providence for having so long continued to them his invaluable services." 2D 2 404 LETTER OP CONDOLENCE. [l839. am assured, unite with me in renewed supplication that, whatever days it may please our God to add to this memorable one, the thirty-fifth of our existence as a Church, they may be more distinguished than any part of my life has been, by devotedness to His service, love to the Sacred Community in connexion with which He has granted me such peculiar mercies, and a renewal of consecration more earnest and active to your highest welfare. : " That the richest blessings of the everlasting Covenant may rest upon you, and upon every family and every person in the Church and Congrega tion, so that our union upon earth may be exalted into the perfect holiness and happiness of the Redeemed in glory, is the prayer and hope of, " My dear Brethren, your grateful Pastor, John Pye Smith." Part of a Letter written this year to a Lady who had been early bereaved of her husband, will not be without its use to other mourners of that class, and indeed to Christian mourners generally : — " My dear Madam, . . . The torrent of affliction has flowed so deep and high, and has overwhelmed your soul, so that it is no wonder if you feel a prostration of mental power, a kind of inability to summon up and to apply the obvious considerations which your Heavenly Father has provided for your support and consolation. But perhaps there is danger of your yielding too much to this order of feelings. You may entertain a kind of mysterious delight in them, a disinclination to their being in the smallest degree abated, almost regarding it as an act of impiety to counteract them in any degree. There is a ' luxury of grief,' which the deeply afflicted are prone to indulge ; but which is really injurious to the Christian's own mind, and is sinful in the sight of God. He has endowed you with a mind of large capacity, happily cultivated, and — I am persuaded — governed by the grace and Spirit of Christ. He has seen it right that you should be exercised with this severe trial, in order to give you the opportunity of deeper self-acquaintance, of ' knowing what is in your heart,' of honouring HIM by a duteous approval of what He has done, of proving the strength of your devotedness to Him by those higher exercises of love which omit the creature and pass directly to the sovereign dominion of the Creator. HE needs not such a test for His own information. He fully knows, and from eternity has known, every thought and motion of your mind, and how you will direct your thoughts and affections towards TTitn under this heavy affliction. The object of the trial is to promote your own satisfaction, in the evidences of sanctification and the reception of consolation from Himself. By inspired authority, they are ' accounted happy who endure.' You are called forth to that discipline of endurance. It cannot but be unutterably painful : but in that very proportion its benefit is to be sought and humbly expected. Thus early in your course of life has the Lord laid this trial upon you j and this very circumstance confers a higher interest upon the dispensation. Those who partake of the saving benefits of the sufferings and righteousness of Christ, must also in some way taste the fellowship of his sorrows. In their humble measure, they must resemble Him in this respect — that ' He was made perfect through sufferings.' " JET. 65.] ADVICE TO ONE OP HIS SONS. 405 The chapter may close with a brief piece of advice given to one of his sons : — " Diligence, wise economy, and perti nacious (sit venia verbo — ) perseverance, in subserviency to spirituality of mind and prayer, — must be your character istics : and, be assured, we never forget you and those at your hearth," CHAPTEE XXIII. PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY— MOTIVES TO STUDY GEOLOGY — RELUCTANCE TO ENGAGE IN CONTROVERSY — RENEWED ATTENTION TO GEOLOGY — LEC TURE TO YOUNG MEN ON THE CREATION AND DELUGE — INCIPIENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOLOGY — LETTER TO THE REV. INGRAM COBBIN , — BECOMES A FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY — HIS SOLICITUDE FOR THE PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY — DEFENCE OF THE SCIENCE AND ITS PATRONS — PROGRESS OF INQUIRY — CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE OF 1839— ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY* — LETTER TO CHARLES LYELL, ESQ. — TESTIMONIES RESPECTING THE ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY ' — PERMA NENT VALUE OF THE WORK. It has been noticed in an early page, that at the commence ment of his office as a Tutor at Homerton, Dr. Smith in cluded among the duties which he avowed himself ready to undertake, a course of Lectures ' on the principal subjects of Natural History;' explaining that term as it was then understood of the Natural Sciences, among which he parti,: cularized Geology and Mineralogy. His Note Books, and the recollection of successive races of Students, bear ample testimony to his fidelity and zeal in keeping his engage-, ment. The course on mineralogy was at the outset more extended, and perhaps in the whole more complete than that on geology; chiefly because the latter had not then arrived at sufficient maturity and definiteness, to allow the Tutor to dwell upon it with that confidence which he seemed to need upon all subjects which called for discussion at his hands. As time went on, the wide fields which the new Science disclosed added greatly to the number of very able investi gators, the results of whose labours, and whose sagacious con- JET. 65.] PROGRESS OP GEOLOGY. 407 jectures, were given to the world in volumes replete with learn ing and eloquence ; imparting to Geology an attraction, we may indeed say a fascination, almost unprecedented. Few com paratively, even of the class of persons inclined towards scien tific pursuits, have strength of wing to follow in the upward track of the Astronomy of Newton and La Place ; few have the patience or the tact to verify for themselves the discoveries of the Modern Chemistry ; and to succeed in either of these departments there were expenses to be incurred for apparatus, an amount of mathematical training was needed, and much time would have to be consumed in the closet : — but Geology, in the popular estimation, could be carried on as a healthful exercise, or even as a mere recreation in the open air, with the fewest and plainest tools, and to a limited or a large extent according to every one's means and inclination. The Curious or the Indolent, as well as the Scientific, could pick up fossils. A Cabinet of any size, as well as a Museum, might be fur nished, and often with no other cost than that of a little per sonal toil,' from a new and seemingly inexhaustible storehouse which the Eternal One had long ago filled with His hidden riches, but which was only beginning to be unlocked. Each explorer, according to his particular taste, could gratify his love of Botany, Conchology, or Natural History; for the strata were stocked with treasures suited to each. To all this must be added, that laudable desire for becoming acquainted with the Science, which arose from its capabilities of application to the useful or profitable purposes of human life. There was also a peculiarity which drew general and particular attention more powerfully than any of the motives above-named. In the earher stages of its history, Geology appeared to stand in direct antagonism with the received views of the Mosaic account of the Creation and Deluge ; and as these views were deemed not only the fair but the only possible exponents of the1 Sacred Text, if they were disturbed or displaced, their basis (it was thought) must be endangered. This was seen and seized upon with no little avidity, by a very considerable number of persons, of widely different degrees of culture, but who agreed pretty closely in an aversion to the Scriptures : and as such an aversion rarely exists without drawing much of its nutriment and zeal from the passions, Geology was studied by some, and paraded by many, chiefly — as might be inferred 408 PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY. from the prominence of their sceptical inuendoes — with a view to undermine the authority of Bevelation. Such a state of things could not fail to attract the notice of very many, whose faith in the Bible was never likely to give way before the discoveries of any science, new or old. Of these there were at least two classes, — leaving out of sight altogether those who went on their Christian pilgrimage just as they would have done if Geology had never dawned upon the world. — There were some who would look at the alleged facts, perhaps with a keen but not with an impartial eye : — their vision could scarcely be said to be an ' open ' vision ; they had their theory of things, complete and rigid in all its parts, and the chief if not the sole object of interest was, the strenuous reduction of any new facts or principles to the in flexible standard of belief in their own minds. This, however, was a hazardous method of proceeding : for unless a man's faith in Bevelation were to be directly subservient to his inclination and will, he could never rest satisfied with an expo sition of Moses, founded either upon a voluntary ignoring of a very large part of the Creator's works, or upon a perversion of the facts far more misleading and delusive than silence itself. Hence, whatever strained attention this class of persons might pay to the phenomena of which the Sacred History is supposed to treat, real relief from the sceptical difficulties which had arisen, was clearly not to be expected in that quarter. What, then, could be anticipated from the other class ; con sisting as it did, of persons fewer in number than the former, and perhaps more select; — persons who looked at the New Science with the deepest interest ; who read its literature ; and who added to their reading the important aid of an, actual examination of strata, not picked for a specific object, but general and diversified for a wider and truer result ? In the minds of these men— behevers in Bevelation of the firmest kind — there was not, in truth, any theory of the earth which they were commissioned to estabUsh on the authority of their interpretation of the Divine Word. And if the theories which had been most widely received, or which had been longest held in honour, were disturbed or endangered by recent observa tion, these men set themselves all the more diligently- to. learn, to explore, to think— they were Students rather than Masters ffiT.65.] MOTIVES TO STUDY GEOLOGY. 409 — they sought, first, an intimate knowledge of the newly re vealed phenomena, and then they patiently compared these with the statements of the Bible, in the hope and with the conviction, that some time or other the harmony of the two would be both discovered and confessed. Dr. Smith held no inferior position among this latter class of persons. With' a "belief of the truth and Divine Origin of Bevelation, as widely and deeply founded as that perhaps of any man who ever lived, and with a very strong inclination, seconded by ample means, to discuss and refute the suggestions of ignorant or of learned scepticism, it is instructive to trace how wisely he kept from hastening into this field of conflict, and indeed from meddling with it at all, until he had made himself familiar with the varied, and at times apparently hetero geneous materials which craved examination and judgment. He saw that the Deistical and sceptical inferences which were at One time annexed to Geological facts with an air of great plausibility, and which almost overthrew the faith of some, could never be satisfactorily met by any method of evading or disguising the facts themselves ; the number of which speedily outgrew every attempt to stifle or pervert their testimony. But besides this regard for equity in argument, and for a cautious weighing of evidence, he had a strong personal in terest in these inquiries. His religious faith, out of which sprang 'his hopes, his purest joys, and his fine character, could not afford him the confidence it had done, if, as the condition of its safety, he must either avoid examining the Divine works, or look at them with a partial and prejudiced eye. And as he knew there could be no actual inconsistency between these and what the Bible really taught, we may be sure from all his previous life and labours, that he was no less devoutly than diligently " feeling after " the solution of the apparent incon sistency "if haply he might find it." But here, also, he showed that power of being silent, which was of great service to him and his design, when the time was fully come to avow his sentiments ; for by not speaking prematurely, he spoke at length conclusively. He was nevertheless reluctant at first to enter upon the questions which had arisen to set the Sacred History and Geology at variance ; for he was fully aware that what he had 410 RELUCTANCE TO ENGAGE IN CONTROVERSY. to say, would be very imperfectly understood by many persons whose esteem he highly valued, and that both his exposition and his motives would be liable to great misrepresentation and censure. He did not indeed want courage, but he wished to avoid controversy, and to avoid it especially with persons with whom the chief difficulty would be, their own absolute or very great ignorance of an important part of the inquiry. Yet this impediment turned out advantageously in the end. The fresh scope and motives and materials which were constantly arising to direct and modify his convictions ; the light which was con centrating not less on the critical than the scientific branch of the subject; the new suggestions wbich were coming under public notice, and which were being sifted and weighed, and then set aside or confirmed, — all bore a large share in pre paring the way for that theory which was in future to send forward Bevelation and the new science as companions and even coadjutors to each other : whereas until now, one party was much disconcerted at their seeming incapability of recon ciliation, while another was disposed to exult in the prospect!* that the schism could never be healed. Evidence will be forth coming to show, that as Dr. Smith did not too long delay the publication of his views, they were not, on the other hand, given to the world too soon ; their present complete form was not attained until within a very short time when their Author made them known to the world : — the fruit was not gathered before it was fully ripe. As the work to which this chapter relates consists of eight Lectures, which were first of all read in the year 1839 at the Library of the Congregational Body, in Blomfield-street, London, it may be well to premise — that the Congregational'1 Lecture was instituted in 1833-^-that every year a new Lecturer was appointed — that the subject for every course was suggested'1 by the Lecturer for the year — that every series of Lectures was sufficient to make an octavo volume — and that the printing of the whole formed a more important part of the primary design than the oral delivery. Apphcation appears to have been made to Dr. Smith to be the Lecturer in 1837, and the subject sub mitted by him for that occasion was, On the Divine Attributes. When, however, fears were expressed by his ever-watchful son, whose profession gave him the knowledge requisite to guide *T.,65.] RENEWED ATTENTION TO GEOLOGY. 411 his filial solicitude on questions of health, that Dr. Smith was npfc sufficiently recovered from his long illness in 1835, to warrant such an addition to his regular duties as the prepara- tioni dehvery,- and printing of a number of elaborate discourses would be sure to involve, he was induced, with the consent of all ,the parties concerned, to decline the proposal, and Dr. Bedford became the Lecturer that year in his stead. This relief proved of considerable service. His enfeebled powers, freed from extra pressure just at that time, began to rally; and the thought of undertaking the Congregational Lecture in any future year either did not occur, or it was left in that state of utter indefiniteness which the great uncertainty hanging over his life would naturally suggest, when his health and his advanced age were considered. To those however who knew him intimately it will not appear at all strange, that almost as soon as he felt himself at liberty from the cares and claims of the duty above mentioned, he found a salutary stimulus for both mind and body, in going along the track of the now rapidly increasing discoveries of Geology. And, indeed, little as it may be imagined by sceptical thinkers on the one hand, and by a certain class of estimable religious men on j;he other — the profound views which, from the outline of some of the lectures as addressed to his own congregation, Dr. Smith had been lately conversant with in relation to the Divine Attributes, led by a most natural sequence in his case to that augmented interest in the Creator's Works, which began more and more to show itself in Geological pursuits and inquiries. Knowing, moreover, as he so well knew, that in regard to the Attributes of the Deity there existed already a very large amount of the very best kind of instruction, he might justly allow himself to feel less desirous to go over that ground when once the subject had, as it were, passed out of his hands ; and as he knew also by a variety of signs, not a few of which were sinister, that on the other subject which novelty had made widely popular,' there was both a great scarcity of what he deemed the true principles of exposition, and no small amount of false and even pernicious teaching: — the latter was the subject on which — should time and strength be given — he would seize . every fitting opportunity to speak ; and in the meanwhile he was striving, unobserved, to complete the num ber, the order, andthe efficiency of his equipments. Nor was he 412 LECTURE TO YOUNG MEN [1889. on this occasion, entering upon what might seem to, be a really new line of things ; he was not — as some might apprehend or assert^going out of his way at all, but was simply fulfilling the great vocation of his hfe :- — which was, in every respect and to the utmost of his ability, to clear away difficulties, to ob viate objections, to produce confidence, veneration, and ,lpve» in regard to the whole of Divine Bevelation, ,, . s The earliest public expression of this renewed study , of Geology was a Lecture to Young Men, delivered at the Weigh House Chapel, the Eev. Thomas Binney's, November 21, 1837; on The Mosaic Account of the Creation and the, , Deluge, Illustrated by the Discoveries of Modern Science. A copy of what is called a new edition of this Lecture, shows it to have had a considerable circulation, in the cheap form in, which jt was printed. From the text, Gen. i. 1, the Author, took occasion to repeat his views of very long standing, and not his only, respecting the meaning of these singularly striking initial words of the Divine Book : — " The passage which has been read I regard as a grand universal assertion, the first axiom of natural and religious knowledge. 'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.' But it does not tell, us when that beginning was. It assures us that at a point, in, duration past, which we cannot ascertain ; at that point in infinite duration which to the wisdom of the great God seemed best, He was pleased to give existence to a dependent i world; unfolding the majesty of His attributes, and creating intelligent beings capable of contemplating and enjoying them." — Lect., pp. 14, 15. This .position is briefly illustrated by arguments, drawn from scientific sources, and also from the condition of the first human pair. The six days of the following verses,! are treated as natural days of about twenty-four hours in length ; and intimations are given, respecting the antiquity of the strata of the earth's crust with their embedded fossils, tending to the conclusion that hfe and death, in connection with our globe, must have been pre-Adamitic. Here, however, the coincidence between this Lecture, in November, 1837, and the course delivered at the Congrega tional Library in March, 1839, is at an end. At the earlier date, Dr. Smith held the then widely prevailing ., opinion that the chaos mentioned Gen. i. 2, was universal at the period JET. 65.] ON THE CREATION AND DELUGE. 413 immediately antecedent to the six days: — "so that, we have here presented to us in very expressive terms this globe in the condition of ruin and desolation from an anterior state."; — Led. p. 16. Again also on Gen. i. 14 — 16: — "The true meaning, I conceive, is this, that now the atmosphere was so far cleared, that on the side of the earth next to the sun, had there been a human beholder, it would have been seen shining brightly in the blue sky ; and in the opposite hemi sphere, the moon and the other heavenly bodies would have been penetrating the darkness," p. 18. But perhaps the most remarkable disparity in the Author's views is in relation to the Noachian Deluge. In the Lecture, indeed, he states not only the common arguments in favour of the universality of that catastrophe, but also some which had been recently adduced oh the other side ; especially by Dr. Buckland and Professor Sedgwick, whose avowal of a change of opinion in regard to important points of the question, Dr. Smith commends both as highly honourable to those gentlemen, and as entitling the subject itself to renewed inquiry. Yet his own inclination at the close of 1837 was plainly in favour of the popular belief: — " The record of the universal deluge needs none of these distant, precarious, and uncertain arguments : it stands upon impregnable evidence ; — the evidence of Sacred History, the earliest history in the world, where it is stated in the most clear and satisfactory manner; and it is explicitly confirmed by our Blessed Lord and His Apostles," p. 25. This contrast between the Author's views at two periods not widely remote from each other, may be turned to his disadvan tage : — only, however, by those who did not know the man, or who are strangers to the strong light poured upon the question by modern researches. On a fair estimate, great credit is due to him for not yielding early and hastily to impressions con trary to those which had the sanction of ages in their favour, when as yet discovery was either asleep, or purblind, and therefore not to be trusted. And is he entitled to less credit for holding his long cherished opinions on these points, in a state of subordination to whatsoever principles or facts might demand credence, as the legitimate issue of an awakened zeal and diligence in examining the works of the Creator ? Indeed, just in proportion to his capacity, both of materials and judg ment, for weighing all the evidence — in support of the early 414 INCIPIENT CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOLOGY. [l889. belief on the one hand, and of the modern views on the other, — is the value to be attached to his final decision. In an important sense, therefore, that decision would have been given too early — excepting by way of instalment — had it not been delayed until the time, or within a little of the time, when his course of the Congregational Lecture was delivered. The providential interruption of his purpose early in 1837, seems like an essential part of his training for the work to be done by him in 1839, and not before. Through the medium of the Congregational Magazine, for the same month in which Dr. Smith addressed young men on the Creation and Deluge, " a beginner in Geological researches " put the inquiry : — " Could there be death by violent and pain ful means, before the entrance of sin had deranged the order of a holy world, or had given occasion for bringing into action the instruments of violent death ? Comp. Isai. xi. 6 — 9." A reply appeared the next month, consisting of a Letter of eleven pages bearing the well-known initials of the Tutor at Homerton.* A very considerable amount of evidence is adduced to shovy the extinction of countless myriads of organized beings, whose remains occupy positions in the earth's crust which cannot be fairly accounted for except on the principle of their having lived, — species after species, and even genus after genus, — on what must have been once a succession of surfaces, but which is now a series of strata, more or less deeply entombed. And the Author shows, how the admission of the above facts may not only be reconciled with, so as to give new and valuable light to what he deems the import of the threatened penalty of death upon the first human pair; but how also some other parts of Scripture, commonly supposed to militate against this assumption, may be cited in its favour. — Whether this Letter did or did not satisfy the Inquirer whose question had occasioned Dr. Smith to write it, or how far it produced conviction among the readers of the Magazine generally, can not be ascertained; but no attempt to refute its positions ever appeared in the same publication. The large and com pact array of facts could not be set aside, for they were open to * This was subsequently reprinted, as the first of the Supplementary Notes, in every edition of the Scrip, and Geol. — Ed. JET. 65.J LETTER TO REV. INGRAM COBBIN. 415 the observation of all who were not disinclined to look at them, nor were the inferences fairly assailable except through the medium of the facts, or by an attempt to reason independently of an important part of the subject of inquiry: and both the facts and the inferences — instead of being really out of harmony with Divine Bevelation — were shown to impart such new force and beauty -to many passages as could not fail to awaken fresh feelings of admiration, delight, and gratitude in the devout mind. Viewed in relation to their Author, the Lecture to Young Men in November and the Letter in the Cong. Mag. in the following month, may be considered as marking the turning point in the history — not indeed of his convictions, but — of his readiness and purpose of heart to avow his convictions, respect ing what may be called the new method of interpreting the early portion of the Mosaic records. He had now spoken out plainly ; and time and circumstances favouring, there could be no doubt that sooner or later he would speak again. Here it is right to insert a Letter, which Dr. Smith wrote in reply to one from the late Bev. Ingram Cobbin, both as a link in the chain of incidents, and as containing some personal remi niscences, which are so seldom to be found in his communica tions, printed or in manuscript : — " Homerton, Nov. 15, 1837. " My dear Sir, — At the time of receiving your Letter, I had either begun or was proposing a reply to a question at page 710 of the last Congregational Magazine. You thus impressed me with the propriety of offering some sug gestions on the mode of beginning and prosecuting the study of Geology, and I thought that whatever I could say upon that subject would be suitable for my paper ; especially as similar inquiries have been addressed to me by others. Permit me then to refer you to that paper. I have sent it to the Editor, and hope it will be in the next number. '¦ Admission to the Geological Society is effected by a process which affords a striking example of the workings of good sense in relation to secular affairs, so as to produce a plan which has a perfect analogy to our mode of admitting church members. — 1. Some evidence of qualification from previous studies, or labours in the field. — 2. The recommendation of two or more Fellows of the Society.— 3. Proposal at a meeting ;— Then the name of the candidate and those of his recommenders, are hung up in an appropriate room, till the second or third following meeting of the society.— 4. Election by ballot.— 5. If elected, the candidate attends at the ensuing meeting, signs a Declaration that he will do all he can to promote the objects of the Society, pays the Admission Fee (£6. 6s.) and gives a guarantee for the 416 BECOMES A FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [l839. annual payment of £3. 3s. on the first of every January. If a candidate he admitted at any time before November, there is an addition to the admission fee, at the rate of 10s. 6^. for every two-month period. — Then the President gives him the right hand of Fellowship, with a little form of speech. " I applied myself to Mineralogy, and in part to Geology, more than thirty- five years ago, and then collected above 300 specimens. At the formation of the Society I was invited to join it; — circumstances put it then out of my power, and the being appointed in 1805 Divinity Tutor in this College drew me away from the pursuits of science, and absorbed almost all my time for many years. Subsequently I began to retrace my steps, particularly after the formation of the ' British Association ' in 1831. After joining that Body in 1833 or 4, I had much occasion to regret the having declined the invita tion to the Geological Society, 31 or 32 years ago ; — I sought admittance, and was received., — -I should have said that in fact before I was admitted, I found I could not do without the Transactions, and the Proceedings of the Society, which therefore cost me about eighteen guineas. I remain," &c. &c. Dr. Smith became a Fellow of the Geological Society in November, 1836 : and, notwithstanding his advanced age, his then enfeebled health, his deafness, the distance of his resi dence from the Society's rooms, and the lateness of the hour at which the Meetings were held, he was a very frequent attendant. One or more of the Homerton Students generally went with him on these occasions ; partly for the sake of their,, company, partly that they might supply in some degree the loss which he sustained by a want of power to hear;* but also to place them in a position of all others the most favourable for implanting and cherishing in their minds an enlightened love of science. In these respects, he was ever like a kind-hearted. parent, who, when there is anything valuable to be learned, puts his son where he may see and hear to the best advantage. One of the earliest results of Dr. Smith's membership, was the knowledge which he obtained of several of the prominent Geologists of the day. He had learned much of them through their works, and he had a high estimate of the probity and * On one occasion when Mr. Thomas Priestley, for many years the Head Master of Mill Hill Grammar School, attended a meeting of the Geological Society, Dr. Smith saw him come in ; and taking him aside, he entered into an elaborate statement of .his reasons for being present at a Lecture which his deafness would prevent him from hearing. ' He feared it might be thought ostentatious and hypocritical ; but there were the diagrams, and a long stick was used in explaining them — this he could follow with his eye ; and then his son, Ebenezer, kindly provided for his sleeping at Billiter Square ; and the next morning at ten o'clock, he could come to the Society's Booms, where the Lecturer of the previous evening had kindly left his manuscript for his (Dr. Smith's) perusal.' — Ed. JET. 65.] HIS DEFENCE OF THE SCIENCE AND ITS PATRONS. 417 trustworthiness of the atithors ; but when to this was added the advantage of a personal acquaintance ; when he saw how frank they were in their communications with one another ; how careful as well as ardent in the pursuit of truth ; how im- •pwtial in the investigation and conscientious in the detail of facts, his warmest admiration was called forth. He identified himself fully with the interests of the Science, and with its foremost defenders and advocates. This new position, there fore, does much to explain his movements for some con siderable time after the. date when he became a member of the Geological Society. For as, in regard to very many, persons, Geology might be said, just at that stage to be clogged with difficulties which the mere Geologist could never overcome ; which, in truth, some would not deign to look at, and others could not, with any hope of succeeding : — it was scarcely to be expected that the Science should find full credit among Christians, or that Bevelation could be disentangled from the objections bf Philosophers, unless the alleged difficulties were fairly met, calmly discussed, and obviated upon principles in which a majority of competent judges of various classes would be prepared to acquiesce. Now Dr. Sanith, perceiving this to be the case, and appreciating the greatness of the emergency, placed his varied attainments as a Christian and a Scholar, in direct subserviency to that part of the subject which at that time stood in need of the most searching exami nation. " Here it may not be superfluous to suggest, that if — on the one hand-^-faith in the Saered Scriptures is constantly exerting a restraining influence on the too rapid generalizations of scientific discovery ; and thus induces a more patient, exact, and penetrating course of research than would be secured among a nation of atheists; so,. — on the other — no sooner has Science verified and established her positions, than she sends the Christian to his Bible with new motives and means to bear upon its language. But besides the interest which Dr. Smith felt in the relations of Geology to Bevelation, he could not be contented without trying to stem that torrent of accusation and censure, which at one period set in very freely against a number of estimable persons whose chief fault was — that they were unable to shut their eyes against innumerable facts, or to compel their 2?. 418 HIS DEFENCE OF THE SCIENCE AND ITS PATRONS. [l839. judgment to give a verdict which in their conscience they did not believe. Towards the close of 1838, he was already making preparations to defend the Science and its chief Patrons from the complaints and invectives of very ill-informed or prejudiced opponents. The Declaration which Dr. Smith had signed on becoming a Member of the Geological Society, that he would do all he could to advance the objects of that Insti tution, not only acted powerfully on a mind hke his to secure his personal attendance at the meetings, but also stimulated his subsequent efforts with his pen and by the press, to vindicate the Fellows and their Pursuits before the public. Hence the following clause of a Letter from Professor John Phillips, dated " York, 20 October, 1838 :— I look with the greatest anxiety for the appearance of a considerate Essay on the Theological part of the argument, and your eminent position and enlarged views will give to your remarks on this subject a force not in the least inferior to that due to Sedgwick or Conybeare. If therefore we can aid you in any respect, it is our duty, as lovers of Geology and followers of Christ, to exert ourselves to the utmost." Acting with as little delay as possible on the offer thus made, in December, 1838, and January, 1839, Dr. Smith wrote a very long Letter on a sheet of extra-size folio paper, laying down the plan, the principles, the leading facts and arguments of a " projected pamphlet, or possibly small book," the title of which was to. be this — " perhaps — A Vindication of Geology and Geologists." This Letter had a broad margin, purposely left for the reception of any remarks which Professor Phillips might think it desirable to make, in order to correct, to confirm, or in any way to improve the value of the adjoining text, and with these remarks, the Letter came back to Homerton. At a somewhat later date, Professor Sedgwick also supphed important suggestions for Dr. Smith's use. — Is it needful to say that while a plan like this was singularly to the credit of that " meekness of wisdom," which is not perhaps often found in a Tutor in the sixty -fifth year of his age, it was not less to the advantage of the object the writer had at heart; for by securing the truth of his data, his arguments and appeals rested upon a firm foundation. Ad mirably does he close his Letter thus : — " Our cause is one, impregnable and immortal, the cause of GOD and truth." JET. 65.] PROGRESS OF INQUIRY. 4L9 Although the time was now near at hand when the Congre gational Lecture was delivered, there is no reason to believe that Dr. Smith was at this period anticipating such a duty, or even that he would be permitted to plead the claims of Geology, should he be asked to undertake the course for 1839. The pamphlet or small book of which he speaks in the Letter to Professor Phillips, would probably have entirely superseded the Lectures on Scripture and Geology : for though the two works might have kept clear of one another in some points, they must have interfered too closely at many others, to render it expedient for the same author to discuss the two subjects on occasions so little remote from each other. But the " Vindi cation of Geology and Geologists against the misapprehension of some Becent Authors," would have been wanting in that grand recommendation of the volume actually published : — the subordinating of all the facts and principles of the Science to an equitable method of explaining the original text of the Holy Scriptures. The ground in the one case would have been local, limited, and in a sense narrow and partial ; while in the other, it is high and wide and sacred : — in the one, as the chief prominence would have been assigned to Geology, the chief interest would be confined to Geologists ; but an innu merable succession of persons who feel, and will continue to feel, the importance of maintaining the truth of Bevelation, have an interest — direct or indirect — in a work designed to show the harmony between Scripture and the new Science. In the latter work, moreover, not only has the Geologist his share iii common with all men, but from the peculiar character of his studies, he has the deepest concern in the solution of the difficulties, and may in every way reap the richest benefit from the manner in which this has been done, as well as from the result itself. Yet so obviously was Dr. Smith being led on step by step, without being aware long' before of the final direction of his pursuits, that at the close of 1838 some solicitude was expressed by his affectionate children, lest his contemplated vindication of Geology should not only be inadequate for the purpose, but should tend to disturb his just influence and reputation as an able expositor of the great truths of Christianity. To this his reply was : — " I regard it as a service to religion, and that of high importance." In 2e2 420 CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE OF 1839. [l839. January, 1839, he gave a few familiar Lectures on the subject in the vestry of his Chapel. These in the brevity of their preparation as well as their delivery, might be truly called extempore. Still, they were adding to his familiarity with: the various branches of the question ; and served to keep 'his attention more than ever fixed on the Scriptural difficulties. No evidence is at hand to account for the delay and the non- publication of the projected pamphlet or small book; but it is not improbable that the Author was coming to perceive with rapidly increasing distinctness, that the very best and surest Vindication of Geology and Geologists must be found, if found at all, in showing the harmony of Bevelation with modern discovery. All else would be but little better than an apology, which could not have given entire satisfaction to a very large class of upright and inquiring minds ;— to say nothing of the multitude. It was not until February, 1839, that the proposal was tnade to Dr. Smith, to undertake the Congregational Lecture for the year; and, as his thoughts had been long engrossed by the subject to which this chapter of his hfe refers, he was led to suggest for the approval of the Committee of the Lecture a course, on Revelation and Geology, or the Relations between" the Holy Scriptures and some parts of Geological Science. This suggestion having been accepted, from this date n6 more is heard of the " Vindication," &c. &c. for it was, in truth, ren dered unnecessary by the new work. When the Lectures began, the Author's papers were far from being so complete in their arrangement as he desired ; nor is this surprising,' for the course was not determined upon, perhaps not even thought 'of, until February, and in the following month — March 12th— it was commenced, at the rate of two lectures a week for four successive weeks. "Well do I remember"— says one or Lis family — "how hardly he strove to gain a more Suitable preparation, and. that the brief space of a month, with attention to all other duties, was quite insufficient." And, indeed, on comparing the list of topics of each lecture, published by way of prospectus in the Congregational Magazine, with the contents of each as given subsequently in the printed volume, considerable changes are seen to have taken place between the time when the course was announced -and their dehvery. JET. 65.J CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE OF 1839. 421 i. No small responsibility attached to his position on this occasion. His fertile memory would suggest a comparison, in so far at least as the object was concerned, between the Boyle Lecture and his own. And as none of his predecessors at 'the Congregational Library had entered at any length upon questions connected with Natural Theology, he would be the mpre anxious to take the initiative in such a way as neither to discredit the subject itself nor the Body to which he belonged. But the branch of natural theology on which he was about to d.well, was in an important sense new ; emphatically might this be said of the method in which he was to treat it. Nor was it at all popular, speaking generally, in his circle of connec tions. A failure, therefore, must have been exceedingly dis tressing to a heart like his ; not, indeed, on the narrow ground of personal, or even professional considerations — though neither ought to be overlooked — but for the sake of the truth of Science on the one hand, and the Divine authority of Bevelation on the other. Nay, more ; so prone are we to look for unity in the character and achievements of public men, that Dr. Smith might justly have anticipated some falling off in his usefulness as a Tutor, and in the value attached to his works as an Author, had he failed to sustain the credit of his former labours; — while success here, would extend the weight of his influence in other directions. He was about also to, make the attempt, in the most conspicuous manner known in the influential Denomination of which he had been all his life an attached member ; no higher standing place could have been found in his country for one of his beliefs: and then, finally, as the Lectures were to be printed, every fact, every principle, every exposition, every shade of sentiment and turn of expres sion, would eome under the widest and not always the kindest scrutiny, through the medium of the press. This is said, not as.; though there were any difference between his eourse in .1,839, and that of any of his coadjutors in earlier or later years, in -the mere matter of prominence and publication ; — but the reference is simply to the bearing of these upon the novelty, and it may be added the dislike, attaching — as he was well .aware— to the whole or nearly the whole of his leading prin ciples. In this particular, not an insignificant one^ he had as a Lecturer to occupy a place by himself. 422 ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' [l889. Taking up the printed volume, it will not be necessary to* do more" here than to mention its characteristic distinctions, comprised in the third and fourth Lectures, containing a " Becital of opinions which are by many assumed to be asserted or implied in the Scriptures, but which are contrary to geological doctrines." Dr. Smith enumerates the follow ing : — "I. The recent creation of the world. II. A previous universal chaos over the earth. III. The creation- of; the heavenly bodies after that of the earth. IV. The derivation of all vegetables and animals from one centre of creation. V. That the inferior animals were not subject to death till the fall of man. VI. Concerning the Deluge." The Eeader, not otherwise familiar with the work, will understand that in every one of these six questions, the Author deemed the commonly received opinions incapable of being sustained by satisfactory evidence; and the design of these Lectures is to show in the several cases proof to the contrary. In regard to some of the number, objections were entertained by learned and pious men from an early period in the Christian sera down to modern times ; and even among Dr. Smith's own friends, there were some who had little: if any difficulty in departing from the general belief , in one, two,i or more of the particulars : but scarcely any were at that time prepared to admit his views respecting the whole ; and; yet the several links, how slowly soever formed into the chain of his positions, possess such an amazing strength and power of concatenation, that first to force, and then to hold them fairly asunder, seems all but impossible. Astronomy having grown up into wonderful stability and amplitude, was in every sense fitted to be the grand pioneer -to the discoveries which have followed. Natural History, by becoming more and more conversant with the species and genera, the habitat: and. limits of vegetables and animals, suggested the difficulty of confining the creation of all these to one centre. By an easy transition from the productions on the surface of the earth to: those lying immediately beneath, a way was opehed to deeper, and still deeper recesses. The more obvious and easily reached, quick ened to greater labour and cost in the work of inquiry, A hnjt that offered itself as by accident^ might become a theory, a principle, a great explanatory law — provided it could /be carried far enough1 to be fully verified. — Hence, by a process JET. 68.] ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' 423 not calling for detail here, proof upon proof arose to confirm the impression — that the earth refused to supply the traces, either of a single Deluge, or next of a single chaos, which had covered the entire surface of the globe at one and the same cera ; while, on the other hand, the traces of death, prior even to the hfe of man, were thought to be innumerable. Now (although, ~as we have seen, Dr. Smith was not prepared to dissent from the general impression concerning some of the six particulars, even at the period when he had relinquished others ; yet in truth, precisely the same kind of evidence — the evidence of geological facts — and the same class of authorities, namely, men of integrity and research who had examined the facts with the utmost care — constrained him before long to adopt all, if he did any, of the new positions laid down in these Lectures, in opposition to the prevailing belief. This quality of completeness constitutes the rare merit of the volume : for while great penetration was evinced in clearly perceiving the whole exigency of the case, there was also high moral courage in meeting that exigency without hesitation or reserve ; and how, indeed, can one part be taken and another left, without betraying a disposition to violate requirements in one direction, which in another are not only acquiesced in but vindicated ? — a method which, instead of upholding the harmony between Bevelation and Science, seems in turn to subject both to mutilation and injury. Geology having raised objections — or rather having accumu lated facts— against the above six points, of the common belief respecting the Creation and Deluge, the learned Lecturer, who admitted the integrity of the objections on the authority of the facts, had next to show how the new opinions were to be reconciled with the Scriptures. He begins by enumerating four different methods to set aside the alleged contradictions between the observed phenomena and the Bible: — "I. The denial of any difficulty, by shutting the eyes to the evidence of geological facts, and representing the inquiry as impious : — II. Sacrificing the Mosaic records as unintelligible, or as being the language of mythic poetry: — III. Begarding the Mosaic six days as designed to represent, indefinite periods: — IV- Attributing stratification and other geological phenomena to the interval between the Adamic creation and the Deluge, 424 'SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' and the action of the Diluvial waters." Each of these is examined in order, and is shown to be either untenable, in itself, or inadmissible in principle. Against the first, there is the practical objection that inquiry cannot be prevented, and the moral and rational one, that it ought not. The second, rather evades the text than explains it; or if exposition is attempted, the superstructure can never be solid on a myth — which is no better than a mist — for a' foundation., To, make, according to the third, the six days io represent periods, of vast but undefined duration, seems like an attempt to carry back the historical details of the creation to a point in the infinite past, beyond all calculation remote from the subsequent portions ofthe Mosaic narrative. The axiom in the first verse appears to stand quite apart from the iiest, in a sort of isolated simplicity and majesty; as though it proclaimed fhej only communicable fact which mortals could either need or receive from that boundless period of duration which was anterior to the birth of the human race. With the second and following verses, history begins ; but that could scarcely be the case, if these verses relate to events which transpired at an immea surable distance, prior to the time when man was; created. The fourth and last method of accounting for geological phamomena, is never likely to find support, except from persons who either know nothing of them, or know them in a very partial form. After having thus cleared the way, the first part of the seventh Lecture is devoted to an exposition of the Author's views on — the Divine authority of Bevelation— the principles to be applied to ascertain the sense of Scripture — the duty of carefully using those, principles— the forms of expression to convey to man a knowledge of the Nature, the Perfections, and the Works of Jehovah— the condescension and benefit of such forms. In the second part ,pf the Lecture, the principles established in the first are applied to the narrative concerning the creation. , Here, as before, Gen. i. 1, is shown to be an independent position, laid down as the basis of all the Divine communications to mankind, whether Patriarchal, Judaic, or Christian. Then the subsequent description is said, to refer " to a limited region of the earth ; " — the chaos spoken of was not universal ; nor was the act of creative power at that period, exerted over the whole earth at once, but was confined Ml. 65.] ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' 425 within those limits of which the newly-formed human pair might be said to be the centre. All this is consistent with what is suggested by innumerable phamomena — including the evidence of the wide prevalence of death before the fall of man. In like manner, the Deluge is " shown to have been universal as to the extent of the human population, but not geographi cally universal." The Lecture concludes with a "vindication of the principle, and its applications, as irrefutable, and absolutely necessary for maintaining the honour ofthe word of God." ¦ According to this plan of exegesis, there is not only a com plete unity in the several parts, viewed in their relation both to one another, and to the human »race as the central objects of interest in the narrative, but the unity of the whole with the prevailing design and scope of the Sacred Scriptures is equally apparent. The inspired Writer goes into no details whatever beyond the range of circumstances, in which the newly-formed rational creature is personally concerned. This singular abstinence may be justly thought to evince the inter position of a Divine hand; for if only human invention or sagacity had been here, the occasion for launching out into wide and perhaps extravagant description would have proved too strong to be resisted. The very attempt, therefore, to bring back the exposition of the narrative, within almost the narrowest limits compatible with a full view of the creation and early history of the human race, is so much in accordance with the grand design of Bevelation, and with the development of that design in the Scriptures as a whole, as to afford very strong presumptive evidence in its favour. The last Lecture in the volume, is a deeply interesting one on grounds peculiar to itself. It is distinguished by the Author's profound reverence for the perfections, the works, and the word of Jehovah ; by fervent desires for the good of mankind ; and especially by earnest appeals to men of science to consider the claims of religion. There is probably no one of Dr. Smith's printed discourses, nor any lengthened portion of his larger works, marked by a style so glowing, and sus tained at such a high pitch of eloquence as this. He shows that there is an intimate relation between all true Science and the great discoveries made by Christianity : — that the latter is in reality the Divinely appointed sequel, the crown, and glory of those very works which afford a wide and diversified field of 426 ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY. research, instruction, and pleasure to the most profound and penetrating minds. "Astronomers, geologists, and micro scopic observers have peculiar facilities for acquiring the most sublime conceptions of the Deity, from their deep, extensive, and accurate acquaintance with His works. Can they gaze at the wondrous mechanism with which they are famihar; can they calculate its workings, based upon the most recondite mathematical truths; can they predict the results, on the greatest scale and with infallible certainty; — and yet cherish no admiring and affectionate thoughts of the Former ? .... Can such men as you be enslaved to the prejudices of little minds ?— Can you be satisfied with a knowledge of Christi anity so meagre as to be a parallel to that ignorance on scientific subjects which provokes your pity ? When large, expatiating, and thorough research upon all other objects are esteemed indispensable, and are nobly achieved by you, can you be contented with fragments of knowledge about, religion, picked up in childhood, or accidentally and carelessly in the course of life ; and which have no coherence, no completeness, no standing upon well-studied proof; which are often indeed nothing but vulgar prejudices ? Suffer one to intreat you, who puts forth no claim but that of the sincerest regard, and the warmest desire for your enjoying happiness of the most exalted kind and in the most perfect degree. Suffer him to intreat, that you would effectually .resolve to yield to religion its rightful place in your minds and your hearts : that you would give the just proportion of your studies to the facts and evidences of Christianity, its doctrines and duties, its promises, its invitations, and its faithful warnings. " ( Glory to God in the Highest ; on Earth, Peace ; among Men, Good Will.' " Such was the unabating interest felt in the Scrip, and Geoh, that in little more than eight years four editions of the work were published, consisting in the whole of six thousand copies. To each of these editions the Author continued to annex illus trative notes, so as to bring down the facts not merely of geolo gical discovery, but those of several other sciences, to the latest date.* Besides many notes at the foot of the page which the * Mr. Henry Bohn, the enterprising publisher, of York Streeti, Covent Gar den, has lately issued a large edition of the work for his series, called the JET. 65.] ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' 427 first edition did not contain, thefowrth had supplementary notes at the end of the volume, reaching to nearly double the length of those in the first. Thus while the Lectures were allowed to remain almost entirely the same as when they were delivered, the facts and principles unfolded in them were receiving con stant accessions of evidence, illustration, and strength. Very much was done by the learned Author to supply in this part of the volume enough of geology to meet the wants and desires of beginners in that science ; — and the best sources of instruction were pointed out for further progress : yet the most valuable purpose answered by the notes, was the opportunity which they afforded for accumulating proofs from a great variety of quarters, in support of those parts of the text which were thought by many the most vulnerable. Edition after edition came out, the one not a mere repetition of tne other ; but characterized by the clearest tokens of an incessant vigilance and determination, to sustain in all their integrity the original positions, which were therefore never like intrenchments suffered to go to decay, or which were merely kept up because they had once been established ; — rather j the repeated pains bestowed upon them answered the double purpose, of showing that they were not abandoned, and of rendering them more impregnable than ever. The author was not content with a mere repetition of the echo of the printing office ; but as a living man who retained his con victions, he was earnest in supporting them, and was always, ready to do his best to commend them to the scrutiny and reception of others. Scientific Liirary. To this is prefixed a " Short Sketch ofthe Literary Life of the Author, by the Rev. John Hamilton Davies, B.A., Minister ofthe Congre gational Church at Sherborne." Mr. Davies, in common with myself, had the advantage of knowing Dr. Pye Smith as a Tutor at Homerton : and who could know him at all intimately in that or in any other relation, and not speak of him with veneration and gratitude as Mr. Davies has done? Should the Reader notice any discrepancy between the two narratives in some matters of fact, the Memoir will be found probably the more accurate of the two, in con sequence of the possession of sources of information by the Editor not at the command of the Author of the Sketch. Any apparent differences in estimating the character of Dr. Smith — as a man — a Christian — a Pastor — a Tutor— an ^Author— must be ascribed in part to the materials for forming a judgment at the command of each writer respectively ; and in part also to the varied sus ceptibilities of impression, and method of using their knowledge, by which the one is distinguished from the other. Portraits of the same person can scarcely be in aurespects alike, if they are drawn— though with great care— by differ ent hands. — Ed. 438 'SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' [1839. To estimate the character of the Scripture and ¦¦ Geology as a whole, the following suggestions may not be out of place. After making full allowance for the coincidence between Dr, Smith's views and those of some other authors, on the difficulty of maintaing the common opinions respecting the Mosaic account of the Creation and the Deluge, there is in his work an amount of matter new in itself, or new in its grouping and evidences, which can scarcely fail to entitle it to rank high as an original contribution to that accumulating stock of knowledge of creative wisdom and power, which in proportion as it increases is ever disclosing more abundantly the truth, beauty, and fulness of the Divine word. He seems to have had no predecessor in his method of exploring and cultivating the field which lay open before him at the beginning of 1839. In this respect, his last great work differed widely from his first. The Scripture Testimony led him along a well-trodden popular path ; but in the Scripture arid Geology, he had to find his way very often alone, and by a track not a little intricate, and as many feared peril ous. Yet he was enabled to hold on his course with safety and decision, and with an issue which has in substance been undis turbed. Not less valuable were his principles for maintaining the authority of the Sacred narrative; for by preserving the text from every kind of injury, the comment is left to be judged of on its own merits. This is as it ever ought to be. Whatever, therefore, may be thought ofthe sagacity or the courage, of the new method of interpretation, the highest commendations are due to the Author for the firmness which he showed, in-opposing every scheme tending to unsettle men's minds respecting the historic character and fidelity of the Mosaic records. To free — if that were possible — Science from the difficulties which it had at one time to encounter from Bevelation, was an im portant undertaking ; but of incomparably higher importance was the duty of preserving Bevelation itself from the injury to which it was liable, had it been dealt with in an irreverent or an unskilful manner, in order to smooth the path of Science. Yet, merely to assert the harmony of the two, or to urge it. as an article of faith, would not have been enough ; Dr. Smith has proved the fact, and the consequence is, that Geology .fori years past has been going on, not only without exciting any fear for the authority of Scripture, but even accompanied by a wide-spread conviction, that Scripture is less than ever assailable, or hkely JET. 65.] 'SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' 429 to be assailed, through the medium of scientific discovery. In this point of view, the worth of his labours cannot be too highly prized. Such a piece of high service well became a man now venerable for years and piety, who — like a Priest of an earlier Dispensation— could not have been more honourably employed than in removing stumbling blocks from the threshold of the Sacred Volume, by which admission into the interior has been facilitated and made more attractive ever since. Nor is it unimportant to notice, that Dr. Smith's Christian character and attainments tended to give a completeness to his work, and a confidence in its results, which would otherwise have been wanting. Not only had he often surveyed the whole range of Biblical and Theological Literature, but his firm attachment to the " truth as it is in Jesus " was unquestioned ; so that he was fully competent to estimate the influence which the new method of expounding the early portions of the Book of Genesis might have upon the Bible generally, and on evan gelical doctrines in particular. Had his piety been less intelli gent, he might have stood tenaciously on the old methods of exposition ; had it been less intense, he might have given up these methods, and with them some of the doctrines which they were supposed to enshrine : but he does neither, — the great guide Book, Heaven's own Bevelation to man, becomes his law, equally in what he surrenders and what he retains ; and there fore he proceeds with as firm a step, and as true and Divine a light, in the one case as in the other. The Christian will not be surprised at this ; but it must perhaps at times have perplexed those who are lovers of science, but are, unhappily, more or less averse from submitting to the authority of Bevelation. Yet his firmness on the one side, on that, namely, which had to be given up, was well adapted to be of service in inspiring confi dence in that which was retained. Such a careful explorer might justly be regarded as a safe guide by more parties and in more directions than one: — the key which he used at one time to open certain passages in the Book of Genesis to the disciples of Christ, might be used at another for the benefit of a class of men not a little disinclined to neglect the claims of the New Testament. The Scripture and Geology, beyond any of his other works, affords occasion for showing the constant predominance of the Christian element in Dr. Smith's character. His productions 430 LETTER TO CHARLES LYELL, ESQ., F.R.S. [l839. generally being on subjects entirely sacred, the devout spirit by which they are marked was quite akin to their design ; but here the field was wider, and the topics far more miscellaneous, yet the same spirit is as warm and fresh and prevalent. Nor does this arise from any visible effort to produce such an effect, much less from any deliberate attempt to moralize or ser monize. Beligion never comes in as dress, or drapery, or decoration ; but it is ever present as life and love. The whole book is instinct with this ; so that no Eeader can escape from the subtil pervading essence. Surely this is the very best way in which Beligion is to be sent out as the close companion and ally of Science : — the one with the other as a sort of perpetual presence. And as plain Christian men on reading the work must constantly realize the fact now mentioned, with such an adjunct and an agencjr, Science would wear her best attrac tions in their esteem, and possibly might achieve her highest triumphs. In this respect particularly, the Volume cannot fail to be of eminent service to very many of the humbler classes of Society. Unlike its sister Science, Astronomy, which is nearly inaccessi ble except to a few princely intellects ; unlike Chemistry, whose delicate manipulations are almost sure to elude hands made for the spade and the mattock; — Geology can go with the humblest labourer who delves in the earth for his daily bread, and while it opens to him the wonders of an ancient world, he may now learn how to regard these as in perfect harmony with the teach ing of that Book — the Bible — which of all others deserves to be the most precious and authoritative in his esteem. With Dr. Smith's manual within reach, which is as truly scientific as devout, scarcely a page can be read which will not enrich and fertilize the intellect of those to whom good books are in that sense a rarity ; while at the same time, the heart will be re ceiving nutriment, as pure and salutary — to say the least — as that which is to be obtained from volumes exclusively devoted to religion. With such a guide, therefore, or rather companion, fellowship must be safe ; and it may be infinitely profitable : in no case perhaps can it be other than agreeable and pleasant. At the risk of extending this chapter beyond the average length, space must be found for inserting Letters, or parts of Letters, written to or by Dr. Smith in relation to the Scrip- ET. 65.] TESTIMONIES RESPECTING SCRIPT. AND GEOLOGY. 131 ture and Geology. He thus wrote to Charles Lyell, Esq., under date, Nov. 11, 1839 : — " Dear Sir, — In requesting you to do me the honour of accepting the accompanying book, I cannot but be desirous of precluding a suspicion, too likely to arise, that I follow in the track of a herd who have troubled the public with their ' Mosaic Geologies,' and the like. If you favour me by reading what I have brought forward, or even dipping by the help of the Contents and Index into a few por tions, you will find the course of argument to be quite different. The results of philology and criticism are to my conviction honest and unforced : at the same time I cherish the hope that they will set at rest some perplexities which have harassed many excellent minds, and will liberate scientific investigation from a class of difficulties which every one must admit to be important." In a Letter to the same gentleman a few days later, Dr. Smith says : — " M.J views of the restricted locality of the Adamic Creation and Deluge appear to me to be fully in accordance with the phraseology of Scripture ; and they liberate Science and Theology from difficulties which seem to be otherwise insuperable." The number of copies which the Author gave away to public libraries and among his friends was very considerable. In several instances, he repeated these gifts to the same parties, for the sake of placing the new matter, whether of facts or of arguments, of the second and even of the third edition of the work in their hands. Were all the Letters which he received in reply to be printed, and those also which came to him from purchasers of the work, either to make further inquiries or to offer their comments and commendations, there would be enough for a volume. The acknowledged competency and celebrity of several of the Writers, especially upon those very subjects to which their testimony applies, warrant our making some use of these communications; — not, indeed, by way of eulogizing Dr. Pye Smith, but rather with a view the more fully to establish and recommend the great principles which he was the first to elicit, and arrange, and defend, in so complete a manner in the Congregational Lecture for 1839. Dr. Hitchcock, Professor of Chemistry and Geology, Am herst College, Massachusetts, wrote thus : — " Rev. and Dear Sir,— It gave me great pleasure to receive a Letter from 43-3 TESTIMONIES RESPECTING [l839. you, especially as it came to hand only n short time after having read your invaluable Lectures on Scripture and Geology. I had, indeed, long known you as the theologian and philologist ; but never before as the accurate geologist. And so rare is the combination, that it was very refreshing to my spirit to meet with an author who thoroughly understood these three departments of learning. I have rarely felt any strong desire to visit Europe : but I confess I have felt a strong attraction thither since reading your book, if I might hope for a personal acquaintance with its Author." In a Letter addressed to Mr. Ebenezer Smith in April, 1852, Professor Hitchcock, speaking of Dr. Smith, says, " I have always regarded his work on Geology and Religion as the best that has ever been published. The spirit in which it is written is admirable, and the knowledge of the subject quite surprising in a man of his habits. The high opinion I had formed of his character as a Christian and a gentleman from his works and correspon dence, was amply sustained by personal acquaintance.'' From Professor Silliman, of Yale College, New Haven : — " In behalf of the College and for myself, I cordially thank you, and I might well thank you on behalf both of the religious and the geological world, for the signal service you have rendered to both. You are the first theologian who in that character and with the avowal of his name has appeared with all the qualifications necessary for the discussion of this great subject." From A Physician : — " I have read it with rapturous delight, and thanked God that you have written it ; and may His Holy Spirit guide you into all truth to the praise of the glory of His Great Name. I can sympathize with you for the unflinching position which you have taken ; but surely every lover of science and of truth, every candid Christian, yea, the whole world will sooner or later acknowledge their obligation to you for removing those errors which have taken so firm a hold in the minds of so many Christians." From Dr. Conybeare : — " I have read over your work, and think all the geological part very clearly and ably put, and well got up to the latest advances of the science." — From Professor Phillips : — " I have heard from several of my geological friends opinions expressed regarding the success of your generous effort in favour of a calumniated and misunderstood branch of Natural History, which it would have gratified you to hear, though I feel in your case that the comments of the world without can be of far less importance than the satisfaction you may justly feel in your own mind, that world within, whicli prompted your undertaking." Somewhat later:— "I hope to get some respite in a few days, and will then TRY to find a few faults in your most noble book, if it be only to have the pleasure of writing to you again." Still later, and in reference to the second edition which was of duodecimo size, and lower in price than the first .-— " Most thankful am I for the new form of your valuable work, and I hope it will have that wide circulation which its own merits and the requirements both of geologists and the public demand." From Dr. Mantell :— " With my most grateful thanks I beg to acknowledge the very acceptable present of a new edition of your most valuable work. It is indeed the Dove sent out from the Ark of modern Geology, and it has returned with the olive branch in its mouth." From J. E. Bowman, Esq. :— " I scarcely recollect any book which gave me so much pleasure, as the perusal of yours on its first appearance ; and this, not so much from the able and lucid manner in JET. 65.J THE ' SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY.' 433 which you have brought together and rendered intelligible to the general reader, the discoveries of Geology, as from the beneficial influence I was at once aware it would have over a very large and important portion of the religious world, who from education and honest though unfounded, pre judices, were deterred from pursuing it, if they were not directly opposed to it. Your book has acted as a talisman in softening and disarming hostility, and carrying conviction to the timid searcher after truth. I had for years before considered it a most fortunate circumstance for Geology, that several of its ablest champions were Clergymen of the Establishment, as otherwise the attacks of its ignorant opponents would have had no bounds; and now we hail in you an advocate, who in the boldest and ablest manner disarms and stills opposition from another scarcely less numerous or influential body. Nor are you less entitled to the thanks of the sincere searcher after religious truth than to those of the Geologist, because it is impossible that the Word and the Works of the Great Author can be at variance ; — the discrepancy is in ourselves." The next passage is from Dr. Smith's former colleague at Homerton, the Bev. Williarn Walford, and relates more par ticularly to the philological branch of the argument ; that being the one most in unison with Mr. Walford's tastes and studies : — " The course of my life has been such as to offer but few means or oppor tunities for the acquirement of any extensive or exact acquaintance with natural science : yet I have felt long and earnest desires for information on some of the facts of that boundless expanse of knowledge ; and have in particular been a reader of geological speculations, more or less, for many years. No conviction of my understanding has been more decisive than that of the perfect harmony that obtains between theology and philosophy ; between the Works and the Word of the Blessed God. I have passed through many severe conflicts in attempting to discover this harmony; none, however, very painful in relation to the apparent discrepancies between geological theories and the records of Revelation ; as I have never been so fully assured of the correctness of any of these theories, as to give occasion to anything more than slight and temporary oscillations of judgment, while I have had so settled a belief of the truth of the Scriptures as has soon restored the equilibrium. I have not, it is true, ever been able to satisfy myself with any interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis, to which I have gained access, though it has long since appeared to me that indefinite ages probably intervened between the event that is stated in the first verse, and those which are told in the verses that follow. " I am gratified at finding that you discard the groundless notion of the seven [sic] days that are assigned to the work of creation in the Mosaic record, being used for long, and indefinite periods of time, as such a notion appears to me to be fatal to all just interpretation. The observations which you make on the Scriptural usage of general and universal terms, must I think approve themselves to all who study the Sacred volume with any tolerable attention and discrimination 2 L- 434 TESTIMONIES RESPECTING SCRIPT. AND GEOLOGY. [1889. " Upon the whole I beg to acknowledge that I derived much pleasure from the perusal of your ingenious and elaborate volume, though I am not prepared to say I entirely acquiesce in all its conclusions. I greatly rejoice in the accessions that are daily making to the stock of scientific attainment ; and am of opinion that every endeavour to render such attainment auxiliary to the removal of difficulties from the Holy Scriptures is worthy of the highest praise, though I imagine you will not escape entirely from the petulant carping of ignorance, or the malevolent aspersions of prejudice and bigotry." The adaptation of the work to remove scepticism, and to lead to the highest good of which man is capable, may be judged of from the following passages of Letters addressed to the Author. The first is from a member of the Society of Friends : — " I trust thou wilt excuse the liberty I take in thus obtruding myself on thy notice. My object in doing so is, in the first place, to thank thee with all the warmth of which I am capable for having given to the public the Congregational Lecture delivered last year by thee. So high is my estima tion of the effects which are likely to result from this proceeding, that I venture to suggest for thy consideration the desirableness of extending the benefit of it still further, by allowing it to pass through a cheap pamphlet edition. One great object of this would be, to bring it within the reach of the mechanics of our larger towns, — a class of men who are perhaps peculiarly liable to imbibe the idea that, there are irreconcilable differences between the discoveries of science and the revelations contained in the Holy Scriptures. Having myself passed through some mental conflict with regard to difficulties of this kind which arise in the prosecution of geological in quiry, I am anxious that all who are alike circumstanced should be put in possession of help such as the work in question seems to me to be calculated to afford." A professional gentleman, who. had been brought up a Boman Catholic but who subsequently embraced Protestantism, wrote thus to a friend, by whom the communication was forwarded to Dr. Smith : — " Of this work, I can only say that I never read the production of any human being that so much astonished and delighted me. His grounds of exposition and defence of the Mosaic Becord of the Creation, &c, were to me new and unexpected. Not so the doubts raised by the discoveries of modern geology. His work if generally read is calculated to quiet many an uneasy mind, more especially amongst those who are half Christian and half philosopher. It will confirm and strengthen the former, and prove to the JET. 65.] PERMANENT VALUE OF THE WORK. 435 latter that -his greatest strength is but perfect weakness, and that there is more in the Mosaic Eecord than was ever dreamed of in his philosophy." And thus another Letter closes : — " I have, my dear sir, felt much delicacy in laying this statement before you : but I have reason to bless God that ever you gave to the world your work on Geology. Truly ' He has led me by a way which I knew not.' Under God you have been the means of calling me ' from the kingdom of darkness into marvellous light.' " A proof of the stability of Dr. Smith's argument, both in the exegetical and scientific part, is found in the circumstance that if between the publication of the first edition and the fourth, anything had arisen fairly to disturb either branch of inquiry, so well-placed and vigilant an observer as he was could not have remained ignorant of it, nor would he have omitted to state the results of his renewed investigation in the later of the two editions. His love of truth, all his habits as an Author, but especially the interest which he felt in this matured production of his pen, must have brought him into the field of discussion with any one who had on good or even plausible grounds, impugned the validity of his positions as laid down when these Lectures were first given to the public. Nor will it, in conclusion, be going counter to the general impression to say — that the uses which were at one time made of geological discoveries (often with no little flippancy and boldness) to disturb, or if possible to subvert, con fidence in the Mosaic Writings, received a fatal check in that direction by the publication of this Work ; and not a check only, but a very embarrassing defeat. For the Author's argument did not stop at the point which some would have deemed far enough for the simple defence of the integrity of the Scriptures ; — it went unexpectedly beyond, so as to show that there was not a single leading fact or principle of which Geology was entitled to speak with certainty, which could not find both a shelter and a sanction under the very words of that Book, which some vainly fancied the New Science was to put down. Can, then, the value of a production be over-estimated, which, by working the readily-admitted phcenomena of Science into close and compact union with the initial statements of the 2 f 2 436 PERMANENT VALUE OF THE WORK. [l840- Bible, has ever since formed a sort of breakwater, on the inner side of which truths of the highest worth — like stately vessels richly freighted — ride safely in a sure anchorage : — the storms outside doing them no damage, nor even exciting any alarm ? And, further ; such is the way in which this has been done, that there is probably no fact, discovery, or position, to be elicited in any future stage of the inquiry, that is not in substance, if not in form, provided for by Dr. Pye Smith's method of explaining the Mosaic writings ; so that not only as a matter of faith, but of evidence, Scripture is seen to have nothing whatever to fear from the progress of Geology. Nor does the value of the book end here. — The principle thus established is as boundless in the extent of its application as it is unfading in the duration of its influence : for the proofs and inferences which are fairly deduced respecting the harmony between the Word of GOD and any one department of HIS Works, may be transferred by a generalization equally obvious and trustworthy to all the rest ; for all are in the same domain ; and all bear the impress of wisdom, power, and beneficence, such as no forgery can imitate, nor any arm less than that of the Infinite One produce : — " for of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." CHAPTEB XXIV. admission to the royal society — LETTER of acknowledgment to seventy friends— second letter of explanation and inquiry —superintends classical studies at the college — letter to a wesleyan. minister — letter to dr. 0lintiius gregory — attends british association at glasgow — letter to his daughter — ¦ letter to dr. wardlaw — letter to professor phillips, f.r.s. — publications — letter to his son — attends british association at plymouth — his consistent nonconformity — general election —anti-corn-law conference — his address at the conference — petition to parliament — his motives in seeking the repeal of the corn laws — on the repeal of those laws — on the sab bath question — eclectic review : dr. lant carpenter's sermons — lecture before the baptist missionary society. Scarcely had the Congregational Lecture for 1839 left the press, when steps were taken to place the Author among the Fellows of the Eoyal Society. This being a distinction rarely enjoyed by any of the members of the Denomination to which Dr. Smith belonged, it may not be devoid of interest nor even of utility, to give from a paper which he prepared for the information of his immediate friends, an account of the customary forms adopted on such an occasion. "John Pye Smith, D.D., Divinity Tutor in the Protestant Dissenting College, Homerton, Minister of the Old Gravel Pit Meeting, at Homerton, Middlesex :— the Author of a Work ' On the Eelation between the Holy Scriptures and some parts of Geological Science,' and of various Philological and other works;— -who is much attached to Science, and anxious to promote its success ; — being desirous of admission into the Boyal Society of London, we, the undersigned, propose and recommend him as deserving that honour, and as likely to 438 A LETTER TO SEVENTY FRIENDS. [l.SlO. become a useful and valuable member. Dated this 20th day of November, 1839." (This is followed by two lists of signa tures, one " From General Knowledge," the other " From Personal Knowledge." Among the latter occur the names of John Edward Gray, James Yates, Thomas Bell, Charles Lyell, William Buckland, A. Sedgwick.) " Bead to the Society on the 21st day of November, 1839. To be balloted for on the 23rd day of January, 1810." On the 21th of the latter month, the Secretary addressed a Letter to Dr. Smith, to apprize him that he had been elected a Fellow ; and also to let him know that his attendance would be expected at one of the four ensuing weekly meetings, to complete the arrangements. When he appeared for the first time in his place, he was recognized as a member in the follow ing form of words, spoken, it may be presumed, by the Presi dent : — " I do, by the Authority and in the name of the Eoyal Society of London for improving Natural Knowledge, admit you a Fellow thereof." The admission fee being paid, and his name enrolled, he was from that time entitled to attend at the Society's Booms as often as might suit his convenience. The following Letter is too closely related to the foregoing circumstances, to be omitted or delayed : — "Homerton ; Monday, March 2, 1840. " My dear Sir, — On Friday evening I received a writing of the most unexpected and surprising kind; an Address by yourself and other Gentle men, in number Seventy, and inclosing Seventy Pounds, presented as aii expression of generous kindness, and designed to meet the expense attendant upon my having been honoured by admission into the Royal Society. Highly as I am favoured by this munificent boon, the announcement of it is still more valuable and affecting on account of the number and qvalily of the names attached to it. " I am unable to give utterance to the gratitude which I feel. This is one of the most extraordinary favours from the Divine hand that have ever been conferred upon me, though I have been the subject of many and remarkable mercies all my life long, the review of which is humiliating and awakening in a high degree. " It is impossible for me to make the acknowledgment of justice and gratitude severally to each of the Gentlemen to whom I am thus indebted, but knowing so well your affectionate and unwearied friendliness, not only in this instance, but in the nobler ' works of faith and labours of love' per formed to the glory of our divine Eedeemer, I take the liberty of addressing this Letter to you, and request your additional kindness in communicating it to the other Gentlemen, in such way as you may judge convenient. ' The JET. 66.] LETTER OF EXPLANATION AND INQUIRY. 439 design proposed by yourself and your respected associates, is not to minister to my pride, or love of money, or glorying in men even the most excellent ; but it is to admonish, quicken, and encourage in all that I can do for HIS Name to whom it is our happiness to feel ourselves under obligations which even a holy immortality' will not suffice to discharge. Blessed and happy indeed shall I be, if this end be answered in any good measure, through the remainder of my life, in devotedness to the service of ' our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.' For this I entreat the greater favour of your prayers, while it is my own heart's desire that the best of blessings may be poured out upon you and your friends, in possessing the fulfilled promises of godliness, for ' the life that now is and that which is to come.' " I am, my dear Sir, your obliged and affectionate friend, J. Pye Smith. "To Mr. Hale, " And through him to Mr. Alers Hankey, Mr. Rutt," &c. &c. &c, the whole of the seventy names being given in the Letter. To prevent misconception, it is necessary to say that the •generous kindness shown on this occasion to Dr. Smith, did not arise from any straitness in his circumstances, much less from any reluctance on his part to pay the customary fees. He was fully able, and quite as prompt as he was able, to do all that the case required. But, in truth, the several contribu tors desired to express in this manner, their sense of the honour which the veteran Nonconformist Pastor had achieved for the Body as well as for himself. And that the act might have this significance, the sum was not raised by a few persons, but by many, each one of whom gave a similar amount ; and still further to mark the catholicity of the interest, several of the contributors did not belong to the Congregational Denomi nation. The preceding Letter renders it necessary to subjoin the following ; written on the evening of the same day, and also to Mr. Hale :— " My dear Sir, — There is a circumstance upon which I feel it necessary to have instruction from you, and any of the other Gentlemen who will favour me by giving it. " The Admission Fee into the Royal Society is Ten Pounds. This, of course, I paid upon being elected. The Annual Subscription is Four Pounds, to be paid every 25th of March ; or in lieu of it a composition of Sixty Pounds. Conceiving that at my age the annual payment is- the more prudent mode of proceeding, it was my intention to act accordingly. But you and your generous associates have put me into possession of the whole Seventy Pounds. It appears to me, therefore, that I am bound in honour to pay the Composition, the Sixty Pounds. But I do not like to act solely 440 SUPERINTENDS CLASSICAL STUDIES AT THE COLLEGE. [lR40. upon the impulse of my own mind, and therefore I solicit the favour of opinions from as many of my friends as may choose to give an opinion upon this question, before the 19th of March. " I remain,'' &c. &c. While this Letter illustrates the conscientiousness of the Writer, the Contributors did not deem it expedient to interfere with his method of sustaining his place as an F.E.S. Left to himself, therefore, Dr. Smith expended considerably more than two-thirds of the Sixty Pounds in the purchase of a valuable microscope, to be used by him, as he hoped, in extending his knowledge of the Creator's works in a direction comparatively unexplored by him hitherto for want of such an instrument ; and the yearly payment to the Eoyal Society which he kept up to the last, absorbed more than the residue of the sum raised by his generous friends. In September, 1839, the Bev. D. G. Bishop expressed his purpose to resign his office as Classical Tutor at Homerton, which the Committee deemed it right to accept without delay. Arrangements for a successor to Mr. Bishop were not com pleted until April, 1810, when the Eev. Henry Lea Berry, M.A., entered upon the vacant post. During the interval, Dr. Smith superintended the Classical pursuits of the Students, which often required his attendance at the College in the afternoon ; the morning being principally devoted to the duties of his own department as Theological Tutor. And still further to uphold the usual routine of the Academic family, he sought to be present at morning and evening prayers; although this could not be done without consider able personal inconvenience and perhaps some risk, in going from his own house to the College. The following passage from his College Diary, under date Lord's-day, January 5, 1840, connects his earliest practice as a Tutor with his newly- resumed functions : — " This evening, in family academical wor ship, I redd Psalm ci., with select observations from Henry, using the Library volume, as I did on the evening of January 5, 1801, the first time of solemnizing family worship in the capacity of head of a family. " With what astonishing grace hath the LOBD helped thus far !" JET. 66.] LETTER TO A WESLEYAN MINISTER. 441 The Bev. J. T. Morley, a Wesleyan Minister, having applied to Dr. Smith for his opinion respecting the merits of certain authors, and for his advice on mental culture generally, the following is part of a Letter which he wrote in reply : — " Dear Sir, — Your being a stranger is no obstruction to the exercise of Christian affection. No apology is requisite on your part. On my own, I can only regret that never-ceasing, and I may truly say overwhelming duties have kept me so long from replying to your interesting Letter; and that now the same class of hinderances incapacitates me from doing it justice. Had I the requisite time, I should think it superfluous and presumptuous, to give my recommendation of those eminent authors and faithful servants of Christ whom you mention. To read, with frequent pausing for recollec tion, judging, and imprinting upon the mind and heart, the writings of them all (at least those on experimental and practical subjects), I should esteem a great privilege and most valuable exercise. Permit a few abrupt hints, chiefly on their defects ; understanding their excellencies to be admitted. The grandeur, comprehensiveness, and searching character of Howe are greatly obscured and their impression weakened, by his involved and often tedious style. My own cavil against the amiable and fine thinker, Robert Hall, is the perpetual ellipsis of the relative pronoun and the conjunction that. Such omission is proper enough for the colloquial style, but it disparages written composition of a. grave character. Often it breaks and deforms Hall's natural euphony. With this exception, I should make him my model of style. In beauty of conception, lucidness of order, and propriety of language, he seems to me to be the best English writer that I now recollect ; at least, to be among the first. Foster's diction seems to be somesvhat oppressed by the weight and abundance of his thoughts, — thoughts so original, so important ! Him and Hall I would adviso to be your chief books of reading for a time. Afterwards, avenues of thoughts and topics would open for other works as profitable to succeed. . . . " For disciplining the mind, I would earnestly advise a diligent perusal of Archbishop Whately's Rhetoric, then his Logic; and generally, so far as I know, his other writings, especially his later works. Add some thing from your own mind of evangelical savour ; yet of that he has a more happy measure than one might expect. About twenty years ago, Mr. Jacques, of the Wesleyan Society, published a good small book on the cultivation and improvement of the mind. I am sorry that I cannot find it. In the Congregational Magazine for this month is a valuable Letter, signed R. R., which contains excellent suggestions. But I hope you will enjoy the advantages of the College established by your Body. I also recommend Isaac Taylor's Self-Cultivation, — Isaac Taylor, Jun.'s, Ele ments of Thought, Carter's (of Colchester) Lectures on Taste. . . . Com prehensively useful, Burder's Mental Discipline. Any of these works supersedes particular advices. Two things only permit me to mention, the results of my own experience, temptations, and trials, as primary objects of perpetual effort ; — controlling and directing the train of thought which flows through the mind, and to cherish the habit of ejaculatory prayer in all our doings, and through all our time. 412 LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER. [l840. " Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you for holiness and usefulness extensive and enduring! Again, pardon my long delay. I am," &c. &c. In reply to a Letter from Dr: Olinthus Gregory, which accompanied a copy of a work then recently published by that Author, Dr. Smith thus wrote : — " June 27, 1840. " My dear Sir, — Last night I was favoured in a manner which affects me more than I can express, with a presentation copy of your new work, ' Hints,' elucidating the mode of Teaching and acquiring Mathematical Knowledge ; and the generous note accompanying it. That you have thought it not improper thus to honour me, is a matter of especial gratitude to the Sovereign of hearts. It is He that has disposed you to such a kind feeling. I know myself to be utterly unworthy of it. Any use which it has pleased the Lord to make of me does indeed awaken surprise, for it is a most convincing instance of the power of infinite GRACE. Had I been given over, as I deserved to be, to "the guidance of my own heart, I should have been not merely a useless, but a pernicious creature. Now I have passed the first half of the fortieth year of my tutorship in the old Academy of this place ; and excepting the admonitory affliction of my deafness, I enjoy a physical vigour and elasticity which almost surprises me ; but how much more abased and grieved should I be at my spiritual insensibility ! Pray for me, my dear brother in the Lord; — I attempt to do for you. O that you and your excellent Lady may experience, most fully and richly, that the Lord keeps them in perfect peace whose minds are stayed upon Him." In September Dr. Smith went to Glasgow, to attend the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advance ment of Science. He left Homerton on the 16th, and went hy way of Liverpool. The following Letters relate to this visit ; the first was written in pencil : — " On board a Steam Vessel, returning from a Cold dinner at the Duke of Hamilton's, an old grotesque mansion in the I. of Arran; Saturday, ip.4; Sept. 19, 1840. " My dear Ruth, — There was no post last night ; and had there been, I think I could not have written, or at most only a line. Most wonderful mercies have attended me at every step. Mr. S. Blackburn and the groom met me ; and all showed me great kindness. Mrs. B. wept bitterly ; and Mr. B.'s tears always gush out at the recm-rence, which is very frequent, of the sad ideas.* The Steam Ship left Liverpool nominally at 2° really at 3° * The estimable family here mentioned had suffered a most distressing bereavement in the death of two sons, at the respective ages of twenty-seven JET. 66.] LETTER TO DR. WARDLAW. 443 on Thursday afternoon. Rough for some hours. About midnight, the weather became tranquil. When I went on deck on Friday (yesterday) morning, the sight was most striking. Take the Atlas out of your Canter bury. We were between Ayrshire (I think) and the I. of Arran : and then all the way to Glasgow was most delightful. Arrived at 3 p.m. Mr. Mac Lehose was waiting to meet me at Greenock. The Lady whose guest I am, and two young Ladies her daughters, make me ashamed by their assiduous kindnesses. The first thing was to see Mr. Ewing. Then the Association took me up till near eleven, and I believe it was after twelve before I could get to bed, and then had very little sleep. The Excursion to Arran was fixed for to-day. Only a select number were furnished with tickets. The Marquis of Northampton, learning my disappointment, most kindly re linquished his right for me. Soon after five this morning, Mrs. H. had me called. Miss H. made tea for me, and both the Sisters accompanied me to the Railway Station. Thence the Geologists (about 100) under the command of Mr. Murchison, were steamed away to Ardrossan. There we breakfasted, of course at our own expense. Then embarked in the I. of Arran Steam vessel. She passed along the E. of the Island. My copy of Messrs. Sedgwick and Murchison's Section was most opportunely useful, in company with two of the original, one his and the other mine. He stood on an elevated place, and lectured upon the geological formations, with the Sections and the real original before our eyes. My privation" — [his deafness] — "was not small: but God forbid that I should be dissatisfied. Everybody else was evidently delighted ; and I am sure they all had good reason. The Duke was not there. The oddest thing — I suppose it is a custom for the guests to take away something — when we had got in front of the house, Dr. Buckland laughed and showed something in his hammer- bag, — a pie, perhaps venison.* I saw other gentlemen also had got some thing in their bags or pockets. " I have fears this may be too late for the post. Yet I hope not. You and my other dears must pardon my abruptness. I fear I cannot write again till the latter part of the week opening to-morrow. I am to preach for Mr. Russell (son of Dr. R. of Dundee) in the afternoon, and for Mr. Ewing in the evening. Charming and holy man ! But now, not able ; and they have no successor, greatly to the hurt of the congregation. Dr. Wardlaw wrote me a, note for the afternoon. I was glad that I was engaged before leaving home, for I am not competent for such a congrega tion as his. . . . " My best love, kind regards, &c. &c. according to the respective pro prieties of persons. " The Lord richly bless you. Ever and affectionately yours, J. P. S." In a Letter to Dr. Wardlaw, dated March 30, 1841, Dr. Smith thus refers to other incidents of his visit to Scotland in September, 1840 : — and twenty-one, who sailed from Rio Janeiro for New York on their way to England, in the Louisiana, which appears to have been lost with all on board. For an account of this calamity, see the Liverpool Times of July 12, 1840.— Ed. * " I said, ' Is this an organic remain ? ' " Ill LETTER TO HIS SON. [l841. I be" my respectful regards and condolence to Mrs. and Miss Wardlaw, and to your sons. I can never forget their and your kindness to me in my forlorn state at Ardrossan. Miss Wardlaw may be pleased to hear that the beautiful shell, of which single valves were so plentiful upon the sands, is of Mactra subtruncata : and that the two Radiated Zoophytes which the ladies found me carrying off, (having never before seen one, though Mr. J. S. Wardlaw tells me that they are abundant on your coast,) are of the family Acalepha (from their stinging property), genus Medusa, but of which the species are so numerous that I venture not to assign the name. AVhat trifles ! But in these objects and their correlates, arc overwhelming displays of Gol:— O, to make them subordinate to the views of His spiritual glory! Ii Cowper had been imbued but a little with a taste for natural know ledge, he would not have written in so depreciating a strain of it. His argument would have been incomparably more powerful had its flow been in the opposite direction." Early in 1840, a new edition of the Scripture and Geology was called for. As compared with the first, this was improved by a large addition to the supplementary notes. The following passage from a Letter written by the Author to Professor John Phillips, will be read with interest in this connection : — " Homerton, March, 1840. " My dear Sir, — . . . It is to me a gratification of peculiar value, to enjoy your approbation of my Congregational Lecture. For so kind an expression of it, I beg leave to return my best thanks: and for your generous offer of communicating observations for the improvement of a second edition. I am not without hope of being encouraged to venture on a republication; but I must quietly wait. None of the great periodicals have as yet, so far as I know, noticed the book. However, I mean without delay to set about a close revision and every effort in my power to improve. . . . If then you can favour me soon with your animadversions, I shall be deeply obliged. Let me beg you to expend none of your precious time in writing full sentences. Hints, expressed in the most abbreviated forms, I trust I shall readily understand. My great concern is to be sure of FACTS, and to be corrected where I am in error. These I must take chiefly upon testimony ; for it is evidently impossible for me to be a practical geologist. I need not say with what security I rely upon your testimony." Dr. Smith contributed to the Eclectic Review for December, an article on Dr. William Turton's Conchology. The next, passage, which is from a Letter to his Son at Sheffield, will show, that notwithstanding the tendency of age to blunt the sensibilities, the Homerton Tutor continued to feel the claims of the College quite as vividly as he had done 2ET. 67.] HIS CONSISTENT NONCONFORMITY. 415 in earlier years. Nor was he less on the alert respecting geological discovery : — "Homerton, March 5, 1841. " My dear Son, — It is hard for a father to be under so heavy a pressure as hardly to be able to write a few lines to his far-distant child. But alas ! this is my case. Our recess is from the day called Good Friday to the Wednesday following. I am sure our worthy and kind Committee would very generously assent to my taking some days more; but my sense of obligation will not allow me to desire it. Inevitable interruptions are often occurring, from ordinations, bodily indisposition, and a vast variety of other causes. My infirmity is also such an element qf deduction from the general amount of my usefulness, as most strongly to bind me to compensate, so far as by any means I can, for the deficiency ; and the chief means are con stancy, punctuality, and assiduity. I therefore propose to leave town on Wednesday night, April 8 ; get to Manchester the following morning, in order to go six miles on the Bolton railway to see some fossilized tree-stumps which have been uncovered, and Mr. Hawkshaw has generously inclosed and protected them, so that they may be seen in their native situation. Then I hope to get to Sheffield by the first and readiest conveyance." This visit appears to have been deferred to the following month ; and in July, when the College vacation left the Tutor free from every-day claims, he went again to Sheffield. To wards the close of that month and at the beginning of August, he was at Plymouth attending the Meeting of the British Association. On August 1st he occupied the pulpit in the morning at the Eev. George Smith's, and in the evening at the Wesleyan Chapel, in that town. It is observable of him, that when he was from home on the Lord's-day he rarely failed to preach once, often twice, unless he was prevented by indisposi tion. And on his visits to places where he came into daily contact with the great leaders in the scientific world, he was to be found worshipping, or conducting the worship, " among his own people " on the Sabbath ; without the least attempt to conceal for the time his Protestant Nonconformity, either by attending an Episcopal Church, or by carefully keeping out of the pulpit of the Dissenting Chapel. His conduct on these occasions was firm without being obtrusive, and because it was true to his well-known profession, it could scarcely fail to en hance the general estimate of his character. Nor is it too much to suppose, that if instances of the kind were as numerous as they ought to be, the conscientious Church man would soon come to understand better, and then to value more highly, the principles of the conscientious Dis- 416 ANTI-CORN-LAW CONFERENCE. [l841. senter. — We are so constituted that consistency, in everything but crime, is sure to command respect. The General Election which occurred in July this year, proved scarcely less exciting than the one in 1837. Besides the usual struggles of party on political grounds, the progress of agitation for the repeal of the tax on corn, evidently showed that an important social conflict was approaching ; and with a view of influencing the result, on one side or the other, many were drawn or forced into the field, and the public mind became impassioned, greatly beyond what would have been the case had this vital element been wanting. It was not to be expected that Dr. Smith should shrink from what he regarded as his duty at such a crisis. In a note written to the Eev. A. C. Wright, he says : — " I have two votes to give here, and three in the North* The matter at stake is not a party- affair; but it is the great cause of light and peace, truth, honesty, well-regulated liberty, the temporal salvation of our country, and the great increase of advantages for the spread of the Gospel." Hence, when the Country was called upon to give its verdict on the Free Trade question, the Note intimates that every other claim must be either set aside or modified, so as to allow of his discharging to the utmost of his ability his trust as an Elector. Yet, as we learn from a communication intended for his Eelations at Leeds, he was always alive to the only sound principles on which the suffrage can be based : — " Entreat them never to lose sight of the grand object, moral qualifications for the franchise. I do not mean to exclude all who are not religious. That guarantee is absurd, and it wrought fearfully in New England. I adhere to the admirable Letter ; — as much as possible to put the franchise into hands that will exercise it ' freely, intelligently, and honestly.'' " The most memorable public incident which occurred in Dr. Smith's life during 1841, was the part he took in promoting the Eepeal of the Corn Laws : he was one of the six hundred and twenty Ministers whose names are recorded as having been present at the Anti- Corn-Law Conference held at Man chester in the month of August this year. His distance from the place of meeting, his advanced age, deafness which pre- * ' The Middlesex and Staffordshire votes ' were 'upon Trusteeships.', JET. 67.J ADDRESS AT THE CONFERENCE. 447 vented his taking a part in the deliberations of the Assembly, and a voice not sufficiently powerful to give him full efficiency as a speaker — to which may be added an increasing tendency to shrink from new and large gatherings of people whose pro ceedings he could not fully catch and fall in with at the moment — might have been urged as so many capital apologies for absenting himself from the Conference. And soon after the proposal came under his notice, he did give such consider ation to one or more of these difficulties as led him to decline the thought of attending ; but with the approach of the time, the magnitude of the interests involved in the subject appeared more and more impressive ; until at length he was constrained to reverse his first determination, and to resolve on going. Li this, as in many other cases, the sense of duty under which he ultimately acted, was not matured, until he had carefully gone from one point to another, in looking at the several bearings of the question ; and it happened with him as with persons of a similar temperament generally, that the decision in which he finally rested, was not the less firmly held in con sequence of his having arrived at it after he had examined other positions, and even deemed them tenable according to the light which he had at the time. Hence, a few clays before -the Conference began, Dr. Smith thus wrote to Sheffield : — "My dear Son, — In nry note from Plymouth, I could not from want of time mention my intention and promise to go to Manchester. To my conviction, it is an imperative duty, of very high obligation. I would sell my books even most highly prized, or undergo any other supportable self-denial, rather than be wanting to God and my country at this crisis. This I say under the humiliating consciousness of my great disqualifi cation : but how could I ' lift up my face unto God,' if I were not to ' do what I can ? ' " True to his purpose, he was present at the opening of the Conference on the 17th of August, and from his inability to take a part in the discussions which might arise during the sittings of the Assembly, he was allowed soon after the com mencement to read an Address which he had prepared for the occasion. This was subsequently printed in the Morning Chronicle and in other papers. It contains an able defence of the principles which had called so great a number of ministers together, and explains in clear and admirable language the 448 ADDRESS AT THE CONFERENCE. [l841. true character and design of the meeting ; we may, accordingly, show from his own words what were his views and motives, in taking a prominent part in a proceeding which in many quarters exposed him to misapprehension and censure. The following passages are quoted from the report in the Patriot of August 19 : — " I feel myself deeply obliged to those Christian ministers and other friends to their country and to mankind, who devised and have convened this meeting. I am sure also, that my brethren who have come from their homes, and intermitted their sacred labours upon this occasion of solemn and imperative demand, will unite with me in acknowledging the ready hospitality with which so large a number of honourable families have wel comed us. We have come together in no capacity, assumed or implied, expressed or imagined, of authority. We are not a conclave, nor a synod, nor a convocation. We disclaim any pretensions of a right to make laws or regulations, or any desire to bind the consciences of our fellow- Christians, or to command their practice. We disclaim and abhor everything that might savour of disaffection to our beloved Sovereign, and the'eonstituted Authorities of her realm, or of dictating measures to the Legislature, or of fomenting discontent, or exciting to turbulence. We want to soothe, not to irritate ; we long, and seek, and pray to do good, and not evil— to promote harmony and beneficence, to invade no man's interest, to diminish no man's happiness, to ' follow the things which make for peace, and things where with one may edify another.' " Wc have not assembled at the summons of any human authority. We are not here to do any man's bidding. Wc are not come to say with our tongues, or subscribe with our hands, any declarations or opinions with which our hearts do not accord. Our gathering together is the unforced act of each man's own will; and so far from regarding this individual freeness of action as a circumstance to be regretted, we see in it an element of strength and success. We may apply to it with eminent reason the noble declarations of one of the most distinguished philosophers of our own or any other country, Professor Whewell, in his Presidential Address to the British Association, delivered not three weeks ago at Dcvonport, July 29th. Speaking of efforts by voluntary association, ' to elevate and improve the condition of man,' he recommended such efforts as ' of that use which if we disregard, the condition of man forthwith becomes degraded, and his pros pects a blank ; of use in raising our thoughts and stimulating our exertions, so that we may become wiser, and better, and nobler than we are.' ' Is this a new doctrine?' — asked the Professor — 'God be thanked', — he replied — 'in this country at least it has long been familiar to men's minds, has been practically acted upon, and has been attended with the most blessed and glorious effects. Do we despair of great and good objects because we live in a state of society where men act each for himself, unforced by supreme power ? Feeling that we are free, and that it is our glorious privilege to act as freemen, we attempt to realize our ideas, not by the power of the State, but by that power, which in such a State, and on such subjects, represents the conviction of the nation — the power of voluntary association.' JET. 67.] ADDRESS AT THE CONFERENCE. 449 " We are come together as ministers and teachers of the Christian religion However diversely we may understand that religion, with respect to many and those important points of theological doctrine and ecclesiastical order, in this we are all agreed — that true religion requires of us, and of all men, ' to do justly and to love mercy,' as well as ' to walk humbly with our God ; ' we are all convinced that religion, virtue, and morality, cannot be separated from each other. We are drawn to this populous town, one of the most important in her Majesty's dominions, one of the most vital and sensitive parts of the body politic, because we have heard ' the voice of the cry of ' our country — lamentation and bitter weeping ; — ' the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved ! ' The cry of distress has pierced our souls. The woes of thousands and hundreds of thousands have de manded our sympathy. The fear of still greater evils has filled us with intense anxiety. We come to give vent to our fellow-feeling with the destitute and the sorrowful, and those that have no comforter. We come to raise a protest and a prayer on their behalf ; and not more on their behalf as a class of men, than on behalf of the rich and great : for we are convinced that all the orders of society, however immeasurably diversified, have one common bond of interest, ; and that it is folly as well as injustice for any class to attempt to raise itself upon the depression, or in any wise to the injury of any other. But while we disavow unfounded assumptions, we advance indeed a claim, but of a very different kind ; we elevate another kind of authority — the claim of reason and love ; the authority of ' the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness,' and whose servants we are, not for our own aggrandizement, but for the universal good of mankind. We are discharging an important and a necessary part of our function as men con secrated to the teaching- of religion, when we explain and enforce its nature and its obligations as demanding universal righteousness. We take our stand upon the foundation of both the Law and the Gospel ; and we desire to impress every soul of man with the indispensable obligation of honestly obeying the Divine commands ; — ' That which is altogether just thou shalt follow :' — ' All things, whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them :' — ' Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever are pure, whatsoever are lovely, whatsoever are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things ;' — so think on them, as the undeniable meaning of the passage is, as to reason upon them, understand them in their full comprehension, apply them fairly, and practise them faithfully. " But we are impressed with the conviction, that this great law of righte ousness is contradicted and violated, and rebellion is thus perpetrated against the majesty of Heaven, by doctrines and practices which for many centuries have been current among nations civilized, or professing to. be so, with regard to trade; that is, the interchange of commodities, the products of skill and industry, between the different families and tribes of mankind. The corn-laws of our country have a deplorable pre-eminence in this class of unrighteous and suicidal legislation." This is followed by a brief account of the history of those restrictions on Commerce, of which the tax on foreign corn formed the most unpopular branch ; and the inexpediency, the 2 G 450 PETITION TO PARLIAMENT [l841. injustice, and the danger of such a tax are pointed out. The conduct of Dr. Smith and his fellow-labourers, in seeking to promote a repeal of the tax, is defended against the charge of its unsuitableness to their office as Christian Ministers : — " What are politics but the knowledge and practice of the claims of right, and the obligations of duty which belong to men as members of society? Is not this knowledge and practice an essential part of morality? As teachers of religion, therefore, we are bound to be teachers of politics, and to guard the important subject against errors and abuses. Our object is to teach the politics which flow from piety — the politics of equitable benevo lence, the politics of the Gospel, the politics of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. We are deeply concerned that we, and those to whom we minister, should ' render to all their due :' — ' putting to silence the ignorance of foolish men ;' — ' as free, and not using our liberty for a cloak of malioiousness, but as the servants of God.' We are most earnest to guard all persons to the utmost of our power, against sedition, treason, rebellion, in any manner of degree, approach, or tendenc3r. Be it also considered, that while the people have their duties, they have also their claims, just and honourable claims ; and that, if these be neglected, ' the cries of the poor ascend ' to the Just and Almighty One who ' will plead their cause.' Also, to borrow the memorable admonition of a lamented Christian Statesman, ' Property and rank have their rights, but they have likewise their duties.' To the higher classes, therefore, even to the highest, we ' have a message from God.' " Eeference is then made to the heavy privations which many myriads of the labouring classes were at that time suffering; to the discontent and peril inevitable from such a state of things; and the hope of a better, brighter day for England is indulged. The Address closes thus : — " May the God of Mercy grant, my honoured brethren, that your conversation, your resolutions, your holy example in the walks of daily hfe, your influence, and your prayers, may be efficacious for the averting of evil, and the acquisition of blessing, above all that we ask or think!" In the month of September, Dr. Smith prepared a Petition on the subject of the Corn Laws, addressed to the House of Lords by the Congregation over which he presided. A copy of this in his handwriting having been preserved among his papers, it is given here as serving to show, in brief and strong terms, the grounds of his very decided convictions and conduct at that momentous period of our national history : — " To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, &c. " The Humble Petition, &c, sheweth JET. 67.] ON THE REPEAL OF THE CORN-LAWS. 451 " That your Lordships' petitioners respectfully remind your Bight Honourable House of the existence of certain Laws in the Statute Book of Her Majesty's realm, of which the inten tion and effect are to restrict the supply of the necessaries of human life, and greatly to enhance their cost : — - " That the results of those unhappy laws are now displayed in the extreme sufferings of those classes of our fellow-subjects which constitute the basis of our national strength, in the de pression of manufactures and their expatriation to rival coun tries, in the miserably inadequate wages of both agricultural and manufacturing industry, in the entire want of work to a most alarming extent, in the hazardous and pernicious direc tion of mercantile operations, and in a rapid tendency to the impoverishing and ruin of the nation, thereby affecting most surely its highest as well as its lowest orders : — That your Lordships' petitioners cannot but be penetrated with a rational and religious conviction of the essential wickedness of those laws, as in their very nature crimes against God, and as being immediate causes of immorality, disloyalty, infidelity, pro fligacy of manners, a contempt of the authority of religion, and, by necessary consequence, the most appalling dangers to the pubhc peace and safety: — That therefore your Lord ships' petitioners humbly implore your Bight Honourable House, to adopt without delay such measures as shall be the most likely to stop the advance of national misery, and to pre vent our common and irretrievable ruin." Some time after the prayer of this petition had been granted, and what is called Free Trade was secured, Dr. Smith had his copy of the Paper entitled the Anti-Corn-Law League bound; and on the back he had it lettered, so as to be a standing memorial of his convictions both of the wrong which had been set aside by the repeal of the bread tax, and of the Divine Author to whom that richly-freighted blessing ought to be ascribed. — Between the upper bands of each of the three folio volumes, there is a letter-piece, containing in large characters the words, The Trtumph of Justice ; and between the lower bands are the words — Praise be to GOD. Owing to his great decision and activity in regard to this subject, Dr. Smith's conduct was liable to be misunderstood and even misrepresented ; yet his motives were unquestionably 2 G 2 452 ON the repeal of THE CORN-LAWS. [lS41 of the purest and most generous kind. Not an atom of selfish ness was mixed with them. He had nothing to do with manu- factures, either by himself personally or by any of his im mediate relations ; and as a Landlord— although only on that moderate scale which is apt to make men anxious or even penurious — he might have gained more by the increased rental which a Corn-law would have given him, than in such a small family as his he was ever likely to save, by any abatement in the price of bread consequent upon a free trade in wheat. In his estimation, the prosperity of the country, which, to use his own words, " included the welfare of all classes," could not be placed on a sound or sure basis, as long as there existed any legal impediment to the purchase of the chief article of human food at the cheapest rate at which it can be obtained from the markets of the world. On whatsoever produce of the soil the bulk of a population depends for its strength to labour, and therefore for its power to provide for both public and personal exigencies — whether it be rice in India, or potatoes in Ireland, or corn in England — if that jtroduce is hampered with a tax, the State is guilty no less of jeopardizing its own safety and progress, than of inflicting a private injury in relation to the health and comfort of a vast number of the people. Such a tax does also involve a sinful opposition to that Divine dictum which says, — " The earth hath He given to the children of men:" for though property in land may be-as rightfully held as any other kind of property, yet it would be highly criminal df the owners of land held it in a condition of neglect and bar renness; or if, having sought fruit thereon, they should either withhold the produce entirely from the public, or should make a league among themselves to part with some of it to others* but only at a price beyond what the purchasers would have to pay, were all sellers and all buyers as free as they ought to be where the sustenance of man's life is at stake. Now Dr. Smith, with a host of Christian philanthropists and patriots who cherished similar principles, considered the Corn Laws to belong to a sphere in which human legislation encroached sinfully and therefore most injuriously in many ways on high and Divine provisions, intended for the common good of mankind. Accordingly, it was imperative on Christians in virtue of their Christianity — at least, so these men thought — to speak and move and act, with a view to the restoration of JET. 67.] NOTE ON THE SABBATH QUESTION. 453 harmony between the regulations of an earthly judicature and the great Ordinances of the Blessed and Only Potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. And now that the change has been effected, and there is no prospect, nay, perhaps there is a growing dislike, of any attempt to reverse what has been done ; it may not be out of place to ask,— Whether anything has occurred in the his tory of our country for centuries passed — not excepting the abolition of Slavery in the West Indies — at which the heart of a Christian Patriot may bound with a higher joy, or which may be viewed with a surer hope of the Divine favour and blessing ? In the progress of emancipation, first of the black man's person, and then of the white man's food, England has been permitted to take the lead: and since she achieved these victories at an immense eost to many of her sons, that Provi dence, which has given to America in California a noble motive to act generously towards the oppressed and enslaved, has given to England in Australia a recompense for what she has already done, of which who can estimate the amount and dura tion and value for ages yet to come ? The only thing that seems to be needed is, that all minds should acquiesce in the soundness of the principle upon which the tax on human food was repealed, even though objections may he against some of the details, or difficulties may press for a short time longer upon some of the immediate results of that measure. Or if, in certain instances, an approval of the principle cannot be secured, — if, as a point of honour, an opinion must be retained when it is no longer nourished by the judgment, and is perhaps repudiated by the conscience — is it too much to ask— that faith in the future, encouraged by many tokens of present pros perity, should unite all hearts, if not all voices, in that most religious and therefore most appropriate ascription — Praise be to GOD? Great difference of opinion is known to prevail among good men, respecting the grounds on which the observance of a day for the weekly celebration of Divine worship ought to be placed, and may be defended. In writing to a friend in August this year, Dr. Smith stated his views of the question thus : — '< 1. I cannot rest my argument on the fourth Commandment, 154 ON THE SABBATH QUESTION. [l841. except in the way of analogy and inference: for (1.) The Chris tian ' Lord's Day ' is not ' the Sabbath ' ; and it is much to be lamented that long established usage actually compels us to call our sacred day by that abrogated name. Gal. iv. 9, 10; Col. ii. 16. (2.) That precept was primarily a part of the national law of Israel, and therefore to be construed strictly to the letter, and neither under nor over. Consequently, cessa tion from work not absolutely necessary was a perfect fulfil ment of it. Religious exercises on that day of which we have traces and intimations in the Old Testament, stood upon a different ground, whence originated a parallelism of the two fines of duty, but not an identity. " 2. Therefore I am compelled to regard the moral in dis tinction from positive argument for the mode of observing the Lord's Day, as that on which alone we can take a sure standing. That argument consists, (1.) Of the analogical reasoning above mentioned. (2.) Of considerations various, extensive, and to me of far greater power than the positive law of Sinai, drawn from the laws of mind, association, connexion of inward states with outward circumstances, — the nature and requirements of personal and social religion, the physical, mental, and civil ( = political) benefits of resting every seventh day. " These furnish me with the very same doctrine as yours, in a manner which seems to me of invincibly demonstrative strength ; whereas a direct argument from commandment iv. is capable of being quite refuted." That reference to himself in the above extract, in which the Writer speaks of certain moral considerations having greater power with him than the positive law of Sinai, is illustrated by a fact stated in a Note, recently received from the present Mrs. Pye Smith: — "Every one knows" — says that Lady — " that a strictly conscientious regard to the sanctity of the Lord's Day, formed a prominent habit in the personal and domestic life of the Doctor; but all are not aware of the sacrifices he made to attain this sacred object. Eegularly, invitations were sent to him as F.E.S., to attend the Soirees of the Pre sident of the Eoyal Society. To these the current of taste and inclination would have carried him ; but a higher impulse he was bound to obey. These brilliant assemblies were invariably arranged to take place on Saturday evenings. So sacred did JET. 67.] ON THE SABBATH QUESTION. 145 the obligation appear to the Doctor, to abstain from every act approximating to a violation of Sabbatic time, that he was never known to avail himself of these literary and scientific enjoyments." Although this communication applies to the latter years of Dr. Smith's life, it is in perfect harmony with the principle and style which had from a very early period characterized his religious exercises on the Day of Best. In these exercises there were no signs of a rigid, constrained, or of a dry and formal ob servance of certain prescribed duties ; not anything which betokened the domination of the letter of a law. It was rather as though on that day he felt himself in a purer and a more thoroughly congenial element than on other days ; — as though his renewed nature was less in the world of care and of common duty, and was therefore more completely in the possession, or at all events in the pursuit, of delights which filled him at times with almost unutterable gratitude. So much was this the case, that one of the members of his family has spoken again and again of the peculiar animation, fervour, and holy joyousness of the domestic worship on the morning of the Lord's Day. 0, that it were possible for all who plead against the obligation of the Mosaic law in this particular, to be ' a law unto themselves ' in the spirit and style in which Dr. Smith was J When the life of a duty is found to supersede the necessity of the letter, then the great interests of truth and holiness have a distinction put upon them on earth, akin to that which will be their glory in heaven. But, alas ! many persons appear to think themselves very good Christians, in proportion as they succeed in proving that they ought not to be Jews; just as though they would directly reverse the words of Christ, and make Him say — ' I came not to fulfil the Law but to destroy.' None probably, either in the world or in the so-called Church, Judaize in a more egregious, and may it not be said culpable manner, than those who turn the lack of a positive commandment in the New Testament to keep holy, into a, sort of negative authority for making common, the Lord's Day. If such persons seem to live under the wrong dispen sation even now, would they not be still more out of their ele ment in the future; for in the absence of printed rules = the letter of a law— to bind their conduct, what could their pres ent inclinations and impulses do for them in heaven?— 456 DR. LANT CARPENTER'S SERMONS. [l842. Dr. Smith had such an exalted idea of both the capacity and destiny of the renewred nature, that so far from being willing— we might even say able — to 'hug the shore' as too many do, he was ever as one who strove that an " entrance might be ministered unto him abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." And was he not right? — right on principle — and right for himself as well ? In the June number of the Eclectic Review for 1811, there is a paper which he wrote upon a volume of posthumous Sermons on Practical Subjects, by the late Dr. Lant Carpenter, of Bristol. The amiable and highly exemplary character of the Author of the Sermons, had not only been long known to Dr. Smith, but there had existed between the two a sincere friend ship, notwithstanding their difference of opinion on some im portant parts of Christian doctrine. While the Eeviewer, however, highly commends passages in the Sermons and excellencies in the temper and life of their Author, he does not under the cover of anonymous writing keep back his own belief in regard to points which elsewhere he advocated in the most decisive manner. He says: — "It is our solemn and heartfelt conviction that the essence of the Gospel is ex terminated, and its blessings intercepted by those who reject the proper Deity of our Saviour's pre-existent nature, the propitiation for the sins of the world by his sacrifioial offering up of Himself, the infinite value of His obedience, and the influence of His Spirit in the production and maturing of a holy character." — Ec. Rev. 1841, vol. i. p. 667. On the extremely difficult, not to say really inexplicable question, respecting the degree in which a professed difference of belief in regard to the above points, may neutralize the force of all other evidence in favour of a really right state of heart towards God, the Eeviewer expresses himself with that love of equity, and that deep sense of humility and diffidence, which were his invariable characteristics. With a firmness and con stancy in defending his own ' heartfelt conviction,' of which none who knew him could be ignorant, there was united such a remarkable abstinence from all intrusion upon the Divine prerogative of adjudging human motives, and passing a sen tence of condemnation on human beings, as to entitle his con duct in this respect to particular attention. Where the' fruits JET. 68.] BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 457 of things appeared sound and good, he was ever inclined to hope that there were roots of the right kind, lying perhaps in some cases too far below the surface for the detection of any human eye, but in the meanwhile not to be denied with that posi- tiveness which is hasty to utter itself in the words — exclusively befitting the authority of the Infallible Judge: — " Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ? " Yet, who ever did more to bring these roots into prominence, by evincing their Divine origin and vitality on the one hand, or their indispensable im portance to the production and sustentation of the life of God in the soul of man, on the other ? Besides a second edition of the Four Discourses, the Author published in 1842 a Lecture which he delivered at the London Tavern in the month of October, before the Baptist Missionary Society, on the completion of the Fiftieth year of its history. The Lecture is entitled to a wider circulation than it has hitherto received. Were it reprinted entire in this place, the Beader could not fail to be delighted with the cogency of its reasoning and the animation of its style : nor would he be less instructed by the amount of information compressed within such a small number of pages. The Author thus defines the object of the Society : — " A Christian Mission is a plan, con ceived and arranged methodically, but in as simple a manner as possible, for the communication of the greatest sum of happiness to the greatest number of our fellow-creatures." In this calm manner does he assign to its only competent source, in the religion of the New Testament, the realization of the celebrated maxim of Mr. Jeremy Bentham : — " The greatest happiness of the greatest number." " But," says Dr. Smith, " we wish our terms to be understood in their proper meaning and just comprehension. We take happiness in its rational sense ; not that which many misguided men deem happiness, which frustrates their efforts, disappoints their expectation, and leaves still in the heart a deep and melancholy void ; but the happiness which will endure the examination of sound reason, and will stand the test of all time,— the whole dura tion of man's existence." This is followed by a statement of the truths of Bevelation, on which the happiness of man in the present and future hfe depends : — then comes an account of our Lord's command, and 458 BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY. [l84S. of the Apostles' labours to make known those truths. In passing from the Apostles downwards to our own times, the Author took occasion to depict, denounce, and refute those pretensions to Apostolic succession, and almost to Apostolic or even more than Apostolic powers, which in 1842 appeared with the flush of a fashion which had not been long enough in vogue to have lost any of its extravagance : — " Some there are who put in a claim, and say that there must be a succession of commission and authority from those Apostles ; and who have the exemplary modesty to affirm that this com mission, this succession, has come down upon them and their like, their own precious selves. What they lack in proof they abundantly supply by assertion ; and they find too many of our fellow -creatures weak, credulous, and willing to yield a base submission to their arrogant and impudent preten sions." — p. 14. After introducing a number of arguments against the prin ciple as well as the assumption of Apostolical succession, the learned and catholic-spirited Lecturer concludes with an epit ome of the history of the transmission of Christianity from early to modern times, comprehending the efforts of various Christian Bodies down to those of the honoured Society to whom belonged the illustrious names of " Fuller, Byland, and Sutcliff, with Carey and Pearce." Dr. Smith's contributions to the Eclectic for 1842, appear to have been confined to two brief but commendatory notices of Dr. Edward Hitchcock's Wreath for the Tomb, and his Elementary Geology. CHAPTEE XXV. SECOND MARRIAGE — COLLEGE DUTIES — PROPOSES A REDUCTION OP HIS SALARY AS A TUTOR — REPEATS THE PROPOSAL — CHANGE IN THE CLASSICAL TUTORSHIP — INVITED TO BECOME RESIDENT TUTOR — ADVANTAGES OF HIS BEING THE RESIDENT TUTOR AT THIS TIME — LETTER TO THE TREASURERS — ENTERS UPON RESIDENCE AT THE COLLEGE — LETTER TO SIR J. B. WILLIAMS — PASTORAL LETTER TO HIS CHURCH — LETTER TO REV. E. BICKERSTETH — REV. E. BICKER STETH AND DR. SMITH — ANTI-STATE-CHURCH ASSOCIATION — ' DIS- , SENTERS' CHAPELS' BILL ' — RE-ARRANGES COLLEGE LIBRARY — INTER RUPTED BY ILLNESS — DISCONTINUES AFTERNOON SERVICE AT HIS CHAPEL — CLOSE OP 1844. After more than ten years of widowhood, in January, 1843, Dr. Smith married a second time. He had long known and esteemed the'Lady who now became his wife. She was the widow of the Eev. William Clayton, whose early ministerial life had been passed in connection with the Congregational Church at Saffron Walden, in Essex, but who for several years prior to his death, which took place suddenly in March, 1838, was the respected and efficient Chaplain of Mill Hill Gram mar School. About two years before this date, Dr. Smith's only surviving daughter had married; and thus — to use his own words — that " serene course of domestic duty and comfort " which he had " so long enjoyed," could not be perpetuated exactly as it had been. For while the affection would continue un diminished, and there would be also the uniform and truly filial respect which Mr. Searle James Nash, the husband, ever delighted to manifest, the new tie could not fail to bring with it new claims which must to some extent interfere with the 460 COLLEGE DUTIES. [l843. immediately foregoing routine of things ; and the effect of this would be felt by one in Dr. Smith's circumstances of age and deafness, more perhaps than can be imagined by the generality of persons. It may also be added, that as Mrs. Pye Smith was several years younger than her husband, and as she possessed great readiness in conversation and in the use of the pen, with considerable skill and order in matters of business : — as moreover her varied talents were constantly employed to relieve or to aid Dr. Smith in his declining years — the connection proved an eminent benefit and solace to him to the end of life. Without presuming to say, that the number of his days was greater than it otherwise might have been had he not entered into this union, it seems highly reasonable to infer, that as one of its consequences his useful ness was carried much nearer to the closing scene. Constant and careful watching had in his case an obvious effect, in, pre serving a valuable light for some years after its original bright ness had begun to wane ; — the dimness might have come on earlier, or it might have been greater than it ever was, if such attention as he received for the last eight years had not been at hand. He was ever deeply sensible of his advantage in this respect ; and was always diligent in requiting it by confidence and kindness, for he could not be happy so long as any debt of affection was left undischarged. Through the years over which the narrative has been recently passing, there was no interruption in the ordinary course of Dr. Smith's pastoral duties ; but for that reason, as may be readily understood, it would not be easy to give sufficient interest to these to make it desirable to go into their details. In his sphere of labour as a Tutor also, there was such uniformity of diligent and persevering effort from day to day,' with but few interruptions from a want of health to occupy his place, or from any other cause which was not so transient as to be unworthy of notice here, that the stability and punctuality of his attendance entitled him to be considered as the main-stay of order and activity to the Institution; serving in this respect not only as an example, but as a source of adjustment and progress to the Students generally. But while the particulars of his course as a Tutor cannot supply any great variety of incidents from year to year, there were JET. 69.] PROPOSES A REDUCTION OF HIS SALARY. 461 manifestations of solicitude for the prosperity of the College, shown by him under supposed circumstances of difficulty or emergency, which are entitled to notice as signs by which his character may be more fully understood and appreciated. Some of these, which are allied in spirit, but which in regard to time extend over two or three years, will now be grouped into a class, the more clearly to bring out their import and value. The following communication was addressed to the Trea surers of the Institution : — " Homerton, August 15, 1840. " My dear Sirs, — The declaration which I am now making to you is the result of no sudden impulse or hasty resolution. I have maturely con sidered it, and am well satisfied that it is a duty which I owe to you and to the College ; on the ground both of gratitude for the abundant kindness which you and your honourable associates have for so many years con ferred upon me, and of my infinite obligations to the adorable Saviour. The necessity of establishing a Mathematical and Philosophical Professor ship, or what will be practically equivalent, in the College, is undeniable. But if. cannot be expected that the Funds of the Institution can bear the additional expense that must be incurred. I therefore renounce one hundred pounds per annum, of the salary which you have so kindly given me for many years ; and desire that this renunciation take effect from Mid summer last. That the God of all grace may give success to all your affectionate and zealous efforts for the promotion of His glory ; and that HE may enrich yourselves and your beloved families with the highest blessings, temporal and eternal, is the heart's desire and prayer of, " My dear Sirs, your greatly obliged," &c. &c. A few months later, when he found that the Treasurers were altogether disinclined to entertain the proposal which he had made, he wrote to them expressing his sense of their kindness and generosity, as he was pleased to call it; but at the same time renewing his request, and even urging it upon them by a full statement of all the particulars of his income, not only from professional sources, which might be known to them in other ways, but by such a detail of his private affairs as perhaps he Only could give. And he did this to show how competent he was as well as ready, to meet that change in his salary which he recommended for the advantage of the College he had loved and served so long. " I intreat your forgiveness " — he writes — " for intruding these private matters upon you. I do it in order to substantiate my assurance, that through the Divine 462 REPEATS THE PROPOSAL. [lS13. benignity, I hope to be well able to sustain such a diminution of income as I have proposed. It would be, not a duty merely, but my happiness, thus to show my attachment to the In stitution which has been to me the instrument of so many blessings." The next is from a copy of a Letter addressed to the late John Morley, Esq., one ofthe Treasurers : — dated " Homerton, September 13, 1841. " My dear Sir, — I trust that you will not infer any want of sensibility to the kindness of yourself and my other friends, from my now renewing a proposal similar to that which I submitted to you about a year ago, but which you then, with characteristic generosity, declined to entertain. " The great increase in the expenses of our College Tuition is clearly un avoidable.— But the subscriptions diminish every year ; and few or no additions are made. From subscriptions I see no hope of retrieving the disadvantageous balance which lies against our liberal and kind Treasurer. I feel it therefore to be my duty, most respectfully and with full resolution, to entreat the Committee through you, Sir, as its Representative, to take off from my salary one hundred pounds a year ; this alteration commencing with the current quarter. " This is in my conviction no more than an act of duty, to which I am bound by strong obligations. Through forty-one years, I have been receiving great advantages from my service to the Academy. Were it requisite, and were it in my power, to serve all the rest of my life without any salary whatever, I should only be acting out my feelings of attachment and gratitude. This diminution of income is as nothing compared to the losses and distresses which thousands of excellent men in commerce and manu factures are now obliged to endure. It is also to be considered, that in consequence of the marriage of my daughter, the giving up of £100 is no great sacrifice ; for what remains will be adequate to the calls of beneficence and all my other wants. Therefore, my dear and faithful friend, I beseech and enjoin upon you, to carry this proposal into immediate effect; and for that purpose to adjust with my truly kind and valued friend, Mr. Rutt, the proportions respectively for the Society and the Fund Board. " Of another and more serious subject, it is incumbent on me to renew the mention, lest silence should seem forgetfulness. It is one of the weaknesses of human nature, to fail in perceiving the proper point of time for retiring from any station. Hence good men have been known to persist in retaining offices after their efficiency and usefulness had declined. I dread the falling into this error. But a man is not fully competent to decide in his own case. I therefore rely upon my friends, that they will exercise their most careful judgment, and will faithfully tell me when they see the moment arrived. The interests of the Church of Christ are in finitely more important than the comfort of any individual." These communications supply a fine example of frankness, in regard to some of the more delicate accompaniments of a JET. 69.] INVITED TO BECOME RESIDENT TUTOR. 463 public station, about which there is often too much reserve. But in this case, the old and stanch friends of the College, the Theological Tutor, and the Students, had become one body to an extent greatly beyond what is common ; hence the open and generous deportment above manifested. As the Eev. Henry Lea Berry did not resume the duties of the Classical department after the close of 1842, in the early part of 1843 those duties again devolved upon the Theological Tutor, by an ad interim arrangement which extended to the month of February, when the services of Dr. William Smith were secured; but only in relation to the business of the Lecture room, for his engagements elsewhere prevented his going into residence at Homerton. This gentleman continued to attend at the College until January, 1845, when, at the invitation of the Committee, he declared his acceptance of the office of Classical Tutor ; to be held, however, without resi dence, and in conjunction with a similar office at Highbury. As the same Classical Tutor was now employed from day to day, in going over the same or similar ground with two small bodies of Students, who might be considered one in every respect, excepting the fact of their living in houses three or four miles asunder, the chief supporters of the separate Colleges with some of their Tutors, began to contemplate and d-esire the removal of an inconvenience by which — as it was beheved— much time and other valuable advantages were sacrificed. Hence arose active measures to combine the two Institutions in one ; and if two, why not three, so as to in clude Coward College (then situated in London) with High bury and Homerton. The proposal was made and embraced, and New College is the result ; with one set of Officers and Professors ; one set of Lectures, Classical, Scientific, and Theological ; and with larger classes of Students : — whereas before, all these were in duplicate or triphcate, involving such a 'division of labour' as— contrary to modern experience — seemed to impair the worth of the article produced while it added to the cost of its production. — The sequel will show how warmly Dr. Pye Smith entered into the views of the last of his coadjutors respecting the Union of the Colleges. There being now no resident Tutor at Homerton, at a 464 THE ADVANTAGES OF HIS BEING [l813. meeting of the Committee held March 8th this year, it was unanimously resolved to invite the Subject of this narrative to fill the vacant place at the head of the Academic family. No arrangement could exceed Or even equal this in value for all the parties concerned. The Treasurers and Committee of the Institution, as the warm-hearted guardians of its true in terests, had the utmost possible reason to place the fullest confidence in the integrity, vigilance, high Christian example, and holy zeal of their long-proved, and therefore long-loved Theological Tutor. And for himself, throughout the whole of his course, notwithstanding some untoward circumstances in the earlier stages, or his subsequent formal separation from the Student-family, the home of very many of Dr. Pye Smith's best thoughts and affections had been eminently with his " young friends." Now, therefore, when age was enfeebling his body, but his mind and heart still retained unimpaired the old and deeply-inwrought impressions, it was with no ordinary emotions of thankfulness and joy that he contern,- j plated a renewal of the earliest arrangements of his life at Homerton. Once more settled in that early nest, the early aspirations and desires, the early plans, would come back with much of their original freshness ; and with that freshness as the motive power, he would be able to carry the experience with the other acquisitions of forty years, into methods of usefulness among the Students to a far wider extent than would have been practicable had he continued to live at a distance from the College premises. Dr. Smith probably anticipated accomplishing more than he was able to get through — taking the measure of his ability , rather from the largeness of his desires than from the gradr ually contracting limits consequent on the decline of phy sical strength — yet it is nevertheless evident that during the last seven years of his labours as a Tutor, very many addi tional advantages accrued to the College from his residence in . the midst of the Students. His example, of diligence and ; persevering activity, of gentlemanly bearing at all times, .of, < meek and holy deportment as an eminent Christian; — his devout and regular attendance at family worship ; — the fer vour, rich variety, and fulness of his own prayers ; — were among the realized fruits which the new plan brought,, in- JET. 69.] THE RESIDENT TUTOR AT THIS TIME. 465 directly indeed, but not the less beneficially, under the notice of the Collegiate Body. Among the more direct literary results of the arrangement may be mentioned — voluntary classes to receive instruction from him in Hebrew, German, and French — and also the adoption of methods to facilitate the acquisition of Classical learning; — his College Diary bear ing testimony to his zeal and labours in all these particulars. But besides these opportunities for more frequent intercourse between himself and the Students— his duties as Theological Professor being also included — he was now, not only almost constantly within reach of any application which any of their number might wish to make, but he himself sought for their company both separately and together ; that by private con versation at one time, he might show how heartily he could sympathize with them in their several difficulties or trials ; and by social at another, how completely he regarded the whole of their number, with himself at the head, as consti tuting one family. Here it may not be out of place to notice — that while the above varied and valuable results were obtained from the new plan, it is highly probable that had he resided elsewhere during the last seven or eight years of his life — whether with or without his duties as a Tutor, — his efficiency as a public man might have been greatly diminished, perhaps scarcely appreciable. As an Author, he had all but completed his work before the new arrangement came into force ; so that leisure from College claims and interests could hardly have been employed to any great extent upon other productions from his pen : — the manual exercise of writing was never very easy to him, and at seventy years of age the difficulty had greatly increased. Had he not been occupied, therefore, as he was, or only much less fully occupied, he might have read for his own entertainment and solace ; but it was now getting too late for him or his friends to contemplate the accomplish ment of much more ; especially as the sense of duty to under take anything new, not unfrequently dechnes with a loss of physical power: — a merciful provision for the quiet of the mind, when no moral blame attaches to what is called in activity. In truth, he had arrived at that age when the most agreeable, and the most thoroughly practicable occupation is found, in yielding to the stimulus — supplied by intelligent 2 H 466 LETTER TO THE TREASURERS AND COMMITTEE [l813. listeners — to communicate information viva voce. With the memory still retentive of its treasures, especially of those long ago stored up, and often examined subsequently; with an experience wide and varied, ripened by time and culture; with a more thorough mellowing of the whole nature under the long- continued influence of the gospel of Christ: — but with — necessarily — less of freshness and energy in the purely mental operations — Dr. Pye Smith was enabled to " fulfil his course " as a public teacher from 1843 to 1850, with a pro priety, beauty, and usefulness greatly beyond what he could have realized if the Providence, which sent him into residence at the College house in 1801, had not sent him thither again in 1843. Personally considered, however, he no more expected such a result in the latter instance than he did in the first : — indeed, had he not married a second time, his deafness, to say nothing of his being quite alone, would have been an objection to his attempting the responsibilities of the new position. He thus responded to the application : — "March 21, 1843. " To the Treasurers and the Committee of Homerton College. " Gentlemen, my dear friends : — In replying to the invitation with which you honoured me at your special meeting on the 8th instant, the first impulse of both duty and inclination is the expression of gratitude. This mark of your esteem and confidence has been preceded by so many others, through the period of more than forty-two years, the memory of which can never be abolished, that I feel it to be a bond of still stronger obligation to the best exertions of which I am capable, in promoting the great and sole object of your Academical Institution. Such devotedness is indeed for me the most adapted form of consecration to our Divine Saviour, and that which I desire to make the end and aim of my life. " But I should be guilty of great sinful error, if I were to regard your proposal only or chiefly in relation to my own happiness. If I did not entertain the hope, almost would I venture to say the conviction, that it promises to put into my hands more abundant means of usefulness, in all the relationships of the proposed office, than would be possible for me in any other position, I trust that I should not venture to accept it. But ' through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,' I do indulge the expectation of a preservation and increase to whatever capacities God has intrusted to me, for the more efficient instruction, the strict yet liberal government, and the holy encouragement, of pious young men preparing for the gospel-ministry. A more perfect economy of time, the avoiding inter ruptions to health, the facilities of reference to my books, and the opportu nities of intercourse with the Students individually (thus mitigating the disadvantage of my afflictive deafness), are blessings which I trust will not be received in vain. JET. 69.] OF HOMERTON COLLEGE. 467 " Therefore in the fear of God, and in reliance upon His sanctifying and upholding grace, I thankfully accept your affectionate and unanimous invitation. Terms and arrangements I leave entirely in your hands, only submitting three requests. — 1. That the adjustments of salary and its con nections may be made, so as first to secure liberal justice to other persons whom you may elect into your service ; and then leaving me to such residual consideration as shall be safely adapted to the revenue of the College. — 2. That you and your successors shall be at full liberty at any time to dissolve our connexion, without assigning any reason ; and that such notification on your part shall be regarded as not infringing, in the smallest degree, upon the feelings of friendship and kindness.", — The third related entirely to arrangements for the comfort of Mrs. Pye Smith, in the event of the Doctor's death occurring at Homerton. " That the Father of Mercies may grant His blessing to the present pro ceeding, and may richly recompense your disinterested, laborious, and generous exertions, is the heart's desire and prayer of, my dear Sirs, " Your obliged and devoted servant, " John Pye Smith." The following minute of the Committee was sent to him by the Secretary : — "Homerton College, March 22, 1843. " The Committee cannot receive Dr. Smith's cordial accept ance of their proposal to assume the responsible office of Eesident Tutor of the College, without embracing the oppor tunity of recording their undiminished sense of the high value of his long and laborious services, so successfully devoted to the important objects of the Institution : and they cherish the desire, in submission to the Divine Will, that he may be long spared to carry on the efficient discharge of his various duties." In his College Diary, he thus wrote under date May 10th : — Commenced residing in the College, and this evening for the first time slept in it. ' Save now, I beseech THEE, 0 Lord ! 0 Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.' " Although for the last one or two of the seven years, during which the arrangement now entered upon continued, Dr. Smith's powers as a Tutor were failing ; yet neither the exigency of the case required, nor did the approaching union of the Colleges render it desirable that any change should be made, simply because the human instrument, after nearly fifty years' efficient service, was not what it had been. The public sense of congruity and gratitude seemed to demand thus much for the venerated Tutor— that Providence favour - 2 h 2 468 LETTER TO SIR J. B. WILLIAMS. [1848. ing, he and the Institution with which he had been so long incorporate should be allowed to descend the stream of time together — down to the very point, if that were possible, where each would have to enter upon a new and separate course for the future— -when both would be about to renew their youth : — but, 0, with what far surpassing certainty and glory he ! — And although Dr. Smith was permitted to continue at Homerton until the time came and measures were ripe for merging that Institution with the two others in New College:— and although he lived among us a few months subsequent to that change, which he had hailed and favoured as a thing full of promise for ensuing generations : — his public work may truly be said to have been finished wher on the 12th of May, 1850, he wrote in his College Diary "My last lecture." In a Letter to Dr. Daniel Dewar, Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen, dated September 26, 1843, Dr. Smith thus refers to the arrangement which had then been in force upwards of five months : — " By the most wonderful and unexpected workings of Divine Providence, I am now, for the closing period pf my life ' if the Lord will,' put into the situation in which you first knew me, — residing in the College. My office in tutorship is the same, but the collateral ways of usefulness to my young friends are augmented. Our number is full. We have twenty-three, which is too many by one or two." The following clause of a Letter to Sir John B. Williams, refers in all probability to the Education Bill brought into the House of Commons by Sir James Graham, in the early part of the Session of 1843, but which was subsequently abandoned in consequence of the opposition it met with from the Dissenters : — As the Letter was written in April, the failure of the measure was not anticipated at that date : — " The position of our sacred cause, at home and abroad, is painfully trying, and strongly calls for importunate and perse vering prayer. But HE will overcome, who is the Holy and the True. Yet we cannot doubt but that the aggression will work for good. The excitement of the country must direct attention to the principles of unalterable truth which are now promulgated among all classes of our fellow-subjects, and JET. 69.] PASTORAL LETTER TO HIS CHURCH. 469 the facts existing around us present exemplifications of both the positive and the negative apphcation of those principles. So likewise the extreme wickedness of the French aggression in Tahiti has aroused the pious Protestant spirit, I have reason to beheve, throughout the Continent. ' Shall not God avenge ( i. e. vindicate and deliver ) his own elect, who cry unto HIM day and night ?' " In reply to an application to preach at Brixton, the follow ing passage will explain as a general rule Dr. Smith's motives for not leaving his own place and people on the Lord's day : — " For a long time I have made it a rule to decline similar services ; partly from feeling it my duty to devote my best exertions to my own affectionate flock, so eminently deserving of my affections ; and partly because I cannot refuse some requests and accede to others without behaving inconsistently and with apparent disrespect to some. Also, the travelling on the Lord's day is to me very objectionable. To these reasons is now added the important duties of the College Eesidency." Part of the College vacation this year was spent among friends in Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. Although he got home from this journey in time to occupy the pulpit on the first Lord's day of September, yet as he was prevented from re turning early enough to attend the Church Meeting on the preceding Thursday, he addressed the following admirable Letter to his people : — " Bradford, Wilts, Aug. 30, 1843. " To the Church of Christ at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting, Homerton. "My dear Brethren and Sisters, — Grace be unto you, and mercy, and peace ; from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. " You will hold your Church Meeting, as I suppose, on the evening of to-morrow or Friday. I cannot enjoy the privilege of being actually with you: for the opinion of judicious friends, both at home and abroad, has been strongly expressed, that I have not taken sufficient time for the invigorating of health and strength : and therefore, acceding also to some interesting opportunities of improving in Natural Science, I purpose to remain here till Saturday morning, and trust to be brought home in mercy on that evening. On the next Lord's-day, therefore, we hope to be again united in the house of our Gracious Lord, at the footstool of His throne, and at His table of immortal love. — But it is my present happiness to be with you in spirit, ' beholding and rejoicing in your order, and the stedfastness of your 470 LETTER TO REV. EDWARD BICKERSTETH. [l843. faith in Christ. As therefore ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.' " We can never highly enough value our privilege of free approach to the seat of Jehovah's condescending grace, supplicating for ourselves and interceding for each other. ' The secret things belong unto the Lord our God ;' and among them we must reckon the manner in which He honours the mutual intercessory prayers of His children. He who has commanded us to ' pray one for another,' has at His command all agencies and in strumentalities in His kingdoms of nature and providence, of grace and glory. He can never be at a loss to call forth, and regulate, and prosper their operations; though we cannot perceive how He does so. Though the way and manner be among ' the secret things,' the fact is abundantly ' revealed,' and it ' belongs to us and to our children.' Universal experience confirms it on the part of the true Church of Christ, and her children. There are bodies of men which apply to themselves that sacred name, without possessing, either individually or collectively, the characters by which the Word of truth describes the Churches of which it speaks. While we mourn over those soul-ruining delusions, and pray for the deliverance of their unhappy victims, let it be our care to approve ourselves to our fellow- creatures around us, and to God who tricth the hearts, that we are indeed such persons as answer to the New Testament description, that we are ' saints and faithful, — holding fast His word,' not permitting the intrusions of men to be mingled with His institutions, — evincing that we have the characteristic marks of being ' the Lord's,' even ' the sanctification of the Spirit,' and our so walking as to ' please God,' and to ' show forth the powers and praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into ' His marvellous light.' — It will much oblige me if at the Church Meeting yo« will cause to be read the second chapter of the 1st Ep. of Peter. " The best of blessings rest upon you all, and your families ! To the Children of the Church I beg to present my affectionate regards, earnestly praying that they all, without one exception, may be our ' glory and joy.' " I am, my dear friends, " Your Pastor and servant in the Lord," &c. &c. In December, 1843, he thus wrote to the late Eector of Watton, the Eev. E. Bickersteth : — " My dear Sir, and I am sure you will permit me to say, my Brother in the kingdom and patience of Christ, — During months and years I have been longing to attempt the maintenance of intercourse by writing to you. You have not been defective like me. From you I have been favoured with many expressions of your kind remembrance, both by the presentation of your numerous publications thoroughly pervaded by ' the faith of God's elect and the doctrine according to godliness,' and by Letters and notes breathing that spirit of heavenly love which has always characterized your demeanour towards me. Why, then, have I not punctually and assiduously followed so excellent an example ? I owe to you an exposition of the reasons, rather should I say the causes, of this deficiency, a deficiency which has the appearance of being quite unjustifiable. JET. 09.J REV. EDWARD BICKERSTETH AND DR. SMITH. 471 " 1. The necessity of my situation, from having so many years occupied a very public station, compels me to write a great deal, especially in answering Letters, a very irksome task; and I have never been able to acquire the art of rapid and mechanically easy hand-writing. These two circumstances have produced a strong distaste for writing ; and their influence is greatly augmented by the almost perpetual feeling of being thus withheld from the reading of books which have cost me hundreds of pounds, and which fill idly my shelves, and daily tantalize my eyes. Hence I am always tempted to eschew writing when it is not immediately im perative. Hence, too, the accumulation of Letters unanswered has become almost terrific ; at least,' very depressing. " 2. Yet I am persuaded that 1 should not have so yielded to this dis couragement, if I could have written short or not very long epistles, merely the effusions of the undying principle of ' love to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ,' and of that especial exercise of such love which I owe to you. The idea of writing to you has been inseparable from that of com posing almost a volume : for the subjects upon whieh I have wished to write are so numerous and important, as always to suggest the necessity of waiting for more time, and — ' labitur et labetur.' " The subjects here alluded to were for the most part such as the devout Episcopalian of Watton Bectory and the con scientious Nonconformist of Homerton College did not see in the same light. Hence, while the latter with his characteristic ardour was anxious to state and defend his views of truth and duty, at times perhaps under the expectation that they would appear as obvious to others as they did to himself; Mr. Bickersteth — on the other hand — cultivated that style of correspondence in which the Christian affections have to do the chief part. Discussion therefore, and especially discussion with a prospect of a practical result, was not to be expected ; accordingly the correspondence could not be active as it otherwise might have been, although there is abundant evi dence on both sides to show, how heartily the two men agreed and loved one another, whenever they met on that elevation which the eminent piety of both qualified them to occupy. Scarcely could examples be found of a wider diversity of sentiment, not only on questions of ecclesiastical polity, but on some points of Bible interpretation ; and yet each was ever ready to ascribe to the other the highest Christian excellence. At the meeting of the Homerton College Committee in February, 1844, a communication was made to Dr. Smith respecting his connection with the Anti- State -Church Associa tion. The design was to induce him to withdraw from that 472 ANTI-STATE-CHURCH ASSOCIATION, [l814. Society ; but with that respect and affection which had long marked the intercourse between the Committee and their now venerated Theological Tutor, they— or those of their number who agreed in their views on this subject — appear not to have done more than suggest their wishes, leaving him to act upon them or not, just as his own convictions of propriety might deter mine. With his uniform frankness towards these gentlemen, yet with that courage which belonged to him in matters of personal obligation, he addressed a Letter " To the Committee of Homerton College," from which the following passages are transcribed : — " My honoured Friends and Brethren, " Permit me to return my best thanks, in this more explicit and per manent manner, for the generous reasons and the kind manner of the desire expressed at your last meeting, that I would withdraw from my membership with the Anti-State-Church Association. " If that desire could be met upon the ground of mere feeling, if com pliance or non-compliance were a question upon which I could exercise my will, if it were an optional alternative, readily and gladly should I assent. But it is not so. My originally uniting with that association was, so far as feeling could be concerned in it, most strongly against my inclination. Perhaps I should not have had the courage to take that step entirely of myself. I was invited to it in a most grave, serious, and Christian manner ; and therefore I could not refrain from giving due consideration to the question. It was and is a matter of conscience before God. The principles of Dissent I imbibed from my Father and my best early connexions ; and they have been confirmed and raised to the highest degree of conviction by all my observation, reading, reflection, and experience, to thif hour. This solemn and overwhelming conviction, as a very element of religious life, was expressed some years ago in more than one of my publications. . . . The sole design of the Society to which this Letter refers, is to lay before our countrymen the evidence of Scripture, reason, a,nd experience upon this subject; appealing to men's judgment and conscience, and the solemn sense of an accountableness to Him who demands our obedience and has given us His word to guide the manifestations of that obedience. " I have alarming apprehensions that, if the abolition of this iniquity be not accomplished by the peaceful means of scriptural argument and rational persuasion, if the professed disciples of Jesus Christ abandon their duty in this momentous cause, it will fall into the hands of men of the world, and will be accomplished by some fearful convulsion. Should such a result be brought on, or at all aided through our indifference or supine- ness, we shall be answerable for the consequences, and who can estimate the greatness of our guilt ? " I am, my much honoured Friends, " Your devoted and greatly favoured servant," &c. &c. On another point, which excited much discussion in the JET. 70.] ' DISSENTERS' CHAPELS' BILL.' 473 early part of 1844, Dr. Smith took different ground from that occupied by many of his brethren. The Bill brought into Parliament and which was subsequently passed, to legalize under certain conditions the holding of chapels and other property — and which was supposed, with a high degree of evidence, to have been framed so as to give to the Uni tarian party the andisturbed possession of endowments ori ginally designed to aid the diffusion of evangelical doctrines — this Bill, under the name of the " Dissenters' Chapels Bill," was opposed in a variety of ways by the orthodox Noncon formists. But — as will be seen from the following Note to his friend, Henry Eutt, Esq., — Dr. Smith did not join in that opposition ; he rather sought to diminish it. And as far as can be ascertained from a cursory glance at the history of the Unitarian party on the one side, and the Evangelical Body on the other, during the last seven or eight years, the property secured by the Bill to the former does not appear to have imparted any new probability, nor even popularity to their doc trines : — while in regard to the latter, the Bill has not proved any real impediment to the spread of sentiments, which — inasmuch as they are "for the life ofthe world" — cannot (with out a deplorable solecism) be exposed to the implication, that their own support, instead of being expected from the age which they benefit and bless, must be sought in the testa mentary bequests oi generations which have passed away. Admitting thai endowments have the effect of embalming erroi for a time ; even chose very words, of which the " Faithful and True Witness " has declared — they are spirit and they are life, must have lost, or nearly lost, their vitality at tha^ period when they were thought to need the care Ox the hierophants and their servants to lay on the most costly bandages and cerements, as though with a view to per petuate the " form of godliness" after the c: power" had coo manifest!) departed. Yet whether we look at the supereroga tory or the penitential and expiatory grounds, upon which the Bomish Church raised its claims to the property of dying people ; or whether at the mistakes, similai in kind but not in principle, fallen into by o Protestantism not wholly freed from the early bondage : — any fondness for the system, or even any tenacious grasp of its early products, seems to reflect discredit upon the Christianity of our own day; for is it not like an 474 RE-ARRANGES the college LIBRARY. [l8«. attempt to " seek the Uving among the dead ?" — And whenever this is done, will not that be a most merciful disappointment, which shall send the mistaken visitants of an empty sepulchre into close communion with the Bisen Lord ? Dr. Smith's, communication to Mr. Butt, brief as it is, will show how clearly he apprehended the deteriorating effect of endowments for religious uses ; it is dated April 13, 1844 : — " My dear Friend, — I had fully intended to meet you and our associates on Tuesday evening ;* but I now find that it will be incumbent upon me to attend on that evening the regular meeting of the Congregational Board. The obliga tion arises from some steps having been proposed relative to the Bill now before Parliament upon Chapels. As I appre hend that opposition to it would not be right, I am anxious to aid in preventing any remonstrance or petition. I think that opposition from us would also turn out greatly to our own disadvantage ; so that both duty and expediency forbid it. Nothing but a strong necessity would induce me to fail attend ance. I am, my dear Sir, " Yours with high esteem and affection," &c. &c. Instead of leaving home for the greater part or the whole of July and August— the College vacation — which ought to have been months of leisure and rest to one who was now seventy years of age, and who was very fully occupied during ten months in the year, Dr. Smith took the opportunity to begin, and if possible to complete a task which every one, himself ex cepted, knew to be beyond his strength. This was no other than the almost entire re-arrangement of the pubhc library of the College. The room which contained the books was lofty, and as it was filled from the floor nearly to the ceiling, the use of steps was required ; thus rendering the toil and even the danger great to one of his age and state of weakness at the time : and owing to the undiminished force of the habits of nearly his whole life, the labour and fatigue were largely in creased ; for whenever he had a book in his hands, he could scarcely resist the disposition to make himself acquainted with its history, its author, its subject: — he would also examine the condition of the volume, the binding, labelling, and see whether the leaves were torn, turned down, or missing. Nor * Annual Meeting of the Hackney Auxiliary Bible Society. Mr Rutt. JET. 70.] RE-ARRANGES. THE COLLEGE LIBRARY. 475 could he be satisfied without doing much to render his ex amination useful to others who might come after him, by in serting, as he has done, in the fly-leaves, or on the margin of the page, tables of contents, indexes, and a variety of notes, biographical, bibliographical, critical, commendatory or the contrary. — Had the Volumes been dispersed upon which he exhausted his slender strength during this season of appointed relaxation, his learning and leisure thus voluntarily applied might have appeared little better than thrown away; but as the Library which was at Homerton is now included in that of New College, Dr. Pye Smith's principles and skill as an Annotator and a Critic — instead of being confined within the limits of his printed Works — may be seen developed upon a wider scale ; and are furthermore rendered permanently avail able for the example, instruction, and entertainment of precisely that class of persons — Students for the Christian ministry — whom he was ever well-pleased to serve, irrespective of any earthly recompense of reward. But this self-imposed undertaking may not improbably be numbered among the signs of that failure of power for the old and long-accustomed literary pursuits, which was now begin ning to be observed by his friends. He could neither read continuously nor closely as he had done ; and writing, as we have seen, was becoming more and more irksome ; conversa tion also, and accordingly social intercourse, was subjected to a heavy drawback. In the midst of the kindest circle of relations, his sense of isolation was often visible, and therefore must have been extremely painful to himself. Hence, when he began his work in the Library, from which he could not be persuaded to desist, it was as though he had been silently meditating and maturing his purpose, with a view to secure not only occupation for his time but interest for his thoughts, just at that period when, by the absence of the Students, he would be left very much more alone than usual. It is instructive to notice how the native impulse, which still seemed to crave an object on which to exert itself, was found going out in this new direction, at an age when it could not pursue the older tracks : and that perhaps, as the result of this wise provision of a Divine economy, the failure of all power for action and service did not occur as early as it might have done, had this vacation been passed with out any such employment. With many persons, and especially 476 INTERRUPTED BY ILLNESS. [l8«. in advanced hfe, the want of a fresh point of interest when the old ones fail, is tha precursor of entire and often speedy decay. Nor is this to be wondered at where great tenacity of apphcation has been a characteristic :— if the prop is suddenly removed, and there is no other to supply its place, the plant must soon droop and die. The plan for re-arranging the Library, which consisted of between three and four thousand volumes, appears to have been carefully prepared bj Dr. Smith some time before he began his operations. When therefore it became evident that his mind was set upon the work, such aid as could be furnished iu the absence of the Students was pressed on his acceptance; but he had been all his life accustomed to do without foreign help, and his interest in books was as yet unimpaired ; hence although some assistance was occasionally edged in, iu was not nearly to the amount which was offered, nor at all equal to that which his own evident weakness required. Under these circumstances, his assiduity was not able to complete the task by the end of the vacation ; and as the Students, im mediately after their return to the College, were engaged in arranging their respective studies, Dr. Smith's College Diary, which then affords a clue to his pursuits and feelings, contains such entries as these ; — Sept. 5. " The whole day labouring in the Library." " 6. All day in Library work." " 7. Library. — Very unwell ; — vertiginous." " 9. Library, a little. Very un well." " 10. Library, little. Very unwell." " 12. Obliged to attend the consultation of Dr. Hodgkin and my dear Ebenezer." '; 13. By them enjoined to desist for a time." Yet, notwith standing this medical advice, he still strove to go on with his Lectures, although undei considerable weakness and with some interruptions. Sept. 23. The College Committee met ; and the Diary records — " The Committee desired me to cease for three or four weeks." But, then, as though to show how im possible it was for him to rest while he was able to work at all, he was a' his post again by October 5th, and writes against that date — " Eeturned, after interruption by illness." It is observable that on this occasion as well as some others, his just and wise desire to aid by his presence and partial services the progress of the Students, constrained him to meet his class from day to day, (though it might be but for ffiT. 70.] DISCONTINUES AFTERNOON SERVICE. 477 a short time) when he was too weak to undertake the duties of the pulpit on the Sabbath. For the one a substitute could be found, but not for the other. Having, however, overtasked his strength by the labour of the vacation, in October he rather suddenly announced to his congregation, — '• that there would no longer be an afternoon service." On a subsequent Lord's day he stated " the reasons which had induced him to forego the attempt " to continue that duty : these were, the state of his health, and the advice, or rather injunction of his medical friends, Prior to the time when Dr. Smith relin quished this service, the congregation had made arrangements for an evening lecture ; so that there ivere still two services in the day, though the Pastor was only engaged to undertake one of them, and the afternoon service was resumed in 1846, when a co-Pastor was chosen. It is gratifying to find, that the dis couraging, and somewhat alarming state of Dr. Smith's health at this period, did not continue. In a Letter to his son at Sheffield, dated December 2, 1844, he says : — " After nearly three months of remarkably debilitating and vertiginous dis order, I am now most mercifully very well." Having at the close of this year filled another of his Sermon Books, the Pastor adds : — " Wonderful, — that God has con ducted me to the finishing of this book ! " Lord, make me faithful." CHAPTEE XXVI. RENEWED HEALTH — ECLECTIC EEVIEW : PASCAL'S THOUGHTS : DE. HENEY EDWARDS, MODERN PRETENSION— CONTRIBUTIONS TO BIBLICAL CYCLO PAEDIA — TRANSLATIONS OF PASSAGES FROM THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES — METHOD OF QUOTING AUTHORS — DESIRE FOR DEFINITE INFORMATION MYTHIC THEORY — SOCIAL AND PRIVATE INTERCOURSE WITH THE STUDENTS— LETTER TO THE NEW YORK INTELLIGENCER — ATTENDS BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT CAMBRIDGE — LETTER TO MRS. PYE SMITH — VISIT TO SHEFFIELD, ETC. — LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN — LETTER TO REV. THOMAS THOMAS. With evidently renewed strength Dr. Smith was permitted to enter upon the year 1845. His sense of the Divine benignity, and his thoughts and desires for the future, were thus expressed at the beginning of a new Sermon Book : — " Infinite Mercy has brought me to this point of time. Beyond my expectation, I have to commence another book. Surely the probability of its being the last is greater than at an earlier point of time. 0 that it may contain more indications of faithfulness to my Lord and Saviour and his people, my beloved, patient, and affectionate flock!" In the January number of the Eclectic Review for this year, an article appeared which was written by Dr. Smith on M. Faugere's edition of Pascal's Thoughts, published in Paris in 1844. " As a man of profound thinking " — says the Eeviewer — " and sublime soarings of the soul, yet even deeply humble, we put Pascal in the rank of Bacon, Boyle, Milton, Howe, Edwards, Coleridge, Bobert Hall, and John Foster." Ec. Rev. 1845, vol. i. p. 64. Again: "Notwithstanding the deplorable impregnation of submission to the false church and the papal usurpation, which from his educational and other circumstances had been put into Pascal's mind, he with his fellow-confessors JET. 71.] DR. HENRY EDWARDS — MODERN PRETENSION. 479 and fellow-sufferers, were wondrous witnesses to the gospel of the Grace of God, and its proper fruits. His Thoughts and other pieces contain a multitude of evidences and illustrations of the essence of doctrinal Christianity, Sovereign, Free, Electing Love acting through a Divine Eedeemer and a Divine Sanctifier; and the essence of practical Christianity, Love to God because He is Lovely, and Love to Holiness because it is His Image." And the following striking passage from the Augustinus of Cornelius Jansenius — " obtained," as the Eeviewer is careful to state, " through the medium of Theophilus Gale's True Idea of Jansenism — will give an insight into the style of piety which Dr. Pye Smith was ever inclined to culti vate : — " The Spirit of God in the most salutary manner indicates to us, that there is no love of ourselves more true than that whereby we love God with all the heart. And because the most refined and noble love of God consists in a man's being abstracted from the reflection and consideration of him self, it thence followeth, that by how much the more a man forgets himself, he has so much the more noble and exact regard to himself. Thus, by an admirable kind of competition, the more a man denies himself the more he seeks himself; the more he is emptied of himself the more he is filled with God. To relinquish God is to embrace nothing." lb. p. 66. Dr. Smith's last contribution to the Eclectic, which he had served with great fidelity, learning, and zeal from its com mencement in .1805, appears to have been a short paper of about three pages in the July number for the present year; which by a singular coincidence, when the well-known temper and habits of the Eeviewer are considered, was written not only without any intention to give an estimate of the works at the head of the article, but with manifest indications that they had not even been read. The object was to put down the Author ; and that object appears to have been very completely as well as very summarily accomplished. One Henry Edwards announced himself in the title-page as the writer of a certain number of volumes variously styled — Christian Humility — Elementary Education — Poem on Providence — Piety and Intellect — Our Female Servants — Poem on Marriage : but as though works with such attractive designations could not be trusted to their own merits, the author had also used the printing press with 480 DR. HENRY EDWARDS — MODERN PRETENSION. [1848. profuse liberality in annexing the most winning figures of speech to his own name ; for he was — at least as far as mere printer's ink could make him — Ph. D., D.D., F.R.S., F.A.S., F.S.A., dc. dc. The paper in the Eclectic is thus gravely opened : — " Our duty as the servants of the public, in subordination to the claims of truth.and fidelity, is important and solemn. The functions of our Review are to sift the barn-floor, to separate the chaff from the wheat, to honour that which is worthy of honour in letters and in moral principle, and to protest against errors in science, bad taste in literature, and whatever is unscriptural in religious doctrine, or unholy with respect to practice ; to point out, anas the true philosophy for such an office : for by keeping his own estimate of the value of the Student at the highest possible elevation, he was not only hkely to keep his motives and efforts for the Student's benefit in the best working order, both intellectually and religiously ; — but the Student himself, unless dull in the worst sense, would receive a salutary influence and impulse from the pervading consciousness that he was not thought of and treated by his Tutor as a common thing. Mr. Palmer Davies's Letter to Mrs. Pye Smith is dated Wandsworth, Sept. 2, 1852 :— " After many interruptions I have at length an hour or two to myself, and readily embrace the opportunity so' afforded to reply to the question which you proposed to me in your last note. I entered Homerton College in 1844, and it was, I believe, in the summer of 1845 that we first met in what subsequently became an annual meeting. That first meeting, though I attended many subsequently, is the one of which I entertain the most vivid recollections, and to which I now look back with the liveliest interest. The order of proceedings, as far as I can recollect it, (for I have a far more distinct recollection of the impressions which were produced than of the incidents which occurred) was this : The Doctor was by his deafness pre cluded from taking part in our general conversation ; but after tea, before we adjourned to his library, as we soon afterwards did, he gave us many interesting anecdotes of distinguished men. It was either on this occasion, or when we met in 1846, that he read to us a long and valued Letter which he had recently received from Dr. Bush, of New York, touching the book he had just then published on the ' Resurrection of the Body.' I forget whether this was a reply to a Letter which Dr. Pye Smith had already written, or whether it merely elicited a reply : but I well recollect that, while he spoke in strong and affectionate language of Dr. Bush as a friend and conscientious scholar, he expressly dissented from his peculiar theory, and referred to that which it is well known that he himself so firmly, and I think I may say fondly, held : — the existence of an ' indestructible germ, so minute as to elude the very nicest microscopic observations,' from which the resurrection body was at last to spring.* In some such instructive way we usually spent this portion of the evening. " We afterwards retired to his library, where he had already arranged his microscope, and placed for our inspection rare works in Theology, and those splendid books which he possessed illustrative of so many branches of * At the close of this communication from Mr. Palmer Davies, the Reader will find a Letter of Dr. Smith's on the subject. — Ed. ST. 71.] WITH THE STUDENTS. 487 Physical Science and Natural History. He himself superintended our inspection, and, as was ever his wont, anticipated our questions and diffi culties, and made our amusement instructive by the rich variety and appropriateness of his remarks and illustrations. In addition to this we had unrestricted permission to examine any other books, pictures or portraits, and to propose any question which such examination might suggest. In this way the time passed most pleasantly. This over, we then assembled for family worship and afterwards met for supper. It was here, that on this occasion, (in 1845) as I shall never forget, when we had finished our repast, he rose and spoke with a tenderness and humility — to him so natural, to us so touching, of his trials, his comforts, the goodness of God, the kindness of friends, and of the unbounded affection which in his heart he felt for us. I see him now as, with silvered hair, and tearful eyes, and tremulous voice, and animated gesture, he stood, and in love and confidence unlocked to us some of the finest feelings of his heart. We parted, having sung a hymn. This will I think serve to show the spirit in which those meetings were passed. The ipsissima verba which were said, and the order in which various incidents occurred, I cannot so well remember. " But it would give a very inadequate idea of Dr. Smith's domestic inter course with his Students to restrict it to this. For any or for all there was ever to him ready access. There were stated seasons when he solicited interviews with us individually ; but his duties, so varied and burdensome, never prevented him at other seasons from granting such interviews when asked. Once in every month the Committee of the College met and dined with the Students in the Public Hall. On that day lectures in every branch were suspended : but Dr. Smith invariably devoted the hour or more, on other days assigned to him, to private conversation with such of the Students as he selected, generally on matters touching personal feeling and religious difficulties. On such occasions he chiefly invited those who were not daily attendants in his Theological Class ; who otherwise might be too timid to seek what was thus so considerately and kindly given. In the last two or three years of his College life, this was not attended to with as much regularity : — chiefly because the necessity for it had in part ceased in con sequence of changes connected with the studies of the Junior Classes ; and partly too, I believe, because after the death of Mr. Christie no new Secretary was appointed, and the Doctor's time was of necessity occupied in the preparations requisite to the deliberations of the Committee. This, however, has to do only with the occasions on which, independently of any expressed wish on the part of a Student, he of his own accord sought a private conference. " But it was in less formal interviews, and these by no means unfrequent, that the interest felt in the welfare of his pupils was most strikingly manifested. Could the veil which shrouds these in inviolable secresy be withdrawn, there were told many a touching tale which could betoken, one would think, nothing less sacred than the love of a Father. Nor was this unsought converse ever regarded as ominous of disgrace; while, on the contrary, it seldom failed to furnish some new proof of the Tutor's con siderate affection. Where health was delicate, it might be to suggest timely caution : — where unpleasant habits had been contracted ; habits scarcely observed by one less interested, it would be to administer kind and paternal 488 LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF [l845. counsel : — where distress or anxiety was suspected, it would be to win confidence, and to alleviate if not to remove it : — in a word, there was hardly a Student to whom, either in difficulties of mind or estate, he had not during that Student's College course given practical sympathy and help. It was often with the pleasant suddenness of a surprise, that one struggling with his own sorrow and looking darkly at time to come, found his path brightened by the unsuspected efforts of one absorbed, as he thought, in nobler aims and full of other and higher cares than his ; and this too with such secresy and unostentatious goodness, that none could spurn the con fidence or apprehend exposure. " This Letter would swell out to an unbecoming length, were I to write as I would of the judicious but practically unrestricted access which we had to the splendid treasures of his private library : of the assiduous perseverance with which he procured for us admission to the various Societies, Literary, Scientific, and Religious, in which his name and in fluence were respected : of the way in which, in such circles, he identified himself with his Pupils, ever naming and introducing them to those to whom it were an honour but. once to have spoken ; and how, in the utter absence of the repulsive frigidness of official dignity, by his personal virtues, his splendid attainments, and above all, by the simplicity of his piety and the spotlessness of his life, he sought and won the substance and symbols of personal respect : and yet as one who has not heard of it but known it, my heart burns that I should stop with the mere enumeration, and check the gush of gratitude which in me at least this bare catalogue awakens. You have not sought that I should write of him as a Teacher. I have therefore spoken of him as a Counsellor and a Friend. I have done this hastily and incompletely ; but in love and reverence. Glad shall I be if such crude recollections will, to the least extent, further any purpose-of yours. Believe me," &c. &c. The following Letter, addressed to the Editor of the New York Intelligencer, explains the purpose which Dr. Smith had in writing it. It is dated " Homerton College, Sept. 22, 1845. " Sir,— Having been lately absent a month from home, I found on my return, an accumulation of Letters requiring answers, and other papers of business. For a fortnight I have been toiling, at such intervals as I have been able to command, in writing according to the demands. This morning I reached the latter part of my task ; and I have found an American news paper not opened, the New York Christian Intelligencer, for July 24th last. For the communication of this Paper, I return my respectful thanks to you, or to any other friend, who has conferred the favour upon me. It contains many articles of interesting information, and excellent Christian tendency. But there is one which puts upon me the necessity of troubling you with this Letter. " An Allegation concerning me is cited from another periodical publication, which is perfectly untrue. I am grateful to you, and your correspon dent ' Hold Faith,' for your refusing to give credit to it. The facts are ST. 71.] THE NEW YORK INTELLIGENCER. 489 these. A few months ago, I wrote either to Professor Bush, ( a gentleman whom I highly esteem, ) or to another friend ; but I think it was to the Professor himself. In that Letter, I very briefly described a doctrine, which I have indeed ' taught for many years,' even my whole public life of almost fifty years ; and which I derived in my youth from Dr. Watts's Philosophical Essays. — It is this : fully granting what Mr. Bush has said, and which I regard as demonstrably true, upon the perpetual flow and change of organized substances which constitute all vegetable and animal bodies, there is in the conformation of the human body, a particle which undergoes no change ; probably so minute, as to be indiscoverable by the highest microscopic power ; and which could not be known by man, were it to become an object of vision : but which like all other things, is ever naked and open to the Infinite Mind. This infinitesimal and indestructible particle, may be compared to the corculum of a vegetable seed ; and it is so compared by the inspired Teacher in 1 Cor. xv. 37, 38. It lives safe and secure through all the mutations of our Earth and its materials, in the hand of the Almighty Preserver of his own Universe. From it, at the great day, will be developed the resurrection body of each human Individual; and upon this foundation, the identity of the raised body will be as complete as is that of your, or my body, at this moment, in relation to what our bodies were, a year, or seventy years ago. " The object of my Letter was, to press this doctrine upon the able and upright Professor, as being the one thing which is necessary to the com pleteness of his theory, and as leaving untouched the great Scripture doctrines, of a proper Resurrection of all the human bodies that have ever existed, or that shall exist, and the universal, conspicuous, and mutually conscious Judgment Day. " It grieves me, however, to add, that your correspondent, in his strictures upon Geological Science, has fallen into the common error, of censuring without thoroughly understanding the objects censured. With respect to the profound and overwhelming subject of the Eternity Past — an un questionably necessary reality — it can make no difference, at what point soever we fix for the commencement of non-necessary existence, — i. e. of Creation. The evidence of an unspeakably vast antiquity of the dependent universe, is — in my view — decisive, both morally and physically : and I think that it has been fairly shown, that the admission of God's creative acts — to have begun at some point of duration more remotely back than man can assign — is not at variance with the Inspired Volume, any more than that the language of Scripture, respecting the earth and the heavens, is irreconcileable with the demonstrated facts of the Solar system, and the Astral spaces filled with countless millions of Suns and Worlds. " Upon the other branch of the subject introduced by ' Hold Faith' — the future condition of the Earth, and other parts of the material universe, in comparison with which our globe is but as the smallest particle of the ' small dust of the balance ' — the sentiments which I believe and teach are, that nothing to which God has given existence, whether spirit or matter, will ever be annihilated. I maintain, not destruction, but change ; agreeably to the metaphor, of new folding a garment, or any other way altering its form and arrangement, (Ps. cii. 26. Heb. i. 12 ;) and consonant with the declaration of the conflagration and dissolution which shall precede 490 LETTER TO MRS. PYE SMITH. [l8«. the recomposition of the materials into the 'New Heavens and the New Earth :' 2 Pet. iii. 10 — 13. This is the very reverse of what your Corres pondent ascribes to Geologists, that ' they have no hesitation to declare the permanent and indestructible continuance of this globe.' Does your worthy friend understand ' destruction ' only in the vulgar sense ? If he burn a stick to ashes, the common language is, that he has destroyed it : whereas, not an atom of it is lost ; its form only is changed. He does us great in justice probably by taking up the representations of other persons. Will he permit me to ask that he would for himself, fully read my book, to which he does me the honour of referring? In particular, I beg this for the third edition, on account of the additions. Also I would refer to the excellent volume of the Rev. Thomas Milner — ' Astronomy and Scripture,' particularly chapters xvi. xvii. xviii. " I am, sir, yours respectfully, J. P. S." From the 18th to the 24th of June Dr. Smith was at Cam bridge, attending the meetings of the British Association, held there in 1845. An account of his journey, and of the manner in which he was entertained in the University Town, is supplied hy passages from a Letter written to Mrs. Pye Smith:— " Chambers of E. Eustace, Esq., St. Peter's College, Cambridge; Wed. June 18,- 1845. 4 o'clock. " By the Divine mercy, everything has been comfortable and prosperous, both at Ebenezer's, and on the journey. The copious rain till about 3 o'clock exhibited a great blessing to the country, — signal comfort to me, seated in the Wisbeach Coach, after arriving at Bishop's Stortford, where a great many gentlemen, including Mr. Greenhough and Lord Ennis- killen, had come by the train from Town, and found them selves destitute of the means of getting forwards. It was pitiable to see them standing and looking most wistfully, and prowling about the two or three coaches, — evidently longing to get the humblest outside place, but in vain :— the rain pouring. — I presume there were no post-chaises to be had. What they did I know not. I have met at the Beception Boom, Sedgwick, Murchison, Hutton, Griffith,— but none of the unfortunates. — How strange !— I here, sitting in Mr. Eus tace's chambers, given up as it were to a stranger, a dissenter, calmly and serenely as if at home. I do not know Mr. Eus tace, nor have I yet seen him. — I must conclude, as it is near ST. 71.] LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 491 the College dinner-hour to which I am favoured with an invitation." Then the next day :— " Thursday, | past ii. Mercies still, not only attendant, but prevenient. O that thankfulness and increased devotedness may be advanced in me This forenoon I spent in the Woodwardian Collection of Minerals and Fossils, conducted thither by Sir Henry de la Beche : then xi. to ii. in the Geological Sections. Now I come here to add to this note." In July and August, Dr. and Mrs. Smith visited Sheffield, Scarborough, and other places in the North of England. Soon after his arrival at his Son's, at Broomhill, in the neighbour hood of Sheffield, he wrote thus to the members of his family at Billiter Square and Homerton ; — putting at the foot of the first page of his Note their several names in full : — " My ever dear children, — Both feeling and justice lead me to love you all with the same cordiality, and as I cannot and need not write separately to each, I adopt this mode. We left home at J past ix°, and were at Euston Square at x°, a full quarter of an hour before the letting of the 1st Class places commenced. At i past x°, we began to be driven by fire and water, upon the earth, above the earth, and deep in the bowels of the earth, till, at vil°, we saw the affectionate face of dear John William at the Sheffield Station. Speedily were we transported to Broomhill ; and here we have found all in health and happiness, parents and children. What then can we render to the God of our lives and mercies ? In particular and above all men, I am bound to love and praise and seek to serve Him. Through my long life, and now especially in its closing chapters, he has filled me with blessings. Among the richest and sweetest of all, are conjugal and parental blessings ; and with what delight in those respects am I favoured to look upon my families, both at home and here ! Yet, I trust, this feeling is not selfishness ; unless it be such to rejoice in the happiness of those whom I love because they deserve to be loved. But sorrows and afflictions we must have ; sympathy also in them will be a part of our blessedness, come how and when they may. " Accept my especial thanks, my dear Ruth, for your so pressing upon me the reading of Mr. Penrhyn Stanley's Life of Dr. Arnold, and your putting it into my power. I hope this evening to finish vol. I. Strange as it might seem to some, I must say that Arnold was just the man that I should delight in, the man of mine own heart. Sentiments which appear quite opposite in him and in me, would, I think, have turned out most harmonious, if full conversation could have taken place. I think it plain that he never met with an evangelical dissenter or churchman either, that was not ignorant, enslaved to words, unscientific, incapable of sympathizing with the holy nobleness of Arnold, and Paul, and John, and Jesus. What love 492 LETTER TO MR. THOMAS : [l845. and zeal and diligence ; and a life so short ! Beautiful exemplification of Rev. ii. 3." These visits to Sheffield were rendered pecuharly interesting to the Doctor, and to the members of his family residing there, by the opportunity which was thus provided and secured for the administration of the rite of Baptism by the venerated and affectionate Grandfather to the infant children of Mr. and Mrs. John William Smith. Notwithstanding the distance, his many duties, and his advanced age, the children of this branch of the family born prior to his decease were all baptized by him with only one exception. He thus refers to an instance of the kind on this visit :— " We have attended the Baptismal Service of dear Charlotte Pye. — Everything delightful and encouraging. — Not only Mr. Montgomery present, but Mr. James Yates, my old philosophical friend." — Scarcely can it be necessary to say, that his Grandchildren in London re ceived a similar service from his hands. During the Pastor's absence his pulpit was supphed on this occasion by one of the Senior Students of the College, the Eev. Thomas Thomas, now settled at Wellingborough, North amptonshire. His Tutor wrote thus to him from Scarborough, Aug. 12, 1845 :— "My dear friend, — The mercies which we have been favoured with, through the fortnight since we left home, have been constant and im pressive. The melancholy state of the weather, from almost constant rains and most unseasonable cold, prevents to a great degree the advantage of moving out of doors;* but much more does the prospect of a disastrous harvest-time weigh upon our spirits. Yet prayer and trust, with resigna tion to the judgments of the Ever Blessed Ruler, bring a present encourage ment and a future relief. We may well dread afflictive visitations for our many national offences, and for the perfidious cruelty of our Government in being accessory to the French villany in the South Seas. Yet we have hope upon the principle of Gen. xviii. 20 — 23. We arrived at this town on Friday, the 8th instant. So far as we can now form an anticipative opinion, we hope to be again in our dear home by the 29th. But if it should appear advisable to prolong our absence beyond that day, I will inform my friends in good time ; and providence enabling, we shall be with you before Sept. 7th. The Church-Meeting will be on the 4th. " On the 24th the ' black Bartholomew Day ' (as our fathers used to style it,) you will, I entertain not a doubt, preach in response to the call of our Deputies. Please to confer with our wise and faithful friends, the * " We have, however, an excellent situation, open to the fine bay." ST. 71.] ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY. 493 Deacons ; and as I cannot doubt their approbation, announce, next Lord's Day, your intention and the accompanying Collection.* Also, request them to advance a sovereign for me, which I will thankfully repay when we meet. I am sure you will not deem me dictatorial if I mention, as suggestive of proper sentiments for the occasion, — i. The ' Nonconformists' Memorial,' 2 vols. It is in the Library, on the left of the door; very improperly lettered on the back, ' Lives of Eminent Ministers.' See the Introduction, and the articles, Spurston, Bates, and Baxter, to which the Index will direct, ii. Dr. Watts's ' Humble Attempt ' for the Revival of Religion, in one of the volumes of his Works. It contains many valuable sentiments on the obligations and advantages which Dissenters peculiarly possess, and which in our day have been gloriously amplified. See Mr. Palmer's Catechism. I have repeatedly preached Bartholomew-day sermons. But if you favour me, when returned, with a sight of your notes, I trust that I may be enabled to attempt some supplementary inferences on the morning of September 14th. iii. An excellent article, I conjecture by Mr. Black burn himself, in the Congregational Magazine for this month. If you have any notes of my Church History Lectures, for 1572, you will find a more detailed account of the French Bartholomew. "Please to give my kind regards and Mrs. Smith's, to Mrs. Swallow, and to our other beloved ones. No Letters have come to-day, but I hope for to-morrow. I wrote on Saturday. The post time hence is half past one. " Romans xv. 30—33. " I remain, my dear Mend, " Affectionately yours, J. Pye Smith.'' * The Collection was made for the Deputies of the Three Denominations, towards meeting the expenses of Protecting the Civil Rights of Protestant Dissenters. — Ed. CHAPTEE XXVII. CO-PASTORATE— INVITATION TO REV. JOHN DAVIES — MR. DAVIES BECOMES CO-PASTOR — PASTORATE OF MR. DAVIES — LETTER URGING THE OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER — HIS DEAFNESS — REMARKS ON ORDINATION — EXCURSION TO THE CHANNEL ISLANDS — LETTERS TO HIS DAUGHTER — LETTER TO REV. J. S. WARDLAW: INFANT BAPTISM — ATTENDS BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT SOUTHAMPTON, — REV. THOMAS ADKINS — UNDERTAKES SECRETARYSHIP OF THE COLLEGE — HIS MO TIVES FOR TAKING THE OFFICE — NOTES OF A SERMON ON THE ACTIVITY AND DECLINE OF LIFE — MINDFUL OF HIS ADVANCED AGE- LETTER TO HIS SON AT SHEFFIELD, — ATTENDS BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT OXFORD— VARIETY AND NUMBER OF HIS COLLEGE LECTURES — LETTER TO MR. CHARLES REED : GOVERNMENT EDUCATION MEASURE. From a variety of causes, differing probably in their nature and combination in each particular case, the attempt to in troduce a co-pastor into our Nonconformist Churches has often been found to fail ; and the result has been, not an increase of strength, but rather weakness and division. When however — from age or infirmity — the Incumbent of a " Liying " in the Church of England is unable to discharge his clerical duties, he secures the aid of a Curate, and the work goes on and the congregation is kept up, without any apparent change. The distinction in the two cases may be in part accounted for in this way ; — religious communities sustained upon the volun tary principle} have not only that principle as the sole ground of their pecuniary support, but it does also operate in all their relations, so that everything almost which requires to be done, has to be done — if not exactly in a different way, yet — in a dif ferent spirit from that called for in the Establishment. Should this fact appear to any as a grave objection against the con stitution of Free Churches, it is really an argument in their ST. 73.] CO-PASTORATE. 495 favour ; for it involves by thus much, the substitution of moral means, among all the parties concerned in the working out of all parts of such a system, as distinct from the application of mere will, or of human law, authority, and power ; in a word, of physical force. The principle from which action begins in the first mover, must not only be of higher advan tage to himself in proportion as it is moral; but it is likely to be of greater use to the person to be acted upon, by calling up moral qualities in him also. Now — as already intimated — Dr. Smith appeared not merely to carry out, but most sincerely to love the Church Polity of the Nonconformists, in consequence of the very great prominence given to this principle, and the scope and demand for its exercise in all Church proceedings. Hence, when the time came, as he felt toward the close of the seventy-second year of his age that it had come, for the appointment of a co-pastor ; the Church Book bears ample evidence of the cordiality with which he entered into all the measures for securing the object. His handwriting in the minutes of the proceedings, and his mind and heart in the composition of the several documents, clearly evince his thorough union of purpose with his people on that occasion, and his activity and gratification in giving effect to their desires. — Having already stated the particulars relating to the formation of the Church at the Gravel Pit, and those also of the choice and ordination of the Bev. John Pye Smith to be its Pastor ; it will not perhaps be without interest, to some at least who are but imperfectly acquainted with such pro ceedings, if there be a detail of the several steps by which this now aged minister sought and obtained the co-operation of a much younger man in the Pastorship. " 1846. January 29. At the Church Meeting holden this evening, it was resolved : — I. That the Church, having en joyed satisfactory opportunities of knowing the Beverend John Davies, and of forming a judgment upon his Christian Char acter and his Ministerial Endowments, consider him to be well qualified for the Pastoral office, either conjoint or sole ; and that if the Lord should direct him and us to be united in that important relation, we shall entertain very encouraging hopes of spiritual benefits to ourselves and to our families, to the congregation and to the neighbourhood. Such a union we should regard as a gracious answer to our prayers, and a token 496 INVITATION TO REV. JOHN DAVIES. [l840. of mercy from our Divine Head and Saviour : — and II. That a Letter, signed by the Pastor and Deacons on behalf of the Church, be addressed to the Beverend John Davies, cordially inviting him to take upon himself the office of Conjoint Pastor. " In pursuance of these Besolutions, a Letter, of which the following is a copy, was sent : — " To the Eeverend John Davies. " Beverend and Dear Sir : — In accordance with the Be solutions passed at a Meeting of the Pastor, Deacons, and Members of the Congregational Church of Christ assembling in the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, Hackney, (a copy qf which is inclosed) we hereby and with sincere pleasure convey to you the very cordial and urgent request of the Church that you would take upon yourself the office of Joint-Pastor. " We hope that in answer to prayer, the Church has been directed in this important step, and trust that Divine guidance will be graciously afforded to you in considering and deciding upon it : and we pray that a union may now be formed, which will prove for the glory of our Great Head and Saviour, for the advancement of his kingdom amongst us, for your own comfort, and for the spiritual and eternal happiness of all who will be thus committed to your care. " We are, dear Sir, with much respect and affection, " Yours in the service of Christ " John Pye Smith, Pastor ; " Samuel G. Underhill— G. Parker- Stephen Olding — H. Butt — James Carter; Deacons." A Church Meeting was held February 19th, when a Letter was read from the Eev. John Davies, expressing his acceptance of the invitation. But according to the order observed by the early Nonconformists, which Dr. Pye Smith desired studiously to follow, and in which his colleague-elect kindly met his wishes, Mr. Davies was not to be considered as fully appointed until the formalities recorded in the annexed minute, for March 19th, had been completed: — "At a special Church Meeting, holden this evening, the Bev. John Davies was received into our fellowship, upon dismission and warm recommendation from the Church at Aldermanbury Postern, in which he had sustained the Pastoral office during upwards of twelve years. ST. 72.J PASTORATE OP MR. DAVIES. 497 The Church then called him to the oversight and teaching which belong to the pastoral function, in conjunction with John Pye Smith : and he declared his acceptance of the call.—" 0 Lord, we beseech Thee, send now prosperity." At the formation of the Church at the Gravel Pit, it has been seen that Dr. Smith first became a member of the small community, and then he was ' called out ' by his Brethren to take the pastoral oversight of them in the Lord : and thus, at his desire, the same course was pursued in the case of Mr. Davies ; he also was first ' received into the fellowship ' of the Church, and the Church having ' called ' him to be their Pastor, he at that meeting declared his acceptance of the ' call.' — Under such regulations, which are now gone almost into oblivion, or are looked back upon and recollected only to excite a smile, there lay a truth and a lesson which are quite as much needed in our day as in any : — namely, that the Pastor of a Christian Church is only one of the Brethren, whom the rest have ' called to the oversight and teaching which belong to the Pastoral function.' And it might be expected, that the bonds which unite the parties subsequent to the change in his position would be stronger, less easily severed, and the affec tionate service of each for each be warmer and more generous, in consequence of that collateral link which connected him with that particular Society as a Member, whom he was after wards to serve in " the fellowship of the Gospel." " 1846, April 23, Thursday evening. The solemn service of Becognition took place, of the Beverend John Davies to the Pastorship in conjunction with John Pye Smith. " Beading the Scriptures (2 Tim. ii.) and Prayer, by the Eev. Algernon Wells. — The two customary inquiries were made by the Bev. Dr. Henry Forster Burder ; the first was responded to on behalf of the Church, by Mr. Stephen Olding ; the second, by Mr. Davies. — Dr. Burder addressed Mr. Davies, from 2 Tim. h. 15 ; ' Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' " The designation Prayer was offered by J. P. S. " The Sermon by the Eev. Thomas Binney, from Philippians i- 1.— ' To all the Saints in Christ Jesus,— with the bishops 2k 498 PASTORATE OF MR. DAVIES. [l846. and deacons ; grace unto you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.' " The concluding Prayer, by the Eev. Alfred Barrett." In this manner, equally respectful to his colleague, and modest and unassuming in reference to himself, did Dr. Smith insert in the Church Book the several circumstances of the choice and settlement of the Eev. John Davies at the Gravel Pit Chapel. The arrangement has proved in every sense a most happy and gratifying oue. The mind of the elder Pastor was at once and ever after relieved from all anxiety on the delicate question of obtaining a coadjutor, with whom he could work harmoniously for that term of ministerial service which might yet be granted to him : he saw also in his ' companion in labour,' his successor to the full Pastorate at whatever time his own failure of strength, or removal from the world, might lay him aside from all such duties. Thus there was now not only complete freedom from solicitude respecting a provision for the welfare of the Church which he had formed, and had served long and faithfully ; but there was full satisfaction, which expressed itself as it were spontaneously in thankfulness and joy — like a gladsome exhalation coming up from 'a newly- watered garden, or ' a field which the Lord hath blessed.' Under the new arrangements, the congregation began to increase, and members were added to the Church at a more rapid rate than had been known during the later years of the sole pastorship of Dr. Smith, when the interruptions of his health and his greatly augmented deafness lessened his activity and usefulness. It was also evident as a fact, and may be accounted for on principles common and even justifiable in such cases — which therefore deserve more consideration than they generally receive — that the variety in the style of preach ing secured by this fresh provision for the pulpit, met and gratified mental tastes and states of feeling — did great good, promoted the Divine glory — beyond the range within which the aged Pastor found his circle of attached hearers. All, however, went on in admirable harmony. And such a blessing has descended on the settlement of Mr. Davies — distinguished as it has been by his uniform consistency, punctuality, and power in cultivating his own particular sphere of labour — that at this time — about seven years from the commencement of ST. 72. J LETTER ON THE LORD'S SUPPER. 499 his Co-Pastorship — it has been found necessary to provide additional accommodation for the numbers who attend his able ministry. Were the now-glorified Pastor still on earth, with what holy delight would he contemplate the prosperity of his suc cessor, and the well-being of the Flock under his care ! But to the warmest gratitude for the past, he would add the most fervent prayers for the future. May that future be all that even he could desire ! Just at the time when these measures were being taken with a view to the increased efficiency of the pulpit, Dr. Smith addressed a Letter to one of his congregation, urging upon him the duty of observing that command of Christ, — " This do in remembrance of me." Having received a copy of the Letter for the use of this memoir, it is here transcribed : — • " Homerton, January 31, 1846. " My dear Friend, — So, I am sure, you will permit me to address you ; for your friendship has been manifested in so many instances of kindness known to me, and, I have no doubt, very many besides of which I have no knowledge, that it would be most ungrateful and foolish in me to entertain a doubt. I therefore hope that you will permit a line of free address on a subject, the least important relation of which is the happiness which it would bring to myself. — That happiness would consist in the being enabled to address you as my Brother in Church Fellowship. Though I have never been favoured with the enjoyment of any direct communication from you on the subject of personal religion, and feeling my great affliction in the irremediable privation of conversational intercourse ; yet the impressions from such observation as I have been able to make, and the more explicit evidence of testimony by which I have been eminently gratified, amount to a solemn and pleasing satisfaction of its appearing your duty to complete your holy profession, by that more public acknowledgment of Christ which He requires. " Arguments in favour of it I need not use. They are, I am fully per suaded, obvious and even familiar to your mind. Your extensive reading and your habits of reflection cannot but have produced such an effect. Besides, there are several publications upon this subject which I have at Various times distributed among my friends, and which have probably engaged, your attention. Those small and humble books are, in my esteem, of great value : scriptural, rational, and affectionate, appealing to the best principles of which our minds are susceptible, as urging to this essential manifestation cf Christian obedience. "Now we have a prospect of that reinforcement of pastoral and preach ing advantages, from which I hope that a day of mercy is dawning. The character and endowments of Mr. Davies promise to render him the means of revival and signal blessing. It is evidently desirable in a high degree, to do all that we can to encourage him at the present point of time. Your 2 K 2 500 HIS DEAFNESS REMARKS ON ORDINATION. [l84G. accession to our Society would, I feel assured, be very conducive to that end. This consideration permit me to add to those first intimated. Unspeakably greater as they are, they suffer no disparagement by the addition of this plea. — Entreating your devout attention to this subject, and praying that ' the Father of mercies, the God of all consolation,' may guide and most richly bless you, — I remain, " My dear Friend and Brother, " Yours, with affectionate esteem," Sec. In writing to another member of his congregation, the aged Pastor, as in the foregoing Letter, refers to his deafness, which was evidently at this time a source of great inconvenience j not simply by preventing his receiving the communications which his friends wished to make to him in conversation, but also by producing a growing difficulty, and therefore a growing reluctance in regard to the act of speaking, to which very deaf persons are often painfully liable : — " My distressing infirmity leads me to shrink from social intercourse, as it is almost impossible for my friends to make themselves continuously understood by my dull perceptions, This consciousness, added to the unavoidable multitude of demands on time and effort, must be my apology for not having waited upon you. But if I can summon up sufficient resolution, I hope to make a call this afternoon or that of to-morrow." To a Student who wrote to him respecting his ordination, and who wished the Classical Tutor, Dr. William Smith, to take a part in the service, Dr. Pye Smith wrote thus : — " I do not, with confidence, expect to see Dr. William Smith till Thursday.— But were he here, neither could I ask him, nor, I feel assured, would or could he comply: for he is not a ¦npeo-fivTepos (1 Tim. iv. 14), which all must be who properly engage in an Ordination. Both the reason of the case, and the universal usage of the Congregational and the Presbyterian Churches dictate this regulation. — I have felt painfully the apprehension that too few of the [County] Ministers seem to, have been engaged. They are the proper presbyters (== pastors, bishops,) to ordain one within their own boundaries." Dr. and Mrs. Smith passed about three weeks of the vaca tion this year in a visit to Guernsey, Jersey, and the coast of Normandy. ST. 72.] EXCURSION TO GUERNSEY, JERSEY, ETC. 501 The following passages from Letters to his daughter, Mrs. Nash, relate to this excursion: — " St. Helier's, Aug. 16, 1846. . " This is a town far larger than one could well anticipate ; (25,000 inhabitants— in 1831, 16,000—1821, 10,000;—) and distances, especially from the outskirts, very fatiguing. But we can reach Clement Perrot's Chapel in 15 min. A very handsome place, — large Congregation and Sabbath School — great attention and apparent seriousness on the countenances All in French. After prayer and reading Col. i., Mr. P. came down from the pulpit to baptize. The becomingly serious aspect of the father, the tears of the young mother, the very pretty babe, the amplitude and seeming unction of Mr. P.'s addresses, made upon me a deep and delightful impression. Sermon from Habakkuk iii. 2. Mrs. Pye Smith wrote for me, as usual, having been accustomed to French. She added, — ' the discourse was admirable,' and so her sketch showed it to be. His delivery was simple, manly, engaging. . . . Every day I see more and more of the silliness of the philosophy, and the impiety of the theology, which regards anything as trivial. The veriest atoms of being, and the shortest moments of time, are indispensable links and rivetings of the great chain, held in His hand, ' of whom and through whom and to whom are all things.' This our excursion has been full of instances. Things which many would call the most trifling and unnoticeable accidents, have introduced us to remarkable blessings." " Monday morning ; 17th. I must scrawl very hastily and by snatches : for a fine day like this must not be lost. Thursday and Saturday were, from being rainy. On Friday we had a most interesting excursion, across this delightful little island, to the N. and then along the E. side, with France on our horizon. Now we are going a westerly tour, with the mighty Atlantic on our left. . . . Evening. We have had a mos't pleasing excursion to the west side of the island northerly, coastwise, and returning inland. Towards the coast, the country is high sandy heaths, and the coast a series of magnificent bays : inland, as on the eastern side, picturesque and constantly altering from the undulations of the surface. The rocks, near this part, are like some portions of the Devonian ; I dare not say with confidence : but all along to the N. and to the E. beautiful Granite and Syenite, with a tract of apparently pudding-stone. . . . " Now I have resolved, so far as a frail creature may resolve, to take another Sabbath. This cannot, I think, be of any material importance. . . . Please to give my kind regards to Mr. Davies and our excellent Deacons. I feel assured that they will approve of this extension of my furlough, and that ray kind Colleague will readily oblige me by taking the morning service on the 30th. . . . " Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to you all ! Accept our affec tionate regards," &c. &c. Then in a Letter dated August 18th : — " I might represent this Isle to be a miniature of Herefordshire, Mon mouthshire, and North Wales, brought into one field of view. Of its agri- 502 ISLE OF JERSEY. [l846. culture and other things remarkable, I hope to tell Mr. Nash, and to entertain Wallis : [Mr. Nash's son]. In the town six sevenths of the names are French. ... To the coiotfry-people it is advisable, if not quite necessary to speak French. Some of the country-women (in the market, &c. ) wear the Norman coiffure, as you may have seen in prints of Rouen. Some knit, as they walk the streets. But it contradicts my taste to see such a sad invasion of English people and manners, — even fine Oxford-street-like shops, — threatening to overwhelm the native character. That character is to me deeply interesting; among other things, on account of the numbers of French Protestants who here found a refuge in the 16th and 17th centuries. ... I have felt it extremely difficult to get my mind into the habitual sense of the points of the compass here. This has arisen from my long-possessed separate maps of these Isles, in which the convenience of the engraver has led to an infringement of the common method, that of having the N. at the top. — Go over to the College. In the Library, on the^oor-shelf, between the windows, is a very large thin volume of maps, only four or five ; in which is one of France on a large scale. Tliat will imprint a just idea of the relative position of these Islands and the French coast. It is curious that,*of Guernsey, the higher end is its Southern part, and it slopes down to the North, as if looking towards England ; but Jersey has its posture the reverse. Its higher, bleak, magnificently rocky portion is the N. and N. W., and it undulates lower, and to the S. coast on which we arc. . . . . . . " Accept, my dear Son and Daughter, the assurance of our tender love : and may infinitely better love pour its blessings upon you all !" The following also was from the same place, dated August 25th :— " Again, by the unceasing and admirable kindness of our God, wc have this day had a most fail- voyage from St. Malo's 8% o'clock to 2. It is out of my power now to detail our adventures in France. They have been most remarkable. If we are spared to give you the recital, I think they will amuse and surprise you. We have been in Brittany,* among the descendants of the ancient Armoricans, a sister tribe or nation of the Welsh. " Wednesday, Aug. 26. . . . We have taken to-day our last country- ride ; so that now we have surveyed, I think I may say, the whole of this charming Island. We have also found that we can go to Guernsey on Friday ; and therefore we intend to do so, thus augmenting the time here by one day, and diminishing it of course there.— If God's gracious pro vidence smile upon the execution of our purposes yet remaining, as it has so wonderfully upon the past, we shall have the great enjoyment of seeing you and the beloved ones around you, on Wednesday evening, September 2nd. Till then, narrative and description must, remain unattempted. Our love to all. I have to attend a Temperance Meeting in the town this evening." * " Twenty-four miles from St. Malo. We went on Saturday afternoon and evening; and returned quite a different route on Monday." ST. 72.] LETTER TO REV. JOHN SMITH WARDLAW. 503 The next Letter was from St. Peter's Port, Guernsey, dated August 29th : — " My very dear M. R. — By the continual exercise of divine mercy, we had our passage hither, thirty-two miles, yesterday ; rather tediously ( four hours instead of two, ) but comfortably, except that rain came on during the last hour. In everything, we see the goodness of Him who con- descendeth to our low estate. There are no little things. " It is our hope to go to Southampton on Tuesday, but not to arrive there till after dark. This is the most formidable part of the expedition — 120 miles; for I confess I am not very fond of the sea-voyaging part. . . . Far indeed am I from agreeing with Mr. Charles Reed, in his opinion expressed at Mr. Foulger's, that 'boating' is a desirable thing among these islands and the innumerable rocks which in all sizes and shapes stud the magnificent ocean ; beautiful, magnificent, most dangerous. But riding is the grand delight. We have now just alighted from a remarkably fine enjoyment of it, hence to the S. E. coast, and returning by a different route; thus making an approach to a circle. The country and scenery hitherwards resembles West Yorkshire, for instance from Barnsley to Wakefield : further on and higher up, the hills are covered with gorse and ferns and heaths, the rocks grand ; pretty much agreeing to my ideas of Linton. I must say that this island appears to have the advantage of Jersey in many respects. That is mostly a land of farmers and shop keepers; here is a preponderance of persons who possess a moderate in dependence, and consequently there are many country houses, some of which may be called seats ; and about them all the fields and orchards are well wooded. The trees, if not quite so numerous, are generally of larger growth than those of Jersey. This town is the only town in the isle. It covers a declivity, it presents a fine aspect to the sea, and, very contrarily to what I had read, its streets and buildings deserve praise. It greatly resembles one of the best French towns, superadding the visibilities of cleanliness. The environs are beautiful." While Dr. Smith was on this journey, he took occasion to write to the Eev. John Smith Wardlaw, son of Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow ; a part of the Letter will now be given : it is dated " Dinan, in Brittany, Lord's-day evening, Aug. 23, 1846. " May I avail myself of your kindness for another purpose ? — To beg your conveying to your admirable father my especial acknowledgments of approbation and joy on account of the third edition of his Dissertation on Baptism, and its congenially worthy Appendix. That Appendix will encourage my mind and greatly (I trust) aid my efforts in the same field. My practice during my pastoral life (42^ years) and my instructions as Divinity Tutor during a period not much shorter, have been what Dr. Wardlaw has so opportunely illustrated. — Dr. Halley 504 INFANT BAPTISM. [l840. was one of my pupils. I do not know how others have followed out the path ; but rather fear that my attempts to infuse my sentiments have been but partially successful. So far as I know, the majority of our Pastors take a sort of middle course, with varieties ; but which in all those varieties appears incon sistent. * * To those who are not familiar with the subject referred to in the above paragraph, the following remarks may supply information. — The Congrega- tionalists, although agreed in favour of the Scriptural authority -of Infant Baptism, differ in opinion and practice, respecting the extent to which the rite should be administered. Dr. Wardlaw, and the Scottish Congregationalists probably without exception, consider the child's claim to baptism to be incom plete, and therefore inadmissible, unless one at least of the parents is a com municant at the Lord's Supper ; — technically, is a Member of the Church. The same rule holds in the Church of Scotland, and very widely, if not universally among the other Presbyterian Bodies in that Country ; and a desire to secure baptism for a child, is not perhaps without weight in inducing parents, really unregenerate, to assume a profession of vital Christianity. — But the English Congregationalists, speaking of them generally, do not maintain such a con nection between the faith or profession of the parents and the claim of the child — between the observance of the Lord's Supper by the one, and the administration of baptism to the other ; they rather hold, that there should be no condition or restriction set up, to prevent the baptism of any children whose parents or guardians are willing to have them baptized. This point came under discussion in the Tenth Series of the Congregational Lecture, delivered in 1844, and published the same year, by Dr. Halley, On the Sacraments. A clear exposition of the principles, and an able defence of the practice prevailing in England, may be found in the Seventh Lecture of that Course. In 1846, Dr. Wardlaw published the third edition of his Dissei-tation on Infant Baptism ; to which he added an Appendix, containing " strictures on the views advocated by Dr. Halley." The year after, Dr. Halley replied in a small volume, to the animadversions of his friend in Glasgow ; and there the discussion appears to have ended for the present. Dr. Pye Smith, as will be seen, agreed with Dr. Wardlaw, and not with his Congregational brethren generally on this side the Tweed. But although his views were stated clearly in his lectures to his Students, and were carried out with the greatest uniformity in his pastoral relation, he never allowed them in the slightest degree to interfere with the benignity of his feelings or the kind ness of his efforts towards those who differed from him in this particular, , whether in the College or beyond it. "The middle course, with varieties," mentioned in the Letter to Mr. J. S. Wardlaw, consisted in all probability of cases in which the Pastor of a Church, adopting in substance Dr. Smith's views, was yet not prepared to confine the rite of baptism strictly to the children of communicants, but would also extend it to others, of the piety of whose parents he had a good hope, though they might not make what is called a public profession. There are also cases, where the baptism of the children of non-communicants is conceded in practice, pro vided the parents express their willingness to allow the Clmrch to train up these catechumens in a Christian manner. — Generally, however, the plan is, to baptize all children who are brought to the minister for that purpose, without observing these distinctions. — Ed. ST. 72.] ATTENDS BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 505 "Mrs. Smith and I left home on the 11th instant, fleeing from too severe occupation, and seeking the relaxation of two or three weeks. From step to step, by a succession of what men might call petty accidents, we have been led hither ; but in every thing, we see the power, wisdom, and mercy of our God. We are here among the descendants of the Celtic Armoricans. I am struck with the amiable and interesting physiognomy and — so far as our very limited observation ex tends — conduct of the poor and hard-working peasantry. — " August 29, Isle of Guernsey. I refrained from finishing this note, in order to arrive at a British Post-office. "Now, may grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to you and to Mrs. Smith Wardlaw, in all their blessed fruits for time and eternity ! " I am," &c. &c. A few days after his return from the Channel Islands, Dr. Smith went to Southampton, to attend the Meeting of the British Association ; the President for the year being Sir E. I. Murchison. The inconvenience of being quite alone, which in his state of deafness the Doctor had felt very much at Cam bridge in 1845, led him to resolve on availing himself, as far as might be practicable in future years, of the company of Mrs. Smith on these occasions. That lady thus speaks of the visit : — "At Southampton the Eev. T. Adlrins generously invited us to use and enjoy his house, during his absence. In this de lightful domicile, the kind and thoughtful arrangements of Mr. and Mrs. Adkins, eminently promoted the comfort and welfare of their venerable Guest, whose strength was then appearing to be rather overtasked by constant attendance at the Sec tions." The overtasking here mentioned is not simply to be ascribed to his advanced age, nor to the conscientious and even eager efforts he made to catch what was said ; but owing to the great defect of his power to hear, a strain was put upon all the other faculties which could be made to serve as inlets to knowledge ; and this must have tended to produce prema ture exhaustion, — not to mention the wear of frequent dis appointment and failure. His Sermon Book records that he preached for Mr. Adkins during this visit ; from the text Eph. i. 22, 23. 506 BECOMES SECRETARY OF THE COLLEGE. [1840. Soon after the recommencement of the Session at Homer ton, Mr. Christie, the esteemed Secretary of the College, died. In this new emergency, the venerable Tutor, with that prompti tude to serve the Institution which he had ever shown, deter mined to undertake the duties of the vacant office, — that he might thereby relieve the somewhat impaired funds, and thus allow the educational staff to be kept up in full vigour for the Students' benefit. Nor was this a short-lived expression of the "voluntary principle." For nearly four years; that is, down to June 1850, he kept his post as indeed honorary Secretary, — the repeated requests of his friends, the members of the Committee, that he should resign it into other hands, notwithstanding. In this way — without the possibility of human foresight — he was the last of the Secretaries, as well as the last of the Theological Tutors, of the College. In this way, moreover, he felt it to be in his power to discharge some portion of that debt of gratitude, which, quite apart from its ever being thought of as a subject of obligation by any human being except himself ; and which, indeed, could never be deemed claimable on ordinary and even honourable princi ples of human action in such cases, had often pressed upon his sense of duty : — at one time constraining him to offer a large abatement from his salary, at another to double his annual subscription — both of which having been declined by a Committee who well knew the worth of his services, he henceforth resolved to give in labour, which it was no easy thing for them to refuse, that which they could not think . of accepting from his hands in the form of money. His Letters of various dates addressed to the Constituents render it very evident, that the numerous personal advantages which he traced to his connection with the College throughout the long term of his official life, operated with great effect on his heart and mind, as motives to gratitude towards that Divine Benefactor who had graciously placed and sustained him in that position : and from a wisely-cultivated habit of looking to what may be called the Divine bearings of human ties and obligations, rather than solely or chiefly at their rela tions as between man and man, he often rose quite above the reputable level of the simply commercial rules of justice and equity, which obtain currency and credit on the Exchange ; and as well in disposition as conduct proved himself qualified JET. 72.] MOTIVES FOR TAKING THE OFFICE. 507 to take rank with those who might becomingly say — " The Love of Christ constraineth us." Under such a motive, there was often no other limit to his actual services, except that which he found by pressing upon the uttermost limit of his ability ; — and there even, judging from the expression of his countenance, he would appear like one projecting his spirit into the unattainable space beyond, and ready to say — " To will is present with me; but how to perform, I find not!" — Evidently the right kind of nature, let it be but renewed and sanctified, for the great realities of a higher hfe ; the impulse lofty, the principles pure and noble, but the power — though, as measured by a human scale, of no ordinary magnitude — far too contracted to be for any long time a fitting companion and instrument of the higher elements of the character : — thus tending to evince amidst our weakness and conflicts — more than the probability — the moral necessity, of a Future State op Being ; when the great schism, of which sin was the parent and misery is the offspring, shall be completely healed, to the ineffable joy of the Intelligent Universe and the endless Glory of the Blessed GOD. Although Dr. Smith's Sermon Book is a very imperfect sub stitute for a Diary, yet it occasionally supplies hints as well as dates, which are not without their use in enabling us to trace the progress of his life. The first Lord's day in January, 1847, he preached on " Old age, its characteristics, obligations, and adapted blessings " — from the text Ps. lxxi. 9. In the evening of the clay, the Sermon Book records that Mr. Davies preached "to the Young." On the 17th of the same month, Dr. Smith returned to the subject of human life ; and from the very im pressive words of our Lord to Peter, John xxi. 18, 19, delivered a discourse which was made up so largely of suggestions arising from or adapted to his own case, and designed for his own guidance, that a part of it from his Notes of the Sermon may not only fitly but usefully occupy a place here. Two pages — the last two — out of four will be given; and they will also serve to show the style, and the amount of the Pastor's ordi nary written preparations for the pulpit. " The extent of man's life may be divided into two principal periods, (—setting aside childhood and extreme age: ) the mature — declining. " Each has its own advantages — difficulties — trials (=occurrences which 508 NOTES OF A SERMON ON HUMAN LIFE. [1847. are tests of mind and character, pleasing or painful,) means for good, — consolations. " Yet it is impossible to draw a sharp line of distinction. The two kinds (q. d.) exchange. Youth and manhood, — infirm and afflicted to a great degree : — Advanced age, hale and vigorous. Christian wisdom here affords its aid ; consideration how each one may best live to God. Rom. xiv. 7, 8. 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. 2 Cor. v. 15. " But a general rule may be assumed : — and this will assign to the first class Activity, — to the second Patient Submission. " I. The period of sanctified activity. "Bodily strength firm, — and capable of enduring fatigue. The mind, lively, energetic ; — ready to make acquisitions, and able to retain them ; — reasoning faculty, prompt ; — deductions, clear ; — sentiments, firmly held; — imagination, vivid ; — resolute in forming intentions,, — ardent in executing them. "The great call now is to a well regulated activity. Eom. xii. 11, 17. Phil. iv. 8. " Manner : — according to our station, connections, means of action. . . . 'Talents.' "Social ; — at home, — in the world of business, — beneficence, on every point of the scale ; — friends, country, mankind, spread of the Gospel, all the means thereto. Our Lord's threefold charge," [to Peter in the context,] " denotes comprehensiveness and intensity. " II. The period of sanctified decline. " Expect infirmities and other afflictions : — which may increase. " Avoid the spirit of dissatisfaction, — peevishness, — fretfulness. " Cultivate patience, cheerfulness, — benevolence, — sweetness of feeling and manner. " Improve the perhaps increasing opportunities for reflection and prayer. " Cherish approbation of the will of God. " By example and word, encourage young Christians. " Aim at glorifying God in all ways, unto death, — Peter's last sufferings would be a striking exhibition of faithfulness and love to his Lord. How beneficial may it have been. " 2 Pet. i. 14, 15. 2 Tim. iv. 4—6. Gen. xlix. 18. Rev. vii. 14." How rich in materials for the best kind of meditation are the foregoing lines; derived evidently from a mind singularly ob servant of its own operations and tendencies, and at the same time seeking to be prepared — and also to prepare others— for the duties and difficulties of every period of life which might be attained. — A few months later, he was still wakeful, and ready to warm on the same point, for he thus expressed himself in a Letter to the late Edward Baines, Esq., who was about three months his senior in age :— " How near are the boundaries of life and death ! . . . Soon, but how soon we know not, must we obey that inevitable summons. Nqw, may we be working for ST. 73.] ATTENDS BRITISH ASSOCIATION AT OXFORD. 509 the benefit of mankind and the honour of our Divine Saviour ; for the day of life and opportunity is fleeting away!" And thus to his son at Sheffield. " Homerton, June 3, 1847. " My dear Son, — For your very thoughtful and affectionate Letter, on May 25th," [Dr. Smith's birthday,] " accept my heart-felt thanks. . . " I cannot but regard it as a thing wonderful, that Divine Providence has given to me the entrance upon my 74th year, in such physical health and vigour, and surrounded by so many of the components of happiness, temporal and spiritual. How am I called to pray and watch, that I may be grateful and faithfully devoted to Him ' before whom my fathers did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil,' (Gen. xlviii. 15,) and in whom I trust for the crowning blessing — 2 Tim. iv. 18. . . . ..." This morning we have heard of the death of Dr. Chalmers. Last Sabbath evening at Edinburgh, he went to bed in apparent health ; and he was found dead in his bed on Monday morning. On May 4th another truly great man for genius and talent, literature and political science, and vital religion, — the Protestant Pascal, — Alexander Vinet, — the modern glory of Switzerland and France, — aged 50, — entered his heavenly rest. The following week, on the 11th, died of a decline our scientific and truly pious friend, Joseph Channing Pearce, F.G.S., of Bradford, Wilts, and two years ago removed to Bath ; set. 35. . . . " Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to you all ! "I remain, my beloved John William, ever and affectionately yours," &c. &c. The College Diary records that from June 22nd to the 30th, Dr. Smith was at Oxford attending the meeting of the British Association. Sir E. H. Inglis, Bart., was President on that occasion. None of the circumstances connected with this visit to the famous University City have been recorded, excepting the single fact entered in his Sermon Book, that on June 27th, he preached " At Mr. Spence's, Oxford, for Village Missions, Luke iv. 43." At the close of the Academical Session, which began January 8th, and which, in respect of his official duties, ended June 21, this year, Dr. Smith has enumerated the several subjects of his lectures as Theological Tutor, and the number of times devoted to each. As this will serve to show what he had to do, and how he strove to meet the several claims, the list is transcribed from his College Diary : — " In this Session — Divinity, 53 lect. — Ethics, 13 — Bible antiquities, 10 — Biblical Criticism, 10 — 5 10 LETTER TO MR. CHARLES REED : [l847. Ecclesiastical History, 13— Pastoral, 16— Exegetical, 31."— In the whole 146 lectures. By taking the Exegetical lecture on Saturdays, the Tutor met his Class six days in the week : yet there were many interruptions between January and June, when he could not meet them at all, or only for a part of the resular time : and there were also several instances in which the lecture for the day was not given, but the time was occupied on some subject pro re nata, and which could not be classed under any of the foregoing divisions. Too much had to be done by one man, and therefore he could not give that breadth of time and thought to one subject at once, which both the Tutor and the Pupils alike require in order to the full effect of the great work of the Lecture room. But as the system which Dr. Smith pursued was first taken up from necessity, and then carried on from habit, it is greatly to his honour both for com petency and diligence, that he could do what he did for the benefit of the Students with those comparatively small portions of space, which were allotted to the respective subjects of his seven regular courses of Lectures ; to say nothing of those which, had he classed them at all, he would perhaps have called sporadic, a term applied by him in another connection to be hereafter noticed. As, however, his style of lecturing was didactic and often conversational, the value, and indeed the readiness of his communications, did not depend upon any degree of force or momentum which might be imparted to his mind by a long array of words, either before the important matter was reached, or to fill up — so to speak — the inter stices between one portion of such matter and the next : — his plan was, to enter at once into the gist of the topic for the day ; or if an extempore question arose, the precise information sought for was almost sure to be produced with as little delay as possible. When the Government Education scheme of 1847 was undergoing discussion in the country, Dr. Smith received an invitation to attend a public meeting at Hackney on the subject. The following Letter (addressed to Mr. Charles Beed) will be valued as containing a brief but very clear statement of the Writer's convictions upon a topic, which is scarcely second in importance to that relating to the method for supporting and spreading Christianity itself: — the morally ST. 73.] GOVERNMENT EDUCATION MEASURE. 511 destitute of our population, whether children or adults, de mand and will be most of all benefited by the operation of that life-diffusing principle— " Freely ye have received; freely give :"— " Homerton College. Friday, April 9, 1847. " My dear Sir, — I solicit the favour of your causing in such way and manner as you may think fit, some intimation to be given at the Meeting this Evening, that my absence does not arise from insensibility to the vast importance of the occasion, but solely from my afflictive disqualification for bearing a part in the deliberative assembly, and from the fact that my personal duties, which are immediate and indispensable, require all my time and particularly this evening. " To me it appears that Her Majesty's Ministers have been circumvented and deceived, and that, having been drawn to commit themselves, they cling to error and will be most unwilling to recede. But the subject is of importance greater than I can express. Most thoroughly am I convinced that if the government plan should be established it will be a deadly stab to the constitutional liberties of our country. It will corrupt society at its fountain head, by subduing independent education, scattering bribes in tempting prospects among our countrymen, accustoming them from child hood to servility and hypocrisy, insulting Christianity by the evident (though lurking) assumption that anything which any persons may call religion, may, and shall be encouraged by state-pay, and endangering Evangehcal Protestantism by putting millions of our rural population under the unblushing usurpations of certain clergymen and their instru ments, who plainly manifest their more than half popish principles. — It is my daily prayer that this awful consummation of temporal and eternal evil may be arrested, and that the pure word of God, which men were thus seeking to obstruct, may ' have free course and be glorified.' But, for this purpose, we must use all suitable means. Public Meetings and Petitions are of the first necessity. " In the old Gravel Pit Vestry Petitions are receiving signatures, one to each House of Parliament. They are Congregational; but it is right also that a Petition should go up from the more general body of our neighbours which is to assemble this evening. — May Heavenly Mercy guide this arduous struggle to the most righteous issue ! " I am, my dear Sir, " Yours with high esteem, " J. Pye Smith." CHAPTEE XXVIII. fourth edition of the scripture testimony — his views of the song of solomon — controversy respecting that book— with draws his disquisition upon it— his views of inspiration— autobiographical notice — plan and execution of the scrip ture testimony — copies of the work given" away — letter to b. p. seaman, esq., m.d. — testimonies and acknowledgments— the four discourses — the relation of the scripture testi mony and the four discourses — usefulness of his works in india: conversion of a high caste brahmin. In 1847, the fourth edition of the Scripture Testimony, and the third edition of the Four Discourses were published. Thus for the first time, and that nearly at the close of his literary : labours, the now venerable Author was permitted to see the two works, which were closely related in their design and im portance, going forth from the press in the same year ; that each might for the future be regarded as the proper, yea, the inseparable companion and complement of the other. He had also the further gratification of having the Scrip. Tes. brought out in two volumes, by which, as compared with the second and third editions, the cost was lowered to purchasers ; and yet as this was effected chiefly by using a fuller page, and not by inconveniently reducing the type, the reader's comfort, as well as his pecuniary means, was evidently consulted. The brief note to this edition, annexed to the preface, will explain its character as compared with the earlier ones : — " The Pub lishers have determined to bring out this edition in the most economical form that is practicable; but nothing is omitted, except a disquisition upon the Song of Solomon, for which a shorter notice is substituted. Numerous additions have been (ET. 73.] HIS VIEWS OE THE SONG- OE SOLOMON. 513 inserted, in their requisite places ; and these are, with few and immaterial exceptions, in the Notes." Here it is due to truth and to Dr. Smith, to give some ac count of a controversy in which he was engaged in 1837 and 1838 respecting the Song of Solomon; the results of which doubtless had an influence in leading him to withhold the disquisition just mentioned, and which, accordingly, could not with propriety have been spoken of in this narrative until that important fact came regularly before the Eeader. The history of the subject may be said to begin with the year 1818, when the first volume of the Scrip. Tes. was published. Almost at the commencement of the work, the Author, with the strictest logical accuracy, sought to lay down the basis on which his subsequent argument was to be raised ; defining both the quality and the sources of the data to be employed in his progress. In a note on 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, he avowed his belief that that passage " furnishes the strongest testimony to the inspiration of each and every of the books of the Old Testa ment;" which in his estimation would give to those books, speaking of them generally, the authority of infallible truth. Immediately upon this the question is very properly put ; — ¦ " What books were acknowledged by the Jews as sacred in the time of our Lord and his Apostles ?" An answer is obtained by an appeal to the Hebrew Scriptures and to the testimony of Josephus ; and that answer recognized the fact of the admission of the Song of Solomon into the former, and that it was in cluded among the books which the latter said the Jews "justly believed to be divine." At this early stage, therefore, and as far as the brevity of the Note allowed, there was no attempt to conceal nor even dilute the external evidence for the canonical rights of this part of the Sacred volume. Nevertheless the Author intimated his sense of a difficulty in acquiescing in this decision ; to show, it may be presumed, what were the exact limits within which he was then prepared to predicate inspiration of the Old Testament ; as well as to secure his liberty to speak more fully on the question, should he be inclined at a future period : — so little, however, was said, that the whole Note is scarcely more than two pages in length, and the intimation respecting the Song of Solomon does not amount to two lines. 2 L 514 HIS VIEWS OF THE SONG OF SOLOMON. [l847. Whether the objection, as thus briefly started, called forth animadversion or inquiry cannot perhaps be ascertained. But the second edition of the Scrip. Tes., published in 1829, con tained a more detailed exposition of the Author's sentiments upon each of the two topics ; — eleven pages were devoted to a very able defence of the claims of the Jewish Scriptures gene rally to be received as the Word of God ; and these are followed by seven, in which he explains his reasons and motives for excepting the Song of Solomon from this distinction. Yet here, as in the first edition, no attempt was made to impugn the integrity of the external evidence : the Author's difficulties arose entirely from his inability to recognize in the Song the marks of a religious or sacred composition. Hence, it may be suggested in passing, that his views of Inspiration were as remote as possible from the modern notion, which ascribes that quality to almost every work of genius ; for if he could have made such a deceptive use of a term, which by the common consent of a host of careful writers has been confined to one set of books, he would have had a sufficient pretext for calling the Song of Solomon inspired, whatever might have been his opinion of its meaning. And further, if his views of Inspiration had been either low or cloudy, the difficulty which he felt respecting the claims of this Book, and which it cost him much personal discomfort to avow, would either not have been felt at all, or would have been evaded by some facile generality of phrase, under which it is easy to cover a deficiency of discrimination, or the absence of true moral courage. He, in reality, entertained such clear and exalted ideas of inspired productions, that his chief inducement for leaving this Book out of the category, arose from his conscientious belief that its contents fell below the Divine standard. And if the principle of this objection was wrong, as he himself acknowledged at a later stage of the inquiry, it, nevertheless, arose from the elevation and definiteness of his estimate of Bible writings, and not the contrary. Nor are we to wonder that in this instance, he gave way to such a principle ; for in the whole range of Biblical criticism, the controversy about the canonicity of the Song of Solomon stands unmatched for the extent to which the external and internal evidence interfere with one another. On the one side, the admission of the canonicity acts often with great power, though perhaps with great subtilty also, in determining ST. 73.] CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 515 in the reader's estimation the design and meaning of the Book : on the other, a particular view of the meaning, or perplexity on that point, has a tendency to lower the opinion which is formed of its right to a place in the canon ; — on both sides, and by all parties the question is very generally assumed in argument, although in theory this may be doubted or even denied. Early in 1830, which was the year after the second edition of the Scrip. Tes. left the press, the Congregational Magazine contained some strictures upon Dr. Smith's views of the Song of Solomon. Of these he did not take any public notice until 1837, when the third edition of his work appeared, in which the question was discussed to a greater length than before ; for the Author says, that to the seven pages in the second edition he added "fourteen more " in the third. These were " intended," he goes on to say, " to present an impartial view of the argu ments in favour of the canonical authority of the Book, in cluding a brief defence of it, with which I had been privately favoured by Professor Pusey of Oxford ; and to that statement subjoining my own remarks." Shortly before the third edition came out, Dr. Smith obtained the Publishers' permission to offer this part of the work to the Editor of the Congregational Magazine, if that gentleman would allow it to be inserted ; and thus his reply to the strictures of 1830, though late, would be found in the same periodical. The request was kindly com plied with, and the whole article appeared in the number for July, 1837. In a note at the foot of the page, the Editor men tioned the name of the Contributor of the Strictures in 1830 ; adding — that he had subsequently been removed by death, but that as there were others who entertained the same views, they would be at liberty to advocate them in the Magazine. — Such is the history of the admission of the " disquisition " into that periodical in the first instance; which gave rise to the con troversy respecting the Song of Solomon, which was after wards carried on in its pages between Dr. Smith and Dr. James Bennett ; — an opponent whom he esteemed, as a friend and brother in the Christian muiistry, and as the Author of Lectures on the History of Christ — Lectures on the Preaching of Christ— The Eighth Series of the Congregational Lecture, entitled The Theology of the Early Christian Church, and other works. The controversy was long and animated ; elicit- 2 l 2 516 CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE SONG OF SOLOMON. [l847. ing on both sides much learning, and as it was conducted on the whole with good temper, and led to a result which might not otherwise have been secured, scarcely any one can have regretted such an application of the pages of the Magazine. Papers by Dr. Smith appeared in the numbers for July, November, and December of 1837, and for September, 1838: — and by Dr. Bennett, for October, 1837, and for January, February, March, and October, 1838. Just these leading pouits may be noticed. In the number for July, the,, one which contained a reprint of the " disquisition " on the Song of Solomon, Dr. Smith did not confine himself to arguments against the canonicity of that Book, drawn from his difficulties concerning its meaning ; he now sought to invalidate its claims by an appeal to certain considerations affecting the external evidence. Dr. Bennett's first Letter, in the Magazine for October, 1837, contains an appeal: — ,"1 request, for the sake of truth, that he [Dr. S.] would explicitly declare, whether he admits the Song to have formed a part of the Jewish canon in our Lord's time." Dr. Smith in his reply, in December— frankly avows that this is " pressing the matter to its proper issue ;" and then as frankly answers in the negative " No, I no not;" adding, "and these are my reasons." From this point the discussion branches out into a great variety of particulars, which are pursued on both sides for a considerable time and with much vigour and closeness ; until at length after some delay, arising from the "utmost repugnance" to the whole con troversy, Dr. Smith retracts the opinion just mentioned. And to make this surrender of the main position as prominent as possible, Italics are freely used ; thus — " Dr. Bennett's argu ment from Melito is not only conducted by him with great ability, and powerfully urged, but I must acknowledge, that it now appears to me to be unanswerable, and .decisive of, the question that the Book was a part of the Hebrew Canon in the Apostolic age." Cong. Mag. Sep. 1838, p. 543. In both, the second and third editions of the Scrip. Tes. the catalogue. of sacred books given by Melito in the second century, had been distinctly mentioned by Dr. Smith— just as in the first edition, he had appealed to the Hebrew Scriptures and to Josephus— in support of the integrity of the Jewish Canon.— He had how ever allowed his difficulties respecting the meaning of the Song, ST. 78.] WITHDRAWS HIS DISQUISITION ON THAT BOOK. 5 17 to interfere with the due weight of this important class of evi dences ; and thus became involved in a dilemma, from which there was no escape, except by acknowledging his error ; and he had both the manliness to make that acknowledgment, and to stand by the principle on which it was made, when — ten years afterwards — he avowedly, and without any compulsion, omitted the disquisition from the fourth edition of the Scripture Testimony. It is due to the whole subject, to insert the following passage from a Letter which Dr. Smith wrote to his Son at Sheffield, some time after the controversy with Dr. Bennett was closed : — "The admission with regard to Melito (the fact of which I had stated in my book, but had not duly adverted to it,) brings the Song called Solomon's into a position about equivalent to that of David's Dirge on Saul and Jonathan, and other scattered fragments which I have pointed out, whose religious interest is merely some inferential moral lesson. In this case, it appears to me to be a constructive eulogy upon monogamy. ... I flattered myself that every reader of common reflection would see that my essential point is maintained, namely, the rejection of the pernicious mode of interpretation as an allegory, and the fact that our Lord, by himself and his Apostles, said nothing to bring that poem into New Testament applica tion. . . . The Book might be considered as having answered its pur pose, and therefore, being like many institutions of the Mosaic Law, obsolete and vanishing away ; see Heb. vii. 18, 19 ; viii. 13. This idea reconciles its being admitted as a part of the Jewish Canon (Rule,) with the fact that neither our Lord nor his Apostles have taken the least notice of it ; which appears unaccountable, if it 'bore testimony to Him;' or had that deep spiritual import, so full of vital and affectionate evangelical sentiment, which Dr. Bennett and others ascribe to it." Apart from the change wrought in his views by this dis cussion — and quite irrespective of those traits of character elicited in its progress — the grand basis of the argument on the opposite side, was one which it was of the utmost im portance to maintain unimpaired : — namely, that the question ought to be decided simply by an appeal to the fact, whether the Book was, or was not, in the Jewish Canon at the com mencement of the Christian sera. Dr. Bennett, therefore, served far more than this particular cause when he urged the controversy to its " proper issue ; " and Dr. Smith perhaps never paid higher homage to the great principle on which faith in a Divine Bevelation must stand, than when his objec tions to the Canonical authority of the Song of Solomon, 518 HIS VIEWS OF INSPIRATION. [l847. grounded for the most part if not entirely on his view of its meaning, were openly surrendered before the force of the external evidence. The subsequent voluntary withdrawment of the " disquisition," when it might have been reprinted almost as a matter of course, is still more to the credit of his judgment and Christian courage, especially when the proverbial unyieldingness of human nature in advanced age is taken into account, — Among, therefore, the numerous examples of com pleted labour supphed by his life, the fourth edition of the Scripture Testimony is entitled to take a higher place than the third : and he was permitted to see the fourth, as the standard edition, through the press, not long before his work on earth was done, and "the recompense ofthe reward" attained. Whether Dr. Smith's views respecting the meaning of the Song, and the use to be made of it, underwent any change towards the last, it would perhaps be scarcely possible to determine with certainty. For the most part, they appear to have been the same ; yet a paragraph in the fourth edition, (see p. 38) refers in favourable terms to an analogical application of the Book, similar in principle to the prevailing one among those who unhesitatingly admit its Divine inspiration. Indeed when the latter is once conceded, the mind will either leave the question of interpretation unexamined, or at least un settled — or it will incline with more or less force towards the method for which Dr. Bennett is one among many advocates. To obviate misapprehension and its consequences, it is proper to record Dr. Smith's views on the general question of the Inspiration of the Scriptures. These were embodied in two Notes in the several editions of the Scrip. Tes., one of which related to the Old Testament, and one to the New. The passages which follow are derived from the fourth edition : — " The communicating from God to a mortal of knowledge which could not be, or had not been obtained in any other way, hy His immediate influence on the human mind, is Revelation.* The qualifying of a recipient of revelation to communicate the revealed knowledge to his * It is right to mention, that both here, and in all cases where Dr. Smith's language is quoted, whether from Letters or Printed Works, great care has been taken to copy closely his method of giving emphasis to particular words and clauses. In this respect he is his own Expositor. — Ed. ST. 73.] HIS VIEWS OF INSPIRATION. 519 fellow-creatures with perfect certainty and accuracy, is Inspiration. Of the mode of inspiration we are necessarily ignorant. It is not revealed, and it is beyond the range of human experience since the apostolic ao-e. . . . The Holy Scriptures . . . have been committed to writing under such a kind and degree of Divine influence, that is, inspiration, as was REQUISITE in every case ; whether of the most complete suggestion, or of assisting and directing the ordinary faculties of those whom the Most High was pleased to employ as the subjects of inspiration. . . . Yet the result ¦ in each and every case, is practically the same ; the full cer tainty of Divine Truth as the ground of our faith, and the perception of Divine Authority as the obligation binding us to obedience." Vol. i. pp. 24, 2J. " The great Principle of a Complete Inspiration of the Apostles, warranting our dependence upon the Certain Truth of every declaration which they have delivered, as a doctrine, duty, elucidation, or application of religion; has been established by abundant proofs.'' lb. 57. Partly to illustrate, and partly to establish his positions, Dr. Smith specified instances and particular texts, which appeared to him incompatible with the doctrine of a verbal inspiration. But he did not propose any alteration of these passages : — they were left just as he found them, although for reasons which he carefully states in the respective cases, he could not class them with the very words of inspiration. Such discrimination in look ing at evidence, often of a very complex kind, was at the out set a sign that the passages which he used in his great argu ment, were taken by weight and not merely by number. And the success of his Work is in no small degree owing to that -very caution, which, while it has been censured by some, has led — there can be little doubt — to a victory never likely to be reversed. This very discrimination, moreover, is utterly at variance with the apparently plausible fallacy — that if we have the truth related in Scripture, it is of comparatively small moment from what source we suppose it to come. The state ments, in other words, the doctrines and warnings of Bevela tion are designed for the conscience as well as the under standing ; indeed, in a vast number of instances, the latter is reached first of all, only through a quickening influence exerted upon the former. Now as human history is full of examples of the power which appeals to the conscience derive from our impressions of the relation which the Speaker has to us ; it is found in fact, and may be justified on the soundest principles, that appeals respecting religion in particular, are more or less cogent in their operation, according as we trace the matter of 520 HIS VIEWS OF INSPIRATION. [lH 17. the appeal to a Divine or to a human origin. Hence the admirably worded distinction given above, where inspiration is said to secure " the full certainty of Divine truth as the ground of our faith, and the perception of Divine authority as the obligation binding us to obedience." — And as the latter may be regarded as the great thing to be secured, Inspiration may be considered to have been given mainly with a view to duty. Accordingly, if the motive power be neutralized or weakened, the beneficial results in human character and con duct must decline in proportion. This suggests another fact, brought clearly out in Dr. Smith's treatment of this question : — that the inquiry was not in his case an ultimate one : it did not terminate in itself. His purpose was to obtain for the basis of his arguments, and therefore for the arguments themselves if logical, a kind and measure both of attention and confidence, beyond what he would ever have thought them to deserve, had the true and proper inspiration of the Scriptures been set aside. Utterly unlike, therefore, the discussions which have since arisen, in which the words mechanical and dynamical play an important part — as though the modus operandi of inspiration were more to be studied than the product or the result of the power — his great design in introducing the subject was, that the testimony of Scripture, apart from which he had as it were no mission, might come with the force of infallible truth to the mind. Between him and some who are vaguely supposed to be like* him in his views of inspiration, there is really no more resem blance than between a man who carefully examines a given set of materials out of which it is his purpose to raise a solid structure, and a man who examines without any serious inten tion to build at all, or rather perhaps with an intention not to build; or at least if he do, it is to be with few or none of these materials. Hasty observers, indeed, are apt to class all who examine in one group. Yet after a while equity and justice are heard, saying in the words of a Divine Speaker — " Judge not according to the appearance ; but judge righteous judgment." Like many Theological Writers, he distinguished between Bevelation and Inspiration ; the latter he considered as " quali fying a recipient of revelation to communicate the revealed knowledge to his fellow-creatures with perfect certainty and ST. 73.] HIS VIEWS OF INSPIRATION. 521 accuracy." Thus the mind of the inspired person having been enlightened by, and led to appreciate the truth revealed to him, he would then make it known without danger of mistake ; for it is implied, that he receives in order that he may communi cate. This accounts for variety of manner and phraseology, without the slightest prejudice to the Divine origin of the matter of revelation ; the source and authority of the mes sage are one and the same, though the words of the different accredited messengers may vary. According to this view also, Bevelation stands in the relation of proximate cause to what ever increased knowledge, and consequently increased mental or moral power, the inspired recipient may have or may mani fest, in the discharge of his high office as an ambassador to mankind. In Paul's case, for example, the inspired product was so little the result of a mere dynamical process, that is, of mental culture carried on apart from special Divine com munications, that it was not only quite a new thing in his mental history, but quite a contrary thing to what his mind had ever produced or his lips had uttered before. Scarcely can it be necessary to add, that the distinction which Dr. Smith at one time claimed for Prophets and Apos tles, he did not in any way subvert at another. Because he predicated Inspiration of these men, they stood in his most deliberate judgment quite alone and apart from all other teachers ; with a function which was due to a purely Divine determination and appointment, and therefore was absolutely unique. Accordingly, he never fell into the fallacy of con tending for an inspiration, which, while it included these men, included such a variety of persons of conflicting principles, sentiments, and characters, that whether we have any, or none, amounts precisely to the same thing. He was too sagacious a thinker, too reverent a believer, too eminent a Christian, ever for an instant to lend any sanction to this somewhat popular illusion. "We are necessarily" — he says — "ignorant of the mode of inspiration." — And why? — "It is not revealed; and it is beyond the range of human experience since the Apos tolic age." There is another point to which justice demands attention : that is, the almost unrivalled prominence which was always given by Dr. Smith, in the Class Boom, the Pulpit, in all his printed works, in his numerous Letters, and in conversation, 522 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. [l8i7. to the great truths revealed in the Sacred Scriptures. These were held by him with no wavering hand ; were spoken of with no faltering tongue ; were illustrated by no dubious life. Not a doctrine, nor a precept, nor a promise — which good and holy men have been wont to hold dear — ever had to wait in the antechamber of his mind, until he had disposed of certain questions which now and then arose respecting the Divine Authority of some few of the words of that Mighty Book, which none ever cherished with a profounder reverence and love than he. A doubt, a difficulty might rest upon a clause or a verse here and there ; but these, like specks of shadow on a wide landscape, and which were solely of terrestrial origin, only served to bring out into greater brightness the vast unclouded expanse on which, to his apprehension, the Sun of heavenly ' wisdom and knowledge ' poured divine light. 0 that all who think his critical caution and skill worthy of imitation, were equally anxious to " follow his faith !" With him the solid and lasting results were the great objects of interest, not the mere process of examination, which he ever made subsidiary to something incomparably better than itself: — hence the real value of his example. In his part of the controversy with Dr. Bennett a passage occurs which while it is appropriate in this connection, is also instructively, and it may be added singularly autobiographical ; its insertion here is therefore a duty. — His friendly opponent suggested, that "the German Neologists had evidently too much influence over " him. To this, after alluding to the " false fundamental principles, the dreadful errors," &c, of that class of persons, and next to their erudition, their skill in philology and antiquity, from which he had derived benefit: Dr. Smith replies, that his views respecting Inspiration and the Song of Solomon had a much earlier and a widely different source ; he says : — " They have grown up during a period which I cannot estimate at much less than forty years. Their seeds were sown in my mind more than that time ago, by a Minister of very eminent usefulness, a strict and high Cal- vinist, and. to whom, as a friend, an instructor, and a pastor, my childhood and youth were under obligations never to be forgotten. Sometimes I have felt a disposition to envy my more happy brethren, who, setting out in the work of the ministry with a general conviction of the certainty of evangelical ST. 73.] PLAN AND EXECUTION OF THE SCRIP. TES. 523 doctrines, founded on sufficient, though not widely comprehensive, know ledge of evidences, are never troubled with controversial difficulties, but continue in the works of zeal and love, their faith strong, their labours greatly blessed, and their joy increasing to the end. Different has been my lot. From early youth I was in private and friendly association with persons who had been brought up in a denial of the primary truths of the Gospel. From the commencement of more serious habits and studies, I had Arian and Unitarian Mends whom I could not but esteem; and some of them had expectations that I should join their party. " When it pleased God to put me into a situation of awful responsibility as an Academical Tutor, fully settled as my own mind was ( — I can never sufficiently bless God for it ! — ) upon the truth of all the grand doctrines of Redemption and Grace, I could not think myself excused from the obliga tion of working up from the foundation. I had pupils to guide and assist in studying for the Christian ministry. I could not satisfy myself with delivering to them only the positive form of doctrine. My duty was to go with them into the grounds of Biblical and Theological Science ; to instruct and aid then- understandings ; not to bribe or force their judgments. Bound to look with equal steadiness at moral dispositions and at theoretical investi gations, I felt it my duty to march with them through the enemies' terri tory, seeking to have, and hold, and wield, the armour which is mighty through God. After so many years of toil, anxiety, and I humbly add, prayer for the blessings promised by the Father of lights ; accused, on the one hand, of obstjnacy and prejudice, and, on the other, sometimes charged with anti-evangelical predilections ; I have obtained help from God, and continue to this moment, able by His mercy to say, that there is not a doc trine, or promise, or precept, or warning, contained in the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, and generally understood under the term Orthodoxy, which I do not believe with the fullest conviction, and as I am enabled, both obey and teach. Perhaps, in every punctilio, I agree with no party, with no man ; but the whole gospel, its grace, its duties, and its blessings, as understood hy such men as Edwards, John Erskine, Williams [his Tutor at Rotherham] , Fuller, and Ryland, is the rock on which I stand, and believe that I shall stand for ever : — ' The unsearchable riches of Christ ! Not I, but the grace of God ! ' " Cong. Mag. Nov. 1837. pp. 700, 701. Before we take leave of the Scripture Testimony as a whole, the following remarks respecting it appear due to the Author's memory. The plan of the work, although marked by great originality, was so exactly suited to the purpose, that the suc cessive editions through a period of nearly thirty years, seemed in that particular neither to demand nor even admit of improve ment. In all that related to the prime sources of his argument, the Holy Scriptures, the author pursued the inductive method : not a text was admitted without a most careful examination of its claims to a sure place in the work ; nor did he leave out one, without first satisfying himself that, at least, he could not use it with advantage. On this account, he was able to stand 524 PLAN AND EXECUTION [mi. by all his positions from the commencement to the close of his labours ; by wbich a steady, or rather an increasing value was imparted to them, which can scarcely be over estimated. But while the plan was maintained, as the several parts were capable of receiving fresh matter, to elucidate or confirm what had been already stated ; no pains were spared to effect this object. Far from permitting either theological or critical science to leave his great work in the back ground, it was obviously a constant point of interest with Dr. Smith to render both tribu tary to the firmer establishment of the doctrine which that work was written to defend : — although in effecting this design, he had to incur for many years a considerable expenditure of money for books, English and Foreign, and of tune and toil in examining their contents. While, therefore, the plan, irre spective of its originality, was better than any other for easy reference to the several parts ; while also each part (not only Book, and Chapter, but Section, and often Note) possessed a completeness in itself particularly serviceable to the Bible Student and the Christian Minister, the opportunity which it afforded for successive additions, without any" derangement whatever to the structure as a whole, is one of its greatest recommend ations . Another very observable feature is the number of quotations with which the work abounds, especially from German authors; It is almost needless to say, that the labour of selecting pas sages so appropriate as the great majority of these are, of translating them, and then of giving them a suitable introduc tion to their respective places, must have been much greater than that which would have attended an equal number of pages of what is called original composition. As it was not, then, to save trouble that this course was pursued, the motive for it must be found, first, in the benefit which the Author himself had derived from the passages in question ; and next, in that honesty of purpose, that generosity of feeling — nourished by an intelligent appreciation of what his Beader deserved — which led him to place at his service the very best human aids he had himself met with for forming a correct opinion of the points discussed. He did, as it were, take the Student by this means into his own council-chamber, and laying before him the opinions of those inaudible speakers of several ages and countries with whom he had grown familiar, he sought not ST. 73.] OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 525 simply to make them known, but to show how they might be employed, and that with the greatest advantage, both for know ledge and conviction. There was indeed no mystery about him ; no intentional reserve respecting his processes of search ing for truth, and of arriving at that amount of certainty which he avowed. It was as though he had said — " I wish you to see how I came by this ; and this ; and where, and whence." Next to liis quotations from numerous Authors, the com mendatory epithets applied to them can scarcely fail to attract attention. , As, however, many of the questions in the Scrip. Tes. turned upon points which could only be adjusted by great delicacy and aptitude of critical skill, two or more views of the meaning of some text, or perhaps single word in the Hebrew or Greek original, would have to be compared, and the choice determined accordingly. In such cases it could never be uninteresting in itself, nor be felt superfluous, even by the best scholars, to find the critical authority of the writers whom he quotes, placed in connection with the passages cited from their works. Indeed, a competency to judge of the several ques tions which arose in the progress of his inquiry, would be the more readily conceded to one who showed that he had both the power and the spirit to form a liberal estimate of what others had done in the same department. The labours, and the merits of the labourers, were thus properly stated together. And while this could not fail to recommend his work to scholars of the riper kind ; the less erudite, — all those who cannot be sure of their ability to settle many of the points by their own narrower resources of critical skill — would often derive great help in coming to a decision from those very epithets which Dr. Smith freely used to accredit the friendly authorities to whom he has referred. This style, indeed, is less necessary now than it was when the first, or even the second edition of the Scrip. Tes. came out : — both because the Work has made Bible Students better acquainted with the learned persons mentioned than they otherwise might have been, and especially because the Author has grown to be gene rally regarded as himself a trustworthy upon such topics. Yet he did not think it desirable to deprive either his positions or his Beaders in time to come, of any advantage which might already have accrued from his care in making known the characters and merits of his witnesses and vouchers ; and, in 526 PLAN AND EXECUTION [l847. truth, none will complain of this, or of the quotations them selves, except they be persons who greatly misapprehend the nature and design of his labours. There are some commendatory words or phrases attached to names, with whom Dr. Smith could not have had any wide or general sympathy. In these cases, it will for the most part be found, that the distinguishing epithet is carefully annexed to some single quality, or attainment, for which the person referred to was celebrated : — such as his learning, his critical acumen, or even the honesty with which he avowed his opinions. And if any good use was to be made of the testimony of an enemy on an import ant point, the effect would be greater rather than less, by showing respect to what there was in him really worthy of honour. If the sacredness of the cause, and still more his clear perception of the extent and weight of the evidence in its favour, kept Dr. Smith from lowering the one or disturbing the- other by a crude mixture of human passion with texts of scripture; — the weapons of his warfare not being carnal — he could perceive and commend worth of any kind in an opponent, which one less sure of his mastery over the question in all its bearings would either not observe ; or if he observed would not mention, lest by so doing he should not be able to recover the effect of such misplaced generosity — as it might be called. — But, just commendations on friend or foe, are never thrown away, except on baser natures. The learning of the work has never been called in question from the very first ; nor is it now even possible that it should be. A mastery of the languages and contents of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures very rarely equalled; a command of the writings of the Fathers amply sufficient for the purposes of the argument ; a very large and exact acquaintance with philo logical and critical disquisitions, editions of the Sacred Texts, Early Versions and modern Translations — Commentaries, an cient and modern, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, German, French, and English ; an extensive knowledge of the writings of those who deny the doctrine of our Lord's Divinity : — these, in their several combinations and methods of appropriate appli cation and service, come out alike unobtrusively and naturally in every part of the wide field which had to be gone over, tending to place the real learning of the Author far above all suspicion. And this is said, not indeed to aggrandize- the ST. 73.] OF THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 527 man — although attainments such as his, made under the pri vations and difficulties of a large part of his career, ought never to be lost sight of in an estimate of his character — but it certainly is proper, to draw attention to his qualifications for accomplishing the task which he undertook, when he collected and established, as he has done, the Scripture Testimony to the Messiah. Yet, with all the learning and all the quotations, the work is in the strictest sense an original one : — that is, it is not a compilation ; no approach is made in any part of it to substitute other men's thoughts for his own. He never could adopt the book-making principle. Compression, con densation, not mere wordy expansion, was ever a prime object of solicitude in all his literary productions ; — else, he might have covered more paper, and written less. After what has been already said, it can be scarcely neces sary to advert to the devout tone by which the work is distin guished. Scarcely any Eeader can be insensible to this ele ment; which here, as in Dr. Smith's writings generally, is a pervading one : — one which seems never to be lost amidst the keenness of critical disquisitions, nor to become frigid or frozen in their coldness. Nor is this found lying along the course of the work in patches — like sunny spots in a wintry landscape — hut it is as ' spirit and life,' which gives its own animation and beauty to the whole. This peculiarity may be ascribed, in part, to that Christian temper, which Dr. Smith was careful to maintain even in his controversial writings ; by the preserva tion of which the deeper-seated Christian principles were not checked nor disturbed in their operation : in part also, it is due to the spirit and habit of prayer which — as we have seen — ¦ he eminently cultivated. Bare are the instances in which, with the intellectual endowments of a high order, there is a corresponding development and exercise of a devout heart: — the stature and frame, so to speak, quite above the average, with all the simplicity and fervour of a child in supplication before God. Yet the union of the two is indispensable to the perfection of our powers, nor less to the full efficiency and permanent benefit of all literary productions. Scarcely any duty, and we may safely affirm scarcely any difficulty, whether practical, speculative, or even critical, was met and dis entangled by Dr. Smith, apart from a direct act of prayer. "Why,"— says he in his Four Discourses, (p. 85.)— "should 528 COPIEri OF THE WORK GIVEN AWAY. [l817. we not imitate the excellent Bengel, who so often in his Gnomon, and in his German Notes on the New Testament, rises from a grammatical observation in a devout rapture of ejaculation? — Gracious Saviour, let thy mercy flow to me!" Entirely in this spirit, he began and carried on that course of inquiry which is developed in the Scrip. Tes. ; and replete as that work is with the evidence of a wide and penetrating criticism — as though Lexicons, Commentators, and Scholars of all sorts, had been his prime aids, companions, and guides— his first, and often his latest resort in doubt or perplexity, was prayer — intense, importunate prayer. The devout style of the work therefore, far from having to be brought in by any artificial or special means, could not have been kept out with out an effort ; and in that case, it can scarcely be deemed paradoxical to say, that it could not have been kept out with one. To this it may be added, that in consequence of the prominence and value which he attached to this habit, the very popularity of his efforts tended to deepen his humility; the commendations of men, reminded him the more of the Divine Source of all that he had been enabled to achieve. Human praise seemed ever to awaken the thought, and generally to elicit the words: — "Not I, but the Grace of God;" — words which in the Speaker's case bore as strong a relation to the devout exercises of his closet and his study, as they did to any public tokens of success with which God had been pleased to honour him :- — revealing in this way the ardour of his secret intercessions by the warmth of his gratitude, for both were kindled at the same altar. According to his usual practice Dr. Smith gave away many copies of the Sciij). Tes. as the successive editions left the press. This was done to several of the Colleges in this country and America, to certain of his more endeared personal friends ; and also in several instances where the indigence of the receiver was the motive ; an indigence often urged upon his attention by applicants themselves, who were not otherwise known to him. Hence, in addition to the number of copies of these rather costly volumes, which were placed at the Author's dis posal by his Pubhshers, he purchased from time to time one copy after another, the original supply not sufficing to meet the promptings of friendly feeling, and the appeals which came to JET. 73.] LETTER TO B. PIERCE SEAMAN, ESQ., M.D. 529 him from needy strangers. Occasionally also a presentation copy afforded him an opportunity to convey his gratitude for services which he or some of his family had received ; when with a readiness, delicacy, and gracefulness which must have greatly enhanced the worth of the token of respect, his motives and his feelings would be expressed in a Letter which accompanied the gift. The following is one of this class ; it was addressed to B. Pierce Seaman, Esq., M.D., and from the date, it refers to the third edition of the Scrip. Tes. : — " Homerton, Oct. 2, 1837. • " My dear Sir, — I solicit the acceptance of the accompanying volumes, as a small memorial of my obligations to you, for your very kind, assiduous, and successful exercise of science and skill, more than two years ago. — From an early period of your life, I had the happiness of enjoying some acquaintance with you. Your kindness and friendship to my dear son en hanced my gratitude and esteem : and now, in your retirement from the anxieties and severe labours of medical practice, I offer up to the Father of Mercies my earnest prayer, that you may ever enjoy the purest happiness, resting upon that only firm foundation, the gospel of our Lord and Eedeemer. — I do not take upon me to request your perusal of the book entirely. Perhaps some parts of it may appear merely controversial ; though I deem the controversy of the most important practical character. But in looking over the Tables of Contents, or the Index, at the end of the third volume, some topics of interest will probably be perceived. " That God may confer upon you the best blessings of His providence and grace, and thus render your honourable station in this dying life eminently holy and useful, is the sincere prayer of, my dear Sir, " Your obliged and faithful servant," &c. &c. At this date it would be superfluous to quote any of the opinions which have been pronounced upon the character and merits of the Work, by men of weight and learning in the Christian Church, and in Beviews. There are, however, two sources of information and evidence which may be briefly noticed. — First, The Author received a great number of private Letters, which expressed the gratitude of their respective Writers for benefits derived from his labours. In some in- 2 M 530 THE FOUR DISCOURSES. [l8!T. stances these acknowledgments particularized a < change from Unitarianism or Socinianism, to a cordial reception of the Scripture Testimony concerning the Person of the Messiah; others spoke of important aid which the work had rendered to ministers or private Christians, tending to alleviate difficulties, and to give clearness and force to their convictions not before experienced. Now therefore it became plain that his efforts were answering those important purposes for which they had been made ; and by the direct action of his Writings upon those who were the teachers and guides of others, he was per mitted to contribute to the inestimable results of their labours in a still wider field. And further ; the importance of the Sc?ip. Tes. is evinced by the extent and confidence with which it is quoted. If it aids the Christian Pastor in the duties of the pulpit, commentaries and controversial or critical produc* tions, now frequently enriched from its pages, convey to many who have no access to the direct source of information) the fruits of his devout and learned diligence. Thus, then, were the work itself to go into the shade, which is not likely to be the case, the use to Which it has been already applied in adding to the value of other works, must perpetuate the blessings which the Author has been made the instrument of bestowing upon mankind ; while in relation to the great argument, such a body of evidence as that built up in the Scripture Testimony to the Messiah — " compacted and knit together by that which every joint supplieth" — will remain impregnable, for it is founded upon a rock. The other Work, a third edition of which was pubhshed in 1847, is entitled — Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priest hood of Jesus Christ, and the Atonement and Redemption thence accruing : with Supplementary Notes and Illustrations. It is a single volume, duodecimo, of 360 pages, nearly 150 of which are occupied by the Notes. As illustrative of the still unim paired activity of the Author's mind in relation to the questions discussed, this edition contains about thirty pages of new matter, in reply to the Eev. George Vance Smith, a Unitarian minister, who had published some strictures upon Dr. Pye Smith's second edition of the Discourses. In the Preface to that edition, these personal sentiments were expressed :— " The subjects of these Four Discourses closely ST.flS.] THE FOUR DISCOURSES. 531 cohere. In the Author's conviction, they are no other than an unfolding of the characteristic doctrine of the Gospel, its very heart and essence, the first principles of the Apostolic Church, 1 Christ, the Crucified ; ' the capital truth of theology and religion, which it Was the glory of the Protestant Eeformation to hold1 up to the world with accumulated evidence. From the descendants of the Beformers, to an awful extent, that glory has departed. Arianism and Pelagianism, Eemonstrantism and Socinianism, the Unitarianism of England, the Antisuper- naturailism and Pantheism of Germany, have beat with all their forces against this rock : In Vain. It stands and will stand for ever." Thus plainly and pungently did he avow his sense of what was the " very heart and essence of the Gospel : " and thus also did he declare his firm conviction of its stability, all gainsayers and opponents notwithstanding. The first of these Four Discourses came out as a single sermon in the year 1813, and is On the Sacrifice of Christ; of which.. the following are the leading topics — " On the Nature and Design of the Sacrifice of Christ:" — " On the proper Value of the Eedeemer's Sacrifice : " — and, " On the Efficacy of the Sacri fice of Christ." The Discourse extends to 74 pages, with nearly 100 pages of Supplementary Notes at the end of the Volume. Scarcely any question relating to the subject is left unnoticed. The second of the Four Discourses is, On the Priesthood of Christ; this is longer than the former, but it has fewer notes. Here the Author examines the " Appellations of Jesus Christ, relating to this Office : — and the Characteristic Pro perties of this Office :" — this last includes — Observations — "On the Authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews : " — " On the Error of regarding our Lord's Priesthood as figurative : " — " On the falsely called Eationalist System of Bible Interpretation : " — and " On the Tendency of that System to Infidelity and Atheism." A careful and a critical examination of all the Scripture passages relating to the Sacrifice and Priesthood of the Messiah, will be found in one or the other of these two Discourses with their allied Notes. The third part of the Work, which is On the Atonement of Christ, is quite distinct in form, and also in the method of filling up, both from the earlier portions of this volume, and from Dr. Smith's writings generally. It consists of a series of propositions, twenty-five in number, with subdivisions under 2 m2 532 THE FOUR DISCOURSES. [l8+7( a few of them ; briefly but very carefully worded, with scarcely any explanation, and with no discussion ; cohering, however, each to each, with great closeness and tenacity, and the whole not improbably reminding the Eeader of a chain of argument made up simply of the links, free from any casing or covering which has a tendency to conceal of weaken the impression of their real strength. These propositions bring out in their order and harmony those fundamental truths or axioms, ^of Theology — or rather of the whole Divine Polity — apart from a knowledge and appreciation of which, theological discourses, whether printed or merely preached, must be partial, incoherent, and often trashy and vapid. This portion of the work there fore deserves to be studied for the manner in which it goes into what may be truly called first principles : — and that this is done briefly — very briefly —is a great advantage; for the Eeader with ordinary attention will be able to keep the whole in his mind at one view. As illustrative of the Author, it affords, in con nection with many of his other works, a striking example of the extent in which he possessed and combined the two prime qualities of a Biblical Expositor ; — namely, great, exact, and very carefully applied critical science ; — and a penetrating : and comprehensive insight into the rationale of the Divine system of moral government considered as a whole. It might be diffir cult to find his equal for the scale on which he possessed and cultivated these two qualities ; or for the degree in which the one was constantly aiding, directing, and regulating the practical apphcation of the other : — he ever sought to be a strictly critical, a thoroughly philosophical, Expositor of the Divine Book:— neither the one nor the other alone, but both combined. The last of the Four Discourses is On the Redemption by Christ. This is shorter than any of the rest; but greater length was not needed, where the foregoing subjects had been fully examined. Yet here the Author's intimate knowledge of the phraseology of Scripture, and his perception of its signifi cance and propriety, can scarcely fail to excite attention. How,, for example, does he reprove the error in defect as well as that in excess, into which men are apt to fall in respect of the so- called commercial style and terms applied in. the Divine Word to the fact of human Redemption : — " A form of expression, which is so frequently and solemnly employed in ' the oracles of God,' cannot, however figurative it may be, but have suit- ST. 73.] SCRIP. TES. AND THE FOUR DISCOURSES. 533 ableness and wisdom in it. The impious ridicule which some persons are in the-habit of throwing upon it, who still would be called Christians, ought to esicite.our pity for them, but not for a moment deter us from making full use of it, provided we transgress not the sobriety and chasteness of Scripture. A little1 reflection may show us that the metaphor rests upon very just and instructive analogies, and that it involves no suppositions inconsistent with the, attributes of God, or the dignity of sacred things. That the idea of something sordid and degrading should be associated with that of pecuniary accuracy, is one of the affectations of a corrupt state of society. Justice in commutation Was probably the earliest, as it is the plainest and most familiar case of ! exact righteousness between man and man. It is therefore a fit representative of whatever is honourable; and it would naturally grow into an established metaphor to denote Equity, both in particular cases and in the abstract. Hence also, forms of speech could not but be derived, and extended to the whole range of moral obligation." — Four Dis. third ed. pp. 169, 200. See also p. 121. In this style, the Author showed how heartily he appreciated the ;very letter of the Divine Word, while he at the same time entered deeply into its spirit. They who cannot do both must, as it were of necessity, neologize. And as men cannot live upon essences, stimulating as they are to the mere sense, it cannot be matter of surprise to any who knew the reality and vigour of Dr, Smith's piety, that he in particular drew his nourish ment as a Cliristian man directly from the Scriptures, without any precarious attempt to separate — as the phrase is — the substance from the form. r,. , In concluding this chapter, the two Works, to which it has been devoted, should be viewed in their relation to one another. Some years ago an article was admitted into the Christian Observer, written by a person who professed to have derived some benefit from a perusal of the Scrip. Tes. but who was disposed to bring an accusation against the Author, of a lean ing to the Antisupernaturalists of Germany, because, forsooth, he did not include in a work respecting the Person of Christ, passages— such as Isai. liii. — which relate to our Lord's suffer ings. There must have been not only complete ignorance of the existence of the Four Discourses, though they had been then many years before the world, but also a most slender knowledge or perception of the coherence of theological senti ments, to say nothing of a want of charity, before any one could allow himself even to imagine that an Author who had defended our Lord's Divinity as Dr. Smith had done, would— 534 SCRTP. TES. AND THE FOUR DISCOURSES. [l8«. notwithstanding — deny His sacrifice, or ignore some of the most important passages upon that subject.— It is, therefore, not without cause, that the Beader, if not otherwise moved thereto, is requested to consider the latter of these works as sustaining, both in its subject, and in the purpose and plan of the Author, an intimate relation to the former. Nor is it easy to conceive of the one being complete in principle, design, and utility without the other. Not, indeed, that a writer who dis cusses either ofthe two must discuss the other also: but where the sentiments which are held in the one case, are like * those held by Dr. Smith, there it may be assumed, that the senti ments held in the other will be like his also. That is to say, speaking generally, scriptural views respecting the Person of Christ, are found in connection with scriptural views respecting His sacrifice ; — and on the other hand, a denial of our Lord's true and proper Divinity is an accompaniment of, or is accom panied by, a denial of his vicarious sacrifice. In this particular case, therefore, whatever is wanting in one of these works to a perfect delineation of the Messiah's character and office, the other will be found to supply. Here the Scripture Testimony to our Lord's Person and Work is fully detailed : the texts, the evidence, the arguments for each, stand in their due rela tion to the several parts and to the whole. Surveying the structure of the two Works, and within sight of the stability which time seems to be impressing upon them, the question may be urged, without the slightest approach to a disparaging of others : — Whether any Author within living memory can be named, of any Church or in any country, who has at once defended — nay, proved — the doctrine of our Lord's true and proper Deity, and the doctrine of His true and proper Sacrifice as an atonement for sin, with the care, the complete ness, and the success of Dr. John Pye Smith. No one ever gave greater significance, or greater weight to the words— the very words— of Divine Inspiration than he : no one ever arrayed those words in a more compact, in a more conclusive form as a series of arguments on the two " first principles, the very heart and essence of the Apostolic Church, ' Christ the Cructfted.' " Subsequently to Dr. Smith's death, intelligence reached this Mil. 73.] USEFULNESS OF HIS WORKS IN INDIA. 535 country of the progress which Christianity was making in British India ; and especially of the Conversion of a Brahmin of High Caste, who had derived signal benefit from the Con gregational Lecture on Scripture and Geology, and in a later stage of his inquiries, from the Scripture Testimony to the Messiah. To insert the particulars, will appropriately con clude this chapter of the Author's life. They are obtained from the Madras Native Herald, October 4th, 1851. The pro minent facts are also related in the Calcutta Christian Advocate, for July 12th : and with additional details in that Paper for July 17th of the same year : they have been further confirmed by a communication from the devoted Secretary * of a Society in whose success and advancement Dr. Smith was much interested —the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East.— It is right, however, to premise, that the passage now to be transcribed, is copied from a manuscript sent for the Editor's use, and not directly from the Madras Herald itself : — « The events of the last four months have tended much to deepen the impression of the power of Christianity to vanquish Hinduism; and many who some time ago opposed the Gospel with some degree of courage and of heart, now regard it as possessed of some mysterious, mighty power which it is useless to resist. Twelve young men have renounced the faith of their fathers for the pure faith of the Son of God ; and we know of five others whose determination had been formed to pursue a similar course, and who have been kept back only by the strong hand of force and confinement. Most of these are Brahmins of high caste, and all of them are connected with families in the middle or higher ranks of native society. ¦" The most important and striking case is that of Gyanendra Mohan Tajore, a relative ofthe late Dwarkanath Tajore, and only son of Prasannakumar Tajore, the well-known late Government Pleader in the Sudder Court, and for many years the intimate friend of Rammohun Roy. Being of an inquiring and philosophical cast of mind, and possessing ample leisure, his attention was directed to Christianity about ten years ago, whilst a Student in the Hindu College. Not being intimately acquainted with any Christian men, he was left to struggle alone with all the various objections and difficulties which fell in his path. After he had arrived at the conclusion that Hinduism, even in its more refined and philosophical form, was false, there seemed to be in Christianity itself serious difficulties which precluded its being true. Thus, at one time, the geological argument against the Scripture narrative of the Creation seemed to him insuperable, until he met with Dr. Pye Smith's work on the Relation between some parts of Holy Scripture and Geological Science. At another time, the mystery attaching to the doctrine of the Trinity * Miss Adam, who has been for several years one of the honorary Secretaries of the Society, is the Lady here referred to. 536 CONVERSION OF A HIGH CASTE BRAHMIN. [l847. led him to profess Unitarianism, when he fell in with Dr. Smith's Scripture Testimony to the 3Iessiah, which fully established him in the orthodox belief. As he pursued his investigations, his interest deepened, and he began to re gard Christianity not so much in a literary as in a religious point of view. — His companions and friends were not indifferent spectators of the mental and spiritual struggles he was passing through ; and when they saw that he regarded the faith of Jesus of Nazareth favourably, they did all they could to unsettle the grounds of his conviction. To satisfy his own mind, and to meet the objections thrown in his path by those unfavourable to the faith of the Bible, he has read extensively and profoundly, not merely the works of pure Theology, but in the writings of the French infidels, the German rationalists! and the English and American sceptics ;' happily finding his way through clouds and darkness into the calm, pure light of gospel truth and faith. " Meanwhile, the faith which was becoming dearer to him, he taught to his youthful wife. The philosophical, abstract difficulties which beset her husband's course, did not impede hers. The more simple, touching' truths of the Bible won her heart. She felt there was a mysterious power con nected with the Gospel, which the religion of her ancestors, possessed not' To her one of the most wonderful events was, that she, a Hindu lady, should receive a religion which came from the far, far West: wonderful even to her husband was the influence of Christian truth upon her mind and heart; for she manifested an amount of Scripture knowledge, of freedom from Hindu prejudice, and of religious decision, which can only be attrib uted to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. But God, as a tender Shepherd who will not expose the dehcate lambs of his fold to the pitiless winds and storms, removed her from ' the evil to come.' During her illness, she expressed her entire faith in Christ as the only Saviour of mankind, She urged her husband to embrace Christianity publicly ; and a few weeks after her death, he resolved to be baptized. " We need not say how mighty were the obstacles to be overcome, in taking such a step; loss of friends, displeasure of relatives, calumnies of the wicked, and the misrepresentation of the ignorant. Happily to these, poverty was not added; since, though suffering pecuniary loss, he still retains in his own right a competent and even liberal income. He was baptized by his countryman, the Rev. Krishna Mohan Banerjea, at the old church [Episcopal] on the 10th of July." CHAPTEE XXIX. fourth edition of scripture and geology — letter to mr. s. j. farrer — memorial respecting his declining health — attends british association at swansea — letter to his daughter — the West riding election in 1848 — attack of paralysis — London peace society — attends peace congress at paris — letter to his children — to his son — to henry rutt, esq. — to j. e. r5tland, esq. — to dr. dewar — to e. baines, esq. — his hand writing — resolutions op college committee respecting the close of his tutorship — meeting at the congregational library : ' tribute of respect ' — resigns his pastorship — letters — his pastoral character — preaching — prayers — church ordinances. — pastoral visiting. Having already spoken of the fourth and latest edition of the Scripture and Geology pubhshed during the Author's life, it is only necessary to notice in this place for the sake of the order of occurrences, that it came out in the early part of the year 1848. It was a " greatly enlarged " work, not a mere reprint of the preceding edition ; and as such it may be deemed a monument of Dr. Pye Smith's continued activity of mind up to this date, of the keen interest which he still took in the dis coveries of science, and of his steady adherence to those prin ciples of Bible interpretation which he had laid down in the Congregational Lecture nearly ten years before. One of the Students, Mr. S. J. Farrer of Yarmouth, having been obliged to return to his friends in consequence of the declining state of his health, the venerable Tutor thus ex pressed his sympathy and Christian love : — " My dear Friend,— Accept, for your kind and prompt Letter, the best 538 MEMORIAL RESPECTING HIS DECLINING HEALTH. [l818. thanks of our whole circle. Happy again shall I be to hear from you, especially if you can convey good intelligence. But, what is good? Surely, while bodily health and external comforts are so in their own sense, and form a strong demand upon our gratitude, incomparably higher should our adoring thankfulness arise for the ' spiritual blessings in heavenly places !' Let us ever recollect the relation which those and all our other mercies bear to the Lord Jesus. Eph. i. 3 — 5. — You, my dear Friend, are in His hands. I trust you enjoy the consolation of this glorious truth, 1 Cor. iii; 21 — 23. Whether restored to health or not, the consolation still remains for you. The kind and faithful examination of Dr. Hodgkin and my own beloved son have brought to light unquestionable proofs that my health is seriously impaired. Onlj' may you and I be found ' looking to the Author and Finisher of our faith ;' living to Him ; and then whether working or waiting, we are doing His will. Then, all is well ; all is best. . . . " That the rich abundance of peace and joy may be granted to you, is the sincere prayer of yours affectionately," &c. &c. That allusion which the above Letter contains to the Writer's own health, is confirmed by an entry in his College Diary, in which he says, under date March 23, — " became ill, and unable till the 29th." A still more explicit view of his state and feehngs at the time may be obtained from the following paper, dated April 19th, and addressed " To the Treasurers and Com mittee of Homerton College " : — " After much reflection and prayer for Divine guidance, I am brought to the conclusion that it is my duty to submit this memorial to my honoured Patrons and Friends. " For their constant kindness shown to me in an innumerable variety of instances, through forty-eight years, I am deeply thankful ; and I pray that they who now survive, and the descendants of those who are departed may receive the rich rewards of grace. Happy should I be to serve them in the work which they have been pleased to confide to me, for any suitable period of continuance ; but an end must come, and it is desirable to exercise fore thought, and to make timely provision. — Having almost completed my seventy-fourth year, my natural powers must decline. To the endurance of bodily fatigue, I feel myself becoming less equal ; and the ability for mental exertion cannot but obey a similar law of decrease. To urge the efforts of either body or mind beyond their natural limit, would accelerate their decay; and in such a progress, any unexpected attack of disease would find the subject greatly incapacitated for sustaining it. — It , is also an obvious consideration, that if the office of Divinity Tutor in our Institu tion were to become suddenly vacant, the difficulty of a satisfactory appoint ment would he increased by the urgency of the demand ; and the danger might be incurred of a hasty choice, likely to prove disappointing. " Therefore, with duteous respect, I submit to the Committee the pro priety of their entering into deliberation and inquiry, with a view to find the best qualified person for conducting the Biblical and Theological Tuition in this College. When the wisdom and mercy of our Divine Saviour shall ST. 74.J LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER. 539 have led them to make such a selection, it will be my duty to resign into their hands, with affectionate gratitude, the sacred trust which they have committed to me. " I remain their obedient and devoted servant," &c. &c. This memorial does not appear to have been intended to lead to any immediate resignation of his office, unless that step became imperative by the complete failure of his health ; it was rather to prepare the way for a not very remote future, that in the event of his services ceasing, as it were at any moment, the Committee might not be taken by surprise, nor the Students left without a Tutor. A few months later his energies seem to have revived again ; and in the following year, when the proposal for uniting the Three Colleges was taking a practicable form, he not only entered thoroughly into the plan, and was relieved from all anxiety respecting a suc cessor at Homerton, but lie was willing, should God mercifully permit, to retain his office up to the close of the separate existence of the Institution. The last of the meetings of the British Association which Dr. Smith ever attended, was the one of this year, which was held at Swansea, in Glamorganshire: — the Marquess of North ampton being the President. Part of a Letter written to Mrs. Nash, while he was staying at Bridgend on this occasion, is here given : — " We came in the Mail on Thursday, and were received with the kindest welcome by a Wesleyan Methodist family. . . . Yesterday, our most assiduous host (Mr. Philip Price, a Chemist) drove us to Dunraven Castle, five miles, whose adjoining rocky coast has been the scene of dreadful accidents, and piratical and wrecking crimes. A gentleman, we suppose a Wesleyan also, has sent, and has to-day come, to engage us for three or four days at his seat on the coast. The heartiness of him and his lady is such that we cannot but thankfully accept. We propose to go on Monday, when he will send his carriage ; and to return hither on Thursday morning, get to Swansea (twenty-seven miles) that day, and on Friday the 25th cross to Ilfracombe. . . . Thanks to you, my dear Ruth, for your very right and profitable suggestion. We must undergo separation, each one alone. The balance of probability points me out as the nearest to the ter minus of earthly life, and the bursting into the never-dying state ! But, ever blessed be He who worketh all things! Eph. i. 11; Rom. viii. 28. May I but be enabled to ' serve ' the Saviour in such way as He approves ! John xii. 26. These considerations excite me to be more eager in pursuing such objects as those of the British Association, that I may see and learn 540 ATTACK OF PARALYSIS. [iSdff.. more of God and His wonders in nature and providence, in the earth and the heavens ; — not to rest in that knowledge (of which I have, but a poor modicum) if even I could obtain as much of it as Herschel or John Phillips, but to make it an instrument and a motive for ' glorying in the erob ' of the Lord Jesus, and leading others to do so. — I cannot but desire that you would make the sacrifice to your old father's love, by really and attentively reading the new edition of ' Scripture and Geology.' " Grace, mercy, and love be with you allj " Ever and affectionately yours," &c. ' Dr. Smith's Sermon Book shows that he preached during this visit at the Independent Chapel, Swansea; at that also at Bridgend, where one of his former pupils was settled ; and twice at the Wesleyan Chapel at the latter place. In consequence of the ac'cession of Lord Morpeth 'to the Upper House on the death of his father the Earl of Carlisle, in 1848, there was a vacancy in the representation of the West Biding of Yorkshire, for which the Homerton Tutor had- a vote. Notwithstanding his advanced age, his zeal to discharge his duty to his country on this occasion, will be seen from the following passage of a note written to Mr. Edward Baines, dated Nov. 28, 1848 : — " I trust it will not be necessary for me to go to Sheffield. John William suggests, that by your kind management, some opponent, whose honour may be confided in, will pair off with me. To go would be to me exceedingly inconvenient and almost inadmissible, on account of the oppressive number and weight of Academical duties, and Letter-writing to an extent almost incredible." Yet, although thus pressed for time, his College Diary records— " Dec. 14. I went to Sheffield, to support Sir Culling E. Eardley ; and returned on the 19th." Contrary to his usual practice, not to enter week-day occur rences hi his Sermon Book, Dr. Smith has recorded, under date Tuesday, January 2, 1849 :— " Stroke of paralysis ;" with the letters of the last word placed separately, in order to draw the writer's eye more readily to the monitory fact. The Col lege Diary has these notices respecting his health at this time : — " January 4th, instead of the 3rd ;"— for the opening of the Academical Session of the half year, — " but I was disabled from attending by a stroke of paralysis, with which my heavenly Master gently smote me on Tuesday, the 2nd ¦"— then for ST. 75.] LONDON PEACE SOCIETY. 541 some subsequent days — " resigned to quietude." Again, how ever, his strength rallied ; and although some of the effects of the attack continued to the close of his life, and will be found referred to occasionally in his Letters, yet in a few days he was able to resume his Tutorial duties. From this date the Minute Book of the College, which he still persevered in keeping, and also his College Diary, not unfrequently disclose errors in the spelling and in the omission or reduplication of words, — sug gesting a touching contrast between the command which he had over his accurate knowledge during the great portion of his life, and the failure of power now. Among the Institutions which Dr. Smith supported by his example, his purse, and his advocacy in various ways, the London Peace Society held a high place. It is believed that he was one of the earliest of the Ministers of the Gospel who joined that Society, the spirit of which was such as he ap proved in his judgment, and loved with a warmth of feeling, a thorough sympathy of nature, which could scarcely be in creased ; and as a mark of confidence and respect, he was in cluded among the Vice-Presidents of the Society for several years prior to his death. When, therefore, it was proposed in 1849, to convene from all parts of the world in the capital of France, as many of the Eepresentatives and Friends of the Peace Principle as were willing and able to meet, the plan secured at once the full concurrence of the aged Tutor of Homerton. But the state of his health at the time, and the peculiar cause for apprehension in the probably exciting cir cumstances which could scarcely fail to arise, constrained his nearest connections to urge the expediency and even duty of his remaining at home. With this advice, however, he qould by no means think it right to comply ; and as the Con gress was to be held during the College vacation, he felt quite at liberty to go to Paris without trenching upon other claims. In this instance, as in many during his long life, the impulse under which he determined to act— though it was directly counter to wishes and suggestions which according to human foresight were wise as well as kind — was attended with no sad result:— on the contrary, an opposite course, as he himself mentioned, might have been positively injurious; while the one he pursued proved a relief to his mind, and even yielded 542 PEACE CONGRESS AT PARIS. [lfUO. unexpected gratification and benefit. In such cases there are, in truth, no precedents ; nor is there any rule on the one side or the other, by which the issue of things can be determined with certainty. Generally speaking, where the impulse is strong and unwavering, and there is an intelligent and con scientious appreciation of the object to be promoted, the risk incurred by yielding to the desire, is less perhaps than that of resorting to vigorous means to prevent its accomplishment. In this case in particular, as Dr. Smith could not expect to hear what might be said at the Congress ; and as his voice was too feeble to allow of his taking any part in the speaking, as, moreover, he had no pleasure in spectacles or crowded assem blies, simply as such : — his going under these circumstances, was a very pure exemplification of fidelity to a sense of duty, when no one would for an instant have questioned his sincerity, had he thought proper to remain in the quiet and repose of his own home. His Letters of this date and in relation to this subject will be found unusually interesting. Parental affection and tender ness — respect as well as love — eminently distinguish them. Indeed, from this time, when he was evidently receding more and more from the occupations, official and literary, wbich had long and largely absorbed his attention, his communications to his children, brief as they often were, are as though he was now able to reach those purer deposits of the precious ore which lay in the depths of his heart ; not, indeed, unknown before, but only not so largely used. — The first of the Letters is exquisitely characteristic ; it is brief, glowing, decided, yet eminently conciliatory. It was written, as the Eeader will perceive, in reply to efforts to dissuade Dr. Smith from attending the Congress: — " Saturday night, August 11. " My truly precious Son, — My cordial thanks for your solicitude and affection. — I regard this is [sic, for as] a great religious duty to man and to Him whose reign is to be peace. — Martyrdom, if called to it, would be a crown in this cause. — A moral obligation in the right hand ; a contingent apprehension of physical evil, in the other : — which has the right of pre ponderance ? Phil. ii. 17 ; 30. — My judgment is thoroughly convinced. " For provision against contingencies, what a wonderful, an ST. 75.J LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN. 543 unexampled combination of providential means! — 60, or more, of the most careful, humane, kind, judicious companions, men and women. And she whose judgment and vigilance are ever alert. " If you and Dr. Hodgkin were to dissuade, the result would be, I apprehend, far more hazardous, physically by nervous irri tation, than the execution of my purpose would be. I could never shake off the painful reflection. It would embitter my remaining life and my dying hours. — Also a consultation is impracticable. I have engaged to go back on Monday. [To Bamsgate, where Mrs. Pye Smith was then waiting for him.] — We hope to come home on Saturday, the 18th. — Say then no more; except hope, prayer, joy, " Truly grieved at being compelled to write, yet, ever and most affectionately, your old and determined father. J. P. S." On Tuesday, August 21, 1849, between six and seven hun dred persons went from England to France, to meet in Paris a great number of other persons from all parts of the world, with a view to encourage and disseminate principles opposed to war of every kind, and in favour of universal peace. The sittings of this voluntary Congress were held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of the same week : they were attended hy large multitudes of people ; and the speakers on the several occasions were selected from different countries, to afford a better opportunity for ascertaining and promoting community of sentiment on the great subject which had called them together. The hospitality and attention shown to the visitors by the people of Paris, and with the concurrence of the Government, will not soon be forgotten. After the close of the first day's sitting Dr. Smith thus wrote to London : — ¦ " Paris, Hotel d'Angleterre, Rue Filles de St. Thomas, Rue Richelieu, Wednesday evening, Aug. 22, 1849. " My beloved children,— Great mercies we have to acknowledge, beyond my power to convey in adequate description, and we must not consume time. If again permitted to see you, our tongues must supply : — " First ; let me touch the negative side of our affairs. The vast crowding and bustling at London Bridge Station,— the same at Calais, [sic for Boulogne] oppressing us with enormous waiting, and the overcoming heat of so many in the railway waiting rooms, — the arriving at the Paris station at half-past one this morning, instead of ten last night, — and the anxiety of 514 PEACE CONGRESS AT PARIS. [lS(0. my mind about our luggage, which we were obliged to leave with the keys, on board ' the Princess Clementine ' in Boulogne Harbour, and were assured that we should get them in Paris ; — I found it difficult to have such faith in men ; — and the fear which still lingered in my anxious breast, after we had arrived, and the mountains of luggage were drawn out of the immense receptacles, and near an hour (I think) it was before ours was obtained. It was towards iii° when we got to an Hotel (not this, to which our arrange ment was previously formed,) but that was a very nice one. " Secondly ; the comforts far indeed outweighed the preliminary incon veniences. The journey by land, in both countries, wras eminently agree able, — kind Quaker companions, — a quick and most pleasant voyage, though the ship was crammed full, many obliged to stand, — a most magnificent sunset, I think exceeding any such sight ever beheld by me,— and then, the affairs of this day, — all are adapted to fill us with grateful emotions. " (), thought I, if my dear Friends, who objected or hesitated, could have seen the assembly of this forenoon, they would have regarded it as a splendid dream; — they would have longed to be there, a room far preferable to Exeter Hall ; 2000 men and women assembled to proclaim the duty of mankind living in love ; Victor Hugo's evident zeal and heartiness, — one of to-day's papers (La Presse) which I read at, breakfast, powerfully sustaining the cause, —all this in the place which has been, as all well-informed men know, the very heart of the enemy's power against the Gospel-principle : — who will not wonder and praise and love P I must end. O that we may find you all in health and comfort equal to ours! It is night, and this Letter must go to the office. My dearest has, I hope, almost surmounted the greatness of fatigue ; and she unites in love to you all, and affectionate remembrances to all our dear friends, " With, my dear sons and daughters, " Yours ever and affectionately," &c. &c. The next was to Mr. Ebenezer Smith : it is dated : — "Paris, Aug. 26, Sabbath, 1849. " My very dear Son,— I cannot let a post pass without grateful acknow ledgments for your most welcome Letter, written yesterday, and delivered here early this forenoon. O, let our Heavenly Father and Redeemer and Sanctifier be praised, for the signal mercy of your being spared to us! You, my beloved son, can, I doubt not, appropriate Phil. i. 21. Amidst the multitude of ' Priez pour son ame,' in the Cimetieie La Chaise, I was delighted to see a simple marble slab, to a young lady, without that or any other of the delusive corruptions of ' the mystery of iniquity,' and the above text inscribed. " We pray truly, tenderly, and I hope with the sanction of Him who hears [in the exalted Hebrew sense] prayer : and so, you for us. . . . The many objects of valuable interest in this astonishing place, lead me to stay as long as we can. . . . We shall have volumes to tell, if per mitted to return to our dear friends. Now I can only say two or three words. . . . The Minister of the Interior and his lady sent cards to all the English, &c, visitors, inviting to a Soiree last evening. Few of our country, I dare say, (except Mr. Cobden) had ever beheld anything so mag- ST. 75.] LETTER TO MR. HENRY RUTT. 5l5 nificent; and to many it must have been like the dream of an Arabian tale. M. de ToCqueville's personal appearance is the most simple and humble, and so his manner and evident mental character. Other chief members of the Government, and Foreign Ambassadors were present. To-morrow we are, in like manner, to go to Versailles." The next also was written to Mr. Ebenezer Smith, who was at that time at Boulogne : it is dated Sept. 1 : — ".The innumerable objects demanding and rewarding attention, have led me to resolve upon stretching my line to the very utmost. Therefore, we hope to be at Boulogne on Tuesday, the 4th, by 4°, and probably at the Hotel des Bains, at the commencement of the Pier. The upper town certainly I should prefer for those whom a little more walking does not deter. Also, I thought in 1835, that the encircling rampart with its trees had an unhappy effect in preventing the salutary currents of free air from sufficiently ventilating the houses. Not so, ut mihi videbatur, is the open slope of the street ascending to the Haute Ville. Our plan is, if our gracious Guide enable, to go on Wednesday to Ramsgate or to Dover. . . . This Lord's day, we have worshipped at the new Independent or Free Church Chapel, (F. M.'s [Monod's]) and at 3J°, wc hope to join in the communion at Taithout."Although while at a distance from his home, Dr. Smith was constantly finding some new claims upon his attention, he did -not omit to send the proper notices to the members of the Homerton College Committee, of a meeting to be held in the early part of September. One of these, dated Paris, August 25th, was addressed to Henry Butt, Esq., to which the following postscript was added : — " I think it a great mercy and happiness that Mrs. Smith and I have come here. O that you aud yours could have had the same enjoyment ! Yesterday was the 277th anniversary of the Bartholomew Massacre. We are located in Bichelieu Street, near the Louvre, where Charles IX. amused himself by firing upon his Protestant subjects as they were fleeing" from the assassins. The streets flowed with blood. Ten thousand were slain in this city ; probably fifty thousand in the Provinces. Near the same spot, at the end of this street, Henry IV. was stabbed to the heart in his carriage." On the 9th of September, the venerable Pastor occupied his place in the pulpit at the Gravel Pit Chapel; and on the 12th the ' Commencement Prayer Meeting ' was held at the College, after which the business of the Session began, and was con tinued without any trace of illness in the Tutor to the close of the year. He inserted a note in his College Diary, under 2 N 546 LETTER TO DR. DEWAR — E. BAINES, ESQ. [l849. date December 1 1th : — " Church History — may be also called the History of the Human Bace, in its most important res pect, — Eelation to the Moral Government of God. Through all time, the great antithesis in Beligion has run, the Outward, Sensual, Mechanical, Formal ; and the Inward, Spiritual, Affectionate, Spontaneous." In reply to J. E. Byland, Esq., respecting a loan of books, he wrote, October 25th : — " My dear Sir, — I shall be happy to send the books which you desire, as soon as I can muster courage* and get time, for the packuig up and the other requisites of the transmission. My seventy-sixth year is almost half past. Long ago should I have retired from pubhc responsibilities, but my friends would not agree to it. Now, we all consent. If I live till July that will be the terminating point." And thus to Dr. Dewar, in the following month : — " My dear Principal, — Pardon extreme and unavoidable abruptness, that I may not lose a post. — I sympathize in your and Mrs. Dewar's deep affliction. Thrice have I been called to drink the same bitter cup. May every gracious support be granted, from the fulness of the everlasting covenant ! — Of the flow of time I am powerfully reminded. This is my fiftieth and last year of public life. O that to the Lord I may live and die !" In a Letter to Mr. Edward Baines at the close of the year, after acknowledging the arrival of a Christmas present from Leeds, he writes ; in relation to his own prospects : — "Accept my warm thanks for your kind sentiments regarding myself. The generous affection of my Friends, such as my hopes or imaginations had not in the least anticipated, now leads me to the thought of being enabled to take a house near the New College, if my life be spared to finish my course here. A work, which will be of immediate necessity, and for which I think myself possessed of some adaptation, I have set my heart upon ;— the classifying and disposition of the combined Library. " As for any work of the pen, I indulge no expectation. You can scarcely have a notion of my morbid reluctance to the mechanical labour of writing : for it is to me a most irksome labour, f It forms so broad u I feel it requisite to resist the tendency to become ' Dilator, spe longus, srs.' " t " The production of this note [of four pages] has taken me fully three hours. Dec. 25." * < iners ST. 75.] HIS HANDWRITING. 547 a contrast to the expedition of (I think I may say all) my associates and correspondents, as to be to me a very mortifying and humiliating sub ject of reflection. Always have I been a slow writer. When I was a child, my Father used to say, that I had a very improper method of manag ing the quill. I rather think it was taught me by Mr. Moses Eadon in 1783-7. But now I am persuaded that I have a confirmed paralysis of the fingers ; as likewise of the organs of speech, especially in reading to any person. " Please to present my best regards to your honoured mother, Miss Talbot, Mrs. Edward, and all the Tribes besides. My constant but very poor prayers are offered for them all, personally and in groups." These complaints of his great slowness in writing are not unworthy of notice, when compared with the large amount of his labour in using the pen. They tend to enhance our estimate of his services to the Church, the College, and the Literature of his country ; and especially of his services in the wide field of epistolary correspondence, the gratuitous or benevolent portion in particular. There was, however, one thing which seems to have escaped his notice : namely ; that Mr. Moses Eadon had done great justice to his pupil, and his pupil to the Teacher, in securing such a style of penman ship as reflects great credit upon both. If the fingers were not flexible, they were successful instruments, nevertheless, in producing a singularly legible result ; if the pen was not held right, the myriads of alphabetic characters which it formed could in scarcely a single instance be mistaken for hiero glyphics ; and although the complete " formation of every letter did not call forth a mental, there is abundant evidence to show that it did a manual act. The grouping of the words into sentences, was carried out by a system of punctuation in some respects peculiar ; and the methods of giving em phasis to particular terms and clauses were varied and not common, requiring attention in the Writer, and such as could not be left to the printer's discretion. Accordingly, where so much had to be thought of and done, the mechanical process could not have been rapid, even had Mr. Moses Eadon taught the running hand which is only one among many devices for attaining speed — chiefly, if not exclusively, speed — in this our day. Yet with all his success, Dr. Smith's penmanship bears not the slightest trace of an attempt on his part to vie with the writing-master's art. It may be supposed to have originated from that love of accuracy inherent in his character, and 2 n 2 518 RESOLUTIONS TOUCHING [ls|9. which embraced the 'jots and tittles,' as well as the 'weightier matters,' in his several pursuits, acquirements, and produc tions. It belonged also to that fair, clear, calm, explicit expo sition of his sentiments and feelings, so abundantly evident in the subject-matter on which his pen was at any time employed; — a scholarly style, such as became one whose ample materials were at the command of his will, who could therefore use them with order and precision, and who from a desire to save time both to himself and others, took care that what he wrote should always admit of being easily read. Towards the latter end of this year, and in the prospect of the termination of Dr. Smith's long public life, the Homerton College Committee in the first instance, and a few days after wards, the Congregational body at their Library in Blomfield Street, met, and adopted, — each, with perfect unanimity — a series of Eesolutions designed to express their sense of the value of his services, and their high respect for his person and character. It is due to all the parties concerned to present in this place a record of their proceedings. We thus arrive at ' the beginning of the end ' : — ¦ A Special Meeting of the College Committee was held Nov, 7th, when, " after a lengthened conversation " in reference to the Tutors and Professors of the Institution, the following Eesolutions were adopted : — * " I. That in consequence of the union of Homerton College with the Colleges of Highbury and Coward, the Committee respectfully inform then- Tutors and Professors that their services will not be required beyond Michaelmas, 1850, and that their salaries will then cease. — In conveying this official notice, the Committee cannot refrain from assuring their esteemed Friends of the regret with which they look forward to the close of a connection which has been so full of satisfaction and plea sure. They bear grateful testimony to the zeal, ability, and success with which they have fulfilled their important duties, and express their earnest hope that the talents and attainments, which have in this Institu tion been so faithfully devoted to the cause of Sound Scriptural learning, may be again employed with equal advantage to the Church of God in some similar sphere of Christian usefulness. " II. To their revered and beloved Friend, the Theological Tutor, now just entering on the fiftieth year of laborious and honourable service, they feel that a more distinct expression of respect and gratitude is due. They look back with affectionate admiration on the whole period of his Academi- * The Minutes of this Meeting are not in Dr. Smith's handwriting.— Ed. 4 ^sw JET. 75.] THE CLOSE OF HIS TUTORSHIP. 549 cal career, and thankfully record that his distinguished reputation as a Scholar and Divine, his exemplary zeal, piety, and talent as a Tutor, his meekness and consistency as a Christian, and his unflinching fidelity to principle as a public man, have been a main source of credit and stability to this Institution. They are deeply conscious that such service can never be fully requited, and therefore feel bound, no less by justice than by affec tion, to recommend to the next General Meeting of their Constituents that ale Salary which their venerable Friend at present receives from the funds of the College . . . should be continued during the rest of his life. " For themselves personally they desire to testify that they have ever reckoned it amongst their highest privileges, to be associated with him in the direction of this ancient College ; and, although their official connection must soon terminate, they trust that they shall long continue to enjoy his private friendship, and fervently pray that, as his past days have been spent in zealous, faithful labour for the Church of Christ, so his future years> cheered by the blessing of his Great Master, may be full of honour, comfort, and peace." That part of the above Eesolutions wbich refers particularly to the Theological Tutor, will be read with the most thorough sympathy by the long line of Students who enjoyed the advan tages of his vigilance and learning; and the determination to continue his salary for the rest of his life, will not only secure the hearty approval of those who reaped more directly the fruits of his instruction, but of the Churches also whom that instruction has reached through the medium of Pastors trained at Homerton. Or, if we look at the purpose thus expressed by the Committee in a general point of view, it will be at once acknowledged that services such as Dr. Smith had been render ing to the College for nearly fifty years — the services, in fact, of his whole life ; for the twenty-six years prior to his coming to Homerton were not more than enough for the formation of his own character and intellect — fully justified this pecuniary arrangement. And it was also obvious that this Faithful Steward had by this time well-nigh exhausted his strength, so as to leave no reasonable prospect of his ever being able to undertake any other pubhc duty : — an impression confirmed by the result ; for when his office as a Tutor finally terminated at Midsummer, 1850, he was enfeebled to such a degree, that with entire freedom from College and Pastoral claims, and almost an entire escape from the extraneous demands of a large mis cellaneous correspondence — and notwithstanding the utmost care and watchfulness on the part of his nearest connections — the thin thread of life could not be preserved longer than a few months. 550 TRIBUTE OF RESPECT [l849. The ensuing particulars are copied from the pamphlet entitled The Pye Smith Testimonial . — " At a Meeting* held at the Congregational Library, Blomfield Street, on Wednesday, the 14th of November, 1849, for the purpose of resolvmg on some public Tribute of Respect to the Rev. John Pye Smith, D.D., F.R.S., &c. &c. " Samuel Morley, Esq., in the Chair ; " The following Resolutions were unanimously adopted : — Moved by Dr. Leifchild ; seconded by W. A. Hankey, Esq. ; supported by the Rev. J. N. Goulty, Brighton : — " That this Meeting desires to offer humble thanks to the Father of Spirits for all the great and godly men with whom He has enriched the world, and for their various contributions towards its material and spiritual cultivation and happiness. — That, while this Meeting devoutly acknow ledges the goodness of God in calling and qualifying men in every age for the work of the Christian Church, and expresses special gratitude for those worthies whose names adorn the history of British Nonconformity — as Goodwin, Baxter, Owen, Howe, Henry, Watts, and Doddridge, — it would record its highest respect and truest affection for one of the living successors of these illustrious men, John Pye Smith, a man eminent for his personal virtues and professional excellencies, for his accurate and ex tensive scholarship, for his careful researches in the various departments of history and science, for his vast stores of sacred knowledge, Biblical, Theo logical, and Ecclesiastical, and for his ' Testimony ' to the Person and Priesthood of the Son of God." " Moved by Dr. William Smith, seconded by Josiah Conder, Esq. j sup ported by Rev. John Yockney and Rev. John Hayden : — " That this Meeting wishes to embody in a permanent memorial its grati tude to God for Dr. J. Pye Smith's life and labours during half a century in connection with Homerton College, and for the influence which his character and writings have exerted on the ministry, the Church, and the world ; and that for this purpose, this Meeting proposes to raise by public subscription a sum of money to be laid out on interest for Dr. Smith's benefit during his lifetime, which sum, on his death, shall he appropriated to found Divinity Scholarships, bearing his name, in the New College at St. John's Wood, London." The last Eesolution, which was moved by the Bev. George Clayton; seconded by the Eev. Algernon Wells; and sup ported by Eevs. S. S. England, T. A. Davids, and A. Good, related to the formation of a Committee to carry the design * The Meeting consisted of nearly thirty ministers, and twenty lay-gentle men ; some from the Country and some from London ; and as the ministers had been educated at various Colleges, the peculiar Homerton tie was not the motive which drew the assembly together. The whole of the particulars may be learned from the above-named pamphlet. Lond. : Snow. 1851.— En. ST. 75.] FROM THE CONGREGATIONAL EODY. 551 into effect. — The names of the members — twenty-six in the whole — show the wide interest which was felt in accomphshing the purpose for which the meeting had been called on this occasion. In November Dr. Smith began, and in December completed a series of four discourses on the Parable of the Sower ; with the last of which he ended his work at the Gravel Pit Chapel. They had been heard with much interest, and he was asked to give them to his people in a small volume : — " It would, I am sure," said Mr. E. V. Walford, who conveyed to him the desire for their publication — " be gratefully and affectionately received by the Church and congregation generally, as a memorial of the closing efforts of your much valued ministry amongst us." But, no ; he could not meet the wish of his friends in this instance: his strength was probably unequal to the extra labour of preparing his notes for the press ; for with diminished powers, he still retained his love of accuracy in all things. And how great the trial to such a man, arising from the per ception, or it may be the tantalizing apprehension of defects, which he in vain attempts to remedy ! — the mind feeling after , its long-used implements, but without finding them ; or if they are found, without strength to grasp them firmly enough to meet the exigency, whether imaginary or real. In the Sermon Book, after the line for December 30th the words occur : — " Close of my Pastorship." And as though he would be his own registrar to the utmost limit of possibility, the last entry which is found in the Church Book is in his own hand : — " On the Lord's day morning, December 30th, 1849, John Pye Smith preached his last pastoral discourse, and resigned the office in which the Lord's wondrous mercy and grace, amidst all his infirmities and deficiencies for which he desires ever to be deeply humbled, have upheld him for nearly forty- six years. To his rejoicing, and to the praise of Divine love, he sees the increasing happiness of his beloved Friends under the ministry of his dear Brother who is now the sole Pastor, the Beverend John Davies." A few days later, the Pastor tendered his resignation to the 552 RESIGNS HIS PASTORSHIP. [l810. Church, and the Church accepted it; when the following Letters passed : — " To the Church of Christ under the pastoral care of the Reverend John Davies, assembling in the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, Hackney. " My dear Brethren, Sisters, and Children, — The point of time has now elapsed at which the wise and gracious Providence of God has called and enabled me to return into your rightful hand the office of pastoral oversight, according to the ecclesiastical principles of the New Testament. In that station you placed me nearly forty-six years ago. Through that long period, you have sustained me with unremitting kindness and patience, love and prayerfulness. You have upheld and comforted me in a most exemplary manner; you have had compassion upon my infirmities, you have borne with and forgiven my short-comings, you have sympathized with me in sorrow, you have, with affectionate interest, participated in my joys, and, with your characteristic kindness, you have suffered the farewell word of exhortation. — For these, and all the other blessings of which you have been the Lord's instruments to myself and my family, I entreat you all, and especially our faithful Deacons, to accept my heartfelt thanks. The vivid memory of those blessings will, I trust, remain, not only through what yet of earthly life may be continued to me, but in the hour of death, and to our mutual realizing of eternity. " It is a signal mercy, and to me a satisfaction beyond what I can express, that our eyes behold our Teacher, and that we still enjoy the, ministrations of our sole temporal Pastor, my friend and late colleague, the object of your choice, at first with happy unanimity, and since with increasing approbation the Reverend John Davies. Him and you I commend to each other re ciprocally, for the fellowship of mutual confidence and prayer, that the saving work of the Holy Spirit may be carried on with ever-advancing power. ' If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any yearnings of tenderness, if any mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind ; [acting] in no respect through strife or vain glory, but, in lowliness of mind, each esteeming one another superior to themselves, each attending to not [merely] their own things [feelings and interests,] but those of others. Let this mind be in you, which even was in Christ Jesus.' Phil. ii. 1 — 5. ' Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, he of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.' 2 Cor. xiii. 11. "I hope to remain ever your servant and friend, in the Redeemer's name, " John Pye Smith." " Homerton College, Thursday, January 3rd, 1850." " To the Reverend John Pye Smith, D.D., &c. &c, late Pastor of the Church assembling at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, Hackney. " Reverend and dear Sir, — It is with deep and mingled feelings that we acknowledge the communication you have made to us, announcing your resignation of the Pastoral Office, which for so many years you have honourably sustained amongst us.— It becomes us on such an occasion to ST. 75.] HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER. 553 express our gratitude to the Great Source of life and of all our mercies, both temporal and spiritual, that for a period of more than forty-five years, you have been continued to us ; — that you have been favoured with numerous tokens of the Divine approbation ; — that your ministry and example have been blessed to the salvation of many ; — that you have presided over an united people, and have lived in their affections, and though some of them are now worshipping with the Church in heaven, yet many remain to join in this tribute of respect and regard. — Allow us also to sympathize with you, in the pleasure you must feel, in leaving the Church committed to the care of one with whom you have been for some years happily associated : — that you have been permitted to witness the blessing of God attending his ministry, and that you can resign your charge to him with so much confi dence and satisfaction. " And now that the All-wise Providence of God, and the feelings of declining strength have dictated your retirement, — receive, dear Sir, our united wishes and prayers, that the richest blessings of the Gospel may be enjoyed by you whilst on earth, supporting you in duty, sustaining and soothing you in trial and weakness, — adding pleasure and delight to every comfort, — giving you the brightest evidences and hopes of the heavenly state ; and when it is the will of the great Head of the Church to call you hence, ' may an entrance be ministered nnto you abundantly into the ever lasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' " Signed on behalf of the Church, and by its order, at a meeting held 3rd January, 1850 : — Samuel G. Underhill, G. Parker, Stephen Olding, H. Eutt, James Carter, Deacons." The close of so long a Pastorship, seems to justify the offering of some remark on the manner in which Dr. Smith discharged the several duties of the office. Having already given the details of the forming of the Church, and of his ordination over it in 1804, — of his methods of conducting, and registering in the Church Book, the pro ceedings of the Society, — of the choice and acceptance of a Co- Pastor in 1846,— and lastly of his own resignation, — the whole serves to show his love of order ; and that in matters of routine he adhered more closely than is now common to the precedents and usages of the early Nonconformists. Yet the imitation was not servile, nor maintained for its own sake, or because others had established a particular method. The course pursued was recommended to his judgment by its adaptation to a valuable end, and especially by its believed agreement in its leading features with New Testament precept or example. It was also abundantly evident, that with whatever strictness he observed the letter of ancient customs, there was in his case no lack of a living spirit, the spirit of his own age, to animate the whole :— as though he could be at once exactly 554 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER: [1849. technical, yet nobly free. — A statue has form without life ; a man has hfe, and form as well. In speaking of his characteristics as a preacher, the great amount of definite Scriptural instruction which might be derived from a regular attendance on his ministry, must hold the chief place. His plans included, the consecutive exposi tion of particular Books of the Bible, — the selection of the more prominent passages in a Book, for the purpose of show ing the leading facts, doctrines, and duties as they were related to one another, or to the whole Book; without a rigid ad herence to the criticism and explanation of every part ahke, — the discussion of sets of selected texts, designed to bring together the whole of the scriptural light upon some one topic ; such, for example, as the Perfections of God, the Divinity of Christ, the existence and agency of evil spirits, — sermons on the several branches of relative duty; going on from one to another without the omission of any class. There occurred, moreover, in his ministry, as distinct from the usage of his brethren generally, and often enough to claim specific notice, discourses intended to keep alive the memory of great events in Ecclesiastical, Puritan, and Nonconformist history. Un questionably, the amount and spontaneous vivacity of his in formation upon all these points was one of the inducements or at least aids to the practice : — he had, however, an irresistible moral motive ; — his convictions respecting the rights of con science, and the deep injustice, the folly, the cruelty and guilt of every form of persecution for the truth's sake, had a degree of strength, an immediateness, and therefore an urgency in his apprehension, which rendered silence, or even a tame style of speaking, all but impossible. It was here, if anywhere, that such indignation as he could feel would flash out ; and at times, it must be acknowledged, in words which to persons who had not pondered the facts as he had done must have appeared excessive, as compared with the occasion to which they were applied, or the place where they were uttered. After a somewhat careful examination of Dr. Smith's printed sermons, of very many of those which he left in manuscript, and of notes of sermons kindly lent by several of his congrega tion, it is due to his memory, and to the use which may be made of his example, to say : — that it would be difficult to find ST. 75.] preaching. 555 a ministry more uniformly filled with the matter no less than imbued with the spirit of Divine Bevelation. The authority of that Bevelation as Divine was not simply asserted but con stantly acted upon. An implicit surrender of the judgment to its ascertained meaning, and of the heart and life to its require ments, clearly showed the place which it really held in the Pastor's estimation. He never went into discussions, which, for their remoteness from the sentiments and especially from the style of the Sacred Writings, seem to assert for the Preacher at least a co-ordinate if not a superior jurisdiction with that of the Bible itself. Active as his mind was, and well fitted both by nature and discipline for penetrating re search, it is equally singular and instructive to observe how he seemed to avoid the pursuit of curious questions, and any striving after that which goes by the name of originality. Taking his place by the side of the Divine Word, just as he did by the Divine Works, he was simply but most scrupulously careful, laborious, and devout in searching for the meaning of Scripture, that he might then have something to say of greater value to mankind than his own ' experience,' on the one hand, and of inconceivably higher certainty and importance than his ' intuitions ' on the other. This was a capital quality, con sidering his position and his endowments; and he thereby evinced that high order of mental conjoined with moral power, of which the Apostle Paul is the great exemplar ; that namely, of putting forth all his energies, whether natural or acquired, in developing the facts and doctrines of Christianity : re solving, — and carrying out the resolution — to 'know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.' And just as Saul of Tarsus would never have been heard of in history, if his fine talents had been expended chiefly in adding to or embellishing the ' traditions of the fathers ;' in hke manner, the conscientiousness with which Dr. Smith, — instead of pre suming to ' speak of himself,' — dispensed ' the sincere milk of the Word,' is the foundation of whatsoever sohd interest is or may be felt in his life and writings. With him, the Bible was never like a mine which was nearly worked out, or as a fountain which had at length run dry : — nor did he act as though, indeed, his abilities — if used at all — were of that transcendent order, that they were really too fresh, and full, and life-giving, to serve any purpose less than that of being an 556 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER : [lS19. original, an independent, a sufficient source of saving know ledge to the world. It deserves to be added, that while his profound deference for Bevelation sprang from and betokened his reverence for the Divine Authority; it did also evince the deepest regard for all those whom he sought to instruct and benefit; for he dealt with them as with persons who were supposed to have both a common right and a common interest in ascertaining the Will of God as revealed in the Scrip tures ; — and only in that way can any Pastor be said to ' hold the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.' How thoroughly evangelical his ministry was is clear from ^11 his works. Besides the very large proportion of his ser mons which directly relate to the doctrines and duties of the New Testament economy, his discourses on other subjects rarely fail to bring into prominence, in some part or other, so much of the purely Christian element, as distinctly to show both his principles and his position as a Pastor and Teacher in the Christian Church. He, in fact, had no mission, except as Christ's minister ; nor could he be Christ's minister, ex cepting as he gave "all diligence" to preach the "common salvation," as the only ground of hope, both for himself and them that heard him : and on this point, there was never the slightest chance of mistake. Nor was the superstructure of Christian virtue and holiness, left to find its way up to completeness apart from his constant watchfulness and agency. Here also, the Bible was his own and his people's guide ; he was careful not to teach a doctrine, nor to recommend cr urge a duty, which had not been honestly drawn from the words, and was sustained by the spirit of that Book ; nor did he ask from any person the submission of his intellect or his life — that is, ' the obedience of faith ' — without setting the example of a full surrender in both respects himself. Two or three things prevented his ministry from being very popular. One was the weakness of his voice ; or rather, perhaps, his want of abihty to regulate its intonations, arising from his deafness. Another was the style of his composition, which would be deemed somewhat scholastic ; well adapted to the Class Boom of the College, but not so well suited to the miscellaneous assembly in a place of worship. The sentences were constructed almost exclusively with a view to impart information, a knowledge of the truth ; and not to produce an ST. V».] PRAYERS. 557 effect upon the feelings, except as the judgment was en lightened. There was no onward, stately, cumulative march of argument or of appeal from page to page ; no artifices of composition in which the words, as distinct from the things, were made to act an important part; no gathering together of the details in a sort of mighty confluence — like a stream swollen into an almost resistless torrent — at the close. Whether the want of these characteristics of a popular style, is to be traced to the early and powerful influence of the Lecture Eoom in forming his habits as a Preacher ; or whether to the deafness, which prevented him from being sensible to not a few of the s'alutary effects of the human voice upon the heart and mind of a congregation ; or whether it must be ascribed to his order of mental action, which no change in the particulars just noticed could have set aside, are questions which each one must decide for himself. This, however, may be mentioned. He never could allow his imagination to leave his judgment in the back ground ; for although the former might take the lead in the way of suggestion or illustration, if the latter could not fully accredit what was offered, the contribution was at once de clined. He seemed also, constitutionally unable, or from religious motives was unwilling, to stimulate the intellectual part of his nature to the slighting of the moral : indeed, as he could not be content unless bis growth in holiness kept pace with the increase of his knowledge of the letter of Scripture, his teaching was to a remarkable degree the result, as well as the index, of what he was as a Christian man. It is scarcely necessary to add, how the warmth which his imagination might occasionally fail to give to his discourses, was supplied by the " unction " of a singularly devout heart. Dr. Smith's prayers, as compared with his sermons, and also as compared with the prayers of many of his brethren, would be thought generally to possess a very high degree of excellence. But before attempting to offer any remarks upon their worth, some notice should be taken of two things not unfrequently found in them, which many intelligent and pious persons could not entirely approve. Public events, occurring in our own country, on the continent of Europe, or in more remote parts of the world, would be at times referred to with a very unusual degree of minuteness and fulness; indicating in the Speaker and re- 558 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER : [lS19. quiring in the Hearer an amount of information rarely called for on such occasions ; and not always perhaps at command among many of the well-informed congregation tq whom he ministered ; and when to this he added allusions to some of the details of past history in our own or in other countries, there would now and then be a complication of facts which tended rather to tax the memory than to impress the heart. Here, as in his sermons, his familiarity with such topics, in the variety of their relations both to the Divine Government and to the welfare of man, made such a course generally easy, and perhaps edifying to himself. Yet it was not always without difficulty that these materials, even in his hands, shaped themselves into petitions or praises. A certain intractableness did at times show itself, which was not to be overcome except by devices of expression, which evidently tasked the inventive powers of the speaker at the moment. No doubt whatever can rest upon the purity of his motives for pursuing the course in question ; to which, as before intimated, the readiness and variety of his knowledge opened an easy way and supplied a strong induce ment ; but, speaking generally, and as in comparison with what is usual in Nonconformist worship, his example in this par ticular will not be thought entitled to imitation. Another peculiarity in his prayers — akin, indeed, to the fore going — was the minuteness which occasionally marked his reference to private persons and families. Both the courteous- ness and the generous sympathies of his disposition combined to encourage, perhaps to command this practice ; for in this way, he could strengthen and diffuse, as he believed, a deep feeling of interest throughout his Church and Congregation, in respect of the joys or the trials of particular members. As a general principle, however, the larger the assembly in which prayer is offered, the more "common" ought that prayer to be. The closet, the family, the church-meeting, the congregation, are as the several steps of an expanding series ; the first of which includes whatever is strictly personal to the worshipper, and to all for whom he may then and there intercede ; the last embraces the totality, when Pastor and People unite in a service, whether of prayer or praise, in which they are of one heart and of one mind, and implore or acknowledge blessings of concern ment to them as one whole. Any considerable deviation from this plan, is sure to be attended with difficulty. Some persons JET. 75.] PRAYERS. 559 perhaps are soothed and gratified by being publicly referred to in the worship ; — others are distressed by almost the slightest allusion to themselves as individuals ; — and others are at times apt to wonder, or be displeased, because no notice seems to be taken of their case ; and no little skill is required to keep clear of the danger of producing wrong impressions among the con gregation. Here it may be submitted — whether some of the elements of Dr. Smith's character, did not in certain instances rather disqualify him for the introduction of private topics into pubhc worship ? He had a great command of words to give copiousness and variety to such allusions ; — his mind and heart would glow, with a sort of reverberating heat, around any par ticular person or subject on which his attention was strongly fixed ; — his charity also, his great Christian benevolence, and the desire to kindle a hke feeling in others, led him on occa sionally into a warmth and length of expression, much beyond the just claims of the case as they might be estimated by many whose attention was thus, perhaps unexpectedly, drawn from general to private and personal interests, of which they had no knowledge, or none which they could turn to a good account. It is, moreover, not unlikely, that the extent and style of refer ence did at times become a little oppressive to the object of it : —while others might be apprehensive of such a result. On the whole, this is one of many instances in which purity and eleva tion of motive must not be trusted as a rule for a Pastor's conduct, apart from a wide consideration of not merely the circumstances and feelings of the Congregation at large, but of those also of the several persons relatively to one another. Fidelity to the existence of these two classes of facts in Dr. Smith's ministry, is the ground for introducing them in this place. It was not right to pass them by, for they unquestion ably did characterize his practice in prayer : and to include them among excellencies, would be to go counter to the general opinion, if that may be learned from the general rule in such things. Yet it is proper to add— as on the other side — the following remarks made by one who had the very best means of knowing both the extent and reasons of the peculiarity now mentioned :— " His sympathies and intercessions were world wide. Indeed he embraced on principle the opportunity of the long or intercessory prayer, for the very purpose of presenting special cases, whether near or remote, whether events of joy 560 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER : [iNlfl. or sorrow in the home-circle, or our country, or Ireland, or Holland, Germany, or Madagascar : — whether there were famine, or political commotions, or restrictions and persecu tions. And the events of prosperity or adversity in our own neighbourhood, and above all in our own Church, found the most earnest, and often affecting memorial in his prayers—1 public, domestic, and private." Passing on to positions which can be held with greater, perhaps with entire unanimity, it may be mentioned first of all, that Dr. Smith's devotional services, whether in the bosom of his family, among his Students, in the social circle, or in the more public worship of the Church, could not fail to produce the impression that he was in a very eminent degree a man of prayer. His intimate knowledge of the Scriptures, in their substance and language, formed the ground- work of his petitions and praises ; — his large acquaintance with the best writings on practical piety and the rehgion of the heart, gave him a com mand of appropriate materials, suited to outward circumstances whether of duty or trial, and to states of feeling of almost every variety ; — and the recollection — or rather the constant presence — of the prominent facts of his own history, the strict watch which he kept over his conduct, the analysis of his motives, and the comparison of what he was with the Word of God, imparted a life-like quality to his utterances, whether of confession, supplication, or thanksgiving, which could scarcely be unobserved or unfelt by those joining with him in the service. His deep sympathy with the worship itself, and with some of the highest ends to be secured by it, was also a very observable characteristic. A particular phrase — less appreciated perhaps now than at one time — is well adapted to convey a correct idea of his manner in this duty— speaking generally) he was at such times as one who held Communion with God; As far as his apprehension or consciousness could be rendered apparent by his manner and expressions, there was present to his view an Object of Worship perfectly, infinitely distinct from himself; inconceivably more glorious, more attractive, and more stimulating for thought and emotion than any other being or thing in the Universe, or than all combined. He was not, therefore, as ' one that beateth the air ;' as one who was paying homage to his own sentiments or words, however good ST. 75.] PRAYERS. 561 or true or beautiful : he was not entangled by his own dreams, nor did he ever lose himself, or escape from the perception of his fellow-worshippers, in a soliloquy. That Pantheism which has such a tendency to debilitate both the mental and moral character, and which can only mature a sort of refined self- adoration, he shrank from as an offence to his reason, and as enfeebling to his piety ; and because there was, as he believed, an infinite distance between the Temple and the Deity — between the worshippers and the Being who was worshipped — he had ever before him unbounded scope for that onward, earnest, definite thought, to which he gave utterance in words, significant indeed of the most profound awe, yet evincing very rare elevation and purity of heart and mind. It may also be added, that he did not seem to regard prayer and praise as acts, with the performance of which for their own sake — ad mitting their sincerity — the Deity was to be appeased. These several suggestions received at times corroboration which would almost startle a person not accustomed to his manner. His sense of the presence of the Object of worship was so vivid as to give rise, as it were on the instant, to some expression of reverence — of personal unworthiness — of ardent gratitude — of adoring wonder — of almost seraphic love and joy — not as though he was then thinking of God, but as though he saw Him, beyond the usual power of our earthly vision even when purified; — and as though the sight gave " winged," wondrous words to his tongue — words that did not appear to belong to trains of thought, which by their length, especiaUy in audible speaking, will occasionally carry a person far beyond the ordinary limits of his 'devout exercises : they were rather the result of that habit which he had long kept up, of urging his way nearer and nearer toward the Divine Mercy Seat, to secure a position from which, under the shadow of the Cross, he could obtain glimpses— brief but intensely im pressive — of the Greatest and most Glorious of all Bealities. On these occasions the Personality of the Object of worship seemed to stand revealed even to his fellow-worshippers, by the very brevity no less than the force of his expressions ; for it was observable, that he was not carried away into an ecstacy:— it was not much that he said; and this was generally the language of surprise, admiration, awe, or rapturous delight, —a sort of tribute paid on the spot to ineffable Majesty, Purity, 2 o 56'2 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER : [lM!l. and Love ; while at the same time, it agreed in character and tendency with that part of the general prayer to which it might be thought to belong as a parenthesis. With the think ing and reasoning faculty in such constant exercise, and with the marked deference which Dr. Smith ever gave to the product of thought and argument, it was not a little wonderful that in his case faith should have had such an extraordinary power of realizing the unseen Deity ; — a rare combination, indeed, but one absolutely indispensable to the full expansion of the nobility of our nature. His daughter says : — " My dear Father in prayer drew largely from the Old Testament Scrip tures, from the prayers of Moses, David, Solomon, Job, and the Prophets. Their expressions were transfused, and so were Paul's, into his prayers. Thus he cultivated enlargement of expression : and as to expansiveness and subhmity, his invocations, even in the family, — where, indeed, they were most lofty, ardent, and simple, — reminded one of the Songs of Seraphs in the Book of the Apocalypse." But while this peculiarity belonged to him in a manner not easy to be matched elsewhere, nothing could exceed in sub- missiveness the temper of his heart and mind at such times. The clay in the hand of the potter was so plastic, that if we could predicate intelligence of it, the intelligence might seem to have been used only to facilitate the more complete accom plishment of the Divinely intended result : it was as though his whole nature had been carefully laid open and spread out, to catch the influence and the blessing. While, therefore, on the one hand, he was among the most earnest and importunate of suppliants, he was also the moSt humble, the most meek, the most impressively and profoundly reverential: and in acknowledging the Divine condescension in permitting and encouraging man to approach the Deity, scarcely any style of language seemed rich enough to express his emotions. His own exquisite moral sympathy with every phase of sentiment at such times, and with almost every shade of expression, proved how his highest joys were found in Communion with God. The Person and Work of the Divine Mediator held precisely the same high place in the Pastor's devotional exercises, which they did in his sermons. With him there was no perplexing silence, no obscurity in one part as compared with another ; ST. 75.] CHURCH ORDINANCES. 503 all was consistent and symmetrical, betokening the sincerity and the depth of his convictions on this vital topic. Indeed, the medium by which he was ever accustomed to implore acceptance with God, not only imparted that rich glow and unction to his prayers which they were known to possess, but it also gave that firmness to his testimony, as one who preached Christ the crucified, bjr which his ministry was distinguished : in other words, his own Christian experience, in kind and degree, was the source of the unity and power of all his public services. — If those who greatly exceed him, in one way or another, in the ability to attract and retain large congregations, could secure on the same scale the character istic excellencies which belonged to Dr. Smith's prayers, the results, in the benefit of mankind and for the glory of God, would astonish and gladden the whole Church. These ex cellencies, moreover, are not to be ascribed to what might be deemed peculiar to him as a Bible Student, an accomplished Critic, an able Tutor. They belonged to the Christian life of the man ; and as such they may well be urged as an example and for an encouragement to others. His prayers were ad mirably sustained by his practice and temper, and the whole furnished solid evidence of the reality of revealed religion. In regard to the ordinances of the Christian Church, it has been already mentioned, that Dr. Smith confined the rite of Baptism to the children of Church Members; a restriction which led him to make in his sermons, and especially at the Lord's Table, special appeals to this class of non-communicants, which were often not only exceedingly ardent and touching, but were the means of bringing many to yield themselves to God. His supplications also were often very earnest for them in particular. The Church Book bears ample testimony to the importance which he attached to his practice ; for these young persons are spoken of almost invariably as "the Children of the Church." On the Lord's Supper, he held, as we have seen, the belief that it was obligatory upon the Disciples of Christ to commemorate His death every Lord's Day. — Great care was taken in the admission of members ; and as great fidehty and fulness characterized his pastoral instructions, not more than two or three cases of discipline occurred in forty - 2o2 561 HIS PASTORAL CHARACTER : [l849, six years. The Church from the beginning appears to have been distinguished for the Christian sobriety and consistency of its members. In pastoral visiting, Dr. Smith was not able to carry out his principles and plans according to his wishes. The manifold claims upon his time, official and extraneous, are now well known; but his deafness caused inaptitude for this class of services. None could deplore his failure hi this respect more than he : none could more earnestly intreat the forbearance and even compassion of his friends ; and it is worth noticing as a trait of his character, that in meeting the complaints or expressions of regret which were occasionally addressed to him on this subject, he never seems to have used a word tending to weaken the people's right, or the pastor's obligation, in regard to such duties. The integrity and firmness with which he ever strove to keep the standard of duty straight and high, even though by doing so his own deficiency might be made apparent, show him to have been a true man ; whose judgment might be the more safely followed in other things, when it was seen that the Scriptural rule was not to be tampered with, merely for the sake of his own peace. Yet, considering his circumstances, and especially that which he spoke of as his "great infirmity," very much was done by the Pastor to aid and comfort his people in private. In cases of illness and bereavement, in family trials and losses, he sought to be their sympathizing friend ; when, if he could not catch their words, he often won their hearts by the tenderness of his compassion, and the fervour of his prayers on their behalf. Those especially who took a generous view of his position, and who were ever ready — as they certainly might be in his case — to give him credit for not only the best of motives, but often for the best of efforts, to promote the welfare of his Pastoral charge, received in his confidence and Christian affection a recompense which was quite as precious in their esteem, and perhaps quite as valuable in its results upon their character, as his more frequent visits might have been. — That compensative system, the operation of which has been observed with great interest in the natural world, is to be found no less in the world of mind and morals. The benefit which is withheld from one person by difficulties which another is ST. 75.] PASTORAL VISITING. 565 unable to surmount, may often be secured, and quite as largely too, by the independent action of just and enlightened thought. God is often pleased to give His blessing to those who, instead of urging claims on His fully-occupied servants, are ready to supply their own wants and those of their friends to the very best of their power. — On principles like these, and in this noble spirit, Dr. Pye Smith's Church and Congregation went on with their honoured Pastor, in the exercise of mutual con fidence and love. And they have the present satisfaction, and will always be entitled to the credit, arising out of one of the clearest of facts : — that whatever sacrifices they made of per sonal feeling, in order to fall in with and facilitate his labours for the pubhc good, those labours promise to be attended with such enduring advantages as can scarcely fail to be prized by multitudes even to the end of time. If, indeed, where a man is seen to be evidently striving for " a corruptible crown," his best friends can contribute to his success by keeping the race course as free as possible from every kind of obstruction, with what far greater propriety, and with how much higher gain to all parties concerned, may the same principle be acted upon where the prize sought for is " incorruptible ?" — Not to hinder is, — to some persons, and for many duties of the highest im portance — the very best kind of help. CHAPTEE XXX. CLOSING MINISTERIAL SERVICES— ADDRESS AT THE FOUNDING OF NEW COLLEGE — FINAL ADDRESS PREPARED FOR MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL — RESIGNS HIS TUTORSHIP AT HOMERTON — FAREWELL ADDRESS AT HOMERTON— HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR— HIS BENEFICENCE— SUPERNUMERARY SERVICES — HIS CHARACTERISTICS IN COMPANY AND CONVERSATION — OCCASIONAL IMPULSES — SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER : LOVE OF LIBERTY : LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE : EMI NENT PIETY : THE THREE COMBINED — HIS PUBLIC WORK COMPLETED. Although Dr. Smith had now resigned the pastoral office, his Sermon Book contains an account of a few engagements which as a minister he undertook during the year 1850. These may be briefly noticed, for the sake of completing the history of that part of his duties. That they were not more numerous, arose from the fact that his strength was nearly exhausted. On Tuesday evening, January 29th, he delivered a discourse at the Eev. Josiah Viney's Chapel, Betbnal Green ; on " The Truths concerning the Extent and Magnitude of the Created Universe, not adverse to the Truths of Beligion." A day or two afterwards in a Note to Mr. Viney, he shows that his mind still retained its interest in the class of questions to which this discourse belongs. April 2nd and again August 6th, he delivered the Merchants' Lecture at the Poultry Chapel. At the latter date, which was his last service of the kind, the text was Psalm lxxi. 9 ; selected evidently for its great appropriateness to himself. One of his express motives for continuing an effort which seemed beyond his strength was, that it enabled him four times a year to con tribute to the comfort of excellent but necessitous ministers, to ST. 76.] ADDRESS AT THE FOUNDING OF NEW COLLEGE. 567 whom he was in the habit of giving the remuneration which he received for his labours on these occasions. A service exceedingly suitable for the last of his long life as a Christian minister, was one which he discharged at the request of the Pastor and Members of the Church at the Gravel Pit Chapel : — he presided there at the Lord's Supper on Septem ber 1st. No record of this occurs in his Sermon Book ; but the fact has been communicated, and the Notes of his address have been sent by a friend, who states that the closing words were : — " There will be ' the marriage supper of the Lamb ;' the whole inconceivable multitude of the saints. — Let us charge ourselves that none of us be wanting." At the laying of the first stone of New College, at St. John's Wood, on the llth of May, 1850, the address for the occasion was prepared by Dr. Pye Smith; but in consequence of his inability to make himself heard, he requested his learned co adjutor at Homerton, Dr. William Smith, to read it to the assembly. The address was afterwards printed, but as it contains passages which deserve to be placed with other memorials of the Author's life and opinions, some use of it with that view will now be made. The relation which he had long sustained to the oldest of the Colleges thus united in one, gave a seemliness to his position in the engagements of the day which was very widely felt at the time ; and — as the event proved— this was the only visible link between himself and the new Institution. For another reason he was eminently in place here : — As in the two respects of piety and knowledge, he never seems to have thought of remaining stationary at any point which he had been permitted to attain, it was due ahke to his principles and his success as a Theological Tutor, that at the close of his career he should be allowed publicly to testify his great readiness, not only to acquiesce in but also to help forward every new provision, which promised to give greater width and greater depth to the training of Students for the Christian ministry. The Address begins with a brief account of each of the three Colleges of Homerton, Coward, and Highbury ; and of the gradual expansion of their respective methods of academical discipline during the present century. As a consequence of this latter circumstance, the plan of uniting them into one was 568 ADDRESS AT THE FOUNDING OF NEW COLLEGE. [l8J0. first suggested, and then accomplished. The address then takes a wider range : — " All history shows us that from the beginning of human nature, its Creator, infinite in power and wisdom, holiness and love, has been carrying forward our race by what may be well called a system of Education." That system is then traced under various forms, and through different countries ; the pre-eminence being given to the Eecords of Divine Bevelation in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. From the latter, the transition is easy to the Christian Fathers, to the Schools and Colleges of the middle ages, to the learned lights of the Eeformation, and then to the efforts made by the Puritans and Nonconformists to com pensate as they best could for the exclusion of their Theological Students from the National Universities. A great and momen tous defect is, however, discovered among their arrangments: — " One might almost think that the learned and pious men of that day never considered the duty of ascertaining that their young sons had the first qualification for the ministry, laid down by Divine authority, the being 'faithful men, apt to teach, — men of God, stewards of God, — examples to their flocks, — patterns of good works.' " But this defect, serious as it was, can scarcely awaken surprise when it is remembered that those very Universities at which the Puritans would have sought had the law allowed, an education for their rising Ministers, never insisted upon real piety, as it is now under stood, as a condition in the training of their own Clergy. Indeed, if such a condition is recognized in theory, its application in practice must be next to impossible in richly endowed or territorially established Churches. Only free communities can be really strict in their terms of admission ; for endowments generate vested rights, which are proverbially hostile to any very close scrutiny of either creed or character. Besides, where such a truth has been long lost to the practice of the Church, it takes a considerable time to restore it even to its principles. Hence Dr. Smith says in his address : — " Two generations had to elapse before the great fault and danger of this proceeding were duly perceived." And the Nonconformists were the first to supply a remedy : — " It was not till the origination of the Institutions whose happy union is this day proclaimed, that the satisfactory evidences of conversion to God, in encouraging any young man to devote himself to the ministry, were ST. 76.] ADDRESS AT THE FOUNDING OF NEW COLLEGE. 569 thoroughly understood to be of imperative and absolute necessity. Upon this foundation, as the immoveable rock, in their separate form, and now in their union, it is our resolution and our trust in God, that our Colleges shall ever stand." This was Dr. Pye Smith's final testimony in favour of a principle, for which — as already noticed — he relinquished an attractive office at Wymondley Colkfge, at his outset in public life. His whole history shows how richly he was rewarded for his self-denial and courage on that memorable occasion : and now, at the close of life, he not only held and defended the same principle, but in the incorporation of Coward with the other Colleges, he saw it carried out in a way and to an extent which fell in exactly with his earliest convictions of duty and propriety in such cases. Could a more appropriate recompense have been thought of for such a mind ? — And are not such recompenses in the present world adapted, probably designed, to strengthen our faith in the future more glorious rewards which, in the government of God, will be conferred upon in tegrity and virtue ? How wide the contrast between the youth ful Student-Tutor going away in the depth of winter from Wymondley House, because he could not be a party in pre paring persons for the Christian ministry who were not required to give " satisfactory evidences of conversion to God :" — and that venerable and honoured man who now saw the principle for which he then pleaded laid, with the full concurrence of a host of the most approved witnesses, as the " foundation, the immoveable rock " of New College. Yet between that earliest and this nearly latest day of his long public career, there were sure links of inseparable connection, held by that Being " in whose hands our breath is, and whose are all our ways." The concluding portion of the Address brings out so many of the Author's sentiments, and in comparatively few words, that on that account, and because this was the last of his original appeals from the press, it will now be presented : — " The desirableness and practicability of this union [of the Three Colleges] must appear to every thoughtful mind. The knowledge of God and the salvation of man include all truth and all happiness. The conviction and enjoyment of this, we desire to communicate to all men ; and to do so, we wish to improve and enlarge our instruments, and at the same time to concentrate our strength. The cause and the time demand this. Never 570 ADDRESS AT THE FOUNDING OF NEW COLLEGE. [lS.'jO. before has come into being such a multitude and cogency of reasons for the exertion. The providence and grace of God work out His purposes by the use of means. Our duty is to find the best means to the best ends, and to work them in the best manner. Only in so doing, can we hope for an effectuating blessing from ' Him who worketh all things.' His universe rises up around us ; the unfathomable past, the immeasurable present, the awful future, all wrapped in the infinity of His Presence. His doings are explored with a penetration and an accuracy which Bacon, or Leibnitz, or Newton never probably imagined. Natural knowledge and the physical sciences have left their ancient landmarks far in the backward distance. The wheels of time seem to be even accelerated. Discovery and invention, efforts prodigious and results which overwhelm the strongest minds, have become almost familiar to us. Yet there are men who obtrude themselves upon sense and reason ; men blind to heavenly beauty, untouched by the majesty of wisdom, holiness, and love, — ' Unspeakable : — A goodness beyond thought, and power divine.' " Those men must not be left without rebuke and refutation. Their false hearted assumings of evangelical phraseology, and their rhapsodies of livpocritical devotion, on the one hand, and the attempted resurrection of superstitious fooleries by deceivers and deceived, on the other, must be exposed to the daylight of true knowledge and honest argument. A com prehensive and upright philosophy, a faithful treatment of ecclesiastical questions, and a cordial acquiescence in the Word of God, must be the character of our ministers, and by them must be impressed upon the under standing of our fellow-Christians. The immeasurable extent, of the works of creation, and their unfathomable antiquity, must be held in harmony with the coinciding infinity of God's condescension to the smallest worm, to the invisible animalcule, and to the moral government of all dependent intelligences. The decrees of Jehovah from past eternity, their execution in righteousness and grace to the eternity future ; the distinct subsistencies of the One God ; the majesty of the law, the works of redemption and regeneration, the full accountableness of man, the rules of indefeasible duty through the vast range of obligation to man and God, the retributions of eternity ; — these and all their collateral principles of belief and holiness, our ministers must be qualified to maintain with lucid demonstration, with meekness to opponents, and fully illustrated by their own practical character. "We expect that many will go forth from the New College to ' set them selves for the defence and confirmation of the Gospel,' by writings marked with honourableness and benevolence. But from all, it is our demand and expectation that they will make their highest employ ' the PREACHING which God hath bidden.' To this one thing they are to devote their powers, and consecrate their acquisitions ; all science and literature, all eloquence, poetry, and history, and the all-pervading practice of Prayer. With this subserviency and for this end, the solemnity of to-day stands as a testimony of the most rightful demand. " For a moment I may be permitted to speak of myself. When the present Academical Session is completed, two months hence, my course will be finished, my fifty years of attempted service will have run out. Never in time, and I trust to cternitv, can I become unmindful of the tolerant and ST. 76.] ADDRESS FOR MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 571 liberal treatment which I have received from the Homerton College Society, and from the wide circle of my friends and brethren. It gives me exalted pleasure to think of the superior manner in which my attempts will be superseded. I retire, with gratitude to God and man ; and looking joy fully upon the arrangements which the judicious Council have made for the plans of study and the Professors whom they have chosen. In the presence of those gentlemen, I cannot venture to speak my sentiments. Long have I known and loved and honoured them. Their works praise them. The public confidence waits upon them. The privilege is ours of Prayer for them : and in the grace of Him who has promised to be with His churches alway, even to the end of the world, we confide, that ' the work of faith, the labour of love, and the patience of hope ' will not be in vain. " ' Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work ; ' — fix you firm and fast upon the Everlasting Rock ! " Another labour of love in connection with the advancement of real piety and sound learning among Evangelical Noncon formists, was to take an affectionate leave of the pupils of Mill Hill Grammar School, at their public examination, June 19th, this year. It has been already seen, that Dr. Smith was one of the most active among those who were engaged in laying the plan of that Institution in 1807 ; and during many subsequent years, to no one was it more indebted than to him for a great variety of important services. The School was like a second Homerton in his affections.* On this account it was — and not because he was now really able to bear the fatigue of delivering an Address on the ' Public Day ' — that he complied with the request of the Committee to attend, if he could, on the occasion. He was not, however, able to be present : his strength was unequal to this part of the duty; but "he did what he could ;" he prepared an Address, which was kindly read by Dr. William Smith. It begins thus : — * In August, 1851, the Editor had an opportunity of seeing Thomas Priestley, Esq., who had then been more than thirty years connected with Mill Hill Grammar School ; of which he had long held the office of Head Master. He spoke in the warmest terms of Dr. Smith's great and constant efforts to secure for the Institution a high character for accuracy of scholarship ; efforts which were sustained and stimulated by the vast extent, the readiness, the completeness, of his own learning. The regularity and care with which he followed up the quarterly examination of the pupils, led him to keep an account not only of the progress of the several classes, but of every boy in each class; so that he could form an estimate of the diligence, talents, and character of each from quarter to quarter :— and then when the rewards were distributed, he could adapt the gift and his accompanying cautions, or counsels, or en couragements, to each one as the case might require. — Ei>. 572 FINAL ADDRESS PREPARED FOR [lain. " To the Young Gentlemen who have been, and to those who now are, Pupils in the Protestant Dissenters' Grammar School at Mill Hill. " My dear Friends, — There is a page of knowledge, secondary indeed to the volume of the Holy Scriptures, but, like unto that, ' profitable also for teaching, for conviction when we have gone wrong, for the education which is in righteousness, that ' we may become ' complete, to every good work accomplished.' That page is in the possession of every man, aged or youth ful : it is the history of himself. It is inscribed upon an invisible tablet, but retentive and faithful. A sound understanding and a virtuous heart will conscientiously preserve the characters in their vivid strength ; and they will remain for ever, if even some obscuration should in a few cases be produced by natural causes. . . . O, then, my young friends, now while it is practicable and profitable, form and fix the habit of looking at the tablet of conscience. Forget not ' the Golden Verses ' which your Greek lessons have brought before you. Self-inspection will produce and maintain self-knowledge ; and without self-knowledge there can be no practical wisdom, for happiness in time or salvation in the world of immor tality. But this advice will not reach its effect, if it fail to be combined with that other guide to which I before alluded. ' Seek ye out of the Book of the Lord. Let it not depart out of thy mouth ; but meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.' Its spirit and instructions will pour light into your under standing: and if faithfully observed, will purify your conscience, will confirm every good resolution, will ' keep you from the paths of the' de stroyer,' and will lead you to that which is life eternal, — ' the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.' . . . " These sentiments point out to you the objects, both mediate and supreme, for which your parents and friends have placed you in this Seminary. Your personal concurrence is indispensable. You are bound by every tender and every awful obligation, to resolve and to act for making sure the obtaining of those designed objects. I beg you to cherish the feeling — the dictate of duty and honour — of gratitude and love. Let it be laid up as a jewel in the casket of your hearts, for frequent but always reverential observation. Thus it will prove a spring of living power, spreading its refreshing action over the whole of life. ' Honour thy father and thy mother ; the first commandment with promise.' In this manner you will keep up the con viction, most becoming and essential to your reasonable nature, that time and eternity exercise a reciprocal influence. Each of those conditions of our existence must minister to the other, by promoting the appropriate states of thought and conduct. Attainments, thus employed, in the fields of temporal knowledge, will elevate all your faculties, and aid them to the exercises of faith in the things which are unseen and eternal : while a realizing belief of the Law and the Gospel of God will adorn literature and science with a divine beauty. The highest attainments of learning without piety, will mislead and betray ; because they are destitute of the highest truth and the affections congenial to that truth. Ever then let this be the guiding principle of your studies and pursuits ; ' This is life eternal, that we may know Thee the Only True God, and Him whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ.' " After an account of the studies to promote which the Mill ST. 76.] MILL HILL GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 573 Hill School was founded, the Address admirably says :— " The religion of Bevelation loves, embraces, promotes all true knowledge : it frowns only upon falsehood and sin, that which, though it may usurp the name of philosophy, is ' vain and deceitful.' It calls you to prove, by your attainments and by your example, that there is no disruption between natural realities and moral truth. In many particulars, discrepance has indeed appeared ; but closer examination has always shown that it lay only in the appearance. We are assured that such will be the result of full and honest examination. Gird yourselves to the noble contest. Be ' valiant for the truth,' against all ignorance, evasion, scepticism, and superstition : and, with 'the armour of righteousness,' you must prevail." Then follow cautions against the use, or the encouraging in any way, of all kinds of pernicious and demoralizing publica tions ; and the aid that should be given to " disperse every where the light of truth and holiness " is pointed out : — " With such sentiments and designs, you will conceive the desirable ness of giving your influence to the means of improving social life. Such are libraries, literary and philosophical Institutions, lectures, the movements for closing daily business at reasonably early hours, and the Associations of Peace, Temperance, and Universal Benevolence." A brief reference was then made to the Great Exhibition of 1851 ; which, indeed, the revered Tutor was not permitted to see, but which he hailed and spoke of with feelings of great animation for one of his advanced age : — " To be prepared to appreciate this noble scheme of philan thropy, this glorious contrast to the common character of Princes of all ages, you must revise and apply all your know ledge. Thus, you will not merely by your liberal aids and your exulting presence, bear your part in this truly Boyal Exhibition, but you will derive personal benefits from it in all the walks of usefulness. To such a rational and far-seeing preparation your Education in the Mill Hill School is admirably subservient." Here, the notes pass at once into a more sub dued key, in which they continue to the close : — " But, there are awakening remembrances associated with this day and this place. It is forty-three years and a half since the opening of this Institution. Of the persons who were then active in its foundation and advancement, so far as my memory serves me, all have passed into the eternal state except three, the Rev. John Clayton, Mr. Samuel Houston, and 571 FINAL ADDRESS, ETC. [l8f,0. the writer of these words. The retrospect brings before us many familiar and heart-affecting images of those with whom we ' took sweet counsel together,' as well as spent many hours in anxious deliberation. Among those persons prominently stand forward Mr. Joseph Fox, the patron and friend of our first pupil, who is now Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, Mr. Favell, so long the zealous Treasurer, the learned Counsellor who became Sir John Gurney, Baron of the Exchequer, Mr. Page, Mr. Bunnell, Mr. Gutteridge, Dr. Buxton ; and of ministers, Mr. Hughes, Dr. Waugh, Dr. Winter, and Mr. John Townsend. . . . Nor can we forget those who, in succession, presided over the studies and discipline and evangelical ministrations of the Seminary ; Mr. Atkinson, Mr. Philips, Dr. Humphrys, Mr. William Clayton. We loved them living, and we revere their memory now that they sleep in death. We desire to apply, more and more intensely , the divine command j ' Remember those who have been your guides, who spoke to you the word of God ; whose faith imitate, steadily contemplating the issue of their mortal life,' and that this was the foundation and the corner-stone of their ministrations, ' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and to-day and for ever.' " Tender memory yet lingers. It cannot .quit the vivid image of pupils who have done honour to their educational advantages, have given evidence of conversion and faith and love to the Redeemer, and have finished their holy course. Two, especially, would I point out to your revering imitation ; one who entered on the same day with Talfourd, — Richard Winter Hamilton ; and the other, a young man whose contemporaries may be yet in the School, Samuel Johnson Farrer ;" [the Student who was obliged to leave Homerton on account of ill-health ; see page 537 ante,'] " and whose warm-hearted devotedness, and untiring labour for the salvation of souls, followed with remarkable tokens of the best success, were in active exercise till almost his last breath. ' He died in the Lord, and his works follow him.' " Such were his parting words to the Pupils of a School which he had watched and served with almost the care and affection of a Parent. Except the direct mention of dates and of his companionship with the founders of the Institution, there is really nothing in the Address which could be said to show the great age of the writer; no stiffness of phrase; no tone of authority ; nor even any drying up of sympathies by mere length of years, so as to deprive his language of the life and warmth, and therefore of the adaptation, suited to the time and the audience. The careful observer of his long career, especially if he be a cordial one also, can scarcely fail to be reminded at times of the appropriateness to him of Wordsworth's exquisite lines in relation to young Hartley Coleridge : — " Nature will either end thee quite; Or, lengthening out thy season of delight, Preserve for thee, by individual right, A young lamb's heart among the full-grown flocks." ST. 70.] RESIGNS HIS TUTORSHIP AT HOMERTON. 575 While the Address perfectly accords with the principles which Dr. Smith had always strenuously maintained, respecting the duty and advantages of acquiring valuable knowledge of every kind, it is as explicit as all his teaching had been, on the necessity of regarding learning and science as quite subordinate to morality and Christian holiness. Nor did he wrap up his convictions upon the latter in phrases studiously denuded of the words of the Bible : passage after passage is quoted pre cisely in that way which shows what his views really were, and that in his most matured judgment there was no appeal what ever from the authority of the Scriptures, the language of which he regarded as the very best for conveying their great lessons to mankind. The Beader will also do well to observe the singularly close contiguity — so to speak — between Dr. Smith's sharply defined religious sentiments and his senti ments upon all other subjects. In this Address, in which there is nothing of the formality of a sermon, the essential truths of Christianity occur with such readiness and frequency, that their position in relation to the other topics affords a safe criterion of the place which they held in the Writer's own mind and history. — Amidst all his efforts in the pursuit or recommenda tion of knowledge, the supreme place in his affections, was never for an instant yielded to any competitor with the claims of " Christ the Crucified, the very heart and essence of the Apostolic Church :" and unless his example in this respect is taken as a whole, the picture that is formed of him is a fancy sketch, and not a likeness — a delusion, it may be, and not a model. We now arrive at the period to which the College Diary refers, under date, May 12th, and which is rendered impressive by the words— "My last lecture." Then for the 20th—" The Examination in Classics, Hebrew, and Mathematics ; — by Dr. William Smith, the Bev. Bobert Bedpath,— I was not in health and strength fit to attend." Then the 25th—" Examina tion in Theology, by the Bev. John Kennedy." — The Anni versary was held on Thursday, June 27th ; and as it had been announced that the Theological Tutor was to take his leave of the Institution, the attendance was larger than usual. An Address was delivered by Dr. Pye Smith, which was full of touching interest, arising out of his review of the history of the 576 FAREWELL ADDRESS AT HOMERTON. [[850. College, and of the circumstances and feelings under which he retired. The whole may be found in the Homerton College Beport for 1850 ; a part of which having been quoted at the commencement of his career as a Tutor, the concluding part deserves insertion here at its close : — " Now I ask permission to address a farewell word to those from whom I am now to be for ever separated as relates to the transient capacity of pupil and teacher; yet hoping for another union, heavenly and indis soluble. " My young Friends, — At the commencement of our Divinity Course, I addressed to you Observations and Advices upon your profession, character, and duties; relating especially to your spiritual state and condition, — the cherishing of love to God and holiness, the cultivation of self-knowledge, — habitual seriousness of spirit and demeanour, — entire submission to the authority of God, — integrity and impartiality in your inquiries, — regu lating every thing by its subserviency to the sanctification of your heart and life, — keeping the eye of your mind always directed to the supreme end of our being, — the employment of time, — and the duty of prayer. I now make it my earnest request, that you would make those Counsels the basis of all your studies. " On two subjects only I leave my parting advice. 1. Raise your minds to the thorough consideration of the new situation in which you are hence forward to live and move. You are aware that, in framing the con stitution of the New College, it has been determined that the students shall reside in private families, and no longer within the College. This resolution has not been adopted without reflection, conference, and prayer, patiently and fervently exercised. You then have the first honourable dis tinction of proving to your liberal friends, that you are worthy to be entrusted with the large measure that will be appointed to you of self- direction ; — that foresight and discretion, Christian watchfulness and uni versal integrity, a just anticipation of the economical virtues and the delicate morality which are essential to your future character. " With you it lies to prove, that the most tender conscience, lively faith in the Saviour, and humble devotion, can dwell harmoniously in one breast with the deepest and sublimest knowledge of natural truth; — that all truth, regard being had to collateral circumstances, is valuable ;— that no truth can be at variance with any other truth ; — that there is a philosophy which is not visionary and deceitful; — that a just searching into 'the wonderful works of Him who is excellent in knowledge,' is really a part of our duty to Him, and cannot be neglected by those who have the means of attaining it, without great sin; — and that the greatest danger lies in surrendering the demonstrations of science into the hands of men whose hearts are alienated from the ' wisdom and power of God.' " Your residing apart is intended to elevate you to a consciousness of individual responsibility, to the careful husbanding of time, to the resolute employment of that time in large continuity, instead of suffering it to be frittered away ; — in a word, it will prove you to be equal to your situation, and then you will be 'blessed indeed;' or that you are below it, or not worthy of it, and then you will sink into ruin. ST. 76.] HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. 577 2. "The other charge which I would give you, with the utmost tenderness and strength in my power, is above all things to maintain the feeling and the practice of prayer. Public and family worship speak for themselves : but that which I recommend is the devotion of your hearts, not even the constancy of personal retirement each morning and evening, as if that were all, but that you bind together those seclusions with the habit of ejaculatory prayer. This you can do in secret and in company, in study, in conversation, in receiving instruction, in surveying the works of God, in reflecting upon his government and providence from the astral spaces to the smallest atom. This habit will keep faith alive and active ; it will realize the Redeemer's promise of dwelling with you and manifesting himself to you. This will seal up the sum, holiness, usefulness, and happiness.'' Here it will be proper to add some remarks to those which have already occurred in the memoir, designed to exhibit his characteristics as a Tutor. For several years prior to his resignation, arrangements had been in operation at the College by which he was spared the necessity of giving those courses of lectures on different branches of natural Science which, as we have seen, were included in his Inaugural Address in 1801, and were for the greater part of his public hfe kept up with a sort of resolute vigour, notwithstanding the serious demands thereby made upon his time and strength. The appointment of a Tutor in 1841, to deliver lectures in Pure and Mixed Mathematics, left Dr. Smith at liberty to carry on his Theological course free from the other class of claims. Accordingly, in enumerating the several subjects which had engaged his attention during the first half of the year 1847, the list is, as we have seen, (pp. 509, 510) confined to the follow ing,— Divinity — Ethics — Bible Antiquities — Biblical Criticism —Ecclesiastical History— Pastoralia— and Exegetical lectures ; —much too extended even then, judging from recent efforts to distribute such a variety of work among two, three, or even more Professors ; but still very moderate and congruous, as compared with the scale he laid down for himself from the first.— During the later years, the time apportioned to these subjects was two hours a day from Monday to Friday inclusive, and one hour on Saturday ; and this was the general rule— Monday, Bible Antiquities, and Biblical Criticism -.—Tuesday, Ecclesiastical History, and Christian Ethics -.—Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Theological lectures on the basis of the Syllabus;— Friday, however, being once in two or three weeks, occupied with the ' Hall Sermon ' instead of the Lecture ; and 2 p 578 HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. [l880, occasionally a part of Friday was given to the class of subjects under the head of Pastoraha. The one hour on Saturday was rarely if ever used for any other purpose than an Exegetical lecture on the Greek Testament. With a single exception, his written preparation for these several courses, consisted of outhnes and notes in a number of manuscript volumes, in which he was progressively treasuring up the results of .his reading and thought as time went on. And as it highly behoved him to keep himself well informed, and then to inform his Students, of all the valuable, or popular though not valuable, contributions to the literature issuing from the printing presses of Europe and America on the several subjects of his lectures, it was found that from year to year as he added to his library, he enriched his Note-books with suggestions respecting Authors and their Works, which admirably served to increase the knowledge and to direct the judgment of the young men under his care. If, indeed, his plan was wanting in those advantages which often arise out of a well-read, elaborately prepared discourse or essay; — if there was less of compression in his style, less of impressiveness and force in his manner ; — if there were opportunities, one might say inducements to digress, which were not always declined : — few careful observers will for a moment question the admirable congruity of his method with his order of mind and his form of character : for as he never could have used impassioned oratory, the greatest Bcope was afforded for calmly developing his varied attainments, intellectual and moral, in his daily intercourse with the Students. Nor must it be forgotten that he was a sort of living lesson, from which much might be learned better than the lore of books. — Even as a general question it may deserve inquiry : — Whether his plan did not secure a more constant and vigorous apphcation of all his powers for the fifty years of his official life, so as better to keep up the vitality of his own mind, and in that way the interest of his successive classes, than if he had at an early period pro duced a full set of completed lectures, requiring scarcely any thing more afterwards beyond the reading of them to the several Students as they passed through the College. The single exception in his method of preparation for his regular duties, was in the case of the class of subjects included ST. 76.] HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. 579 under the head of Pastoralia. Here, instead of compiling out lines of his own, he was in the habit of using as his Text book Dr. Doddridge's Lectures on Preaching, and the Several ^Branches of the Ministerial Office. As that work, moreover, contained an estimate of the most valuable Writers on Biblical and Theological 'subjects, according to the opinion formed of them by the Tutor of Daventry Academy, it supplied in this department, as well as in the more prominent ones mentioned in the Title, a basis for other remarks upon Authors in this portion of the Homerton Tutor's course. The margin of Dr. Smith's copy,* is to a large extent occupied by annotations and additions of his own ; besides which, , the volume has several pages of manuscript, on branches of the subject not entered upon, or not with sufficient fulness by Doddridge. A note in pencil at the beginning of the Lectures says :— " After many times going over this part of my duty, with different modifica tions, we entered upon it for each successive Friday, January 30, 1847 :" — probably the last time of doing this at Homerton. Dr. Doddridge's plan was an extensive and important one, for the guidance of young men in respect of a position and duties in hfe altogether new, and yet of incomparable responsibility. It included some General Bemarks on the Christian ministry — the use and Character of Theological Works — the Composi tion, strain, style, matter, and Delivery of Sermons — Direc tions for Prayer — On the Exposition of the Scriptures, with the characters of Commentators — On Catechising — On the administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper — General Visiting— Visiting the Sick — and Maxims for Conversation and Conduct in the different relations of public life. Now as Dr. Smith went over this wide field with the eye of an observer Who had secured, first, the advantages of his predecessor's labours, and then of very large subsequent contributions on nearly all the topics above enumerated, his annotations by the way, whether to correct, to confirm, or to add to the Lectures, left perhaps scarcely anything undone which was necessary to carry the design entered upon at Daventry in the last century, up to the point of knowledge and advisable conduct suited to our own day. — But as the age in which he lived had been * The copy used by Dr. Smith is the one in vol. v. of the edition of Dod dridge's works published at Leeds in 1804 : edited by Dr. Edward Wilhams. In size it is Royal octavo.' — Ed. 2e2 580 HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. [i860. departing more and more from the scholastic forms which prevailed in the time of Doddridge, he — without ever being indifferent to their claims — did not lay that stress upon them which was common at the earher period. In this respect, how ever, each of these Tutors would probably have done whatthe other did, had the order of their appearance in the world been reversed. — The means may not now exist for instituting a comparison between the two Lecturers, in what concerns the supplementary or unwritten portions addressed to their re spective classes. But though we may be sure from the well- known character of the man, that Dr. Doddridge was ever most diligent and liberal in placing the benefits of his large experience and observation at the service of his Students, it may, nevertheless, be of use to preserve some memorial, while it can be done, of Dr. Smith's efforts as a counsellor and friend ; — the last four or five lectures of the course being understood to furnish the ground plan of his remarks. Here a variety of suggestions and advices would be offered, respecting the importance and the means of taking care of the health — the attention that should be paid to personal habits and conduct, under which he was accustomed to specify a great, many "little things" — so-called, and therefore too often slighted — by the practice of which or the contrary, the estimate of the character of a Christian Pastor, and therefore the whole sum of his influence and usefulness, might be im paired or increased. On the same principle, he recommended' great care in all money transactions, that debt might be avoided and the Pastor be well-informed respecting his cir cumstances : — " Keep your own pecuniary accounts in the most exact order. I advise a Journal and a Ledger, — and a classifi cation of accounts." There were two other Bules, social in their bearing, on which he laid great stress, and under which he had accumulated and was in the habit of producing a great variety of particulars, of neglect or right conduct : — " Avoid, as much as possible, giving trouble at the houses of friends :"— "Do everything possible, for yourself." — The Students could not help at times being much amused at the pains which their Tutor must have taken, in collecting and treasuring up very many of his materials, and at the pleasant way in which they were brought out for use :— they served, however, to illustrate not only his vigilance and his nice sense of propriety, but the ST. 76.] HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. 581 real, the fraternal solicitude which he cherished for the fullest efficiency, comfort, and happiness of " his young brethren." Nor is it easy to estimate the sum of good secured by the whole number of his Students, from one part or another of his advices and cautions. Time, money, influence, reputation, efficiency, with their train of results going on into the future, took a shape or a scope higher and better for what he said upon these common things than if he had been silent. In this way, as well as in those weightier matters on which the grand stress was ever laid, he strove to furnish the man of God more thoroughly for every good word and work. Two particulars must be added respecting himself -.—first; that he was ever understood to live in strict conformity — both as to letter and spirit — with his rules for others. The extent to which this is true of him, was often matter of surprise and admiration while he was with us ; and in some respects, which could not be clearly known before, the fact has come out with all the appropriate evidence since his death. Another thing to be noticed is, that in touching upon some of the defects and faults, into which young' men are apt through mere inadvertence to be at times betrayed, his manner was as free as possible from every ingredient or quality which could give pain to the hearer. Pf there was severity for a moment, it was against the thing, and not against the person : — or if there was a smile, it was not that of triumph at the cost of inflicting a pang upon another : — it was merely a sort of lambent light by which the error complained of might be the more clearly seen for an instant, and then pass away for ever. And as he was rarely, if at any time, observed to indulge in a sarcastic or scornful method of indicating opinion or feeling, the purity and benevo lence of his motives came into full view, both to his own ad vantage, and to that of the purpose which he sought to effect. His Pastoralia, therefore, were lectures, or rather conversa tions, which in many respects served to endear his memory to those who enjoyed his care as at once a Tutor and a Friend. Some irregularities in attendance, and in the course pursued when he was present, were unavoidable, especially during Dr. Smith's later years. An attack of illness more or less severe, an imperative claim in some other direction, or the absence of several of liis class, would set aside or shorten the lecture of 582 HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. [1850. the day. But in these cases, it was curious to witness his expressions of regret, and the efforts he would make to repair the loss — almost as though some pecuniary claim had been shghted, which it was important to set right at the earhest opportunity. It may readily be imagined that his Students were not always equally disconcerted with himself at these in terruptions; nor so eager to edge in the lecture omitted one day by extending the time of their attendance in class another : but whether he succeeded or not, there was in his conduct a fine example of fidelity to a trust, and of zeal for his Pupils' benefit, which could not escape observation. The digressions, which have already been alluded to, there is reason to sup pose occurred oftener towards the end of his course than they had done earher ; arising, in part, from his greatly, in creased investigation and knowledge, especially in natural Science ; and in part also, it might be due to the fact that with an unabated sense of the value of his more strictly professional course as Theological Tutor, it was not easy for him, in pro portion as the same ground grew more and more familiar year after year, to maintain an interest in it sufficiently vivid to counteract as often as was desirable the attractions of some less worn subject. Nor was he always free from the mistake of supposing, that these ex tempore lectures, or rather con versations, had the same charm, or the same utility for his Pupils as they had for himself. They were, however, generally full of valuable information ; although not on the particular topic which routine required. And latterly, the most con siderate of the Students saw that they belonged to a sort of necessity, which might excite transient regret ; but which they resolved not to attempt to interrupt, out of deep respect for one who had grown into some of the inevitable infirmities of age, from the very length and abundance of his labours hi behalf of the College and of the Church of Christ at large. Beverting for a moment to his long course of duty, it is right to mention that if the care and fulness of his preparation . for his lectures, or his energy and perseverance in the class room, had depended at all on the number of his Students, Dr. Smith would have had an excuse almost always at hand for any lack of service in which he might have been inclined to indulge. How instructive was it to observe the regularity of ST. 76.] HIS CHARACTERISTICS AS A TUTOR. 583 his attendance, the tenacity with which he would remain at his post up to, and often beyond the allotted hour ; and especially the Note-books and the printed volumes which he brought from his own Library :— and all for the benefit of a class rarely exceeding twelve or fourteen persons, and generally not so many. Nor were his efforts of a fitful kind, at one time great, and at another weak and feeble, as though his feelings or his interest fluctuated a great deal in respect of what he had to do. The well-sustained uniformity of his course as a Tutor, was obvious to all who had an opportunity to watch his conduct : and the tendency of this to keep others regular and more diligent than they otherwise might have been, will not be doubted; while at the same time this was the right way to have his office and character held in honour. His piety was ever apparent in the lecture-room, as well as elsewhere ; and it was apparent in consequence of the elevation of his Christian stature and attainments, and not from any specific means used to bring it into prominence. His tone and manner, as well as his words, showed what a reverent, what a devout spirit his was ; — he came to the subjects of his lectures as one who had a deep sense of their hallowed nature and tendency ; and by a rare felicity of anticipation, his conduct towards his Students evinced that he already " esteemed them very highly in love for their works' sake." The effect of all this was, that his presence had an unusually prevailing in fluence, in the way of suggesting his nearness to the presence of the Highest of all Beings : — the most familiar epithet, which his Students in their free converse with one another were accustomed to apply to him, expressed also their sense of this fact; — he was ever — "The Blessed Doctor." — Those old and really immutable Christian verities, the reception of which made him quite a new man before he was twenty years of age, constantly went with him into the class-room, and were dwelt upon there with a decision which betokened the growth of his own living confidence in them as time went on. If any evidence on these points be wanting, in addition to that which arises from the numerous works which he gave to the world before he was called to leave it, that evidence can be collected, almost to an unlimited extent, from the Syllabus of his Divinity Lectures, which under the title of First Lines of Christian 584 HIS BENEFICENCE. [l8»0. Theology, is to appear as a posthumous publication :— and which, therefore, is a revealing of the course pursued by the Tutor in the bosom of his class, apart from any preparation or adjustment to meet the public eye. — And until it can be shown that there were in kind or measure any superfluities in his Cliristian character, it may well merit profound, inquiry— x-with a view to high practical purposes — whether there: were any superfluities in his Christian creed : for this is the sum and glory of his official position; — that while he taught without ambiguity or reserve the doctrine which is according to god liness, his life was in singular harmony with the letter and the spirit of his instructions. In withdrawing from the world, Dr. Smith felt it to be his duty formally to dissolve his connection with many of the Societies of which he had been a member. To save timeiand suspense in making the fact known, he had a circular printed which he filled up and addressed as each case required. This was dated Homerton, August 29, 1850 : — the following passages are of use here, as illustrative of the beneficence of his char acter ; — " Sir, It is with regret that I give you the trouble of receiving this communication, informing you of my being obliged to discontinue my Membership in " For many years past, the income of my professional life has amply sufficed for personal and domestic expenditure, and I have been thus enabled to devote the proceeds of private property (from one-eighth to one-fourth of the whole) to pur poses of Christian Beneficence and General Usefulness. But now I am called to form all my arrangements anew." Then, after alluding to the ' generous ' conduct of his friends, " both in their corporate capacity as The Homerton College Society, and by the unexpected measure of a spontaneous Testimonial," he goes on to say : — " But the most favourable view that I can take of my prospective circumstances, presents the obligation of careful circumspection in all the details of expenditure." . . . " There is, therefore, no choice left me but that, with a reduction of other expenses, I must relinquish my connexion with many of the Societies with which I have had the privilege of being associated. My friends will regard me as, in this respect, civilly dead. Yet it is my purpose to act upon the principle enjoined in 1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; and at the termination of ®T. 76.] HIS BENEFICENCE. 585 each practicable period, ascertain what I may be able to set apart for the great objects of philanthropy. Beceive my thanks for the kindness and courtesy with which I have been always favoured by yourself and the Society which you so worthily represent,; and beheve me " &c. &c. . Some passages from his earher correspondence will now be given, expressive of his principles and practice in regard to this branch of Christian duty. Having in a former year occasion to explain to one of his sons his motives for not doing more for a particular object just then brought under his notice : — he says ; — " The fact is that my annual subscriptions and constant compliance with applications for contributions, many upon a large scale, for objects of the greatest importance in England, Scotland, and Ireland, Germany, France, and Switzerland, and in remoter parts, — amount to a sum so very serious in comparison with my resources, as often to produce great anxiety and apprehension." The following was sent to one of his Deacons : — ."My dear Sir, — In looking over the hook which contains such abundant evidence of your affectionate assiduity, and the liberality of yourself and my other friends, I find the Rev. 's name three times, amounting to £6 2s. — Now this cannot be allowed. To ministering brethren it has always been our happiness to supply the accommodation without any sub scription. Mr. Berry" [the Rev. Joseph Berry, father of Mr. Henry Lea Berry ] " insists upon being an exception, in the generosity of his. heart : but Mr. is not in similar circumstances, and he has a large young family, as I think. You will therefore permit me to return the inclosed six pounds and 2s. entreating of you the favour that you would restore it to our liberal and beloved brother, with my warm expression of gratitude for his kindness, but with the unalterable assurance that it cannot be retained. I am sure that you and my other brethren will think and feel with me in this matter. If Mr. and Mrs. ¦ find edification in partaking of divine ordinances with us, it is a peculiar pleasure, and a matter of thankfulness to the God of all grace : but they are fully entitled to the best accommodation in your power to provide. " I remain, my dear friend, " Your obliged and affectionate friend," &c. Writing to his son in 1844, he says, " I feel it my duty to consecrate to the many grand and holy demands of religion and humanity, all that I can ; perhaps more than man's pru dence will justify." How constantly he practised his own rules in regard to matters of finance, is obvious from the care which he took for 586 HIS BENEFICENCE. [i860. fifty years hi keeping an account of his receipts and disburse ments. He was thus in point of knowledge — of no small im portance in such things — master of his circumstances. As his example may not be without weight, his gentle spirit will not be disturbed by a brief description of the latest, and probably in his view the most approved method for such a record. A book, of a demy-quarto size and properly ruled, had a page set apart for each of the following branches of the yearly expendi ture ; under the respective headings of : — " I. Housekeeping." — " II. Furniture and things allied thereto."— " III. i. J. P. S.'s personal expenses." — "III. ii. J. P. S. miscellaneous." — "III. iii. Books." — "IV. Beneficence, i. Annual Contributions." "ii. Sporadic Donations." — "iii. Places of Worship." — If three pages, or any considerable part of three pages, were required under the general head of Beneficence, the whole amount must have been large in proportion to the income of the Donor. And so, in truth, it was. The sum varied in different years ; but taking the total of eighteen years, that is from 1833 to 1850 inclusive, he gave away from one-sixth (it is understated by himself at one-eighth) to one-fourth of his yearly income from all sources. Yet he knew the value of money, and could have found what might have been deemed a proper and to him a profitable outlay for nearly all he had, in the purchase of books, of philosophical instruments, and of costly articles designed to increase his knowledge of natural science ; and in this way to fit him for more abundant usefulness. He did, indeed, buy books freely, not however to one-third of the amount of his benefactions, and never for the sake of embellishing a library ; ' nor were they of that class, in which the gratification of the taste is the chief object of interest to the collector. One of the latest proofs of his benevolence was exceedingly appropriate and characteristic. In the printed Beport of New College for 1852, Dr. Smith's name occurs among those who had made Donations to the Library and Museum of that Institution. He gave — "A large and valuable Collection of Books ; chiefly Theological, Philological, and Classical." The Beport adds, " The Volumes have not yet been accurately counted ; but the number is believed to be from 2000 to 2500." He gave also—" The greater part of his private Collection of Minerals and Fossils. (This is in addition to a number of Specimens given by Dr. Smith at different times to form the fflT- r6>] SUPERNUMERARY SERVICES. 587 basis of a Museum for the use of the Students at Homerton College; which are now also deposited in the Museum of New College, London.)" Report, dc. p. 36.— Thus from the twentieth year of his age, when he prepared an appeal to his friends in behalf of the new and bold, but— as the result has clearly proved— nobly successful effort to introduce the Gospel into India ;— down to his seventy-sixth year, his path of beneficence was hke that of the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. What he might have been in this respect had piety been absent, or had it been only less decided and vigorous, it is impossible to say: — but thus much is certain, that the first example of the feeling and the practice in his history, is met with subsequent to his conversion ; and the principle itself always secured his approval and advocacy on grounds of imperative Christian obligation and duty. We are therefore justified in stating, that he did good and gave largely because he felt the constraining influence of the love of Christ ; and not simply to gratify a naturally benevolent dis position, although to this he was no stranger. — The grounds on which human action ought to rest should be seen to be of Divine origin; — "to do good and to communicate, forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Allied to Dr. Smith's Pecuniary Beneficence, are the services which he was called upon to render beyond the range of his official and regular duties. To his Ministerial Brethren he was ever a warm friend ; ready to aid them whether they lived in Town or Country, by meeting their wishes in a spirit and with a generosity which could not fail to awaken the liveliest emotions of admiration and gratitude towards their unobtrusive but most efficient Benefactor. He took a part at Ordination Services three, four, and occasionally five times in the course of a year. Some of these — only a few, however, in comparison with the whole which he attended — were connected with the settlement of one or another of his own Students. On these occasions, few could fail to observe the respect, the kindness, the confidence which the Tutor would show to the Pastor- elect: — the terms of commendation and affection which came warm from his heart, when speaking of or to him in public, or in the private circle : — and the point, copiousness, and cogency of his intercessions before God on his behalf. Beversing the 588 SUPERNUMERARY SERVICES. [l850. order of the Apostle's words, it might be said — that as a father with a son he was ready to serve with his ' young brother ' in the Gospel. But his public station, his well-known character, and especially the variety and style of his printed works, drew to wards him, as it were naturally, a host of applications still more remote from his proper sphere of duty than any yet mentioned. His freedom of inquiry led adventurous thinkers, on the one hand, to submit to him their difficulties and doubts : while, on the other, the clearness and definiteness of his reli gious belief, laid him open to appeals touching the soundness of certain new opinions that might have been broached. His large acquaintance with books on Theological, Critical, and Scientific subjects, opened the way to questions concerning the character of particular authors, or the course of reading which he would recommend the applicant to pursue. Persons who were about to translate some work into English, sought his direction in cases where they were perplexed by the idiom of the Foreign tongue. Others who were contemplating a work of their own, craved his advice at the outset, or desired him to examine the manuscript before it went to press. — It was thus that he was kept incessantly employed : — it was thus that the intervals of official duty were crowded with 'extraneous claims :' — it was thus that his Letter-Writing became at times painfully oppressive in one direction, and brief, and to himself unsatisfactory in another. — He had, notwithstanding, many motives for doing his utmost to meet these supernumerary appeals. There was his constant readiness to do good; his unfailing courteousness of disposition ; his self-denying per severance in labour ; added to which, if the inquiries addressed to him related — as they often did — to Scripture truths, or to circumstances connected with the Christian ministry, he felt as though he could not pass them by in silence, or with a mere apology for an answer. In this respect he still acted as one who was under law to Christ. The ' field ' from which these favours came to him, may truly be said to have been ' the world ; ' for it not only included the United Kingdom, and various Continental countries, but America, and even ' remoter parts.' Probably for one whose station was not more public than his, and who kept no private ffiT- r6-J SUPERNUMERARY SERVICES. 589 Secretary, the amount of what may be called his gratuitous correspondence was almost without precedent. Large, indeed, was the number of Letters of this class which he had to read, and next to write ; and as they were not Letters of mere form, or pf business routine, which could be answered according to a common model in the writer's memory, but each one was emphatically of its own sort, the time required and the thought also, especially for him whose penmanship was slow and his love of accuracy strong, must have added greatly to the total sum of benevolent service which in his long life he rendered to his generation. A few are curious, particularly as addressed to such a man. Thus one correspondent incloses for his use the " prelections of an Epic," of which he says, " It contains about 9000 verses — heroic — written in the strictest literal ortho doxy throughout ;" — and another person sent him in 1845, from ihe far-off State of Indiana, upwards of three closely-written large folio pages, beginning thus : — " Dear Sir, — By the favour able notice of your Scientific and Beligious labours, by the Bev. Edward Hitchcock in his Elementary Geology, pubhshed in New York, I am persuaded that your mind is prepared to comprehend the works of God in their most enlarged princi ples, as well as to appreciate the advantages of this knowledge to rehgion. For this reason, I have thought that a commu nication, showing the works of God in their revealed and true sense, which I perceive men of science have not been able to attain, will be acceptable to you at this time, in enabling you to enlarge the sphere of your usefulness and labours in the cause of truth and science among men." — At the top of the page of the first of these two Letters, Dr. Smith wrote in pencil "Answa"; but the second probably was never fully read, for the writer's cosmogony from beginning to end was superlatively mystical. As Dr. Smith rarely took a copy of his Letters, and as those which he wrote in reply to applications about hterary pro ductions, or for his opinion and advice on practical, critical, or speculative difficulties, had an object for those to whom they were addressed which might be considered peculiar and exclu sive, it is not in our power to furnish the Beader with more than one specimen of the style in which his knowledge and his benevolence prompted him to meet this class of claims upon his time. Should the commencement of the following Note 590. SUPERNUMERARY SERVICES. [l8S0. appear abrupt, it is right to say, that the applicant was not per sonally known to Dr. Smith, and his residence was so remote that he was not known to be a minister, and was therefore written to as a layman. It is dated Homerton, Dec. 16, 1842 : — " Dear Sir, — I am quite astonished that any person, possessed of moderate scholarship, should not know that D. O. M. is one of the most common Latin Sigla; — methods of denoting words by their initial letters. This form probably originated in the D. M. found at the head of almost every sepulchral tablet of the ancient Romans, denoting Dlis Manibus, i. e. To the gods presiding over the invisible world ; or, more probably, it was in tended to convey the idea that the departed spirit of the parent, husband, wife, &c. was, in a sense, deified, and it would therefore signify To the deified souls. " Thence, I conjecture, arose another form among the heathen, D. 0. M., which, assuming the dative case (the most usual, as expressing dedication ; but of course, any case would be understood which the construction re quired : — ) would be ' " Diis Omnibus Manibus ; To all the deified souls. " Deo Optimo Maximo ; To the best and greatest deity. * " Dese Optimse Maximae ; — which might he Juno, Venus, Diana, Proser pine, or some other imagined goddess ; but generally I suppose that Diana was meant. "When in the 4th and following, centuries Christianity had widely diffused itself throughout the Roman Empire, the Western or Latin Chris tians very naturally and properly retained the common and well-known form, D. O. M., ( Deus Optimus Maximus, in whatever case the construction might be, ) as a noble and beautiful description of the Only True God, the Being of all Perfections. It most usually comes in the dative, indicating that a church, hospital, school, or book, or anything else, was consecrated To the Best and Greatest of Beings. " In the paper herein returned, the first instance is in the dative case ; the remaining two are in the genitive. " I remain, dear Sir, yours truly," &c. The reader will now be able to appreciate those often pathetic complaints which he has again and again met with, respecting the variety and weight of Dr. Smith's correspon dence ; — and he will be able to reconcile these with the comparative fewness and brevity of his Letters to his personal friends. Can it be necessary to say, that in responding to these extraneous demands he had no recompense except that, — but how rich a one in his estimation ! — which arose from * " Probably intending the Numen Summum, Father qf gods and men, or simply God, of whom many heathen writers speak, though obscurely and in consistently. See Rom. i. 19." ST. 76.] CHARACTERISTICS IN COMPANY, ETC. 591 complying with his high sense of Christian obligation to the Utmost extent in his power; as though he must deny himself in some of the pleasures of social life, in order that he might go the round of a wider range of self-denying duty ? And with a delicacy which belonged to his scale of moral greatness, these services, which neither the church, nor the college, nor the world, could either claim or be cognizant of, were just those about wbich, as to their nature and objects, he was profoundly silent himself. To his pecuniary benefactions, and the gifts of time and thought here mentioned, must be added — as a further evidence of the unselfishness of his disposition — his easy and generous method of settling, or rather of allowing others to settle for -him, the money part of his varied offices and labours. As a Tutor or a Pastor, he was as grateful for that which he received as though his exertions were too highly remunerated ; yet he had no fastidious, much less any factitious indifference to the free-will offerings of his friends, the principle of which, indeed, commanded his warmest approval. — And the same in regard to his printed works : what Author of his celebrity, knowing the worth of money and having such a variety of important uses for it, ever gave his Publishers less trouble, or so little, in questions of copyright and the price of literary labour ? He, therefore, in all these cases was a worker for the sake of the service to be rendered, and not with a view to the pay. Hence, the spirit in which he discharged duty was such as no pay can command nor any policy counterfeit ; — it was that of Him " who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." As the next step in this attempt to unfold the circumstances of Dr. Pye Smith's life, will find him at Guildford, whither he retired from all public duties, and where, indeed, he began to sink from the first day of his arrival to the close of his earthly course ; — this may be the most suitable part of the Memoir, to receive some remarks concerning certain features of his character and conduct of which no specific notice has yet been submitted to the Beader. 592 HIS CHARACTERISTICS IN [i860. To begin with what he was in company and conversation : — His retiring and diffident manner rarely escaped observation ; for if any one part of a room, or any one person in a circle of friends, was less prominent than another, Dr. Smith, when left to have his own way, would choose that part, and place him self — often with the warmest greeting — by the side of that person ; and this was almost sure to be the case, whenever the less prominent figures happened to be of the number of his Pupils, or of the humbler class of Christian Ministers. He was scrupulously careful to avoid every act, word, or posture, which could indicate — even by absence of mind — any deficiency of respect for those with whom he was in company. Indeed, his great attention to the wants and comfort of others, his urbanity and politeness, the remarkable quickness with which he would anticipate their attempts to serve him and themselves also, not unfrequently perplexed those whom he thus honoured, and who were at times at a loss to know how they were to receive and how requite his courtesy and kindness. His manner in conversation must always be viewed in the light of the serious and growing difficulty of his deafness. Yet even his ' great infirmity,' was not unattended with valu able traits of character. He never sat, moody and apart, as one who was angry that he could not upon equal terms with the rest share the benefits and pleasures of social intercourse: — nor was he restless and eager to urge his claims as a speaker, upon those from whom he could derive little or nothing as a hearer : — nor was his countenance marked by the traces of a lofty, stoical, human calm, as though it did not become his dignity to give any signs of feeling before men. His patience, his submission looked like what we doubt not they were — really Divine graces, attempering, refining, and elevating the mortal part ; — without, as it were, obliterating it. His efforts to compensate for this drawback upon conversation, were per sisted in with an energy which often called forth surprise. At times, the inconvenience and pain to which he would submit, in order perhaps to receive some communication so small in value that its loss could never have been felt by him, were fol lowed by tokens of disappointment in which his sense of what was due to himself and what to the speaker, appeared in singular conflict with each other. Yet he did not cease from his endeavours to meet the wishes of his friends. His eye was ST. 76.] COMPANY AND CONVERSATION. 593 quick and inquisitive — his ear-trumpet was adjusted in the best way for service — he got some one to give him the purport and scope of the conversation, in writing if he could not otherwise obtain it — and rarely did he omit the precaution of asking for distinctness of enunciation, lest the speaker should exhaust him self instead by mere loudness of tone. When he began to speak in reply, especially before a number of persons, he generally made an apology for his deafness, and desired their kind indul gence should he say anything not appropriate to the occasion, or which might have been said already, or which might per chance wound the feelings of any one present. Such charac teristics as belonged to his written works and to his College lectures, were found also in his conversation. His information, his accuracy, his readiness in the use of names and dates, came out freely as the case might require. Nor less obvious were his meekness in receiving, his generosity in estimating, and his mildness in answering objections and difficulties. He was also open to conviction ; and when convinced, his manner and spirit suffered no change for the worse. The monologue style, for which the late Mr. Coleridge was celebrated, rarely if ever appeared in Dr. Smith. Deaf as he was, well furnished with topics as he was known to be, and though not unfrequently urged to take up continuous speaking in com pany—his mental habits, and his sense of what was proper, at least in his case, never allowed him to engross the conversa tion to himself. Indeed his mind was not of the theorizing cast: questions with him were pursued with a view to their being settled, and never simply or mainly as intellectual exer cises; so that long tissues of words, however beautiful, seem neither to have attracted his attention in company, nor to have drawn out his powers in return. — From the style of Dr. Smith's Letters and writings generally, the Beader is perhaps prepared to hear, that his conversation was very seldom enlivened by wit and pleasantry, and never was it made pungent by satire or sarcasm. This might be owing in a measure to his inability to catch what was being said by a facetious speaker, quickly enough to be prepared with a fitting rejoinder; besides which, his deafness would often induce hesitation and uncertainty, whether he had heard as correctly as an answer in kind re quired, for when he was sure of his ground, a happy quota tion from a Greek or Latin Classic, or the graphic relation of 2 Q 594 HIS CHARACTERISTICS. [l850. a fact met with in his reading or observation, where some egregious piece of fraud, or folly, or baffled ambition, or spiritual tyranny had been enacted, showed the extent and availableness of his resources as soon as he was fully aware of what was needed at the time. Nor was his manner on these occasions unsuited to the matter; his whole counte nance, but especially his eye, joined in the life and sparkle of the moment. Yet there can be no doubt, that these things were not in harmony with his prevailing turn of mind. He seemed to yield to them now and then, rather out of deference to his company than from choice and inclination : Ms element was different; perhaps we may say, without any reflection upon others, it was higher, calmer, holier; and the ground which he trode was surer and safer, for himself, for the claims of truth and righteousness, for God's glory, and for good-will to man. Whenever he took a part in conversation, there was no want of variety, nor even of vivacity : — nor was his style heavy or sermonizing; and considering his daily practice in the Class room or the Pulpit, and the deference with which he was listened to, few persons could fail to be gratified with the complete absence of the Lecturer in company, and the presence of the easy, unassuming Christian gentleman — shining not so much by the splendour of his talents, as by " the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." It is however true, that his inability to hear the sound of his own voice, occasionally gave a more formal and scholastic air to his expressions, and his articulation was more stiffened, than comported with an exact sense of the difference between what was proper for the Professor's Chair, and what for the private circle.— But where the ear is such an imperfect guide to the tongue, how rare the examples of the propriety and grace which marked his social intercourse. Among the many Letters which have appeared in this memoir, in not a few of which the Writer had occasion to apologize for his seeming inattention to his correspondents, and craved their indulgence on the score of the pressure of ' extraneous claims ;' — the silence respecting himself, his duties and works, deserves to be viewed as a peculiarity of Dr. Smith's character. With here and there an exception, and MT. 76.] SILENCE CONCERNING HIMSELF. 595 that of the briefest kind, it might have been imagined that he passed through life with scarcely an interruption to his health, with no obstacles or difficulties beyond those extraneous claims to which he refers : — and therefore as one whose labours and trials were not important enough to be dwelt upon in his Letters to his friends. If the book had not been announced in some public way, which belonged rather to The Trade than to himself, who could have known that he was engaged in pre paring the Scripture Testimony, or The Four Discourses, or the Scripture and Geology 1 And when successive editions were sold, and new ones had to be prepared, who learned, directly or indirectly from his Letters, his success as an Author, or how busy he was in meeting the demands of the press ? He knew well the nature of his employments ; nor could he really have forgotten the apology — gratifying generally to the personal feelings of Authors, and potent with most of their friends — which popular Writers assign for some inattention to private claims.. But, no : he could not speak of himself. If he was enabled to do the work, and God was pleased to give the blessing, the desire of his heart and the labour of his hands were answered ; and what had he to say excepting praise, which was to be offered with singular exclusiveness in that retirement, to which, as resorted to in prayer, he owed his success. It is almost superfluous to add, that this silence about himself and his literary labours, which is in an unusual degree visible in his correspondence, did also distinguish his conversation. Exceptions to the rule in either case will be found to belong to that later or rather latest period of his life, when the public verdict had given something hke authority to his productions, or when age is apt to look with unwonted surprise or gratification upon achievements which it can no longer equal. Notwithstanding the meekness and patience of Dr. Smith's general demeanour, there were times when he manifested a suddenness of expression, and perhaps of purpose and action, quite startling to those who were new to his manner in this respect ; and during the last four or five years of his life, these movements of his tongue or person became more frequent, and were marked by increased sharpness of outline ; tending to remind an observer of the keen rigid angularity, which objects 2 q 2 590 OCCASIONAL IMPULSES. [l8S0. put on when the clear cold air of winter sets in. Such a man, however, even when quite alone and from an early period, could not but carry on his pursuits at a more rapid rate than the generality ; this was noticed of him in his boyhood, and while he was at Eotherham. His stock of vital power, giving for so many years such successful aid to mental action, must have been very large. Coming therefore with this into society, and with the superadded impetus arising from the culture of this in private, his celerity of purpose would startle because it was not common ; and would be apt to occasion some embarrass ment, first to others, and then by the force of reaction to him self, because it was not possible to adjust surrounding persons and things at once, even if at all, to his position and rate of speed. Cases did undoubtedly occur in which he spoke, or wrote, or acted, under impressions which were hasty and partial, and therefore erroneous; and as his belief or convic tion at the time gave the law to his conduct, he was no less zealous in carrying out his defective data, than when the ground on which he stood was in every respect just and proper. — In these cases, however, he was ever among the readiest to apologize for the error into which he had fallen, and to make the best compensation in his power for its con sequences as far as they could be repaired.* But— speaking generally — it would be incorrect to ascribe these peculiarities to impulse, in the sense in which that word is used to designate the action of feeling apart from the exercise of judgment. The principles of duty, their range, limits, illustrations and motives, with their respective con sequences, had been examined by Dr. Smith very extensively and with a high regard to accuracy ; and the results had been laid up in mind and memory so as to be ready for use almost at any moment : — but as his deafness made it often difficult * The following anecdote, as. a sample pf many which could be collected, will illustrate this part of his character. On one occasion when he was dining in the College Hall, he upset the mustard ; but as he supposed the lad who waited at table was in fault, he reproved him for carelessness. The Students endeavoured to make the Tutor understand how the accident happened; but his deafness prevented them from succeeding at the moment. Soon after dinner the matter was explained, and he saw that if any one was to blame, it was himself. In the eiening of the same day, when the Students and servants were assembled at family worship, Dr. Smith took the opportunity to offer a public apology to the lad, whom a few hours before he had, by mistake, publicly censured. , ST. 76.] OCCASIONAL IMPULSES. 597 and at times impossible for him to enter into the conversation, or to take up the exigent circumstances, at the early stage or in the complete manner that other persons could and did, there was occasionally an appearance or even the reality of in- appropriateness in his expressions ; yet even here he did not speak at random, nor from the slightest inattention to the courtesies of society. Our rule of judging of what is called propriety, is framed agreeably to the prevailing state of things where all the senses are possessed — it being the Divine pur pose that it should be thus, for the guidance and as a test of right conduct among men in general ; — yet we are slow to make due allowance for those cases in which from the failure of one of the senses, the rule of action, and therefore of our estimate of action, involves an element peculiar to itself. There can be no doubt that Dr. Smith's natural tempera ment was sanguine. His well-known ardour in study, and especially his zeal and perseverance in mastering new branches of knowledge, evince this to^have been the case : — and this also showed itself — as, indeed, was almost inevitable — in the circle of his acquaintance and friends. Occasionally he would attach himself with great warmth of feeling, and with, obvious sin cerity, to some new claimant on his regard ; and if circumstances favoured he would bestow upon the person and office of the object of interest such a number of commendations, that com parative strangers were prepossessed with an idea of his merits, and even the person himself was perhaps in danger of being conveyed by so copious a stream of praise into a position where the navigation might be somewhat beyond his power. Whenever this was the case, from the evidence of the fact being as it were forced upon his attention, Dr. Smith was constrained at times to alter his course of conduct. Yet it is due to his memory to say, that he never carried the change a single step further than the point, which appeared to him to be demanded by new requirements, which had sprung up con trary ahke to his expectations and his earnest wishes and prayers. His real friendship, his purposes to serve those whom he had been accustomed to esteem, did not pass away with the time when he could no longer serve them as he had done. — Fair allowance therefore being made for the extent to which his deafness rendered him dependent upon others for informa tion, and upon himself for conjectures, his conduct and con- 598 SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER. [l850. versation— at times liable in form to the charge of an un expected inconsistency — will be found in substance to have agreed with duty and uprightness. — The moral lesson of his example is the higher in consequence of that privation under which he was placed by the All-Wise Benefactor; for while this was a constant source of difficulty to himself, it is admirable to think how manfully he strove to prevent it from ever being an occasion of complaint or inconvenience to others. In reviewing the life of Dr. Pye Smith as a whole, there are three features of character so clearly apparent in his history that they are entitled to be called leading ones : — these are, a love of enlightened liberty — a love of all valuable knowledge — and eminent Scriptural piety. Each of the three was owned and manifested by him on a comparatively large scale ; nor is it easy to say which of them took the lead, for they do not seem to have been cultivated, and therefore not to have been de veloped separately ; — at least, not after that period when the most important of the three was added to the other two. Hence, if eminence can be predicated of Dr. Smith, as compared with other good and great men, it would be in respect to the combination of these three qualities, on a scale for each and with a symmetry of the whole not easily matched. To begin with his love of enlightened liberty. This was seen in the whole of his public life, whether in relation to social, civil, or ecclesiastical questions ; nor less in his private pursuits. " On many occasions " — Mrs. Pye Smith remarks — " I have had opportunity to observe the warm fraternal greet ing with which the Doctor received his American friends. Always he anticipated their coming, and spoke of their visits with lively interest. His predilections were strong on their behalf : — but his complacency was not undiscriminating. There was one subject on which he felt an anxious suspense, an in quiring solicitude — and in his own inability from deafness to detect incidentally, would ask of me — what conversational evi dence was given of the bias of their minds on the question of Slavery. Satisfaction on this point, he deemed essential to the regulation of his judgment and feelings." This love of liberty was not on the one hand, an abstraction or a mere sentimental emotion ; nor on the other, was it a selfish impulse ; — as though JET. 76. j HIS LOVE OF LIBERTY. 599 it meant full scope for his own fancies and operations, while perhaps persons around him would have to curtail their freedom in order to meet the encroachments of his. In his estimation, hberty was a Divine gift for which he was accountable ; it was therefore his dignity, his honour, as well as his privilege and right : — and because it was all this to him, he earnestly desired that it might be all this to others also. " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye the same to them likewise," was his motto and rule ; and this he rather applied to quicken the outgoings of service towards others, than urged as the ground of any claims due to himself. He held but his single share of the common blessing ; — the responsibility of a larger portion was heavier than he could consent to bear; the usurpa tion was a wrong which he could not commit. All duty with him was to be free, because every thing deserving to be called duty, was an expression of obedience and love to the Holy and Blessed God. The freest action, therefore, could not be capri cious, nor isolated from surrounding claims : — hence in all the relations of social life, as a Son, a Husband, a Father, a Subject of the State, as well as in that of Tutor or Pastor, the conscience was seldom if ever allowed to act without the affections in the course which duty called him to pursue. — It has been seen that this feature of his character showed itself strongly in his earliest efforts to acquire knowledge. The books to which he had access were used with the utmost freedom, without any particular regard to rule or limit, and as though it became him to attempt to master a very large portion of the reading which fell in his way. In all his later years, the same characteristic was visible ; but, as might be expected from his piety and expe rience, it was not so discursive, so indiscriminate as at the begin ning. It was regulated by the motive which operated on his conduct generally, yet this regulation never diminished the vigour of the principle itself. — Nor is it paradoxical in this case to say, that his love of liberty strengthened his piety. Exact as he was in the observance of forms, he was in no respect fettered by them; and though his sentiments were very decided in regard to Christian doctrine and polity, he had the power and the will to obtain benefit from books and persons remote from the range of his own creed and party. It will also be readily perceived how the Christian graces which were thus brought into use, and the wider scope 600 SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER. [l850. afforded for sympathy and prayer, reacted in the most salu tary manner on his own character and attainments as a disciple of Christ. Like the former quality, his love of learning and of all valuable knowledge, came out early in life and continued undiminished to near its close. Not that he was ever a mis cellaneous, much less what would be called a universal reader. Classical, historical, biographical, and scientific works occupied a high place in his estimation, and had engaged a considerable portion of his time; — but the highest place and the largest portion, he gave to works relating to the Sacred Scriptures; and his reading generally, in the other departments above mentioned, seems to have derived its chief interest from the use to which he could apply it in illustrating the language or the principles of the Bible. While he allowed but little of his knowledge to remain inoperative, it is also obvious that most of it was made to find its way, directly or indirectly, into one great channel. His love of the learning of books was accompanied by a lively desire to obtain a knowledge of scientific facts. Yet he was perhaps better fitted to trace the moral relations of these facts, to their Divine Author and to human welfare, than to be a discoverer, an expert explorer himself. He could on the whole work better in the Study than in the Field ; and even in the Study, better with the pen than with any kind of philo sophical apparatus. It may be doubted whether under any length of training, he could have acquired such a mastery of his hand as to become a good manipulator in chemistry, in botany, or in the use of the microscope ; — things did not fall into their right places, as it were by a few magical touches. First there had to be a mental act, and then a formal purpose, and then the execution of the latter according to rule; whence it often happened that nature, tired of waiting, or shy of index - terity, had pursued her course in her own way, or could not be in duced to move at all : — leaving the Investigator not in the least angry,but blushing as though he had done something amiss. This want of success, however, in the manual part of experimenting, never lessened his interest in the facts and principles of science, as they were made known from time to time by men of skill and eminence in such pursuits. The data were treasured up ST. 76.] HIS LOVE OF KNOWLEDGE. 601 carefully in his Note-books and memory, and were used with as much cordiality as though he had discovered or verified them himself. At the presentation of the Testimonial in January, 1851, Professor William Smith of New College — a gentleman in every respect qualified to speak upon the point — thus referred to his aged Colleague : — " It was my privilege to be associated with Dr. Smith at Homerton some six or seven years ; and he has always treated me with such affection, that he will be en deared to my heart as long as I live. I will not trust myself to refer to our private intercourse ; but I cannot refrain from making a remark or two respecting his mental, moral, and religious endowments. Dr. Smith, it is true, is not possessed of those brighter attributes of genius, which have enabled men like Newton and Leibnitz to make great discoveries in science ; but there are few men in the present day who have embraced a greater sphere of knowledge, or mastered a greater number of subjects : and, with the exception of the mathematical sciences, — and in them he is far from ignorant, — there is no branch of human knowledge cultivated in the present day in which he has not made great progress, and in which he does not hold a very high position among men of science. Beginning with the languages and literature of Greece and Borne, which he mastered to an extent which would do credit to persons who had devoted their whole lives to the subject, he proceeded to study the modern languages, botany, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, prosecuting all the while the various branches of theological science. On a recent occasion I was myself com pletely astonished at the extent and accuracy of his classical knowledge, considering his age. Again ; Dr. Smith, unlike some who have earned for themselves a reputation, has never rested satisfied with his acquirements. Although feeble in health, he has attended with regularity, at a late hour in the evening, the meetings of the Boyal, Microscopical, and other Scientific Societies, in order that he might become acquainted, as soon as possible, with the latest discoveries in science. On his study-table every new book of value is to be seen, whether pubhshed in this country, on the Continent, or in America. Those who have been admitted to familiar intercourse with him know what fragrance his piety sheds over the whole of his character ; so that in conversation with him, you cannot fail to 602 SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER. [l850. be convinced that you are talking to an eminently holy and devout man." — Pye Smith Testimonial, pp. 33, 34. This love of all valuable knowledge, served to inform and guide the love of hberty from which it had in a measure sprung. The more widely he became conversant with the principles of duty, with their practical relations, with the way in which they had been modified in the past history of man kind, and with their progress and apphcation in our own day ; — so much the more was he qualified to advocate, or explain, or carry into effect those views which he cherished respecting freedom of thought and action. And even in some of those instances in which what he said or did was disapproved by one or another of his friends, the grounds of his conduct — as reasoned out by himself — could scarcely fail to secure their approbation. — His piety also, great as it was, could never be deemed enthusiastic, for it was held up and informed by such a large amount of intelligence ; — light accompanied and radiated from the heat. Great weight is due to a fact in his history which has been already touched upon, and the evidence of which is believed to be singularly ample : — namely, that his reading was confined — if that term may be applied to a range wide hke his — to Works which had a relation to the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God as they are unfolded hi the Dependent Universe, in Providence, and especially in Divine Bevelation. By thus excluding the deleterious, the useless, the merely amusing class of publications, and by keeping closely to the solid and the valuable, his time was employed in the best way ; and the influence, direct and collateral, on his devout exercises, and therefore on his conduct as a disciple of Christ, was of the best kind. In looking over the books which he had collected, including those presented by him to New College, no little interest was felt in observing the number of small Works of the simplest devotional and pietistic class which was found among them. These were in various lan guages, and that they had been read with great care, and it may be said with great affection also, is evident from his marginal and other annotations. It was not a little awakening to find such a man unwilhng, unaccustomed to trust the development of his Christian character to the force of principle only, but resorting, as he plainly did, to aids, appliances, and means, intended chiefly— -as we are apt to think — for the use ®T- 76-J HIS EMINENT PIETY. 603 of the early stages, or the cruder styles of a pious life. But, in truth, his was the right method : nor is it easy to overrate the service which the smaller streams were constantly render ing to the great main current in one part or another of its long course. The last of the three qualities by which Dr. Smith was dis tinguished, was Eminent Piety. Of this as a fact it would be superfluous to speak, for the belief of it prevails as ex tensively almost as he was known, and wider still on the testimony of his friends ; not to mention the evidence supplied by his printed works, and his Letters. It is only necessary to indicate the advantages which his piety conferred upon his other leading characteristics — a love of liberty, and of all valuable knowledge. Judging from his vigorous impulses, and from some early feats in the political arena, he might have grown into an im petuous partizan, had he gone on in life merely under the bias of the dispositions and tendencies of his youth. But consequent on his conversion, piety came in as a restraining and regulating power; so that those departments of human character and conduct over which the love of hberty is sup posed to preside, were thenceforward placed under a new in fluence, whose right to direct and control he never for one moment questioned. Yet his piety never withdrew its high sanction from the principle itself : a principle for the becoming apphcation of which he felt himself accountable to his Creator ; one, therefore, which he was bound to cultivate to the best of his ability, and which ought not to be allowed to remain in abeyance. In the strength of his piety, accordingly, the motive power as well as the regulative was found, for the course which he pursued in respect of some things, that on merely personal, relative, and social considerations he would cheerfully have left undone, unattempted. Whether right or wrong in the several instances, it is not for us to determine ; — but his rule, his principle was of the highest kind; it was that, namely, which is so finely expressed in Acts iv. 19, 20, and which is fitted to give an heroic form to a character. It has been seen how his piety was in many ways nourished by his ardent love of knowledge ; but that piety would repay- in its influence on his studies, the benefits which had been 604 SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER. [1850. derived from them. If it tended to keep his pursuits in the best line for his personal improvement, as well as for the benefit of others, it would also increase his diligence to the utmost practicable degree ; thus at once sanctifying and adding to his learning. And the habit of imploring the Divine aid in all his literary engagements — which he is known to have kept up with great fervour of spirit — could not fail to be much to his advantage as a student, as well as a Christian. Thus his piety may be compared to a stream of sufficient force, not only to urge its own way onward, but also to cut a deep and wide channel, in which many large tributaries are at length confluent. These, then, were the three leading features of Dr. Pye Smith's character. With these he had been endowed, and these he had been enabled to cultivate, by that Divine Benefactor to whom he ever gave the glory of all that he was as a Christian, a Pastor, a Tutor, an Author. Could any one of them have been wanting entirely, or could any one of them have fallen far short of the measure actually attained, without impairing, or perhaps destroying the symmetry of the intellectual and spiritual man as a whole ? Had his love of liberty been less intense, duty would not have been animated by the same amount of cheer fulness ; — with diminished ardour in the acquisition of know ledge, his piety would have fallen in intelligence, so as to have appeared fanatical; or in power, so as to have been on the common level : — and if that piety had not been what it was, the other elements of his character must have been left to unfold themselves without a source of authority and of right influence in himself, strong enough to secure for them the numerous benefits, personal and public, which were actually realized. It will not it is hoped be considered fanciful, as it is most certainly not intended for flattery, if in regard to the partic ulars now mentioned, Dr. Smith's characteristic qualities are viewed as those which will be likely to prevail in the last and best ages of human history in the present world. They gave a noble independence to his nature and bearing ; yet such an independence as is conjoined with an ever-watchful desire to ST. 76.] SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER. 605 promote the welfare of others. Not only was he exempt from the injustice of asserting rights while he neglected duties ; but even the equitable compromise — as it may be thought — between rights and duties, which is the watchword of our day, seemed less attractive for him than for many. If therefore on a sudden a state of society had come in when, speaking generally and of the common heart and impulse of renovated humanity, Bights would have been almost forgotten, and Duties have been exclu sively thought of and pursued, he had the qualities in kind and largely in measure also, which would have made him singularly at home and happy in such an aera : — and that, whether the duties were those on which there was a claim arising from any of the varied relations in which he was placed, or were those which could only be expected from Christian generosity and love. In this combination of high qualities, he may be said to have belonged to the coming and noblest stage of human progress ; a model in kind, though in dimensions somewhat reduced by the exigencies of the times in which he lived, of the piety, and intelligence, and safe and large freedom of the generations which are to follow. For what excellence does the brightest future promise to develop, which he was not prepared to hail with the heartiest welcome, and to aid and help forward on a scale of unusual magnitude and power ? He would not have required — as many perhaps would — a great deal of training to reach even the starting point of that new career ; but having acquired before the time the gait and pace, and very much of the spirit which may then be expected to prevail, he would have been able to step into it as one who could realize all its advan tages at once, as one therefore whom even then it would be a privilege and joy to follow. The expansion of liberty every where, the new facilities and new zest for the acquisition of all valuable knowledge, the wide and deep stream of piety : — the union and co-ordination of the three, would just present that exact state of things towards which he had been looking, and— considering the drawbacks of an unfavourable time —rapidly advancing for the last forty years or more of his life. Such was his character, as expanded, informed, and regulated by that Divine Grace which had made him what he was — a noble one surely, if ever there was a noble character ; and one which was in no danger of being warped, except by the oc- 606 HIS WORK COMPLETED. [i860. casional influence of natures less noble than his own: — fitted therefore, even in its highest impulses, for a perfect concert of thought, feeling, and action with noble natures everywhere : — " When everything that is sincerely good And perfectly divine, With truth, and peace, and love, shall ever shine." Before Dr. Pye Smith was called, first to leave the post of duty and then a few months later to die, we may, without presumption, consider his work to have been carried to a degree of completeness, not perhaps usually granted to such a variety of important services as those in which he had been engaged. After fifty years' connection with Homerton College, his ceasing to be Tutor fell in with the time when the College itself ceased as a separate Institution : — yet he was able, by preparing the address on the founding of New College, to welcome and encourage a set of arrangements designed to bestow higher advantages than ever upon the rising ministry whose welfare had always lain near his heart. Then, after having retained the office of Christian Pastor for forty-six years, over a Church which he had been the means of forming, he retired ; leaving his Successor firmly rooted in the affections of the people, and growing in usefulness among them. If we take the more important of his publications, in which he spoke to alarger circle and will continue still to speak, the demand for three or four editions of each of these during his hfe gave him that opportunity, which he was always ready to embrace, to carry the several works to a degree of completeness beyond which, had he lived years longer, scarcely more could have been expected. And besides the adaptation of each of these works to the Author's design considered as a whole, he was able to provide them with an apparatus, for the Beader' s profit and to the saving of his time, in the shape of carefully chosen Notes and especially of Indexes at the end, which left nothing to be desired in that way. To this it may be added, that while the most important of his publications were from time to time carried nearer to his standard of adaptation to their respective purposes, it does not appear from any of his papers that there was any work commenced by him, or even seriously contem plated, which he was unable to accomplish. MT. 76.] HIS WORK COMPLETED. 607 In the earnest, truthful, devout, and eminently Christian spirit in which his works are written, there were the evidences of a moral completeness which left no occasion to the Author to regret, that having done so much he had done it ill and therefore could wish it undone. Even in his method of withdrawing from the Institutions and Societies with which he had been connected, and in the testi monies of respect and affection which followed him on his retirement, we see all the signs of a completed term of public service: — completed in his own estimation, and to the satis faction of all who had the means of knowing how he had " FULFILLED HIS COURSE." From the date (1851) it would appear that Dr. Smith's pen was employed for the last time in the public service, in prepar ing a second edition of his Discourse on " The Seasons of the Protestant Beligion ;" which, as we have seen, was " Enlarged and adapted to the Popish Aggression of 1850, with some Bemarkable Disclosures of Bomanist Policy in the Age of the Beformation." CHAPTEB XXXI. >fRS. PYE SMITH'S ACCOUNT OF HIS REMOVAL TO GUILDFORD — LETTERS AND NOTES — LETTER TO REV. GEORGE CLAYTON — TO JAMES BURN, ESQ. — TO EDWARD BAINES, ESQ. — HIS VIGOROUS WILL AND FAILING ENERGIES — HIS LAST NOTE TO W. A. HANKEY, ESQ.— NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN — INCREASING DEBILITY — LAST VISIT TO HOMERTON AND LONDON — THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL: THE ADDRESS: THE REPLY — REMARKS ON HIS REPLY — PATRIOT PAPER ON THE TESTIMONIAL — RAPID DECAY OF STRENGTH — HIS LAST NOTES TO HIS . CHILDREN- MRS. NASH'S NARRATIVE OF HIS LAST DAYS — CONCLUDING REMARKS. " As the period was approaching when the old College, Plomerton, was to be vacated, many laborious efforts were made by the Venerable Tutor, to obtain a suitable residence, and different localities were explored — Aylesbury — Bexley — Watford — Harrow — Edgware — Highgate — Beigate.7 At length, wearied with research, the choice fell on Guildford — chiefly because of the capacity of the house to receive, and allow a commodious arrangement of his library, the ample residue of books, after his liberal gift to the New College, — The retreat to this secluded spot became an object of pleasing anticipation ; the comparative leisure and quietude which it promised in spired the hope that some period of sanctified domestic enjoy ment might be granted, to crown the evening of a life of un ceasing activity in the service of the best of Masters. The beloved Doctor spoke of the future, with animated hope of years devoted" to his favourite pursuits, Scientific and Literary. The objects of study and course of reading which he had sketched out for himself, would have required the gift of lon gevity to accomplish. " On the evening of arrival at the new residence, [October ffiT. 76.] HIS REMOVAL TO GUILDFORD. 609 2nd,] he complained of an indefinable sensation of illness, lassi tude, and weariness. Yet he employed himself actively about the house, till the hour of repose, and expressed his com placency at the completion of the design. — Next morning the feebleness was perceptible, yet he announced his intention to go to London on the following day, October 4th, to be present at the initiatory devotional engagements at New College, — and also persisted in the determination to go alone, though strongly entreated to take a companion. " Immediately after this journey he complained of an injury sustained by the foot ; and it was with exemplary patience, gratitude, and even approbation, that he endured for several weeks severe suffering from this cause. It is imagined that in his secret thoughts a persuasion of danger resulting from this inflammatory action had arisen : for on one occasion an expression to this effect was heard — 'It would indeed be melancholy, if this were to be the precursor of death.' No reply was attempted to this distressing surmise, nor was there — on his part — any repetition of the presage. Doubtless, the 'melancholy' was not apprehended for himself, but for the companion of his days, to whom his life was as a sun and shield. "The sudden alleviation and almost cure of the disease, brought not the expected relief. Intense dejection of the animal spirits became apparent, and a consciousness of the impotency of purely intellectual resources was pathetically deplored. He exclaimed, ' Alas ! the relish for books is gone ;' as though he had suddenly sustained the loss of some in valuable possession. Still the habit of reading was maintained ; the spiritual taste, the craving for heavenly and divine truth remained: Scott's Bible and Bunyan's Pilgrim supphed the mental food of the last declining weeks." Such is a detail of particulars furnished by Mrs* Pye Smith. Her communication will again be used for subsequent facts ; but the portion now given will serve the important purpose of an (introduction to what is immediately to follow :— namely, Notes, or parts of Notes written by Dr. Smith to his family or friends during the last three or four months of his life. Should some repetition of a sentiment or a phrase occur, the Eeader will not be displeased ; for the interest of the period at which 2b 610 LETTER TO THE REV. GEORGE CLAYTON. [i860, the venerated Writer had now arrived, and the fine traits of character and feeling which were expressed in a manner so appropriate to his condition and prospects, will fully sustain and repay the attention of every one to whom tis memory is precious. ' ¦ In a brief note to his Pubhshers, Messrs. Jackson and Wal ford, on matters of business, under date October 3rd, he says ;_» We made our removal hither yesterday, hi great comfort. The bringing of furniture and books, with packing and unpacking, &c, has occupied about ten dayS.'-' Yet such was his loss of strength that he mentions, " I can scardery walk fifty yards." In reply to a Letter from the Eev. George Clayton, con gratulating him on his "honourable and well-earned [ Eetire- meht" from Homerton College, and on entering his new residence ; — Dr. Smith wrote thus : — " The Elms, Woodbridge Road, Stoke, near Guildford ; Saturday, October 12, 1850. But, for the addressing of Letters, I wish my friends to write no other name of place than Guildford. " My dear Brother and Friend, — It was a peculiar pleasure to my beloved wife and myself, to receive your favour on Tuesday. But, ^ • in many human delights, that pleasure has been cheeked by the humiliating feeling of being frustrated by the necessary occupations of entering upon a new dwelling ; and still more, the consciousness of my infirmity, in yielding to weariness and weakness, by procrastinating the due ,acknowledgment of your prompt kindness. The forepart of each day has been, and for a little time must continue to he, engrossed by demands for attentions to workmen, and many little labours for my slow and feeble activity; and therij the afternoon and evening have found me almost prostrate with weariness And its consequent dejection of spirits. " The preparation and consummation of removal took up nearly a fort night, and we finished by bringing ourselves on- Wednesday the 2nd. On the 4th I went to town, for the same purpose as that which took you to Park Chapel. I saw you at a distance, but was obliged to withdraw early on account of the time of the only railway train that would enable me to get home by daylight. . . . During two months, we explored parts of Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and a little in Kept. Not one house of all that we saw was, according to my views of suitableness, such as we could accede to. It is most clear and satisfactory to my mind that, in a better sense than unhappy Jacob meant, ' the Lord our God brought to us' this habitation. When the first fatigues are over, I trust that we shall find sweet rest and retirement, exempted in a measure from the incessant calls and applications which made a burden of our lives at Homerton. Yet, O that we may not imagine a real rest to be attain,1- &T. 76.] LETTER TO JAMES BURN, ESQ. 611 able while we are in this tabernacle! O, that we may rise superior to every sinful affection ; — then will our joy be full. "AV^day, Oct, 15. Much did I desire, and indeed hope, to finish this poor Note yesterday, which I was unable to do on Saturday ; for after the exhausting fatigue of my book-lifting and placing, which I cannot continue beyond the forenoon, we were favoured with a friendly and very agreeable call fromithe Rector of our Parish. . . . " I have worked this day as hardly as I dare. One or two more such days will nearly reach my point. But I recognise the duty of strict care, lest this feeble frame be overworked." )T,he,next note was addressed to a member of the Church at the,,Grayel Pit Chapel — James Burn, Esq. — on the death of an only son. It is dated Nov. 15th : — " My dear Sir, — It has pleased the Most High to terminate a long pro tracted affliction by the solemn event of death, — the departure from earth and time and the entrance into the infinite futurity of being. Though this issue has been probably long expected, and even on many grounds of reason and religion, felt as desirable, it must 'have been a trial to the parental affections of yourself and Mrs. Burn. But I need not say that here the great considerations of gospel-truth are brought into their appropriate application. Your Christian knowledge and experience must have suggested that application; and will, I trust,- still further so suggest, in the variety of reflections which the flow of time will revive or create. In all the events of life, of which sorrow and bereavement make an inevitable part, you have the high "privilege of saying, ' It is the Lord who hath taken away. Blessed' be His name ! All are working together for good to those who love HIM.' Mrs. Smith unites in assuring you and Mrs. Burn of our sympathy and prayers. Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied to you and your beloved family ! May your remaining children be, in every augmented respect, the crown of joy to their parents. " I am, my dear Sir, affectionately yours," &c. The next was addressed to the Bev. A. C. Wright on the death of his infant child. It is dated Dec. 16th ; and the hand writing, compared with that of the former Note, shows how rapidly the power of using the pen was now passing away : — " My dear Brother, — Glad should I be if I could alleviate the sorrow of your and Mrs. Wright's bereavement. Thrice has to my .breast the shaft flown, with unspeakable distress. The Holy Spirit pour his richest balm into your souls ! — On October 2, we 'removed hitherto, seeking repose. My age (now 76£) and infirmity require it. But friends and strangers, English, Scots,; and American, painfully invade my rest. Hand-writing is to me tedious, and irksome. Pardon my present inability to undertake a reply to your former Letter. Our united sympa thising respects. Yours affectionately," &c. 2 R 2 612 HIS VIGOROUS WILL AND FAILING ENERGIES. [i860. The next was to Edward Baines, Esq., under date December 26th :— " My dear Friend and Cousin,— Humbling and mortifying is the consciousness that, at the last, I have to goad myself to the duty which should be a delight. Two or three days are com monly required by my wayward nature for meditating a note so little worth as this, and an hour or two for executing it. How sad! This shrinking from writing is, no doubt, partly the effect of having been for so many years compelled to write much The operation of hand-writing was always heavy and slow to me. But now the antipathy is most distress ing. If I could overcome it at the first onset, my difficulty would be broken, the execution' rendered more easy; and my mind somewhat relieved. Alas; I cannot ! The physical poiwer, from paralysis of the fingers; is hard to drive ; and, the moral, most recalcitrant. Yet your generous consideration gave me an indulgence. But, I cannot avail myself' of it> . . . . Can ydu forgive my infirmity ? Grace, 'mercy, arid peace to your whole circle. . . . Ever arid affectionately yours," &c. Dr. Smith had been accustomed to such a long life of almost incessant activity, in the course of which every power both of body and mind had been broken in and trained to obey his sense of the present duty, that he was evidently' slowsto realize the change1 which was coming over his whole ftiamier at fjhe period When he was writing these somewhat; " bitter things against himself." He did not distinguish as yetibetweeh dis obedience to orders, and a. physical incapacity for further service. But it tends admirably to show how high the standard of duty had been uniformly kept, when he is seen putting , forth!.' the, utmost efforts of his feebleness; to- hold it up stjll at an eleva tion which none but himself could have deemed attainable in his case, nor would' have thought of or desired. Hence, his determination not to give way before ! the time ; and instead of courting repose, he was reluctant to use it even when iplaced within Ms reach. Yet by far the larger part of 'the* product pf his exhausted energy was still appropriated to1 the benefit pf others, arid but little terminated upon himself; just as though he had been a piece of mechanism— animated, indeed, , and urged on by a moral force — but which might be worked ;up for benevolent purposes — and by his own voluntary agency — with- ST. 76.] HIS LAST NOTE TO W. A. HANKEY, ESQ. 613 out any regard to what was due to it. How rarely are such generous life, such freedom from selfishness, such love and- zeal on the behalf of others, found flourishing in the absence of nearly all nutriment from the animal passions; — the will in rigour, but its aids and instruments in decay and ruin ! ¦¦- Among his very latest efforts to do good, " hoping for nothing again," are two Notes which he wrote in reply to • an application , relating to the Parliamentary Grant — the Ee- ¦gium Donum of an earher day. The first is dated, with evi dent 'marks of care : — "Guildford, Surrey; Dec. 21, 1850. " Bev. and dear Sir, — In age (76$ now) and infirmity I re signed my 50 years' office at. Homerton, in June last; and on Oct. 2nd, removed hither for retirement and quiet, and their appropriate duties. — Harid-writing is slow and irksome to me. — From causes, which I do not know, there is a sad stoppage in the P. G. When I may have any portion to distribute, G°d enabling, I will at once write to you. I hope, to know some thing in a few: weeks, good or had. Then it is my indention. ,to resign this Trust, the only one remaining to me. Yours, dear Sir, faithfully^ &c. ¦ ¦<-.¦¦¦ The second Note was to the same party ; it was written three weeks nearer the closing scene, but there was the same care, to prevent 'mistake in the address in reply, and also to save the applicant the unnecessary cost of a stamped receipt : — ,'<'¦• " Guildford, fno longer Homerton,) Jan. 14, 1851. v"Dear Sir, — I can hardly write. — Send me a receipt, not on a stamp, and I hope to return £i. J. Pye Smith." To one of his oldest and kindest friends, William Alers Hankey, Esq., at whose Banking House Dr. Smith kept an account, he addressed the following characteristic Note : — "Guildford, Wed. Jan. 15, 1851. , ' '"My invaluable Friend, — Accept my. best thanks , for your favour received this morning, announcing a credit of . Thus, it will be joined to all my other items of income ; which I ask the continued kindness of your always retaining and per mitting me to draw upon, as I shall have need. Alas ! I must give this 'trouble.; but I will write as few cheques as possible. . : "The Holy and Gracious One be your recompense ! Ever and gratefully yours," &c, &c 614 NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN. [i860- The passages which will now be introduced, are from Notes addressed to one or other of his children: The first was to his daughter, and" is dated November 13th: — " My beloved M. R. N.— Gladdening always: is a Letter from lyotii But how can I vanquish tny sad antipathy to writing ? I fear I never can* It is in a great measure kept up by good men's writing to me at Homerton, for their own various interests. — Through the remarkable mercy -of 'our Gody I am in as perfect health as I can ever reasonably expect to be.- On this* subject, I have been very much reserved, from my fearing that dear Ebenezer, in his exuberant tenderness of filial duty, would suddenly come down hither. . . . The cold which, had hung upon me from our,, coming here is also happily overcome. — But, it would be sinfully absurd in me to expect firm strength and health. Nervous and muscular debility must, in the order of God's natural providence, gradually increase. I feel Some vigour in the morning, after1 the night's 'Usually sound repose; but it eyapofates towards the evening. "I am much obliged by your various communications: — e.g. Mr. Burn, Mr. Wells. 0 that all sustaining grace may be afforded ! I want to get to a little reading. But, — more Writing awaits me, and fresh 'Letters are come." ¦ ,,' ¦,,' ! , i i The next was to Mr. Ebenezer ; Novenib^r l-ith :— ' ' - ¦•,,,,, 1 , , , vv " My dear Son, — I greatly thank and honour you for your, active zeal and energy. — I know and highly esteem Mr. Milsom. — The ' Script, and Geol.' first edition I presented to Mr. Grandpierre, tf^e .Pastor and Professor in the Mission House at Paris, upon his assuring me that he wbuIST obtain an impartial notice of it in one of the French publications. That was, I believe, never done. ' ' *' ¦ '',,r' ;" '"'' f ''•' —:<')U^i.. :. /K1 ' " Messrs. J. and W. have copies of the fourth edition and of my otHer writings, on sale at the Librairie PrbtestanteJ Rue Tronchet. — The ieop$& right now belongs to J. and W. For me to encourage a translation or republication abroad, without their consent, though at present legal, would be highly unkind and unjust. — To print an^ single portions would be incongruous to the connected nature of the argument. That runs through the whole of Lect. I. — VII. The last Lect. (VIII.) might,' indeed, be an independent Tract, as a homily, a practical exhortation : but to' make it such in G. B. without the approbation of J, and W. would be a VIOLATION OF'DTJTY. ¦' '*'-• •V " fhe book was reviewed in Dr. Tholuck's Anzeiger, '(Halle.) I cannot refer to it; for the whole series* is in the heart' of the pile which I have presented to the New College. I think that the sole objection lay in the Reviewer's opinion, that my directive principle of interpretation 'Would apply to the Hebrew poetical Books only, whereas I apply it to the style of the O. T. and the Scriptures, throughout, T>iit with obvious modifications. This objection mighthe easily and completely answered,/ I know not of any other review or notice. The friends of religion and holiness in France, * "1832— 1848.'V MTt 760 NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN. 615 and all over the Continent, have their hearts, heads, and hands too full of their own immediate concerns. "I have one copy besides that which I reserve for myself. If you think it will have good results, please to get a copy from J. and W. and I will replace it to them, with this.— If you can, correct a most mortifying error at p. 268, Table, last line. There 354 should be 3541. I" We are mercifully very well.^-What wonderfully splendid weather ! I recollect nothing like it. I look at it from my window. Alas,. I am oppressed to a degree which sorely tries my capacity of endurance, with Writing! 'Letters,— Letters,— Letters;— usque ad < angustias et pasne nauseam." ¦ To Mr. and Mrs. Nash ; November 22nd :— ¦¦nff.I am sorely hampered, notwithstanding, my abundance of impfeinente atid: the best Ink (the Registration, ) in writing. It is too thick for. my steel-pens. I have written for some others to J. and W. Notwithstanding a little hstziness, nothing like London Fog. I am always delighted with my window. ... My 'general , health is admirable, yet weakness for walking, and thedaily mortification of Letters to be . answered, lead me. to sit here at my sweet little landscape. ( — I have cleaned out my inkstand ; forgetful I!) Happily no more books have come. Were it possible to discover printed Letters, I' 'would that they might all come to you, and they might all be well suppressed. — It makes me feel irritable, to be obliged to sacrifice so much time.7 " <¦ ¦'"•' . ¦¦ '• ¦•: ' , : .-¦ •-, ¦> n-' - To Mrs. Nash; December 13 : — " My beloved. Daughter, — In a painful embarrassment I write to acknow ledge and affectionately to thank you for your favour received this morning. My .slowness in writing increases my repugnance to it; hut still more is that infirmity augmented by the necessity of spending a large part of almost every forenoon in executing the behests of friends, and of strangers,; Scots and American as, well as English. Thus, my hoped for plans of riding are broken and suspended ; Letters which I long to write are put off; and the itemptgttion to a peevish temper is sadly increased. I want to write to my dear friend, Mr. Carter, for the "more encouraging account of ¦whom I render you and dear Fanny [a granddaughter] my best thanks; but, alas, I cannot write worthily of the occasion. — My mortification is aggravated by the inability to maintain epistolary order. My attempts at- classification are baffled. Though I , know that I took pains to put your favour,, ten or fourteen days ago, into its proper place to be answered, now I cannot find it. .- . . Please to present our love to Mrs. Foulger and Fanny,: especially thanking her for her truly pleasing Letter, and the transcript' of Mrs. Browning's poem, but which, I own, is not calm enough for my taste. Like most of her poetry, it seems to me too intense. . . . "A few words upon our projected visit the first week in January. I view it with much anxiety, dreading the necessary exposure and engage ments. Those engagements fall into the following order. . . . Thus .616 NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN. [lP&l. I apprehend that we shall be obliged to trespass on our dear Children from Friday, January 3rd, to Wednesday the 8th." In a Note to his daughter on the 18th, he thus refers to a painful bereavement, of which he had just been apprised : — "The force of Christian Truth must be honoured, hy& full admission and a believing application. Here lie aconflict and a trial for faith : — a full belief of that which, in the particular cases, lies shrouded in impenetrable darkness, but which* on its reality and its evidence, stands forth as a grand pillar of the temple ; — the unerring holiness, wisdom, and love of Him who wept his human tears with Martha and Mary; but who also says to us, ' Fear not, I am the First and the Last and the Living One, and I was dead, ;but behold I am the Living One for ever! — I am the Eesurrection and the Life ;' and v. 26, ' Believest thou this ?' " Our arrangements for January must be dismissed fou the moment.— It grieves me much that the journey must be at that time. I have no choice or way of escape. Our desire is to occasion as little trouble as possible, to our dear Children: and Friends. I hope to be able to walk to Meeting on theiLord's- day morning, January 5 ; Mrs. Pye Smith holding me by the arm. Coming back from the Lord's Table, I indulge the 'hope of calling upon Mr. Carter. Blessed be our God, Jehovah- rophi ! — [thy Healer] — other friends must kindly excuse me. Any part in the pubhc service is above my power. With much difficulty, do I maintain our family -worship." On the last day of the year, Dr. Smith wrote again to Mrs. Nash, chiefly respecting his visit to Homerton and London, when the Testimonial was to he presented to him : — " My beloved Buth, — My warmest thanks, and sympathy. — Forgive strange abruptness, and that I cannot explain; now $iat I feel I must write ; — alas ! alas ! " Saturday is the necessary day. . . . "... What an awful cloud' Upon the flock and family of dear Mr. Wells." [The Eev. Algernon Wells, whose death had just occurred.] "... Ebenezer kindly proposes that we remove from your to his hospitality, I hope that such an arrangemehtmay not be adopted. Feebleness of body; and dejection of mind will, I fear, sadly obstruct. . . . ¦ • ST. 76.J SILENCE RESPECTING HIS FEELINGS. 617 " Love from both to all. Every blessing rest upon you both, and all the other dear ones, Mrs. Foulger, Arthur, &c. &c. " Ever and affectionately, J. P. S. " My love and thanks to dear Philip Henry for the outhnes of Mr. Davies's sermon ; and to my other grandchildren. " With great difficulty can I hold or guide the pen." l The ^apprehension which Dr. Smith expressed in the pros pect of going to London, evidently arose out of that state of physical debility to which he was now reduced; but the silence observed by him in the Notes generally, respecting his own -religious convictions and feelings at this period, had its origin in his constitutional 'temperament, confirmed as that had been by the tenor of hislife. That he could have written or spoken ¦eloquently, and with great truth and propriety, of his 'ex perience,' ' his consolations, his 'hopes ; that- he could - have aamexed admirable cautions or encouragements to what he jmght have said concerning himself, will be readily conceded on the ground of his actual, his realized state as a Christian m&ncinor was courage wanting, for few could excel himin the purpose to plead the claims of /religion with tongue or pen whenever an .occasion offered : but having >for' a very long period used his religious principles and emotions in the way best snited to obtain from) them the, largest amount of service, practically, he was not; able, even though the time for, active duty was almost gone,, to turn the current— so to speak— into the channel of conversation, of which in some form or other himself was -to be the subject. His brief allusions to what was passing in his own history, are justenoagh to serve as signals of his approach. nearer and nearer to that " better country," for which his ^whole life had- been a preparation of self-denying, vigorous, but loving l&bour; — about which, consequently, it might have been deemed somewhat strange, if one who had been all along striving as well as praying to be ' a doer ' of the .Divine /wall, bad on a sudden become unreserved and loquacious. The silence with which he looks into1 the unexplored' valley, is a fit accompaniment of his own deep sense of its solemnity ;— as .jthough he could hardly venture to disturb the profound still ness by anything so .feeble as the sound of his own voice. Such a'lhinker as. he had been, devout, reverential, adoring, is now also wrapt in thought ; the infinite future is pressing upon the 618 LAST VISIT TO HOMERTON AND LONDON. [l801. consciousness, and the effect becomes increasingly visible upon a frame which had never been robust,—' turning ' "it by degrees to the soul's essence, <¦•¦¦¦ Till all be made immortal." ' < To resume Mrs. Pye Smith's narrative : — " In thisfcstate of physical prostration, the generous design of friends in the presentation of a Testimonial, was made known to ihim. Its instantaneous effect was, the deepest self-abasement an op pressive sense of unworthiness, affecting- avowals? of this estimate, and of inability to meet in pubhc ! the kind and liberal contributors to the Gift; combined with a strong con viction of a moral necessity1 for compliance with their desires, so deferentially submitted to him. — The struggle was severS, and almost overpowering. The result was a determination to obey the dictate of duty, and the law of love and gratitude towards those dear and respected friends and patrons,! whose personal and hereditary ; attachment had for so long a' term blessed and cheered his life. ' "On the 4th of January, 1851, he undertook the journey to London, and reached the house of his Daughter more com fortably than was expected. On the 8th, the! memorable -trans action took place. It was the last public appearance of this illustrious advocate of the truth of Christ. A feeling of deep sympathy pervaded the numerous assembly, attracted to the spot by admiration,, love, and reverences Many hearts were penetrated by sorrow at beholding the emaciated' and almost ethereal form of this exalted servant' of the Eedeemer. < The forebodings of many minds at that hour, were in the Divine Counsels very speedily to meet their fulfilment. ; He appeared passive, dignified, and serene, being enabled' to surmount the fears which had so grievously assailed him, and painfully excited the apprehensions of his family. — On the day succeed ing,, he remained at the house of his Daughter, receiving those filial attentions which his children were delighted to render: and on the ensuing day,i Friday the 1.0th,r his; earnest wish to return home was gratified. Arrived at his own fire- side, he sank down in his reclining chairj with an utterance ofi devout thanksgiving for the achievement of this dreaded journey. & The pubhc presentation of a Testimonial to Dr. Pye Smith, ST. 76.] THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL. 619 the Beader will regard as the completion of a plan formed in November, 1849, of which an account is given in page 550 of this narrative. The Committee, to whom the management had been entrusted, " having1 succeeded in obtaining donations to the amount of £2600, for the purpose mentioned, invited all ;the Subscribers to attend a Public Breakfast, on Wednesday, Januarys, 1851, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street. .ii;. . The gathering was numerous and respectable, com prising nearly all the principal Metropolitan Ministers and leading Laymen of the Congregational Denomination. Near the chair sat the venerable Doctor, with his lady, his sons, daughter, and many other members of his family." . . . After a dejmner a la fourchette, — William Alers Hankey, Esq., Treasurer of the " Testimonial Fund," and Chairman on the occasion, opened the business of the day by expressing his warm feelings of admiration and friendship for Dr. Smith, and by stating the special object of the meeting. The Bev. Joshua C. Harrison, " in the name of the Sub scribers, then read the following Address to the venerable Doctor which had been prepared by the Committee' : — ¦if It is to us a source of real thankfulness and joy, dear and honoured Sir, that your health and strength have allowed you to accept our invitation, and to be present with us this day. The object: of our meeting has exclusive reference to yourself — your past dife and your present position and prospects. We are most anxious, at this' epoch in- your history, to assure you that we are not unmindful of the important services which you have rendered to the Church of Christ, and to the cause of learning , and freedom, but that we esteem it an imperative duty to manifest our gratitude for those services in a public and enduring form.— Nations and Churches are deeply indebted to their great men, — men who distinguish themselves either by remarkable energy and purity of character, or by lofty genius andlearniug. Such men illustrate the age in which they live, bring to light its hidden capabilities and tendencies, and guide its activity to objects of real utility and importance. They are emphatically the gifts of God, and are raised up by him to unfold and establish great principles, and to give a strong and upward impulse to the public mind. They cannot live to them selves, but confer lasting benefits on a wider or narrower circle, whose opinions and character they are the means of forming. 620 THE PYE. .SMITH TESTIMONIAL. [1851. The career of men who thus enrich the Church or the world, ought to be regarded with interest and gratitude ;; arid, when it is brought to an honourable close, ought to be signaUzed by some mark of respect and esteem. " You, dear and honoured Sir, have been permitted, during a much longer period than is usually allotted to man, to serve your generation with ability, faithfulness, and zeal. After occupying the important post of Tutor in the oldest of our academical institutions — Homerton College— for the space of fifty years, you are now retiring from your official labours into the calm repose of private life. Your friends, who have'watched your whole course with admiration and thankfulness, and have at length witnessed its honourable terriiination, are this day assembled to offer you their hearty arid hbnest congratulations, together with the expression of their sincere veneration and love. — A few of us — a very few — began our intimacy with you when, young in years and unknown to fame, you entered upon your responsible office in Homerton College. The present moment is therefore to us one of peculiar interest. We have Uved to see the promise of youth more than realized in 'fee labours of your ripened manhood, and in the honours of your advancing age. Others of us were admitted to your friendship when the seal of pubhc approbation had been placed on your works, and found it no ordinary privilege to enjoy familiar intercourse with one, who, forgetting his superiority, was always ready to give pleasure, or to impart assistance and instruction even to the humblest. " Some of us are members of that fldck over which for nearly forty-six years you presided with so much wisdom and gentle ness, and cannot too strongly express our sense of the value of your pastoral oversight, and of your intelligent and faithful ministrations. Others of us were your pupils, dwelt with you under the same roof, had daily opportunities of witnessing your profound and varied attainments, and enjoyed the advan tage of your fatherly counsels, your invaluable teaching, and your fervent prayers. All of us have been more or less inti mately acquainted with your life and labours, and gladly join in this pubhc tribute of gratitude and esteem. " We cannot doubt that the remembrance of ' all the way by which the Lord your God has led you,' and of 'what he has enabled you to accomplish in the cause of truth arid righteous- ST. 76.] THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL. 621 ness, is. a source of real and grateful satisfaction to your own mind;, and that, although your own judgment may be more severe than that of your friends, you rejoice in the conviction that you have not lived in vain. Whilst, however; this con viction is your best earthly reward, we are persuaded that you are not indifferent to.the approbation and respect of the Church Qf Chrisjt, in eyery branch pf which your name is known, and rtijatj, you will not consider our present attempt to do you honour, as unwelcome or valueless., — We thank God on your behalf, ,that, .during , your , whole pubhc hfe, you have been enabled to preserve a character lofty and unblemished, free from inconsistency, and beyond reproach ; and that, having passed through remarkable and eventful times, you have never feared ,to lift up your voice or use your pen in the defence o£ freedom,, .humanity, and truth. ,,„" As a minister of the Gospel, you have taken the Scriptures as, your, unerring guide, and, withstanding the advances of ra tionalism on the one hand, and of spiritual despotism on the Qther, have hej.d fast, to ' the faithful word,' and simply preached ,'f {the. truth as it is in Jesus.' -,,$ As an anthor, your aim has been to concentrate your strength ; in the defence or illustration of doctrines of vital importance and interest., By your rebuke of the flippant and .blasphemous attacks pf, Infidelity, by your demonstration of the harmony.. between Science and Bevelation, by your rules ifpr. the, Interpretation of Prophecy, by your exposition of the Principles of the Eeformation, by your defence of Evangelical -N^gcaiformity, by your assertion of the Sacrifice and Priest hood of Christ, and , by your ,' Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,' you have not only won a place in the first rank of theological writers, but have laid all who love Scriptural ,and Evangelical trutfi under lasting obligation. ,;?„'As a tutor, those only can estimate your worth, who en joyed the privilege of your instructions. Possessed yourself ¦ofs matey ess stores of learning, literary, scientific, and theo logical,— all based upon accurate classical scholarship,— you hjces^santly : laboured ;tp inculcate on your pupils the import ance" of exact information^ of large and liberal views, and of profound and diligent research. Your own example was a con stant ' stimulus, and ' an ever-present encouragement.— Whilst yo,u thus endeavoured to lead them forward in the attainment 622 THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL. [lSOl. of true knowledge, you discountenanced all levity of mind and love of idle speculation ; and, by your spirit, admonitions, and prayers, sought to impress them with the feeling that learning must ever be subordinate to piety, — and that love to man, self- denial, devotion, and heavenly-mindedness are the first quali fications in a Christian minister.— By your unvarying kindness you secured their affection, as certainly as by your profound erudition you commanded theu- respect. Your mild reproof of theu- foibles, your generous encouragement of their efforts, and your true sympathy with them in their afflictions, made them look on you as a father ; nor will they to their last hour cease to rejoice that they were allowed to call you tutor and friend. " Cherishing such sentiments as these, we felt that we could not allow you to close your long and brilliant career, or retire from the academical position which you had held for fifty years, without some appropriate and enduring testimonial. The contributions, which have been most cheerfully rendered for this purpose, amounting to £2600, have been invested in the funds, in the names of trustees, that you may enjoy the interest accruing therefrom during life, (and we pray that it may be long preserved !) and that the principal sum may remain in per petuity to provide Divinity Scholarships, bearing your name, in connection with New College, London. " And now, dear and honoured friend, permit us to repeat the assurance of our profound respect and love. We shall follow you into your retirement with our sympathies, our affec tions, and our prayers. We trust that health and peace may still attend you ; and that as your past life has been consecrated to the service of your Great Master, so your declining years may be sweetened by the consciousness of his favour, and by the bright hope of your final reward. " Signed on behalf of the Subscribers." &c. &c. When the Chairman rose to put the Address into Dr. Smith's hand, and the whole company rose to signify their concurrence in the act, although his emotions on receiving it almost over came him, "he could not resist the impulse to express his feehngs in a few sentences, which, however, were inaudible even to those nearest to him." The Eeply, therefore, which he had prepared, was then read by his eldest son : — ST. 76.] THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL. 623 " My dear and honoured Sir, and you, my numerous friends, by many titles beloved and venerable. " After many attempts to find some expression of my judg ment and my heart that might not be quite unsuitable to respond to your most affectionate Address, I am compelled to reject them all. The looking back upon the years of life, but especially the period of which you have taken so comprehensive and indulgent a survey, revives the impression of events and feelings, which, as to their variety, intenseness, and importance, I cannot describe. I must now, at almost the last liour, re nounce every such effort as beyond my power, — every attempt but increases my inability. " But there are some names to which the sense of love and gratitude attaches in a manner which cannot be summarily expressed. You, Mr. William Alers Hankey, among my earliest friends in or near the metropolis, were pleased to take of me favourable notice, and rapidly to expand that notice, through a long succession of occurrences, private and personal, as well as pubhc. You often dissipated doubts and darkness, you faith fully warned and reproved, you cheered and encouraged in ways ever adapted, with an efficiency and liberality which nothing could turn aside, and which triumphed over difficulties, how formidable soever they might seem to be, or to threaten. " To you, my friend, Mr. Samuel Morley, then indeed an infant, I turn,— as at that time the friendship of your honoured father, Mr. John Morley, fixed itself on me with an original sympathy of judgment upon all the practical questions of evangehcal truth and national morality. He yielded, at great sacrifices, to the request of another memorable friend, whom declining health compelled to retire, and accepted the onerous office of Treasurer to the Homerton College Society. From the anxieties and labours inseparable from such a method as Mr. Hale and he pursued, in fulfilling the duties of the office, he did not shrink ; but maintained the toil with ardour, till he had the happiness of transferring them into your hands. Then he had the rare satisfaction of seeing the evidences in his son of maturity of judgment, decision of principle, and devotedness to the most enlarged apphcation of Christian truth. In so many and so well-known lines of activity, we have witnessed your pursuit of the best public objects, that it would be super- 621 THE PYE SMITH TESTIMONIAL. [l851. fluous and absurd in me to enlarge upon them. But to me personally, your father's and your own universal kindness and extraordinary liberality, through the long period of our con nexion, have been a testimony that Gospel ' love never faileth.' " Another of my beloved friends I behold in circumstances beautifully similar. You, my beloved friend, Mr. Henry Butt, have maintained the reputation of your honoured father, Mr. George Butt, for wisdom and penetration, treading in his steps, with the most amiable zeal and affection. To you and to your family my obligations are too great for words. " You, my dear friends — many of you my former much-prized pupils — are the leaders in conferring upon me this peculiar- testimony of attachment from yourselves ; and many have united with you, who are objects of my indelible gratitude and love, but whom I cannot particularize as I would. " Of myself, I have only to pray that your love may never appear to have been misplaced. I would reverentially assume the Apostle's words : ' I am nothing, — not I, but the grace of God.' " The thanks which reason and every feeling dictate are, however, above my power to express. That the richest recom penses of eternal love may ever flow to you, and your families and Churches, is my heart's desire and prayer. " Above all, ' Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift !' " I am, and ever, I trust, shall be your grateful servant, " John Pye Smith." : " Homerton, January 8, 1851." Several speeches followed, some by ministers and some by laymen: — the representatives of Highbury, and Coward, as well as Homerton College ; all marked by the same cordiality of affectionate respect for the character, endowments, and labours of the aged Tutor, now as full of honours as of years, and ready to sink alike under the weight of both. In one respect, however, the burden was alleviated: — " I was never "-p- said Dr. Leifchild in concluding his address — " so reconciled for a short time to our friend's infirmity of deafness, as I have been this morning ; because it has allowed us the pleasure of expressing these sentiments in his presence, without inflicting on his sensitive mind the pain he would have felt in hearing them." ^T-76-] ON HIS REPLY TO THE ADDRESS. 625 Dr. Smith's younger son, of Sheffield, closed the business of the morning, by an appropriate acknowledgment, on behalf of all the family, for the honours and pleasures of the festival. It was obvious throughout the day how very unequal Dr. Smith was to the occasion. The light which had shone for years with a strong and hallowed brightness had now, through physical causes alone, sunk so low, that only by going back to its Divine Source and Author, could there be any prospect of its becoming bright and strong again : — the Fountain of Being must be revisited, before such life as his had been could be again attained or even anticipated, — but with what an incon ceivable amount of gratuitous interest would the final change be consummated in a case like his ! — At an earlier period, prior to the rapid decay of strength which the last few months had witnessed, his meek and self-denying spirit would have been scarcely able to bear such an expression of gratitude and vene ration as the one now manifested. The list of subscribers to the Testimonial contained names of the longest standing among his personal friends ; names of honoured ministers and mem bers of Christian Denominations beyond his own ; names of not a few whose education for the work had been conducted at Colleges with which he had no personal tie ; and names also of early as well as recent Pupils of his own Theological train ing, towards whom his affection was most respectfully paternal : — the amount therefore of the Testimonial Fund, liberal as it was when all circumstances are considered, would kindle less surprise in one of his retiring habits, than the wide variety of contributors ; for he now saw to an extent beyond all precedent in his history, and far beyond the range of his moderate anti cipations, how large the circle was of his approving, and we may say applauding friends. But when to all this the purpose was added, of founding at New College Divinity Scholarships which were to bear his name, the cup of gratulation — just as it was, as coming from many, and appropriately generous, on the part of others — was filled too near the brim, for one enfeebled and tottering, and of his Christian diffidence, to carry with steadiness, or even to receive with comfort. Hence, apart from the public engagements of the day, his preparations beforehand put him to a sore trial. Bepeated attempts were made to get a reply ready, and the unfinished 2 s 626 ON HIS REPLY TO THE ADDRESS. [lSSl. papers remain to show how thoroughly incompetent he was to frame an answer, which could adequately express his sense of the impropriety of his accepting these honours as due to what he was, or what he had. done. The deep respect, the fervent admiration of the many friends whom the Testimonial revealed, stood, to his apprehension, in almost immediate contact with the immaturity of his youth and a lowly consciousness of the defects of riper years : — and the incongruity of the one with the other was scarcely less than overpowering. In this difficulty, from which he could not by a mental act disentangle himself, the unsubdued simplicity and truthfulness of his nature came, to his relief. Leaving the past of his own history — not merely the very early, to which with the salutary wont of age he was now more than ever inclined to look, but, with a high Christ ian instinct, the more recent also, around which fame had gathered — he at length prepared that Beply which was deliv ered on the occasion ; and which is remarkable for putting other persons in the foreground. He was thus enabled to speak out his humility, affection, and gratitude, by giving honour to those whom he had ever regarded as some of his valued helpers in the duties or difficulties of his public career ; — as though they were the substantial figures on which the public gaze was to be fixed, he shrinking the meanwhile into the shadow behind. That instructive silence respecting himself, with none of the customary modes of apologizing for it, was not only consonant with all his habits throughout hfe, but seemed to spring — as his unfinished papers show it did spring — from his then more than ever proximate and intense realization of the great future of his being : evincing therefore such a development of the Christian man, now touching the very limit of the earthly pro cess of ripening, as fully agreed with the structure of his char acter hitherto, nor less with the liberty, expansion, and growth which were soon to follow. In this, as in several other instances, his taciturnity befitted the circumstances in which he was then placed, in a manner far beyond what any words, even his own, could have done ; supplying the clearest of all proofs of what he meant and felt when he said :— " I am nothing,— not I, but the grace of God."— With what a power to appreciate the " glory that is to be revealed," does such a man pass into the future! "Before honour "—before the JET. 76.] RAPID DECAY OF STRENGTH. 027 possession, and especially before the sense and joy of it " cometh huniilitj'." The Patriot of January 9th contained an admirable article on " The Pye Smith Testimonial ;" from which the following passage is quoted : — "This memorable celebration derives its principal charm, not from the theological attainments and professional labours of Dk. Pye Smith, though these are unsurpassed, but from the filial-like affection to the man which mingles with every tribute to his peerless character and intellectual pre eminence ; and we cannot but feel that the graceful terms in which the author of the Address has described the claims of the honoured personage to the gratitude of his contemporaries and to the veneration of posterity, justified as they are by the unreserved frankness and simple fervour of the Reply, and confirmed by the flood of unstudied individual testimonies which followed, may well serve to convey to those who admire the man, the true lesson of his conspicuous example. Not by talents, however brilliant ; not by attainments, however extensive ; but only in proportion as these are con secrated to the highest ends, and combined with integrity, candour, and humility, with forgetfulness of self in the interests of humanity at large, and with a reverential submission of the understanding and the will to the Will and the Word of God, do men gain the whole heart of their own genera tion, and impress their names in imperishable characters upon the monu ments of their age and country. Pye Smith is one of those names which will never perish ; and, in giving it to the Scholarships which, when a fund so inferior to his merits shall have ceased to minister some little solace to the declining days of him who is not more the pride of his own Community than he is the admiration of all kindred bodies, will be founded with the capital sum, the Trustees have taken no inconsiderable step towards securing a succession of Pastors and Tutors who shall be not less emulous of his moral excellence than of his marvellous erudition." We shall now resume Mrs. Pye Smith's narrative, from the point where it was interrupted, in order to give the details of the last occasion on which Dr. Smith appeared among his friends at Homerton and in London. He returned, as we have seen, to Guildford on Friday, January 10th:— "Very soon after commenced the conflict of mortality. Each successive day brought some additional indication of decay and failure. The appointment of his heavenly Father was exceedingly merciful : he had no acute pain, but a gradual sinking of the vital powers. His patience, submission, and constancy were edifying in a high degree. Owing to extreme weakness, it became needful to retire to rest immediately after tea. On these occasions he was always anxious, before he 2 s 2 628 HIS LAST NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN. [1851. quitted the family group, to offer up prayer ;— a short exercise of domestic worship ; and this he continued till strength wholly failed. Also his inflexible habit of abstinence yielded not. It might be said to exemplify — ' the ruling passion strong in death.' A medical friend, on perceiving a rapid diminution of power, recommended a slight infusion of ¦= brandy to the water beverage. This proposal was conveyed by writing to the eye of the Doctor. He turned to his wife, and emphati cally said — 'Never : — My dear, I charge you, if such remedy be proposed when I am incompetent to refuse, — let me die rather than swallow the liquid.' " The impossibility of oral communication deepened the grief of those who watched while life was ebbing. Mournful to them were those hours; but not so to the Expectant of a blissful eternity. His meek, resigned intelligence spoke im pressively, though inaudible. Never can the impressions of that closing scene be obliterated from the tablet of memory. It has been elsewhere described by an abler pen, I therefore sorrowfully lay aside mine, and terminate the narrative." Within the space of time included in the brief account, ju$t given, Dr. Smith wrote two Notes which must not be withheld, serving as they do, to illustrate the unsubdued love and gene rosity of his nature when all that was mortal was rapidly falling into decay. — The first is dated Guildford; Saturday, January 11, 1851 ; — and is unfinished : — " My dear M. B. N., — Hither we were mercifully brought, Dy 3a° yesterday. I was extremely terrified by the weather and streets of London. " Wonderfully ; when I got to my corner, I found my two pocket books, with the ring; in my coat pocket* " Love, best and emphatic, to all. I will, if God enable, write the papers when I can." The last was to his elder son, whose medical aid was highly valued by Dr. Smith, though he was ever delicately scru pulous not to call for his attendance without some urgent necessity, and not to accept it without remuneration. — It was a high excellency in his character, and a great proof of his wisdom no less than of his paternal affection, that he was accustomed to arrange with his children in matters of busi ness on those principles of commercial equity and honour JET. 76.] HIS LAST NOTES TO HIS CHILDREN. 629 which prevail among upright men in the general intercourse of life :— principles which in his case were not dormant, even at the time when the thoughts are apt to be absorbed by exclusively personal infirmities and claims.— The Note was written on Friday, January 17th : — " My dearly beloved Ebenezer, - " Do me the favour of accepting this cheque, as an in adequate tribute to your science and skill and generous kind ness. But do not come. 0, leave me in quiet ! . . . Trust us for a little. Love to dear Buth. I will attend to her papers when my low spirits and feebleness permit. Beg him, Ebenezer, to give me a memorandum of the cheque which he drew for me; and its connections, &c, to enable me to make [up] the 'accounts. But let him not come. A few days will be important. " Ever yours, J. Pye Smith." The following account of the deeply-interesting closing scenes of Dr. Smith's earthly course, has been supplied by his daughter; with the insertion, however, of one or two short paragraphs from Dr. Harris's Funeral Sermon. " It was no doubt a merciful preparation of repose and with- drawment, that the last few weeks of his life were spent at Guildford; — although to us the separating step had been in expressibly painful. . . . We all enjoyed a visit of two or three days which we separately paid about the end of October. His conversation then was fuller and more animated than had been his wont at Homerton ; and he pressed for a prolongation of the visit, so that I was obliged to give up an engagement at home that I might comply with his wish : — little imagining at the time how precious would prove the review of that visit. " Another favour was indeed granted us in the beginning of January, 1851. The season was remarkably mild, and he was enabled to be present to receive the Public Testimonial from his kind friends. His visit to us from the 4th to the 10th of January, was a lesson of love and thanksgiving, to God his Eedeemer, first, and on all occasions; and to earthly agents also, did they freely and fully flow. And amid the excitement of nervous weakness and irritation of the system, lamentation and apology would follow ; and it was clear that however un- (330 MRS. NASH'S NARRATIVE [l851. controllable were the bodily sensations, still the Divine Spirit dwelt in the calm depths of his soul. It was on the evening of his arrival at Homerton, that the little circumstance occurred which is related in Dr. Harris's Sermon. He was explaining to us how difficult it had long been to him to write, and how he now found it necessary to assist the stiff and somewhat para lyzed fingers with the help of his left hand. Taking up one of the pieces of paper lying near, he traced some marks: — and these, hours after, we accidentally found and read—' To be with Him — to see Him as He is.' " Dr. Harris's Sermon mentions the interview in the vestry on the Sabbath, January 5th. Our friends wept at the sight of our beloved Friend, now pale and emaciated. He spoke to our Pastor and the Deacons, together and separately; beginning with his oldest friend, Mr. Underhill, Mr. Parker next, Mr. Olding, and Mr. Butt ; then to Mr. Davies with a brightening eye ; and lastly to Mr. Carter, before whom he rose from his seat, and resting one hand on his shoulder, congratulated him, and blessed God, for his recovery from a severe illness. He remained in the vestry during the first service [the sermon, &c] and came in afterwards — leaning on Mr. Davies's arm — to his former seat in the Table-pew, where he partook of the Lord's Supper with his attached friends. We sung 330 of the Congregational Hymn Book, 4th and 5th verses. My Father was too weak even to pray. When conducted back to the vestry, he called the Deacons around him, and said : — ' My dear Brethren, I want to say a word to you. This is the last public service I shall enjoy on earth. I have not attended the pubhc celebration of the Lord's Supper since I met you in this place, but I have habitually observed it in my own house every Lord's-day.' Then turning to Mr. Underhill, and taking his hand affectionately, he said : — ' I bless God for your long and valued friendship :' to Mr. Parker who stood next, ' and yours, my dear friend.' Then, addressing Mr. Davies, ' I con gratulate you, my dear Sir, on the great success given to your ministry. I doubt not that you will prosper, and that here the cause of the Eedeemer will still flourish.' " The Pilgrim's Progress, Jay's Morning Exercises, arid Warden's System of Divinity* were the only books (I think) * This work, of which Dr. Smith had a quarto copy, was published in 1769. It is a digest of passages of Scripture in the words of our Authorized Version : MT- ™-] OP HIS LAST DAYS. 631 into which he looked, at all continuously, during his visit in our house. " He spoke to some affectionate relatives on the design he had at one time formed of renewing his acquaintance with the Greek poets. But adverting to his perusal of the Persas of .ZEschylus, and the picture of the woes produced by the inva sion of Xerxes, he added, 'How soon was I fatigued with the comparatively feeble and puerile narrative, and eagerly turned to the Hebrew Scriptures ; comparing with the Greek poet the majestic descriptions of Jeremiah in his Lamenta tions. So unspeakably pathetic, powerful, and satisfying is the Inspired Word.' " — Dr. Harris's Sermon : p. 49. In addition to these remarks, which were addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Beed, Dr. Smith said — " Give my love to my dear Cousin" — meaning Mrs. Baines, Sen., of Leeds,* the mother of Mrs. Beed — " and tell her /row me, — " ' When nature sinks and spirits droop, Thy promises of grace Are pillars to support my hope, And there I write Thy praise.' " Passing now to the after part of the day when the Testi monial was presented, Mrs. Nash's narrative adds, that Dr. Smith — " was evidently relieved by our speedily returning home, instead of prolonging the day's pleasure by joining the family party at Ebenezer's. He spoke with much pleasure of the many old friends he had that day recognised, though he could not exchange a word with them. Otherwise, he made no allusion whatever to the Meeting, nor any observation nor inquiry at all concerning the purport of the speeches; not a syllable of which had been conveyed to him. " At prayer time (earlier than common, and Searle was not returned from Billiter Square) he begged me to read 2 Tim. i. ch. He then offered solemn thanksgiving for the pecuhar ' mercies of that day, its unmerited favours : '—he supplicated 'preparation and meetness against another and a more mo mentous day.' He prayed for his children, naming us all —a book of texts without comments, arranged so as to form a System of Divinity. It was a great favourite with the Doctor.— Ed. * The venerable lady, to whom this message of Christian sympathy was sent, died just three weeks after Dr. Smith, aged 75 years.— Ei>. 632 MRS. NASH'S NARRATIVE [lSSl. separately, his ' beloved ones ' — and then added — ' Though we part now, it is not for ever : and we can never part from THEE ! ' This with extraordinary animation. "Next day he was exceedingly desirous of returning to Guildford. Ebenezer had made most strenuous efforts, in conjunction with Dr. Hodgkin, to retain him here a few weeks, in hope that medical aid might invigorate his wasting powers. But, for the first time, we heard our dear Father opposing such instrumentality. ' I do not wish to live. I had rather not be kept here.-V He lamented that he could not take leave, by calling on various friends, but named them with many messages of love ; not forgetting to speak in accents of prayer and blessing towards every individual who had iu the least ministered to his comfort. January 10th he left our roof for the last time, and got safely back to Guildford. "January 23. My brother went to see him. He com plained that sleep was often disturbed ; that he awoke un- refreshed, came down cheerless, cold, and found little relish or refreshment from food. ' Sometimes before or after dinner I sleep, for I cannot read or write ; — no power or energy. Early in the evening I go to rest, with Mrs. Smith's kind help. And so my days roll on : — ' A guilty, weak, and worthless worm— ' Yes, A guilty, weak, and worthless worm ' On Thy kind arms I fall ; Be Thou my strength and righteousness, My Jesus and my all.' ' I shall never go to Town again, perhaps not out of the house again : (though I thank you for your encouragements) I shall bless God in either — in every case.' " Thursday, Jan. 30, at ± past 3 I arrived at Guildford : I was told of the ' great change which had taken place that day,' both by the servant who opened the door and by Mrs. Smith. Thus forewarned of what could only be felt when that noble spirit should be released from its imprisonment, I went to my beloved Father who had been anxiously inquiring for my arrival. He was slumbering in his chair, but as soon as he saw me he expressed the most lively satisfaction ; — remarking, however, in a voice scarcely articulate, upon his extreme MT. 76.] OF HIS LAST DAYS. 633 feebleness. I wrote—' but what a mercy that you suffer no positive pain, only this sad weakness,' and expressed our love and sympathy. He thanked me. Soon after he rose from the chair ; and perceiving his intention to do so, I helped him to kneel down. He continued kneeling so long that I feared he would be exhausted. The manner and attitude indicated the spirit and the habit of prayer ; but the flesh was weary : I raised him, and he was assisted up stairs to bed. " Friday, Jan 31. Our dear Father came down before 8 o'clock: — with increased difficulty and helplessness; but still with determination to exert himself, and to be independent as long as was possible. Ebenezer came from the Inn where he had slept. We both endeavoured to comfort our Father with words of Scripture and hymns : — ' Though painful at present, 'Twill cease, before long : And then, O, how pleasant, The conqueror's song.' " He replied, ' Yes ; yes ; — I thank you.' " During this forenoon, my Father looked better and was less drowsy ; so that he read in Scott's Bible, opened at Mark iii. ch. ; also Jay's Morning Exercises, for the day : — occasionally resting and also dozing, and between times taking a spoonful of beef-tea or blaniange. The mouth was parched, and needed frequently the refreshment of cold water ; yet he would try to evade one's assistance in giving it to him. So in every respect, his native independence and fear of giving trouble never for sook him. [After dinner] he dozed again, and by five o'clock had repeated the act of kneeling before preparing for the night's rest, and according to the habitual reverence of his manner in devotion. It was also apparent that when he took any food, (as before named,) he closed his eyes, and the gentle shake of his head betokened the accustomed engagement of his mind in thanksgiving and prayer. " Saturday, February 1. My dear Father, after a restless night, persisted in rising so early as three o'clock, and requested to have on all his clothes, saying that he ' should soon want them no more.' He sat up in an easy chair by the fire ; was restless and moved often, and would take nothing but about a spoonful of milk. He said to me, ' I have had such terrible (134 MRS. NASH'S NARRATIVE [l851. visions about wicked people.' I wrote a few words on the slate to remind him of a better presence ; the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ, and the perfect peace of those who trust in Him, &c. He slowly read, once and again, and emphatically thanked me. At breakfast-time, though with increased difficulty, he was assisted down stairs. He seemed more wakeful during the morning, and observant of passing circumstances; re membering that the hair-dresser should be paid on this the third time of his attendance : — and also, with his usual courtesy, he endeavoured to introduce me as his daughter to the medical friend, Mr. Stedman of Guildford, who called. I pointed to Gerhardt's hymn, in the Congregational Hymn Book, ' Give to the winds thy fears :' he said, 'Some persons spell that name erroneously; be very careful not to do so.' He read Toplady's hymn, ' Rock of ages cleft for me,' but made no remark. In the afternoon of this day, Ebenezer came in so early, that his attempts to kneel and pray, as on former days, were prevented. Weakness had increased since the morning, so that he could no longer lift up his feet in walking. He was assisted to bed, and was greatly exhausted and faint. He did not again desire to come down stairs. Nature forbade exertion. [Lord's Day, February 2.] "Ebenezer came from the Inn by six o'clock. My Father remarked as well as his in articulate, almost inaudible power would permit, that it was ' the Sabbath,' and said something in reference to his ' own people at the Gravel Pit Chapel.' He was very faint, but most patient. During the whole morning till two o'clock, we were endeavouring to refresh him by blowing a cool air from a pair of bellows, which he suggested to us : and he reiterated his 'thanks' — 'thanks.' In the evening my dear husband came, and lifted him out of bed into the easy chair. Our beloved Father's weakness was by this time still further increased, so that he seemed scarcely to recognise my husband ; he regarded him earnestly, but spoke not. When, however, we were about to leave for that night and go back to London, he opened his JET. 76.] OF HIS LAST DAYS. 635 eyes, and said distinctly,—' The Lord bless you all ; and he un doubtedly will.' "In the eourse of Monday, February 3, Mr. Davies [his successor in the ministry ] very kindly went to see him : but though he waited for opportunities, there was no awakening from the slumber which prevailed, and he was not recognised. In the evening, my brother and I were there together. Though much flushed and feverish, the beloved Patient did not appear to be worse : indeed, both Mr. Stedman and Ebenezer believed that life would be prolonged by keeping in bed. To me he said—' blow sweetly ' — meaning with the bellows ; and — ' thank you' — 'thank you.' Mr. Stedman and my brother had stood some time by him before he perceived them. At last he made a great effort to take Mr. Stedman's hand : he said in the lowest whisper and very slowly : — ' Farewell : — I am greatly obliged. The Eternal God be thy Befuge.' Turning a little to Ebenezer he added — ' The Lord be your portion for ever.' " Tuesday, Feb. 4th, my brother, John William, had come from Sheffield this day, and had seen his beloved father a short time alone ; and received some words of ' love ' and ' blessing ' for himself and wife and children. " Wednesday, Feb. 5, we were all summoned, and arrived by an early train. The revered sufferer had passed a sad night, and the laboriousness of breathing could be perfectly heard down stairs. We saw him in these circumstances, and endeav oured to meet as it were the throes of fainting nature, and alleviate the feeble struggles which were in his case feeble indeed, and every moment diminishing. There was no drowsi ness now : he looked at all of us with intense earnestness and affection; at each one successively, whispering, as the inspira tions became more and more embarrassed — ' Blessings ' — ' Blessings,' and this was the last word audible. Towards the afternoon, breathing became composed and lulled into quietness. We did not, indeed, apprehend so near a termination of life ; on the contrary, both medical opinions pronounced on the pro bability of hfe being still lengthened for even days to come. We passed the evening together, reciting hymns, and recounting past scenes of blessing and privilege from our earliest recollec tions of the beloved Parent, who was now apparently reposing in slumber. — " Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly— when it was near upon 636 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 11 o'clock — we heard the sound of his voice. We were all assembled, and I held our precious Father's right hand, which was raised as in a listening attitude. The sound was repeated ; unintelligible to us.— I asked, ' What is this ?' — A third time we heard it; and there was a slight noise in the throat, so slight as to be scarcely audible. — But in an lnstant, the pallor which can never be mistaken, which can nowhere else be seen — the hue and the fixedness of death — overspread the counte nance. Nothing could be more momentary, as it seemed to us. — And we felt that he was gone. — " Blessed spirit, emancipated — welcomed, in a Presence of inconceivable glory ! We could only give thanks ; and we did so from our inmost hearts for all that God had done iri him and by him, and that ever he had been born." At the time of his death, Dr. Smith's age was 76 years 8 months and 11 days. Tn the above communications there are two or three closely- related incidents, which deserve notice for the light they shed upon human history and feelings, in circumstances that nO one can either escape from or pass through a second time; — circum stances therefore marked by intense solicitude to the person himself, and often of scarcely less intense to his nearest friends. And as Dr. Pye Smith, while he was in the health and vigour of his powers, had won the confidence of multitudes as a singularly trustworthy guide, very many may be justly anxions — not idly curious — to ascertain — provided it can be done without impropriety — how he felt, thought, spoke through those weeks when he was gradually, yet evidently to himself and others, passing away from mortality to life. His words indeed are few, but that is not a disadvantage, for at such" a time in particular words must be estimated by weight, and not by number ; and the fewness of his gives them tenfold emphasis : — they gleam out like flashes of lightning in the night-season, the effect of which, though instantaneous, in revealing the Eock of his Salvation, is clear and vivid, dispelling for ever all possibility of doubt. A few days after the removal from Homerton to Guildford, the venerable Student saw himself surrounded in his new CONCLUDING REMARKS. 637 dwelling by the quiet associates and guides of his numerous years ; and thus that sense of home was called up, which one who had hved among books even from his cradle, could hardly be expected to feel while they were not in order. Yet, just at that time, the time to which he had been looking forward for a heartier renewal of ancient intimacies with the learning of the past, than he had been able to maintain during the busy scenes of. public life; — just then the discovery is made, nor does this genuine man scruple to avow it — ," Alas ! the relish for books is gone !" How strange a confession from such lips ! — how premonitory to himself and others of what was soon to follow ! Not without emotion could even such a man observe the change which was coming over him ; hence, one of his children, re ferring to a period near the closing scene, says : — " I cannot forget the earnest looks which for some time he fixed on those ranges of volumes, as he sat opposite the companions of a long life ; from which he had derived some of his purest delights, and which had been made the means of unquestionable benefit to others." — This, however, is only one among countless examples of the recoil, the sudden and absolute shrinking back of our nature from created, finite things, at the very moment towards which imagination, and hope, and well-laid plans, and what may be deemed Providential arrangements had all been converging, as admirably suited to afford those full draughts which had long been coveted in vain. Had circumstances per mitted, Dr. Smith might properly enough have begun in his retirement a course of general reading, nor did he require a specific preparation for eternity, which — like a channel hastily scooped out for the occasion — was to be distinct from the great current upon which he had been borne along for more than half a century : — only now, when the will could no longer exert the directive authority of former years, his enfeebled powers were mercifully not allowed to be taken possession of by pur suits which were in any degree remote from the grand realities of his future being. Yielding therefore to the instincts of his renewed nature at this great crisis, he ceased to go out in quest of other men's thoughts as treasured up in their works, and his own life— past, present, and approaching— occupied the whole field of view. With this loss of 'relish' for books in the large sense, mention is next made of a few volumes which he was seen to (138 CONCLUDING REMARKS. recur to again and again during the last few weeks, not only at Guildford, but also on his brief visit to Homerton ; and the catalogue is sufficiently select to serve as an index of the sim phcity and purity of his Christian belief, and of the source of his hope and consolation as a dying man. Of precisely the same import, — charged with sentiments of intense lowliness and penitence, and of unbounded trust in the Divine Saviour, — are the verses of hymns quoted, and the expressions of per sonal feeling to which from time to time he gave utterance. In passing through the closing period of Dr. Smith's earthly hfe, the Beader will have observed how unbroken is that silence respecting himself as a labourer in the Lord's vineyard, which was an obvious characteristic along the whole of his extended course. No reference whatever seems to have escaped from him, even as it were incidentally or in the apparently modest form of gratitude, to what he had been enabled to accomplish in any one of those departments of service in which his efficiency and success were warmly and widely acknow ledged ; and with a commendable power to appreciate his principles and motives upon this point, his friends did not dis turb the deep humility of his spirit by suggestions borrowed from the achievements of former years, or from the honours which had followed. There was a philosophical completeness and harmony between the articles of his religious belief and his code of duty, and then between these and his character and practice as a Christian, which cannot be over-estimated. Such was his diffidence and meekness, that he scarcely knew how to receive, or how to respond to that public Testimonial to his worth, the bestowment of which had been reserved to cheer — as it might be thought — his declining days : and the nearer he approaches the closing scene, the more entirely does he with draw from all recollections and all resources but one. Personal testimony could not possibly be more explicit, nor evidence more conclusive, than that which was supplied by the whole of his history, from the beginning to the end — that the basis of human salvation, and therefore of human succour and hope, can never be met with in the creature himself; but must be sought, if secured at all, by an exclusive trust in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when it is remembered that this ex cepted, there is in truth no other foundation about which there concluding remarks. 639 is even an appearance of agreement among men of varied attainments, and of competent sobriety of judgment— no other that gives the promise or that inspires the prospect of Eternal Life when all earthly things are fading away— how much does this one fact prove, in respect of the ultimate exigencies of our moral condition, and of the really Divine provision for meeting those exigencies ;— how much, consequently, for the decision, uniformity, and force with which the doctrine of Scripture upon this point should be upheld and proclaimed. Learning which had been well-directed, elevated Christian consistency, unfaihng zeal and benevolence— and of fifty years' duration — if present at all to Dr. Smith's apprehension in the interval which separated his labours upon earth from his rest and re compense in heaven, are present only as incentives to a deeper contrition, or to a more wondering, adoring gratitude. His greater nearness to the Fountain of Light, rendered him com paratively speechless with surprise and humiliation at the Grace which he had been permitted to receive. In some instances probably, the fluency and especially the exulting confidence of expression used by the dying Christian, arises from a defective self-knowledge, an indisposedness to search and probe the records of personal history in heart and life ; and there is an aptness to lose sight of sin and demerit, in the surpassing greatness of the Divine provision for showing mercy. Such a tendency, however, instead of really enhancing the estimate of that provision, may have an opposite effect; for the facility with which some persons seem able to appropriate the remedy, may induce a fear lest they should not ponder as they ought to do their true state, as guilty and accountable before a Being of infinite Purity and Justice as well as Grace. " That some men" — says the sagacious Howe — "are less sensibly and passionately moved with the great things of God, and even with the discovery of His love, than some others, does not argue them to have less of the Spirit, but more of that temper which better comports with deeper judgment, and a calm and sober consideration of things." Viewed under this aspect, Dr. Smith's dying experience is of the utmost value in relation to those very doctrines concerning the Person and the Sacrifice of Christ, which he had done so much to defend and establish. The symmetry of his character 640 CONCLUDING REMARKS. and conduct completes his written testimony to the Truth. At the period when an accumulated sense of personal unworthiness pressed upon a moral nature which had become more than commonly refined and sensitive, in consequence of long years of study and prayer largely directed to the perfections and government of GOD ; and when an intense silence might be said to reveal as well as accompany the depth to which he was pursuing his self-examination — suggesting the idea of a light which is carried by the bearer with the most scrupulous care into all the recesses of a cavern, and is therefore at times but dimly visible to others — yet at this crisis, not a single fear, not a doubt, not one word of hesitation or uncertainty escapes from him, in regard to the trustworthiness of his ground of hope as he was passing onwards to immortal life. His real position, his bearings can be clearly ascertained from that sort of brief soliloquy, committed to a stray scrap of paper when his hand could scarcely form the letters, and without any care to show the writing ; — " To be with Him ; to see Him as He is :" and also from that fresh, life-like, heart-utterance at family worship ; — " Though we part now, it is not for ever ; and we can never part from THEE." All that he had ever said or written upon that grand theme, which more than any other had occupied his best attention during the prime of his days, is now strikingly corroborated by his vivid consciousness of his condition and necessities on the one hand, and by his implicit, boundless trust in the all-sufficiency and grace of Christ on the other. And this power to realize as he did, with such clearness, such force, both sides of the vast subject — of sin and of a Saviour — and at such a time, around which the deepest interest is sure to gather — seems like an appropriate moral close, as in point of fact it is the last, of the great services of his long earthly career. It is scarcely less difficult to leave the written life of such a man than it was to part with the real one, without a glance into that infinite future upon which he has entered. Admitting for a moment that relative distances, and even rates of speed in the right direction, by which regenerate and sanctified persons have been respectively distinguished on earth, will be found and perpetuated in heaven — then that order of endowments and that constant ' pressing forward ' towards the highest point CONCLUDING REMARKS. 641 of Divine culture by which Dr. Smith was known among men, will ensure for him a recompense of gracious reward of corres ponding value. — But, in a world where the hght is infinitely too pure and strong for any ensnaring shadow of a man's self to be cast, with what surpassing meekness will he wear his honours ! with what an abiding ecstasy of gratitude and reverent love to his God and Eedeemer ! and with what most gentle, encouraging, and delightful expressions towards all who may behold him ! Bich in the capacity of receiving from the Infinite Fountain of Knowledge, Purity, and Happiness ; skilled in the ability to appreciate all Divine communica tions, with an inexhaustible freeness and joy will he diffuse the advantages imparted to himself. The branches of his family, the members of his Church, the Students whom he trained for the Christian ministry, the multitudes benefited by his Writings — if permitted to come within reach of any special recognition and influence,— will not fail to receive from his example and from the hallowed contagion of his glorified spirit, an impulse which will constantly express itself in new methods and in higher forms of rendering " Blessing, and Honour, and Glory, and Power unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." APPENDIX. Soon after Dr. Pye Smith's death was known, the various Institutions with which, by office or from motives of benevo lence, he had been connected, tendered to his bereaved family their high sense of veneration for his memory and of gratitude for his inestimable services. As a further mark of the honour in which he was held, it was requested that the interment should not be private, and that Eepresentatives of the several departments of labour which had engaged his time and affections, should be permitted and invited to attend on the occasion. And as it was resolved that his remains should be laid in Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, his body was removed from Guildford to Homerton College with a view to the subse quent arrangements. An account of the whole was pubhshed — together with the Address at the interment and the funeral Discourse — in a work entitled — Funeral Services Occasioned by the Death of the Rev. John Pye Smith, D.D., dc. dc* " The Procession walked from Homerton College to the Old Gravel Pit Chapel, so long the sphere of Dr. Smith's pastoral labours, in the following order : — Officiating Ministers. Former Pupils of Dr. Smith. Eelatives and Executors. Neighbouring Ministers. Deacons. Church and Congregation. Deputation from the Homerton College Society. Deputation from New College. Deputation from the London Missionary Society. Deputation from Mill Hill Grammar School. Deputation from the Peace Society. * London: Jackson and Walford, 1851. — Ed. 614 APPENDIX. " Each side of the road was lined with spectators. . . . Most of the shops also in the neighbourhood were wholly or partially closed. When the Body arrived at the Chapel, all the space, except that allotted to those who composed the procession, was occupied — and subsequently large numbers were unable to obtain admission. After the " reading of several appropriate passages of Scrip ture," prayer, and singing, " The Bev. George Clayton delivered the Funeral oration." Another hymn was then sung, and a concluding prayer offered. " After the service at the Chapel, the procession moved on in eighteen mourning coaches (followed by several private carriages) to the Abney Park Cemetery." At the grave, " the Bev. John Davies — Dr. Smith's successor in the pastorate — delivered a short address and offered prayer, when the assembly dispersed, leaving the body of their beloved and honoured friend in the tomb ; with the joyful hope, that when the trumpet shall sound, it shall come forth to the resurrection of eternal life." — Funeral Services, dc. The funeral Discourse was delivered in the Gravel Pit Chapel, the day after the interment, by the Bev. John Harris, D.D. The leading incidents in Dr. Smith's life and the prominent features of his character, are briefly and eloquently depicted : and the 'Discourse,' together with the affectionate tribute of respect in the Bev. George Clayton's funeral Oration, will well reward the attention of any Eeader who is interested in the Subject of the foregoing narrative. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF WHICH THE LATE DE. PYE SMITH WAS THE AUTHOB. DATE. An Essay on the Duty of Christians to enter into full Communion with Congregational Churches 1796 Inaugural Address to the Students at Homerton .... 1801 The Prosperity of a Christian Church : a Sermon at the Ordination of the Rev. Thomas Craig 1802 The Divine Glory displayed by the Permission of Sin : a Sermon . 1803 Letters to the Rev. Thomas Belsham; first edition 1804; second . 1805 A Concise Statement of the Evidence for the Obligation of Christian Churches to Celebrate the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day . . 1806 A Brief Memoir of Mr. George Hall ... . 1807 Introductory Discourse at the Ordination of the Rev. John Bruce . 1808 Charge, Delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. Alfred Bishop . . 1808 A Sermon occasioned by the Death of the Rev. Joseph Barber . . 1810 The Apostolic Ministry compared with the Pretensions of Spurious Religion and False Philosophy : a Sermon 1810 The Adoration of our Lord Jesus Christ vindicated from the Charge of Idolatry: a Sermon 1811 Charge, Delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. James Tait . . 1813 On the Sacrifice of Christ; its Nature, Value, and Efficacy: a Sermon ..... .... 1813 Vindiciaa Academics. Part the Second. Sequel to Vindicise Academicee 1813 Introductory Discourse at the Ordination of the Rev. Henry Forster Burder . . 1814 The Reasons of the Protestant Religion : a Sermon . . . 1815 A Manual of Latin Grammar : second edition 1816 The Guilt of Neglecting the Knowledge of Christ: a Sermon . . 1816 646 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. DATE. The Sorrows of Britain : a Sermon on the Death of the Princess Char lotte. Three editions 1817 Prudence and Piety Recommended to Young Persons at their Entrance upon the Active Duties of Life : a Sermon (several editions) . 1820 The Connection of the Redeemer's Heavenly State with the Advance ment of His Kingdom on Earth : a Sermon .... 1820 On the Comparative Advantages of Prescribed Forms and Free Prayer : a Sermon ... . ... 1821 The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah. First edition ; Two vols . 1818 and 1821 Second edition ; Three vols. . . ... 1829 Third edition; Three vols. . . ... .1837 Fourth edition ; Two vols. ..... . . 1847 The Means of obtaining Satisfaction with regard to the Truth of Re ligious Sentiments : a Sermon ....... 1822 The Presence of God in Death : a Sermon 1824 A Vindication of those Citizens of Geneva, and other Persons, who have been Instrumental in the Revival of Scriptural Religion in that City, &c, &c. . 1825 On the Evidence to the Divine Origin of Christianity from the Resur rection of Jesus : a Sermon 1827 Four Discourses on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Jesus Christ (duo decimo), First edition 1828 Second edition, 1842 ; third edition ...... 1847 An Answer to a Printed Paper entitled " Manifesto of the Christian Evidence Society." The fourth edition. To which is annexed a Rejoinder to a Pamphlet by the same Author, the Rev. Robert Taylor, A.B., entitled " Syntagma of the Evidences of the Chris tian Religion." Second edition, with a Preface referring to Mr. Taylor's " Diegesis" ... . ... 1830 Principles of Interpretation as applied to the Prophecies of Scripture : a Sermon -.—first edition, 1829 ; second edition .... 1831 On the Personality and Divinity of the Holy Spirit : a Sermon . . 1831 On Church Discipline, according to the Authority of Christ, Revealed in the New Testament. Tract 20 of Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge 1831 The Labours and the Reward of a Faithful Minister: — Funeral Sermon for Dr. Winter 1833 The Necessity of Religion to the Weil-Being of a Nation : a Sermon 1834 On the Temper to be Cultivated by Christians of Different Denomina tions towards each other : a Sermon. Two editions . . . 1835 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. 647 DATE. The Protestant Dissent Vindicated, in a Letter to the Rev. Samuel Lee, D.D. Second Edition .... . 1835 The Protestant Dissent further Vindicated, &c, &c, in a Rejoinder to Dr. Lee . . 1835 The Mosaic Account of the Creation and the Deluge, illustrated by the Discoveries of Modern Science. The first of a Course of Lectures to Young Men, delivered at the Weigh House Chapel . 1837 On the Relation between the Holy Scriptures and some parts of Geological Science : — First edition, octavo . . 1839 Second edition, duodecimo . 1840 Third edition, duodecimo . 1843 Fourth edition, octavo . . 1848 Lecture delivered at the London Tavern, before the Baptist Missionary Society, on the completion of its Fiftieth Year . . . 1842 Second edition of the Sermon ' on the Reasons of the Protestant Reli gion : ' " Enlarged and adapted to the Popish Aggression of 1850, with some Remarkable Disclosures of Romanist Policy in the Age of the Reformation" . . . . .1851 In 1830, Dr. Smith delivered Four Lectures to Sunday School Teachers on Biblical Literature ; a summary of each of which was printed in a Tract form by the Sunday School Union. And besides his large Contributions on a variety of subjects to Works published periodically, he also in several instances supplied, an Introductory Essay or a Recommendatory Preface, to quicken the circulation of Treatises well adapted in his estimation to pro mote knowledge, temperance, and piety. HEED A5I) PARDON, PIUNTP.HS, PATETWOSTKB HOW, LOXMON YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 03720 0921 "A