His object was undoubtedly the same with that of the Pyrrhonists, and he pursues it by a like way of reasoning. The speculations of these men were so copious, that there is matter enough left for another Mr. Hume to set himself up with, and pass for an original. Of all the sects of antiquity this was the most unreasonable; though pretending to more wisdom than all the rest. That which was but folly under Heathenism, turns into desperation and madness under the light and truth of Christianity. Where all was blind tradition, or wild conjecture, there might be some excuse for fixing to nothing; but to affect undisturbance, after what is now revealed, concerning death and judgment, and heaven and hell, is to try how far a man can argue himself out of his senses. What angels may think of such a person, I do not inquire; but how must evil spirits look upon that man who sleeps or laughs over the things at which they tremble, and then calls himself a Philosopher! Of the Letters on Infidelity, the first half is employed on Mr. David Hume; the latter half on a more modern adventurer, who, to be revenged on the bishops of this church, put together a miscellany of objections against the Scripture and the Christian religion. The right reverend bench had procured an act of parliament against the Sunday-clubs, which met together on the evening of the Sabbath-day, to indulge themselves, and corrupt an audience, with blasphemous disquisitions and disputations. For thus cruelly disturbing the amusements of infidelity, the bishops are represented as the vilest of persecutors: whips, tortures, racks, and all the implements of the holy office are introduced to confirm the accusation; from all which a stranger to the case might suppose it a common thing with the prelates of this country, to break the bones of infidels, or roast them alive; and all this is for nothing else, but that they had seasonably and wisely provided, that the Christian religion, in a Christian country, should not be trampled under foot upon the Sabbath-day. people: it was the part of God, who gave the word, to prove it to the world by prophecies and miracles. The prophecies are as strong as ever; some of them more so than formerly and miracles are not to be repeated for proof, after the world hath once been persuaded. All is then left to testimony and education. Before Moses gave the law, he showed signs and wonders; but, when the law was once received, parents were to tell their children, and confirm the truth by the memorials that were left of it. It therefore lies upon our adversaries to show how it came to pass, on any of their principles, that men like themselves, as much disposed to make objections, should receive the Scripture as the word of God in the several nations of the world, and receive it at the peril of their lives; a fact which they cannot deny. Let them also try to account for it, on their own principles, how the Jews have been strolling about the world for seventeen hundred years, as witnesses to the Scripture, and to the sentence therein passed upon themselves. Till they can do these things, it is nothing but an evasion to cavil about words and passages; a certain mark of prejudice and perverseness. They know they cannot deny the whole; but, as they must appear to be doing something, they flatter their own pride by keeping up a skirmish, and perplex weak people, by raising difficulties about the parts. This was the expedient on which Mr. Voltaire bestowed so much labor. It does not appear to me that he really thought the facts of Christianity to be false; but that his vanity and perverseness tempted him to ridicule the Bible, without denying in his mind that God was the author of it; in fact, that he was a Theomachist, who hated the truth, knowing it to be such, and braved the authority of Heaven itself: or, in the words of Herbert, that he was a man, Who makes flat war with God, and doth defy With his poor clod of earth the spacious sky. If a religion, to which the nature of man is so hostile, did actually make its way without The objections this man hath brought to- force, and against the utmost cruelty and disgether are very well taken off; but if Chris-couragement from the world; that fact was tians are bound to answer, so long as infidels a miracle, including within itself a thousand will object, who never wish to be satisfied, other miracles. and are probably incapable of being so, their lot would be rather hard, and much of their time unprofitably spent. The gentlemen of the long robe attend the court, not to answer the scruples which felons may entertain about the principles of justice, but to administer the law; otherwise their work would never be done; and it is the business of the clergy to preach the Gospel to the 7 VOL. I. See, on the other hand, how Paganism, Mahometism, and modern atheism, were and are supported and propagated: the Pagan idols by ten bloody persecutions, with every act of outrageous mockery and insult, for want of reasons and miracles: the religion of Mahomet (a sort of Christian heresy) by rewards of sensuality and the power of the sword; that is, by force and temptation: the concerning the same thing, there is the difficulty. May it be said, that the mind has antecedently admitted a principle which militates against the truth, while it does not militate against the fact? God knows how the matter is; but I see too much of it in the world. atheism of France by farcical representation | ity should be under temptations to vice, we and ridicule of truth, assisted in the rear by can easily understand; but that their minds imprisonments, murders, and confiscations. should believe and deny, at the same time, These be thy gods, O infidelity, by the power of which thy kingdom is established in the world! These efforts of violence show the weakness of false reason, and the strength of that which is true; and demonstrate, that men were prevailed upon by true evidence, and rational persuasion, to receive the Christian faith. Here lie the merits of the cause in a small compass; and let all the infidels upon earth lay their heads together, and give a direct answer. Swift assures us, from his own observations, and, I believe, very truly, that a man was 66 always vicious before he became an unbeliever ;" and that "reasoning will never make a man correct an opinion, which by reasoning he never acquired." Some service, however, is done to the cause of piety, and defensive weapons are put into the hands of those whose minds are as yet uncorrupted, when the malice or ignorance of an infidel is exposed by an examination of his objections: the corruption of his mind is thereby displayed in such a manner, that even a child may see it; and therefore we are much obliged to Dr. Horne for answering the doubts of infidels, and for seasoning his answer with such wit and spirit, that the work, in some parts of it, has the force of a comedy it should therefore be put into the hands of young people, that they may see how foolish some men are when they pretend to be overwise. The Letter to Dr. Priestley from an Undergraduate, that to Dr. Adam Smith on the Character of David Hume, and the Letters on Infidelity, are three choice pieces upon the same argument, which should always go together. But suppose infidelity is answered, the business is not all done: we have still the believing unbeliever to contend with, of whom there is but little hope. The Christian evidence can certainly have no effect on those that deny it but that it should have so little effect on some that believe it, and even argue and dispute well for it, this is the greatest wonder of all; but so the matter stands. There is a sort of people amongst us, who believe Christianity as a fact, while they deny it as a truth and such persons may do more harm, and be themselves as far from the kingdom of heaven, as the open unbeliever: the Gospel assures us that he and the hypocrite will have their portion together. Priestley asserts the facts of Christianity against the philosophers of France, while he believes no more of its truth than the Sadduces of Jerusalem did, who yet never denied that God had spoken unto Moses. That men professing Christian Though the imagination of Dr. Horne was sometimes at play when the speculum of infidelity was in his hand, his heart was always serious: thence it came to pass, that the composition of sermons was a work never out of his mind; and it was the desire and the pleasure of his life to make himself useful in the pulpit wherever he went. The plan which he commonly proposed to himself in preaching upon a passage of the Scripture was that of giving, 1. The literal sense of it; then, 2. the interpretation or spirit of it; and, 3. the practical or moral use of it, in an application to the audience : and he was of opinion, that one discourse, composed upon this plan, was worth twenty immethodical essays; as being more instructive in the matter, more intelligible in the delivery, and more easily retained in the memory. Yet, after long practice, he came to a determination, that no method was more excellent than that of taking some narrative of the Scripture, and raising moral observa tions on the several circumstances of it in their order. His Sermon on Lot in Sodom, vol. ii. disc. xiii. and on Daniel in Babylon, vol. ii. disc. xx. are of this kind. Noble Convert, or History of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, vol. ii. disc. xv. is another. The Paralytic, and the Woman taken in Adultery, belong to the same class. One of the most skilful and excellent preachers this church could ever boast, was the late Dr. Heylyn, a prebendary of Westminster. His discourse on the Canaanite was considered by Dr. Horne as a most perfect and elegant model of a sermon, on a miracle, or any other portion of the Scripture; he pronounced it to be succinct, clear, and forcible, with nothing in it superfluous or tiresome: and, it came into his mind, on reading it, that another after the same model might be composed on the Samaritan Woman and the discourse our Saviour held with her. This he lived to execute. It is still among his unpublished discourses, and is itself worthy to be printed, as a specimen of this manner. The There are certainly different modes of preaching, all of which are good in their way: some are most proper for one subject, some for another. One of these is that of the purpose; not adapted to the wants and occasions of the audience, which are always to be considered. "He should beware of polemical and wrangling compositions. "He should not mix things sacred and profane together, from an ostentation of learning. Such learning is quite out of place. Also a discourse, consisting of critical remarks, is fitter for an editor than a preacher. See Heylyn, i. 155. with the preface to Massillon's Petit Carême; and the note in Oswald's Common Sense, vol. i. for some very useful observations on this part of the subject. "There may be a fault also, in dwelling too much on the elementary and catechetical doctrines and not (as the apostle expresses it,) going on unto perfection. Jesus Christ himself; who, from present occasions, and circumstances of time and place, made use of the opportunity to raise such doctrines as were wanting for the instruction of his hearers: the mind being under the best preparation for the conceiving of truth, when that truth is raised from the objects of its present attention. We see our Saviour at a well of water (a precious object in hot countries) discoursing on the waters of life, to a person who came, in the heat of the day, to draw the water of the well. After this example did Dr. Horne, when he was by the sea-side at Brighthelmstone, take the sea for the subject of a sermon; one of "To be always dwelling on the expedience, the most ingenious he ever composed; and, necessity, and evidence of revelation, is to without question, peculiarly striking to the suppose that the audience consists of deists: audience, who had the object before their for such discourses have no effect on any but eyes. This naturally reminds me of a re-deists, and rarely upon them. flection he made, when, with other young people of the university, he attended a course of chemical lectures at Oxford. It was the custom of Dr. Alcock to carry his pupils over such ground, as rendered the science of great service to every person of a learned profession. The last lecture was upon poisons and the subject required, that snakes should be produced upon the table, and made to bite poor harmless animals to death; whose cries, and howlings, and convulsions, after the wounds were given, were extremely affecting, and made some of the spectators ready to faint. On which he observed afterwards" that would have been the moment to have delivered a theological lecture on the old serpent of the Scripture that hath the power of death and first brought it, with all its fatal symptoms and miseries, into the world!" And he judged right; it would have been better understood, and more felt, at that time, than at any other; for it is not to be calculated, how much the mind is assisted in its contemplations by the senses of the body giving life to its ideas, and working irresistibly upon the passions. His opinion concerning the duties of a preacher is to be found in the preface to the first volume of his sermons, expressed in the words of Fenelon. He considered also, but never printed, the faults and abuses which every preacher should study to avoid and, as it may be of much service to some readers, I shall take the liberty of mentioning them in this place : Let those teach others, who themselves excel, "A preacher should avoid rambling upon general or trivial subjects; such as are not to See vol. ii. disc. xxx. "It is always bad to treat religious subjects in a dull, dry way; neglecting the imagery, energy, and persuasive elocution of the Scriptures. "Nor is it better to discourse on morality in a rigid, legal, and comfortless manner, without first warming and animating the mind to the practice of it by motives of faith and love. St. Paul, in 1 Cor. xv., discourses, for fifty-seven verses together, on the animating doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, and in one single verse, the last in the chapter, conveys the moral of the whole. "Much time and labor are frequently lost in proving what all the hearers allow: as for example, the obligation they are under to do their duty, instead of showing and exposing the various modes of self-deceit, by which they contrive to elude the obligation, and live in contradiction to their principles. Pleas and pretences of this sort should be collected, stated, and answered in a close lively manner, till the hypocrite is completely unmasked, driven out of his strong holds, and obliged to surrender at discretion. Massillon is admirable at this, and it makes the general plan of his sermons. "The word of God is abused by preachers, when it is accommodated and made subservient to the corruptions of the time. It is then an instrument for the gratifying of their vanity, or procuring wealth and promotion. Such traffic with the word is like that of Judas, when he sold Christ for money. "All affected elegance, and trifling conceits, are to be avoided, as having a bad effect upon the audience, who are tempted to forget the errand they came upon, and to suppose that the preacher, appearing to have no sense words depends upon a distinct articulation of of the greatness of his subject, is not in earnest. "Too great familiarity of expression, with coarse images, taken from low subjects, are fulsome. Dr. South has some excellent observations in vol. iv. p. 40, on the words, 'Every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of God,' &c. "In what is called an application, at the end of a sermon, the preacher makes a transition by the shortest way, from the subject to the audience, and shows them their duty from what has been said. A writer, strong in his expressions, affirms, that a sermon without an application does no more good than the singing of a skylark: It may teach, but it does not impel; and though the preacher may be under concern for his audience, he does not show it, till he turns the subject to their immediate advantage." their consonants: for want of considering which, many speakers spend their breath to little effect. The late Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Hinchcliffe, was one of the most pleasing preachers of his time. His melodious voice was the gift of nature, and he spake with the accent of a man of sense, (such as he really was in a superior degree;) but it was remarkable, and, to those who did not know the cause, mysterious, that there was not a corner of the church, in which he could not be heard distinctly. I noted this myself with great satisfaction; and, by watching him attentively, I perceived it was an invariable rule with him, to do justice to every consonant, knowing that the vowels will be sure to speak for themselves. And thus he be came the surest and clearest of speakers; his elocution was perfect, and never disappointed his audience. In this respect, most preachers have it in their power to follow him: his sense, and his matter, and the sweetness of his tone, were such as few will attain to. He was a prelate to whom I owed much respect; and I am happy in giving this testimony to his excellence. The last literary work which Dr. Horne proposed to execute, while Dean of Canterbury, was a formal Defence of the Divinity of Christ against the Objections of Dr. Priestley; in which it was his intention to show, how that writer had mistaken and preverted the Scripture and the Liturgy. These observations upon the composition of sermons, are so much the more valuable, because we have them from a most excellent preacher, who had formed himself upon the rules he has given for others. He is a good farmer who raises a good crop; but he is a better who teaches others also to do the same; and the public are more obliged to him. If these precepts were properly attended to, the people would soon know how to distinguish between a sound teacher and an unlearned enthusiast; the Methodists would decrease and the church would be edified. If something had been added against errors in the pronun- I have often wondered secretly, why this ciation of sermons, I should have been glad to good man should have felt as if he was called communicate it: but, as I find nothing to this upon to encounter a writer of Dr. Priestley's purpose, I shall venture but a single remark disposition, who had already passed under upon the subject. Every preacher wishes to the strong hand of Dr. Horsley, and would be understood as well as heard; but many are have been humbled for the time to come, had deficient in this respect, for want of a distinct he been blessed with any feeling. That Dr. articulation; which might easily be acquired, Priestley is a man of parts, a versatile genius, if they would attend to a simple rule, with- and of great sagacity in philosophical experiout the observation of which no man's de- ments, is well known and universally allowed: livery can be perfect. It is well known, that but let any person follow him closely, and he a piece of writing may be understood, if all will see, that if ever there was a wise man, the vowels are omitted: but, if the vowels of whom it might be said, that the more he are set down, and the consonants omitted, learnt, the less he understood, it will be found nothing can be made of it. Make the experi- true of Dr. Priestley. His vanity made him ment upon any sentence: for example: judge believe, that he was wise enough to enlighten, not, that ye be not judged. Take out the and powerful enough to disturb, the world: vowels, and it will stand thus-jdg nt tht y b he was, therefore, for ever busy at one of these nt jdgd: This may readily be made out: but or the other; a volcano, constantly throwtake away the consonants, and nothing can ing out matter for the increase of heresy, possibly be made of it-ue o ae e o ue. It is schism, or sedition, and never to be quenched the same in speaking as in writing: the vowels by disputing. It is the way of the world, to make a noise, and thence they have their make their estimate of a man from his parts name, but they discriminate nothing. Many and abilities; but it is more wise and just to speakers think they are heard, if they bellow them out and so they are; but they are not understood; because the discrimination of measure him by the use he makes of them, to the benefit or the hurt of mankind: for the beams of the sun are used to warm and ani mate; while the brightness of lightning is to construe a common piece of Greek or Latin.* shatter and consume. So long as Dr. Priest- I find another note concerning him, with the ley felt nothing (or seemed to feel nothing,) date of 1788 affixed to it, taken from Dr. it had a bad effect upon him, and made him Johnson, who spoke his opinion of Priestley more troublesome, that such persons as Dr. to Mr. Badcock in these words: "You have Horsley and Dr. Horne should enter the lists proved him as deficient in probity as he is in against him: it made him appear more for- learning." Mr. Badcock had called him an midable in the eye of the public, and so it index-scholar: but Johnson was not willing tended to gratify the prevailing passion of his to allow him even that merit; saying, that mind. So far indeed as he deceived and he borrowed from those who had been bordisturbed others, a compassionate regard to rowers themselves, and did not know that them might be the motive with those who the mistakes he adopted had been answered disputed with him. by others. There was an expectation about In the year 1786, Dr. Horne preached a this time, that a controversy would break out sermon at the primary visitation of the Arch-between Priestley and Gibbon; of which an bishop at Canterbury, on the duty of contend- arch Quaker spoke thus: "Let those who ing earnestly for the faith; and, when this deny, and those who corrupt, the true religion was printed, together with another discourse of Jesus Christ, fight it out together; and let on the Trinity, he subjoined an advertisement, his faithful followers enjoy ther mutual overdeclaring his intention to answer the objec- throw."‡ tions against the Divinity of Christ, which had been urged of late. "Indulgence," said he, "is requested as to the article of time: I cannot write so fast as Dr. Priestley does; and I wish to execute the work with care and attention; after which it shall be left to the judgment of the learned, the pious, and the candid, of all denominations." At the close of this year, he alludes to the advertisement, in a letter from Canterbury; "You see the task I have undertaken." And here nobody will wonder, that as he had given me his assistance in the first work I published, and its chief merit had been owing to that circumstance, he should demand of me in return any service he thought it in my power to execute he therefore goes on, "It is undertaken in confidence of your friendly aid: and I should be happy, as we began together with Clayton, if we might end together with Priestley." For the sake of Dr. Horne, I was ready to work under him, in any capacity he should prescribe: but it always appeared to me, that Priestley was a person of too coarse a mind to be the proper object of a serious argument. That he had borrowed most of his objections, I had very little doubt; and that his remarks on Jews, Gnostics, Ebionites, Plato, Philo, and Justin Martyr, were not original; there being a magazine in store, to which the orthodox of this country do but rarely apply themselves. If this could have been pointed out, it would have done more toward the curing of his readers, and given more mortification to himself, than the most labored confutation of the matter in the four volumes of his Objections. In the eyes of all reasonable men, the church of England could want but little defence, in a literary way, against an adversary so inflamed with political batred against it, and openly avowing a design to undermine and blow up its foundations, as with an explosion of gunpowder. When it comes to this, the dispute is no longer literary: the person who carries it on in this way, should be considered (if a gentleman) as a person of an unsound mind; if not a gentleman, then as an object of the penal laws of his country, if it should have any against such offenders. One who is so wild and dangerous in his politics, must be a counterfeit in his Christianity: who, being detected, is thereby sufficiently answered. On these considerations, without any view to the sparing of my own trouble, I was as well pleased to see, that the design of writing farther against Priestley was not prosecuted with vigor. How much had been collected for this purpose, I do not find: yet I know that the subject had been long and often in the mind of Dr. Horne; who told me when at Nayland, in the year 1789, he had satis fied himself in respect to every objection from the Liturgy, except one; and that was from an expression in the Athanasian Creed, which sounded like Tritheism, the Creed affirming each person by himself to be God and Lord. I ventured to assure him, that * Letter, Aug. 22, 1786. † See the Gentleman's Magazine for July, 1785, p. 596. ‡ Ibid. p. 600. § It was an observation of Dr. Horne, upon the curious sermon on Free Inquiry, that the author England with as much certainty as if he had held spoke of this powder-plot against the church of the lantern. |