"It is not indistinctly intimated, both by Dr Dillingham and Mr Richard Culverwel, that Nathanael was an object of suspicion with some of his party; and I think there are symptoms of this feeling in Dr Tuckney's letters to Whichcote, though the name of Culverwel, who was just dead when these letters were written, is not mentioned. On the other hand, those who, from their literary tastes and philosophical leanings, were most likely to take an interest in The Discourse, and were capable of appreciating and relishing its rare excellences, were divided from the author by a great gulf of difference in religious and political opinion, widened by prejudices, of the strength of which we, whose lot has been cast in better times, can form but an inadequate estimate.

"The book, besides, from the strangely mosaic appearance it exhibits, in consequence of the innumerable Greek and Latin citations, to say nothing of Hebrew, with which the text is inlaid, was singularly unattractive. The familiarity the author discovers equally with the classics, the fathers, and the schoolmen, is marvellous :

'He knew each lane, and every alley green,
Dingle, or bushy dell, of this wide wood;
And every bosky bourne from side to side,

His daily walks, and ancient neighbourhood.'

"As but few of these citations are translated, to the ordinary English reader The Discourse was a sealed book;' while so recondite are many of them, especially as separated from their context, that even a scholar, in perusing the book, would require such frequent recourse to his lexicon, as to make it anything but light and pleasant reading.

"Add to all this, the work bears proof that it is posthumus, and obviously has owed but little to editorial care. Perhaps the proper duty of an editor was at that time not so well understood as it now is. But assuredly Dr Dillingham appears to have taken his work very easily. With the exception of the Latin and the Greek, which, generally speaking, are accurately printed, little attention appears to have been paid to the correction of the press. Sentences and paragraphs are often divided from, or run into, one another, in a way which at once injures the beauty of the composition, and obscures the course and connection of thought.

"The design of the treatise is well enough described by the original editor, thus: The design of the Discourse of the Light of Nature was, on the one hand, to vindicate the use of reason, in matters of religion, from the aspersions and prejudices of some weaker ones in those times, who, having entertained erroneous opinions, which they were no way able to defend, were taught by their more cunning seducers to wink hard, and except against all offensive weapons; so, on the other hand, to chastise the sauciness of Socinus and his followers, who dare set Hagar above her mistress, and make faith wait at the elbow of corrupt and distorted reason-to 'take off the head of that uncircumcised Philistine with his own sword,' but better sharpened, and then to lay it up behind the ephod in the sanctuary. An enterprise, I confess, of no small import; which yet, he hoped, with God's assistance to have effected, by giving unto reason the things that are reason's, and unto faith the things that are faith's. And had the world been favoured with his longer life, the height of his parts, and the earnest he gave, had bespoken very ample expectations in those who knew and heard him. But it pleased God, having first melted him with his love, and then chastised him, though somewhat sharply, to take him to himself; from the contemplation of the light of nature, to the enjoyment of one supernatural, that pãs angiosO light inaccessible, which none can see and live, and to translate him from snuffing a candle here to be made partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. So that all that he finished towards that undertaking was this Discourse of the Light of Nature in general, not descending so low as to shew how the moral law was founded in it, or that gospel-revelation doth not extinguish it. Wherein, if, standing in the midst between two adversaries of extreme persuasions, while he opposes the one, he seems to favour the other more than is meet; when thou shalt observe him, at another time, to declare as much against the other, thou wilt then be of another mind. Judge candidly, and take his opinion, as thou wouldst do his picture, sitting;-not from a luxuriant expression, wherein he always allowed for the shrinking, but from his declared judgment when he speaks professedly of such a subject. For instance, if any expression seem to lift rea

son up too high, you may, if you please, otherwise hear it confess and bewail its own weakness (chap. xii.); you may see it bow the head and worship, and then lay itself down quietly at the feet of faith (chap. xviii.) So that, if thou read but the whole discourse, thou wilt easily perceive, as himself would often affirm, that he abhorred the very thought of advancing the power of Nature into the throne of free grace, or by the light of nature [reason] in the least measure to eclipse

that of faith.'*

"It is not my purpose to enter on the discussion of the merits of the Discourse as an exercise in ethical philosophy. That will be done immediately to good purpose, by one who, from the course of his studies, as well as for a deeper reason, is better able than I am to deal with such a subject. I may be permitted, however, to remark, that to form a fair estimate of the merit of the work, and the genius of its author, it is necessary to recollect, that it was published before any of the great works on morals, which illustrated the literature of England during the last half of the seventeenth century, had appeared. Dillingham informs us that it was written six years before the author's death, that is, about the year 1646. Now Jeremy Taylor's Ductor Dubitantium, Cumberland's De Legibus, and Cudworth's Intellectual System, were all published posterior to this; the first in 1660, the second in 1672, and the third in 1678.†

"Though he could not have read the works of that set of men' at Cambridge, 'who,' as Burnett says, 'studied to assert and examine the principles of morality on clear grounds, and in a philosophic method,' he no doubt enjoyed the advantage of frequent and intimate intercourse with some of them; and though he differed from these great men on points of the quinquarticular controversy, he obviously had read the same books, cultivated the same studies, and cherished the same enlightened liberal spirit. It would be difficult to believe that John Howe, who entered the University in 1647, was not a great admirer of Culverwel, then one of the most celebrated of the University preachers; and that his influence, fully as much as that of More or Smith, contributed to turn Howe's congenerous mind to those studies which gave his writings a character so different from that of any of those of the other great Nonconformists. Traces of Culverwel are to be found in Howe's works.

"It only remains that I say a few words in reference to the manner in which this edition of the Discourse of the Light of Nature has been prepared for republication.

"The citations from books in foreign tongues have generally been put into the foot-margin, and translations have taken their place in the text; so executed, I trust, as to leave little or no trace of the fact, that a distance of two centuries intervened between the author and the translator.

“Considerable pains have been bestowed on properly placing the points, and dividing the paragraphs.

"While the author's language has been scrupulously retained, the archaic and irregular orthography has been modernised and made uniform; and some affected colloquial abbreviations, which deform the writings of some of the authors of this period, have been removed. Indeed, anything more with regard to the language would have been worse than supererogatory. The style is admirable for its perspicuity, force, and elegance; and scarcely any either of the words or forms of expression, 'turns of phrase,' as Hallam calls them, have, through the mutations of language during two centuries, become obsolete. So much for the advantage of a man writing unaffectedly and in earnest, on a subject he understands, and with the importance of which, deeply impressed himself, he wishes to impress others.

"Almost the only fault of the style is that referred to by Mr More in his Critique a superabundance of figurative expression. It is, as he says, to a great extent a book of poesie in prose compiled.' This dulce vitium may, no doubt, be carried too far; but in Culverwel's pages, as well as in Bacon's, figures body forth abstract thought more accurately, as well as more agreeably, than the most literal expressions could. Indeed Dillingham's encomium scarcely passes the bounds of truth, when he calls this little book, 'cloth of gold' 'weaved of sunbeams.' Culverwel was certainly an exception to Dr Hey's sweeping charge, that the Puritans were void of what we call taste and elegance.'§

. Pp. 8, 9.

Life and Times, vol. i. p. 188, fol. ed.

† Hallam, iii.
§ Lectures, book iv. art. xx. sec. 1.

"In the former editions, there are few if any references. It has been found impossible to verify all the citations, and to give in every case the correct reference; but a good deal has been done in this way, at an expense of time and trouble which I would almost blush to specify.

"A few notes, chiefly in reference to some of the authors referred to, have been added. It would have been absurd to give notices of the leading philosophers of antiquity, as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, or of the Greek and Roman classical authors, or of the great Fathers of the Church, or even of the more distinguished schoolmen, such as Aquinas, Scotus, Anselm, and Bradwardine, or of those men nearer the author's own age, who have secured for themselves a high and enduring place in the remembrance of all generations, such as the two Bacons-the Friar and the Chancellor-Selden, Grotius, and Hooker; but in the present age, when a taste for such compositions as The Discourse of the Light of Nature is diffused far beyond the limits of academic education or professional scholarship, many will find it convenient to have an introduction to some of Culverwel's familiar acquaintance, to whom even the scholars of our times are all but strangers, and of whom the great body of readers have never heard the names: such as Suarez and Vasquez, Nemesius and Zabarella, Averroes and Prosper. For all the notes I am answerable-for Dillingham's edition is as unencumbered with these as the original texts of the Greek or Latin classics. It would have been an advantage to have had a few annotations written at the time. It would have saved a subsequent editor much trouble, and might have given light to some expressions and references, which after all his attempts may still seem obscure.

"In committing the work to the press, though I do not count on making what is called an impression on the public, I do indulge the hope that Culverwel, on his re-appearance, will find an audience, if not more meet than that which welcomed his original appearance, at any rate ultimately more numerous; and my hope rests on the conviction, that, on the one hand, the lovers of ethical science will not be deterred from the perusal of so admirable a treatise, because its author was a Calvinist and a Puritan; and, on the other, that these interesting studies have now no more enlightened and devoted cultivators than are to be found among the inheritors of Culverwel's faith and spirit. Earnestly do I desire that, in his case, the proverb may be verified: Suum cuique decus posteritas rependet.' His claim has long been in abeyance.

The Knowledge of God, Objectively Considered; being the First Part of Theology, considered as a Science of Positive Truth, both Inductive and Deductive. By ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Theology in Dansville Seminary, Kentucky. New York: Ro. Carter and Brothers. 1858.

WE regret that our limits confine us to a brief notice of this important and valuable work. Dr Breckenridge is well known and highly esteemed in America, and by not a few in our own country, as a man of sterling ability, of sound evangelical principles, and of a manly, genial, and gracious spirit. His present work, we feel assured, will amply sustain, and even extend, his well-merited reputation.

The volume now published is the first of a series designed to unfold a complete and systematic statement of Biblical truth. The author proposes to treat separately the objective, the subjective, and the relative aspects of theology,-in other words, to illustrate the knowledge of God with reference, first, to the truths revealed, whether by natural or supernatural manifestations; secondly, to their intimate and transforming effects upon man, in his inner life, his nature, his condition, his destiny; and thirdly, to their relative bearing, as viewed in connection or in contrast with the various

forms of error and heresy. The present volume embraces only the first of these three portions of theology,-the first of these three aspects of divine truth. In its method it differs materially from the course which has been usually adopted by systematic divines. Dr Breckenridge commences with ANTHROPOLOGY, or the doctrine of man, considered as a creature formed in "the image of God," but fallen into a state of sin and misery,—a state of ruin irremediable by human power, and requiring a method of salvation such as can only be expected from divine interposition. From this he rises direct to CHRISTOLOGY, or the doctrine of a Mediator betwixt God and man, and illustrates His incarnation, His successive states of humiliation and exaltation, and His various offices as Prophet, Priest, and King. He then advances to THEOLOGY, strictly so called, or the doctrine of God, including His names and titles, as illustrative of His nature,the mode of His existence as the Triune Jehovah, and the various classes of His attributes or perfections. His fourth book is devoted to the "Sources of our Knowledge of God,"-in creation, providence, the incarnation, the work of the Spirit, the sacred Scriptures, and the consciousness of the human soul, as created and re-created after God's image. And the fifth book, entitled "The Sum and Result," treats chiefly of the primeval state of man,-the covenant or constitution under which he was placed, his probation and fall, and the consequences which ensued to himself and his posterity. Such is the general outline of this first part of his course, embracing a wide range of inquiry, and a vast variety of topics; while the subjective and polemical aspects of the subject are reserved for future illustration.

We will not hazard an opinion at present on the order of arrangement which Dr Breckenridge has adopted, as we shall be better able to estimate its merits on the completion of his general plan. It does not appear, at first sight, to be an improvement on the ordinary theological methods. But the whole substance, spirit, and style of the exposition are worthy of the highest commendation. Every successive topic is illustrated with great power, and exhibited in the clearest and strongest light. Several distinct chapters might be printed separately as comprehensive treatises on the doctrines to which they relate. We have been much impressed with the vigour and freshness of his illustrations, even when he is discussing the most familiar commonplaces of theology. There is a breadth, too, and a comprehensiveness of view, which indicate not only a thorough acquaintance with Biblical theology, but a habit of regarding it in its manifold relations to philosophic truth. And this is combined with such a deep-seated reverence for God's word, such a child-like simplicity of faith, and such a prevailing desire to bring home the truth to the conscience as well as to the intellect, as must satisfy every reader that he is admirably qualified to preside over an institution for the education of young men looking forward to the office and work of the Christian ministry.

So far from overloading his pages with proofs of his theological lore, we have not noticed a single reference or quotation throughout the whole work, although we everywhere discern traces of extensive

reading as well as deep reflection. His system is purely Biblical; he appeals to the Bible, and the Bible alone. Not that he disparages the labours of others, or refuses to make use of them; on the contrary, he is fully sensible of their inestimable value. "As to books," he says, "in such a science as this, and in such an attempt as this, the Bible is the only one having any authority. And yet I am far from undervaluing the immense advantages I have derived from the labours of others, without which, indeed, I could have done nothing. The fruits of such attainments as I have painfully made will manifest themselves to the learned who may honour me by considering what I advance. I know too well that the Spirit of God has been in his church always, to treat with unconcern the deliverances of her great teachers, much less her own well-considered utterances of her constant faith. The details which have been wrought out by learned, godly, and able men in all ages, of many creeds, and in many tongues, have been freely wrought into the staple of this work, when they suited the place and the purpose, and turned precisely to my thought." In attempting to "recast theology," he brings to his task a deeply reverential spirit; he "never loses sight, for a moment, of the necessity of that true spiritual insight into divine things upon which such an attempt as this must rest, above all." He is careful also to mark the practical bearings of his subject, and points out those "simple yet profound and powerful outworkings of Scripture truth, which invest our present inquiries with a true spirituality, and tend to make us better men as we strive to become better theologians." And the spirit in which the work has been conceived and executed, is finely exemplified in its remarkable dedication :-" To the penitent and believing followers of the Saviour of Sinners, this attempt to vindicate their faith is reverently dedicated, in the deep conviction that, next to the approval of God, their's is the very highest testimony it could receive."

The Philosophy of Theism; An Inquiry into the Dependence of Theism on Metaphysics, and the only possible way of arriving at a Proof of the Existence of God. London: Ward & Co. 1857. THE author of this treatise is evidently a vigorous and independent thinker. It appears anonymously; but although published in London, it bears to have been printed in Paisley; and we cannot help thinking, from internal evidence, that it must be the product of a Scottish mind, which had received a Scottish education. At all events it indicates a familiar acquaintance both with the merits and defects of our national pyschology.

It is divided into three parts; the first treats of metaphysics in relation to theism; the second offers a vindication of metaphysics, in opposition to the crude opinions of those who seek to supersede or disparage them; the third discusses the method of proving the exist ence of God, which is based on the principle of causality, and exemplified in an argument from organism. In each of these sections we discern the action of an acute intellect, well-furnished and welldisciplined for the task in which it is engaged.