service of God his youthful prime was devoted; in the service of God he grew old; and at length, honoured in hoary-headed righteousness, having by the will of God served his generation faithfully, he fell asleep in Christ; leaving, to the church and the world, writings which will perpetuate alike his memory and his usefulness.

Believing it to be his duty to engage in the Christian ministry, in this persuasion he was encouraged by his excellent Pastor, who therefore kindly received him under his roof, to assist in supplying the deficiencies of his early education. He continued thus at Dr. Fawcett's for four years, and then entered the Baptist College at Bristol, where he remained one year. He then went to Newcastle-on-Tyne; where, as well as at some places in the neighbourhood, he preached for a short time. He spent, likewise, a few years at Dublin; and then became stationed, as Pastor, at Downend, near Bristol, where he formed an acquaintance with the lady whom he afterwards married, and for whom his Essays, as all who have read them will remember, were written. In 1804 he removed to Sheppard'sBarton, near Frome, in Somersetshire. His ministry, however, was not generally popular. To the members of his church, indeed, and especially to the poorest amongst them, he was a kind and valued friend. But though his piety was decided, his preaching was not that which generally attracts large congregations. On the one hand, he could never divest himself of that profound thought by which bis Essays, written at this time, are characterized; and there are few whose minds are disciplined to an extent to enable them to accompany such discourses with advantage: and on the other, if we may judge from the volume of "Lectures delivered at Broadmead," while his pulpit addresses would be founded entirely on evangelical truth, they did not contain that abounding reference to evangelical doctrine which is, after all, essential both to the conversion and spiritual edification

of man. Not only must the subjects of discourse be such as the Gospel furnishes; but the Gospel itself, that which is truly, essentially, visibly, the Gospel, must be preached. "We preach Christ crucified," said one of the most profound and expansive thinkers that ever lived; and it is in the cross of Christ, as revealing the righteousness of God, that the saving, and therefore that the attracting, power of the Gospel consists. Mr. Foster's was eminently a philosophic mind; and while, out of the pulpit, it is evident that he condescended to orders of mind far different from his own, it is not less evident that in the pulpit he did not thus condescend. He not unnaturally wished that the beauty of the Gospel should be seen, and its influence felt, by those whose mental endowments were similar to his own; and almost unconsciously, by such a wish, would his preaching be influenced. But, if he pursued the plan which, in one of his Essays, he has suggested, even though he had had hearers thus intellectually gifted, we still think that he would have failed. The Essay in question proposes to make the Gospel less offensive to men of taste, by ceasing to employ certain expressions which displease them. Mr. Foster, usually most happy and accurate in analysis, has here confounded what are tially different. It is unquestionably true, that there is what may be termed properly a sectarian phraseology, sometimes composed of the vulgarisms, sometimes of the provincialisms, of Christianity; and it is equally true that great advantages would arise from the avoidance of such a phraseology as this. The entire omission of what are merely the words of a sect, the technicalities of party,-if so we may call them,-would not only render such discourses less offensive to "men of taste," speaking generally, and in reference to worldly refinement; but to men of genuine and evangelical taste,-men "who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Not that differential doctrines

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are to be avoided. Far from it. That which the Preacher believes to be the truth, he is faithfully to declare. Every collection of "faithful men" that may challenge to themselves the honourable title of a section of Christ's church, while building, in regard to essential truth, on the only foundation, the one that is laid already, and that must be admitted just as it is laid, take a particular view of some subordinate doctrines; and, according to that view, form their entire theological system. Thus it is, for instance, that the theological systems of Calvinism and Wesleyanism agree in regard to the foundation, and differ in regard to the superstructure. As honest men, the Ministers, in their discourses, will, from time to time, exhibit the various portions of what they believe to be an entire and consistent system. But, through human infirmity, in addition to modes of expression necessary for the statement of such doctrinal differences as these, it will be found that each section of the church possesses what we will again call its vulgarisms and provincialisms, and which are not in the slightest degree requisite for the due enunciation of doctrinal distinctions. Let all these be resolutely cut off. They only serve to perpetuate formality and bigotry. And had Mr. Foster shown that his remarks were exclusively designed to apply to these, we should have agreed with him most cordially. But the instances brought forwards by himself prove that this was not the case. There are certain expressions which refer directly to the essential doctrines of the Gospel in relation to personal religion. The Gospel states the fallen condition of man, reveals a divinely arranged and appointed scheme of redemption, and calls on man to seek and obtain its blessings for himself. Christianity, subjectively consider ed, is not a philosophical system of intellectual and moral reformation and improvement; but of such a preternatural deliverance as requires, for its clear and full expression, the use of those peculiar terms which are employed for that purpose in the

New Testament; and whose meaning is to be fixed, not by their ori ginal use among heathen speakers and writers, but by the usage of the sanctuary. Death, guilt, corruption, repentance, faith, justification, adoption, regeneration, sanctification, holiness, growth in grace, and many other terms of the kind, are terms necessary for the proper expression of evangelical truth; and he who shall lay them by, and employ others in their place, will find that by so doing he puts it out of his power to give a clear and efficient announcement of saving truth. His preaching may thus be made somewhat less offensive to men of taste than otherwise it would be; but just to the extent to which he has carried his system of change, has he made his preaching less evangelical. The true offence is, not at the terms, as such, but at the doctrines which the terms express. Let him, if he can do so, by a roundabout paraphrase, clearly express the very same truths, and he will find that just as much offence is taken as ever. Besides, men of taste are not the only persons who dislike evangelical religion. The foundation of the dislike is the opposition of man to the will of God as he is by nature. "The carnal mind is enmity against God;" and whatever may be the subordinate peculiarities of personal character, while they are only the modified developements of that state of rebellious opposition, they will produce a settled dislike of the Gospel, however expressed, provided its grand truths are so presented as that they shall be distinctly perceived. Every scheme for rendering the Gospel less offensive, which seeks to accomplish its object while the natural self-complacency of the hearers is unaffected, gains its object at the expense of its character and power. Man must be offended, that he may be saved. Before he can receive the end of his faith, even the salvation of his soul, he must have awakened in him that sight and sense of sin, by reason of which his mouth shall be stopped by the deep and mastering convic

tion of his guilt before God, and his self-complacency give place to selfcondemnation and abhorrence. Be he man of taste, or man of coarseness, the man of elegant imaginings, or the man of gross sensuality, -the faithful, unequivocal preaching of the Gospel, when its searching power is brought to bear on his conscience, is sure to offend him, unless he so yields to the truth which now shines upon him, as to be offended with himself. To this alternative, clear, pointed, earnest preaching is sure to bring a man. If he chooses to retain his own selfcomplacency, he will be offended with the Gospel. But what then? Has not this been foretold? From the beginning it has been declared, that to those who would not avail themselves of the foundation which God had laid in Sion, it should be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. Let the Gospel be heard with those feelings which the sinner ought to cherish, if the scriptural account of sin be true, and no offence will be taken even at what we have termed sectarian technicalities, provided there be a faithful statement of the true method of salvation by Christ.

The junior Christian Minister must be exceedingly careful on this point. At all hazards, the entire Gospel must be preserved and preached. Sooner than endanger this, let sectional provincialisms remain untouched. There is a phrase. ology which cannot be changed without so far changing the Gospel itself, as at least to obscure its brightness, and diminish its power. And it is a remarkable fact, that this always affects the number of hearers. No man ever kept a congregation together but by such preaching as is visibly, unquestion ably, in form, as well as in substance, Gospel preaching. In the Essay to which we have all along been referring, there is, indeed, much that is excellent,-much from which both Christian Ministers and "men of taste" may learn very useful lessons; but, after repeated perusals, we still believe that on one subject Mr. Foster was seriously

mistaken; and we cannot but think that his mistake greatly interfered with his ministerial usefulness. Robert Hall's congregations did not diminish under his preaching; and many a pious Baptist Minister, inferior in talent, it may be, to Mr. Foster, but seeing the necessity of preaching the Gospel in Gospel language, in order to bring sinners to repentance, and Christ, and salvation, has made his place of worship too strait for his enlarging congregation.

It was in 1805 that the Essays on "Decision of Character," &c., were published; and in 1842, less than thirty-five years, the sixteenth edition was called for. Who can estimate the amount of invaluable instruction which Mr. Foster has been the means of communicating directly to his readers? And if the effect of these instructions through them upon others be considered, computation becomes impracticable, and the mind is led to the Author of all good, and glorifies him in the rich variety of his gifts, perceiving that "there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit;" and that "the manifestation of the Spirit," in all these "differences of administrations," and "diversities of operations," "is given to every man to profit withal." And, returning for a moment to the subjects occupying the former portion of the present paper, in what section of the visible church, duly honouring the authority of the one Master and Lord, do we not see the evidence of these gifts, and administrations, and operations? What visible congregation of professing believers can say, that the instances and proofs of the working of the Spirit, in providing, by various gifts and manifestations, for the profit of the church and of the world, are limited to their own enclosure? And can the Spirit be where the church is not, just as richly, just as powerfully, just as evidently, as where the church is?

In 1806 Mr. Foster began to suffer from an affection of the throat, in consequence of which he was compelled to resign the pastoral office at Shepherd's-Barton. In

1808 he married, and removed to Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, where he resided for the next seven years. In 1815 he removed once more to Downend, having so far recovered his voice as to be able

to preach regularly. For seven years he was enabled to do this, and to attend to the various and laborious duties of a Minister of Christ; but his voice again failed, so that he was able to preach only occasionally; and soon after he fixed his residence at Stapleton, (in the immediate neighbourhood of Bristol,) and continued there till the close of his life. His time was occupied by what we may call his Christian literary pursuits, in the course of which he wrote largely for the press. In 1805 the "Eclectic Review' was established; and Mr. Foster was one of the stated contributors almost from the beginning, his last communication being in October, 1839. On the whole, his contributions amounted to one hundred and eighty-five articles; many of them extending to two, and some even to three, Numbers. About a third of these, fifty-nine, have now been selected, and published in the two volumes whose title is placed at the head of this article. In 1818 he preached the annual sermon for the Baptist Missionary Society, which was afterwards published, considerably_enlarged. His "Essay on the Evils of popular Ignorance" was first preached as a sermon before the British and Foreign School Society, at Bristol, in 1820, and subsequently published in its present form. Of some master-minds the characteristic talent is condensation; of others, enlargement. Mr. Wesley may be referred to as an instance of the former he was enabled to be brief without being obscure and meager. Of the latter, Mr. Foster is a remarkable example: he pulverized every piece of truth that came to his hands, and was not content without spreading forth its very atoms for consideration. In his hands the sermon became a treatise; not by the reiteration of commonplace truths in new forms of expres

sion, or by a series of transpositions of the same set of statements,ringing changes on the same bells, and altering nothing but the order; but by reducing every general truth to its constituent elements, and spreading out before the reader not words only, but significant words,words expressive of distinct and particular thoughts.

In 1825 he wrote a Preface, or rather an Introductory Essay, to a new edition of Doddridge's "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." As a piece of composition, the Essay deserves the praises which it has received; but we thought when it first appeared, and we think so still, that neither was Doddridge the author whom Mr. Foster should have been chosen to introduce, nor this particular work of Doddridge the one for exhibiting the principles of which Mr. Foster's mighty talents were best adapted. However excellent in itself,—and most readily do we admit its excellence,-yet, as an introduction to a work like the "Rise and Progress," describing the regular sequences of evangelical piety, we cannot but regard it as a failure. The principles which led to what we must always regard as the mistaken observations on which we have already remarked, would unavoidably occasion this. About the same time he was requested to write a similar kind of preface for a new edition of Pascal's Thoughts. We remember well the expectations which this announcement awakened, as well as the regret which was felt when it became known that the Essay would not be written. He several times, it seems, attempted to write it; but at length, yielding to the feelings which the perpetuallyrecurring marks of weakness in Pascal, as shown in his frequently expressed deference to the Church of which he was a member, occasioned, he gave up the task. It was, however, a task worthy the pen even of John Foster. Pascal's was a mighty intellect; and even his weaknesses might have been turned to good account, as exhibiting the strength, as well as genuineness, of his piety. We should view

those weaknesses very differently had Pascal been an English Romanist, dwelling in the immediate vicinity of the light of the Reformation. But he dwelt in an atmosphere of Popery. He had received its principles so early, that they had become intimately blended with all that he was accustomed to consider as primary truth, and which he never subjected to examination. Errors they were; and had his piety been less deep and fervent, they would have produced in him, as they have produced in multitudes, the most lamentable results. We should have liked to see, from Mr. Foster's pen, a description of the piety which was not borne down by these mistakes, but shot up and developed itself notwithstanding their existence, those up-shootings, how ever, being often directed, those developements being modified, by them. But such regrets are now in vain.

During the years 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825, he delivered a series of miscellaneous Lectures, a selection from which-comprising what cannot be more than about a fourth part of the whole-is now published. The two volumes, containing a selection from his Eclectic Reviews, complete, we suppose, what may be now taken as "the Works of John Foster,"-Works which will always maintain a high position in the religious literature of the English language.

Mr. Foster's last days were those of the devoted Christian. In a conversation with an esteemed friend a few weeks before he died, he spoke with deep feeling on the value of "the blood" which "cleanseth from all sin." At another time, when he found himself unable to perform some intended arrangement, he said, "But I can pray; and that is a glorious thing." At another time he was overheard repeating the whole of the solemnly delightful passage, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" His strength had been visibly declining for some time, and his departure at length was as free from all physical discomposure, as it was from all

mental disquietude. On Saturday, October 14th, (1843,) he complained of confusion in the head, and oppression in the chest. He was obliged, therefore, to decline his usual practice of hearing some one read to him, and requested to be left alone the whole of the afternoon and evening. On retiring to rest, he would not permit any one to sit up with him, but desired that all would go to bed. An attendant went in once or twice in the course of the night, and about day-break, and found him quietly sleeping. An hour afterwards, she went into his room, and found that all was over. His hands were stretched out, his countenance perfectly tranquil, as though the peaceful slumbers of worn-out nature had finally issued in the deep repose of death. About a month before, he had completed his seventy-third year.

We have said already that the "Reviews" selected for republication in this permanent, and (though we may not say acknowledged, yet) no longer anonymous, form, constitute only a small proportion, rather under one-third, of the entire number contributed by Mr. Foster to the pages of the "Eclectic." Two large densely-filled volumes are, indeed, no trivial addition to the existing stock of religious criticism. No one can complain that the Editor has overdone his task. We have seen a list of Mr. Foster's contributions to the "Eclectic;" and though we do not say that any article is omitted, which we should be glad to see in the place of some which are actually inserted, yet we could not have complained had the selection been even somewhat larger than it is. We are glad, however, to see the present volumes. Reviews are now becoming a most important branch of literature. We once heard the late Robert Hall say, in answer to the inquiry, whether he had read the last Number of the "Quarterly?" 46 Reviews, Sir! I never read reviews. I neither like reviews nor picture exhibitions. They throw my mind into perfect confusion. You have scarcely got into one subject, when you get out of it into another.