་ George now remark'd that all was still as night, And hasten'd up with terror and delight; He sent th' indignant Boy to grieve scene 'Seduce my child, and make my house a The following Sermons are not indeed printed from DR. WATTS's own manuscripts; but there is satisfactory evidence that they are his genuine productions. The manuscripts, which bear clear marks of care and accuracy, are in the hand-writing of the REV. JOHN GOODHALL, formerly Minister of the Dissenting Congregation, over which Dr. CAREY now presides, at Box-lane, near Hemel-Hempstead. MR. GOODHALL was a cotemporary and friend of DR. WATTS, and survived him but a few months. Since his death, these papers have been preserved as a valuable family possession, and they are now published by one of his collateral descendants. It cannot now be ascertained, whether these discourses are [fool; By this rebellion?-Speak, you villain, 'Weeping! I warrant―sorrow makes 6 you dumb: [come; 'I'll ope your mouth, impostor! if I Let me approach-I'll shake you from 'the bed, [ther's dead!'You stubborn dog-Oh God! my bropp. 372, 373. NINE SERMONS, Preached in the Years 1718-19, by the late ISAAC WATTS, D.D. Now first published from MSS. in the family of a cotemporary friend. With a Preface, by JOHN PYE SMITH, D. D. London, Gale. 1812. Oct. pp. 195. Pr. 6s. IN the preface to this work, Dr. Smith has stated the grounds on which he is of opinion that these posthumous sermons are the genuine remains of the person to whom they are attributed, and has also given an account of the manuscripts from which they are printed. tran scripts from the Author's original copies, or were first taken in shorthand as delivered from the pulpit. Perhaps the latter may appear the more probable supposition, as the easy and colloquial forms of expression, which occur principally in the applicatory parts, seem to indicate the warmth and familiarity of extemporary address, rather than the result of studied composition. Those readers, who are familiar with DR. WATTS's manner of thought and style, as apparent in the Sermons and Discourses published by himself, will readily perceive internal evidence of the genuineness of the present publication. The characteristic features, both of sentiment and of expression, are numerous and remarkable. pp. iv-vi. The discourses, thus introduced, are said to have been among the first public labors of Dr. Watts after his long illness, which commenced in 1712, and rendered him incapable of resuming his ministerial functions, for a period of nearly five years. The topics on which they treat are the plain doctrines and duties of Christianity, and these important subjects the author has discussed in a perspicuous and scriptural style, without betraying any symptoms of a sectarian or controversial spirit. The sermons, which are nine in number, have the following titles prefixed to them: I. The Prayer of Christ for his Church.-II. The Believer crucified with Christ.-III. Christ the Author of Spiritual Life.-IV. The Believer living by Faith.-V. God the Author of an Effectual Ministry.-VI. Evidences of the Efficacy of Divine Influence.-VII. The Carnal Mind at Enmity with Christ.-VIII. The Nature and Duty of Thanksgiving.— IX. The Nature and Duty of Thanksgiving. From the second discourse the following observations are extracted: Christ's death is also the pattern of a believer's crucifixion to the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ, young as he was, in the full vigor of life and in a capacity for the enjoyment of all the delights of sense, left the world. The death of Christ speaks this in the ear and heart of every believer, "The world is not worth living in." The death of Christ, and his abandoning the world so soon, have poured abundance of contempt upon the manner of living in this world. The life of Christ in the world, in poverty, in the form of a servant, has poured scorn upon all the grandeur, riches, and honors of it. The King of heaven, when he dwelt here upon earth, did not think them worth taking. The manner of his death and burial has poured contempt upon every thing that is magnificent in death; upon all the pomp of funerals, and the honors of the grave. He hung upon the cross, and submitted to death in the most dishonorable way, by dying like a malefactor or a slave; his body was begged and conveyed away to a private sepulchre in a garden, though he might have had the attendance of mourning angels, and all the show of heaven waiting at his funeral. All this was appointed to humble the pride of man, to make us see that there is nothing in all the vanities of life desirable. Our Head has despised them all. pp. 31, 32. In the third discourse the Christian is represented as thus reasoning with himself: "Was Christ meek, and mild, and full of love, and shall I be passionate and revengeful? Was he meek, humble, and lowly; shall I be proud, and haughty, and aspiring? Did he talk kindly and with much compassion to those that were far below him, and shall I be morose, and take upon me to rule, and domineer, and behave with a haughty and imperious air towards my inferiors, when my Lord Jesus was so condescending? Does not the same Spirit that dwelt in him dwell in me, and shall I not be like him? Was he zealous for God, and did he speak boldly against the corruptions of the times, and contradictions of men, and shall I be ashamed to speak a word for God and Christ? Did he resist the tempter and his temptations, and shall I comply with them, and yield to them? Had he words of the Old Testament dwelling in him, to answer the tempter upon all occasions, and shall not I have words of the Old and the New, the New, that is so preferable for my support, for my comfort and resource under continual difficulties? Was he patient under the injuries of men, and did he endure the contradiction of sinners, and shall I be impatient, full of fire and revenge, in opposition to the pure and mild spirit of my Lord? Did he submit to his Father's will, and drink the cup that the Father put into his hands, though it was a cup of more bitter sorrows than any that is put into my hands to taste, and shall' not I speak in the same language, The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? O my soul, aim at this divine original, this heavenly pattern! Be as like as possible to thy Saviour here upon earth, since it is Christ's own Spirit that dwells in thee; that when Christ shall appear, thou mayest appear also, and he like him when thou shalt see him as he is." pp. 69, 70. The illness of Dr. Watts is thus alluded to in the introduction to the sermon on the duty of thanksgiving: You will easily forgive me, if I take occasion sometimes when God calls me out to minister among you, to spread before you some of those meditations that have supported me under my own long sorrows, and have awakened me to exercise the duty which St. Paul here recommends, and which afflictions too often unfit us for. I hope they may be also useful to raise your graces into lively and joyful exerise, and to make the christian appear more honorable in the world and walk more comfortably with regard to this life. Long afflictions are apt to bury all our sense of mercies, to destroy that thankful frame of spirit which should be ever found with us, and to deprive God of his due of praise for the blessings that we have, and the greater blessings that we hope for. Yet perpetual thankfulness is so excellent and valuable a temper of mind, and so everlasting a duty, that I would be ever calling upon my own heart to practise it, and I would fain awaken inyself and you to pursue, to possess, and to maintain this holy and divine frame. There is not a day or hour of our life, there is not a circumstance or condition of human nature, in body or mind, that can exempt or excuse us from this duty; for the words of my text are, In every thing give thanks. pp. 161, 162. Among the directions, given in the last sermon, for maintaining a thankful spirit is the following: Compare your sufferings with the sufferings of Christ for you. When we sustain our little sorrows, we are ready to say to all our friends around us, O ye that pass by, is there any sorrow like unto my sorrow? but we are ready then to forget the sorrows of our Lord, when it pleased the Father to bruise him for our sins, and great drops, as it were of blood, ran from his body to the ground, by reason of the anguish of his soul, by reason of his dreadful sorrows, under that wrath of God that you and I deserve. We know not the bitterness of the Almighty's wrath, but our Saviour has known it, for he felt it once for you and me. Look at Christ in the garden, when your sorrows seem so high that you can only mourn, and learn thankfulness. Look Christ upon the cross, look at him crucified between two malefactors as the chief of them. When you feel uneasy under your reproaches and shame, that you bear at any time here on earth, look at the greater sorrows of your Lord, and say, "All these he deserved not, yet he felt them all my sorrows and many more I have deserved, yet I am unthankful." Blush and be ashamed at such a thought. pp. 188, 189. EX TENTAMINIBUS METRICIS at Puerorum in Schola Regia Edinensi Provectiorum electa Anno MDCCCXII. Edinburgi, Blackwood; Londini, Murray. 1812. 12mo. pp. 116. Pr. 3s. MR. PILLANS, the editor of this collection, informs us that he assisted the natural talents of his juvenile pupils, by suggesting the common-places which were appli 1 For a critical Review of this work see No. XII. of the Classical Journal. cable to the different themes. The Rose is one of the subjects on which these youthful aspirants have employed their respective abilities; and to secure ourselves from the imputation of partiality, we add all the essays devoted to this topic, in elegiac verse. I. Dic mihi Musa modum quo ornetur laude decorâ [alit? Flos tibi quem musco caulis opertus Qui possim dignè faciem celebrare rubentem; [comæ ? E calyce exsurgunt quum viridante Qui florem plenum, cùm se frons explicat almo [apes? Phobo, cùmque vagas mella morantur Sed cur pallescis, cadit et tua gloria terræ ? fugit. Dum loquor, in ventos forma repente Qui te describam? fugisti; et spina relicta [rosa. Nulla dat amissæ nunc monumenta Sic hominis decedit honor, viridisque juventas [rosa. Sæpe cadit veluti in germine carpta Sol oriens juvenem vidit persæpe vigentem, [jacet. Cujus ad occasum corpus inane Mortis tempestas homines, ut flamina flores, [viris. Aufert, et summis fit mora nulla Sic, mortale genus, trahimur, properante senectâ, [aquæ. In flumen secum cuncta ferentis GUL. MENZIES. II. Quando aret, multoque dehiscit terra calore, In tellure jaces jam viduata comis. Sic genus humanum est, sic omnia gaudia vitæ, [cadunt. Quæ durant horam, protinus atque Heu! quoties juvenem tenerum, puerilibus annis [manu! Florentem, gelidâ mors rapit atra Sic flos, qui viridi cùm fortè legatur in horto, Vere novo florens, perditur ante diem. Adde quod imperium est, et vana poten. tia terris ; Virtus æterna in secula sola manet; Ut semper frondes servans Parnassia laurus, [potest. Omnia quæ brumæ flamina ferre H. GORDON. V. Flos Veneri sacer, atque ipsis gratissime divis, [honor. Purpurei fragrans, O Rosa, veris Primùm flore novo foliisque recenti bus halas," [comis, Passaque mox rubris fulgis amicta Dulcem, prata hilarans, latè diffundis odorem, Et natura suum jam Dea jactat opus. At quamvis pulchra es, tamen, eheu! quàm brevis ævi, [perit. Gratia quàm subitò quàm penitùsque Manè viget levibus gratisque refecta pruinis, Languens sed primo vespere sicca cadit. Haud aliter splendens mendaci gloria fuco, [vana fugit. Claret, dum remanet; sic quoque Haud aliter fragilis damnosa superbia sceptri, [adest. Et regale decus, per breve tempus Haud aliter nomen, laus, et fortuna caduca, Omnia sunt certo nescia stare loco. Sola manens virtus, nullo mutabilis ævo, Solatur, mortis quum venit atra dies. Virtus, post mortem, tendens ad sidera vivit, Et fugit extremi tristia fata rogi. D. K. SANdford. The Preface will best explain the reason for this publication. Hæc carmina, qualiacunque sint, à pueris quorum nomina subjiciuntur reverà fuisse scripta, jampridem compertum habui. Nihil in eis præceptoris est, nisi perpaucæ emendationes verborum et syllabarum, quæ omnino in tali re fieri solent. Scriptorum unus tantùm quindecim annos implevit : reliqui fere omnes annum decimum quartum ætatis agunt. Haud amplius septendecim menses effluxere ex quo elementa versus faciendi primis labris attigerunt. Neque omnibus alumnis hanc exercitationem proposui; ab iis tantùm expectavi, qui condiscipulos celeritate ingenii prævertentes, novum aliquod doctrinæ curriculum sibi poscere videbantur. Non igitur ob hoc in publicum prodeunt, ut cum exquisitioribus in scholis Anglicis versibus confectis compa▾ rentur, ubi pueri à teneris unguibus usque ad decimum septimum annum in his studiis versantur; sed partim, ut experimenti in disciplinâ publicâ exitus cum civibus communicetur, partim ut, quantum in me est, deleaatur ista macula, quæ penitus jam insedit atque inveteravit in Scotorum nomine: quod ii, qui, de scientia et philosophia optime meruerunt, literis humanioribus minus imbuti sunt, et præsertim in prosodia quotidie titubant. Nec mihi injucundum erit, hoc extremo et inusitato honoris præmio afficere, atque ita ad majora accendere, pueros ingenuos, qui honestis tantùm stimulis exciti, et, præter laudem, nullius avari,' se huic studio dediderunt et nulla parte disciplinæ tralaticia neglecfa, hæc insuper, subsecivi temporis opera, elaborârunt. Mibi quoque persuasum est, non sine oblectatione quadam hocce opusculum lecturos esse illos, quos vim et naturam animi eo tempore intueri juvat, quo dotes ejus incrementa sumere inceperint; et simul observare, quam sensim in eodem exercitationis genere indies proficiant. Et quo magis ad hos fructus percipiendos via pateat, plurium de eâdem re versiculos subjeci, ætatem cujusque notavi, et rerum ordinem ita disposui, ut series continua versuum, ab Idibus Octobris anni præteriti, usque ad Nonas Quintiles vertentis exhibeatur. Hoc tantum Lectorem monendum velim,--ne mira forte videatur ista similitudo et quasi cognatio inter se exercitationum diversorum puerorum de 1 |