minister was directed to answer the very objections which he had commonly brought against himself; and though the same answers had often occurred to him, they had not before afforded him any relief. But now Jehovah's time of mercy had arrived, and the truth was received, not as the word of man, but as the word of the living and true God. The sermon was a very plain one; the preacher was never known; but the effect was mighty through the blessing of God." pp. 27, 28.

The facts of this case are doubtless authentic, and may have deserved to be recorded; but, as we have already remarked, there is an air in the narration which by no means pleases us. The young clergyman, in his despondency, having, it would appear, no settled place of worship, either as a minister or a hearer, is persuaded to go "to hear" a zealous popular preacher; and so strictly with many of the congregation was it going "to hear Mr. Edmund Calamy," instead of going to worship God, that, when it was understood a stranger was to preach,

many left the church." Mr. Owen, however, remained; and this notwithstanding the tempting bait of going "to hear Mr. Jackson, the minister of St. Michael's, Wood Street, a man of prodigious application as a scholar, and considerable celebrity as a preacher." We seldom augur much benefit from persons running "to hear" an "eloquent" preacher, instead of quietly attending their accustomed place of worship; but though Mr. Owen had, in the first instance, it would seem, been thus allured to Aldermanbury by Mr. Calamy's "eloquence" and "boldness," we should still have considered that his determination to remain where he was, in the house of God, notwithstanding the change of preacher, was such a proper mark of reverence for the service of the Almighty, and of a desire to be instructed by whomever God should send as his minister, such a befitting indication of faith, humility, patience, and genuine devotion,

that we should have been fully prepared to learn that bis hopes had not been disappointed, if we had not unhappily been informed, to

make the narrative more remarkable, that his reason for remaining was not founded on any argument of religious propriety, but was simply that he happened to be already" seated, and was unwilling to walk further;" and that even then the spirit of migration was suspended only "till he should see who was to preach." We will only say of this narrative, that whatever supposed instruction it may convey, it does not exhibit an example to be imitated. Our author, we think, ought specifically to have stated this; lest the absence of any expression of disapprobation, at these desultory habits in Divine worship,

should leave it to be inferred that the fair moral of the narrative is: "Go thou, and do likewise— wander wherever curiosity or accident may lead, expecting a blessing not to be obtained in the usual course of Divine providence, and under settled habits of pastoral communion." Mr. Orme, however, derives from the narrative, the following inferences, which we transcribe for the consolation of all faithful ministers of Christ, and for the instruction and benefit of their hearers. His remarks would have been more pertinent, as respects the latter, if Mr. Owen's remaining in church had been ascribed to a better cause. And, after all, we cannot but think that his motive was, in truth, a far better one than that assigned; that he humbly submitted his inclination to his duty; that he was found, as he himself would express it, in a waiting posture; "and that thus the sovereignty of God was exhibited, as it usually is in his providence, fully concurring with, and not contrary to, the train of preparatory dispositions which, by his Holy Spirit, he has excited in the minds of his servants. This is indeed confirmed by the prayer which Mr. Owen of

fered up at the commencement of the discourse. Mr. Orme's inferences are as follow.

"It is not by might nor by power that the Lord frequently effects the greatest works; but by means apparently feeble, and even contemptible. Calamy was a more eloquent and polished preacher than this country stranger; and yet Owen had, perhaps, heard him often in vain. Had he left the church, as was proposed, he might have been disappointed elsewhere; but he remained, and enjoyed the blessing. The facts now recorded may afford encourage ment and reproof, both to ministers and

hearers. It may not always be practi

cable to hear whom we admire; but if he

be a man of God, an eminent blessing may accompany his labours. The country minister may never have known, till he arrived in another world, that he had been instrumental in relieving the mind of John Owen; and, doubtless, many similar occurrences are never known here. How encouraging is this to the faithful labourer! It may appear strange to some, that the same truths should be productive of effect at one time, and not at another. But those who are at all acquainted with the progress of the Gospel among men will not be surprised. The success of Christianity, in every instance, is the effect of Divine sovereign influence; and that is exerted in a manner exceedingly mysterious to us. The wind bloweth

where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'' p. 28.

His long continued depression of mind thus removed, Owen recovered his health and elasticity of spirits, and went on his way rejoicing." Shortly after this period, he is supposed to have commenced his ministerial labours in London; but no authentic particulars are recorded of this part of his history.

His literary career is better known. While living in Charterhouse Square, he published his first work, the "Display of Arminianism," which was followed by a succession of publications to the very last day of his life. Mr. Orme has collected a list of nearly eighty of his works; and it is probable that

some anonymous ones may have escaped research, or have never been known as coming from his pen. Of publications thus numerous, and some of them, especially the Exposition of the Hebrews, very voluminous, we cannot present a bare catalogue, and much less attempt a critique or analysis. A few notices and comments may occur in the progress of our remarks; but our wish is, in the present review, rather to confine ourselves to the history of Dr. Owen, than to dilate upon his writings. His publications were in general hastily composed, amidst a distracting pressure of engagements, and in a style avowedly at war with all the Graces and the Muses. Most of them are controversial; some of them are even litigious; all are more or less uncouth and desultory: the principles of Calvinism and Independency, both in doctrine and discipline, run throughout their texture; and not a few of them, the most admired perhaps in their day, relate in a large degree to books and arguments, to men and measures, now little known or heeded. Such a list of limitations and exceptions would leave little or nothing in the works of any ordinary man for the benefit of succeeding times; yet, up to the present moment, many of the writings of Dr. Owen continue in high and deserved repute; and those who least approve of some of the peculiar sentiments of the author may advantageously resort to them on the basis of our common Christianity, and find in them a mine of inexhaustible theological wealth. On all that relates to the great principles of religious truth, the details of the Christian life, the interpretation of Scripture, and the defence of the faith once delivered to the saints, against almost every species of heresy, Dr. Owen has bequeathed to the world an abundant treasure of learning and piety. His exposition of the Hebrews alone would place him in the very first rank of Christians and divines,

Faults it certainly has it is sometimes fanciful, and, like his other works, almost always redundant: its positions are not always sound; its arguments are not always conclusive; its spirit is sometimes not happy: but where shall we find on the book of the Hebrews, or, we might add, on any other part of Scripture, a series of treatises equally valuable; a work combining equal learning and research, especially on Jewish subjects,-equal knowledge of the Old-Testament dispensation, and its connexion with the New, and equal ability in critical interpretation, doctrinal instruction, and practical application? It is not a thoroughly safe book for young divines, nor quite an acceptable book to churchmen and anti-Calvinists; but it is still truly a mas ter-piece, and will long and justly perpetuate in the Christian church the memory of its pious and indefatigable author.

The "Display of Arminianism" was published in 1642, and was dedicated to the Parliamentary Committee of Religion, having been appointed by the House of Commons to be printed for the public welfare. Owen had not yet embraced the principles of Independency; for, in the preface to this work, he expresses himself strongly respecting the evils which he apprehended would come upon the State by means of the differences in the Church, and implores the interference of Parliament. "Are there," says he, "any disturbances of the state? they are usually attended with schisms and factions in the church; and the divisions of the church are too often the subversion of the commonwealth." He seems at this period fully to have admitted the lawfulness and propriety, not to say the necessity, of an alliance between the church and the state; but, remarks his biographer, "he was destined soon to acquire more correct sentiments." This treatise seems to have been more carefully

CHIRST. OBSERV. No. 264.

revised and polished than some of his subsequent works. It was not, however, written in that spirit of meekness which ought ever to characterise religious controversy. Mr. Orme himself readily admits that "it discovers occasionally a considerable degree of sharpness and severity;" a fault, in our opinion, so grievous as not to be excused on account of such palliations as any alleged "licentious freedoms of the writers he opposes," or his own "strong convictions of the dangerous tendency of their opinions.' Mr. Orme justly and candidly remarks on this subject, that though "it is the duty of all who know the Gospel, and especially of those who preach it, to watch the progress of error, and to endeavour to obstruct it; it is of infinite importance that this should be done with Christian temper, and by the employment of those weapons which Christianity sanctions." p. 35.

This treatise gained for Mr. Owen from the Presbyterian Parliamentary "Committee for purging the Church of scandalous Ministers," the gequestrated living of Fordham, in Essex. The sequestered incumbent, Mr. Pully, might have plausibly turned against Owen one of his own complaints, in his "Display of Arminianism," only changing the word Arminianism into Calvinism. "Never," says Mr. Owen, in that treatise, "were so many prodigious errors introduced into a church, with so high a hand, and with so little opposition, since Christians were known in the world. The chief cause I take to be that which Eneas Sylvius gave, why more maintained the Pope to be above the Council, than the Council above the Pope; because Popes gave archbishoprics and bishoprics, &c., but the Councils sued in forma pauperis, and, therefore, could scarce get an advocate to plead their cause. The fates of our church having of late devolved the government of it on men tainted with this poison, Arminianism became backed with the powerful

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