mention, that although the daughter of a retired officer of the army, unless in very early childhood, when there was a teacher in the family, Isabella had no advantages of education, but such as were afforded in the school attended by the children of the contiguous farmers and cottagers. The religion of the Gospel, however, elevated her mind, and polished her taste; and habitually conversant, as she was, with its great and glorious things, she easily found fit expressions for her thoughts, often, as may be seen, not a little memorable for their sublimity and beauty.

For various reasons, I have adopted the form in which the Memoir appears. It has had its disadvantages, which, I fear, may be felt by many: but I found, from the nature of my materials, I could best preserve the interest of the narrative, by moulding it into the form of an address to my own people.

ROBERT STORY

Ir has been beautifully said, by an old Divine,* that "to replenish this desolate world, with temples every where, and with the divine presence," is the design of God in the gospel. He follows out the metaphor, in a large disserta. tion, with great ingenuity, often with consummate elo. quence; and somewhere, in the course of his meditations, observes, that the method, which God has devised for its accomplishment, is exceedingly expressive of his love; for he has not merely told of what materials these temples must consist, which, of itself, would have been a great blessedness to men so darkly ignorant, through their apos. tacy; but, in pitiful consideration of their weakness and incapacity, he has made manifest to our very eyes "a primary and original temple, animated with his own glory, replenished with his own fulness, of pure and holy life and vigour," as the model of them all; an exemplary temple," the fair and lovely pattern of what we were, each of us, to be composed and formed unto, imitating us, for sweeter insinuation and allurement, in what was merely

John Howe.

natural, and inviting us to imitate him, in what was, in a communicable sort, supernatural and divine." By this device of God, we see how these materials are composed and put together ;-surveying at once "the beautiful frame in every part, the lovely imitable glory of the whole, the divine excellencies that beautify this original, exemplary temple."

In all this may be seen how tenderly God adjusts to our condition, the means he employs for our recovery from sin and misery; for, from whatever cause, we unquestionably cannot see or feel the power of truth in the abstract, in the same way as we do, when it comes home to our convictions and bosoms, in the form of example. This weakness must have been obvious to the very earliest teachers of our race, obtruding itself on their notice, while framing any scheme of tuition fitted to their capacity. Even in the first family of human beings, the father of us all must have had reason for regarding as true, what, in all ages, has been expressed in the form of a proverb, " Example is better than precept." He might have attempted to teach his offspring the princi. ples of religion and morals; unfolded, to the extent of his own knowledge, the character of God, his government, and his laws; the blessedness of obedience to his will, and the misery of apostacy from his service: but, all that he could say, howsoever powerful and impressive in itself, would derive tenfold energy from the vicissitudes of his own eventful history, and the illustrations which it afforded of the retribution of divine Providence, during the brief period of his joyful innocency, and the intermediate years of his sinful and sorrowful life.

From the beginning God knew what was in men; that, in addition to this incapacity, there was a disinclination to understand the abstract truths of religion, averse as they had become to holiness, the original end and purpose of their creation. He does not, therefore, in the Bible require

them to believe as true of him, or his providence, any thing unillustrated by facts of easy comprehension.-It is not, for example, by demonstrations of his necessary exist. ence, or of his possessing all possible perfections, but by individual manifestations of his power and wisdom, his pu rity and goodness, he reveals to them his character, and draws forth their veneration and homage. In the promul. gation of his laws also, he rests his claim to the obedience of the Israelites, rather upon the deliverance which he had wrought for them, than upon any abstract consideration of his omnipotent sovereignty; while generally it may be af firmed, that the obligations of holy living are enforced, by the contrasted experience of the righteous and the wicked, rather than by any announcement, as of an immutable decree of his government, of the necessary connexion of vir. tue with happiness, and vice with misery.

He knew, that they could judge of a fact, when they could not comprehend a principle; like one of their own infants, capable of feeling the kindness of its mother, while deriving nourishment from her breast, although without any general notion of the constraining power of the instincts and tendernesses of nature. By facts, therefore, did he from the beginning attempt to raise them to the knowledge of himself; and by this knowledge, to conform them to his likeness, according to the original end of their creation. All these, however, had reference, and were preparatory to the manifestation of that great device of his wisdom, the final and most perfect token of that love which yearned to rescue their souls from their debasement and misery, the erection of the holy temple of Christ's humanity. Now made visible in the frame of one like unto themselves, the possibility of any erroneous judgment of his character seemed to be taken away; and in the life of Jesus, showing how he wished his laws to be obeyed, none could remain in perplexity how to serve him.

To creatures so utterly destitute of the very first elements of divine knowledge, and averse to the acquisition of the art of holy living, or, in other words, the construction of a temple for the habitation of God, how merciful (independent of all other considerations and purposes) is the manifestation of the Lord Jesus! For, in the knowledge of God's character which his life gives, in erecting a temple after this model, beaming with all possible excellencies, is realized the true felicity and glory of their nature. He might have lived and died elsewhere; they might have heard only with the hearing of the ear, of his unspotted holiness, unequalled sufferings, and mysterious death; but, what would have then been the power? or rather what would have been the weakness of the gospel, without the visible events of his history, to accomplish the ends of God's love, which it professes to unfold, "in the filling of this desolate world with temples every where, and with his own presence?" To this exemplary temple the eyes of all men must be directed in obedience to the counsel, “Behold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth ;"'-"Look unto Jesus," and to the voice that proceeds from the sanctuary of the temple itself, "Learn of me."

If men look in other directions, they make void the decree of God's wisdom, and cannot possibly experience or inherit the blessedness which it has in store for them; nowhere else will they see the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person; and let their eyes wander where they may, they will see no excellency possessed of any attractiveness to withdraw them from their own evil and wretchedness; or in any way to raise, and purify, and make beautiful their nature." Look unto this, all ye ends of the earth, all ye kindred of the people," is imperative upon all who would be conformed to the holi ness in which God's soul delighteth; and to those who do so look, will it be known, how this temple, full of divine