malignant party gratified, and the public is be-· guiled by false accounts: the deception may continue for a time; but truth and justice generally take place at last.

There is a portion of the New Testament, very interesting and full of matter, on which the author of the Considerations, soon after he was in holy orders, bestowed much thought and labour; I mean the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. On this he composed at least twenty sermons; which are all excellent; but being more agreeable to the spirit of the first ages than of the present, he was not forward, though frequently solicited, to give them to the world. He objected, that they wanted to be reviewed with a more critical eye, and even to be recomposed; and that this would be a work of time. Toward the latter end of his life, however, he set about it, but got no farther than through the third discourse. The first is on the Character of Abel, the second on Enoch, the third on Noah. Of these I have the copy, and hope it will be published. Whoever looks at them, will wish he had lived to satisfy his mind about all the rest. They would certainly have been improved by such a revision; yet, perhaps, not so much as

he

he supposed. First thoughts, upon a favourite subject, are warm and lively; and the language they bring with them is strong and natural; out prudence is apt to be cold and timorous; and, while it adds a polish, takes away something from the spirit of a composition.

But the greatest work of his life, of which he now began to form a design, was a Commentary on the whole Book of Psalms. In the year 1758, he told me how he had been meditating on the Book of Psalms, and had finished those for the first day of the month, upon the following plan: 1. An analysis of the Psalm, by way of argument. 2. A paraphrase on

each verse.

3. The substance digested into a prayer. "The work (said he) delights me "greatly, and seems, so far as I can judge of

my own turn and talents, to suit me the best "of any I can think of. May he, who hath "the keys of David, prosper it in my hand;

granting me the knowlege and utterance ne

cessary to make it serviceable to the "church!" Let any person of judgment peruse the work, and he will see how well the

author

This plan he afterwards thought proper to alter, and, as it is judged, for the better.

author has succeeded, and kept up the spirit of it to the end. His application of the book of Psalms is agreeable to the testimony so repeatedly given to it, and the use made of it, in the New Testament. This question is stated and settled beyond a doubt, in a learned preface to the work. The style is that of an accomplished writer; and its ornaments distinguish the vigour of his imagination. That all readers.

should admire it as I do, is not to be expected; yet it has certainly met with great admiration; and I have seen letters to him, from persons of the first judgment, on the publication of the book. It will never be neglected, if the church and its religion should continue; for which he prayed fervently every day of his life. When it first came from the press, Mr. Daniel Prince, his bookseller at Oxford, was walking to or from Magdalen College with a copy of it under his arm. "What have you there, Mr. Prince?", said a gentleman who met him. This, sir, " is a copy of Dr. Horne's Psalms, just now "finished. The President, sir, began to write

66

very young but this is the work in which he "will always live." In this Mr. Prince judged very rightly he will certainly live in this work;

but

but there are many others of his works, in which he will not die, till all learning and piety shall die with him.

I

His Commentary on the Psalms was under his hand about twenty years. The labour, to which he submitted in the .course of the work, was prodigious: his reading for many years was allotted chiefly to this subject; and his study and meditation together produced as fine a work, and as finely written, as most in the English language. There are good and learnedmen, who cannot but speak well of the work, and yet are forward to let us know, that they do not follow Dr. Horne as an interpreter. believe them; but this is one of the things we have to lament: and, while they may think this an honour to their judgment, I am afraid it is a symptom that we are retrograde in theological learning. The author was sensible, that, after the pleasure he had received in studying for the work, and the labour of composing and correcting, he was to offer what the age was ill prepared to receive. This put him upon guard; and the work is in some respects the better for it, in others not so good; it is more cautiously and correctly written, but perhaps not so richly furnished with matter as it might

his

have been.

Had he been composing a novel, he would have been under none of these fears: his imagination might then have taken its course, without a bridle, and the world would have followed as fast as he could wish.

The first edition in quarto was published in the year 1776, when the author was vice-chancellor; and it happened, soon after its publication, that I was at Paris. There was then a Christian University in the place! and I had an opportunity of recommending it to some learned gentlemen who were members of it, and understood the English language well. I took the liberty to tell them, our church had lately been enriched by a Commentary on the Psalms; the best in our opinion, that had ever appeared; and such as St. Austin would have perused with delight, if he had lived to see it. At my return the author was so obliging.as to furnish me with a copy to send over to them as a present; and I was highly gratified by the approbation with which it was received. With those who could read English, it was so much in request, that I was told the book was never out of hand; and I apprehend more copies were sent for. Every intelligent Christian, who once knows the value of it, will keep it, to the

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