or, in the words of Herbert, that he was a man, Who makes flat war with God, and doth defy If a religion, to which the nature of man is so hostile, did actually make its way without force, and against the utmost cruelty and discouragement from the world; that fact was a miracle, including within itself a thousand other miracles. See, on the other hand, how Paganism, Mahometism, and modern Atheism, were and are supported and propagated: the Pagan Idols by ten bloody persecutions, with every act of outrageous mockery and insult, for want of reasons and miracles: the religion of Mahomet (a sort of Chrisitian Heresy) by rewards of sensuality and the power of the sword; that is, by force and temptation: the Atheism of France by farcical representation and ridicule of truth, assisted in the rear by imprisonments, murders, and confiscations. These be thy gods, O Infidelity, by the power of which thy kingdom is established in the world! These efforts of violence show the weakness of false reason, and the strength of that which is true; and demonstrate, that men were prevailed upon by true evidence, L 4 evidence, and rational persuasion, to receive the Christiain faith. Here lie the merits of the cause in a small compass: and let all the infidels upon earth lay their heads together, and give a direct answer. Swift assures us, from his own observations, and I believe very truly, that a man was "always vicious before he became an "unbeliever;" and that "reasoning will never "make a man correct an opinion, which by "reasoning he never acquired." Some service, however, is done to the cause of piety, and defensive weapons are put into the hands of those whose minds are as yet uncorrupted, when the malice or ignorance of an infidel is exposed by an examination of his objections: the corruption of his mind is thereby displayed in such a manner, that even a child may see it and therefore we are much obliged to Dr. Horne, for answering the doubts of infidels, and for reasoning his answer with such wit and spirit, that the work, in some parts of it, has the force of a comedy it should therefore be put into the hands of young people, that they may see how foolish some men are, when they pretend to be over-wise. The Letter to Dr. Priestley from an Under-graduate, that to Dr. Adam Smith on the Character of David Hume, and the Letters оп on Infidelity, are three choice pieces upon the same argument, which should always go together. But suppose infidelity is answered, the business is not all done: we have still the believing unbeliever to contend with, of whom there is but little hope. The Christian evidence can certainly have no effect on those that deny it: but that it should have so little effect on some that believe it, and even argue and dispute well for it, this is the greatest wonder of all : but so the matter stands. There is a sort of people amongst us, who believe Christianity as a fact, while they deny it as a truth and such persons may do more harm, and be themselves as far from the kingdom of heaven, as the open unbeliever: the Gospel assures us, that he and the hypocrite will have their portion together. Priestley asserts the facts of Christianity against the Philosophers of France, while he believes no more of its truth than the Sadducees of Jerusalem did, who yet never denied that God had spoken unto Moses. That men professing Christianity should be under temptations to vice, we can easily understand: but that their minds should believe and deny, at the same time, concerning the same thing, there is the difficulty. May it be said, that the mind has antecedently admitted admitted a principle, which militates against the truth while it does not militate against the fact? God knows how the matter is: but I see too much of it in the world. Though the imagination of Dr. Horne was sometimes at play when the Speculum of Infidelity was in his hand, his heart was always serious: thence it came to pass, that the composition of sermons was a work never out of his mind; and it was the desire and the pleasure of his life to make himself useful in the pulpit wherever he went. The plan which he commonly proposed to himself in preaching upon a passage of the Scripture was that of giving, 1. The literal sense of it then, 2. The interpretation or spirit of it and 3. The practical or moral use of it, in an application to the audience: and he was of opinion, that one discourse, composed upon this plan, was worth twenty immethodical essays; as being more instructive in the matter, more intelligible in the delivery, and more easily retained in the memory. Yet, after long practice, he came to a determination, that no method was more excellent, than that of taking some narrative of the Scripture, and raising moral observations on the several circumstances of it in their order. His Sermon on Lot in Sedom, vol. II. disc. i. and on Daniel in Babylon, vol. II. disc. viii. are of this kind. The Noble Convert, or History of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, vol. II. disc. iii. is another. The Paralytic, and the Woman taken in Adultery, belong to the same class. One of the most skilful and excellent preachers this Church could ever boast, was the late Dr. Heylyn, a Prebendary of Westminster. His discourse on the Canaanite was considered by Dr. Horne as a most perfect and elegant model of a sermon, on a miracle, or any other portion of the Scripture; he pronounced it to be succinct, clear, and forcible, with nothing in it superfluous or tiresome and, it came into his mind, on reading it, that another after the same model might be composed on the Samaritan Woman and the discourse our Saviour held with her. This he lived to execute. It is still among his unpublished discourses, and is itself worthy to be printed, as a specimen of this manner. There are certainly different modes of preaching, all of which are good in their way : some are most proper for one subject, some for another. One of these is that of Jesus Christ himself; who, from present occasions, and circumstances of time and place, made use of the opportunity |