you advance your views as a supposition or theory. We may admit that you are on legitimate ground; but you must at the same time admit that you are not on Scriptural ground,-your position is non-Scriptural, though perhaps not anti-Scriptural.

Scarcely anything could be of more value in theological discussion, (save piety itself,) than to understand and practically keep in view the true nature and uses of the hypothesis or theory. It is important for every believer, in order to the intelligence and soundness of his faith, that he first understand what is positively revealed doctrine: and then that he draw a broad line of discrimination between that and human opinions. The declaration of Scripture is certain. The hypothesis, theory, philosophy, may be possible, reasonable, probable even. it has not the seal of God upon it.

But

Of course, this clear discrimination is of consequence to the controversialist. He should know whether he is contending for some doctrine of God's Word or for some theory respecting that doctrine. And with equally clear discrimination should he be able to determine for which of these objects his opponent is doing battle. If the matter we question be a truth of Holy Writ, then is he bound to be, not harsh and denunciatory, but positive and uncompromising. If the matter in question be a philosophy of doctrine-hypothesis, or explanation or theory, on which the Scriptures are silent, then should he remember that here good men may differ.

Of none the less importance is this subject to the preacher. Let him determine which he is preaching. If it be the express Word of God, let him preach it as such with all the authority of high Heaven. But if, instead of positively revealed doctrine, it be his philosophy of doctrine, (and such philosophical explanations may be at times not unimportant,) let him apprehend what he is doing, let him apprise his people what he is doing. Let him teach his hearers to accept the one because God declares it, and this is reason enough; and to accept the other as possible, or probable if it so commends itself, with that qualified acceptance which is due to the suppositions or deductions of fallible men. "The prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream; and he that hath my Word, let him speak my Word faithfully."

Of that which we have spoken, therefore, this is the sum. The use of the hypothesis or theory is not forbidden. It is not necessarily mischievous. It prevails in Science. It has its uses in Theology. It may silence an objector. It may relieve a dif ficulty and confirm the believer. It may result in some satisfactory and established conclusion. But see to it that in ad

vancing or pressing your theory there be no savor of irreverence towards God and Scripture, either in your views or in your manner of presenting them. See to it that you maintain as true and settled no theory which conflicts with a known fact in Nature or doctrine of Revelation. Guard with the most jealous care against harmonizing Scripture with your theory, instead of harmonizing your theory with Scripture. Abuse not Scripture to make it subservient to your Philosophy. Attach no undue authority to your hypothesis, lest you be arrogant or uncharitable to your fellow-men. Distinguish with the utmost care between doctrine and hypothesis; that you may advance your own hypothesis with becoming humility and diffidence; that you may treat him whose hypothesis differs from yours with courtesy and charity; that you forbear anathematizing as a heretic him who rejects your theory or philosophy, as if he were rejecting an essential of revealed doctrine. Make the distinction. You need to as an intelligent Christian: You need to as a controversialist. You need to as a preacher. Use then your liberty. your liberty. Propound your hypothesis or theory. Put it to its legitimate use. Avoid its dangers. And ever remember that he who has only a theory to maintain should be reverent towards God, modest and charitable towards his fellow

men.

ART. II.-THE PURITAN CLERGY OF NEW ENGLAND.

Annals of the American Pulpit; or, Commemorative Notices of distinguished Clergymen of various Denominations, from the Settlement of the Country to the close of the Year 1855. With Historical Introductions. By WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. Vols. I and II. New York: Robert Carter and Brothers. 1856.

By the time these sheets are issued, the first installment of this long expected work will probably be in the hands of many of our readers. Having ourselves been permitted to look over, in advance, a considerable part of these volumes, we take this

early opportunity to express our sense of the service done to the living ministry, and to the Church at large, by the erection of such a monument to the memory of deceased clergymen who were distinguished in their day. It was a work of urgent necessity. The names of the good and great are the wealth of history. The names of such in the Christian ministry, are the jewels of the Church; and she cannot afford to lose them. Such men belong to no single period, place, or country. They belong to all time, to all ages, to all nations. A sacred obligation, therefore, rests on those who have it in their power to see that suitable memorials of them are preserved. So rarely is this work attended to, however, by those on whom it properly devolves, that the task of forming anything like a complete encyclopædia of clerical biography is rendered extremely difficult.

Although Dr. Sprague has not, perhaps, proposed to himself to accomplish quite so much as this, yet when we think of the wide field covered by his annals, and of the vast amount of labor and trouble involved in the collection and arrangement of the materials they contain, we certainly admire the courage which deliberately undertook the work, and the patience which has at last completed it. If it shall hereafter be found that many persons are not noticed in its pages, whose characters and talents rendered them every way worthy of such commemoration, this will appear far less surprising to us, than the fact that materials have been obtained out of which to form satisfactory sketches of so very large a number. It is not every able minister that becomes extensively known even to his own generation. The days of many pastors who intellectually and spiritually are men of power, and who by their lives and labors exert a most salutary influence in their sphere, are passed in comparatively retired positions. Of many a pastor it may be said, in the words of Goldsmith,

"Remote from towns he ran his godly race,

And ne'er had changed, nor wished to change his place ;" and the number of such was much greater in the quiet days of old, than in the present generation, when the noise of the rattling car has penetrated even so many of the most sequestered regions. When such men die, though their influence of course flows on, it often happens that, in the course of a very few years, their personal characteristics and their history become almost unknown; and before a century is past, there is little left in relation to them but loose and unreliable traditions. Even in the case of those who have occupied prominent posts,

it is likely to become difficult to obtain accurate information, if the work of collecting it be delayed beyond a moderate period. Many interesting facts in relation to eminent ministers of the last century, for instance, are doubtless already lost; and but for the generous labor of the excellent author of the work before us, these treasures of individual history, now saved for coming time, would likewise, in all probability, very many of them have perished, before the close of the present century. It was necessary to collect them now or never.

We give from the "General Preface" a few paragraphs, which exhibit the main features of the plan adopted by Dr. Sprague in the preparation and arrangement of his work:

"My conception of the work was, (at first,) very imperfect, and I had no thought of extending it beyond a single volume, which should include a few of the most brilliant lights, without regard either to denomination or chronological order. I was led, however, after surveying more carefully the field of my labors, to the conclusion, that the limits that I had prescribed to myself were too narrow for the contemplated work. And as the number of worthy subjects increased, my plan proportionably enlarged, until it finally embraced all who have been in any considerable degree distinguished, from the earliest settlement of the country to the present time.

"In the construction of the work, I have had an eye indirectly to the history of the Church, as well as directly to the biography of its ministers. I have, therefore, kept each denomination by itself, and have arranged the names under each chronologically, so that the gradual changes in the ministry can easily be traced, and the progress of the denomination also, so far as it is identified with the character and doings of its ministers. A chronological index is placed at the beginning of each denomination, and an alphabetical index at the close. "The work is chiefly distinguished by two characteristics. One is, that the testimony concerning character, is, with very few exceptions, original—it is not only the sentiment but the very language, of the individual who could speak from actual knowledge. The rule, in every case practicable, has been to procure from some well known person or persons, a letter or letters containing their recollections and impressions illustrative of the character; but where there has been no one living to testify-as was uniformily the case with all who died before 1770-I have availed myself of the best testimony of their contemporaries from funeral sermons, obituary notices, &c., that I could obtain. And where, as in a very few instances, I have not been able even to do this, I have endeavored to substitute that which seemed to me to come nearest to original testimony-that is, the opinion of those who, without having known the individuals, were best qualified, from peculiar circumstances, to form a correct judgment concerning them.

"The other characteristic features of the work is, that it at least claims an exemption from denominational partiality. Though I have, of course, my own theological views and ecclesiastical relations, which I sacredly and gratefully cherish, I have not attempted in this work to defend them even by implication: my own aim has been to present what I supposed to be a faithful outline of the life and character of each individual, without justifying or condemning the opinions they have respectively held."

We do not see that a better plan could well have been adopted for a work of this general type. It is a plan excellently

adapted to secure accuracy and thoroughness in regard to essential facts, and faithfulness and lifelikeness in the portraiture of character. In preparing the particular sketches, it was, of course, necessary in regard to the earlier clergy, to draw chiefly on materials already published; and in the case of many of these, there remained but very little to be added to what was already known. But even in respect to such, it was most desirable to have the existing materials well digested and put in proper shape and compass for convenient reference or reading, since they were only to be found by hunting through extensive libraries, or perhaps rare antiquarian collections. the later biographies, the facts were to be gleaned, often at great pains undoubtedly, from a variety of original sources, such as church and family records, from private collections of letters and manuscripts, and above all, from the recollections of living persons. Nearly all the matter included in these notices will be entirely new to the great majority of readers-a positive and invaluable addition to the religious history of our country. It is hardly necessary to say, that Dr. Sprague has written these annals in the same clear, correct and polished style, for which his previous publications have been distinguished; a style particularly suited, by its graceful simplicity and ease, to such a

work as this.

For

The letters of personal recollections, contributed by a great number of writers, themselves, not a few of them certainly, among the most notable men of the country, constitute a deeply interesting portion of the work. Many of them are admirably written. They are of great value not only as supplying so many facts in relation to their subjects which were not to be obtained elsewhere, but still more as furnishing fresh and lifelike sketches of person, character and manners, which bring the men before us as they were, and which could only be drawn by those who had the advantage of personal acquaintance. It is often the case that the mention of some trifling incident, or some characteristic anecdote, in relation to a person, will give a better insight into his real character, than any formal description would convey. Some of these letters are rich in this sort of illustration. Some, on the other hand, are fine examples of nice analysis of character, and of careful discrimination, in their estimate of the genius and the merits of those whom they describe. The Preface states that five hundred and forty individuals have contributed to this work; and adds the monitory fact, that of this number seventy-nine are known to have since deceased, and that fifty-two have a place in it both as contributors and subjects!