Sir William Dawes, Bart. to the archiepiscopal see of York, our author was elected master of his old college, and thenceforward the affairs of the university occupied a large share of his attention. "On this elevation," says Dean Monk in the Life of Bentley, distinguished as he was by talent and erudition, he exhibited great aptitude for business and discretion, as well as activity, which speedily gave him influence and authority in the body." Soon after his election by a particular college, he was chosen vice-chancellor by the university. In this situation, Dr Sherlock, (for he had now taken his degree of D.D. in a public disputation with Dr Waterland, in which the splendid appearance made by both was long remembered in the university,) shewed indefatigable zeal in the discharge of his official duties. Finding the archives in the most confused and neglected state, he drew up a digest of the statutes; and from the knowledge which he thus acquired of the privileges and usages of the university, he was in future life appealed to as a kind of oracle whenever its government or immunities were concerned. The arrogance of the "great Bentley," and the almost continual disputes by which his tyranny distracted Cambridge for years, soon called into action the prudence of the new vice-chancellor, whose decision of the matters in dispute was unanimously ratified in convocation by the senate. The state of political feeling, as may well be supposed, in 1715, rendered the functions of the vice-chancellor onerous and difficult. In the sister university, indeed, disturbances, requiring military interference, had broke out among the students, of whom a very considerable proportion had openly professed Jacobitical principles. Happily, this was not the case in Cambridge, where both parties concurred in loyal attachment to the House of Hanover. But party animosity between the Whigs and Tories ran very high, and had, at this time, become more than usually acrimonious from a trifling incident, on which the former had based a very serious accusation against their opponents. To the Tory party, who were numerically much superior, Dr Sherlock adhered, but with the dignified impartiality becoming his station, as temporary head of the university. He felt, therefore, that it was to insult both to accuse him of fostering disloyalty, because he refused to treat otherwise than as thoughtless folly, the freak of some young men, in one of the colleges, who had drank the Pretender's health. To have taken serious cognizance of the act of a few, would have lent it an importance injurious to the character of all; but to submit in silence to the accusation, might be to cast an imputation on the loyalty of himself and his friends. He met both difficulties in a manner that overwhelmed his accusers, and obtained for the university, as a mark of royal favour, a magnificent donation of books, by convoking the university, and passing an energetic and loyal address, which he presented in person. Next year he was made Dean of Chichester by George I. the presentation being sent through his old schoolfellow, Lord Townsend.

The same discretion and manly zeal marked Dr Sherlock's university life for nine succeeding years; but our attention must now be directed to his first appearance as a writer, which, with the exception of three sermons on public occasions, occurred in the celebrated Bangorian controversy. Of this contest, which is not without resemblance to disputes presently agitating one of the national establishments, it thus becomes necessary to give some account. In 1709, Mr Hoadley was recommended by a resolution of the House of Commons, as one who, from his writings in favour of those principles of the revolution which had placed her majesty on the throne, was well deserving of her majesty's favour. More moderate principles had already begun to prevail in the councils of Queen Anne, and Hoadley was overlooked till George I. appointed him to the bishoprick of Bangor. In 1716, Hoadley published his “Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Non-jurors," which, next year, was followed by the publication of a sermon preached before the king on "The Nature of the Kingdom, or Church of Christ." In these treatises, doctrines apparently inconsistent, yet - for extremes meet-in fact closely connected, were maintained, namely, latitudinarian principles of Church government and ecclesiastical despotism over the consciences and rights of men, independent of all legal supremacy or legislative authority. To the credit of Sherlock, it ought to be mentioned, that repugnant as these errors might be to his views, the controversy was not voluntarily sought on his part. A convocation

of the clergy having been assembled-for Hoadley's publications had alarmed the whole Church-a committee was appointed, with Sherlock at its head, to examine and report upon their tendency. When the king had been wrought upon, by a whig ministry, to prorogue by special mandate the convocation, Dr Sherlock found himself compelled to stand forward in defence of proceedings, in which he had acted an official and conspicuous part. Thus arose a literary strife, which, in its various scintillations of fiery disputation, involved a hundred of the most celebrated writers of the period, some of whom are still the ornaments of English theology. Few of these polemical productions now survive and not one of them is sought after, excepting Sherlock's Tract on the Test and Corporation Acts, which has been frequently reprinted, and of which it has been said, by a living authority, "We care not if every thing that was ever written against religious defensive acts be read over and over again; but shall be amply satisfied if only this small treatise be read in their defence." It would hardly be just to conclude this subject without remarking, that the party who professed to uphold the independence of Christ's kingdom above human law, made no scruple of stretching the royal prerogative to the unconstitutional and dangerous extent of dissolving the general convocation of that Church, met to deliberate under both divine and legal sanctions. Employment more permanently useful for futurity, if not for the times more pressingly important, next engaged Dr Sherlock's pen. Antony Collins, of infidel celebrity, not intimidated by the castigations which his previous performances had drawn upon him, published in 1723" a Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion," the most insidious of all his writings. The apparent object of this work is to establish the truth of Christianity on the prophecies of the Old Testament, and thus to avoid the objections to the external evidences. The real intent, however, is to destroy the external testimonies altogether. According to this writer, "Christianity, in its primitive state, was destitute of all external arguments, and of all other, indeed, except proofs froin prophecy; which," adds he, "are apostolical proofs, and sufficient of themselves." Having thus stript religion of all defences but one, Collins proceeds to sap and cast down this her only remaining citadel by explaining away the literal, and substituting an allegorical interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures: thus finally leaving to Christianity no stay save in falsehood. It is true, all this is done covertly-but the effect was clearly a destructive blow; numbers, therefore, hastened to interpose between so daring an assailant and the cause of sacred truth. Dr Sherlock, avoiding all appearance of controversy, while he commanded the vantage ground of immediate opposition, gave to his replies the permanency of independent and general compositions. During the spring term of 1724, he delivered six discourses on this subject, in his favourite preaching station, the Temple Church: these he published next year in their present form, "The Use and Intent of Prophecy in the Several Ages of the World." This is truly an admirable work, and though suggested by, and in fact preached as a reply to Collins, treats the general argument so ably, that it still remains a standard treatise. Indeed, we may defy one of the most acute of the enemies of Christianity to elude the force of the proposition, the statement and proof of which form the subject of the work,namely, that from earliest time there is found in the Scriptures a regular series of inspired predictions, connected from age to age by identity of divine administration; and that, therefore, these predictions cannot be the result of art or religious fraud, or interested imposture, but are revelations, for the highest and most solemn purposes, of an eternal and immutable Providence.

The principles in Church and State which Dr Sherlock had maintained, kept him beyond the pale of ministerial patronage, notwithstanding his acknowledged eminence, during the entire reign of George I. But, in 1727, the first year of his successor, he was promoted to the see of Bangor, and, but from considerations of respect to seniors on the bench, would have received that of Norwich. In succession, he was raised in 1734, to the bishoprick of Salisbury; and in 1747 was offered the primacy of Canterbury. This, the highest dignity in the Church, fearing lest the state of his health might prove incompetent to the due discharge of its duties, he declined-a striking instance of his moderation; but recovering his strength, he accepted, two

years afterwards, a translation to the see of London, which he held from 1749 to 1761, when he died, on the 18th July, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.

During the period of thirty-four years, in which Dr Sherlock occupied a seat on the Episcopal Bench, he discharged, in a most exemplary manner, the duties of a Christian, a bishop, and a legislator. His own practice formed a living commentary on the virtues which he was bound to teach. His temper was naturally quick and highly sensitive, but he schooled it into forbearance and moderation. He was, by nature, haughty and ambitious, but his pride was never exhibited before inferiors, and his ambition he directed to noble purposes. His piety was fervent, yet constant; it constituted the habitual sentiment of his breast, but was never ostentatiously displayed. Though he left a large fortune behind him, he lived in the munificent hospitality which became his rank, and in the extensive practice of Christian benevolence. His wealth was the accumulation of proper economy and order, not of mean saving. Finally, though the last eight years of his existence were little better than a scene of prolonged suffering, age and sickness so far from stimulating the defects of his character-and who is without such defects?-only brought into clearer light and steadier exercise all the virtuous qualities of his disposition.

All the public duties of his exalted station were fulfilled with a punctuality, kindness, and vigour, which alone would have placed Dr Sherlock's name among those of the most eminent English prelates. To the comfort and usefulness of his inferior clergy, he was ever assiduously attentive. He wrote many discourses for their instruction, though he published only one charge. It displays so profound views of the law of Church and State, that it has been said, "this masterly, sensible, and reasonable piece, ought to be in every vestry and parsonage house throughout England." He embraced the opportunity of every striking occurrence to make some impression for good on the hearts of his people as witness his tract on the Observance of Fasts; and his admirable "Pastoral Letter" on the Earthquake of February, 1750, of which one hundred thousand copies were sold in one nonth, and which both allayed the superstitious fears excited by ignorant itinerating fanatics, as well as recalled the people from those excesses into which they fell on finding these fears to be groundless."During term time," says Dr Nicholls in a funeral sermon on the bishop's death, "he continued to preach to his congregation at the Temple, and in the vacation, after his labours in the House of Lords, always went down to visit and reside in his diocese; where he spent his time in an exemplary manner, conversing with his clergy, and in giving to them and to their people those directions which the circumstances of the times required."

In the House of Lords, Bishop Sherlock's great abilities and profound knowledge of the laws and constitution obtained extensive influence. This learning was recommended by a vigorous eloquence, for which even his friends were not prepared, but the ready oratory of a public assembly, which, with most men, is an acquirement of time and study, and much practice, seemed to be in him a gift of nature. It is true, he maintained the reserve becoming his station and order, seldom or never speaking on questions of mere politics, but on all measures connected with the ecclesiastical or civil constitution, or which involved the rights of the crown or the liberties of the subject, he delivered his sentiments with a force and dignity, which, while they did honour to his talents and disinterestedness, rarely failed to determine the resolution of the house in favour of the views he had adopted. It was thus that more than once he gained ecclesiastical cases, appealed from the decision of some of the "most distinguished lights of the law." Thus he spoke against the famous pension bill, and convinced the country of the absurdity of a measure which went to banish a man from serving his country in the senate, after his services had been deemed valuable enough to deserve a pension. Thus also he defended Sir Robert Walpole, because he regarded a policy opposite to that of ministers as hostile to the best interests of civil government. But the graces of the orator, and even the virtues of the prelate, have their effect chiefly on the generation among whom they are exhibited. The utilities of a Christian literature are for futurity. It is here that the interest interwoven with the life of Bishop Sherlock must be enduring. On this head we have scattered our remarks throughout the present article, and

The

shall merely offer, in conclusion, some general observations, dwelling more particularly on the work now before us. Sermons of Sherlock we prefer to any other of the English divines. They are more correct, and uniformly noble in their language, than Tillotson's; they unite the deep, yet clear reasoning of Barrow, with the elegance of Atterbury; but they are more practical than the dissertations of the former, and more evangelical than the essays of the latter. They possess all the fervour of South and Waterland, with much of the unction, and none of the quaintness of Taylor. We esteem it the great merit of these discourses, that while they give the fullest efficacy to the great principle of faith, they at the same time demonstrate the perfect accordance of Christianity with reason. The revisal of these sermons was accomplished under circumstances which prove the value attached to them by their venerable author. The latter years of the bishop were afflicted by severe bodily suffering, which almost totally deprived him of the use of his limbs, and greatly impeded his powers of speech. "Under all these infirmities," we quote from his funeral sermon, "his soul broke through like the sun from a cloud, and was visible to every eye. There was a dignity in his aspect and countenance to the very last. His reason sat enthroned within him; and no one could approach him without having his mind filled with that respect and veneration which was due to so great a character." The solitude of a mind thus separated from this world, while still in it, was employed and cheered by the pious labour of preparing, as a legacy worthy of the bequeather and of posterity, these sermons, four volumes of which were published in 1755-56, and a fifth, so prepared also, in 1776, long after their author was no more. Their reputation is not confined to this country. They have been admirably translated into French by Pere Houbigant, while the Discourses on Prophecy, and the Trial of the Witnesses, have been rendered into the same language by Le Moine.

In

The last mentioned of these works, which is here presented in its perfect form, with the " Sequel to the Trial" attached, first appeared in 1729; but the Sequel was not added till twenty years afterwards, in 1749. This latter was then stated" to have been revised," but is known to have been written by Dr Sherlock. The occasion and object of this admirable performance were these:-In 1723, as already stated, Collins had endeavoured to explain the prophecies in a way most injurious to Christianity. Into the controversy which followed, the celebrated Woolston chose to throw himself, under the insidiously assumed character of a mediator. Under this guise, he attempted a concealed but heavy blow against Christianity. like manner as his colleague in infidelity had essayed to reduce all prophecy to allegory, he aimed at converting all the miracles into mere fictitious representations of the command of the Deity over the powers of nature. With a particular virulence, Woolston bent his efforts to subverting the proofs of our Saviour's glorious resurrection. Thus, not only were the evidences, but the very life-giving principle of Christianity,- -"immortality clearly brought to light by the Gospel,”—to be overturned and extinguished. Dr Sherlock perceived, and met the danger. His first labour, as a bishop, was in the composition of the "Trial of the Witnesses," a treatise which so effectually did its work, and so satisfied the public, that while Woolston's fell speedily into neglect, this treatise ran rapidly through fourteen editions. The plan of this short tract is as novel as its execution is felicitous. Under the form of a judicial proceeding, the evidence for our blessed Lord's resurrection is sifted with a searching acuteness, which nothing escapes, and established with a conviction, which no reasonable mind disputes. It is impossible sufficiently to admire the address with which the writer has brought out his intimate acquaintance with legal knowledge, or the simple beautiful style which he employs to bring down to the comprehension of every reader those acquirements that had commanded the respect and confidence of the most august assembly, and the most learned community of the empire. Whether we view the work as the performance of one who ruled the decisions of our senate, who sat for fifty years as master of the Temple, or who passed eighty years in the daily display of Christian faith and practice, it is equally worthy of our acceptance and admiration. Where does infidelity come recommended to our judgments or our hearts with an ascertainable fraction of this confidence? and when will

it give to us even an imaginable perception of that happiness which arises from "the joy of believing" that Christ is the "resurrection and the life ?"

It seems unnecessary to enter farther into the plan or contents of this treatise. If any thing had been omitted in the original "Trial," it is supplied in the "Sequel," and both are written with a simplicity and liveliness which at once instruct

and delight. The reader has merely to bear in mind, that the evidence given by each witness is from the most sacred. — the least questionable records, — and that the writer first pleads as an advocate the cause in hand.-searching, explaining, comparing this evidence; and finally, as judge, sums up and decides. From that decision we defy any man, with a shadow of reason, to appeal.

THE most valuable of all biographical inquiries are certainly those which tend to shew the unfolding and culture of virtues and talents, destined in futurity to instruct by useful lessons, or enlighten by noble discoveries. And we lament the absence of familiar acquaintance in these respects, just according to the peculiarities of mental temperament observable in the individual. We write, therefore, in sentiment with Dr Johnson, when he says, "Gilbert West is one of those writers, of whom I regret my inability to give a sufficient account." The deficiency cannot now be supplied, in so far as no minute information has been preserved regarding the early life of the able transalator of Pindar, and the amiable author of the "Observations on the Resurrection." Now, though very far from elaiming for West one of the highest stations in the national literature, we think he exhibits, apart from the merit of his writings, an intellectual combination by no means common, and of which it is a misfortune that so few traces remain. As a poet, especially as a poetic translator, he displays a fiery impetuosity of genius; while the history of the Resurrection evinces a cautious, logical, and inductive mind. To investigate by what means mental qualities so opposite in their nature, and so rare in their union, were preserved in force and subordination, would not be without either its use or interest; and we should have wished, from the example of one of his own friends, to have confuted Pope's narrow maxim,

Wherever fancy's airy charm prevails, The solid power of understanding fails! But to proceed with the scanty materials still spared by time: Gilbert West derived his descent from a line of ancestry not undistinguished by the dignity of rank, or in the honours of literature. His father, the Rev. Richard West, D.D. was Archdeacon of Berks, and his mother was the sister of Sir William Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham, celebrated for his taste in the fine arts, the friend of Pope, Thomson, and Lyttelton. Dr West was held in great esteem in the university; and in Bishop Bennet's letters I find the following tribute:- "Mr Jones died lately at Oxford of palsy; his archdeaconry of Berks, I hope, will fall to Dr West." Though enjoying considerable reputation as a preacher, both for his oral and printed discourses, Dr West is now chiefly known by the magnificent folio edition of Pindar, which, in conjunction with Dr Welsted, he published about the close of the seventeenth century, at Oxford, -a classic highly valued by the learned for the correctness of its text, and erudite annotations, and by collectors as one of the finest specimens of British typography.

Trained under such parents, and originally intended for the Church, young West received, of course, a most accomplished education, first at Eton, afterwards at Oxford. But the death of his father, in 1716, probably induced a change in his professional views; and having, through the interest of his uncle, obtained a commission in the cavalry, the future defender of Christianity entered upon public life as a cornet of horse. How long he continued in the army, or how his time was spent, does not appear. From his subsequent performances, however, we may safely assent to Johnson's conclusion, that it is reasonable to suppose he never sank into the mere soldier, nor ever lost the love, or much neglected the pursuit, of learning." It is most likely, also, that during his military career, he either imbibed or strengthened those infidel opinions, which, as in the case of his friend Lyttelton, darkened, in two young and powerful minds, the light of faith. But in neither case was infidelity of sentiment associated with dissoluteness of practice, for rarely, perhaps never, does lasting unbelief exist merely in a perverted

judgment: it is only when the moral life of the soul has become discased, and men fear least a sin-denouncing revelation should be true, that they strive to become hardened in impious incredulity. The testimony of such men as Lyttelton and West to the truth as it is in Jesus, is thus so much the more convincing, that it is the accession of virtue to religion,-the free-will offering of a convinced understanding and a pure heart.

Finding himself better qualified, or more inclined for civil than military employment, Mr West offered his services to Lord Townsend, while that nobleman was Secretary of State. He was retained as private secretary, and in 1727, accompanied his patron when his lordship attended George I, on a visit to Hanover. During this excursion, as every one is aware, the king was suddenly taken ill at Delden, aud being conveyed, in a state of lethargic insensibility, to Osnaburgh, expired there on the 11th of June. The letters which announced this event were written by the author of " Observations on the Resurrection." This connection with the court and ministry appears to have been productive of no immediate advantage to Mr West. In 1729, indeed, about eighteen months after the accession of George II. he was nominated one of the secretaries extraordinary to the privy council,-an appointment to which no emolument is attached, but entitles the nominee to the next vacant secretaryship. Our author was thus placed in the way of preferment,if it came, or if he had patience, and here his obligations to the Court or Walpole party terminated. Henceforth his intimacies seem to have been formed only among the opponents to the ministry; or rather his old associates of school and college happened to belong to the country, or liberal party, as it was then called, (names suddenly pass to opposites in politics, as coin rapidly shifts hands among gamblers,) and rallied to the reminiscences of ancient friendship, regardless of any other tie. Indeed, throughout life West seems to have acted on the principle that literary men may lose, but can hardly gain, by mixing in the coarse conflict, and changing sleights, of political agitation. The next twenty years were, accordingly, passed in retreat,-the world's strife and ambition well exchanged

For letter'd ease and calm philosophy. He had married an amiable, and by the report of his friends, an accomplished woman, with some fortune, which, added to his own means, enabled him, if not in splendour, at least in tranquil independence, to resign his mind to the studies of religion and literature. In the agreeable seclusion of Wickham, a small estate which he possessed in Kent, he thus passed a life, which the great might envy, and which the pious cannot but approve. "Here," says the most learned of his biographers, "he was often visited by Lyttelton and Pitt, who, when they were weary of faction and debates, used at Wickham to find books and quiet, a decent table and literary conversation." Yet Mr West was far from possessing a large income; his revenue, in fact, was so limited, that their inability to increase it proved a source of bitter regret to these friends. But what was wanted here which wealth could have added? and how seldom are riches made productive of similar happiness! Where, then, consisted the secret of his felicity? Within the circle of this domestic elegance and learned ease there existed a centre of sanctified comfort, a source whence flowed that peace, neither given nor taken away by the world. Mr West had long become sincerely a religious man. Every evening he read prayers in his family; at stated intervals, and regularly on Sabbath evenings, he assembled his household for family worship, when, besides the exercises of social devotion, he read some plain and practical, but well

composed discourse, which might benefit his domestics, without being unsuited to the visitors who then happened to be the occasional inmates of this home of peace; for

Angels the saints from noon-day perils keep,
Encamp around their couches while they sleep;
Teach the blind to see, th' infidel to weep.

The last effect of pure and undefiled religion, really and unostentatiously manifested, certainly did light upon the heart of one at least of the most frequent visitants at Wickham. Here Lord Lyttelton first received those impressions of divine truth, whose matured convictions produced his unanswerable argument in its favour, the Conversion of Saint Paul." There was, and perhaps still is, at Wickham, a walk formed by Pitt's own hands during these intervals of tranquillity; and the tradition is, that he who was destined to sustain the weight and uphold the honour of our "ancient and most noble monarchy," toiled with the spade and mattock, his two contemplative friends pacing the portion that he had already finished, discoursed of Jesus and the resurrection." The tradition is probable, and it is pleasing. It has also been better preserved than the walk, which, when we saw it nearly twenty years ago, was neglected, almost obliterated. What then? External memorials may fade away; even the name of the "great Chatham" may cease to animate the patriot statesman-him who stands impartially for and against popularity; but we may venture to predict, that if ever men shall cease to be interested in the subjects of West's and Lyttelton's converse, they will cease to be governed, and order itself be crumbled into anarchy.

The essay on the Resurrection, now before the reader, first appeared in 1747. Its reception by the public was immediate and most gratifying. Nor was it less esteemed by the learned. On the 30th of March, 1748, a few months after its appearance, the University of Oxford conferred on the author the honorary degree of Doctor in Laws by diploma. But so unostentatious had been Mr West's life and conversation, that many who had known him in the gay world as the champion of infidelity, bought his book, supposing it to contain some new attack on the Gospel. Let us hope that some at least of those who thus purchased "to scoff" turned from the perusal "to pray."

But while thus attentive to the great concern, Mr West was by no means neglectful of the study of elegant letters. His favourite pursuits were classical literature, and English poetry. Probably his father's reputation as an editor, stimulated his zeal to become the translator of Pindar. His version of the Odes, appeared first in quarto, 1749, when his " History of the Resurrection" had predisposed the public judgment to receive with acceptance whatever came from the same hand. The translation now stands in no need of adventitious support. It far excelled previous attempts, -Cowley's and Harte's in faithfulness, Hughes's in vigour, and Philips's in clearness. Neither has this superiority been much encroached upon by subsequent efforts, and West's Pindar is still the standard representation of the fiery Grecian. To enter into any detailed criticism, however, is not our present province, and for the same reason we only notice the justness of an estimate formed by Johnson of the longest of his English poems, the "Institution of the Garter," that it is written with sufficient knowledge of the manners of the age, and with great elegance of diction; but for want of a process of events, neither knowledge nor elegance preserves the reader from weariness." As proofs of industry, of acute observation of the niceties of our progressive language, and of great knowledge of English poetry, we admire also his "Imitations of Spencer." But all professed "imitations" are trifles at best, and altogether unworthy of genius. Art has a noble province in reproducing the effects of nature, but art, imitating art, is like an attempt to enrich by casting upon us the reflection merely of gold.

But amid these exertions in favour of religion and literature, and these attentions to the calls of hospitality, Mr West, as already remarked, was by no means amply provided for. When his friends, therefore, came into power, they endeavoured, but it seems for some time without success, to improve his fortune. It

is even said, that the education of the young Prince of Wales, afterwards George III. was offered to him, but refused, except on certain terms of superintendence and control on his part, which his friends thought too extensive. For such a charge no one can doubt Mr West's peculiar qualifications, but if the offer of this appointment, as it is very probable it was, had ever been made, it must have been during the temporary alienation which existed between George II. and his son. Under these circumstances, while the Prince was at the head of a political party, in opposition to the servants preferred by his father, we can readily comprehend that a man of West's character would not be over solicit us about occupying a position of such high public responsibility, and which yet depended upon political partisanship.

At length, in 1752, Mr West was advanced in the ordinary course of preferment, except that it had been unusually delayed, to one of the lucrative clerkships to the Privy-Council. Soon after Mr Pitt presented him to the Treasurership of Greenwich Hospital. This affluence, fortunately, had never been wanting to his happiness, or his usefulness, for now it visited only his waning age, and he enjoyed it but a few years. Even these ebbing sands were shaken by the rude hand of calamity: but the sanctification of the just is "made perfect through suffering." In 1755, he lost his only son, a youth of great proinise, and who had been educated with the utmost care. This bereavement, though no doubt endured with that resignation which becomes a Christian parent, probably hastened his own departure. Not many months afterwards, on the 26th March, 1756, a stroke of palsy put a period to his blameless life: "bringing to the grave," we do not say with Johnson, "one of the few poets," for we hope they are many, "to whom the grave might be without its terrors," but one of that glorious company, to whom the grave is certainly the portal

To the bright palace of eternal day.

The excellent preface, which the author himself has prefixed to the History and Evidence of the Resurrection," renders any detailed analysis of the argument unnecessary. The resurrection of Jesus is a fact, and like every other fact must be admitted on the historical evidence adduced in testimony of its having actually occurred. There is here no room for reasoning on any other principles, as the miraculous nature of the transaction, the power of God, the difficulty of comprehending how the dead should rise, &c. These are discussions into which Christian writers have suffered themselves to be dragged by their opponents, whose object was thus to lead them away from the main point, and main strength of the argument. Or where this sleight has failed, sceptical writers have attempted to discredit the evidence itself, by alleging contradictions in the accounts of the witnesses. West with great judgment escapes both difficulties, by at once assuming the real question of evidence, and establishing the harmony and perfect agreement of the several accounts of this event as recorded in the New Testament. Thus the chief portion of the work is accomplished with admirable skill and learning, for being one of the best Grecians of his time, he brought the zeal of the believer, and the erudition of the scholar, to bear on a point which more than any other infidelity had laboured to involve and disfigure; but before this searching application every entanglement disappears, and the truth stands manifest, that the resurrection of Christ was most fairly and fully proved to the apostles and disciples, those first converts and preachers of Christianity."

Here then the argument, so far as respects the refutation of Woolston, Tindal, and all other objectors, might have termninated. We have already incomparably a greater weight both of moral and historical evidence, for the fact of the resurrection, than for any given event in profane history. But in order to render the argument progressive, to stretch its convictions throughout all time, our author has farther collected and methodized under two additional heads, the collateral proof from the Scriptures, and from the records of Christianity. This extends the testimony to the truth of the resurrection to the believer in the present hour.