a kingdom governed by laws which should bind both the hearts and thoughts of men to conformity with the prescribed example. Our author saw the vital importance of attending to this consideration. He knew that an outward assent to truth is so easy and general, that the bulk of mankind require to be continually warned against an overvaluing of their professions; and that the most efficient warnings are those which teach by pure and venerated examples. In this case sophistry affords no shelter: there are no various readings to involve the lesson in doubt; and the only alternative is conformity or the shame of inconsistency. But Jeremy Taylor did not content himself with stating the argument of his solemn theme theologically. He had spent many years in the profound study of whatever had been written on the subject of moral and religious truth. The works of the abstrusest logicians, of the most eloquent philosophers and orators, of the most erudite historians, and of the poets of every age, were as familiar to him as his Bible. Combined and spread out in his capacious memory, the lessons which these teachers of many various ages and nations had composed, formed a chart of universal experience. From this he learnt how the best and purest intellects had viewed, from generation to generation, the vices and follies of their race; what efforts they had made for their correction;

and how they had been foiled by the strength of human passion, and the deceitful practices of the world. Thence, too, he learnt the laws which mankind, left to themselves, strike out by the force of necessity; the principles developed in the course which nations pursue from barbarism to civilization; and the wants and desires which are most universal, most urgent, most unappeasable by superficial applications.

The knowledge thus acquired was of the highest value to a mind like his. It afforded it new motives for exertion; pointed out the most useful lines of inquiry; and inspired it with that catholic respect for human talent and human virtue, which adds a grace to many of his most beautiful meditations. All that the intellect of man could do in moral inquiry was known to him, when he sat down to unfold the graces of spiritual truth: all that man had been able to do in the way of virtue was present to his memory, or hung like a sunny halo around his imagination. It was not, therefore, with views contracted by a particular study or professional prejudices, that this great man set about the task of describing the grandeur and nobility of his Saviour's character. He was too full both of thought and benevolence to lose sight of that union between truth and charity, the fruit of which is the loveliest of human virtues. Wherever the seeds of good could be traced, how

ever deep they lay buried in the untilled soil of fallen humanity, there he was willing to labour; and he wrought with the patience of skilful and habituated reflection, till he planted these germs of wisdom in the more fruitful fields of true religion. There they put forth the glory of the spirit which gave them life; there they bloomed in the rich beauty of divine grace: but the cultivator never forgot to acknowledge where he had found them, or to indicate his reverence for the capabilities of human thought. The philosopher, therefore, may read his meditations with no less delight than the humble Christian; and the scholar will discover in his pages a clue, by following which he may penetrate the profoundest paths of learning.

The method pursued in the life of Christ is admirably adapted to the purposes of sound instruction. A narrative of events, like those recorded in the gospel, can scarcely fail of impressing the mind with a sentiment of awe and wonder. But when we are satisfied with the feeling, we rarely proceed to reason on the foundations of the sentiment; and as no strong emotion is of long continuance, a prudent teacher is always anxious to provide against the moment when the mind will sink back to its ordinary level. A clear exposition of the value and reasonableness of his maxims-of the general applicability of the examples which he instances, is the surest preservative against the illusions of an

ardent temperament. Nor is such a method of instruction less useful when applied to the cold and unwilling affections of a worldly mind. Reason, with truth for its support, is always formidable. It makes its advances with caution and gravity it neither surprises nor excites, but it induces the conscience to listen to its whispers, when the most stormy eloquence of the imagination fails to awaken a single permanent thought or profitable consideration. Assured of this, our author has given his instructions by way of a commentary on the divine example proposed for contemplation, and pursued the theme, in all its particulars, with a close attention to the soundest species of moral argumentation.

The topics afforded by the earlier portions of the sacred history require careful treatment, not only because of their importance, but because of the manner in which they are stated. Thus how slight, to ordinary apprehensions, are the signs of deep maternal care on the part of the Virgin Mary, yet how clear and beautiful are the instructions derived from these signs, by the contemplative eye of spiritual philosophy! How little is said respecting our Lord's conduct in his youth; yet how full and complete is the example, when it is shown by a sanctified reason, that in the slight allusions of the record are implied the most powerful arguments to filial obedience and a virtuous youth ever urged by the pen of moralists!

It is at first sight remarkable, that a greater number of particulars are not recorded of our Saviour's early life. The believer naturally wishes to be made acquainted with the circumstances under which that growth in wisdom and grace took place, which rendered him every day more venerable among men, and more beloved of God. So strong was this feeling in the first ages of the church, that imposture readily availed itself of it for the diffusion of many errors. The apocryphal

histories of Christ abounded with notices of his youth and curiosity was fed by anecdotes of the wonders he exhibited, till enthusiasm itself blushed at its credulity. But a proper consideration of the character of our Lord, and of the design of his history, will convince a reasonable inquirer, that this particularity of detail ought never to have been looked for. An ordinary mind can only develop itself by passing through a long line of circumstances; and it is of importance that we should know these circumstances, only as they have tended to its development. When a man of genius conquers his circumstances-rises so above them that they lie like a mist beneath him, while he pursues his course through a purer atmosphere, a minute account of these non-influencing circumstances would be as uninteresting as it would be useless. But the mere human character of our Lord was so perfect, that both in its moral and intellectual features it asserted an independence