most successfully. It is rather in the "still small voice" of devotional theology, founded upon the simple, obvious doctrines of every portion of immutable revealed truth; in plain, expository theology, derived from careful comparison of spiritual things, as set forth in all parts of the Word of God, that "the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the Truth," possesses the most effectual means of securing the permanent prosperity of pure and undefiled religion. Of the value and power of such theology, above that with which we have compared it, we find conclusive proof, in the undeniable fact, that the members of the Church of England in general have been, for a century past, gradually improving in practical religion and the cultivation of personal holiness; while, under the same circumstances, the seceding disciples of Wesley and Whitfield have, to say the least, declined from the seriousness and strictness of those remarkable men and their associates of the last century.

In view of such considerations, we are ready to conelude that, in the promotion of the more permanent, the general interests of religion, the actual influence, even of those celebrated preachers, shooting like meteors across the horizon of England and America, with a strange, startling glare, was small compared with that of the brilliant constellations of devoted and exemplary ministers, who, in more stable, and apparently more limited spheres, as faithful vicars, patient curates and persevering missionaries, labored with no less diligence, amid the lukewarmness and worldliness of many beneficiaries of the English establishment, in that season of apathy. Much more, must the popular estimates of those wonderful agitators be modified by full, true views of the more substantial, abiding influence of the great divines, who were far above them, as master-minds of the Church, and of Christianity in our father-land; the real luminaries of English theology in the eighteenth century; men, whose names and characters will shine with increasing lustre, as their worthy lives shall be scanned, and their lasting works studied, more and more, from generation to generation. Such a "burning and shining light" was the evangelical interpreter of the Book of Psalms; whose valuable writings, on various subjects of Christian instruction, have had hitherto an influence more widely experienced than acknowledged, both in England and this country.

But we are not yet ready to examine particularly the life and writings of this excellent divine. We wish first to present a clear view of the position which he occupied, as a minister of the Church of England in the eighteenth century.

The extreme views of speculative doctrine, held by Wesley on the one hand and Whitfield on the other, were not the only manifestations of antagonistic opinions which tended constantly to produce disturbance and divisions at that period. Then, as now, it was quite common to class Churchmen by the terms High and Low. But then, as now, it was utterly impracticable to make a division or distinction of all Churchmen into two opposite parties. Then, as now, the great body of Protestant Episcopalians, ministers and people, could not be classed as High Churchmen or Low Churchmen, according to any prevailing definition of these terms, however varied or modified from time to time. And then, as now, we venture to assert, the most important influence of Churchmen upon the state of religion, was exerted by men, who could not, in view of their whole course as Churchmen, be justly placed in either of the antagonistic classes, strictly designated by the terms to which we have adverted.

Among such men we find Bishop Horne. A man of the most unquestionable purity of purpose and devoutness of spirit; exercising a high degree of liberality toward those who differed with him in religious opinions, and disposed to allow them a large measure of liberty; refraining, as Bishop, from any interference with the questionable proceedings of Mr. Wesley, and often wishing that many of the Clergy of that period had cherished more of the zeal of that remarkable man and some of his associates; and at the same time an earnest advocate of the claims of the Scotch Bishops, and the Non-Jurors generally; George Horne was a divine, whom, with all his characteristic decision and discrimination, it is impossible to identify, by the testimony of his life or his writings, with any class or party in the Church of England, during the period of his ministry; a Christian, whose blameless life and brilliant course heavenward might well suggest to his excellent biographer, Jones of Nayland, the beautiful sentiment with which he concludes his memorial of the good Bishop. "All good men are walking by the same way to the same end. If there are any individuals, who by the shining of their light render the path more plain and pleasant, let us agree to make the most we can of them, and be followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises." It is in the spirit of this sentiment that we would now turn to some of the particulars most worthy of notice in the life and writings of our excellent author.

This truly admirable Prelate, who is justly described by his affectionate chaplain's eloquent pen, as one of the fairest

models of Christian character presented by the annals of the eighteenth century, was the second son of the Rev. Samuel Horne, Rector of Otham, a small village in Kent. The family of this "very learned and respectable Clergyman, who had been for some years a tutor at Oxford," was somewhat remarkable, in that all of his sons, who lived to years of discretion, the eldest having died very young, became worthy and able ministers of the Church of England. Of these, the youngest, being the fourth son, succeeded his father in the Rectory of Otham and was also Rector of Brede in the County of Sussex. The third son, Samuel, seems to have died suddenly, while yet a young man; but not without giving, as a fellow of University College, Oxford, many proofs of ability and fitness for the work of the ministry, and especially of "a talent for preaching."

George, the Bishop, was evidently from childhood the most prominent member of the family, which comprised also three daughters. His admiring biographer traces an interesting incident even in his infancy; in a singular practice of his father, who being a man of very mild and quiet temper, used to waken him by playing on a flute, that he need not be wakened suddenly, and startled to crying. The tender and watchful care of his considerate father, thus manifested in his infancy, was continued with great success through his childhood, until the time of his leaving the parental roof, to pursue the studies of a liberal education in public institutions. The proficiency he had made under the instruction of his father, caused his new teacher, upon his preliminary examination, to ask why he came to school, when he was rather fit to go from school. Afterwards, in his collegiate course at the University at Oxford, his great proficiency caused his election to a fellowship in a College, of which he was not a member by graduation. To this event his biographer alludes with much satisfaction and gratitude; acknowledging the providence of GOD in it, as the apparent means of Mr. Horne's promotion, not only to the Presidency of the College to which he was thus transferred, and the Vice-Chancellorship of the University, but also to the Deanery of Canterbury, and ultimately to the Bishopric of Norwich. And notwithstanding his late elevation to the Episcopate, under the usages of the English establishment, we are ready to unite in the devout acknowledgment of the overruling providence of GOD. We are thankful that such a man, one of the brightest ornaments, not only of his University, but of his Church, was, by any train of events, placed in a situation, where he could apply

himself, for a long time, with unremitting diligence, to the more important parts of those useful writings, by which, "he being dead yet speaketh."

The several successive steps of his promotion, therefore, are worthy of brief notice in this review of his life.

Having been admitted to Holy Orders in 1753, in the twenty-third year of his age, he was, in 1758, appointed Junior Proctor of the University of Oxford; an office, in which he was highly esteemed for his discretion, in combining strictness and mildness on all occasions. In 1759, he took the degree of Bachelor of Divinity; and in 1764, was advanced to the Doctorship. This, as he was still quite young, and for several years afterwards in no official station entitling him to such a degree, may safely be considered as a signal honor bestowed upon him, for a testimony of his University to his singular ability and worth. In 1768, he was elected President of Magdalen College, and in 1776 was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University. In 1781, he was made Dean of Canterbury, having been for ten years previous, Chaplain in ordinary to the King. And finally, in 1790, but a short time before his death, he was promoted to an important Bishopric. From that time his increasing infirmities made rapid inroads upon his constitution. He was thus prevented from delivering his primary charge, which, as prepared by him, is preserved among his published works. Having entered the sixty-second year of his age, on the first of November, 1791, he died on the 17th of January following; in the fulness "of a reasonable, religious and holy hope" in CHRIST.

Of course, the Episcopate of Bishop Horne is the least important portion of his life. The principal incidents worthy of notice in it, are his forbearing, judicious course towards Mr. John Wesley, on an occasion of which Mr. Jones gives a full account, and his earnest advocacy of the cause of the Scotch Bishops. To both of these interesting incidents we have already sufficiently alluded. Did our space permit, we might properly corroborate, by an anecdote recorded by Mr. Jones, (p. 71,) and by his observations in several passages,* the general description we have given of Bishop Horne's character and position as an excellent Prelate of the Church of England. But the object of this review requires chiefly some due notice of the previous part of his course, as a learned and diligent Presbyter; favored with high advantages and happy opportunities for the pursuit of important studies, to

PP, 53, 62, 67, et al.

which his own taste and mental habits, not less than the circumstances of the times, inclined him.

Here we may, in passing, express our admiration of the good sense of Mr. Jones, in embellishing the biography of such a man as Bishop Horne with copious notices of many of those who were connected with him, in literary or theological pursuits; including some whose names and worthy deeds might otherwise have received no due meed of honor, at the hands of their fellow-laborers, or others.

But we can not wholly absolve Mr. Jones from a very common fault of biographers; namely, an effort to turn to their own account some peculiarities of those whom they extol. We can not acquit him of all appearance of an undue desire to make much of Bishop Horne's sympathy with those who, in the proscriptive term of that day, were called Hutchinsonians. On this point, however, we shall but say a few words. The direct discussion of any topics pertaining to the theories of Hutchinson would be more appropriate in a review of the life and writings of Mr. Jones; who is manifestly his own client, as well as the advocate of the good Bishop, in much that he says on this subject, for the purpose of vindicating his honored friend.

So much it seems but just to say concerning the worthy Chaplain's merits as a biographer. We return to the details of his memoirs, which in the first place exhibit Mr. Horne as a scholar.

It was while he was quite young, that he wrote some of the Essays which have been published in all editions of his works; for instance, the "Fair, Candid and Impartial State of the Case between Sir Isaac Newton and Mr. Hutchinson." Of the argument of this Essay, Mr. Jones justly declares, that whatever becomes of it, the manner in which it is handled shows Mr. Horne, who, when he wrote it, was in his twenty-third year, to have been a very extraordinary young man. It is an interesting exhibition of the intellectual character of our author; whose excellent mental training in his boyhood had prepared him, even at an early age, to grasp with a manly grapple the greatest subjects of controversy, philosophical and theological, or to expatiate with skillful agility in the boundless range of scientific speculation. And this view of his intellectual character suggests all that we desire to say here upon the subject of his peculiar philosophy.

That philosophy is, indeed, obsolete, as a subject of serious discussion. But it might even now, by writers gifted with Mr. Horne's felicitous manner, or with the ingenuity of his