the prefent time, together with fuch hiftorical memoirs, as feem to have any connection with, or may ferve to illuftrate them. Seventy-four baronets (now exifting) have been created fince the time of Wotton's publication, and are inferted in the prefent work; but the accounts of most of these additional families are fomewhat imperfect; which must be afcribed to the difficulty of obtaining the neceffary informations :-notwithftanding, it is faid, that every baronet, whofe place of refidence was known, had been applied to, either perfonally or by letter, and that public advertisements (for the fame purpofe) were repeatedly addreffed to the whole body. But ftill, we are told in the preface, that [however unaccountable it may appear] fome few were fuch ftrangers to the glory of their ancestors, and the future honour of their families, as not to be prevailed on, by repeated folicitations, to fpare a moment in furnishing one fingle material to grace their families *.' The manner in which this work appears to be executed, is pretty much like moft other pieces of family-hiftory; in which we meet with a good deal of truth, mingled with Jome errors. For instance,-in vol. i. p. 349, treating of the Dalfton family, of Dalfton in Cumberland, the Editor deduces their pedigree from the time of Will. I. (when one of them was poffeffed of the barony of Dalfton) in a very accurate manner, fo far as we are able to judge but when he comes down to the conclufion of his account of this family, a multiplicity of errors are exhibited, even in the following fhort paragraph, which clofes that account. Sir George Dalfton, Bart. only fon and fucceffor to his father, was a volunteer on board Admiral Haddock's fquadron, 1740, and fheriff of the county of Cumberland, 1752. He married Anne, daughter of George Huxley, Efq; which lady died Aug. 15, 1764, and Sir George, March 9, 1765, and was fucceeded by Sir William Dalfton, his eldeft fon, who is the prefent Baronet. Now the truth of the matter is this;-the above-mentioned lady (faid to have died, 1764) is ftill alive and at the death of her husband, the late Sir George, the title of Baronet became This ftricture, however, does not include that celebrated adventurer who calls himfelf Sir Richard Perrott, Baronet; for, though unable to produce any patent for affuming that title, yet he very obligingly (as the Editor expreffes it) communicated a carious pedigree, deducing his family's defcent, even from a long train of princes; at the head of whom ftands Brutus, the first King of Britain. But notwithstanding all this parade, as well as an allowance of precedency which had been granted him, a few years ago, upon the fuppofition of his defcent from one James Perrott, said to have been created a Baronet in 1716; yet his claim of Baronetage is now generally unders flood to have rested chiefly upon his own ipfe dixit. Rev. May 1771. Bb abiga abfolutely extinct; for he left no fon at all, though the Editor talks of an eldeft, as if there had been feveral.-Sir George, however, left an only daughter, fole heiress to his eftate, of whom no manner of notice is taken.-As to the prefent Sir William Dalfton, he may, probably, be a diftant relation, and really is a Knight, but not a Baronet. The arms in this work appear to be well executed; twelve upon each octavo plate: and the Dictionary of Heraldry exhibits an ufeful compendium of that entertaining fcience, of which no English gentleman can be ignorant, without a blot (as the heralds fpeak) upon his efcutcheon. P. ART. IV. Sermons on different Subjects. By the late Reverend TH HE perpetual increafe of printed fermons has very long been a fubject of complaint; efpecially as it brings fome perfons under a kind of obligation to purchase, who would gladly, if they could properly, be excufed. But whatever complaints are made, or whatever reafons there may be for them, we do not find that the numbers diminish; and more than this, it does not appear that they are generally a very unfaleable commodity for, were it otherwife, what could induce authors, or others, fo frequently to make trial, in this refpect, of the difpofition of the public? The multiplicity of fubjects, which are offered for this kind of composition, and the various lights in which they may be viewed, together with the diverfity there must be in the thoughts and manner of different perfons, treating on the fame fubjects, afford ample scope and happy occafions for prefenting to the world what may greatly contribute to their inftruction and improvement. It happens, indeed, not unfrequently, that thofe who are leaft qualified, are fometimes the most forward in exhibiting their productions to the public eye; and, perhaps, it were to be wifhed, that fome bounds could be fixed to publications of this nature; although, at the fame time, it would be defervedly regretted, if all thefe compofitions of men of genius and worth fhould, after having been once delivered before a fiall number of hearers, be thrown afide for ever, to be utterly neglected and forgotten. Thus much may certainly be faid in favour of -printed fermons, in the general; as to thefe, in particular, which now fall under our review, though, as must be the cafe, they treat upon topics which have been repeatedly confidered, they appear to us to be very ingenious and ufeful. The author has long been well known, and highly refpected, on account of his other works, publifhed in his life-time, and which dif covered covered his genius and learning; we are here to confider him as a preacher, and from thefe fpecimens of his ability and manner we learn, that he was folicitous to deliver to his audience, the most solid and important instructions; fuch as were adapted to inform the understanding, and improve the heart. Thefe difcourfes are not all of equal merit and value; fome particular fubjects being, by no means, thoroughly canvaffed; which, indeed, could hardly be done within the compafs of a fingle fermon but they abound with good fenfe; and are not only ingenious, but practical. They discover great knowledge of the facred writings, and a confiderable acquaintance with other kinds of learning connected with them; and have a becoming air of seriousnets and rational piety. It cannot be faid, that they are greatly conformable to the established 'articles of the church of England, as to fome particular matters of opinion; but they are candid, liberal, and charitable; manifefting a difpofition which does not wish to confine, or to domineer over, any man's judgment or confcience; but rather to ferve the cause of truth and righteoufnefs, without regard to eftablishments, fyftems, or fectaries. We find no preface, or particular advertisement, affixed to thefe volumes; but from a fhort infcription by Mr. Rogers Jortin, as a teftimony of refpect, to the parishioners of St. Dun ftan in the Eaft, we learn, that this publication was made at their request. There are nineteen difcourfes in each of the four volumes; but we do not more than once meet with two or three on a text, though fometimes the fame fubject is con tinued under different fcriptures. The fermons are not (according to a practice which has for fome time been justly exploded) greatly interlarded with words or fcraps from different languages; but, at the fame time, they will frequently remind the reader of the author's real and folid learning. There are, however, occafionally, feveral quotations in the margin, from ancient writers, which ferve to illuftrate the preacher's obfer vations. We might give feveral extracts from thefe difcourfes, which would, we doubt not, be very acceptable to many of our readers; a few we think it right to make, as a small tribute of respect to the memory of the author, and as we shall thereby afford our readers a much better opportunity of forming a judgment concerning this publication, than we could pretend to give them by any remarks of our own. We fhall begin with the first fermon, because the fubject is fomewhat peculiar, and the reflections upon it appear to be acute and ingenious. The text is, Deuter. xxvii. 18. Curfed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people fhall fay, Amen. Bb 2 • Many Many of the expounders of the holy fcriptures, fays our: author, both ancient and modern, have industriously fought after hidden fenfes, and fublimer meanings than the words obviously and naturally offered; and this method of interpretation hath been carried by fome of them to the utmost excess, because of such expofitions there is no end, when the fober rules of grammar, of reafon, and of good fenfe, are neglected, and the heated imagination is let loofe to pursue her own wild conceits. The ceremonial law of Mofes, in particular, seems to have diftreffed both Jewish and Christian doctors, because fome of its precepts were in appearance ftrange, arbitrary, frivolous, and tending to no ufeful purpofe; and therefore ftudious and contemplative perfons fought out myftical doctrines, which they fuppofed to lie concealed under the covering of the literal fenfe. For these attempts to illuftrate and justify the word of God, they are not to be blamed; they rather deserve praise than cenfure; but their attempts were seldom fuccessful, and their example, upon the whole, is difcouraging. As for the Jewish interpreters, their expofitions were often contemptible, and fuch as might be expected from men mifled by prejudices, and deprived of feveral helps which Chriftians enjoy; and to them one might fay, The well is deep, and thou haft nothing to draw with; whence then shouldst thou have that living water? The ancient Chriftians too often imitated the Jews in finding out fenfes in the fcriptures which were never intended. But this feems to have been the fault of the times, rather than of the men. In thefe later ages better methods of interpretation have been successfully purfued, though injudicious perfons will always be found, who are incapable of receiving instruction upon this head. It may be thought, that of all writings whatfoever, laws and ftatutes will not bear ambiguities and double fenfes, and cannot admit such refinements. Laws have fomething in their own nature repugnant to myftery. They are, or they should be, defigned for general ufe, and be as plain as is poffible, that he who runs may read them, that even the dull and the ignorant may be in no danger of mifapprehending them. But there is fomething very particular in the Mosaic law, which both diftinguifheth it from other laws, and carries with it an excuse and a plea for double fenfes which they have not. The law of Mofes, as it contained a fhadow of good things to come, as it had a reference to the Meffias, and exhibited bodily and fenfible reprefentations of fpiritual benefits and bleffings to be conferred by him, fo far it was unavoidably of an allegorical and fymbolical nature. Yet it wanted not that fimplicity fimplicity and perfpicuity which are requifite in laws. Mofes gave the people the two great commandments, to love God, and to love their neighbour, and many rules of life and precepts of morality with fufficient plainnefs. But the various ritual ordinances, the washings, the purifications, the atonements, the ceremonies, the facrifices, the bodily pollutions to be avoided, and the bodily purity to be obferved, these often were either figurative reprefentations of holiness of life and purity of heart, or had a view to the future difpenfation and to the gospel of Chrift, which in the fullness of time should be made manifeft. It will be faid, perhaps, that the Ifraelites, who came rough and unpolifhed out of the land of Egypt, where they had been occupied in mean and flavish employments, were not acute enough to discover and understand these hidden fenfes. It may be fo; and if they could not difcern them, it mattered not. There was enough for them in the law, which was of the plain kind, and fuited to their capacities. But why should we suppose them fo very unfit for this fort of inftruction? The Egyptians, with whom they had long dwelt, had many myftical precepts, and their religion was full of fymbols and enigmatical representations. The Ifraelites might therefore expect fomething of the myfterious kind in their facred books, and it was a proper occupation for the learned to meditate upon the fublimer parts of religion, and to unfold them to the people. Befides, the law was not defigned for one generation of men, and for one age, but for many. It is to be fuppofed, that the people of Ifrael, being once fettled in the peaceable poffeffion of the land of Canaan, and obliged to be well acquainted with their facred books which contained their national laws, would improve themfelves daily in wifdom and knowledge; and if they did not, it must have been altogether their own fault. • We must not think that double fenfes can never be admitted and allowed in moral precepts, and in rules of life and behaviour; for there are fome fuch precepts in the Old Testament. But then the fecond fenfe, or the fublimer defign, fhould ufually be obvious, or at leaft difcoverable by those who apply the proper methods to difcover them. I will mention a few inftances of fuch paffages in the books of Mofes, and then proceed to confider the text, which alfo is a precept of a double fenfe. In Leviticus, it is faid, Thou shalt not curfe the deaf. This bafe action of curfing or reviling a deaf person is here condemned. But that is not all; there is something more forbidden by this law; for it feems to be of a proverbial nature, and the general meaning is, Thou shalt not take the fordid advantage Bb 3 |