SERMON.

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bewildered amidst types and antitypes, &c. it is to be feared he will. not have great fuccefs with thofe to whom he particularly applies.. It has been generally thought, and with the appearance of truth,, that Rev. xii. 1-5. reprefents Chriftianity under the emblem of a beautiful and majeflic woman, and that her pregnancy and delivery of a Man Child fignified the progrefs of the gospel, its firength and vigour, notwithstanding the efforts made against it.. But here we H. are prefented with a very different explication, into which it is not easy to enter. Art. 62. A plain and fcriptural Account of the Lord's Supper, collected from every Paffage which occurs in the New Teftament on that Subject: Together with a most remarkable Hebrew Prophefy contained in the fifth Chapter of Genefis. To which is added, a fcriptural Effay on the Advantages arifing from the Study of the Sacred Writings; divided into the following Heads: 1. Of the Difpofitions of Mankind. 2. Of the Properties of the 3. Of the State Mankind are in by Nature. 5. How Word of God. 4. Of the Deliverance God hath propofed to Sinners. this Deliverance is made known. 6. Of the natural Man not being capable of understanding the Scriptures. 7. The Promifes which God hath given for the understanding of the Scriptures. 8. Why the Scriptures are not more generally understood. 9. Of the Charge of the Ministry. 10. Of the New Teltament Ministry. 11. Of the Neceffity of Regeneration. 12. How the Soul is regenerated. 13. Of the Perfection and Efficacy of the ScripHow 14. Of Faith being the Gift of God. 15. How Faith is tures. 16. A general Exhortation to Repentance. attained. Mankind are rendered inexcufable in rejecting the Gospel, with the dreadful Confequences of fuch Rejection. By a Wellwither to 1s. York, printed; London, the Interefts of Christianity. 8vo. Matthews.

tures.

This voluminous title page fufficiently informs the reader what he may expect to meet with in the perufal of this pamphlet. Yet, befide all this, there is a farther tract, confifting of near twenty pages, on the unity of the Godhead, or the doctrine of three in one. This, excepting the introduction, is entirely a collection of ScripThe Hebrew prophecy is nothing more than ten names of perfons from Adam to Noah, which, in their explication, this honelt man fuppofes to fortell the Chriftian falvation. The belt part of this pamphlet is the account of the Lord's Supper. It employs only ten or eleven pages, and is plain, rational, and feriptural. The Author appears to be a well-meaning man, but the lucubrations of well meaning perfons are not always worth publishing.

SERMONS.

I. Preached at St. Peter's, Colchester, June 24, 1777, being the
Feftival of St. John the Baptift. Before the Provincial Grand
Mafter, and the Provincial Grand Lodge of the moft Ancient and
Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Mafons of Ellex. By
the Rev. William Martin Leake, LL. B. late of St. Peter's Col-
lege, Cambridge, and Vicar of Fingringhas in Effex. 8vo.
Sewel, &c.

This reverend Mafon begins with praying for thofe who file at
his fraternity, and it is, therefore, to be hoped they may continue

that

H.

that wicked practice without fpiritual dread or fear. He fets out
with representing benevolence as the great principle by which his
Society is actuated; but ill does he practife what he preaches; for
no fooner has he announced this than he begins to abuse the poor
man after God's own heart. The reafon of this is obvious. That
prince, not remarkable for his masonry, contented himself with buy-
ing a barn of Araunah the Jebufite, which had been built probably
before he was born. Solomon he praises to those skies, to which,
however, only his temple afpired; but then Solomon belonged to
the Grand Provincial Lodge, was a mighty builder, and contracted
with King Hiram for an hundred thousand load of timber, and other
materials. Another Hiram, the workman, the Preacher calls the
widow's fon of the tribe of Napthali,' and adds, • with whose pri-
vate history they only who are Mafters among us are acquainted."
What abfurd affectation of mystery, as if it were neceffary to be
a Mafter Mason to come at the private History of Hiram! or as
if the history of that workman lay more obvious to any individual
of this ftrange Society, than it does to the lowest commentator on
the Bible!

SERMONS on the late General Faft, Feb. 27, 778, continued:
See our laft Number, p. 246.

VI. Before the Hon. Houfe of Commons, at St. Margaret's, Weft-
minster. By William Vife, LL. D. Rector of Lambeth. 4to.
1 S. Cadell.

In this very loyal difcourfe

Friend: "I beg pardon for interrupting you, Mr. Reviewer, but pray what is loyalty ?"

Reviewer: Loyalty, Sir!-loyalty is-Will you do me the favour to refer this question to your long-headed Correfpondent, the Burgomafter of Amfterdam ?

Friend: A Dutch definition of loyalty must be carious to an Eng lish politician: I will certainly write to the Burgomatter.

Reviewer: And, till this anfwer arrives, let us defer the confideration of Dr. Vife's discourse.

VII. At Liverpool. By William Hunter, M. A. Fellow of Brazennofe College, Oxford, and Minifter of St. Paul's, Liverpool. 4to. I S. Cadell.

If our Heavenly Father hath not more forbearance toward this finful nation than Father Hunter feems to have, dreadful, indeed, must be the danger we are in; for, after drawing out an horrible catalogue of our crimes, and adding to it the open and avowed in. fidelity of the age,' he tells the mayor, aldermen, and corporation of Liverpool that this laft infult offered to heaven is of too fhocking a nature to be tamely endured !-We hope this reverend Gentleman of Brazen nofe is not difpofed to perfecute any man for his principles !-He appears to have had fome individual infidel in view: Who can it be? Chub is dead, Bolingbroke is dead, Annet is dead, Hume is dead,-and Voltaire is beyond the reach of any Fellow of an English university. We have it in a note, p. 23, where the pious Preacher exprefsly points at a well-known Sectarian champion in the field of letters, whofe name (fays he) it is to be wished, were closed up with the rest of the infidel group in the black

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book of oblivion. From the extenfive range this Writer has taken
in the world of fcience, it might feem (however paradoxical the
thought) as if he understood every thing but his own profeffion-the
falvation of fouls.-There is more of this pointed note; the whole of
which we leave to the feelings of Dr. ********, who may poffibly
deem fuch language "too fhocking to be tamely endured."—But this
may depend upon the light in which the Sectarian Champion may
may happen to view his antagonist.

VIII. The LORD's Controverfy with a guilty Nation. Two Sermons.
By the Rev. Richard De Courcy, Vicar of St. Alkmond's, Shrewf-
bury; and formerly of Trinity College, Dublin. 8vo. 1 S.
Robinson, &c.

This flaming Churchman paints the fins of a rebellious people, and the judgments of incenfed Deity,' in dark shades and frong colouring,-to ufe his own words, in defcribing the penciling of the Jewish prophet, Jer. v. from whence Mr. De Courcy has taken his text t. He particularly difplays, in all its abominable branches, the criminality of the Jewish nation; and hideous as the picture is, he boldly pronounces that we are even worse than the Jews of Jeremiah's time; and that there is not a fingle tranfgreffion in their group of iniquities,' which does not abound, with all its aggravations, in this land of guilt.'

Among the enormities enumerated, he confiders the horrible complacency in faife doctrines, and the propagation and national efpoufal of error [among the Jews] as the most atrocious; and, as there is not a fingle tranfgreffion in their group, with which we is not chargeable, he accordingly directs the thunder of his fpiritual artillery, point blanc, against thofe impious wretches, the philofophers, the materialifts, the anti-fubfcribers, and the anti-trinitarians of the age.

This is one of your ftaunch, orthodox divines; but his zeal is not altogether without knowledge; for he, undoubtedly, poffeffes confiderable abilities.

IX. The Civil War between the Ifraelites and Benjamites illuftrated
and applied, in the Parish Church of St. Andrew, Canterbury.
By John Duncomb, M. A. Rector of that Parish, and one of the
Six Preachers in the Cathedral. 4to. 6d. Law.

Avoiding political topics, as unfuitable to the pulpit, Mr. Dun-
comb, very commendably, prefers the conciliatory train. Sermons
thus conceived, in the fpirit of moderation, are moft worthy of the
Christian character. We have here no common place railing at our
own country, no illiberal abuse of thofe with whom we are, unhap-
pily for both, at variance: fuch a falutary spirit cannot be too much
diffused.
X. The paft Mercies, the great Sinfulness, and the present alarming
State of this Nation, a loud Call to bumble ourselves fincerely before

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Our Readers must not imagine that the Preacher here points particularly toward the Americans. The rebellious people here meant are to be found nearer home: rebels against their God, though, perhaps, loyal to their earthly King.

+"Shall I not vifit for these things, faith the Lord? Shall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as THIS?" Ver. 29.

God.

See his

1.

God. By John Towers, Minifter of the Gofpel in Bartholomew-
Clofe, Welt-Smithfield. 8vo. 6d. Vallance, &c.

A plain difcourfe, properly adapted, we fuppofe, to the devotional taste of the congregation to which it was delivered; viz. "The Members and Friends of the Church of Chrift, meeting in Bartholomew-Clofe" Vid. DEDICATION.

XI. The Substance of a Sermon preached at the Right Hon, the Countefs of Huntingdon's Chapel at Bath; with a Dedication to her Ladyhip. By the Rev. T. Haweis, LL. B. 8vo. 6d. Dilly,

&c.

Not altogether fo Methodilical as might be expected from one of the Counters of Huntingdon's chaplains.

XII. Two Sermons-preached Dec. 13, 1776, and on Friday, Feb. 27, 1778, &e. Dedicated to his Grace the Duke of Richmond. 4to. I S. Nicoll.

When fermons are printed, it is not common for the preacher's name to be fuppreffed; but, if these two difcourfes were really delivered from the pulpit, there may have been cogent reafons for the omiffion of the Author's name in the title page. The perfonal acknowledgment (to the Public at large) of fentiments which feem rather favourable to the American cause, might appear to be pregnant with poffible inconveniences; and the applaufes given, in the dedication, to a nobleman who is not fuppofed to stand in the highest eftimation with government, may be a farther reafon for concealment. So far, the Author may have acted with proper caution; but it would have been equally prudent to have moderated the excefs of that zeal which has led him to attack the Ministry, in terms of the most unreferved abufe: Mid Dedicat. p. 1.

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the AUTHORS of the MONTHLY REVIEW.

GENTLEMEN,

YOU

YOU have felected an extra& from Nicholson and Barn's Hiftory of Westmorland in your laft Review, refpecting the first Quakers, and, by adding the epithet curious to it, you have, in fome degree, given it your fanétion. The account is faid to be drawn from fome (I fuppofe before unpublished) memoirs of a Mr. Higginson, formerly Vicar of Kirkby Stephen.

It feems fomewhat extraordinary, that a gentleman of Dr. Burn's great and deferved reputation in the literary world, fhould have thought it fair to draw from its obfcurity a paper, written at a time when the minds of moft men were heated with religious preju dice, and when the Clergy, more particularly, were irritated against the Quakers, because their tenets, oppofing the venal fupport of the priesthood, fapped the very foundations of its fplendour and authority. Nor perhaps did they fcruple to add the epithet of hireling to thofe who, making a trade of religion, brought it into disrepute amongst the people.

At the quarter feffions at Appleby in Weftmorland, in January 1652, James Naylor, a Quaker, was tried for blafphemy. The trial is ftill extant, and it appears from thence, that Higginson, Vicar of Kirkby Stephen, was a promoter of the profecution. Naylor was then honourably discharged, nothing of that kind being proved against

him, unless it be reckoned blafphemy to oppofe Higginson's affer327 tion, repeated in open court, that "Chrift is in heaven with a carnal body." Both the temper of the good Vicar, and the complexion of His divinity, may perhaps be inferred from this anecdote.

It must not however be denied, that the fame James Naylor afterwards fell into delufions of the imagination, scarcely fhort of infanity. He was then difowned by the Quakers. Yet fome eminent writers have taken occafion from this inftance, and a few others of the like kind, to charge those irregularities upon the principles of the fociety, for which individuals alone ought to be refponfible.

The evidence of Higginfon carries with it all the marks of that wanton exaggeration which characterifes perfonal animofity. The charge is fupported by no proof. Gerard Croefe, indeed, in his hiftory of the Quakers, mentions a petition from the ministers, and fundry other perfons of Lancashire, against George Fox, James Naylor, and their affociates, in which they are accufed of foaming at the mouth in their conventicles, and of other ftrange agitations; and George Fox, in particular, of having faid that he was equal to God, the only Judge of the World, Chrift, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. One James Melver (perhaps Milner) was alfo charged with faying that he was God and Chrift, and with prophefying that the day of judgment was at hand, that there should be no more juftices in Lancashire, and that the parliament fhould be plucked up by the roots. Higginson's narrative and this petition bear striking marks of affinity with each other, and probably fprung from the fame foarce. Croefe, however, who was no Quaker, nor is his hiftory partial to the Quakers, acknowledges" that thefe charges were fo completely refuted, that it was apparent they who invented them were wicked men, and they who believed in them were fools." He excepts the mad prefumption of Melver (or Milner), whom he fays the Quakers rebuked. The truth is, that as the Quakers, for the reafon abovementioned, were especially fingled out as the objects of priestly indignation, every rumour to their difadvantage was eagerly adopted, and frequently fpread with circumftances of aggravation. Thus a Vicar of Wakefield, whofe name was Marshall, reported of George Fox, that he rode upon a great black horfe, and was feen within an hour at two places fixty miles diftant from each other. If the papers of this Vicar were narrowly searched into, it might, poffibly, be found recorded as his opinion, that the firft Quakers were witches. It must, notwithstanding, be acknowledged, that it was not unusual for fome of the most zealous to go fometimes into the public places of worship, and after the preacher had finished his difcourfe, to reprove both prieft and people for practices which they confidered as fuperftitious or antichriftian.

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Amidst the swarm of fects which diftinguished the last century, there was one, of which little is now known, but that the practices of its adherents outraged all decency and order. They were called Ranters. The enemies of the Quakers found it frequently fuitable to their purpose to confound them with this ephemeron fect, whofe principles were nevertheless totally incompatible with thofe of the Quakers. There is a paper till extant, written by Edward Burroughs, an active preacher amongit the Quakers, against the licentious practices of thefe people.

• Hume