to the flesh, and so much other labour and service as he performed, nor have endured so much and so long those indispositions which at length removed him out of this world.

"He had a clear head, a strong memory, and sound judgment, and by hard study arrived to a considerable degree in the most useful learning; he was all his days indefatigable in study and labour; God had blessed him with a pious disposition from his childhood, and he was thankful for the benefit of a religious education; at the age of sixteen, by the advice of his tutor, he received the Lord's Supper.

"He had a regard to piety towards God, and a great value for revealed religion, believing in and being thankful for the way of life and salvation by Jesus Christ, declared in the Gospel; at the same time many moral virtues shined brightly in him before those who knew him; in him we might see a good example of filial duty in the constant respect and kindness he showed to his mother as long as she lived, (his father dying when he was young,) and of conjugal love and parental tenderness and care. He was candid and generous in his temper, of a public spirit, a great lover and promoter of peace, and of universal benevolence.

"He thought_truth and peace to appear best when joined toge

ther; and though a dissenter from the Established Church in judgment, and upon principle, after the most mutual deliberation, yet he was of a catholic spirit, without narrowness, bitterness, wrath, clamour, and evil speaking, and other such like fruits of the flesh; he was a kind and faithful friend, ready to do all good offices, and in particular would give mild and seasonable reproofs as there was occasion. He was glad of any opportunity to help the poor

and the distressed, and was by many assisted to do this in a degree, which otherwise he would not have been able; he was sensibly touched with the great hardships of many of his brethren in the country, and their widows and orphans; and no man showed a greater regard and kindness to young ministers and students in divinity.

"He was a judicious and wellstudied divine, a very serious, practical, and acceptable preacher. He had the art of managing a controversy well, but would never engage in disputes of a trivial nature, or of mere speculation: his first care was about that part of Christ's flock over which the Holy Ghost had made him an overseer, but had the concerns of many other churches often upon his heart and hands.

"God blessed his labours with

good success in several remarkable instances.

Though his last illness was of long continuance, attended with threatening circumstances, yet (as is very common in such cases) he did not apprehend his death to be so near as indeed it was; however (as he told me), God had given him considerable time to prepare for death, and he trusted he was ready. There was a constant calmness and easiness on his mind with respect to another world, a firm faith in the gospel method of salvation, and good hope through grace; he was ever inclined to thankfulness, without distrust or complaint, and comforted several in distress, that came to visit him in his confinement. A few days before his death he plainly apprehended that his end was near, and did in a particular manner pray for a blessing on his wife and children that were about him, and then took his leave of them, and hardly ever had the use of his` reason afterwards."

There was something remark

1724. And in 2d edition, a Letter to the Author of a Pamphlet, &c. &c. &c.

31. Memoirs of Rev. John Howe. 8vo. 1724.

32. Word of God the Young Man's Best Directory. Sermon. 1725.

33. Charge to Mr. William Hunt. 1725.

34. Funeral Sermon for Mr. Sheffield. 1725-6.

35. Funeral Sermon for Mr. Bennett. 1725-6.

36. Continuation of Ejected and Silenced Ministers. 2 vols. 8vo. 1727. 37. Funeral Sermon for Mr. John Mottershed. 1728.

ON MOTIVES IN RELIGIOUS

PROFESSION.

THE human mind, when exerted rationally and accountably, is impelled by motives, which, determining the will, excite to action. Motives alone, it is true, can never decide the quality of actions, as good or bad, independently of divine authority; yet they are of the highest moral importance, as they may turn to man's destruction what would otherwise promote his welfare and felicity; and certainly they determine the grand question of sincerity or hypocrisy in those who bear the name of Jesus Christ.

In our day and nation, religious profession is so increasingly common, as in a manner to have become fashionable. This is not altogether a new scene, notwithstanding the surprise it occasions to many; the same appeared, probably, on an equal, if not superior scale, allowing for the difference in population, in the days of Charles I., and his successor Cromwell, who each gave a moral impulse to the realm. NEALE says, "Religion was the fashion of the age; the assembly was often turned into a house of prayer, and hardly a week passed without solemn fasting and humiliation in several of the churches of London and Westminster; the laws against profaneness were carefully executed. Most of the common soldiers were religious and orderly, and when released from duty, spent their time in prayer and

religious conferences."

At one

period, in the reign of Charles II. says the same historian, in answer to those who branded the general religion of that day with the name of hypocrisy, one may venture to challenge these declaimers to produce any period of time since the Reformation, wherein there was less open profaneness and impiety, and more of the spirit as well as appearance of religion. The lusts of men were laid under a visible restraint. Better laws were never made against vice, or more vigorously executed. Drunkenness, fornication, profane swearing, and every kind of debauchery, were justly deemed infamous, and universally discountenanced-a bankrupt had a mark of infamy upon him that he could never wipe off."*

Though such a fashion as the above be in the highest degree laudable, when the work is really in the heart, and though any thing of the Gospel infinitely surpasses the utmost pretensions of infidelity; surely we should not become professors, for fashion's sake through the mere power of general example. "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?” was long since a question with such as dared not to follow Christ on principles unshackled by human influence. Supposing Great Britain suddenly and unexpectedly metamorphosed into a Popish, or

*History of the Puritans, edited by Mr. Parsons. Vol. 2d. p. 114, 153, 476.

an infidel kingdom, such religionists would run great hazard of being carried away with the stream, to perish in the deluge. It is the unavoidable tendency and consequence of all established religions, to lead by example, or by power, rather than principle, when they have gradually acquired such an ascendancy, as to give a moral character and aspect to whole empires.

If national example be thus operative, much more may religious profession be expected to result sometimes from the delightful associations of private friendship, and the allurements of social connexions at large. Courtesy, and the laws of highly cultivated society, forbid that a man should not go with his friend "to the house of God in company," especially if, at the time, there be some unusual attraction; and a wish to oblige, or to avoid offence, has brought many within the visible church. Literary characters, mechanics, commercial-men, and persons in common life, often think and act alike in religion, through the mere power of association; and it is owing to this, among many more important causes, that in great manufacturing districts, the Gospel meets with general acceptance, for amidst a large intimate connexion, following the same worldly pursuits, it is difficult to stand alone, even in the cause of iniquity, and a disbelief of the truth.

The ties of filial affection bind many to a religious profession. Where parents have long laboured and prayed for their unconverted offspring; where their exhortations have been forcible and incessant; where they have "travailed in birth till Christ was formed in them," children must feel this influence, and if vice have not awfully hardened their heart, they must act accordingly. Many yield implicit obedience, and from

a desire to please, as also from filial reverence, will not dare to vex a religious parent by open neglect of duty. This should greatly encourage the work of family religion; at the same time, let parents carefully watch the early profession of their children, lest it should result from mere moral suasion, combined with a parental authority, exerted without suspicion of its becoming an exclusive or ruling motive.

"The form of godliness" has frequently, I fear, been assumed from a love for distinction, and the impulse of vain ambition. These were the Alpha and Omega of the Scribes and Pharisees, and of Simon Magus; and in more modern ages, the founders of many ephemeral religions have been stimulated by an expectation of public notice and applause. From whatever cause arising, it is not now as in "days of yore," that a profession of religion meets with the general scorn of mankind, rejecting it as "the off-scouring of all things." It places persons on an eminence, pointing them out to the eye of observation, and as ambition often becomes a master-passion, no wonder that many should feel" the burning fever of renown," and assume, from a love of distinction, that which, above all things, should promote humility and self-abasement.

In all commercial nations, a man's self-interest and worldly prosperity have ever been considered, by unsanctified minds, as their summum bonum. Their influence is incalculable, nothing being left untried to accomplish these sordid ends. The power of commercial maxims, manners, policy, and management in religion is too glaring not to be seen and felt. Owing to these, and similar influences, many conduct their Christianity on the very principles of commerce, exhibiting the acute