in a letter written to his mother on the departure of this 'his esteemed friend and pupil,' * from his school.

We should undoubtedly include in this list also, Mr Orton, one of the most serious and judicious of practical writers, and who, if retaining more of the doctrinal views of his instructer, was not less decided in his aversion to high Calvinism, and to every form of uncharitableness.

Indeed the number of liberal men educated by Dr Doddridge, would appear remarkable, were it not, as we have intimated, the undeniable, we might add, the natural result, of the freedom to which he left them. This, however, though clearly demanded by all upright views of the subject, was regarded with distrust by his more exclusive brethren. It brought into suspicion the soundness of his own Orthodoxy; and, long after his death, it was not only an occasion of grief, but of reproach, that from his seminary and from that which succeeded it at Daventry, should have proceeded so many, whose talents, learning, and eloquence, whose love of truth and piety, were all engaged in a cause, which some men called heresy. And certainly, amidst the little weaknesses, or timidity, which Dr Doddridge in interests of less importance might betray, and which were among the undeniable foibles of his character-it is to the lasting honor of his name, that, upon questions like these, he would not suffer himself to be moved. He had too much regard for the sacredness of truth, and too much respect for the rights of conscience, to prescribe to his pupils any limits to their inquiries, or to yield for a moment his own views of duty to the suspicions or reproaches of men, whose favorable opinion, in matters of a more personal nature, he was possibly too solicitous to secure. Nor, distasteful as to some may be even the suggestion, can we resist the conviction, that had he and Dr Calamy, whose moderation amidst Orthodoxy we have noticed as the shining grace of his character,had they and other worthies it is easy to name, but of whom for brevity's sake, we will only mention Dr Isaac Watts as the representative and head, lived in these our times, their integrity of soul, their catholic temper, and their fidelity to the light which God was continually opening to them, would have distinguished them as the advocates of Liberal Christianity, as they are already distinguished by Christians of every name, among the best of men and the most useful of ministers.

* For this letter see Memoirs of the Life of Newcome Cappe, by his Wife. VOL. VIII.-N. S. VOL. III. NO. I. 11

This last, it may be noted, is the eulogium deliberately pronounced by Dr Kippis, in summing up the character of the author of the letters before us. For he says, that Dr Doddridge was not only a great man, but one of the most excellent Christians and christian ministers, that ever existed.' In acknowledging at the same time, the defects to which we have adverted, he imagines that he had, in certain points, a resemblance to Cicero; particularly in his love of fame, and in not possessing the sternness of fortitude. But, he adds, he resembled him likewise in more estimable qualities; in the copiousness, diffusion, and pathos, of his eloquence; and in the sensibilities and tenderness of his mind, especially as displayed in the loss of his daughter.'*

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With our highest respect for the judgment of Dr Kippis, we are not sure that his affection for his benefactor, tutor, and friend,' and his readiness of classic allusion, rather than the exactness of the truth, has furnished out a comparison so honorable to Doddridge. But be this as it may, we wish that the great-grandson had imitated the pupil in his delicacy and good sense in setting forth, or rather forbearing to set forth, the more private qualities of his ancestor. We repeat our thorough reprobation of the folly or the meanness; the lack of prudence, or, what was perhaps the commanding motive, the love of money, which has forced these manuscripts into light. But since the evil is committed, and we cannot avoid it, we will, like christian philosophers, endeavour to deduce from it the good which it may yield us, and shall conclude this notice, already too extended, with one or two of those practical reflections, which, though somewhat more appropriate within the walks of pulpit instruction, cannot, we trust, be deemed out of place, or intrusive, in the pages of our journal.

And to give to these their full efficacy, we shall wave all doubts as to the authenticity of some of these letters, though we confess we have many; and will only remark in passing, that the titles affixed to them are purely the work of the compiler, who has betrayed a strange eagerness to exhibit in strong relief the least desirable portions of them, and whose flippancy and thoughtlessness, to use no harsher terms, seem to us, when we consider with whose good name he was trifling, as amounting to an iniquity to be punished by the judges.' Admitting, however, for the present, the genuineness of these let

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*Kippis's Memoirs of Dr Doddridge, p. 299.

ters, and comparing them with the unquestionable notices we have of Doddridge, we may see with what weaknesses and foibles the characters of good, and even eminent men, may be mingled. We perceive, that there is a certain unavoidable delusion in biography, as well as in history, which, in selecting only the brighter parts of character, separating the precious from the base, what is wise and noble from what is foolish, imprudent, or mean, shall make that pass for true greatness, or unblemished worth, which in reality, and even to the view of friends, while the hero was yet alive, may have been tarnished, or even degraded by many faults.

On the other hand, in the just honors, that for nearly a century have been bestowed upon the name of Doddridge, we perceive how the memory of such infirmities may be lost in the essential worth, dignity, and usefulness of the character; so that if its failings are noticed at all, it shall be as spots in the glorious sun. There is a blessed charity, which, since it is not of themselves, God in his mercy has given to time, to death, and the grave, to cover a multitude of sins, and to secure to substantial goodness its own immortality.

Who now ever speaks,' in the hearing of the present writer said a venerable minister, now almost in his century of years, and probably the only man living, who has seen Dr Doddridge, * 'who now ever thinks of the Doctor's vanity, or complains of his talking so fondly of his own works, his many engagements, and large correspondence? Who hears of him now, but as the great and eloquent divine?' Thus it is, that the grave dresses up for us our virtues, and sends them out in fresh beauty and glory for the praise and imitation of men, whilst it hides our faults, nay, even our vices, under the friendly cover of its

*The Rev. Thomas Tayler, formerly the minister of Carter Lane, London, who, as we understand, retains in his extreme old age, the judgment and benevolence, which marked his whole life. He is the only surviving pupil of Dr Doddridge; and though too young to have belonged to his Theological School, having, as he told this writer, only recited his lessons to him when a school-boy, he may be numbered with those that have been mentioned as imbibing the catholicism of his instructer. This most amiable and exemplary man has, we learn from the preface to the letters, lately paid a touching tribute of his filial regard to the memory of his early instructer, by renewing, at his own expense, and in a handsome manner, the tomb of Dr Doddridge in the Protestant burial ground at Lisbon. It was in that city, it will be remembered, the Doctor died, having sought in vain from its milder climate the recovery of his health. There, also, his remains were interred, and his tomb, with the lapse of more than half a century, had fallen into decay.

own darkness. Therefore,' said the wise man, happier esteemed I the dead who are already dead, than the living who are yet alive.'

Yet again, and here the instruction applies especially for our fear and warning, we learn how the innocent foibles, the petty infirmities or imprudences of early life, may come up to the surprise of others, and to our own dishonor, long after the memory of them has passed away. A publication like this before us, may awaken from its sleep of a century, the record, which even our own hands had made, and our own carefulness rather than thoughtlessness, had preserved, of hopes or fears, love or hatred, follies or sins, which every earthly being that had known them, had forgotten, and the God, to whom alone they were present, had graciously forgiven. Some untoward accident, or that which men call such, some idle stroller or painful searcher into garrets, some needy or spendthrift grandson, willing to make of our name that which he cannot make from his own-shall drag them into light; and long after we have been slumbering in our graves, and there is none that knew us, to defend us, shall make us the reproach or ridicule of a third or a fourth generation-of young men and of young women, who had come into the world too long after we had gone from it, to hear of the good, which was mingled with our evil, or the virtues that prevailed, while we lived, to procure charity for our faults; nay, which, perhaps, left to us unimpaired, except in our own unforgiving consciences, the name and honors of good men.

To pursue these very serious reflections to their just conclusion, we must remark yet further, that to guard against this posthumous dishonor, the only true and efficacious method is, to guard against the occasions of it; to do nothing that shall be grief of heart' to ourselves, or to them who may come after us. The seed, sown thoughtlessly in the beginning of life, may spring up an unbidden and unwelcome harvest, and nothing be left of us but our defenceless memories to reap it. But since, as in the instance before us, good may sometimes take the shape and appearance of evil, and foibles and inadvertences show themselves in this imperfect state in the best and wisest of our race, we have, lastly, one word of counsel, which the history we have been exhibiting must sufficiently show to be wise. Are we writing, then, for any who

desire that their memory shall flourish sweetly over their graves -and what son or daughter of Adam does not desire it?and have they the felicities or the sorrows of their lot accumulated on their hands in files of confidential correspondence; or, to come yet nearer to the point, that we may not fail to be understood, do they hold in their most secret repositories the faithful records of their laudable, but disappointed projects of the heart, then our counsel is, Burn them;-in the words of Horace, applied, with a single change, by a most grave divine,* to the manuscripts of a learned ancestor, who was also one of the lights of New England

Dissolve frigus: scripta super foco
Large reponens.

Brief as this counsel is, let it not be doubted that it includes the whole wisdom of the case.

Nor will the sacrifice he great. It may cost indeed a few short pangs, and may revive for an hour the remembrance of hopes that have past, or of wounds that have closed. But then it may rescue our memories from a more scorching flame; and in the smoke of that sacrifice shall be consumed forever the record of those days, in comparison of which with their wiser years, some of the best and most honored of mankind may have found cause to say, 'When I was a child, I spake as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.'

ART. VI.-Principles of Congregationalism. The Second Century Lecture of the First Church. By CHARLES WENTWORTH UPHAM, Junior Pastor. Salem. Foote

& Brown. 1829. 8vo. pp. 72.

WE are indebted to the author of this discourse for some very valuable contributions to our stock of theological publications. His sermon, on the Principles of the Reformation,

* Dr Charles Chauncey, of Boston, in recording the fate of the manuscripts of his great-grandfather, President Chauncey, of Harvard College, for learning and weight of character among the most eminent men of his day.