minister and my brother, will hardly write once in a quarter. I am indeed to drink a dish of tea with some agreeable women in the evening, and may possibly look over a chapter or two in the history of the four Kings. If I should be immoderately transported with the joy of victory, or the grief and sorrow of a defeat; with love to Mrs. ***, or anger against my antagonist, I hope to find my remedy in the conversation of Mr. Bragge, who has lately undertaken to teach me the government of the passions, which, indeed, I ought to have learnt some time ago. Dr. Potter is teaching me Grecian Antiquities But I fear, I shall hardly have time to speak with him to-day. However, I will, if possible, attend upon my tutor Cradock in the evening, who is lecturing to me on the epistles, with great accuracy and solidity. Besides this, I have a kind of a short sermon to preach in the family, according to my daily custom, and three or four letters to transcribe into shorthand.-Now I will leave you, who are one of the greatest clerks I know, to judge, whether all this business will leave me time to say any thing more, than how does my dear sister, with my service to her? I am, "Your affectionate brother and servant, "PHILIP Doddridge." Mr. H. carefully supplies a note to" the history of the four kings," that his readers may understand that Doddridge in 1726 occasionally played at "cards;" painful as this fact is to many serious minds, had he published the diary with the letters, the impression would have been speedily removed, as in 1728 the following entry occurs, 'I am determined to leave off cards, which have in some instances been a snare to me." In a letter addressed to Mrs. Clarke, in 1722, Dr. Doddridge refers to his first sermon in the following terms. "I am going to tell you a piece of news that, I believe will surprise you. But in the first place, Clio, you must know that it is to be a secret at London, though it be pretty well known at Hinckley; and so you are not to tell any body, that I preached, last Sunday morning, for Mr. Jennings. It was upon a particular occasion, and Mr. Jennings was very urgent, otherwise I believe I should not have complied. However, I came off better than I expected. The old women treated me very graciously; and one of them, that was a little offended to see such a lad go up into the pulpit, was pleased to declare, when I came down, that she could have laid me in her bosom. Our young gentlemen tell me, that this might be a good foundation to begin an amour, but I think I have heard you say, that you do not like a married man so well as a bachelor, and so I will let my ancient admirer rest in peace. If you have a curiosity to see my text, you may take your Bible and turn to 1 Cor. xvi. 22."-Vol. i p. 145. 66 Most of our readers will regret that such an exercise, and on such a subject too, should be mentioned in this flippant style; but Mr. Orton informs us, I find in his Diary that two persons ascribed their conversion to the blessing of God attending that sermon: with which he appears to have been much affected and encouraged." Now had Mr. Humphreys adopted the synchronal arrangement for which we contend, the passage to which Mr. Orton refers would have exhibited a very different state of mind from that which his letter betrays. ful degree in those letters which Levity is exhibited to a painwere addressed by Doddridge to his female friends and to his fellow-students, during the academical period. That he was betrayed by the buoyancy of his temper into this state of mind, so contrary to "the gravity" which the New Testament requires, and which his own conscience approved, we cannot doubt, and let those who may presume to plead the authority of his great name as a sanction for such "lightness," recollect that there is abundant evidence, in defiance of Mr. Humphreys, to prove that it was the occasion of the deepest regret, and the most penitential humiliation. Thus, in writing to Mr. Hughes, one of his associates at Mr. Jennings's Academy, he says, "I cannot but acknowledge that I read with great pleasure your reflections on that period of our existences, as you very pathetically call it, which passed just before you left Mr. Jennings. They are extremely agreeable to what I have often thought with relation to both of us at that time. It is happy for us that we see our mistake; pereunt et imputantur would be a melancholy thought indeed; but if Divine Grace had not awakened us to improve some of our time like rational creatures and like Christians, and if we did not hope by future diligence in some measure to recover what we have lost, it might yet apply. "I was talking with Mr. Some this evening about our conduct then, and read to him what you said upon it; he heard it with great satisfaction, and desired me to tell you, that he has seen the justice of the observation; and that a sense of former negligence and mistake is often of considerable use for the remainder of life."-Vol. ii. p. 136. Mr. Orton gives us a passage from his Diary also, of about the same date, which we cannot withhold from our readers, as confirmatory of these remarks. "Jan. 1, 1726-7. Last night I was seriously reflecting upon the year which I am come to the conclusion of; and I now look forward to the year which I am entered upon. I see many necessities, which can only be supplied by divine bounty; many duties which I shall be utterly unable to perform with out the communications of divine grace; and many uncertain events, which I cannot make myself easy about, any other way than by referring them to the divine care. Nothing therefore can be more reasonable, than to renew the dedication of myself to the service of God this morning. Accordingly I have done it in secret prayer; and, in order to confirm the impression of it upon my heart, I now repeat it by the writing of my hand. To thee, O glorious and eternal God, the creator, preserver, and ruler of all; to thee, the invariable Father of lights, and overflowing fountain of all good, do I devote my unworthy soul. In dependence on the atonement and intercession of thy dear son, and on the powerful assistance of thine almighty grace, I humbly renew my covenant with thee. I call thee to record upon my soul, that I am grieved and ashamed to think how wretchedly I have been alienated from thee; and I do now seriously determine, that I will endeavour in every action of life, to approve myself in thy sight, and to behave as thy faithful servant. To thee do I consecrate all that I am, and have, all my time, worldly possessions, the powers of my soul, and the members of my body. And, because it may be of use to specify some particulars comprehended in this general engagement, I would especially resolve, to be more careful in the improvement of my time, to redeem it from unnecessary sleep, useless visits, impertinent discourse, idle speculations, negligence in business, excessive recreations; and to watch over my actions, words, thoughts, and affections, answerably to these engagements. I will endeavour to conquer pride in my heart, and with the most vigorous resolution, restrain all the appearances of it. I will endeavour to behave with constant kindness and complaisance, prudence and gravity." It is now time that we should deduce some further evidence in support of the charge of unfairness which we bring against Mr. Humphreys, the impartial editor of these volumes. em Dr. Doddridge, in his early correspondence, occasionally ployed phrases which betray his want of complete satisfaction with what are usually called orthodox opinions. These passages are faithfully published by Mr. Humphreys, even to the italic words, and notes of admiration, which we must, of course, suppose are all in the short hand MSS! These are evidently intended to show that the Doctor did not belong to the orthodox body of Congregational Dissenters, though, "since his decease, they have," as Mr. H. says, so artfully represented him as one of themselves." 66 But does Mr. Humphreys suppose that we are so ignorant of the history of Doddridge, as to let this statement pass uncontradicted? Dr. Doddridge has not been artfully represented to be of us; the artifice exists now as it did in his life-time, on the other side, and Dr. Kippis, as an honest biographer, has told the truth, which a passage from a letter of the Doctor's will abundantly confirm." By some of his enemies," says Dr. K. "it was asserted that he was a trimmer in the pulpit. The persons most disposed to find fault with him in respect to the point in question, were those who were entitled, the rational Dissenters. They could not easily persuade themselves that a man of such general abilities and great liberality of mind, could entertain very different opinions from their own, and they wished to have him rank more explicitly amongst them." One of the Doctor's friends having informed him of the same charge of insincerity, he replied, letter published by Mr. Orton, chap. 8. sect. 7. in a "I do indeed believe, that it is generally thought by that part the world, which some in jest, and some in sober sadness, are ready to charge with heretical pravity, that I approach much nearer to their sentiments, than I really do: and perhaps three causes have concurred to lead them into that apprehension. A general conceit, that their notions are so self-evident, that none but an extremely weak or ignoraut man (which they pay me the compliment of supposing that I am not, though they afterwards fully balance the account) can possibly be of a different opinion. Some hints, which 1 may, perhaps, have dropped between the years 1723 and 1730, or thereabouts, when I was really more inclined to some of their sentiments than I now am; "The friendly manner in which I have The Eclectic Reviewers, in their critique upon the volumes before us, ventured to remark, that as Mr. Humphreys had to transcribe from a short hand MS. the characters of which are so minute 66 as sometimes to require a lens to decipher" them, there was room for mistake and variation: to this Mr. Humphreys thus replies, "The system of short-hand, indeed, with it knows that it conveys every exbeing Rich's, every person acquainted pression, and indeed every word in a full and literal manner. Both the original and transcript have been seen by many individuals, and may be examined by any one who applies in a proper way for the purpose." Now, we observe, in collating some of those letters of the Doctor which Mr. Stedman published, with copies of the same given by Mr. H., considerable, and some important variations. Let any of our readers take the 17th Letter in Mr. Stedman's volume, and collate it with Mr. H.'s version of it, addressed to Miss Horseman, (vol. ii. p. 386.) and he will immediately detect the fact to which we allude. But Mr. Humphreys says that every word is given in Rich's Short Hand. Well, then, we ask, How is it that Mr. Stedman makes the Doctor to write, "It is now peculiarly proper to think how insupportably dreadful must the agonies of Hell be," which passage Mr. Humphreys renders, " It is peculiarly proper to consider how insupportably dreadful the wrath of God must be.” cannot pretend to decide which is the more correct version, but such discrepancies justify the remarks of the Eclectic Reviewers, and are in no way calculated to inspire confidence in those passages of these volumes, the point of which often depends upon the correct rendering of two or three words. We not add indeed, to its excess. papers The number of letters and in these volumes which have been previously published, is very considerable, and forming, we hesitate not to say, the most valuable part of the collection. It is but justice, however, to add, that there are not a few originals which deserved publication, alike creditable to the learning, taste, and piety of Dr. Doddridge. Many others are altogether unimportant, and, like the reprints, are evidently inserted to swell the volumes. What value, for instance, can attach to such letters as the following. You com plain of late of a change in my conduct. and heaven may have more, and that the divine Being might not be provoked to take away a friend of whom I had made an idol. "Once more, madam, I do seriously assure you (and as I have often done before, I profess in the presence of God,) that I love you with greater tenderness than I can express; and that I have never permitted any friend upon earth to rival, or even approach you in my regard. I am daily praying that if it be the good pleasure of God, I may be so happy as to enjoy you; and that it may be my daily and delightful care to make your life easy and pleasant, to promote your present and your future happiness. May God say amen to this petition. And may you, madam, join your consent. But if you will barbarously and ungratefully despise my love, and banish me from your heart and from your sight, though I have never deserved it from you, I shall own it as a just punishment from God for the excessive fondness I have bestowed upon you. I cannot certainly say I should have strength and virtue to undergo so severe a trial; but I must submit myself to the determination of Providence; and this I can confidently affirm, that if I were to lose not only you, but every other friend whom I have in the world, many of them deservedly dear and valuable, though not one of them equally beloved with yourself, yet while I have a sense of the Divine favour, the present entertainments of a scholar, a minister, and a Christian, and the future hopes of everlasting glory, it will be my folly and my crime if I am utterly inconsolable: and yet I cannot but often fear that I may be found so foolish and so wicked, if I am brought to the trial. My dear creature, let your goodness prevent it, and restore the peace of Your anxious lover And faithful servant, "P. DODDRIDGE." Vol. ii. pp. 50 --53. Our profound veneration and filial regard for the memory of the immortal Doddridge, have led us thus to examine in detail these volumes, which we believe were sent forth by Mr. H. with the parricidal intention of lowering his an cestor's opinions and conduct to the taste of rational worldly Christians; but the attempt is abortive; true, indeed, the public journals have exposed to universal observation, those letters N. S. No. 62. ters which Mr. Orton thought only fit for the perusal of prudent friends, and the future usefulness of the Doctor's practical writings may be impeded thereby; that guilt must lie with Mr. Humphreys, for he was warned of the consequences; but the religious public will not be misled. From the preceding extracts they will perceive that Doddridge's levities form the parentheses of his history, and are only shortlived exceptions to his general character of serious piety. They will perceive that the attempt to identify him with the rational dissenters has completely failed, and that the reason why the New Burlington Street Gazette has pronounced these volumes to be, "worth a thousand such lives as Job Orton or Dr. Kippis have written, or could write," is, because those works, with Mr. Stedman's publications, contain the stamina of Mr. Humphreys's expensive and attenuated series. A Solemn Appeal on behalf of the Church of England, addressed to all the pious, judicious, and consistent Members of her Communim, By the Rev. Daniel Nihill, M.A., Perpetual Curate of Forden, in the Diocese of Hereford. London: Seeley and Sons. 3s. If it A FEW months ago we brought before our readers, "Acaster's Church in Danger from itself," for the purpose of showing the opi nions entertained on some important subjects affecting our dissent, by the clergy of the Church themselves. With the same views we now call their attention to the Solemn Appeal of Mr. Nihill. be asked what concern we have with what goes on in the Church of England? Our answer is ready. We have the same property in the church with the rest of our countrymen, and therefore the same right to speak about the claims or the corruptions of it. Its tythes and its edifices; its colleges and |