lable good. Like the "Confessions of St. Augustine," the "Imitation of Thomas a Kempis," and the "Thoughts of Pascal," "Quesnel's Reflections" have been a light in a dark church,-the means of guiding thousands and thousands of souls, the instrument of consolation to numbers of all churches and confessions-a touchstone to detect and bring out the real spirit of Popery-the unequalled pattern, in its own way, of a profitable and devout study of the New Testament.

II. But from this notice of the author and his sentiments generally, let us proceed to some considerations upon the great work itself. Let us remark the CHARACTERISTIC EXCELLENCIES of these Reflections and the CHIEF FAULTS which are mingled with them.

(I.) The CHARACTERISTIC EXCELLENCIES of the Reflections, are, the prominence given to the doctrine of grace-the union of this with the most interior views of spiritual religion- the application of every thing to the practical purposes of the Christian life the detection of the corruptions of the world, of the human heart, and of the false professor of Christianity-a high reverence for the Holy Scriptures a constant regard, in all the observations, to the duties, temptations and success of the minister of religion and a holy love and dependence of heart on the blessed Saviour and the influences of the Holy Spirit.

1. The DOCTRINE OF GRACE is the basis of Quesnel's theology. Every part of his work is penetrated with it. He refers every thing to its operations. He lays man low as a fallen, ignorant, impotent creature. He traces back to the gracious will of God, in election, all the streams which flow from it as the source of salvation. He seems to have a delight in illustrating the freedom of this grace, and the difference between its effects and the works of mere nature and reason and philosophy. His own soul appears to have felt more of a sense of obligation to the mercy and pity of God, from his own experience and his observation upon the state of man generally, than almost any writer we know.

Take the first example that falls under our eye. Matt. xi. 25-27. "The full

sight of God's mercies towards his elect, of their preference, distinction, and separation from the corrupt mass, deserves the praise and acknowledgment of Christ's heart."-"Simplicity and humility are their distinguishing character. My God and my Saviour, imprint on my heart this amiable character, which is the mark of thine elect!"-"God is master of his own gifts; but he divides them by a will full of wisdom, and upon motives which are in himself, and not in us."-"How lovely is this dependence! O Jesus, I accept it with joy. I desire to depend on thee," &c.

This is a capital point. It honours God without reserve. And if it be not unscripturally stated, it promotes humility, love and spirituality of mind in the highest degree.

2. And in Quesnel it is ever united with the most interior views of A PRACTICAL, We

SPIRITUAL AND ELEVATED PIETY.

scarcely know any writer so thoroughly practical as he, in the true sense of the term. Not in the sense of enforcing practice without motive and doctrine, but in the sense of making doctrine the constant and unvaried motive and spring of obedience. The grace of God is not stated as an abstract dogma, or defended and cleared in an argumentative and speculative manner; but is uniformly stated as the first spring of that communion with God, that delight in him as a Father, that inward life of love and repose and gratitude which constitutes the essential difference between the living and the nominal Christian. The author has an interior view of religion as seated in the breast, nourished by the grace from which it sprung, and rising up towards God as the fountain of felicity. Yet there is nothing of mysticism in this. It is the genuine, scriptural, sound view of that union with God, through Jesus Christ, which reunites what the fall had dissevered, and replaces man in a commerce with the Father of spirits.

Let this be a specimen. John xv. 7– 10. "Observe here three sorts of union, or three conditions, in order to obtain from God that which we desire:-1. We must be united to Christ by a lively faith, and by charity. 2. We must be united

to him by a love of his truth, and a frequent meditation upon his word.-3. The third is prayer. It is by this that the branch draws the juice and sap of the vine, and receives from thence more plentiful nourishment. God chooses us to be Christ's members, and on purpose to work in and by us all the good we do.Thou, God of my heart, who didst first love me, cause me to continue with perseverance in thy love, that thy love may continue eternally in me. The fidelity of my love towards God, and the adherence of my heart to his law, can be nothing but the effect of thy Almighty grace. O Jesus, vouchsafe, I beseech thee, to produce this effect in me, in honour of that which thy Father produced in thee." 3. But the application of every thing to the PRACTICAL PURPOSES OF THE CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE is a further excellent point in our author. The interior joys and peace of grace he causes to appear in their fruits, he carries out naturally and spontaneously into their appropriate effect. Love, faith, hope, the promises, the influences of the Spirit, prayer, the whole inward testimony of religion to the soul are most tenderly and sweetly conducted to their due consequences, in the righteousness of the life, and the discharge of the relative duties.

Hear how he speaks: Matt. v. 14.— "Of what advantage is it to a Christian to be a light, in respect of his faith and calling, if he be nothing but darkness as to his life and actions? If an infidel, instead of seeing the light of the Gospel and the purity of faith shine in our conversation, discovers nothing there but the darkness of sin, we certainly blind instead of enlightening him."

The reader will observe, in these quotations, much of that originality and force of observation which we noticed as distinguishing the cast of his mind. There is a clear and striking manner of putting things, which has, no doubt, much contributed to the great circulation and usefulness of the work.

Perhaps this ingenuity appears nowhere more clearly than in his remarks upon our Lord's miracles and parables. Every thing is turned to one purpose, the illustration of the grace of God, the pro

motion of the interior life of grace, and the fruitful obedience to be produced by it. How beautiful is the following reflection! Matt. xiii. 8. "The good ground is the good heart; none is such, but through the mercy of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. It was a mercy peculiar to thee, O Lord, to purchase at so dear a rate such barren and accursed ground, full of thorns and briers, and fit only to be burned, that thou mightest make it a rich and blessed soil, fertile in every kind of good fruit.— Blind and miserable is that man who attributes this work to himself, and gives not thee the glory of it, O, my Saviour."

The ejaculations in these and similar sentences are also observable-the pious mind is thus led up to Christ in brief prayers the heart is touched at oncecontroversy and dispute give way to devotion; and the deepest practical ends of Christianity are promoted. We know of few writers who attain this in the degree which Quesnel does: he lives by prayer.

4. The detection of THE CORRUPTIONS OF THE WORLD, of the HUMAN HEART, and of the FALSE PROFESSOR of Christianity, is what you would expect from a writer so qualified by natural talent for acute observation, and so sanctified by divine mercy to make the best use of it. He is truly, what most Roman Catholics are only in profession, devoted to God and abstracted from earthly things. His mind is dead to the world. He detects its snares, condemns its vanities, exposes its deceits, shuns its maxims. Hear what he says on the occasion of the daughter of Herodias: Matt. xiv. 6. "The diver sions of the world, feasting and dancing, are but too commonly the occasions of sin. After so fatal an example as this, can we in the least doubt whether balls are not snares for souls, destructive of chastity and modesty, and a pernicious invention to awaken and excite the pas sions."

This is excellent in the highest degree: but mark with what point he turns and addresses mothers: Unhappy mother, who exposes her daughter to the shipwreck which herself has suffered, and makes her the instrument of her passion and revenge, and the murderer of a saint!"

And then notice the solemnity of the caution he subjoins: "God grant that many mothers may take warning by this example, and have it before their eyes, when they are about to introduce their daughters at court!"

Thus he pursues the world in other passages which we need not cite. Nor will we quote places which prove his skill in exposing the human heart. He shows it to be nothing by nature, but falsehood and sin. He declares that whatever good it has, must proceed from another source. He breaks out continually into prayer, for the cleansing virtues of Jesus Christ.

The false professor of Christianity is dealt with in a manner equally faithful. - Could any Protestant write better than he does on Matt. xxiii. 23. "To be exact in little things, and to omit such as are essential to religion and piety, what is this but to deceive ourselves? Unhappy is that man who rests secure in a vain and conceited exactness about the niceties of devotion, instead of applying himself to his proper duties, to the reformation of his heart, and to the faithful observation of justice and charity towards his neighbour, &c.; this is a kind of delusion more dangerous to some souls than an open temptation to sin."

5. But we proceed to notice another characteristic, HIS HIGH REVERENCE FOR THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. Our author's mind is penetrated with a sense of the value of the Holy Scriptures, of their divine inspiration, of their authority over the conscience, of the peculiar virtue they possess for nourishing the Christian heart. He conceives that what God has spoken by his Spirit is exactly adapted for that divine life which the same God, by the same Spirit, creates in the human breast. He looks on the Bible as the waters of life, flowing to assuage the thirst which new creature experiences. "We must be united to God," (says our author on John xv. 7.) "by a love of his truth, and a frequent meditation upon his Word, which is the rule of our desires, as being the book of God's designs, to which all our prayers and desires ought to be conformable. It is not sufficient to have faith and charity, we must continually nourish VOL. I.-23

the

them with the Word of God. To read it carelessly and for fashion's sake, is directly contrary to that reverence which is due to it and to our own spiritual advantage. It must be imprinted strongly on our minds, or, as it were, engraved deep on our hearts, that it may abide therein. Nothing but love can perform this, as nothing but love can cause us to practise it."

Such remarks are of the first order, drawn from the very unction of the Holy Spirit-golden observations, the fruit of deep meditation on the blessed Scriptures.

6. But there is a peculiarity in our Quesnel's Reflections still more important to ministers he has especial regard in his book To The Duties, the TEMPTATIONS, AND THE SUCCESS OF MINISTERS. He very frequently frames a series of six, eight or ten qualifications of the faithful pastor. At some times he delineates his spirit and labours; at others he contrasts these with the indolence and unfaithfulness of the worldly-minded teacher.— Now he insists on the humility, spirituality, tenderness of heart, prayerfulness of the true Shepherd; and then he exposes the pride, secularity, love of applause, selfishness of the false one. He especially dwells on the larger unction of the Holy Spirit, which rests on the diligent and spiritually-minded pastor, the brighter knowledge of the Scriptures, the more copious blessings of grace, the wider success.

This is an excellency quite his own. QUESNEL'S REFLECTIONS ARE THE MINISTER'S MANUAL.-Look at most of our commentators; they are occupied in expounding, clearing, reconciling the divine word; but they do not seem to study it, under a deep and penetrating sense of ministerial responsibility. The labours, temptations, aims, success of the minister, do not appear to have been present with the commentator's mind. Quesnel studied the New Testament as a minister for ministers.

"A true minister of Christ, after his example," (Matt. ix. 35, &c.) "is neither detained in one place by the sweetness of the applause of some, nor discouraged from his ministry by the jealousy

and calumny of others. There is an extreme want of labourers in the church. There are abundance who bear this character, but few who really work; and a great many who work in the Lord's name, but very few whom he will own for his ministers.-Jesus Christ requires for labourers, not such as by intrigues and human solicitations assume the office, but such as are the fruit of the church's prayers: not such as enter into the harvest to make themselves the lords of it, but those who labour only for the profit of the Lord of it; not such as in the repose of an idle life, enjoy the honour and temporal advantages of the ministry, but such as work hard, like daily labourers. We do not sufficiently comprehend how much it is our duty and interest to pray for the obtaining good bishops, good curates, holy preachers, full of zeal, knowledge and disinterestedness."

"The mysterious fishing," (Luke v. 5.) "represents that of souls. ` In vain the preacher labours to convert them, if God gives not his blessing. It is upon his grace that he must rely, and not upon his own eloquence and strength. The fishing of the night is an unsuccessful and unfortunate fishing, without light, without mission, without Christ's assistance, in a bark where he is not, and without his direction.-The fishing of the day is a blessed fishing, which is carried on by the light of faith, in the sight of the Sun of Righteousness, with confidence in the promise of his assistance to the end of the world, and in the mid-day of truth."

7. But we hasten to notice, what scarcely requires distinct notice, Quesnel's HOLY

LOVE AND DEPENDENCE OF HEART ON THE BLESSED SAVIOUR AND THE INFLUENCES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. This is the inspiring theme which dwells on his tongue this is the secret charm which elevates his reflections-this is the master-key which unlocks the treasures of his divinity. All our preceding points derive. their virtue from this. The whole soul of Quesnel is filled with love to Christ, and holy dependence on his grace and Holy Spirit.

In this he stands far superior to almost all the writers of his church. Not only

does he far surpass Massillon, Bourdaloue, Bossuet, De la Rue, Soanen, Neuville, and the other great French preachers, but also Pascal, Nicole, and the other ornaments of the Jansenist school. Even Thomas à Kempis himself, sweet and sacred as he is, must yield the palm to Quesnel, as to distinct views of the grace and power of Christ, and the operations of his Spirit. Nothing is high, nothing pure, nothing efficacious, nothing permanent, nothing salutary for souls, according to Quesnel, but the name and grace of the incarnate God.

(II.) What, then, it may be asked, can be THE MATERIAL FAULTS in a work of such varied excellence?

They are many, and of very considerable importance; and it is the more necessary to state them in an Introductory Essay to a republication of the Reflections, for two reasons:

The one, that THE GRACE OF GOD MAY BE MAGNIFIED in bringing light out of such darkness. We cannot feel a real scriptural interest and delight in contemplating the character of Quesnel, unless we clearly see the thick darkness which, on some questions, oppressed his mind. We must state his errors fully and unreservedly, not from a spirit of envy or false triumph, but in order to glorify the operations of grace and to magnify the virtue and power of that truth which dwelt in him.

A second reason is, that we may caution young students against any attempts To LESSEN THE EVIL OF RELIGIOUS ERRORS, because they happen to be associated, in such a case as that before us, with very extraordinary excellencies. In a day like the present, it is most necessary to be on our guard. Corruptions in doctrine are gradual. Declines in the faith almost always begin with pious and eminent persons, whose high attainments throw a veil over their faults, and hand them down with a species of authority. The direct tendency of the false doctrines, the superstitions, the tyranny over the conscience, the prohibition of the Scriptures maintained by the Church of Rome, is to ignorance, self-righteousness, irreligion, unholiness. Quesnel and such men are the exception, and the rare exception; not

the rule. The Church of Rome never admitted and espoused, as a body, such men as Quesnel, Pascal, Nicole; but condemned, persecuted and cast them out. If our author be quoted as a proof of the excellent graces which may be found in a Roman Catholic, let it be remembered that he was a Roman Catholic persecuted, exiled, condemned; let it be remembered that the very truths which he asserted with so much zeal, were culled out from his book, were arranged in 101 propositions, and branded as heretical.

With these cautions upon our mind, the reading of Quesnel's book may be most beneficial. We are delighted to see in his case the fact, that a very high measure of light, holiness, love, joy, deadness to the world, interior union and communion with God, real spiritual religion, may consist with many defects, many errors, many grievous false doctrines. There are few studies more profitable than the calm and unprejudiced contemplation of such a character as Quesnel. Few things more tend to exalt the grace and mercy of Christ-few things more tend to wean us from the following too implicitly any human teacher-few things more warn us against adopting ALL the opinions of any human writer.

But let us classify the defects in our excellent author. They are either derived from a want of clearness in the parceling out and dividing the truths which he held -or they spring from the actual insertion of unscriptural doctrines and tenets they arise from an erroneous system of interpreting the language of Holy Scrip

ture.

or

I. There is A WANT OF CLEARNESS IN THE PARCELING OUT AND DIVIDING THE CAPITAL TRUTHS WHICH HE REALLY HELD.

He believed most cordially and fully all fundamental truths, as we have repeatedly shown, but he had not the blessing of a pure education in scriptural divinity; and, therefore, truth lay in his mind undivided, unarranged, or rather divided and arranged falsely and dangerously.

The doctrine of justification by faith only, without the deeds of the law, Quesnel did not explicitly, though he most certainly did implicitly, believe. Some

times he states the justification of man clearly and fully; but in general obscurely and confusedly.

This is from the different truths of the Gospel not being parceled out and divided by a free and independent study of the Holy Scriptures. The Church of Rome confounds justification and sanctification. The Church of Rome holds merits and satisfactions, and works of supererogation. Quesnel is hampered, cramped by these decisions. His noble spirit, taught of God and raised upwards by his grace, is fettered by the bonds of educational prepossession and church decrees and writings of fathers. This is the chief defect in Quesnel, as it is in most of the Roman Catholic writers. I know not one that holds clearly and consistently the doctrine of a free justification, as taught by St. Paul and defended by Luther and the reformers.

But this defect being qualified by an unreserved belief in the doctrine of grace, in the merciful election of God, the utter inefficiency of man to any thing good, and the reward of mercy, was, in Quesnel's case, as in St. Augustine's, not a fundamental error, but a want of order and clearness in his theological creed.

Hear him speaking thus, (Matt. xxv.

35.) "Good works done for God's sake, through Jesus Christ, in the Spirit of the Father and the Son, are the price of the glory prepared for the elect; prepared without merit by a bounty altogether free; bestowed on works as their reward, but on such works as are sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, and are the gifts of

God."

Another confusion in our author's mind respects the sacrament of baptism, to which he seems uniformly to attribute the actual communication of the divine life, and the positive infusion of the new principle of grace; though no writer can more strongly insist on the necessity of a spiritual change in every human being, in order to salvation. To attribute too much to baptism as an opus operatum, is not, however, a defect peculiar to Roman Catholics. It is blind human nature, fond of substituting the sign for the thing signified.