Another inftance of Mr. Wefley's ignorance of the true meaning of the texts he brings in fupport of his opinion, or his wilful mifapplication of them, is, his account of the moral state of mankind in the fucceeding period; viz. from the flood to the vocation of Abraham. He does not hesitate to allege, that men were univerfally wicked, though he has no other proof of it than the attempt to build the tower of Babel. This he very confidently afferts (and without offering one reason for fuch an affertion) was a piece of daring wickedness, and the confusion of tongues a judgment upon them. Now whatever particulars, fays he, in this account may be variously interpreted, thus much is clear and undeniable, that all these, that is, all the inhabitants of the earth again corrupted their way; the univerfal wickedness being legible in the univerfal punishment.'

It is not with pleasure, but reluctance, that we have been obliged to exhibit these specimens of Mr. Wesley's manner of arguing; without which our general remarks on this part of his work might have appeared groundlefs, and been suspected to have proceeded only from partiality. Let it be observed moreover, that we have produced them, not to fhew the weakness of the cause he would fupport, but the infufficiency of the arguments he makes use of in its defence.

Having undeniably, our Author thinks, established the fact, he proceeds to fearch for its caufe; and obferves, that neither the prevalence of cuftom, nor education, thoroughly accounts for it; and that therefore we should have recourse to theoracles of God. And how,' fays he, do the oracles of God teach us to account for this plain fact? They teach us, that in Adam all die: that by the first man came both natural and fpiritual death; that by this one man fin entered into the world, and death in confequence of fin: and that from him death paffed upon all men, in that all bave finned. Such is Mr. Wefley's whole account of the doctrine of original fin; for all that follows in this fecond and third part, is little elfe than fhort obfervations on Dr. Taylor's fcheme, with much affectation of learning and critical skill, which cannot fail to disgust the judicious, as much as it will please, and gain admiration from, readers of a certain complection.

The fourth and laft part (which is near one half of this treatife) contains the doctrine of original fin, as extracted from Dr. Watts, and Mr. Hebden.

St.

St. Juftin the Philofopher and Martyr, his Exhortations to the Gentiles. Tranflated from the Greek, by the Reverend Mr. Thomas Mofes, one of the Minifters of St. Paul's Chapel, Aberdeen. 8vo. Is. Hitch.

HESE two Exhortations are directed more particularly

THE

to the Grecian Gentiles. The Author's principal intention is to convince them, upon their own principles, of the fuperior excellency of the Holy Scriptures, to the religion they profefs. As the belief of one only fupreme Being is the bafis of true religion, fo he fhews them, that their own philofophers and poets, and indeed their oracles, declared many things confiftent with this doctrine, and in favour of thofe truths delivered by Moses and the Prophets; and therefore, that they not only erred in worshipping their gods, and profeffed a religion ridiculous, abfurd, and deteftable, but in doing fo, acted also inconfiftently with themselves.

This method which he takes to perfuade them, may have led him to lay the stress he doth on the Sybiline oracles; and taken in this light, viz. as appealing only to what the Gentiles had in great reverence, neither Juftin Martyr, (as the Tranflator obferves in his preface) nor the primitive fathers of the church, can justly deferve that obloquy fo freely beftowed on them. The fame apology, however, will not ferve for his ftretching fome other matters in fupport of his caufe, beyond what they will bear. Of this, his account of the tranflation of the Old Teftament by the Septuagint, wherein he fuppofes it to be according to the infallible dictates of the Holy Spirit, will be confidered by every reasonable mind as an inftance.

With regard to the Tranflator, it will be fufficient to remark, that he has generally given, as we apprehend, the fenfe of the Author; without confining himself too closely to the letter.

We shall dismiss the Grecian, and the English Editor, with the following extract: which may ferve as a fpecimen of the manner of the former; and of the language of the latter.

The fecond Exhortation concludes thus:

At laft then, Oh Gentiles, come and partake of that wifdom which cannot be objected againft. Be inftructed by leffons truly divine. Learn to know the immortal King, and acknowlege not thofe for heroes who commit fuch rage and violence upon the people. But our heavenly King requires not of us ftrength of body, nor comeliness of features, or loftinefs of an high birth, but a mind that is pure, and fhielded by holiness: his holy word is daily directing us to holy actions, and to his

holy

holy ordinances. The energy of this word reaches to the foul: the foul, as by the found of a trumpet, is hereby called from a ftate of war to a ftate of peace. Oh, that banisher of troublefome paffions! Oh, holy doctrine, extinguisher of those living fires 1 It doth not make us poets; it conftitutes us not philofophers, or skilful rhetoricians; but by its inftructions, from mortal it makes us immortal: from frail men it makes us gods; and from this earth transplants us into regions above the heavens.

Come then; be inftructed; be ye as I am, who once was as you are; the divinity of this word, and efficacy of the doctrine, were what laid hold on me. For as the fkilful musician firft charms the dreadful snake from his lurking hole, then drives him away; fo doth this word draw, from the inward receffes of the foul, all the affections of fenfe, and especially covetousness, that formidable root of all evils, fuch as contentions, ftrife, envy, emulations, wrath, and the like, which being expelled, the foul regains a perfect calm and tranquility; and when thus freed from those chains that weighed it down, it mounts to its Creator again; it being but fuitable, that it fhould return to the place from whence it borrowed its original.'

Sermons on the most interesting, religious, moral, and practical Subjects. By the late Reverend and Learned Mr. Kimber. Printed from his own manufcripts. 8vo. 6s. Noon, &c.

O thefe Sermons are prefixed a fhort account of the Life and Writings of the Author; the substance of which it may not wholly be improper to infert, tho' it contains nothing very interefting, or remarkable-He was born at Wantage in Berkshire, on December 1, 1692, and received the rudiments of a learned education from the Rev. Mr. Sloper, who was at that time. Master of a private Grammar School in Wantage. Mr. Sloper, it is faid, was a very worthy man, an excellent Tutor, and had several young perfons under his care, who afterwards made a great figure in the learned world; amongst whom was Dr. Butler, the late worthy Bishop of Durham. Under Mr. Sloper our Author made a confiderable progrefs in the Greek and Latin languages, in which he was much affifted by Mr. Jones, Paftor of the Baptift church at Wantage, who took a particular liking to him, and from whofe converfation he received very confiderable benefit.

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Being naturally of a fetious, fober, and virtuous difpofition, he turned his thoughts to the Miniftry; and, leaving Wantage, went to London, to perfect himfelf in the languages under Profeffor Ward of Gretham College; and in academical exercises under the direction of the Rev. Mr. John Eames. When he had qualified himself for the Miniftry, he was very particularly patronized by the Hon. Joshua Collet, Efq; late Governor of Fort St. George in the Eaft-Indies, to whofe conversation, and that of his brother Mr. Samuel Collet, he owed, in a great measure, his establishment in thofe generous fentiments of univerfal love and charity, that enmity to impofition and perfecu tion in matters of fpeculation, which governed him throughout the remainder of his life.

At the age of twenty-five, before he had got any settlement in the world, he married; and hot meeting with the encouragement he expected as a Minifter, he very early engaged in the bufinefs of a Writer, and one of his first productions was the Life of Oliver Cromwell, in octavo, printed for Brotherton and Cox. Soon after, he was concerned with Meffrs. Bailey, Hodges, and Ridpath, in compiling a Hiftory of England, in four volumes in octavo; the third and fourth volumes of which were entirely his. A few years afterwards, he wrote the Life of Bishop Beveridge, which is prefixed to the folio edition of his Works, of which he was the Editor.

In the year 1724, he was called, in conjunction with Mr. Samuel Acton, to the paftoral charge of Namptwich in Chefhire but as his going thither was preceeded by an attempt to fetter his mind with fubfcriptions to, and impofitions of Articles of Faith, fo his life was rendered very uneafy, by the untoward and perverse spirits of fome of the principal perfons of his congregation; who, on account of a difference of opinion in regard to fome difputed points, and other fuch weighty reafons, withdrew their promifed fubfcriptions from him, which reduced his fallary to fuch a scanty pittance, that being unable to support his family, he was obliged to leave them at the latter end of the year 1727.

Here we cannot help compaffionating the hard fate of many worthy Diffenting Minifters; whofe lives are often rendered extremely uncomfortable by their people's blind and furious zeal for incomprehenfible articles of faith,their inflexible ftiffiefs, their narrow fentiments, and the difcouragement they frequently give to a free and ingenuous enquiry into the fenfe of Scripture. Whena Minifter depends entirely on his congregation for his fupport, he muft be under strong temptations to prevarication and hypocrify, to dif guife and conceal his fentiments, (and that too upon points, perhaps, REV. Nov. 1756. Gg

of great importance to the honour of Chriftianity, and the interests of Truth) if by an open declaration of them he is in danger of expofing himself to want and poverty. It is certainly incumbent, therefore, upon every confiftent Proteftant, every friend to Truth and Chriftianity, to encourage and promote a fpirit of free enquiry, of opennefs, candour, and mutual forbearance; and to check and difcourage that fpirit of bigotry, that narrow attachment to party-fchemes and diftinctions, which has occafioned fuch complicated mischief in the chriftian world: and expofed the best of caufes to the contempt and ridicule of the worst of men.-But to return to our Author.

Upon his return to London, he officiated, as morning Preacher, or affiftant, to Dr. John Kinch, in Old Artillery-lane, and, occafionally, at Pinner's Hall, for Dr. Hunt; and was alfo engaged in correcting the prefs for Mr. John Darby, and others. At the fame time he compiled a periodical pamphlet, called the Monthly Chronicle, which fubfifted from January 1728, to May 1732, and was then dropped. In part of this period, he was likewife concerned with Mr. Drew of the Union Fire-Office, as his affiftant, and fupported these various labours with a quiet and even temper, and a chearful mind, tho' vifited with a very fore affliction in his wife's being deprived of her reason; a misfortune, which, he fometimes hinted, was brought on, by her deep fenfe of the ill treatment he had met with at Namptwitch. This malady had two several stages; for fome years it difplayed itself in ravings and fury, and then funk into an indolent kind of frenzy, which continued all the reft of her life. As they had been a remarkable happy couple, this misfortune Jay very heavy upon him, and put him to various and great expences: but a patient fubmiffion to, and firm truft in Provi dence, enabled him to bear a fad complication of diftreffes, like a Man, and a Chriftian. His love for her feemed rather increfed by this dreadful vifitation; and, after twenty years and upwards, that fhe continued thus afflicted, her death gave him the moft poignant forrow he ever felt, and, in fome measure, contributed to haften his own.

During the remainder of his life, our Author was chiefly fupported by his firm and faithful friend Mr. Charles Akers *. In the year 1740, he wrote the reign of his prefent Majefty, which is added to the laft edition of Howell's Medulla Hift. Angl. and foon afterwards an abridgment of the Hiftory of England, in one volume octavo, printed in 1745, for Mr. Thomas Cox.

Thefe are the principal things that are mentioned in the account of the Life and Writings of our Author: as to the Sermens, we fhall only fay, that they are plain, ferious, practical

An eminent Printer in London.

Difcourfes,