plish a work, which should be useful to the church and to the world."

Most sincerely do we congratulate the author on the completion of his laborious undertaking, and sympathize with him in the anticipated success of his interesting and valuable work. And we take our leave, recommending it to the serious study of all the lovers of biblical literature.*

Sermons on various Subjects, by the late Rev. John Hyatt, one of the stated Ministers of Tottenham Court Chapel, and the Tabernacle, London. To which is prefixed a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. John Morison.-London: Westley and Davis. 8vo. 1826.

10s. 6d.

A VOLUME of posthumous sermons often appears before the public under very serious disadyantages. Perhaps the author was little accustomed to prepare for the press; perhaps he left no sermons in a state fit for publication; perhaps his friends have placed him in a situation from which he would himself have shrunk; and, perhaps, from many discourses left in much the same state of preparation, they have not selected the best, or those on which the author would have been disposed to rest his claims to public attention. On all these accounts

Since we finished the above, it has occurred to our recollection, that an exceedingly useful course of Lectures on the several Dispensations of Revealed Religion, was published some time ago by the Rev. W. ROBY, of Manchester. The volume is one of great worth, and though well known in the pastoral circle of that excellent and truly venerable man, its general circulation is by no means equal to its merits. It is an 8vo. volume of three or four hundred pages, and well adapted to the object mentioned in our reference to this subject, as a popular and interesting

work.

such volumes demand to be treated with great tenderness by the professed censors of the public

press.

As far as the reading population of the country is concerned, we do not know that great loss would have been sustained had many posthumous productions never seen the light. They rarely attain any extensive circulation, and contribute to clog the market with a commodity already very abundant, and which, like every other article of produce, when the supply exceeds the demand, is greatly reduced in value.

But there is a class of persons on whose account we cannot regret the publication of such works. To them they may contain the "primitia et ultima," the early and last efforts of one, to whom, through eternity, they will feel the deepest obligations. When the voice which once roused, and warned, and cheered, and animated, can be heard no more, it must be delightful to possess a record, however frail and imperfect, of the sentiments to which it often gave utterance. Perhaps the volume contains the sermons which conveyed the first elements of immortal life to some reader, to whom it becomes, a second time, like life from the dead. Perhaps it records the train of thought and reasoning, which, by the mighty workings of the divine Spirit, demolished the pride of his understanding and the enmity of his heart. It may be found to contain that balm which healed the heart broken with cares and sorrows, the remembrance of which is peculiarly sweet long after the hand which applied it has mouldered in the dust. When the friend, the pastor, and the father are no more, to possess a memorial less perishable and more valuable than the sem

blance of his mortal countenance, the picture and the image of his

soul will ever be highly valued by all who enjoyed the benefit of his earthly labours, or the delights of his friendship.

The volume before us does not stand in need of any apology on the grounds first mentioned; and if an extensive circle of friends, and a numerous body of stronglyattached spiritual disciples, furnish any reason for such a publication, the productions of few deceased individuals are likely to be so well or so extensively received as the sermons of John Hyatt.

But the discourses of Mr. Hyatt will be found interesting not to his own friends and congregation only. There are two points of view in which they demand, and will be found worthy of, more general consideration. As the production of a self-educated public teacher, and as a specimen of the style of preaching which produced and supported a large measure of popularity in the metropolis, and was the means of important good to many souls, they must be considered as very interesting.

It is unnecessary in this place to state our views of the necessity and importance of learning to the Christian minister. He who despises or neglects it, must either be destitute of it, and thus induced to cover his own defects, or if possessed of it, must have contracted a sentiment the most injurious and fanatical. But it cannot be denied, that the most profound learning will not of itself qualify for the office of the ministry, or supply the place of natural powers. In not a few instances the most important literary advantages have been Information has been acquired, taste has been cultivated, the reasoning faculty has been strengthened; while in the same proportion there has been a diminution of energy, fervour, love to the souls of men, and all

thrown away.

that constitutes "aptness to teach," and power to interest. We stop not to inquire into the causes of such failures. We are satisfied that they are to be found in the individuals themselves, or in the process of cultivation through which they have passed, not in the thing itself.

Good na

On the other hand, cases have occurred in which, under almost every possible disadvantage of education and early training, the individual has risen to eminence as a minister of Christ. The very consciousness of deficiency, has excited the most intense desire to mounting obstacles, which are geovercome it; and the glory of sur nerally deemed insurmountable, has produced success. tural sense, facility of expression, and energy of mind, constitute the primary elements of popular eloquence. Learning cannot produce these qualities; where they exist it will regulate and direct them; but where they are not, or exist only in an inferior degree, it will not do much to supply their place. Literature may produce a Porson, but never could produce a Whitefield.

Mr. Hyatt furnishes an illustration strictly in point. His early advantages were very limited; and beyond an acquaintance with English literature and theology, we believe he never carried his thoughts. Possessed of a strong masculine understanding, great fervour of soul,and considerable readiness in speaking, he laboured with exemplary diligence in the study of the word of God, and in the preparation of his discourses, to compensate for the lack of acquirements which, when he entered on the ministry, were beyond his reach. Hence he arrived at an extensive knowlege of the Scriptures, and obtained sound and consistent views of the great scheme of revealed truth. His

his name will long be remembered on earth, and enjoy, we doubt not, an imperishable glory in heaven.

discourses were the result of diligent and most laborious preparation. He was no extempore preacher; for the week evenings, as well as for the Lord's day, he prepared and committed his discourses to writing. Of these, the volume before us furnishes us with specimens. By such discourses he commanded the attention of thousands, and retained his popularity to the last. His style was plain, energetic, and pointed, containing no attempt at ornament or display. His addresses to the conscience were peculiarly faithful and pungent, so that frequently those who came to laugh, remained to pray." No doubt could be entertained by any of his hearers that the preacher was deeply in earnest, and this we have little doubt was the secret of the great popularity which he enjoyed.

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We cannot, however, conceal that the want of early advantages, and of a habit of severe thought, appears in Mr. Hyatt's sermons. The sentences are frequently clumsily formed; and there is often a great want of consecutiveness in the reasoning. It is difficult to perceive the connexion of the various thoughts; and while we acknowledge all to be good, we cannot always admire their appropriateness. Perhaps Mr. Hyatt knew that his forte was declamation, not argument; and therefore he studied to strike and confound, rather than to force conviction by long processes of reasoning. His mind was powerful, but not cultivated; ardent rather than original. It is not surprising that occasional faults and deficiences should appear; but rather wonderful that, in all the circumstances of the case, so much justice should have been done to the word of God, and so much substantial excellence in preaching it arrived at. Take him all in all, John Hyatt was no ordinary man;

ser

We have dwelt so long on the general character of these mons, as scarcely to leave ourselves sufficient room for quotations, by which our readers may be enabled to judge for themselves. But as we are persuaded the volume will have an extensive circulation, we the less regret it. The biographical memoir, by Mr. Morison, does him great credit. It is written with his characteristic warmth of feeling and good sense; and considering the scantiness of his materials, we are surprised he has made so much of them. As an account of Mr. Hyatt had previously appeared in the Evangelical Magazine, we presume the body of our readers must be already acquainted with an outline of his history, so as to preclude the necessity of our detailing it. But as a specimen of the manner in which Mr. Morison has performed his task, and as a corroboration of some of our own views, we shall extract the whole of the chapter in which he describes Mr. Hyatt's history, from his conversion to his entrance into the ministry.

"At the early age of twenty, Mr. Hyatt entered upon married life, and never found reason to regret the important step. Where natural affection and religious principle alike operate in cementing human hearts, the result must be happy. It was so in the present instance. No sordid interests were here permitted to check the feelings of the heart; and thirty-nine years of conunion had been formed under the most jugal felicity abundantly proved that the favourable auspices.

"Immediately after marriage, Mr. Hyatt became a member of the same christian church with his beloved wife, and devoted all his energies to the benefit of the community. From principle a Dissenter, he was anxious to advance the best interests less activity of his mind, that with him it of the denomination. Such was the restwas impossible to remain at ease while any thing of importance could be accomplished

for the good of his fellow-creatures. His conversion was accompanied with the liveliest feelings of obligation and gratitude; and the honour of his Lord, and the salvation of sinners, lay very near his heart. It so happened, also, that Sherborne and its vicinity were sunk in a spirit of general apathy. An ordinary mind might have been disheartened by the existing state of things. But Mr. Hyatt's was not an ordinary mind. The death-like stillness by which he was surrounded only tended to awaken the energies of his character. Looking around him on the church and on the world, he saw much to deplore. Nor could he be restrained within ordinary limits. He was determined to attempt something for the good of his fellow-creatures. In the religious community to which he had united himself, he found but few kindred spirits. The majority of the members were advanced in years, and were unreasonably suspicious of any thing like the display of christian zeal. Happily for him, however, he lived to witness a pleasing revolution in Sherborne, both in the Church of England, and amongst Dissenters.

"About this time Mr. Hyatt was thrown into the society of one of Mr. Wesley's preachers, a worthy man, but a determined Arminian. They cherished towards each other feelings of sincere friendship, but did not by any means harmonize in their theological sentiments. Often did they discuss the five points with all the zeal of regular partizans. And although now and then strange fire mingled in their contests, yet the result was upon the whole beneficial. Both were led to examine their respective theories; and the subject of this memoir obtained full conviction, that the doctrines usually known by the name of Calvinism, are in palpable accordance with the word of God. In order fully to satisfy his mind, he read the ablest defences of the two opposing systems, and tried each of their arguments by the infallible standard, embracing only that which he conceived to accord with the dictates of that Spirit, whose office it is to lead into all truth.

"It is more than probable that the unhesitating tone of Mr. Hyatt's Calvinism, was the product of his early and laborious investigations. In searching after truth, he found Elisha Cole's Essay on Divine Sovereignty of the utmost service; and was ever after in the habit of recommending it to perplexed inquirers, as a work of deep piety and conclusive reasoning.

Nor was a sound acquaintance with theology the only fruit of Mr, Hyatt's intimacy with his Wesleyan friend. It was also connected, in the providence of God, with his first efforts to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. Having repaired to a neighbouring village, with the

full expectation of hearing his Arminian friend, he was not a little disappointed to find, that, though the people were assembled, he had not arrived. After all hope of his appearance vanished, the good old farmer, in whose house the auditory were convened, addressed himself to Mr. Hyatt, and earnestly entreated him to speak a word to the people. He felt that such an imperious call could not be refused, and, though greatly agitated, stood up and spoke with zeal and piety, from the words of the Prophet Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him; but woe to the wicked,' &c. Such was the effect of this unstudied discourse upon the mind of the farmer, that, without consulting the trembling preacher, he gave out, at the close of the service, that the people assembled might expect to hear Mr. Hyatt again on the following Sabbath evening. He knew not how to contravene an announcement made so peremptorily. deed, he was so much surprised as to be incapable of saying any thing on the occasion. The thought, however, of having to appear before the public after a regular advertisement, was in the highest degree formidable. Sometimes he resolved to repair to the post of duty, and sometimes he determined to remain at home. He was in a strait betwixt two-anxious to preach Christ to the people, yet fearful lest he should injure the good cause. At last, amidst many misgivings, he set out for the village, and made his appearance in his rustic auditory. His message was received with apparent interest and gratitude, and his distressing apprehensions as to his aptress to teach were in some measure relieved.

In

"From this period, 1794, may be dated the commencement of Mr. Hyatt's career as a preacher. He had from the time of his conversion been anxious to do good to his fellow-creatures; but it was not till then that be felt sufficient encouragement to engage as an occasional itinerant preacher in the villages around his native town. For more than two years he held himself in readiness to expound the word of God, in a plain way, wherever his aid was solicited. Many conflicting opinions were entertained as to the propriety of his conduct. Some thought he acted rightly, and others were disposed to censure him. But his fame continued to spread, and not a few instances of good arose from his ministry. Had his pastor taken him by the hand at this time, and directed his reading, it might have been of the utmost service to him. Instead of this, however, he was excited to considerable displeasure at the idea of lay preaching, and made use of some expressions very offensive and unkind. If Mr. Hyatt is at all to be censured for this part of his history, it is because he did not display more zeal in obtaining a suitable