of utterance to every fyllable of the fuftian rant, which makes the bulk of our ftage entertainments, the venerable explainer of the Divine will to mankind treats of the beauty of virtue, the deformity of vice, the excellences of a religion which has God himself for its author, the endless joys of heaven, and the hideous punishments of hell, and all in a manner fo unmoved and unmoving, that, while the actor becomes the real character he reprefents, and commands every paffion at his pleasure, the preacher can hardly gain attention; hardly feems himself (if we did not know it otherwise) to believe his own doctrines, or to care whether his audience do,

or not.

But to return; there is fcarce any branch of knowledge which does not, one way or other, add a confirmation to revealed religion. Which fhews, that if it were poffible for a clergyman to mafter the whole circle of the fciences, he would find use and advantage from his acquifitions. And in converfation, what an afcendant. would not a general knowledge of arts, of trade, of the various ways of life, give a reformer of manners over mankind, for their advantage, when he could enter into their ways, and deal with them upon their own terms?

Confidering the variety of requifites for completely accomplishing a divine, one cannot help faying, with the apostle, Who is fufficient for thele things?" But

be it at the fame time obferved, and let this work, if it fhould remain, inform pofterity, that, by the confeffion of all fober and judicious perfons, and to the confufion of the unthinking oppofers of religion, and its dispensers, no period, fince the firft ages of the church, could boast a fet of clergy of all ranks and denominations fuperior to thofe of Britain at this present time, either in human learning, in knowledge of Scripture, or fanctity of manWhich things being fo, what words fhall be found equal to the atrocioufnefs of their guilt, who have it in their power, but will not take the trouble, to remove from off the necks of the clergy the galling yoke of fubfcription to articles, creeds, and confeffions, the impoffions of men, in many particulars unintelligible, in

ners.

more

more incredible, and in all fuperfluous; if Holy Scripture be, as declared in the articles of the church of England, the only, and the fufficient rule of faith.

The Hebrew original, and Septuagint tranflation of the Old Teftament, the New in the original Greek, with Beza's Latin; and Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, and Schmidius's Greek, are the foundation of a clergyman's library.

Some of the best commentators on Scripture, are Erafmnus, Beza, Grotius, and the authors in the collection called Critici Sacri, abridged in Poole's Synopofis. The works of the following writers are alfo valuable, viz. Mede, Patrick, Hammond, the Fratres Polonii, Vorftius, Raphelius, Elfner, Bos, Calmet, Whitby, Ainfworth, Newton, Locke, Clarke, Pyle, Pierce, Taylor, Benfon, Lowman; to which add Fortuita Sacra; Knatchbull on Select Texts, and many more.

Befides the books mentioned under the heads of polite learning, philofophy, and other parts of knowledge, which no gentleman ought to be without, and befides thofe recommended under the articles, ethics, and church-history, the following ought by any means to have a place in the ftudy of every divine; being the beft helps for understanding thofe parts of knowledge, which are to him effential, viz. Jofephus; Philo Judæus; Stilling fleet's Origines Sacræ; Prideaux's, and Shuckford's Connections; Spencer on the Laws of the Jews, Grotius's, Locke's, Conybeare's, Leland's Jenkins's, Fofter's, Benfon's, Lardner's, Lyttleton's, Weft's, Duchal's Fortin's, and Chandler's Defences of Chriftianity; Clarke on Natural and Revealed Religion; Butler's Analogy; Rymer's Reprefentation of Revealed Religion; Millar's History of the Propagation of Christianity; Law's, Edwards's, and Watts's Surveys of the Divine Difpenfations, and Revelation examined with candor.

It is with no fmall pleafure that all fincere lovers of truth obferve the greatest and beft of men, in our later and more improved times, bravely afferting the noble and manly liberty of rejecting hypothefes in philofophy, and fyftems in religion; and daring to appeal, from conjec

ture

ture in the former, and human authority in the latter, to the works of God in the natural world, and his word in Scripture, the only pure and uncorrupted fountains, from whence the candid and inquifitive mind may draw the wholesome ftream of unfophifticated knowledge. That a worm of the earth fhould pretend to impofe upon his fellow-creature the poor invention of his troubled fancy for the facred truth of God, while the blessed volume of Divine Revelation itfelf lies open to every eye, is a degree of prefumption, which could fcarce have been expected. And yet it is notorious, that, by means of human interpofition, the Divine scheme has, efpecially in one church, been fo egregioufly perverted, as to be well nigh defeated of its gracious intention. But all focieties, who have in any degree infringed the freedom of inquiry, have violated truth, and injured the cause of religion. Nor only they, who have had power to back with threatenings and punishments their own invented and impofed doctrines, but all who have made Holy Scripture a fubject of party-zeal, and have loaded the world with fyftems piled on fyftems, and confounded the understandings of mankind with fubtle diftinction, and volumnious controverfies, are to be confidered as nuifances in the world of letters, and their works to be left a prey to the book-worm. A clergyman has no occafion to crowd his library with fyftematic or polemic lumber. Such authors may diftract his understanding; but will not enlighten it. If he cannot in the Sacred books, with the help of the beft commentators, read the truth of God, he will not find it in human fyftems and controverfies.

People of fortune are peculiarly inexcufable, if they neglect the due improvement of their minds in the moit general and extensive manner. And yet it is to be lamented, that no rank is more deficient in this refpect than that of the rich and great. That they, who pretend to fet themfelves at the head of the world, fhould be obliged to own themfelves generally inferior to thofe they call their inferiors in the very accomplishments which give the most just pretenfions to fuperiority! What can be more thameful! The man of butinefs may plead

for his excufe, that he has wanted the neceffary leifure for improving himself by ftudy; the man of narrow fortune, that he could not go to the expence of education, books, and travel; but what can a lord plead in excufe for his ignorance, except that he thought himfelf in duty bound to wafte his time, and his fortune, upon wenches, horfes, dogs, players, fidlers, and flatterers?

The proper and peculiar ftudy of a perfon of high rank is the knowledge of the intereft of his country. But a man of condition ought to be ignorant of no part of useful or ornamental knowledge.

I will conclude what I have to fay on the feveral ranks of life, and the peculiar and indifpenfable scientific accomplishments of each refpectively, by adding, what cannot be too often repeated, That a perfect knowledge of morality and Chriftianity is the nobleft endowment of every man and woman of every rank and order. Aftrong and thorough fenfe of the abfolute neceffity of univerfal virtue and goodness, as the only means of happiness, ought to be worked into the understanding, the will, and every faculty of every rational mind in the universe.

SECT. VIII.

Mifcellaneous Cautions and Directions for the Conduct of Study.

WILL add to what I have faid on that part of the Dignity of Life, which confifts in the improvement of the mind by knowledge, a few brief remarks chiefly on the errors which people commonly run into in ftudy, which are the caufes of their failing of the end they have in view.

Firft, reading, or rather running through, a multitude of books, without choice or diftinction, is not the way to acquire real improvement in knowledge. It is only what we digeft, and understand clearly, that is ours. And it is not poffible, that an infatiable devourer of books can have time to examine, recollect, and difpofe in his head all he reads. The judgment of reading is, to make one's felf mafter of a few of the bett books

books on a fubject; in doing which, a man of a tolerable apprehenfion will have acquired clear notions of it, or at least of the great lines and principal heads of it.

Some men of abilities run into the error of grafping at too great an extent and variety of knowledge, without fixing upon one ftudy, with a view to purfue it a competent length. Life is fhort and uncertain, and awful and important the work to be done in it. Every man has his proper bufinefs as a citizen, and his proper ftudy as a man, to purfue. The knowledge more indifpenfably neceflary to one's particular rank and profeffion, and that which every man ought to be completely mafter of, I mean, of his duty, and means of happinefs, are abfolutely to be made fure of. And this will not leave to any, but people of leifure and fortune, an opportunity of expatiating at large in pursuit of science. No man can hope to excel in a variety of ways. Few are able to excel in one fingle branch of knowledge. And by taking in too large a fcope, it is no wonder that men can go but inconfiderable lengths in all, and accordingly become mere fmatterers in every thing, knowing in nothing.

To avoid this error, the rule is eafy. Be fure that you understand one thing, before you proceed to another: And take care that you allow for forgetfulnefs. What you underftand pretty well now, a few years hence (if you drop that ftudy) will not ftand fo clear in your mind as at prefent. What apprehenfion can you therefore expect to have, at fome diftance of time hence, of what you do now clearly understand. The view in education is very different from that of ftudy in mature life. In education, the bufinefs is to open the mind to receive the first principles of various knowledge, to furnish it with the inftrumental fciences, to habituate it to application, and accuítom it to exert itself with ease upon all kinds of refearches, rather than to carry any one branch of knowledge to perfection, which is not indeed practicable at an immature age. The intention, on the contrary, in the ftudy of the more manly parts of science, in adult age, is to furnish the mind with 2 comprehenfive and diftinct knowledge of whatever