out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; to that all-gracious Being who spared not (unparalleled, stupendous goodness!) spared not his own Son, but freely gave him up for us both. 0 that we may dearly love him; firmly trust in him; and desire nothing so much as to know him now by faith, and after this life have the fruition of his glorious Godhead !-To his everlasting compassions I commit my friend; and am inviolably yours, &c.

LETTER CXXIV.

Weston, July 8. 1754. DEAR SIR, YOUR favour of June 28. is now before me, and demands my sincerest thanks; and mine, I assure you, are of the sincerest kind. I am sensible it is not in every one's power to do such acts of kindness; and if Providence vouchsafes to smile upon iny essay, they will be of the most lasting, the most extensive, and the most important nature. If I live till next Saturday, I propose to transmit to you six more of the Dialogues, which will open a new field for your friendly hand to weed, cultivate, and improve. Exercise the same benevolent severity upon them, and continue to retrench, as well as to reform.

I am obliged for your criticisms; and oh! that I may be imboldened by the extract from your intended work. No man, I believe, stands in more need of such encouragements than myself. Timorous by nature, and made abundantly more so by a long series of unintermitted languors, and a very debilitated constitution, for which reason, I promise myself, you will commend the writer and his attempt to that great Jehovah in whom is everlasting strength; and for your kind assistance I shall think myself bound to praise his adorable Majesty, and to pray that he would "fill you with all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

I will, since I have the concurrence of your judgment, and I hope the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ, determine upon three volumes. How long do you apprehend it will be before your chronological and historical piece will be finished? I hope it will abound with explanations of Scripture, and be rich with short, but striking improvements. May you continually enjoy that unction from the Holy One which teacheth all things! And, oh! that its precious influences may descend upon, dear sir, your much obliged and truly affectionate friend, &c.

LETTER CXXV.

July 13. 1754.

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DEAR SIR, I HOPE my last letter, wherein I prized you of a parcel to be transmitted to you, is in your hand. Here are six Dialogues. May the everlasting and wonderful Counsellor enable you to search them as with a candle, and make them such as he will condescend to bless! I have dropped several objections and answers; yet I fear too many are still retained. A multiplicity of objects dissipates the attention either of the eye or the mind. Are what the painters call the two unities preserved ? one principal action and one grand point of view, in each piece? Does Theron speak enough; or with such weight, and such a spice of the sal Atticus, as might suit his character? Here and there a touch of wit or genteel satire in him, I think, would be graceful, especially in the first part, before he is brought to a conviction of his guilt. I hope you will not only find out all the faults, but that you will point this arrow, and trim its feathers; and may the arm of the Most High launch it, that it may be the arrow of the Lord's salvation. I am, dear sir, affectionately and gratefully yours, &c.

LETTER CXXVI.

Weston-Favell, Aug. 27. 1754.

DEAR SIR,-1 HAVE read part of your chronological manuscript,* and I bless God for giving you such a penetrating and comprehensive mind. To confess the truth, it is beyond my power to follow, even in those researches where you have surmounted the difficulties and cleared the way; but there are many things which I understand, and with which I am delighted; insomuch that, if you do not intend to publish it, I should very much desire a copy of it. But what should hinder the publication? Why should not the learned world be improved by what is profound, and the whole world be edified by what is easy? I have no acquaintance in this neighbourhood who is versed in chronological inquiries, and capable of judging of your computations and arguments; otherwise I would obtain for you his opinion. Mr Moses Browne (author of the Sunday Thoughts) will gladly peruse it. Will you excuse me though I add no more? A gentleman waits for me below, to transact an affair of which I understand but very little; he is come to take my parsonage-grounds, in order to plough them for woad, an herb much used by the dyers. May prosperity attend his plough; but, above all, may it attend yours and mine, which would open the ground for the seed of the everlasting gospel. I am loath to miss a post, loath to defer my thanks for your last very valuable favour, otherwise you would not be put off with such a hasty scrap from, dear sir, your most obliged and affectionate, &c.

* The manuscript which Mr Hervey here takes notice of is called, "A short Chronicle of the most remarkable events from the beginning of the world to the building of Solomon's temple.”

LETTER CXXVII.

October 2.

SIR, I HAVE perused the greatest part of Dr Hodge's Elihu. It is wrote, I think, in a masculine and noble style; is animated with a lively spirit of piety; and urges, with a becoming zeal, some of the grand peculiarities of the gospel. I hope it will prove a blessing to both the universities; and be a means of testifying, to both those learned bodies, the truth as it is in Jesus. Dear Mr has been gone from us almost a fortnight. What a burning and a shining light is he! Burning with ministerial zeal, and shining in all holy conversation. I hope our dear friend 's sermon was attended with a blessing; and may the blessing be greatly increased by the publication! May the drop become a river, and the river become a sea!-I was yesterday with five or six young students, and this day with three ingenious gentlemen of the laity, two of whom are acquainted with the Hebrew. Our conversation turned wholly upon that superexcellent and delightful subject, "the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent." Oh, may that almighty Being, who has every human heart in his hand, sanctify our discourse to our eternal advantage! And let us, my dear friend, talk for him, write for him, and live for him, who "died for our sins, and is risen again for our justification." May his Spirit be your continual guide, and his favour your everlasting portion! Ever yours, while, &c.

LETTER CXXVIII.

DEAR SIR, THE gentleman who versified part of my Meditations is Mr Newcomb of Hackney. I thought it exceedingly well executed; much superior to his ode on the final dissolution of the world, which he has since published.

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As to Bishop Fowler's Design of Christianity, he has, as far as I have read, good sense, clear language, and sometimes fine striking sentiments. But I most cordially embrace the proposition, viz. "That faith justifieth only as it apprehendeth the merits and righteousness of Jesus Christ," which he most peremptorily condemns. Please to cast your eye to the fifth line of the next paragraph-(the Bishop's words are, Imputation of Christ's righteousness consists in dealing with sincerely righteous persons as if they were perfectly so, for the sake of Jesus Christ ;)—and compare his "sincerely righteous persons" with St Paul's declaration, Rom. iv. 5. that Christ justifieth the ungodly. When you have perused and considered Bishop's Fowler's treatise thoroughly, please to let me have it again; especially as you and Mr H-r apprehend he has given better directions for the attainment of true holiness than Mr Marshall.

Thanks for young Mr C's sermon. He is a correct writer, but wants the main thing. "Christ is all in all." He either forgets, or understands those words in a manner very different from my apprehension. Mr Gt has much good sense, but to me his sermon reads flat: in his discourse, likewise, I wished to have seen more of our Immanuel's glory. I am, &c.

LETTER CXXIX.

Weston, Oct. 20. 1754. DEAR SIR, I RECEIVED the parcel safe, and desire to bless God's providence for not suffering the manuscripts to be lost in their passage, as they had like to have been; and to thank my kind friend for his judicious remarks. Herein is enclosed Dialogue xvi. I durst not venture to commit this to the press without submitting it to your correction. Dear sir, examine it with a critical severity; and may he, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, enable you to discern and rectify what is amiss. It is, as you will