pleasure in synthesis than in analysis; and was glad to make his escape, as soon as he properly could, from details to great principles. In some instances, perhaps, this taste for the philosophical classification of the results of his inquiries led him to hasten prematurely to his conclusions; but when, as in the case of his scriptural studies, the materials of perfect information were fully and at once before him, he seldom fell into this error, or if he did inadvertently commit it, he soon discovered and repaired the temporary mistake.-His sense of the importance of the saying of Christ was evinced, (as I am informed by one* who for two years had the honour and privilege of being an inmate of his house,) by "his very careful and personally interested manner of reading the Scriptures in his domestic devotions. So absorbed did he frequently seem to be in contemplation and mental inquiry, so awake to the charm or value of every paragraph, every sentence, and so anxious to retain the impression, that he would pause many times in the course of reading, sometimes as if unconscious of the presence of the family, and occasionally comment on anything that struck him. He certainly had an insatiable appetite for truth," (I should say he had a passion for truth;-in other respects he was not a man of passion; though he had great tenderness of feeling, he seldom exhibited signs of strong emotion; but for truth he had an ardent and intense regard ;) "and fed upon it as the bread of life: or, to change the metaphor, he rejoiced in God's words as one that findeth great spoil."

This close study and comprehensive knowledge of Christianity produced eventually, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, as was to be expected in a mind honest and sincere like his, a firm and steadfast faith in it, as a system divine in its origin, and of infinite interest, importance, and obligation. When a student not yet twenty years of age,ardent in his aspirations after knowledge, but left much to himself in the choice of books,-without the

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*The Rev. W. M. BUNTING.

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means, probably, of obtaining those standard works which to an intellect of his peculiar cast and order would have been most useful,―unaided and unprotected in his somewhat eager and adventurous inquiries by any sufficient course of previous mental discipline, and not always favoured with the guidance and advice of judicious instructors well versed in theological discussions, he was exposed to more than ordinary temptation and danger. Escaping, however, by the mercy of God, from early perils of this nature, it does not appear that even then he so erred from the truth, as to renounce essential doctrines. After his inquiries had been well directed and matured, and his judgment duly trained to those habits of cautious and comprehensive investigation, in which he subsequently excelled, his attachment to the fundamental verities of the gospel was ever firm and exemplary, and grew in strength and influence to the very close of life. His conviction of those verities was very little founded on metaphysical reasonings, or on analogical congruities, real or imagined, but rested primarily, and almost exclusively, on the divine authority which has made them known. As in ETHICS he had adopted, and was wont to vindicate, that hypothesis which takes the will of God as the true ground of moral obligation, and the primary rule of right,-(the rule of right he unquestionably meant as to us, God's creatures and subjects, who, as such, owe to him an entire and absolute submission of the understanding and the will, both as to the abstract rectitude of the laws he adopts, and as to our obedience to them, when enjoined,)-so in THEOLOGY, he contentedly reposed on the word of God, "the saying of Christ,” as the all-sufficient and satisfactory foundation, the only certain, clear, and binding rule of Christian faith. "Thus saith the Lord,” and “Verily, verily, I say unto you," these announcements were with him the "end of strife," and closed at once all doubt or disputation as to the facts attested, and the doctrines revealed. Thus, after quoting, in one of his pamphlets, some subtle reasonings, in refutation of objections made on analogical grounds to what he deemed an important

truth of Scripture respecting the Divine essence, and stating his own persuasion of the metaphysical soundness of that refutation, he eloquently exclaims, "But a truce to these reasonings; I willingly give them all up for a single word of the testimony of God. I affect them not; they seem to bring me too irreverently near to Him. I would not break through and gaze; and I feel while I write, how just and yet how reproving are the words of the Poet of Paradise,

'Dark with excessive light his skirts appear,

Yet darken heaven, that brightest seraphim

Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.'

In this passage we have a fine specimen of the spirit of Mr. WATSON as a theologian.-His statement of the Evidences of Christianity, in the First Part of his Theological Institutes, is comprehensive and convincing; and that portion of it which treats on the Proof from Miracles appears to me particularly accurate and discriminative.-On the province of reason in the investigation of religious truth his views are largely developed, in a most masterly style, and with an admirable spirit of fair and candid inquiry, in the conclusion of his “Remarks on the Eternal Sonship of Christ, and on the Use of Reason in Matters of Revelation." More of just, and in some respects original thinking, seems to me to be there embodied, than can elsewhere be found, as far as I recollect, on that subject. The same important topic is more briefly treated, but with great ability, in the Eleventh Chapter of the First Part of his Theological Institutes.

Among other proofs of his knowledge of the saying of Christ, and of his attachment to the study of revealed truth, it may here be mentioned, that, amidst all his other cares and labours, and under the pressure of frequent pain and affliction, he had made considerable preparations for writing original Notes on the New Testament, chiefly, I

* In the use of this epithet, I refer particularly to Mr. Watson's observations on "doctrines which contradict" as well as transcend human reason.-See p. 65, et seq.

believe, of a doctrinal and practical character. It will be matter of deep and general regret that this project, the latest literary labour of his life, was only partially accomplished. In the last private conversation with him, with which I was ever favoured, and which occurred about six weeks before his death, he expressed with much feeling his wish, if it should please God, to live long enough to complete, at least, his observations on the Epistle to the Romans, and on that to the Hebrews. These books, he

thought, would afford him the opportunity, which from the most pure and conscientious motives he earnestly desired, of leaving on record his deliberate views concerning various points of christian theology, which he deemed to be of vital importance to men's salvation.

It can hardly be necessary here to state, as a fixed result. of Mr. WATSON's long and patient application to scriptural studies, that he ranked himself unhesitatingly among orthodox Trinitarians, of the most strict and decided class.-He was also an evangelical Arminian ;-an Arminian, that is, of the school of ARMINIUS himself, and of Mr. WESLEY, rather than of the very different one in which some of the professed disciples of those great men, and especially the later followers of the eloquent and learned leader of the Dutch Remonstrants, have been disposed to take up their position.The careful and able discussion of the Calvinistic controversy, which is found in Mr. WATSON'S "Institutes," is prefaced by some admirable observations, part of which I shall here quote, because they are, in my judgment, eminently important and correct; and because they furnish, in his own words, a further illustration of his habitual appeal to "the saying of Christ," in defence of what he deemed to be the truth, in preference to every other mode of proof or vindication. They shew that "reasoning out of the Scriptures" was, in his view, the proper method of conducting such inquiries. They are also highly honourable to his catholic and candid spirit; and convey, by implication, a deserved rebuke to those fierce polemics who deal

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in imputations and revilings against Calvinists, nearly as indiscriminate and unjust as those which some Calvinists persist in pouring on their opponents;-for to this day there are persons who ignorantly confound all Arminians with Arians, or Pelagians, or Semi-Pelagians; and who bitterly "bawl against Arminians," though probably they "have never read one page of the writings" either of ARMINIUS, or of those who alone legitimately inherit his illustrious name." The Calvinistic controversy," says Mr. WATSON, "has always been conducted with great ardour, and sometimes with intemperance. I shall endeavour to consider it with perfect calmness and fairness; recollecting, on the one hand, how many excellent and learned men have been arranged on each side; and, on the other, that, whilst all honour is due to great names, the plain and unsophisticated sense of the word of inspired truth must alone decide on a subject with respect to which it is not silent. In the system usually called Calvinism, there are, I think, many great errors; but they have seldom been held except in connexion with a class of vital truths. By many writers who have attacked this system, the truth which it contains, as well as the error, has often been invaded; and the assault itself has been not unfrequently conducted on principles exceedingly anti-scriptural and fatally delusive. These considerations are sufficient to inspire caution.-According to the plan of this work, the whole question will be tested, first and chiefly, by scriptural authority. High Calvinism indeed affects the mode of reasoning à priori, and delights in metaphysics. To some also it gives most delight to see it opposed on the same ground; and to such disputants it will be much less imposing to resort primarily, and with all simplicity, to the testimony of the Sacred Writings."*

* Theological Institutes, vol. iii., p. 1, 2.-See also, on the topics above-mentioned, Watson's Biblical and Theological Dictionary, Art. Arminianism, and Art. Pelagius;-and a small tract, entitled, "The Question, What is an Arminian? answered," in Wesley's Works, vol. x., p. 358–361. Nor can 1 omit this opportunity of earnestly recommending to those who wish to know the true history and character of Arminius, and of Arminianism, and to obtain correct