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The author of these " Lectures" does not make pretensions to originality 5 how little , indeed , can be said that is new upon such a subject ! He aspires only to the merit of instructing the young and the poor . ( Pref . p . viii . ) For this end he is well qualified ; and his " Lectures " will be read with satisfaction not only by these classes of the community , but also by those of other classes that feel a lively Interest in their moral and spiritual welfare .
The following are the conteuts of the volume : Lect . 1 . Introductory . 2 . Authenticity of Jewish Scriptures . 3 . Antecedent Probability of Christian Revelation . A . Testimony . 5 and 6 . Miracles . 7 . Prophecy . 8 and 9 . Internal Evidence . 10 . Collateral Evidence .
From the last " Lecture , we select a few passages on the moral power of the Christian religion ; and we shall be much gratified to learn that these specimens of Mr . Cree ' s style , and mode of argument and illustration , induce our readers to make his little volume their own .
" It was the influence of the religion ef Jesus upon the human heart , which rendered the illustrious Newton , in the midst of his discoveries and his honours , simple and unostentatious as a child ; which imbued his great mind with true Christian piety , candour , and charity ; and which induced him to approve himself rather to God than to man .
" It was the influence of his divine Master ' s precepts and example , which caused William Penn to meet persecution , and imprisonment , and wrong , for the sake of religion and a good conscience . He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of Gad than to enjoy the ease and disgrace of a time-serving spirit . " It was the influence of Christianity which formed the mind of Locke to
charity and goodness , and induced him to write his admirable letters on toleration ; and , throughout life , to be the steady friend of civil and religious liberty . " It was the influence of Christianity which formed the character of Doddridge , who declined the patronage of the great , and sacrificed proffered emoluments to the dictates of conscience . His habitual
piety and Christian moderation may be gathered from the well-known beautiful lines which he wrote under the motto of his family arma : ** * Live while we live , the epicure would say . And seize the pleasures of the present day .
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Live while we live , the sacred reader cries , And give to God each moment as it flies . Lord , in my views let both united be ; I live to pleasure when I live to thee ,
" It was the example of his divine Master which caused Howard to go about doing good , and , in his own country , to spend a great portion of his ample income in befriending the virtuous poor . It was in the true spirit of Christian benevolence that he visited the prisons of almost the whole continent of Europe and part of Asia , in order to alleviate the woes of the prisoner and captive , and to succour the unfortunate and the
distressed wheresoever they might be found . " It was the influence of Christianity which induced the learned Dr . Lardner to give his nights to the student ' s lamp , and to devote his talents to the service of his fellow-disciples , by collecting the evidence and elucidating the doctrines of the religion of his divine Master .
" It was the example of Christ which induced Lindsey to give up the preferments and the emoluments of the church , of which he was an ornament , and to sacrifice all his worldly interests for the sake of truth and a good conscience . " It was the example of Christ which IV WWO 1 > JJI / W-A . CWUjy . il / I /* VJilJOl ¥ 1 AAM . \ , M *
caused Whitefield and Wesley to lay aside the ease of ordinary life and duties , and to go about seeking to reclaim sinners from the error of their ways . " It was the example of Christ which induced Priestley to labour incessantly in the service of his brethren ; to endure calumny , and reproach , and persecution , for the sake of religious liberty and unadulterated Christianity . "—Pp . 383—385 . " But Christianity has not only been the means of forming to degrees of moral excellence , unknown to heathen times , many distinguished individuals ,
both of this and of every country whereboth of this and of every country wherein its authority has been acknowledged , but it has also exercised its holy and beneficial influence over all classes and descriptions of men . If , indeed , it were possible , that , like the systems of antiquity , it should be beneficial only to the
studious few , if it were instrumental in forming only a comparatively small number of useful or brilliant characters , while it left the great mass of society unimproved and immoral , little could be hence inferred respecting its divine authority . The great distinction and glory of the Christian religion are , that like
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1827, page 840, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1802/page/56/
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