metaphysical. His imagination was metaphysical, rather than poetic; and his reasoning, while always popular in its terms, was always philosophical in texture. This was, of course, not perceptible by the majority of his hearers, nor did it ever obtrude itself upon the attention. He would have regarded a display of philosophy in the pulpit, as not less unbecoming and reprehensible than a display of oratory. The subjects which he usually chose, were familiar and practical, adapted for general usefulness. Those in which he delighted were, indeed, of a higher order; and when the subject demanded to be treated philosophically, the Preacher was in his element. Yet, so improper did he deem it, to indulge himself in a style of preaching above the level of an ordinary audience, that when he had been induced, at the pressing solicitation of a friend whom he highly esteemed, to repeat, on a particular occasion, a discourse of this character, he afterwards expressed contrition at having done wrong in complying. Of the discourse to which we refer, an imperfect but most interesting and valuable outline has been preserved, which appears in the fifth volume; and we shall interrupt the thread of our remarks, for the sake of introducing a few paragraphs, in exemplification of the elevated style of thought which was the most congenial to Mr. Hall's mind.

The text of the discourse is 2 Pet. iii. 8. "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." The general sentiment founded upon it is, that the Eternity of God affords a sufficient explanation of the apparent delay in the accomplishment of the Divine purposes. The exordium, as usual with the Preacher, is a brief exposition of the context; and nothing can be more simple than the plan of the discourse. It is proposed, first, to illustrate the import of the words, and to establish the truth of the proposition they contain: secondly, to shew to what particular uses the truth which they exhibit may be applied. The import of the words being simply and familiarly explained, the argument in support of the truth of the proposition proceeds as follows.

1. Every portion of duration is something real, and has a true and proper existence; but the epithets great and small, when applied to this, (as well as to any thing else,) are merely comparative. They necessarily imply a comparison of one quantity with another, without which they can never be applied with justice; for what is great, compared with one quantity, becomes, at the same moment, little when compared with another, and vice versa. Thus, fourscore years are, at present, considered as a great age, but would not have been called so before the Deluge. That age is now styled great with propriety, because it is so compared with the usual term of life, which is considerably less. And, for an opposite reason, it would, before the Flood, have been styled small, because it would have been so, compared with the average term of human life at that period, which was much

greater. We should consider fifty years as forming a very large por tion of human life: but the same number of years in the history of an empire, would be justly considered small. Thus is the same quantity either great or small, as you place it by the side of something much inferior to it in magnitude, or much superior.

2. Hence it results, that absolute greatness belongs only to what is infinite; for, whatever falls short of this, however great it may appear, its supposed greatness is entirely owing to the incidental absence of another object that is greater. It may be, it will be, infallibly reduced to insignificance, the moment it comes into comparison with that which is so prodigiously superior to it.

3. In duration, absolute greatness belongs only to eternity. The epithet great, or whatever other is most expressive of the profoundest astonishment, is, with the utmost propriety, applied to that unfathomable abyss. Incapable of being placed in any light, or brought, even by imagination, into any comparison which should reduce it to insignificance, it asserts its pre-eminence, and vindicates its majesty, in all places and times, in all the possible varieties of being, or combinations of thought.

4. We must then conceive, that He who has subsisted throughout eternal ages, who knows no beginning of days nor end of years, who possesses eternity;-to whom all its parts (if we may be allowed so to speak) are continually open, both past and future; must have a very different apprehension of that inconsiderable portion of it we call time, from creatures who are acquainted with no other. His apprehension, we may easily conceive, will be, in this respect, very different; and that what to us appears a large portion, will, in his eyes, appear very inconsiderable.

Nor let any one here object, and say, it must appear as it is, and therefore, there is no reason to suppose it appears to him different from what it does to us. No doubt it appears to him exactly as it is. His apprehensions are, unquestionably, agreeable to the nature of things. But it does not follow from thence, that it must appear in the same light [to Him] as it does to us. And if there may be a difference, it is surely the highest presumption to make ourselves the standard.

That each portion of duration appears to him real, we admit: we are not contending for its being annihilated in his view. Something it is, and something it appears, unquestionably, in his eyes who views things as they are. But this is far from proving that a limited portion of duration must appear to him of the same precise magnitude that it does in our eyes.

We know, by experience, how susceptible we are of a diversity of apprehension in this respect; and that at some periods, and in some situations, the same portion of time appears much longer than at others. In circumstances of extreme misery, the moments seem to linger, and the lapse of time is slow. How long would a few minutes appear, passed in excruciating torment! In a season of anxious expectation, which has a portion of misery in it, the same effect is experienced in a lower degree. On the contrary, in a state of enjoyment, the hours seem to take wings, and we are but little sensible of the progress of time. When the mind is fully engaged on a delightful

subject, when the attention is deeply absorbed in a pleasing train of reflection, we become scarcely conscious that any space of time has elapsed. We must infer from hence, that perfect happiness diminishes inconceivably the impression of time; as, on the contrary, intense misery increases it.

Among all the conceptions we form of the Supreme Being, there is none the propriety of which we can less doubt, than of his perfect happiness; nor have any who have believed on him failed to ascribe to him this perfection in the highest possible degree. He is styled, in scripture, "the blessed and only Potentate," the happy God. And as he is the fountain of all happiness to his creatures, it resides in him as in its utmost plenitude,-as in its proper seat. If his gracious presence is such a perpetual spring of felicity; if it is at "his right hand there are pleasures for evermore "; how much must he enjoy every moment in the contemplation of his perfections, in the survey of his works and designs, and in the possession of his consciousness of his supreme dominion and transcendent excellence, his unutterable and unbounded felicity!

Conceive, then, of a Being absolutely independent, and existing from eternity; in the enjoyment of infinite happiness, always master of his purpose, never perplexed with difficulty, never agitated with anxious expectation, resting on his own all-sufficiency, and viewing with complacency each attribute of his infinite fulness. What, then, is an age in his view, compared to what it is in the eyes of mortals? Surely, with such a Being," one day must be as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

'Admiration is, in most instances, the offspring of ignorance; at least, it implies a limitation of the views: so that an object shall appear great in the contemplation of one man, which, to another of more elevated and capacious powers, shall appear small and inconsiderable. But, to an infinite understanding, nothing can appear great, that does not partake of its own infinity. The Supreme Mind, and that alone, grasps eternity, possesses it every moment. He not only comprehends, but constitutes, eternal duration, by enduring " from everlasting to everlasting." For there could be no eternal duration, if something did not always endure: we cannot conceive of its existence but as a mode of being, and that being is God.

The measure by which he estimates time is, consequently, quite different from that which we are compelled to apply, in its contemplation. We measure one portion of duration by another: He measures time by eternity. How inconceivably different must be the apprehension arising from these different methods of considering it! În attempting to form a conception of endless duration, we are under the necessity of accumulating ages upon ages, and multiplying millions of ages into millions; accompanied with this conviction, that we have arrived no nearer to an adequate comprehension of it; that there remains beyond us an infinitely larger space than we have travelled over. his view, it is every moment present; to him, it is familiar, as his element, his habitation; and, from that stupendous elevation, he looks down upon the scenes of time and the lapse of ages. These reflections

To

may assist us to conceive, how to him one day must necessarily be “as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."'

Vol. V. pp. 373–378.

The notes of the second part of the discourse are very brief. In illustration of the use to which the doctrine of the text may be applied, it is observed, that, 1. it removes the ground of objection against the fulfilment of the Divine declarations, arising from the accomplishment being long delayed'; (this position is supported by a few considerations ;) and, 2dly, it accounts for the peculiar cast of Scripture language, when employed in an'nouncing the coming of Christ and the end of all things.' The concluding reflection is quite characteristic, in its turn of thought, of Mr. Hall's original, yet simple manner of enforcing practical

truths.

3. Though we cannot immediately change our senses, let us endeavour to conform our ideas and convictions to the dictates of Infallible Wisdom on this subject. Let us consider the whole duration of things here as very short.'

We were not fortunate enough to hear this discourse; but we could not have mistaken the authorship. How, in the Preacher's hands, the compact series of sublime argument would have expanded itself in the illustration, so as to accumulate strength, while it acquired greater distinctness, and more vividly presented itself to the understanding in its full import, those who have had the privilege of hearing Mr. Hall, can well imagine. And they may conceive also of the forceful eloquence with which, having made good his argumentative position, he would, as it were, open a battery upon the consciences of his hearers, in the practical remarks that came warm from his own excited feelings. To those who were unacquainted with his preaching, many of the sketches of sermons in the fifth volume, will lose much of their interest and value. They are like etchings, which an artist who has seen the original paintings, may even prefer to more finished engravings, because they more distinctly present the idea, and his imagination can best supply the expression. Upon the whole, however, we have been delighted to find, that of so many discourses, (no fewer than forty-one,) such ample notes have been preserved. Several of them have evidently been prepared by the Author with great care some were, indeed, written much more fully than his usual pulpit notes, with an express view, the Editor informs us, to serve as the basis of a projected volume. Even the fullest of them, however, are drawn out only to half the extent of the preached sermons; and in but few is the application more than hinted.

It will not be expected, then,' adds Dr. Gregory, that these notes

should evince the exquisite finish, in point of style, which they would have received from their Author, had he prepared them at full length with a view to immediate publication; or that they should abound in those copious and accumulative amplifications of the subjects, or those touching and powerful appeals to the affections and conscience, by which his preaching was so eminently distinguished. Yet, they will be found to exhibit the same simple dignity and grace, often the same beauty and pathos, the same richness and variety of illustration, as his other works; while, if I mistake not, they manifest a more fixed and constant determination to elucidate and apply scriptural truth, a more vivid and awful conviction of the infinite importance of salvation to men who have lost the image and favour of God, and a more deep and pervading current of devotional feeling, than even the most admired of his former publications; eloquent, impressive, instructive, and often truly sublime, as they unquestionably are.' Vol. V. Advert. p. iii.

In this point of view more especially, the contents of this volume are peculiarly valuable, and can disappoint no competent judge. They are valuable as illustrations of Mr. Hall's most matured religious sentiments, indicating his advance in spirituality of temper and fervour of devotion, and the increasing strength of his attachment to the distinguishing doctrines of the Christian economy. And they are intrinsically valuable also, as clear and masterly illustrations of the points of theology to which they relate. Although Mr. Hall cannot of course be judged of as a writer, nor as an orator, by these Notes, they are fair specimens of the materials of his preaching,-the organic remains of a giant. Before, then, we proceed to review Mr. Hall's finished writings, we shall gratify both ourselves and our readers by giving a few more specimens of these interesting remains. The xxxth in the series is very strikingly characteristic of Mr. Hall's original and powerful manner of treating those common, hackneyed topics of practical duty or Christian virtue, which are too often substituted by mere ethical declaimers for evangelical teaching, and too often slighted altogether by evangelical preachers. The subject is 'Humility before God'; and the text, James iv. 10. The exordium commences, as usual, with an illustration of the context; and then proceeds as follows.

Humility may be considered in two views; either as it respects the Divine Being, or as it respects our fellow-creatures;-humility before God, or as it affects our sentiments and conduct towards men, But, while this distinction is admitted, it must be carefully remembered, that it is no longer a Christian virtue, than when it originates in just conceptions of the great Parent of the universe; that the basis of all social excellence, of a moral nature, is in a right state of the heart towards God. The virtues which are severed from that stock, will soon languish and decay; and as they are destitute of proper principle, so are they neither stable nor permanent.

In this discourse, we shall confine ourselves to the consideration of