those of Mr. Some:-" During these visits numbers would flock together, and listen with earnest attention to his familiar discourses and exhortations, while they testified their affection by a marked attention to his person and services." Indeed, in other respects, the mantle of Elijah appears to have rested on Elisha. In another part of Dr. A.'s life, we read, that " SO entirely did he appear to possess the confidence and affection of his people, that he became scarcely less their friend and counsellor in their various secular concerns, than their spiritual guide and instructor. He was in the habit of performing for them the kindest offices, and was at some considerable pains to acquire such a degree of knowledge and skill in other professional departments than his own, as would render him capable of giving useful assistance to the poorer classes of his neighbours. It is really entertaining to recollect the eagerness with which these worthy people resorted to their minister for such direction in their little affairs, as would supersede the necessity of applying for legal or medical advice."-Vide Wilson's Dissenting Churches, Vol. 1. p. 503. This is, with scarce any variation, except in the mode of expression, the account given of Mr. Some by the Rev. Richard Amner, of Cosely, Worcestershire, a native of Hinkley. "He was a man of the world, in a good sense of the words, and much better acquainted with human affairs, and the law of the land, than usually falls to the lot of Dissenting ministers. It has been told me, and I believe with some truth, that he even set apart one day in a week, (probably the market day at Harborough,) in order to be useful in this way; and that he was very much so in the settlement of disputes, arbitration of differences, and prevention in this way of law suits among the country people especially." Indeed, his advice was not only greatly prized by the members of his congregation, but by his brethren in the ministry of the Gospel. Another part of his work, to which Mr. Some devoted no ordinary attention, was the public catechising of the younger branches of his auditory. To render this more profitable, he drew up an explanation of the Assembly's Catechism, consisting of leading questions, (to borrow a phrase from the bar,) evidently arising from the question and answer in the catechism, together with Scripture proofs. It was divided into sections, each containing one or more of the original questions. At the end of each section were some practical observations. This was published probably in 1726, as the second edition (before the writer) is dated 1727. It was much in use, says Mr. Amner, when I was young, and is still esteemed by many very pertinent and moderate. "I am fully convinced," Mr. Some remarks in the preface, "of the usefulness of public catechising, by more than twenty years experience. I have seen the good effects of it, and purpose to allow it a share in my public labours, while God continues life, and a capacity for service. I have seldom observed a drowsy hearer, whilst I have been engaged in this part of my work. I wish I could say so of the other parts of it." There is something so excellent in the following remarks, also in the preface to the catechism, that we hope to be forgiven for transcribing them." If any should condemn the whole of this undertaking, as paying too great regard to human composures, I can assure them, that I have long since learned to call no man master upon earth. I have not attempted to explain the doctrines contained in this catechim, because it was composed by that learned body of men, the Assembly of Divines; but because I verily believe, that for the substance of them they are agreeable to the word of God. I was early instructed in them, and have now reviewed them with some attention and care, lest the prejudices of education should have been the principal reason of my adherence to them. And after the most impartial search, I cannot discover any thing so absurd and inconsistent in this scheme of religion as some have represented. And I hope I may be allowed the liberty of judging for myself." We might have concluded from this quotation, that Mr. Some was decidedly opposed to all imposition in matters of religious opinion, had we been ignorant of the circumstance mentioned by Dr. Doddridge, "That when a neighbouring gentleman once endeavoured to introduce a subscription to articles of faith in the words of man's device, as a test of orthodoxy, it was effectually over-ruled by the interposition of Mr. Some, of Harborough, Mr. Norris, of Welford, and Mr. Jennings, my tutor." And the breaches of friendships, the heartburnings, and the divisions in the churches, which were the bitter fruits of that measure in the metropolis, evince the wisdom of this opposition. Synods have almost always proved the fruitful source of dissention, while they have never been a sufficient safeguard from error; and that at Salter's Hall was certainly no exception. Besides, "as impositions are seldom agreeable, so they can never appear in a more ungraceful view, than when attempted by those who have long complained of them, and who are destitute of all authority to support them." though thus strenuous for the right of private judgment, and fearful of any infringement on religious liberty, Mr. Some was ardently attached to the doctrines of grace. He had no oneness of feeling with those in his day, who began to be ashamed of what their fathers had so justly gloried in; but openly and strongly protested against such a shrouding the glories of the Gospel. (To be continue d.) But *Some's Sermon on the Methods, &c. p. 26. 12mo. edition, 1754. ORIGINAL ESSAYS, COMMUNICATIONS, &c. A SERMON ON 2 PETER iii. 3, 4. "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.' Ir It appears impossible for any attentive and serious person to read the portion of this epistle, which begins with the words of our text, and extends to the end of the 13th verse, and not perceive it to be of a most remarkable, solemn, and interesting character. I rather hesitate as to the propriety of calling it a difficult passage: for, though the subject which it de clares is vast and awful beyond expression, yet the terms, in which the Apostle Peter conveys his declaration, are exceedingly plain, and seem to be fairly susceptible of no other than a literal and obvious interpretation. Some respectable Scripture critics do, indeed, understand the passage as being only a prediction, in figurative expressions, of great national revolutions and political changes in the world of mankind; particularly the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, the abolition of the Mosaic constitution, the dispersion of the Jewish nation, and the subsequent prevalence of 66 the christian religion. It must certainly be admitted, that in the highly figurative and poetical language of prophecy, the great commotions and convulsions, which at various times have occurred, and will occur among the nations of the earth, are represented by figures resembling some parts of the language of the Apostle Peter in the passage before us: for example, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations." Haggai ii. 6. Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven." Mal. iv. 1. "The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations:-the slain shall be cast out, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood; and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree :the streams of the land shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone; -it shall not be quenched night or day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; [the Lord] will stretch upon it the line of confusion, and the plummet emptiness." Isaiah xxxiv. 2, 3, 4. 9. 11. "I will shew wonders in the heavens and the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel ii. 30, 31. All these instances refer, undoubtedly refer, to the terrible dispensations of providence in national agitations and overthrows. But I think that we are prevented from understanding in the same manner the passage of which our text is the introduction, by these considerations; that it is not reasonable to interpret the language of exhortation in a plain epistle, upon the same principles, as the highly metaphorical and designedly obscure diction of prophecy, which, in the original language of the Old Testament, is the sublimest poetry; that there is no intimation, in the passage or in its connexion, that the terms are to be taken in an allegorical signification; that what the inspired writer mentions, in verse 16. as being "hard to be understood," refers to the things or subject itself, and not to the language in which they are conveyed; and that the reference to the former condition of the earth, as having been overflowed and destroyed with water, being certainly to be understood literally, it seems necessary to take in a sense equally literal the other great change in the constitution of things, of which it is here affirmed, "that the heavens and the earth which now are, by the same word, kept in store, reserved unto fire, at the day of judgment, and the perdition of ungodly men." For these reasons, there appears to me to be a preponderance of evidence in favour of the plain, literal, and obvious interpretation. Upon the principle of this interpretation, therefore, the remarks which follow offered to serious consideration. are now The holy apostle begins by saying, that it is a thing which we should" know first," that is, as a matter of chief and most important consideration, that "there shall come, in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts." The expressions, "the last days," and "the last times," are of frequent occurrence in the epistles of the New Testament, and evidently denote the Gospel dispensation, the reign of the Messiah, the brightest and fullest revelation of the divine will; the period in which the authority and grace of Jehovah are making their strongest and final appeal to the fallen children of men. The apostles repeatedly declare, that in this last time," a variety of wicked and corrupting men would rise up, some pervert ing the Gospel, others wholly rejecting it; and under numerous pretexts, differing from age to age, drawing away unstable and unwary souls, turning them from the truth, and leading them to destructive error and practical wickedness. They are called "ungodly men, filthy dreamers, deceivers, antichrists, false teachers, vain talkers, evil men, and seducers, deceiving and being deceived." Most abundantly and awfully have these prophecies been verified; and never more manifestly than in that part of the last days under which we live. While the lips of the righteous are feeding many," while the grace of our Divine Redeemer is calling to him the guilty and perishing on every side, whilst his people are putting forth their exertions for conveying his glorious Gospel to the ends of the earth; it is, at the same time, an undeniable fact, that the advocates of the most dangerous errors, and the slaves of infidelity and daring blasphemy, are summoning their utmost energies to insult the truths of Jesus, and to extend the usurped empire of the prince of darkness. Talent, rank, and splendid genius, and the buffoonery of ignorant and vulgar malice, have called forth their resources, and are pouring forth ribaldry and horrid scorn upon every thing sacred. Nor are they alarmed, when one and another of their most idolized leaders are suddenly summoned into the presence of that Saviour and Judge, whom they had so boldly insulted. These "scoffers still walk after their own lusts." Our text and its inseparable connexion informs us, what are some of the arguments by which they fortify themselves in their wickedness, and it refutes their impiety by the most impressive declaration of the opposite truths. I. We are here informed, what are some of the principal arguments by which they strengthen and harden themselves, in rejecting the word of God, and scoffing at its most venerable and awful truths. 1. From the apparent uniformity and constancy of natural appearances, they conclude, that a change will never take place, and that the present system of nature will continue for ever. Their language, either professedly or by implication, is, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Ver. 4. This is a favourite argument with some, who call themselves philosophers, in our own times. They see the continued repetition of the same phænomena. Day and night, summer and winter, and the appropriate productions of each season, and of every climate, follow each other with unfailing exactness. The revolutions of the heavenly bodies correspond to the most minute fractions of calculation, and conspire to describe cycles so vast, as to overwhelm the mind and imagination of man. All men seem to be governed by the same unvarying laws of life and death; and, therefore, the whole is imputed to mechanism and blind necessity. The generations of all the world's inhabitants rise and fall, and succeed each other in the very same manner: and, therefore, it is presumed, that they always have so done, and will ever continue to do so. The constancy of the course of nature appears fixed and immutable: and, therefore, these reasoners conclude that it will be eternal. Thus they flatter themselves, and they labour to assure others, that "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation," and will so continue for ever; or, perhaps, they affirm, that there never was a creation; but that the succession of beings and events, which we see around us, has been from eternity, and will continue to eternity. Miserable reasoners! absurd and foolish men! Do they not perceive that order without an ordainer, mechanism without a contriver, laws without a lawgiver, a succession of finite beings with out an original and infinite First Cause, are the grossest of absurdities, the most absolute of impossibilities? But of this," they are willingly ignorant." They shut their eyes to the light. They refuse to listen to evidence: or they strive to forget it, and to banish it from their minds. 2. Another argument, with which infidelity strengthens itself, is the supposed irreconcilableness of facts in the natural history of the earth, with that account of creation which stands in the front of the holy Scriptures. Geology, a study equally rational and fascinating, has become of late years a most popular object of attention. But many have made it a stumbling-block for their faith. Finding, in the structure of the earth, evidences which appear irresistible of an antiquity that runs to hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, and TAKING FOR GRANTED, that the history of the inspired Hebrew legislator assigns a date to Jehovah's first act of creation, not much exceeding, if it even reaches, six thousand years ago-they rush hastily to the conclusion, that the sublime description with which the book of Genesis opens, is no better than an erroneous tradition, or an ingenious fable; and they then, with still greater haste and unreasonableness, extend their conclusion to every part of the sacred volume, and so reject all the facts and principles of revelation. This unhappy mode of reasoning is very common. It has received the sanction of some persons of great celebrity in the scientific world; and its influence is very widely spread in this day of general inquiry and atten tion to all the branches of useful knowledge. I trust, therefore, that it will not be deemed improper, that I make some observations upon it. It is not a little remarkable, that the Apostle Peter, in the passage before us, has suggested the state of facts, which furnishes the right answer to this objection, so much talked of, and deemed so formidable in modern times. "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." Ver. 5, 6. It is the opinion of some distinguished biblical critics, and it appears to be supported by sufficient evidence, that the state of the earth described in these verses, and which is distinguished in a very marked manner from " the heavens and the earth which are now," cannot be that which immediately preceded the deluge in the time of Noah, nor can the destruction be that of the deluge. The words may be exactly translated thus: " By the word of God the heavens were from ancient time, and the earth receiving its consistence from water, and by means of water; by means of which waters the then existing world, deluged in water, was destroyed." But Noah's flood cannot be said to have destroyed the antediluvian world. Its action could only modify the surface by washing away from some places, and depositing in others: and from the Mosiac description of the site of Eden, we have satisfactory proof, that the general face of the antediluvian continents was the same as that which now exists. The true explication of the passage seems to carry us to a much earlier period, and a far more extensive and complete destruction of the earth, by its dissolution from a former state, Such a condition is |