For persons of the mercantile ranks of life, the Latin and French languages, writing, arithmetic, and merchants' accounts, geography, history, and the theory of commerce, are the indispensable branches of learning. They may pursue the others to what lengths their circumstances and leisure will allow.

To accomplish a gentleman for the bench, or for the employment of a chamber-counsellor, a perfect knowledge of the theory of government, and foundations of society, is indispensably necessary. To which must be added an immense apparatus of knowledge of the several species of law (which in England is the most voluminous and unwieldy of all studies; our law being to the shame of justice, a chaos, not an universe) and almost of every thing else, about which mankind have any connexion, or intercourse with one another. As I cannot see the business of pleading at the bar, in any other light than that of a mischievous invention, calculated wholly for the purpose of disguising truth, and altogether incapable of being applied to any honest purpose, (for truth wants no colouring) I shall therefore say nothing farther on the head of law.

The physician ought to be furnished with a perfect knowledge of the whole body of Physiology. The main pillars, on which he is to erect his structure, are anatomy, chemistry, and botany. But the ablest and most successful of the faculty have always acknowledged, that experience is the only sure foundation for practice; and have advised students in that faculty, rather to neglect all other books, than those, which contain the history of diseases, and methods of cure, delivered by those who have been cminent in the therapeutic art.

As for divines, I cannot help, with great submission, remarking, that there is no order of men whatever, whose studies and inquiries ought to be more universal and extensive. Phylological learning has in my humble opinion, been too much honoured in being regarded as almost the only necessary accomplishment of the clergy. To form the important character of a teacher of Sacred Truth, a dispenser of Divine Knowledge; what superior natural gifts, what noble improvements are not necessary in our times, when the miraculous powers by which Christianity was first established have ceased! If it be the important

business of that sacred order of men to labour for the improvement of Human Nature, it seems highly necessary, that they perfectly understand Human Nature. If the reformation of mankind be their province, they ought to be acquainted with the ways of men, as they are to be learned from history, and by conversation. The prevailing vices of the times; the hindrances to amendment; the current errors in opinion; the secret springs of the mind, by which it is worked to good or bad purposes; the innocent stratagems, by which mankind are to be won, first to listen to, and then to follow advice; the gentle arts of touching their passions, and acting upon their minds, in such a manner as will suit their various casts and inclinations; these ought to be so thoroughly understood by a divine, that he may, both in the pulpit, and in conversation, (by which last, he may gain as many, or perhaps more proselytes to virtue, than any way) be completely furnished for the instruction and reformation of mankind. The works of nature hold forth distinctly the glorious Author of Nature. That knowledge ought therefore to be thought a necessary part of the learning of the sacred dispensers of religion, since just notions of God are the foundation of true religion. To enter deeply into the profound sense and noble beauties of Scripture, a considerable knowledge of the languages, in which the sacred books were penned, is absolutely necessary. For the true idea of preaching, is making mankind acquainted with Divine Revelation, as it stands in the Bible, from which every single doctrine or precept, to be communicated to the people, is to be drawn, and from no other fountain whatever. It is therefore greatly to be wished, that the too prevalent custom of taking a detached passage of Scripture as a motto, and declaiming upon the subject from the preacher's own funds, were changed for a judicious practical comment upon a connected portion of Holy Writ, in such a manner, that the audience might in time comprehend the general scheme of Revelation, and to read the Scriptures with understanding, so as to judge for themselves. To be duly qualified for this, a very great apparatus of criti. cal learning, and knowledge of Oriental Antiquity, and History, civil and ecclesiastic, is necessary. A thorough knowledge of the obligations of morality being absolutely

necessary to a teacher of virtue, it is required, that he be a master in the science of ethics. And, as much more is to be done with mankind by affecting their passions, than by a cool address to their reason (though truth ought to be the basis of the pathetic) the principles of oratory are to be well understood by a preacher. Nor ought the embellishments of delivery to be neglected, as (I cannot help adding with concern) they are to a shameful degree. For while the mock hero of the theatre studies how to give the utmost force of utterance to every syllable of the fustian rant, which makes the bulk of our stage entertainments, the venerable explainer of the Divine will to mankind, treats of the beauty of virtue, the deformity of vice, the excellencies of a religion which has God himself for its author, the endless joys of heaven, and the hideous punishments of hell, and all in a manner so unmoved and unmoving, that, while the actor becomes the real character he represents, and commands every passion at his pleasure, the preacher can hardly gain attention; hardly seems himself (if we did not know it otherwise) to believe his own doctrines, or to care whether his audience do or not.

But to return; there is scarce any branch of knowledge which does not, one way or other, add a confirmation to revealed religion. Which shows, that if it were possible for a clergyman to master the whole circle of the sciences, he would find use and advantage from his acquisitions. And in conversation, what an ascendant would not a gen. eral knowledge of arts, of trade, of the various ways of life, give a reformer of manners over mankind, for their advantage, when he could enter into their ways, and deal with them upon their own terms?

Considering the variety of requisites for completely accomplishing a divine, one cannot help saying, with the apostle, "Who is sufficient for these things?" But be it at the same time observed, and let this work, if it should remain, inform posterity, that, by the confession of all sober and judicious persons, and to the confusion of the unthinking opposers of religion, and its dispensers, no period, since the first ages of the church, could boast a set of clergy of all ranks and denominations superior to those of Britain at this present time, either in human learning, in knowledge of Scripture, or sanctity of manners. Which

things being so, what words shall be found equal to the atrociousness of their guilt, who have it in their power, but will not take the trouble, to remove from off the necks of the clergy the galling yoke of subscription to articles, creeds, and confessions, the impositions of men, in many particulars unintelligible,, in more, incredible, and in all, superfluous? If Holy Scripture be, as declared in the articles of the church of England, the only, and the sufficient rule of faith.

The Hebrew original, and Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, the New in the original Greek, with Beza's Latin; and Taylor's Hebrew Concordance, and Schmidus' Greek, are the foundation of a clergyman's library.

Some of the best commentators of Scripture, are Erasmus, Beza, Grotius, and the authors in the collection called Critici Sacri abridged in Poole's Synoposis. The works of the following writers are also valuable, viz. Mede, Patrick, Hammond, the Fratres Polonii, Vorstius, Raphelius, Elsner, Bos, Calmet, Whitby, Ainsworth, Newton, Locke, Clarke, Pyle, Pierce, Taylor, Benson, Lowman, to which add Fortuity Sacra; Knatchbull on Select Texts, and many more.

Besides the books mentioned under the heads of polite learning, philosophy, and other parts of knowledge, which no gentleman ought to be without, and besides those recommended under the articles, ethics, and church history, the following ought by any means to have a place in the study of every divine; being the best helps for understanding those parts of knowledge, which are to him essential, viz. Josephus; Philo Judeus; Stilling fleet's Origines Sacræ; Prideaux's and Shuckford's Connexions; Spencer on the Laws of the Jews, Grotius', Locke's, Conybeare's, Leland's, Jenkins', Foster's, Benson's, Lardner's, Lyttleton's, West's, Duchal's, Jortin's, and Chandler's Defences of Christianity; Clarke on Natural and Revealed Religion; Butler's Analogy; Rymer's Representation of Revealed Religion; Millar's History of the Propagation of Christianity; Law's, Edwards', and Watts' Surveys of the Divine Dispensations, and Revelation examined with candour.

It is with no small pleasure that all sincere lovers of

truth observe the greatest and best of men, in our later and more improved times, bravely asserting the noble and manly liberty of rejecting hypotheses in philosophy, and systems in religion; and daring to appeal, from conjecture in the former, and human authority in the latter, to the works of God in the natural world, and his word in Scripture, the only pure and uncorrupted fountains, from whence the candid and inquisitive mind may draw the wholesome stream of unsophisticated knowledge. That a worm of the earth should pretend to impose upon his fellow creature the poor invention of his troubled fancy for the sacred truth of God, while the blessed volume of Divine Revelation itself lies open to every eye, is a degree of presumption, which could scarce have been expected. And yet it is notorious, that, by means of human interposition, the Divine scheme has, especially in one church, been so egregiously perverted, as to be well nigh defeated of its gracious intention. But all societies, who have in any degree, infringed the freedom of inquiry, have violated truth, and injured the cause of religion. Nor only they, who have had power to back with threatenings and punishments their own invented and imposed doctrines, but all who have made Holy Scripture a subject of party zeal and have loaded the world with systems piled on systems, and confounded the understandings of mankind with subtle distinction, and voluminous controversies, are to be considered as nuisances in the world of letters and their works be left a prey to the book worm. A clergyman has no occasion to crowd his library with systematic or polemic lumber. Such authors may dis. tract his understanding; but will not enlighten it. If he cannot in the Sacred books, with the help of the best commentators, read the truth of God, he will not find it in human systems and controversies.

People of fortune are peculiarly inexcusable, if they neglect the due improvement of their minds in the most general and extensive manner. And yet it is to be lamented, that no rank is more deficient in this respect than that of the rich and great. That they, who pretend to set themselves at the head of the world, should be obliged to own themselves generally inferior to those they call their inferiors in the very accomplishments which give the most