collected and preserved in what are called, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. To this I pay the utmost deference, and the profoundest respect, as the Word of God:-able to make one wise to salvation : -the only infallible rule of faith, and certain guide of conduct:-perfect and complete in all its parts-and fully adequate to the several purposes for the accomplishment of which it was designed.

'From this source I learn, that the God, the reality and nature of whose existence, the visible creation obscurely teaches, is strictly speaking ONE, yet, that in the unity of the godhead, there are THREE PERSONS, separate and distinct, and not merely, attributes or offices;-this doctrine I firmly believe, because it is plainly Revealed in Scripture,—although I am free to acknowledge that it is beyond my comprehension, as some of the subjects of revelation of necessity must be, -that being a revelation from an infinite to a finite mind.

'By, and in the image of this Being, I believe Man to have been created-pure and perfect, possessing the approbation and enjoying the friendship of his Creator, with every thing necessary to the constitution of a moral agent, or accountable creature; and therefore capable of falling.-I believe that at length, yielding to the force of temptation, he did actually transgress the divine command, and falling from his original state of rectitude and purity, did lose the image and forfeit the favour of God:-and, standing as their federal head,— did involve his posterity in the guilt, and consequences of his Fall: hence that, the human race is become corrupt-possessing from infancy, a bias to that which

is evil, and an aversion from that which is holy and good..

'But, as God, who is infinite in mercy, did foresee what should thus come to pass, I believe that from all eternity, he determined the Salvation of our fallen race: but, as, on the other hand, his justice demanded, either from the guilty or from a substitute, an Atonement equal to the extent and enormity of the crime they had committed, and as the claims of justice could not be disre garded or lost, and as man was unable to render the satisfaction they demanded, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the second Person in the adorable Trinity, not from compulsion, but of his own will, generously offered himself as that substitute, by his perfect obedience to render satisfaction for the law which we had broken, and by the shedding of his blood to make full atonement for our guilt. This I believe, in the fulness of time he accomplished, taking the human nature into mysterious union with the divine. This atonement I believe God the Father did graciously accept, and that such acceptance, on his part, was signified by the Resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and his ascension to Heaven: where I believe he now sits at the right hand of God, performing the part of a gracious mediator, by whom we have access to a throne of grace, and through whom we are graciously received.

'I believe that, as in the affairs of his moral government and providence, God uniformly acts from a plan well ordered and arranged, and leaves nothing in uncertainty to be ordered by the circumstances of the moment, so he does not depart from this, his usual method of procedure, in the operations of his grace

and therefore, that the persons who should eventually participate in the blessings of that atonement, were also pre-determined and ordained-I believe all such will be, in due time, brought to the knowledge of Christ, and finally saved-that in such, a change is uniformly wrought, denominated in scripture a New Birth, consisting in a thorough renovation of all the powers of the mind, producing, as its fruit, holiness in all the actions of the life,-that to accomplish this change, is the peculiar office of the Holy Spirit-that wherever he has graciously commenced a work like this, he will most assuredly complete it,and, though the Individual may be suffered occasionally to fall, will provide for his eventual and final Perseverance.

'I believe, however, that in preaching the gospel, its invitations are to be published indiscriminately to all, -that, in this connection, we have little or nothing to do with the decrees of God-that they do by no means destroy the accountability of man,that he who rejects the Saviour, does it with the full consent of his will, and is therefore as culpable as though no such decrees existed.

A number of believers united in the faith and order of the gospel, I consider as a Church-that in the church there are two classes of officers, and but twobishops, or pastors; and deacons-The former to oversee the spiritual, the latter the temporal affairs of the church; that these officers, each individual church has a right to chuse for itself, and that no other church has a right to interfere, except in a way of friendly council and advice. In the church, I believe, there are two standing ordinances, Baptism and the Lord's Supper,

Baptism to be administered to all who profess Faith in Christ, and their offspring, the Lord's Supper to be received by all who profess love to the Redeemer, in commemoration of his Love to them.

'I believe in the immortality of the soul-the existence of a future state of rewards and punishments→→→ the general Resurrection and the final Judgment,-Ianticipate the elevation of the Saviour's tribunal, around which, all nations shall be gathered, when the ways of God shall be fully vindicated-when the mysteries of his providence shall be unravelled-and each individual receive his doom according to his character and works —and that the bliss of the righteous and the torments of the wicked, will be alike eternal.'

Spencer is succeeded by Raffles.'-Page 206. The present Writer has been induced to preserve some remarks made by him on the preaching of the late

Rev. Thomas Spencer,

during the Autumn of 1810. He indulges in this not because such passing remarks on Mr. Spencer's pulpit talents are presumed to be as valuable as the opinions of those ministers who have since favoured the world with their sentiments respecting that eminent preacher, but principally as the subjoined Sketch attempts to retain the living features of his genius, anterior even

to his settlement at Liverpool; and when, therefore, the prematurity of his dissolution could have had no influence in forming an estimate of his ministerial worth.

6

If any judgment may be formed of the Hoxton Stu→ dents (observed the Writer) from the promising abilities of the Subject of this Sketch, it was not without reason that the Visitors of that Academy congratulated its subscribers and supporters on the growing talents of those who were training within its walls. The undersigned (Alexander Waugh, A. M. and the Rev. John Humphrys, and W. B. Collyer, D.D.) having had the satisfaction of being present at the Examination of the Students in the Hoxton Academy,' affirms the Report for 1809, beg to express their satisfaction on that occasion. The whole of the exercise, reflecting high honour on the ability of the tutors and the diligence of the students, afforded a pledge to the churches of a rising ministry furnished with promising talents, and respectable literary attainments.' Talents are accordingly considered indispensable in preachers. 'It was recommended to the Ministers,' subjoins this report, that when they discovered any Candidates for the Ministry, they should, if possible, attend to the improvement of their minds, and the exercise of their talents, previous to their being recommended to the Academy.'

Evangelical seminaries will be found to have some ministerial advantages which are not met with in our episcopal universities. The evangelical instructor keeps