plicity of the Gospel, under the specious pretext of going on to perfection. There never was an error broached but was introduced by some one man, eminent for the appearance of sanctity, and under the pretext of going on to perfection. And when he had formed a party, they endeavoured to introduce their innovations into the common creed. Hence arose the different sects in the Church. If every whim that comes into the head of a speculative self-conceited man must be published and imposed upon others, farewell then to all good order, peace, and unanimity in the Church. It is a contemptible supremacy to be at the head of a faction to break the peace of the Church.

If such a man creep in, reason calmly with him, for harsh treatment may confirm him in his error. Repeat two or three texts to him, such as Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself," and do not break the peace of the Church. Do as Jacob did, who drove the strong cattle no faster than the weak could follow. Tell him how Christ taught His people "as they could bear it; that you are weak and he is strong, and that "the strong should bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please themselves." Tell that man when he arises, for I fear that such will arise, that improvements cannot be made in religion as in arts and sciences, for religion doth not depend upon experiments, but upon the Word of God, and that men will not be easily induced to believe that God never fulfilled the promise of leading His Church into all. truth, according to the Scripture, until he arose. Tell such a man that, in your humble opinion, going on to perfection does not consist in finding out new truths, but the knowing of old truths more clearly, believing them more firmly, loving them more heartily, contending for them more zealously, and living more holily. Give him four instances of great discoveries which God manifested to eminent saints; to Moses, John the Baptist, the three disciples upon the Mount of Transfiguration, and to Stephen at his death. And all these revelations did not consist in discovering to them any new truth of which they had been totally ignorant, but the confirmation of old truths which they had believed, and which they had taught; viz., to Moses, that God was the Lord God, merciful, &c. ; to the others, that Jesus is the Son of God, the very truth that Stephen was sealing with his blood. He saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Tell him that to change our formula might expose him to the ridicule of the world-that is comparatively a small matter, but how would his heart bear the bleating of the sheep? It is not an easy matter to alter old constitutions. When Peter the Great saw the smooth chins of the clergy in England, when he went home to Russia he would willingly have given orders to cut off the long beards of his half-savage priests; he durst not attempt it. One of his successors thought he might do it: he paid dearly for it.Speech, pp. 25, 26.

THE FATHERS OF THE SECESSION.

These men would not slide through their text like oil upon polished marble, and perhaps make as little impression, as Dr. Watts says of haranguing preachers. They would not pass over the least particle in their text without explaining it. They would make an as and a corresponding so subservient to show the connection between privilege and duty, or between one doctrine and another. It would not satisfy them to pick out what men call now the principal idea, and not explain the very terms of the text. No, sir; they would explain the principal idea, and make the collateral truths in the text support that idea. They might not prattle about the three great unities of time, place, and action, like coxcombical pedants, but they knew a far better unity, the analogy of faith. This brings to my recollection a sermon which I heard delivered by an Arminian preacher, who seemed afraid to read the whole verse, which was John vi. 37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me," &c.; he only read, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out;" and in a legal harangue showed that Christ would receive a sincere, returning, repenting sinner. But our common Fathers could bring motives from the doctrines in the text, which Arminians deny, to encourage sinners to come to Christ, viz., His unchangeable love. He would not only receive them when by constraining_grace they came, but He "would in no wise cast them out." They would make the Father's gift, the certainty and secretness of election, strong motives. What induces a carnal man to throw his money into a lottery? Two things he knows there is a prize, and he doth not know who will get it, and therefore he hopes he may, and uses the means to obtain it. In like manner (but for a better end) our common Fathers would inform their hearers that some men will certainly be saved; here is a certainty for men that is not for fallen angels; and, sinner, "you do not know but you may be saved; use the means and leave the event to God."-Speech, p. 33.

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CHAPTER LXXXVI.

WILLIAM BRYSON (1765—1815),

MINISTER AT ANTRIM.

1. The Practice of Righteousness productive of happiness both at present and for ever; a Sermon preached at Crumlin, July 28, 1782, on occasion of the death of the Rev. Thomas Crawford. [Isaiah xxxii. 17.] Pp. 29. Belfast, 1782. A. C. B. 2. The Duty of Searching the Scriptures recommended and explained; a Sermon preached at the Ordination of the Rev. Futt Marshall in Ballyclare, February 9, 1785. 8vo, pp. 40. Belfast, 1786. C. P. L.

3. Funeral Sermon for Rev. Robert Sinclair of Larne. 1795.

THE REV. WILLIAM BRYSON succeeded Dr. Campbell as minister of the old congregation of Antrim, in connection with the Presbytery of Antrim.

His first published work was a funeral sermon for the Rev. Thomas Crawford of Crumlin, preached on the 28th July, 1782, from Isaiah xxxii. 17. His object in the discourse is to describe "the happiness, both present and future, arising from the practice of moral goodness." A specimen of this sermon, bearing on the character of a man whose name and family have been so long connected with the Presbyterian Church in Ulster, is attached to this notice.

His ordination sermon at Ballyclare, on 9th February, 1785, is one in which Mr. Bryson comes out with some advanced opinions. His subject is John v. 39. He undertakes to give directions how to read the Scriptures, and arguments to induce men to study them. Almost the whole discourse is taken up with elucidat

ing the first of these heads. Human reason he takes to be the guide. Scripture is to be studied, but its doctrines are not to be received any farther than they commend themselves to human reason. On this ground he rejects this and the other doctrine, not only transubstantiation, but also reprobation, the imputation of Adam's sin, and the righteousness of Christ. He speaks of the prejudices of those who think that we are not to recommend ourselves to Divine favour by our works, and that we become righteous through Christ's righteousness without any moral goodness of our own; and he thinks also that our involuntary errors will not be imputed to us. This is quite enough to show that, however eloquent in enforcing the study of the Scriptures upon others, he himself had not studied them to much advantage. Into one sermon he contrives to draw nearly all the errors, which were held by his party at the time. Its radical defect is, that the author fails to see what is the province of reason and what is the province of revelation. He imagines that human reason is to sit in judgment on the contents of the Word of God!

His funeral sermon for Sinclair of Larne, preached in 1795, has not come into my hands.

After a ministry of fifty years at Antrim, during which he sustained an unimpeachable moral character, Mr. Bryson died on the 6th of May, 1815. His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Bruce of Belfast.

His wife died before him. He left three sons and two daughters. A grandson in Australia was surviving some years ago (1872), and at that time was his only living descendant.

CHARACTER OF CRAWFORD OF CRUMLIN.

The Rev. Thomas Crawford sprung from a stock of respectable and pious ancestors. His father was Dissenting minister of Carnmoney, and was held in much esteem by his people. [His grandfather by the father's side was minister of Donegore in this county. His grandfather by the mother's side was minister of Urney in the County of Donegal. His great-grandfather was

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minister of Portaferry in the County of Down. Thus he has left to his offspring a long list of venerable ancestors, whose virtues did honour to themselves while they lived, and whose example, now that they are dead, should have great influence with their descendants.*] His mother was a woman of uncommon understanding, discretion, and goodness. Under the care and inspection of these parents, he was trained up to knowledge and virtue. He received a liberal education, which he finished by attending the Colleges of Glasgow and Edinburgh. He afterwards went through a course of trials and examination before the Presbytery, and was licensed to preach the Gospel. His character and his performances soon recommended him to the favourable notice of the public. The people of Carnmoney were desirous that he should assist his father during the old man's life, and that upon the event of his death he should succeed him as their minister. About the same time he received invitations from two vacant congregations, Island-Magee and Crumlin, to accept the pastoral care of them. He accepted of the call from hence, was ordained to the charge at the latter end of the year 1723, or the beginning of 1724, and resided here above fifty-eight years.

Mr. Crawford possessed natural abilities much above the common rate. He was endowed with a brilliant imagination and exquisite sensibility, which led him to form lively conceptions, and to express them in a forcible and affecting manner. These principles, however, were not left without control; they were under the control of good judgment and elegant taste. Hence his public discourses were well calculated to entertain, to instruct, and to edify his hearers. . .

The important objects of religion, morals, learning, and the duties of his sacred function, almost entirely engrossed his mind, and ordinarily diverted his attention from matters of temporal interest. He passed through this world like a stranger, unwilling to be inveigled by the affairs of a foreign country which he visits. His conversation was in heaven; he considered himself as the destined citizen of it; his views, thoughts, and desires were directed towards it; and by imitating the inhabitants of the world above in their noble studies and exercises, he endeavoured to prepare himself for becoming their immediate and intimate associate. He was not solicitous about what he should eat, or what he should drink, or wherewithal he should be clothed; but, in conformity to the instructions of his Divine Master, he sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, resting assured that all these things should be added unto him. He had moderate desires in regard to worldly possessions and enjoyments, was satisfied with the lot assigned him, and received the gifts of Heaven with affectionate gratitude. He felt in his own breast, and he studied to infuse into his family, a temper of pious cheer

*The sentences within brackets are in a note in the original. I have taken the liberty of transferring them to the text.-T. W.