THE ECLECTIC REVIEW, FOR DECEMBER, 1822. Art. I. The Life of the Rev. Thomas Scott, Rector of Aston Sandford, Bucks: including a Narrative drawn up by Himself, and copious Extracts of his Letters. By John Scott, A.M. Vicar of North Ferriby, and Minister of St. Mary's, Hull. Second Edition. Svo. pp. xvi, 682. (Portrait.) Price 14s. London. 1822. WE are not surprised that this volume should already have reached a second edition. Although adapted to interest religious readers only, it will by pious persons of all denomi nations be deemed an invaluable addition to their library. It belongs to a class of works of which we have but too few, and of which, not from the lack of authors, but from the rareness of proper subjects, it is not likely that we shall ever have too many. The lives of Christians of Mr. Scott's stamp, are the best sort of practical commentary on Christianity. Of such persons the Apostle Paul speaks as being "living epistles," intelligible to all men; and their memoirs bear the same relation to the truths of the Bible, as the records of experimental science do to the physical principles they are employed to illus trate. Shew me, says the infidel, a man raised from the dead, and I will believe. It is an unreasonable demand. He would not believe, though a man were to rise from the dead. But shew me Christianity, the religion of the Bible, realized in the life of a Christian,-is a fair challenge. And how can it be met so well as by referring the sceptic to such men in his own day, as Henry Martyn and Walter Venning, Granville Sharp and John Thornton, Andrew Fuller and Thomas Scott? Such a work as the present is valuable, not only on account of the evidence it supplies of the power of religion, but as it forms a treasury of practical instruction to the inexperienced Christian. Next to the promises of the Bible, such memorials as these supply the most efficient consolation under those trials and perplexities which are found to be common to all the family of VOL. XVIII. N.S. 20 God. All that is really valuable in ecclesiastical history, too, has come down to us in this shape. The real history of the Church is to be found, not in the history of councils and of heresies, but in the lives of martyrs and confessors, reformers and evangelists, in whose glorious fellowship the subject of these Memoirs has gone to take his station, where his works will follow him. Mr. Scott was animated with much of the spirit, and had to perform in some degree the work of a reformer. His great work, the Commentary, was undertaken with the view to furnish, in an effectual and unsuspicious vehicle, an antidote against those loose views of the Gospel' which were too prevalent in certain circles at that time. To counteract the baleful effects of that leaning to Antinomian doctrine which characterized the public teachings of many of his contemporaries, was, indeed, the main object at which he constantly aimed; and if, by his preaching, which was never popular, he did not succeed to any great extent, his smaller works have done more, perhaps, towards counteracting erroneous views of the Scripture doctrines, than those of any living author. In the Evangelical class of the Church of England, he was, in this respect, what Andrew Fuller was in his denomination, the bold, uncompromising assailant of an orthodox Pharisaism which had grafted itself on the doctrines of Grace ;-a spurious Calvinism, narrow, proscriptive, and inert,-metaphysical, yet vulgar, disputatious, but most supine in action; which calling in question whether it was a sinner's duty to believe the Gospel, naturally considered itself as exempt from the task of carrying far and wide the mockery of a message, the useless offer. By the manly opposition they made against these views of the Gospel dispensation, both these excellent men brought down upon themselves, at the beginning of their career, abundant obloquy; and their success for a time was small. They lived, however, to see a complete revolution take place in the sentiments and feelings of the religious bodies to which they respectively belonged; a revolution to which there can be no doubt that they mainly contributed by their example and their works. The result and proof of this change were seen among the Baptists, in the formation of the first Protestant Missionary Association in this country, and afterwards in the Church of England, in the institution of a similar society. To these sister-institutions, it is not a little remarkable, and strengthens the parallel we have drawn, that these two admirable men stood respectively related in precisely the same capacity. The better spirit of their theology had paved the way for their formation; they had the principal share in their actual organization; and while Mr. Fuller was the first secretary to the one, Mr. Scott discharged the same office in the other. From an anecdote in the present volume it would seem, indeed, that the latter was remotely instrumental in producing the very first movements of Missionary zeal. Dr. Carey, in conveying through a friend his thanks to Mr. Scott for his History of the Synod of Dort, thus expresses himself: If there be any thing of the work of God in my soul, I owe much of it to his preaching when I first set out in the ways of the Lord.' Now it is this distinguished Missionary, remarks Mr. John Scott, who is perhaps better entitled than any other individual, to the praise of having given the first impulse to the extraordinary exertions of the present age for the propagation of Christianity in the world.' I well remember the late Rev. Andrew Fuller reporting, at my father's house, in the year 1792, the impression which had been made upon an association meeting of his own denomination, by Mr. Carey's sermon on the address to the Church, Isa. liv. 2. Lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; from which he pressed the two propositions, that we should expect great things, and attempt great things. Hence originated the Baptist Missionary Society. The London Missionary Society followed; then the Church Missionary Society; then the Bible Society; and, in succession, various other institutions; all, we trust, destined to contribute their share to that great and blessed consummation, "By prophecy's unerring finger marked Speaking of the Church Missionary Society, Mr. Scott says: The honour of giving it birth belongs to my father in common with several dear friends with whom he esteemed it one of the chief blessings of his life to be associated. Among these (to mention no surviving ones) were the Rev. Messrs. Newton, Foster, Cecil, Venn, Goode, and that distinguished layman, Mr. Henry Thornton. Mr. Venn, indeed, has been pronounced the father of the Society: and, if to have taken a very active and zealous part in its first formation; to have had, perhaps, the principal share in organizing and moulding it into shape, and in conducting it through certain delicate and difficult intricacies which it had to encounter at its outset ; entitles him to this appellation, it certainly belongs to him. But, if to have been one of the first and most urgent in pressing upon his brethren the duty and necessity of forming some such institution, as well as among the most active in carrying the design into effect, establishes a right to such a distinction, then must my father be allowed to share it with him. And accordingly he was thus commemorated in the Report of the Society made at its last anniversary. The fact, I believe, is this. The London Missionary Society, then recently formed, had attracted great ublic notice, and excited much discussion. Among other places this was the case in a private society of clergymen meeting once a fortnight for friendly discussion; and the ground which my father, whose mind had been always peculiarly alive to such subjects, there took, was this-That it was their bounden duty to attempt somewhat more than they had done, either by joining the Missionary Society just mentioned, or, which was much to be preferred, if practicable, by forming a new one among members of the Establishment: and from these discussions sprang the Church Missionary Society. My father says of it in a letter dated Oct. 29th, 1800: " I had a considerable share in setting this business in motion, and I should wish to try what can be done: but I am apt to fear that, like most of my plans, it will come to little." pp. 315, 16. Without detracting from the merit of the excellent persons who were Mr. Scott's coadjutors, it is plain from his own language, that he considered the Society as originating in his suggestion, and as being his own plan. This, however, is a point of no real moment, further than as it presents a fine illustration of his zeal and active philanthropy, that he should be the first mover in such a cause. It would sufficiently justify our remarks, were we to view him merely as having powerfully contributed to excite and foster the spirit of missionary enterprise, and as being one of the foremost and most active promoters of the cause in his immediate connexion. The preference he gave to the formation of a new society, we think judicious as well as reasonable. That it was dictated by no want of liberality towards Christians of other denominations, his character sufficiently attests. But he must have foreseen that a cordial cooperation with the London Missionary Society on the part of the Established clergy, was not likely to take place to any efficient extent. In order, therefore, to interest members of his own Church more generally in the cause of Missions, and to call forth the vast resources of the Establishment, it must have appeared to him the much more advisable measure, to form a new society under the special auspices of the Episcopal Church. And who is there but must heartily rejoice that this plan was determined upon? No additional support that could have been given to the London Missionary Society, by that small body of clergymen with whom the Society for Missions to Africa and the East originated, had they joined the existing institution to a man, would have enabled it singly to achieve what has since been effected by the joint labours of the two Societies. But, in fact, a Missionary Society must partake of the specific character of the church or denomination from which it emanates. Without its being either the avowed object or the secret intention of the institution, to propagate among the Heathen episcopacy on the one hand or congregationalism on the other, it is inevitable that the mode of worship and method of proceeding adopted by their agents, should identify. them with one communion or another. It was with a truly catholic intention that the founders of the London Missionary Society proposed to merge all sectarian distinctions in the constitution of their Society; and perhaps this popular feature of the plan had no small effect in aiding their funds. But, though individuals of various denominations have been associated in its management, and have concurred in its support, it has been found impossible to preserve a neutrality in the character of its operations. The mode of ordination adopted in sending out missionaries, as well as the disregard of a liturgical mode of worship abroad, stamp the Society with the broad mark of Dissent. Missionary Societies do not admit of that comprehension in their constitution, which has been so happily realized in the Bible Society, inasmuch as there are practical details connected with their object, respecting which opinions must clash, since they involve the chief points at issue between the Episcopal and the Congregational Churches. A Missionary Society is an ecclesiastical society: a Bible Society is not. A cordiality between distinct Societies, an harmonious rivalry, guarded from running into opposition by the amicable policy adopted by Abraham and Lot on their separation, is all that can be hoped for or desired in the present state of the Visible Church, We have unavoidably digressed from our immediate subject, and have somewhat anticipated the order of the narrative. It is not our intention, however, to give a regular abstract of the present memoirs, but merely to offer a few desultory remarks in connexion with a general account of its contents. The volume itself will speedily be in the hands of most of our readers. The leading incidents of Mr. Scott's early life would seem little worthy of notice in a bare recital; but, as illustrative of the native strength and energy of his character, they are a valuable portion of the memoir, and supply much useful instruction. The account given by himself of his conduct on returning to his father's house, after being refused ordination by the bishop in London, though told with the greatest simplicity, affords a very unequivocal proof of his native fortitude and independence of mind. After walking twenty miles on the last day of his journey home, he reached Braytoft in the forenoon, and having dined, put off his clerical clothes, resumed his shepherd's dress, and sheared eleven large sheep in the afternoon. The circumstances under which the young ecclesiastic achieved this triumph over himself, were such as considerably enhance the merit of the sacrifice he made to filial duty. It is an uncommonly fine and touching incident. His |
