stances, it must be acknowledged, the power of the voice is one, and that of the much-lauded press is another. One of the early German Reformers is portrayed as all instinct with animation:-" Vividus vultus, vividi oculi, vividæ manus; denique omnia vivida." Nor need we attribute such a sketch to the limner's fancy, while we can recall examples of a truly classic eloquence. But, above all, there is a POWER FROM ON HIGH which accompanies THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, and gives to this simplest of ordinances an energy for which the wisdom of the world cannot account. So much the more desirable is it to rescue from oblivion words which have been carried to the hearts and consciences of many a listening throng. It is not for the sake of disarming criticism, that allusion is made to one or two facts of the case. These Sermons are not the fruit of mature years. The author's self-devotion to public enterprises, and especially to the cause of Christian Missions, too early interrupted everything like prolonged literary exertion;-too early, that is to say, for the attainment of such a chaplet as he might have worn, had he persisted in that absorbing labour. No apology is made for the freedom sometimes used in the practical application of a text; nor will any be required by those who consider what was the state of Biblical science forty years ago, if they find an opinion or an expression which modern scholarship may fairly challenge. The wonder is, rather, that a young divine should have acquired such ripeness of scriptural knowledge, such precision in stating his views, and such discrimination in guarding them from abuse, and from the inroads of neighbouring error, on the right hand and on the left. The Sermons are not sent forth without a calm conviction that the system of doctrine to which they conform is clear, consistent, and (to use one of the author's terms) full-orbed. It fixes the attention, and keeps it fixed, on those vital doctrines which some of our contemporaries seem anxious, above all things, to cast into the shade. And it is no slight homage to the creed of this eminent preacher, that, whatever may be the language of adverse schools, the appeals which come from every evangelical pulpit repeat the very idioms in which he had been taught to proclaim salvation through Christ for all mankind. Among the Discourses contained in this first volume, are four which were prepared for Missionary Anniversaries. To these, as examples of Dr. Bunting's preaching in his meridian strength, it may be well to draw special attention. A few of the others are, confessedly, less finished; but they will represent the author in his pastoral and more familiar style. For two,—ix. and xvii.,—the reader is indebted, in the main, (as he may gather from internal evidence,) to the skill of the short-hand writer. In three instances beside, the manuscripts have been collated with all accessible notes and reports of the Sermons as heard from the pulpit. Herein the aim was to seize what was most characteristic of the living preacher, and, as it were, to awaken the echoes of a once-familiar voice which pleads no longer with men. It seemed best to take this laborious method, when opportunity served, inasmuch as the authority and pathos of this ambassador for Christ often found their highest expression in bursts of appeal and remonstrance which outran the most careful preparation. If, according to the judgment of Sir James Mackintosh, eloquence results from the combination of " reason, simplicity, and vehemence," Dr. Bunting was a master of that transcendent art. If we may gather from St. |