DISCOURSE II. HEBREWS, chap. ii. ver. 4. "And by it he, being dead, yet speaketh." IN a former Discourse, I first of all, laid before you the obligations of a minister of religion, as they relate to the exercise of his intellectual powers. I then referred to the very few incidents which are remembered of Mr. Hulse's life, and briefly touched upon the ends and motives of the several benefactions he has bestowed upon the University of Cambridge. I would now enter into a more particular examination of the duties of the Christian Preacher, and the manner in which they are required to be performed. The materials of this inquiry must of course be solely derived from that instrument by which the office itself was established; I mean the last Will and Testament of the Founder himself, by which “he, being dead, yet speaketh" to us, of his intentions in the bequest, and which, whatever may be its difficulties in a legal point of view, is, as a moral picture of the writer's mind, a very beautiful and affecting document. The will of Mr. Hulse opens in a strain of fervent and undissembled piety, and refers in a mingled tone of gratitude and resignation to the mercies and miseries of a lengthened life. It speaks the undisguised language of his heart, as if he were already in the presence of his Maker, and places his dependence for resurrection and joy, where alone the solid and reasonable confidence of a sinner can be placed, on the merits and mediation of a blessed Redeemer. Thus he begins "In the name of God, Amen. I, JOHN HULSE, of Elworth, in the county and diocese of Chester, clerk, and once a member of the College of Saint John the Evangelist, in Cambridge, though at this time in a very infirm state of health, and for many years past afflicted with the stone, and the most acute and extreme pain, yet of sound mind, memory, and understanding (praised be the great and gracious Author of my being for this and for all his other undeserved mercies), on a due consideration of the certainty of death, and the uncertain time thereof, do make and publish this my last Will and Testament, in manner and form following. And first, I desire, with the deepest reverence and submission, to resign my soul into the hands of Almighty God, the greatest and best of Beings, whenever his all-wise providence shall call for it, humbly relying (through the gracious influence of his Holy Spirit) on the merits, mediation, and satisfaction, of his blessed Son Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer, for the forgiveness of my sins, and a glorious immortality: And my body I commend to the grave, to be interred in such manner as I shall by a note under my hand, in writing, direct, and for want thereof, in a decent but private manner, at the discretion of my executors. And as to such worldly estate as it has pleased the divine goodness so graciously of late years to bless me with, I do order and dispose of the same in the following manner." Having thus poured out and relieved the feelings of his mind before God, he proceeds to devise his estates to various persons and purposes;* but that with which alone I am at present concerned, is the part in which he speaks of the foundation and labours of the Christian Preacher, which he thus solemnly and seriously introduces to our notice, as a plan which he had long and maturely meditated: "It was always," says he, "my humble and earnest desire and intention, that the following *It is not, perhaps, unworthy of remark, that Mr. Hulse cancelled several legacies, because the individuals to whom they were bequeathed had afterwards fallen into immoral habits. donation and devise should be founded, as much as possible, upon the plan of that profoundly learned and successful inquirer into Nature, and most religious adorer of Nature's God, I mean the truly great and good (as well as honourable) Robert Boyle, esquire, who has added so much lustre and done equal service, both by his learning and his life, to his native country and human nature, and to the cause of Christianity and truth." No example more useful or excellent could possibly have been selected by any one for his imitation, than that of the sincere Christian and sound philosopher whom Mr. Hulse has here. placed before our view; nor could he have employed terms of more unpretending piety to mark the heartfelt seriousness of his own intentions in the same venerable cause. " in some "To the promoting," therefore, degree a design so worthy of every reasonable creature," he proceeds to the appropriation of certain rents, for the appointment, under certain conditions,* of a clergyman and graduate of the University of Cambridge, to deliver and to print twenty Sermons † every year, either upon the evi • Those conditions are, that he shall be a Master of Arts and under forty years of age. + Ten are to be delivered in April, May, and June. The remaining ten, in September, October, and November. mary. r te tiffin des of Holy Zut. errans will be better, semne ze Founder's own words, emarks upon the utility of ence for revealed religion, -... he most convincing and the truth and excellence of o include, not only the proeneral and particular, but seful arguments, whe collateral proofs of the ... he may think fittest n general or particular, ments, or else any tara mereci: and chiefly insen, virder Leists or tai to any particular sects or be ismertet amongst PAL - ITU TO BOTH NEw ringer -x a extrusts, as rose, in which case, time, to write and at the liberal - the Founder duties of the to the other, he A he shall |