Published by the Editor. I. SERMONS, on Subjects chiefly Practical. II. SACRED LITERATURE. 2d Edition. III. PRACTICAL THEOLOGY. 2 vols. 3d Edition. IV. PRACTICAL DISCOURSES, by THOMAS TOWNSON, D. D., with a Biographical Memoir. Edited by JOHN, Bishop of Limerick. LONDON: Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, : Some one has said, that, as often as he mingled in the company of men, he came out of it less humanized than he went in and, to the truth of this, our own experience, after much conversation, bears testimony. It is much easier, to be wholly silent, than not to exceed in talk and it is much easier to keep concealed at home, than to preserve ourselves from sin abroad. He, therefore, that presses forward to the perfection of the internal and spiritual life, must, with JESUS, withdraw from the multitude. No man can safely go abroad, that does not willingly stay at home; no man can safely speak, that does not willingly hold his tongue; no man can safely govern, that would not willingly be governed; no man can safely command, that has not well learned to obey; and no man can safely rejoice, but he that has the testimony of a good conscience.'. Thomas à Kempis. BRITISH FIRBAR PREFACE. It has been long thought desirable by the Editor, that the life of God in the soul of man,' with some of the Discourses of the Rev. Henry Scougal; the Meditations of the Hon. Charles How;' and two Sermons of the great Cudworth, usually annexed to his Intellectual System, — should reappear together, in a handsome volume. Conjointly, they seemed likely to do a service, for which, in their separate form, they were less perfectly adapted: presenting, as they do when taken together, a complete and harmonious scheme of practical religion. While, by the recommendation of an attractive appearance, they might, possibly, engage the attention of a class of readers, hitherto unacquainted with their very existence. Into these views, the respectable and spirited publishers cordially entered; and, it is hoped, that the present undertaking may be so far successful, as, at once, to remunerate their liberality, and to afford the public a specimen of Christian instruction, not only unexceptionable in its nature, but uniformly tending to edification of the best kind. f |