the standard theology of our country, and have, accordingly, during the last century, passed through innumerable editions; but it was not till 1826 that another and more successful effort was made to enrich our theological literature with a uniform edition of all his works. The credit of this undertaking is due to the enterprise of Mr Baynes, the London publisher. The edition was comprised in twenty-one octavo volumes,—the first, however, consisting of the Memoir of Owen's Life and Writings by Mr Orme,—and was printed under the editorial care of Mr Russell, a Dissenting minister in the neighbourhood of London. As the first attempt to collect the works of Owen, ―an attempt, the difficulty of which may be inferred from the fact, that in his lifetime Owen himself had for years lost sight of some of his own treatises,—and to publish them in a respectable form, it deserved well of the Christian public; and was indeed favourably received, for the subscribers to it rose to the number of three hundred and forty-six, and the impression, it is believed, has been long since exhausted.

The price at which, whether from its scarcity or its size, the edition of 1826 stood, prevented many from purchasing it who cherished an admiration for the writings of this great Nonconformist divine. A strong desire was evinced, in various ways, that his works might be issued in a form more accessible to the generality of the religious community. The publishers of the present edition lay claim to nothing more than the discernment by which they were led to mark, and the zeal with which they have endeavoured to supply, what was felt to be a want and desideratum by the public. They have been fully justified in the belief under which they were induced to embark in this undertaking, by the number of subscribers to this edition,-a number almost unprecedented in the history of religious publications, and extending to nearly three thousand.

They had hardly begun to print, before they became aware, on a thorough examination of the previous edition, from which they intended to print, that on other grounds besides the scarcity of the former one, a new edition was imperatively required. It would be invidious to animadvert in disparaging terms on the manner in which the works of Owen have been generally published. Every effort to extend the knowledge of them is entitled to a cordial meed of approbation. It is but justice to the reader, however, that he should be

1

A statement occurs in the "Encyclopædia Britannica" that Owen's works are printed in seven folio volumes. If it be meant that there are seven folio volumes of Owen's works, there is a sense in which the statement is true; but the folios must be of unprecedented size which could include all the works of our author in this number. It is an obvious mistake.

informed on what principles the editorship of the present issue of his works has been conducted.

It was necessary that, in the simple matter of printing, greater accuracy should be studied than appears in previous editions. From the first, the publications of our author suffered greatly in this respect. He complains that the "Theologoumena" had been much disfigured with errors, "nobis a prælo a capite ad calcem operis absentibus." He appends a humorous note to his treatise entitled, "Salus Electorum Sanguis Iesu; or, the Death of Death in the Death of Christ," which we may quote, as illustrating how the inaccuracies in the old editions may have arisen. In reference to a list of errata that follows, he says, "I must inform the reader, that I cannot own any of his censures until he shall have corrected these errata, and allowed, besides, many grains for literal faults, viz., parius for parvus, let for set, him for them, and the like; also mispointing and false accenting of Greek words, occasioned by my distance from the press; and something else, of which it would be too much tyranny in making the printer instrumental in the divulging." Subsequent editions evince little improvement in this direction. Even the edition of 1826though manifesting some advance in point of correct printing-is not what it might have been.

On the

No liberties have been taken with the text of the author. contrary, in order to restore it to its original purity, a diligent comparison has been instituted between recent editions of his works and the original edition, or at least some edition which, having been published during the lifetime of Owen, may be supposed to have been given to the public with his corrections, and under his own superintendence. Wherever any alteration seemed requisite, or an omission needed to be supplied, the words added have been placed in brackets, in order to distinguish them from the author's text. Slight grammatical errors have been corrected, but no change has been made on the venerable archaisms which sometimes occur in the modes of thought and expression which he was in the habit of using. Some accommodation of this kind to the usages of modern language may be quite proper in the publication of any of his treatises for popular use; but in a standard edition of his works such a course is altogether inexpedient. It seems a breach of faith with the author. It would unsettle the landmarks of British literature. It is demanded by no necessity, as hardly any words employed by Owen have become so obsolete as to be now unintelligible. In order, therefore, that the mind of our author should be expressed in his works in its full idiosyncrasy, it was felt a duty to abstain from any

rash intermeddling with the costume of his thoughts, and to adhere with scrupulous jealousy to the ancient text.

The punctuation has undergone a thorough revisal. Passages which, from negligence in this respect, were previously very obscure, have brightened into significance, so as even to impart to the style a measure of clearness and animation of which it might have been deemed incapable. In the more important treatises, we have endeavoured to make a judicious and sparing restoration of the Italics, of which copious use is made in the old editions. They were employed, not merely for the purpose of emphasis, but to indicate quotations, and the train of thought. Quotations are now denoted by the ordinary marks in modern printing. The Italics are retained, where emphasis seems to have been designed, and where they tend to give connection and vividness to the composition.

In common with the authors of that age, Owen indulged freely in divisions and subdivisions of any topic under his consideration. The numerals employed to indicate the progress of thought were found in much confusion,―omissions occurring even in the early editions which appeared before the author's death, and changes having been subsequently introduced (of course without the author's sanction), which often destroy the connection and force of his statements, and bewilder his readers in a labyrinthine maze of numeration. Care has been taken to rectify these errors, and the subdivisions are denoted by the usual gradation in the numerals-I, 1, (1), [1], first, and first. It would have been an advantage if we could have dispensed with this cumbrous and complex apparatus; but such a course would have been questionable in principle, and indeed, on a little examination, will be seen to have been impossible.

The Scripture references demanded serious attention. A score of errors has sometimes been detected in a single sheet. Occasionally, moreover, when the words of Scripture were quoted, whether from mistakes in transcription and printing, or in consequence of the quotations having been made from memory, several inaccuracies have been noticed. These have been all corrected. No attempt, however, has been made to interfere, when it was evident that the author, as he sometimes does, purposely varied the translation of the authorized version of the Scriptures, in order to elicit more fully the import of the original.

Perhaps the works of Owen have suffered most injustice in regard to his quotations from the Greek and Latin Fathers. Even the editions which were printed when he was himself alive, here abound in errors to a degree that is a scandal to the British press. The

circumstance can only be explained from the pressure of multifarious duties leaving the author little time to attend to the details in the printing of his own works. It would seem that this task was often devolved on others, who, in the department of the Greek and Latin citations, have not given much evidence of their competency for it. To these original errors many more were added in each successive edition, till some passages from the Fathers, but for the characters in which they were printed, when Greek, might have been Latin as well as Greek,-or when Latin, might have been Greek as well as Latin, for all the meaning that could be expiscated from them; and the riddle they presented to the reader could only be solved by the use of that suspicious instrument of criticism,―mere conjecture. Sc Herculean seemed the task of correcting and verifying these references and quotations, that Mr Russell, in 1826, expressly declined to under*ake it. In a note to the treatise on the "Reason of Faith," he reImarks, "The editor takes this opportunity of stating, that he does not undertake-nor would it be possible, without a prodigious, and at the same time almost useless, expenditure of time and labour, and a boundless accumulation of books-to verify the numerous quotations of Dr Owen from the Fathers, and schoolmen and controversialists of a more recent period." We have only to state, that, so far as circumstances permitted, the best attention of the present editor has been given to these quotations, and that at least all the most important of them have been duly verified and collated, and the proper reference given to their place in the writings of the Father from whom they may have been adduced.

A prefatory note has commonly been given to the different treatises. It is intended by the note simply to indicate the design of the treatise, to submit a brief analysis of its contents, and to specify the date of its original publication, the judgment that has been formed of its merits, and any circumstances of interest bearing on its character, or connected with its history. The perusal of a work presupposes some knowledge of its design and contents, before the reader is induced to devote his time to the examination of it. When old works are republished, there is no present impulse to discuss their merits, and the organs of periodical criticism seldom bestow on them a formal and detailed review; so that a reader is sometimes at a loss to judge of the treatise of an old author, whether it be worthy of his attention, or likely to interest him, or what precise object it was intended to serve. Prefatory notes, therefore, supplying a key to the author's intention, so far as it can be gathered, have been inserted in the present edition. Explanations have been sometimes

appended at the foot of the pages, in regard to any statements or allusions that general readers might fail to understand. The editor, however, has been anxious not to overlay the text in any instance with a parade of authorities and references, seeking in his duties to be under the influence of the sentiment,-Prodesse quam conspici.

To promote facility of reference to the various productions of our author, they have been arranged in three divisions,-Doctrinal, Practical, and Controversial, and in each of these divisions the works have been given, as far as possible, according to the years in which they were published. It would be vain to attempt rigid precision and accuracy in any such arrangement that might be adopted. There are treatises which are at once doctrinal and practical in their nature. Some advantages would have accrued had the chronological order been followed, and had the works been inserted in this edition altogether according to the date of their original publication. But much confusion and irregularity would have been the result, and treatises, among which an obvious affinity existed in their subject and design, would not have been included in the same volume.

A complete index will be given in the last volume, embracing the Greek and Hebrew words quoted from Scripture, the texts explained, and the subjects discussed by our author.

It only remains for the editor to express his obligations to the Rev. John Edmondston of Ashkirk, whose aid has been invaluable, especially in the department of the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew quotations; to the Rev. John Cunningham, LL.D., who kindly undertook the research and inquiries that were found necessary in London; and to the custodiers of the different public libraries in Edinburgh, through whose courtesy free access was granted to them, in order to prosecute the business of collation.

The best thanks of the publishers are due to the Rev. Andrew Thomson, for the Memoir of Owen which graces this edition of his works; and to the trustees of the Lancashire Independent College, for the use of a portrait which belongs to the library of the college, and from which the portrait at the beginning of this volume has been engraved. The engraving is a very truthful representation of the countenance of Owen, according to the original painting from which it has been taken, and which, on the whole, has been preferred to any other likeness of him, as more in harmony with the depth and dignity of his character.

There are some important publications of Owen which were not