which he brought to a successful termination in 45 vols. 4to. He died in 1824.

David Bogue, D.D.

BORN A. D. 1750.-DIED A. D. 1825.

He was

THIS excellent man was born on the 1st of March, 1750. the fourth son of John Bogue, Esq. of Halydown in Berwickshire. He studied at Edinburgh for the ministry in connection with the Established Presbyterian church, but ultimately embraced the principles of Independency, and became pastor of an Independent church at Gosport in England, in 1777.

Some years after Mr Bogue's settlement at Gosport his mind became powerfully affected with the conviction, that it was the duty of Protestant dissenting churches to attempt something for the conversion of the heathen to Christianity, and he embraced every opportunity in the pulpit, and in private conference, to mourn over their neglect, and to urge all around him to prayer and labour in this great cause. Whilst it would be folly to attribute to Mr Bogue the discovery of a principle, which burned in the bosoms of several nonconformist ministers, which was subsequently proposed to the churches by Dr Doddridge, and which, in our own days, animated at the same moment the minds of Williams, Carey, and Horne, yet Mr Bogue was providentially placed in circumstances peculiarly favourable to its exhibition, and thus has the honour of being amongst the very first, in modern times, to advocate this great but long-neglected duty. On the 30th of March, 1792, Mr Bogue preached at Salters' Hall, in London, the anniversary sermon before "the Correspondent Board of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands and Islands," and he availed himself of this favourable opportunity to press the topic on his hearers, and afterwards, for the sermon was published, on his readers. This excellent and animated discourse made a deep and wide impression, and, together with other co-operating circumstances, tended to produce a general conviction that little had been done for the conversion of the heathen world, and that it was the duty of every Christian to aim at the cultivation of this highly-important field. The subject continued to occupy his mind till 1794, when he visited the Tabernacle at Bristol, and was associated with the Rev. J. Stevens, then minister of Crown-court chapel, London, as his colleague, and to him, in company with Mr Hay, then minister of Castle-green Meeting, Bristol, he disclosed his plans, and it was agreed he should write a paper recommending missions to the heathen, and obtain its insertion in the Evangelical Magazine;' it therefore appeared in the number of that work for September, 1794, addressed "To the Evangelical Dissenters who practice infant baptism."

The scriptural argument, the forcible appeals, and Christian benevolence of this letter, excited a sacred ardour in the minds of thousands. Dr Edward Williams, then of Birmingham, replied to this address in the Evangelical Magazine,' stating that missionary objects had been recommended by the Warwickshire Associated ministers to their people,

in a circular letter dated June, 1793. At length, on the memorable 4th of November, the first concerted meeting was held; it was a small but glowing circle of ministers of various connections and denominations, who resolved, on the most liberal principles, to embark in this holy enterprise. The opening of the year 1795 was occupied in preparing and circulating several interesting letters to ministers and churches, which are happily preserved in "the introductory memorial respecting the formation of the Missionary Society." On Tuesday, the 22d of September, 1795, at Spa-fields chapel, in the midst of a multitude powerfully excited by the novelty and benevolence of the object, the society was formed; meetings for worship and business occupied the two following days, and on the Thursday evening Mr Bogue preached, at Tottenham-court chapel, an able sermon entitled 'Objections against a Mission to the Heathen stated and considered,' in which his manly sense, sanctified benevolence, and vigorous faith in the promises of God, are conspicuously displayed. In his closing sentence his faith seems to have attained an elevation which led him to anticipate the verdict of coming generations respecting the transactions in which he was then engaged,-anticipations which it is only necessary to transcribe to convince every reader how happily they have been realized.

"This year will, I hope, form an epoch in the history of man; and from this day, by our exertions, and by the exertions of others whom we shall provoke to zeal, the kingdom of Jesus Christ shall be considerably enlarged, both at home and abroad, and continue to increase 'till the knowledge of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.' When we left our homes we expected to see a day of small things which it was our design not to despise but to cherish with fond solicitude. But God has beyond measure exceeded our expectations; he has made a little one a thousand, and has inspired us with the most exalted hopes. Now, we do not think ourselves in danger of being mistaken when we say, that we shall account it through eternity a distinguished favour, and the highest honour conferred on us during our pilgrimage on earth, that we appeared here, and gave in our names among the founders of the Missionary society, and the time will be ever remembered by us, and may it be celebrated by future ages, as the era of Christian benevolence."

Amongst other calumnies which were circulated against the founders of the Missionary society, was the ungenerous imputation, that they were ready to transport their brethren to ungenial climates, to labour amongst savage and heathen nations, while they continued to enjoy the delights of home. This reproach was as untrue as it was unkind; for Dr Bogue, joined with his friends the Rev. Greville Ewing and the Rev. William Innes, about the year 1796, in several memorials and petitions to the directors of the East India company, requesting permission that they and their families might go to Bengal, and devote their future years to the propagation of the gospel in our Hindoo empire. These repeated requests were most peremptorily refused, though made in language of earnest expostulation and Christian eloquence: one of these memorials was printed in their joint names, and circulated amongst leading and influential persons; and though no immediate effect resulted from it, yet it abides a monument of the personal devotion of its authors to the missionary work, and doubtless contributed to diffuse opinions which

have since so happily changed the policy of the honourable court. Though shut out from foreign labours, his assiduous application to study, especially in foreign theology and biblical criticism, was continually enlarging his capacity for usefulness at home, and this literary diligence could not be concealed. On the death of Mr Welsh, the patron of Gosport academy, it was found that he had made no provision for its continuance by bequest, and therefore that useful institution would have ceased but for the reputation of its tutor, which commanded the liberal support of several friends till 1800, when Robert Haldane, Esq. of Edinburgh, a gentleman of distinguished intelligence and Christian philanthropy, proposed to subscribe £100 annually, one-fourth of the expense, towards the support of ten additional students, if the churches in Hampshire would supply the remaining sum requisite for their education and support. This was accepted, and the County Association of Hampshire has continued to patronize the institution to the present time.

Amongst other schemes of usefulness which arose out of the religious excitement produced by the establishment of the Missionary society, was the admirable plan of a Religious Tract society, "to print and distribute small pieces on subjects purely religious." This valuable institution was founded in May, 1799, and the subject of this memoir took a prominent part in describing its character and asserting its claims. He penned the first tract in the series, An Address to Christians, recommending the distribution of cheap Religious Tracts,' in which he proclaims that "pure truth" is to be the exclusive subject of its publications; and adds, "nor should any worldly scheme be interwoven with the truth, nor attempted to be concealed under its folds. Here should not be seen the slightest vestige of any carnal end, in any form, or for any purpose, however laudable some may think it; nothing but divine truth, unmingled, unadulterated, and pure, as it came from heaven, fit for the whole human race to imbibe.' Such wise principles naturally commended their author to the managers of this catholic society, and they requested him to advocate its cause from the pulpit of Dr Hunter, where he preached an able sermon, in May, 1800, from Psal. xliii. 30. and which discourse he afterwards gave to the public, entitled The Diffusion of Divine Truth;' in which he re-asserts those principles which cannot be too much enforced on the attention of the religious public at the present moment.

About the same time the Missionary society's directors wisely resolved to place their future missionaries under a course of preparatory studies, and, in deliberating on the best means of establishing the proposed seminary, they observe, in their report for 1801, "the superintendence of a person of eminent abilities, of exemplary piety, and of a true missionary spirit, seemed to be an acquisition first in order and importance in this business. With these views, they were directed to their reverend brother, Dr Bogue, whose laudable zeal and efficient labours they have before acknowledged and recorded, and whose disposition to promote the designs of the society, and his devotedness to the cause of God, were again manifested by his consenting to accept the office of tutor to the Missionary society." He therefore added to his other lectures a course suited to form ministers for foreign missions, and three students were, for this purpose, immediately placed under

his care. The public mind had been powerfully excited by the entire abolition of papal authority in France, and the directors of the Missionary society felt, in common with all pious minds, that if the fabric of superstition had been demolished in that country by the hand of infidelity, it could never be the design of Divine Providence that infidelity should acquire a permanent influence over the popular mind; and they were, therefore, called to deliberate what was their duty, as Christians, towards their unhappy neighbours. The state of political hostility which subsisted between the two countries prevented, at that time, all personal intercourse; it was therefore suggested, we believe, by Dr Bogue himself, that it was most important to circulate, in France and Belgium, a large edition of the French New Testament, with a suitable preliminary dissertation on the evidences of its divine inspiration. This proposal was deemed important, and its projector was naturally requested to prepare the intended introduction. This led to the publication of his Essay on the Authority of the New Testament;' a work which condenses a great mass of evidence into a small volume, and places it in a most perspicuous and convincing light, and which claims the attentive perusal of every intelligent Christian.

The providence of God having, however, by the cessation of a destructive war between this country and France, in October, 1801, unexpectedly opened that country to the agents of the Missionary society, it was resolved to send a deputation to Paris and the departments, to promote the intended publication. Dr Bogue had travelled, when young, in France and the Netherlands, and having acquired a command of the French language, was too well qualified and too deeply interested to be overlooked; he therefore was appointed, with other gentlemen, to this difficult mission. They, however, succeeded beyond their best hopes; a respectable member of the legislative assembly engaged to translate the essay into French; and an Italian bishop, disgusted with the absurdities of papacy, was willing to engage with his Protestant fellow-christians, by translating it into his own language. Many other plans of extensive promise were suggested by the deputation on its return, but the short duration of peace closed again those fields of usefulness which had been opened before them.

The neglected and deplorable state of our sister country, Ireland, justly attracted the attention of English Protestants at the close of the year 1806, and led to the formation of the Hibernian society, for the diffusion of religious knowledge in Ireland. The committee were entreated by their Irish correspondents to send to that country a deputation to obtain the required information on the spot; and in the summer of 1807 Dr Bogue was associated with the Rev. Messrs Charles and Hughes, and S. Mills, Esq. in visiting it. The tour occupied the party about a month, and it designedly lay through some of the more miserable and unfrequented districts. In the cities they obtained that class of information which the cabins of wild Connaught could not furnish, and the result of the whole was presented to the public under the title of Report of a Deputation from the Hibernian society, respecting the Religious State of Ireland,' and produced an impression upon the public mind, powerful enough to place that society amongst the most effective for the reformation of the popish inhabitants of that country.

6

In 1808 appeared the first volume of an extensive work, The His

tory of Dissenters, from the Revolution in 1688 to the year 1808, executed jointly by Dr Bogue and his friend and early pupil Dr Bennett, which was followed, in the course of the four succeeding years, by three other volumes, which completed the design. We shall avail ourselves of the very intelligent remarks of Mr Griffin on this publication; some parts of which certainly excited strong feelings of resentment amongst attached churchmen, and of regret amongst candid dissenters: "It is a work of great importance to the Christian church, and will be read and referred to with increasing interest, as the light of truth increasingly beams on the nation, and its cause is advanced in the world. I say nothing in defence of the essay prefixed, which has given considerable pain to most of his friends, as being in a style unsuited to the dignity of the subject, and the respect which is due to the national church. We have an undoubted right to differ from it, but no right to treat it with disrespect. Persons in their opinions may have just cause for dissenting from the establishment on account of its union with the state, the nature of its discipline, and its remaining intolerance, in still making a religious test as essential to the service of the state; yet the evangelical character of its creed and articles, the excellent spirit which pervades the greater part of its devotional services, and the very extensive learning of a large body of its clergy, entitle it to the respect of all who dissent from it, and especially of those who place themselves, with regard to it, in the situation of disputants. The doctor himself was so impressed with a sense of the propriety of these sentiments that he assured me, some time since, that in another edition, which was then in contemplation, the style and manner in this part of the work would be altered, and that I might mention it to as many as I might think proper. I think it therefore due to his memory and to myself, in commending the general sentiments of the work, to mention this fact now. But with these remarks I cannot refrain from expressing an opinion, that there are more important general principles connected with the welfare of the state, the prosperity of the kingdom of Christ, and the good of the world, in those four volumes, than are to be found in any work of a similar extent."

Dr Bogue accompanied his friend and fellow-labourer, Dr Bennett, in the summer of 1816, in a journey through the kingdom of the Netherlands, in the service of the Missionary society; and his presence every where inspired that veneration and esteem which his character justly claimed. A valuable and characteristic volume of 'Discourses on the Millennium' was given to the public by Dr Bogue in the close

of 1818.

Dr Bogue died on the 25th of October, 1825. The directors of the Missionary society honoured his memory by passing a resolution expressive of their feelings on the occasion, and of their high and unmingled respect for the memory of their deceased friend.1

Abridged from Congregational Magazine.