TO THE GENEROUS NOBLEMAN, WHO PROVED HIS REGARD FOR A DEPARTED FRIEND, BY COMFORTING THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOW IN THEIR AFFLICTION; TO THE RIGHT HON. GEO. LORD KENYON, THESE SERMONS, BY HIS PERMISSION, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WISHES OF THEIR AUTHOR, ARE GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. The following Sermons, selected from a great number preached to the Congregation of Peel by their faithful and affectionate Minister, are presented with much deference, to the Public, without any alteration. Had it pleased the Almighty longer to have spared the life of their lamented Author, they would certainly have been more finished, and probably adorned with many interesting and learned notes. It is, however, sincerely hoped that they will be found not only elegant in composition, but scriptural, plain, and practical,-calculated to instruct the ignorant, to comfort the afflicted, and to sustain the hopes of all sincere Christians. That they will be read with deep interest and pleasure by many fondly attached friends of the Author, his surviving family believe, and contemplate with delight; and their earnest desire is that the publication of them, while may be a means of religious edification, may also recal to recollection his many virtues, and thus serve to embalm his memory. it It is perhaps necessary to mention that there are a very few passages in the manuscript which are marked with a marginal line. Of this no positive explanation can be given; but it is supposed that the Author was indebted for the ideas contained in them to some of the old Divines, whose writings were his long and favourite study. Many thanks are justly due to the kind friend who has superintended the work in its progress through the press; but it is felt and believed that to him this slight allusion will be more pleasing than any more open acknowledgments. Towards the numerous Subscribers to these Sermons the most grateful feelings are cherished; and the Author's family hope never to forget the kind and prompt manner in which many of them came forward, when the publication was announced. Runcorn, July 1st, 1835. |
