he misjudges. Yet is it almost wholly from such witnesses that too many even now express their opinions on the Writings of the Puritans and Nonconformists ; and perchance it must be admitted that the anti-Puritans and High Churchmen have been too much read at second-hand and controversially. In the present instance, it is ludi- crous to find one so inane and sand-barren as Milbourne sitting in judgment upon a nature so rich and so much larger than his own ; but it is a typical and hence valuable example of how an over-dainty cul- ture may be olfended by superficial faults, so as to be stone-blind to the preciousness of the substance of the works wliich these blemish ; it being granted that occasionally Brooks is homely to excess, in common with the greatest divines of his age.
Calamy's summary of the ' character' of Brooks — inadequate though it be — may filly accompany the preceding : — ' He was a veiy affecting preacher, and useful to many ; and tho' he us"d many homely phrases and sometimes too familiar resemblances, which to nice criticks appear ridiculous ; yet he did more good to souls than many of tho exactest composers ; and let the wits of the age pass what censures they please, ' he that winneth souls is wise.' i
' In characterising Sibbcs generally, we selected the epithet univ(T- sally applied to him, ' heavenJi/ ;' and in like manner, the woixl ' usejnV is the one word which accurately expresses the position of Brooks among his contemporaries. His slightest ' Epistle ' is ' Bread of Life :* his most fugitive ' Sermon' a full cup of ' Living Water ;' the very foliage of his exuberant flmcies ' Leaves' of the Tree of Life : his one dominating aim to make dead hearts warm with the Life of the Gospel of Him who is Life ; his supreme purpose to ' bring near ' the very Truth of God. Hence his directness, his urgency, his yearning, his fervour, his fulness of Bible citation, his wistfulness, his intensity, his emotion, and that fine passion of enthusiasm sprung of compassion, and his iteration and forgetfulness,^ and Pauline accident of choice words or melody of sentence. His desire to be ' useful ' to souls, to achieve the holy success of serving Christ, to win a sparkling crown to lav at His feet, breathes and burns from first to last. Evervthin"- is subordinated to 'usefulness ;' and while he gathered around him the cultured and the titled — who all but worshipped the ' good old man' — it w^as his chief rejoicing that, like his Master, ' the common people' heard and read him 'gladly.' In loving association with Sibbes and Shefiield, Baxter and Bunyan, Brinsley and Samuel
^ Account, vol. ii. p. 27.
^ This forgetfulness reveals itself in the repeated recurrence of the same anecdotes and sayings and names. Perhaps nothing more shews Brooks' one thought to have heen present 'usefulness,' not at all literary fame.
VIU EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT.
Richardson, his books were well thumbed in the hamlets of his own England, and, in quaint 'Glasgow' editions, among the godly peasantry of fScothuul, and gained wide and long-sustained welcome in Germany and llulland, as Brooks gratefully acknowledges repeatedly. i But more cannot be needed : and so — in the words of the loving biographer of good Bishop Lake — " I Avill detain thee no longer, gentle Reader, at this time, fioni the reading of so useful and precious works — only thus much I will promise thee for thine encouragement before thou begin, that if thou take the pains to go through with attention these .... first, Thou shalt gain thereby an exact knowledge of the mean- ing of the text he handles, and of every particular word and phrase in it ; secondlt/, Thou shalt meet with a great variety of choice obser- vations, both theological and moral, aptly deduced, and methodically laid down, as thou art like to find anywhere in so few leaves again ; lasthj, If thou be endued, as I hoj)e thou art, with the same spirit of grace and regeneration that the author was, thou shalt find thine afi'ections kindled and stirred up thereby to a real practice of piety and good works, more than by a great many more flom-ishing dis- courses than these at first sight seem to be." -
May this complete edition of these inestimable Works be used at this ' later day' to cause him, ' being dead, yet to speak' for that dear Lord Jesus he loved and served so well !
Alexander B. Grosart.
' Among our ]3rooksiana is a Dutch translation of the ' Apples of Gold,' of which the following is the title-page, ' Gouden' Appeleu Voor longh Mans ende longe-Dochters, Als ook eene Kroone der Heerlykheyt Voor Oude-Mannen ende Oude-Yrowen. Ofte De Geluksaligheyt van by tijts goet te ziyn, ende de Eere van een oudt Discipel te wesen. Klaarlijk en ten vollen outdekt, ende beknooptelijk, ende getrouwelijk tocgcpast. Middisgaders Der longen Tcgenworpingen beautwoordt Ende dcr Oudcn Twijssclingen opgclost. Door Thomas Brooks, Prediker des Euangelium tot Margarets New Fish- street hill binnen London : Uyt hct Enji;elsch Verduytst Door D. Montanus, Dienaar des Goddclijcken Woordts tot Sluys in Vlanderen. Tot Uytrecht. Ey Johannes Ribbius. 1067. 12mo.' Ribbius dedicates it in highly appreciatory words to a great lady, ' Anna Elisabeth van Recde, van Xederhorst,' &c. Appended are two religious poems in Dutch.
^ Prefixed to his ' Sermons and Divine Meditations.' 1629. Folio.
London's Lamentations.
Epistle Dedicatory, ..... 3-13
The text explained and divided, .... 14-17
Fire, as a symbol in Scripture, .... 17-22
Ends of God in inflicting judgments, . . . 22-35
Ends of God in inflicting judgments on his own people, . 35-50 Seven sins among the professing people in London, that ought to work them to justify the Lord though he burned them up, ..... 51-58
The several sins that bring the fiery judgment upon cities
and countries, ..... 59-127
Various specialities concerning the judgment of fire on
London, ...... 130-153
Considerations to work to lamentation, . . . 154—166
Thirteen supports to bear up their hearts who have either lost all, or much, or most of what they had in this world, ...... 166-197
Of the fire of hell, . . . . . 198-199
Four arguments to prove that it is very probable that there
is material fire in hell, and objections met, . 199-216
Sixteen duties incumbent upon those who have been
burned up, ..... 216-306
Eight duties incumbent upon those whose habitations are
still standing, . . . . .306-312
II. The Glorious Day of the Saints' Appearancr. Epistle Dedicatory, Sermon, ....
III. God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright. Epistle Dedicatory, . . . .
IV. Hypocrites Detected. Epistle Dedicatory, Sermon,
V. A Bkliever's Last Day his Best Day.
Epistle Dedicatory, ..... 839-393
Sermon, ...... 394-408
VI. A Heavenly Cordial.
Note, . . . . . . .409
The ' Cordial,' ...... 410-434
VII. The Legacy of a Dying Mother.
Epistle Dedicatory, ..... 437-452
Mrs Bell's Experiences, . . . 453-458
Indices, itc, . . . . • . 459-502