Several treatises of Owen have won for themselves a high place in
XII GENERAL PREFACE.
the standard tlieology 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 neighbour- hood 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 de- served well of the Christian public ; and was indeed favourably re- ceived, 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 gTeat 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 com- munity. The publishers of the present edition lay claim to nothing more than the discernment by wdiich they Vv^ere led to mark, and the zeal with wdiich 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 wliiah 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 in- tended 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 ex- tend the knowledge of them is entitled to a cordial meed of appro- bation. It is but justice to the reader, however, that he should be
' A statement occurs in the " Encyclopaedia 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 wliich 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.
GENERAL PREFACE. XIII
informed on what principles the editorship of the present issue of his works has been conducted.
It was necessaiy 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 prselo a capite ad calcem operis absentibus." He appends a humorous note to his treatise entitled, " Salus Electo- rum Sanguis lesu; 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, be- sides, 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 some- thing else, of which it would be too much tyranny in making the printer instnimental in the divulging." Subsequent editions evince little improvement in this direction. Even the edition of 1826 — though manifesting some advance in point of correct printing — is not what it might have been.
No liberties have been taken with the text of the author. On the contrary, in order to restore it to its original purity, a diligent com- parison has been instituted between recent editions of his works and the original edition, or at least some edition which, having been published duiing 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 gTammatical errors have been corrected, but no change has been made on the venerable archaisms which sometimes occur in the modes of fhoiight 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 imintelligible. In order, therefore, that tlie mind of our author should be expressed in his works in its full idiosyncrasy, it was felt a duty to absta,in from any