ut the slightest
tincture of Antinomianism; both lived, after their conversion,
singularly pure and blameless lives; both struggled gallantly against
the pressure of poverty, though Scott was the more severely tried of the
two. As a writer, perhaps Scott was the more powerful; Newton wrote
nothing equal to the 'Commentary' or the 'Force of Truth;' on the other
hand, there was a tenderness, a geniality, and, above all, a very strong
sense of humour in Newton which were wanting in Scott. Scott had not the
popular qualities of Newton, a deficiency of which he was himself fully
conscious; but he was a noble specimen of a Christian, and deserved a
much wider recognition than he ever received in this world. The 'Force
of Truth' is one of the most striking treatises ever published by the
Evangelical school, though we cannot go quite so far as to say, with
Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta, that it is equal to the 'Confessions of
Augustine.' It is simply a frank and artless but very forcible account
of the various stages in the writer's mental and spiritual career,
through which he was led to the adoption of that moderate Calvinism in
which he found a permanent home. The treatise is specially interesting
because it contains the history of a spiritual progress through which,
in all probability, many (_mutatis mutandis_) passed in the eighteenth
century. During the earlier years of his ministerial career Scott
wavered between Socinianism and Arianism, and he showed the same
conscientious disinterestedness which distinguished him through life, by
sacrificing his chance of preferment, at a time when his circumstances
sorely needed it, because he could not with a clear conscience sign
those articles which plainly declared the doctrine of the Trinity.
Slowly and laboriously, and without help from any living man, except
perhaps Newton, whose share in the matter will be noticed presently,
Scott worked his way from point to point until he was finally
established in the Evangelical faith. Burnet's 'Pastoral Care,' Hooker's
'Discourse on Justification,' Beveridge's 'Sermons,' Law's 'Serious
Call' (of course), Venn's 'Essay on the Prophecy of Zacharias,' Hervey's
'Theron and Aspasio,' and De Witsius' 'Two Covenants,' contributed each
its share towards the formation of his opinions. He describes with the
utmost candour his obstinacy, his prejudices, and his self-sufficiency.
Even while he was adopting one by one the obnoxious doctrines, he made
ame