382 
book of Beveridges, in 4vols. 8vo. which 
is a fynopfis of a great number of Ser- 
mons, the fkeleton cf fermons, in which 
only the heads of the difcourfe are me- 
thodically given in order‘to be filled up. 
It was publifhed, I think, for the ule 
of young clergymen. This will further 
inftruét you, as you may apprehend, in 
the method of compefing. When you 
have ufed thefe two ways, alternately, as 
eccafion ferves for fome time, you will 
have, of courfe, acquired fome notion of 
compofition. Then begin now and then, 
though but feldom, to make a fermon 
entirely yourown. And to give you a 
true tafte of thefe compofitions, you can’t 
do better than read over often Swift’s 
Letter to a Young Gentleman, lately entered 
into holy orders 5 you will fee by this, what 
a good fermon fhould be. But the diffi- 
culty ftill remains how to make one. 
It confifts of 3 p’ the language, the 
art, or method of the difcourfe, and the 
fubjeé&t matter. As to the laft, it is the 
produ& of much knowledge and reflec- 
tion. For the language, the three beft 
writers we have to form a {tile upon, are 
Addifon, Tillotfon, and Clarendon’s Hif- 
tory of y* Rebellion. And as to the 
art and method of a difcourfe, I know 
no book fo good as Quintilian ; and he 
who would compofe mafterly, fhould 
perpetually read his Inftirutes. . 
“ Leigh’s Crifica Sacra, is a {mall book 
in 4to. of about 4s price. It is a kind of 
Lexicon to the New Teftam'. I did 
not mean the Colleétion of Critics, which 
is not for your ufe at prefent. Only I 
would have you obferve, it is in vain 
to think of making any real progrefs in 
letters without books, and a prudent 
{cholar would always contrive to moderate 
his expences of other kinds, in_ order to 
fupport this. You would certainly fave 
much, in buying your books at the beft 
hand. And I believe, you can have them 
no where near fo cheap, as at Mr. Gyles, 
againft Gray’s Inn, a great bookteller 
in Holborne. If you think fit to empley 
him, who is my particular friend, the 
mentioning me as recommending you to 
him, will, i am ture, engage him to treat 
you in the beft manner; and a letter to 
him, when you want any books, will be 
fufficient. 
‘‘ T think the ftudy of the New Teft. 
and of Theclogy, fhould be carried 
on together, as 1 imarked, out to you. 
Warburton’s Advice to a young Clerzyman. 
[May 
Claffical learning, is * * * Ag* * * 4 
Heb. necefiary for underftanding the ferip- 
tures; but it is a large extenfiye ftudy. 
You muft make yourfeife well acquainted 
with the bef{ Greek and Latin writers, 
as Homer, Plato, Kenophon, Herodotus, 
Thucidides, Plutarch, Lucian, Arifto- 
phanes, Sophocles, Euripides, Tully, 
Livy, Tacitus, Quintilian, Plautus, Te 
rence, Horace, Virgil, Juvenal, and 
Pliny. Thefe fhould be ftudied with 
the beft Lexicons and Didtionarys; as 
Stephens Greek and Latin Thefau- 
rus’s ; Conftantine’s Lex : Budeus Com- 
ment. on y¢ Greek Tongue ; Nizolius ; 
Brifonius de Verb: Sign: Suidas. And 
likewife, with the beft Grammarians, 
as Caninius’s Hellenifms, San¢étius’s Mi- 
nerva with Perizonius’s Notes, Scaliger 
de caufis lingue Latine, Linacre De 
emendata Struétura Latini Sermonis, & 
Popma de Differentiis Verborum. Then 
you may read Le Clerk’s Ars’ Critica, 
and go to the ftudy of the beft critics ; 
fuch as Jof. Scaliger, J. Cafaubon, Lip- 
fius, Turnebus, &c. but above all, Dr. 
Bentley, and Br Hare, who are the 
greatcft men, in this way, that ever 
were. But more of this, as you proceed 
in your ftudies. A common-place-book 
is ufeful, when one knows what to com- 
mon place, but that cannot be, till after 
one has confiderably improved one’s know- 
Icdge. And to write down trite or tri- 
fling paflages is but lofs of time. 
‘“* T am, your affured Friend _ 
‘* And very humble Servant, 
“« W.WaRBURTON. 
“ You fhould never let a day pafs 
without reading fomething in Lat. and 
Greek, more or lefs. I don’t know whe- 
ther you underftand French. Wo lan- 
guage can be more ufeful to a fcholar, 
nay more necefflary ; the beft books in all 
arts and {ciences being wrote im that 
tongue. You may cafily learn it your- 
felfe without a mafter, for you do- not 
want to {peak, but to underftand it.”’ 
“ To the Rev. Mr. W. Green, 
A.B. Clare-Hall, 
in Cambridge.” 
——__ 

+ Here two or thiee words are obliterated. 
ORIGINAL 
