611 / 652
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE
five
following
Sermons
'are
taken
from
the
second
of
two
octavo
volumes,
published
in
1779, by some
of the Doctor's relatives. The
first
volume,
which is in verse,
was
immediately.pronounced to be an
imposition, or
at
least
a
gross
mistake,
very
few
of the
pieces
discover-
ing mbrks
of the Doctor's
genius, and the far
greater
part
being
cer4
tainly
written
by
his
father. This
circumstance consigned both
the
'olumes to oblivion, though
the
second
contains
as
strong
internal evi-
dence
of authenticity
as
the
former of imposition.
It
contains Letters
from
various
eminent writers
beside Dr.
W.
the forgery of
which
would
have required the
talents of a
Chatterton;
while
there
are errors
in
the
arrangement of
them
which shew
that
neither talents,
tor
'even
care,
was
employed upon
the work.
To
these
Letters
are
added
the
following Sermons, which,
in
the
Editor's judgment,
were
certainly written
by
our
author;
and
though
they
were
not prepared
for the
-press by himself;
the
admirers
of
his
devout and experimental
stile
of
preaching,
will find
them too ex-
cellent
to
be lost.
One circumstance, indeed,
has
thrown suspicion
on
them
:
they are
said
to
have been preached
at Pinner's
-Hall,
where it
was
supposed
the
Doctor never preached; but,
upon
enquiry,
this very circumstance
affords
strong
evidence in their
favour.
A
contemporary writer informs
us
that
"
about
the
year
1705,
upon Mr. Neale's removal
from
Pinner's
Hall, Dr.
Watts's people took
it
for
The
afternoon,
as
there
was
room
for
a larger
congregation, and it
soon.filled.
About
1708,
the above
meeting-house, [viz. the Doctor's in Berry-
street]
was
rebuilt.'
It
was in
this
interval (namely,
in 1707)
that
these Sermons
are
said to
have been preached, and these corroborative circumstances, added
to
the excellence of
the Discourses, themselves, determined
their
publica-
tion
in
these
volumes; and the addition
of these
five,
and
the four pre -
ceding discourses, will,
we
presume,
give
the present
edition
an.adxa
--
tage to
all preceding.
*
Prof. Diss.
Mae.
vol,
vi.
p.
466.