Contributions to the Monthly magazine

Part I.— Classical. Part Il— Theological, Metaphysical, And Biblical

EXTRACTED AND COMPILED BY HIS SON,

RICHARD COGAN.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,

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1 205449 '13

TO THE READER

Soon after the death' of my venerated father I looked over the periodicals mentioned in the title-page, to which I knew he had been a contributor, with a view of ascertaining what he had written upon classical and other subjects. I was somewhat ' surprised to find that he had written so much, and, thinking that many of the articles might be read with interest by, at 1o ast, some of his surviving friends, I determined to collect and print them in a small volume. I was not at all aware until after his decease that he had written so much upon classical subjects at so early a period. The articles, it is true, are shorty but as he never published any large work, it was these fugitive pieces, and these alone, which in the first instance gained for him the reputation of a scholar. And when I find that they were thought worthy of consideration by such men as Carey, Dawes, and Wakefield, I trust I may be pardoned for having made this attempt to rescue them from e?itire oblivion. The reader will see that I have divided the volume into two parts. One or two observations in Part II. might with more propriety (not being Biblical) have been placed in Part I. ; but as they were contributions to the Monthly Bepository, I did not think it worth while to disturb the order in which they were written. There is, I am well aware, a vast difference of opinion upon the subjects treated of in the second part of the volume. Few, if any, of the denomination of Christians to which he belonged, will be found to agree with him on all points. They were, however, those in which he felt a deep interest, and upon which, especially in early life, he had spent considerable time and thought. In theology as well as metaphysics he was a follower of the celebrated Priestley, of whose character, talent, and writings

IV he had formed the highest estimate. He did not consider himself by any means a profound theologian. This he has stated in a passage which will he found in pp. .208-9 of this volume. In what estimation he was held as a metaphysician by one of the most acute and able metaphysicians of modern times (the late Dr. Crombie) may be judged by the fact of his having placed in the hands of my father the manuscript of his " Natural Theology " before he sent it to press. I may add with truth, that what he wrote upon these subjects was not for the purpose of displaying either his theological learning or his metaphysical ingenuity, but because he deemed them of great importance, and with the hope, by throwing out a hint or two, of inducing others, who had "more leisure and more ability," to devote their powers to such inquiries. Should the following pages afford gratification to any of his former friends, my object will be gained, and I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that my labour has not been altogether in vain.

November, 1855.

Contents

PART I.

CLASSICAL.

Remarks upon a Passage in Virgil, iEneid, V. v. 373-4