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Untitled Article
Without lessening the familiar nature of the sermons , the author might , we think , have paid more attention to the stylo In which they are written ; and , if he had not wrought them Into elegance , might at least have saved them from incorrect ^ , ness and vulgarity * In a very few places , they are wholly
unintelligible , through bombast . A correct taste will , we apprehend , be offended by the frequent recurrence of epithets arid phrases which belong to the vocabulary of the Tabernacle ; such as > " sanctifying grace "— f * spotless Lamb of God "— * " immortal soul "— professors "— the tempter *"'— < the f
Redeemer of souls "— - < incarnate Jesus' *—andjHinilar express sidns , which do not accord with ^ the general strain of Mr * Butcher ' s writings , and which we hope he does not use as a * bait for popularity . Having given our opinion of these discourses with freedom * and , we hope , with impartiality , we shall enable our readers t © judge of them for themselves , by laying before them two
extracts ,, specimens of the author ' s worst manner , and of hU best—the first , on the nature of " Conscience j" the second , on the " Character of John the Baptist . " 1 . — "Whether conscience is an ori g inal princip le * brought into the world with us , as much as our outward form , or a perception of right
and wrong founded entirely upon education , has been greatly disputed . Much ingenious reasoning ana plausible illustration have been advanced on both sides . I gm inclined to believe that here , as in almost all cases , truth lies in the middle . If I may so express it , there seems * afe first , to be an infant conscience , as well as pin infant magnitude . Though seemingly placed in the same circumstances , children , at a very early period , manifest extremely different dispositions . I think this difference must be sought for , partly at least , in the original frame .
By this , some are disposed to receive one set of impressions , and others a different set ; but tins is not quite the same thing as comixig into life either mere blanks , or with tempers completely formed . Whether , however , conscience be considered as original or acquired , this is certain , that it is a powerful and universal principle . It is felt in every human bosom ; and heaven and hell are not mote different than an 1 s .. . - - aecGsing or an approving conscience * . " ,
2 , ' — " The character which , upon this occasion , our Lord gives of John is peculiarly striking and honourable : — ' What went ye out for to see ? A reed shaken with the wind ? ' This implies a strong negative , and is equivalent to saying , Rather he was a noble c 6 dar , deeply rooted ia the soil , ' spreading wide its branches , and raising its tall ,
majestic head in the heavens . ' ' What went ye out for to see ? A man clothed in soft raiment : ' an elegant cringing courtier ? No : lie was the harbinger of the Messiah ' s kjngdom ; and , as that was far from resembling the kingdoms of the £ artb , so was due son of Zechariah from resembling the attendants on a mortal court . The ^ . ugtere * Sermon xiil p . 245 .
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546 Butcher's $ er * mo } i $ .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1806, page 546, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1729/page/42/
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