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    of inspiration . Frequent were tlie instances of his hearers emptying their purses and borrowing more from those who sat near them for the purpose of enlarging their donation . Reserving himself for charity sermons alone

    ( which were , from good policy , rare , ) unfortunately I did not hear him ; but I was informed that his tone and manner were singularly impressive and commanding . His sermons , which

    were extemporaneous , are not published , and with infinite dilculty I procured some sentences which were taken in short-hand , and for which precious fragments I am indebted to the ardent zeal of a reverend admirer

    of his : they will enable the reader to judge of the superior eloquence of his style . Human Vanity . — " Insects of the day that we are 1 hurried along the stream of time that flows at the base

    of God ' s immutability , we look up and think in our schemes and our pursuits to emulate his eternity . " Influence of Example . ^ — " It is the unenvied privilege of pre-eminence ,

    that when the great fall , they fall not by themselves , but bring thousands along with them , like the beast in the "Apocalypse bringing the stars with it .

    Religious Liberty . — - " I will now more immediately call your attention to the institution for which I have undertaken to plead . The principle which forms its ground-work is , I am glad to inform you , of the most

    liberal and expanded nature . Children of all religious persuasions may be educated without any attempt on the part of their governors to instil sentiments contrary to the judgment and choice of their parents : such perfect religious liberty must ever recommend similar establishments to men

    of enlarged ideas , who ( be their own mode of worship what it may ) will always unite in their support upon the broad and generous ground of philanthropy alone . Philanthropy , my friends , is of no particular sect ; it . is confined by n ^ o paltry fonn of rule ; itlcnows no distinction but that

    of the happy and unhappy ; it is older than the gospel , eternal as that great source from whence it springs , and often beats higher in the heathen ' s breast , * than , in those of many who are called Christians ; who , though under the influence of the tooat bene-

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    volent of all possible systems , yet not unfrequently refuse both relief and compassion to the petitions of the wretched , and the entreaty of the un . happy . God forbid that the genuine

    feelings of the heart were confined to this or that mode of faith ! God forbid that any ridiculous prejudice should hinder me from reverencing the man ( however we may differ ia speculative notions ) whose gentle spi . rit flies out to soothe the

    mournerwhose ear is attentive to the voice of sorrow ; whose pittance is shared with those who are not the world ' s friends ; whose bountiful hand scatters food to the hungry , and raiment to the naked :

    and whose peaceful steps , as he journeyed ! on hi » way , are blessed , and blessed again by the uplifted eye of thankful indigence , and the sounds of honest gratitude from the lips of wretchedness . Should such a raau be

    ill-fated here , or * hereafter , may his fate be light ! Should he transgress , may his transgressions be unrecorded ! Or , If the page of his great account be stained with the weaknesses of human nature , or the misfortune of error , may the tears of the widow and the orphan , the tears of the wretched he has relieved , efface the too rigid

    and unfriendly characters , and blot out the guilt and remembrance of them for ever !" ¦ Want of Humanity u The individual , whose life is dedicated to a constant warfare with his passions ,

    whose life is a scene of temperance , sobriety , assiduous prayer , and unremitting attendance on divine worship , such an individual is certainly entitled to all the merit justly due to such Christian works ; but , my frienfc

    if , under so fair and plausible a surface , there be a dark and frigMfol void ; if , under the shew of-virtu * the stream of sensibility does not flow ; if such a character , pure and evan gelica ! as it may appear , has never beeiv marked by one solitary act ° humanity , by any instance of tiia brotherly affection and mutual low which hourly breaks out into o « i «* of mercy and useful beneficence , wn « will hesitate to avow that so sp eCl < T an exterior is a mockery on tr ? ^ tue , an imposition on the goods ** of the world , and an insult , on i life of Christ and the morality ° i * gospel ? Who will hesitate to atf »» thai such a man mm be aptly ^

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    344 Specimens of Dean Kirwans Eloquence .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1815, page 344, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1761/page/16/