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on the moral use of language , the preacher denounces , with eloquent indignation , the custom of duelling and the slave trade . In the former , flattery might perhaps have been included in the " Vices of the Tongue , " The exordium of Ser . III . in Vol .
IL , " On the Exercise of Ambitious and Malignant Passions , " is an instance of our remark on this part . of Mr . Cogan ' s Sermons . We quote a few sentences : u But what , in fact , are the objects which call fortb tlie busy labours of mankind , which kindle their passions into a
fury , which excite the fiercest contentions among the children of mortality , and which so often lead man to violate the rights , and interrupt the happiness of man ?—Objects which bear inscribed upon them the character of Vanity ! Some idle distinction , which , if attained , will onlv feed desires whichif attainedwill only feed desires
, , which can never be satisfied . Some possession , which , if secured , will leave its owner as far from true enjoyment as before . What excites the ardour , and directs the pursuits of the ambitious?—A phantom to which they have given the name of honour . What calls forth the unwearied efforts of
the sons of avarice ? Is it any solid and durable good , any thing that they can properly call their own , any thing that will profit them beyond the narrow limit of the present life ? Is it not what owes its value
to the arbitrary pleasure of man , and what is on \ y important where opinion has made it so ? What is it , it might be asked , that has led the hero to spread devastation around him like a pestilence ?—What he has chosen to dignify with the name of
glory . And what is glory , in this application of the term ?—A possession , if a possession it can be called , which is fleeting as a dieam , and unsubstantial as a shadow : a mere creature of the imagination ; and Tvhich is so far from being the companion of merit , that it is obtained by the most
outrageous violations of the natural rights of man—by violence , rapine and murder . ' II . 48 , 49 . The following passage from Ser .
VII . in Vol . JL , « On the Instrumental Duties of Religion , " contains a successful and pleasing application of an obviously just , but not commonplace moral truth :
u Virtue in human beings never reaches ifs ultimate point , but is to the last a principle both liable to decline , and capable of improvement , Happy ihe mart who , from a wish to arrive at the highest excellence of character , is diligent and serious in the use of all those means with which Divine Providence has furnished him .
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Happy he -who , with unremitting * perseverance , employs the instrumental ditties of religion , keeping * his views at the same time steadily fixed on the great object which they are intended to promote—purity of affection , and integrity of conduct . Such an one will go on from strength to
strength , and though he may not in the present state of infirmity and trial appear perfect before God , he will be making gradual advances towards perfection . He will perpetually rise more and more above the attraction of preseot objects 5 his
affections will gradually become more spiritual and heavenly ; he will experience a joy and peace in believing , which will communicate what has been , and not altogether improperly , called—a foretaste of future blessedness . ' II . 151 , 152 .
Pertinent and forcible observations occur in several of the sermons on th $ subject of bigotry and intolerance . For example , * ' Men grow furious only for error and absurdity . " II , 44 . And again , " A concern for virtue has never yet shewn itself in deeds of
violence ; it has never made any inroads on the peace of society 5 it has never trampled on the rights of conscience , or wielded the sword of persecution . It may have wept in silence at the corruption and depravity of mankind , but it has never burst forth
into acts of hostility , even against the corrupt and depraved . " II . 10 & 110 . Mr . Cogan rarely introduces into these volumes criticisms on the sacred text , as has been before stated , but there are two or three expository passages which excite our regret that he should have so much sunk the
scholar in the preacher . We have in view , particularly , the introduction ** to Sermons IV . and VI . of Vol . II . ; in the former of which occur some excellent remarks upon the apostolic sense of " a new creature / * and in the latter , on Paul ' s doctrine of
election as contradistinguished from the Calvinistic doctrine . Quoting Phil ii . 6 , in Ser . XI . Vol . II . p . 235 , Mr . Cogan reads the verse , but without justifying the amended version , Who being in « divine form did not eagerly affect to he like God .
Mr . Cogan entirely drops the old plan of formal division in his Sermons , which on that account resemble essays . The disuse ot an announced division of the sermon is become fashionable , favoured 00 doubt by the growing
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326 Review . —Coffan ^ s Sermons .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1819, page 326, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1772/page/46/
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