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impatience bf our congregations under long sermons . Yet the old custom had its advantages : it facilitated the fall discussion of every subject , it was some security against repetitions , and it was a great help to the memory of
the hearer . It was often carried to a fanciful excess , but in the sermons of our more elegant British preachers , Atterbury , Sherlock , Snape , Hurd , Coney arid Farquhar , s « far from being a blemish it is often a striking
beauty . Another modern custom is adopted by Mr . Cogan : his texts are often mere mottoes . This is better than preaching upon words ; butMr . Cogan has himself shewn that well-selected texts furnish the best opening and the strongest recommendation of a
subject . The Scriptures are rather sparingly quoted in the Sermons , and some of the quotations that are made are verbally incorrect , at least , according to the English version , -which , we presume , was meant to be employed .
Unity of subject is exeiaplarily observed in most of these Sermons . It appears to us , however , to be somewhat violated in the very interesting Sermon , XL of Vol . II ., « On the Example of Christ /* where the moral doctrines of Christianity are mingled with the example of its Founder , which is a distinct subject , and of itself
ample enough for the longest discourse . The texts and the subjects do not always correspond , and some disappointment is in consequence felt by the reader . The solemn language of John xix . 30 , It is finished ^ for instance , would seem to lead to a
different , and may we say a higher subject , than " The Termination of a Christian Course ; " and the conclusion of the parable of the Good Samaritan , Luke x . 39 , Go and do thou likewise , hardly appears to be made the most of , when it is applied generally to the " Obligation to imitate Good Examples . "
Some inaccuracies and inelegancies of style occur here and there : e . g . " the condition of their future prospect $ , " lm 153 . « iove to £ O ( j an ( j man
constitutes the essentials of duty , " I . 3 $ 7 i " certain fits and starts of relics affection ; II . 159 5 " ™™ ° f happi ness / ' II ; 243 , and again * IL 248 ; our hearte will ascend to him in a
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constant tribute of praise and submission , " II . 348 . The word " characters " is sometimes used for persons bearing particular characters ; * It would profit all these characters , " &c , II . 58 ; " Deity , " ( Godhead , ) is frequently put for God , " the character of Deity , " If . 204 ; ' * what" occurs frequently in the sense of which as well as of that which .
" But what particularly deserves our attention , &c , or what is the same thing , * &c , II . 180 , 190 . The awkward term " matter , " for affair , business , subject , Sec , is of perpetual recurrence ; thus " the Pharisees upon
hearing the matter ; ' II . 197 ; " This is a matter" IL 201 5 " it will not be a matter of indifference , ' * II . 202- 3 * Here below" is a common phrase , and the epithet " admirably , " strikes the reader by its repetition .
Out duty , as critics ' , enforces upon us the unpleasant task of pointing out these supposed improprieties , in a work which will be consulted as an authority by the student ; but they detract little from its value . Its excellencies sire great and uniform ; its defects small and occasional . And
our shewing that we are sensible of the latter , will give weight , we trust , to our sincere and cordial praise of the former . To sum up our opinion in a few words : Mr . Cogan ' s style is easy , perspicuous and marked by a dignified simplicity . He adopts few figures ;
his metaphors are never long sustained ; but they are invariably correct , often elegant . He writes for superior minds , though without any ostentation , we were going to say without a consciousness , of pre-eminent intellect . His arguments have a philosophic character ; and he is in all cases a fair reasoner : when he
means to answer an objection , he states it in the clearest and strongest manner , apparently despising the artifice , so common in the pulpit , of accommodating a hostile argument to the answer which is prepared for it . Above all , he shews in every sermon that he esteems the character of
Christian " the highest style of man , " and that he prizes Christianity on account of its glorious discovery of a life to come , which infinitely exalts the character . of the Creator in the apprehension of his creatures ^ and rai ses intelligent and moral beings to a state
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Review — Gogaris Sermon ?* 327
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1819, page 327, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1772/page/47/
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