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derive instruction from the reasoning and admonitions 6 ^ the admirable discourse to which it is transferred . By the next , XXI ., we are scarcely less impressed and gratified : it is ** on
the Duty and Efficacy of Prayer . " fMatt . vii . 7- ] A most important obligation , an essential as well as a salutary practice , is here urged with great strength of reasoning . To the following observations we pordially subscribe , and are reminded by them of Ogden * and of Price f ( 310 , 311 ) :
" I know it has been said , that the important practical tendency of the exercise of prayer will , of itself , operate as a sufficient motive for engaging in it . Our prayers , it is said , for support under affliction , or of [ for ] virtue ! in temptatioa , though they do not induce God
to bestow more of his supporting g : race , than by his inherent goodness ^ e is ever disposed to bestow , have a most beuelicial effrot upon our own temper , and serve to impress upon us a sense of our coustant dependence upon the Almighty , for every thing which makes our Jives happy . In like manner , our intercessions iu behalf of our fellow-creatures ,
though they cannot have , any direct in * iluence in promoting their welfare , produce , indirectly , the most important resalts , by engaging us , in a solemn and impressive manner , to the performance of charitajble and benevolent duties . But I think I may safely appeal to the good sense and experience of every religious person , whether these are the reasons
which have ever led , or ever would lead , to that spontaneous and sincere devotion , from which alone these good effects would flow ? Nay , whether they would € veu consider it as justifiable to use the forms of devotion , uuder such impressions ? Could the form of petition be used with propriety by those , who do
not believe that the Divine Being regards the prayers of men ? Might it not appear even impious , to address the Almighty in language which we considered as expressing false and unfounded notions ? For surely no apparent
advantages can justify us , in acting upon fictitious principled . And in religion especially , where every t ^ ing shoul d breathe simplicity and godly sincerity , it cannqt be warrantable to act confoVraably with ideas which we believe to \) $ erroneous ; to connect the venerable riamfr of God
aioD Sermons in . i g ^ WK m > J » terce # - t Oisseftat lo ^ m ?^ : Sec ^/ i ; " ' J Perhaps ; M * $ nfy * w &f WtMel '
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with a supposed falsehood , merely because we imagine good effects will be produced on our own minds , by such * a practice . But it is altogether sl fallacy ;* 110 such prayer was ever presented ; and
the valuable tendency of the exercise must entirely cease , as soon as the worshiper believes , that nature and religion hold out to him no hope of obtaining a favourable answer to his siucerest prayer , under his greatest afflictions . "
The arguments which the Scriptures contain in behalf of prayer , are then , excellently set forth . " A sermon on New Year ' s Day /* ( No . XXII . ) closes this part of the volume : the subject fEccles . xi . 71
is , the tenure on which ice possess even the innocent and allowable pleasures of life ; and the discourse receives a melancholy interest from the circumstance of its being" " the last composed by the author . " Three Addresses at the celebration
of the Lord's Supper , one at a funeral , and an office for public worship , are annexed ; with a view to the gratification and benefit of different classes of readers .
The sermons that we have now reviewed are short ; without , however , being meagre and superficial . They are , at the same time , methodical : an # the method is , for the most part , announced . This we consider , as a
capital excellence . Humey whose literary taste and judgment are almost universally admitted , censures " our modern orators , " for their rejection of that order , which seems so requisite to argument , and without which it is scarcely possible to produce an entire conviction on the mind . " *
Mr . Henry Turner appears to have possessed the qualifications of a sound theologian—industry , candour , a sincere and pioiis mind , discernment , and a correct acquaintance with scriptural praseblogy . He was evidently characterized by an enlightened zeal for the tenets which he embraced on
inquiry and convictiou : hence they are neither unseasonably introduced nor disingenuously kept ba £ k or coloured . His style is in general pure , glowing and agreeable ! ' such as marks the scholar and tt& rrian * 4 &f' taste . The grand charm of these discourses
1 . 1 | v ¦ 11 1 n _ ? Essays , &C \ tt 9 i , ) follip . 111
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n ? nievr . ~ Sermons far the late Rev . Henry Turner . 53 $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 539, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/43/
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