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<< r This is tire worst ; for if ^ rutk SMtie in the Scripture page * The spirit shall Wear the wt » gs . * £ youth , And live through an -endless age /* Mat . mid V < esp . 24 &
f And stich were life , without the ray From ; otir divinte religion given t * Tis this that riifckfcs our darkness day , 'Tis this that makes our earth a heaven . " Mat . and Vesp . 243 .
But really you can sfcarcefy read u single poem where the bright anticipations which Christianity alone can inspire , do not sweetly blend in these sacred songs with the admiration of nature which sincere devotion always
excites . What bat Wilful misrepresentation can state that a Deist with all his uncertainty , with his mere conjectures , surmises and *' impotent conclusions , " could raise such a spirit
of faith , hope and joy ? There is no ground for this first charge , which would not condemn many of the poems of Watts , Young , Milton , Doddridge , and even David and the sublime Isaiah , as compositions wMch a / ' Deist whether eastern or western , *'
might not have composed . The next charge is , that Mr . B , speaks of the Deity S € with irreverent and repulsive familiarity , * ' He is obliged to allow that even Watts and Wesley are very reprehensible in this point of view , and he candidly quotes
one instance in which the Deity is called " Dear God . " €€ But here the scope and tenor of the hymn redeem thfe expression from impropriety /* This is very indulgent , feut " Mr . B . invokes Deity with more than equal familiarity , " i . e . I suppose addresses him as an inferior * ' and without any epithet of affection , and connected
with no redeeming sentiments , with a presumption that makes the" poor Reviewer shudder . Delicate , sensitive being ! Mcifavian indecency , Galvinistic ferocity , and Methoflitftic temerity , merit reprehension , but deserve redemption . Mr . Botvxhtg is , however wofthy , to be condemned without merc y ; and thr ^ e Instances of his unpardbnable familiarity are quoted—onl y three , because I believe the l ynx-eyed Reviewer could find tfo more . The first is «« All-wise , Allp resent friend . " Here " friend" 4 ft the offence . Yet the Scripture * 4 Mtfe
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called Abraham " the friend ttf God f but I leave it with all Its guilt . Mr . B . has spoken of God ' s wand of mercy , while otfher poets harfc repeatedly spoken of his sceptre , refl and staff . If e has used the epithet * proud spirit" and " proud mandate . ** My
recollection furnishes me with no ap * propriate instance to defend this ; but Johnson tells us , that Milton uses prorud to mean " lofty of mien , gTand of person , " and that Bacon uses it to signify " grand , lofty , splendid , mag * , nificent . " And even this wretched critic must know that Mr . B . attached a grand and good meaning to the term , if he have been too bold and injudicious in its selection . I may indignantly say to this Reviewer , when he can tolerate all the bad taste , and
indecent familiarity of his own poets— - * ' proud me no prouds , " and do not hope to bring the style of grandeur B ^ ind reverence in which Mr . . gen erally speaks of the Deity to the level of that orthodox phraseology , which lias gone far to make religion a Jest among the sensible part of the world . The redeeming sentiments which thfe
Reviewer wants are in this passage : " There is nothing amongst all the ancient fables or later romances that have two such extremes united m them , as the Eternal God becoming an infant of days , the possessor ot the palaces of heaven laid to sleep in a manger , " ( Mr . B . irreverent man *! speaks of " heaven ' s never-sleeping eye , " ) " agonies of sorrow loading the tfoul df him who * was God overt * till , and the Sovereign ^ f Mfe stre
tchitig his arms on a " cfoss * blee 9 iiig anil expiring . "—Wtitt * . ' Had Mr . B . indulged in these most f& 1 > t ( loU 3 df fa-1 ) les , most ' romantic 6 ? modern roimances , as < their pious composer justly styles 'them , he might with impunity bAve indeed sptkken with indecent fa-HlUiarity : butinot having " so learned
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On the Rrtedti * G Review tf&evbrmijg * * P&em 8 . 29 >
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1823, page 629, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1790/page/13/
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