On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
and therefore he could give no precepts thereof . But it is gained , first , by choosing texts of devotion , not controversy ; moving and ravishing texts , whereof the Scriptures are full . Secondly , by dipping
jsmd seasoning all our words and sentences in our hearts , before they come into our mouths ; truly affecting and cordially expressing all that we say , so that the auditors may plainly perceive that every . word is heart-deep . Thirdly , by turning often and making many apostrophes to God ; as , " O Lord ! bless my people , and teach them this point !" or * ' O my Master , on whose errand I come , let me hold my peace , and do thou speak thyself , for thou art love ; and when thou teachest ,
all are scholars / ' Some such irradiations scatteringly in the sermon , carry great holiness in them . The prophets are admirable in this . The parson ' s method in handling of a text consists of two parts ; first , a plain and evident declaration of the meaning of the text ; and , secondly , some choice observations drawn out of the whole text , as it lies entire and unbroken in the Scripture itself . This he thinks natural , and sweet , and ffrave . Whereas , the other way of crumbling a text
into small parts ( as , the person speaking or spoken to , the subject , and object , and the like ) hath neither in it sweetness , nor gravity , nor variety ; since the words apart are not scripture , but a dictionary , and may be considered alike in all the scripture . The parson exceeds not an hour in preaching , because all ages have thought that a competency , and he that profits not in that time will less afterward ; the same affection which made him not profit before , making him then weary ,
and so he grows from not relishing to loathing . '—pp . 16-21 . There are thirty-seven chapters like this—in spirit , that is ; with Isaac Walton ' s memoir of Herbert prefixed , and leading us at last to the * Church Porch . ' The following is a fancy , quaint and pretty : — ' The Church Floor . Mark you the floor ? that square and speckled stone , Which looks so firm and strong , Is Patience . And th' other black and grave , wherewith each one Is chequer'd all along , Humility . The gentle rising , which on either hand Leads to the choir above , Is Confidence . But the sweet cement , which in one sure band Ties the whole frame , is Love And Charity .
Hither sometimes Sin steals , and siains The marble ' s neat and curious veins ; But all is cleansed when the marble weeps . Sometimes Death , puffing at the door , Blows all the dust about the floor ; But , while he thinks to . spoil the room , he sweeps . Blest be the Architect , whose art Could build so strong in a weak heart . '—pp . 157 , 158 .
Untitled Article
No . 63 , o
Untitled Article
Critical Notices . — -Theology , Criticism ^ Morality . 209
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1832, page 209, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1808/page/65/
-