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Untitled Article
particularly his theological studies—was not very regularly pursued at the University ; and , on this subject , he thus candidly speaks in his 6 th letter : — * Most sincerely do I recommend all young students to avoid the errors which I here confess , and to study the theological sciences according to a plan as methodical and complete as time and
circumstances will allow . If I had had more time for my studies , and pursued them in their natural order , what facilities should I have experienced in the sequel ! How many branches of knowledge might I then , without much difficulty , have cultivated to a considerable degree of perfection , which I have since been able to acquire only by great exertions , and always in an imperfect manner ? '
There is no circumstance in the character of Reinhard to which we would more earnestly call the attention of young divines , than the high standard of literary excellence , which he always proposed to himself , as a means of increased influence and usefulness in his profession , and the great importance which he attached to his early familiarity with the finest models of classical antiquity . His
active and enlightened zeal in the walk of pastoral duty was nourished and adorned by profound and various learning ; and his example furnishes a striking proof of what it has sometimes been the practice to doubt in this country—that studious habits and great acquirements do not unfit a man for being an industrious pastor and a popular preacher . Unfortunately , with us the
cultivation of learning and philosophy , and the study of popular eloq uence , are not so combined in the education of our divines as they ought to be , and as they certainly might be . On the contrary , they have been so generally separated in England , that some almost question the possibility of their union . Facts , however , prove the reverse . In the vigorous spring-tide of our earlier literature , the most celebrated preachers , Hooker , Hall , Donne ,
Taylor , South , and Barrow , were all men of learning—men whose ideas and whose attainments were rather above than below the level of the average learning of their day ; and hence the influence which they exerted on the public mind , and the rank which they have permanently retained among the master-spirits of their country ' s literature . We might apply the same remarkmaking the necessary allowance for the greater strictness with which the Catholic Church fetters the free action of the human
mind—to the great preachers of France : and in Germany , the names of Reinhard , of Herder , and of Dr . Schleiermacher , who , at this very day , draws crowded audiences at Berlin , by his clear and easy flow of extemporaneous eloquence , are sufficient to prove that the most profound acquirements , critical and metaphysical , are not only compatible with all the graces of popular oratory , but , when warmed by the spirit of a living piety , furnish its noblest conceptions , its most delightful embellishments , and happiest illustrations . Certainly , this was Cicero ' s idea of true
Untitled Article
736 On the Studies and Public Ministry
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1832, page 736, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1824/page/16/
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