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the sanctity of Places , and to insist with great earnestness on the multiplication of churches and chapels of the Church of England . These topics were surely not wisely selected for an address to a society consisting partly of Quakers and other Dissenters . Yet Dr . Knox tells these charitable sectaries that he purposely omits many remarks " m tenderness" to them , < 4 and with a
respectful deference to the wisdom of those , whose immediate duty it is , To t a ke care ( the capitals are from the copy ) that thechurch SHALL NOT BE IN DANGER . "
The Doctor ' s text , Isaiah xxviii . 16 , suggests remarks on the structure of the church ; the church allegorical , and the church , or rather churches , material . " Such , ( says he , after explaining the text ) ' is the foundation of a temple truly-Christian Let us gratify the mental eye \ vith a transient survey of the figurative superstructure . I look up with admiration at the broad expansive arch of charity , the massy columns of truth s the
graceful capitals of mercy , gentleness , and compassion , the whole compactly cemented by piety and philanthropy ; by » cement of godliness and love , intimately blended and tempered in a perfect , insep arable , amalgamation . If it be asked ^ of what architectural order is
the fabric ? It is neither the Tuscan , the Doric , the Ionic , nor the Corinthian , but it is the Composite Christian order ; more beautiful in its form , more durable in its materials , than the most celebrated productions of classic antiquity , modelled in the polite schools of Athens or of Rome . And it is finished with a grace which they could only at a distant interval , faintly and imperfectly conceive . ' *
The Dr . then adverts to " the origin and progress of religious fabrics ^ from the tabernacle ot Moses * to the temple of Solomon , from the altar of green turf * 01
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the cylindrical stone , to the gorgeous abbey and august cathedral of our own metropolis / 'and laying it down as a sure position that , " the Great Lord of the Universe , has deigned to shew a predilection for religious edifices , and for modes of worship , adorned and recommended with all that the art of man can contrive , or his dexterity execute , the finest
productions of mechanical ingenuity , the melody of music , the pathos of poetry , the sublimity of architecture , the pencil's blazonry , and the high wrought
decorations of the chisel , " proceeds in a " seductive digression , ! ' " to conduct our imaginations through the aisles of the abbey , and point to the concave dome of the
cathedral ; to bring before us the vivid images of the sculptured marble on the wall , the painted canvas at the altar-piece , the storied illuminations of the window , the rich embellishments of the shrine , and all the graces of Gothic and Grecian Architecture , combining in humble , ministerial , instrumentality , to promote the sublime pur *
poses of religion , '' We have here much eloquence and ( pardon us ^ reader , ) much nonsense . These passages forcibly reminded us of a . sermon preached b y a Mr , Itamsden , before the University of Cambridge , some few years ago ; in which , enumerating all the ingredients of national strength , he mentions and classes touethW , anions an infinitude of other
things , ( we quote from memory , ) the clergyman ' gown , the judge ' s wig , the solemn pomp of tragedy , the facinating humour of comedy , and the . influences of the Holy Ghost ! In an ardour of ecclesiastic
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98 Dr . Knox * s Philanthropic Sermon .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1807, page 98, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2377/page/42/
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