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    20 fl B ^ oieivm—Evanson's Sermons ,

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    astical cognizance taken of the writer , or at his voluntary secession from a communion , the characteristic tenets of which he felt it his duty to impugi ^ fC It is much to his credit that he was afterwards in the habit of meeting his family and some like minded neighbours for social jfrayet * and instruction and that when circumstances permitted he worshipped ,

    and occasionally officiated , in congregations of ' Unitarian Dissenters * tv We agree in opinion with the editor that Mr . E . s sermons " all upon very important subjects * and are written with the same

    candour , comprehension of mmd tynd knowledge o £ the scriptures for which his other works arc so remarkably distingqished . " Their professed purpose is to promote t | ie

    practical trutlxot Christianity : they are calculated to give clear idea $ of the merciful and gracious design of the j ^ lniight /* in the revelation of his will to mankind , in

    both covenants , and tend strongly to convince the mind , and cohfirm the ; fiuth of every inquirer into the evidences of those dispensations . ( Mem , pp . xlix , 1 . ) Nor are they less recotprjiended by plain familiar langUage&nd a

    spirit of sincere and fervent piety . They prove that the author was not merely a moral preacher , but that he employed motives strictly evangelical to enforce the cu

    ltivation of the divine , tfye social and the personal virtues . He never seejks to dazzle by brilliancy 6 f thought or gaudiness of expression : his aim is to instruct , per-

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    suade , and reform j and $ o evident is his concern to lose no opportu - nity of explaining terms ^ and passaged / itf'fche sacred voliifej ^ vhich are generally mistakelif ^^^ t he deserves to be classed , iri ^ lfll view ,

    among the Medes , the Clarkes and the Jortins of better days . Thcnrgh most of his thoughts and reasonings are arranged with perspicuity , yet , like the majority of the clergy , he neglects to make a formal' and . visible division o his subject . This neglect , we are

    ijiore tjh&nevej ; sensible ? , Occasions no small inconvenience to hearers and readers . Sermons are , or should be , distinct from other kipds of compositions . They are ; iiot essays : they are not dissertations . Sermons , if th ' ey are fruljr such , will be , a * the name , aud as the nature of the thing , imports , some of the mo § t mrmUar $ i du dactic writings : theyvshqul 4 tfeefefore afford every possible help ta

    the understanding and j memories of those for whose Beneiit . they are intended . It is tjoth unsatisfactory apd unprofitabl e to toil , ttroiigh many sentences , ancl ' eycil parasraphsbefore we become

    ac-, quainted with the objjec ^ ari d liietbod of the preacher . -If . Mr , E . ' s style ; is sometimes

    c ^ reles ^ , if if occasionally " fteaii ^ marks of not having ' ti % dfergM 0 an accurate revision J , it nicnts praise ^ nevertheless , fox its general pxlirity and ease . But man ^ oi his paraefApBs are unreistfnaMf long ; poi * has he ^ - ^ ud . su ^ acient attention to the MbMttuclion 6 i

    them , which is a ^ ielrettmstan ^ e of § pr \ j ^ e moment an ^ VKflfifc ^ y W

    * VoUJ . pp . 3 ? J 386 . f Memoir , pp . xxxii . xxxiij . 84 . zxxiys $% c ; f % The foUowifigj is xmc instance , among many : *« tfiafc divine revelation whicji * fM particirlairly xevc *\ $ & /* ( vmtownhtoUti ) Vbl ; I . p . 2 ; ! ? ' -, -V ¦ ' .-: ' : ' '!

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1808, page 206, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2391/page/34/