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    and the confusion which their muUitucJe of gods occasioned , diverted then ! from ' entering into any consistent viewof the parental character oTGdS :, and in " the saline proportion frpvh attaching : their affections to him . They appear td have had . little other idea of him , ufider the paternal character , than as

    the origin of bem £ ; while that affection , that providential protection , that just and moral government , ivhich constitute all thd glory of the paternal character , and is the solid' foundation of hppe and trust , as well a ' s of'loVe and attachment in the children , was totally oiit of their contemplation ; a ' ncf there * fore their religion hid little moral influence upon their minds , " Pp . 8 $ , S 9 ,

    " Nor would I , in this view of things , " adds Mr . Walker , l < conceal what is defective in the Mosaic institu- tion ; for even the dispensations of God ; as adapted to beings under a state o . f trial , are not to be' measured by the perfection of his own nature , but rhay , without disparagement to the supreme Being , be accommodated to the varying circumstances of the creatures for whom

    they are provided . It is certain , t h * it the consideration of God as a fatker , is but very rarely mentioned and very rarely insisted on , in ihe Old Testament . The representation of deity in the Mosaic law , is that of-holiness , power and majesty ; of a being just but awful , and arrayed in terror to the guilty . Christianity has first made God known in all the truth of hie character . *'

    Pp . 89 , go . The richness and compass of idea , conveyed under the phrase " the parental character of God , " will appear from our author ' s description of that character in human life .

    " A parent among men 1 $ as it were the Creator of his children ; and in the whole progress of the relation , he is their protector , provider , legislator and f riend ; he is the instructor of their reason , the guardian of their morals ; his discipline chastises their passions ; he connives not at a crime ; he punishes in love , wiih a wise , a provident , and a b-nevol-ent view to their highest improvement , and to their highest capacity for sincere enjoyment and happiness , while with all his affection hje springs forward to embrace them , in whatever degree they appear in the dignified and

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    lovely form of wisdom and mora . 1 £ ood-. ness . Suckis ^ he fedd rif jfesu $ Christ to all mankind ; and thus in the application of ^ od to our minds , ' does te&us of

    Christ inspire every sentin ^ enc reve- ^ rente , of ho * pe , * of respectful duty , of , cheerful trust and confidence , repel Jfeni crime liy awc > invite to obedience by g / atitude ^ and love , and b y ^ the . whole r ofV those powerful principles , assimilate our 3 natures' to tHS divine nature ^ . and , pre ~ pare us in this' wbrld of discipline atitt probation for that glorious felicity which the uqiversai Parent ineditat ^ d 4 for us all fromt the moment he called u $ u

    into existence . " ' ^* p- 9 ^ , 93 . The conclusion of tliis sermon affords a specimen of forcible remonstrance and close a . Jciress ^ ' •« If God be such' io its , what ought we td be to him * ? - ^ Ofueht we . not to own and Jove sitich a birng ? - —11 is the niaxim of nature ^ hat- the son should

    hpnour hjk $ father ; but if t £ 6 d £ e in the highest sense a father ^ whai ' " reproachful guilt does it argue to give hini cause at any time to ask , where is tny honour ? where is the love which my love to you entitles me to , ? Is it ' witnessed in never ¦

    M »• S * m . a ^ * . a ~_ m * * * bearing me in your thpughts 5 in flying from my presence ana conversation ^ in violating my laws ; in defacing the image of myself within you ; and . breaking through all the order of my moral government ? Yet with all the formal

    acknowledgment of God , and in all the holiness and grace of his character , this , alas ! is the part -which too many of the pretended followers of Jesus Christ act , in the face of that venerable and amiable Being , from whom he came for the redemption b £ a lost and ruined World . " *

    Pp . 95 , 96 . r l he extracts which wo have made from Mr . Walker ' * Sermons will enable the reader to form his own judgment of the sentiments and the style of the abilities and spirit of the author * We are njuch mistaken , if he be

    not ready to anticipate our decided opinion in their favour , as very superior to the comrnon run of pulpit compositions ; as the productions of . a very vigorous , and the rational , effubions of 1 a very aixlent mind , borqe away by fer ^ vor and zeal in the cause of reli *

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    Review . —Sermotis by George Walk ex * 387

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1808, page 387, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2394/page/35/