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    and still are , instances where our preachers have delivered their discourses in a popular and fascinating style of eloquence , to thinly scattered audiences , in whose ears have tingled sweetly the soft harmonious cadences of well-turned

    periods , flowing in a mellifluous softness from the lips of oratory ; but which have left no permanent effects upon the heart or understanding . I will also concur most heartily with " The Son of a Presbyterian i

    minister . " in lamenting the vpt \ minister , in lamenting the vefy limited and insufficient stipends , which in these expensive times , are raised for the support of an office , deserving to be placed in

    the most easy circumstances : but I fear the ministers of the gospel are not likely to have this cause , this just cause , of complaint removed , until those at the head of

    our national affairs become better Christians , and by pursuing the arts of peace instead of those of war , enable all ranks in society to feel less the pressure of taxation , of the high prices of the necessaries of life and of the decay of

    trade . There are , however , ( and to their praise , be it said , ) many individuals at this moment amongst those who have hitherto been styled Presbyterian ministers , whose connexions are the most respectable ,

    and whose talents are equal , if not superior to those of any other sect , the established sect not excepted . These men have forsaken the riches , the splendour and the enjoyments which their talents and their connections might have

    secured to them in the pursuits of commerce , or the more lucrative professions , and , to their immortal glory , have entered themselves as the disciples and the ministers of

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    On the Decline of Presbyterian Congregations . 371

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    On the Decline of Presbyterian Congregations . April 24 , 1813 . ] VIr . Editor , Various opinions , professing to Account for the decline of what

    have been usually , though erroneously , denominated Presbyterian congregations , have from time to time appeared in your valuable Repository . If the subject be not considered by yourself and your readers as already continued to a

    tiresome length , and you deem the following remarks worthy of the public eye , you have my permission to give them to the readers of the Monthly Repository . I have been induced to turn my thoughts to this subject , from a

    perusal of the two communications in your last number ( pp . 183 , 185 ); neither of which , in my humble opinion , points to the real" cause of the lamented decline .

    Your correspondent , Mr . Henry Taylor , of Liverpool , attributes the decline to a want of attention in our public seminaries , in instructing the students designed for the ministry , in the arts of

    elocution * Now , 1 will join with Mr . T . in estimating to its full extent the utility of this branch of learning , in order to command attention and to give a powerful effect to the address of a public speaker . But I am not disposed to libel the understandings of the persons

    composing our congregations , by en . terlaihing the idea that the charms of oratory , however alluring , are sufficiently powerful to overcome all predilection for particular sentiments and modes of worship . Nor can I assent to the opinion that a want of eloquence in our ministers has caused the decline Mr . T . laments . There have been .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1813, page 371, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2429/page/15/