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from the text , * ' Where is God ? " is an instance of a discourse at once rational in its principles and popular in its form . The division is simple but ingenious . The preacher takes up the words in a large accommodated sense , and answers the question " as it may be put by sceptical , by vicious , and by pious characters /'—P . 3 .
The word characters , here and elsewhere used for persons , sounds to our ears rather quaint . The question of the text is happily retorted upon the sceptic , pp . 6 , 7 " The universe is full of the Almighty , and with all the confidence of truth we
may retort the inquiry , and , instead of asking , Where is God ? we may boldly ask , Where is he not }" The Sermon ( VI . ) on Hope is a favourable specimen of Mr . Butcher ' s style of preaching . The introductory paragraph is appropriate and excellent :
" It is a well-founded remark , that all the capacities and affections of our nature are originally good . Our miseries are produced , in a great measure , by the excess and abuse of our virtues . The existence of hope , and its continuance in the most unfavourable circumstances , is
a striking proof of the wise and gracious provision which our Creator has made for our felicity . It is the hope of future good which sustains us under the pressure of present evil . It is the most immortal part of our present existence ,
for scarcely any weight of calamity can utterly crush it . There is a vitality in hope which overcomes a thousand obstacles , and , amidst the dissolution of all our prospects , preserves imperishable the seeds of future renovation . No human
being is excluded from the benefits and advantages of this common property of mau . Difference of rank makes no difference here , for the meanest rustic looks to what he aims at , with as much ardour ,
and , in all probability , enjoys the object of his hope , when he reaches it , with less disappointment , than the mightiest monarch his sceptre and his throne . —Pp . 82 , 83 .
It is weir stated in the following passage that the object of hope must be innocent : " The hope of enjoying unlawful pleasures , such as must be the result of
intemperance or injustice , of pride , ambition , deceit , or any vicious disposition , is as real a pollution of the soul , as the actual participation in pleasures and advantages thus acquired . The thought of
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wickedness is sin , and if , in contemplating the consequences of any impure and unholy , desire , we find pleasure , virtue is contaminated at its source , and there can be little doubt , that as soon as opportunity offers , we shall act the part which we have contemplated with
pleasure . The more we encourage such hopes , the greater is our moral degradation , and the greater must he our future unhappiness , because we are thus confirming those sinful habits , and adding fresh vigour to those depraved affections the gratification of which must render ua miserable "—P , 85 .
There is wisdom in the observation , that " to enable us to rejoice in hope ] we should have some just reason to expect that what we hope for is really within our reach , " which is thus amplified :
"If this be not the case , we are deceiving ourselves , and , what we call hope , ought to be denominated presumption . If a poor ignorant peasant , for example , should amuse himself with the
expectation of mounting a throne , how ridiculous would this appear to every sober observer ! Here the absurdity appears in a moment , and yet it is a fact that many , even sensible persons upon the whole , are to be met with , who indulge themselves in hopes not much less wild and romantic .
The power of self-deception is in no case greater , than in the extravagant hopes wjiich it often permits us to entertain , and , perhaps , to cherish for a long time . Hope was intended by our kind Creator ,
to support and cheer us in every situation of life , but it was never designed to draw us out of our usual sphere of action , and give , as it were , the sanction of heaven to whatever project a bold and unbridled
imagination may suggest . It is the very foundation of rational hope , that , from fa ir , general experience , there is some probability that its object may be attained . It is not , indeed , necessary that
the highest degree of probability should exist in order to justify our hopes . It may be evident , that considerable difficulties lie in our way , but this may only animate us in our endeavours to
overcome them , and , therefore , such a hope may eventually prove as successful , as one which , at the outset , appeared to have fewer discouragements . "—) Pp . 86 , 87 . With a thorough knowledge of human nature , the preacher describes ( p . 88 ) such as " substitute hope for exertion , " and with a warm feeling or piety he maintains , at the conclusion of the discourse , that this affection ot mind , to be a blessing , must have Goa for its centre . He says ,
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164 Review . —Butcher ' s Sermons for the Use of Families ¦
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1820, page 164, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2486/page/36/
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