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    do not make them -a ^ very proxni ^ ieiM ; object of " his preacl ^ ug * ' © tit \ yha ( 3 e \ ' ^ r interest Mr . Hawkes might feel in the more dubious articles of his creed , he was deeply sensible of the infinite value of the great doctrine of a future state of existence and retribution , and of

    the supreme excellence of that pure and merciful system of morals , which Christianity enforces by the most powerful sanctions . With the former of these topics a variety of interesting inquiries are connected , which have in

    all ages exercised and perplexed the sagacity of the ablest men , and Mr . Hawkes would occasionally pursue these inquiries with that subtlety and precision of reasoning which they require : he sometimes likewise discussed

    those curious and difficult questions which embarrass the theory of morals ; but his ordinary , his habitual and favourite subjects were those on which there is happily little difference of opinion amongst the- wise and good ; upon which , by the united aid of reason and revelation , we can make some near

    approach to certainty ; and which have an immediate bearing on the great concerns of life . These subjects afforded ample opportunity to discover the strength and soundness of his understanding . A

    mere grammarian is a most incompetent interpreter of those concise maxims , in which the great founder of our religion has compressed the spirit of his morality . Thoroughly to

    understand and properly to apply them , a knowledge of the terms in which they are promulgated , must be united with a knowledge of the subject to which they relate ; a knowledge of the world as it reallv exists , and of-human nature

    as modified by the circumstances in which men are actually placed . They must be studied with the aid , as it were , of a reflected light . In Mr . Hawkes , that enlargement of mind and

    familiarity with general and abstract principles , which are the fruits of a liberal education , were happily combined with that knowledge of life which is the result of attentive observation

    and experience . He was eminently successful in exhibiting tjie Christian character under a fo ^ in , qf Wgk ,, but attainable and jpructicjable ( excellence ; in demonstrating tl * e ' profound wiscjoua of our Saviour ' s precepts ; in pointing out the . necessary and blessed tendency

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    * oC Christianity to refine , t <§ exalt and * 5 fino 6 le human nature - y in shewing , that , far from rejecting , it adds new purity and lustre to the light of reason ; that , far from disdaining , it adopts and enforces with a deeper insight into the

    nature of man , and a more tender mercy for his infirmities , e \ try virtue which has adorned the lives , or been recommended in the writings of the great philosophers of ancient and

    modern times ; and that whatever be the form of his devotion , and whatever the articles of his creed , he is the truest disciple of Christ who discharges most steadily , wisely and magnanimously , the great moral duties of life .

    These observations relate to the matter of Mr . Hawkes ' s discourses . That in fact was what arrested the attention of his auditors ; it was 6 nly on reflection , that they adverted to the inferior merits of style and delivery . They then recollected , that he sooke with then recollectedthat he spoke with

    , the earnestness and solemnity which necessarily attend a deep conviction of the truth and importance of what is delivered ; * that his manner was perfectly easy and natural ; that his language was correct and pure ; his style simple , forcible , and of the most lucid

    perspicuity . It was rarely indeed , if ever , sufficiently impassioned to admit the bolder figures of rhetoric ; but there was always that smooth and melodious now of diction , that structure and modulation of the periods , which distinguish a finished composition , and discover a cultivated ear , m \ d a taste formed on the best models .

    The tones of his voice , too , happily accorded with the weight and value of the sentiments he expressed , and contributed to render his " strong reason and masculine sense /* still more interesting and impressive . 4 In his morning public services Mr . Hawkes used a printed Liturgy , f This

    * Reconditas , et exquisitas sententias mollis ' et pellucens , vestiebat oratio— -nee vero haec soluta , nee diffluentia , sed adstricta nuineris ; non aperte , neceodem modo semper , sed varie , dissimulariterque coriclusit * .

    Ci& : ad Brutum , 274 . But the eloquence of Mr . Hawkes had more power than Cicero ascribes to that of Calidius . t In the afteriioou service , during

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    690 Sketch of the Character of the late Rev . William Hatches

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1820, page 690, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2495/page/2/