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what an amazing waste there appears to be made , in the vegetable world ; and from the considerations on which he here insists , he derives an argument for trust in Providence . ** The force of this argument , and the ground on which it stands /* will be clear , if we mark the essential difference
between the nature of inanimate things , and God ' s rational and intelligent creatures ; if we view man as a sensitive > a spiritual , intellectual and immortal being , who partakes in the privileges and hopes of the gospel .
Still more completely shall we enter into our Saviour ' s reasoning , if we behold it in connexion with the perfections and promise of the Supreme Ruler ; with his wisdom , power , goodness and fidelity . Mr . TVs
concluding reflections are , What an amazing field does our Creator open to us , for our admiration , wonder and praise ! and—How suitable and desirable it is , to turn the scenes of nature to real and practical improvement !
This is a very pleasing and useful discourse . As we perused it , we could not but be reminued of the following sentences in the Memoir ( p . 31 ) : " In the summer months , he" [ Mr .
Toller ] " frequently rose at a very early hour , arrd was often met in his solitary walks in the neighbouring woods , by peasants , who were ' going forth to their work and to their labour till the evening * In these silent and retired scenes he took
great delight , and from his observation of the beauties of nature and the opera * tious of husbandry , he frequently derived those images and illustrations which furnished a rich repast for his audience . ' * A Sermon follows on a vastly
interesting yet disregarded topic : " 1 he peculiar Blessedness of Christian Connections ; " and the passage which introduces it , the preacher selects from 1 Pet . iii . 7 : ** As being heirs
together of the grace of life . " He begins with considering the view here given of future blessedness—the grace of life—and then he enlarges on the endearing and delightful way in which Christians are put in possession-of
this blessedness . The thought of the joint participation of relatives and friends in the heavenly inheritance , gratifies one of the noblest feelings of the human heart arid graces of the Christian spirit—our generosity and benevolence : it adds eminent sweet-
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ness to the intercourse of friendship . We are deeply interested in knowing that , l > y the appointment of Providence , genuine Christians are not only fellow-heirs of eternal life , but fellowhelpers to it : and this consideration furnishes the most powerful cordial ,
when friends come to part . How richly and graciously , therefore , has God ordered it , that the salvation of Christians should be linked together I Again , How anxious should those be , who are united together by the tender ties of natural affection , to become
heirs together of such a life 1 How important is it , that those who are substantially and essentially heirs together of it , seriously cultivate the dispositions which are most suited to their profession , state and hopes ! Further ; How desirable is it to have reference to these views in times of
need ! And , lastly , How terrible is the sentiment of the text , reversed ! Such are the leading ideas of one among the most impressive and affecting discourses in the volume . Our limits confine us to a single extract :
« worldly men are anxious , or at least content , to enrich themselves at the expense of impoverishing others . But the nature of Christian happiness is exactlv the reverse of this . There is not
a Christian under the canopy of heaven who desires to be the only saved soul . On the contrary , a great part of his salvation is wrapped up in the salvation of others ; a vast portion of his heaven lies in helping others thither , and in meeting them there at last . And a most
sublimely glorious appoinment of divine providence and cjrace this is ; because it makes a man ' s own salvation as wide as the world of the redeemed , and extends the sources of his future enjoyment to the farthest boundaries of heaven itself : the heaven of all others will be his own heaven . "
From Rom . viii . 12 , " For we are saved by hope , '' Mr . T . discourses , ( C in No . V ., on " C Hope / ' as " Life ' s great Cordial . ' * It is , " says he , ' * a real and general fact , in common
and actual life , that we are carried through the world by Lope . It is our principal enjoyment in agreeable * - urcumstances , and our main relief in unpleasant ones . "
The preacher illustrates these two ideas ; and then observes , what an amiable and endearing view is hence presented of the blessed Creator ! What
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Review . — Toller e Sermons on Various Subjects . 291
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1824, page 291, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2524/page/35/
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