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these epistles , written , as is supposed , at a very advanced age , is perceived to be that of a father , " &c ] . Nor can we approve of the phrase , pro arts et / dots , being introduced into a modern sermon , p . 37 »
Such improprieties in a writer of inferior merit to Mr , Hall , * might not be deemed material : though , notwitkstanding these effects of careless haste , he delights and attracts , we cannot be desirous that other persons should cite his authority for similar inadvertencies in composition .
There is a want of unity of subject in this discourse . We can with difficulty bring ourselves to believe that it is not made up of two or three fragments . A general analysis of it we have already given . There appears to be first an extract from a sermon on
patriotism ; then another from a sermon on friendship ; and next from a sermon upon the Evangelist John ' s character , history and writings . All these extracts indeed are applied to the occasion , and to the preacher ' s
object : they are well put together ; nicely and skilfully dove-tailed . Still , we perceive no harmonious whole nor is there any formal and distinct enunciation of the arrangement . Such things Mr . Hall ' s stated hearers , and most of his readers , tolerate in him :
but we doubt whether they would tolerate them in a preacher and a writer of less reputation for what is called orthodoxy ! In him , too , his denomination bear with a refinement of thought , an elegance of expression , and a frequency of classical allusions ,
on which they probably would animadvert with severity in some other ministers whom we could mention , and who , it may be , waive every thing of the kind , from a regard to the appropriate claims and duties of the pulpit . In one instance , at least , Mr . Hall ' s language concerning Dr . Ryland is
* It is rarely , indeed , that any violation of the utmost purity of taste can be met with in this writer's compositions . One memorable specimen of departure from that taste we perceive in his biography of Mr . Toller , ( p . 28 , ) concerning whom lie says that , under his mental depression , he did business , made improvement , moral and religious , in the mighty waters .
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iieview' . ~ HaW $ Sermon on the Death of Dr . Ruland . 17 &
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fire to consume but the Objects and the slaves of concupiscence ; while everything which grace has prepared and beautified shall be gathered from the ruins of the world , to adorn that eternal city
< which hath no need of the sun , neither of the moon , to shine in it , for the glory of God doth enlighten it , and the Lamb is the light thereof Let us obey the voice that calls us thither ; let us seek the things that are above , and no longer cleave to a world which must shortly perish , and which we must shortly quit , while we neglect to prepare for that in which we are invited to dwell for ever . Let us follow in the track of those holy
men , who , together with your beloved and faithful pastor , have taught us by their voice and encouraged us by their example , that ' laying aside every weight , < md the sin that most easily besets us , we may run with patience the race that is set before us . ' While every thing within us and around us reminds us of the approach
of death , and concurs to teach us that tliis is not our rest , let us hasten our preparations for another state , and earnestly implore that grace , which alone can put a period to that fatal war which our desires have too long waged with our destiny . When these move in the same direction , and that which the will of heaven renders unavoidable shall
become our choice , all things will be ours : life will be divested of its vanity , and death disarmed of its terrors . ' Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolnedy what manner of persons ought we to be in ail holy conversation and godliness , ' &c . ?"—Pp . 52—54 . Mr . Hall ' s style , though in general it be correct and highly elegant , betrays occasionally some neglect in the employment of the file , and indicates the habit of extemporary address , in union with that of premeditation and of writing . In the extracts from this discourse , the attentive reader will
have noticed such inaccuracies . Two examples of a faulty construction it may be useful to point out : one of these occurs in p . 8 : Accustomed to look upon the whole human family with a benign aspect , some members of it will attract more of his attention , " &c . [ it should be ,
Although he is accustomed to look upon the whole human family with a benign aspect , yet some members of it will attract more of his attention , &c . ] ; the other instance will be found in . p . 21 : " Written , as is supposed , at a very advanced age , the spirit they breathe / 3 &c . fread , " the spirit of
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1826, page 175, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2546/page/47/
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