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point out an author whose works might be more likely to improve Mr . R . Montgomery than those of bis namesake , the Bard of Sheffield ; for , if not always alike vigorous , they are remarkably free from affectation and bad taste , * and abound in beauties of a very high order .
Recurring last to the subject of the poem , it is boldly , and not perhaps very wisely chosen . It has no limits , and an illimitable subject carries with it this disadvantage , that the brightest display of human imagination must ever be cast into the shade by it .
Some poetical and most impressive truths there are , connected with the vast theme of which Mr . Montgomery ' s poem treats , which might have entered more into his contemplations . How comes it that while the Omnipresence of God in space occupies so much of his poem , the Omnipresence of God in spirit is so little adverted to ? There is , indeed ,
the common argument for the soul ' s immortality deduced from our " godlike aspirations . * ' But this independent immortality has little to do with the subject . That solemn subject is the Divine presence in every part of his creation , and if in eve ^ y part of creation ,
why not in the souls that he has madeand if in the souls that he has made , why is he not , above all , acknowledged there , where he is nearest , and ought to be most intimately known ? In the common way of treating this subject , outward evidence is made the all in all ; but are we not inconsistent with
ourselves , when we call ourselves believers in the complete ubiquity of the Deity , mid yet are perpetually stating it an a lesson to be learned every where sooner than at home ? Our children are taught thaty upon authority , which they ought , if we believe aright , to admit on stronger evidence . Had we " unshakeable
confidence" in this tvuth , did we indeed receive the doctrine of the Divine Omnipresence in all its " breadth and length , depth and height / ' we could not act thus : for it , then , must be part of otfr creed that this ubiquity , extends to the heart of the child , us well as over the other works of creation ; and we should surely see
* The passages quoted above have brought to memory some exquisite lilies on . the greatness of the Deity from one of J . Montgomery ' s short poems ( the Brahmin ) : M There is a Power , all other powers above . " Sabbath Recreations , p . 28 .
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the absurdity of teaching by precept and outward facts , that , for which we have the advantage of being able to make an appeal to consciousness . That power may indeed be greater or less , and will vary according to the degree in which the attention has been turned towards the
subject of it ; but if , as it has been beautifully said , " we are not able to think a single thought , or to have a single feeling and say , This His eye shall not seethis His ear shall uot hear—this His holiness does not condemn—this His grace will not root out , if we submit to its sanctifying power ; " if such be the case , it surely is most important that a truth so valuable , should be early , deeply , practically felt . But this is a subject which cannot be approached without a reverential feeling of its claim upon the utmost attention which can . be given to it , and this our present limited space entirely forbids .,
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Art . VI . —Observations on the Bill now before Parliament for Regulating the Marriages of Dissenters who deny the Doctrine of the Trinity . By the Rev . Philip Le Geyt . Christian Remembrancer , No . CX ., containing a Review of Mr . Le Geyt ' s Pamphlet ,
We are sorry that Mr . Le Geyt ' s knowledge of his subject and his powers oi discrimination between things that differ , are not such as to entitle him to a very detailed examination of his views . His reasoning powers are literally consumed with zeal for his church , and so jealous is he of the slightest and most indirect countenance whfcb her august
spouse , the State , may by any conceivable form of enactment confer upon the marriages of heretics for civil-purposes , that after the most explicit assent to the general principle of relief , after stigmatizing the present course of compelling deniers of the Trinity into the established churches , and thus pressing upon them doctrines at which they scoff , as " a species of mockery , as repugnant to true
religion as it is revolting to all who are parties to the transaction , " our aujthov can bring himself to tolerate no sugges - tion for obtaining the desired removal of this scandal , except that which originated with the late Lord Chancellor , and which it is uo breach of charity to say his Lordship well knew to be utterly impracticable , although we acquit Mr . Le Geyt of the same extent of discernment . We of course refer to the plan of placing
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262 v Critkfll Notices .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1828, page 262, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2559/page/46/
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