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rants of Christianity , when the human mind shall be more imbued with its spirit , more cheered by its light , more refined by its operation than at present ; when a clearer knowledge and readier access to other minds shall have been obtained , and Christians shall have learned to love the souls of others
as their own . Christianity will be preached to perfection , when it is understood , felt , and practised , to perfection . In the mean whiJe , they are the most honoured depositaries of its treasures who can diffuse them the most widely , and so scatter the seed , that , whether it fall by the way-side , or on rocky places , or on prepared ground , it may yield some increase from every soil .
That these fruits have rewarded the labours of some honoured teachers among us we know ; that they will again , we feel confident , as we read some of the beautiful discourses before us , which are well fitted to come home to the business and bosom of all who hear them . We are able to add a list of discourses , whose practical efficacy is unspeakably enhanced by their beauty of style and sentiment . That their efficacy is thus enhanced , no one ,
we think , will question . We will try an instance . No observation is more common than that the gospel is adapted to all minds . Every hearer has been told this over and over again ; yet it is desirable that be should bear it always in mind . It may be , and is , frequently conveyed to him in words which make no impression , because no interest is substituted for the vanished novelty of the idea . But let him hear the following passage :
" In the Scriptures we have divine truth , the truth of God , which makes ' wise unto salvation , ' that eternal word , which is the object of faith , the rule of morals , and the source of hope : but how have we it ? Not in the forms which legislative authority and philosophical speculation are accustomed to assume ; not in those in which scholastic theology delights . If it had , it would not have been so universally intelligible ; it would not have been so universally interesting ; it would not have been so universally welcome ; and ,
theretore , it would not have been so extensively benencent . 1 hat word is there—but it is there enveloped ( not obscured ) in history , poetry , and parable ; pointing to the lilies of the field , crowned with the stars of heaven , thundering in the majesty of prophetic denunciation , and nestling in the unpolluted bosom of childhood , perfecting praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings , and therefore is it the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world . If it be not the book of the philosopher , that is the fault of the philosopher ; the misfortune , or rather the punishment , of his superciliousness , and not the demonstration of his mental dignity . It is , what is much better than being peculiarly the book of the philosopher , in the sound judgment of the soundest philosophy—it is the people ' s book ; a volume , which he who runs may read , and which , by its diversified contents , yet ever interesting in their
diversity , invites the perusal of every one who treads the path of life , whether with rapid or lagging step , with burdened or lightsome heart , and bearing" the weight of robes or chains . Its voice of mercy sounds in every ear , ' Come unto me , all ye that labour , and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest . '"P . 275 .
Can the dullest fail to comprehend this ? Can the most refined hear without emotion ? Can any one who has listened ever forget it ? In this third class , of which we are now speaking , are included two sermons on the " Government of the Temper , " and on " the Proper Treatment of 111 Temper in others , " on *« Christian Contentment , " on ' * the Best Preparation for a Time of Sickness , " and " God our Father . " In the first-mentioned two there is sound philosophy blended with plain common sense , and recommended by equal perspicuity and elegance of
Untitled Article
488 Sermons fw Fanuhes .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 458, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/10/
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