On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
are commonly combined with buoyancy of spirit and the power of perceiving unsuspected relations between different objects : and you know what is the usual result of this union . ' * ? Ci You mean wit . I quite agree with you : and the evident traces I find of it only point out to me how every mental qualification may be devoted to the furtherance of the highest objects .
" How is this declaration consistent with your disapprobation of giving expression to religion ?" ** Circumstances have changed entirely since the times of Paul , " answered L . " He preached because the gospel was unknown ; but every man , woman , and child , in this village , has the Bible to learn from , and I see not why they need any other guide . ' * As I was about to reply , we suddenly encountered a group of visitors , and L . turned to take his leave . ** If you will come again to the chapel , " said I , " you may have the opportunity of observing whether the people are liable to imbibe any superstitions , and whether any aid is afforded to the study of their Bibles . "
" I do not question their learning much , " he replied , " but I doubt whether such information is necessary , and whether more harm than good may not be done by connecting their religion with external observances . " As the time fixed for the afternoon service approached , I looked round with some anxiety to see who were appointed to preach within and without the chapel . The assemblage was as large as in the morning , and the arrangements were therefore the same as to the placing of the people . The preacher
who took his station under the tree had never before addressed his present auditory , and not frequently , I imagine , any other . He was very young , his voice seemed scarcely equal to the exertion which it was necessary to make , and he wished , as I was told , to decline the duty now imposed on him , on the plea of being unprepared . His audience soon discovered , however , that a ready mind and a warm heart were a sufficient preparation . Their fixed attention encouraged him ; the scene animated him ; and for myself , I can answer , that I was conscious of no stray thoughts but an occasional wish that
L . might be within hearing . The dedication of the Temple by Solomon was the portion of Scripture read , and this also formed the subject of the discourse . After briefly explaining the causes of the peculiar sanctity by which the temple at Jerusalem was distinguished from all other places of worship , and relating the
overthrow of the glories of the last noble edifice , the preacher fixed the attention of his hearers on the fact that the worshipers of the sanctuary were accustomed to otler their devotions without a superstitious regard to place and circumstance . Though an edifice , consecrated by a manifestation of the Divine presence , was appointed for their homage , that homage was to be offered elsewhere , as before ; and when the Hebrews were struggling in battle , pining in captivity , or engaged in the daily duties of their distant homes ,
their devotion was not to be suspended , but rather animated , by their periodical returns to the mercy-seat . The application was obvious , but not therefore the less interesting , or the less adapted to the audience . Here , as in every other corner of the world , each man knows best the plague of his own heart ; here ( as ' there is no man that sinneth not" ) there are careless transgressions , followed by grief and supplication ; here , as elsewhere , there are inward rejoicings , prompting to thankfulness , and therefore incitements to communion when the doors of the house of prayer are closed , and to supplications that God will hear from heaven , his dwelling-place , uud hearing ,
Untitled Article
312 True Worshipers .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1830, page 312, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2584/page/24/
-