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
forgive . The services of this new and humble temple were , therefore * never to supersede the offices of private , the obligation to perpetual , devotion ; and however highly and justly the opportunities of social worship might be prized , they should be made to nourish rather than relax the disposition to watch over and feed the hidden flame of devotion , which needs to be tended day by day , and hour by hour .
The illustrations of this duty were drawn from the familiar but not coarse details of the usual events in the lives of the hearers , and of their common occupations , and were so pointed that they could scarcely fail of recurring with the recurrence of the day . The father ' s irksome toil , the mother ' s midnight watch , the weariness of sickness , the first expansion of a parent's
hopes , the inward complacency of self-conquest , were touched upon as occasions for devotion , which could not be supplied by the services of social worship ; which institution was only appointed as one of the means to a most important end . " Is there any superstition here ? " said I to L ., on joining him after
the service , of which he had been a witness . 6 C Surprisingly little for so young and so ardent a preacher , " he replied . " But though he may be able to distinguish between what is essential and what is accessory , one cannot expect that his hearers should , unless led directly to it as they were to-day . " I had looked round in vain for Edwards , whom I now ascertained not to
have been present at the afternoon service . He was gone to the house of mourning . A young couple in the village were hourly awaiting the death of their only child , an infant ; and Edwards had visited them in the hope of administering comfort . He did not join any of the parties of strangers who prepared for their departure as soon as the afternoon service was closed ; and it was supposed that he would follow early in the morning .
It was interesting to witness the unusual bustle which pervaded the village this day . The hospitable inhabitants hastened the evening meal , that the strangers might not be benighted on their return . The men saddled the horses and prepared the carriages , while their wives spread the table ; and all were liberal in their invitations to their guests to come again whenever they should be disposed to honour the place with their presence . The inhabitants , almost in a body , accompanied those of the young men who
returned on foot , and did not leave them till they quitted the valley , when the final greetings were exchanged . I proceeded a few miles further in company with one or two friends . When we reached the ridge of the last hill from which the village was visible , we turned to look back once more . The sun was setting , and the shadows had already gathered round the dwellings , and settled beneath the clump of trees which sheltered the meeting-house . Scattered groups of people were seen at various distances along the winding road , and some who had taken a shorter path through the fields had already
arrived at their homes , as we knew by the lights which here and there twinkled through the windows . The little chapel , which , but a short time before , had been filled and surrounded by busy throngs , now presented a beautiful picture of repose . No gravestone as yet arose within its green enclosure . It had this day been hallowed by the spirit of devotion ; but it was a glad and kindly spirit , not yet saddened by mementos o ^ mortality . 1 could easily interpret the pleasure which shone in the countenances of my companions , as they looked back and beheld their work , and anticipated the tune when the orrice on which they were entering should enable them to
Untitled Article
True Worshipers . 313
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1830, page 313, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2584/page/25/
-