HE occafion, on which this excellent difcourfe was preached, of the city hofpitals. It was printed, as appears from the delication prefixed, by the defire of the governors of Chrift's Hospital; but, as we imagine, not published; no bookseller's name being in the titlepage. A copy falling into our hands, the fentiments according with our own, and it appearing to us calculated to render much fer vice to the cause of religion and virtue, we could not refrain from giving it a place in our Review; not without a hope, that it might induce Mr. T. to afford our readers the like pleafure which the pe rufal of it has afforded us. The refpectable audience, before whom it was delivered, have borne their decided teftimony to its merits, by their request that it might be printed: but a topic, fo peculiarly needful to be infifted on, in these times of infidelity and fcepticism, as that which is selected for the fubject of this difcourse, (viz; the grounds of a Chriftian's belief in the gospel and fo ably treated,) well deferves to be circulated beyond the limits of the royal hofpitals. The Rev. Preacher (from 1 Peter iii. 15.) fhews the fuperior ex cellence and purity of the morality of the Chriftian religion above. that of all other fyftems of ethics; the firm foundation on which the Christian's belief of a future state of rewards and punishments is built g the influence of that belief on his moral conduct; and the arts that are employed by the deiftical philofopher, to bereave him of every confo lation and fupport, under the forrows and cares of human life. Having pointed out, in a brief, but fatisfactory, manner, the external evi dences of Chriftianity, and defined the province and limits of reason in matters of religion, Mr. T. proceeds to obferve (P. 18.) that the fource of that infidelity, which rejects " a faith fo rational and full of comfort, for the fake of a delufive philofophy, which offers to man nothing, that is capable either of fatisfying the hopes, or cahning the fears of the foul, is to be traced, in a great measure, to the method that is at prefent almoft generally observed in the education of youth." "Inftead of inftilling into the tender mind early ideas of devotion and religion, and leading it from the first dawning of teafon to a knowledge of the truths of the gospel, and of the evidence upon which they are established; the whole attention of the young ftudent is directed to the acquirement of what are called polite aca complishments; and the doctrines of that church, of which he was made a member at his baptifm, form, at belt, but a fecondary part of his inftructions, and are often times left merely to chance, or, perhaps, entirely omitted. We must not imagine, that this is an evil confined to the higher fpheres of life; to the families of the noble and opulent it has diffused itself throughout the middle orders of fociety: the fubtile poifon has even spread its infection among those claties, where, independent of [on] amore weighty confiderations, the practice cannot be justified upon the motives of common worldly prudence and economy. By thefe means the mind, from its earlieft days, acquires an habitual indifference to serious and devour enquiry; Ses religion (if it can be faid to poffefs any religion) is like a houfe built upon the fand, which the firft breath of ftrange doctrine overturns; and infidelity is the ftructure erected upon the ruins." Zealous as we feel, for the honour of our holy religion, the prof perity of the country, and the welfare of individuals, we would willingly cherish the pleafing hope, that the complaints, which have been fo recently made, of the total neglect of religious instruction in fome of our public fchools, are not well-founded; at least, not to the extent in which they have been faid to exist. But we must not treat the declarations of fuch men, as the venerable veteran of Nayland, a Randolph, or a Rennel, as the peevish cenfures of the fanatic or enthufiaft: and, if there be any real caufe for complaint; if inattention only, in a matter of fuch momentous concern, as that of inftilling found principles of religion into the yet uncontaminated mind, hath crept into schools with the relaxed difcipline of the times; ah Tantamne rem tam negligenter agere! loudly and imperiously are the teacher and the parent, and all, without diftinction, on whom devolves the charge of the rifing generation, called upon, to refute, or remove, an imputation, fo difgraceful to a Christian country, and ruinous both to individuals and fociety. Of thofe academies, boarding fchools, and other like feminaries of liberal education, that fpring up without number, or licence, in every town and street, almoft, throughout the kingdom, we, at prefent, make no obfervation. But, wifhing, as we most fincerely do, the untarnished honour, and unceafing profperity, of thofe antient and truly venerable foundations for the education of youth, the public and free fchools; those noble monuments of royal munificence, that have, through fo many fucceffive generations, preferved and tranfmitted to us the invaluable bleffings of learning and religion; in which have been formed the most illuftrious characters in every rank and profeffion; we cannot but most earnestly hope that, at least, in thefe "true religion and useful learning may for ever flourish and abound." It lies, in a great measure, with the parent, and directors of thefe national feminaries, to filence the tongue of calumny, that would fix on the Universities the unmerited blame and difgrace, that attach only to the unworthy individual, who difhonours the place of his education. by grofs misconduct. Such misconduct, whenever known, is no longer fuffered to pafs uncenfured; nor does it frequently originate in thofe feats of piety and learning; it oftener proceeds from vicious habits, previously nourished and formed, in the family or the school. In one univerfity, we can affert, from a long refidence within its peaceful and ftudious retreats, that none of our affociates, the companions and friends of our early years, fo difgraced themselves and we may add, without fear of contradiction, that no young man, who becomes a member of either university, with his principles formed, and his morals uncorrupted, will be in danger of contamination, unlefs through his own neglect.. But But whatever share of blame may belong to any of our public fchools, we are happy to agree with Mr. T. that, in this refpect, none, without the moft palpable injuftice, can be fixed on the royal and antient foundation of Chrift's Hofpital; "where," (to ufe the energetic language of the preacher) P. 21. "piety and learning are united; where religion is made the ground-work of all other knowledge, and the first object is to lead the youthful mind to an acquaintance with the doctrines of our holy faith, and the reasons of the hope that is in us." Since this difcourfe was preached, Mr. Trollope (as we are in formed) has been called to fill the upper grammar master's chair: a fituation of equal refpectability and refponfibility; which was occu pied, during a long feries of years, by his worthy predeceffor; who retired from that arduous and honorable station, remunerated for his long, faithful, and meritorious fervices, by the diftinguished literary honours, obtained by his fcholars in both univerfities, and the fub ftantial tribute of respect fince paid him, by the governors of the hofpital. From the principles and talents of his pupil and fucceffor, we are led to fay non deficit alter aureus; and we cannot exprefs our good-will towards that school of piety, learping, and good manners, more effectually, than by our fincere with that it may long continue to poffefs fuch valuable fervices! We fhall close our remarks, with the following pathetic apoftrophe, which forms the peroration of Mr. Trollope's difcourfe. (P. 23.) Happy, happy family! if the feeds of virtue, now fown in your breafts, ftrike root, and bring forth their fruit in due feafon; if the hope, in which ye are now taught to truft, be fo written in the tablet of your hearts, as never to be effaced! So fhall ye beft repay that parental care, which fhields your tender years from the dangerous examples of a wicked world; fo fhall ye at length arrive at the completion of that hope in the enjoyment of thofe heavenly bleffings, which eye hath not seen nor ear beard, neither bath entered into the heart of man to conceive." A Letter refpe&fully addreed to the Right Reverend Father in God, Henry Reginald, by Divine Permiffion, Lord Bishop of Exeter; containing a Vindication of Truth, an Exposure of Detraction, and an earnest Appeal to his Lordship, as a conftituted Guardian of the Church, for the Prefervation of her Peace, Dignity, and Profperity. By one of her humble, but moft affectionate Friends. 8vo. Pr. 21. Cadell. London. 1800, "WHEN truth or virtue an affront endures, The affront is mine, my lord, and fhould be your's. Mine, as a friend to every worthy mind; And mine, as man, who feel for all mankind." "I am aware (fays the letter-writer) that it may be asked, what bufinefs I have to trouble your Lordship with my opinions; I can only anfwer, juft as much as Mr. Polwhele had, to favour you with his." Perhaps fo. But the contrary is rather to be prefumed, till the 03 writer writer fhall think proper to discover himself. To approach the Bishop in masquerade appears to us an act of difrefpect. The au thor boldly afferts feveral things, but attempts to prove nothing, His fole intention, indeed, in addreffing his Lordship of Exeter, is to request, it feems, the Diocefan's interference in the contest between Mr. Polwhele and Dr. Hawker. This he repeats at Pr. 5 and 6: and yet, at F. 15, "I rejoice to learn (fays he) from Mr. Polwhele bimfelf, that his Letter to your lordship is to close his labours in this controverfy !!!" The writer intimates, that " itinerancy and nonconformity, properly fo called, meet his firm difapprobation, howsoever or by whomfoever committed." What, then, can be more clearly proved than Dr. Hawker's itinerancy and nonconformity, in Mr. P.'s Letter to the Bishop of Exeter? In his itinerancy, taking the word in its most extenfive fenfe, Dr. Hawker glories: he avows his approbation of itinerant preachers, and his own difpofition to itinerate, with the view of preaching the Gofpel, in the most decifive terms. And, in regard to the other charge, Mr. P. and Mr. Wotton of Plymouth, have adduced a great variety of particulars; the third part of which would be fufficient to prove Dr. H. a nonconformist, to every unprejudiced mind. Had not pages, indeed, afferting the contrary, been fpread before us, at this moment, we should not have believed it poffible, that the mifts of prejudice could have obfcured truths fo self-evident; fo palpable! Having quitted Mr. Polwhele, this author proceeds to inftruct the Bishop in the doctrine of evange lical righteoufnefs. His Lordfhip had obferved, in his admirable. Charge, "There arifes in the minds of fome men a notion of I know not what evangelical righteousness, &c. &c. On which the letterwriter, with intolerable pertnefs and flippancy, remarks: "As your. lordship fo candidly confeffes, that you know not what this evan, gelical righteoufnefs is, the notion of which you fo peremptorily condemn," &c. &c. "We understand no other than that which God declared for the remiflion of fins," "Such, my lord, is that evan gelical righteousness, of which a notion has been, and will, I truft, long continue to be entertained. If those who have imbibed this notion appear ftill to you to be mifled, you will, at leaft, allow, that they are the dupes of no ordinary deceivers." Enough of fuch language. Sermon on Cruelty to Dumb Animals, preached at the Free "IT fhould be remembered," fays this pious and able Divine, that whatever hardens the heart, tends to render it lefs, fufcepts, ible of the impreffions of Chriftianity. For although tender feelings and Chriftianity are not infeparably connected; yet, it may be faid, that, that, where tender feelings are wanting, genuine Chriftianity will never be found. The parent who confiders this, and confiders, more over, that cruelty to dumb animals, in fpite of all thofe high preten. fions to civilization which we boaft, is, it is to be feared, one of the crying fins of this nation; will be anxious to counteract a growing evil, at the only period of life, at which, perhaps, it is to be counteracted with effect." The parent who is not anxious so to do, is certainly neglectful of his duty; cruelty to dumb animals betrays an unfeeling heart and a depraved mind; and fhould never pass without punishment. When the Creator fubjected the beasts of the field to the use of man, he never intended to render them the objects of man's cruelty.This fermon fhould be widely circulated. On the Difference between the Deaths of the Righteous and the Wicked, illuftrated in the Inftance of Dr. Samuel Johnson and David Hume, Efq. A Sermon preached before the University of Oxfords at St. Mary's Church, on Sunday July 23, 1786. By the Rev. William Agutter, A. M. of St. Mary Magdalen College, Ox ford, and Chaplain to the Afylum. 12mo. Pr. 20. No Book. feller's Name. 1800. SCEPTICS, Infidels, and Deifts, having triumphed in the calmá nefs difplayed by HUME, and the fears betrayed by JOHNSON, on their death-beds, Mr. Agutter takes occafion to fhew, by an able and judicious train of reafoning, that no argument was to be drawn from that circumstance, favourable to the enemies of the Chriftian faith. Confidering the common depravity of our nature, and the awful fcene of probation clofed, our adverfaries ought to allow that the Chriftian trembling, and the Deift laughing, at the awful feparation of foul and body, may be illuftrated by the cafe of two criminals, who are going to make fatisfaction to the laws which they have violated; the one, from an habitual courfe of guilt, has attained that total want of reflection which induces him to deride the decifion of juftice, and to undergo his fentence with that ftupid indifference, which fuperficial obfervers may mistake for fortitude, while the other, a novice in the practice of fin, is overwhelmed with ingenuous fhame, views his violations of the law in the most glaring light, and ap proaches with undiffembled dread to the prefence of his God and his Judge. The first of these characters may be applauded by those who are equally hardened in guilt, or equally blinded by infidelity; but we cannot be fuch strangers to the nature of man, as, from the language of confident boatting, to argue for the rectitude of his judg ment, or the integrity of his caufe." We believe this to be a pretty fair statement of the cafe, as it effects the two objects of comparifon. To fuch men as Dr. Anderfon, whofe fcandalous abufe of Dr. Johnfon, (a man as fuperior to him, in all refpects, as an eagle is to a mole) betrays an equal want of feeling and of judgment, we recommend the preacher's just admonition towards the clofe of his Sermon, where he recommends lefs attention to the death of others and fome preparation for our own. This dif courfe is alike creditable to the Preacher's, talents and his principles. REVIEWERS 04 |