The National Register. — London, England, 1813-06-13 00:00:00

~' ~. •°;. , ar De pulpit. No Q. (THIRD -SERIES). •tiltat, coul ! no farther yet ? what, nc'cr commence !hasler in bachelor of Sense! QUARLES. REV. DAVID GARROTT; M. A. AND A •UUAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO Tits ROYAL lIIGIINESS THE PRINCE EGI NT. Christian ministers seem daily relapsing into mere professional characters. 'Warburton has declared that'. there is an epidemic madness among us. To-day," adds this prelate," we burn with the feverish heat of superstition; to-morrow, we stand tilt and frozen in atheism." Superstition has, no doubt, an ascertained vagrancy towards scepticism, then to deism, and le.rhaps even to atheism ; whilst atheism, on the other hand, not narequently seeks for !phi- Mate repose, after many weary struggles, in the arms ,ot sutlerst ti Pernicious as are the effects of superstition, however, indifference is nearly as bail in religion. When once the office of !Headier is estimated chiefly in its professional point of view, by those who fil: it, whether as to gentility, reputation, or emolument, it is either astentationdy displayed or negligently discharged ; its just import ance is either misunder4ood or nudervalued ; and the interests of religion are equally committed by the affected and the indulent among her priests, the majotity of whom are but too readily suspect ed.of having only an interested attachment to divine truth.-- •• Gods must have priests, or Priests no God will have !' Formality in preaching, althongh otherwise harmless, approx imates to indifference. Itself' therefore an evil, of no trivial im- port, respecting preachers, it should also 1w avoided on another account. Pomposity universally accompanies formality. Magnify ing not their office, but themselves,—unmindful of that exalted hu mility which is the brightest ornament of the pulpit,--preachers are rendered worse than nugatory. They not merely assist not, they really prevent the truth. Exactly as the preacher aims to impress the' . minds of others with an high estimate of his own rank, and with an admiration of his worth, he will as certainly miss their good opi nion, and dekat the great purpose of his commission. Lowliness is not int , re the duty, than it is the interest of preachers ; but then it must also be cherished by them from upright views, unaffectedly and unassnmedly, as those who are not authorised to be high-minded, Lob% ever seemingly humble, but ho are commanded to be heavenly minded, without the shadow of imposition or the lurking of °sten. tation. Christian ministers must not only not deceive mankind, Even in this affair, but, What seems infinitely more hard, they must not deceive themselves. . The Reverend Davin WILLIAM GARROW, M. A. is to be consi dered as still a probationer for that reputation to which the superio r mins of his father has long since attained in a very different sphere. llz has, indeed, something of the teatural expression of that parent, Sir William (;.mow ; bpi it is one thing to be a successful eonosel, while it will be found quite another thing to become an eloquent di Vine. Dryden, in his warm commendation of Persins, says, that " what he teaches might be taught from pulpits, with more profit to the audience than all the nice speculations of divinity, and controver sies enneerniog faith ;" and he approves of Bishop Burnet having proposed the writings of Persius, together with the tenth satire of Juvenal, " to the serious perusal and practice of the Divines in his diocese,—as the best common-places fin• their sermons, as the stol houses and magazines of moral virtues, from whence they might draw out, as they had occasion, all wanner of assistance for the sceumplishment of a virtuous life, Nvhich the Stoics have assigned for the great end and perfection of mankind !" Whatever some antiqua ted theologians may think both of our poet's plai,es and the hishop's advice, it would sell') that by modish divines, at least, the latter has been most reverently acknowledged and adopted. These certainly eaunot in justice be charged with unprofitably troubling their • JUNE It THE NATIONAL REGISTER,. audiences about • " the nice speculations of divinity, and controver les concerning filth "No such criminality attaches to them Con (lit to shelter under the old " storehouses and magazines of moral .irines," hence they er rw out, as occasion serves, all manner of ssistance for the accomplishment of a virtuous life : so that, ob. a , rves another writer, sipee, 4 4 by the tyranny of custom, they arc , ompelled to take their texts, and to produce their authorities froth the canon of Scripture, I think it much to the praise of their dex terity, that, so often as they have occasion to discourse from those offeosive writings, they contrive to give so Hilly offeHre." Let the present preacher, however, anxiovsly av , ,id this rock. Having made as it were his election for life, by choosing that profession how wine!! nothing can divorce bun, let him i.roseente " the prize of his high calling !" Other points are still subordi mate. Stiffness of manner. or monotony of voice, susceptible of correction, may be gradually improved ; and, in due time, arc completely to be remedied. Religion inspires the truest eloquence. The Rev. Mr. Crta ROW has puldished a Sermon before the A nni. versary of the Royal Humane Society, delivered •on Sunday, April 19, 1812, at St. Andrew's, Holborn ; a copy of which lie presented to the Prince Regent, as one of his Chaplains in Ordinary, on the th of July following, at Carlton House. ONESIMUS. FINE ARTS. SOMERSET•HOUSE EXIJIBITION. In our preeederit numbers, we have roamed with pleasure over the principal districts of the graphic kingdom ; we have ascended the highest grounds with the historical muse ; expatiated through verdant meadows and ddightfid lawn, lounged and loitered on hanks of rivers with the spirit of the landscape ; and, through • the illiant prism of imitation, explored the multicolour pallet of por trait painters. Three unexplored provintes remain for us to visit— Mimatures, Drawings, and Sculptnres. De Marsy in his elerant Poem upon the Chromatic Art, says, through a literal, translation :-- o:hers will elviose, their talents to - display, A smaller field. and their inventions lay 0 prepared s kins, on paper fine and smooth, 0 the thin plates of Elephantine tooth; Reduce all figures to a pigmy size, And hid, within a ring, a world compress'd arise. These few lines contain both a description of and an encomium upon miniature painting.; yet it is with pleasure that we find the immense numbers under that head considerably reduced in the rooms of the Royal Academy. Among the principal artists we must mention S. J. STUMP, W. M. CRAIG. J. HENNVNG, R. W. SATemwELT., withont detracting auy thing from the equal and perhaps superior merit of others. The Encaustic art has to boast of several very admirable pieces 17 H. 'Sots v., R. A. and H. Homt. A. and among tlw drawings. whe ther fancy or 'name has suggested the model, we admire consider. able improvement. The portraits, by IL EDRIDOR, Wilt) has ani mated his elegant stroke s of black lead uquarelles, claim an nn disputed superiority,—and a small drawing of fish, by T. HEATHY, would obtain all mirestricted tribute of applause, had he not chosen by a most unaccountable whim. to dress in the scarlet miiform of the guards his river fencibles. the eray-fi•hes, just caught from the water. Is it possible when he was ehborately painting the-e two crustaceous beings, it never occurred to him that their natural colour is far from being red ; or that he had no friend at his elbow to awake him from his shimber? The Drawing, No. C 56, Samuel presented to 1 , 71 i, by W. C. Ross, deserved a better place, and is ssorthy of being attentively and closely inspected. The freedom of hued, and knowledge of anatomy expressed here, do the artist great credit. In the Model Academy we have remarked and applauded a much better arrangement and disposition of the exhibited pieces. The Mercury of \V. THEED, R. A. Elect,--the Bacchus and Bacchante of H. HOPPER,—wiII naturally attract the attention and obtain the praise of,the visitor of judgment awl taste. The basso relievo, iu marble, by J. FLAXMAN, R. A. Delieer usfrooa Evil, is conceived with an uncommon strength of enthusiasm and power of execution. 'lle Boa Sirpeat of G. (irAnil A it I), A. presents itselfwi tit great claim to appt'oboi:m, and is generally admired. The Busts of J. NOLLE, KENS, OF TURN ERELLI, of J. BACON, &e. and the Models of R. IVEST7IIACCTI', R. A. are sufficient proofs of the rapid piogress which our contemporaries make in au art which has immortalized the names of PnintAs, hRAXITELES, MICHAEL ANGZLO, ROUBILLAC, &c. and give ifs occasion to hope thk Britannia will have one day to boast of as men glory as Athens and itOille in the departEneut of the Flu Arts.