The National Register. — London, England, 1813-09-12 00:00:00

SS TIONAT. the children of opinion (in general) more than religion, who, Ike " sectarie, i o polkics," disturb the general harmony, for Dtattets of Mete !•peculition, and who act often from igno rant efrronterv, °lien from distempered impulse, and often from tempo; at in'ei est. "Thee thinzs should not be." I can sit down with a Presbyterian, an Anabaptist, a Roman Catholic, or a Christian of* any denomination, I poise, as eharilably and fi iendly as with an enfighteited member of the Estahli , ltinent, (I say rillig,htened, became an unenlightened mem'ver, who only one from prejudice of education, with ()tit utid what lc piofesses, is but a demi-a/kir ) hatel it:timate friend; of all'persuasions, whom I csteem, and whose acquaint:lnce I think an honour, and therefore I hope no Dis , enter 1:ont the Church will interpret the last sentence of my preceding Letter to a censure upon Di,.sen ters in general : I refer, as I before noticed, to those sects who have rroragatrd eistluriasm and bigotry, for ze:-.1 and attt.tchment ; speutt!a•ion and assertion. for inquiry and pr:n ; intoxic4timi and - presumption, for joy and hope; gloom for gravity ; sentention•ness for seriousness; and de ...poodcr,cv for humility. There are many such, and on such :done I pa! , s a censure. It is possible too, that OficAimus way tie! hin•elf aitat ked unp!ea , antiv ; the intention of that ths::vow. I have no motive but the interest of religion, in at le;:st I hope so ; but I cannot think otherwise than tlna el& rgymen in the pulpit, like actois on the ‘t.ige, tends to ii!tle goof, though I (I,,n't mean to a,sert tfhtt the cr:ois the clergy should he pa,sed over unheeded, because tht‘ir error sdo mine mischief to i cli ff ion than-all the attAcks of infid..ls; but there should he a tenderness tis«l for the hi . inOur of their \I stet, in the animadversions upon their 19/..7:incr ; for, though I disclaim gi t ing way to priesteraft, as a fatril blow to std!, when polite begin to think hey may, from example, criticise their pa,tor, they soe,o du it, and pronoi - tionably lose their respect for him; and we never learn twin those we can't -respect, at least, we steve; . learn that science nihielt teaches the very essence or rati , e Of re , pect. ive to what I sa i d of his style, I mean that his language is often too figurative for the general relder. 1 St:eilay new,:pvcr is read by a majori;y of the low;:r v'ia , svF, who can neither a(ford money nor time to read the daiiy plyets ; consequently lie should write so, alit vhile the termed cannot he disgusted, the ignorant may un .tit!:s!and. The fault I find in him, learned men too often fag into. I have heard sermons of this kind elegant indeed in their e...nyotiiti(in, and which minds of taste could listen profit and dclig!it, but I question 114-fifths of tile congre ;Minn cou:d understand them. Father 01,eary (a name veneta- •ble to the Catholics) l am told, used to give hip, sermons two chat a: tc s ; for after preaching. to the elegant part of hi , ennwegation, in language cotrcsponding with their minds, he kvould exclusively, I may say, address himself to the in elegant, or ignorant, pal tin language they could perfectly iotrprchend ; and it would he better for religion, if the ministet s cif all pet suasions Itllowed his example. A man may speak and write extremely e!egant, and yet so as to he undetstood by all capacities, accept the :e;/ igaorant ; but as they arc parties as much concerned in the matter of. reli gion as the most cultivated, their understandings must be accommodated by the minister who means to do his duty, as comprehensively as those of their superiors in intellects. '[he slovenly manner in which many clergymen go through the church service, certainly calls loudly for reformation, and has, I think, increased the number of sectaries. Many minAcrs knowing the truth of Christianity cannot he con erted, seem to think it nece , sary to do more than merely recite its doe'rines to make them effective; but a man ought 'n teaching what he wishes others to believe. lade- SEPT. . clergy, . acts dry rot nets upon a house : -but, on the other hand, rant acts upon it like a violent tempest upon a house. A Christian preacher ought to have fervency and firmness; but he ought also to have humility and reverence. I'm sure some of the sec taries in their pulpits really address the Deity, and speak of him in a manner that is horrid--in some cases a little blas phemous—ill said a great deal, I think I should not have said more than truth. The Loid's Prayer commences with Our Father," which, by showing us in what light we are to consider the Deity, as affected towards us, as deal ly points out how we ought to 'address and speak of him ; and that endearing title shows us also tEat the religion he has com manded is a religion of love, that unites, or is meant to unite, ail men in one fraternal Land. Temperance is the wisdom of religion (if I may be allayed the expression) as %yell as of every other rational pursuit—for zeal ceases to be zeal when it becomes intemperate—it is then fury. Hence then ye glinPay " . ralse proplkt. , ," who would veil religion , ill crape—ye superstitious iwcirsiVcs., who would dres.: it ita tinsel—and ye fantastic rlinnsndists, who would deck it with nteretricion ornaments. Religion, dressed in virgin white, serenely and nnjestically pursues. her " pleasant and peace ful path," smiling. with conscious purity awl truth ; her handmaids are Seriousness and Chearfulness; Benevolence issto s her commands, and Temperance executes her will; Superstition, Bi?otiy, and Fanaticism, disappear before heros the morning tniA. before the radiant sun; Humility precedes her, holding " sweet converse" with Elope, and Modesty hears her train; while Conra;.!e and Constancy, with per suasive Elorturfnee, and dictiminative Zeal bring up the t ear. I am, Sir, &c. Sunday, Aug. 29, 1813. A LAYMAN,. DRAMATIC REGISTER. COVENT-GARDEN. This Theatre opened on Monday for the first time this seaseu. We described in our last the alteration:, which have been made in its interior, and which have now been viewed with attniiratian by the public. Their elect is truly beautiful, and so much splendour was never united to so much simplicity and elegance betltre. But if the decorations are superb, it is also highly gratirying to find that other and more important objects have occupied , much of tk.s. attention of the Maimgers. Something 4 novelty has been ft:rnislk, cd every night, and several successful debuts have already been made. The Theatre opened with ./o/ot Bat! and Killing an Murder. The performances on the sneetcling days were, fhe Tempest air.l Lore, Lwv, and Physic, Ifule a Ilife awl have a Wife and 11lidaw, The Exile and Itosh:a, and The Castle Spectre and llosina. la John 13;:11, the part of Dennis Bralgraddery was sustained by a Mr. Poumus, hip second appeal-nee On the stage. lie displayed touch good sense anti . humour, and is the best Irishman we have seen Cr,. several years at this Theatre. He looked the chilracter well, has a note broglw, anti acquittelhha=elf to the entire sati.faetion of the audience, till he came to the Epilogue. In this he failed ; and as it is not necessary that this Epilogue should ak% ay.; he given ‘‘ i:h the Phiy, we hope Ise will be content with the hisses lie received for attempting it on Monday, and not trouble himself to do any thing more to convince the public that Ile c.nnmt Sill 2. Mks RENNELL.—On Tuesday a your Lady of this name made her debut in Ariel. Her fit.ture is good, and she sung some of her songs in a very pleasing: and effective style. She was loudly en- CarCd it) Where the Lee SUE ICS, and syn. , much applauded all through the Play. She may he fontid au but, we apprehend, not a very important acquisition. • Nfr. TEnasr.—Tnis Gentleman, who vac last year the hero of the H tymarket, male his first appearance op Wednesday as Leon. in little a Wife 140 hare a Wife. We regard him as a most valualk to be earnest ill Rge,19413R 4 II lence in a clergyman acts upon religion as tl