The National Register. — London, England, 1808-10-30 00:00:00

TILE NATIONAL REGISTER. D. peerage and pension. By the terms of the Convention it had been stipulated, that the French should evacuate Egypt at two diiferent periods, of three and five months. A certain number of 'cannon was to he carried away, for the conveyance of which • . thrce transports were to he allowed, and morc if they could be •iproeured. They were also to have ten rounds of ammunition; 'indemnity was granted to all those who might have taken up arms in favour of the French, and the sequestrations which bad been laid on the property of all such were removed, and the property itself restored to the proprietors. In all these features the Convention in Egypt resembled the Convention in Portugal. The Sheritf put the question of adjournment, b, desirin„ that those VI ho were for the petition should go to his right band, and those who were for the adjournmeut should go to the left. The majority appeared for the adjournment, and consequently the original motion was lost. POPULAR PREACHERS. No. XII. I Ghost4y Counsel—if it be not backed With skew of love, at least with hopeful proof Of some sincerity on the giver's part; Or be dishonor'd in the exterior form Or made of its conveyance by such tricks As move derision, or by foppish airs And histrionic mummery, that let down The pulpit to the level of the stage ; Vropi from the lips a disregarded tbing.—Tars Tssx. REV. ISAAC SAUNDERS. WHILE it is incumbent-on him whose writings are sup posed to influence public opinion, not to disguise those de tects which are open. to observation and obnoxious to ani madversion,still it must be always more grateful to himself, and perhaps as useful tosociety, when the writer is enabled to exhibit characters of real excellence,—promisin g to ob tain the esteem due to.private integrity, and candidates for the approbation that is honorably awarded to public abi lity. Let us sometimes contemplate the favorable aspect of human allairs. It is honest, it is consoling, it is generous, it is animating, to disco%er worth for ourselves, and then openly to commend it to the attention of others. Where, indeed, is the delectation of incessantly brooding over dis satist actory and desponding- conceptions ; aggravating those evils which, if nut unavoidable, are continually incidental to mortal existence, aad refusing either to discern the beau ties or enjoy the blessings of our condition ? Without being unapprised of the errors and vices of the age, I confess, fur myself, that I can frequently derive con solation from the virtues, and delight from the information, of my contemporaries. Cbecquered and mixed as this scene of action undoubtedly is, still, amidst depravity and igno rance and dishonor, I can every where set: illustrious evi dences of worth, intelligence, and talents. If it is demanded of me to apply this sentiment to the object that is more im mediately in my view, I am perfectly contented. It has been so long the fashion to complain of the clergy, without troubling ourselves to inves!igate the fact, that what at first was perhaps erroneously asserted, generally speaking, has, by repitition, beetwie almost indubitably admitted. The system, however, hap: had ow. good effect. Accusation na turally roused enquir ; enquiry produced circumspection; I.nd the result is, even at the present hour, that we now pos sess an uncommon number of truly able and eminent cler gy men, while, at. the same time, several young divines, emu lous of adorning the most important of all professions, are rising rapidly into 'reputation. Our church is really in debted to its adversaries. Schism has awakened energy ; and infidelity has called forth ability. • ISAAC SAUNDERS, the divine of whom I proceed to detail some short particulars, is from Edmund Hall, in the University, of Oxford. He is now, with Mr. Gurney, alter nate Morning Minister at St. Clement Danes, and the Free- OCT. 30. +Numemen. Chapel inWestStreet,Tokineely "'belonging to the ni....eniordbl,, John Westley, St. Giles'b ; he is also Afternoon Lecturer of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe and St. Ann's iu Black Friars; and the alternate Evening Lecturer of St. Bride's, in Fleet Street. Prepared for the ministry by the late Alphonsus Gunn, patronised by Mr. Goode and Mr. Gurney, and succeedin g , in religious estimation, the late Mr. Patrick, there can be no dilbculty in determining as to the clerical character of MR. SAUNDERS. He ranks high among the Evangelical Ministers of the metropolis. It may be proper to qualify the last sentence. When I class Mr. Saunders among evangelical ministers, as almost all extemporary preachers are too commonly called, let him not be confounded with the calvinistic methodists. He is practical, as well as doctrinal. While he earnestly contends for the faith once delivered to the saints, he soundly incul cates, at the same time, the necessity of living so as in all things to adorn the christian vocation. Works, indeed, are never to be substituted for faith, but they are as certainly the necessary fruits of it. What first struck me in the present preacher, whose whole deportment my situation enabled me to scrutinise, was the manlier in which he ascended the pulpit. I think it impossible for time to obliterate the impression which he then made on my mind. His look, his manner, was devo tion itself. A preacher so evidently, yet unatfectcdly, im pressed witbthe awful importance of his divine commiss,oc, I recollect to have but seldom seen. His only difficulty seemed to consist in labouring to controul the emotions his heart ; and of him I am confident to affirm, that " the tear, " That dropped upon his Bible, was sincere !" If my aim was to flatter individual presumption, or gra tify the execrable taste of satirical minds, Mr. bailiateri, and such as him, would not be the subjects of my selection and the objects of my commendation. I cannot cater, I confess, for the depraved appetites of too many of my con temporvies.—God forbid that I should ! Let me, however, still indulge the hope, that honest exertions, in the best 01 causes, may be productive of some good. Mr. Saunders's discourses are entirely extempore ; and, while he displays much of the excellence of the stein of preaching he has adopted, he exhibits some of its disadvan tages. His reasoning isnot always connected ; his expres sions, which are not uniformly felicitous, arc frequently re peated and sometimes recalled; and his metaphors partake both of inelegancy and inaccuracy. Metaphorical language is, indeed, that in which the extemporary speaker is most liable to failure. To be forcible, metaphors should evince correctness of construction and propriety of application; but these are qualities which require premeditation, and arc therefore seldom discovered in the effusions of unstudied oratory. The personal appearance of Mr. Saunders is happily in teresting,— his countenance being finely intelligent, his sta. tare and form adapted to his station, and hisaction, with out extravagance, sufficiently impressive. His voice is both manly and melodious ; but it requires, what he appears n; t to have attended to, judicious management. His cadence is too abrupt, and he too often indulges in the supp l i catin g hine to which I objected in Mr. Jay. He would do well to pay inure attention to his emphases. I wish, too, that may prevail upon him not to " bundle out" of the pulpit almost assoon as the congregation begins to separate. Ile ascends it devoutly; and, notwithstanding all the excep tions I have taken to him, he fills it most ably. These con siderations compel me the more to regret the hasty, not to say indefeusible, manner of his departure. I have freely, and fully, descanted on the faults of this preacher ; because, I hope, he is not inaccessible to candid admonition ; and because, when I consider his youth, I feel that ho is capable of profiting by it. If he knew—stras gers thou;h we are to each other—how honorably I esti- 7 02 I " - • • • t r. 11 e 11 it e o is id el I I ~~~ r , ,