The National Register. — London, England, 1814-10-23 00:00:00

THE N %TIONAL REGISTER. f.S2 L. e ttipit. Tratli fir,t is ltAi'd, that licresy nvy pre;:eli ; An I i3ll is trash- -that hen-on eiinnot ',Jim., Gad's inka!:,e, oil the sold imetest. Ilec.,otes ott•re mot•Lerv, a st,Aoliog jcsi tne root w:ience ob:y (-in arise „;race; of a lite that tt t.is thy at mire all v:11!!e ard cstoco),--- Pfoneune'd, by gleybeattli, a pernicious dream! Cowrie. dP^.o"4l l ` REV. T110.11,1S BURGESS, 11. C. • • NOW ALTERNATE PRE ICliEtt AT PROVIDENCE CHAPEL. .0" .a^ .40" Provi;ieuce Chape! still wants an adequate successor to the late William Huntington. This circumstance is not owing to the alisenee of candidates for his vacant throne, but to the difficulty of making such an election as would be sa tisfactory to his survivin:.; fiiends.. Devoted to the opinions of their pastor, and rfjec , ing all interpi:etations of scripture that d:Ter:ll from trim, they invested him with something little short of infailiblity, at.d still recur to his preaching, as the statirlard of all excellence. " Mr. Huntington had in to himself and his beards," says the author of the Voice of. Years, "an easier yoke than - the yoke of Christ ; but this easy yoke of his, cate.ed the yoke of Christ to be inch heavier on the necks of other churches aod ministers than it otherwise wori!d have been. What do I mean ? I mean thii:--that every Minister, in town and country, where !tir. Houtington's name had any influence, was abused and vilified, called a legalist, au Arminian, a work-monger, and a blind Thar isee, the momeut they said any thing about duty, or the required deportment of a Christian in this evil wor: r El.ithe:s of nearly the same kind, although some- nhat .tteneated, hive more recently been as liberally ap vliud in stone of the preachers who were solicited by his congre , ooion to their abilities on probation. lt trite possible, then, not only for hearers "to make a pope of a good nein and faithful minister," but also for a good n:an and faithful minister to make so many popes of thf , he:lieis who ,tatediv fleck to him. Abundance of this s;.iirit of Antichrist may, indeed, be found amongst the Dis siziittns of the present day; and it is possible, (ha! some por tion of it may still attach to Providence Chadel. " Has there never been :.,ny lording it over the poor and feeble of the dock," ob,crves cute i;er : no religious oppression, of any part, pr.. - ketiscit there Coneregations iilwlys take the liberty of criticising the roinisteis who adcbcss them, but in no place, perhaps, is this popular ordeal so sc'veiely applied as at Providence Chapel.. Not only is every luarer thoo4bt competent to sit in judg meat on the pr befor! him, be he who he may, but suell judgment is delivered in terms by ro means ceremoni ous as it respece; the ohject of it. Delicacy is here out of nue•tion. The de( ision t> instantly' made; and the preacher who is desirous of knowing the opinion thus formed of him, ftV-ourable.or otherwise, will have the certainty of finding it cenceyed in unequivocal terms. Ministers, in general, seem, however, by too means solicitous to undergo this test ; and ileni e the Candldates for the pulpit of the late Mr. gton have not been remarkable for their numbers or ccmpe:ltif.n. Tlds leTection for their departed head, indeed, has pro. dt'ccd an effct that his followers do not appear to be k.p prised of. Conceiving the deceased pastor to have been every thing,—looking back qn the•man, and not to his otiose,—his clerical succeisois have proposed him as their "C' . ”. model ; and seem to found their pretensions to his rank, whether in doctrine or manner, on their endeavours to mimic his preaching. Those persons who may have re sorted to Providence Chapel, for the Wt year, cannot have failed to notice this peculiarity in thoq who preached there. THOMAS BuitOess, the reacher most in estimation with fhe Congregation still assembling at Providence Chapel, Gtay's Inn Lane, has been for several years the Minister of Ebenezer Chapel, New Town, Deptford ; where he delivered a Set mon, July the 1 ith, 1613, occasioned by the death of the late Rev. Wtn. Huntington. Since he charactetised that preacher as " one of the greatest men of God that the church has had since the Apostolic day," and adds that he " loved . him for his work's sake," it was natural that his own labours should prove most acceptable to those hearers by whom the same sentiment is held. Considering the deranged and di vided state in which the followets of Mr. Huntington have now existed for upwards of twelve months, they will act wisely by trying to secure the services of the only minister who seems calculated to heal their divisions, and collect their scattered numbers. It is greatly in favour of Mr. Burgess, respecting his new situation, that he towers far above the assaults of persons who would otherwise have presumed to pass sentence on him. Already established in the religious world, he has nothing to apprehend from the inquisition of spiritual dictators. The question is not, happily, now to be agitated—as to whether he possesses " that pro found and penetratimg judgment, that keen and piercing sagacity, and that amazing fund of spi ritual understanding," which, " upon all subjects in divinity," are described as having enabled his great,precursor to " walk through the new covenant land ?" Experience has satisfied ibis enquiry. The pretensions of the readier have under gone the necessary test, and the reputation of orthodoxy has been awarded him. Untrammelled by the servility that uniformly marks the efforts of those copyists who endeavour to imitate the talent at which they cannot grasp, it is no dispraise to say, concern ing Mr Burgess, that his preaching will frequently serve to remind his hearers of the discourses of Mr. Huntington. lie has acknowkdged how much he admired the latter, thinking that "in point of 'experience and ministerial gifts there were none equal to him ;1' and this sentiment of admiration, on his part, appears to have produced an approximation to the manner and method of the preacher whom he approved so well. Notwithstanding this trait, however, there are parti culars in which Mr. Burgess hears no resemblance to his pulpit model, still preserving his true individuality. . Though Mr. Burgess is distinguished for all the plainness and familiarity of his deceased friend, together with no small spice of his quaintness, yet he displays nothing of that eccentricity which was discovered so prominent in. him. Modesty is the pervad , ng feature of his character. Ile is I more retharkable for simplicity of .mien, and for plainness of speech, than for those qualities that are supposed to attract in preachers of his stamp. Curiosity mast not anticipate vain gratification from his discourses. He attempts no nes, discoveries of truth, exhibits no peculiarities, and says no- thing to be laughed at. Provided the frequenters of Providence Chapel are fled with preaching of this kind, therefore, it will be injus tice to stigmatise their public devotions as extravagant and fanatical. 'lll2 enthusiasm of faith; indeed, seems rapidly on the decline with dissenters of every class, and is only to be charged on the obnoxious few amongst each, Methodism will presently be found to exist but in name; tili some inno va!ing theologian shall again be commissioned to arouse the slumbering genius of Protestantism: ONEsIMVS. 'f