The National Register. — London, England, 1809-01-01 00:00:00

JAN. •1. Since be thus discards all pretensions to literary circum spection, it is not so astonishing, as otherwise it would be, to hear him, while striving to fathiliarise the mysteries of our religion, talk of " depths that would drown a camel," with " rivulets running to the main river, which a lamb might wade with safety.' And, adding, with the most marvellous expression of countenance;--" how surprising does the Bible explain these matters! what a wonderful book is the Bible!" Let him take full credit to himself, however, for the species of ability he generally displays in the pulpit. He has the knack of arresting the regard of the commonalty, and then obtaining their immediate at tentiom. He is unequalled in the faculty of religious ec ceniricity. His stories are always intelligible; and his jokes are jokes of the heart. Mr. Hill entertains so much sovereign contempt, Such ' dignified detestation, as I before stated, for any oratory partaking either of l he " sounding brass" or the " tinkling cymbal," and he seems so anxiously to avoid even the judicious admixture of both, that it is by no means easy to ascertain to what genus of eloquence his preaching belongs. Ills voice is now either so broken as to render his enunci ation indistinct, so tremulous as to be scarcely audible, or so painfully raised as to resemble hooting. He may, how , ever, be estimated by one cannon of santiloquence, if, as another reverend gentleman (Mr. Blake, of the Adelphi Chapel) asserts, 46 No one is fit for a Spiritual Shepherd Who does not possess a good whistle, to whistle the sheep into the fold,"—if such be the case, then is the Bev, itow lind Hill, most clearly, in point of " whistle" or lungs, supereminently qualified to discharge the laborious duties of the spiritual sheepfold. There is another qualification by which, it should seem, C llr. Hill is entitled to the distinction of being a proper 64 spiritual shepherd." Following the example of the r gal shepherd of antiquity, he bears about with him " his ; whence (again according to Mr. Blake) the true Shepherd must, as did the Champion of Goliath, be conti nually "flinging stones" at the enemies of his flock ! Mr. 11111, then, is most employed in thus " flinging stones," or, speaking less metaphorically, ill scaring and routing sinners; Without considering, that all human hearts are not equally obdurate—but that, while many ate to be as sailed by terror, Still numbers require to be allured by mercy. Moses may denounce, and deter; but, it is for Jesus to conciliate and convert • Is it impossible to dissuade Mr, Hill from extravagantly pursuing a system of preaching, of which the beneficial effects are extremely doubtful ?---Cannot he be familiar, without being funny ? Must illustration be necessarily ir reverential ? His conduct has done incalculable-mischief. I know not how many an S. S. and N. C. we owe to his ex ample ; men who, either as to ability or integrity, are not worthy of being associated with Mr. Hill, even sts " the . hewers of wood and drawers of water" to the temple of re ligion. What ambition can lie find in' being looked up to as the head of story-telling and stamping preachers, of evangelical eccentrics, of pulpit buffoons ? 1 forbear expatiating oh his frequent invectives against regular cler gymen, and his ill-dissembled confidence in his own preaching. While it is incumbent on me not to conceal the defects of Mr. Hill, let his merits obtain honourable mention. if he did not evince more than ordinary talents, he would not have called forth the strictures I have felt it necessary to snake concerning him. Ile possesses a strong reasoning mind. TTe readily seizes the prominent bearings of his subject, fixes them in the clearest point of view, and is easily apprehended by his auditory. His addresses, as they seem to flow from the fervour of feeling, often strongly affect the feelings of those to whom they are directed; and the very tremuloes pess of his under-tones contributes, at times, to solemnize the minds of the people. His action, though too frequent ly ludicrously distorted, is, when occasionally lie places his hand on the sconce. of the pulpit, really graceful and high ly THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 13 1 wish that Mr. Hill's ecclesiastical lovalty bore any pro portion to his political allegiance ; that he reverenced our church, as as much he respects our constitution. lie pray heartily for his King and Country ;" and therefore he it' estimated by the criterion trhich King George the Second is reported to have applied to George Whitfield, a good and true subject of our present gracious Sovereign. His prayers have another merit. As he is an extemporary prayer, as well as preacher, he uniformly avails himself of topics immediately interesting to the feelings of the public. When he prayed for Britain, he did not forget to intercede for Spain. His catholicism only requires to he extended to the ministers of our national church. Most devoutly it is to be wished, that the Hey. Rowland 11111 would entirely commit the business of abusing our spiri tual dignitaries to William Huntington. Let this part of the evangelical occupation be forthwith transferred from Surry Chapel, to Providence Chapel! Leave to the illite rate and illiberal, the Huntingtons or Cobbetts of their age, the disgraceful task of reviling those qualifications and dignities which they despair of attaining themselves. Vanity ; 1 fear, mingles too much with the best of our bestuesses. What other sentiment than that of vanity induced Mr. Hill to patronise prints of his own hcuses, where he is represented as in the act of setting out front home in his full robes, while a medallion profile of him is suspended amidst the clouds above? Evangelical minis, tors, it should seem, arc sometimes rather earthly minded. December 31i 1808. OSCS/ MILS% LCLESIASTICkL PROMOTIONS. The Earl of Cassillis having presented the Rev. Wm. Ferric to the l'i•ofessorship of Civil is tory in the Unite-1 College of St. Andrew's, he wag on Friday sennight admitted a Member or that University. The Alarquis of Titchtield has been pleased to present the Revs James M•Kitilay, of the second charge, to be Minister of the first charge of the Collegiate Church of Kilniaruock. THE THEATRE. MISS NORTON'S SANE SNORE. AND MRS. BEAUMONT ' S ALICTA. It is generally thought that to divide is to weaken ; and from this opinion a custom if not a rule of the drama hos spruug, which causes the exaltation of one favourite cha racter, and the depression of others. For should the at tention be awakened by two objects at once, no one doubts but it would be less powerfully called into action, than by one alone. Yet let us suppose a man pursued by a lion, or any other carnivorous animal, in a desert. Whilsttryingte escape, he reaches a precipice, the height of which is made more tremendous by the racks which start 'from its sides, and the torrent that thunders, hid beneath its foam, at. tho bottom. lie bends, half suspeuded, over the yawning gull', and at the same moment hears the approachire - roar tags of his foe. Is not his imagination equally a t ipaited by. arch of the threatening dangers to which he is exposed ? Here arc l however, two objects, and yet the terror whiell they excite, is heightened, and not weakened by thuir number and the equalitiy of their magnitude. Such were the thoughts which, perhaps, socked in Ike mind of Rowe, whilst forming the plan of . his Tragedy of Jane Shore. At least such an inference may be drawn from the disposition of his characters ; two of which 14 has raised to nearly the same pre-eminence over the rest, thus dividing the interest betweeu them. Jane `?ore and ; Alicia are park of equal importance, and equally difficult to perform. The mild repenlant resignation of :he former, and the jealous impetuosity of the latter, whilst they form , a striking and hie - lily interesting contrast, both requir4 ts .. r first-rate abilitities in the performers who are bold enough ito assume those characters ; or else , should any inferior actress fill one of them, the Tragedy would appear to a teuell advantage,- as a portrait, uuc side of which nou4 bey