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"4ll`
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 profound 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.

OCT. 23.

•, . . . '

ON AMBITION.

No. 7.

Continued frogs Page 368, (Am 6.)

Happier is the Shepherd swain,
With a mind not proudly vain,
Than the Monarch on his throne,
Bvitared with genii of Ambition.

I. C.

No position is more correct, than that Ambition increases 1.
in roportion to the ideal means of feeding it. -Whether in
humble or exalted stations, if it acquires the least ascendancy,
the mind becomes unhappy, all felicity. ceases, and the intel-
ligent faculty is continually on the rack for new acquisitions.
This being the unhappy state of earthly grandeur, pomp, and
noise, ought we not to suppress every irregular, loose, and
eager desire, which might tend towards such criminal sen-
sations? Although we may conceive Ambition to be tardy
in its progress, and judge from our own observations, the
impossibiity of its overcoming our natural reason, imagin-
ing we have power to restrain it at pleasure, we should be
sufficiently apprised, that, however slow, if encouraged
beyond its proper limits, it is unerring in its principles. and
roots itself so firm in our imaginations, that great strength of
authority, and self government of mind are requisite attain-
ments to eradicate this destructive growing evil. Content
with the mediocrity allotted by PROVIDEWCE, in his un•
changeable wisdom, is the only sure restraint towards
counteracting these lofty, aspiring pretensions. For without
controul, Ambition devastates fields and cities, depopulates
kingdoms and empires, and lays waste the most fertile and
beautiful provinces. The bounties of our Creator• likewise
become a prey to this devouring passion. It wars against the
very elements and would willingly subdue*them : and even
when really defeated in its vain projects it ceases not to rage
with uncontroulable fury, though divested of its exaggerated
power, but foams with madness at being foiled in its attempt
and prevented from the gratification, however unlawful, of
pursuing and .obtaining the fantastic vision of aggrandize-
ment so pleasing to The mental conceptions of weak minds :
besides the most untoward and mischievous etTects accom-
pany inordinate Ambition, for it becomes disgustful to scscietv,
ruinous in its consequences, and not nufreqttently defeats the
least sanguine expectations of its possessor. Notwithstanding
this, restlessness may possibly suggest to the unwary mind that
its views are moderate.

Thus we may perceive that by too eagerly grasping at the
shadow, the substance is often lost. We are informed by an-
tient history, that Alexander the Great, on receiving intelli-
gence of any victory obtained by his Fath.T, Phillip, king of
Macedon, appeared melancholy and sorrowful, exclaiming to
his friends, " Alas t my Father will accomplish every tiling.
and leave no feats for me to achieve." After al this pomp-
ous supremacy and ostentatious display of royalty, what was
the issue ? Continually haunted with an uneasy and perturbed
mind, his life must have been an incumbrance, the latter part
whereof exhibiting an important lesson to mankind in
general: the. sudden transitions from good to bad, from
I)rudence to folly, from moderation to violence,
,from glory
to ignominy, must make, every rational creature tremble upon
the brink of the abyss dug by such ungovernable passions:
yielding himself to the biassed dictates of an unrestrained
ambition, he became the scourge of mankind, and the pest of
the world. By dills brier sketch of his life we may conclude
that Ambition. when suffered to supersede the valuable gift
Of reason, is man's sreatest enemy, that it brings dawn upon

CS3

him tna!evolence with her implacable satellites,-and destreye
that happiness anti content depicted to have reigned in the
earlyages of themniverse
Long did Content her reeetataie maintain,
" A 4 long maeeied were hlegm'd beneuth tier
•
" Tin dire Amlnlion, hellish fiend ! arose,
"To }Aerie the world and banish males repose,"
Gent/ma/is Magazine.
Nor does the character of a modem restless adventurer
detract one iota from what is here advanced, but, on the con-
trary, more fully elucidates the dangers and sores ex-
perienced by suffering humanity, arising from this baneful
and rapacious disposition, usurping sole dominion over the
minds of weak mortals. For in whatever situatiou of life we
view his conduct, whethor as a General in the field, a late
self-created Emperor, or rather usurper, of France, a Go
vernor over the feeble• mind of a princely victim, or au
haranguer in the Senate, his conduct wae ersally atrocious ;
his mind must, if possessed of any celestial attribute, be op-
pressed with as many unpleasant sensations as the renowned
King Richard the Thum d, of whom it is recorded he was pre-
pared to comm_it the most horrid climes, which appeared ne-
cessary for the diabolical purpose of unlawfully seizing the
reins of government.
The field of blood and carnage affords this graceless despot
the most visionary means of glutting his sanguinary appetite.
and is the most capricious theatre wherein to display his
ostentations and ill-gotten power. Yet even here ht 4 ira;
hecile he appeared on a reverse of fot tune ; his courage for-
sook him, his thirst after greatness became more irascible.
and his only ambition was then how to meanly withdraw
himself from danger, under the plausible pretext of preserv-
ing a life to his subjects.
Ile presented himself before his astonished people, and am-
bitiously inferred from external appearances that his infamous
conduct of cowardly deserting his post and abandoning his
vanquished army to the merey of an irritated enemy, was
applauded by his unhappy subjects. But, alas! how short-
sighted is ambition when dazzled with the proud, though
vain hope of subduing the world. This Tyrant is no doubt
now a prey to his own wicked conceptions, and millers
diabolically plotting something once mote to disturb Ern'ope.
though cooped up in the Island of Elba.. The present era
exhibits to mankind most important occurrences: .may the
opportunity now afforded of mat:ing an everlasting; peace
with the whole world be embraced, and prevent, by firte;y
uniting, this or any other modern barbarian from once more
1 desoiatina fertile Europe—a man worthy only to be raneti
with a Caligula who was an Emperor of Rome, the. successor
of Tiberius and son of Germanicus, a very wicked PI hire :
or a Nero Claudius Caesar, adopted by Claudius, a men, or
rather a brute in man's form, who is reported to have been
most infamous for cruc'e, rapioe, sacrilege, lust, extrava-
gance, and. to comprehend all crimes, iegra!itude.
Through the interposition of Provideece, who aiAs the vir-
tuous, have we been 'delivered from this 'dreadful scouree
which had so long diturt,ed the repose of the human
and matie such dteadful havoc over (leif!ilteil EtirOpS..!: there-
' Ine let us all preserve our minds from permit ,ine this deaci!y
weapon to wound us past the asFistenee of remedy, ocar su!r,_!r
such fleeting vision, so eldfereet from true courage, to
eclipse our more solid enilywents, or rob us of that repose
allotted by the Father of all totee;es.

1. C.

Chapel Sired,Sal„rx-el, Manchester, Sept. 29, 1814.

Mr. Bond, master ni' the Fit.cl overt), in A!!!ernriii-
bury, was mullenly 4eized with a tit of ap,vl..xy, at a buarjiti;-
house iu Brigtitou, and expired very .4c:cm After.