The National Register.
London, England, 1814-07-31 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

493

this description will give majesty to his manner, and inspielL
sion to his instructions. •

George D'Oyley, B. D. is still a Fellow of Benet College ,
in the University of Cambridge, of which he was elected
• Christian Advocate' in 1811. Honour; have distinguished
Its• career. He was a junior optima, ia•1778; a senior op-
time, in 796; the second wrangler, among Smiths prize-
men, in 1800 ; a members' prize-man in ISO t ; a moderator
of triposes, for the years 1807, 8 and 9 ; and he served the
office of proctor, in 1808. lie is a chaplain in ordinary to
his Majesty; also a chaplain to his Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury ; and joint-editor
.of the Church of England
Bible, now publishing under the sanction of the ptimatee
and the patronage of the ecclesiastical establishment is
general.

Both size and figure join to give effect to the delivery of
Mr. gOyley's sermons; which are written, and openly placil
in the sermon-cast before him. lle has naturally an audible
and distinct voice, pnssessing, sufficient intonation, and in the
management of it, he displays much of that oratorical excel-
lence which is almost peculiar to the preachers of his church.
Circumlocution and tautology, supposed to be inseparable •
from extemporary preaching, are not to be charged on
this preacher's compositions. llis sermons are constructed
with the most commendable precision, and couched in lan.:
guage at once elvpnt and clear. Revolved in the auspicious
silence of solitude, without the temptation to wander, the
sacred volume opened before him, reviewing what he has
composed, and thus rectifying what he may discover to he
wrong, every thing conduces to that correctness of statement.
luminousness of arrat:ement, harmony of particulars, adti
exact felicity of style, which form the chief recommendations
of sermons written for the pulpit. • While so few of our
divines are /Timid to be orators, and same extemporary
preachers are but too apt to run into impertinency and ram,
so that it is thought madness to 4‘ speak on the spur," it is
probable that the case and correctness which are obtained by
the we of written sermons, concurring with circumstances,
will serve to repress the cultivation of spontaneous eloquence
in our colleges and balk' and reconcile the people to that
species of preaching which is at least favourable to the cage
of their priests.' Evangelical critics have also been
brought to assist- in countenancing thiS evil, if an evil it he,
by confessing, strange as the admission appears on their part,
that they themselves despair of witnessing in this country the
&splay of any thing like pulpit eloquence.
It was just now observed, that Mr. D'Oyley exemplified
much of that oratorical excellence which .is chat acteristic of
tire episcopal pulpit. There is an eloquence in the reading
of sermons, as well as in the preaching of them, to which
few can attain, even in our church. This talent, therefore,
demands praise. Whoever can appreciate the difficulty of
delivering a written .sermon, so as to grace it with the effect
of an extemporary speech, Thay fi.rn'i some idea of the ability
of Mr. LYoyley with resllect to delivery. lie has, never-
. theles, •nothing of the actor about him, nothing aiVected,
nothing strained ; this reading of sermons is an art io which
he appears to surdais without the effort
to excel,—in which
he pleases without labouring to please.
obsovailt of the duties which devolve to him as On is-
iarr Advocate,' the present pr ac her has published • 7n.eis
o:scon rfes, caci!ed before the University 0'
'i otr the Doctrine of a Particular providence, an
Eirhte:insin with Notes, referring to some re,
and Publicatiotis en those Subjects.'

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