The National Register.
London, England, 1813-12-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGI

79

tube pulpit.

Ile, with resistless eloquence,
S.: ft viercing words, and more than manly YellSe,
MOIthIS them to good, recalls them when they stray,
•And guides direct in virtue's glorious way. —WESLEY.

REV. JOHN ANGELL JAMVT,
OF BIRMINGHAM.

'Pulpit eloquence is now cultivated with an unusual assi-
duity. The preacher who cannot now boast some power
of language, who cannot both allure and impress the human
;bind: finds but few hearers, and no followers. Ile may, in-
deed, endeavour to lift up. his voice, but unless it be lifted
up like a trumpet, it will literally be as the voice of one cry-
ing in the wldernet.s, and crying in vain. Preachers are
now expected to command attention ; and, especially in the
metroi-oli, to ho!d " delighted auditorics the willing cap-
tives of theil eloquence. 10'
All this is well, when it ends well. It was doubtless the
cninntendation of Apollos: that he was an eloquent man, as
wel! as migh'y in the Set lout cs of t, uth ; and yet we know,
te)twithstanding such commendation, that many of the early
ehristians, captived by his eloquence, looked too little to
Him, who, though Paul phtW, and Apollos water,
t ould alone succted the labours of both ! Gifts arc certainly
desh able, as well as grace, in the ministets of the sanctuary;
but t 1 e generality of wolshippers, too apt to idolize the
p eacher in the man, teqiiire to be continually cautioned on
this head, and tethinded of that source whence all good gifts
do most unquestionably prececd, and to which the chief of
ministers Must coufess himself to be indebted for all that he
is, and all that he hopes.
Tl:e Rev. Jon N S GET. LJAM ES, who has been fi'rsome

time minioer of Ca1.1.-:i-lane Meeting, Birmingha', is ends!
nently diAinguisivil for that oratorical eNeellence which !,
ac ems so much prized in the preachers of our a.4e. Ilis per-1
son is pleasing, lUs countenance prepost,essing;and his action
both easy and graceful; while his voice melodi-
ous, and his enuneiation at once emphatir and clear. His
appca-ance is attractke, at d his delivery in the highest de- !
gree captivating. 'There seems an absolute fascination in
his speech.
Lukewarmness to religion" has by himself been stigma-
tised as " a practi al heresy, more injurious to the souls of
men than any speculative en cr ;" and " the person who
can live in this age without a degree of public spirit," re-
garding religion, as " a -14ce•of religious antiquity." Death
in the pulpit is indeed de:lth to all. While the present
preacher, therefore, far from incurring this guilt, is not even
chargeable with the lukewarnmess he condemns in others,
it must he regretted (Lit his pulpit efforts still want that his
tinctive animation whose province it is to render preaching
efficacious to the great ends for the accomplishment of which
the cirri, '-an ministry is established. The late Rev. Thomak
Spencer, in the Letter:. accompanying the Memoirs of his
Life, expre!scs his pL.culiar regard for i,ealous and earnest
preachers," addit., that !'e liked " to see animation and
life in the pulpit ," and though very few are, what he was,
born for the pulpit, " all toe powers of their souls formed
for it," vet every preacher ought evidently to be inspired
with a kind, of superhuman eamiestriess in the dispensation
of that gt,:rel vhich it forms " the busine's and the honour

* Sue L.e. 1k ir. Raffie.'s ()IP lug friend Ow Rev. Dr.
.:droi!:!! enough introduced, in his Mcninirs of the Lite and
111inistry of :ite. late Rev. Thomas Spenetr, of Liverpool.
trick is mei ;lune.

i
, • 5.

of his life to preach ! It is not the blaze of genius, or the
glow of imagination," justly observes a living preacher,
" but the sacred flame of fervent piety, the holy kindlings
of a mind moved by principles derived from Heaven, and the
generong efforts of a soul impelled by an intense desire for
the salvation of a dying woad, that must impart life and
energy to !he correct, hot glowing statements,—the wawa
and impassioned appeals" of the Embassador of Chris-
tian v.
If placidity of mien, sweetness of voice, cle*anee of ad-
dress, with a fluency and felicity of style, were found avail-
able to the conviction and conversion of souls, there have
existed few Area( hers whoye incits, humanly balanced,
could be put advantageously in comparison with those of the
minister now before us. Truth must here award him the
palm. his statements, also, are grounded ; and his reason- •
ipg is sound ; while his discourses are embellished with, a
richness of imagary, spontaneously cooceived and brilliantly
exhibited, that almost dazzles the mental eye, overpowered,
even while transported, with • excess of light There is the
possibility of satiating, however, without satisfying; and of
delighting, without impressing the mind. !" It was," ex-
claims the he4ier, returning from a sermon of this desctip-
tion, ." a concert—not a feast ; it was all for the e.° r, no-
thing for the palate ; much mu lc, no provision ; a dtal
heard, he but little felt.''
Divinity is thus but too seriously sacrificed at the shrine
of oratory. Here it should be observed, nevertheless, that
the present preacher is really correct in regard to what is
modestly considered as orthodoxy ; that be can allure, if
he does not alarm ; and that his discourses—judiciousl y
composcd, and elegantly delivered—may inform and im-
move the al hewer, and more particularly the young.
Perhaps s' me admirers of sutilorplenee will not be ungratifi-
ed to learn, in this place, that a Portrait of the Rev. Mr..lames
has been prefixed to the Evangelical Magazine for May last,
and is esteemed a tolerable

ON ESI NI US.

ENV ATCIIM AN It he reNunted next :
Nnu-rcsiatstec Cltrgynitn.

BIBLE ASSOCIATIONS.

TO TEIE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER:.

• SIR—No. 3of the NV a'chman in this day's paper), con-
tains many vet v judicious and well-timed remarks on a subs
ject that citlls for dispa•sonate enquiry ; viz. the present
abundance of Bible Associations, come under whatever de-
nomination they may. To a proper and bountiful distribu-
tion of the worth of God no man of common sense or any re-
litiious feeling can possibly object, but, on the contrary,
assist with all his power: but does the pre:,ent mode answer
that description Th 2. proposal to the poor to assist the /4(4
in a pc:al:jar!, way to provide for their souls, is whimsical,
to say no worse. The poor are to. have the gospul preached
to them for nothing, let its law then be provided t4.em ow the
same terms. There arc many very sincere Christians con-
! nected with the various Fiible Societies without doubt, but
I many designing ones also, and, I have little hesitation in
Isnpposing, many int crested booksellers, who make a profit of
this procedure. The observation of the Watchman- relative
to the great quantity of new preachers the Bible Chits, as he
terms them, will give rise to,, is much in point ; and. if
preachers go on etteteasing as they have hitherto, in a few
years we shall have mote than congregations can be possibly
found fur; and each church will be almost literally 4. two
tin cc lathe; cd togethel.." Preaching now is certainly