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,
Cllr. 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