The National Register.
London, England, 1812-04-12 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

APRII 12.

Ebe ivuiptt.

No. XLIII.

Such discourse bring on
As may advise him of his happy state,
Happiness in his power—left free to will,
1 ,eft to his own free-will; his will, though free,
Yc t mutab!c—whence warn him to beware,

• • • • . .
lest, wilfully transgressing, lie pretend
Surprisal. unadmonish'd, unforwarn'd.—•P. L. v. 233.

In this beaatifnl passage of the inimitable Poem of MILTON, the DI-
E will find the very themes upon which his pulpit-duty ought to he
incessantly ex.rci .ed. Our immortal Bard, who was most conversant
with theological topic; and disquisitions, has divided here the subjects
of al: sermons, all discourses, all exhortations into two grand points.
T! e first is to show what man has to enjoy, the other what he has
to f •ar; his privileges and his deficiencies; his power and his weak-
m°.. ; bis present and future state. Raised above the brute creation by
the bountiful band of his Maker, man is the only one, among animated
bAngs, who, by the gift of intellect and the exercise of I.is judgment,
can make a free choice, between good and had ; between what is right
and what repugnates to the dictates of his conscience. The rest of the
animals, led merely by the dim and unsteady glimmerings of instinct,
can chuse (if we can style a choice the blind impulsion of appetite) what
is necessary for the support of temporary existence, but caii go no far-
t' a-. hat iis inct is lip the more than the ratural faculties of al: living
bodies. It may be compar.Ai to the throbbing of the heart, the inhal-
ing motion of the lungs, which, as they are indispensible for the pre-
servatio., of the individual, Providence has most wisely placed out of
his elective power. But man has perceptions and ideas, which, pro-
perly weighed in the scales of his judgment, enable him to make a
choice, and to use fully and uninterruptedly the singular prerogative of
a free will.

When we consider the " sociable spirit, RA PHAEL," sent by the Al-
miz,hty, to warn, admonish, and advise the feeble creatures, just ema-
nated from his plastic hands—although this fiction is nothing else than
the elf: rvescence of a great and lively genius, and has little to do with
the exact records of holy truth, yet we cannot help recognizing in the
Archangel the most perfect prototype of a DIVINE. His message ori-
tinates front the same high authority ; his ministry is the same, and the
object of his mission implies duties of the like importance. It is from
the pulpit that the DIVINE ought to make his Christian hearers consci-
ous of the dignity of their station in this world, of the dangers which
surround them, and of the advantages they will ultimately reai, from
their obtemporating with the salutary advice which they receive front
his mouth. To convince his auditors that " happiness is in their power,
left to free will," for this life and for eternity, is the task, the angelic
task he has to perform ; and, when descending the steps of the evange-
lica' tribune, where his orations have been delivered with sincerity,. and
heard with attention; when returning home, he can, within himself,
say, without pride, but with 'humble consciousness and religious hope,
" I have made several of my fellow-creatures more happy than they
were before ;" is there any pecuniary reward equal to such a recom-
rense ? No! the laurels of the Olympic games, the crown of the capi-
ta!, the shouts of the multitude, and applauses of theatrical assemblies,
are n.)t to be compared with this self-bestowed and just ly-earned com-
pensation for his assiduity and labour. It is then that he can boast of
being the good Shepherd so simply, but so energetically described by
Christ himself in the Gospel of this day. He has tended his flock, and
hi, flock knows his voice, because there exists between thcm that red-
Pr )city of affection and respect, of care and submission, of devotedness
and gratitude, without which all ties between the pastor and sheep arc
of no avail.

Of all the discourses which the son of God, when upon earth, held
lx::h his apostles Lnd disciples, in the hearing of the concourse of people
htch used to follow the step of HIM who was light to the blind, sound
to the deaf, word to the dumb, and health to the sick ; of all what
Christ ever said, during the shutt time (4 his conversation with man,
this, which has been selected for the reading of this day, is acknow-
ledged to be stamped with the most expressive marks of that unspeak-
able afloction .which the SaviJur felt fur mankind. It is an alkgory,

233

but it is fraught with sentiments of unlv.unded love ; the thypherd has
not only to lead hip flock in wholesome and plentiful pastures, but he
must defend his tnti fisted wards against their enemies, and lay down his
life for their sake. It is a prophetic criterion, by which the congrega-
tion will always be enatled to discern the: true and real shepherd from
the hireling as long as the church of Christ will ,tand, that is till that
last and awful hour when time will sink into eternity.

Were we to follow these observations a few stcp: farther, they
would naturally lead us to discuss the propriety of .1?:.:,Ne):,-c for Clergy..
men in all the degrees of their hierarchy—a topic too extensive and too
delicate to be cursorily treated here, and which we leave fur this nin.
ment, to the consideration of our intelligent readers. Sl:ffice it to say
that the principles laid down by Christ himself, and recorded by the
Evangelist, arc indisputable, and independent of opinions and circurn-
cunastances ; and that they emanate from him who said—" Heaven and
earth shall pass away ; but my words shall not pass away. Calimi et
terra transibunt ; verba twain men non transilnint . Luke I . 33.
I'HILAGORETES.

FINE AEl's.

BRITISH INS rrru noN.

Conscious of the duties, and faithful to the obligations of a NATIONAL
REGISTER, we do not only adult necessary to recurd those momentous
events, in the political world, which shake or consolidate the blsis of
kingdoms and empires; those highly important debates, which elicit in
the Senate the arguments of reason, the coruscati:ws of genius, and the
splendour of eloquence ;—we do not confine etirselves to accidental
transactions, which, though of minor interest, are yet of ,0 eat eiket in
giving a physiognomy to society, and a character to the pre,,eut age;
but we grasp at any branch of human life, and embrace all that i 3 wor-
thy of the attention of our numerous and discriminating Readers.—
Among these objects of public importance, the Fine rts hold a princi-
pal rank, inasmuch as they considerably contribute to the glory of the
nation who fosters and rotects them, and, as the assiduous none.: wi•ich
we have taken of them has been hitherto so kindly rewarded by the ap-
plause and patronage of the Public, we shall endeavour to continue our
strictures upon their productions with as much zeal and impartiality
as we have already done.
According to the most laudable plan of the British Institution, the
Gallery, which will open again to-morrow, has been closed since Satur-
day last, in order to remove those performances which are sold, and to
admit Mr. WEs r's grand Picture of
CHRIST HEALING THE SICK IN THE TEMPLE.

We have often seen, attentively studied, and sincerely admired this
wonderful performance of an Artist, who, after a life of ut,:easing ey:-
ertion, and of brilliant success in the art of painting, clines forward at
the advanced age of seventy-three years, and evinces still all the wamth
and vigour of genius, and the activity and steadiness of youth. We are
acquainted with, and join, in the general praise of his Regulus, his
St. Stephen, his Lust Supper, and of all his best works, and yet we are
happy to find that his lAA Picture contains all the beauties, and none of
the faults, which may have been remarked in the other-. It stands among
the rest, like the superior lustre of the moon amidst the starry host, and
exhibits, in its author, that plmenomenon of nature, when the God of
Day sets with a much greater splendour than he emitted at his meridian,
as if man, who is made " in the itme.e, and after the likeness" of 1,4
Creator, was to imitate Him sometimes in that point, that his last work
should be the most perfect. The fact is, when a man of talents. pro-
ceeding stedfastly in the career which he has chosen, and where the ac-
clamations and shouts of his competitors encourage him to exert him-
self, continues his studies with unabated assiduity, fully convinced of
the truth hinted by 'he words in Horace, disce docendus adbue, "learn,
for you want still to he taught ;" he cannot fail of an lying at that
gree of perfection which Providence has permitted us to attain.
The subject is told with simplicity, energy, and majesty--tie whole
scene, which occupies a space of canvas of about one hundred and
seventy-seven square feet, presents to the eye between fifty and sixty
figures all intent upon the transaction, all at their respective posts, and
all finishA after living models. The disposition of the groups is happily
conceived. and the execution surpasses the most eager expectation. The
figure of the dying man, brought by two strong porters to the He iiing
Power, is a chi
.1 receuvre of expression and of anaomical knowledge
Stamped with all the concomitant and distressing symptoms approach-