The National Register.
London, England, 1808-10-16 00:00:00


I


.

eisidon. Having calculated the
anommiasion, 1 shall endeavour to fulfil
" As ever in our great Task-Master,
I have already met with many antagonists
some may be *nominated adversaries.
fast approaching,—whether as affecting
al: G., or mister Seele•reetk
Germanic's:, or Philo- Verltes,--when
heart's must be disclosed; when what
cretly will be divulged openly, and when
timated not by the surmises of each other,
erring judgment of muniseience. It ,
fore, however dared to " stand forth," ,
tent of my opinions as to the real characters
poraries. While I shall never presume
decisions of omnipotence, I have only '
tagonists look forward to them with am
" the hypocritical heart" to him who
sees ; and l can leave also with him, to
ante belongs, " the punishment due" to
creatures ! My present task is more.gratefi
upon it with entire satisfaction. 1 have
our spiritual governors, in the language
rable Cowper, to
" lay not careles:s
" On sculls that cannot teach, and IE4I
The Rev. Pamir DODD is descended
family ; and, after the usual course of
tion, was sent to Magdalen College, in
he is still a Fellow. Ile is now Rector
Ilill, the Afternoon Lecturer of Camberwell
one of the Evening Preachers at the MP-
was also some years Morning Minister
Chapel ; and, during the mayoralty of
Knt. in 1807, he was Chaplain to the
of his Sermons are in print.; and he is
genious little tract entitled Hints to
from its being published anonymously
tended to claim the honour attached to
Mr. Dodd owes his preferment to his ,
character to his preferment. lie has been
his own reputation. " You," says
Gardner (whom Mr. Hodd succeeded,
Chapel), in a Farewell Sermon to that
livered on June 19, 1803,—" You will
of a public instructor in every respect
',ointment heis going to fill. Were he
gpenk of him in a manner more awreet
ings, and to his merits, than 1 now wit
I shall therefore merely say, that, I vend:
rectness of moral conduct, for purity
soundness ofdoctrine. and for excellence
'Very few, if any. superior to him." M,
nothing. from such merited eulogium.
Manliness of mind, and christianity
tote the leading pretensions of this preaci
tens the pulpit, it is with the seriousness
licitoits ter the good of the souls comie
Of his almost peculiar excellence in repeat.
Prayer, 1 confess myself incapable of conveying, by writ-
ing, an adequate idea to others. His Discourses arc al-
ways practical, inclining to experimental. His plain but
nervous language, his inculcation of doctrines no less than
duties, and the judicious conciseness of his applications,
are evidences alike of his earnestness and ability. Pro-
ceeding from the heart, his preaching., at once, appeal!. to
the heart. While the understanding is satisfied, the affee-
-oi:ins are rectified.
During the ceremonial, as well as the preceptive, part
of religious duty, worshipping as teaching, Mr. Dodd is
altogether uniform. Preachers have been so long accus-
tomed to join in congregational services, that any °Nee-
tion to the practice will doubtless appear singular. Con-
littering, nevertheless, what it is to fill the pulpit, how
ninth 401 solemn meditation is required and bow much of

w
and
th

OCT. 16.
TITE NATIONAL llttl.gurtiti.
arnagamernomm _
he importance of my private emotion it may occasion, I hate almost concluded s
if it
that the preacher should be left entirely to himself, to p .
hriatsuahel sitplrievtuideou,sityilltohaeoa,pr
wahrsichin
no
ois
human
ur sbpeliiiewre;al3,l:icili
as he ought then to be, in absolute-
ei. v elyn.e isCnouots with
iste iit mien.thrg throughout, tp, :benp4:ieoul usba) preacher indeed
trpaat.ir.
aster's eye!"
irtmireacpipresseat•
ntagonists, of whom
il. Alas t the day is their devotions but the association must be dis
ing OnesinesSys or IV. rim,. to b;,„
k, or s4fr, Moore or " L'- ; employed,. ciitl
1 the intentions doll CoMmunion wall divinity I •
has been devised se- It is not enough, however, to have filled the pulpit with /
yheu melt will bees. effect; to have ascended it circumspectly, and occupied it iw
ther, but by the un-
is not for the there- will not, atter having spoken wisely, a
," to declare the ex- " • At
the close,
niters of my contem. " Grow wanton
• and give proof to ev'ry eye,
me to anticipate the " Whoe'er was edified, himself was not I" n
to hope that my au-
confideuce. I leave He, therefore, will not hurry from his sacred station, as if
D see
not as man lie felt fatigued by its demands, or was eager to meet the
a whom alone verge- salutations of the vestry, or anxious to escape to some more I
to the offences ofriiiii pressing or pleasing engagement ; but, like the subject of i
;rateful ; and I miter this sketch, he will remain where duly placed him, await-
ye not now to adjure lag the time for modestly withdrawing from the gaze or 1
,ge of the ever admi• compliments
b e rt
ous
of his hearers. He will bar all intrusion. Ile i
will
only
to avoid notice, and alert congra-
; hands tulations.
ill not learn !" Mr. Dodd, though successful, is not inaccessible ; and I
d from a respectable shall therefore advert briefly to his deficiencies. 1
f preparatory educe- Animated as generalty he is, he has yet too much the air
Cambridge, of which of reading his discourses ; and lie lingers his manuscript,
or of Saint Mary at turning over leaf after leaf, with such precision as conic I
lierwell Church, and derably weakens his powers of address. His delivery is not I
Asylum. Mr. Dodd sufficiently diversified, the fulness of his voice occasionally 1
rat South Lambeth impedes his articulatiou, and his emphases are sometimes ;
i
if Sir Wm. Leighton, prolonged till they approximate to pauses. 1 know the
Lord 'Mayor. No detestation in which he holds fanaticism, but I trust it mill
s the writer of an in- never drive him from spirituality.
Freshmen, though, Why do I write in commendation of Mr. Dodd f—Per. '
ily, others have pre- sonally 1 have not the happiness of his acquaintance, I know
0 its real author. him only in the pulpit ; but, this knowledge is perfectly
its character, not his sufficient. Hence then my estimate is formed. If he is
been the architect of among the few whom, as clerical characters, I xentrate ;
the Rev. Lawrence it is because his conduct, as far as I can learn, demands my
,at South Lambeth respect, and because his talents have acquired him my
at congregation, de- warmest approbation. Full of his charge, but negligent of
I have the advantage himself, he accomplishes every thing without .affecting any
t worthy of the ap- thing. His energy is his sincerity ; his simplicity is his
not present, I should dignity. Whatsoever are his detects, and he is not es-
,able to my own feel- elopted from imperfection, still the man is forgotten in the
with delicacy can do. minister.
Illy believe, for cor- As it is painful to me to be compelled to expose the de-
y of principles, for
ice of manner, he has linquencies of clergymen, so do I feel it truly exhilirating
when circumstances authorise me to admire the charar-
qaliee could subtract ters, and applaud the exertions, of ecclesiastical instruc-
tors. My opinion of Mr. Dodd has not been immature!y
of conduct, ronsti- advanced. He is now far, very far, above those christian
acher. When he en- pastors, described by our illustrious Milton, to whom
,ss of one chiefly so- ,
Hilted to him char,7e. " The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
repeating the Lord's " But moll' with wind; and the rank mist they draw,
" Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread !"
conveying, by writ- ,
is Discourses arc al- I therefore confidently hope, that as he has begun, such be
ntal. Ilia plain but will continue ; that, in truth, he will persevere to the end;
loctrines no less than and that he will certainly be found among them wl!o,
of his applications, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. He his
; and ability. Pro- now my wishes, because he has lone. excited ray esteem ;
is
,at once, appeal!. to while, in commending hint, I trust that I sin furt6eriug the
s satisfied, the affec- cause of the church itself.
°Nes/ mew.
the preceptive, part
iching, Mr. Dodd is *** The communication from An Enemy to Clerical Hypo-
: been so long areas- ctrisy has been regularly received.
.11aving nu. personal
. antipathy
ces, that any °Nee- flo)rzttilefyn,,
wishes,
fungus, though obliged to this writer for his is-
lear singular. Con- he is again braved.ishe
tno°wthetoenderolitteber.subljtevevtillfhiet'seuenol,ess);'ihtPrilld"
'fill the pulpit, how troductory reflections on the present occasion, in what *ay
d and bow much of Noires(' costeraplates the whole trausaetlon.