The National Register.
London, England, 1808-11-13 00:00:00


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the only fear we entertain .6, that be will not be pecuitseCto
nil parts equal to his genius. _
inctedon, as usual, displayed his fine voice and want o
mite. The son4s were not sited. to his style of singing, and we',
cannot hut admire Use. probabiyty with wbich Mr.. Reynolds has',
introduced Spanish patriotism in the breaut• of a. Siberian inafti
memo. . • -
The Music hy Maszinghi, iiiporthy..4 his fame. The over-'
ture was a happy mixture of lender, and lively, and
its claims to intsliity are nut totilly unfounded. The scenery
splendid and appropriate, andthg, proecisions and coronation
treOnt a tally grand spet tarle.
in inch pteces, the merits of the Retort, composers, scene-
• rooftree, and mechanists, are in general superior to those of the
author. here they are nearly On a level. The story is well con-
ducted, the sole neither above nsr below criticism, some of the
songs are good and even poetical, others are wretched, ,and the
sentiments not always ustexceptionahle. The introduction of the
ridiculous traveller afforded a fair
,opportunity of punishing and
scaling into sileoce the crowd of modern tourists who confirm-
all. glut the public with affectation of sentiment, learning, and
observation; and this op port duity was not neglected. Complete
soca., crowned this piece, and we must own, that although not.,
.mitled to such unqualified applause, it in some degree merited
the favourable reception with which it met.
Runcts:,—The Theatre opened on Monday night with The
e-frst,r Spectre', anti Gout loughs r.t tork Smiths. The great
attraction of the evening was Miss Smith's A n.leta. She was.
received most fuvtatrahly, and seemed fully impresied with the
distinction with which she was honoured. Mr. iluddart played
Osmond, and was well received. The performance went off
with considerable eclat, and the House was one of the fullest
we have ever seta at the commencement of the season.

,
PONILAR PREACHERS.

No. XIV.
—wow,
At once they sing, at once they pray ;
They hear of Heaven, and—learn the Way !
WATTS.

liwkiVol he to faun or seek for pow'r.
By doctriues—fasitiou'd to the ♦aryin hour.
tioLocmtrit.

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:ROBERT HAWKER, D. D.
••.-
FICIJI •v cal :ties 13!YRIS11. PLYJfOC 'A.
•
CONFORMABLY with the practice 1 have been enabled
generally torparsue, I wish it were now in my power to de-
tail sotuc particulars of the. distinguished individual whose
abilities I am about to appreciate. tie is indeed no
ordinary character.' All, however, ..that I have :collected
concerniug hint, is—that he Was formerly of Magdalen-
Hall, Oxford; and that he has since been tbe Atithot. of
Various Sermons, and Other Religious. Publications. hie
is Vicar 'of Charles, Plymouth, where lie has been long
established; and, if I may so describe Min, a Visitant
Preacher, towards the close ofeach year, inAhe Churches
Of the Metropolis. "have heard. that he was once Intended
for the PrilfessiOn of Medicine ; but this rumour I do not
pretend to amtheuticate, whatever credibility a possesses.
Dr. IIAWFEIt. is variously estiinateil. He is followed
bi those who are called evangelical christiarts, avoided by
Close mho seem denominated orthodox churchmen, and 11-
diculcd by those who ciinsidertheinselves free-thinkers. It
is thereftre no trivial task to determine justly of his public
prmensions. Attend :II aid admired as he is, aud-nurtured
in the bosom of the national church, he has, even recently,
`been denied admission into some of our pulpits. 'While
then 1 endeavour to invest`.-ate his merits, and balance
these with his defects," viewi; hint as in the pulpit;, let inc
hope that my observations may not be wbolly,Unworiby, of
him by whom they are occasioned. His popularity b un-
questionable ; but the inquiry is, to what cause are we to
airribe the influence that he exercises over the blinds of his
al,nost innumerable hearers ? 1 shall, however, first glance
at the defects of this celebrated religiousinstructor.
it is ilAcult to discover his imperfections. They arc

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