The National Register.
London, England, 1811-03-24 00:00:00

ebe pulpit;

_ .

—.,rim--
No. XXXVI.

The loose morality of the age, co-operating with a Waft of
Scripturu! know/edge, cause some to get rid very speedily of their
tursery faith, and rnibrace Deism.-41is 'tor of I,AiNDA Fr .
Uwe will not have real Christianity, we are La danger of hav-
ing nolie St a1....Ma. WILBERI OK CE.

JOHN PARSONS, ,D. D.

DEAN OF BRISTOL.

Insufficient as it might•ordinarily feem to appreciate the talents
•f, any preacher by once hearing him, still there happen circum-
stances in which such estimates of clergymen may be satisfacto-
rily made, and safely accepted. Such are the extraordinary cir-
cumstances of this case. When one of our ecclesiastical digni-
taries, in the maturity of mind and at the meridian of life, Wefts
some great public occasion for the exertion of his abilities,—is it
unfair to think:, acquainted with all the circumstances, tkat he
did intend to preach well; and, therefore, to take such sermon
as at least no unfavourable specimen of his clerical character at
the best ? Let us take the preacher at the best, and not fix upon
Tim at his worst. His 'office demands this. Just and great ho-
Pour have. the preachers of our faith. Are we not told to es-
teem them very highly, in love;' and this, also, truly an clearly ,
for their work's sake r Certainly it will at the same dine be
found not lesi'desirable that each of these should do the work
a an evangelist !'

The right Reverend the DEAN or BRISTOL (John Parsons,
D. D.) preached before the Hcsnourable the House of Commons,
pursuant to motion, in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on
the morning of Wednesday last, March the 20th, 1811 ; "being
the Day appointed, by Proclamation, for a General Fast and
before Almighty God." The situation in Which
the *reacher stood was at the same time aogust and solemn ;
the tkcasion was full of scriptural solemnity, and the congrega-
tion to which he addressed himself, although partly mixed, was,
on the whole, unusually respectable both as to rank and as to
numbers : yet these very advantages, however otherwise desira-
ble, rendered the preacher's situation not less arduous than
great. He had the errors or vices of all orders to expose and to
probe. He had likewise to preach nationally as well as indivi-
dually to the hearers Igo met.

Dr. Parsons selected, for his text, the 14th verse of the 4th
chapter of The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah :'-0 Jerusalem,
wash t!, ine heart front wickedness, that thou »gayest be saved.—How
long shall thq rain thoughts lodge within thee ! Exhibiting the doc-
trine of a particular providence, deducible from reason and reve-
lation, and insisting on the interference of Divine Providence in
the affairs of men, sometimes operating by second causes, but
occasionally by its special interposition, the preacher drew an
anunated representation of the intimate connection between
private virtue and public spirit, and, adverting to our degenera-
cies, most impartially inferred the necessity of national repen-
tance in order to national conservation. lt,..prob:itieg the self-
isfieess so lamentably predominant in this age, and in our li,nd;
this he traced to the want of picas feeling, the only trite source
of moral action, shewing, at the same time, the intimate con-
nections between the religious infieh lity and the trmporal cala-
mities of communities. When, her:ever, he endeavoured to
draw 'a
parallel- between the state of the Jews at the epochwhen
Jeremiah denounced the vengeance of the Almighty against
them, and uttered the forcible yet pathetic exclamation contained
in the verse from which he had chosen to preach, the Dean of
Bristol did not satisfy the expectation w hich his exordium had
raised. Nebuchadnezzar was not quite like Napoleon—
Napoleon ih not quite like Nebuchadnezzar. The two cases are
Rot so parallel as they may appear to be. Napoleon,. like his
- Babylonish preilecessor, may be said, in the language of Daniel,

ZONAL RE!

ISTF,R.

. .
to be a ". King of.Kiugs,'.' to whom '! the God Of Heameillatli
given a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory ;" yet, howe-
ver this portion of Sacred Scripture may be, as it is, written for
our instruction and application-, the imperial conqueror of our
times, the king of kings of this day, does not altogether resemble
the monarch by whom he is now represented tckus as fDre,sha-
dowed. Napoleon may, perhaps, say, in his heart, adopting the
thinkiu; and language of Nebuchadnezzar—" Is not this great
Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by: the
might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ?" Napo-
leon, however, either in consideration of the improved state of
the human mind, or for some reason more credit:ll3lC to himself,
114 s frequently represented his successes as the result, 'not of
chance, nor of his own might, but of fate, over which mangled
no cintroul ; and he accordingly caused himself to be &each-
bed, even in the repudiation which preceded his late marriage,
as raised up by Providence to repair the evils of a terrible revo-
lution.

ON tsuatbs.

• .
Wednesday, being the day appointed :for a General Fait, it
was observed in the metropolis with api•ropriate solemnity.—
The work of charityvent hand in hand with religion; in many of
the Churches' a collection wt•as made for the British prisoners in
Fr,:nce. Her Majesty and the Princesses heard divine service in
Windsor Castle. The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs went in state
from the Mansion-house, accompanied by several Alderrnet% &c. .
attended by the City Marshals, awl other officers, to. St. Paul's
Cathedral, preceded by the East London Militia, and Heard
divine service, and a sermon preached by his Lordship's Chap-
lain ; after which they proceeded hack to the Mansion-house.....
Most of the Volunteer Corps in the City and suburbs also at-
tended divine service at the Parish Churches ; and the shops
were very generally shut. •

The present preacher was far more successful in those darts
of his sermon where he anticipated tse probable calamities which
we might apprehend from the fashionable irreligion of the age ;
where he maintained that religion was the only pure source of .
patriotism ;—that the man who did it so fear Geld, was• not
likely to stand in awe of human laws, or to honour the institu-
tions of the state; but that, should the worst come, besides hay-
ing heartless champions (since bad men were not to be expected
to fight well in a just cense), we might even. find amongst us
those who would " let the Philistines into the camp of Israel,
and exult to behold the Temple of God in ruins !" When
dwelling upon topics of this alarming nature, the preacher did
well in pointing out the leading vices of the age, in umnaeking
the idol, falsely called Honour, every where set up, instead of
the God of our fathers, instead of the God of Heaven ! while
the morality of its worshippers too plainly demonstrated its
diabolical source. \\That, however, did the reverend preacher
mean, by harmless pleasures and innocent gratifications ; which
he seemed to think were not only consistent with the spirit of
pure religion, but perfectly irreproachable in the isiet of Gocre
Our fathers, " a sober Christian race !" our fatbeti, praised
still by the preacher; our fathers, " patterns of every virtue,
every grace ;' our fathers would have looked with conscientious
jealousy upon many of our now harmless pleasures, and grati-
fying joys. Why was the preacher so tender of this point ?...8
Although the time may be come " when they will Snot endure
sound doctrine," preachers should declare what in their hearts
they must feel is sound doctrine. Harmless pleasures haveilone
us too much serious mischief. Pleasure and Hon Our are alike
our idols. Are we content to be joined to them Ephrata is
joined to idols, let him alone I'
Judging of the DEAN of BIUSTOL'S pulpit talents from his
sermon just preached before the Commons, he seems endued
with qualifications, and to have acquired attainments, which
might lead to sortie eminence in the pulpit. His language is
purely and finely classical, frequently highly figurative; while
his argument is sound, his illustration clear, his application
warm. Qualities such as these were, nevertheless, still felt to
he incomplete. Action still was absent. \\Thy this want N..
Reading impedes action; reading palsies action.
March 23, 1811.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

Sta,—Among the many inconveniences which we Londoners
are subject to, permit me to name one which rather deserves the
name of nuisance, though apparently of a trifling nature.
advert to the impertinance, nay, downright insolence, of
*ose Israelites who vend oranges, &c. near the Bank and Ex-
change ; the incessant and troublesome applications they make
to passengers, to purchase their goods, and the impudent man-
ner in which they follow them (generally for a considerable
distance) is now become a really serious inconvenience. Females
are more particularly liable to their impertinence, and I have
frequently seen many well dressed and genteel women (so
tired And teased by the applications of three fellows to =keel
inrgain 1 actually give or rather pay money to get rid 4 them.
I am confulent you will agree with me that this calls loudly for
the interference of the Police ; and as I have with pleasure ob-
served, that you always endeavour to correct and give publicity
to all.abuses, I hope (if nothing of greater importance occupies
your columns) that you will insert these remarks in the next
•number of .your valuable Register.—l am Sir,
Youric respectfully,
'Dams Coffee-house, March 18; 131.1. X. Y. Z.

Tut NATIONAL,
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Ul SA NCE. Si
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