The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-17 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICE.

SOUTHEY'S ,BOOK.OV•THE .CHURCH.
(Continued from Tux Suer of July 15.):
Now, in contradiction to the immoral doctrine
of the Puritan, the Socinian, however he may differ
from our persuasion, to follow .up .the train of his
own thoughts, or to be. at alt consistent with his
theory must be moral, and his speculations not
breathing the air of mystery, -hut only profess-
ing to stand upon the strength of natural reason,
are not adapted to the taste of the vulgar. They
have no relish for " dry argument and contro-
versial disputations," and are never so likely to
follow him in-croWds, any more thin the •'philoso-
, tillers of ,old. But :besides the influence which
these enthusiasts have upon the multitudes, the
unfavourable impression which they make by
their representation of religion are enough to
throw discredit upon its tendency, and while it
beguiles the people, disgusts the philosopher, or
at least such an one as the man of reason only
at this period of enlightened Christianity, who
can just see'far enough to be puzzled with com-
mon objection,. but not so far as to see -clearly
where the fallacy lies ; and this, notwithstand-
ing all the help so amply afforded by the great
lights which have arisen in succession upon the
Church. The fact is, such:a philosopher is more
delighted with detecting errors in the. enthu-
siasts who so wantonly expose them Selves, than
with following the faith, though in such excel-
lent company ; and riots and revels in subtleties
of his own invention, struck out by his 1:14,11
powers of logic, than in any the most luminous
and striking arguments of others, however inge-
nious or learned, in' favour of the truth. But
as the , common people have ..no taste nor ta-
lent for logic, nor even for any train of
reflection at all, they are not likely to eye.; into
the spirit of his reasoning, nor to be pAquudedd
even if they
.are convinced, by. mere abstrsct spe-
culation, without the least enthusiasm or appeal
to the passions, " to set them on the sideof truth,"
unless they are stimulated by means which are
meant to restrain. them-,--by the spirit of persecu-
tion. This will often of .itself be sufficient to
give ample credit to martyrs, whatever may be
the altar upon which their blond is shed, who may
bear ,nd- other recommendation than a counte-
nance pf, sorrow and suffering, more especially if
it can by any artifice be made to assume the
countenance of suffering innocence with patience
almost divine ; a. spectacle, as the ancients said,
of delightand admiration, to the Gods themselves.
So fully aware have these Reverend expound-
ers been' of great advantage of persecution,
and so firmly convinced that the blood of the•
martyr is the most prolific seed of.their, church,
that they have thrown themselves into the way
of injury, and even personal affronts, on purpose
to excite he. idalkisSeration of the populace, and'
create an interest in their favour,'Which is so na-
tural towards them that suffer, if-they only can be
made
,to appear to- be 46, followers of that which.
is good,"--if they can but seem " to suffer for
righteousness sake, happy are they." And be.
Cause, in this age of toleration, they cannot
,pro,
yoke the wrath which was so common in less
-enlightened times, when doUbt was reckoned
impiety, and blasphemy' the least exclamation
against the Church.; because they do not now
anathematize the heretic with that fury which
often made the heresy more current with the
people,--now ; say, that the spirit of the age,
aware of this cruel and Unchristian . policy, no ,
longer controuls with the rod of iron, hut rather
overlooks the wanderings of the ptiblic mind in
its simplicity of licarli these Reverend ex-
pounders are obliged,tO raise every obstruction
iu their course, or every trilling occurrence whi,ch
may stand in their way, and which otheri, not
so elevated in thitir own opinion, would pass au-
heeded by,, into persecution for the sake of truth;
and often place.to the _salve account:the insults
and injuries which they have brought upon them-
selves, boasting: they Were bearing the cross of
Christ, while they were merely suffering nndet
the, natural conSeqoenres of, their own rashness.
What an uproar has been made on several occa-
sions lately, as if the church were in danger, be::
cause some Of their' Venerable expounders have
happened 'to be excluded, by Ministers,, who have
naturally objected to contrary doctrines issuing
froth the same pulpit. As much outcry
,has been
raised as in the days of fire and faggot, and
szhiaar7yer!toshtielanie! has: been-vociferated in theimiList
,ef. the temple, as I( the. ttxcluded expounder wet:ea
good cause, and bad as much right
to Ciger at will into the Rector's fieehold as the
ReCtor himself ; but "such tongues in every age
will cry against the rectorship of judgment," and
then an assertion of a simple -right is made time
popular outcry of persecution .for, conscience lake.
But when suchoutcries fail in their effect, and the
cry is great, but little wool, then they go about
tempting their flocks with the most ensnaring of
all allurements, with :spiritual vanity ; and
offer themselves, and bout to make others, per,
feet patterns of .purity.and holinesa--vessels of
election, while they are taught, to look on all
around them vessels of .wrath. Whenthey can no
longer raiseu crowd with their complaints of per-'
so often 'repeated, and no:wolf appears,
the .preather.:begins .to be..himself the wolf in
sheep's. clothing, lyeth/lurking in-iris den of pri-
vacyrand separates from the.profane and ungodly,
that he4narravish the poor,, with admiration of
his sanctity, his rigid abstinence and pure devo-
i lion to thingiabove, always taking care, while he
eniarges.upon their virtues in himself and his
own party, to exalt them still higher by .contrast
with the :vices and corruptions of all.that do
not belong Wit; all •wandering out of the way,
there: is. none that doeth. good, no, not one.--
Hence he impresses upon the people :.this
notion; of ,their. (An .pre eminence. Such godly
Sainit, haveAxvetinvented some names which can
reach. the. ears of those. whose minds , cannot be
penetrated with ideas or with arguments., TQ be
distinguished from the world around them, they
called themselves of old,Phariaeesi or. Separatists,
Sadducees, or.: Righteous, nod in more modern
tithes, Puritans, and some :ma of.them indepen-
dents, .thinking to conceal: the; want of the qua-
high,souuding, titles without ;
and for a time imposing upon the rabble who
are taken with names, and are too well inclined

to venerate as saints all who are artful enough to
draw a line, however imaginary it may be, of
demarcation between them and the world in ge•
neral ; especially if to this they add a pretenf
sion to inspiration from above,, and a pecglkar,in-
terest in heaven, while the rest are said to
descend as fast as they can to the shades below,—
the simple-vulgar are eager to follow them where-
ever they go, and without some fortunate cir-
cumstance in their favour to correct their mis-
taken devotion to their leaders, they may not
discover their error till they are actually arrived
at the very shades, where they foolishly and un-
charitably imagined- the others were descending,
and who then may be melting in compassion for
those devoted culprits. who are now so violently
devoting themselves to all the horrors of damna-
tion.

IMPROVEMENTS ON THE RIVER.

" A meeting took place at the Mansion-House,.
on Thursday last, for the purpose of considering
the practicability of an improvement of an ex. ''
tensive ,nature on the River Thames: The plair
is the project. of Colonel French, who had sub.,
mitted it to the Lord Mayor, as Conservator of
the River Thames, but his Lordship was of opt:,
nion that it would be most advisable to consult
those members of the Corporation who are owners
of water side property. The 'suggestion waf
adopted, and several men 'of affluence, whose pro.,
perty is partly vested in wharfs and warehouses hr
the neighbourhood of that portion of the Th t. ame
which the plan may affect, assembled at the Man,
sion-House, where the Lord Mayor presided, and
Col. French attended to state the particulars of
his plan.' He proposes to build a kind of esplanade'
or terrace, to extend from London Bridge to
Blackfriars and thinoe towards Westminster
Bridge, as far as Scotland-yard. The width of
the terrace to be eighty feet and the height sixty.
Warehouses to be constructed underneath the ter-
race and the space of eighty feet to be taken from
the River, or over that part of it Whiettis nor
left dry at high water. As, however,' the room
in the River is extremely valuable for the con-
venience of craft, particularly in the comparatively
narrow part of it between London and Black-
friars Bridges, it is proposed to obviate the difli-
cultY which there presents itself by building the
whole upon arches, somewhat in the manner Of
the Adelphi-terrace, and those arches are pro-
posed. to be high and wide enough for the admis•
•sion of the craft underneath the warehouses, au
arrangement which will admit of unloading in
that situation. •It is urged as a great advantage
. for the craft that they shall be uoder cover, par-
ticularly in winter time. The top 'of the terrace,
or rather the terrace, is proposed to be covered
with some pdlished materials, and to be emhel-
lisped
in such a manner as to render it delightful
as a promenade. It is proposed to be planted with
trees and'shrubs.''A' toll is td be taken to the pro-
menade, 'and tickets are to. be sold entitling the
holder to constant .adroission. The profits de-
rived from the plan will, it is expected, be very
considerable, as the warehmiies will let itt a high
rate. The whole building is proposed, we• be-
lieve,, to.be fronted with stone,
,andicOnstructed
in such a style as,will render it a work of greater
ornament and utility than any in this or an,'
other Metropolis. The greater part of the land
necessary for the accomplishment of the plan 10 .
the City is under. the controul of the Corporations
by whom the merits of the project will 'be shortly
discussed. We•have not learned whether aril
objections were.made to the, plan by the Gentle.
men who composed the meeting. The expitute*
t1)119 given by the. Colonel were stated to be full
and clear. The building is proposed'to be under-
taken by private persons.

COURSE OF EXCHANGE, July 16.
Athttet'ilant
*fitto, at Sight
iitteidam
Ant‘verp.
Hansburgh
37 t ti U.
Altana

•
Paris,3 Day's sight ...._ 4t:35 45 (;$*
Ditto
Boortleans, (lit to
Berlin
7 10
lerankforton the 51,tin
Petetsborgh . 9
Vienna lO 5
Tr;est e lO a
Madrid
Cadii
Billnia
35 Effector
Barcelona
ierille
Gibraltar .. 3O,
Leghorn
Getwo ..........44 ---Venice, Ital. Liv 47 0
Malta '47 ----Naj.les ' 38
Palermo ... llsi per Os. 4.
Lisbon
Oporto
Rio Janeiro
Bahia s . m 49
Doblin .... 9i.,