The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-01 00:00:00

DOCTOR DOYLE.

Dublin, Jan. 28.

It having been announced, in the newspapers of last
week, that the celebrated Doctor Doyle would preach for
the benefit of a Female Orphan Institution, in the church
of St. Nicholas, in Francs-street, in this city, the cir-
eurnstance, for many reasons, excited intense interest.
Though I had known this distinguished individual for
-otne years, and, occasionally meeting him in society, had
opportunities of ascertaining the justice of fame and public
opinion, in placing him, as one highly gifted, and endowed
with science and knowledge, above his contemporaries,
-till, I had never heard him speak in public; and, there-
fore, availed myself of this opportunity with pleasurable
inticipation. To hear that man, who is generally looked
upon as, though not the most active and conspicuous
'gent, yet wielding the greatest mental and moral power,
in the amelioration of his religion and country, speak on
ny topic or occasion, must be gratifying, but especially,
when the topic or occasion is the desolate and the or-
phan. The following evidence before the Tithe Coin,
inittee, less than twelve months ago, invested the present
appeal with more than ordinary interest, to those who
have read that evidence, and his essays in favour of peer
taws. After stating to the Committee that the object for
which tithes were fret given to the clergy was.—" That
the whole people of this country might be instructed in
their religion and social duties, and have the ordinances
of religion administered to them by the clergy.....that the
poor might he maintained, the orphan and the widow che-
rished—hospitals, anti schools and academies, and colleges,
kept in repair," this poor Prelate boldly alleged, "that
none of these things had been done—that the clergy ceased
to he the instructors of the people, because the people did
not change their religion—that they did not relieve the
widow nor the orphan—that they did not instruct by
schools, nor from the pulpit, the rising veneration—that
they did not keep the places of worship in repair—that
they did not fulfil one single duty of those t hit were imposed
upon them an trustees of the fund originally." Antl4
therefore, he concluded, " I do believe that, though it is
my duty, and the duty of every subject, not to violate the
peace—not to disturb social order—not to transgress any
existing law—yet that it is our ditty, by every means
which the law allows, to oppose the continuance of ta
system which is thus unjust."
These sentiments have made a deep impression upon tl e
minds of men of every class and persuasion, many of
whom imagined that, in advocating the cause of nin,ty
helpless orphans, he would be namrally led into similar tub.
servatinna, in order to enhance their claims on the svm•
pathy and benevolence of his audience. But they were
disappointed ; not one sentence escaped from him often-lee
to any class of his countrymen, or that could be carped at,
or deemed uncharitable, by the most fastidious bigot or
sectarian. He took for his text, " Whatsoever you wish
that men should do unto you, do you likewise unto them,"
And continued upwards of an hour to expatiate, in the
most sublime and beautiful language, on the wisdom and
utility of the precept, as regarded the social wolfare of
mankind in this life, by arguments drawn from every
tountain of philosophy and learning. It would be im-
possible, within the limits of a letter, to convey any ade-
quate idea of the sermon itself; but it may not be trn-
reresting to your readers to hear something of the
preacher, and his powers of intellect, together with a very
faint outline of the matter of kis address.

Doctor Doyle is at present in a vcry weak and delicate,
but his friends believe, not a dangerously bad, state of
health. To this, perhaps, may he ascribed his silence, for
some months past, while faction and bigotry unite in
urging the people to their own destruction, in the alaeoca
of a countervailing power. When he asceLded the pul-
pit, he looked pale and emaciated, and some persons near
us observed, that he seemed much older than lie did
but a few years ago. lie certainly had not the elastic
step, and bland yet brilliant eye which were wont to in.:
troduee him to their presence. These. however, he in to
great degree recovered, before he had half gone through
his discourse. Though his face is by no means of the
-ame cast, its colour and aspec,, together with his entire
habit and figure, reminded us strongly of Lad Br,tuglitani,
on some of his most serious preparations. He began
by saying that, it it were an easy to persuade men to fol-
low the advice of his text, as it was to convince them of
t ,e propriety of doing so, his labour would be light in-
deed. He then proceeded to show that " Order, Hea-
ven's first law," should be upheld in society, otherwise
into could not adhere to the dictates of Christianity. In
this part of his sermon he referred to the learning of the
ancients, and the books of Moses, chewing how both
agreed as to the harmony and order which pervades the
universe, and which are essential to the well-being of the
whole. He proved, demonstratively, from these sources,
that the laws of nature, as understood and expounded by
Cicero and the ancient*, were consonant with the primary
mandates of divine revelation, and equally manifest to
mankind, "Lex non scripta sed teats," being written, by
the finger of God, on the works of his own hand. Thence lie
proceeded to prove the omnipresence of the Deity,
"Anima justi sedts Dei," inferring, from the coinci-
dence of natural and divine law on this point, t e riecea-
city we are under of preserving that order in the compo-
nent parts of our communities, which is inculcated alike
by rational morality and revealed religion, and by which
no part is permitted to perish. In this pact of his address
he was truly sublime, yet frequently discursive, i.nd seemed
more at a loss how to unfold to the comprehension of his
audience, the rich treasures of his own expansive mind,
tban to find topics for their instruction. There seemed a
confluence of ideas from every fountain, and source of
science and knowledge, in which one less expert in the use
of language, rhetoric, and logic, would have ova rwhelined
himself, or been completely lost upon the understandings of
most of his audience. Yet he managed them so, as n,ver
to lose sight of the " Collida Junctura" in his sentences ;
though sometimes forced, from the pressure of matter, to
make digressions. His eloquence was neither flowery nor
figurative, at the same time perfectly fluent, chaste, and
harmonious, and a good specimen of what Blair recom-
mends as suitable to didactic discourses on the communi-
cation of knowledge. If the sermon of yesterday were in
print, it might be compared, in style, to " Blackstone's
Preliminary Lecture on the Laws of Englind," somewhat
more copious, however, and abounding in Scriptural quota-
tions. But with all the requisites and accomplishments,
Moth of mind and body, to constitute a perfect orator, it
must be admitted, by Doctor Doyle's most ardent admirers,
that his preaching has not elevated him to that pinta icle
of fame which he seems to have attained. The compre-
hensiveness of his intellect and learning, his philanthropy
and Christian charity, render him less effective as an or-
dinary preacher, than one of inferior talent and acquire-
meats. He is an extempore speaker, and if senators and
statesmen, alone, were his auditors, his exhortations might,
perhaps, produce more good than those of any living man.
The conclusion of his discourse on Sunday was, however,
a most forcible and brilliant appeal to the congrega-
tion by which he was surrounded, most of whom were of
the highest rank and respectability in Dublin. lle con-
treated their luxury, wealth and splendour, wi,h the
wretchedness and destitution of the little ones before them ;
whom, as creatures formed by the same Almighty Father
of the Universe, it was not the divine pleasure to be ano-
malous to the order of their creation, by becoming outcasts
from the pale of human sympathy and Cbririan benevo-
lence, exposed by pampered independence to vice and
pollution, and reduced, perhaps, by penury and want, to
ecome a contagion to the family of mankind, of which
they were themselves a component oar.

Mr. WILKIN'S design for a National Gal-
lery and Royal Academy has been approved of, and will
be immediately carried into execution. The centre will
be surmounted by a cupola, and will have a portico in
front flanked by two pavilions. The order is the Corin-
thian, and the screen tram Carlton House will supply the
columns. The inequality of ground in the site in Tree-
felgar-square is very well managed by a terrace surrounded
by balustrades. Plans have been presented for laying out
the space in front, which have been laid before his Ma..
JESTY, and been approved of.
THE REV. MR. IRVING'S DISCIPLES.--
Yesterday morning, about ten o'clock, the curiosity of the
inhabitants in the neighbourhood of Chelsea Hospital was
greatly excited by the appearance of two young men, gen-
teelly dressed in black, with large brown cloaks, taking up
their position in an open space of ground near the. Hos-
pital, and one of them commencing to preach ; a large
crowd soon surrounded the preachers, who said that they
were messengers sent from Heaven by the ALMIGHTY to
inform the people of this earth that the world would be
at an end in a very few days, and to prepare every person
for the event. They held forth alternately for nearly three
hours. One of the auditors asked the messengers their
names. They replied that neither of them had any name,
they were messengers from Heaven, but that if any person
present doubted their mission, if he would give them his
proposition,
by the nor did
address they would call upon him and convince him of the
truth of their assertion, or if any person wanted to consult
them they would be found at the Rev. Mr. lavizta,s
chapel. No person acceded to thee
much
e
any of the congregation appear to be
discourse. At the conclusion the messengers moved off
followed by an immense crowd. The eldest of the rata.
sengers did not appear to be more than twenty-two years
of age, and the other quite a boy.