, 1863-06-15


nor Il Ftc1ds. Chttaeo' ~ 49, "4+st' "Aa ~ S'
Grgge Co.
. Thomas Fuller was IN English Divine, who
1;rcd in the era Of the Commonwealth; and
IKE the "Worthies q" whom he has celebrat-
cd in book, which bears that title, he is de-
serving Of high estimation, both for bis In
.ellect and scholarship. He was great man
IN an age Of great men, and what he wrote for
bis contemporaries is good for all time. 1t Is
amazing, indeed, What vita1 force, and power
there are in the divinity books Of this remark
able period It wns the Augustan period OF
divinity; when religion was not taken up as |
a trade, and followed by ignorant and selfish
men, whose discou1ses were an insult to the
understanding, and burlesque upon htera-
ture-but when love for God was absorbed
into the life, and proclaimed By the intellect
of the greatest, wisest and most eloquent
men who hare ever, ut any time, or in any
age, assumed the functions Of the Christian
=.
Take up book Of any modern sermons, or
discouEses appertainiDg in any way to Chris
tian doctrine, or the exposition Of Christian
life, no matter where it is published, whether
in this country or in Europe, and compare it
with the writings Of any one Of these cele-
brated diyines, and zee what an immense gulf
separates the two productions. 4 manly,
earnest picty, runs through MI the pages of
the latter preachers, md every sentence is
loaded with thought, and decorated with the
most costly jewels Of the Imagination. What
the pages Of the former are decorated with,
VIC all know well enough, and most of us are
eorry to see the divine themes which they
think they have "call" to meddle with,
treated In so ir1eycrent, and sometimes in SO
mountebank spirit. Hreligion be worth any
thing at ill, and We are Of those who think it
is worth a good dcal, its ministers and expo
nents should at least be men of culture and
scholarship, 60 thatit should lose nothing for
want Of capable advocacy.
The Diyines Of the Commonwealth,
burdened as they were with the spoIls
Of 1carnirg, and richly laden with
thought and oil The appliances Of language,
approached their work with fear and trcm.
bling, conscious overnuch perhaps ot
the nnworthines6 even Of the highest aud
most molly endowed soul to become the in.
terprcter Of its functions. Some Of the fines.
examples Of eloquence which the language If
ford arc to be found in the discourscs Of Jere
my Taylor, and Isaac Barrow, South, Chill
liugsworth, Thomas Fuller, aud the rest o1
these grand companions. The student of lit
erature will do well to make thorough ex
animation Of the writings Of these matchless
Diyincs. They are not half so well known,
even amongst those who make q profession ot
letters, as they ought to be, for there is in
Them solid food for thought, as well asabund'
ant garners Of spiritual consolation. Emer
ION calls Jeremy Taylor "The Shakespeare o1
Diyincs," }" and this bold, md at first sigh,
sweeping judgment, is well warranted and sus
tanned by the performances OF that wonderful
writer, who is essentially dramatic in hii
genius, and who has presented some sccnes
which are without a rival in literature. Ths
pomp and splendor, the sublinity aud pathoi
which he puts into his description of the
"Last Judgment" the general asslzes oi
mankind, is the most superb specimen extant
Of this sort Of word painting. The mighty
pageantry Of the uunumberable millions
Of mankind, coming up in vast, interninable
professions from the four quarters Of the
wotld-datkening immensity with the11
shadows-arranging themselves in obedience
to instructive law, on either side Of the great
white throne Of the Judge, surrounded By
his hicrarchies Of augels and a1change1s, ar
1ayed in the dazzling splendors Of immor
tality--the rejoicing Of the saints; the shriekt
aud means, the dreadful tl,rencs and despair
1rg cries of the wicked who are doomed tc
"outer darkness" foreyer-their gnashings
| Of teeth, ind horrible blasphenies; their wild
Iati1nl beseeclipgs for mercy, as they art
driven into the eternal darls-al1 constitute
the most terrible, and highly colored picture
! which the Imagination OF man bus ever con
cciycd.
1t is not in this dramatic direction alone
however, that these men are SO remarkable
| Their writings cover the whole domain o
| thought, and are the high-water mark Of thl
culture to which their age aud country hat
risen.
Good Thomas Fuller, although he docs no
possess the imagination nor tue elo9uence o
Taylor or Barrow, is, nevertheless, man o
great originality and power, with broad hu
maniiy in him, and touches Of deep pa.ho
and tenderness. His Good Thoughts in Ba{
Times" is not his best book, MS work of art
wemtan, although it is very cunniug1y devised
but It is well adapted to the times in which III
live, and to the national circumstances. Il
consists Of short reflections upon popula:
stories and examples Of hfstory-al Of then
wise and pertinent to the occasion-and 81
wrought out Us to convey lesson either o
religion, or morals, OF loyalty, or Of al thes,
combined, In single discourse He lret
through the Revolution, in the days Of Charlie
l. and Cromwell, md was Jealous Republi
can. The publishers Of this American editio,
Of his book, which is very beautifully got up
and is intended, We suppose, as companion
to the volume OF Sir Thomas Moore, whic]
the same firm Issued a while ago-the pub
lshers thought they could not do better tia,
let America know in ter days of revolution
| what this old Commonw wealthsman had to 81,
about the English revolution in his time-an,
| We heartily thank them for providing MS viii
80 rich treat.
CHAPLAIN FULLER: Being Life Sketch Of
hheT p;ess Ensls1a Tgy Clergyman nan and atty CHAPLAIN
Wise & Go. ~ '~' *t'' o1~' "AA'A
We take up this book for notice all th
more willingly, because, for time, the snb
iect Of the memoir was resident of this CITY
and it will not be uugelcome news tn III,