Then thro' the narrow opening of a rock And long'd to dream away the term of life Then shalt thou dwell with me for ever-here. Then pluck'd the rose on which her tear had dropp'd She said, and vanish'd o'er a path of flow'rs, SKETCHES OF POPULAR PREACHERS. (Continued from page 144.) THE VERY REV. ROBERT HODGSON, D. D. AZAR. THE Rev. R. Hodgson is the Dean of Carlisle, Rector of St. George's Hanover Square, and Vicar of Hillingdon, near Uxbridge. The most striking feature in the preaching of Dr. Hodgson is the apparently absolute identification of his mind with his subject. In him can be discerned neither negligence nor indifference; he seems totally absorbed in the execution of his duty; his energy and earnestness rivet the attention, and command the admiration of his hearers. He is a gracefal, impressive speaker, and the dis-, Eur. Mag. March, 1823. tinctness of his enunciation in some measure atones for his custom of lowering his voice towards the conclusion of a sentence, till it is inaudible at a distance. He reads the beautiful services of our church with unaffected solemnity. His language is correct, forcible, and polished but not poetical. His similes are appropriate, and always illustrative of his subject, though this is an ornament he very rarely employs. In discussing theological subjects, he evinces acuteness and discrimi nation; he elucidates what is ob D mons, there is but little in him to admire; he assumes too confidently the benevolent dispositions of his hearers, and does not sufficiently employ those powers of persuasion which he can command;-perhaps he conceives the ornaments of eloquence to be supererogatory when his aim is only to induce wealth to surrender a portion of her superfluities for the relief of suffering; but he should remember, that it is only in the more perfect of human spirits that the chord of benevolence is so constituted as to vibrate in falls upon it; how much more frequently does it happen that apathy, pleasure, or selfishness, has frozen the strings of pity, and that all the exertions of the preacher, all the arguments which religion and compassion can dictate, are required to dissolve them. scare, explains what is difficult, and reconciles apparent contradictions. In expounding any of the sacred narrations, when the silence of the historian permits the conjectures of, the imagination, Dr. Hodgson selects the most probable circumstances to complete the narration, and seldom fails to supply the links which are wanting in the chain of events entirely to the satisfaction of his bearers. This remark particularly applies to his interpretation of the parables, which displays the re searches of a mind well versed in Biblical learning, and labouring, bystantly when the tear of misfortune its ingenuity and industry, to harmonise those discrepancies which operate as obstacles to the sceptic in recognizing the authenticity of the sacred writings. In detecting and exposing the sophisms of deism the subject of the present article is pre-eminently successful. A sincere and candid believer in the truth The last characteristic I shall of Christianity, he assiduously de- mention of Dr. Hodgson is, that he fends it from the daring assaults of is decidedly a Christian preacher; he the avowed infidel, and from the urges on his hearers the necessity insidious attacks which are made of resorting to the Bible for the under the disguise of friendship highest motives to virtuous actions; that the wound may be more se- he applies to Christianity alone for curely given. He unravels the peace in this life, and for happiness subtilties of fallacious ratiocina- in the next; he derives from its tion, restores to truth the plumes doctrines resignation to support of which wilful error had deprived. affliction, firmness to resist the her, and presents her in her native seductions of prosperity, and that irresistible loveliness. Secure of hope of eternal bliss which gilds the righteousness of the cause he is every season of life, from the period advocating, he fearlessly dashes into when reason first bursts into peratoms the ill-constructed defences fection, to the hour when she is of infatuated prejudice, and triumph- driven from her throne by imbecility antly repels the obloquy she had or madness, or resigns the form she heaped upon Christianity. had animated to the silence and the As a preacher of Charity Ser sadness of the tomb. THE REV. JOHN ROGERS PITMAN, A.M. THE Rev. J. R. Pitman is the alter nate morning preacher of Belgrave and Berkeley Chapels, and the alternate evening preacher at the Chapels of the Magdalen, and the Foundling Hospital. Mr. Pitman's voice is deep-toned, monotonous, and very ill-modulated; it is, I should think, sufficiently powerful for any Church in the Metropolis; but either from want of flexibility, or an har monious ear to direct it, is harsh and abrupt; this defect necessarily extends itself to his reading, which is the more to be regretted as his emphasis is remarkably correct. The harshness of his voice has likewise another pernicious consequence--that of imparting an apparent ruggedness to the construction of his periods, when, perhaps, their arrangement is at the same time perfectly smooth. His manner is energetic and animated; bearing the impress of heartfelt earnestness and sincerity. In consequence of an optical defect he commits his sermons to memory, and therefore unites the accuracy of previons composition with the ease and freedom of extemporaneous speaking. His style is oratorical, perspicuous, and frequently poetical, sufficiently ornamented yet not decked with that meretricious glare which imparts disgust rather than delight, except to those who regard tropes and metaphors as the sole beauties of language. He exercises a powerful control over the feelings of his hearers, and occasionally completely isolates their attention; subduing the stern by his pathos, exalting the sordid by his sublimity, and excoriating self-complacent guilt by his irony: the last weapon he wields with the hand of a master; it is caustie and pointed, but is only employed when the castigation of vice and error justifies its use. As nature has liberally adorned his mind his ideas are frequently original, with less tautology than might be expected, as his resources appear to be generally self-derived. His love for originality, however, sometimes betrays him into language totally in appropriate to the pulpit; though he has considerably reformed this fault it still occasionally disfigures his very best sermons. In considering a subject, if his view is not always the most correct, it is in variably the most novel, which implies talent of no common rank; for the path of Divinity has been so frequently traversed, that scarcely a flower remains to reward the exertions of industry. To insipid mediocrity Mr. Pitman is a total stranger;-genius is the light by which he is guided; and though she sometimes invests truth with an appearance rather different from its reality, she never fails to communicate a radiance to every object with which she comes in contact. In explaining and enforcing the purest morality he is admirable; but has many deficiencies as a theologian; he rather skims the surface of a question than dives into it: and though his quick discrimination will always adopt the right sense of a subject which can be comprehended at a glance, he appears bewildered by intricacies, and, when various solutions present themselves, is not very skilful in his selection. Another defect in some of his sermons is, neglecting to assign sufficient importance to Christian motives of conduct. I do not recommend a preacher to resort to religion only for every argument to enforce morality, but those which she supplies should invariably constitute the prominent, and not the subordinate features in an address to a Christian congregation, which is sometimes the case with Mr. Pitman. In his views of the human heart he displays an intimate knowledge of its mazes, its recesses, and its deceits; he exposes the subterfuges of crime, and drags it self-condemned to the bar of conscience; if time and sophistry have cicatrized the wounds inflicted by remorse, he cauterizes them, instead of administering opiates, to produce an ima ginary security. To conclude Mr. Pitman may be pronounced an accomplished Christian orator; the clearness of his elucidations, and the correctness of his conclusions, seldom fail to assimilate the opinions of his hearers to his own; he renders, by the influence which his talents must exercise over the minds of a large proportion of his hearers, benefits to them and to the circles with which they are connected, deep, essential, and extensive; resembling, in their consequences, the fertilizing operations of the majestic river, as it rolls onward to the bosom of material nature's emblem of eternity. CRITICUS ORIGINAL LETTER OF GENERAL KRASINSKI. Mr. EDITOR, I FEEL a pleasure in offering to your valuable publication, the inclosed official and interesting documents, At a moment when public opinion is so highly excited, and expresses, with the warmest feelings of sympathy, the interest it takes in the success of the independent cause, for which the Spaniards are now making so noble a struggle, any official document expressive of similar sentiments must be considered valuable; particularly when emanating from countries immediately under the control of Sovereigns exercising the most despotic influence, not only over their own states, but extending alike its dispositions, and manifesting the same subjugating spirit, to the destruction of free opinions and independence in every other. That the mind may be roused and animated by the perusal of such documents, our own experience and the relations of history fully admit, when they are addressed with a fearless and patriotic motive directly to those great and self-created arbiters of our destinies. And however ineffectual the expressions contained in the inclosed letter may have been in regard to that country of which it speaks, and which has made such repeated and energetic efforts in its own behalf, we cannot but admire the ardent and honourable feeling that pervades it, and regret that a people possessed of such high and generous sentiments should have failed in the attainment of the independence they so deservedly claim. But the locat situation of Poland, the opposing and overpowering interests which surround it, have left to her an ineffectual resistance, and but the phantom of an unrealized hope. The inclosed letter, addressed to the Emperor Alexander under circumstances the most critical, will serve not only to illustrate the character of the Polish nation at that period, but shew, notwithstanding the subduing and arbitrary system on which he acted, that Buonaparte had the art of keeping alive those hopes which animated the bosom of that country, and attached to his person, to the last hour of his political existence, the bravest and most patriotic of her sons; or in the more emphatic language of the letter, "As guards we have not quitted his throne, until he himself quitted it." Then it was, as the last act of soverign power, he signed the following Decree, which was afterwards confirmed by the Emperor Alexander, uniting the whole of the Polish troops in the French service under the command of General Count Krasinski, and accompanying it with a letter of thanks for their faithful services. COPIE DE LA LETTRE DE SA MAJESTE. Monsieur le Général Krasinski, Vous recevrez un Décret par lequel je réunis, sous votre commandement, tous vos compatriotes qui se trouvent dans l'armée: je désire que vous témoigniez, de ma Fontainebleau, le 4 Avril 1814. part, à ces braves Polonais la satisfaction que j'ai de leurs bons et fidèles services. Cette lettre n'étant à autres fins, je prie Dieu qu'il vous ait en sa sainte garde. (Signé) NAPOLEON. Pour copie conforme, Le Général de Division, Commandant-en-Chef le Corps Polonais. honourable to himself and countrymen as the sacred principle it inculcates, and for which they were ready, rather than abandon it, to sacrifice their lives. Buonaparte having retired to Fontainebleau, accompanied by the Polish guard, they, two days previous to his abdication, received an order from the Russian Autocrat to lay down their arms, which called forth the following eloquent appeal and patriotic reply on the part of the General-in-Chief:-a reply as Suffice it to say, the appeal was felt and acknowledged. They returned to their homes, bearing their arms and honours with them. LETTRE DU GENERAL COMTE KRASINSKI, COMMANDANT-EN-CHef les TROUPES POLONAIS. A Sa Majesté l'Empereur de toutes les Russies. 'SIRE, Je crois de mon devoir de m'adresser droit à Votre Majesté, à vous, Sire, dont l'Europe entier reconnaît les vertus. Libre de mes engagements commandant le reste de l'Armée de Pologne, j'ai demandé les vœux de tous mes compatriotes qui ont embrassé la même cause: ils ne veulent rendre leurs armes honorées de leur vaillance à personne. Si nous sommes coupables, votre grande àme fera notre excuse, et l'honneur sera notre protecteur. Polonais, nous avons servi l'homme étonnant du siècle, qui fit briller l'étincelle d'espérance pour notre patrie! Gardes, nous n'avons quitté son trône que lorsqu'il le quittà luimême ! Sire, permettez nous de rentrer avec honneur dans nos foyers, et soyez sûr de notre fidélité que nous avons conservée dans les circonstances les plus critiques au Souverain que nous avons servi. Je suis, Sire, Fontainebleau, le 11 Avril 1814. That you may be satisfied of the authenticity of these documents, I beg to state they were placed in my hands by General Krasinski himself, with a wish they should be made known on my return to Eng • We have seen these documents in the possession of Mr. Guest, and also a verification of their authenticity in the hand writing of General Krasinski, as follows:-Ed. "Je vous envois la copie de la lettre que vous avez désirez d'avoir, en vous prient d'agréer l'assurance de ma considération.” "KRASINSKI." |