which the spirit who searcheth all things alone has explored; which the wisdom of the world never knew, the tongue of human eloquence never proclaimed, the discoveries of human philosophy never approached: but now they form the very elements of piety, so that the meanest person cannot neglect them without living in a practical defiance of God, and contempt of his authority. He has thrown an air of obscurity over a thousand other things, but not over the things that make for your peace. You are not left in any uncertainty as to the basis of hope towards God. He has clearly taught you what you must do to be saved; how you may draw nigh to God, even to his seat; and through what medium you may pour out your hearts before him. "Behold, he says, I lay in Zion a foundation stone. Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." You know what is that path which will bring you to eternal blessedness; . . . . . that with shame and confusion of face, on account of your past transgressions, you "flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before you;" that he may "of God be made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." This is a plain path, open to all. "Secret things belong unto the Lord our God;" but these are 'things revealed, that belong unto us and to our children for ever."' pp. 71-76.

In the most admired of Mr. Hall's sermons, and invariably in his preaching, Mr. Foster remarks, (and every one who heard him will subscribe to the justice of the encomium,) there was one excellence of a moral kind, in which few eloquent preachers have ever equalled and none ever surpassed him,-oblivion of 'self.'

The preacher appeared wholly absorbed in his subject, given up to its possession, as the single actuating principle and impulse of the mental achievement which he was as if unconsciously performing: as if unconsciously; for it is impossible it could be literally so. Yet, his absorption was so evident, there was so clear an absence of every betraying sign of vanity, as to leave no doubt that reflection on himself, the tacit thought, "It is I that am displaying this excellence of speech", was the faintest action of his mind. His auditory were sure that it was as in relation to his subject, and not to himself, that he regarded the feelings with which they might hear him.' . . .

The entire possession and actuation of his mind by his subject, evident in every way, was especially so by two signs: First, that his delivery was simply and unconsciously governed by his mind. When it was particularly animated, or solemn, or pathetic, or indignant, it was such, not by rule, intention, or any thought of rhetorical fitness, but in involuntary accordance with the strain of the thought and feeling. In this sense, he "spake as he was moved": and consequently, nothing in his manner of delivery was either out of the right place or in it by studied adjustment.

The other indication of being totally surrendered to the subject,

and borne on by its impetus when the current became strong, was (in perfect contrast to what is described above) the rapid passing by, and passing away, of any striking sentiment or splendid image. He never detained it in view by reduplications and amplifying phrases, as if he would not let it vanish so soon; as if he were enamoured of it, and wanted his hearers to be so for his sake; as if he wished to stand awhile conspicuous by its lustre upon him. It glistened or flashed a moment and was gone.

The shining points were the more readily thus hastened away, as they intimately belonged to that which was passing. They occurred not as of arbitrary insertion, but with the appropriateness of a natural relation. However unexpectedly any brilliant idea might present itself, its impression was true and immediate to the purpose. Instead of arresting and diverting the attention to itself, as a thing standing out, to be separately admired for its own sake, it fell congenially into the train, and augmented without disturbing the effect. The fine passage would, indeed, in many instances, admit of being taken apart, and would in a detached state retain much of its beauty: but its greatest virtue was in animating the whole combination of sentiments. Mr. Hall's imagination always acted in direct subservience to his intellectual design.' pp. 159, 60.

It was this moral feature of Mr. Hall's oratory that raised it so immeasurably above the reach of servile imitation as to render mimic efforts palpably ridiculous. To preach like Mr. Hall, it was requisite to be like him, and to be like him not so much in power of intellect, as in this self-absorption in his theme, this singleness of purpose, worthy of being emulated by preachers of every order of attainment. At times, this 'absorbing seizure of 'his faculties by his subject' appeared to suspend all distinct consciousness of the presence of his auditory. Mr. Foster, connecting this circumstance of manner with the intellectual character of his preaching, considers it to have operated in some respects unfavourably, by withdrawing his attention from his hearers. While he felt a benevolent interest for the congregation, as a general sentiment, which would at times manifest itself expressly and even pathetically, yet, during a large proportion of his public exercise, and especially in the seasons of highest 'excitement, the subject itself, as a subject, was the grand in6 terest. It was by that that he was filled, possessed, and borne 'along, with no more than a very general consciousness of being in communication with an auditory. The train of his thoughts, 'therefore, swept at a certain altitude, as it were, in the air, ' rather than proceeded on a level and in contact with the people, in a series of arresting inculcations and inquisitions.'

Superlatively excellent as was Mr. Hall's preaching, in many of its qualities, Mr. Foster pronounces it to have been, from a defect in certain important ones, not the best adapted for salu'tary efficacy. It was deficient in closeness and cogency of

6

application; it did not sufficiently discriminate and individualize human characters; it was too general and theoretic. This was, at least, its usual characteristic; for occasionally, sermons were heard from him cast in the best imaginable compromise between, on the one hand, the theoretic speculation and high-pitched 'rhetoric to which he was addicted, and, on the other, that recognition of what men actually are in situation and character, to which his mind did not so easily descend.' From passages found in his writings, it is inferred that his conception of the most effective mode of preaching differed considerably from his general practice; and that the defects alluded to partly arose from a repugnance to the kind and degree of labour required in order to produce sermons more specifically accommodated to the diversities of human character and experience.

6

It may be consoling to such persons as have hitherto felt disheartened, not to say mortified, at the overshadowing superiority of this great Preacher, to be assured that his intellectual strength did not give him a proportionate advantage in the field of moral exertion, but was in great measure wasted on the air. We cannot conceive that it has been precisely Mr. Foster's object to reconcile individuals of smaller mental stature to their conscious dimensions; but his concession will, we fear, be taken advantage of, beyond what he might intend, as implying almost the inutility of attainments and powers such as Mr. Hall's, in a Christian preacher. To attain high excellence in a manner of preaching more useful than his, though it requires a clear-sighted faculty, 'disciplined in vigilant and various exercise, is,' Mr. Foster remarks, within the competence of a mind of much more limited ' energy and reach than Mr. Hall's power and range of speculative thought.' We rejoice to believe this. Burder's Village Sermons have been doubtless more useful, in a certain way, than Barrow's; and Doddridge's "Rise" has been the means of converting more irreligious persons than Butler's "Analogy." Still, we should not think of estimating the intrinsic value of the several works by their adaptation to popular instruction. Usefulness is a vague term. Even the usefulness of a preacher it is difficult to estimate, so many are the modes of usefulness. To be highly useful to a few, who shall be thereby qualified to act upon the many, in multiplication of the impression they have themselves received, is, in its ultimate effects, more than equivalent to being useful to a multitude in the first instance. It might be regretted that Mr. Hall was not always surrounded with an auditory to whom his style of preaching would have been best adapted to convey salutary impressions; that his peculiar powers of mind were in great measure wasted in the effort to accommodate himself to the illiterate and unthinking portion of his congregation. But to minds of a certain order, no man was adapted to be so pre

eminently useful; and that he was not more so, was the fault of his hearers.

We should, however, scarcely know how to set about estimating the actual usefulness of such pulpit ministrations as Mr. Hall's, in all the bearings of their influence. The Reviewer in the British Critic remarks with equal candour and acuteness, that the quality of Mr. Hall's mind which led to this abstractedness in his preaching, may have greatly aided in the preservation and completion of his own personal faith and holiness, and in marking 'him out as an example of the blessedness and the dignity of ' communion with heavenly things. There is little enough of this unworldly quality,' it is remarked, 'exhibited in the world at any time; and never, probably was there less of it than in the present age. ... In this light it is that men like Robert Hall may chiefly be considered as benefactors to their species. They pour contempt upon that drivelling cant which associates de'votional feeling with imbecility of mind. They shew that re'ligion is fitted to absorb the grandest capacities of human na6 ture. It may be the more general purpose of God, that not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble should be chosen to glorify his name, that no flesh should glory in his presence. "Nevertheless, it is assuredly an animating spectacle, to see that 'the most prodigal endowments of the intellect may be made as 'pinions to convey the spirit out of "this mortal coil" to the place where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.'*

In the powerfully written and upon the whole fair and liberal article from which we transcribe these beautiful sentences, it is curious to trace the struggle between generous admiration and ecclesiastical prejudice. There is one point of view in which the Reviewer confesses that he regards the reputation of Mr. Hall as a preacher with something like regret: it may, he thinks, tend 'to confirm that idolatry of preaching which is one of the evils 'that rushed in together with the blessings of the Reformation." With many among us, preaching is represented as having become 'a sort of third sacrament; a sacrament, too, which often well 'nigh thrusts the others into insignificance.' To the Dissenting communities, Preaching is nearly what Transubstantiation was 'to the Romanists. It is the grand instrument with which they 'hope to move the world.' This is a strange passage to proceed from the pen of a Protestant clergyman; but it indicates the unhappy influence of that sacerdotal theory which has always led the Church of England to discountenance anything deserving

*Brit. Crit. No. XXVI. p. 231.

+ We must except the historical misrepresentations respecting Cromwell, and the remarks respecting Mr. Hall's earlier publications, which we have not room to notice.

the name of pulpit oratory. Yet, what would have been thought of a French writer who, in the days of Louis XIV., should have deprecated the fame of Bourdaloue or Massillon, because it might tend to encourage a demand for the utterances of the pulpit ? In the preaching of the evangelical clergy, the Established Church gives almost the only signs of spiritual life. That spirit of preaching which has been caught from Dissenting communities, has alone staid in her aged frame the progress of corruption. The greater part of her ministers are, however, still notoriously deficient in those gifts which are requisite for the office of a public teacher; and their vapid school-boy essays, read with professional formality in monotonous tone, are as unimpressive as they are empty of instruction. No wonder that such a church should view with displacency the 'universal craving for excitement', and sicken at the renown of such preachers as Hall! To a writer, intelligent and candid as this Reviewer, it ought, however, to have occurred, that this craving for excitement, so far as it is characteristic of the age, is not peculiar to the religious part of the community: it is seen in all classes; and the demand must be met. It is surely a happy circumstance, and one of which the Christian. teacher ought gladly to avail himself, when the appetite for intellectual excitement takes this direction. Surely, it is pusillanimous and imbecile to deplore that which may be turned to so good an account. If it be true, as this Writer alleges, that people not unfrequently carry with them into the church, feelings nearly allied to those which they carry with them into the theatre', it is at least well that such feelings take the better direction. The remark, however, is most applicable to those polite audiences to whom preaching is no sacrament, and who find their most pleasurable excitement in the ceremonial, the spectacle of the well-dressed company, the breathing organ, and the decent rite'. The hope of recalling the venerable custom of catechizing, and the primitive practice of simple expository 'teaching', is small indeed, where the craving for excitement is fed with such inane vanities. But to render catechetical and expository teaching more generally acceptable, what is wanted, but that ministers of the Gospel should be able catechists and competent expositors, which they never can be while preaching itself is depreciated?

6

The reputation of Mr. Hall, founded on his pulpit eloquence, instead of having the effect of confirming the idolatry of preaching, (by which we must understand converting the instrument into the end, the medium into the object of worship,) seems to us more adapted to induce a melancholy impression of the inefficiency of that means of promoting the regeneration of society; since the highest order of faculties, applied to the single-minded discharge of the sacred function, under the inspiration of fervent