an exquisite example of moral cant. Even its apologists have been forced to acknowledge its abuses. But thanks to the blessing of practical liberty, which is enjoyed in England, this Areo. pagus for protecting morality and religion, is not more formidable than was the holy inquisition in Spain, during the reign of Charles III. The English are so fond of declaiming against the poor heirs of Torquemada, and the jesuits of our police, that we may be permitted to laugh a little at the expence of this insular inquisition.

Offences of the press are prosecuted by the Society for the Suppression of Vice; and it is, in consequence, the terror of the publishers of blasphemous works. It is, however, to be regretted, that the legislature is frequently incompetent to check the poison which is disseminated by mischievous publications.

THE ceremonies of the English church are not sufficiently pompous to excite interest, and when a church is filled, all the merit of attracting the congregation rests with the preacher. Happy the minister who has a private chapel to himself, and who collects the money that is paid for the

letting of the seats. A few verses of the psalms are sung during the prayers, and when these are ended, the preacher goes up to the altar, and takes off his surplice, then gravely ascending the pulpit, he delivers his sermon in so cold and uninteresting a manner, that he may thank heaven if he does not put his congregation to sleep. This cold style of declamation is almost universal among the English preachers, who very unceremoniously pronounce our preachers to be nothing but actors. This title was applied to the Rev. Mr. Smith, who fell into the extreme of animated expression in his delivery; and who, when he published some of his sermons, criticised the stiff formality of his brethren,

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The principle on which English sermons have been composed, since the reign of Queen Anne, is perfectly in unison with this cold style of declamation. The employment of pompous imagery and poetic ideas in a christian sermon, would, in England, be regarded as profane artifice. English preacher must explain his sentiments on the subject he treats of, with simplicity and clearness, and without exaggeration. The employment of rhetorical style, would expose an English preacher to the charge of acting a part, and not sincerely feeling the emotions he expresses. In France, pulpit eloquence is more figurative, more pathetic, and more sublime; its defects are emphasis and amplification, and art is not always sufficiently disguised. An English sermon is a series of demonstrations and arguments, a true

moral essay, in which, even evangelical truths are supported on the evidences of human reason. The French priests seek to persuade, but the English ministers are eager to convince. The rules by which English preachers are tied down, are necessarily incompatible with those brilliant fictions, which we style funeral orations. Tillotson's sermons are here still regarded as classic models of pulpit eloquence, because they are less flowery and varied, and more elegant and logical than those of any other English preacher.

There is, occasionally, more warmth, and as much taste in the sermons of Sherlock and Smallridge, as in those of Tillotson; but Atterbury most nearly approaches the academic style of our French preachers. I must needs confess, that all those discourses, which are divided into three distinct heads, appear to me too artificial. Do you remember, my dear Abbé, the Sunday when you produced such an effect on your village flock by a little sermon of my composition, which you were at first inclined to reject, because you thought it too simple, and too much out of the ordinary style. I was obliged to persuade you, that the sermon was merely what my faithful memory enabled me to retain, in consequence of having once copied it out for my late grand uncle, the canon, of whom I ask forgiveness for attributing to him the production of my profane pen.

If, among the pulpit orators of England, I were

to cite only those of the school of Addison and Blair, I should form the same conclusion as Cardinal Maury, who, alluding to the country of Taylor, Hall, Barrow, Pitt, Fox, Burke, &c. says: "Famous islanders, I look for an orator among your ministers of the Gospel, your writers, your members of parliament who are most celebrated in the career of public eloquence; but, without offence to your genius, and, above all, without forgetting your glory, I must needs acknowledge, that I find none worthy of the name!" Blair is of much the same opinion as our cardinal. But we must reject the Addisonian style in religious eloquence-we must disdain the rhetoric which has produced master-pieces in France, and poetic amplifications in the pulpit of Tillotson; we must lose sight of that artificial eloquence, the offspring of the dignified persuasion of the minister who preaches with the glass of eau sucrée beside him, and look for inspired eloquence in the history of the conflicts of the reformation, first against catholicism and then against episcopacy, from the first proselytes of Calvin and Luther, to the apostles of methodism. The chronicles of the period, and the author of the Monastery, afford an adequate idea of the power which Knox and Warden exercised in Scotland. Latimer was a sort of Brydaine in his popular homilies. Several of the victims of the reign of Queen Mary, pronounced sublime protestations on the burning pile. The tale of Old Mortality contains some admirable specimens of presbyterian eloquence.

Those of Kettledrum are ridiculous, absurd, even comic, from their coarse emphasis: but those of Macbriar are singularly animated, vehement, pure, and almost always dignified. This was the age of Milton and the covenanters; and it was, also, the age of Taylor, Hall, and Barrow. These different orators faithfully express the taste of their time; abundance of imagery, fervent enthu siasm, pathos, and erudition, were the qualities which were demanded of them. Hall, who was formidable to Milton, often concealed beneath his ornaments and concetti, real vigour of logic and reasoning, Taylor formed Burke, and Barrow formed Pitt, Fox, the rival of Pitt and Burke, rather studied Demosthenes than the orators of his own nation.

Endowed with brilliant fancy, and a rich store of varied information, Bishop Taylor combined with ardent and sincere piety the purest moral principles. Considered as a writer, he may be compared to Fenelon, in all points except good taste. His faults were those of an age, when, in France, as well as in England, the most false or naments, extravagant quotations, and burlesque plays of words, were lavishly employed in the pulpit.* The taste for euphuism had survived the reign of Elizabeth; but, to the bombast and

* The notice on Mascaron, in Dussault's Choir d'Oraisons Funebres, contains the following passage:—

"False and inappropriate ornament, misplaced strokes of wit, affected comparisons, and pedantic allusions were employed in monstrous profusion. Spanish bombast was introduced into the French pulpit along with Italian point. Sermons were made up of fantastic plays of