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has faid the most of it in the feweft words; he remarks that "the language of Te Deum, is fimple and majeftic. In it we recognize the fublimeft paffages of the prophet Isaiah, the grandeft truths of the gospel hiftory, and the moft pathetic fupplications that are to be found in the book of Pfalms."

It is upon this, and fome other accounts, that the complaint of Dr. Bennet is ftill admiffible. Some, he says, repeat it with fo little attention and zeal, that they feem neither to regard what they say, nor to confider to whom the hymn is addreffed. The language, he obferves, is wonderfully fublime and affectionate, and we cannot utter any thing more pious and heavenly. Let our fouls be warmed with correspondent affections. Let us mentally speak the verficles which we do not pronounce with our lips. And let me entreat, continues Dr. B., my brethren of the clergy not to begin this hymn too haftily. After they have faid, here ends the first leffon, let them make a fmall paufe till the people have time to rife from their feats and compose themfelves for the recitation of this folemn hymn, that they may not be hurried and difordered, but may leifurely attend the minifter's beginning it, and be ready themfelves to begin it with him. After each of the leffons both in the morning and evening fervice, the fame method fhould be observed before the beginning of any other hymn or pfalm."

If fuch of our readers who are not perfectly converfant with the abstract terms of fublimity, fimplicity, pathos, &c. will attend to the following analyfis of this compofition, to them it will gradually unfold its beauties like fome majestic edifice opening to the eye of the admiring beholder-"The first part of Te Deum, is therefore, an act of praife, or amplified doxology. The fecond a confeflion of the leading articles of the Chriftian faith. The third contains interceffions for the whole Church, and fupplications for ourselves. This hymn not only opens to us a view of heaven, but with the evangelical prophet (Ifa. vi. 3.) and beloved difciple (Rev. iv. 8.) we behold the various orders of angels, cherubim, feraphim, and all the heavenly powers acknowledging a triune God in the triumphal ftrains of Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of thy glory. The hymn then proceeds to invite us to join with the angelic hoft, with the prophets, apoftles and martyrs, in praifes to God now, as we expect to be united with them in glory hereafter. Confeffion being next in order, as members of the Holy Catholic Church, we acknowledge the ever Bleffed Trinity -the infinite majefty of the Father, the honour due to the Son, and the divinity and perfonality of the Holy Ghoft. Our Redeemer, we acknowledge, as very God of very God, and the King of Glory, which is amplified by his condefcenfion to be born of the Virgin Mary, his meritorious fufferings, and cruel death upon the cross. And from his feat at the right hand of God we acknowledge that he will come to be our judge; and if we favingly believe in his name, he who is now our mediator and interceffor, will then be our advocate and friend.

In the next place we pray for the whole family of Chrift's Church, and we entreat our Saviour to fave his people from all evil, and bless his peculiar heritage. Senfible of our own infirmities, and affured that praife is not acceptable from the lips of finners, we pray that temptation may neither deprive us of the benefit of our prefent devotions, nor indispose us for the return of duty. Finally, we plead not our merits but our own diftrefs. On ourselves, and all fublunary power, we renounce dependence, relying only upon the truth and the mercy of him who has promifed that he will fave thofe who put their truft in his mediation. In the words of the Pfalmift, we exprefs our hope that we are of that number, and our confidence that in Vol. II. Churchm. Mag. Jan. 1802. the

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the end we shall not be ashamed, confounded or disappointed of our warran、 table expectations.

(To be continued.)

DR. GOLDSMITH'S CHARACTER OF A COUNTRY

CLERGYMAN.

THE 'HE deferted village of Dr. Goldsmith has ever been admired for the beauty of its images, as well as the harmony of its lines; whilft the morality which it breathes throughout, has recommended it, and gained it many admirers among the friends of virtue. The critics of the prefent day have however endeavoured to rob this valued poem of its chief merit; and have attempted to fhew that its fentiments are built on a falfe foundation, and that its ideas, however glowing and attractive, are fallacious and unjust. They have even afferted that Goldsmith himself acknowledged the truth of this remark, and confeffed that none of the notions he had adopted in his defcription of "Sweet Auburn" could poffibly be realized, or have any other foundation than " the poet's fancy." But on this point almost every reader is capable of judging for himself; dull indeed must be the underftanding and cold the heart, which needs the critic's aid, to difcover its beauties, or to feel the justice of its fentiments.

But a strange attempt has been made in a late "Evangelical" publication, the principles of which we need not defcribe, to fhew that the delightful character of the clergyman, which is fo fweetly pourtrayed in that poem, can only fuit, and was certainly intended for, fome Methodist minifter, and not the parfon of the parish: this opinion is founded principally on his general character, and particularly on his being ftiled "the village preacher:" which the publication referred to " prefumes to think would not have been the title given by the" accurate Goldsmith, "to the Rector, Vicar or Curate." But with all due deference, we beg leave to differ from it in this point; and though fuch a fubject is fcarcely worth difcuffion, we will take the liberty of ftating a few of his lines, and drawing fuch conclufions from them as may fatisfy every unprejudiced mind.

"A man he was to all the country dear,"

Which could not with any appearance of truth be faid of any diffenting minifter, however amiable his character, and however fuccefsful his labors; because the very idea of diffent, muft neceffarily exclude fuch univerfal approbation.

"And paffing rich with forty pounds a year;"

The mentioning a fixed fum in this line, feems to argue that he had a fixed falary, (arifing perhaps from tythes, offerings or ftipend) which is not ufually the custom with Methodists.

"Remote from towns he ran his godly race,"

Which is another image not very appropriate to the cuftoms of Sectaries; who usually choose their refidence in populous neighbourhoods, and large manufacturing towns, &c.

"Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his place.".

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A Methodist preacher who had never even "wished to change his place" would be a rara avis" indeed; when itinerancy is the badge of the fect, and one of its most important duties: this alone therefore refutes the opinion we have combated. But should any ftill doubt, let them confider

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when "the deferted village was written, and they will find a trifling anachronism, unless they fuppofe the "village preacher" to be the parish prieft. T. T.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S MAGAZINE. GENTLEMEN,

MY known zeal for the HONOUR of your excellent mifcellany, and my hearty good withes for the SUCCESS of the great work it was inftituted to promote, * will readily difpofe you to believe, that nothing can be further from my thoughts than to with you to pollute your pages with perfonal altercation, or acrimonious recrimination, which can tend only to break the bond of Chriftian charity, and inflame the minds of the contending parties, without producing any good effect whatsoever; and thofe pages are employed to far better purpose, in promoting the caufe of found religion and virtue, and fupporting the caufe of ORTHODOXY against gainfayers and oppofers of every defcription. But as the contents of this letter will be found to be of the moft healing and conciliatory nature; as you have condefcended to give a place to my remarks on the obfervations of the LONDON CURATE refpecting the MS. of my ancestor about " The fears of the pains of death," and have alfo in No. X. p. 473. printed that gentleman's expla-nation of his faid obfervations; I venture to indulge a hope, that you will admit this my concluding rejoinder into your interefting mifcellany.

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The LONDON CURATE, Gentlemen, and myself are are both of us MINISTERS of the Established Church, and both of us very confiderable contributors to your mifcellany, and I am truly forry that any thing tending to create an uneafy fenfation in the mind of either of us fhould have ever been admitted into the communications of the one, and mifapprehended by the other. From error and misconception the wifeft and most enlightened characters are not free, much less can he who now addreffes you plead any exemption from this common lot of humanity. So far, however, am I from wilfully or obftinately perfifting in error, that I hope I am always open to conviction, and equally difpofed to retract a miftake the moment fuch Conviction is brought home to my mind. Under the influence of this principle, allow me to exprefs my forrow for having "hurt" the feelings of the LONDON CURATE by misunderstanding the fcope and intention of his obfervations on the "Confiderations, &c." printed in one of your former Numbers. The explanation he hath been pleafed to enter into, in your last Number for Dec. 1801, cannot fail to give me, and all who may happen to fee it, the most complete fatisfaction; but I hope I may be pardoned for faying, that without fuch explanation I could not have fully entered into the motive which actuated the writer. I feel myself called upon to add more, and fay, that as a tender regard for the HONOR of my ancestor's memory first induced me to step forward, in propriá perfona, in vindication of it from what I then thought a mifreprefentation; the fame principle impels me to offer my most grateful thanks to the LONDON CURATE for the high and juft eulogium beftowed by him in your Magazine for December laft on his CHARACTER and WRITINGS..

For any undue degree of " afperity," with which I may have treated the LONDON CURATE in the first letter you printed on this fubject, I heartily beg his pardon, and hope the reasons I have already urged, of mifconceiving his meaning, and feeling tenderly alive to the credit and honor of the dean's * See pp. 1, 2, 3, of Number 1. Orthodox Churchman's Magazine.

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memory, will effectually plead my apology. For the LEARNING and CRITICAL ACUMEN fo eminently poffeffed by your correfpondent, I now and always have entertained the greatest admiration and refpect; and hope he may long live to exert them in the cause he hath so happily undertaken, and may receive a great and just reward for his "labour of love" hereafter in the realms of eternal blifs.

I have now, Gentlemen, only to beg your pardon for occupying fo much room in your valuable mifcellany, to repeat my good wishes for its utmost fuccefs, and to fubfcribe myself,

Your moft obedient, and very humble fervant Creech St. Michael, Jan. 8, 1802. THOMAS COMBER.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S MAGAZINE.

GENTLEMEN,

THE judicious remarks of your correfpondent IOTA, Number X, p. 469,

et feq. on the fubject of METHODISM, are very fenfible and well-timed, as I am of opinion with him that "at this very time uncommon pains are taken to spread the principles of METHODISM throughout the united kingdom." I have particular as well as general reafons to be of this opinion, as within these few last years a Methodistical conventicle has reared its head in my parish, and about the fame time another was established in a neighbouring parith where I have for many years officiated: notwithstanding both my public and private communications have been in direct oppofition to fuch irregular proceedings. The perfons who in thefe meetings think themselves" called by the Spirit" to utter their extemporaneous effufions by PREACHING and PRAYER, are many of them of the lowest class of uneducated mechanics from a neighbouring market town; and they affert that as our Saviour paffed by the learned and powerful when he firft began to take on him the ministerial duty, and selected his difciples from the low and humble fishermen, therefore they conceived themselves as fit inftruments to propagate his religion as those who are regularly fet apart and ordained for this purpose by human ceremonies. They fay alfo that extraordinary fupplies of grace, and the power of the Holy Ghoft, which is liberally fhed forth upon them according to their neceffities, more than compenfates for the lack of learning and regular ordination. These pretences have been a thousand times confuted, but are as often re-urged on the minds of the lower claffes of Society as though they had never been answered: and they, pleased with the compliment paid to their vanity, are far more inclined to liften to their fanatical teachers, than to the regular and duly appointed minifter of the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift.

Your correfpondent IOTA afferts that "fome of the clergy, and even beneficed ones too, are clofely affociated with these feparate congregations, &c." and the ftatements which have appeared in feveral of your former numbers, concerning the POLWHELIAN CONTROVERSY; to which may be added the BEREAN CONTROVERSY, on the fame fubject, betwixt the Rev. Mr. Bere, Curate of Blagdon, and the Rev. Sir A. Elton and others, seem to countenance and corroborate the affertion. For my own part, having the profperity of the Chriftian religion fincerely at heart, I cannot but deplore, that, at a time when an whole hoft of enemies are exalting themselves against our excellent establishment, the regular minifters of the established Church, who in Love and AMITY should unite their exertions to defend her, should fall out with each other, and, by injurious and acrimonious reflections, bring great difgrace on themfelves, and incalculable injury on the cause they pre

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tend to espouse. But if, as your correfpondent obferves, the beneficed clergy rather widen the fchifm, than endeavour as in duty bound to "bring back erring brethren to the flock of Chrift," too-great blame cannot be attached to fuch unworthy conduct. Whether the RECTOR Of Blagdon deferves the accufation of encouraging METHODISM brought against him by his CURATE, is not eafy to determine, but it is not at all difficult to ascertain that the CURATE hath made ufe of many heated, and disrespectful expreffions towards a perfon from whom he acknowledges to have received many favors for a great number of years. And if an old rule of judging of controverfies may in this case be admitted, that "the perfon who firft puts himself into a paffion is wrong," the CURATE of Blagdon is evidently wrong.

I perfectly agree with your correfpondent that as one means of stemming the progrefs of METHODISM, "the clergy fhould preach the truth plainly, earnestly, and in fuch a manner as fhews they have the eternal intereft of their hearers at heart, "but even this I am afraid will hardly have all the effect that can be defired while fuch doctrines as ABSOLUTE ELECTION AND REPROBATION, and FAITH WITHOUT WORKS, are propagated by a fet of enthusiastic pretenders to religion, with impunity, and even as your correfpondent afferts, countenanced and promoted by fome (though I hope very few) of the beneficed clergy of the united kingdoms.

I am, Gentleman, your most obedient and very humble fervant, Jan. 9, 1802. OBSERVATOR.

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TO THE EDITORS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHMAN'S MAGAZINE. GENTLEMEN,

I ALWAYS feel a fingular fatisfaction when the facred writings receive teftimony or elucidation from ethnic compofitions.

Mr. Bryant has traced the percolations of divine truth into the channels of heathen mythology. We are happy to observe enigmatical error itself bearing evidence to fcriptural verity. Mr. Kett's "History the Interpreter of Prophecy," is in every body's hand. He has performed a work which commands the gratitude of the Chriftian world. The veftiges of Revelation, even in the fables of the Gentile world, are far more evident than the unlearned imagine. A moft ingenious writer has recently difcerned them even in the darkest and most difficult of all authors, LYCOPHRON himself. Mr. MEEN, Prebendary of St. Paul's, the intimate friend of the late Dr. Farmer, in his "REMARKS on the CASSANDRA of LYCORHRON," (a pamphlet of 54 pages, fold by Rivington, Elmfly, Faulder, and Payne) has clearly detected JEPTHA'S DAUGHTER, inveloped in the claffic drapery of IPнIGENIA. Mr. Meen, aware of the era in which Lycophron lived, and the court whither he repaired to receive the rewards due to industry and genius, feizes, with uncommon felicity, a clue which guides him through many labyrinths of the Caffandra.

"The æra, (fays Mr. Meen) of the Ptolemies, was fingularly favourable to the production of a prophetic poem. The celebrated library at Alexandria was open for the infpection of the curious. The Greek verfion of the Old Teftament, undertaken by the Seventy, at the command of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was here depofited. The refearches of the learned were gratified by a ready accefs to the works not only of prophane poets, but of facred prophets. Here not Pagan fongs alone, the fancied dictates of fome fabled mufe, were fubmitted to their perufal; but hymns of an higher or

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