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    . V ~ Sermons on Select Subjects : Bv John Hyatt . 8 vo . pp . 369 . Wl RoHN HYATT is one of M ministers of the Tabernacle * the temple of modern " Evangel ica !" worship ; and he has here favoured the ptibKc with ample specimens of that kind of preach ing which , throughm all England , is drawing the mu ltitude away from their parish churches , and forming them into " a peculiar people , zealous "—for a more { kid species of Calvinism than was ought by the mortal enemy of

    Ser-. The " Evangelical" preachers will not , we apprehend , object to Mr . Hyatt's being considered as the representative , as from his station he is the chief , of their order . He is regarded , we are told , as one of the best

    preachers of the sect ; and he appears to be a man of thought and to possess a vigorous imagination . " Evangelical" preaching is , we need not say , preaching without book . The preacher believes himself , and is believed by others , to be under the influence of the Holy Ghost ; a written

    discourse would stint the spirit , and , instead of the words of the Holy Ghost , the speaker , degenerated to a reader , would utter the words of rianVwisdom . Extempore speaking is winning from its familiarity , and , in Mr . John Hyatt ' specimens , is rendered more attractive b y certain tender appella-rtions bv which the auditory is

    addressed . Poor sinners ! Precious souls ! mjf dear friends 1 and other similar oppressions of endearment go , we Racine , a great way in helping for-% d the effect of this strain of preach-Mr . John Hyatt and his brethren ? repleased with themselves for

    lowerg their discourses to the rude appretensiona Of * the lowest vulgar ; not J Bce thinking that it is possible , or j *? gthat it is desirable , to improve Si- taste anti enlarge their under-•^ ungJ . Hence they deal out com-^ places with gteat sel f com piacency , I * i meres t truisms with a pomjFf ** which indicates self-admini-??• Their words drop from them Jj ^ a ftifitJ which makes the ^ t critics and would think it H ^ mal to stay u > sift and select

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    words ancl phrase $ and to consul ^ pa- " . ' rityand elegance of language . , These preachers think it necessary to prove nothing ; every thing is taken ~ for granted ; but then there is a text for every thing , —though it is seldorrl deemed requisite to justify the

    application of the words of Scripture to the preacher ' s subject . It seems as if mi- * nkter and people considered their creed , as matter of absolute certainty , and regarded it as the end of preaching ^ to deliver out the articled of their

    faith , and to express pity for , or t < v denounce judgments against , such as ' cannot understand or will not em- brace them . In point of composition , the ser- ^ rnons of ^ lr . John Hyatt ' s class of \

    preachers are artless , to a degree that borders on childishness . A \ > , whol $ paragraph will often consist of a . self--evident proposition , repeated in several ^ forms , sometimes put in a brpad ^ simile , followed by a set x > f Scripture *

    quotations , unconnected and iinex- " plained , mingled with interjections , and the whole concluded by * ah aiTee- * dote , a dying experience , a stanza from Or . Watts , or possibly a couplet from Or . Young . . " '

    Perhaps , nothing has contribute ^ , more to the illusion which " Kvange * Heal" or Tabernacle preaching brings over the mind than its abounding in Scriptural quotations , which seem tcv invest it with sanctity and solemnity * , and to cover its meagreness and folly » i

    In a great mass of citations , some must be appropriate ; and we Jiave observed , occasionally , in this volume , a happy use of the sublime and affecting language of Holy Writ . Great wron £ , however , is done to the JBible * in the

    ordinary way of selecting texts for this class of sermons ; passages are plainly taken more for sound than sense , and ,-whether moral , devotional , doctrinal , * prophetic or historical , are forced to speak Tabernacle theology . But the principal and most availing part of " Evangelical" preaching is its damnatory style , its denunciation and description of the torments ot" the damned in hell : this is the heavy artillery of Calvinism , with which the least skilful engineer can beat davrin the proud heart and storm the stubborn ? conscience . A great part of the conversions recorded in the Evvrigefi cq ^ Magazine have been eAcctdd hy \ tfye ; sons of thunder ; thundering , however ,

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    Review . —HyatCs Sermons at the Tabernacle * 6 ll

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1816, page 611, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2457/page/47/