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Article VISIT TO LAVATER, ← Page 2 of 2
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Visit To Lavater,
Darty to translate for me : he told me , that for the most part the German words Lavater employed were compound epithets of his m v , i framing ,, which had peculiar energy as he used them , but which would be quite vapid and spiritless in translation . The great rule of moral conduct , Lavater said , in his opinion , was , next to God , to respect Time . Time he considered as the most human treasuresand waste of it in the hihest
valuable of , any as g decree immoral . He rises every morning at the hour of five ; aud thou » 'h it would be agreeable to him to breakfast immediately after rising makes it an invariable rule to earn that repast by some previous labour ; so that if by accident the rest of the day is spent to no useful purpose , some portion of it may at least be secured beyond
the interruptions of chance . _ Lavater " -ave us a most p leasing account of morals inZunc . He had been a ° preacher of the gospel , he said , in that town , thirty years ; and so incapable were the citizens of any species of corruption , that he should have rendered himself "ridiculous had he ever , duiingthat long period , preached a sermon against it , since it was a vice unknown . ' At what a distance , ' thought 1 , ' am I arrived from . London ' and Paris ! ' . .
When we took our leave of Lavater , he begged we wouId write our names and place of abode in a book , whicli he appropriates to the use of inscribing the long list of his foreign visitors . _ An hour after my return from his house he came to pay me a visit , which I was taiio-ht to consider as an unusual compliment , since it is his general rule not to return the visits of strangers . Religi -n Was the theme of his discourse , and he talked of its pleasures , its consolations , und its
hopes , with a solemn sort of enthusiastic fervour , which shewed how much his heart was interested in the subject , and how warmly his sensibility was awake to devotional feelings . Although his zeal was not without knowledge , yet it was somewhat difficult io discover what was his system of belief : whether he was ( if Paul or Apollos , a follower of Calvin according to the established creed ofthe Swiss church , or whether he was not in some sort the framer of a new dodlrine
himself . _ ' One of my fellow-travellers , who was anxious to wrest from the venerable pastor his confession of faith , brought in review before him the various opinions of the fathers , orthodox and heretic , from Justin Martyr and Orig in , down to the Bishop of St . David ' s and Dr . Priestley . But Lavater did not appear to have made polemics his study ; he seemed to think right and wrong , in historical fiidt , of far
less importance than right and wrong in religious sentiment ; and above all , in human adtion . There was more of feeling- th . iti of logic in his conclusions ; and he appeared to have taken less pains to examine reli gion , than to apply its precepts to the regulation of those frailties .and passions of the human heart , the traces of which , hidden from others , he had marked with such admirable accuracy in the character 3 ud expression of outward forms
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Visit To Lavater,
Darty to translate for me : he told me , that for the most part the German words Lavater employed were compound epithets of his m v , i framing ,, which had peculiar energy as he used them , but which would be quite vapid and spiritless in translation . The great rule of moral conduct , Lavater said , in his opinion , was , next to God , to respect Time . Time he considered as the most human treasuresand waste of it in the hihest
valuable of , any as g decree immoral . He rises every morning at the hour of five ; aud thou » 'h it would be agreeable to him to breakfast immediately after rising makes it an invariable rule to earn that repast by some previous labour ; so that if by accident the rest of the day is spent to no useful purpose , some portion of it may at least be secured beyond
the interruptions of chance . _ Lavater " -ave us a most p leasing account of morals inZunc . He had been a ° preacher of the gospel , he said , in that town , thirty years ; and so incapable were the citizens of any species of corruption , that he should have rendered himself "ridiculous had he ever , duiingthat long period , preached a sermon against it , since it was a vice unknown . ' At what a distance , ' thought 1 , ' am I arrived from . London ' and Paris ! ' . .
When we took our leave of Lavater , he begged we wouId write our names and place of abode in a book , whicli he appropriates to the use of inscribing the long list of his foreign visitors . _ An hour after my return from his house he came to pay me a visit , which I was taiio-ht to consider as an unusual compliment , since it is his general rule not to return the visits of strangers . Religi -n Was the theme of his discourse , and he talked of its pleasures , its consolations , und its
hopes , with a solemn sort of enthusiastic fervour , which shewed how much his heart was interested in the subject , and how warmly his sensibility was awake to devotional feelings . Although his zeal was not without knowledge , yet it was somewhat difficult io discover what was his system of belief : whether he was ( if Paul or Apollos , a follower of Calvin according to the established creed ofthe Swiss church , or whether he was not in some sort the framer of a new dodlrine
himself . _ ' One of my fellow-travellers , who was anxious to wrest from the venerable pastor his confession of faith , brought in review before him the various opinions of the fathers , orthodox and heretic , from Justin Martyr and Orig in , down to the Bishop of St . David ' s and Dr . Priestley . But Lavater did not appear to have made polemics his study ; he seemed to think right and wrong , in historical fiidt , of far
less importance than right and wrong in religious sentiment ; and above all , in human adtion . There was more of feeling- th . iti of logic in his conclusions ; and he appeared to have taken less pains to examine reli gion , than to apply its precepts to the regulation of those frailties .and passions of the human heart , the traces of which , hidden from others , he had marked with such admirable accuracy in the character 3 ud expression of outward forms