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Article CHARACTER OF BERNARD GILPIN, ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Character Of Bernard Gilpin,
the duties incumbent upon him as a clergyman with so much diligence , fidelity , and resolution , as must render his memory venerable , and transmit his name with distinguished honour to the latest posterity . Besides the amiable character which is exhibited to our view in the foregoing work , it has this additional recommendation , that it is written with great elegance and judgment . —The stile of the
ingenious biographer is such as is suited to his subject , easy and natural ; his reflections are few and to the purpose ; in a word , the whole is wrought up in such a manner as to render it not only a very instructive but an entertaining performance . We heartily wish that we had sufficient influence with our readers , and with all indeed with whom we converse , to persuade them to a
careful perusal of this piece ; for instead of being afraid of incurring the imputation of a bad taste , or want of judgment , on account of what we have said concerning it , we are persuaded , that those who read it with attention , provided they have not lost their moral sense , will think we have fallen short in our commendations of what it really deserves . —It will not be expected that we should give large extracts
from it ; we shall therefore content ourselves witli la 3 * ing before our readers , as a specimen of the ingenious biographer ' s manner of writing , some of those observations which he has made towards the close of his performance , on the character of that worthy man whose life he has given us . After mentioning his humility , his candour ,
his sincerity , his great knowledge , his uncommon skill m the art of managing a fortune , & c . he proceeds as follows : ' Thus far , ' says he , ' however , he hath had many imitators . The principal recommendations of him , and the distinguishing part of his character were , his conscientious discbarge of the duties of a clergyman , his extensive benevolence , and his exalted piety . 1 As to the discharge of his functionno man could be more
, strongly influenced by what he thought the duties of it . The motives of convenience or present interest had no kind of weight with him . As the income was no part of his concern he only considered the office , which he thought such a charge as a man would rather dread than solicit ; but when Providence called him to it ( for what was not procured by any endeavours of his own he could not but ascribe to
Providence ) he accepted it , though with reluctance . —He then shewed , that if a sense of the importance of his office made him distrust his abilities , it made him most diligent in exerting them . As soon as ever he undertook the care of a parish , it immediately engrossed his whole attention . The pleasures of life he totally relinquished , even his favourite pursuits of learning . This was the more
commendable in him , as he had always a strong inclination for retirement , and was often violently tempted to shut himself up in some university at home or abroad , and live there sequestered from the world . But his conscience corrected his inclination , as he thought the life of a mere recluse by no means agreeable to the active principles of Christianity * , nay , the very repose to which his age laid
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Character Of Bernard Gilpin,
the duties incumbent upon him as a clergyman with so much diligence , fidelity , and resolution , as must render his memory venerable , and transmit his name with distinguished honour to the latest posterity . Besides the amiable character which is exhibited to our view in the foregoing work , it has this additional recommendation , that it is written with great elegance and judgment . —The stile of the
ingenious biographer is such as is suited to his subject , easy and natural ; his reflections are few and to the purpose ; in a word , the whole is wrought up in such a manner as to render it not only a very instructive but an entertaining performance . We heartily wish that we had sufficient influence with our readers , and with all indeed with whom we converse , to persuade them to a
careful perusal of this piece ; for instead of being afraid of incurring the imputation of a bad taste , or want of judgment , on account of what we have said concerning it , we are persuaded , that those who read it with attention , provided they have not lost their moral sense , will think we have fallen short in our commendations of what it really deserves . —It will not be expected that we should give large extracts
from it ; we shall therefore content ourselves witli la 3 * ing before our readers , as a specimen of the ingenious biographer ' s manner of writing , some of those observations which he has made towards the close of his performance , on the character of that worthy man whose life he has given us . After mentioning his humility , his candour ,
his sincerity , his great knowledge , his uncommon skill m the art of managing a fortune , & c . he proceeds as follows : ' Thus far , ' says he , ' however , he hath had many imitators . The principal recommendations of him , and the distinguishing part of his character were , his conscientious discbarge of the duties of a clergyman , his extensive benevolence , and his exalted piety . 1 As to the discharge of his functionno man could be more
, strongly influenced by what he thought the duties of it . The motives of convenience or present interest had no kind of weight with him . As the income was no part of his concern he only considered the office , which he thought such a charge as a man would rather dread than solicit ; but when Providence called him to it ( for what was not procured by any endeavours of his own he could not but ascribe to
Providence ) he accepted it , though with reluctance . —He then shewed , that if a sense of the importance of his office made him distrust his abilities , it made him most diligent in exerting them . As soon as ever he undertook the care of a parish , it immediately engrossed his whole attention . The pleasures of life he totally relinquished , even his favourite pursuits of learning . This was the more
commendable in him , as he had always a strong inclination for retirement , and was often violently tempted to shut himself up in some university at home or abroad , and live there sequestered from the world . But his conscience corrected his inclination , as he thought the life of a mere recluse by no means agreeable to the active principles of Christianity * , nay , the very repose to which his age laid