In reply to one of the Queries of "W." (No. 24. p. 383.), I transcribe
from the MSS. of Mr. Chewning Blackmore, a Presbyterian minister of
Worcester, the "Lines on London Dissenting Ministers of a former Day,"
which I have never seen entire in print:--
"Behold how Papal Wright with lordly pride
Directs his haughty eye to either side,
Gives forth his doctrine with imperious nod,
And fraught with pride addresses e'en his God.
"Not so the gentle Watts, in him we find
The fairest pattern of a humble mind;
In him the meekest, lowliest virtue dwells,
As mild as light, as soft as ev'ning gales.
"Tuning melodious nonsense, Bradbury stands,
With head uplifted and with dancing hands,
Prone to sedition, and to slander free,
Sacheverell sure was but a type of thee.
"Mark how the pious matrons flock around,
Pleased with the noise of Guyse's empty sound;
How sweetly each unmeaning period flows
To lull the audience to a gentle doze!
"Eternal Bragge in never-ending strains
Unfolds the mysteries Joseph's coat contains,
Of every hue describes a different cause,
And from each patch a solemn mystery draws.
"With soundest judgment and with nicest skill,
The learned Hunt explains his Master's will,
So just his meaning, and his sense to true,
He only pleases the discerning few.
"In Chandler's solid, well-composed discourse,
What wond'rous energy! what mighty force!
Still, friend to Truth, and strict to Reason's rules,
He scorns the censure of unthinking fools.
"But see the accomplish'd orator appear,
Refined his language, and his reasoning dear,
Thou only, Foster, has the pleasing art,
At once to please the ear and mend the heart!
"Lawrence, with clear and solid judgment speaks,
And on the sober mind impression makes,
The sacred truths with justness he explains,
And he from ev'ry hearer praise obtains."
Of the author of these lines I can give no information. He evidently
belonged to the Anti-Calvinistic party. His name does not appear to have
been known to Mr. Walter Wilson, the historian of the "Dissenting
Churches" of London, although he quotes a portion of them. But they were
probably composed between 1728 and 1738. In the former year, Dr. James
Foster's London popularity arose, on the occasion of his undertaking the
evening lecture at the Old Jewry. In the year 1738, Mr. Robert Bragge,
one of the subjects of the poem, died. Of this gentleman the story is
told (and to it the poem evidently alludes), that he was employed no
less than four months in developing the mysteries of Joseph's coat, from
Genesis, xxxvii. 3.: "And he made him a coat of many colours." In reply
to the sarcasm on Mr. Bragge, Mr. Walter Wilson states (_Hist. and Ant.
of Diss._ ch. i. p. 247.) that the following stanza was composed:--
"The unwearied Bragge, with zeal, in moving strains,
Unfolds the mysteries Scripture-Book contains;
Marks every truth, of error shows the cause,
And from each mystery useful doctrine draws."
The unfavourable notice of Dr. Sam. Wright in the opening stanza, is at
variance with the general report of biographers. In the copy of the
verses in the Blackmore MSS. is this note:--"I think this is too severe
on the Dr." Dr. Wright was admired for his pulpit elocution; and it is
said that Archbishop Herring was, in his younger years, a frequent
hearer of his, with a view to improve in elocution. The notice of the
celebrated Tom Bradbury is grossly unjust. He was a man of wit and
courage, though sometimes boisterous and personal. His unsparing
opponent, Dr. Caleb Fleming, wrote admiringly of "his musical voice, and
the flow of his periods, adapting scripture language to every
purpose."--_The Character of the Rev. Mr. Thos. Bradbury, taken from his
own Pen, &c._ Lond. 8vo. 1749, p. 35.