but have fixed and immutable lines of gislature has removed the veil whichr difference. What should we think of a moral code which represented the purest and most beneficent virtues as owing all their claim to approbation, not to their motives or their effects, but to a reflection of splendour from some remote and foreign source? What is the first sentiment which rushes on the unsophisticated mind, when the most flagitious enormities are represented as transmuted into high moral qualities by the agonies of extraneous innocence? What could we say of the justice or mercy of that government, which should condemn such a hero as the Duke of Wellington to a lingering death, in order to expiate the cowardice of all the recreants in the land; or which should sentence such philanthropist as Howard to the rack or the gallows, as the fittest mode of effecting the purification of all the thieves and prostitutes in the empire? What motives to patriotic courage could be furnished by such an act as the first, or to a diffusive beneficence by the last? In fixing the criterion of right and wrong, we should never outrage the common sentiments of mankind; which will be found to merit more attention than all the mystic jargon of visionaries or polemics, to whatever party they may belong." a Another part of the zealous divine's Charge is directed against a class of people whom he calls liberalists. Amongst these are included the supporters of Bible Societies and the unfortunate Unitarians, who are as much as tythes in the dreams of the clergy. With regard to them, the Archdeacon piously bewails the repeal of the Act which subjected them to corporal penalties, mingling with his lamentations a strong expression of sympathy with Bishop Burgess, poor man, who having written against, these misbelievers has been answered by them! The passage is a curiosity and should be preserved : "Vice (says the learned dignitary) is without odium and virtue without attraction, when viewed through the equalizing medium of what is called liberality; a term which in its present application has no fixed or determinate meaning, but which involves in its operation" [the two last sets of italics are not the divine's] " the confusion of all principles and the encouragement of all errors. A solemn act of the le our ancestors considered necessary to exclude from the public eye the licentiousness of blasphemy against the Son of God; and hence" [the italics again are not to be ascribed to the Archdeacon] "a learned and distinguished prelate has been libelled and arraigned for supporting the dignity of our Saviour in the discharge of one of his most important functions, against the Scripture-mutilations" [once more the Archdeacon of Huntingdon must be exonerated from responsibility for the italics] " of the promoters and abettors of Socinianism." I SIR, Clapton, May 15, 1817. CANNOT withhold from you an additional circumstance, which came to my knowledge several years since, respecting Jewel, mentioned in the note (p. 200) of your last number. - While in Chelmsford Jail, awaiting the vengeance of our sanguinary juris prudence, he was visited by a friend of mine, from motives of Christian compassion. To him the unhappy misguided man recounted the great kindnesses of Mr. Vidler, and confessed the unworthy return he had prepared for his benefactor, to whom I once related the story, which could not fail to interest him. I am nowconvinced that Mr. Palmer (p. 204) was correct in his account, and that Mr. Muir and his associates were conveyed on board the Surprize hand-cuffed. This appears from additional papers which I have very lately examined, and which may enable me to offer some further contributions to your department of Original Letters. Mr. Palmer appears to have been sent on board the ship alone, and not to have been hand-cuffed. There was. probably some consideration of his clerical character, in compliment to the Alliance between Church and State. I take this opportunity of informing the subscribers to Dr. Priestley's Theological Works, that the number of subscriptions having reached very nearly 200, I have determined, Deo volente, to proceed immediately, and I trust the first volume will be in the press before this notice can appear. On account of the customary rates of printing, the number of sets must be confined strictly to 250, unless, which cannot now be expected, the subscriptions should increase considerably beyond that number. I must therefore request any who may still be desirous of subscribing, to write immediately to me at Clapton, Middlesex, or to Mr. G. Smallfield, Printer, Homerton, lest subscriptions should be received for more than the 50 copies yet unappropriated. The list of subscribers will, now, accompany the edition. I shall be thankful for any assistance towards the literary execution of the design which I have ventured to undertake; and request such communications as early as possible. SIR, J. T. RUTT. May 4th, 1817. A S your work is so peculiarly devoted to Unitarian literature, I would earnestly recommend to such of your correspondents as are acquainted with German writers, to favour us through the medium of it, with accounts of the most celebrated Antitrinitarian authors in that language, who, I understand, are neither few nor small. There are two in particular of whom I wish to know something, viz. Eberhard and Basedow, and I shall be sincerely obliged to any one who will inform me of the particulars of their lives and works in an early number. SIR, Ε. Tenterden, May 7, 1817. DERMIT me to inquire whether there is any probability that the Life of Dr. Caleb Fleming will be introduced into your Repository. If not, although I should much wish it to be drawn up by some person more competent than myself, I am inclined, with the assistance of some materials sent me by one of the Doctor's relations, to undertake it; as it has been already much too long withheld from the public. Dr. F. was a decided Unitarian, cotemporary with Dr. Lardner, with whom he lived on terms of the closest intimacy and friendship. They lived also only a few doors from each other in Hoxton Square. They were senior to Dr. Priestley both in years and Unitarianism, and with much satisfaction beheld his rising fame. L. HOLDEN. THE government of the north being once upon a time vacant, the prince of the power of the air convened a council in Hell, wherein upon competition between two Demons of rank, it was deterinined they should both make trial of their abilities, and he should succeed who did most mischief. One made his appearance in the shape of. Gunpowder, the other in that of Brandy. The former was a declared enemy and roared with a terrible noise, which made folks afraid and put them on their guard. The other passed as a friend and a physician through the world, disguised himself with sweets and perfumes and drugs, made his way into the ladies cabinets and the apothecaries shops, and under the notion of helping digestion, comforting the spirits and cheering the heart, produced direct contrary effects; and having insensibly thrown great numbers of humane kind into a lingering but fatal decay, was found to people Hell and the grave so fast as to merit the government which he still possesses. Minute Philos. Dial. II. No. CCCIH. Bon Mot of Dr. Savage's to George I. Dr. Savage, who died Lecturer of St. George's, Hanover Square, had travelled in his younger days with the Earl of Salisbury, to whom he was indebted for a considerable living in Hertfordshire. He was a lively, pleasant, facetious old man. One day at the levee, George I. asked him how long he had stayed at Rome with Lord Salisbury? Upon his answering how long, Why, said the king, you stayed long enough, why did not you convert the Pope? Because, Sir, replied he, I had nothing better to offer him. This story is told by Bishop Newton (in his own Memoirs), who succeeded Dr. Savage in the Lectureship. REVIEW. " Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame." -POPE. ART. I. UNITARIAN CONTROVERSY IN SCOTLAND. Discourses on the Principal Points of the Socinian Controversy. By Ralph Wardlaw, Minister of the Gospel, Glasgow. London, Longman and Co. 8vo. pp. 443. A Vindication of Unitarianism, in Reply to Mr. Wardlaw's Discourses on the Socinian Controversy. By James Yates, M. A. London, Eaton. 8vo. pp. 276. hday Unitarianism Incapable of Vindication: A Reply to the Rev. James Yates's Vindication of Unitarianism. By Ralph Wardlaw. London, Longman and Co. 8vo. pp. 416. A Sequel to " A Vindication of Unitarianism," in Reply to Mr. Ward law's Treatise, entitled, Unitarianism Incapable able of Vindication. By the Author of the Vindication. Liver. pool, Robinsons. Eaton, London. 8vo. pp. 156. Ally no FEW years ago there was not religious society in Scotland in which public worship was conducted on Unitarian principles, but there was scarcely, it is said, an avowed Unitarian in that country. When a chapel was erected in Glasgow, dedicated to the worship worship of One God the Father, the worshippers of a "triune God" were alarmed; the kirks and chapels resounded with invectives against heresies and heretics and blasphemies and blasphemers, and when the heretic who opened the chapel, published his sermon, containing a statement of the Unitarian doctrine, the faithful of all denominations were extremely scandalized. They were indignant dignant that "the leading doctrines of Christianity were openly impugned and denied," it being always taken for granted, by those persons, that the leading doctrines of Christianity and the leading doctrines of Trinitarianism and Calvinism are different expressions for the same thing. Mr. Wardlaw in particular, who is the minister of a Dissenting congregation in Glasgow, felt his spirit stirred within him; and having had from an entirely different cause, his thoughts directed towards the principal points of the Socinian controversy, and at this very time, revolving various subjects for a series of Monthly Sabbath Evening Discourses, he thought it would be a criminal dereliction of duty, to neglect this opportunity of extirpating, root and branch, the horrid heresy which was beginning to grow up amongst them; especially as it is not consistent with the laws and customs of Britain, in the present age, to pull down the chapels of heretics as soon as they are erécted, or to burn them and their temples together, with fires kindled by their own books. Alas! that the good Bishop of St. David's and the Very Reverend the Dean of Cork should have so much occasion to lament, that they are as persons born out of due time! a series of Mr. Wardlaw accordingly delivered Monthly Sabbath Evening Discourses, on the principal points of the Socinian controversy, which were afterwards published; in answer to which, Mr. Yates wrote his Vindication of Unitarianism. After a considerable refreshment from the battle, Mr. Wardlaw again comes forward, defiance on his brow, brandishing his arms with a more terrible fury and determined to prove, or perish in the attempt, that Unitarianism is Incapable of Vindication. Mr. Yates calmly marches out to meet his irritated antagonist, and his own account of the result is told very simply and briefly in the Sequel to the Vindication. Such is the history of this controversy. The important question whe ther it be the duty of Christians to worship One God the Father, or "One God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance," is here debated with great ability. The leading arguments on each side are acutely stated and forcibly urged, and these volumes, which are of a moderate bulk, afford any person who will take the trouble to peruse them with attention and impartiality, the means of forming an enlightened judgment on the most important controversy which has ever been agit agitated among Christians, and of which every intelligent Christian ought to be ashamed to be ignorant. In our notice of these publications we shall endeavour to enable the reader to form a correct opinion of the scope of the arguments they contain and of the manner in which they are conducted, not so much with a view of superseding the necessity of his reading the works themselves, as of exciting him to a careful perusal of them; for if he have not thoroughly investigated the subject of which they treat, and if it be his wish that his religious opinions should be the result of conviction, his leisure moments may be very profitably employed in this study. Mr. Wardlaw's volume contains twelve Discourses. 1. On the Unity of God and the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead. 2-5. On the Supreme Divinity of Jesus Christ. 6. On the Test of Truth in Matters of Religion. 7. On the Doctrine of Atonement. 8. On the Practical Influence of the Doctrine of Atonement. 9. On the Divinity and Personality of the Holy Spirit. 10, 11. On the Influences of the Holy Spirit. 12. On the Christian Character. This plan includes several interesting subjects, which do not particularly bear upon the controversy between the Unitarian and the Trinitarian. Mr. Yates, however, strictly confines himself to the discussion of the points in dispute, between the worshipper of One God the Father, and the worshipper of "one Godhead, containing three distinct substances, denominated for the want of a better word, persons-the Father, the Son or Word, and the Holy Spirit." Cheerfully, and from a conviction of its justice, according the name of Unitarian to every person who believes that there is One only God the Father, and that religious adoration ought to be paid to him alone, Mr. Yates still farther narrows the scope of the controversy, by confining his argument to the establishment of two great truths, the evidence of which, from the Scriptures, he contends is overwhelming; namely, that there is but One only God, One individual Being, without a distinction of persons, commonly designated in the New Testament by the terın Father, and that whatever power and glory Jesus Christ possessed, he derived from this Being who is styled his God and Father. The minor questions relative to the pre-existence of Christ, his creation of the world, &c. he leaves to be settled by Unitarians themselves after they are agreed in these first great principles. In like manner, Mr. Yates declines entering on the discussion of the doctrine of the atonement, "because the Calvinistic view of atonement, according to Mr. Wardlaw's own confession, falls with the doctrine of our Saviour's Supreme Divinity:" and on the influences of the Holy Spirit, "because it is enough to observe, that they proceed throughout upon a misrepresentation of Unitarianism." This plan of restriction has evidently been adopted from a wish to fix the attention of the reader on the main questions to be decided in this controversy: and though it is not without inconvenience, since truth is never seen to such advantage as when the whole of it is clearly stated and boldly defended, yet considering how little the public mind in Scotland has been directed to inquiries of this nature, it is perhaps upon the whole a judicious choice. Mr. Yates divides his work into three parts. The first part contains a statement of the general principles to be followed in investigating the truth of religious doctrines, together with soine observations on the regard paid to the Scriptures by Unitarians: on the proper method of ascertaining the sense of Scripture and on the propriety of believing in mysteries. In the second part the opinions and opinions arguments of Unitarians concerning the Unity of God, the subordination of Jesus Christ and the use of the terms Holy Spirit and Spirit of God in the Scriptures, are adduced; and the third part contains an examination of the objections by which Mr. Wardlaw has attempted to invalidate the Unitarian opinions. Mr. Yates commences his examination of Mr. Wardlaw's Discourses with bearin bearing the following generous testimony to the worthy motives by which his opponent has been actuated, gives me great pleasure to express the approbation due to the eloquence with which they are composed and the powers of reasoning which they display. I heartily join in the universal confession that the Trinitarian system could not have been more ably defended. Mr. Wardlaw has shown peculiar judgment in confining himself to those arguments which have sually been considered as clear and decisive, instead of bringing forward all the passages of Scripture which have been conceived to bear remotely upon the subject, and by insisting upon which other advocates have weakened the cause they intended to support. Whilst I have been pleased with the ingenuity and alertness displayed in defending points of difficult and abstract speculation, I have been edified by the useful observations of a practical nature which are scattered through the volume, and which I would hope may redeem it from oblivion, when men have learned to value plain truths pertaining to life and godliness, above what is mysterious and inexplicable." "Mr. Wardlaw affirms solemnly (pP. 99), that his only object is TRUTH; and doubtless the defence of the Calvinistic doctrines which he believes to be true, was his only object. But there is a wide dificrence between defending a particular system, previously assumed as true, and pursuing truth independently of system difference, which will materially affect the manner in which a man states his own doctrines and views the arguments of others. Mr. Wardlaw's whole style and language in this controversy show, that he has never put his mind into that state of calm and impartial deliberation, which is necessary to collect and arrange the proofs on either side and to judge in favour of which opinion the evidence preponderates. On the contrary he has set this system to be true, and that with its establishment and progress are connected the glory of God and the salvation of men, (Preface, p. iii.) he exerts his utmost powers to impress it upon the mind, and labours to fortify his argument by bringing out all the images and strong expressions, all the affecting and solemn tones, all the facts and allusions, all the faults and errors of his opponents, by which he can strike his hearers with astonishment and horror at the folly, the blindness, the perverseness of those who refuse to be converted by such brilliant and decisive evidence. That an orthodox preacher should have recourse to those expedients, in order to rouse the languid conviction of his own flock, may be perfectly proper; but they are utterly subversive of that temper of cool, patient and unbiassed investigation, which may be expected in one, who makes it his simple and exclusive object to ascertain truth. We find also in Mr. Wardlaw's volume a kind of management and generalship which a votary of truth would scorn. Having very few proofs to adduce, he makes the best use of what he has, brings them forward many different times, dwells upon them at great length, turns them about and shews them in the most pleasing variety of lights. Yet, lest after all they should fail to make a sufficient impres sion, he takes care to inform his hearers, that these are only a specimen of what he might have brought forward; the passages, which contain his doctrine are so numerous, that he would weary their patience and exceed his own strength, if he were to produce them all, and hence he is obliged to select a few of the more prominent. This' PRINCIPLE OF SELECTION,' as Mr. Wardlaw calls it, I fear, I shall have frequent occasion to expose, and to shew that where he professes merely to bring out a sample, he has nearly or entirely exhausted his store." We cannot pass over the chapter on mysteries with which the introductory part of Mr. Yates's work concludes, without earnestly recommending it to the attention of all our readers whether learned or unlearned, orthodox or heterodox. No one who attends to it can afterwards be perplexed with the mysteries of the New Testament, or be for a moment deceived by the unmeaning declamation in which it is so common to indulge on this subject; and the object of which always is, to place a belief in contradictions and impossibilities on the same footing as a mysteries. out with a bold, undaunted and impetuous zeal for a certain system; and believing belief in |