I I i THE WORKS OF THE MOST REVEREND WILLIAM MAGEE, D.D., ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN. VOL. II. G. WOODFALL and SON, angel court, ss!innEr street, London. THE WORKS OF THE MOST REVEREND WILLIAM MAGEE, D.D., LORD ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN: NOW FIRST COLLECTED AND PRINTED FROM THE AUTHOR'S CORRECTED COPIES : COMPRISING, DISCOURSES AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT AND SACRIFICE HIS PUBLISHED SERMONS, AND VISITATION CHARGES. WfTH A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE, BY THE REV. A. H. KENNEY, D.D., RECTOR OF SAINT OLAVE'S, SOUTHWARK ; FORMERLY DEAN OF ACHONRY J AND FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL LONDON : T. CADELL, STRAND. W. BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH; AND A. MILLIKEN, DUBLIN. MDCCCXLII. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. Page I. ILLUSTRATIONS AND EXPLANATORY DISSERTA TIONS ON THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINES OF ATONEMENT AND SACRIFICE, concluded:— No. LXX. — On the correspondence between the Annual Ex piation under the Law, and the One Great Expiation under the Gospel . . . . ' . . . . . 1 No. LXXI. — On the nature and import of the ceremony of the scape' goat 2 No. LXXII. — Socinian objections urged by a Divine of the Established Church, against the doctrine of the vicarious import of the Mosaic sacrifices, and' against other doctrines of the Church of England 4 No. L XXIII. — The Atonement by the sacrifice of Christ more strietly vicarious, than that by the Mosaic sacrifices whereby it was typified .24 No. LXXIV. — Concluding Number 25 II. APPENDIX, containing an account of the Unitarian Scheme, as described by Mr. Belsham 27 Remarks on the Unitarian Version of the New Testament . 74 Supplement to the Remarks on the Unitarian Version . .107 III. SERMONS ON VARIOUS PUBLIC OCCASIONS:— 1. Before the Association for discountenancing Vice and pro moting Religion and Virtue 311 2. For the National Thanksgiving on account of the Provi dential Deliverance of Ireland from Invasion . . .351 3. On the Death of John, Earl of Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland 373 vi CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. Page IV. VISITATION CHARGES:— 1. To the Clergy of the Diocese of Raphoe .... 399 2. At the Primary Visitation of the Archdiocese of Dublin . 429 3. To the Clergy of Dublin, — The Principle of Union between Church and State in Christian Communities, explained ; and its validity defended against the fictions of Warburton and the usurpations of popery . . , . .461 V. INDEXES:— 1. Of Texts explained or referred to , . , , .501 2. Of principal Matters 515 3. Of Books referred to in the Discourses and Dissertations on the Atonement , 535 ILLUSTRATIONS EXPLANATORY DISSERTATIONS SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINES ATONEMENT AND SACRIFICE, CONCLUDED. ILLUSTRATIONS EXPLANATORY DISSERTATIONS. NO. LXX. ON THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE ANNUAL EXPIATION UNDER THE LAW, AND THE ONE GREAT EXPIA TION UNDER THE GOSPEL. Vol. I., page 41. (c). — The sacrifice on the anniversary of expiation seems to be distinguished from- all others by a pe culiar degree of solemnity, as if to mark- its more immediate reference to the great sacrifice of Christ. Thus, on this day, we find the High Priest exclusively commanded to officiate : and on this day alone, in the stated exercises of his office, was he permitted to enter into the Holy of Holies, and to carry the blood of the victim into the presence of God, to offer it before that Glory, which, seated between the two cherubims, overshadowed the mercy seat, and represented the Divinity : — a circumstance, which the Apostle particularly marks (Hebr. chap, ix.) as prefiguring the entrance of our great High Priest, with the blood offered by him for our redemp tion, into the true presence of the most High, the immediate habitation of God's holiness and glory. The High Priest also seems to have been selected for the solemn services of this day, as more adequately representing the whole assembly, in whose name he sacrificed and supplicated forgiveness; and therefore more properly typifying him, who, representing the whole human race, was to procure redemption by his blood for the whole assembly of mankind, VOL, II. B 2 NATURE AND IMPORT OF THE Whoever wishes for a more minute detail of the particulars of this solemn sacrifice, and of its peculiar fitness to represent the sacrifice of Christ, may consult Outram de Sacr. lib. 1. cap. xviii. § 6, 7; lib. 2. cap. iii. § 2, 3, 4. He will also re ceive much satisfaction, from an examination of AinswortKs comment on the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. For many valuable remarks, connected with the subject of this Number, Daubeny's Discourses on the Connexion between the Old and New Test, may be consulted. And in Rhenfer dius's treatise De Comparatione Expiationis Anniv. Pontificis Max. V. et N. Test. {Meuscheri's Nov. Test., &c, pp. 1013—1039,) a most copious and circumstantial enumeration is given of the particulars, in which the annual expiation by the Jewish High Priest resembled the one great Expiation of the New Testament. It may be proper to observe, that such is the force of the resemblance, that Socinus himself admits this anniversary sacrifice of atonement, — inasmuch as " it was of special divine ordinance, at a stated season, offered by the High Priest, and appointed to atone for all the sins of all the people," — to be fairly accounted typical of the sacrifice of Christ.— Socin. Oper. {Prated. Theol. cap. xxii.) torn. i. p. 583. NO. LXXI. ON THE NATURE AND IMPORT OF THE CEREMONY OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. Vol. I., page 42. (a). — On this, see what has been said in pp. 239, 240, of vol. i., and attend particularly to the 5th, 7th, and 10th verses of the 16th chap, of Leviticus, from which it appears, that the two goats are, throughout the chapter, spoken of as one sin-offering; being expressly so called in the first of these verses ; presented jointly as the offering of the people in the second ; and, though separated into two distinct parts by the lot cast in the 9th verse, yet each described as contributing to the atonement for the people, as appears from the 10th verse compared with the 17th. In deed, that the two goats made but one sin-offering on this occasion, the best commentators freely admit. See Jarne- CEREMONY OF THE SCAPE-GOAT. 3 son's observations on this chap, of Leviticus. The reason of this seems obvious. The death of the animal was requisite to represent the means by which the expiation was effected : and the bearing away the sins of the people on the head of the animal was requisite to exhibit the effect ; namely, the removal of the guilt. But, for these distinct objects, two animals were necessary to complete the sin-offering. It must be allowed, that an account somewhat different has been given of this matter by some very judicious com mentators. The goat sent into the wilderness, and that which was offered up in expiation, jointly, they say, typify the great Redeemer of mankind : the former animal ex hibiting that, which could not be displayed by the latter, as having been slain ; namely, that Christ was not only to be delivered/or our offences, but to be raised again for our justification (Rom. iv. 25) ; and that although he was to be crucified through weakness, yet he was to live by the power of God. (2 Cor. xiii. 4.) Thus Ainsworth, Bochart, Alting, and, before them, Augustine and Procopius, understand it. The opinion of these writers, respecting the truth to be il lustrated by the dismissal of the second goat, may perhaps not improperly be combined with that which has been here proposed : so that whilst the goat which was slain exemplifies the Sacrifice offered for the sins of mankind ; that which was sent away alive may represent, not only the removal of those sins in consequence of that sacrifice, but also the restoration to life of Him by whom they were so removed. Whether, however, this point be admitted or not, the circumstance of the two goats jointly constituting one offering, by exhibiting the different adjuncts, cannot, I think, with any reason be controverted. Rhenferd contends, that this point is completely established by an evidence resulting from the nature of the ceremony itself. For, he says, the imposition of hands, and the con fession and implied translation of sins upon the victim, being usual in the sacrifice of animals in expiation ; and this cere mony being omitted in the case of the goat that was slain, b 2 4 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, whilst it was employed in the case of the goat that was sent away ; decidedly prove, that both animals were designed to be considered as one offering, and that the latter, conse quently, represented Him who was to bear the sins of Israel, and by his sufferings to expiate and to remove them. — See Jac. Rhenferd. exp. anniv., &C, p. 1033, of Meuschen, Nov. Test, ex Talm. " Whoever may have a curiosity to know whether any, and what ceremony, analogous to that of the Scape-goat, is ob served by the Jews of modem times, on the day of Expiation, may turn to vol. i. pp. 177, 178, where he will find that a cock is now substituted for the legal victims ; and that the entrails of the animal to which the sins of the offerers are conceived to have been transferred by imprecation, are exposed upon the top of the house, to be carried away by the birds into their solitary haunts, in like manner as, under the law, the scape goat had been conceived to carry away the sins of the people into the wilderness. See also Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. and Broughton's Dictionary of Religions, Article Expiation. NO. LXXII. SOCINIAN OBJECTIONS URGED BY A DIVINE OF THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH, AGAINST THE DOCTRINE OF THE VICARIOUS IMPORT OF THE MOSAIC SACRIFICES, AND AGAINST OTHER DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Vol. I., page 42. (b).— The arguments in behalf of the vi carious import of the Mosaic sacrifices, have been so fully ex amined in Numbers XXXVIII. and XXXIX., that nothing need here be added to what has been already offered upon this head. It is with great regret that, in reverting to this subject, I feel myself obliged to notice the following observations; which have been recently hazarded by a Divine of the Esta blished Church, with a rashness and a flippancy which cannot too strongly be condemned. " Those who seek a protection for their absurd and un- scriptural ideas of a vicarious punishment, under the shelter AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. of the Jewish ritual, do not consider that that ritual was solely intended to preserve the Jews from the idolatry and poly theism of the neighbouring nations, by keeping their imagin ation sensibly interested, their minds perpetually employed, and their time continually occupied with the performance of rites and ceremonies, sacrifices and oblations, which all tended to keep alive in their minds the unity of the Godhead ; and thus to preserve them a distinct people, till the time appointed came for the opening of the Christian dispensation ; when the distinction between Jew and Gentile was to be done away". There are, I know, some people whose fancy is a The same idea this author takes pains frequently to enforce. In his Re ligion without Cant, (p. 112,) he states it thus " The ceremonial laws of the Mosaic dispensation were intended merely to preserve unbroken the barrier between Jew and Gentile, till the coming of him," &c And yet, will it be be lieved, that in the very same page, this determined enemy of every thing typical in the Mosaic dispensation, affirms, that in the Mosaical law, the great scheme of redemption was obscurely insinuated, rather than distinctly pourtrayed, in types and figures, in the sacrifices of the altar, and the atonements of the Priest? The Redeemer, he adds, "was seen through the rites of the Mosaic dis pensation, as through a veil or a glass, darkly." How then does this "wise and sober" writer differ from those, "whose fancy prevailing over their judgment" has led them to view the Mosaic dispensation as containing in it something typical of the Christian ? He admits, that the sacrifices and atonements under the one, did obscurely typify the great scheme of Redemption in the other. And who contends that the type was any other than a faint and obscure draught of the reality ? Thus, then, he saves his reader the trouble of confuting the as sertion, that the Jewish ritual was solely intended to form a barrier between Jew and Gentile, and that none but a vision ary could ever have dreamt of its bear ing a typical relation to the Christian scheme. This is not the only case, in which the freedom and variety of this author's views have led him to mutually con fronting positions on the same subject. — To select one instance more out of a rich abundance — In p. 179, of the last named work, he tells the Christian, that "it is only by personal acts of sin, hardening into habits of sin, that he be comes a transgressor, subject to the wrath of God ; " and, agreeably to this, he asserts again, in p. 210, that " it is not by some occasional misdoings that we are to pass sentence on any man ; " — that, " in estimating the worth of the human character, we are not to form our calculations on the conduct of one single day, but to take the average of many days and years, and see what pro portion a man's violation of his duty bears to its performance, his virtues to his vices, his sins to his righteousness." — And yet this indulgent moralist, who had thus far endeavoured to relieve us from any inconvenient pressure of sin upon our consciences, by enabling us to reduce the balance against us in the debtor and creditor account of trans gression and righteousness, shortly after turns upon us, all at once, with this un pleasant sentence : " The moment we have violated any one duty of truth, justice, and humanity, or any one say ing of the perfect law of Christ, that 6 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, stronger than their judgment, who suppose that the varied sacrifices and ordinances of the Mosaic ritual, and indeed all the fractional parts of the Mosaic dispensation, were intended only as types and figures of particular facts and doctrines in the history and institution of the Messiah. — Those, whose minds are not fitted for larger and grander views of the ways of God, may well employ their time in these puerile conceits ; but they will be despised by wise and sober men, who do not like to assimilate the operations of the Deity to the trick and pantomime of a conjuror!!'' — Tlie Guide to Immortality, by Robert Fellowes, vol. iii. pp. 55, 56. Such are the modest insinuations of a divine, whose mind is of course " fitted for large and grand views of the ways of God;" whose comprehensive ken enables him, although un aided by any lights from Scripture, to discern what was the sole design of the Jewish ritual ; who is possessed of " a judg ment," that at once detects the silly fancies of all such as "suppose" that that ritual could bear any relation to the Messiah ; and who is also " wise and sober " enough, to " despise" all those, who, by forming such a supposition, " assimilate the operations of the Deity to the trick and pantomime of a conjuror." Now, who are the persons, who, by forming such strange suppositions, and by indulging in such " puerile conceits," have rendered themselves the objects of this gentleman's con tempt ? Not to speak of the person alluded to in the last note, (who probably stands too well with the author, to be exposed to any portion of that scorn which is to be shared among those who entertain such notions,) one of the first and most distinguished in this way is the Apostle Paul. He has gone the unreasonable length of endeavouring to prove, in a most minute and laboured detail, that the institutions of the Law were but shadows of things to come. But then, of St. moment we are polluted with guilt, and, of theology) should take some little without repentance, obnoxious to pu- pains to know what his own opinions nishment." See p. 220.— Really, it were, before he proposed them for the were by no means unadvisable, that a instruction of the public. writer (not excepting even a teacher AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 7 Paul, and his various " puerile conceits," this writer makes no account. The Apostle, he inform us, " labours with mysterious meanings, which he fails in developing with suf ficient perspicuity r." — " He was of the sect of the Pharisees, who were wont to allegorize on the literal sense of Scripture. His writings have a tincture of cabalistical refinement, — and even occasionally glimmer with a ray of Grecian philoso phy!'1 " The Epistle to the Romans is bewildered with the polemical Christianity of that day." — His Epistles, generally, are " filled with the abstruse discussions of Rabbinical learn ing ; or relate to questions which are at present of more curiosity than importance." — "A modern believer has" (consequently) " very little concern with any of the Epistles of this Apostle;" or indeed, it must be added, with any of the Epistles, all of which this writer finds to be " involved in a tenfold obscurity;" and -to which he pronounces it impos sible that we could ever pay the smallest attention, but that " we prefer stumbling in darkness ; that we delight more in error than in truth; or that we imagine there is no piety where there is no mystery." — Picture of Christian Philosophy , Pref. pp. iv — vi ; pp. 131, 132. — See also Guide to Immort. vol. iii. pp. 230, 231, where the same point is again earnestly en forced. In another work, (Relig. without Cant, pp. 13, 14,) the same author takes care to acquaint his reader more par ticularly with those pharisaical dogmas and heathenish no tions, which St. Paul had so deeply imbibed ; and he illus trates the power of ancient prejudices over the mind of the Apostle, by a happy and elegant allusion to the tang of the tainted cask; which, as he has presented it in a Latin phrase, likely to excite attention from its novelty, will, he thinks, give to " the sagacious " a sufficient idea of his meaning. Of his meaning, in truth, no person can entertain a doubt. His language is plain and intelligible enough. It is neither more nor less than this; that St. Paul, and, indeed, the Authors of all the Apostolical Epistles, have shown them selves to be mere drivellers: that we should consequently reject all their fancies; discard the hitherto received doc- MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, trines of Christianity, as idle dreams ; and regard the Gospel merely and exclusively as a moral system, or, as he chooses sometimes to term it, as a rule of life. This is the point which this writer mainly labours to establish throughout his various theological11 publications. And, for the purpose of effecting this, he strenuously contends that the Christian re ligion contains in it no doctrine that is mysterious"0 ; that it a The Anticalvinist, A Picture of Christian Philosophy, Religion without Cant, and The Guide to Immortality, are the works with which this author has favoured the public on theological subjects. [Another theological work has, I understand, issued from the same pen, since the time at which this note was written : but what the nature of its contents may be, I confess I have not been anxious to discover.] — In these several volumes, all largely descanting upon the morality, to the disparage ment, or rather to the exclusion, of the doctrines of the Gospel, the Christian excellence which forms the favourite theme, is benevolence. It were well if he had treated those from whose opinions he thinks proper to dissent with that mildness, and brotherly for bearance, which might prove him to have written under the influence of the virtue which he so highly praises. His language, on the contrary, is every where that of the bitterest rancour, and the most arrogant contempt, against all who embrace the doctrines which he rejects, and which, in subscribing the articles of the Church to which he be longs, he bound himself by a solemn promise to maintain. Nay, he even dooms to the place df future torments, in common with the most profligate and abandoned of sinners, all who have taught the "false and pernicious doc trines of innate depravity, imputed righteousness, and such other dogmas as are contrary to goodness."— Guide to Immort. vol. i. p. 316. Yet with all this gall perpetually discharging itself, charity and the kindly affections are the never-ending topics of declamation ; a declamation even sometimes swelling into pindaric. Love, indeed, of one kind or other, is with this writer so favourite a theme, that a late work, in Which he has in dulged in the effusions of poetry, is ex clusively devoted to the subject. It must be confessed, however, that the love there treated of is as far removed from Christian love, as any that a Christian minister could feel himself justified in recommending. — Poems chiefly descriptive of the softer and more delicate sensations and emotions of the heart.' Surely, surely, there is mis chievous stuff enough of this kind abroad, without calling in the clergy to contribute their stock of silly love-songs, to the increase of the nuisance — And yet, perhaps, the love-songs of this clergyman are not more mischievous than his theology. They certainly are not more poetic. b " In the following work, it will perhaps be objected that I have intro duced no mysteries : but whatever is mysterious is unnecessary. The essen tials of a religion consist in few, and those the plainest truths. " — " Pake re ligions may extol the importance of mysteries : but there is no mystery in the true." — Guide to Immortality, vol. i. pref. p. xiv. — Similar language is scattered plentifully amongst the pages of this work. Being thus prepared to render all perfectly smooth throughout the Gospels, and the Epistles being altogether discarded, our author pro ceeds with his pruning-knife in his hand, and freely and unsparingly lops or bends every thing to his own wish, and, as he conceives, to the great edifi- AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. pronounces a good moral life to be the only requisite* con dition a of salvation; that in the Gospels alone are to be cation of his reader. And yet, strange to say, notwithstanding his plain reason ing, which " all men in the possession of reason may understand," he has left behind him mysteries not less than those which he boasts to have removed ; if that which cannot be comprehended be allowed to be mysterious. Amongst many such, his observations upon the Incarnation and the Atonement supply notable specimens. The very opening of his work, indeed, cannot fail to satisfy all who examine it, of his qualifications as a commentator, who is to remove from the sacred writings all the obscuri ties of mystery. Confessing that he cannot discover what meaning should be assigned to the word hiyos, he " gives no translation to this mysterious term, but retains in the text the original word Logos, to which he leaves every reader at liberty to annex whatever interpreta tion he may think best." (Vol. i. p. 3.) — This is certainly a new mode of re moving a difficulty : and Mr. F. is evi dently not quite satisfied with it himself. He, therefore, in the succeeding notes, calls in the aid of Dr. Lardner, and labours, with the help of this Socinian ally, to explain the nature of that, the term to express which he does not ven ture to translate. And now the matter comes out, that this Logos, let the word mean what it may, must actually be God himself. For if it be the reason, the wisdom, or the power of God, then what but God himself 'can it be? — Thus the first point gained in making the matter plain, is, that the attribute of any Being is that Being. — Well, then, this Logos is actually God himself. How goes on the plain reasoning now ? In the beginning was God; and God was with God ; and God was God. — So far there is no mystery undoubt edly ; nor yet in the succeeding assur ance, that God was in the beginning with God. And for such communica tions, it must be conceded to Mr. F. and his Socinian auxiliaries, that the Evangelists could have but little need of inspiration. But as we advance a little farther, we find that this Logos (that is, God) is called The Light; and that this Light, which in one verse is God, becomes, in the next, the Mes siah, " the visible image of the wisdom of God ; " and that immediately after it becomes God again. — ( See the notes, pp. 3 — 7, vol. i. of Guide, &c.)— So much for the freedom from mystery, and clearness of exposition, in which this author exults ; and for the want of which he everywhere indulges in the most indignant invectives against such as give support to the creeds and articles of the Established Church ; all of whom, indiscriminately, he never fails to abuse as ignorant and intolerant, in a manner that evidently marks where these terms may justly be applied. A glance at the exposition of the in troductory verses of St. John's Gospel, as given in pp. 53, 54 of the first vol. of this work, will satisfy the reader, with what associates this Church of England divine is to be ranked in his comments upon Scripture. ¦ Guide to Immor. vol. i. p. 327 This is also the familiar language of Mr. F. throughout. The clergy, he says, (Vol. i. p. 323,) "ought solely and exclusively to be the moral teachers of the people." (He means to say, that the clergy " ought to be solely and ex clusively moral teachers of the people.") Indeed he carries this point so far, that he would have "the ministers of the Establishment compelled to teach nothing but that pure morality which Christ taught, without any cant or mystery." — Religion without Cant, p. 131 It has been remarked of the work so entitled, — which deals, usque ad nauseam, in the cant or common-place usual with a certain class of writers on the subjects of liberality, benevolence, morality, &c, blended, at the same time, 10 M0SAIO SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, found comprised every useful truth and every religious duty ; and that consequently in his own work, which professes to give a just view of whatever the Gospels teach, the Christian reader will meet " a faithful and a cheering Guide to Immor tality!'1 The author goes yet farther: he holds, that our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount " contains a summary' of every thing which it is necessary to believe or to practise." [Anticalvinist, pp. 13. 25.) So that even his own three volumes, explanatory of the true meaning of the four Evan gelists, are in a great degree superfluous ; inasmuch as the substance of a few chapters which have been given by one of them, comprehends all that is actually requisite. This is undoubtedly making brief work with the writings of the New Testament : and, in this view of the case, he might with as much propriety have entitled his book, a short cut, as a cheering guide, to immortality. But that we may appreciate the more justly the value of this writer's theological opinions, it is necessary to observe, that, whilst he everywhere a insists on the propriety of con fining the entire range of Christian instruction within the limits of our Lord's discourses, as recorded by the Evange lists, he at the same time very candidly informs us, that some of the grandest and most important truths of Christianity were not made known to the Apostles until after their Master's death. " The great mystery of a suffering Messiah," he says, (in the indulgence it is to be presumed and to rekindle the heat of contro- of benevolent and moral feelings,) with versies, whose lustre and whose in- no small portion of the cant of invective terest have long since been lost in the against all the supporters of the Esta- night of ages, may dedicate the best Wished religion, — that instead of being portion of their days to the fruitless denominated Religion without Cant, it study of that imperviously dark and in- might by a slight transposition have extricably bewildering polemical matter, acquired a much more appropriate de- which is still preserved in the Aposto- scription, Cant without Religion. lical Epistles." — " But the precepts of a Besides what has been already Christ, as they are contained in his quoted upon this subject, in p. 7, various parables and discourses in the we find the following remarks in this four Evangelists, contain all the instruc- writer's Guide to Imm. vol. iii. p. tions which are necessary to our im- 231. — "Those, who prefer religious provement in righteousness; — include, speculation to the practice of religion, in short, every essential principle of or who wish to keep alive the memory genuine Christianity. AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 11 (and with what consistency he talks of such a mystery, or of any mystery whatever, let the reader judge,) " could not pru- dentially be explained, and was not openly and unreservedly taught, till after his resurrection. {Guide, &c, vol. i. p. 344.) In the sentence preceding this he takes care to state dis tinctly, that, during the life of our Lord, this knowledge was withheld even from his immediate followers. Neither could it have been communicated to them, in the interval between the resurrection and ascension, consistently with the repre sentation of the case which this author gives : for he particu larly acquaints us (which he admits to be more than the Evangelists themselves have done) with the subjects of our Lord's discourse during that interval. " It was principally occupied with instructions relative to their (the Apostles') ministry," &c. But " all things necessary for the belief or the practice of men, and which are essential to salvation, our Lord had repeatedly inculcated on his disciples before his death" And, accordingly, " the Apostles delivered nothing necessary to salvation, which Christ had not previously en joined in his discourses to his disciples ; and of which we have a copious summary in the writings of the Evangelists." {Guide, &c, vol iii. pp. 229, 230.) — What now follows from all this ? — That " the great mystery of a suffering Messiah" is of no importance in the Christian scheme. For nothing is important that is not contained in our Lord's discourses delivered before his death, and as they are given to us by the Evangelists : and in these discourses, we are told, the subject of a suffering Messiah is carefully suppressed. But we have not yet done with the variety of the author's views upon this head. He has again and again assured us, that our Lord had, in several discourses before his death, communicated to his disciples every important truth : and yet he freely confesses, in other places, that there were seve ral important truths which were not so communicated, but which our Lord had promised to convey to his disciples by the Spirit of truth, whom he would send to them after his death. {Guide, vol. iii. p. 64.)— It is true, indeed, that as to 12 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, this Holy Spirit, or Paraclete, Mr. F. questions", (p. 63,) " whether it may not simply signify Christ's resurrection and ascension ! " This, however, he proposes only to the " dis passionate and deep-thinking." — But what again shall we say of the Evangelical narration, as Mr. F. describes the matter in another place ? (p. 68.) " After my resurrection, I will de clare to you the will and counsels of the Father without any indistinctness or obscurity!1 And yet to this he immediately subjoins : " The sacred historians have only very briefly re cited the discourses of Jesus with his disciples after his re surrection" — Thus, then, " the will and counsels of the Father" the expounding in all the Scriptures [beginning from Moses and all the prophets) the things concerning him self, — which were vouchsafed by Christ to his disciples after his resurrection, and which the Evangelists have (not "briefly" but) not at all " recited," are to be sought for precisely where it is confessed that they are not: and the Gospels are alone to be referred to, for clear and distinct views of doctrines, which the Gospels do not contain : whilst that part of Scrip ture is to be rejected as unnecessary, and even injurious, which was specially allotted to the purpose of communicat ing to mankind that knowledge of the truth, which the Spirit of truth, as well as the words of our Lord, conveyed to the Apostles, subsequently to his resurrection. Thus we find this writer, who is to clear away all mystery * " It is a question, which may be ever it is spoken of. And then, our proposed to calm and dispassionate and Lord's address to his disciples would deep-thinking men, whether our Lord, run thus : " If I go not away, my re- under the idea of a Paraclete or Coun- surrection and ascension will not come sellor, spoke of his resurrection and as- to you ; but if I go, I will send him cension ; events which so greatly con- (i. e. my resurrection and ascension) tributed to dispel the prejudices, to unto you. And when he is come," &c. enlighten the minds, and to elevate the " However, when he Cometh, even the hearts of his disciples ; and, in short, to Spirit of truth, (or, in other words, my lead them into all truth." — So much resurrection and ascension,) he will for plain, unretined, natural exposition. guide you into all truth : for he (that Now, if, in speaking of the Comforter is, my resurrection and ascension) will that was to be sent, our Lord meant not speak of himself," &c I certainly his resurrection and ascension, it is must leave this to " the dispassionate evident that we may substitute these and deep-thinking," for I find it quite words for that which they imply, where- beyond the reach of my comprehension. AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 13 and difficulty from Scripture truth, perpetually at variance with himself, no less than with the real doctrines of Chris tianity. Surely, he should have endeavoured to form at least a consistent set of opinions, before he attempted to ob trude them on the public ; and, more particularly before he ventured to fly in the face of the whole Christian world, by an open rejection of one of the most important portions of inspired Scripture. Humility, however, is not one of the weaknesses of this writer : and certainly knowledge is not his forte. — Any reply to the arguments advanced by Mr. Fel- lowes, for the rejection of the Epistles in the investigation of the Christian doctrines, is rendered unnecessary by the argu ments themselves. Independently of their extravagance, (I had almost said, their folly,) they carry in them, as we have seen, their own refutation. In truth, the object of our Saviour's life was to supply the subject, not to promulgate the doctrines, of the Gospel. The Evangelists, therefore, confine themselves to the simple duty of narration : and the doctrines, which al together depended upon what our Lord had done and suf fered, particularly upon his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, were, after this groundwork was fairly laid, to be fully set forth by those, to whom our blessed Saviour had solemnly promised the unerring aid of the Holy Spirit, and who were especially designated by him for that very purpose. See pp. 303 — 305 of vol. i. for farther observations upon the attempt made by Dr. Priestley and his Socinian phalanx, similar to this of Mr. F.'s, to beat down the authority of the Epistles. By rejecting the Epistles, or, which is the same thing, the doctrines which they contain, Mr F. indeed thinks that he maya reconcile "Jews, Turks, and Infidels of what- a Upon this prudential plan of clear- us forget ; " Who," say they, " can ing away mysteries from Christianity, in swallow them ? " In truth, none but order to bring infidels of all descriptions those who think it no dishonour to within its pale, I cannot avoid noticing their understandings to credit their the observations of a writer, whose Creator. Socinus, like our Infidels, opinions deserve at least as much re- was one of =¦ narrow throat; and out spect as those of Mr. FeUowes.—" As of a generous compassion to the Scrip- to the mysterious articles of our faith, tures, (which the world, it seems, had which Infidels would by no means have misunderstood for 1500 years,) was for 14 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, ever denomination," to Christianity. {Guide, &c, vol. i. pref. p. xv.) — No ; that he will not effect : but he will accom plish this, — he will render Christianity very little different from what Jews, Turks, and Infidels, have already embraced. Thus then, upon the whole, it is manifest, that we have the very essence of Socinianism presented to us by a writer, in the garb of a minister of the Established Church : a writer, too, who expatiates in every page on the moral virtues ; on the virtues of truth, honesty, and fidelity ; whilst he openly boasts of the good policy of continuing in the bosom of that Communion which he labours to subvert ; and exultingly avows his breach of those solemn engagements, by virtue of which he obtained admission within its pale. Such plain and unenlightened Christians, as have not acquired a relish for the refinements, which enable an ingenious casuist to violate his promise and to betray his trust, will be apt to suspect that, in this author's hands, Christianity has not only been abridged of its mysteries, but also curtailed somewhat in its morality. For what do those articles contain, to which every clergyman of the Established Church has declared his entire and unfeigned assent, but the very doctrines which this gentleman ridicules and rejects ? Surely, the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Redemption, and the various other momentous Christian truths, which they pro nounce to be indispensable to the formation of a genuine Christian faith, are not to be found comprised in the Sermon weeding them of their mysteries ; and tude of mysteries, which he has made ?" rendering them, in the plenitude of — Such are the striking and just re- his infallible reason, undisgusting and flections of the celebrated Dr. Young, palatable to all the rational part of on this important subject, in his Cen- mankind. Why should honest Jews taur not Fabulous (p. 14); a work and Turks be frighted from us by the which, in this age of frivolity, voluptu- Trinity, Src. ? He was for making re- ousness, and irreligion, I would particu- ligion familiar and inoffensive. And larly recommend to the attention of my so he did ; and unchristian too. " — The young reader, promising him in the same admirable writer subjoins. "Those perusal, not less entertainment from things which our hands can grasp, the liveliness of its illustrations and the our understandings cannot comprehend. brilliancy of its wit, than improvement Why then deny to the Deity himself, the from the soundness of its reasonings privilege of being one amidst that multi- and the animation of its piety. AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 15 on the Mount, which this author maintains to be a " summary of every thing, which it is necessary to believe or to practise." It is, indeed, scarcely conceivable, how a person in the possession of a sane understanding can reconcile to himself subscription to the articles of any Church, and rejection of the doctrines which those articles define. To say, as this author does, that the sixth article, in pronouncing that no thing is to be received as an article of faith which is not founded in Holy Writ, supplies a dispensation from the ob ligation of the rest, is to make as short work with the articles of the Church, as he has already made with the canon of Scripture. Would it not, under these circumstances, have saved much unnecessary trouble, to reduce the articles of the Church to the single declaration of the sixth ? Or, in deed, were we to seek the simplicity, which this author so strongly recommends, the sixth article itself must be yet farther reduced, to correspond to the just dimensions of Gospel truth ; and the whole that our Church should pro nounce to be requisite, for the true belief of a Christian teacher, should at once be confined to the range of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. But, to a person not desirous of escaping from the obligations of a solemn engagement, it would naturally occur, that the Church, in propounding cer tain articles of belief, could never have acted so absurdly, as to superadd to these one paramount article, which was to do away the obligation of all the rest. On the contrary, he would necessarily reason thus : that, whilst certain doctrines are proposed as articles of faith, and it is at the same time declared that none are to be received as such, which are not founded on the authority of Scripture ; it is clearly intended to be conveyed, that the articles proposed are founded upon that authority, and to be received as articles of faith by those only who conceive them to be so founded. The language which Mr. Fellowes's reasoning would put into the mouths of the framers of the articles, is rather whim sical. "For the purpose of avoiding diversities of opinion, 16 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, and the establishing of consent touching true religion a, we require from the clergy of the Established Church of Eng land an unfeigned assent to the several doctrines which we propose ; and for the better effecting the aforesaid purpose, we also require of them, each for himself, according to his private interpretation of Scripture, to modify or to reject these doctrines at pleasure, and to introduce such diversities of opinion, as they may respectively think fit." — This is Mr. Fellowes's view of the matter. I would suggest to him a view of it somewhat different, in the words of one of the most distinguished ornaments of the English Church at the pre sent day. — " / do willingly and ex animo subscribe to the thirty-nine articles of the Church of England, is the indis pensable form of subscription ; and therefore it behoves every one, before he offers himself a candidate for holy or ders, to peruse carefully the Articles of our Church, and to compare them with the written word of God. If, upon ma ture examination, he believes them to be authorized by Scrip ture, he may conscientiously subscribe them : but if, on the contrary, he thinks that he sees reason to dissent from any of the doctrines asserted in them, no hope of emolument or honour, no dread of inconvenience or disappointment, should induce him to express his solemn assent to propositions, which, in fact, he does not believe ."b — {Bishop Tomline's Elements, &c, vol. ii. p. 567.) — According to Mr. Fellowes's reasoning, on the other hand, a Christian minister may ex press his solemn assent to propositions, which, in fact, he does not believe. And this is the writer who resolves the whole of Christianity into morality. Juravi lingua, mentem injuratam gero, is a sentiment which has seldom been so openly avowed, as by this gentle- 3 The Title of our Articles, in de- cles, affirms, that " every word that scribing the object for which they are comes from our mouths in opposition to framed, uses the very words which are the established faith, is a violation of here printed in Italics. the most solemn engagements, and an act •> Dr. Balguy, in speaking of the of disobedience to lawful authority." duties of the clergy, touching the arti- AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 17 man. The dishonest subterfuge of mental reservation has been often charged upon that Church, against whose corrup tions it has been the glory of ours to protest. It might3 now with justice be retorted upon our own, if indeed it could (as I confidently trust it cannot) reasonably be supposed, that opinions on the subject of subscription, similar to those en tertained by Mr. F., prevail in any degree amongst the clergy of the Establishment. But, after all, we do not find this gentleman completely satisfied with his own views of the subject. In the wish, which he expresses b, that Parliament should give relief from all subscriptions to doctrine, it is manifest, that he is not altogether contented with the dispensation, which he con ceives the 6th article to supply. Whether Parliament, how ever, grant such relief or not, his free spirit is not to be re strained. — " When the Church of England got rid of one Pope, it never intended to raise up thirty-nine in its place."0 (p. xxi.) And if the church presume to do so, he is at all a It has, in truth, been retorted, in a late publication, by a Roman Ca tholic writer, and directed even against those of our clergy, who conceive themselves to be bound by their sub scription to consider the articles merely as articles of peace. Even of these this author pronounces, that they must be allowed to have acted under impressions " contrary to every prin ciple of Christian sincerity, and favour able to perjury." What then would the same writer have said of a minister of the Established Church, who, so far from viewing those Articles, to which he had solemnly declared his unfeigried assent, as Articles of peace, openly ar raigns them as grossly antiscriptural, and professes it to be his determination to oppose and to overturn them by every means in his power ? — The pas sage to which I have referred, is to be found at p. Ivi. of the Introduction to a work, entitled The Protestant Apology for the Roman Catholic Church— The author of the Introduction (who styles himself Irenceus) possesses ability and VOL. II. information, worthy of a better cause than that which he has undertaken to support; and many things have fallen from his pen, in that treatise, which well deserve the consideration of Protestant divines I mention this the more will ingly, because it has not been my lot to meet with publications by any late writer of the Romish Church, alike de serving of notice. " Guide to Imm. vol. i. pp. xviii, xix. ° * It is curious to observe this advo cate for Christian freedom, who spurns with such indignation these Popes which are imposed by the authority of the Church, devising at the same time a Pope of his own, to which he would have the whole body of the clergy compelled to bend the knee. For, as we have already seen, (note a, pp. 9, 10,) his favourite plan is, that the mi nisters of the Establishment should be compelled to teach nothing but pure morality. Thus, like most of the other mighty advocates for freedom, the li berty which he wishes for, is merely the liberty to deprive others of theirs. C 18 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, events released from such iniquitous exercise of authority, by a duty of higher obligation, — the duty which he owes to the great spiritual King. (p. xxi — xxiii.) But it may be asked, whether this duty authorizes him to betray his trust, by vo luntarily continuing a member of a particular communion, which he labours, in violation of the most solemn engage ments, to overturn ; labours to overturn, by the very means which his connexion with that communion supplies ; and the enjoyment of which means, he pretty plainly intimates to be the principal cause for which he maintains that connexion. (pp. xix, xx.) It is, however, but fair to state, that, in this deliberate en deavour to overturn the doctrines which the articles enforce, this author considers himself by no means chargeable with a violation of his engagements. The argument indeed is some what new. It amounts to this : that he who attends to the direct, natural, and obvious meaning of the articles, is least likely to arrive at their right construction : and that, as to the letter, they are in truth more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Whoever doubts this to be a fair repre sentation, may turn to the pages last referred to ; and also to pp. 33 — 42 of Relig. without Cant, where we find the author more fully unfolding the entire mystery of his reasoning upon this subject ; — for mystery and paradox this author does not dislike, where they are of his own creation. It is there laid down, authoritatively, that the true meaning of the articles is not to be collected from the articles themselves, but from the sense of the clergy at large ; who, it is affirmed, " may put any construction a upon them which they think best : " that, " Dr. Pahy, a writer certainly not of be, quis imposuit, et quo animo?"— the same stamp with Mr. Fellowes, (Principles of Moral and Political Phi- gives a very different account of this losophy, p. 148.) — This is manifestly matter. " Subscription to Articles of an inquiry, of a nature very far removed Religion, though no more than a de- from that which Mr. F. recommends to claration of the subscriber's assent, may us. And, although I cannot agree with properly enough be considered in con- Dr. Pahy either as to his general notion nexion with the subject of oaths, be- of the intent of the articles, or as to his cause it is governed by the same rule idea, that the animus imponentis ter- of interpretation; whieh rule is the minates with the legislature that enacted animus imponentis. The inquiry, them, yet it cannot, I think, be reason- therefore, concerning subscription, will ably denied, that he proposes the true AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 19 " according to that construction, the articles may and ought to be subscribed;" and that he, who thus subscribes them, inasmuch as he maintains a unity of doctrine with the ma jority of his brethren, "is a better friend to the Church of England, than he is, who may subscribe the articles in a sense more agreeable to the letter," &c. — Thus we are in formed by a writer, who boasts of not submitting his opinions to authority, that we are not to exercise our private judgment in discovering the true sense of the articles, but to take it en tirely on trust from others. This however turns out, in the conclusion, to be, after all, but a convenient mode of render ing the whole dependent upon the judgment of the very in dividual, who thus modestly disclaims its exercise. For, principh of their interpretation. A just corrective of the laxity with which Dr. Pahy applies that principle, may be found in Mr. Gisborne's Principhs of Moral Philosophy, pp. 190—192. To this work, as well as to Bishop Tomline's Elements, I would earnestly advise the divinity student to resort for accurate notions upon this subject. Very loose opinions have been scattered abroad, by various writers, upon this point ; a point, which of all others de mands a most conscientious precision. But of all these writers, none, perhaps, of any note, has advanced h more re laxed system, than the late Cambridge Professor, Dr. Hey, who, in his Lec tures on Divinity, however much of learning and good sense they may otherwise contain, has certainly merited the charge made by Bishop Law, of leading the members of the Church " into all the labyrinths of a loose and a perfidious casuistry." (Vol. ii. p. 1 3. ) His description of the nature of the tacit repeal adopted by the Church of Geneva, (vol. ii. p. 56,) and his manifest recommendation of it as an example to be followed- by other churches, will supply a sufficient proof of the truth of this assertion. — Dr. Powell, again, another eminent member of the University of Cambridge, has given but too much colour, by certain expressions of his in his Discourse on Subscriptions, for the wild opinions of Mr. Felhwes upon this subject : al though when well considered, and in connexion with the context, they will be found to give him no support. The following observations of this writer de serve to be quoted. Speaking of the subscription of the clergy, he says: " Our articles of Religion are not merely articles of Peace. They are designed also as a test of our opinions. For, since it cannot be imagined, that men should explain with clearness, or en force with earnestness, or defend with accuracy of judgment, such doctrines as they do not believe; the Church re quires of those, who are appointed to teach religion, a solemn declaration of their faith. Nor is it more unreason able to exclude a man from this office, who, through error, unavoidable sup pose, and innocent error, is unfit to execute it ; than to deny him a single employment, for which he is accident ally disqualified. He, therefore, who assents to our articles, must have ex amined them, and be convinced of their truth." — Dr. Powell's Discourses on various Subjects, pp. 33, 34. The whole of this passage is well worthy of attention. c2 20 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, since all is now to be decided by the suffrage of the clergy, and since there is no practicable contrivance whereby this suffrage can be numerically collected, the sense of the ma jority must, of course, be precisely that which each individual may conceive it to be. But, again, as it is not merely " the majority of the living members," but "particularly the most learned, upright, and judicious members of the Church of England, that constitute that Church;" it must be the sense of the majority of these, it is manifest, that is to determine the point. Now who are the most learned, upright, and ju dicious members of that Church ? These clearly can be no other than they who reject all mystery ; who make Chris tianity nothing but a moral rule ; who can discern in it no thing more than Dr. Priestley, or Mr. Belsham, or any other free expositor who would divest it of all its peculiarities ; who, in short, agree with Mr. Fellowes, in pronouncing the entire sum and substance of the Christian religion to be comprised in Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Thus, then, it appears, that our author ends where he began, and that the true meaning of the articles as well as the genuine sense of Scripture, is to be collected only from him who has supplied us with The Guide to Immortality. Now what is all this less than insanity ? But it is the in sanity of a vain mind, of which we see too many instances on religious subjects daily. Well might a periodical writer, whose attachment to religious truth entitles him to general praise, describe this writer as " presumptuous, idolizing his own conceptions, and fancying his own reason infallible, and cutting short the fine of faith, exactly where it happens to interfere with their suggestions. — Already" (it is added). a " he is a latitudinarian in the widest sense of the word : the natural progress is from that to a fanciful, self-willed, merely nominal Christian; making even the Gospels bend to his own whim. From this point the descent to Deism or even a It should be observed, that these same direction ; and given additional remarks were drawn forth by one of the proof of the justice of those animadver- earliest of this writer's performances. sions, and the truth of those prognos- He has since travelled farther in the tics. AND OTHER DOCTRINES, OBJECTED TO. 21 Atheism is perfectly easy : nor do we know, indeed, that a Deist differs much, except in name, from such a Christian." Mr. F. has, it is true, congratulated himself on his good fortune, in being the subject of these animadversions of the British Critic ; as they have furnished the occasion of his "receiving so much elegance of praise, from one who is equally distinguished by the vigour of his intellect, and the fervour of his benevolence." {Relig. without Cant, pref. p. xxxviii.) — That Dr. Parr has proved his benevolence, by the high panegyric which he has bestowed upon Mr. F., there can be no question ; but whether he has done equal credit to his intellect, or, what is of more consequence, whether he has served the cause of truth and of Christianity, by such in dulgence of that amiable feeling, is certainly much to be doubted. Had Dr. Parr confined himself to the testimony which he has borne to the purity and benevolence a displayed in the private life of Mr. Fellowes, as he is a competent, so he would have been admitted to be an unexceptionable wit ness. But, in speaking of an author, whose works are before the public, Dr. Parr, however highly his learning and talents may be (and highly they ought to be) rated, yet cannot pos- a Dr. Parr speaks in terms altogether a writer, who has war continually in his unmeasured of the benevohnt and cha- mouth, that Dr. Parr pronounces peace ritabh feelings which uniformly govern to be for ever in his heart. It is almost the life and guide the pen of Mr. Fel- ludicrous to see such a writer repre- lowes. And yet it is an extraordinary sented as using in his own person the effect of those benevolent and charitable language of Grotius, " Pacem amavi feelings, that he should everywhere semper amoque," even in the qualified throughout his writings pour forth the sense in which this pacific disposition is language of virulence and contempt described. (Spital Sermon, p. 82.) against all who support the creeds and —Dr. Parr's universal acquaintance articles of the Church, against all, in with the ancient classics will readily short, who deem any thing beyond his suggest to him whose language I use, abridged form of Christianity necessary when (without being deterred by the for a Christian. Perhaps even from " tales pacis hostes insurrecturos," &c. ) the writings of the most illiberal bigot a I beg to substitute for the foregoing the stronger instance of the want of charity following description, as more aptly il- cannot be adduced than that which lustrative of the character of his friend, this author supplies, (as has been no- — "no-re i}ns,«.bmvs%miXm, fxlnvifiu- ticed, p. 8,) in speaking of those, who kUxi 'm) r$ pin almis 'i%tiv tin^lxt, " teach the false and pernicious doc- piirs tovs aXKoas mle&tovs \%v, otftis au trines of innate depravity, imputed iiVw. righteousness," &c. In short, it is of 22 MOSAIC SACRIFICES VICARIOUS, sibly expect, that the opinion, which he thinks fit to pro nounce upon that author's productions, shall necessarily re gulate the public decision. Perhaps, indeed, in the declara tions which this classical and most elaborate writer has ha zarded on the subject of Mr. Fellowes's theological publica tions, although nothing can shake his reputation as a scholar, he may not have added much to his character as a divine. For when he tells us, that he finds but " two or three points of controversial divinity in which he dissents from Mr. Fel lowes," (who in almost every point of controversial divinity dissents from the Articles of the Established Church :) and that he discovers scarcely any thing to be objected to, except " that Mr. F. does not assent to some positions of Mr. Wil- berforce a about original sin ; for the attempt to refute whom, some enlightened believers may applaud, and some orthodox churchmen would pardon him : " — when he tells us these things, he proves beyond a doubt, either that he has perused Mr. F.'s writings with an eye of blamable partiality, where the cause of religious truth demanded an honest search and even a piercing scrutiny ; or that his own opinions hang but loosely and uncertainly upon the point of orthodoxy. Dr. Parr needs not to be informed, that the truths of Christianity are not to be conceded even to the amiable sympathies of friendship ; nor their just measure and degree to be accom modated to the formation of a polished and a pointed sen- a Dr. Parr, in speaking of the state stored his memory with many of the re- of his mind respecting the book pub- suits which it contains I confess, I lished by this excellent man and sincere think it but a bad symptom of the times, Christian, which gave rise to the stric- when even grave characters can be found tures of Mr. Fellowes, says, that the to join in the vulgar ridicule of distin- description of it lies in the following guishedpiety: when religious seriousness narrow compass — is> '" but serves as a ground for ludicrous de- fti/impai ; t« Xs /lira, tu P. 170. 77, 78, 79. c Pp. 13, 14. 38, 39. f Pp- 134. 148. 173. 180. " Pp. 104, 105. 172, 173. B P. 171. * Pp. 174, 175 ; also p. 41. VOL. II.. D 34 APPENDIX. dependency of human virtue. Let us stop for a moment to examine this more fully. — " Virtue a is a system of habits, conducing to the greatest ultimate happiness :"b " and men being the creatures of circumstances, the habits they form, whether good or bad, are the result of the impressions to which they are exposed;"0 — or, as we have just seen, are the result of a necessary and mechanical operation, and arise out of causes independent of the agent, if such he can be called. Now it seems natural to demand of this writer, in what re spect his scheme differs from that part of the high doctrines of Calvin, which he most strongly reprobates ? Does he not equally with the reformer of Geneva contend that man has nothing which he can call his own ? Does he not, equally with him, reduce every action under the necessary and irre sistible control of motives, in which the agent has no choice, and over which he can have no power ? And does he not, 3 Mr. B. in his Elements, where it is his intention to convey his ideas in the most scientific form, defines virtue to be, " the tendency of an action, affection, habit, or character, to the ultimate hap piness of the agent. " (p. 371.) It is at the same time to he noted, that of this tendency the true and proper judge is the agent himself. What then follows ? Why, plainly this, as Dr. Price has properly objected, that, agreeably to this definition, " any the most perni cious and horrible effects will become just and fit to be produced by any being, if but the minutest degree of clear advan tage or pleasure may result to him from them." {Review of Morah, p. 183.) Now how does Mr. Cooper, who coin cides in Mr. Belsham's sentiments, reply to this ? " Granted. But let God look to that. A future state of retribution has been ascertained for the very pur pose of obviating this objection." Mr. B. indeed admits, that " the expression is harsh, and hardly consistent with the reverence due to the Supreme Being;" but contends " that the meaning is just, and the reply satisfactory." — What ! a retribution hereafter I Wherefore a retribution ? Must a being, whose only business was to calculate the balance of advantage, suffer for a mistake in that calculation, when he made it with a view to that which alone he was bound to look to, his own advantage? And this, too, when he could not by any possibility have made a different calcu lation. For, as Mr. B. informs us, (Elements, p. 391,) " the only difference between the most virtuous and the most vicious person is, that the former was placed in circumstances, and exposed to impressions, which generated virtuous habits and affections, and the latter in circumstances by which vicious principles and dispositions were produced : " the one so circumstanced as that he must unavoidably calculate right,and the other so circumstanced as that he must una voidably calculate wrong. — So much for the true distinction between virtue and vice. b P. 38. c P. 41. APPENDIX. 35 whilst he thus concurs with the follower of Calvin, differ from himself, by abolishing the very idea of merit, whilst he makes merit the foundation of his system ? Mr. B., indeed, exerts all his ingenuity, as Dr. Priestley had done before", to escape from this resemblance to the Calvinist. The attempt, however, is vain. The Unitarian may fancy that he has provided a complete salvo for the difficulties of his system, and a clear distinction from that of the Calvinist, by substituting his notion of a purgatory for that of eternal punishment. But here, the consequences with which he presses the Calvinist return upon himself. For, if it be inconsistent with " infinite justice and goodness to doom a being to eternal misery, for no other cause, but that of not extricating himself out of the state in which his Creator placed him, without any power to act or will;"1' I would ask, by what principles of reasoning it can be recon ciled to the same infinite justice and goodness, to doom to temporary misery a being placed in circumstances precisely similar ; i. e. determined to one certain mode of action, by an indissoluble chain of motives, and an irresistible necessity. If the idea of punishment for that which was the result of inevitable necessity, be repugnant to the essential nature of justice, it must be equally so, whether that punishment be of long or of short duration. The quantity of the evil endured, if no evil whatever ought to be inflicted, can make no change in the nature of the case. The Power that prolongs or heightens the punishment, where no punishment was de served, may be more malignant, but cannot be more unjust. Thus, then, allowing to the Unitarian the full benefit of his purgatorial" scheme (for which however Scripture supplies a Philosoph. Necessity, sect. xiii. precision of his ideas may not suffer in * Review, p. 58. the reporting, I shall state them in his c The formal notion of a purgatory own words. " If there be a future life, I find laid down by our author, in the the immediate condition of the great philosophical treatise before alluded to, mass of mankind when they enter upon in which it is his professed object to it must be a state of very considerable give to students accurate and funda- pain and suffering. For the great ma- mental notions on all the leading sub- jority of human characters are alloyed jects of morality and religion. That the with one or more vicious habits and D 2 36 APPENDIX. not the smallest foundation,) he is exposed, equally with the Calvinist, to the charge, which he himself brings against the latter, of " impeaching the character of his Maker, and tra ducing his works."" — Thus much for the consequences of the two systems. Again, as to the principle of necessity, it is precisely the same, whether the Unitarian endeavour to dignify it, by the title of philosophical; or degrade it, by that of predestina- rian. Or, if Mr. Belsham will still pretend to differ from the follower of Calvin, whom he describes as equally with himself pronouncing man a necessary instrument destitute of self- agency, it can only be in this ; that whilst the latter makes man a necessary instrument in the hand of God, Mr. B.'s system admits the possibility of rescuing him from this slavish subjection to his Maker, by placing him under the irresistible control of chance, or destiny, or some other equally conceiv able power. For, to suppose all the actions of man to spring necessarily from motives, and these motives the unavoidable result of external impressions and local circumstances ; the divine Spirit giving no direction in the particular case, and the man having no power either to regulate their operation affections. These must be put under Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur a process of cure, more or less severe in igni. proportion to the malignity of the moral Quisque suos patimur Manes." disease." — Ehments of the Philosophy JEn. Lib. vi. of the Mind, p. 402. Our author also affirms that he has the testimony of " For this are various penances en- Scripture for this doctrine. I appre- joined; hend it must be the Second ofMacca- And some are hung to bleach upon bees, where others have pretended to the wind ; find it also. Or, perhaps, as he has Some plunged in waters, others not joined in turning the doctrine to so plunged in fires, good account as those who profess to Til1 a" the dregs are drained, and all have found it there, his authority has the ™st expires. been of that classical nature which might All have their Manes, and those Manes better suit a philosopher. bear-" Dryden. « Ergo exercentur pcenis, veterumque Pagans, Jews, Mahometans, and malorum Papists, have heretofore held these Suppliciaexpendunt : alia; panduntur notions : to these we must now add the inanes Philosophical Unitarian. Suspense ad ventos ; aliis sub gurgite a Review, p. 37. yasto Appendix. 37 or to resist their impulse ; is to suppose all that the Stoic and the Atheist could desire. Such is the exalted merit of man, fashioned by the deistical jargon of that, which equally disgraces Christianity and philosophy, by assuming their names. Such are the lights afforded us by the Rational Christian : who mends Calvinism by Purgatory ; secures to man a property in his actions, by rendering him the unresisting slave of motives ; and main tains the interests of religion, by subjecting human conduct solely to the mechanical operations of secondary causes. It is indeed extremely difficult to make out Mr. Belsham's system. But it is one of the advantages of inconsistency, that the statement of the absurdities in one part of an argu ment, is liable to be discredited by contradictory positions in another. Thus, whilst Mr. B. repeatedly affirms, that man is not to look to the influence and sustaining aid of the di vine Spirit, but solely to his own exertions, or, as he most singularly explains these exertions, to circumstances and impressions which work upon his mind by a mechanical and necessary operation ; he professes, in other places, not alto gether to banish the notion of the divine agency. " We are," he says, " thankfully to ascribe all our improvements, our hopes, and our consolations, to God."a Mr. B. has here struck a little out of the path to direct Atheism, in which he seemed before rapidly advancing : and this saving clause was indispensable to a writer, who professes a belief in the exist ence of a God. But when we come to inquire, on what ground our gratitude is due to a Being, who has not contri buted by any beneficial influence to the improvement of our virtue, we find our independence of a divine grace still care fully secured, inasmuch as the sole foundation of our thank fulness to the Supreme Being is, that "to his appointment, and continued agency, all causes owe their efficacy ."b It is, then, for the original constitution and general arrangement of the works of nature alone that we are to be grateful ; and not for any special operation of a divine influence, in any * P. 175. b Pp. 175. 180. 38 APPENDIX. individual case. May we not, therefore, fairly apply to our philosopher, what Cicero pronounced of the refiners of ancient times, " verbis reliquisse Deos, re sustulisse " ? But, that we may the more perfectly understand our au thor's meaning, he supplies us with a specimen of the mode in which a judicious instructor should endeavour to reclaim a vicious person, desirous of reformation. Having first care fully guarded him against all unscriptural doctrines, such as original sin, atonement, merits of Christ, and the like ; hav ing warned him, not to expect any supernatural impressions upon his mind, nor to imagine that moral and religious habits are to be acquired in a way different from any other ; having pointed his attention, particularly, to those parts of Scripture, which direct him to do justice, to love mercy, &c. : having urged him to fix in his mind just and honourable sentiments of God, as the greatest, wisest, and best of beings3; — he proceeds, more circumstantially, to the case of the offender ; and beginning, in due form, with a definition of Virtue, " as a course of conduct leading to the greatest ultimate happi ness," and of Vice, as "that which leads to misery;" — he next lays before the sinner, (or, in the milder vocabulary of Mr. B., the " person oppressed by the tyranny of evil habits,"1") the exact state of his case. — " You are deficient in virtuous habits ; you wish to form them : you have contracted vicious affections; you wish0 to exterminate them. You know the circumstances in which your vicious habits were a P. 174. morse not to be essential to repentance ; b P. 172. he proves, on the other, that it is a thing c N.B. It is above all things neces- in itself highly pernicious ; inasmuch as sary for the reformation of this person it is "founded upon the belief, that in " oppressed by the tyranny of evil the same previous circumstances it was habits," (so alarming and fanatieal a possible to have acted otherwise." A phrase as that of sinner I must not use,) perfect freedom from uneasiness of that he feel no remorse, be the vicious mind, after the murder of a parent, or acts that he has committed ever so the seduction of the innocent ; an un- enormous. For Mr. Belsham informs disturbed composure, flowing from the us, in his Elements, (pp. 307. 406,) that conviction that under all the circum- " the doctrine of philosophical necessity stances it was impossible to have acted supersedes remorse." And, indeed, it otherwise, must surely contribute much is happy that it does so ; because, whilst, to accelerate the repentance of the of- on the one hand, he pronounces re- fender, and to complete his reformation 1 APPENDIX. 39 originally contracted, and by which they have been confirmed. Avoid" these circumstances, and give the mind a contrary bias. You know what impression will produce justice, bene volence, &c. — Expose your mind repeatedly and persever- ingly to the influence of these impressions, and the affections themselves will gradually rise, and insensibly improve, &c. — ALL that is required is judgment, resolution, time, and per severance /"b — Really, Mr. B. must excuse me, if I take the liberty of saying, that I know nothing in the English lan guage equal to this, except the Energies of Miss Bridgetina Botherim. ° It is not my intention to introduce ludicrous a This is a whimsical sort of address, from a writer who, upon his principle of necessity, maintains the impossibility of avoiding, upon the recurrence of similar circumstances, any act which has once been performed. For if this be, as he contends it is, (Elements, &c, p. 107,) a sufficient reason for asserting that the person, who has once yielded to any temptation, must under the like circum stances yield to it again, and that, con sequently, the only chance for his escape is to be found in flight ; it must like wise be a sufficient reason for conclud ing that he, who has not at one time been able to fly from the circumstances which brought the temptation, will not be able to fly from them at another; the circumstances at the time of the in tended flight being the same as before : and thus the impossibility recurs ad in finitum. — Our writer had condemned Mr. Godwin, (Elements, &c, p. 405,) for the indiscreet avowal of the conse quences of this system ; namely, that necessary agents are incapabh of moral discipline. But has not Mr. B. him self, as completely disclosed the secret by his reasoning ? For, if a necessary agent can never acquire an increase of strength, to resist the temptations of vice, where is the improvement in moral discipline ? This Parthian mo ralist, who is to be for ever unequal to the frciiU io-ftltn, and can hope to con quer only by flying, will find that he will not have much to boast of in the way of conquest, if his steed is to be as much fettered in the flight as he is him self manacled in the conflict. Alas! that Mr. B. will not permit his penitent to call to his aid that auxiliary, and that armour, which would enable him to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked I " Pp. 174, 175. 0 Modern Philosophers : — a work which, if perused with feelings favour able to religion and order, must be al lowed to furnish a decisive proof that Mrs. Hannah More is not the only fe male, of the present day, by whom zeal and talents have been eminently dis played, in defence of all that can be deemed valuable in this life, and in that which is to come. Were we, in truth, to search out among the authors of later times, for those who have most successfully pro moted the cause of virtue and religion, by the combination of what is most interesting with what is most edifying in their writings, we should find them to have been principally of the other sex. With the name of Mrs. Hannah More, who ranks eminent in that class,— and whose numerous and diversified publica tions, scattering their benefits through every gradation of society, from the prince down to the peasant, have come home to the breasts of all with that irre- 40 APPENDIX. ideas upon such a subject : but the resemblance is too strik ing and apposite to be overlooked. So far as Mr. Belsham's language is intelligible, his process of conversion amounts to this : — He tells the vicious person, that he has contracted bad habits ; and he desires him by all means to get rid of them. How far this salutary advice and direction would operate to the reformation of the sinner, they, who may have been reclaimed from vicious courses by such means, can best say. But one thing deserves particu larly to be remarked, that, whilst the mind of the sinner is directed to contemplate the excellence of virtue, to excite its own energies, to expose itself to impressions, and the like, not one word escapes of the propriety of prayer ; on the contrary, all supplication for divine assistance seems to be expressly excluded, and, indeed, evidently must be so, on Mr. Belsham's principles. For, if goodness be the necessary result of impressions and circumstances, the mechanical effect of particular traces on the brain, derived from the general operation of established and unalterable laws of our constitution, there is no room, in the particular case, for divine interference. We may, according to Mr. B.'s prin ciples, indulge in sentiments of complacency to that first Cause, the beneficial effects of whose original arrangement we feel in the individual instance ; but prayer addressed to the Divine Being can have no rational object. Prayer, ac- sistible force which springs from the dwell on the recollection of "acquire- united powers of piety and genius, — we ments, which would have been distin- have to connect, in grateful remem- guished in a university, meekly softened brance, the names of Hamilton, of and beautifully shaded by the gentle Bowdler, of West, of Chapone, and exertion of every domestic virtue, the (notwithstanding something that one unaffected exercise of every feminine could wish to be otherwise) of Bar- employment." (Calebs, pp. 250, 251.) bauld. To " the venerable Elizabeth Did my present subject lead me merely Carter and the blooming Elizabeth to advert to the distinction which superior Smith," we have also to cast our eyes ; talents, exquisite taste, and the charms if, in Mrs. More's words, we would of fine composition, confer upon the " contemplate profound and various female writers of the present day, it learning chastised by true Christian would be impossible to overlook the humility;" and if we would wish to commanding claims of Miss Edgeworth. APPENDIX. 41 cordingly, forms no part of this writer's system. In no one line of his work does he recognise it as a Christian duty : — indeed the mention of it has not once escaped him. It is not then surprising, that we should find Mr. B. en deavouring to diminish the opportunities and inducements to prayer by contending, that the Christian religion has not prescribed the appointment of a day for the purposes of divine worship. But he goes farther. He affirms, that " Christ ianity expressly abolishes every such distinction of days :"a that, " under the Christian dispensation, every day is alike ; no one more holy than another : that whatever employment, or amusement, is lawful or expedient upon any one day of the week, is equally lawful and expedient on any other day:"b that, consequently, " a virtuous man is performing his duty to the Supreme Being, as really, and as acceptably, when he is pursuing the proper business of life, or even when enjoying it's innocent and decent amusements, as when he is offering direct addresses to him in the closet, or in the temple." ° From these premises he peremptorily concludes, that all dis tinctions of days should be exploded : that our business, and our amusements, should be pursued on every day alike : and that the laws which enjoin the observance of the Sabbath are "unreasonable and unjust." d He likewise maintains, that the Sabbatical spirit naturally leads to uncharitable and censorious feelings e ; that " persons who are so very religious on a Sunday," (as to make regular attendance on the services of the church a matter of conscience,) " are too apt to lay aside religion for the rest of the week;"f and that, upon the whole, the Sabbatical observance is highly injurious to the cause of Virtue. To this pernicious institution our author does not scruple to attribute the decrease of national mo rality : and he rejoices, with a Christian joy, that the late " ill advised " proposition, " for enforcing a stricter observ ation of the Lord's day," was wisely rejected by the Legis lature s. a Review, p. 20. " Pp. 20. 139. 0 P. 133. i Pp. 140, 141. e P. 141. ' P. 142. E P. 203. 42 APPENDIX. Now, it may perhaps occur to a plain, unphilosophical reader to inquire, what sort of teacher of Christianity is- this, who thus levels Christ, through the whole of his existence, to the rank of human nature ; — leaves man, for acceptance, to his own merit ; and that merit the pure result of external impressions, and mechanical operation ; — rejects the notion of prayer ", making man as it were independent of his Maker ; efficacious act. Nor is this supposition inconsistent with that immutability of the divine attributes, which is essential to their nature and perfection. The wisdom, benevolence, and justice of the Deity are the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. But this unchangeable- ness implies, that in their exercise they are always accommodated to the purest rectitude, and to the greatest sum of felicity. And thus a Providence is established, which discriminates between the virtuous and the vicious ; which adapts the properest means to the ac complishment of the best ends ; and regulates all things so as to work to gether for the highest good. To this superintending direction a pious Christ ian will look up, with humble confi dence, for ease under suffering, for pro tection in danger, and consolation in sorrow. If prayer were not enjoined, as a duty, he would instinctively perform it as a refuge for human infirmity. And he may reasonably presume, that such filial dependence will be indulgently accepted by his heavenly Father, who in his divine administration is charac terized as being ever ready to bind up the broken in heart s to heal the wounded in spirit ; and to give good gifts to them that worthily ash him." Father's iNSTRucTioNS-^Pflxt the Third— by Thos. Percival, M.D. pp. 118—120. I the more willingly refer to this excel lent performance, because, independent of the value of the passage here ex tracted, and the vein of fervent piety which pervades the entire volume, the observations which it contains on the subject of the Divine permission of Evil, the topics it suggests for the far- a How different are the reflections of true philosophy, guided by a pious re verence for the superior lights of Reve lation ! The words of a distinguished and attractive writer, whose publications have always tended to promote, what his life has uniformly exemplified, the love and practice of virtue, are too in teresting and important to be omitted on this subject " If we admit the truth of Revelation, the evidence which it delivers of the special interposition of God, in the physical and moral govern ment of the world, must be deemed decisive. Instead, therefore, of involv ing ourselves in the mazes of meta physical subtilty, let us direct our at tention to the foundation of that inter course with the Deity, which is at once the most interesting duty, and the noblest privilege of our nature. We are taught that he who cometh to God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him : that in him we live, and move, and have our being : that as a father pitieth his chil dren, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him : that if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall our Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ash him. Por this thing, says St. Paul, I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me : And our Saviour is recorded to have prayed the third time, saying the same words, O I my Father, if it be possible, ht this cup pass from me : Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Indeed the form of devo tion, which Christ recommended to his disciples, affords the clearest proof that he regarded prayer as an acceptable and APPENDIX. 43 — and, finally, proscribes the Sabbath, as destructive of Re ligion and Morality ? Mr. B. being aware that such a ques tion would naturally suggest itself, has been careful to supply the answer. He tells us, that he desires to be considered, as a "Moral teacher of Christianity."" And, lest we might not perfectly understand the nature of this Moral or Unita rian Christianity which he teaches, he informs us, that it is substantially the same with the system of Lepaux, and the Theophilanthropes of France. This is a fair and candid account of the matter. The same title, which they can pro duce to the denomination of Christians, Mr. B. can un doubtedly advance. Indeed, his must be allowed to be yet stronger : for, though, as he observes, their " common prin ciple is a belief in the existence, perfection, and providence of God, and in the doctrine of a future life ; and their rule of morals, love to God, and good will to men ; " and thus, as he remarks, their " professed principles comprehend the essence of the Christian religion ; yet, in not admitting the resurrection of Christ, the Theophilanthropists deprive them selves of the only solid ground on which to build the hope of a future existence."1* Thus, we see, in one short view, ther confirmation of the Evidences of elsewhere offered an humble tribute. Christianity, and the directions it con- And happily, as preserving to society a veys for the due regulation of the Ch- valuable light, a complete Memoir of rical conduct and character, entitle it his life and writings has been given to to the most serious perusal of every the public, by his son, Dr. Edward Per- friend to religion and virtue. cival, now of Dublin — This Memoir, prefixed to the entire collection of Dr. Percival's works, must be too well Since the date of the first edition of known and too justly appreciated, to this work, the revered person, spoken of render it necessary for me to enlarge in the above note, has paid the last debt upon the fidelity and ability with which of nature : and has gone to receive, in it has been executed. The spirit which another state, the reward of the piety it breathes, and the talent which it ex- and virtues which distinguished him in hibits, conspire to afford the happiest this. — To offer any general remarks presage, that the son will prove himself, here upon the life and character of a through life, not unworthy of the father, man so estimable and so esteemed, would whose endowments, whose attainments, belittle worthy of a subject whose mag- and whose excellencies, he has re. nitude and interest entitle it to the most corded. ample consideration. To the memory a P. 227. of this venerated friend, I have already b P- 217. 44 APPENDIX. the nature of Mr. Belsham's Unitarian scheme, and its ad vantage over that of the French Theophilanthropes. He not only holds, in common with them, the above-mentioned essential principles of Christianity ; but he also maintains, in addition, that a man has actually risen from the dead : the admission of which fact into the creed of the Theophilan thropes, he candidly confesses, would have left his scheme no superiority over theirs ; inasmuch as, by laying a solid ground for their doctrine of a future life, it would have ren dered their system perfectly complete. But, seriously, are these the doctrines of that sect, who call themselves Unitarians, in the sister country : or are they erroneously ascribed to them by Mr. Belsham ? Indeed, if we are to judge from the applause bestowed on Mr. B.'s per formance by writers of that denomination in England, we have reason to think that he has given a fair representation. Now, if he has, it surely seems unworthy of men, who exult in the open and fearless avowal of their opinions, to trifle with the name of Christian ; and if he has not, it is full time, that they should throw back Mr. B.'s doctrines on himself, and his Theophilanthrope associates. I am most willing to admit, that no person has a right to deny to Mr. B. the appellation of a " Moral teacher." To this he is fully en titled, as having a firm belief in the existence and general providence of God ; and as inculcating principles, that tend to beget love and gratitude to that Being, and to produce a corresponding benignity of affection to our fellow-creatures, impressing the duties of benevolence and social kindness to man, as, I make not the smallest question, he truly feels them. But, whilst thus much is freely admitted, surely Mr- B. cannot reasonably be offended if he should be denied the appellation of a "teacher of Christianity ?" For what is Christianity ? Is it any thing differing from the natural religion of the Deist ? And if differing ; is it in doctrines, or in precepts ? Not in doctrines, according to Mr. B. ; for he asserts, again and again, that it has none peculiar. Is it in precepts ? No, says Mr. B. ; for the pure and simple APPENDIX. 45 scheme of the Theophilanthrope, who rejects Revelation " comprehends the essence of Christianity." And has, then Jesus Christ passed as a mute across the great stage of human affairs ? And shall we denominate ourselves from Him who has taught us nothing different from what we knew before ? No, says Mr. B., this is not so : by his rising from the dead, he has proved to us the certainty of a future life. — Is this then Christianity ? — Of this, Mr. B. may be an excellent teacher: but in such Christianity, his instructions will, I trust, ever be confined to a very small number indeed. And is Mr. B. displeased with Mr. Wilberforce, for calling this " a sort of halfway-house between orthodoxy and in fidelity ? " I cannot but think, that most people of plain sense and candid minds, who have not been visited by any rays of modern illumination, will rather be of opinion, that Mr. W. has erred, in not advancing this mansion a little be yond the middle point. Nor is this without countenance from Mr. B. himself, since he confesses, that " of the two he would rather approach the confines of cold and cheerless scepticism, than the burning zone of merciless orthodoxy ;" " by which last it must be observed, he understands the prin ciples of Christianity, as held by the Established Church ; merciless being merely the ordinary adjunct to the character of every established priesthood. On this subject, Mr. B. exhibits rather an unfortunate spe cimen of that calm and softened charity, which distinguishes and adorns the temperate region, where he rejoices to find himself placed, in a happy medium between the two above- mentioned " ineligible extremes." A want of integrity, a disregard of truth, " indolence, pride, and bitter zeal against all who oppose the doctrines of the public creed," he repre sents as the never faihng consequences of an estabhshed religion, " whether true or false ;" the unvarying character istics of " an estabhshed priesthood." Such a body, he con tends, " is, in its very nature, a persecuting order." " All breathe the same fiery and intemperate spirit. Truth and ' P. 263. 46 APPENDIX. honest inquiry they are paid to discountenance and repress."8 " Interested priests and crafty statesmen will continue to sup port a religious estabhshment, which answers their private and political purposes, at the same time that they hold its doctrines in contempt." b The object, to which these observ ations are intended more immediately to apply, Mr. B. does not leave his reader at a loss to discover, when he plainly affirms, that the heads of our Establishment look to means very different from that of " a sincere faith in " their own " creeds and homilies, for the prosperity of the National Church : " ° — and with the same liberal reference it is, that he reminds us of the saying of Cicero, " that he wondered how augur could meet augur without laughing :" and again, of that memorable exclamation of Leo, in the days of papal Rome, " How lucrative is this fable of Jesus Christ ! " d — thus clearly intimating, what a warm supporter of his doc trines and his performance has since announced in terms a little more direct, — "it is well known, that many of our public teachers laugh in their sleeves, — and some of these sleeves, they say, are of lawn, — at those doctrines, which they inculcate from the pulpit, with a pretended earnest ness."6 Nor does Mr. Belsham confine his charges to those who are the immediate superintendents of the national religion. Though particularly favoured with Mr. B.'s notice, they do not entirely engross it. By his observations on the insti tution of a national fast f, he takes care to hold up the civil, no less than the ecclesiastical heads of the state, as objects of public contempt and execration, for their gross insincerity, and unprincipled imposition on the people. Now, if all this be of the nature of that charity, which belongs to the middle region, under whose temperate influence Mr. B. professes to enjoy philosophic repose, I rather apprehend that the inha- P- 199. e Layman's Letters to Mr. Wilber- Pp. 230. 233. force on the Doctrine of Hereditary P- 220. Depravity, p. 172. p- 230. f Review, pp. 204, 205. APPENDIX. 47 bitant of this " pleasant and commodious dwelling " is as far removed from the charity, as he boasts to be from the pecu liar doctrines, of Christianity. It must, indeed, be confessed, that great allowance is to be made for those who have been, as it were, rocked in the very cradle of discontent ; and who have been used, from infancy, to view every act of the Government, and every ordinance of the Church, with the bitterness of a discomfited and vin dictive enemy. But it is strange, that whilst language of the nature here cited everywhere deforms Mr. B.'s pages, and those of his Unitarian associates, they should make the want of charity the principal charge against all who hold Christ ianity in any other, than the vague, and fleeting form, in which they profess to embrace it. In the management of a controversy, it may not indeed be bad policy to charge the adversary with whatever unfair arts you mean to resort to yourself. Thus, whilst the opposite party bears all the odium, you possess yourself of the profit. So, at least, it seems to be with the writers of Mr. B.'s way of thinking. A total want of candour and charity is perpetually objected to all who defend the rectitude of the National religion ; whilst every principle of both is grossly violated, by those who oppose it : — and at the same time that the charge of self- interest is freely bestowed upon such as support the Esta blishment ; it is hoped that it will not be remembered that interest is as much concerned to acquire, as to retain ; it is modestly expected that no mention will be made of the pride and fervour of party ; and that no note will be taken of the resentful jealousy of those temporal advantages, which, as they form the leading theme of animadversion, may not un reasonably be presumed to be the principal ground of hos tility. In a spirit congenial to these feelings, Mr. B. seems not a little to have participated, when he thus openly states, as in another place" he indirectly insinuates, under the thin cover ing of the terms paganism and popery, that the religion of a P. 196. 48 APPENDIX. the Church of England is a mere engine of state ; and as such " cried up by interested statesmen and their hireling priests ;" who, he says again, naturally " support that religion which supports them:"" and that, at this moment, "pure Christianity " (by which he describes the system taught by himself and Dr. Priestley) " is so far from meeting with public encouragement in England, that it is in a state bordering upon persecution." b This last remark indeed seems, accord ing to Mr. B.'s view of things, to have been altogether unne cessary. The assertion, that " an established priesthood is in its very nature a persecuting order," renders this a tau- tologous position. But, in what way do these professors of pure Christianity appear to be " in a state bordering upon persecution ? " Simply, because they are not permitted to rail against estabhshed authority with impunity ; to preach up doctrines in politics, subversive of subordination ; to bring the government, both in church and state, into disrepute and contempt amongst the people, by every species of calumny ; to establish the enlightened system of France, the Theophi- lanthropism of Lepaux, and the miso-monarchism of Paine. The government, the clergy, and the people of England, are surely much to blame for throwing any obstacles in the way of such great reforms ! And what is the grand proof, adduced by Mr. B. of the persecution carried on against pure Christianity, in England, at the present day ? Plainly this, that the great champion of Unitarianism has been driven from his native country, and " compelled to seek for refuge " from the rage of persecuting bigotry " in the transatlantic wilderness ; " — in which, how ever, it appears that he is subject to no deprivations ; since we are informed in the very next line, that, in this wilderness, he has the good fortune to be surrounded by " enlightened sages."0 But, ludicrous as is this picture of the wilderness of sages, here presented by our author, it were unfeeling, and unpardonable, to trifle on such a subject. What Dr. Priestley's reasons may have been for exchanging England * P. 233. "> P. 197. c Pp. 197, 198. APPENDIX. 49 for America, I shall not presume to pronounce. That they are not to be resolved " solely " into his religious opinions, as Mr. B. seems desirous to convey, is, I believe, pretty gene rally understood. That the purity of Dr. P.'s private cha racter, the amiable simplicity of his manners, the variety and strength of his talents, the persevering industry with which he pursued what he deemed useful truth, and the inde pendent spirit with which (had it not been frenzied by the intemperance of party) he might have so profitably main tained it, — are circumstances, which must make every good man regret that misapplication of his powers, which rendered it necessary for him to abandon his native country in the decline of life, I will most readily admit ; and I freely sub scribe to the strongest testimony which his warmest admirers can bear to the many and great virtues " which adorn his a From a friend, of the highest li terary distinction and moral worth, who was connected by habits of early and continued intimacy with Dr. Priestley, I received, on the first publication of these remarks on that author's character, a letter containing the following observ ations. " The character you give of Dr. Priestley has reminded me of that drawn by Dr. Samuel Parr, in his letter from Irenopolis to the inhabitants of Eleutheropolis. As this pamphlet was a temporary publication during the riots of Birmingham, and you have probably never seen it, I will transcribe the pas sage to which I refer. — ' I confess, with sorrow, that, in too many instances, such modes of defence have been used against this formidable Heresiarch, as would hardly be justifiable in the sup port of Revelation itself, against the arrogance of a Bolingbroke, the buf foonery of a Mandeville, and the levity of a Voltaire. But the cause of ortho doxy requires not such aids. The Church of England approves them not. The spirit of Christianity warrants them not. Let Dr. Priestley be confuted where he is mistaken. Let him be exposed where he is superficial. Let him be rebuked where he is censo rious. Let him be repressed where he is dogmatical. But let not his at tainments be depreciated, because they are numerous almost without a parallel. Let not his talents be ridiculed, because they are superlatively great. Let not his morals be vilified, because they are correct without austerity, and exemplary without ostentation ; because they pre sent even to common observers the in nocence of a hermit and the simplicity of a patriarch ; and because a philo sophic eye will at once discover in them, the deep-fixed root of a virtuous prin ciple, and the solid trunk of virtuous habit' This beautiful portrait is, I think, accurate in its lineaments. But there are two features in the character of Dr. Priestley, which it does not exhibit, and which to you I will not scruple to communicate. He has a sort of moral apathy, which makes him absolutely insensible of the severity of the wounds he inflicts in his polemic discussions. Feeling no enmities in his constitution, he makes no discrimina tion between friends and foes. And having adopted the language and dipped VOL. II. 50 APPENDIX. private life. But, whilst I most cheerfully make these con cessions to the talents and the virtues of Dr. Priestley, and wliilst I join in the most decided reprobation of those savage acts of violence, which in his instance have disgraced the annals of Enghsh pohty, yet I cannot hesitate to believe that if, in any country in which the direction of affairs was held by those enlightened politicians, and professors of pure Christianity, who form the associates of Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham, any man had employed himself, for a series of years, in labouring to overturn the estabhshed order of things, and had even advanced so far, as, in the intoxication of his fancied success, openly to boast that he had prepared a train whereby the whole must inevitably be destroyed", a very his pen in the gall of controversy, he suspects not that he excites bitterness of heart, because he is unconscious of it in himself. I could exemplify this observation, by his treatment of Dr. Enfield, Dr. Brocklesby, Judge Black- stone, and several others whom he really loved or respected. Another striking trait in his character, is an almost total deficiency in discretion, that intellectual faculty, which is, as Pope well expresses it, 'although no science, fairly worth the seven.' — A report has prevailed here, that Dr. Priestley proposes to return to England. But I find that his latest letters signify his intention of passing the remainder of his life in America, where he is happy in every respect, except the enjoyment of literary society, and possesses a library and phi losophical apparatus far superior to those which he had at Birmingham." This fragment, containing so much that is interesting concerning Dr. Priest ley, will, I conceive, not be unaccept able to the reader ; and although I con sider the bright parts of the character to have been too highly emblazoned by Dr. Parr, the darker spots to have been too sparingly touched by my much va lued correspondent, and some important points to have been entirely overlooked by both, yet I cannot withhold from the memory of a man certainly possessed of many amiable qualities, and some extraordinary endowments, a tribute, to which two persons, eminent for their worth and their attainments, have con ceived him to be justly entitled. a " We are, as it were, laying gun powder, grain by grain, under the old building of error and superstition, which a single spark may hereafter inflame, so as to produce an instantaneous explo sion." — Importance of Free Inquiry, p. 40. What Dr. P. means by the old building of error and superstition, the context sufficiently explains. On the impossibility of supporting the ec clesiastical constitution, if once a great majority of the people can be made hostile to it ; and on " the power of small changes in the political state of things, to overturn the best-compacted establishments," he likewise enlarges with much earnestness and force : ibid. pp. 39. 41. 44. The fittest seasons, and best opportunities, for silently work ing out the great effects, which he here professes to hold in view, this writer had before communicated to his fellow- labourer Mr. Lindsey, in the dedica tion of his History of Corruptions, pp. 6, 7 — " While the attention of men in power is engrossed by the difficulties that more immediately press upon them, APPENDIX. 51 different lot from that which has fallen to Dr. Priestley would await him. The privilege of transferring his residence to another land, unless indeed it were to that land from which no traveller returns, would hardly be conceded. Our en lightened philosophers, of the present day, adopt on these occasions much simpler modes of proceeding; and a peep across the British Channel may readily satisfy us as to the nature of the process, where there is no " lucrative fable of Jesus Christ " to be maintained ; no " estabhshed " clergy to breathe the fiery spirit of persecution ; " and where the rights of civil and religious man are explained and exercised upon the broadest principles of a philosophy, untrammelled, even to Mr. B.'s most sanguine wishes. One distinction between the two cases may, indeed, pos sibly exist. The professors of an all-perfect philosophy and a rational Christianity knowing theirs to be the cause of vir tue,, and acting only from a love of truth, are meritorious in removing, by whatever means, all impediments to the accom plishment of ends so glorious, as those they hold in view : whereas the advocates of received doctrines, and of existing establishments, not even believing what they profess, and being only concerned to defend a lucrative falsehood, are, by the original sin of their cause, criminal in the performance of every act, however natural and necessary, which has a tendency to maintain it. This distinction may, possibly, supply a satisfactory explanation : — but to proceed. the endeavours of the friends of reform- he does not scruple to predict, that in ation, in points of dogtrine, pass with " some general convulsion of the state, less notice, and operate without ob- some bold hand, secretly impelled by a struction." Times of public danger vengeful Providence, shall sweep down and difficulty are thus pointed out, as the whole together." — View of the best suited to lay that train, which was Principles and Conduct of the Pro- finally to explode with the ruin of the testant Dissenters, p. 12 Passages establishment. And, indeed, at an ear- conveying similar sentiments in the Her period of life, he had even ventured writings of Dr. Priestley might be ac- to promise himself a more rapid ac- cumulated : but their notoriety renders complishment of the great object of his is unnecessary. wishes. Speaking of the Establish- a It will be recollected that this was ment, and those abuses which he as- written in the year 1800. cribes to the principles of the hierarchy, E 2 52 APPENDIX. As I cannot entirely agree with Mr. Belsham respecting the persecution carried on by the Estabhshed clergy against those, who, under the title of Unitarians, are, as Mr. B. affirms, the only professors of a pure Christianity ; so neither do I agree with him respecting that, which he deems a na tural consequence of this persecution, — the great increase of this body in numbers and consequence. Possibly, indeed, without making any very valuable concession to Mr. B., it might be admitted, that " the number of Rational Christians," (by which he means Unitarians, or the professors of his Moral Christianity^ "was never so great as at present :"* — a position, which, at the same time, but badly accords with the assertion, that the early Christian church was almost ex clusively Unitarian. But, that "it is still a progressive cause," can by no means be allowed. So that Mr. B. may safely release his mind from all apprehensions of that, which he so sincerely deprecates, " the support of civil authority ;" from which he seems to dread the only impediment to its triumphant progress. If, indeed, by " progressive cause," be meant a progression in its course to that, which seems its natural termination, Deism ; it might, undoubtedly, in that sense be admitted to be progressive. But if thereby be meant, a continued in crease of numbers, nothing can be more opposite to the real state of the case. For let any candid and reflecting man, even of this very denomination, lay his hand upon his heart, and say what he thinks hkely to be the case of the rising generation, educated in the Unitarian principles: let him say, what has been the case of those educated in the straitest principles of the sect, under the immediate instruction of its greatest luminaries, Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham, at the Academy of Hackney. Let Mr. B. himself say, what has been the progressive nature of the cause in that seminary. Mr. B. has too great a regard for truth, not to admit, that the pupils of the new light had gone beyond their teachers a a Review, p. 198. APPENDIX. 53 little too far ; that they had somewhat too strongly " exempli fied the progressive nature of the system, by reaching at a Mr. Belsham himself, in speaking of this subject, is obliged in a great measure to acknowledge the truth of this charge. " This fact," (he says, alluding to a statement similar to the above made by Mr. Carpenter,) " to a certain extent, cannot be denied ; and, most surely, it excited unpleasing sens ations in many, and not least in the minds of those whose endeavours to form them to usefulness in the Church were thus painfully disappointed." — However, immediately after, he seems, in the contrast between the systems pur sued at Hackney and in other semi naries where education is conducted on a different principle, to change the tone of lamentation on this head into a note of 4riumph. " It is an easy thing," he remarks, "for tutors to educate their pupils in the trammels of any religious faith which they may choose. Take away the key of knowledge, and the business is done. You bring them out at once Calvinists, Arians, Papists, Pro testants, any thing that you please ; and ready to join in the cry against any sect, which, for the season, may be ob noxious to the ruling party. This was not the method pursued at Hackney : they gloried in encouraging freedom of inquiry : nor were they at all appre hensive, that the interests of truth and virtue would suffer by it in the end." (Letters on Arianism, p. 40. ) — Thus, Mr. Belsham, on second thoughts, is of opinion, that what was done in Hack ney, is a thing to be gloried in : and that in educating those who were de signed for the Christian ministry, so as to render them Infidels and Atheists, " the interests of truth and virtue can not suffer in the end." But, that we may the better form a right judgment of that which is con ceived to constitute the excellence of those dissenting academies, to which such friends of rational inquiry as Mr. Belsham and Dr. Priestley have been used to look for the real improvement of youth, I here give an extract from Dr. Priestley's Memoirs relative to this subject " In my time, the academy was in a state peculiarly favourable to the serious pursuit of truth, as the stu dents were about equally divided upon every question of much importance, such as liberty and necessity, the sleep of the soul, and all the articles of theological orthodoxy and heresy; in consequence of which, all these topics were the sub jects of continual discussion. Our tu tors were of different opinions: Dr. Ashworth taking the orthodox side; Mr. Clarke, the sub-tutor, that of he resy, though always with the greatest modesty." Here is a view of the true way, in which, under the guidance of the new lights of philosophy and religion, youth is to be led on " inter sylvas Aca- demi quserere verum." The calm and undisturbed retirement of study ex changed for the unceasing wrangling of a debating club. Tutor and sub-tutor, master and pupil, all together by the ears, continually, on the gravest and deepest subjects of theological contro versy; and the sublimest truths and most awful mysteries of revelation ban died about amongst boys, as the com mon and hourly topics of disputation : whilst the parties of combatants on every subject are equally matched, and false hood and truth, infidelity and religion,. maintained by equal numbers. Under such circumstances of education, it has been truly remarked in reference to Dr. Priestley, that in the course which, by his own account, he steered in his theo logical opinions, there is nothing to ex cite surprise. " A Calvinist at twelve ; becoming an Arminian at eighteen ; at twenty-one an Arian ; at twenty-four a denier of his Saviour, and a disbeliever in the inspiration of the Scriptures. — Miserable infatuation ! (it is justly added) to set the stripling on a sea, of which he knows neither the soundings nor the 54 APPENDIX. once the goal of Deism, and that in some instances, perhaps not a few, the race had been crowned with the prize of direct, avowed, and unqualified Atheism. Mr. Belsham affirms, that " Mr. Wilberforce and others who agree with him seldom regard their system in a compre hensive view, or pursue their principles to their just and ne cessary consequences:"" and he adds, that "it is from the absurd and injurious consequences which necessarily result from Mr. W.'s principles, that he infers their falsehood and impiety ."b No words can more aptly convey my ideas of Mr. B.'s scheme, than those with which he has here supphed me : for, strange as this gentleman and those who think with him may affect to consider the charge, they by no means follow up their principles to their just and necessary conse quences ; nor, whilst they boast in a loud and exulting tone of their dauntless pursuit after truth, have they always the courage to be consistent throughout, and to advance boldly in the face of those conclusions, which to any intelhgent and unprejudiced mind could not fail to evince " the falsehood and impiety" of the system. But Mr. B. himself has well remarked, that " the natural and necessary consequences of principles are the same, whether the advocates of such prin ciples are apprized of them or not, and whether they do or do not choose to contemplate and avow them :"° and fact shore ; and calmly to see him rush to and myself were no exceptions,) eom- every point of the compass, before he mentators in general, and ecclesiastical knows the bearings of any I" history also, were held in contempt." — But this Academy, which was "in a (Memoirs of Dr. Priestley, p. 21.) — state so peculiarly favourable to the se- Thus, all the prejudices of ancient learn- rious pursuit oftruth," was distinguished ing, which might have acted as so many by other circumstances enumerated by clogs upon the youthful genius, were Dr. Priestley, which were perhaps not completely removed : and nothing hin- less favourable to that end, than those dered the- boy of the academy from fen- which have been already named. "There eying himself at once arrived at that was no provision for teaching the learned goal, which, in the more measured languages. We had even no compo- walks of science, the matured student sitions, or orations, in Latin. Our course feels many laborious efforts still requi- of lectures was also defective, in con- site to attain. taining no lectures on the Scriptures or a P. 10. on ecclesiastical history; and by the b P. 11. students in general, (and Mr. Alexander c Ibid. APPENDIX. 55 completely proves, what reason would obviously " suggest, that, where the principles of this new sect have been fairly and honestly followed on to their legitimate consequences, the system of revelation, and in many cases of theism, has been entirely thrown up as a heap of mummery and priest craft. To cite particular instances were invidious ; but they are numerous, and could easily be adduced. By what has been said it is, however, far from my intention to charge either Dr. Priestley or Mr. Belsham with a disin genuous attempt to escape from such consequences as na turally flow from the opinions which they maintain. No, I beheve them both to be incapable of duplicity. But, ori ginally educated, as both confess to have been, in the strictest tenets of that creed whose distinguishing doctrines they now reject, and having at an early age entertained a full con viction of the truth and importance of the Christian scheme, some latent influence of their first*persuasion naturally re maining, they cannot now release themselves entirely from a Christian behef. Strangely as they have altered and dis figured the structure, the foundation still remains. The first impressions of the youthful mind are not easily effaced. And fortunately for these gentlemen, something of " what the nurse and priest have taught " still continues, in spite of their boast to the contrary, to retain a secret hold upon their thoughts. To have a fair experiment of the system, we must look to its effects upon those, who have never known Chris tianity but in the Unitarian dress of Mr. Belsham and Dr. Priestley. Examine these, and behold its genuine fruits. How then can we admit the truth of Mr. B.'s assertion, that the numbers of this sect daily " increase ? In one way, a The writer of a judicious paper in how aptly the history of its Hackney a late periodical publication makes the Academy and all its other institutions following observations on the nature of may prove, the half-way house to infi- the Unitarian or Socinian sect, and on delity : but it should be remembered, the unlikelihood of its extension: — " So- that many who set out on the pilgrim's- cinianism must ever from its nature be progress of inquiry, take up their place the most harmless of all heresies, the of rest there, who, if there were no such least contagious of all the varieties of inn upon the road, would infallibly pro- human opinion. It has been called, and ceed to Doubting Castle. It is a sys- 56 APPENDIX. indeed, but in that way only, can it bear any resemblance to fact. Men, who, having rejected the Christian revelation, are yet restrained, by a regard to opinion and decorum, from openly abdicating the Christian name, may find it not incon venient to rank themselves of a class, whose latitude of opinion can occasion but little embarrassment to that free dom for which they contend : and thus Mr. B. may possibly reckon among the residents of his " mansion," many who are content to sojourn there, on account of its commodious neigh bourhood to that region, which they regard as their true and proper home. One proof, however, Mr. B. produces of his assertion, which might not have occurred to many, and which is en titled to a more than ordinary degree of attention ; namely, that " there are thousands " of those professing themselves of the Estabhshed Church, who think with him, " but are de terred by secular considerations, and the harsh spirit of the times, from avowing their real principles."" Indeed, accord ing to the charitable notions entertained by Mr. B. in com mon with Dr. Priestley b, of the character of those who main- tem which saves men from utter unbe- leading tenets of a Christian's belief: lief more frequently than it tempts them nor, I confess, does it appear to me a to it ; and it never can become a popular matter of much consequence, whether doctrine. It appeals to the vanity of the traveller, of whom the Reviewer the half-learned, and the pride of the speaks, proceeds on his entire journey, half-reasoning : but it neither interests or stops short at the inn which Uni- the imagination, nor awakens the feel- tarianism provides for him on the way. ings, nor excites the passions, nor satis- a P. 227. fies the wants of the human heart. b Mr. Belsham's liberal views of the Hence it must ever be confined to a few character of the clergy of the Established scanty congregations composed wholly Church have been already noticed in of the reading class, and is equally in- this Appendix, pp. 45, 46. Dr. Priest- eapable of producing either extensive ley's representations are of a nature good or extensive evil." — Quarterly equally complimentary. In his Hist. Review, vol. iv. p. 485. With this of Cor. vol. i. p. 147, he says of the writer I entirely agree in the opinion, Trinitarians of the present age, that that this jejune and cheerless heresy is " they are all reducible to two classes, not likely to be embraced by many : but viz. that of those who, if they were in- that, so far as its influence does extend, genuous, would rank with Socinians, it will be found productive of great evil believing that there is no proper di- without any countervailing good, is, I vinity in Christ besides that of the think, as evident, as that such an effect Father; or else with Tritheists, holding must follow from a dereliction of all the three equal and distinct Gods." Having APPENDIX. 57 tain the National Faith, it is not surprising, that this should appear, to minds so prepared, with all the circumstances of probability. And certainly no argument can be more con venient : from no combination of events can its force suffer any diminution, and from no ingenuity of reply can it ever meet refutation. Though the entire host of those professing the pure Christianity of the Unitarian were ostensibly re duced to Dr. P. and himself, yet by the apphcation of this argument, aided by a portion of that faith, which, not having been largely expended on other subjects, Mr. B. might have to bestow in abundance on this and similar occasions, I should not be surprised to find him solacing himself even then with the satisfactory persuasion, that the " glorious pe riod " was fast approaching, in which " the Unitarian church" was about to " comprehend, in its ample enclosure, the whole Christianized world;"" the prejudices and interests of man kind causing but a temporary and artificial suppression of those sentiments, which must necessarily and universally prevail. This argument, then, I must admit to be wholly unanswerable. Dr. Priestley has indeed advanced, that he " never knew a single instance of any person, who was once well grounded in Unitarian principles, becoming an unbeliever."11 If the becoming an unbeliever be admitted as the proper proof of an antecedent deficiency of confirmation in Unitarian prin ciples, the position is a safe one. But if Dr. P. means to thus distributed the whole body of pro- trines of the Established Church, might fessed Trinitarians between Insincerity yet be found among the ranks of its and Ignorance, he afterwards, in the professed teachers, may well be sup- conclusion of the same work, (vol. ii. p. posed, when we recollect, that he de- 471,) narrows his attention to the cleri- liberately advised Mr. Lindsey to retain cal part of that body, pronouncing their his preferments in the Church, at the arguments in defence of the system they same time that he laboured to under- support, to be "so palpably weak, that mine its creed: an advice, however, it is barely possibh they should be in which the Rector of Catterick was too earnest:" by which it is not difficult to honest to comply with, although it might discover, to which of the two classes be- not be unpalatable to certain clergymen fore named the Established clergy were of the present day ; such as Mr. Fel- in his opinion to be consigned That [owes and Mr. Stone. Dr. Priestley should, indeed, have ima- a Review, p. 266. gined, that many, who rejected the doc- b Theol. Repos. vol. iv. p. 24. 58 APPENDIX. say, that the influence of Unitarian principles is unfavourable to infidehty, it need only to be rephed, that the fact speaks a language directly the reverse. For it is notorious, and it will require no small degree of hardihood to deny it, that from those who have professed Unitarianism in England the largest stock of unbelievers has arisen : nay more, that their principal Academy, the place in which Unitarian principles were inculcated in their greatest purity, and with every ad vantage of zealous ability in the teacher, and of unbiassed docility in the learner, has borne witness to the efficacy of those principles, by its dissolution, imperiously demanded by the prevalence of Infidel opinions. Now in what way shall we account for this event ? Was Unitarianism not properly taught at Hackney ? Or, with all its vaunted simplicity, is it a scheme so difficult to conceive, that the learners, not being able to comprehend it rightly ", became unbelievers from not having been firmly grounded? Howsoever it be explained, the fact is incontrovertible, and seems not a httle to counte nance the idea, that the road to Unitarianism differs from that which leads to Infidelity by so slight a distinction, that the traveller not unfrequently mistakes his way. And surely, if, with Mr. Wilberforce, we suppose the station of the former to be placed at no great distance from the confines of the latter, it is not surprising that they, who in the morning of hfe begin their journey from this advanced stage, should be able to finish the entire course with ease ; whilst those, who do not reach it till the evening of their days, may have some indisposition to proceed, especially if, from early habits, they had been taught to feel a salutary horror of those regions that lie beyond. One difficulty, amounting to paradox, which attaches to this entire system, yet remains to be noticed. It might ap pear to such as have been used to consider Christianity as a Indeed, Mr. B. seems to represent following reasons : " They either did Unitarianism as a matter complicated, not understand their principles ; or they and difficult to be understood. For the were perphxed with difficulties, which total rejection of Christianity by some perhaps patience and attention might of his Unitarian brethren, he assigns the have solved; or," &c Review, p. 265. APPENDIX. 59 something more than natural religion with a superadded proof of a future state of retribution, that they who hold this to be the sum of the Christian scheme must, at the same time, reject the writings of the New Testament, or at least all those parts that go beyond the mere facts, of the life and resurrection of Christ. Mr. B., however, informs us in what manner the Unitarians, whilst they retain the title of Christ ians by acknowledging the authority of the New Testament, yet contrive to preserve their " simple creed," unaffected by those important truths which it contains. There are two ways in which the word of Revelation and a system of religious behef may be made to square. One is, by conforming our belief to Revelation : the other, by adjusting Revelation to our behef. The latter is that chosen by Mr. B. and his Unitarian associates ; and, accordingly, the New Testament, and the creed of the Unitarian, are, at the same time, without difficulty retained. Of the mode of adjustment Mr. B. exhibits a perfect spe cimen. " Christ," he says, " being described in the New Testament as a man, having appeared as a man, having called himself a man, — having had all the accidents of a man ; having been born, having lived, eaten, drunk, slept, con versed, rejoiced, wept, suffered, and died, as other men," there is sufficient reason to pronounce him really such ; no farther proof can be required : and the onus probandi, he contends, hes with them, who " maintain that he was some thing more than man : " and whatever texts of Scripture can be adduced in support of that opinion, he adds, " the Uni tarians pledge themselves to show, that they are all either interpolated, corrupted, or misunderstood : " " in short, they engage to get clearly rid of them in some way or other. Either the passage should have no place in Scripture ; or, if it must be admitted, it should appear under some different modification ; or, if the present reading must be allowed, it is wrongly interpreted by all but Unitarians ; and sometimes even the subject originally misunderstood by the inspired a Review, pp. 270, 271, 272. 60 APPENDIX. writer himself: until, at length, the Sacred Volume is com pletely discharged of all that exceeds the convenient, port able creed of the Unitarian. This, it will be allowed, is, in Mr. B.'s own words, "making Scripture with a witness;"" and exhibits no mean specimen of my Lord Peter's ingenious device, in extracting the legitimate meaning of his father's will : the " totidem syllabis," or at all events the " totidem Uteris," cannot fail to supply the deficiencies of the " totidem verbis." b Lest, however, these ingenious modes of eliciting the sense of Scripture should be deemed too bold, Mr. B. supplies a decisive reason to prove, that the Unitarian alone is duly qualified to form a sound judgment in matters of sacred criticism. To comprehend the true import of Scripture, he informs us, " requires time, labour, patience, and candour." c How then could it be expected, that any but the aforesaid moral teachers of Christianity should rightly ascertain its meaning ? That this laborious, patient, and candid expurg ation of Scripture, whereby every passage intimating the divine nature of Christ is completely expunged, or new mo delled so as to speak a different language, shall be stig matized by the harsh representation, of " mangling and al tering the translation to the mind " of the Unitarian, as Mr. Fuller and Mr. Wilberforce have, it seems, very uncivilly described it, only serves to recall to Mr. Belsham's " recol lection the honest quaker's exclamation, O argument ! O argument! the Lord rebuke thee :"d the argument being, a Review, p. 116. recollects himself, — " But all this is b Tale of a Tub, sect. ii. metaphysical reasoning; and why should c Review, p. 272. we puzzle ourselves with metaphysical A This animated and delicate species subtilties ? " And then in a spirit of of irony is, with Mr. Belsham, a fa- humanity, sympathizing most tenderly vourite mode of treating his literary with his galled and lacerated opponent, antagonists. Having, in his controversy he exclaims, — " O naughty metaphy- with Mr. Carpenter, established the sics I thus cruelly to impale a worthy inconsistency of man's freedom with well-meaning gentleman, upon the horns the divine foreknowledge, on such prin- of a goring dilemma, and to leave him ciples, that, as he modestly affirms, " no writhing and smarting there without proposition in Euclid admits of a more relief. — I am sorry for my friend's un- perfecl demonstration;" he suddenly fortunate situation.'" (Lett, on Arian. APPENDIX. 61 without question, all on the side of the Unitarian, whose mo difications of the Gospel, exhibiting it as a mere revival and p. 47.) And so he goes on grieving for the cruel discomfiture which he had himself caused to his friend; but which, it seems, he could not well have avoid ed, from the uncommon keenness of his argumentative talent, and the piercing potency of his metaphysics. — It should however be observed, to the credit of Mr. Belsham, that he has not been influenced by any unworthy fear, to withhold from the world, the know ledge of the nature and use of those all-subduing weapons, which have never failed to secure to him such easy tri umphs in his controversial campaigns. The Logic and Metaphysics, whereby he has laid many a sturdy combatant low, he has fairly given to the public ; and it is now the fault of those, with whom he has henceforward to contend, if they do not conceive with the same clearness, and reason with the same precision, as himself. On the work which exhibits these, and which, dignified with the title of Elements of the Philosophy of the Mind and of Moral Philosophy, professes to give, within the compass of one octavo volume, a most complete view of logics, morals, and metaphysics, I have had occasion already to offer some remarks, in the preceding notes of this Appendix. Those remarks, however, as they relate, for the most part, to detached topics, rather incidental to the main object of the work than essentially connected with it, scarcely supply an adequate idea of its true value, and of the be nefits which must have accrued, in point of strict reasoning and just conceptions, to the students of Hackney, and which are now held out by this publication to the world at large. I shall here adduce a few specimens, which go more imme diately to its general excellence as a treatise of logical and metaphysical in struction. First, in the list of axioms we find the following, which may prove the degree of caution with which our author proceeds " Axiom 4. The agreement of two ideas with a third, cannot prove their disagreement with each other." (p. Iii.) — By this, such reasoners as are naturally led to con clude, that when two ideas agree with a third, they must disagree with each other, are completely guarded against falling into this vulgar error. Again, in the next page, we are apprized of a term, so circumstanced, as that it may become a proposition; namely, the major term in a Syllogism, whose major premiss is a particular affirmative. For of such a term he says, " If it be the subject, it is particularly taken as being a particular proposition;'' and again, " If it be the predicate, it is particularly taken as being an affirmative propo sition." This will provide against the errors of those, who might have con ceived that the term would still remain a term, and could never have turned into a proposition of any sort. Again, in the matter of Definition, we find much more of copiousness and versa tility than can be met with in ordinary treatises of logics and metaphysics. The definitions with which the work commences, are those of Perception, and Sensation. These and their con comitants we find thus variously pro pounded. 1. " Perception is the attention, which the mind pays to a variety of im pressions made upon it by external objects or by internal feelings." 2. " Perception is the faculty by which we acquire sensations and ideas." 3. "Sensation is the perception of an object by the organs of sense." 4. " Sensation is the faculty of ac quiring certain internal feelings, by the impression of external objects upon the organs of sense. " 5. "A Sensation is the impression made upon the mind by an object actually present." 62 APPENDIX. confirmation of natural religion, cannot fail to approve them selves to all "men of enlightened minds;" whilst the old 6. " Sensations are internal feelings, excited by the impressions of ex ternal objects upon the organs of sense." See pp. vii. 10, 11. 15, 16. Now, not only have we here a rich variety of definitions, but such as, by a due combination of their powers, is found capable of engendering more. Thus, if we combine the second and fifth, we obtain a new definition for Perception; namely, "the faculty by which we acquire impressions made upon the mind," &c. : so that Percep tion finally turns out to be its own pro ducer, inasmuch as it seeks after and acquires those impressions, from which, we are told in the first definition, it de rives its existence. Again, if we com bine the first and sixth, we obtain a more extensive and detailed view of the nature of Perception,- for since, in the latter, Sensations are described as a species of " internal feelings," it follows, that '¦ Perception is the attention which the mind pays to a variety of impres sions made upon it, 1. by external ob jects, 2. by Sensations, 3. by all other internal feelings." And, lastly, since by the fifth definition, " a Sensation is an impression made upon the mind," if we join this in friendly union with the two former, we have then contained in the definition of Perception, "an attention to impressions made upon the mind, by impressions which are made upon the mind." I will follow this no farther. I do not pretend to exhaust the combinations and their results: these few perhaps may satisfy the reader. Of our author's uncommon powers in definition, I shall only give one in stance more : but that one cannot but be deemed sufficient, inasmuch as it will show the possibility of deciding, in an instant, the most difficult questions in metaphysics. " Volition is that state of mind, which is immediately previous to actions which are called voluntary." — " Natural Liberty, or, as it is more properly called, Philo sophical Liberty, is the power of doing an action, or its contrary, all the previous circumstances remaining the same." (p. 227.) Now here is the point of free-will at once decided : for, volition itself being included among the previous circumstances, it is a manifest contradiction in terms, to suppose " the power of doing an action or its con trary, all the previous circumstances remaining the same;" since that sup poses the power of acting voluntarily against a volition. After this, surely, Mr. Belsham might have spared him self the trouble of the ninety-two pages which follow, as his opponents must have been at once suffocated by the above definitions. But the philosopher was determined to give the absurd ad vocate for free-will no quarter; and therefore has dealt out argument after argument, blow after blow, until the adversary is no longer able to stand before him. He was not even content, until he brought the evidence of ma thematics to his aid, to prove, ex absurdo, that philosophical liberty totally con founds the distinction between virtue and vice. Thus, " for example, bene volence without liberty is no virtue ; ma lignity without liberty is no vice. Both are equally in a neutral state. Add a portion of liberty to both ; benevolence instantly becomes an eminent virtue, and malignity an odious vice. That is, IF TO EQUALS YOU ADD EQUALS THE WHOLES WILL BE UNEQUAL ; than which nothing can be more absurd ! " Does the reader doubt that these words are fairly quoted? Let him turn to pp. 258, 259 of the treatfse, and satisfy himself that there is in the world such a mathematician as the author of the above proof. But I have done with this work. It must by this time be clear, that in logics, metaphysics, morak, and mathematics, the students must APPENDIX. 63 orthodox fancies — that " the corruption of human nature, the atonement of the Saviour, and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit," are the prominent doctrines of the Christ ian Revelation, — are left to the professors of the National Faith ; interested and unprincipled men, who, not beheving the doctrines they uphold, " testify their regard to the Scrip tures by empty professions;" or ignorant and blundering bigots, who are led by a slavish and "blind submission to vulgar interpretations."" It needs scarcely to be remarked, that, among the virtues of the new system, modesty seems not to occupy, any more than charity, a very distinguished place. have been well instructed at Hack ney. Having been led by the subject of this note to the mention of a combina tion of metaphysical and mathematical reasoning almost too ludicrous for se rious observation, I cannot make better amends to the reader for such a de mand upon his patience, than by di recting his attention to a very small but valuable tract, entitled, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity briefly in validated ; in which the author, Mr. Dawson of Sedbergh, has most hap pily effected that which has been here so unmeaningly caricatured : having en listed the accuracy and brevity of ma thematics (a science with which he is so well acquainted) in the cause of meta physics : and having thereby been en abled to plant the standard of Philoso phical Liberty on a strength, from which the advocates of the opposite doctrine have not found it convenient to attempt to dislodge him. One faint effort in deed was made by a writer in the Monthly Review for July 1781. But this was so easily repelled by the author in a second edition of his Tract, that, so far as I can learn, the attempt has not been repeated. a For these two descriptions of cha racters, and for that of the Unitarians, placed in direct opposition to both, as the only "enlightened and consistent Christians," the reader may turn to what Mr. B. has said, Review, pp. 26 —30. 196. 199. 220. 230. 233. In deed it should be stated in justice to Mr. B., that the charges of incompe tency, insincerity, and slavish adherence to popular systems, are not confined by him to the divines of the Established Church. Some not a little distinguished amongst the Dissenters, are examples of the impartiality of his strictures. Even the pious, candid, and learned Doddridge had adopted an " erroneous and unscriptural system." " His love of popularity," with other causes, had " strangely warped his judgment in the interpretation of the Scriptures ;" and his works are, consequently, " not cal culated to instruct his readers in the true sense of the Christian Scriptures, nor to infuse into them a spirit of ra tional seA manly piety." (pp. 102, 103. 213, 214.) He had unfortunately re tained some of those old-fashioned no tions about atonement and grace, which have been vulgarly supposed to dis tinguish Christianity from natural re ligion. He was not, in short, a Ra tional Dissenter : for it is not from the members of the Establishment solely, but from the various other classes of dissenters, that the grand characteristic of Rationality divides the Unitarian. 64 APPENDIX. For the fulfilment of the engagement, to overturn every interpretation of Scripture that wars with the simple creed of the Unitarian, Mr. B. refers us, — for he has not thought proper to undertake the task himself, — to a hst of comment ators, on whose critical exertions he is willing to rest his cause. Here we find, in addition to some respectable names, and to some from whom his peculiar opinions will not receive much support, the names of " Wakefield, Evanson, Lindsey, and Priestley."" These last being the only persons nowb living, of those whom he has enumerated as the great oracles of Gospel interpretation, to these of course he must princi pally refer, when he -affirms, as we have seen, that " the Uni tarians pledge themselves" to get rid of every passage in Scripture that militates against the principles of their system. Now, I do agree with Mr. B., that if he had traversed the entire range of all who profess to have a single shred of Christianity hanging to them, he could not have found a phalanx more admirably fitted, by the apparatus of " inter polations, omissions, false readings, mistranslations, and erro neous interpretations,"0 to empty Scripture of every idea, that does not correspond with the pure Christianity of those a Review, p. 206. which he had before been industrious to b It is a matter of melancholy re- disseminate; — there seems no good flection, that of the abovenamed writers, reason, why any greater delicacy should all actively engaged in the propagation now be used in treating of the per- of their respective opinions when the nicious mistakes and misconceptions first edition of this work was published, of such writers, than had formerly not one is at this day living. So rapidly been observed ; more particularly as do we all pass off in this fleeting scene the subject is infinitely too important of things ! — Respecting those who no for compromise. " Nee nocet Veritas longer live to answer for themselves, I mortuis, et multum prodest vivis," is confess I feel somewhat of the force of undoubtedly a maxim deserving some the maxim, De mortuis nil nisi bonum. consideration. I have, then, on the And yet, when it is considered, that entire view of the case, neither re- though the man dies, the author lives : tracted nor softened any observation that the interests of the living should applying to the works of the above- not be sacrificed to a sentiment un- named authors, unless where I have profitable to the dead ; that, on the con- ¦ had cause to doubt the truth and jus- trary, were the deceased himself to rise tice of the observation itself. from the grave, he would probably feel it c Review, p. 206. his first duty to oppose those very errors APPENDIX. 65 who call themselves Unitarians. Paine could not well have been added to the list. He most imprudently strikes down all at once, and would brush away the flimsy cobwebs, of both Old and New Testament, at one stroke. But, certainly more" resolute expungers, parers, and diversifiers of Sacred Writ, he could not have discovered in the whole tribe of po lemics. Of their powers in this way some few specimens have been exhibited, in the foregoing Dissertations ; and, from the notable exertions of master-criticism, which have been there occasionally noticed, little doubt can be enter tained of the sufficiency of these writers to fulfil the engage ment entered into on their behalf by Mr. Belsham. Our author himself, indeed, has favoured us with but few displays of his critical ingenuity. Those few, however, prove him by no means unworthy of the cause which he supports. The two passages, which expressly ascribe the office of inter cession to Christ, are, (Rom. viii. 34,) He is now at the right a Dr. Geddes has travelled too slowly through the Old Testament, to entitle him, by his meritorious services in the New, to a place in the present list. But from the liberal views which the part of his translation already published, joined to his late volume of Critical Re marks, presents, concerning the false representations of the Deity in the Pentateuch, — the cruel and sanguinary character of the God of the Hebrews, the juggh of the miracles said to be wrought by Moses, — the incredible number of prodigies not literally to be believed, — the frequent interposition of the Deity and his agents, not to be admit ted, — the absurdity of attributing inspir ation to the writers of the early books of the Old Testament, — the error, in consistence, and downright absurdity, to be found in the Hebrew writings, from which their inspiration cannot be credited, even on the authority of St. Paul, or though an angel from Heaven were to teach it, — the information of the Hebrew historians derived from public registers, popular traditions, and old songs, — from these, and other ob- VOL. II. servations of a similar nature, there is offered a reasonable promise, that when this translator of the books accounted sacred shall have extended his re searches to the New Testament, and thereby clearly made known his scheme of Christianity, he will prove himself fully entitled to have his name en rolled among the most enlightened of Mr. B.'s Unitarian commentators. When we find him thus freely concur ring with Lord Bolingbroke, in pro nouncing the God of Moses to be "partial, unjust, and cruel, delighting in blood, commanding assassinations, massacres, and even exterminations of people," can we doubt, that he will agree with his Lordship, and other phi losophic inquirers, in viewing the God of Paul in a light equally unworthy of our religious adoration ? — Bolingbroke's Works, vol. v. p. 567.— 4to. 1754. The earthly career of Dr. Geddes has been closed since the above was written : nor did he live long enough to carry his mischievous perversions of Scripture beyond the limit of the Pen tateuch and the historical books. 66 APPENDIX. hand of God. making intercession for us ; and, (Hebr. vii. 25,) He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Now, as Mr. B. cannot allow to Christ the office of intercessor, he be gins with remarking, that " the exact import of the phrase is difficult to be ascertained" in these passages : and for this he assigns a reason, which cannot be denied to be sufficient, that " probably the writers themselves annexed to it no very distinct idea!'"- St. Paul, it is clear, was no Rational Chris tian ; or he would not have used words so inaccurately and unphilosophically ; for, besides the aforesaid vagueness of ex pression, it is certain, that " God has no right hand at which Jesus can stand, to intercede !"b By this philosophical dis covery, the authority of St. Paul is completely and at once set aside. His words, it is shown, admit no precise meaning. That, however, which St. Paul ought to have said, Mr. B. in forms us: viz. "that Jesus, having been advanced to great dignity and felicity, is, by the appointment of God, continu ally employing his renovated and improved powers, in some unknown way, for the benefit of his church." We are told, that " we may imagine what we please, but that more than this is not revealed ;" of which it unfortunately happens, that not one word is revealed— except by Mr. Belsham, St. Paul having simply said, that Christ is now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. — God, however, has no right hand ; and interceding does not mean, interceding c. a Review, pp. 69, 70. that for full satisfaction. Such then is b Review, p. 70. the joint light of Dr. Taylor and Mr. c Mr. Belsham's remark on the force Belsham. But it seems necessary to of the original word, rendered by us, remind Mr. B. of the difference be- making intercession, deserves to be tween hrvy^avuv xmtoi and ivrwy%cii>Ei» noticed. " The word," he says, " ex- ins. I must therefore take the liberty presses any interference of one person of referring him to his Lexicon. Or, for or against another." Now, from if he will look to Commentators, per- this it follows, that if Christ be not sup- haps were he to consult Locke and posed to interfere for us, he must be Pierce, — two of those very comment- employed in exercising his powers ators whom he himself has named, against us. Does Mr. B. prefer this but seems to have named only as giving to the received sense ? It appears, a grace and character to his list, whilst however, that he has borrowed his view they certainly deserve to have been of this passage from Dr. Taylor's note placed in better company, he would on Rom. viii. 27, as he refers us to find their interpretation decidedly in APPENDIX. 67 With a few other criticisms of the like nature Mr. Belsham has enriched his work. He has, however, not adventared far favour of that, which no scholar can question to be the sense of the original interceding. As the authority of a German commentator is likely also to have considerable weight with Mr. B., I would recommend it to him to attend to Rosenmiiller's distinction, ( Rom. xi. 2,) — " 'Ei/oj\J,ETai being read for e|ei, and there being added after mov, 96 ON THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS the words, kou KaXECETai to ovo/j.a abrou E/A/tavouvK Now St. Matthew, and he only of the writers of the New Testament, has quoted this prophecy. Both he and Justin quote it in the same application. Both quote it in the third person, instead of the second {thou shalt call), in which it is given by both the Hebrew and Septuagint of the Prophet ; and, what is most remarkable, both annex the interpretation of Emmanuel in the very same words, pe9' ^uav o Oeoj, God with us. So that, upon the whole, there can be no reasonable doubt of Justin's having taken the quotation from St. Mat thew; as well from their mutual agreement in general, as from their common departure from, and common addition to, the text of the prophet as it stands both in the Hebrew and the Greek. Again, in p. 54, Justin relates the declaration of the Angel to the Virgin in the manner described both by St. Matthew and St. Luke ; and, having, through the first part of it, used the expressions of both indifferently, he concludes with these words, xai xateaEi; to wopa ainov 'IncroSv, airoi yap auau to haov abrou aico tZv a/xapTiHv ainav ; which last clause contains the very words of St. Matthew ; words to be found in no other writer of the New Testament. Justin, moreover, to prove that he was giving a quotation from the Evangelists, adds, " as they have taught us, who have written the history of all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ : " hereby clearly announcing, that he derived his information from more than one of the sacred historians, and therefore mani festly pointing out both St. Matthew and St. Luke, who only of the sacred historians had related the story of the angel's address to Mary. And yet, what is Dr. Wilhams's observa tion upon this passage of Justin ?— " The words supposed to be here cited from St. Matthew are, For he shall save his people from their sins. This, however, is by no means cer tain ; for all the other parts of the quotation are taken out of St. Luke, though in a manner somewhat disordered. These words, therefore, may be no more than a loose citation, by memory, from St. Luke, or a reference to some other pas- OF ST. MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. 97 sages of the same writer, see Acts iv. 12 ; x. 43. The thought occurs in a variety of places in the New Testament ; so that we are not necessarily obliged to conclude that there is an allusion to St. Matthew, and to no other Evangelist." He adds also, in a note, that the " manner in which the writers of the New Testament make citations from the Old plainly shows that'they often quoted from memory." {Free Enq. p. 98.) — Here is surely most extraordinary reasoning. The very words of St. Matthew, to a letter, are used by Justin. The same words are employed by no other writer of the New Testament : and yet there is reason to think that this precise repetition of St. Matthew is not a quotation from him, but rather a loose citation from St. Luke, who has not used any terms resembling them. And, because the thought occurs in various places of the New Testament, we are not obliged to conclude that there is an allusion to St. Matthew, who is the only writer that has used the words : and this too, al though Justin tells us, that he quotes from the Evangelists, at the same time that it must be admitted, that no other than Matthew and Luke can be alluded to : the one of whom does not at all employ the words in question, and the other does most accurately. Dr. Williams, indeed, in a note, adds, that " Justin also seems to allude to the Arabian Magi, Matth. ii. 11, in his dialogue with Trypho, p, 315, &c, but it may be only an allusion to a common tradition." {Free Enq. p. 98.) — Now the reader will be surprised to learn, that this seeming allu sion to the passage in Matth. ii. 11, concerning the Arabian Magi, is almost an exact transcript of that part of St. Mat thew's history, and in several places conveyed in the very words of St. Matthew. The Magi, speaking of the king, whose birth was signified by the appearance of the star, tell Herod in the precise terms of the Evangelist, *a\ rix9o/j.ev •jrooo-xuvricrai ai/rtf : and having come to Bethlehem, and fallen down and worshipped the young child, they are described by Justin as bringing their gifts, in the very language of St. Matthew ; npoo-hvEyxav aura daipa, %^"am-> Kal ^avov, xa) afiip- VOL. II. II 98 ON THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS vav : and again, being warned in a vision not to return to Herod, they are described by Justin, as returning into their own country by a different way, in almost the very words of the Evangelist likewise, 3i" a.\Mi bfou si; tyiv x&pav aiitav. See Matth. ii. 2. 11, 12, and Justin, pp. 304,305. 307 ; which last pages, indeed, whoever reads, will be instantly satisfied, that St. Matthew is scarcely out of the view of the writer in a single line. It is true, indeed, that it is not to this part of Justin that Dr. Wilhams has referred, when he has spoken of the seeming allusion to the Magi, but to p. 315. C. Colon. 1686 : that is, to p. 330 of the edition here cited. But why did not Dr. Williams take care to inform himself of what Justin did say, before he ventured to pronounce what he did not say ? More, however, yet remains. We find in this his tory, as given by Justin, two prophecies applied, which are applied by none else than St. Matthew ; and we find, also, that these prophecies are cited in the words of St. Matthew, and not in those of the prophets by whom they were deli vered. What can be proof, if this be not ? — 1. In like man ner as in St. Matthew, we there find Herod, when alarmed by the report of the wise men, consulting the scribes and elders ; who inform him, that Christ was to be born in Beth lehem, for that the Prophet had said, Kai eru ByOhu/t, yrj 'loitia, ouda/tu; ETia^ierTu ei iv To7g vyE/too-iv 'louda, kx crou yap ii-Etevo-Erai tiyoi/jiEvos, oa-Tis Troi^avE"! tov haov (aou. See Matt. ii. 6, and Justin, pp. 55. 305. Now, in this citation of the prophecy, the Evangelist and the Martyr agree in every letter ; whilst the prophecy itself, as given by the LXX, runs differently, thus ; Kai tru BjjAxee/* oixog rod '¥,(ppa9a, oKiyoo-rbg ei rou shai sv X&iacnv 'loifta' sx pot E^fKebcrerat riyoipevog rou sivat e!g apyfitra h t£ 'lo-panK Alex. — 2. When describing the slaughter of the children at Bethlehem, and the consequent fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecy, Justin thus quotes the prophecy : $«nij iv 'Papa wovo-Qn, xAai/fl^of xa) ofrvpfto; TroKvg' "Patxjh\ xXaiovca ta rexva ai/rUg, xa) obx >i'0eXe wap ax\v9rjvai, on obx eicrl. See Justin, p. 307, and Matt. ii. 18. Here, also, we have a complete agreement between Justin and St. Matthew, with this single OF ST. MATTHEW S GOSPEL. 99 exception, that the words Spwog xa), found in the common readings of St. Matthew, are here wanting. But it should be at the same time noted, that these words are likewise wanting in some manuscripts and many versions of St. Matthew ; and that Griesbach marks them as most probably to be expunged from the text of the Evangelist. Now, on the other hand, how stands the prophecy itself, as rendered by the Seventy ? avr) kv 'Papa rixouoSn §pr\vov, xa) xXavBpou, xa) Shuppov, 'Paj^Ti aTroxXatopevng ew) rav uiav abrrjg, xa) obx WeXev 7rapaxhn9rjvat, oti obx Eto-iv. — Alex. — or, as in Vatic. airoxhaioftEvri obx w'Sexe wau- (rao-9ai iwi roTg vio7g abrrjg, on oux eio-iv. — These remarkable passages in Justin, it must be observed, have been altogether unnoticed by Dr. Wilhams. — What then, upon the whole, is to be judged, concerning the hkehhood of Justin's having quoted from St. Matthew, and concerning the accuracy of Dr. Williams's examination of this subject, — it cannot be necessary further to discuss. At p. 90 of this volume, the Sibylline Oracles have been referred to. A few extracts from those oracles are here sub joined. In the eighth book are to be found several passages relating to the nativity of Christ. The angel Gabriel is there described, as visiting Mary the mother of our Lord, and fore telling the miraculous production of the Saviour : and the birth of this illustrious deliverer, at Bethlehem, of a virgin mother, is detailed at length. To this detail is added what follows. Kaivoarog ao-rrif. ~Lwapyavu9ev 3e QpEtpog, fcixfin SeotteMo-i tparvr,. Kai T^iyou r) BeAXee/* warp)g §E0HKrirag eXex®*) Bovr&aratg re xa) alyovopoig xa) ¦xoi/a.eo-iv apvav. p. 258. In the same work also, in the first book, we find the in carnation of the Son of God ; and the name, 'htroug, by which, h 2 100 ON THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS in his human form, he was to be known to men, thus de scribed : — Aw to't£ xa\ fj.Eya.Koio ®eou Tralg av9pel 'EGoaiav, e9vn Y aypoouvrai Aurou utpwyyo-Ei. pp. 65, 66. It has been asserted at p. 92, that " the references made by the Apostolical Fathers to St. Matthew's Gospel are ex tremely few;" and that (with an exception in the case of Ignatius) " these Fathers are, in no part of their writings, OF ST. MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. ' 101 engaged in any debate c% discussion whatever on the subject of the birth of Christ." The truth of these positions will be manifest on a short review. The Apostolical Fathers axe five, Barnabas, Clement, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp. Now, first, as to St. Barnabas ; the greatest number of possible references made by this Father to St. Matthew's Gospel amounts to eight : and, in the opinion of Lardner, those, that may with any strength of probability he considered as such, do not exceed four, viz. Matth. xvi. 24 ; xx. 16 ; v. 42 ; ix. 13. And neither in these, nor in any allusion of this Father to any part of the New Testament, is there to be found any thing controversial respecting the birth or history of Christ. That the reader may satisfy himself as to this fact, I subjoin the several passages, to which, in addition to those above enumerated, St. Barnabas can be supposed to have referred. Matth. xxii. 43, 44 ; xxiv. 22 ; xxv. 5, 6. 10 ; xxvi. 31 ; Luke vi. 30 ; Acts x. 42 ; Rom. iv. 3 ; v. 16 ; ix. 10, 11, 12 ; xi. 36 ; xv. 8 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16 ; xi. 20 ; 2 Cor. v. 17; Eph. ii. 2; v. 16, 17; Phil. iv. 5; 2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. hi. 5 ; x. 25 ; 1 Pet. i. 17 ; ii. 5 ; 2 Pet. iii. 10 ; Rev. xxii. 12. 2. As to St. Clement. In the Epistle, which, as Bishop of Rome, he addressed to the Church of Corinth, we find but four references to the Gospel of St. Matthew : viz. vii. 1, 2 . 12 ; ix. 42 ; xviii. 6 ; xxvi. 24. And neither in these, nor in any allusions to other parts of the New Testament, do we meet with any matter connected with the history of the birth of Christ, or relating to any object but that of moral and religious improvement, and the enforcement of Christian rules of conduct. The passages supposed to be alluded to by this Father are, in addition to those already specified these which follow : — Luke vi. 36, 37, 38 ; xvii. 2 ; Acts xiii 22; xx. 35; Rom. i. 29, 30. 32; ii. 20; ix.*4, 5; xiv. 1. 3 xv. 1 ; 1 Cor. i. 12; x. 24; xii. 12. 15. 22. 24; xiii. 4; xv 20 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; viii. 5 ; x. 17, 18 ; xi. 24, 25 ; Gal. i. 4 Eph. iv. 4, 5, 6 ; Phil. i. 10 ; ii. 5, 6, 7 ; Col. i. 10 ; 1 Thess v. 18. 23 ; 1 Tim. ii. 8 ; iii. 13 ; v. 4 ; 2 Tim. i. 9 ; Tit. iii. 1 102 ON THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS Heb. i. 3, 4, 5. 7. 13 ; iii. 2. 5 ; iv. K ; vi. 18 ; xi. 5. 7, 8. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37. 39; xii. 1, 2. 6. 9, 10, 11 ; James i. 5, 6, 7, 8 ; ii. 21. 23 ; iii. 13 ; iv. 3, 4. 6 ; 1 Pet. iv. 8 ; v. 5 ; 2 Pet. ii. 5, 6, 7. 9 ; iii. 4. [This Father's allusion to one of the above passages, Gal. i. 4, I insert here, though not connected with the present subject, as throwing a strong light upon the sense, which, in those apostolic days, was assigned to the phrase, giving him self for us, as applied to the sacrifice of Christ. Aia rjjv ayavrnv fa lo-xev Troog vpag, rb aipa abrou ecWev i/irep ypav ln''• — Patr. Apost. vol. i. pp. 189, 190. — Through the love which he liad for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, by the will of God, gave his blood for us: his fiesh for our fiesh, his soul for our soul. The reader will please to carry this exposition of the passage of Galatians i. 4 back to p. 162 of vol. i., where the substitutive force of the word uttep has been already considered.] 3. In the Shepherd of Hermas we meet with allusions (most of them remote) to ten passages of St. Matthew at the most : viz. Matt. v. 28. 42 ; x. 32, 33 ; xiii. 5, 6, 7. 20, 21, 22. 31, 32 ; xviii. 3, 4 ; xix. 23, 24 ; xxiii. 6 ; xxviii. 18. The other parts of the New Testament to which this Father may be supposed to allude, are the following : — Mark ix. 50 ; Luke xiii. 24, 25 ; xvi. 18 ; John xiv. 6 ; Acts v. 41 ; Rom. viii. 11 ; ix. 4 ; xi. 29 ; xv. 7 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17 ; vii. 11. 15; 2 Cor. vii. 10 ; Gal. iii. 27 ; Eph. iv. 4. 30, 31 ; Philip, iv. 18 ; Col. i. 15, 16 ; 1 Thess.' v. 13 ; 2 Tim. i. 14 ; iv. 18 ; Heb. xii. 17 ; James i. 5 ; ii. 7 ; iii. 15. 17 ; iv. 2, 3, 4. 7. 12 ; v. 1, 2. 4 ; 1 Pet. i. 6, 7 ; hi. 15 ; v. 7 ; 2 Pet. ii. 15. 20 ; 1 John ii. 27; iv. 6; v. 6; 2 John 4; 3 John 3, 4; Jude 21. 24. There are expressions also in this Father resembhng several in the book of Revelation. But in none of these allusions to the books of the New Testament, do we find the author con cerned with any other than topics of moral and religious ex hortation. 4. In those Epistles of Ignatius which are received as OF ST. MATTHEWS GOSPEL. 103 genuine, there are to be discovered, besides the allusions to the first two chapters of St. Matthew noticed at p. 91 of this volume, but six passages of that Evangelist to which this Father can be supposed to refer : viz. hi. 15 ; x. 16 ; xii. 33 ; xviii. 19, 20 ; xix. 12. In addition to these, he may be con sidered as referring to the following parts of the other Gos pels and of the Epistles : Luke xiv. 27 ; John hi. 8 ; viii. 29; x. 9; xii. 49; xvi. 11. 28; Acts x. 41; Rom. viii. 88, 39 ; xv. 7 ; 1 Cor. i. 10. 18, 19, 20 ; iv. 4 ; v. 7 ; vi. 9, 10 ; xv. 8 ; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15 ; Gal. i. 1 ; v. 4 ; Eph. ii. 22 ; iv. 3, 4, 5 ; v. 2. 25. 29 ; vi. 13, 14. 16, 17 ; Philip." i. 21 ; ii. 3. 5 ; Col. i. 7 ; 1 Thess. v. 17 ; 2 Tim. i. 16. 18 ; ii. 4 ; Tit. ii. 3 ; Philem. 20 ; Heb. x. 28, 29 ; xiii. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 5 ; 1 John i. 2 ; 3 John 2. Of these, as of the passages of the New Tes tament alluded to by the Fathers before named, it is to be remarked, that none are connected with any discussion con cerning the nativity of our Lord. And the allusions, which this Father (as observed at p. 91) has made to that subject, will be found, upon examination, not to have been studiously and formally brought forward for the purpose of proving the miraculous circumstances of our Lord's birth, as if they were at that time not generally assented to ; but introduced fa miliarly and unqualifiedly, as relating to a fact well known, and about which no difference of opinion prevailed, or at least none that demanded a more detailed consideration. Lastly, with respect to Polycarp, of whose writings the Epistle to the Philippians is the only one that has been pre served ; his references to St. Matthew are as follow : Matt. v. 3. 7. 10. 44; vi. 12, 13, 14, 15; vii. 1, 2; xxvi. 41. These relate merely to matter of religious exhortation and enforce ment, as do his remaining references to other parts of the New Testament ; namely, Acts ii. 24 ; Rom. xii. 17 ; xiii. 9, 10 ; xiv. 10. 12 ; 1 Cor. v. 11 ; vi. 2. 9, 10 ; 2 Cor. iv. 14 ; vi. 7 ; viii. 21 ; Gal. i. 1 ; iv. 26 ; vi. 7 ; Ephes. ii. 8, 9 ; iv. 26 ; Philip, ii. 10, 11. 16 ; Col. i. 28 ; 1 Thess. v. 17. 22 ; 2 Thess. hi. 15; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; vi. 7. 10; 2 Tim. ii. 11, 12; iv. 10; 104 ON THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS Heb. iv. 12, 13; 1 Pet. i. 8. 13. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 11, 12. 17. 22. 24 ; iii. 9. 14 ; iv. 5. 7 ; v. 5 ; 1 John ii. 7 ; iv. 3 ; Jude 3. The purposes, for which the Apostolical Fathers referred to the New Testament, will readily be discerned by a review of the passages to which they can be supposed to have al luded, and which have been here very fully enumerated. In truth, so far are they from having had occasion to re fer to such parts of Scripture as relate to the family and birth of Christ, that, with the exception of Ignatius, their subjects in no instance lead them to any discussion, or even notice, of these points. The Epistle of Barnabas consists of two parts : the one exhorting to constancy in the behef and profession of the Christian doctrine without the rites of the Jewish law ; and the other containing a course of Moral in structions. (See Menard. Judic. de S. Barn. Patr. Apost. vol. i. p. xxviii.) The Epistle of Clement is designed to compose dissensions, which had sprung up in the church of Corinth respecting spiritual governors ; and is principally oc cupied in recommending peace, and harmony, and humility, and faith, and all the virtues of a Christian life. The writings of Hennas consist of visions, mandates, and similitudes, all totally unconnected with the person and history of Christ. The short letter of Polycarp, which is scarcely of sufficient bulk to fill ten octavo pages, is entirely employed in godly ex hortation. And in the genuine Epistles of Ignatius, in which heretical opinions are adverted to, we find that Father op posing to those opinions the fact of our Lord's miraculous birth, agreeably to the account given of it by St. Matthew ; and opposing that fact as decisive and unanswerable in argu ment, whilst it is itself assumed as a matter about which there was no dispute. That the heretical opinions, moreover, against which he had to contend, were not those which main tained the simple humanity of Christ, but those, on the con trary, which denied his human nature altogether, and the reality of his suffering and resurrection, seems fairly, de- ducible from the entire tenor and language of his Epistles, OF ST. MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. 105 and more especially from the 1 1th section of his Epistle to the Magnesians, in which he lays particular stress on these things having been done truly and certainly, TrpaxBevra axrjSag xai @E@aiii)g a. How httle, then, upon the whole, these early Fathers had to do with estabhshing the truth of the history relating to " the family and birth of Christ ;" how httle they were, in their writings, concerned in " debates with Jewish unbe lievers ;" how little they were urged to the necessity of " re ferring to the first two chapters of St. Matthew," and how little, consequently, Dr. Williams is at liberty to infer from the silence, which he attributes to them on the subject mat ter of those chapters, the conclusion that they are spurious, — I leave to the reader to determine. That he may form the better judgment of the value of the argument derived from the silence of the Apostolical Fathers concerning any assigned portion of Scripture, I shall con clude with transcribing some observations of the industrious and cautious Lardner, upon the subject of their writings. {Works, vol. ii. pp. 103, 104.) — "All these are but short pieces. The largest is the Shepherd of Hennas, which is almost as large as all the rest put together. But it was in consistent with the nature of that work for the writer to quote books. All these pieces, except the Shepherd of Hernias, are epistles written to Christians ; who, it is likely, needed not at that time to be particularly informed what books they ought to receive ; but only to be admonished to attend to the things contained in them, and to maintain their respect for them, as is here often done." From these and other parti culars, he proceeds to say, — " it is apparent, that these Apos tolical Fathers have not omitted to take notice of any book a On the subject of the above para- larly to p. 357, and the argument con- graph, I cannot forbear recommending nected therewith. I cannot but think to the reader an excellent work of the that this ingenious writer has taken a late Mr. Wilson, of St. John's College, juster view than that which even the Cambridge, on the Method of Explain- learned Bishop Pearson, the great vin- ing the New Testament by the early dicator of Ignatius's writings, has formed, Opinions of Jews and Christians con- of the nature of the heresies with which rernimj Christ. Let him look particu- this ancient Father had to contend. 106 FIRST TWO CHAPTERS OF ST. MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. of the New Testament, which, as far as we are able to judge, their design led them to mention. Their silence, therefore, about any other books, can be no prejudice to their genuine ness, if we shall hereafter meet with credible testimonies to them." What has been here justly remarked respecting the books of Scripture, equally applies to portions of those books. SUPPLEMENT REMARKS ON THE UNITARIAN VERSION NEW TESTAMENT. In a former edition, I had been led to make some observa tions on the translation of the New Testament, which has been given to the public by the Unitarians, under the title of an Improved Version. To the version bearing this name, — a name, which, were it not known to be the serious appel lation bestowed upon it by its authors, might well be sus pected as the sarcastic designation of it by its opponents, — I stated a few objections ; intended rather for the purpose of presenting some specimens of the unfitness and incapacity of the Editors, and of thereby guarding the unsuspicious and unreflecting reader against the imposing pretensions of the work, than for that of exhibiting in detail the errors, corrup tions, and falsifications, with which it abounds ; and which, in truth, render it a production, just as much fitted to convey a correct notion of the great doctrines of Christianity, as if it had been a translation of the chapters of the Koran.a " I find in the Brief Memorial of New Testament unites the two charac- that excellent and learned prelate, Bi- ters of Marcion and Valentinus. Alius shop Burgess, the following observa- manu scripturas, alius sensus exposi- tions and quotation, in which the story tione intervertit. Neque enim, si Va- of Unitarian ingenuity in the manage- lentinus integro instrumento uti videtur, ment of Scripture is accurately paral- non callidiore ingenio, quam Marcion, leled: — "The Unitarian Version of the manus intulit veritati. Marcion enim 108 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE The excellent treatise of Dr. Nares, (of which I rejoice to see a second and improved edition lately published,) together exerte et palam machaera non stilo usus est ; quoniam ad materiam suam csedem Seripturarum confecit. Valentinus au- tem pepercit; quoniam non ad mate riam scripturas, sed ad scripturas mate riam, excogitavit ; et tamen plus abstulit, et plus adjecit, auferens proprietates singulorum quoque verborum, et adji- ciens dispositiones non comparentium rerum. ( Tertull. De Prescript. Haret._ c. 38.)" — The Bishop adds, " Tertul- lian calls the Valentinian New Testa ment a travesty; — fabulam in totum aliam componi .- and such is the English Unitarian Version ; as any one may see who will compare it with the original." (p. 32. ) In truth the joint picture of Marcion and Valentinus admirably completes the Unitarian Editor ; who, at the same time, it must be confessed, has wasted strength in his performance ; since he has in his nature enough of Marcion to do without Valentinus, and enough of Valentinus to make him in dependent of Marcion. At the moment of finishing the above paragraph, another valuable tract of Bishop Burgess, just published, has fallen into my hands, in which I find a passage of Mosheim so exactly appli cable to the subject, that I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of adding it to this note. That writer, contrasting the orthodox interpreter, with the Socinian of his day, whose moderation is the scorn of the Unitarian of ours, says, " Nos simplicitatem unice consectamur ; verba, ut usus hominum postulat, acci- pimus, nee aliter quam sana ratio jubet, interpretamur. Mi omnia contra : qui quidem uniyersas ingenii vires intend- unt, ut vim dictorum sacrorum, multis variisque ambagibus, verborum contor- sionibus, novis interpunctionibus, emen- dationibus denique, enervent, et a na- turali sensu deflectant. Ita qui ra- XIONEM SEMPER NOBIS OBTRUDUNT, ID FACIUNT IPS1, QUOD RATIO FIERI posse negat." — Discrt. ad Sanct. Discip. p. 341— See p. 72. of The Bibh and nothing but the Bibh. To mention a single canon, of those laid down for the interpretation of Scripture by modern Unitarians, will abundantly justify the application to them of the observations of Mosheim upon their Socinian forerunners. " Im partial and sincere inquirers after truth must be particularly upon their guard against what is called the natural signi fication of words and phrases. " ( Calm Inquiry, pp. 4, 5. ) By the " natural signification of words " is not here un derstood a signification of words esta blished by nature ; against which (as it is known not to exist) no person needs to be put upon his guard ; but sim ply, that signification, which has been sanctioned by continued usage, by the true " jus et norma loquendi ;" in other words, that signification, which a thorough knowledge of the lan guage attributes to the words. This is the signification of words, against which the Unitarian, in the person of Mr. Belsham, the promulger of the above canon, would guard the reader and interpreter of Scripture ; and this, on the ground, that the " connexion between words and ideas is perfectly arbitrary." The misfortune of a little knowledge is, that the phrases of a sci ence are used without a perception of their import. Locke and other Meta physicians have said, that the connexion between words and ideas is not a natural but an arbitrary connexion. And, in the sense in which they intend it, they have said truly ; — namely, that sounds being indifferent in their nature, the signification of words must be the result of an originally arbitrary imposition. But the connexion of words and ideas being conventional, when once esta blished, it is so far from being arbitrary, | that nothing is more out of the power of individuals to alter. As Locke re marks, " even the great Augustus him- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 109 with the valuable observations of Dr. Laurence and Mr. Rennell, had been successfully directed to the latter object. These writers, Dr. Nares especially, had detected and ex posed many of the principal and most pernicious of the fal lacies and blunders of this Improved Version. Some of the self, in the possession of that power which ruled the world, acknowledged he could not make a new Latin word : " that is, says he, "he could not arbi trarily appoint what idea any sound should be a sign of, in the mouths and common language of his subjects." (Essay, b. iii. c. 2. ) — Not so the Uni tarian Metaphysicians. They have read somewhere, that " the connexion between words and ideas is arbitrary ; " and mistaking the true meaning of the position, they are enabled, by their ig norance, to accomplish what Augustus could not by his power, to give arbi trarily to words whatever signification they may choose. Mr. Belsham very properly follows up this canon, by another, which pro nounces, that learning is by no means a necessary requisite for the just compre hension of Scripture —but that " a sound understanding and an honest mind " are fully sufficient for the pur pose. The critical knowledge of a lan guage can undoubtedly be of little use, where words have no established mean ing. And the Editors of the Unitarian New Testament have, accordingly, acted with perfect consistency, in paying (as they openly avow) but little attention to " verbal criticism " in the execution of their translation. In fact, the grossest ignorance (and especially of the ori ginal language of the N. T.) is dis played by them and their assistant Commentators in every page of their compilations. This, indeed, seems at all times to have been a distinguishing characteristic of the Socinian School. The learned Eisner speaks of that Sect in the following language, which is surely not unappropiate to its followers of the present day : — " Ad confutandos adversarios, et pestilentissimce prcesertim Socinianorum Sectce dogmata convel- lenda, prasentissimum auxilium fert Greecai lingua: peritia. Summum ho- rum hominum artificium in eo consistit, ut novas et insolentes notiones, quasque situs verborum plane respuit, vocibus subjiciant,loquutionesviolenterdivellant, omniaque misceant et turbent, ut ali- quam saltern hseresi sua? veri speciem ex sacris libris inducant, Graca enim lingua fere expertes sunt. — Sane ut novam religionem excogitarunt hi ho mines, cui postea accommodare sacros libros sunt conati, sic et nova lingua opus habent, qua omnes.opinionis sua? errores eant confirmatum." Observ. Sac. prsef. ad Lect. — It is with good reason that Mr. Belsham exclaims against » critical attention to the " niceties " of the Greek language, and against what he denominates " gram matical subtilties:" — this seems also not unseasonably inserted in the Intro duction to his Calm Inquiry. Indeed this writer seems disposed to carry his ideas of the inutility of the knowledge of the Greek language for a just trans lation of the Greek Testament some what beyond the " niceties " and " gram matical subtilties " of the language : for he asks in triumph : " Who ever heard of a juryman being challenged, because he was not a good grammarian ? Can no one know that Gustavus is banished from his throne, who is not able to read the instrument of his deposition in the original language?" (p. 6.) — After this, will any one pretend to say, that, for a perfect knowledge of the contents of the Old and New Testament, an ac quaintance with the Hebrew and Greek languages, or a knowledge of the gram mar of any language, is in any degree necessary ? 110 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE periodical journals also, more particularly the Quarterly and Eclectic Reviews, had contributed their aid to the same sa lutary purpose. It, therefore, became the less necessary for me to carry my animadversions beyond the extent and the object to which I had proposed to confine myself. The Glasgow Religious Tract Society, whose exertions in the dissemination of religious knowledge are highly merito rious, finding that uncommon efforts were making to spread Unitarian principles in Glasgow and its vicinity, and con ceiving that the circulation of the Remarks on the Unitarian Version in a detached form, might assist in counteracting the threatened evil, applied in the year 1813 for my permission to publish them separately, as an extract from the work. To this I willingly assented : and that Society accordingly printed and circulated a large edition of the Extract, under the title of An Exposure of the unwarrantable Liberties taken by the Unitarians with the Sacred Scriptures in their Version of the New Testament. No sooner did this short tract make its appearance, than it was determined to assail it without mercy. It presented itself in a size and compass adapted to the Theologians of Hackney: and as, without much demand for literature, or much expenditure of thought, a pamphlet of about the same dimensions could be easily thrown off, in their usual popular style of dashing declama tion and confident assertion ; with a shew of learning and logic sufficient to disguise gross ignorance and rank sophistry; a mixture of pleasantry and sarcasm suited to the taste of those likely to become its readers ; and, above all, with the note of triumph so uniformly and so ludicrously sounded by the modem writers of the Unitarian school, on every repeti tion of arguments which have been a thousand times re futed, and are yet as often advanced without the slightest notice of previous refutation : — such a thing was manufac tured and sent abroad, for the total discomfiture of the author of the work on Atonement and Sacrifice, and, consequently, for the entire subversion of the doctrines which that work maintains. The pamphlet itself I did not consider entitled UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ill to notice. But as its anonymous author, under the assumed appellation of the Calm Inquirer % has charged me with unfair treatment of the Editors of the Unitarian Version, now that the sending out the present edition brings me again upon the subject, I shall not scruple to reconsider the objec tions which I have already advanced against that Version, and at the same time to bestow a few observations upon the vindication of the Version, which has been attempted by this Calm Inquirer in answer to those objections. This I am the more readily disposed to do, because (so far as I know) this pamphlet contains the only defence of the version that has been offered to the public in a detached form ; and be cause the body of English Unitarians have attributed to it (trifling as it is) so high a value, that, not content with print ing and circulating it at the expense of their public fund, port, and likewise certain characters of internal evidence, arising from the calmness, the modesty, and the suavity, which he represents as markedly indi cative of the style and manner of that writer. (Discourses on the principal Points of the Socinian Controversy, p. 431.) — Whether the conjectures of Dr. Nares and Dr. Wardlaw be well founded, I know not. I should have supposed Mr. Belsham to be possessed of more manliness than to skulk from an opponent: and whatever be the errors, absurdities, and vulgarities, of this little pamphlet conjecturally as cribed to him; be the deficiencies in reasoning, in knowledge, and in taste, what they may; I am satisfied, from convincing proofs, that the author of the Review of Mr. Wuoerforce, the Letters on Arianism, the Calm Inquiry, and the Letters to the Rev. H. Horsley, has the courage to avow them all, if the production be truly his. Thus ac quitted, then, of all connexion with this miserable little performance, as Mr. Belsham must feel himself to be, he of course will not be affected by any ob servations that may be occasionally be stowed upon it in the course of the en suing remarks. a The writer, although he entitles himself a " Calm Inquirer," it should be observed, does not thereby mean to announce himself as the Author of the " Calm Inquiry. " And yet it seems somewhat whimsical, that Mr. Belsham, in his Letters to the Rev. H. Horsley, denominates the Author of the " Calm Inquiry" continually by the title of the " Calm Inquirer : '' (Month. Rep. vol. viii. pp. 387. 452. 724, 725 :) and this in the pages of the very volume in which the " Address" of the " Calm Inquirer " is inserted. The two things, however, are recon cilable. A person, entitling himself a Calm Inquirer, may yet not be the au thor of a Calm Inquiry: but he who has been the author of a Calm Inquiry, cannot be other than a Calm Inquirer. Dr. Nares, in the new edition of his Remarks, (p. 248,) speaks, from what authority I know not, of the Author of this pamphlet being " said to be Mr. Belsham himself, the principal Editor of the Improved Version." Dr. Ward- law, of Glasgow, also pronounces the " Calm Inquirer as generally under stood to be Mr. Belsham : " and assigns as the ground of his own belief that it is so, the prevalence of the re- 112 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE they have superadded the publication of it in their Magazine, thus securing to it every degree of cuirency and credit, that it is in the power of the entire body to bestow. Recognised and adopted in this manner by the whole community of Uni tarians, (who appear now to be consolidated and organised in a manner somewhat approaching the system of the Wesleyan Methodists,) it is, of course, to be viewed as their own authen ticated and deliberate defence of their version ; at least so far as the objections advanced in a late edition of this work are concerned. We are therefore in no danger of mistaking the sense in which the Unitarian editors wish to be understood upon the points at issue : and, with the lights and explana tions now afforded, we can be at no. loss, in the revision of our former arguments, to know how far they apply to what, on the fullest consideration, the Unitarians themselves admit to be their meaning. The charges advanced by me in a former edition were pre faced by one or two observations on the disingenuousness of the Editors of the new Version, in their use of the name of Archbishop Newcome : professing to ground their Version upon the basis of his translation, whilst in truth they adopt no part of it that interfered with their peculiar opinions : and thereby securing a respectable name for their Unitarian blas phemies, and contriving to circulate their poisons under a false label. Both the language and the matter of this charge have given great offence. I cannot depart from either. As to the former, deeming the opinions held by modern Unita rians to be blasphemous a and pestilential, I cannot in truth and justice denominate them by any other terms : and, as to the latter, being satisfied, that the charge of deception and falsehood in the pretended adherence to the Archbishop's a Perhaps, indeed, the term " bias- On the subject of this Repeal, the phemy," which has been that adopted Brief Memorial of Bishop Burgess, by the Laws of the Land in speaking that watchful, and able, and learned of the Socinian or Unitarian tenets, it guardian of the interests of true religion may be thought by the Unitarians that and of the Established Church, de- no person has now a right to employ ; serves the most serious consideration as the Laws against blasphemy have from all to whom those interests are been lately repealed by the Legislature. dear. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 113 translation, is founded in fact, I hold myself bound to make it good ; and shall, for this purpose, more particularly bring before the reader's view the language and the conduct of the Editors in reference to this subject. They inform us, (Introd. p. iv,) that they had adopted Archbishop Newcome's translation as the basis of their own, "not only because of its general accuracy, simplicity, and fidelity ; but principally because he professes to have fol lowed the text of GriesbacKs edition," on the accuracy of which they largely descant. They state, also, that "they as sumed it as a principle, that no alteration should be made in the Primate's translation but where it appeared to be neces sary to the correction of error or inaccuracy, in the text, the language, the construction, or the sense." The Calm de fender of the Editors adds, that they " could not without the most flagrant violation of honour and honesty have pubhshed their work without the most open and explicit acknowledg ment of the use which they had thus made of the translation of the learned Primate." {Address, &c, p. 6.) But if " ho nour and honesty " demanded so " open an acknowledgment of the use which they had made of the Primate's translation," was there not some httle matter of " honour and honesty " concerned hkewise in making as open an acknowledgment of the use they did not make of that translation ? Was it from a principle of justice to the Primate, that they first announced his translation as their model, and then departed from it whenever it suited their convenience : that they abide by the Primate just so long as he abides by them ; following him in all matters that are perfectly indifferent, but utterly disre garding him in all those in which their peculiar opinions are concerned ; until at length, even by the confession of their Vindicator himself, nearly one tenth a of this new Version is a Address by a Calm Inquirer, &c, tenths of the words taken numerically p. 6. " More than nine tenths of the are the same, or that nine tenths of the Improved Version is the Primate's sentences agree, I am at a loss to deter* own." What this writer exactly means mine. In the first case, since the dis- by these words, it is not very easy to tinct sentences of the N. T. contain, understand. Whether it be, that nine one with another, more than ten words VOL. II, I 114 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE found to differ from that which it professes to follow ? So that a translation, which they adopted as their basis, from " its general accuracy, simplicity, and fidelity" and from its adherence to the correct text of Griesbach, they find it " necessary " to depart from, by their own confession, to the amount of the one tenth, on account of what they deem " error or inaccuracy, in the text, the language, the con struction, or the sense." And this they call making one translation the basis of the other : and this entitles them, nay compels them, under the imperious demand of " honour and honesty," to spread the name of Archbishop Newcome a each, it is manifest, that, by a proper distribution of the differing words, the two translations might possibly disagree in every sentence, and so become re pugnant in their sense throughout In the second it is allowed, that, in one sentence in every ten, the two versions may be at variance, and consequently that they may differ in every passage affecting the doctrines of Christianity ; since these would clearly not extend to the tenth part of the N. T. estimated by its component sentences. How ab surd, then, and fallacious is it, under either acceptation of the words, to pre tend to speak of the Primate's Version as any basis or standard whatsoever ! — It must be observed, too, that the ad mission of this great extent of departure from the pretended model was not made, until, after a laborious research for the very purpose of the discovery, it had been shewn to the public that nearly one thousand variations from the text of the Primate have taken place. On this point I refer the reader to Dr. Nares's Remarks, (2d. edit. p. 3,) where it is stated, that even by a Uni tarian Reviewer there had been reckon ed up 750 deviations from Newcome, in addition to those "from the received text, and from Griesbach's second edi tion (not duly noticed or pointed out to the reader as they ought to be) : " and that the same Unitarian writer regrets, " that no standard text had been ad hered to, ' because ' (says he) ' it would do away one of the most powerful charges brought against us, namely, THAT WE ALTER THE SCRIPTURES TO SUIT OUR OWN SYSTEM.' " a Dr. Nares very justly observes, that, whilst Archbishop Newcome's name is held out as a model in the title-page, the Editors expressly inform us, (in a note, however, not quite so prominent as the title-page,) that no thing but the clear and discriminating light diffused over the obscurities of the Sacred Scriptures by the venerable Theophilus Lindsey, and his coadjutors, Jebb, Priestley, Wakefield, and others, could purify the Christian Religion from those numerous and enormous cor ruptions, which have so long disfigured its doctrines and impaired its progress. " This," he adds, " is speaking out plainly, though it rather surprises me, that none of these names appear in the title-page to recommend the book, while two Archbishops are selected for this purpose: for, besides the learned Primate of Ireland, a motto is adopted from Archbishop Parker's preface to the Bishops' Bible, by way, surely, of a second decoy to the unwary mem bers of the Church," (Remarks, &c, P- 2. ) — The Calm Inquirer indeed ob serves, (p. 6,) that "the Editors of the Improved Version are not idolaters of Archbishops as such : " and from this he would have it inferred, that the UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 115 in large characters over the title-page of their book : and to impress the reader with the belief, that he is, in substance at least, perusing the Primate's New Testament, when he is pe rusing one purposely contrived to empty it of every doctrine which the Primate deemed essential to Christianity. Well, but then we are told, that " wherever they have judged it expedient to deviate from the Primate's translation, the Editors have, with the most scrupulous fidelity, given notice of the change, and set down the Primate's words in the margin" So the Calm Inquirer positively asserts, (p. 6.) The Editors also state the same for themselves ; and affirm that not only where they have deviated from the Primates Version, but also where they have deviated from the Received Text, they have " in every instance " noticed the alteration at the foot of the page. (Introd. p. iv.) Now, although this by no means clears the Editors from imputation, for the reasons already alleged, yet upon this point I readily join issue with both them and their Vindicator. The reverse of the affirma tion so peremptorily made by both, is notoriously the fact ; and a fact which presents itself in such a form, that, although the compilers of this new version are entitled to take credit for much of precipitancy and carelessness on many points, yet they cannot be allowed to claim the unquahfied benefit of that excuse upon this. Of the numerous examples which charge of the intention of " sheltering more than an artifice ; that it is a false- themselves under the name of Primate hood and a fraud, and can have no Newcome " is totally unfounded. But other object than that of procuring a this gentleman will please to recollect, circulation by drawing in unsuspecting that it was not to any extraordinary re- purchasers — But to return to the title- verence for Archbishops, but to the page :— there we find, in large charac- gainful use which might be made of ters, Improved Version, Archbishop their authority, that their fondness for Newcome's translation, Correct- the name of Primate Newcome had ed Text — Archbishop Parker, and been ascribed. It had been said, and the Bishops' Bible, are also made to with how much truth he who examines meet the eye : — and all is executed by the work carefully may judge for him- a Society for promoting Christian self, that the assumption of the name of Knowledge. — The advocates of Ma- a respected prelate of the Church of terialism and Necessity were too strong- England for the sanction of a work, in ly impressed with the power of associa- which every doctrine professed by that Hon, not to have been aware of the Church, and by that respected member great value of a good prima facie ad- of it, is directly attacked, is something justment. 12 116 supplementary remarks on the might be cited in support of the assertion here made, I shall adduce a few, which will abundantly suffice to shew what de gree of rehance is to be placed on the accuracy of these Uni tarian Editors ; and which, as vitally affecting some of the great doctrines of Christianity, will clearly manifest how far " honour and honesty " have been followed, in " making open acknowledgment " of every departure from the Version pro fessed to be held in constant view. I. Luke i. 35. — Newcome — " Therefore that holy child also who shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." — Imp. Vers. — " Therefore that holy child also who shall be born of thee shall be called A Son of God." II. John i. 12. — N. — " But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God. — /. V. — " But as many as received him, to them he gave authority to be the children of God." III. John iii. 13. — JV. — " Now no man goeth up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who was in heaven."—/. V. — " Now no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, even the Son of man [who is in heaven] ." IV. Rom. ix. 5. — JV. — " Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever, Amen." — /. V. — " Whose are the fathers, and of whom, by natural descent, Christ came. God, who is over all, be blessed for ever." V. 2 Cor. viii. 9. — JV. — "For ye know the gracious good ness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that through his poverty ye might be rich." — 2". V. — " For ye know the gracious goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that while he was rich, yet for your sakes he lived in poverty, that through his poverty ye might be rich." VI. Hebr. xii. 25, 26. — JV. — " See that ye refuse not him who speaketh. For if those escaped not who refused him that uttered the oracles of God on earth, much more we shall not escape, if we reject him who was from heaven : unitarian version of the new testament. 117 whose voice then shook the earth : but now he hath pro mised," &c. — ¦/. V. — " See that ye refuse not God who speak eth. For if those escaped not who refused him when he uttered oracles on earth, much less shall we escape, if we reject him speaking from heaven : whose voice then shook the earth : but now he hath promised," &c. Now, are these specimens, which are but a very few out of the number that might be adduced of important, unacknow ledged, departures from Newcome's Version, to be accounted for from mere accident ? If so, undoubtedly the Editors, in this their heedless innocency, have been wonderfully for tunate in stumbhng so opportunely on passages, in which the omission of acknowledgment turns out so peculiarly favour able to their predominant opinions ; and on all of which, (excepting the first, which they are desirous to explode al together as spurious,) they employ lengthened observations in the notes, for the very purpose of divesting them of all appearance of the meaning, which would necessarily result from the Primate's rendering, deliberately and unacknow- ledgedly rejected and altered by them. Respecting the first of these texts, it is obvious to remark, that the difference between the two forms of expression, " the Son of God," and " a Son of God," affects imme diately the question respecting the nature of our Lord's son- ship : the great object with the Unitarians being to represent it in such a hght as would admit human beings to be de scribed as standing in the like relation to God. " All Christ ians," Mr. Belsham tells us in his Calm Inquiry, (p. 262,) " are children of God, being the heirs and expectants of a resurrection to a happy and immortal hfe." The Editors also take care to inform us, in their note on Rom. i. 4, that " Christ is called the Son of God for two reasons : first, be cause this title is equivalent to that of Messiah, and was so understood by the Jews, John i. 50 :" and, " secondly, he is called" a Son of God, as having been raised from the dead a There is something strikingly cha- note on Rom. i. 4. They tell us, that racteristic of Unitarian critics in this " Christ is called the ' Son of God ' 118 supplementary remarks on the to an immortal life ;" that " in this sense Christ is called the first-born, having been the first human being who was put for two reasons : " and the second of the two explains to us why " he is called A Son of God. " — Now do these critics really so far disregard "verbal cri ticism," as to reject all difference be tween the definite and indefinite forms ; or are they willing so to confound them occasionally in ordinary use, as to pre pare an excuse for a similar confusion where it may stand them in good stead; or do they mean that in the first of the two senses our Lord is to be called the " Son of God," and in the second a " Son of God ? " — But, in truth, to look after the meaning of such Critics is in most cases an idle pursuit. To exhibit their want of meaning may not, indeed, be an equally unprofitable oc cupation. And therefore I must detain the reader for a short while, in tracing out the consistency with which these translators execute their office in the application of the definite and indefinite forms ; especially so far as the import ant designation of our Lord, above al luded to, is concerned. In John xix. 7, they tell us, that the reason assigned by the Jews for de manding our Lord's execution, was, "because he made himself a Son of God." And when in Luke xxii. 70, they give us our Lord's own confession, on which the Jews are said to ground this accusation, it is, that he made him self "the Son of God." So that, having been guilty of the crime of call ing himself " the Son of God," he is condemned because he called himself "a Son of God." — But, yet farther, they represent the Jews as putting our Lord to death, because he confessed himself to be "a Son of God;" that is, because he confessed himself to be one of that description of persons re presented under the general appellation of " Sons of God ; " one of those who were " heirs and expectants of a resur rection to a happy immortality," as the Author of the Calm Inquiry, (p. 262,) and the Editors, in the note on Rom. i. 4, explain the appellation. Now, will the Editors, and their Calm Inquirer, be good enough to point out what " blas phemy " there was in this declaration ; or what was the law of the Jewish Code, by which our Lord was doomed to die for this sad transgression of professing himself one of those who were believers in and expectants of a happy immor tality ? — Oh, no, they answer, it is not in this sense of the expression, but in that which makes it equivalent with Messiah, (which they are pleased at another time to tell us is all that the phrase Son of God implies,) that con demnation is passed upon our Lord. Well, then, our Lord, in declaring that he was " a Son of God," declared that he was a Messiah : and it was for this that he suffered. We must here again apply to the Editors, and to the Calm Inquirer who defends them, to inform us, how many Messiahs there were to be ; or whether, if but one Messiah be spoken of in Scripture, " A Son of God," as such, and therefore each of those Sons of God whom the Editors and the Calm Inquirer have described to us, was to be that one Mes siah. If the latter he the meaning of these theologians, (as, from their never having, in their various learned publi cations, intimated any thing of a plu rality of Messiahs, it may not be deem ed too unreasonable to conjecture,) then, the only cause, why they have hitherto objected to the Unity of the Athanasian Creed, must be, that the persons of the Monad have not been sufficiently multiplied for their taste. I beg pardon of my reader. It is scarcely possible to treat of the arguments of some writers without being forced to trifle But we may now see, in one plain instance, the degree of improve ment which this Improved Version has attained : the translation first differing from itself, as we have pointed out in the unitarian version of the new testament. 119 into possession of this glorious inheritance ;" that " all be lievers, as heirs of the same inheritance, are also Sons of former of these observations ; and next differing more fatally from the meaning which it is intended to convey, as we have shown in the latter. But no : it was the great accuracy of the translators. They were careful to abide by the corrected Greek Text of Griesbach, with which they are so de lighted. And as the Greek article oc curs in one place, and not in the other, of those to which we have referred, they have translated in the definite and the indefinite form accordingly. No, in truth, they abide by no such rule, nor by any rule whatever. They have, on the contrary, in the use of the de finite and indefinite forms, taken such. liberties (just as they do with Gries- bach's text generally as well as New- come's) as suited their convenience ; rendering the articled noun frequently in the indefinite form, and as frequently giving the definite form to the anar throus. Had they, indeed, adopted such a rule as is above alluded to, they would have adopted a wrong one ; be cause, as has been well shown by those who understand the subject, the Greek article is not in every case necessarily to be rendered by the English definite, much less is the English indefinite to be always employed where the Greek article is wanting. The researches of the learned render it totally unneces sary to enter into this subject ; and it may perhaps suffice to refer to the first two sentences of the book of Genesis, to show what effect the unqualified ap plication of the above rule to the Sep- tuagint Greek would produce on our English translation : for 0s« having the article prefixed in the first sentence, and the words mlfui 0s»u. being each desti tute of the article in the second, we must then render thus, " In the begin ning the God created the heaven and the earth " — " and A spirit of A God moved upon the face of the waters." In nothing is the difference between the Schoolboy and the Scholar more re markable, than in the qualification of general rules. To which class the Edi tors and their brother critics belong, whoever takes the pains of examining their criticisms will be at no loss to dis cover. I have, however, already said, that they are not to be charged with an ad herence to the rule alluded to. No ; they at the same time admit the rule, and violate it without cause. They fol low no system either in the conformity, or the departure : but everywhere, ac cording as it answers their purpose, or even as it hits their fancy, they apply or reject it altogether at pleasure. That I do not state this too strongly, one or two instances may suffice to prove. In Luke iv. 9, the words of the devil ad dressed to our Lord, si » ulis tTrcu @uu, they translate, " If thou be A Son of God ;'' whilst the very same words, used by the very same Being, and under all the circumstances precisely the same, they translate, when they occur in Mat thew iv. 36 ; and even again in the same Evangelist Luke, (iv. 3,) " If thou be the Son of God." [And as if they were determined to be in nothing correct, in what they call a corrected text, they even make a distinction be tween these latter passages, printing the article in the last one as belonging to the Greek text, and in the two others as not belonging to it, but introduced by the Translator. What makes it more extraordinary, also, that they should have selected the indefinite form for the passage in Luke iv. 9 is, that in that passage the article is found in the Greek text in a vast variety of MSS. : insomuch that it has hitherto formed a part of the received text, and it is doubt ful whether, notwithstanding Griesbach's rejection, it should not do so still.] — Again the same form of expression, with a difference affecting merely the tense and person of the verb, akntSt 120 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE God : " and that " these are the only senses in which the title, Son of God, is applied to Christ in the genuine apostolical ©soy uios sT, &y.7i6as ©sat! vlas j?v, occur ring also in one and the same Evan gelist, (Matt. xiv. 33, and xxvii. 54,) they translate differently, although in both departing from the received trans lation ; in the former, " Truly thou art A Son of God ; " and in the latter, " Truly this was A Son of A God." — [They imagined undoubtedly, that they were making the expression heathenish enough for the Centurion in this last passage. But had they been a little better acquainted with the writings of the Classics, they would have known, that, although a God was a familiar phrase with the ancients, Son of a God was a title to which they were perfect strangers : and that, consequently, the expression, being borrowed from the Jews, must have been applied in like manner as they applied it, and as they had just before applied it in the hearing of the Centurion ; (see verse 40, where the Editors themselves translate " the Son of God," although there is no article in the Greek;) or,. to speak more correctly, the Centurion being con vinced (by what he had beheld) of the truth of our Lord's assertions, declared his belief in that truth, by ascribing to him the title which he had claimed with his dying breath, and for claiming which he had been sentenced to die ; and consequently used the phrase in the sense in which our Lord himself applied it, whatever sense that might be — " Truly this man must have been that which he called himself, THE Son of God." — Besides, it still remains to be asked, what reason is there to presume, that the Centurion, who had been a re sident in Judea, was not a devout man, and one who had been taught to look for the kingdom of the Messiah.] In the last two instances, we have had, un der the very same form of Greek ex pression, the varieties of "a Son of God," and "a Son of a God." But we have still another mode of rendering, not only the same form of expression, but as applied in exactly the same cir cumstances with the latter of these two instances; namely, as uttered by the Centurion, who in the parallel passage of St. Mark (xv. 39) is made to ex claim, " Truly this was the Son of a God." Here it must be admitted is sufficient variety. The same Greek words, uttered by persons similarly con ditioned, and under circumstances, in one pair of instances exactly alike, and in another sufficiently so, are rendered by the Editors in three different ways, (in compliment partly to Wakefield, partly to Campbell, and partly to them selves,) " a Son of God," — " A Son of a God,"— and " the Son of a God ;" — in short, in almost every way except ing that one in which they should have been rendered in compliment to truth. I have dwelt too long upon the whimsical varieties, in which the Editors indulge in reference to the use of the article. But there is one application of their versatile canon, which I cannot but particularly notice. The words xpiga xjiVsa/? occur without an article in six passages of the Greek Testament: in Matt. x. 15; xi. 22. 24; xii. 36; 2 Pet. ii. 9 ; iii. 7 : the word h/iiia being in the dative case in some, and in the accusative in others. These words the Editors have thought it right (disregarding their favourite model, Newcome) to render in the indefinite form, " a day of judgment," in the first four passages ; and in the definite form, " the day of judgment," in the other two. What they mean by thus multi plying days of judgment, it is for them to explain. The Remedial system, perhaps, as (we have seen at pp. 30. 35, 36, of the second volume) Mr. Belsham chooses to call it; or the system of purgatory, by which name it is more generally understood, may tend to throw some light upon this matter ; because the lengthened process which UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 121 writings." — Now, it is quite clear, that, in the passage of which we at present treat, the title is applied in a sense very dif- that system demands, according to the showing of its advocates, must, in its various stages, demand various adjust ments of the degrees of suffering, ac cording to the degree to which the pur gation has from time to time proceeded : and these may possibly by the Unitarian supporters of this doctrine be viewed as so many different sentences passed upon the moral agent, who is the subject of this purgative process ; and the re spective dates of these may be, conse quently, considered as so many different days of sentence or judgment. " The day of Judgment," as they are pleased to-admit it to be in the 2d Epistle of St. Peter, they may perhaps be able to explain, as some one of these days more distinguished than the rest, and there fore so denominated »«¦' Q.oxjhi ¦¦ or, possibly, they may altogether disregard the emphasis given to it here, and also in 1 John iv. 17, (where alone the article is prefixed to the word hpiea.,) from the general contempt in which they hold the Epistles : the writers of which they have so often shown to be ignorant and uninformed. I know not, whether, upon the whole, I have explained the matter entirely in the way that the Editors and their coadjutors will ap prove. But this I cannot but think very extraordinary, that those who will not allow in strictness the conceivable existence of either day of Judgment, or Son of God, yet insist at some times upon multiplying both without limit. The Editors and their associates complain, that orthodox writers are too prone to lay a stress upon the use of the article ; and that their endeavours to build Christian doctrines on so slight a foundation is quite absurd • and on this account they are not sparing in their raillery against Mr. Granville Sharp, Dr. Wordsworth, Bishop Burgess, and Bishop Middleton. It appears, however, that these gentlemen, al though they do not trouble themselves much in seeking after any very critical use of the article, yet contrive to make a very convenient use of it : and they, at least, are not backward, in building doctrines of the last moment upon the application of an a, or a the. How they contrive to overturn important doctrines by the dexterous manage ment of these minute parts of speech, we have already seen. I shall now give a specimen of their mode of employing them to establish the tenets of their own system. Dr. Carpenter, one of their latest and most prominent writers, sup plies us with a good instance to this purpose. He observes, upon John v. 27, that the article, which, in every other part of the Gospels, where the phrase " Son of Man " occurs, is pre fixed to it in the Greek, is here want ing : and therefore he renders the words, " a Son of Man : " and says, that he is satisfied, " that by the remarkable words ori, our Lord is to be understood as declaring, that he was appointed to his high office of Judge of all mankind, because he is a proper human being." ( Unit, the Doct. &c, p. 109.) Now, certainly, that a person should be appointed to judge the whole world at the last day, simply, because that person was a human being, a hu man being properly and strictly such, seems as curious in point of reason, as that vto; avfyuirov must signify a mere man because the article is not prefixed, appears in point of grammar. What, upon the whole, does Dr. Carpenter acquaint us with here ? He opens up two important truths : — one, that be cause our Lord in this place denomi nates himself vios avUgwsrov, and not o vtos tov avt^iifov, (which, by the way, he everywhere else calls himself, in not fewer than seventy passages, through out the Gospels,) he must be merely and simply man in the common sense of the word : the other, that, from being simply man, he is properly qualified for 122 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE ferent from either of these. " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow the office of judging all mankind : — and, indeed, this peculiar fitness of a mere man for this office is viewed, by this writer, as an additional confirmation of his belief in the proper humanity of Christ. Mr. Belsham, who likewise contends that this text in John "implies, that there is a peculiar propriety in delegat ing this office to a human being," ( Calm Inquiry, p. 337,) yet seems in some degree to stumble at it ; although, from the manner in which he recovers himself, it may appear as if he only wished to show with what a grace he could regain his upright position. For, after enumerating above twenty passages of the N. T. from which he admits it to be " concluded, that Jesus is appointed to appear in person to raise the dead to judge the world, and to award to every individual of the human race his final sentence of reward or punishment ,¦ " he proceeds to say, " This is an office of such transcendant dignity and import ance, and requires powers so far superior to any thing which we can conceive to belong to a mere human being, how ever meritorious and exalted, that to many it appears utterly incredible that such an office should be assigned to one who was himself at one time a pecca ble and fallible man, and, as such, liable to appear at the tribunal of eternal justice." And he adds, that "this argument has appeared so forcible to some persons of much learn ing and reflection, that this considera tion alone has prevented them from acceding to the Unitarian hypothesis, though they have acknowledged that particular texts might admit of a satis factory explanation upon Unitarian principles." Among these persons he specially notices " the late revered and learned Hugh Farmer of Walthamstow, who thought that difficulties from par ticular texts might be overcome," and who had, to the great delight of Mr. Belsham, gone so far as to consider " Tertullian's testimonies to the Uni tarianism of the primitive Christians" unrebutted; yet even he, and others, who had travelled, it seems, very far with Unitarians, and were disposed to get rid of the difficulties which Scripture threw in their way, could never get rid of this. Mr. Behham himself admits it to be " a great difficulty " indeed : but he adduces some considerations, by which, he says, " it may possibly be allevi ated. " The word " alleviated " natur ally suggests the idea of great distress, under which it cannot be denied Mr. Belsham appears to labour not a little upon this point. However, after quot ing a passage from Dr. Priestley, in which that writer endeavours to con vince Dr. Price of this grand Unitarian tenet, by telling him that the power to judge the world might be as easily im parted by God, as the power of raising the dead, (which very power, by the way, Dr. Price had, in a Sermon on the Pre-existence and Dignity of Christ, that completely overwhelms with con futation the Socinian hypothesis of our Lord's humanity, pronounced to be fully equivalent to the power of creat ing a world — Sermons, p. 148,) and by reminding him that our Lord's qualifi cations for discharging this office were not acquired suddenly, for that a long interval was to take place " between his ascension and his second coming, in which it cannot be supposed that he is doing and harning nothing : — Mr. Bel sham, I say, after quoting this passage from Dr. Priestley, and making some other equally profound observations of his own, concludes, at length, in triumph, that the point is completely made out, that Christ is but "figuratively a judge, because the final states of all mankind will be awarded in a future life agree ably to the solemn, repeated, and ex plicit declarations of his Gospel. " Thus we find all, as usual, settled in figure. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 123 thee : therefore " (not, observe, not because he was the " Messiah," nor because of his being " raised from the dead And, to show how just this is here, Mr. Belsham reminds us, that the Unitarians have already established the fact, that the several capacities and offices ascribed to our Lord in Scripture belonged to him only in figure : that he is but figura tively a Lawgiver; but figuratively a Priest,- but figuratively a King ; and, in like manner, but figuratively a Judge : — that is, that being in fact, neither Lawgiver, nor Priest, nor King, nor Judge, he is called in Scrip ture by all these names, and described as doing the acts belonging to these several offices, merely from the love which the Sacred Writers have of speaking in figure, even at the risk of misleading almost the whole Christian world as to the reality. I beg the reader's attention to all that Mr. Belsham has revealed to us upon this subject in his Calm Inquiry, from p. 332 to p. 342. And yet one great puzzle remains ; for it will be remem bered that this same Calm Inquirer tells us, in the outset of his work, at p. 5, that the whole Inquiry concerning the person of Christ, " is into a plain matter of fact, which is to be deter mined like any other fact by its specific evidence, the evidence of plain une quivocal testimony," (here are no " great difficulties " that require to be " alleviated,") " for judging of which, no other qualifications are requisite than a sound understanding and an honest mind." The great difficulty, however, that appears to grow out of this seem ing contradiction, will be easily " alle viated" by Mr. Belsham's assuring us, that a "plain matter of fact" must mean a ¦puzzling matter of figure; and that the "plain unequivocal testimony" of the Evangelists consisted in their figurative and intricate involutions of language, which none but Unitarians could develope, and which even they were not able to develope to some of their own enlightened friends, such as Dr. Price and Mr. Farmer, who were desirous of approaching them if they could. — And, as a proof of the great plainness of this whole matter, this ex traordinary writer, who assigns any thing as a reason for any thing, goes on to say, " Who can believe that the de cision of the great question, whether Jesus of Nazareth is the true God, and the Creator and Governor of the world, depends upon a critical knowledge of the niceties of the Greek article?" — Nobody, most undoubtedly, ever be lieved or even dreamt any such thing. At the same time, if real and profound Greek scholars have found the de- signative and emphatical force of the Greek article fall in with the great truth, which stands like a rock of de monstration on the base of the whole body of the Scriptures, how can the thing be helped? It cannot, indeed, but move contempt to see those, who are not conversant in the Greek lan guage, employing their very ignorance for the subversion of that great truth ; and endeavouring to derive, from an uncritical and unscholar-like applica tion of the Greek article, an argument, whereby the great Creator and Go vernor of the world, the Son of God, — who had been with his Father before all worlds, and who condescended to come into the world as the Son of Man that he might redeem and judge the world, — should be degraded to the rank of mere man, fallible and peccable as any of those unhappy blasphemers of his majesty, who dare to pronounce him such. For a full and satisfactory explanation of the force of the phrase Son of Man, and especially in its ap plication in John v. 27, and for the reason, why the Greek article is here omitted, which is found to accompany the title wherever else it occurs through out the Gospels, — I refer to a Critic, who had well considered, and had taken pains thoroughly to understand the sub ject, before he submitted his opinions 124 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE to an immortal life," but simply because of the mode of his human generation by the power of God ; because of his being to the public, Dr. Middhton. (Doc trine of the Greek Artich, pp. 351— 354.) The title, Son of Man, he ob serves justly, "has everywhere a re ference to the Incarnation of Christ : " — and he adds, that, generally, in the use of the appellation by our Lord, " the allusion is either to his present humiliation, or to his future glory : " and therefore, he concludes, we have in this phrase, " though an indirect, yet a strong and perpetual declaration, that the human nature did not originally belong to him, and was not properly his own." In truth, the very use of the phrase seems almost inexplicable on the sup position, that our Lord was merely and properly a human being : for why call himself by a title emphatically denoting human origin, if no other origin could be ascribed to him : why, as Mr. John Jones says,(in abook which he pleasant ly calls " Illustrations of the Gos pels,") and says I really believe, with a sincere intention to help the Unitarian cause, why did our Lord, "appearing as man in the midst of men, and ex posed to their wants and feelings," thus labour to " inculcate, what none needed to learn, that he was a human being?" Not exactly for the reason assigned by this ingenious gentleman, — that "the Gnostic teach ers denied his humanity ; and rejected and blasphemed the Son of Man, the Man Jesus, while they affected to ho nour and embrace the God within him continually." There is one small chro nological difficulty in the way of this solution ; namely, that there were no Gnostic teachers whatever in existence to deny our Lord's humanity during the whole period of his ministry. But this writer has stumbled very near the truth. Our Lord, in the repeated and em- phatical use of the title Son of God, had claimed to himself a divine nature ; he was understood as doing so by the Jews, who charged him, on the repeated assumption of that title, with making himself God, and who finally sentenced him to death for that great offence against their law. Having therefore thus claimed to himself a divine nature, he was also, for the unfolding the whole truth as to the nature which he pos sessed, led to affirm the human nature which was united with the divine by his Incarnation. And as the one part had been expressed by the title Son of God, so the other was naturally con veyed by the corresponding form of denomination, Son of Man. The Socinians and Unitarians are always willing to forget, that the establishing of the human nature of our Lord is as necessary to our scheme as to theirs ; but, at the same time, they should re member, that our Lord's repeated as sertion of it, and in the peculiar form of phrase in which it is conveyed, is utterly inexplicable on their system : so that they not only deny to our blessed Lord the appellation, which he claims, of the Son of God; but they render him in a great measure unintel ligible, when he entitles himself the Son of Man. To give the reader some relief, by passing from the regions of confidence and ignorance to those of a far different character, I shall subjoin the conclu sions of a critic and a scholar, derived from a cautious and elaborate compari son of the applications of the phrases, Son of God, and Son of Man, through out the entire range of the N. T. in the original language. Schleusner, to whom the Unitarian Editors and their associates profess a willingness to ap peal on all occasions, (although they have excluded his valuable lexicon from their list of those that are useful for the New Testament,) thus sums up his ex planations of those titles as applied to our Lord, under the article 'TIOS. — " K«t' i$>%h vero et longe sublimiori UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 125 incarnate by the Holy Ghost sense of the words, God was sensu, quam qui in ullam creaturam ca- dat, Christus—S T/'« rou ©sou in N. T. vocatur, ad rationem ejus erga Deum et sublimiorem illam naturam, quas ante Jesum natum jam exslitit significan- dam." And, again, " Kur ilaXm, in N. T. Christus, a Ttos , quam interventu divince virtutis induit. " And, under the article "ANQPfinoS, he expresses himself still more fully and emphatically on the latter designa tion ; observing, that the word Hii^urrns is used as in relation to the femah of our species, in all those passages, in which the title o vlos rov a^^uirov is ap plied to our Lord ; being in strictness, as to his human nature, the Son of Mary ; which Schleusner thinks, is ex pressed in the words ytvo/Atvos Ik yvvat- xis in Gal. iv. 4 : and, in opposition to the opinion of Less, that this title was usedby our Lord to express an abjectand humiliated state, he adduces the passage in John v. 27, of which we have already spoken, to show, that on the contrary it was intended as a title of eminence, and as he says, " Ut vel hoc nomine edocerentur homines, Jesum esse pro- missum ilium in V. T. Messiam et in- signem doctorem divinum, (Ezek. i. 26 ; Dan. vii. 13, 14,) qui communi nascendi lege a Maria virgine, inter- veniente divina virtute, initia vita? vere humanse haberet, et corpus indueret vere humanum, ut, quod fuit sapientiae divinae decretum, homines per hominem adjuvarentur. Tantum igitur abest, ut hac formula vilissimus ille, ad quern Jesum descendisse fingunt haud pauci, servorum status describatur, ut potius, sive decreti divini sapientiam, sive ori- gines Christi, quas interventu divinm virtutis cepit, spectes, nihil hoc nomine sublimius, illustrius et magis honorifi- cum fingi et cogitari possit." — The sort of use which the Unitarians contrive to make of the name of Schleusner, Bishop Burgess has, in his publication upon ; because, in short, in the plain his Father ; therefore) " that that subject, most admirably exposed. See The Bibh and nothing but the Bible, kc, pp. 59-66. 74—96. Ill -117. One would hardly think, after read ing the passages which have been here adduced from Schleusner, that any writer could have the hardihood to men tion his name in connexion with the assertion, that our Lord was not called the Son of God in a sense implying any peculiarity of nature, or in any other than that of the common Jewish idiom, under which the title was equally applicable to believers at large. And yet this has been expressly done by Dr. Carpenter, who builds the whole of his Unitarian position touching this phrase, upon Schkusner, " whom " (he adds, to give his argument the greater effect) " no one can suspect of being an Uni tarian." Unit, the Doct. &c, p. 174. — Thus is the unsuspecting reader de luded, and by those who scarcely ever have the words " tmth " and " can dour " out of their mouths. The very article Tlis, too, from which I have adduced Schleusner's own words, is the very article to which reference is thus made, for the establishing by Schleus ner's name, the direct contrary of Schleusner's opinions. On the subject of this note, many ex cellent observations will be found in Dr. Nares's Remarks, 2d edit. pp. 54 — 60. Before I dismiss the subject, it is worth remarking, that, of the two titles, Son of God and Son of Man, applied to our Lord in the New Testa ment, each of them more than eighty times, the former is a title used fami liarly of our Lord by all ; but the latter is a name applied only by himself, ex cepting in Acts vii. 56, where he is said to be seen by St. Stephen in the hea vens after his ascension ; and in Heb. ii. 6, and Revel, i. 13; xiv. 14, the first of which is a quotation from the Psalms, and the other two refer, as the vision of 126 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Holy Child also which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." In verse 32 also, just preceding, we find Newcome use the definite article, " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High." And in this likewise the followers of Newcome desert him, rendering " A Son of the most High." and giving no notice whatever of the departure. This, how ever, we shall be told, is all accident : " a mere slip of the pen," or, perhaps, " an error of the press." But let it be re membered, that these two passages of St. Luke, in each of which the two accidents, the change of the Version, and the omission of the acknowledgment, have jumped together, are precisely those to which the Editors attach uncommon im portance, as going directly and explicitly to the personal na ture of our Lord. This is manifest, as well from the reasons, which, as we have seen, they have been compelled by their system to assign for the apphcation of the title, Son of God ; as from the great pains taken, by one a of them especially, St. Stephen did, to that exaltation in the fact, if true, was unknown during the heavens, which, with our Lord's dy- his personal ministry, this circumstance ing words he declared, awaited the Son is rather an additional presumption of Man: so that, in truth, except when against the truth of the narrative." — our Lord himself assumes it as an ap- We see what slender reasons will satisfy pellation, it is never used concerning some persons on the point of rejecting him in the N. T., save only to establish part of Holy Writ. Surely even a the fact of his having ascended into writer, who seems not to concern him- heaven ; which to mortal eye could self much with the productions of any have been represented only in his bodily but Unitarians; and who, like the rest form; in that form, in reference to of the writers of that description, ap- which he had designated himself as the pears to be for ever going round and Son of Man. round in the same circle, repeating a Mr. Belsham, who is always rich again and again what has again and in matter that, in a research like the again wearied and disgusted ; even he present, it is necessary to bring before cannot be ignorant, that the phrase, to the reader, has expressed himself upon be called, is familiar with the Hebrew this subject in such a manner, that I writers, as applying to the nature rather cannot avoid quoting the entire of his than to the actual appellation of the observations. — " It is announced by the subject. Perhaps, indeed, he may Angel, Luke i. 35, that Jesus should imagine, that when St. Luke, in the be called ' the Son of God,' on account very next verse to this, informs us, that of his miraculous conception. But as Elizabeth " was called barren," the it does not appear that he ever received Evangelist means to say, that Barren that appellation from any one on that was the actual name by which she was account, it being generally allowed that distinguished : or again, that when, in UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 127 (in a work intended as a Supplement to the Version, and pubhshed for the purpose of glossing over and defending its chap. ii. 23, the same Evangelist tells us, from the Law, that " every male that openeth the womb, shall be called Holy to the Lord," he intends to assert, that this was the true and proper appel lation of every first born male of the speeies both of man and of beast. That this may be Mr. Belsham's idea, is not actually impossible ; for things not less extravagant are to be found plentifully scattered throughout his pages. But surely, whether this be so or not, the criticism just quoted affords no very fa vourable specimen of the critic's ac quaintance with the sacred writings. The instances that establish the exist ence of this Hebrew idiom (if indeed, strictly speaking, it can be called a He brew idiom, when the examples of xKntmirat for iaittt, as every scholar knows, are to be found abundantly in various writers,) are numerous, and perfectly familiar to all who have made the writings of the Old and New Testa ment their study. But those that I have cited, I have chosen to adduce from the same writer, (as being within the very portion of Scripture, that even by Mr. Belsham himself is admitted to come from the same person,) from whose hand we have the very passage at present under consideration. We see, then, that even though our Lord had never once been called " the Son of God," yet the declaration in this pas sage would have been nevertheless per fectly true : inasmuch as the meaning plainly is, that he was, in his nature, that which this appellation properly de noted. However, to satisfy this critic, we will suppose that it was the appellation which was intended in this place by the words of the Angel. What follows? Why, then, he says, " It does not ap pear that he ever received that appella tion from any one on that account," (that is, on account of the miraculous conception,) and consequently he in fers the narrative to be untrue. Now, if I understand this gentleman rightly, (which, indeed, I confess it is not al ways in my power to do,) he intends to say, that the declaration, that for a par ticular reason, a person shall be called by a certain name, cannot be verified, unless, when he is called by that, name, there be assigned also the reason for which the appellation had been origin ally bestowed ; and that, consequently, unless those by whom our Lord was denominated " the Son of God," took care to specify that he was so denomi nated on account of the miraculous con ception recorded by St. Luke, the de claration in the 35th verse of the first chapter must be given up, as containing a falsehood. Now, in the 2d chap, of Genesis we are told, that the female of our species should be called woman, . because she was taken out of man : in the 17th chap. Abram is to be called Abraham, because he was to be a fa ther of many nations : in the 32d chap. again, Jacob is to be called Israel, because as a Prince he had power with God and with men, and had prevailed : — and I should be glad to learn, where we find in Scripture the reasons for these names assigned by the speaker, when he employs the names. Are we then to reject these parts of Genesis, and the various other portions of Scrip ture in which the reasons for appella tions given are assigned, because we do not find the statement of these reasons afterwards accompanying the use of the appellation ? Mr. Belsham, who shows no great reluctance to part with any portion of Scripture, will most probably answer, Yes. Well, but, perhaps, we may be able to satisfy him after all, in the case before us, if he will not be too rigorous in demanding from us an in stance of the repetition of the very words of the reason first assigned for the appellation. If we can show, that the term, Son of God, is applied to our 128 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE various corruptions and mistakes,) to remove altogether from the canon of Scripture this portion of St. Luke, as overturn- Lord directly in reference to a divine nature thereby attributed, possibly he may admit this to satisfy his demands ; since, in truth, the real cause of his quarrelling with the miraculous concep tion, is, (although he professes it to be otherwise,) because it goes to establish the superhuman nature of our Lord. To come, then, to the point. When the Jews assign to Pilate the reason for which our Lord ought to die, what is the charge ? Simply, that " he made him self the Son or God. " What, then, is the sense in which it is declared by the Jews, that our Lord assumed this ap pellation ? Plainly, that of its implying, what the words directly import, and what upon two former occasions they had expressly pronounced them to im port, the divine nature of our Lord." " We have a law," they say, "and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." (John, xix. 7.) Now, what that law was, is evident from the parallel pas sages in Matth. xxvi. 65, and Mark, xiv. 64, in which it is declared, that the crime which our Lord had committed, and for which he was to suffer death under the Law, was the crime of blas phemy. In calling himself the Son of God, he had been guilty of an as sumption of the divine nature, which being, in the judgment of the Jews, blasphemy against the Most High, and overturning, as they conceived, the first principle of their religion, the Unity of God, they of course pronounced, that, according to their law, he ought to die. For this blasphemy, also, the Jews on two former occasions had sought to kill him, when he had merely spoken of himself as the Son of God. John, v. 18 ; x. 33. In the first of these, we find the Jews declaring, as the reason why he should be put to death, that he had said, " that God was his Father (irarsja "IAION), making himself equal with God: " and in the second, we find them assigning as the reason for the same, that he was guilty of "blasphemy;" for, that " being a man he made himself God," namely, by calling God his Fa ther Well, have we now got a proof, ' that the appellation of the Son of God has been applied to our Lord on account of his divine nature, on account of God being his proper Father, HATE PA "IAION? We have got more. We have got a proof, that our Lord himself lays down his life in testimony of the truth of this application of the tith. By his acquiescence at his last moments in the sense which the Jews put upon those words, he proclaims his own di vinity ; and by proclaiming to the world this great truth as the last solemn declar ation for which he yielded up his life, he has shown, beyond a doubt, on what foundation it is that his religion must be built, and in what the preaching of Christ crucified must consist. For the most valuable and important observa tions on this subject, I gladly refer the reader to the conclusion of the Brief Memorial of Bishop Burgess: and more particularly to the admirabh Dis course delivered by the same author in the year 1790 before the University of Oxford ; in which it is incontrovertibly shown, that the Divinity of Christ is proved from his own declarations, at tested and interpreted by his living wit nesses tlie Jews. I beg to direct the reader's attention also to the Sequel to this discourse, lately published by the same author; in which Tlie Testimony of Christ's Contemporaries to his own declaration of his Divinity will be found most fully confirmed by his Discourses, Actions, and Death. This Sequel is contained in a Sermon preached by the Bishop at Llanarth and Carmarthen before a general meeting of the Clergy, in the months of September and Oc tober, 1814 On the whole of the sub ject which has been here treated of, I cannot forbear recommending also to UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 129 ing totally the Unitarian solution of the appellation, Son of God, applied to Jesus Christ. Indeed, so forcibly and em phatically are the sense and reason of the appellation here pointed out by the Evangelist, that the writer alluded to does not hesitate to pronounce this very circumstance to be a strong argument against the truth of the entire narrative of the miraculous conception, and an additional reason for its rejection. {Belsham's Calm Inquiry, p. 263.) Such is the Unitarian mode of interpreting Scripture, on which we have frequently had occasion to remark. It is first laid down, on abstract principles of general reason, that a certain thing cannot be. Then comes Scripture declaring in plain words that it is. But then comes forward a dictum of Priestley, or Evanson, or Lindsey, or Wakefield, or Cappe, or Belsham, or somebody elsea, to assert that the words may, ing our Lord's personal ministry ? Dr. Priestley has allowed it to Mr. Belsham .- and Mr. Belsham has allowed it to Dr. Priestley. The critics of this School have all allowed it to one another. But what has been the secret information by which these gentlemen, who have thus civilly agreed to allow this to each other, have been enabled to discover, that the fact of our Lord's miraculous conception was unknown during the period of his personal ministry ? I must beg to ask, whether, " if true," (a case which Mr. Belsham kindly allows to me to suppose in the argument,) this fact was unknown to our Lord's mother, and to Joseph, and to all the parties, to whom, " if true," the whole transaction was per fectly known ? Was the fact unknown to those who knew it ? What patience can be proof against such monstrous ab surdities, presenting themselves with the confidence of sound reasoning and plain common sense ! " There is so complete a specimen of this process, in the treatment of the be ginning of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ro mans, by the Unitarian Editors, that I cannot forbear noticing it here; more particularly as the words of St. Paul apply so forcibly to the point at present particular notice, the observations of Mr. Wilson, from p. 1 to p. 140 of his Il lustration of the Method of explaining the New Testament by the early Opi nions of Jews and Christians concern ing Christ: a work, on which I am not surprised that the Unitarian writers have uniformly preserved the profoundest silence; inasmuch as it triumphantly overturns the whole system of Dr. Priestley's theory of Early Opinions, on which they profess to place so firm a reliance, and has erected upon its ruins a complete demonstration of the primi tive doctrine of the Divinity of Christ. But to return to Mr. Belsham : he proceeds, in his note, to say, of the mi raculous conception of our Lord, that it is "generally allowed, that the fact, if true, was unknown during his personal ministry." — " The fact, if true, was un known," &c. What means this ? Is it, that the feet, if untrue, might have been known ? However, let the logic of this pass : it is but one specimen of a thou sand. But as to its meaning, (which, after all, may be discovered,) what is it that he would infer, or what is it that he wishes to pronounce ? By whom is it thus allowed, that the fact of the mi raculous conception was unknown dur- VOL. II, K 130 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE by some different translation, or punctuation, or some new and ingenious mode of interpreting, be made to bear some natures in Christ ; one the human na ture, by which he was the descendant of David; the other a divine nature, by which he was the Son of God." That is, the Apostle could not mean what he directly expresses. The Uni tarians have pronounced, upon general principles, that the thing itself cannot be : and therefore St. Paul could not mean to say what he does say. The peculiar phraseology and antithesis here used, and which could have been em ployed only for the very purpose of marking that distinction and opposition of natures, which these critics say the apostle could not mean to assert or countenance, are to be entirely set aside ; and what the Apostle ought to have said is thus clearly laid before us, by one who knows the Apostle's mean ing better than he did himself—" The sense of the passage is plainly this, that Christ by natural descent was of the posterity of David; but that in a figurative sense," (this is the plain meaning of the Apostle,) " by design ation of the Holy Spirit at his bap tism," (all this the Apostle kept to him self, but now we have the whole of it out plainly,) "he was the Son of God: or the promised Messiah, which was further proved by the extraordinary ex-- ertion of divine energy in raising him from the dead. " Ands then, we are re ferred to one of the grand authorities, under which the Unitarians occasionally let us plainly into a variety of secrets, of which the language of the New Testament would otherwise not give us the slightest intimation : — " See Mr. Lindsey's second Address to the Stu dents of the two Universities." — But, if it were necessary to refer the reader to any authority beyond the very words of the Apostle, I would refer him, (be sides the great body of learned Com mentators, among whom Eisner and Hammond deserve particular consider ation,) to the authority of Primate under consideration. I shall give the passage according to their own version, (though it tends much to reduce the force of the original, ) that the full value of their remarks upon it may be appreciated with every advantage they can thence derive "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separ ated to the gospel of God, (which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,) even the gospel con cerning his Son, who was born of the race of David, according to the flesh, but proved to be the son of God by power, according to the Holy Spirit, through his resurrection from the dead ; the gospel, I say, concerning Jesus Christ our Lord." — [N. B. It is no great matter, if, in such passages particularly as are at open war with the Unitarian System by teaching the divinity of Christ, there should be, besides the puzzle of a new translation, a little ad ditional confusion from omitting the mark of the beginning of a parenthesis, or, from some other slight matter of this kind, which may easily be thrown upon the press-compositor. In an Improved Version with a Corrected Text, it is not to be expected, the object being of course to correct the meaning, that any attention will be paid to the trifling task of correcting " slips of the pen " or " errors of the press. " This, indeed, is the less necessary, where, after all the pains bestowed upon a corrected text, it is intended, that in the notes only the true sense is to be found.] Now what is the note of the Editors on the above passage from St. Paul, in which, if words have any meaning, the Apostle shows himself most careful to point out the distinction to be observed between the human descent and the di- of our Lord?— "The apostle could not mean, by this phraseology and the antithesis which he here uses, to assert or countenance the strange and unintelligble notion of two UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 131 other possible meaning. But should all these fail, should the words be too plain, and simple, and precise, to admit any sort Newcome; as well, because his ob servations are applied to the very trans lation adopted by the Editors ; as, be cause their direct opposition in the sense of Scripture to him whom they propose as the model of their translation may lead the reader to a juster sense of the imposition practised on the public by the use that has been made of his name. — "Observe" (the Archbishop remarks) " the opposition. According to our Lord's human descent, he was the off spring of David; but according to the Holy Spirit he was the Son of God, and shown to be such by the display of God's power in raising him from the dead, Eph. i. 19, 20; Acts xiii. 33." — I would refer him, also, to Luke i. 35, where, at the very conception of our Lord, his twofold nature is opened up, being of the race of David by the flesh, but the Son of God by the Holy Spirit; and in this passage, perhaps, the true force of the word "hvixfw which is used by St. Paul, may be discovered. — I would refer him, also, for that Gos pel which St. Paul tells us here he was "called" and "separated" to preach, to Acts ix. 20, where we are informed, that the Gospel preached by him was, "that Christ was the Son of God:" by which last words is manifestly not meant the Messiah or Christ, (as the Unitarians would have us understand, and are for that reason anxious to intro duce the word Jesus into the text in stead of Christ, but without sufficient authority, although recommended by Griesbach,) for then his preaching would merely be, that " Christ was Christ;" but, that "Jesus, who was Christ, was truly in his nature the Son of God; " that Son of God, which he was pronounced to be at his nativity be cause of his miraculous production by the Holy Spirit; which he affirmed himself to be continually throughout his ministry, even though the Jews ac cused him of thereby " making himself equal with God ; " which he finally per severed in asserting that he was, al though death was to be inflicted for the alleged blasphemy of the assertion ; and which he proved himself to be, as St. Paul informs us, by his rising from the dead, showing to the world thereby that death could have no dominion over him : that, although, as to his human nature, he was indeed to be considered as descended from David; yet that as to that higher nature which belonged to him, his Holy Spirit which could not be affected by death, he was proved to be the Son of God. I am happy, also, after all the flourish that the Editors have made about the impossibility of the contrast between the two natures in Christ being in tended in this place by St. Paul, to have both themselves and their great supporters decidedly with me upon this point. For much higher order than his Tutor. Now, on this letter of a sincere friend to Unitarianism, and well acquainted with its esoteric, I make no comment. — Nothing can be here wanting to as sist the reader's digestion — As to the writer of this letter, it is probable that he felt it necessary to suggest the cau tions which it contains, from the ex travagant manner in which Mr. Belsham had, just before, in the controversy with him on the subject of the Jewish Sin- offerings, represented the nature of the Atonement by the blood of Christ: pronouncing, as we have seen in the foregoing note, that "the blood of Christ was not shed as an expiation for moral offences," and consequently not shed in expiation of offences at all : from which it follows, that, when our Lord himself declares that his blood was shed for the remission of sins, he can mean nothing that relates in any degree to human offences of any kind at the present day: or that, in other words, Atonement (so far as men are now concerned) means, precisely, no thing. Remission of Sins might, in deed, be considered applicable to the Candlesticks of the Temph, or to our Lord himself; their sins and his might, it seems, be remitted: (see Mr. Bel sham in the paper before quoted ; also Imp. Vers. pp. 514. 518 : ) but as to the entire race of human beings now ex isting, there is no sense of the words, in which, (according to our Improved Ex positors,) the shedding of blood can be conceived to have any connexion with the remission of their sins. Well in deed might Mr. Jevans take alarm, lest even " tlie shadow of a shade " might not be left. I had nearly forgotten to mention, what certainly ought not to be omitted, that in the paper of Mr. Belsham al ready alluded to, that writer has made a discovery of the true character of sin- offerings, which he represents to be no thing more than "fines to the crown." (M. Rep. vol. ix. p. 754.) So that, to the several theories of sacrifice which have been brought under review in the second of the two Discourses in this work and the corresponding Illus trations, must now be added, at least so far as the Mosaic institution of sacrifice is concerned, this new one of Mr. Belsham: that, namely, of tbe sacrifice being a fine ; or as he expresses it, in relation to the Theocracy, " a fine to the Crown." l2 148 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE in which the Editors have departed from the translation of Primate Newcome; in which they have made no acknow ledgment of the departure ; and in which the departure is calculated to promote their peculiar opinions. — To proceed to a third instance of the same description. — In Number III. we find the words, " hath ascended," used by the Unitarian Version, in place of the Primate's rendering, " goeth." This, however, is acknowledged. But we also find instead of the clause " who was in heaven," the following substituted, ["who is in heaven."] — Now here the reader should be apprised, that, in addition to the obvious and important difference of the words "is" and "was" in this passage, there is another most material one contained in the notation of the brackets. The Primate had stated in his preface (p. iv) that "he places between brackets, those words, to which Griesbach has prefixed a mark, denoting, that they should probably, though not certainly, be ex punged." The Editors, who profess to follow Newcome throughout, agree with him in this notation likewise, stating the same thing that he has done, precisely. (Introd. p. xxxiii.) The brackets then appearing in the text before us, it is to be concluded, that they appear in Newcome 's ; and also, that, in the Greek text of Griesbach, there is found that particular mark, the existence of which the brackets were to in dicate. But, the truth is, the Editors here differ directly from both the models which they profess to follow. The brackets are not in Newcome. And the mark is npt in Griesbach. There is, on the contrary, another sort of mark found in Griesbach, indicating a very different character of the reading — "omissio minus probabilis:" {Prolegom. p. xc.) — a cir cumstance, which might in itself naturally have guarded even a heedless transcriber against the notation that has been used. We have here, then, in the body of the text, a declar ation, that the clause in question is, to a high degree of proba bility, spurious : whilst Griesbach and Newcome ascribe to it no such character, and the latter presents it in a form carrying with it no mark of suspicion whatsoever. Are we UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 149 then to suppose this careful and significant demarcation by the brackets, to which nothing corresponding occurs in either Griesbach or Newcome, as well as the substitution of " is " for " was," — to have been, both of them, " slips of the pen, or errors of the press ;" both occurring without the slightest notice of the variation ; and both occurring together, in a clause of considerable moment in the Unitarian question, and one also to which a note is annexed relating both to the authenticity of the clause and to its meaning ; — the attention of the Editors of course specially directed to both the points of difference, and yet neither of them glanced at by a single observation ? With the note itself, I have, strictly speaking, no concern. But, as tending to evince the great anxiety of the Editors to get rid of the words in the text altogether, and, consequently, as marking the importance they attach to them, the consi deration of it becomes of value : inasmuch as the silent de sertion of their professed models is thereby rendered the more obviously significant. — First, as a reason for affixing the mark of highly probable spuriousness, the note states, that " the clause is wanting in some of the best copies." Now, to come to direct matter of fact ; how many, and what are these copies ? The Editors have not chosen to put us in possession of this knowledge. — Upon the whole, three : and of these, one being so late as the 11th or 12th century, the testimony reduces nearly to the two remaining MSS. or per haps, more properly speaking, (one of these being not earlier than the 8th, or probably the 9th, century,) to the single au thority of the Vatican, a Manuscript undoubtedly of high antiquity. But the omission of the clause in these three MSS.a, whilst it is found in every other unmutilated MS. of the great number referred to by Griesbach, can be of little weight in the mind of any real critic, and would have been met with derision by the Editors themselves, and set down a The clause is wanting also in one questioned. Every other Version, how- Version, the Ethiopic ; and in one of ever, and every other Father, who cites the Fathers, Greg. Naz. in a part of the passage, has the clause. his works, whose genuineness has been 150 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE as a proof of the weakness of the cause it was advanced to support, had it been adduced as a reason for impeaching the authenticity of any passage of Scripture, that appeared to the Unitarians to sanction their notion a of the proper hu manity of Christ. — However, labouring under misgivings, that this "some of the best copies," when examined into, might be found totally wanting in weight, the note, in the second place, proceeds to say of the clause in question. — "• If its authenticity is allowed, it is to be understood of the knowledge, which Christ possessed of his Father's will b. See a Though in John i. 18, the very same authorities which have been here given, (excepting that of the Vatican,) joined with two Syriac Versions, (the Peschito and the Philoxenian,) and also the Ethiopic, and followed by a host of the Fathers from Ignatius downwards, support the reading of Qtos instead of viis, the Editors do not feel it neces sary, upon the strength of these author ities, to give the name of God to the only begotten of the Father.- — Such is the consistency and impartiality of these inquirers after revealed truth ! b We find a reference here made to John i. 18. Now it is whimsical enough, that on John i. 18, (where the participle occurs exactly as it does here, avpavy. Common Version. And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, [even] the Son of Man, which is in Heaven. Unitarian Gloss. " No one has ever been admitted to a participation of the divine counsels, except the Son of Man, Jesus of Na zareth, who has been commissioned to reveal the will of God to men, and who is perfectly instructed and qualified for this office." Calm Inq. p. 53. John iii. 31. 'O avuhv ip^Oflives, WcLvai fxvrcav \ffvU. 'O eov ix rns yvs, ix rvis yris Itrrt, xat ix rns yris XxXum e ix rou ovpxvov ip%ofisves, inxvot tfxvraiv Common Version. He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth : he that cometh from heaven is ahove all. John vi. 38. Common Version. I came down from heaven. Unitarian Gloss. " He who cometh with a divine com mission is superior to all : he, who is of the earth, manifests the origin of his teaching, and his words have not their requisite authority. He, who cometh with a divine commission, is superior to all." Calm Inq. p. 55. Unit, the Doct, Src, p. 261. KxrxQiGnxx ix red stipxvou. Unitarian Gloss. " My doctrines and mission are of divine authority." Calm Inq. p. 60. Imp. Vers. p. 219. John vi. 62. 'E«v oZv S-sa/gw-re rov vtov rev xvQpuxev avaGxivovrx, on'ov vrt ro vpereaev ; Common Version. What if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before ? Unitarian Gloss. " What if ye shall see the Son of Man displaying a still more intimate ac quaintance with the purposes of God, and revealing truths which would be UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 153 in the New Testament. Of the text before us Mr. Belsham confesses that it " is a text, the right understanding of which still more remote from your apprehen sions, and offensive to your prejudices ? ( Unit, the Doct. , &c. , p. 254. )" — or as Mr. Belsham has it, — "go farther out of your reach, and become still more perplexing and mysterious i " Calm. Inq. p. 67. On the last text Mr. Belsham re marks, that our Lord had purposely employed "enigmatical discourse" in this place, that he might offend and re pel his selfish hearers : and that, in the 63d verse, he desires them to look to the " hidden meaning " contained in it as the only thing useful. Thus we see, that the " inquiry into a plain matter of fact," ( Calm Inq. p. 5,) turns out, when Mr. Belsham pleases, the inves tigation of. the hidden meanings of the enigmatical discourses of our Lord, which at times he purposely rendered still more perplexing and mysterious ; and this, it must be observed, not merely for the purpose of misleading those whom he immediately addressed, but with the certain effect of misleading thousands and tens of thousands of sin cere and humble followers. For even down to the present day, under the sup position that our Lord's words meant what they plainly express, do we not find that the Christian world has re mained altogether unacquainted with the hidden meaning of the last import ant text ; and might indeed remain for ages yet to come unacquainted with it, were it not, that Mr. Belsham has, as he informs us himself, for the first time made the discovery? And, unfortu nately, even now that he has made it, the interpretation, he tells us, is so " dif ferent from the plain meaning of the words," that it will be "called a forced" one, and will, therefore, most probably, after all be rejected by the unmanage able common sense of the world. Le Clerc, it is true, he admits, " seems to have hinted at something similar;" but the actual full discovery of it has been reserved for himself. At the same time he proposes it, (as he avers,) with great " diffidence : " and his respect for St. John is such, that he seems glad that "there is no occasion to have recourse" (like Dr. Priestley) "to the suppo sition of a lapse of memory in the Evangelist." ( Calm Inq. p. 65. ) His hidden meaning has enabled him to get rid of the inference of our Lord's pre-existence, without that supposition. One thing undoubtedly must be ad mitted, that whatever be the mystery here, Mr. Belsham is the best entitled to explain it : for it has been, all of it, his own creation. The powers of lan guage cannot give greater plainness: nor can any powers of confounding lan guage that this writer may call to his aid, (and scarcely any can be greater than those he has here employed,) in volve our Lord's words in the slightest perplexity. Mr. Lindsey, from whom Mr. Belsham has copied most of his expositions of Scripture, had been rather unfortunate in his experiments on this passage : for having admitted that our Lord spoke here of his actual ascension into heaven which was to take place after his death, he was obviously bound to explain the words " where he was before" in reference to the same place, and so to admit our Lord's pre vious existence in heaven. But as this was by no means to be conceded, he was obliged to make the relative, (whose force the word where possesses,) mean something different from its own ante cedent. " When you shall see me go up to heaven, to God (alluding to his 154 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE is of great importance in setthng the controversy concerning the pre-existence of Christ." {Calm Inq. p. 40.) The cor- future ascension) where I was before; i. e. from whom I have received my instructions and authority." (Sequel, &c, p. 221 . ) This was too monstrous. It was too open a subversion of the principles of language. Mr. Belsham, therefore, seeing no way for him in this direction, was driven upon the wonder ful discovery which he has made. I do not mean to enter into a formal exposure of the Unitarian glosses that have been cited. They sufficiently ex pose themselves. I have adduced them merely to show to what sad straits Uni tarians are reduced, in their endeavours to escape from the force of plain Scrip ture language; and what consequence they attach to every circumstance, how ever minute, that may enable them to fritter away the evidence of our Lord's pre-existence, Bishop Burgess, in his excellent Tract, to which I have al ready frequently referred, has exhibited various other such glosses, and observed upon them with the ability and learning which belong to him. ( The Bible, &c. , pp. 68 — 96. ) Dr. Nares, also, in his Remarks, (2d Ed. pp. 102—109,) has judiciously exhibited the weakness and inconsistency of the principle, on which these glosses are attempted to be sus tained. With respect to the true and undoubted meaning of the passages themselves, that has been so firmly es tablished, and placed upon such an im movable foundation by all the great commentators who have treated of them, that as for the idle attempt of the un learned and sophistical critics of the Unitarian School to disturb it by their expositions, (and by such expositions,) they might as well indulge in the hope of shaking St. Paul's with a breath. I shall therefore detain the reader with but a few remarks : and these, not for the useless purpose of defending texts that do not require defence against such criticisms, but for one which I conceive to be more important, — that of making him a little better acquainted with the absurdity of the criticisms, and the in competency of the Critics. On John iii. 1 3, it is observed by the Editors of the Unitarian Version, and enforced with much emphasis by Mr. Belsham and Dr. Carpenter, that to " ascend into heaven," signifies " to be come acquainted with the truths of God : " — and that, consequently, the " correlative " to this, (the opposite, they should have said,) to "descend from heaven," must mean "to bring and to discover those truths to the world." Imp. Vers. p. 253. Calm Inq. p. 48. Unit, the Doct., &c, p. 253. Now, allowing these gentlemen all they wish to establish as to the first clause, — that to go up into heaven, means to learn and become acquainted with the counsels of God, — what must follow, if they reasoned justly upon their own principles ? Plainly this, that to come down from heaven, being precisely the opposite of the former, must mean to unlearn or to lose the knowledge of those counseh : so that, so far from bringing and discovering those counsels to mankind, our Lord must have disqualified himself for bringing any. Had, indeed, "ascending into heaven" meant "bringing the truth (anywhere) FROM men," then " de scending from heaven " might justly be said to mean " bringing it back to men." Whatever, in short, ascend ing may be supposed to signify in any figure; descending must signify the opposite if the figure be abided by : and, therefore, if to ascend be to harn, to descend must be to unlearn. When JEschines, in the picture of the Theban calamities, which he presents to the Athenians, speaks of the misery of their being reduced fitrxfixvi&mv rm iXevhpixv, he clearly conveys the idea of the opposite of learning liberty. Had he been told by a Unitarian Critic, (the hypothetical anachronism will I UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 155 responding text in John vi. 62, he also admits, has always been considered as " the palmary argument for the pre-ex- hope be pardoned,) that that opposite, instead of being to unharn, or lose the knowledge of liberty, was to bring and spread the knowledge of it everywhere, he would have found himself sadly mis taken in the force of that fine expression with which he meant so powerfully to work upon the feelings of his country men. Mr. Behham, indeed, contents himself with asserting, that " the figure is preserved, if the person spoken of as cends to ham heavenly truths, and de scends to communicate them." (Calm Inq. p. 51.) Now can any conceiv able meaning be assigned to this? Ascends, whither ? — nowhere. De scends whence ? — from no place. The " figure then is preserved " by using the words " ascend " and " descend " when there is neither ascending nor descend ing. Mr. Behham and the Editors for the word ascend read learn, and for de scend read communicate ; and yet would retain the words in the very figure that has dismissed them. Let them admit an actual ascending and descending, and then, indeed, the opposition is pre served, but the figure is gone, be the objects of the ascent and descent what they may. Thus these critics employ the words at the same time in a literal and in a figurative sense. If we say, you destroy the opposition ; then they present the words ascend and descend literally. If we say, then you grant an actual ascent and descent; they imme diately tell us they use the words but figuratively. — " Quo teneam " — ? To communicate is manifestly not the op posite of to learn : so far from it, that in the Hebrew language it would be actually considered but as a different conjugation of the verb : thus Hiphil converts the verb ^13 from the one sense to the other, and the verb IdS is every where applied to both indifferently. In the true sense of the word communicate, or teach, which is to cause others to ham, if " the figure were properly pre served," it would be said, not that our Lord descended from heaven, but that he made others to ascend thither, as he had done himself. Lud. Raphelius, who was, indeed, a schotar and a reasoner, and therefore knew how to give to all these consider ations their proper weight, felt it im possible, although he had been led to admit the figurative meaning of the first clause, to allow it to the second. " Fa cile quisquam in has cogitationes in-. cidere posset, ut putet, si ascendere in ccelum idem sit, quod scire mys- teria divina, oppositum descendere idem fore quod nescire." (See his Preface to his Father's Annotations, § 17.) And accordingly, this writer, whose knowledge enabled him to per ceive that the objection was vital, and could not, consistently with any sound principle either of criticism or logic, be overturned, did not hesitate to reply to it, that the second clause was to be taken literally ; nothing being more usual than that two words of opposite import should be taken, in the same sentence, the one in a figurative, and the other in a literal sense. In this he repeats the opinion of another distinguished critic ; and out of the examples which, he says, abound in the Sacred Writings, he thinks it ne cessary to adduce but one, from I Thess. v. 4, 5. 7, 8, in which the words day and night are manifestly used in this manner. Mr. Belsham, however, di rectly contradicts the position of Ra phelius ; and asserts, that in the passage before us, " if the first clause is figur ative, the second is figurative ; and if the first is literal, the second is lite ral." ( Calm Inq. p. 50. ) So say the Editors (of whom Mr. Behham is one) with increased emphasis. (Imp. Vers. pp. 208. 226.) This in truth they deem the great strength of their cause : and it is on this principle that they con fess that they are enabled to explain away the meaning of the phrase descend 156 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE istence." (p. 64.) And, accordingly, he labours with all his support of this he instances, besides the passage in 1. Thess. already ad duced from Raphelius, Matt. viii. 22. ( See Comment, and Essays, vol. i. pp. 395,396.) Now, I must beg the reader's atten tion to this assertion of Mr. Lindsey, as tending to supply us with a direct proof of a degree of unfairness in Mr. Behham's treatment of this subject, to which I should be unwilling to give the true appellation. He had, as we have seen, pronounced the single in stance adduced by Raphelius insuf ficient to establish his position ; and had observed upon Raphelius's asser tion that examples were numerous, — " it is singular, that, if examples are so numerous, only one should be pro duced : " (p. 51 : ) clearly intimating that he knew of no other that could be advanced in behalf of Raphelius's opinion. Now, independently of those two very important examples which the Unitarian Editors (himself included in the number) have supplied, we find him (at p. 104 of his Calm Inq.) actually refer to the very example quoted by Mr. Lindsey; and repeat his very words, which have been just cited, in support of the admission of both the figurative and the literal sense in the contrasted clauses. Mr. Behham, then, knew of other examples besides that one adduced by Raphelius/ and yet speaks and argues as if he did not; and draws his conclusions, and esta blishes his canon, on the ground that none other could be adduced. Is this the love of truth which belongs to Uni tarians ? Long may such truth be the " aversion" of the Clergy of that Church, which he indecently and pre sumptuously reviles 1 It is no apology for Mr. Behham, that he is desperately pushed in this case, and that unless he can establish his canon, all is over with Unitarianism, and the doctrine of the pre-existence rises triumphant. He will not content himself with begging quarter, like Mr. Lindsey, when, after from heaven, " wherever it occurs " throughout the writings of St. John. (Imp. Vers. p. 208.) As this, then, is a main point, Mr. Behham is careful not to admit the instance adduced by Raphelius as sufficient ; and demands more examples, before he will consent to relinquish this essential canon of Unitarian criticism. Now I should certainly not hesitate to comply with Mr. Behham's demand, by supplying the examples he requires, but that he and his brother editors have saved me all trouble upon that head, by produc ing sufficient from their own stores, bearing, also, upon the very question before us, John xiii. 3, and xvi. 28, they translate, " He came from God, and was going to God." and " I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : again I leave the world and go to the Father." The note of the Editors on the former verse, and consequently upon the latter, (in which they refer to the former with which it corresponds,) thus explains the second clause — " he was going to God, to give an account of his charge : his public mission and ministry being ended." That is ; the Editors take the words of the second clause literally, of our Lord's departure from the world ; and yet they at the same time insist on the figurative application of the first clause, as in re ference to their sense of the words in John i. 6 Mr. Lindsey, also, (the favourite expositor of the Unitarians,) in like manner with the Editors, takes the two corresponding clauses in these verses, the one in a figurative and the other in a literal sense : and for the purpose of justifying his use of the words "coming into the world" in a figurative sense, whilst the words "hav ing the world " must be taken in a lite ral one, he adds, that "it is frequent with the best authors, and the sacred writers in particular, when the same words are put in opposition to each other, to take the one in a literal and the other in a figurative sense :" and in UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 157 might through no less than eight and twenty pages of the struggling in vain to extricate himself from the meshes of that net in John vi. 62, in which all Unitarians are caught, he ends his fruitless endeavours with saying, — " But should we not have been able to develope its meaning, will any be so injudicious as to say, that one obscure passage concerning Christ," (so obscure as simply to say that our Lord was to ascend where he had been be fore,) " is to be set up against the whole stream and tenor of the Scrip ture declarations concerning him?" (Second Address, p. 71.) This, it will be readily admitted, is a decided confession on the part of Mr. Lindsey, that he is not able to divest this passage of a sense which establishes the doctrine of our Lord's pre-existence. However, as he finds it so intractable, he brands it as " obscure," (as well might he speak of the darkness of a sun-beam,) and then half-supplicates, that it may not be urged in support of a doctrine which it unequivocally announces ; threatening at the same time to call any person " injudicious " who shall give it this obvious application. Mr. Behham, however, does not seem to think the terror of this impu tation a sufficient safeguard ; and there fore deems it more prudent not to make any such confession as Mr. Lindsey has made, lest an ungenerous use might be made of it. He saw that Mr. Lindsey had been brought into his dif ficulties, by allowing, in two antithetical clauses, a figurative interpretation of the one and a literal interpretation of the other; and therefore he was re solved, at all events, per fas et nefas, to maintain the canon, that requires both to be taken literally, or both figur atively. So he and the Editors put the canon, pro forma, with an air of great impartiality : but as they have in truth turned almost the entire of the N. T. into figure, the latter member of the canon being what they really held in view, the former they might as well have omitted. They are un doubtedly somewhat puzzled in the ap plication of this rule to the passages in John xiii. 3, and xvi. 28: and, as I have already mentioned, the Editors actually desert the canon here, if their words have any meaning. But Mr. Behham, when he stands single and detached from his brother Editors, takes a different ground, and, with a hardi hood that falls to the lot of few, (and that might almost tempt one to exclaim with Horace, " O te Bollane cerebri felicem,") at once removes the diffi culty, by asserting that all is to be taken figuratively. " As Jesus came into the world, when he appeared in public as a messenger from God; so, conversely, he left the world, and returned to the Father, when his mission closed, and he ceased to appear any longer as a public teacher." (Calm Inq. p. 104.) So that, in Mr. Behham's idea, our Lord left the world only in a figure; as a person is said to leave the world, who retires from public life. Our Lord then means nothing, in reality, of leav ing the world and going to the Father, when he says he is about to do so. Mr. Belsham, I believe, stands the single writer in the whole world (unless, pos sibly, Dr. Carpenter, whose meaning I do not quite understand, may agree with him) that could venture such an assertion. The thing is too clear for doubt. All commentators of what ever description, Arian and Socinian, as well as Trinitarian, have hitherto, however they might endeavour to ex plain it, uniformly admitted that our Lord spoke literally of his leaving the world, and going to the Father. But Mr. Behham says, they are all wrong — it is no such thing — " it is better to take both clauses figuratively." And this is precisely his proof: neither more nor less. "It is better. " Why ? Simply because it is better to degrade the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, to the condition of mere man. Mr. Behham has nowhere assigned any other reason, why " it is better." 158 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE most extraordinary quagmire in which any person pretend- — As the Monthly Review will not be suspected of any extravagant leaning to orthodoxy, I will quote here a passage from it upon this subject " When, however, the comingyVom is contrasted with the return of Christ to the Father, as in John xvi. 28, where the obvious meaning of his words is, ' I left the Fa ther to come to you; again I leave you to go to the Father,' it seems im- possibh to evade the inference, that Christ existed before his appearance amongst men. " (vol. lxviii. p. 271. ) In contending, that all here is figure, Mr. Behham, it should be observed, not only flies in the face of the common sense of mankind, but he directly con tradicts the declaration of the Scripture itself upon this head. " His disciples say unto him, ' So now thou speakest plainly, and speakest no dark speech ,•' " no figure of speech, but language in its plain, obvious, and literal acceptation. So little did the disciples imagine, that, when our Lord informed them that he was about to have the world and go to the Father, he meant to say that he was not to leave the world and go to the Father, at all 1 But Mr. Behham is used to set but little value on the judg ment of an Apostle. Priestley, Lind sey, or Cappe, have more weight with. him at all times than Peter, Paul, or John; and display infinitely a clearer and more unprejudiced perception of the truths of revelation. We have seen that Mr. Behham strenuously maintains, that " ascending into heaven" merely signifies knowing the divine counseh: that when our Lord describes himself as " coming down from heaven," and again as " as cending up where he was before," he means only, by the first, that he had a divine authority; and by the second, that, " having spoken what had given offence, he would go on to speak things still more perplexing and offensive to his hearers; " and that, when he talks of "leaving the world and going to the Father," he intends simply to announce the finishing of his ministry. After a lengthened review of the various pas sages in which these and similar expres sions occur, a review extending through more than a hundred pages, Mr. Bel sham is found congratulating himself on his success in proving, that these, and such phrases, wherever they occur, mean nothing whatever of that which they express; neither of going into heaven, nor of coming from heaven, nor of going to the Father ; but that they plainly and solely relate to the learning and revealing the divine purposes. (See Calm Inq. p. 152.) So ex tended an examination of texts of Scripture Mr. Belsham had however rendered in a great measure unneces sary ; for, by his knowledge of Astro nomy he pronounces himself entitled to assert, that no such thing as a local heaven can possibly exist. This is " a puerile hypothesis," which the " modern discoveries in Astronomy " enable him to laugh to scorn. What these " modern discoveries in Astro nomy" are, Mr. Behham has not in formed us. Not only his Morals and his Theology have been given to the world, but his Logics and Metaphysics also have been vouchsafed to us, to gether with a slight specimen of his Mathematics. What a pity that his Astronomical discoveries have not like wise been made known ! It must, in deed, be observed, that he feels himself so strong upon the just and natural views of Scripture language which he has presented to the reader, that he voluntarily forbears to lay that stress upon this d priori demonstration, which the cogency of his Astronomical proofs . would, it is to be supposed, have justi fied, had he produced them. To ex plain the matter more fully, he adds, that the whole of the idea of a " local heaven " is an " absurd Jewish notion," for that " God is at all times equally and everywhere present: and heaven is a state, and not a place, and that to be perfectly virtuous and perfectly UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 159 ing to criticism ever plunged, for the purpose of removing, happy is to be in heaven, whatever be the local situation of the being in ques tion." (p. 55.) It must follow of course, that being in heaven, or ascend ing into heaven, considered locally, can be no other than a gross absurdity, and of course can never be the meaning of Scripture, under any form of expression however unequivocal. To direct Mr. Behham's attention to the numerous passages, throughout the Old and the New Testament, in which the idea of a local heaven is explicitly conveyed, would be vain. To direct his attention to Bishop Burgess's remarks upon this subject in his Letter to the Bishop of Gloucester, (pp. 15 — 17,) would be equally vain. But I should be glad to learn, in what manner Mr. Behham and his brother Editors would dispose of the passage in 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17; and in what sense they would set about explaining our Lord's descent from heaven as it is there described, on which they have in their comment taken good care to preserve a profound silence. But, having seen that Mr. Behham has established by his Criticism that the words " ascending into heaven," do not mean "ascending into heaven," and by his Astronomy that they cannot mean it, what shall we say, if we find this very writer contending, on another oc casion, for this very ascension of our Lord in a literal sense ; and contend ing for it, in a part of Scripture, where there are no words to express it; and where, in truth, it is manifest, almost to demonstration, that no such thing has been intended 1 The passage I allude to is 1 Pet. iii. 19, in which the simple expression Tleptvh);, having gone, Mr. Behham asserts, is to be understood of our Lord's ascension into heaven, " postquam in coelum ascendit," as he adopts from Grotius. Thus the mere word which signifies to go, is made to convey that ascent into heaven, which the same word, when coupled with the Father, (I go to the Father, orepsvopxt vpos rev vearipx,) and even the very phrase go up into heaven, are not allowed to signify ; and which, from astronomical proofs, it is averred, they could not signify. — Dr. Carpenter, whose criticism and science both coin cide with those of Mr. Belsham, in de priving the several passages that speak of our Lord's going up into heaven, and of his descending from heaven, of any signification, or the possibility of any signification, at all connected with the actual ascent and descent which they literally express, ( Unit, the Doct, &c, pp. 256, 257,) coincides with him likewise in attributing to the simple word vopivfaii, in this passage of 1 Peter, the idea of an actual ascension into heaven. See Unit, the Doct, &c, p. 227 ; to which page I would refer the reader for one of the most complete specimens of Unitarian exposition to be met with in the same narrow com pass ; it seldom happening, that it is necessary, even for the Unitarian, to disturb the just meaning of every word in an entire passage of Scripture ; which is almost literally tbe case here. The violent departure from all principles of criticism and grammar in the explana tion given of it by the Unitarians is perhaps their best refutation. The re marks of Bishop Burgess on the pas sage itself, and on the Unitarian treat ment of it, are well worthy of attention ; and particularly his animadversions on the unfair use made of Schleusner's name by Dr. Carpenter; by whom the authority of that writer has been applied to give countenance to that interpreta tion of the passage which he directly opposes. ( The Bibh, &c, pp. 87, 88.) With the sense of the text itself, which has been again and again abundantly established beyond the reach of Uni tarian cavil, and on which Bishop Burgess and Dr. Nares have re cently referred to the best sources of interpretation, I mean not to concern myself. My object is merely to show how Unitarian critics proceed in their treatment of Scripture, asserting and 160 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE or overlaying, that obnoxious sense a, which, until the present day, had been given to these passages by Christians of all parties and denominations, Socinians themselves even not excepted. At the same time, we find, at the conclusion of his labours, the confession fairly made, that the interpretation which he had been toiling to establish " will be called a forced interpretation ; and that it is certainly very different from the plain literal meaning of the words." (p. 67.) How ever, it is an interpretation, which recommends itself most strongly to Mr. Belsham, by its efficacy in clearing away from a part of Scripture which had been hitherto supposed to speak expressly of our Lord's pre-existence, and to con tain allusions to his death, his atonement, and the institution of the Eucharist, every notion connected with these subjects. (p. 68.) Whatever tended to smooth the way to an interpret ation productive of such vast advantages to the Unitarian cause, so vast as to strike at the foundation of the great es sential truths of Christianity, must have been acceptable ; and, therefore, the {unnoticed) departure from the Primate and Griesbach, in John iii. 13, was, to say the least of it, not unseasonable. — To go now to the fourth instance. retracting ; raising up and throwing several places respectively. down ; demonstrating the impossibility a It must be observed, that the sense of a certain thing at one time, and I speak of here is the primary sense of grounding arguments on the familiar the words implying a heal ascent and assumption of this very thing at another; descent, and a real heaven; which the and all simply referred to the one stand- old Socinians (as has been adverted to ard, " it is better ; " that is, it cor- p. 59, vol. i. of this work) applied to responds better with the Unitarian the notion of our Lord's being taken up theory that has been laid down, antece- into heaven after his baptism : so that, dent and paramount to Scripture ; and whilst they admitted the plain and ob- by which, being established by Reason, vious meaning of the words, they avoid- (so at least they tell us,) Scripture is ed the inference of the pre-existence. in all cases to be judged. Thus our Socinians, again, of a later day, speak Lord's ascension is to be let in here, of our Lord's being in heaven as a mat- where it is not spoken of; and to be ter of vision, (like that of St. Paul,) rejected in other places, where it is which he had not been able to distin- spoken of : and both for the same guish from reality. But, however they reason. Our Lord's pre-existence is might explain the matter subsequently, evaded in the one place by the admis- none ever attempted to clear away the sion, and in the others by the rejection. meaning of the words altogether in the " It is better," therefore, as Mr. first instance, as the Unitarians of the Behham says, to act thus in these present day have done. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 161 In Number IV. we find the passage in Rom. ix. 5, which is generally admitted to contain one of the most direct and forcible declarations of our Lord's divinity, that can be in stanced throughout the entire of the New Testament. Mi- chaelis does not hesitate to assert, in terms the most un qualified, that " Paul here delivers the same doctrine of the divinity of Christ, which is elsewhere unquestionably main tained in the New Testament." Dr. Doddridge, in his comment on the place, describes it as " a memorable text, containing a proof of Christ's proper deity, which the op- posers of that doctrine have never been able, nor will ever be able, to answer." The learned continuators of Poole's Anno tations affirm this to be " the fullest place to express the two natures that are in the person of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was God as well as Man." Storr says of this passage, that it attributes the divine nature to Christ in terms the most unequivocal % "Divinam naturam disertissime a Commentationes Theologicee, vol. i. p. 224. I the more willingly refer to this observation of Storr, because it affords an opportunity for directing the reader's attention to the valuable essay containing it ; in which it is satisfac torily shown, that the reading of 8s for ©so? in Tim. iii. 16, an alteration which the Unitarians are so extremely anxious to accomplish, would, were it even con ceded to them, afford to their cause not the slightest advantage; inasmuch as the meaning of the passage would re main perfectly unaffected by it, and the divinity of Christ would stand upon ground as firm as if the word @ios were the received reading of the text. See Comm. Theol. vol. i. p. 219—240. Cramer, it should be observed, has in a different manner arrived at the same result, by making Smo Xfivres the ante cedent to Ss, the intervening words be ing included in a parenthesis See Woide's Preface to the Cod. Ahx. of the N. T. p. xxxii. On this text I must notice an ob servation made by the Editors of the Unitarian Version, which will show with VOL. II, what disingenuous vagueness they ex, press themselves on subjects of Scrip ture criticism, and will prove to the un learned reader how little confidence he should place in any of their positions. Of the two passages, in 1 Tim. iii. 16, and 1 John v. 7, they affirm, that they have obtained " a full proof that these texts were not to be found in any ma nuscripts existing," (before the fifth century,) "and therefore that they are certainly spurious." Introd. p. xviii. Having spoken of these two texts here in precisely the same terms, and pronounced them to be equally spurious, who would not conclude, that, as they have endeavoured to prove the entire passage in John to have been an interpolation, they mean to affirm the same thing of the other, and that, con sequently, no part of it had a place in the genuine text of Scripture : whilst, after all, there is nothing more contend ed for, than the various reading of => single word ; and that, a reading under which the sense of the passage may re main perfectly unaltered ? In the more critical part of their work, they endea- M 162 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE tribuit." Both Grotius and Rosenmuller, it has been re marked before, at p. 133 of this volume, observe, upon the vour to show, that the word Ss should be read for Bees ; and in the part where they address themselves to the general reader, they pronounce the text to be altogether spurious I How very differ ently has Dr. Clarke conducted himself upon this subject I Having arrived at the same conclusion with that of the Editors, that the ancient reading was Ss, not Bus, he adds, " But it is not in reality of great importance : for the sense is evident ; that that Person was manifest in the flesh, whom St. John in the beginning of his Gospel styles [Bios] God." Clarke's Works, vol. iv. p. 48. The Editors, who in p. 484, have, to procure the authority of this writer's name, quoted him, up to the very sentence that has now been cited, found it convenient to close their quo tation at the point where this begins. It is whimsical enough, that a decided and zealous Unitarian has lately taken up the defence of the received reading Bios in this passage, on the ground both of strict criticism and ancient authori ties ; and that he does not scruple to charge Griesbach, who proposes the substitution of Ss, with a corruption of the text, and a total ignorance of the Greek language. He goes so far, in deed, as to assert of Griesbach, " that implicit confidence is to be reposed neither in his judgment as a critic, nor in his fidelity as an assertor of facts : " and speaking of his elaborate note in support of the reading of Ss, " engages to show that he has proved nothing " (in that) " but his own incompetence as a critic, and his want of fidelity as a collator of the ancient copies." This writer, accordingly, proceeds to argue, that neither the genius of the Greek, the sense of the Apostle, nor the au thority of the ancient Fathers, will ad mit any other reading than Bios. See Monthly Repository, vol. ix. pp. 120 — 123. I have mentioned this writer's remarks, more especially for the purpose of reminding the Unitarian Editors, that there are persons who, although not "tied down — to a system of Theology, the wretched relic of a dark and bar barous age, on the profession and de fence of which all their hopes are built," but even enjoying the pure light of Unitarian illumination, and free as air in the formation of their opinions, are yet of opinion, that, notwithstanding all that has been so laboriously urged against the received reading of the text, it and it only is the true one ; and of reminding them, also, that, when this is the case, it may be deemed a little too bold to pronounce on the proposed change, as one so clearly and certainly to be admitted, that the existing text is peremptorily to be rejected as spurious. — To pass from the Unitarian Editors to inquirers of a more impartial descrip tion, I would recommend it to such as may be desirous of forming a sound judgment on Griesbach' s critical investi gation of the reading of the text, to con sult Dr. Laurence's learned and valu able Remarks upon Griesbach's Classi fication, pp. 72 — 84. The observations also in the British Critic, (New Series, ) vol. i. pp. 403 — 422, deserve to be at tended to. See Pearson on the Creed, p. 128, and Whitby in locum. It should be remarked, that they, who op pose the primitive reading of Bios, are not agreed amongst themselves, what word should be substituted in its place. Griesbach contends for Ss : Sir Isaac Newton for o. The persons, who fol low either confidently, must hold them selves entitled to brand the other with the reading of a " spurious " text in the very same degree, in which the Unita rian Editors are justified in charging it against those who prefer the word Bios to either. Having mentioned this last distinguished name, I must beg of the reader to attend to the remarks made by Bishop Horsley upon that writer's cele brated treatise on this text, at pp. 532. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 163 words to Kara, craoxa, that St. Paul meant to point out that he here spoke of our Lord, " not according to the divine but according to the human nature which existed in him," Whitby, in his comment upon this verse, expressly asserts a, that " from the beginning these words have been used by the Fathers, as an argument of Christ's Divinity." And, in truth, there is, perhaps, no single text in the whole of the N. T. in which the divinity and the twofold nature of our Lord are laid down more unequivocally, and more indisput ably as to the wording of the original, than they are in this. It is, therefore, not without good reason that the opposers of our Lord's divinity have always considered this text as pre senting the most formidable impediment to the admission of their doctrines ; and they have accordingly invented various strange devices, and conjectural modifications of the passage, in order if possible to escape from its force. Of all these our Unitarian Editors1", as usual, have availed themselves: but, 549, vol. v. of the Bishop's edition of Newton's works : and especially the remark, at the former of these pages, on Chrysostom's testimony. a This quotation from Whitby affords an opportunity of remarking on the danger of placing implicit reliance on the generality of writers in their refer ence to authorities. In a book of some degree of note, Bowyer's Conjectures on the New Testament, we find the as sertion here made by Whitby, contrast ed, as presenting a remarkable opposi tion, to one made by Milh on the same subject : viz. " that no one of all the Catholic Fathers ever alleged the text before the year 380. Gregory Nyssen first of all." This assertion of Milh the writer quotes from Dr. Clarke, by whom it bad been applied, not to this, but to the text I Tim. iii. 16, to which it had been applied by Milh. This text in Timothy, however, happening to fall in the same page of Clarke's Works with the observations on Rom. ix. 5 ; and the note in Clarke, which contains the quotation from Milh, being marked by the same sort of aste risk that had been introduced for quite another object into those observations ; the eye of the compiler was wrongly directed, whilst his judgment and know ledge were not sufficient to correct the mistake; and, therefore, from «. mere visus deceptio, he has given, as applied by Dr. Clarke to Rom. ix. 5, what that writer had connected with 1 Tim, iii. 16 See Bowyer's Conjectures, p. 260, and Clarke's Works, vol. iv. p. 47. b The manner in which modern Uni tarians abuse the credulity of their readers, cannot be better exemplified than by the remarks which I am about to offer upon their treatment of this text. These remarks, also, at the same time that they will be found to evince the shameful disingenuousness with which the critics of this school conduct their inquiries, cannot but manifest their ex treme anxiety to avail themselves of every means, whereby they may perplex the meaning, and evade the force, of this important part of Scripture. The Editors, in the first place, say, " The word ' God ' appears to have M 2 164 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE as if distrusting their sufficiency, they have taken care to seek additional strength from the dexterity of a new trans- been wanting in Chrysostom's and some other ancient copies: see Grotius and Griesbach." — Mr. Behham, again, one of the principal of these Editors, fol lowing up the same observation with somewhat more of expansion, says, " Erasmus, Grotius, Dr. Clarke, and others observe, that though the word God is found in all our present copies, it was wanting in those of Cyprian, Hilary, Chrysostom, and others, and is therefore of doubtful authority." (Calm Inq. p. 222.) Now, a little attention to the particulars of the above assertions will, I trust, abundantly prove, that they are, in all their parts, substantially untrue. To begin with Mr. Behham's assertion, that Erasmus, Grotius, and Dr. Clarke, affirm, that the word, God, was wanting in the copies of Cyprian, Hilary, Chrysostom, and others : so, as far as Dr. Clarke is concerned, it is to be observed, that, however he may have countenanced the idea that there were copies in which the word was not found, he has never once mentioned the name of Cyprian, or of Hilary, or of Chry sostom, in any of his observations upon this text, nor has he specified the name of any ancient whatever in whose copy the word was wanting. See Clarke's Works, vol. iv. pp. 46, 47. 274. 280. 369. 418. 569. If Mr. Behham can discover, in these, or any other parts, of Dr. Clarke's writings, a contradiction to this assertion, he will produce it In the next place, as to Grotius; — neither does he assert that the copies of Cyprian, Hilary, and Chrysostom, wanted the word, God. He merely re fers to Erasmus, as having said this, but in terms much less explicit than those in which Mr. Behham has made the statement for him. Theolog. Works, vol. iii. p. 726. He has, indeed, as serted, for himself, that the word is wanting in the Syriac Version, which is possibly alluded to by Mr. Behham under the word " others." But in this Grotius was strangely mistaken, the word being expressly contained in that Version. The whole, then, of the as sertion sustained by the threefold au thority of Erasmus, Grotius, and Dr. Clarke, we find, subsides into the single authority of Erasmus. But what shall we say, if even Erasmus himself does not make the assertion which Mr. Bel sham has ascribed to him ? First, as to Chrysostom, Erasmus does, indeed, in one place, say, that this Father, in his Commentary on the passage, supplies no distinct intimation that he read the word God in his copy : but he at the same time admits, that, in Chrysostom's quotation of the text itself, he gives it precisely as it stands in our present received reading of the Greek. Nay, more ; he allows, that, even from the Commentary, it may be collected, that Chrysostom must have read ©s« in the original : for, after quoting from it at length, he proceeds to express his opinion, that the mention of "the Fa ther " introduced into the exposition, can only be explained on the supposi tion of its being conveyed, in the con text of the Apostle, under the word " God." And, again, he remarks, that the clause " Benedictus in smcula " is referred by Chrysostom to the Son ; which, he observes, could not be done, unless on the supposition, that the clause, " qui est super omnia Deus," was also referred to the same. As it is of great consequence that these remarks of Erasmus should be fully understood, I here transcribe his very words. Speak ing of Chrysostom's comment upon the place, he says, " Quoniam autem sub- obscure videturhuncinterpretari locum, commentum quod ad hunc attinet lo cum, bona fide adscribam, Nam et adoptio vaofiit, fait gratia Dei et gloria, et promissiones, et Lex. Qua* omnia considerans animo, ac reputans quantum Deus cum Filio suo studium adhibuerit ad servandos JudaoS) vehementer ex- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 165 lation. The words to Kara, craxpa would, in their usual ren dering, have been too significant in a passage so strongly clamavit, dicens, Qui est benedictus in sacula, Amen : pro omnibus his gra- tiam referens ad unigenitum Dei. Quid enim, inquit, si catteri maledicuntl Nos tamen qui novimus illius arcana, et in- effabilem sapientiam, multamque pro- videntiam, certo scimus ilium esse dig- num, qui glorificetur, non qui convitiis incessatur, &c. Primum, hunc locum conjunctim interpretatur de Patre et Filio, cum in contextu nulla sit mentio Patris, nisi nomine Dei intelligatur. Deinde cum ait ' gratiarum actionem pro omnibus ' quae commemoravit ' reddi unigenito Dei,' significat haec verba be nedictus insmcula referenda ad Filium, cui Judaei maledicebant, quod aliis pro- misisset, aliis exhiberet promissum. Atqui haec particula non potest ad Christum pertinere, nisi ad eun dem et illa referantur, qui est super omnia Deus." — Critici Sacri, torn. vii. pp. 2677, 2678. — Now, after reading these remarks of Erasmus, al though he afterwards says of Chrysos tom, "nullam dat significationem se hoc loco legisse Deus," (by which, con sistently with what he had before en forced, he must mean, that the Greek Father had given in his Commentary no distinct declaration that he read the word, God, in his copy,) how is it pos sible, in fairness, to pronounce, that Erasmus has affirmed that the word was wanting in Chrysostom's copy of this Epistle? And, more especially, when Erasmus expressly states that the text itself is quoted in the copies of Chrysostom, in the very words of the received text. For, in speaking of the pointing of the verse, as quoted by this Father, at the same time remarking that the exact distribution of the parts of a sentence is often disturbed by the tran scribers, he thus expresses himself, "Earn apud Chrysostomum ita distinctam re- pen, aiv at itrayyiXixt, uv o't rrxripis, xx) (| av Xpttrros re xxrx trdpxx' hie inter- posito colo sequitur e Wt vravraiv Bios' hinc addita hypostigme sequitur, it/Xo- yvtres us revs xtuvas' quae distinctio red- dit hanc sententiam, Ille qui est super omnia, nempe Deus, sit benedictus in secula." — So much for the good faith preserved in speaking of Erasmus's re port of Chrysostom ! Next, as to Cyprian and Hilary ; Erasmus undoubtedly affirms, that the former, (Adv. Judrnos, lib. 2, cap. 5,) and the latter, (on Psalm 122,) cite this passage, omitting the word, God, in the quotation. But, at the same time, he adds, that this omission seems to have taken place through the carelessness of the transcribers : " incuria librariorum esse omissum videri : " — which, indeed, he might well have added, since, as Beza remarks, the citation is made in both places for the very purpose of proving that the name of God strictly and properly belongs to Christ : " quum utrobique citetur ob hoc ipsum hie locus, ut probetur Dei nomen Christo vere et proprie competere." (Beza in locum. ) We now see to what the whole of Eras mus's authority amounts. So far from having asserted, that the word God was wanting in the copies of Cyprian, Hi lary, and Chrysostom; he admits the actual existence of the word in Chry sostom, and its highly probable exist ence in the writings of the other two Fathers, notwithstanding that in certain parts of their works, and in certain co pies of them, there might be an appear ance of the omission. Thus, then, the whole fabric of testimonies concerning these Fathers, which Mr. Behham has so exultingly erected in the defence of himself and his brother-editors, almost entirely vanishes upon the touch. Eras mus, Grotius, and Dr. Clarke. Clarke has never named these Fathers upon this text. Grotius, in speaking of them, has only referred to the authority of Erasmus. And Erasmus does not make the assertion that Mr. Behham 166 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE marked as the one before us. It was particularly necessary to veil from the view every expression that would direct the has ascribed to him in conjunction with Grotius and Clarke But, even granting that all these writers had, separately and independ ently, made the assertion which has been attributed to them, relative to the copies of these ancient Fathers, yet would it not have been worthy of those who profess to have truth only for their object, and whose entire endea vours are (as we are told) devoted to the acquiring a corrected text and an improved version of the New Testament, to have examined these Fathers for themselves ; and not to have taken, upon second-hand evi dence, a report, which was to shake the authority of the text of Scripture? Without going even to the works of the Fathers, — and yet to such profound scholars and deep inquirers, as they might naturally be supposed, who have undertaken to prove all preceding cri tics and theologians totally mistaken in the true reading and sense of the New Testament, there could have been no great difficulty in doing so, — they might have found in Pearson, or in Whitby, abundant proof, that the word, God, was not wanting in the copies of the Fathers above alluded to : or they might have derived full satisfaction, as to the indisputable genuineness of the word, from the negative evidence afforded by Wetstein; whose learning, industry, and good will, have never been defi cient in discovering any circumstance that might cast a doubt on the genuine ness of those parts of Scripture that support the -proper divinity of Christ, and who, on the present text, has not assigned a single authority, or even con jecture, to disturb its possession of the word Bi'es. But, as these gentlemen have not thought proper to go back to the authorities themselves, to which they have chosen to refer through the medium of Erasmus, Grotius, and Clarke, (with what success we have seen,) I have found it necessary to do this for them ; and, having done so, I must take the liberty of saying, that the three Fathers, whom they have chosen to approach by so circuitous a course, openly announce in the most decisive manner that they did read the word, God, in their copies of this Epistle. 1. St. Cyprian produces this text for the special purpose of proving, quod Deus Christus ; and reckons it amongst those in which Christ is expressly called God. (Cypr. Opera, Oxon. lib. ii. cap. 5. Adv. Jud. p. 35.) The text is here given precisely according to the present received reading: and, whilst the Editor admits that there were one or two editions in which the word, Deus, was wanting, yet he pronounces (with good reason) the reading to be unquestionable. Pearson specifies the MSS. in which it was known to exist; and states other circumstances that place it beyond a doubt. — (Expos, of the Creed, pp. 132, 133.) 2. St. Hilary, on the 122d Psalm, quotes this passage, Ex quibus Christus qui est super omnia Deus, in conjunction with other pas sages of Scripture, to prove, "quod Deus nobis unus non solus." (Hilar. Opera, p. 393.) And, again, in his book De Trinitate he introduces it in a most emphatical manner : " Non ig- norat Paulus Christum Deum, dicens, Quorum sunt patres, et ex quibus Christus, qui est super omnia Deus : " adding also what rests the whole force of his argument on the existence of the word, " Deus," — " Non hie creaturain Deum deputatur,sed creaturarum Deus est,c{msuper omniaDEUsest"— (Opera, p. 970.) 3. As to St. Chrysostom, we have already seen, that, in his quo tation of the text of the Apostle, he pre cisely agrees with the reading of the present Greek: so that any pretence derived from his not distinctly pointing out the very word Biot in his Com- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 167 mind to a contrast so emphatically exhibiting the twofold nature of our Lord ; and, therefore, the designation of our mentary upon the text is trifling. On the same ground it must be said that o Wt vrxvraii did not exist in his copy ; because whatever reason there is for saying that he passes over the word Bios applies to the whole clause. On the same ground the words xxrx o-xpxa after trvyyivm in the 3d verse, and e'irtns ito-iv 'le-pxnXTrxt, in the beginning of the 4th verse, must be pronounced not to have been in his copy, because he does not distinctly notice them in his Commentary, ("nullam dat signi- ficationem se hoc loco legisse" haec verba,) at the same time that, as in the case of the word Bios, he places them in his quotations of the text. The truth is, that the course of this Father's reasoning in his Commentary did not lead him to advert in this place to our Lord's divinity, as may be easily seen by attending to the nature of his expo sition. The part, which immediately precedes what has been already quoted at p. 164, is as follows, in the Latin translation. " Nam cum dicit, Quorum adoptio et ghria et legis constitutio et cultus et promissiones : aliud erit nihil, quam Deum voluisse illos quidem ser- vare, atque hoc patere facit per ea quae Christus ex illis extitit, per ea quae pa- tribus promisit. Illi autem a propria ingratitudine atque improbitate benefi- centiam repulerunt. Itaque et ilia po- nit, non quae illorum laudes sunt, sed quae Dei donum solummodo arguunt." Then follows as before given at p. 164. ( See Chrys. Comment, vol. ii. p. 229.) If the whole context be considered, it will appear manifestly, that the object of tbe Father, in this part of his exposi tion, is to mark the great and undeserv ed goodness of God to the Jews, in ac complishing for them and through them so many good things ; and that therefore there was no room for any special ob servation on the subject of our Lord's divinity. But at the same time, as we have already seen, even in Erasmus's view of the case, the bearing of the word God, and as applied to Christ, is decidedly marked in the course of the Father's observations : so much so that there can be no doubt, even from the Commentary, that he must have read Bios in his copy ; independently of the consideration of its actual occurrence in his quotation of the text, and in two other parts of his works which shall be presently pointed out. 1 have dwelt the longer upon Chry sostom, for the purpose of making a remark on Griesbach's note upon the Father's reading of the passage. — " Chrys. ad h. 1. post xxrx trxpxx prae- terit verba o av ivrt Tavruv Bees, et statim progreditur ad : os ie-rtv ivXoyriros lis robs x'tuvxs, addens : rriv vvrip vrxvraiv iv%xptffrtxv avxtpipejv xvros (s. xt/ru) raj fjLovoyivii rev Biov. Sed in textu et alibi leguntur ista. " Now, although Gries bach here falls very short of stating the case with its due force, (for so far from an immediate transition from the words xxrx trxpxx to os itrrtv ivXoynros, &c., much matter is introduced tending to indicate the existence of the word Bios in the original passage of which Chry sostom was treating, as may be seen at pp. 571 and 575,) yet he sufficiently marks by the use of the word "proz- terit," that he meant to represent Chry sostom, as passing over, in this place, the consideration of the words o uv icrt vtxvruv Bios, not that they were omitted in his copy ; for he immediately sub joins, " in textu et alibi leguntur ; " announcing, that this Father, although he had not specially noticed the words in his Comment, had yet, in his reciting of the text of the Apostle, and in other places, given them exactly as they stand in our received text. It has been al ready seen, that, in quoting the text of the Apostle, Chrysostom agrees exactly with the present reading. We shall now see, how far Griesbach was jus tified in asserting the same^of other 168 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Lord's Jewish extraction by terms which pointed out & fleshly origin in opposition to an origin of a higher nature, was to places of this Father's writings, " alibi." In the fifth Homily, De incomprehensib. Dei natura contra 'Avopoiovs ( Opera, vol. i. p. 382,) we find the whole pas sage, exactly as it is now given in the text of Griesbach, applied to prove the divinity of Christ. And again in the third Homily in cap. 1. Evang. Joh. (Comm. vol. ii. p. 36,) we have the words, o uv itfl ffxvrm Bios combined with the texts, Tit. ii. 13 ; Philip, ii. 6 ; and Rom. i. 7, to constitute a proof, that the word Bios is frequently applied to Christ without the artich : and that, consequently, no difference in deity, is intended to be marked in Scripture, between the Father and the Son. Thus, then, Chrysostom becomes a decisive witness for the existence of the word God, in the copies of this Epistle which he used : and so, in truth, Griesbach represents him. Yet the Editors of the Unitarian N. T. would reject this word on the authority of Chrysostom, and on Griesbach's representation of that authority ! • — " The word ' God ' appears to have been wanting in Chry sostom's and some other ancient copies. See Grotius and Griesbach." Of Gro tius we have already spoken. The reader may now judge of Griesbach. Such is the abuse of authorities ex ercised by Unitarian writers, without shame or scruple: and this, too, not merely in the ardour of controversial contest, but with the cool and deliberate purpose of falsifying the word of God. Such are the means by which scanty learning, and dishonest criticism, jointly endeavour, under the pretence of ob taining a corrected text and an improved version, to corrupt the original, and to pervert the translation, of all those parts of the N. T. in which the character istic doctrines of Christianity are in volved. Now, what will the reader say, when he is informed, that the word, God, in this text, the authority of which it has been thus attempted to shake under the sound of the names of Erasmus, Gro tius, Dr. Clarke, Griesbach, (" and others,") St. Cyprian, St. Hilary, St. Chrysostom, (" and others,") is found in every known Manuscript of this Epistle, in every ancient Version extant, and (in direct opposition to all that has been asserted by Mr. Behham and his brother Editors, and notwith standing the trifling additional remark in Griesbach of " Leo semel et Ephr. ap. Jackson,") in every father who has had occasion to cite the passage ? So that, in truth, there can scarcely be instanced a text in the N. T. in which all the ancient authorities more satis factorily agree. So circumstanced is that reading of the text, which Mr. Belsham and his brother Editors re quire us to consider as "of doubtful authority." — For the numerous in stances of the citation of this verse by the Fathers, I refer the reader to Whitby in loc. and to Bull, Oper. pp. 72, 73, and especially to pp. 249, 250, for the exposure of Erasmus's error concern ing Origen. But, to follow these Unitarian critics to another point. Having thus, as we have seen, flung doubts upon the ex istence of the word God in the ori ginal, but feeling, at the same time, (with good reason,) some misgivings as to their reception, the next step taken by them, is an endeavour to prevent the application of the word to Christ ; whereby the end proposed would be equally attained as by its rejection from the text. Accordingly, the propriety of a new punctuation is suggested, by which the verse may be separated into two distinct sentences : thus, " Of whom by natural descent Christ came. God who is over all be blessed for ever." In support of this interpretation, the prin cipal vindicator of the Version deals out, as usual, a string of names : and amongst these he introduces the name UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. I6d give place to one of less forcible application ; and the phrase " by natural descent " was substituted for the received ren dering of the words. of Locke ; a name, which, (as We have already noticed,) the Unitarians are particularly ambitious to press into the service, in order to give countenance to a pretence, which is directly contra dictory to the known truth, (see pp. 132, 133, of this volume) that Locke was a Socinian. Now, as we saw Cyprian, Hilary, and Chrysostom misrepre sented in the last clause, so we shall find Locke most flagrantly belied in this. For so far is Locke from placing a full stop after the word e-xpxx, and reading, (as it is here asserted,) " God who is over all be blessed for ever," that he separates, by a point introduced after •relvratv, the clause, "he who is over all," from the words that follow, and reads in a distinct member, " God be blessed for ever. " Mr. Behham's aver sion to the trouble of consulting the original authorities supplies no apology for his misrepresentation of Locke in this place ; because, even without re ferring to Locke himself, he might have met with his division of the verse in most of the recent publications that treat of this text; and particularly in the writings of those whom his Unita rian predilections most dispose him to consult. He might have met with it in Wetstein's note, " Vel ut J. Lockius : Qui Christus est super omnia : Deus sit benedictus ! " He might have met with it in the Unitarian's Remarks on the Scriptural Confutation of Mr. Burgh. Or he might have met with it in his friend Dr. Carpenter's book. Indeed it is a point so notorious, that it is scarcely possible to give Mr. Bel sham credit for ignorance upon the sub ject. Now, the reader will easily perceive the great difference that exists between the reading adopted by Mr. Behham and his brother Editors, and that pro posed by Mr. Locke, which, though it agrees with the former, in concluding the sentence with a doxology in praise of the Father, yet admits the exalted dignity and extended dominion of our Lord expressed by the words, " who is over all;" and which, in the opinion of Erasmus, treating of this very distri bution of the sentence, attributes di vinity to Christ as forcibly as the Word, God, could. "Ex quibus Christus juxta carnem, qui Christus est super omnia : sive, qui erat super omnia. Ne quis enim suspicaretur, dignitatem im- minutam per assumptam hominis na- turam, respiciens ad Divinitatem adjecit, qui est super omnia. Haec distinctio tribuit Divinitatem Christo, quod nihil est super omnia, praeter unum Deum." (Crit. Sac. pp. 2676, 2677.) It will not now be difficult to appreciate the dependence which is to be placed on the assertions of a writer, who claims Locke as a supporter of the former read ing, and thereby associates him as an auxiliary in the Unitarian interpretation of the sentence throughout. In truth, Mr. Locke not only differs from the Unitarian Editors, in his distribution of the sentence, which is (as far as they are concerned) a vital variation ; but he completely overturns their whole system, by the sense which he gives to the sentence at large ; rendering re xxrx tripxx, " as to his FLESHLY EX TRACTION;" which "FLESHLY EX TRACTION" he contrasts (as we have already seen 'at p. 133, in his observa tions on Rom. i. 3) with the " divine extraction immediately from God; " and which (as we have also seen) he more fully explains by paraphrasing the words as to the flesh thus : — " i. e. as to the body which he took in the womb of the blessed virgin his mother." Such is the support which Mr. Locke con tributes to these writers, who are per petually sounding his name as one of 170 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE But the point, with which we are more immediately con cerned, is, not so much the change of version, (totally un- the most decided advocates of their system ; and such is the mode in which these writers fabricate to support their cause 1 Mr. Locke's interpretation, however, and every other which converts the con cluding clause into a doxology to the Father, is, as has been unanswerably shown, especially by Dr. Middhton, altogether inadmissible. Dr. Carpen ter, upon the whole of this subject, has acted with more fairness than Mr. Bel sham. He has not only not confounded Mr. Locke's interpretation of the pas sage with that of the Unitarian Version; but he has admitted Dr. Middhton's arguments into consideration, and has even acknowledged them to " have some weight " so for as they apply to Mr. Locke's view of the passage, at the same time that he denies that they possess any force as opposed to the in terpretation of it by the Unitarians. But let Dr. Carpenter labour to var nish the matter as he may, the objec tions urged by Dr. Middhton, and since enforced by Mr. Veysie and Dr. Nares, against both the modes of inter pretation, that of the Unitarians and that of Mr. Locke, against all, in short, that would break the concluding part of the verse into a separate sentence in the form of a doxology, are, and must be allowed by every Greek scholar to be, incontrovertible. Dr. Whitby had before abundantly shown, that such a distribution and punctuation of the sen tence as these interpretations demanded could not be defended on'any just prin ciples of criticism. That the reasoning of Whitby or Middhton should be no ticed by Mr. Behham, was not, indeed, to be expected. It would have been a departure from the established usage of that writer, and most of his associates, to bestow consideration upon the argu ments of any who oppose the tenets and dogmas of their party. But surely the observations of Mr. Wakefield might have been taken into account. Mr. Wakefield, who is so favourite an authority with Unitarians on almost all occasions ; whose Version of the N. T. the Editors of the present one had for some time anxiously in contemplation for the basis of their own ; — his judg ment upon this subject cannot surely be suspected of any orthodox bias. And, if even this writer, (the only Greek scholar, whatever may have been the degree of his pretensions, that the English Unitarians have to boast of,) if even he, with all his earnest desire to embrace whatever might favour the Unitarian cause, was not able to digest the harsh and unnatural construction adopted by the Editors in this place, what judgment ought (I will not say a critic and a scholar, because such a man would and ought to judge for himself, but) even Mr. Behham's favourite arbiter in Scripture criticism, the man of merely " sound understanding and honest mind," what judgment ought he to form upon the subject ? Mr. Wake field's observations I shall give in his own words. " Some critics have pro posed to distinguish the verse in the following manner : Of whom were the Fathers, of whom was the Christ ac cording to the flesh. God, who is over all, be blessed for evermore ! Amen. Or thus : Of whom were the Fathers, of whom was the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all. God be blessed for evermore ! Amen Both these constructions, though the original will certainly admit them, appear so awkward, so abrupt, so incoherent, that, it must be confessed, I never yet could bring myself to relish them in the least degree. There seems to be no reason, from the spirit of the context, for such an instantaneous and solemn conver sion from the main subject to the Deity ; nor do I believe, that a parallel instance of so disjointed an address can be pro duced from the whole Bible." See UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 171 justifiable as that is,) as, that the change should have been made without notice : a change, to which the Editors attach Wakefield's Inquiry into the Opinions, &c. vol. i. pp. 162, 163.)— Rosen- miiuer also the Unitarians are disposed to regard as a respectable and unbiassed Commentator. What does he say on this point ? — " Interpretatio ea, qua haec verba ad Patrem referuntur, nee con- textui nee regulis Grammaticis est con veniens. Quod si enim vera esset, Paulus non o av sir) wdvruv Bios, sed potius a Bios o uv Iwi irxvratv scripturus fuisset, ut 2 Cor. xi. SI. Istud vero i at, quod h. 1. legimus, positum est pro es itrn, ut Jo. i. 18, et iii. 13, ideoque ad Christum pertinet, de quo antea dix- erat, eum xxrx a&pxx e Judaeis, ortum esse ; jam vero, ne hie subsistant Chris tian! ex Judeeis, divinam Messia ma- jestatem addita doxologia celebrat." (Schol. in Nov. Test. torn. iii. p. 482.) — But what says the Father of Soci nianism himself? Whilst labouring with all his might to prevent this pas sage from establishing the proper deity of Christ, he is not only obliged to confess, that the ancient authorities are in favour of the commonly received distribution and construction of the sen tence ; but he is also forced to admit, that the position of ivXoynros is incon sistent with that punctuation which the Unitarian rendering requires. ( Socin. Opera, Respons. ad Vyjek, torn. ii. pp. 582. 600.) This, which is one of the chief arguments employed by Whitby and Middhton, seems also not to have been pressed upon Socinus by his opponents, but rather to have ori ginated with himself, as naturally grow ing out of the genius of the Greek and the phraseology of the N. T. : and so overbearing did he feel the force of its application, that he was compelled by it to concede, that the concluding words of the verse related to Christ ; although, to prevent the conclusion which hence resulted in favour of our Lord's divinity, he was driven to the extravagant asser tion, that as Christ was not simply called God, but God over all, this could not interfere with his proper humanity, but, on the contrary, admitted with regard to him the most appropriate applica tion : — an assertion so extravagant, that Mr. Behham exclaims against it with the greatest vehemence, in his note, p. 224, where he ascribes it to Slichtin- gius only. He was not perhaps aware, that this is a position maintained by all the old Socinian writers, who have treated of this verse. But it should be recollected, that it has been maintained by them, because they could not em brace that other extravagance which the modern Socinians so strongly recom mend. They studied and knew the original somewhat better than those who have followed them : and between the violation of the principles of the lan guage required by the modern inter pretation of the text, and the extra vagance of the gloss upon the true translation demanded by their own, they felt there was no difficulty of choice. They were, in short, incapable of such criticism as is familiar with modern Unitarians ; and therefore they found it impossible to deny, (however they might endeavour to explain it,) that Christ is here pronounced to be God over all, and blessed for evermore. Crel- lius and Slichtingius are fully as de cided upon this point as Socinus : and the latter specially adds, that from this passage of St. Paul we learn, that praises, and benedictions, and divine worship, are to be offered to Christ. See CreU. Opera, torn. i. (Resp. ad Grot.) p. 230. (Ethic. Christ.) p. 348. torn. ii. p. 224. in locum, also Slichting. Comment. Posth. torn. i. p. 254. I have noticed two attempts of the Calm Inquirer, and his brother Editors, to disturb the obvious and commonly received reading and interpretation of the passage in question. We come now to a third view of the case which they 172 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE so high a value ; and which, with the Archbishop's Version lying before them, which they professed to follow, could not seem to consider preferable to every other; and which, strange to say, re quires the dereliction of the very points which it had before been deemed ne cessary to maintain ; demanding for its admissibility the retaining of Bios in the text ; and rejecting all idea of the doxology, which had been so eagerly contended for, and of the peculiar punc tuation on which that doxology was founded. This most happy and plau sible conjecture, which is taken from the old Socinian writer Slichtingius, consists, Mr. Behham informs us, in "the transposition of a single letter, Sv o, for o av, which gives a new and beautiful turn to the whole sentence, viz. ' Of whom is the adoption, — of whom are the fathers, — of whom is the Messiah, — of whom is God over all blessed for ever.' Thus the climax rises gradually and finishes where it ought." (Calm Inq. p. 223.) Now, in the first place, it is to be observed, that Mr. Behham has here produced, as from Slichtingius, a piece of criticism, which, in the exact form in which he has presented it, neither Slichtingius, nor any critic acquainted with the Greek language, has, or could have given. Mr. Behham has put Sv e instead of • w, and thinks, that, in doing so, he has substituted the genitive plural of the relative for the participle present of the verb substantive ; whereas, in truth, no participle appears in his reading of the passage at all. The old Socinian un derstood the language too well to have been guilty of such a blunder. His was not a mere change of the position of letters, but a transposition of the words, modified of course with their due accompaniments ; a change of I wv into Sv e; giving, as was intended, a real change of the participle into the geni tive plural of the relative. It cannot be here pretended, that the error is a mere mistake of the printer in the breathings attached to the words; for Mr. Behham himself takes care to in form us, that the only change to be made, is the " transposition of a single letter," expressly excluding the idea of any other alteration whatsoever, and agreeably to this exhibiting none other in his page. Other writers, indeed, may have spoken generally of trans posing the two words ; that of course implying the entire modification of the words, and consequently including all their attendant characters : but, I will venture to say, that Mr. Behham has the sole credit of discovering that " the transposition of a single letter " is the only change requisite to give that " new and beautiful turn to the whole sen tence," of which he speaks. If it be said, that, although we, at this day, em ploy accents and breathings in our no tation of the Greek, yet, the ancient Greek MSS. being written without them, the transposition of a single letter would, in them, produce the change which Mr. Behham describes; — let it be remembered, that this makes no dif ference in the case, so far as Mr. Bel sham is concerned ; inasmuch as it is not upon them he builds his remark : it is to the Greek character in its present state, he applies his observation; pro nouncing upon that the sufficiency of the transposition of a single letter for the change which it requires ; and ex emplifying his assertion by an adjust ment of the aspirate marks, such as to cause no change but "the transposi tion of a single letter ;" and, conse quently, proving to the world how very imperfectly he is acquainted with even the lowest rudiments of the language on which he ventures to comment But, to pass from these modern blun ders to the ancient MSS. it should be recollected, that, as no one Manuscript, nor any singh Version nor Father, gives the sentence at this day with the read ing that has been here suggested ; the transposition, if it took place at all, UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 173 have been made without the fullest deliberation and design. This must be evident to every one who considers not merely must have been of a very early date, of a date almost as early as that of the Epistle itself. Now will any person conversant with the history of the Greek language, undertake to affirm that, at so remote a period, the change, which has been here spoken of, could have been effected by " the transposition of a single letter?" Can any one ac quainted with the ancient Greek in scriptions venture to assert that the Greek aspirate H had ceased to be em ployed in the age in which St. Paul's Epistle was written ? And if, on the contrary, there be good reason to think that it had not, will he deem that change so likely, which, so far from consisting in the mere transposition of a letter, would demand the alteration of the word HCJDNHO into HOCDN? But, not only have we to urge against the proposed reading the admitted fact that no vestige of such a reading has been discovered in any one of all the MSS., Versions, and quotations, that have come down to our times ; but we have also to urge against it, as has been clearly and ably shown by Dr. Mid dhton, that it would both give a false Greek and a direct contradiction to St. Paul's own reasoning. ( See Middhton on the Greek Artich, p. 456.) But for the Critics with whom I am con cerned, reasonings of this description are not requisite. Their own showing generally suffices to overturn their ar gument. The single reason, advanced by Mr. Behham and his brother Edit ors, in favour of the proposed conjec tural reading, is, that the climax is by this regularly carried on and fully com pleted. "r flvk vieho-ix,'' fl» el vrxripis, *n, Xpie-ros^Slv e Bios, of whom was the adoption, of whom were the fathers, of whom was Christ, of whom was God who is over all." (Imp. Vers, in loc. and Calm Inq. p. 223. ) Now it happens, unfortunately for the smooth ness and continuity of the climax, that the form of expression is not carried on as it is here given ; the words not being »v Xpttrros but 'ES uv Xpiffros, which at once breaks the continuity, as marking the extraction of Christ, and therefore requiring in the English the force of the derivative ; not, as in the other clauses, that of the possessive. Mr. Behham and his brother Editors have availed themselves of the ambiguity of the phrase " of whom," to give an appearance of sameness to the several clauses ; whilst in reality they differ ; and thus they make out their climax by giving first a false text, and then an equivocating translation. So much for this " new and beautiful turn," bestowed upon the sentence before us, by a con jecture which has not a single Manu script, or Version, or authority of any kind, to sustain it; which makes St. Paul contradict himself; which utters false Greek ; and which does not ac complish the only point that is brought forward to recommend it, — the conti nuing and completing of a climax. That Socinians, whose minds are an tecedently satisfied as to what Scripture ought to mean, should eagerly catch at this, or any other, conjecture, that pro mises the semblance of support to their system, is not to be wondered at : but it certainly is just matter of surprise and concern, that Griesbach should have condescended to mix with the grave authorities that are to substantiate the true text of Scripture, a conjecture so trifling, so contemptible, so objection able, and so unauthorized. It has been already observed that this Critic, al though not intending himself to shake the authenticity of the word Bios in this text, had yet, by an injudicious and per plexed mode of displaying authorities which do not in reality make against the word, afforded to those who only sought some pretext for its rejection, a colour for using the authority of his name, 174 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE the wideness of the departure from the Archbishop's trans lation, "as concerning the fiesh;" but also the constraining But I have farther to add concerning the same distinguished Critic, in this place, in point of accuracy, that he has been guilty of an inadvertency, here, in omitting to observe, that the Cod. Alex. wants all that follows in the fourth verse, after the word 'ItrpxuXTrxt, or, as this MS. reads the word, 'lcr^xuXitrxt. Enough has been offered in this note to show, that the Unitarian Editors have strained every nerve for the withdrawing of this important text from the list of those that go to support the divinity, and to establish the two distinct natures of Christ. Enough also has been of fered to make it evident that all the objections and difficulties which they have laboured to throw in the way of its just application only tend to prove the degree to which they are deficient in the candour, and the learning, requi site for a sound exposition of Scrip ture. And enough, surely, has been offered to satisfy the reader, that upon the accuracy of their quotations, and their reports of ancient authorities, no reliance whatever is to be placed. In deed, to make the true nature and value of the criticisms of these writers fully understood, it might have been suf ficient to observe, that the construction and sense of the passage which they have adopted d'epends entirely upon the genuineness of the very word Bt.es, which they have taken so much pains to prove to be " of dubious authority ;" and that the conjectural interpretation, which they seem (at least Mr. Bel sham does) to admire above every other, requires, not only that the word God should be received as indisputably ge nuine, but that the punctuation which they reject should be retained as the true one. Thus, truth, in the hands of these critics, is made to war with itself. The same word is both spurious and genuine, the same punctuation correct and erroneous, according as each sup position ministers to a Socinian inter pretation of the Scriptures ; according as each is found conformable to that paramount Unitarian test, by which the modern Socinians determine without hesitation upon every question affecting the sense of the Sacred Text. As to the direct arguments in favour of the commonly received construction and application of the passage in ques tion; these have been so satisfactorily stated by Whitby, and various other distinguished Commentators, and have recently been so fully and ably vindi cated by Dr. Middhton and Dr. Nares against all the modern attempts to sub vert them, that it is altogether unne cessary (did it even fall within my plan) to present them to the reader. — In ad dition to the well known treatises of Dr. Middhton, and Dr. Nares, I would recommend to the reader's attention, on the subject of this note, Mr. Veysie's Defence of the Preservative (pp. 107— 112), Burgh's Inquiry (pp. 23 — 32), Simpson's Plea (pp. 241—243. 255), and Wardlaw's Discourses on the So cinian Controversy (pp. 69 — 72. 419, 420). This last writer, who has treated many important points of this contro versy with great ability, has made an observation particularly deserving of no tice on the conjectural alteration of o at, into « i already treated of at p. 1 72, &c. — The conjunction w, he says, in the enumeration of the series of particulars, must connect itself with the last ; and therefore were there no other argument against the proposed alteration than this, that xx) must be come thereby connected, not with the last, but with an intermediate, article of the series, he thinks, and justly, it would be decisive. The alteration, therefore, if it were admitted, must be not merely of o uv into uv o, but into xx) uv a, the xx) being transferred from the preceding clause, xx) t| Sv e Xpttrris. Indeed the Editors themselves were so sensible that the copulative could not stand where it UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 175 force which the Archbishop exerts upon the reader's atten tion, by the still more emphatical language of the note upon these words — " of whom as to his human lineage Christ is descended," &c. It is also to be observed, that, not only have the Editors made this remarkable change, without the slightest notice of the Archbishop's rendering either in the text or note of his Version, but that they have done so, al though they have themselves introduced a long note upon the passage, and in this note remark upon their variation from the Archbishop in the remaining part of the text : — "the Common Version here adopted by Dr. Newcome is, Who is over all, God blessed for ever." And here they stop as to the matter of variation, giving the reader to understand that they have laid before him the whole of their departure does, on admitting the proposed trans position, that they have taken care to strike it out of the passage altogether ; as may be seen in their mode of ad justing the clauses of the sentence, as it has been stated at page 173. Thus, to the violence of the transposition, and the exclusion of the preposition i%, we have now to add their exclusion of the conjunction xx) : so that before we can allow to the Editors the benefit of the "new and beautiful turn" that they conceive to be given to the sentence by the transposition of the words; they must not only transpose the words, but they must strike the two words xx) and i\ entirely out of the text. In this note, we have seen several distinguished names referred to by the Unitarians : some of whom, especially Grotius and Locke, they are willing on many occasions to claim as auxiliaries to their cause. How unfounded this claim is with respect to Locke, has been already noticed; and occasion may be taken again to advert to it. As for Grotius, although his exposition of many passages of Scripture is (as I have already remarked elsewhere) so favourable to the general principles of Socinianism, that some have thought the title of Socinian not altogether in applicable to him ; yet, the various in stances of his direct assertion of the di vinity of Christ throughout his Com mentary, together with his celebrated defence of the doctrine of Christ's satisfaction against the attacks of So cinus, must- surely place him beyond the range of those whom the Unitarians have any reasonable pretence for press ing within their ranks. So many of the instances alluded to have been de tailed by Bishop Burgess in his Trea tise on The Bibh, &c, (see especially pp. 79. 85—87,) that I shall only add to what is there advanced, a single quo tation from the conclusion of the work De Satisfactione Ckristi. Speaking of the Socinian endeavours to degrade the nature of Christ, he uses the follow ing language : — " Sed profecto minime miruru est, si qui Christo gloriam natu- rahm, hoc est veri nominis deitatem, sustulerunt, iidem et officia ipsius im- minuunt, et beneficia ipsius praecipua recusant agnoscere. Tibi Domine Jesu, ut vero Deo, ut vero Redemp- tori, ut vero Sacerdoti, ut vera? pro peccatis victimae, cum Patre et Spiritu, uno tecum deo, sit honos et gloria." 176 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE from the Primate; whilst they have touched only on that part for which they think they have some show of authority, and on which, accordingly, they dwell at length ; but on the part which is purely and exclusively their own, for which they can produce no authority whatever, and which goes to the very essence of the Socinian controversy, they preserve a perfect silence. — On this it must be unnecessary to add any farther observations. Whether the Editors have, on this im portant part of Scripture, acted with good faith by their pro fessed model, I leave to the reader to judge for himself. I have not noticed here their unacknowledged departure from the Primate, (and also from Griesbach]) in suppressing the concluding word " Amen," as being a matter of inferior con sideration, farther than as it tends to give an additional in stance of their failure in that faithful adherence to the Pri mate's Version, (and also to GriesbacKs text,) of which they so much boast. In the instance of Number V. (see page 17) we find, in a passage directly and forcibly expressing the pre-existence of our Lord, not only a departure from the Primate, in the very terms which convey that important doctrine : but a substi tution of others, that completely divest the passage of any such signification. We find, also, a note of some length, enlarging upon and confirming the rendering adopted by the Imp. Vers. : and yet, throughout the entire of it, not the most remote hint conveyed of any variance from the Pri mate's translation : and this too, whilst the Primate himself has introduced a note enforcing more strongly the appli cation of the text to the pre-existence. The Primate renders, " though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor;" and he subjoins in a Note, " rich — in the glories of his divine nature" — "poor — by taking on him human nature, and appearing even in an humble state of hfe ;" quoting, at the same time, as a parallel explanation, the celebrated text of Philipp. ii. 6, &c. The Imp. Vers., on the other hand, renders the passage, " while he was rich, yet for your sakes he lived in poverty : " and then in the note affirms, that " the UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 177 construction requires it to be understood, not of a passage from a preceding state of wealth to a succeeding state of poverty, but of two contemporary states : — he was rich and poor at the same time :" and, from this view of the subject, proceeds to estabhsh the impossibility of any reference to the pre-existence of Christ. In other words, the /. V. translates in a sense directly opposite to that of the Primate ; labours to enforce the necessity of this sense in a note which is carried to considerable extent, and in which Wakefield, Grotius, and other authorities, are introduced ; does this, in contradiction, not only to the Pri mate's rendering, but to his illustration and support of that rendering in strong and emphatical terms in his note, which directly challenged their attention ; all this, too, on a point of vital import* in the Unitarian scheme; and yet in no a Mr. Behham, indeed, in his Calm Inquiry, pleasantly enough wishes to persuade us, that if our heads were not already stuffed with the notion of the pre-existence of Christ, we never could " dream of finding it in this text." He is so candid as to admit, that it might furnish perhaps " a graceful allusion ;" but he can never allow it to be alleged "as a proof." And why? Because " when it is said of any man, that though he is rich he spends nothing," no one " in his senses infers from it that he existed before he was born. Upon this principle," he adds, "every miser WOULD HAVE A CLAIM TO PRE-EXIST ENCE." — This is the remark of a Calm Inquirer. He tells us, that unless we are dreaming, we must admit that the text means nothing more than to inform US Of " A MAN WHO, THOUGH HE WAS rich, spent nothing," of a mere "miser :" and then, when we have by this admission, proved ourselves to be wide awake, he will satisfy us, that it has no relation to pre-existence. But, in the mean time, what has be come of the " graceful allusion ? " The elegance and good taste of the Calm Inquirer's representation of the " Miser" may, indeed, have con- VOL. II. ferred upon the subject a grace: but the allusion to pre-existenee, even with our eyes perfectly open, we are no longer able to discover. Yet strange to say, there are persons who have not been looked upon as actual dreamers, although their " judgment " is (of course) held comparatively cheap by the Calm Inquirer, who have, notwith standing, as he himself informs us, "held up this text as a decisive proof of this doctrine' " of pre-existence. " He was rich — ' rich,' says Dr. Dod dridge, ' in the glories of the heavenly world, and in supreme dominion and authority there, yet for your sakes he became poor.' — ' Rich,' says Arch bishop Newcome, ' in the glories of the divine nature, he became poor by taking on him human nature, and ap pearing even in an humble state of life.' — ' Rich,' says Dr. Harwood, in ' his pre-existent state, in glory, honour, and happiness, with a greatness of soul which can never be sufficiently extolled, he ab dicated all this, and became poor.' The Apostle's argument upon this scheme onlyis cogent, apposite, and very elegant and persuasive. To interpret this of our Lord being rich in miracles, and becom ing poor in them at his crucifixion, is N 178 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE place is there the slightest glance at this gross departure, nor is the name of the Archbishop once alluded to : notwith- such a jejune and forced criticism, as I imagine was never used to explain any author." (Calm Inq. pp. 122, 123.) All this, however, in the view of the Calm Inquirer, is downright nonsense, mere dreaming : since " every miser would have a claim to pre-existence," on the principle that would infer pre- existence from this text. It may seem odd that Dr. Carpenter should carry himself more calmly upon this subject than the Calm Inquirer. Yet so it is. For, although the friend and coadjutor of Mr. Behham, and equally anxious with him to withdraw this text from the support of the doctrine of our Lord's pre-existence, he yet admits, without casting any imputation of dreaming, &c, "that it may be trans lated as in the public version, and that it may be interpreted in reference to a pre-existent state :" and all he contends for is, that his own translations (which by the by, do not go to the length of that in the Imp. Vers. ) " equally well suit the original." (Unit, the Doct, p. 231.) Dr. Carpenter, it is plain, saw a little more in this text, than the allusion to a person who, " though he was rich, spent nothing ;" or in other words, to one who was a mere "miser." —But, in truth, it must in justice be said of this last mentioned writer, that, although an equally staunch friend to the cause of Unitarianism with Mr. Behham, he does not appear to be ex actly of the same class, in the characters of temper, discretion, and decorum. We need not be surprised that Mr. Behham makes so light of the passage before us, as affecting the argument for our Lord's pre-existence. It is a ruh with this writer, to treat in like manner the several passages that are adduced in support of that doctrine. Texts of Scripture, which do not merely an nounce, but proclaim the doctrine, in words so plain, and strong, that lan guage can supply none more unequivo cal and forcible, are at once dismissed, (with the appearance of perfect com-. posure and gravity,) either as having no bearing upon the question, or as giving support to the Unitarian scheme of the proper humanity of Christ. Thus, for example, when, in John xvii. 5, our Lord, addressing himself to the Father, prays to be glorified with him with that glory which he had with the Father be fore the world was; Mr. Behham calmly informs us, that this, when well considered, " contains no proof of Christ's pre-existence, but is perfectly compatible with his proper humanity. " (Calm Inq. p. 114.) — -Again, when in Coloss. i. 17, St. Paul informs us con cerning Christ, that " He is before all things ; " Mr. Belsham very compos edly tells us, that " no argument for the pre-existence of Christ can be drawn from this ambiguous text. " ( Calm Inq. p. 148.) Again, when in Philipp. ii. 6, kc, we are assured by the Apostle, that Christ, being in the form of God, had made himself of no reputation, and was made in the likeness of men ; the Calm Inquirer, without the slightest discomposure of his gravity, (lisum teneatis ? may, however, not be an in expedient hint to the reader,) assures us, in return, that if this text " be not decisive in favour of the doctrine " (of " the proper humanity of Jesus Christ,") it " may at least be regarded as neutral: '¦ that, in short, " it is one of those passages, of which no use can be made in deciding the controversy." (Calm Inq. p. 145.) — Mr. Behham had, however, nearly settled the whole question already. For, having disposed of the celebrated passage, (John viii. 58,) vrplv 'AGpaxfc yivlffSxt iyai itf&t, by asserting, that the words, i" am, must mean, / was; and by adducing in his support the authority of a number of " able and learned critics and divines," (he might with equal truth have added, most impartial and unprejudiced on the UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 179 standing the most solemn assurances to the pubhc, first given by the Editors collectively, and since peremptorily repeated Unitarian question,) Dr. Lardner, Mr. Cardah, Mr. Lindsey, Dr. Priestley, Mr. Wakefield, and Mr. Simpson, he calmly adds, (p. 102,) that this nearly decides the whole controversy, " for if this declaration does not establish the pre-existence of Christ, no other pas sage can. " Undoubtedly : or, rather, he might have said, no language can. For with this, of course, he sweeps away at once every passage in which Christ is represented as existing previously to his appearance upon earth ; since, like this, all these can only relate to an ex- istencein the divine purpose ; (p. 103;) and therefore the pre-existence of our Lord, in the usual sense of the word, is a matter that language cannot express. ( See pp. 55 — 59, vol. i. of this work. ) I need not go farther. It is manifest, that, be the force of expression in the sacred writers what it may, there is a strength of front which far exceeds it. But, again, in matter even of taste and illustration, no less than in that of reasoning and argument, there is a spirit of paradox, that seems to exercise a per verse ascendancy over the mind of the Unitarian. Otherwise, surely, it never could have occurred to Mr. Behham, in his endeavour to enforce the position, that the texts supporting the pre-exist ence and divinity of our Lord are "few in number," to compare them to " the stars in the firmament." They are, indeed, it must be confessed, " like the Stars in the firmament," numerous and bright. They are as Stars set in the firmament of the Heaven, to declare the Majesty of him who dwells there, and the glory of that Great Being whose handiwork those stars are pro claimed to be. Mr. Behham, it is true, intends this comparison, as he in forms us, for a very different purpose ; and refers to the Stars, merely as daz zling the eyes of the spectator, and exciting " the ideas of number and mag nitude far beyond the reality." ( Calm Inq. p. 20. ) Surely, it was enough for this gentleman to have blundered as a Rhetorician, and not to have blundered also as an Astronomer. What " reality " does the Calm Inquirer mean ? Does he mean by it the actual state of the Stars? It is strange, indeed, if so learned an Astronomer does not know that their real magnitudes are millions of times greater than those which they present to our view ; and that their actual number also, as we have good reason to believe, is vastly greater than what the eye is able to discern. Or, does he mean by " the reality," the ap pearances which they offer to the cor rected vision of the Astronomer aided by the telescope ? This seems an odd application of the word " reality." But, here again, he ought to know, that, whilst the apparent magnitudes are di minished by the removal of the irradia tion, the number of the visible stars is prodigiously increased; the telescope calling into apparent existence what was undiscoverable to the naked eye. So that when this scientific critic speaks of " the eye of reason aided by philoso phy" reducing both the number and magnitude of those heavenly bodies to their juster standard, he is every way unfortunate. The eye of the Astro nomer enables him to add to their number ; and his philosophy, to increase their magnitude ; and both to a degree which the uninformed cannot readily believe. — And here, also, the parallel holds good. For, to the eye of a well- informed understanding, aided by just principles of criticism and a sound knowledge of the original language of the N. T., the texts which bespeak the pre-existence and divinity of our Lord increase upon the view in number, and in strength, to a prodigious amount. Their individual force, and collective bearings, become infinitely more strik ing and demonstrative. And, when duly grouped together, like the constellations N 2 180 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE by their Calm Inquirer, and others of them, individually, that, in every instance of deviation from the Archbishop's rendering, acknowledgment is openly made in the notes. Well but, perhaps, this is another instance of mere acci dental error " of the pen," or " of the press." If so, it clearly ranks with those lucky accidents, which we have had already to notice ; for, undoubtedly, it happens most commodiously for the Unitarian. The Editors, it must be allowed, have not neglected the Primate, on other points, throughout this verse. The words " gracious goodness " immediately pre ceding those to which we have adverted, he had otherwise rendered in the margin, " grace : " and such is the " scrupu lous fidelity" (as Mr. Belsham calls it) with which the Edit ors, in all cases, either follow the Primate or give notice of their departure from him, that they apprise us of this mo mentous change, in a special note upon the subject. Possibly, the great importance of this so occupied their attention, that it was altogether diverted from the variation in the remaining part of the sentence ; which, indeed, merely affected the mat ter of our Lord's pre-existence ; a thing in its own nature so absurd and inconceivable, that, be it expressed in what terms it may, it is well known that no rational christian can admit even its possibility. I have, on former occasions, been tempted to travel beyond my immediate and proper subject, — the mere fact of unac knowledged departure from the Primate's Version, — into the nature of the criticism, by which the Editors support their peculiar translation ; and I am not able to resist the desire of doing so on the present occasion. I shall follow the. very words and order of the Editors in their note. " While he was rich — see Wakefield — wKouo-ioe uv swra^vo-c. The con- into which the Astronomer forms his our Lord, do indeed resemble " the classes, they spread a brightness and il- stars in the firmament." But I differ lumination over the face of the Scrip- from him in his Astronomy. The stars tures, like that which these luminaries are, in "the reality," more numerous shed over the firmament of the heavens. and greater, than they appear ; and I agree then with Mr. Behham as to they are presented to the telescope in his parallel. The texts, which support greater numbers than to the naked eye. the pre-existence and the divinity of UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 181 struction a requires it to be understood, not of a passage from a preceding state of wealth to a succeeding state of poverty, * Mr. Behham's profound acquaint ance with the Greek language has en abled him to pronounce, in still stronger terms, on the necessity of admitting the existence of two contemporary states to have been here intended. " That this is the proper primary meaning of the Apostle's words," he affirms that " no person acquainted with the original can doubt." And he questions "whether the genius of the Greek language will even admit of the sense commonly an nexed to the words." (Calm Inq. p. 125.) It is whimsical enough, how ever, that all this extraordinary know ledge of the Greek language, which has enabled Mr. Behham to pronounce thus decisively on what " the construc tion " so peremptorily " requires," has been, as he informs us, the result of a valuable hint from a friend, who, it seems, understands English remarkably well, as he has proved " by the accuracy of his remarks upon the English verb." This gentleman, who has written upon the English verb, has, we are told, ac tually assured Mr. Behham that " the aorist expresses a perfect action in past definite time ; which time is ascertained by the connexion ; " and has thus at once proved every thing to his wish, and completely satisfied him that the genius of the Greek language " requires that the two states should be simulta neous." And then the whole follows smoothly. — " Christ l?rrii%iv, to past time, he strenuously rejects ; although he has both here, and elsewhere, when it suited his purpose, admitted the reference to past time in the words rvtpxls <5», in John ix. 25. Under this admission, however, I will take the liberty of considering the sen tence somewhat after the model, which he has proposed. " Christ itrrd%ives 'became poor.' When? •xXeitrtos tit, 'at the time that he was rich.' " I ask no more than the benefit of the canon which Mr. Behham has laid down for his own use, and which, as it is found not to suit his purpose, may, since it has been brought forward, be applied to mine. Mr. Behham, however, pro duces some more Greek, to prove, that John ix. 25. supplies no authority for referring the participle Stv to past time. He contends, that, as the words rvipXes at are there followed by the adverb xpn, to " shew that the participle which pre cedes is to be understood in a preterite sense ;" so here, " had the Apostle in tended to express, that the state of po verty was subsequent to that of affluence, he would probably have introduced the word itrx, or virripev, before the verb ivraixivo-i." Whether the Apostle, in tending to express an immediate tran sition from one state to the other, would have thought it necessary to introduce either of these words, I leave it to Mr. Behham, (who, it seems, after all, has been, in his own way, investigating the " niceties " of the Greek language,) to determine. But, I fear much, that if the criticism respecting these words be no sounder than that which relates to the word xpn, the Apostle would not have availed himself of the suggestion which it contains, had it been proposed to him. The adverb &prt, we are informed, shows, that the participle is to be under stood in a preterite sense. In other words, it expresses the present time so emphatically, as to mark an opposition to past time: — "now I see." If this discovery of Mr. Behham's be just, it will help us to various new and im- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 183 rected our attention to a few simple points, on which it is not difficult to form a decided judgment. " The construction re- portanf views of Scriptural language. When our Saviour says to the Jews, (Matth. xxvi. 53,) " Thinkest thou that I cannot now" (xpn, now, in op position to past time,) "pray to my Father," &c, our Lord must be sup posed to mean, that before this time he could not have done so. Again, when (John xiii. 7) he says to Peter, " What I do, thou knowest not now," (xpn,) he must mean, that Peter had now lost the knowledge which at a former time he possessed. It immediately follows, to be sure, " but thou shalt know here after," as if the opposition here were to future time. This, however, is a trifling difficulty in the way of a Unitarian critic, and would soon be in some mode or other disposed of. Again, when Peter says, (John xiii. 37,) " Lord, why, cannot I follow thee now," (xpn,) he must mean this in comparison with past time : although hitherto it has been imagined that he alluded to our Saviour's words, " thou shalt follow me hereafter." In like manner, when our Lord tells his disciples, that he has still many things to say to them, and adds, "ye cannot bear them now," (xpn,) he must be understood to imply, that they could have borne them before that time, although it has been commonly sup posed that the expression looked to the future. It will be found also in 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; xvi. 7 ; 1 Thess. ii. 7, and in other places, that this lately discovered and significant use of the word xpn, will throw a novel light upon the words of Scripture But, (to treat this matter with a seriousness to which, perhaps, it is not entitled) the truth is, that x^rt, of itself, simply and properly, though emphatically, signifies the present time ; and is only so far opposed to either the past time or the future, as present time is opposed to the one or the other; and derives its reference solely from the words with which it is connected in the context; so that, instead of bestowing such reference on, it borrows it from, the sentence in which it stands. If, then, Mr. Belsham can find no other reason for rendering the participle in rvfXos s!» in a preterite sense, than the declaration of the present possession of sight implied in the word xpn, he will find himself at perfect liberty to render the passage, in a form similar to that which he proposes for this of 2 Co rinthians, I now see whilst I am blind. Whoever has considered these matters must be well aware, that it is the nature of the subject and the force of the con text, and not the mere use of the word xpn, that leads the mind to the im mediate admission, that it must be to a past time, that the blind man refers the participle, when he uses the words, rvipxos £>*, xpn (ZXtzrpj. This will be manifest at once, if we change the word rvfXes for another. For example, the Jews had demanded of the blind man's parents, whether it really was their son, (who was well known to have been blind,) that now professed to be restored to sight. Suppose they had put the question to the man himself in this form. " Art thou the son of these per sons, and dost thou now see?" xpn $xWus ; suppose, also, that he, wishing to answer the question precisely, by de claring that he was their son, and that he then actually saw, used the words avriey fth o vios £>*, xpn fiXitfai — must he be thought necessarily to mean, that he had been at a former time the son of these persons ; or would not, in this case, the participle be taken in the present time, unaffected by the use of the word xpn ? — Or, again, if the ques tion had related to his conviction that his sight was permanently restored ; and that he meant to reply, that, though he possessed the power of seeing perfectly at the present, he yet had fears as to its continuance for the future; and, in order to convey this, expressed himself in these words, , Mr. Behham would of course admit, that he spoke of two successive states : whilst, by omitting the word xpn here, two concurrent states must, according to him, be intended. This is precisely equivalent to what he has advanced ; viz. that there being no particle corresponding to the word xpn, to determine the participle m to the sense of the preterite, it must conse quently be considered in the present tense. It should be observed, that the peculiar meaning, which this writer would force upon the word vrrai%iva> has nothing to do with the application of his criticism here respecting the word xpn. This criticism, as well as that concerning the force of the aorist, stands by itself, on grounds independent of the peculiar force of the verb employed. But, allowing to Mr. Behham, (for the sake of argument,) the full benefit of the force which he assigns to the verb rrrw^iiei ; namely, that of a continued state, let us see to what this will lead us. If, in consequence of this, the phrase nXevstos uv iwru^ivo'i, must sig nify, that he continued rich whilst he lived poor; it must of course follow, that St. Paul has represented both to the Ephesians and the Colossians, that, whilst continuing dead in their sins, they were permitted to live with Christ, vixpovs "ONTA2 ev rots vrxpnirrw/jixo'i — fMi^ejotroiittri. Ephes. ii, 5 ; Col. ii. 13. —and, again, that St. John, at the very time that he was writing the 8th verse of the 22d chapter of the Book of Revelation, was actually engaged in hearing and seeing all those various communications and visions, which he has related to us — 'Eyu 'Iwinvis i f&XlT&jv rxvrx xx) xxovejv Of SO little value, indeed, did Grotius (the great authority to which the Unitarians are on all occasions anxious to resort) consider such critical " niceties," as Mr. Behham has here laid down as principles; so little, especially, did he conceive the word xprt to be requisite to give a past sense to the present participle, that he pronounces the very phrase in John ix. 25, which xprt has, according to Mr. Behham, given the whoh force, to be exactly similar to that in Eph. ii. 5, in which the participle present simply oc curs, without any word whatever cor responding to xpn, such as Mr. Bel sham peremptorily insists upon. — " [TvtpXos £v\ *£lv, qui eram, ut hie Syrus. Simile loquendi genus, vide Ephes. ii. 5. " — And again, on the pas sage in the Apocalypse, he says — " Subauditur sum, ut saepe apud He- braeos ; et pr&sens pro prmterito proximo. " This, indeed, St. John has himself put entirely beyond question, by subjoining to the words already quoted, xx) on nxovo-x xx) i(&xnj/u. And, what crowns the whole, and leaves nothing more to be desired upon the subject, — those great Greek critics, who have given us what they are pleased to call the Improved Version, have not pronounced St. John to have been ignorant of the genius of the Greek language in doing so ; but have actually bestowed their own decisive imprimatur, and have given it to us in plain Eng lish, " I John saw these things and HEARD them." — xxevatv xxi (Zxivrav. Now that I have obtained so high a UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 185 poor at the same time." — The construction requires no such thing. The plain and unavoidable construction of the words sanction for the application of the participle present in a preterite sense, without the assistance of the word xpn, or any other particle whatever, I will venture to tell Mr. Behham that no thing is more common ; that, to those who are well acquainted with the lan guage, this usage is perfectly familiar; and that the reason of the thing, and the circumstances under which it occurs, are fully explained and defined by va rious well known writers. Among these writers I would particularly specify Dr. Middhton, (Doct. of the Gr. Art. pp. 39—44,) and Glassius, (Phihl. Sacr. torn. i. pp. 353—355,) — the latter of whom has accompanied his gram matical remarks upon the participle with some most valuable observations on im portant passsages of the N. T. in which the participle occurs. I confess, at the same time, that I am disposed to agree with Mr. Behham, in conceding to the participle as, under certain circum stances, an emphatical force which may imply continuance. It is manifest that it may be rendered being, in such a sense as shall reach to the nature and essence of the subject. Thus, he who had been bom blind, being (from na ture) blind, (that is, such being the state and condition which belonged to him,) declares, that he now sees. But, then, Mr. Behham will be pleased to recollect, that this use of the participle involves unavoidably the reference to an antecedent condition, and is, al though it implies a continued state and appears in a present form, as little to be confounded in point of time with the new state affirmed of the subject, as the word blind is to be confounded with it in the 17th verse, where the Pharisees are described as interrogating the blind man, (xiyovrt ™ rvtpxu,) as to the manner in which his sight had been re stored. By his being here called a blind man, at the very time when the mode of the acquisition of his sight was the subject of inquiry, what could be meant, but his natural state, and of course, his previous condition; the same which may be conceived to be conveyed by rvipxis "£1N? In like manner, when our Saviour expresses himself to the disciples of John in these words,— "the blind see" — "the lame Walk," — ( rvtpXet xvxf&Xlvrovtrt — x.etXe) •ripmxrovtrt — ) he means, that those, whose nature it had been to be blind and lame, now saw and walked. He did not think it necessary to introduce any particle, (such as xprt,) to mark the opposition of the two conditions: and yet there does not appear much danger, that any person, from the ex cessive knowledge of Greek that governs Mr. Behham's criticisms, should sup pose that these must be two concurring states ; and that our Lord had carried the miracle so far, as to enable them to see, whilst they remained blind; or to walk, while they continued lame ; — the species of construction which Mr. Bel sham insists upon in the passage before us. The pre-existence of our Lord is, it is to be presumed, a thing so in credible, that any monstrum cogitationis is to be received before it : and, there fore, if the above passage happened to bear such relation to that doctrine, as to give it support according to the received mode of its translation, Mr. Behham would, of course, on the principle of interpretation which he wishes to apply to 2 Cor. viii. 9, contend for the seeing blindness, and the walking lameness to which we have alluded. nxevmes sir, then, we may, with strict propriety, render " being rich "— being, in his true nature, rich indeed— iv poptyy Bievli vxpxptv !'xin and 'TnA'pxnN here correspond exactly as they ought, — the essence and true nature of the Great Being emphatically expressed in both. All this, it must be confessed, carries with it a reference to past time, — to an antecedent condition. But 186 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE nxouo-wg m, all the world, except the Unitarian Editors, must admit to be, Being rich. Well then, how does the being rich that cannot be helped, if truth will have it so. Being (in his true nature and essence) rich, hebecame poor. — " Being rich, he became poor. " — It is manifest, that here is the plain, literal, and con sistent interpretation of the passage, without the slightest force exercised on any one part of it, and in exact agree ment with all the ordinary, received principles of Scripture interpretation. Whether this be reconcileable with the common translation, " Though he was rich, he became poor," the reader will judge ; and " whether the genius of the Greek language will admit of this sense," he may now determine for him self. Whether, on the other hand, the principles of " the construction," which " requires, that the two states should be simultaneous," can be received by any " person acquainted with the original," he will probably more than "doubt." That the participle £v must, in the first place, express simple continuance, of the state expressed by vXo&atos ; that, in the second place, Wrej%ivtri must express simple continuance of its state likewise ; and that, in the third place, the one state must commence, and be exactly concurrent with the other. He could not have been rich one moment before he was poor : — his riches com menced with his poverty. It was pre cisely " whiht he was rich " that " he was poor." Surely, all this is too much to require us to concede. Independ ently of all consideration of the original language, I would desire no more for a fair judgment upon the case, than the "sound understanding and honest mind," to which Mr. Behiham^wq/fesses himself so willing to appeal. . It is curious, and may not be unin- struetive, to observe the whimsical va rieties of Socinian criticism, and the capricious changes of shape which it assumes. In former days a grand sup port of the system which rejected the divinity of Christ rested upon the past sense of the participle &v. Socinus, conceiving that this participle has no adsignification of present time, was for confining it to the past; that he might get rid of the overbearing force of the words, o oiv iv ru ovpxvoj, in John iii. 13, which he was thus enabled to render, qui erat in cado ; and, under this in- terpretation, to afford an explanation, according to his own principles, by which he might avoid the admission of our Lord's pre-existence ; as may be seen at p. 160 of this volume. The present Socinians having discovered, (see pp. 152, 153. 158,) that "being in heaven " can mean no such thing as it expresses ; because there is no heaven : and that the words merely signify the being acquainted with the divine coun- seh, or no matter what, but certainly not being in heaven, (for that could not be ; besides that " the natural sig nification of words " is, as we have seen at page 108 of this volume, above all things to be guarded against,) — have felt themselves altogether relieved from the difficulties of old Socinus. They have no longer any occasion for the past sense of the participle : and, seeing that the admission of this sense would let in the pre-existence upon them elsewhere, (as, for example, in this very passage of 2 Corinthians,) they, accordingly, contend strenuously for the present sig nification, and will have nothing to do with the past, which threatens little less than ruin to their scheme. However, these modern critics, who go by no rule but that of shutting out the Divinity of Christ, do themselves, at certain times, when off their guard, admit the very interpretation of the participle which they are here so anxious to reject. Thus, (as we have already noticed at p. 150 of this volume,) on John i. 18, o wv lis rev x'oXkov rev Tfxrpos, the Editors observe, in their note, that it is better rendered; " who was in the beginning with God — to derive instruc- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 187 render it impossible for a man to become poor ? On the con trary, must not a man be rich, in order to admit the propriety tion," &c, (that is, by the by, as they tell us again, I. V. p. 199, "was in THE WILDERNESS-, Or ELSEWHERE, tO be instructed and disciplined " !) — Here, then, after all, the grand point so long laboured for everywhere else is given up. The participle civ may, even ac cording to these great authorities, be taken in the past sense : and this, too, it is to be observed, where the past time is not superinduced by any con nected verb. For it is to be remarked, that, in this passage, the participle is not placed as the nominative to the verb ; and therefore it stands independ ently of the time of that verb. In truth, if, in any part of the N. T. the participle of existence is to be con sidered as peculiarly expressive of essence ,- if there be any, in which no good reason appears for referring the participle to a limited adsignification of time, it is perhaps this very passage. And yet it is almost here alone, that these extraordinary critics would ascribe to it a past sense. However, in justice it must be confessed, they make ample and speedy retribution. In return for what they have thus taken from the the present time, they immediately after, (that is, after in their translation, for they find it convenient, in this first chapter of St. John's Gospel, to turn every thing upside down ; and therefore they have, without any authority but their own sole will and pleasure, placed the 15th after the 18th verse,)— they immediately after, I say, in the 15th verse, convert the past into the present, by construing «>¦, is; rendering repwris foev fo, " he is my principal," in op position to the obvious and just transla tion, " he was before me," which has been adopted by every commentator that has hitherto appeared ; not except ing even their own great oracles, Eras mus and Grotius, to whom they affect to appeal on all occasions, but whom they desert, as they do all others, whenever they fail to assist in the main point, - — . that of reducing our blessed Lord to the ordinary condition of man. Great allowances, undoubtedly, should be made for these Unitarian Critics, in their comments upon this first chapter of St. John. In contemplating this part of Scripture, they seem bewildered to the last degree. They scarcely know what to say : and hardly can any two be found to agree in the same result. The distraction, in truth, which appears to agitate them can scarcely be repre sented to the imagination by any thing short of the picture which Hogarth has given of the enraged musician. Their incoherences here, then, should per haps, in some degree, be overlooked. But in other places, where they are not driven to it by the same terrific neces sity, we find them without scruple rendering the present by the past. Mr. Behham labours hard, (by a number of examples, some applicable, and some not,) to establish the admissibility of this in the case of the verb substantive, for the purpose of supporting the So cinian sense of iyii il/ti, " I was he," in the celebrated passage (John viii. 58) in which our Lord declares that he existed before Abraham. ( See Calm Inq. pp. 74, 75. 86, 87. 96. 98.) The Imp. Vers, also, in all those places where it might tend to advance the main point, has adopted the same principle of in terpretation. Thus we see that the construction which, at one time, these critics reject as inadmissible, at others they adopt with perfect freedom : at all times, however, it must be admitted, in reference to one grand object, — that of robbing Christ of the divinity of his nature. In any case, whatever mode of interpretation favours this object, must be right ; although it is to be relinquished, and the opposite mode adopted for the same object, in the succeeding page. Rules of grammar are of no value. One rule only is to 188 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE of saying that he became poor ? Is it impossible that a man, who is rich at one time, should become poor at another ? or is it necessary, that a person, described as being rich and becoming poor, should be both rich and poor at the same time ? Yes, say the Editors, the construction- requires that the two states should be contemporary. To common sense be attended to. All tenses are to be intermixed, all times to be confounded ; provided only that that exalted Being, the Son of God, who fills all time, shall be confined to such a portion of it as falls to the lot of mere, miserable, mortal man. Of these contradictory and mutually subversive positions, respecting the force of Greek tenses, abundant instances have been already derived from Mr. Behham and his brother editors. But one still remains, which I have pur posely reserved for the conclusion of this note. We have seen that the great stress of Mr. Belsham's grammatical argument in support of the Unitarian rendering of 2 Cor. viii. 9, depends upon the construction of the aorist under that peculiar reference to past time, which we have quoted from him page 255 of his book, and which, as we have noticed, he exults in having de rived from a learned friend, inasmuch as by it he considers himself enabled to decide the question of the sense of the disputed passage. Now what shall we say, if we find this same writer assert ing of the aorist of a particular verb, that it " occurs thirty-eight times in the New Testament ; and in five passages only signifies past time ? " Yet this he does of the verb yisio-Dxt ; because the applying to it a future sense furnishes one of the Unitarian modes of escap ing the inference of our Lord's pre- existence from John viii. 58. It is not, indeed, the particular mode of escape, which this writer has selected as the best ; but it. is one which he mentions with respect, and something like com mendation ; and, so far as the criticism on the verb yivitrtxt is concerned, mani festly with approbation. So that at the beginning of this note we find this writer, at the suggestion of one friend, maintaining the necessity of the past sense for the Greek aorist ; and at the conclusion of it we leave him in the full possession of an opposite suggestion from another friend, which completely overturns the former. How the critic is to act between the two descriptions of learned friends, how to choose be tween the two bundles — I know not. Before I quit the subject of tenses, on which this note has been principally employed, I shall add this one remark on the text last alluded to ; — that the only contrivances, by which Unitarians are able to evade its force, are the changes of the past into the future, or of the present into the past. Tlplv 'Af&pxxp, yivitrSxt iyu it/it. — Before Abram shall become (Abraham), I am (he) : - or, Before Abraham was born, I was (he). In the former, yi- vieHxt is made future : in the latter, lift.) is made to signify the past. The plain and simple translation is by all means to be avoided by Unitarian critics. But may not expositors of in ferior lights, avail themselves of both the great contending authorities ; and with the one be permitted to render yivitrlxt in the past sense, and life) in the present sense with the other ? And thus even Unitarian criticism may be made to minister to the truth, and to give support to that great fundamental truth, the pre-existence of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. On this text in John viii. 58, see what has been already said, at pp. 55 — 57, vol. i. of this work. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 189 this seems somewhat odd. But it appears evident, they say, from the words, irxovo-ioc av, which they choose to render, while he was rich. The word while establishes the whole for them ; proves that the two states must be concurrent ; and settles the entire question of construction at once. This word, however, unfortunately, is altogether of their own manu facture, or rather that of Mr. Wakefield; and has been forced in here, against all just principles of criticism, to help out that very construction, which, they say, requires it. The original, as we have seen, simply expresses, Being rich. That the word while has no place in it, is manifest : and that there can be no pretence for its introduction, shall be shown hereafter. But, for the present, let it be observed that, even admitting the translation of the Editors, while he was rich, it will not follow, that the sentence must be under stood of two contemporary states, so long as the word hTfruxzvxsuos. It is useless to talk of two con temporary states, until it be determined whether there be, in strictness, two states spoken of at all. The Editors, not being able to rid themselves of a lurking feeling on this head, although they profess to have settled the point already by the force of the word while, proceed to fix the sense of the verb tttoix^ucu, agreeably to the interpretation of the passage/which they have already resolved on : and having cited the Lexi cons a of Stephanus and Constantine, for the use of the verb 125. — Let not the mean opinion that pression that marks a departure is care- the reader may entertain of Mr. Wake- fully suppressed. The object with the field as a critic and a theologian induce Lexicons here quoted has been more to him to discredit the idea, that so much convey the full force of the word &ru%os machinery should be employed for such carried into act by the verb, than to dis- a purpose as that of obtaining the ap- tinguish (if I may so say) the precise parent sanction of his name. It should verbal modification, as to the point of be remembered that there is a class of continuance or change. The Editors men, by whom an author with any pre- have omitted to mention, among the in tensions to the distinction of a scholar, terpretations assigned in each of these and at the same time lending his au- Lexicons, the word mendico : which, as thority to the support of their opinions, it implies simply an act, and does not may reasonably be deemed a paragon : in itself necessarily include the idea of and it is known, that there are writers, a continued state, or course of action, — and translators, with whom such ma- (any more than the word ixxiru, or chinery is no novelty, and who can lose stipem peto, to which both the Lexi- no character by resorting to it. cons, after Hesychius, make ^rru^iiu a The quotations from these Lexi- sometimes equivalent,)— it would not cons are, like most of the Unitarian have suited the purpose of the Editors quotations, ad captum merely. Ad- to have particularly noticed. The vantage is taken of a partial and seem- Latin terms, it must be observed, by ing correspondence, whilst every ex- which the Greek verb is explained, are 192 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE in the senses of " mendicus sum," " mendicus vivo," " inops dego," and Erasmus, for the sense of " pauper fuit sive potius equivocal in their application. Indeed, if it were not so, the argument of the Editors would go to the length of prov ing that the word •rrej%ivej, in the judg ment of the compilers of these Lexi cons, could never be applied in the sense of becoming poor. Now, this would be to brand their own authorities with gross ignorance : an ignorance, however, of which the learned authors would soon be acquitted by those who would take the trouble to examine what they say for themselves. For we find in the former of the two Lexicons, the passage of Nazianzen, ¦rruxivu riiv if&w trxpxx, rendered by the words, " ob meam carnem pauper fit ; " and in the latter we have the same translation ac knowledged as assigned to this Greek sentence. Again, with respect to the very text in question, (2 Cor. viii. 9,) we find, that although the word eguit has been used by both for etto^;si/«, yet Stephanus, who has adopted the trans lation of Constantine, but in a form more copious and explanatory, imme diately subjoins what manifestly shows that he understood the word to imply a change of condition, — " Usus autem eo verbo est Apostolus, ut ostenderet eum (Christum scil. ) usque ad extremam etiam paupertatem nostra causa sese demisisse " — had humbled himself, had reduced himself. See Thes. vol. 3. p. 587. And this same Stephanus, in his Concordance, (which, it should be re membered too, was not published for more than twenty years after his The saurus,) assigns to the verb vrruxiiui, as its single and sole signification, the words "pauper no," to become poor. It seems rather odd, that the Editors, whose object was the translation of the Greek of the New Testamen1, should have altogether forgotten to look into the Concordance, in which Stephanus professes to give the meaning of the Greek of the New Testament; and in which he gives the latest result of his judgment, — a book, too, which they themselves recommend, in the Intro duction to their Version, for the inter pretation of the New Testament : and, also, that they should have forgotten even to glance at the observations which we have quoted from both Stephanus and Constantine, in those very parts of their Lexicons from which they have favoured us with extracts. In truth, it is perfectly manifest, that, so far as the Editors' assertion, that the word srrotxivw cannot properly signify a change of state, is concerned, the au thority of these writers is decidedly against them. As to the Lexicons, generally, it should be remarked, that they repre sent the word trra^es, as in itself im plying a change of condition. Schleus ner explains the word, "pauper, ad mendicitatem redactus," &c. Suidas defines ^rru^es, — " o ixviTrraxats rev t%uv, " — " qui ex bonorum possessione excidit:" and "im»%itx, — vxvriXvis rv\s xririus ixsrrao-is." Suicer in like man ner, "Htw%os proprie est, o xirlvrXov- rou xxrixtluv its ivSiixv, qui ex divitiis ad inopiam devolutus est." ( Thes. Eccles. p. 887. ) Amongst other deriv ations assigned to the word, that of 9tr'epi (cado) an obsolete for srirru, and from which «V™ takes its preterite vrinruxx, is the most prevalent and the most probable. And, in this view, the primary sense of the word rtrmxh, and consequently of trret^iiei, ought to imply a change of state, a fall from wealth. The great attention bestowed by the Lexicons generally, upon the extreme degree of poverty expressed by the word trrej^ivm, and upon the distinction to be observed between •ffret^es and vriws, seems to be the reason why the primary sense has been in most cases especially dwelt upon, and the peculiar force of the verb, as relating to an exhting or a commencing state, (a continuance or a change of UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 193 mendicavit;"1* they then at once peremptorily conclude, — " the word properly signifies an actual state, not a change of condition,) has not been more fully taken into consideration ; but left, as it naturally ought, to be determined by> the particular bearing of the context. So far as the verb merely is concerned, 9r01x.es, sum et fio (in the form given by Schhusner) seems to be its just re presentation. And it is worthy of re mark, that if ffnuxos itself implies a change of condition, ad mendicitatem redactus, then even the acceptation of the verb in the form of n»j;ij sum, must imply the same. a Erasmus has been extremely brief upon this, having simply stated his ren dering of the Greek to be, as quoted above, " pauper fuit, sive potius mendi- cavit." Mendicavit, then, is the sense which he prefers for the word i^rrpt^ive-i : and he even follows it up by saying, " ut hinc possent argumentum sumere qui gaudent mendicitatem suam ad Christum autorem referre:" alluding to the model, to which the Mendicant orders of the Romish clergy might refer, as their ex ample. Now, I would ask the Editors, why they have not abided by their own authority here, and rendered the Greek word in the strict sense mendicavit, instead of adopting the translation agreeable to that sense which Erasmus holds to be inferior. They may say, perhaps, that they quote Erasmus, merely to show, that he understood the word to imply an actual state, and not a change of state. At all events, then, they do not deem his judgment such as should be implicitly relied upon, in his criticism upon this verse. But are they sure that Erasmus meant, by the word men dico, to exclude a change of state ? Are they sure that Erasmus did not prefer the word mendico, because it might, like the Greek word, apply to the com mencement, as well as to the continu ance, of the course of action which it expressed? The verb mendico, Fac- ciolati, in his excellent Lexicon, ren ders by pitoccare from pitocco, which VOL, II. words are manifestly the transfusion of the Greek words •xrw^iva and vru^es, and the word pitoccare is known to be employed not only in the sense, to beg, but also to go a begging, to become a beggar. So that the word mendico, ac cording to this authority, by no means excludes the idea of a change of con dition. But, even though the Latin of Erasmus were unequivocally in their favour, yet, against the stream of au thorities, which oppose him upon this subject, his simple dictum could be but of little force. Erasmus, it is to be re membered, lived but at the revival of letters, and was destitute of those many important aids to Greek literature, which have been furnished since his time. He was a scholar, proprio Marte; and al though, undoubtedly, a man of vast genius and extensive learning, and of infinitely attractive wit, yet, in his Greek criticisms especially, he has been esteemed by many extremely fallible. Even Jortin, with all the partiality of a biographer who imagined that the his torian bore some resemblance to his subject, admits the general suffrage of "his deficiency in the Greek tongue." (Life of Erasmus, vol. ii. p. 160.) Erasmus himself, indeed, in his note on Mark ii. 9, makes plain confession of his inferiority in Greek literature. Marianus Victorius, in the preface to his Edition of Jerome, goes too far, when he charges him roundly with a total ignorance of the language. John Hales speaks not quite so strongly when he says, in his notes on Chrysost. Homil. in Hebr., " Acumen Erasmi- anae censurae et certitudinem, quam in Latinis praestat, in Gratis prorsus DE- sidero." — Whatever justice there may be in this observation, as it relates to his Greek criticisms generally; there can be no question, as to its application, in those cases, in which a knowledge of the Hebrew was also necessary ; that is, as to its application to the Greek Ian 0 194 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE state. Literally he was poor, or he was a beggar. See Odyss. O. v. 308." — Thus the point is completely settled. The sense, which the construction, under the influence of the particle while, would have given to the verb, is now proved to belong to it from an independent source. And so the question is set at rest. Yet a word or two remain to be said. We cannot allow these critics to travel off so rapidly. We are here informed, that the word max*"01 "properly signifies an actual state, not a change of state : " — that is, that it means the actual state of being poor, and that it cannot, properly, signify to become poor. We cannot avoid remarking, here, how strangely ig norant Schleusner must be upon this subject; notwithstand ing the high estimation in which he is held by the Editors, and their great readiness to quote his authority whenever they can contrive to pick out any thing from him that will afford the colour of a sanction to their opinions. How does he explain the word ? — " 1. proprie : pauper sum et fio, ad mendicitatem redactus sum, mendico, a maxoi, quod vide :" and then he adduces a number of references, the first of which is " Odyss. O. v. 308," the veiy one which the Editors have put forward a, and which, in their lighter reading, they guage in use among the Jewish writers. Testament, whose labours are preserved Drusius, in the preface to his Prate- to us in the collection entitled Critici ritainNov. Test., expressly informs us Sacri. See Hist. Crit. du V. T. liv. that he has thus entitled his criticisms 3. ch. 15. The Editors have not in- on the New Testament, as having spe- formed us in what sense this writer, who cial reference to what had been passed has had Erasmus specially in his view over, or not sufficiently illustrated, by throughout his comment on the N. T.,. others ; among whom he names Eras- has interpreted the word in question. mas as the principal. This comment- They were not anxious to state, that the ator possessed that which Erasmus reviser of the criticisms of Erasmus, wanted. His perfect acquaintance with whilst he dwells at some length upon the Hebrew, the Jewish writers, the the comparison of egenus and pauper, ancient Greek translators, and the pro- in his comment on the verse before us, ductions of the Fathers, afforded him lays it down as a matter which does not such eminent qualifications for com- come at all into question, that foetus menting upon the sacred text, that P. est is connected with both. Egenus Simon does not scruple to pronounce factus est.— Pauper factus est. him the most learned and judicious a It is to be observed that the pas- critic in the whole assemblage of those sage in Homer has been adduced by distinguished Commentators on the Old Schleusner, as an instance of the pro-. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 195 must have discovered in the Odyssey for themselves ; as it is not to be supposed, that they would have selected this single priety of the sense of, ad mendicitatem redactus sum, mendico ; having in view simply the force of the word vrruxes mendicus, and not any modification of the act expressed by the verb, in refer ence to a change or continuance of state. This, as has been before ob served, has been the main object with the Lexicographers and Commentators in general upon this word ; the extreme poverty, which the word implies, being the idea principally held in view. That Schleusner, then, has cited the passage from the Odyssey, as equally appli cable to the sense of ad mendicitatem redactus sum, and to that of mendico ; and therefore (were it even granted, that mendico must necessarily imply the con tinuance of a state, and can never be attributed to the first act or commence ment) that he has connected the sense of becoming a beggar, equally as that of being one, with the example which he has quoted from Homer, is manifest on a moment's inspection. The Editors, on the other hand, have cited the very same example from Homer, for the pur pose of showing the direct contrary; namejy, that the word Kruxivu cannot properly signify a change of state. Now, although I have above acquitted these critics of having derived this reference from Schleusner, upon the ground, that they could scarcely be supposed to have overlooked or suppressed the notice of the matter supplied by that learned writer in direct opposition to their asser tions; yet, on second thoughts, I see much stronger reasons for believing, that from his Lexicon they did actually transcribe this reference. The mere circumstance of overlooking or sup pressing may easily be admitted, where practices of a much higher order of dis- ingenuousness are found to be familiar. And, although it must be admitted, that other Lexicons, as well as that of Schleusner, contain the allusion to Ho mer, yet the precise form of the quota tion here supplies an internal evidence of the source. One thing is certain, that if these critics had been searching through the Odyssey, for the purpose of discovering an application of the verb Knax,ivi<>, which would least serve their purpose, they would have cited the very one that has been adduced, inas much as its actual application here im plies decidedly a change of state ; Ulys ses declaring his intention to assume the appearance of a new condition, and being now for the first time to become a beggar, — vrat^iviTuv. In four other passages of the Odyssey, they might have discovered the word, in an aspect not equally unfavourable to their posi tion ; at the same time, it is certain, that neither there, nor elsewhere, can they possibly discover any thing, that would justify their assertion, that " the word properly signifies an actual state, and not a change of state." Thus it appears, that the Editors did not search out this example for themselves; and that, in truth, they did not know to what precise point of explanation it was ad duced in the Lexicon from which they took it. The sound of Homer's name would convey a grace ; and might in timate something like an acquaintance with the Classics. Whether Homer or any of the ancient Classics have usually formed a part of the early studies of Hackney, or those other seminaries in which the Editors and their brethren have received their education, I know not. But they seem generally unfor tunate, when they venture upon Classic ground. And, indeed, it may be said, that whenever they wander beyond the range of such names as Priestley, Evan son, Lindsey, Cappe, and Wakefield, who may be called the Unitarian Clas sics, they are almost always sure to meet with some mishap. Ne sutor ultra ere- pidam, is, in many cases, a wholesome suggestion. O 2 190 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE note from Schleusner, and have passed over in perfect silence the various remaining matter, which contradicts their asser tion as to the import of the verb in question. Some of the authorities, to which Schleusner refers, show the like ignor ance with himself; since, hke him, they employ the word tttuxeuu in a sense implying a change of state. The LXX, he says a, make use of it in different places in the sense of a Alexandrini adhibent hanc vocem pro Wi, pauperem factum esse, indi- gere " — " enu idem " — " et Svi ad in- opiam redactus est. " Schleusner refers to but four passages, in which the word occurs in the LXX : but there are six instances, including one in the Apo crypha : and, in every one of these, the word occurs, in the sense of a tran sition from opulence to poverty, or from a state of possession to one of priva tion. In no other passages, except the one before us, is the word trra/xivet to be found, throughout the whole of the sacred writings. The passages are Judges vi. 6 ; xiv. 15 ; Ps. xxxiv. 10; lxxix. 8 ; Prov. xxiii. 21 ; and Tobit iv. 21. In the first and fourth of these, the corresponding Hebrew word is SSl, rendered attenuor by both Trommius and Biel, " entirely exhausted " by Parkhurst, and in the same sense by all the Lexicons ; and this sense is indis pensably requisite, from the context, in both the passages referred to. In the second, third, and fifth, we have the corresponding Hebrew word Wi; which, in its general acceptation, sig nifies, to reduce, or be reduced to, extreme poverty : and from the par ticular form of the verb as it occurs in these passages, as well as from the force of the context, it manifestly and un equivocally signifies the being made, or becoming, poor. — Jerome, who must be supposed tolerably acquainted with the force both of the word rni%iuu, and of the original terms which the LXX have rendered by that word in these several passages, had used for it, in his translation of those passages taken in the order in which they have been cited, the following expressions, " hu miliates est " — " spoliaretis nos " — " Divites eguerunt " — " pauperes facti sumus " — " consumentur " — in all of which, it is obvious, that this learned Father and admirable critic has conveyed the sense of a change of condition. With respect to the sense, then, in which the verb srrej%ivai has been em ployed by the LXX, in these several passages, we have the joint testimony of the original Hebrew, of Jerome's translation, and of the unequivocal force of the context. To the remaining pas sage in the Apocryphal book of Tobit, we cannot apply the same accumulated evidence ; because we are not pos sessed of the Hebrew or Chaldee ori ginal ; and because, from whatever rea son, the Vulgate translation of this book has, in such a variety of respects, so little accordance with the Greek text. But yet, it is not less certain from the context, which relates entirely to the change of condition of the afflicted Tobit and his family, that the use of the word ¦Troi^iiei, here, is, as we have found it elsewhere ; and that the rendering of the Received Version, made poor, is the true one. — Agreeably to what has been said of the verb in question, we find it rendered, in our common trans lation, in the sense of being made poor, or becoming poor, in every one of the passages which have been enumerated, excepting only in that of Psalm xxxiv : in which, by following the Hebrew lite rally, whilst it was viewed as figurative by the Greek translators, they have rendered the noun in the original by Lions, instead of *Xevnet or the Rich ; and have, consequently, been led to UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 197 being made poor, and being reduced to indigence. How ignorant also must Suicer have been, who, in his translation of the following passages from Basil and Tlteophanes, has rendered the word, in like manner, most decisively in the sense of becoming, or making one's self poor ? " Oiroi ticriv ol wtoj^oi tw TTVEv/j-aTi, o'itivej cv &' axxriv iiva a'niav £7nax£U~ crav, k. t. x. Hi sunt pauperes spiritu, qui non aliam ullam ob causam pauperes facti sunt," &c. — " Trroixoug vor,reov ™ wvsv/taTt, rou; maviuv iuv iv Kama, voou/A.tv'j)V Ixoucriu; Trrcuxtv- cravra;, *. t. x. — per pauperes spiritu intelligendi sunt, qui omnibus qua? sub malitiae intellectum cadunt voluntarie sese privant, &c. {TJies. Eccles. vol. ii. pp. 888, 889.) [We have already seen, in the note at page 192, that this learned writer considers a change of condition to be implied in the very word 7nax°s.~\ Parkhurst also has betrayed similar ignorance by explaining the verb as signifying "to be, or become, poor." Now, the Editors have recommended to their readers, as the best guides to the meaning of the Greek of the New Testament, the Lexicons of Schleusner, Suicer, Parkhurst, and Mintert. The last named I have not in my possession. translate the verb by a word, that does later Greek Interpreters of the O. T. not necessarily imply a change of con- (Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus) dition. At the same time, it should be that remains to us, in which any in- observed, that Arias Montanus, look- stance occurs of the use of the verb inn- always to the literal sense of the ¦arefj^ivpi, is one of Symmachus, on original, renders the verb here by de- Prov. xiii. 7 : and in that, beyond all pauperati sunt; although, like our possibility of question, (both from the English translators, he conceived him- context and the force of the form Hith- self bound to abide by the word Lions, pahel in the original,) the change of with which that meaning of the verb condition from rich to poor is expressed. but ill assorts. The marginal annota- The verb is, indeed, used by Symma- tors of our Bible, also, by referring chus in the middle voice ; but that Luke i. 53 (" the hungry he hath filled merely gives ita reciprocanmport ; af- with good things, and the rich he hath fecting only the subject of the action, sent empty away," i^xv'urntXi xivovs,) not the nature of the act. Thus, then, to this very passage of the xxxivth we are provided with proof, as to the Psalm, clearly mark their judgment of sense, in which the word ^to^ei/si was its true interpretation ; and concur in understood, by the Jewish Greek trans- the sense, which is elsewhere uniformly lators of the O. T. both before and given by our English translators to the after the age in which the Gospels and verb *tpixw<->- 1' may not De amiss Epistles were written, to notice, that the only fragment of the 198 SUPPLEMENTARY remarks ON THE But we see how far the remaining Lexicons justify the posi tion that the word wtox*<">> "properly signifies an actual state, and not a change of state." And we see also the reason, why the Editors have not, on the present occasion, resorted to any one of the Lexicons which they have spe cially prescribed to the Student of the Greek Testament, but wander off to glean what they can, for their purpose, from the general Lexicons of Stephanus and Constantine : — why they turn also to Erasmus, for the very scanty pittance of his aid upon this subject, and travel (so as to equal the travelhngs of Ulysses himself) even into the Odyssey, for a favourable ex position of this untoward text. It has been seen, however, that Stephanus and Constantine have been used, as Unitarian authorities generally are, and as we have found Mr. Wake field treated upon the same subject, without any very scru pulous regard to what they themselves actually say : and that as to their application of the word WTaj^Eua, so far from yielding the Editors support, these very names may actually be mar shalled against them. As for the assistance which, in their dearth of critical aid, they labour to derive from Erasmus and Homer, the reader, after what has been said, will not find it difficult to appreciate its amount. But we have that to appeal to, which, on every question of this nature, is the most decisive criterion. The use of the Greek language among the Jews is properly to be learned from themselves : and, from comparing Scripture Greek with itself, it has been at all times acknowledged, that we are most likely to arrive at the true acceptation of any word or phrase, in the Greek of either the New Testament or the Old. The verb 5rT«%E!/ffl occurs in no passage of theiV. T. but that which is at present under consideration. In the writings of the Old Testament, including the Apocrypha, it occurs, as we have seen in a preceding note, in not less than six passages ; in every one of which it directly expresses, or obviously imphes, that, which the Editors affirm it cannot properly signify, — a change of state : it is apphed, also, (as we have seen, p. 197 n.,) in the same sense by Symmachus, the only one of the UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 199 later Greek interpreters of the Old Testament, whose use of it is to be found in the fragments of their Versions which re main to us : and Jerome, not only, (as has been noticed at p. 196 n.,) confirms the use of the word throughout the Old Testament, by his concurring interpretation of the corre sponding Hebrew ; but assigns to it, expressly, this significa tion, in his rendering of the word in the very passage with which we are concerned, in the New : so that the use of the word Tcvax^a, in Jewish Greek, seems to be placed beyond question, and might be deemed sufficient, — even though in the general application of the word by Greek writers it were employed equally in the sense of being and of becoming, poor, — to justify us in pronouncing, that in the latter sense exclusively it was understood among the Jews. Of the justice of this remark, Stephanus, one of the prin cipal authorities to which the Editors have appealed, affords a striking confirmation ; for, although, in his general Lexicon, he had attributed to the word a sense that might be conceived to imply an actual state, rather than a change of state, yet, when he afterwards came to compile his Concordance for the New Testament, he confines the word (as we have seen at p. 192) specially to the signification of becoming poor. This, too, is the more marked and unequivocal, because, in the preface to his Concordance, he distinctly states that it had been his particular care, when any word admits more in terpretations than one, (meaning, of course, in its Scripture application,) to assign them all : and yet to this he assigns the single interpretation, "pauper fio." We see, then, how the Scripture use of the word wtuxsvu appeared, even to those who conceived that, in its general signification, it was not to be confined to a change of state. As to the Scripture sense of the word moixeva, we have a still higher authority than that of Stephanus, or of any mo dern scholar, however distinguished. The Syriac translators of the New Testament must be allowed to be sufficient wit nesses as to the meaning of the Greek in use among their own countrymen in their day ; which, by the confession of 200 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE all, could not be far removed from the age of the Apostles. Now we have their authority for asserting, in the most de cisive terms, that the word wrax^cc is, in the passage before us, to be rendered in the sense of being made, or becoming, poor a. We have, then, for this use of the word tttcoxmu among Jewish writers, the authority of the LXX, of the Syriac translators of the New Testament, and of Symmachus. We have also the authority of Jerome. So that it seems to be placed almost beyond the possibility of doubt, that, with the Jewish writers, for a considerable period of time both pre ceding and following the date of St. Paul's Epistle, the word 5rrsi%Et/a was familiarly employed in the sense of being made, or becoming, poor. This is a sense of the word admitted by all Greek writers : the very derivation afforded by some Lexicons attributing even to its primitive the force of a change of condition. But, whilst admissible in the general use of Greek writers, it seems to be the prevalent {if not ex clusive) application of the verb, according to the usage of the Greek among the Jews. The ablest Greek scholars have adopted this apphcation of the verb, in Jewish and Eccle siastical Greek; even where they have explained the word generally, so as to admit, upon an equal footing, the sense 11 The Syriac translation of the and from its nature and import wanting word itmi^tvn m 2 Cor. viii. 9, is the conjugation Peal, and occurring in ¦^mWl ; which, being in the its earliest form in that of Pael, or in v .. L,., , . ,. the sense of depauperavit : as the Chal- coniugation Ethpaal, (corresponding to , , . , -.,,„• xi_ ij u n j n , ,, - „ dee, which agrees with the Syriac, ap- the Hebrew Pykal,) puts the matter ,. , , . , „ .. „ c ,- * xi_ • tii. pbes the word >30D in 1 Sam. n. 7, out of dispute, as to the meaning ottne ' , , , I , , , , . ., i "»¦ c .i c- • and other places where the sense of a word, in the acceptation or the Syriac , „ , , , ™ . . , a j- i e j il chanqe of condition is inevitable. — lhis translators. Accordingly, we rind the , 3 J , .,,„., c . T . . 01. j, last named passage, indeed, furnishes various Syriac Lexicons of Schmdler, , . r , . . . , rr, .. „ j-- jo/ .<••» perhaps the most decisive instance ot 1 rostius, Gutomus, and Scliaaf, inter- , „r , , „ . , .. ... , . ., . , .. the torce ot the two oynae words pretmg this word m the most emphati- J cal manner, pauper factus est. In- ,»S£OiD and jAi, and their corre- deed, it is to be remarked, that the sponding Chaldee pDO and inj> ; which particular verb, here employed in the are the words applied here to convey Syriac, has no conjugation implying the Greek A^Z ditesceretis, "that be worth while to inquire, through . fat bec(me ^ . „ from ^ what hands this posthumous publication a , passed to the press. verb S A^> which has no other significa- a The Syriac Interpreters most un- tion than ditescere, ditatus, dives factus, equivocally inform us, in what sense they locuphtatus est, i. e. to be enriched, or conceived the word ¦xXovriu to be here become rich. In this sense only is the used by the Apostle. They have ren- Syriac word used, wherever it occurs 204 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE very nature of the subject, unequivocally evinces the Apostle's meaning to be, that, by the poverty of Christ, they, to whom throughout the N. T And this, it is to be observed, is the very word em ployed in the Syriac rendering of 1 Cor. i. 5, in which the Greek is iirXov- rie-inrt ; and in which St. Paul is dis tinctly engaged in informing the Co rinthians, in what they had been en riched by Jesus Christ. — Again, if we go to the Greek translators of the Old Testament, we shall find the same to be the almost invariable use of the verb vrXevriai with them. For this I refer the reader to Gen. xxx. 44 ; Ps. xlix. 16 ; Prov. xxviii. 22, (20 in some co pies of the Greek,) Jerem. v. 27; Hos. xii. 8 ; Zech. xi. 5 ; for the use of the word by the LXX : — to Prov. xxi. 17, for the use of it by Symm. and Theod. ; and to Prov. xxi. 17; xxiii. 4, for the use of it by Aquila. In all these passages, the verb trXevriet is used, in a sense expressive of the acquisition of riches, or becoming rich : and in all of them, but two, ( Gen. xxx. 44 ; Prov. xxviii. 22,) it is used as the translation of the Hebrew word "Hffjf, which is the same with the Syriac J*A-S» employed to render the word trXevriai in the very passage before us. There are also two places in the Apocrypha, Judith xv. 7, and Sirac. xi, 17, in which the verb irXovria occurs in the same sense : and there is scarcely a single passage in the Greek of the O. T. in which it is found in any other. See Schindler, also, for the use of the Chaldee "my, (the same as the Syriac 'A^,) in the like sense everywhere. (See pp. 164, 165.) Jerome, likewise, has rendered the ori ginal word corresponding to vrXovriat in every one of the above passages, in the sense of ditari, dives factus sum. We, therefore, can, upon the whole, enter tain no doubt, as to the prevalent mean ing of the verb erXevriat in the Greek of the Old Testament. But inde pendently of the aid derived from this, we can have as little doubt of the use of it in the New : it being in every pas sage, besides the one in question, throughout the New Testament, wherever it occurs in its simply verbal state, employed in the same sense of becoming, or being made rich. See 1 Cor. iv. 8; 1 Tim. vi. 9. 18; Apoe. iii. 17, 18; xviii. 3. 15. 19; in all of which, not only does the context clearly demand this sense, but we find it ac tually assigned in Jerome's translation. See Schleusner on the word. Ste phanus, in translating the votrev i^Xov- rwxs of Nazianzen, renders " dives factus sis." That the Lexicons gene rally explain the word by dives sum, as well as by ditesco ,¦ and that the word, in its general application, signifies to be, as well as to become rich, — there can be no question. At the same time it should be observed, that the significations as signed to the word by Constantine, in his Lexicon, are " ditari, hcuphtari, dives evado, dives sum : " so that, in the judgment of this writer, it should seem, that the more frequent acceptation of the word is to become rich. But, whe ther this be so or not, we have seen from numerous instances, that the pre valent use of the word in Scripture Greek, is in this acceptation undoubt edly : and that it should be so in the New Testament especially, in its figura tive application to Christian acquisitions, is most natural ; since the whole lan guage of the Gospel bespeaks a change of human condition, wrought by our Lord's appearance amongst men. In the verse before us, this meaning of the word is decidedly marked, among other considerations, from its connexion through the 7th verse with 1 Cor. i. 5, in which, as already noticed, the verh mXevritrtnri expresses the change of condition, beyond the possibility of cavil. Indeed on this sense of the verb, here, all commentators seem agreed. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 205 he addressed himself, were enriched. Two contemporary states cannot here be pretended. It would be absurd to say, that it is meant, that while, or during the time that, our Lord was poor, they continued rich. It must be, and it is, admitted, that to be enriched, or made rich, is what is here expressed : and that by that state, in which our Lord was placed, and which is denominated poverty, they were placed in that state which is denominated rich. They were brought, then, into that state, from one that differed from it : they were brought into a state of riches, from a state of poverty. The transition, therefore, from poverty to riches, being distinctly conveyed in the latter clause ; that from riches to poverty, is as clearly marked in the former. Dr. Wardlaw, whose ser vices in the cause of Christian truth are highly valuable, thus justly represents it. " A transition is expressed on the part of Jesus ; a voluntary transition, from a state of infinite glory and riches, to a state of debasement and poverty ; in order to a transition on the part of his people, from a state of wretched degradation and poverty, to the possession of true honour and of excellent and durable riches." {Discourses, &c, pp. 159, 160.) Here, then, is the true, and natural, and satisfactory, view of the passage before us. The Apostle, being desirous to excite the liberal feelings of the Corinthians towards their needy brethren, and to do this upon principles worthy of the followers of Christ, naturally places before them the example of the divine benevolence of their heavenly Master. " If Christ emptied himself of his heavenly abundance and glory, to supply your spiritual wants, and make you rich in that which is the true riches ; will not you part even with some of your worldly wealth, to supply the temporal wants of your poor and afflicted brethren ?- — 'For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich.'" I have here adopted that translation of the English Bible which was superseded by the Version in pre- 206 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE sent use a, as giving more accurately the force of the original, which, indeed, it will be found upon examination to do upon many other passages. Should any objection be made, here, to the use of the word " though," as not being expressly marked in the ori ginal; at the same time that this objection must be ascribed to the influence of theological prepossession, rather than of Greek criticism ; yet, to remove every scruple, be it admitted that the literal translation, Being rich, should be adhered to. What advantage do Unitarian critics expect to derive from this ? It is manifest, that, although they commend this sim ple rendering of the participle, they conceive it not altogether safe to rest upon it. Laudatur et alget. Though he was rich, is a wrong rendering, say Mr. Wakefield, Mr. Belsham, &c, the words are strictly, being rich: and therefore we will render them — what ? not being rich, but, while he was rich. This, however, will not do. The thrusting out " though," on the pretence, that being rich is the true translation ; and then slipping in " while " in place of it, is but a clumsy sort of legerdemain. No, let us abide by something steadily : and let us suppose with the Unitarians, that, being rich, is the just translation. What follows from this f Simply, that at the time when our Lord made himself poor, he was rich : so that, as we have already remarked at pp. 184 — 186, " a passage from a preceding state of wealth to a succeeding state of poverty " seems to be as strongly expressed, as it is by the form of the present Received Version. But, if it be attempted still to insist (in opposition to the well-known usage of the language) upon the impropriety of applying the word av to past time, and to contend for its ne cessary application in the case before us to continued being ; let the Unitarian take the full advantage of the still closer a The old rendering by Wiclif is made rich by his neediness — " and ghe perhaps not inferior to any — And ye witen the grace of oure Lord Issus Crist, know the grace of our Lord Jesus for he was maad nedi for ghou whanne Christ, for he was made needy for you he was riche, that ghe schulden be maad when he was rich, that ye should be riche bi his nedynesse. " UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 207 approximation of this text to that of Philippians, by the more perfect agreement of *£2N with the force of "TnA'PXXlN, and the more emphatical designation of the nature and subsistence of Christ a; namely, that, being in his nature rich, he became poor, &c. If these new light expositors will have the matter thus, it cannot be helped. The other parts of the sentence they cannot possibly shake. They may add strength by this buttress, if they will. I shall now lay before the reader a note upon the passage, extracted from one of those Commentators, to whom the Unitarians are sometimes desirous to appeal. Rosenmuller says, on this 9th verse of 2 Cor. — " Quod quum esset rerum omnium Dominus ditissimus, i. e. beatitate abundantissimus, tamen propter vos in maxima paupertate vixit in his terris, ut ejus paupertate divites fieretis, i. e. etsi poterat esse bea- tissimus, quippe filius Dei, tamen multas calamitates pertulit, ut fehces fieretis, et omnibus bonis cumularemini. In verbis wxouawg av ponitur species fehcitatis, intelligitur autem omnis felicitas. Non enim Christus ullo tempore fuit dives, ut nos divites pecuniis dicimur. — Fuit autem beatitate abun dantissimus priusquam in has terras adspectabilis venit. Sic etiam paupertate Christi omnis ejus humilitas et vita serum- narum plena est intelhgenda. Hose enim, Deo ita volente, salutis nostras causa facta est." — Schleusner is another au thority, to whom these writers frequently pretend to refer. How does he explain this passage ? — " oti 5i' i/ftx; eVtojxeuo-e, wxouo-iog w, qui vestrum causa pauper factus est, cum tamen esset ipsi facultas rebus omnibus pro arbitrio utendi, rerumque omnium dominium ; seu, cum tamen esset felicis- simus et beatissimus. Intelligitur autem ibi $61-a ilia, quam 3 Dr. Middhton says, " I know not, both for av and for vttxpxojv. He, like indeed, whether v»x^x,"v may not be other commentators, refers 2 Cor. viii. rendered pre-existing; for Suidas, 9, to Phil. ii. 6, &c, for fuller explana- edit. Kust. vol. iii. p. 532, observes, tion : and in his illustration of essendo re virxpx,uv 6VK ec^^s ro itvxt fffifixivit, in forma di Dio, &c, in the latter, he &XXx re txXxi ilvxt, xx) nPOEI~NAI says, " possedeva quella gloria divina, QSxvw." — Doct. of the Greek Art. pp. come sua propria di natura, essendo 538, 539. — Diodati, in his admirable uguale in ogni cosa al Padre in verita, e translation, uses the same word essendo, di ragione eterna." 208 supplementary remarks on the Christus ab ^terno habuisse apud Deum diserte in n. t. TRADITUR " — " 'ilia ii/tiT; th exzivou icvw^i'ia. wXovrno-v)TE, ut VOS ejus paupertate et humili statu et conditione redderemini participes felicitatis Christianorum." a Thus, we see, that, as to the passage before us, we have every circumstance, that can determine a mind capable of forming a sound judgment, in favour of the sense which has been ascribed to it in our common Version : the meaning of the words, the force of the context, the turn of the reasoning, the comment supphed by a parallel passage of the same writer, the authority of the Versions, the judgment of the ablest critics. We have all. But then this sense lets in the pre-existence of Christ: and, therefore, it cannot be the true one. Make what havoc you will, of language, and con text, and reasoning, and authorities, the thing cannot be. Another sense must be devised: and another translation, though it be such as was never heard or thought of for near 1800 years, must be contrived, so as to exclude the ob noxious meaning; and to satisfy Mr. Belsham's man of " sound understanding and honest mind," (who, not incon veniently, may be destitute of all information upon these subjects,) that the true interpretation of the Apostle, is such as would equally prove the pre-existence of every person who was a miser, as that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (See Calm Inq. p. 122.) But now, the absurd notion of our Lord's pre-existence a Locke has given no explanatory by Diodati — "Rich,"] in the posses- note, but he has rendered the passage sion of a perfect happiness and glory in in a manner, that supports the re- his divine nature. He became,] he hath ceived Version decidedly against the taken upon him our nature with all the Unitarian reading — "who, being rich, miseries, wants, and obligations, Phil. made himself poor for your sake, that ii. 7, to gain for you the treasures of you, by his poverty, might become God's grace, righteousness and eternal rich." — It is manifest, that the Editors life." And agreeable to this is his ac- receive but little countenance in any curate translation — " che voi conosciate quarter, for their novel and inconsistent la gratia del Signornostro Jesu Christo; interpretation of the text. Perhaps cioi, ch' egli, essendo ricco, s' e fatto there is no more satisfactory explana- pouero per voi ; accioche voi arrichiste tion given of the several parts of the per la sua pouerta.'' verse than that which has been given UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 209 being completely shut out by this newly-discovered version of the passage, how is the real meaning and apphcation to be rendered intelligible, to the " sound understanding and honest mind" of this unbiassed and uninformed arbiter of Scripture truth ? — " Ye know the gracious goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that while he was rich, yet for your sakes he lived in poverty, that through his poverty ye might be rich." — Rich in what ? " Rich in miraculous powers, which he could employ if he pleased to his own advantage. But for the benefit of his followers he chose to lead a life of poverty and indigence," &c. {Imp. Vers. p. 416.) We see then that the riches of our Lord consisted in his power of having riches, by which he might have secured himself against poverty, and have lived a rich man, richer even than the richest of the Corinthians. And this the Editors follow up, by remarking, that " this was a very proper example to the Corinthians, which they might feel and imitate." Un doubtedly it was. — Our Saviour gave up his riches, (riches, it appears here, in the literal sense,) and, therefore, the Co rinthians ought to give up theirs. The example goes farther. Our Lord gave up his riches for the benefit of others : the Corinthians were now to do the same. This is all correct and natural. Riches are literally spoken of throughout the entire passage, and the example conse quently becomes much " more pertinent and apphcable than a supposed descent from a prior state of existence and feli city, to which there could be nothing analogous in the case of the Corinthians :" the Corinthians not having on their part descended from any such state. Still, however, one difficulty, I fear, must hang upon the mind of the man of " sound understanding :" for, we have hitherto entirely for gotten (after the example of the Editors) one important clause of the sentence : we have forgotten to explain how it was, that through our Lord's poverty the Corinthians were to be rich. Were they to gain the riches which our Lord de clined to use ? Or how were they to be rendered wealthy by his poverty ? According to the interpretation of the Editors, VOL. II. p 210 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE the riches, which they derived from our Lord's poverty, they were called on to impart to their indigent brethren, so as to diminish the evils of their poverty. The whole is quite in telligible, — if, indeed, the Editors would be but kind enough to add the one trifling circumstance of explanation, to which we have alluded ; namely, in what manner our Saviour's want of riches swelled the coffers of the Corinthians. Here, how ever, Mr. Belsham supphes the deficiency of his brother Editors. He informs his man of "sound understanding," that, although riches were spoken of literally a, in the first " This writer has not actually used the word " literal" as applied to riches in this clause, but the whole train of his reasoning pronounces the word for him. — Dr. Carpenter speaks of the expres sion as " almost literal." Almost literal I Does he mean by this, something that is neither figurative nor literal ? Perhaps it may bear explana tion. The truth is, the matter is rather puzzling to the Unitarian commentator. He knows not well what to make of this clause. He cannot say, in strictness, that the word " rich " is literally em ployed here, and he is unwilling to ad mit expressly that it is figurative. The thing is, accordingly, huddled up, in such a way, as to leave on the mind of the reader the general impression of a literal application, although it is not actually asserted. This sort of applica tion is, I suppose, what Dr. Carpenter intends, when he speaks of it as " almost literal." ( Unit, the Doct, &c, p. 232.) And I have, accordingly, spoken of the application of the word by the Unitarian writers as literal, because their argument requires that they should be so under stood. But the truth is, that their real application of the word " rich" in the first clause, (let them call it almost literal, or what they will,) is decidedly figurative. " Rich in miracles " (even though such miracles alone were here intended as might create literal riches) is still to be figuratively "rich." And, consequently, the Unitarian version of this passage is fairly exposed to the fol lowing judicious animadversion. " The plain reader — even admitting him to think with the Unitarian Editor, that our Lord was rich and poor at the same time, — still would conclude, that the adjectives rich and poor were applied to our Saviour's condition in a sense directly and literally opposite to each other. This passage then, taken in this obvious sense, would clearly point out to him the twofold character of the person to whom it referred, as the Son of God, the Creator and great Pro prietor of all things; and the Son of Man, ' as having nowhere to lay his head. ' For certainly it would not oc cur to the plain reader, that the Apostle meant to describe our Saviour as at the same time rieh in miracles, and poor in condition; for this would be to make the Apostle, without any ap parent reason, write figuratively and literally of the same person in the same sentence ; an incongruous mode of writ ing, calculated to lead into error. " See page 55 of the Archdeacon of Sanaa's Charge, June 1815 : — a publication, containing, in addition to much valu able matter on other subjects, some re marks of distinguished judgment and force on the Unitarian method of inter preting the Scriptures To what has been here so justly observed in this passage, much need not be added. It may be sufficient to say, that not only would it never occur to any plain and UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 211 clause, with respect to our Lord ; (and properly so, because riches and the imparting of them form the entire subject of the Apostle's address ;) yet they were not intended literally, in the second clause, .with respect to the Corinthians. We are told by Mr. Belsham, here, of what " the connexion re quires." We now find, that, although hitherto we ought na turally to use the word rich in a literal sense ; we shall here fall into downright absurdity, unless we drop that sense of the word immediately. Mr. Belsham informs us, that in this place the word should " be taken in a figurative sense : rich in faith, in holiness, in benevolence, and in the promises and blessings of the Gospel :" — in every thing, in short, but what he and his brother Editors had hitherto contended must be signified by the word. ¦But here, Mr. Belsham's man of " sound understanding " may possibly recollect, that he had been assured by the Calm Inquirer, and his brother Editors, again and again, that hteral and figurative acceptations of the same word are not to be admitted in the same sentence ; that " good writers do not in grave discourse capriciously change the meaning of words," &c. ; and that, upon this very principle of interpret ation, he had been already pressed by Mr. B. and the Edit ors, to part with many texts, in which the doctrine of Christ's pre-existence seemed to be clearly expressed. (See Calm Inq. p. 50, &c, also pp. 155 — 157, of this volume.) But, then, it is manifest, that, unless this canon be relinquished in this place, the whole of this new translation of the sentence would become unintelligible, and must consequently be given up ; and then the doctrine of the pre-existence necessarily comes unsophisticated understanding, that remote degree, could have been in- "rich" and "poor" were in this clause tended here under the word "rich." applied to our Lord in reference to In truth, a new revelation would be different subjects, or that they were not requisite, to satisfy any man of " sound directly and literally opposed to each understanding," that such was the re- other ; but it is manifest, that it would ference of the expression. And yet, it never occur to such an understanding, is to a person of this description, that that miracles, which are never once the Unitarian critics profess their will- mentioned or alluded to in the most ingness here and elsewhere to appeal. p2 212 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE in ; which, the man of " sound understanding " must know, cannot be true. Well, then ; the word, of course, must be figurative in this clause. How goes on the explanation now ? How could our Saviour's want of literal wealth make his fol lowers figuratively rich ? How was the circumstance of our Lord's being poor, to make them holy ? This again puts the man of " sound understanding " to a stand. But here, also, there is a ready explanation for him. It was not the mere poverty, but the voluntary submission to that poverty ; the example of fortitude and self-denial, in rehnquishing the riches which he enjoyed (potentially) in his miraculous powers. He possessed the power of working miracles at his pleasure, he had, as Mr. Lindsey and Air. Belsham express it, " all nature at his command, and could supply every want." {Calm Inq. p. 126.) How is this? replies the man of " sound understanding." You have said elsewhere (p. 447), that Christ "was a man, constituted in all respects like other men, subject to the same infirmities, the same ignorance, prejudices, and frailties :" and yet you now say, that he had " all nature at his command." But so far from having " all nature at his command," has not Dr. Priestley, one of your greatest luminaries, already satisfied all " rational christians " of " sound understanding," that the power of working miracles was not inherent in our Lord ; that he merely "spoke the word, or used some indifferent action, (such as anointing the eyes of the blind man,,) and God produced the effect ;" that, in the supposed working of the miracle by Christ or any other prophet, all that was " necessary as a proof of their divine mission," was, that Ihey " should be able to foretell what God would do, (which, in fact, is all they pretended to,)" and that, in truth, Christ, no more than any other of the prophets, had the smallest power, of himself, to work any miracle ? In this view of the case, (which, indeed, seems the only consistent one for a Unitarian,) it becomes unavoidable to inquire, how any particular power can be said to have been UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 213 given to our Lord, which he did not actually display : or rather, as Dr. Priestley would more correctly put it, how he could foretell, that things would be done through him, which, in fact, it did not please God should be done ? The " power of feeding the multitude — of causing the miraculous draught of fishes," &c, which God deemed necessary for the proof of his mission, was of course permitted to him. But, if God did not deem the power of " supplying himself and his friends with all the comforts, the conveniencies, and the ele gancies of life," {Calm Inq. p. 126,) necessary for the proof of our Lord's mission, and, therefore, did not bestow upon him this power, of course he could not have had such a power. It follows, then, that he was not rich ; he had not the mi raculous power of making wealth ; he had not, like the " miser" his hidden coffers : he was literally poor, and could not be otherwise. How, then, did his poverty make his fol lowers holy ? The puzzle still continues. If our Lord had not his miraculous powers inherent in his nature, but was merely enabled to connect some act of his with the miracle wrought by a power not his own ; or rather, to declare, be forehand, that such miracle would be wrought ; we cannot admit the possibihty of any miracle being wrought through his instrumentality, which was not actually so wrought. In this case, we can only know what could be, from what has been. The consequences from this view of the subject being fatal to the exposition of the passage given us by the Editors, the modern race of Unitarians find it necessary to abandon it altogether. Mr. Belsham and Mr. Lindsey inform us, on the contrary, (as we have already remarked,) that our Lord " had all nature at his command." {Calm Inq* p. 126.) a Mr. Behham has, in this same judicious writer, on this passage, con- page, described our Lord as, " rich in tain so much intrinsic value, that I can- miraculous powers, which it was at his not deny the reader the satisfaction of option to employ for his own benefit," — perusing them in his own words — "Mi an assertion, which, we have already raculous powers, which ii was at his seen at p. 209, has likewise been made option to employ for his own benefit! by the Editors. The remarks of a What a strange supposition is this ! A 214 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE And Mr. Belsham again (at pp. 174, 175, 176) states, that he " possessed a voluntary power of working miracles," with- prophet of the Most High, with mira culous, that is, with almighty power, at his own disposal, to use, as he may in cline, for promoting his own wealth, and honour, and aggrandisement! Divine power transferred to a creature 1 sub jected to the will and pleasure of a mere man !" — " Such transference of Divine power, I would, in the first place, re mark, is a natural impossibility. The might which effects the miracle, resides in God alone. It never can belong to the creature. And residing, as it must, in God alone, it can never be exerted to gratify the will of a creature, who would pervert it to a selfish purpose, or to any purpose different from that which he is commissioned to accomplish, and for the accomplishment and vindication of which alone, the interposition of the power is pledged. The contrary sup position is pregnant with consequences the most serious and fatal. It destroys the certainty of the evidence of miracles, and thus subverts one of the main pil lars on which the truth of Christianity rests. For, if miraculous power was entirely a discretionary power, lodged in the hands and placed at the will of its possessor, to be used for any purpose he pleased ; then, what security have we, that it has, in every instance, been used agreeably to the design for which it was bestowed? — always in support of truth, and never of error ?— always for the accomplishment of Divine, and never of selfish ends ? The very ex pression, that it was ' at his option ' how he should employ this power — at the option of a man like ourselves, subject to the perverting influence of human infirmities and human passions, — sup poses the possibility of the one, as well as of the other : and thus a miracle, however fully ascertained, ceases to be a conclusive evidence of truth, or a cer tain indication of the Divine will." Wardlaw's Discourses, pp. 50, 51. — These admirable reflections, of a sound judgment, and a reasoning mind, pre sent such a view of a discretionary, or optionary power of working miracles, as must render it impossible for any one, who really possesses a " sound under standing," to conceive a mere human being invested with such a power. Mr. Behham, however, (as we see above,) claims such a power for our Lord : and, as to the danger of its being perverted under any circumstances in which our Lord could be placed ; that, he thinks, was completely guarded against by the discipline which our Lord underwent from the temptation. ( Calm Inq. p. 174.) From this, it appears, our Lord had acquired an unerring dis cretion, which secured the certainty of the exercise of such vast " powers only upon proper occasions." The wilderness, it must be observed, stands, with the modern Socinians, in the place of the heaven, into which, ac cording to the old Socinians, our Lord was taken up after his baptism. If we ask, where our Lord received those divine communications, the acquisition of which is (as these critics inform us) what is intended, by his ascending up to heaven, we are told, by some of them, it was in the wilderness ; in which our Lord fancied himself transported into Heaven. ( Calm Inq. p. 42. ) If, again, we ask, how our Lord, being supposed a mere man, could be secured against the possible misapplication of those vast miraculous powers, which were entirely and absolutely at his own disposal, we are again sent to the wilderness; where, we are informed, as we have just seen, that he was duly disciplined for this purpose by his temptation. ( See also Calm Inq. p. 449. ) It happens very fortunately for the Unitarians, that the wilderness presents a considerable por tion of unoccupied space, over which they may spread as many as they please of those imagined transactions which the furnishing out of their scheme may UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 215 out "being prompted by any divine suggestion :" for, that, had it not been so, there could have been " no room for the require, without the slightest inter ference from the Evangelical historians. At the same time, as these critics have ohjected, in opposition to the old So cinian notion of the ascent of our Lord into heaven after his baptism, that no such event has been recorded by the Evangelists, or appears to have been heard of or believed by early Christians, (see Calm Inq. p. 43,) may we not reasonably inquire of Mr. Behham and his associates, in which of the Gos pels, or in what writings of early Christians we may find related the cir cumstance of our Lord's having been disciplined by his temptations in the wil derness, so as to prevent him from abusing the miraculous powers with which he was intrusted. But surely, if, after all, Mr. Behham can no better sustain the idea of an ab solute and perfectly optionary power of working miracles possessed by a mere human being, than by the additional consideration of a certain discipline (in the wilderness) being sufficient to se cure such a being against the possible abuse of such a power, he needed not to have been at the trouble of fabricat ing such history to support such philo sophy. For, even admitting gratui tously to Mr. Behham both the history and the philosophy; admitting that a discipline was administered in the wil derness to guard our Lord against a wil ful abuse of his miraculous powers, and admitting that such discipline must suf fice to secure a mere human being, a creature of passions and infirmities, against the possibility of an intentional misapplication of those powers ; what was there to guard against their erro neous exercise in a being labouring under the " ignorance and prejudices " of human nature ? For how stands the case respecting the knowledge of our Lord ? Naturally, (Mr. Behham in forms us,) our Lord was subject to the very same infirmities, ignorance, and prejudices, as other men : ( Calm Inq. p. 447 : ) and, supernaturally, he was instructed only so far "as was necessary for the execution of his commission, that is, for the revelation and proof of the doctrine of eternal life, and that the favour of God extended to the Gentiles equally with the Jews ; " — so that when he has " delivered opinions upon sub jects unconnected with the object of his mission, such opinions, and his reason ings upon them, are to be received with the same attention and caution with those of other persons in similar cir cumstances," &c, (pp. 451, 452.) The same writer again informs us, (p. 472,) that " it no more derogates from the authority of Christ, than it does from that of Moses, that his inspiration should not extend beyond the proper objects of his mission, and that in other cases he should entertain the same opinions, and be liable to the same mis conceptions, as his countrymen, and tliose amongst whom he was educated. These, also, Mr. Behham informs us, are the opinions held and avowed by Unitarians at large. What then fol lows, on the principles here laid down ? Our Lord's inspiration was restricted, whilst his power of working miracles was unlimited. On all subjects but those connected with the doctrine of a future life, and the calling in of the Gentiles jointly with the Jews, he was equally liable to error and prejudice with other men. But upon all subjects, it was in his power to work miracles, in attestation of his truth and of his know ledge. He had the power then of giving divine attestation to human error. And against this misapplication of his miraculous powers even the discipline of the wilderness furnishes no security ; because that discipline is only contended for as in counteraction to wilful abuse : but it is of the nature of error to be un- 216 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE exercise either of discretion or benevolence." Thus we see that Dr. Priestley, who for a certain time was looked up to as the infallible of the English Unitarians, is now given up as having gone too far. He, like a true "rational christian," had followed his own principles fairly on to their legitimate results. He saw, that, having represented Christ as a mere man, like in all respects to any other man, he could not consistently allow to him the entire dominion over the works of nature, so as to be able, at his own will and pleasure, to suspend and alter the laws of the material creation. He, therefore, made our Lord the mere instru ment of the divine power, and left nothing of miracles to his own vohtion. This answered the purpose of Unitarians, so long as they were content to flourish away upon mere rational principles, as they called them. But, so soon as their evil genius tempted them to turn expounders of Scripture, they found that this legitimate result of their system was no longer tenable. They found it overwhelmingly contradicted by numerous and decisive texts. And not being prepared to eject these texts altogether as spurious ; — having discovered no early heretic, in whose copy of the N. T. they were said to be wanting ; nor any German Theologue, who had ex pressed a conjecture that possibly they were not genuine; — they were obliged to abandon Dr. Priestley, and their own system, and to contend for a power, possessed by a mere ordinary human being, not inferior to that which belongs to the great Author of nature himself — the power of suspending and altering the laws of nature. In truth, it seems most unaccountable, how a Unitarian , could be led to so momentous an admission, as that our Lord " had all nature at his command." It will be difficult for him, under such an admission, to escape from the monstrous absurdity, which he charges upon the Arian, of a Greater conscious of itself. Thus the Unitarian evidence of miracles, and enlist even philosophy, by its separation of know- Omnipotence itself in the possible sup- ledge from power, would subvert the port of falsehood. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 217 God and a Lesser : an absurdity, on which he contrives to fasten others not inferior, of his own manufacture ; one of which is, that the lesser God was to exercise his universal dominion over nature, was to possess his omnipotence, but for a limited and short portion of time ; not much more than the space of one year, if we are to take Mr. Belsham's account of our Lord's ministry. {Calm Inq. p. 449.) And, what makes the whole of this extraordinary admission of the Uni tarian the more extraordinary, is, that it is intended for the purpose of diminishing the rank of that Being, to whom such vast and divine power is ascribed : the admission of this power, being, in some cases, the only means, whereby the language of Scripture, announcing the pre-existence of our Lord, can possibly be evaded. And thus, for the purpose of proving, that pre-existence is not to be attributed to our Lord, and for the further purpose of thence inferring that he was not more than man, they contend for his possessing that which makes him not less than God : they contend also, for his possessing this, under circumstances, which might permit him to give the stamp of divine attestation to human error. Upon the whole, I fear that the man of " sound understand ing" will find himself most sadly bewildered by the clear and satisfactory explanations of Unitarian critics ; and that he will ultimately be led to suspect, that they are creating more mysteries" in the world of reason, than the most determined orthodox had ever contended for in the world of grace. Although the remarks upon the Unitarian treatment of this text have already run to a length far beyond what to many a Dr. Young has truly pronounced (Sermons, vol. ii. p. 78.) — In truth, of the Socinians, that they " have been the Socinians seem, at all times, to most unfortunate in the execution of have had a pleasure in making mys- their main design : for " (he adds) teries, in whatever is in its own nature " they have not purged mystery out unmysterious, such as reason and lan- of the Scripture, they have only changed guage; but, in that, which must be mys- its place ; they have taken mystery out terious to man, as being placed beyond of the doctrine of Scripture, where it was his comprehension, namely the divine venerable, and worthy of the majesty of nature, they will not allow any mys- God, and have placed it in the phrase tery, not even on the testimony of God of Scripture, where it is opprobrious himself. and repugnant to God's sincerity." 218 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE may appear requisite ; yet I cannot refuse a word or two to the same subject, as connected with the Unitarian exposition of the corresponding passage in Philipp. ii. 6. " Being in the form of God" is there represented, as " being rich" was here, the "being invested with miraculous power;" (/. V. and Calm Inq. p. 143 ;) and iaurov exhao-s in that place is, hke imuxMTz in this, the " divesting himself of" that form of God, i. e. of those miraculous powers, in which that form consisted. (Ibid.) That is, say the /. V. and Mr. Belsham, Christ " did not absolutely relinquish his miraculous powers, but submitted to indignity and crucifixion, as though he were destitute of power to help himself:" or, as Mr. B. states it, " when the purposes of his mission required it, he conducted himself as though he were totally destitute of all supernatural gifts." These writers, it is to be observed, have been most careful to inform us, that the expression in this text is ex tremely strong — he " emptied himself" — •" he exhausted himself, parted with all without retaining any thing " — " he divested himself of every thing that is intended by the form and likeness of God." (See Calm Inq. pp. 138, 139.) But, at the same time, we are taught to recollect, that our Lord did not absolutely relinquish, that of which he had thus totally emptied, and exhausted, and divested himself. The man of " sound understanding" is informed, that, although the Apostle has declared, that our Lord had divested himself of certain powers, he only appeared as though he had done so ; but that, in reality, he had not divested himself of any, but possessed them secretly all the while : just as before, he seemed as though he was poor, at the very time when he possessed an unknown hoard of riches. Thus our Lord most miraculously appears to have been really invested with, and really divested of, the same powers, at one and the same moment of time. " While he was poor he was rich," both /. V. and Mr. Bel sham chant forth here again as clearing up all. (/. V. p. 455. Calm Inq. p. 139.) Moreover, these critics take prodigious pains to satisfy us, that this "form of God" had nothing to do with an internal unitarian version of the new testament. 219 nature or essence ; but simply consisted in an external appear ance, a resemblance. This resemblance, also, they apprize us, consisted in the exercise of miraculous powers. What then fol lows ? Our Lord in not exercising those miraculous powers, di vested himself of that resemblance ; but at the same time con tinuing in the form of God, he still retained that resemblance : so that, during the time in which he continued to bear a resem blance to God, he was all along destitute of any such resem blance Mop a)p.iv rev Xpttrrov, xxiais xxi rtvis xvruv ivritpxtrxv. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted. Rec. Vers. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them also tried him. Imp. Vers. Nor let us try Christ now, as some of them tried God at that time. Imp. Vers. note. Nor let us try the Anointed, (the Messiah,) as some of them also tried the Anointed (Moses). Mr. Simpson, as quoted by Dr. Carpenter. By which of these Versions the reader 232 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE any thing that could (even by them) be called a translation, they could derive it. They have been, therefore, compelled, not only to invent (I must term it) a new translation for the text, but also to invent a new text for the translation. Their plan, in a word, has been, first to shape the Scripture ac cording to their theory ; and then to establish their theory, by the Scripture. In truth, it is scarcely possible for any person who has not submitted to the odious labour of ex amining for himself, (an odious labour / can truly aver it to be,) to form an adequate idea, of the mode in which the Sacred Word has been abused and falsified, throughout the version (or it should rather be entitled perversion) of the New Testament by the Unitarians. Examples abound, of a nature similar to that which has been just adduced : and many of a quality yet more insidious and dishonest. But the point with which we are at present more imme diately concerned is not so much the departure from the is honestly treated, with regard to the original, he may judge for himself. — For the most valuable remarks, both on the reading and true interpretation of this important text, I refer the reader to Cameron, whom I have often found strong reasons to recommend, as a ju dicious Commentator. ( See Crit. Sac. vii. pp. 2992, 2993.) Wolf also de serves to be consulted. Cur. Phil, in locum. Diodati's translation is, as usual, correct; and on the word " Christ," supplies this pointed mar ginal illustration, " II quale e' quell' angelo, che andava col popolo ; chia- mato cosi per lo suo ujficio ; e signore iddio, per la sua natura." — Doddridge, also, is well deserving of notice. He adds to a good explanation of the ori ginal, " This is a considerable text in proof of Christ's residence with the Church in the Wilderness, as the angel of God's presence." — On the "rock that followed" the Israelites, being called " Christ," in a verse preceding this one and treating on the same gene ral subject, it may be worth while to re mark, that Grotius uses the following words : — " Deus 11X in Veteri Test. Christus in Novo." This, with good reason. The same rock, which Je hovah is called in the O. T. , our Lord Jesus Christ is justly called in the New. But, the remark, it is to be remembered, is Grotius's. I mention this for the satisfaction of Unitarians Indeed, ¦considering that they wish much to re present him as a fellow-labourer, they are obliged very often to quarrel with him. When, in following on the re semblance between the rock in the Wilderness and Christ, he is led to make the following observations : — " Christus ad mortem percussus spiritum suis obtinuit : " and " Christus per spi ritum nobiscum est ad finem saeculi : " lie is pretty smartly rebuked by Mr. Lindsey, who professes himself dis satisfied with his too refined and un warranted allusions. (Sequel, &c, p. 260. ) But it was more than the refine ment of the allusion, that here displeased Mr. Lindsey. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 233 Primate or Griesbach, or from the MSS. Versions and Fa thers, nor yet the imposition of a false text, as the departure from the Primate, without acknowledgment. It must, indeed, be admitted, that, with respect to the clause hitherto considered, the Editors are not chargeable on this head : for, in their note, they confess, that, both in the Greek and New- come, the reading is, " See that ye refuse not him who speaketh." But they take care to acknowledge nothing more. They give not the shghtest intimation of their studied varia tions from the Primate, in the succeeding clauses of the verse, devised for the purpose of adjusting its several parts to that apphcation of the passage, which their hypothesis re quires, and which is precisely contradictory to that of New- come. How laboriously and carefully this is done, may be seen on looking to the two contrasted renderings at page 116 of this volume. It should also be particularly observed, that, in their note, the Editors enter into an argument, for the purpose of shewing that Christ is not the object of reference in this passage ; and yet they never once let fall the most remote hint, that the Primate has so translated it, as to lead to a directly opposite conclusion ; much less, that he has drawn out that conclusion in a note, the sole purpose of which is to mark to the reader's attention, that our Lord is here alluded to by the writer, as " the Angel of the Covenant, who presided at giving the Law." The notice which they have taken of the Primate's rendering of the first clause does not (it should be remembered) necessarily convey any idea of a difference between him and them on the main subject and true sense of the entire passage : since, under the words, " him who speaketh," the Primate might possibly have under stood God, although he might not think it right to introduce it into the text. And as the Editors inform us, that, by these words, God must evidently have been intended, and, at the same time, acknowledge no other difference than the mere use of these words in the Primate's translation, they have, in truth, given the reader to understand that there is no other ; although, both in the text and notes, he and they 234 supplementary remarks on the are diametrically opposed : his version of this passage in volving in it a direct declaration of the pre-existence of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his heavenly origin*; whilst a I had conceived that, in Number III. (pp. 148—160,) I had noticed the principal evasions and glosses, by which the Unitarians have struggled (although with little effect) to escape from the ad mission of our Lord's heavenly origin and pre-existence. These, however, it is not easy to exhaust. Another, and of very important bearing, is to be found, in their treatment of the passage in 1 Cor. xv. 47. The Greek of this text runs thus, 'O wpures xvQpuvres ix yvis /Ce'ixes' o oivripes elvtlpejvros a xvptes eg evpxvev. But, from the variations of MSS. Griesbach is induced to think it probabh, that the word xvptes is not genuine, and that ovpxvov should be followed by I ovpivies. The Received Version, abiding by the Greek, renders the passage, " The first man is, of the earth, earthy : the second man is the Lord from heaven." The Vulgate reads " Primus homo de terra, terrenus : secundus homo de coelo, coelestis : " — to which the old Version of Wiclif ad heres, "The firste man of erthe is ertheli, the secunde man of hevene is hevenli." Whether we abide by the Greek or the Latin reading of this text, is of little consequence as to the main point, in which they perfectly agree : namely, that the words, ix yfis, express the origin of the first Adam; and the words, lg ovpavov, express the origin of the second Adam; that is, as Bishop Burgess justly distinguishes, " not the origin of his mortal frame, but the origin of him who assumed that mortal frame. Whether the word xvptes be expressed or not, is a matter of little moment, (and its application indeed must follow as a consequence,) if it be admitted, that the second Adam came from heaven, when he first appeared upon this earth. The Unitarians, accordingly, to avoid a confession so completely ruinous to their cause, render the passage thus: '.' The first man was from the ground, earthy : the second man will be from heaven [heavenly]." Now, here, we have a change of tense, which not only has no foundation in either the Greek or the Latin text, but is in direct oppo sition to both ; since in both the perfect sameness of the corresponding clauses obviously determines the sameness of the tense. The total inadmissibility of this arbitrary rendering of the Unita rians, and the grossness of their endea vour to pervert the sense of Scripture in this important passage, have been already so triumphantly exposed by Bishop Burgess, that it is unnecessary for me to add any thing farther upon these subjects. I shall, therefore, con fine myself, simply, to the mode in which it has been attempted to sustain the Unitarian version of the passage by Mr. Behham; whose special office it is (as we have already had frequent occasion to observe) to vamp the flimsy criticisms of the Imp. Vers, with the equally flimsy material of the Calm In quiry. The grand point to be established for the Unitarians, is, as we have seen, the use of the future, in the second clause of the text: — "the second man will be from heaven:'' — for, if we read " was from heaven," actum est! it is all over with the Unitarians ; inasmuch as, in this passage, the origin of the being, without any possible pretence as to the doctrines, is unequivocally the subject. How does Mr. Behham pro ceed? Having made a good deal of flourish, as the I. V. had also done be fore him, about the words xvptes and ebpxvtos; having also lumped together some irrelevant matter about the Polish Socinians and Dr. Price ; and having observed somewhat upon the interpret ation of Newcome, Whitby, and Ahx- ander ; having, in short, appeared to say a good deal, whilst he took care to preserve a profound silence throughout, UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 235 theirs excludes, not only his pre-existence and heavenly de scent, but himself altogether, from the import of the original. (as the /. V. also has done,) respect ing any arguments in favour of the future tense in the second clause, — the single point on which the entire question rests, — he, all of a sudden, very calmly and composedly asserts, " The Vulgate renders the text, ' The first man was of the earth, earthy. The second man will be from heaven, heavenly.'" (Calm Inq. p. 121.) He then triumphantly concludes ; and all is settled. In this manner, one text after another, of those that proclaim our Lord's pre-existence, is extin guished by the Calm Inquirer and his Coadjutors. And so the cause of Soci nian expurgation goes forward. Perhaps, in the annals of dishonest controversy another instance like this is not to be found. A discussion of un important matter is busily kept up : the main point of difference, and in truth the only one deserving of attention, the change of tense, is passed over, as if it were a thing not at all in dispute : the Vulgate is then quoted, in direct oppo sition to the truth, as reading the words " was," and " will ee," in the two corresponding clauses : and thus, indi rectly, the false rendering of the text by the Unitarians is sustained by a false quotation from the Vulgate ; and by a quotation which the author, if his memory had lasted from one page to the other, must have known to be false; since, in the preceding page, he had himself cited the very words of the Vul gate: — " Primus homo de terra, ter- renus : secundus homo de ccelo, cceles- tis : " — in which words, there is not only no justification of the change from was to will be ; but there is, on the con trary, as in the original Greek, a de claration, as strong as the analogies of language will admit, that the tense em ployed in the first clause must pass un changed into the second. In a word, there is given by the Vulgate itself a direct contradiction to the report which is made of it by the Calm Inquirer. The man of " sound understanding," however, whom he addressed in Eng- Ush on the one page, being possibly not exactly acquainted with what was con tained in the Latin on the ether, and being consequently unaware that his author was imposing on him a false translation, would of course be fully satisfied on the authority of the Vulgate, (more especially, as so much had been said to leave the general impression of uncertainty as to the true reading of the Greek text, and the consequent opinion, that the Vulgate was the only ancient authority to be relied on,) that in this passage could be found no proof of our Lord's pre-existence 1 What are we to think of the cause that needs such sup port ; and what of the interests that can attract such supporters 1 As to the passage itself, having been led to notice it, I cannot forbear recom mending to the reader the admirable discussion which it receives from Bishop Burgess, of. 87—92 of The Bible, &c. The manner in which this learned Pre late has treated the important subject to which it relates is such, that I do not fear to pronounce, that any candid reader, who will carefully examine what he has advanced, will find in it a com plete and irrefragable argument for the pre-existence and divinity of Christ, even had Scripture not spoken else where, so unequivocally and repeatedly, upon the subject. To the valuable re marks which are there to be found I shall add but a few observations. On the 45th verse of the chapter with which we are concerned, — a verse which, the bishop justly observes, is " a trying pas sage for an Unitarian," and on which, accordingly, the Editors of the I. V. and their brother commentators all cautiously abstain from making any re mark, — we find the following distinc tion laid down by Cyril, in speaking of the difference between the first and se- 236 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE In the treatment, then, of this passage of Hebrews, we find, at the same time, a direct fabrication of Scripture, and a cond Adam, as to the nature of that life, which, in this verse, is specified to belong respectively to each. Grotius thus translates the words of that Father: " In Adam fuit itriri^iiones qusedam ad vivendum, in Christo hipyux." This admirably marks that inherent power of giving life, that zrvivpcx Z,ao*oiovv rS rUs Buertires Xeyu of the writer against the doctrine of Apollinarius, which is also quoted by Grotius on Mark ii. 8; and which, in his note on 1 Cor. xv. 45, he describes to be (although he im properly traces its origin) " potestas etiam aliis dandi vitam, et quidem aeter- nam." — Excellent distinctions, on the subject of these verses, are given by several of the Fathers, as quoted by Suicer. ( Tlies. Eccl. i. 80, 81. 353.) The observations of that judicious com mentator Cameron, both on verse 45 and 47, deserve to be quoted. On verse 45 he says, " Opponit Apostolus spiritum anima, deinde viventi vivifi- cantem : hoc enim majus est ill o : nam qui dicit viventem, denotat actum im- manentem in aliquo ; qui vero dicit vivificantem, non modo actum in aliquo immanentem denotat, sed etiam ema- nantem et promanantem, quique in alio recipitur. " And, on the words, 'O Kvpios Ig evpxvev, in verse 47, he says : " Sic notat Apostolus haud dubie originem Christi hominis, qui e cado dicitur esse, non quod homo e ccelo ad nos descen- derit, sed quod Spiritus Sancti vi hu- mana natura coagmentata fuit et coap- tata Divinse naturae. Sic cum quaesivit Christus a Pharisseis, namquid Bap- tisma Johannis esset a ccelo, non hoc voluit, num Johannis baptisma esset e ccelo delapsum, sed, an autorem habue- rit coelestem." Dr. Doddridge also deserves to be consulted on these two verses: and Dr. Nares's remarks on the latter of them, in refutation of Dr. Carpenter, are particularly worthy of observation. I cannot forbear, also, for the satis faction of Unitarians, who are so de sirous of claiming Mr. Locke as a fa vourer of their doctrines, giving that writer's view of the passage in question. His paraphrase of the 47th, 48th, and 49th verses is as follows : — " The first man was of the earth, made up of dust, or earthy, particles : the second man is the Lord from heaven. Some, who have no higher an extraction, than barely from the earthy man, they, like him, have barely an animal life and constitution : but those, who are regene rate, and born of the heavenly seed, are, as he that is heavenly, spiritual and im mortal. And, as in the animal, cor ruptible, mortal state we were born in, we have been like him, that was earthy; so also shall we, who, at the resurrec tion, partake of a spiritual life from Christ, be made like him, the Lord from heaven, heavenly, i, c. live, as the spirits in heaven do, without the need of food, or nourishment, to support it, and without infirmities, decay, and death, enjoying a fixed, stable, unfleet- inglife." — Here is the succour, which Mr. Locke gives to those, who pro nounce Jesus Christ to have been a mere man : who deny, that he can be said, in the obvious sense of the words, to have come from heaven: who, in truth, deny that there is any such place as heaven : who ridicule the notion of separate spirits ; and still more the idea of their having a local or heavenly resi dence. I must yet go farther, and quote from one writer more, even from Mr. Wake field himself. He thus renders the 47th and 48th verses : — " The first, a man from the ground, was dust: the second, a man from heaven, was heaven ly. They that are earthy, are like the Adam of the ground ; and they that are heavenly, like him from heaven." I the more willingly refer to this writer, because it affords me the opportunity of noticing an additional act of disingenu- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 237 gross and deliberate imposition upon the reader, as to the Primate's translation. — And this, too, it should be recol- ousness, in the Editors of the /. V., who, in their note on the 47th verse, have adduced this author's name in such a manner, as to impress the reader with the belief that their novel version has he support of his authority, whilst his translation is directly the opposite of theirs: he reading "was" in both clauses of the verse, and admitting the heavenly origin of Christ ; whilst the whole force, or rather trick, of their version consists in an endeavour to ex clude the notion of that heavenly origin, by the arbitrary introduction of the future "will be." Thus, as we have before seen the Vulgate turned to dis honest account, in that supplement to the Version entitled the Calm Inquiry, we here find Mr. Wakefield turned to the same account, in the Version itself. And hence it is manifest, that even Wakefield will not answer the purposes of the modern Socinians. Were it indeed worth the trouble, abundance of reason might be pro duced, from a comparison of the two versions, why the Editors of the Imp. Version did not adopt Wakefield's as the basis of theirs. Some hobbling reasons, that cannot well be understood, are assigned by them for this determina tion, in the first page of their Introduc tion. But there was a prudence in it, of which they seem not disposed to boast. Departures from a Bishop of the Established Church were, of course, to be expected. But if they appeared very frequently to desert Wakefield, as not pushing his version far enough for their objects, it might furnish too open a disclosure of what those objects were, and thereby defeat the system of proselytism in which they have of late years so strenuously engaged ; since all, who possessed any moderation of judg ment, must naturally be put upon their guard against translators of the New Testament, who were obliged to aban don even Wakefield, as not hetero dox enough. On Mr. Wakefield's translation of the 47th verse I have one observation more to make ; viz. that he professes, in this, exactly to follow the Vulgate. I leave his translation, then, to stare at Mr. Behham's, which has been given at page 234. Having hitherto been employed, in this note, in adducing authorities against the Unitarian version of 1 Cor. xv. 47, I should not deal fairly, if I did not also bring forward one or two author ities, which I have happened to light upon, in its behalf. The well-known P. Harduin, in his commentary upon this place, is of opinion, that the e Itrxxros 'Aix/t. of the 45th verse, means any man indifferently, but such as he will be after his resurrection. — Jehnio goes yet farther. He is of opinion that even the phrase, Kvpios i% ovpxvov, is designed to be applied to every man, after his resurrection, (in which state he denominates him o*ivripos,) because he then triumphs over death, and is im mortal ! — Here, surely, are flights of interpretation, worthy even of Uni tarian wing. Here, too, not only is the future let in, to the perfect satisfac tion of the Unitarians ; but, to their equal satisfaction, our Lord Jesus Christ is altogether thrust out. There is a freedom, likewise, from all ancient pre judices, which might recommend par ticularly to their notice the former of these writers, who has discovered that our Saviour and his apostles preached in Latin ; and that almost all the clas sical productions, ascribed to the great writers of antiquity, are monkish forge ries of the middle ages. He possesses, in a word, that towering quality of " thinking for himself" the grand cha racteristic by which Unitarians seek to be distinguished, and which manifestly must belong to all such as can find no others to think with them. Whether the latter has distinguished himself by equally free exercises of his genius, I 238 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE lected, as in the other instances which we have adduced on a subject of vital bearing on the Unitarian scheme. know not: but both seem worthy to assist Unitarians in their critical re searches after truth. In the preceding page, some conjec tural reasons were assigned for the change of the original intention, formed by the Unitarians, of making Wake field's translation of the N. T. the basis of theirs. Many parts of his Ver sion, as was there hinted, it would have puzzled them much to accommodate to their favourite scheme : and then, it being necessary to speak in unqualified terms of the superior learning of the only scholar they had got amongst them, and, besides, he being of that descrip tion of Critic, who can never be wrong, but with whom all is certain and un- deniabh that he affirms, it would have defeated their purpose to have employed him as a constant fellow-labourer ; since, in that case, they could not have up held both him and their system. One must, necessarily, have been sacrificed to the other. But, by their present plan, both are judiciously preserved. He is called in wherever he happens to coincide with the Editors ; and then he comes forward, as if he bore the very Urim and Thummim on his breast, — learned, profound, and incontrovert ible, — and he is prudently forgotten on those more numerous occasions where his appearance would be unseasonable. One instance may be sufficient to give an idea of the difficulties which the Editors would have frequently to ex perience, not only in their contests with Mr. Wakefield's certainties, but in the contests among those certainties themselves. I the more willingly ad vert to it, because it brings to view another important testimony from the words of Scripture, in support of the general doctrine maintained throughout this and the foregoing notes, and the number to which they are annexed. On John xii. 41, " These things said Isaiah, when he saw his Glory," &c. Mr. Wakefield observes, — " The pro per ANTECEDENT to xbrev MOST CER TAINLY is Jesus, he being the Pre dicate of the context. " (Enquiry, &c. p. 135.) — Again, " xbrev MUST BE in terpreted of God, and not of Jesus " — "the Lord— the King — Jehovah of hosts," — " is the only antecedent to xbrev : " and he adds, " This appears to me undeniable." (New Test, i.398.) Now as that which is certain cannot well be supposed, in the mind which perceives that certainty, to differ from that which appears to the same mind to be undeniable, it should follow, that Mr. Wakefiell has here established the identity of Christ with the Jehovah of the O. T., which is exactly what the orthodox maintain to be the true import of the passage before us. This, how ever, cannot, for a moment, be admitted by the Unitarian Editors ; who strain every nerve to prove that this cannot possibly be the meaning of the text ; and who must consequently contend, that what Mr. Wakefield saw to be certainly true, directly denied that which he aho saw to be undeniable. It was at different times, it must, in deed, be confessed. But then, what he saw at each time, was (in the usual Unitarian style) " certain ;" was " un- deniadle." He is, indeed, entirely their own in every thing, but as pos sessing some little matter of learning ; or, I should rather say, — of scholarship. —On the passage just alluded to, our Unitarian Editors have, according to custom, falsified their authorities by a partial quotation. They have quoted Dr. Clarke upon it, as if he exactly agreed with them,- while in tbe rest of his observations upon this text (on which they are discreetly silent) he is em ployed in proving, that Christ is here and elsewhere described in the 0. T. as appearing and speaking in the name UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 239 The Unitarians, as they are bound to do by their system, strenuously contend, " that there is no evidence whatever to and person of the Father. (Script. Doct. 3d ed.'pp. 16. 109—112.) Mr. Behham, indeed, goes more directly to work than the Editors; for he makes Dr. Clarke maintain the direct con trary of this doctrine, which in express terras and repeatedly that writer labours to establish. (Calm Inq. p. 213.) Mr. Lindsey had before done the same. (Sequel, &c, pp. 353, 354.) It is of great importance, in ascertaining the true character of these writers, to show how grossly they have misrepresented Dr. Clarke. 1 shall, therefore, beg the reader's particular attention to a few remarks on this head ; especially, as they bear directly upon the present sub ject. They quote Dr. Clarke, for the pur pose of showing that they have his au thority in saying that, from this passage of Isaiah, no argument can be drawn in favour of Christ's personal appear ance in the time of the Prophets ; for, that Dr. Clarke, like the Unitarians, but "understands the Evangelist as affirming, That the prophet saw, that is, presaw, the glory of Christ, as Abra ham saw, i. e. presaw his day. John viii. 56." (See Calm Inq. p. 213.)— Now, to begin with the illustration, and to prove how far the foreseeing of Christ's day by Abraham, proves it to be Dr. Clarke's opinion, that Chrht was not seen by Abraham, in the plain sense of the words, take Dr. Clarke's own expressions " Acts vii. 2. The God of glory appeared unto our Father Abraham Not that any man hath seen the Father, &c. But God ap peared to Abraham by Christ, or Christ appeared to him in the name and person, in the authority and represent ation of the Father." (Sacr. Doct. p. 47, 3d ed. ) Thus we may be satis fied how far Dr. Clarke's use of the phrase, of Abraham's foreseeing Christ's day, interfered with his belief that Christ was personally seen by Abraham. Whe ther the same writer, then, meant, in speaking of Isaiah's foreseeing the glory of Christ's coming, to intimate, that Christ did not visibly appear, and ex hibit his personal glory , to the prophet, we may now reasonably judge. — But Dr. Clarke has not left the matter de pending upon any inference however obvious. He follows up the very pas sage, which the Unitarians have quoted, with these words, on which those writers have taken care to be rigidly silent. " Further ;" (that is, in confirmation of the main point, which he had before meant to impress, in the very passage quoted by the Editors; namely, that Isaiah did, " when he saw the glory of God the Father," actually " then see the Glory of Him, who was to come in the Ghry of his Father, i. e. that he then saw the Glory of Christ himself: in confirmation of this, I repeat, he says,)—" Further ; it is the constant doctrine of all the primitive writers of the Church, that every appearance of God the Father in the Old Testament, was Clirist appearing in the name or person of the Father [iv pop MTi terations ; save, only, in leaving out the foiirx, prm r'tXes, &c. , xa) oh xx? ilp/iev first two chapters, and, even of these, ¦raXtv ivriftiva aXXx t» fih, is er(eit*ev, they have retained the first four verses; trxpaxierru, rot. Js vpetrritwm xvu xi.ru, thus every way discrediting their own evx Ip03s (Zxit^atv, xXX' ifpo&teupyn/iivus unblemished model. There seems a oravrx itiptvottnvm. Epiph. Hares. treachery in their praise. They com- 42, page 31 1. mend, but to desert. Witness New- This is that pure copy of the Gospel come, Griesbach, and, now, even Mor al Luke, which, being " the only Gos- cum and the Ebionites. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 273 wise:" and, having established this by abundant authority, he closes with the expression of Tertullian concerning this heretic, that he used a knife, and not a style. { Works, vol. vi. pp. 657—660.) Such are the sentiments of Jones and Lardner respecting Marcion and his Gospel : that very Marcion, upon whose " learning and integrity " the Unitarian Editors rely in their adjustment of an important part of the canon of the N. T. : and that very Gospel, upon the authority of which they pronounce the first two chapters of St. Luke to be spu rious, in opposition to every Manuscript, every Version, and every ancient document, relating to the subject, which is known to be in existence throughout the world ! Having now followed the Editors to that tribunal, to which they are most willing to appeal, it is unnecessary for me to refer them to the numerous other distinguished critics, who a a On the subject of Marcion and his Gospel, there seems, now, indeed, to be scarcely more than one opinion amongst all well-informed writers, who have lately treated of it. From a more accurate examination of the ancient authorities relating to this Gospel, (Irenmus, Tertullian, and Epiphanius,) it has become the general opinion, that it was not intended as a copy of St. Luke's Gospel, but as an Evangelium compiled by Marcion for his own pur poses, from various sources, (the Gospel of Luke among others,) and opposed by him and his followers, to all the four Gospels, which the Catholics held to be canonical. This is the decided opinion of Sender (Proleg. in Ep. ad Gal. § 2, 3) and of Griesbach. (Hist. Text. Grac. Epist. Paul. Spec. I. Sect. iii. § 8. ) We have an essay also in Velth. Comm. Theol, (vol. i. pp. 180 — 218,) in which this point is esta blished at length, by a full display of the great dissimilitude between the two Gospels, and of the other circumstances which evince this Evangelium to have been but a compilation, without the slightest pretence to be a copy of St. VOL. II. Luke's Gospel. Why it came, under these circumstances, to have been spoken of as such, the learned writer also ex plains, from a principle held particularly by Irenceus, that, from some of the four gospels, all others, that claimed the name, must necessarily, have been derived : from which principle, he ob serves, it followed, that instead of being described as separate Gospels, they were considered as corruptions of that ca nonical Gospel, to which they seemed roost nearly to approach : and, that hence, as the Ebionites were charged with having used a copy of St. Mat thew's Gospel, but greatly adulterated, the same thing was urged against the Marcionites, with respect to the Gospel of St. Luke ; whereas, neither the one class of heretics, nor the other, pre tended to exhibit the Gospels of these Evangelists. (Ibid. p. 215.) Dr. Marsh, also, concurs with the writers already named, conceiving it probable that Marcion used some apocryphal Gospel, which had much in common with St. Luke. (Marsh's Mich. vol. iii. part 2, pp. 159, 160.) And Dr. Laurence, in the third chapter of his 274 , SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE concur with the learned writers just named, in pronouncing that the Gospel of Marcion cannot be considered as a copy of St. Luke's Gospel, nor as intended to be proposed as such. Yet there is, after all, one authority, which the Editors (or one Editor, at least, surely) must deem of such para mount importance, that I cannot avoid calling it to my aid (even though it be ex abundanti) upon the present subject. This authority is no other than that of Mr. Thomas Belsham, who, in his Answer to Bishop Burgess's Brief Memorial, has favoured the public with a lengthened view of the true state of the case respecting Marcion ; informing us of that, with which all persons conversant with ecclesiastical history were already familiar ; but which, being a recent discovery with Mr. Belsham, is naturally dwelt upon with all the interest which novelty excites. This writer informs us, (I give the substance for the sake of brevity,) that one of the apocry phal narratives which were in circulation before the Canon wras formed, was selected by Marcion, under the bias, no doubt, of a prejudice in favour of his own system : and that, in this, he probably added or omitted upon the authority of other copies, what he thought would render it more perfect ; and " thus formed what he called an Evangelium, or an epitome of the Evangelical history." This, Mr. Belsham thinks the more probable, because " Marcion does not at tribute HIS COPY TO ANY PARTICULAR AUTHOR." The his tory, of which Marcion made the principal use, our critic collects to be that of Luke; in which he made such addi tions and alterations as he deemed expedient ; but " he did NOT a PRETEND TO PASS OFF HIS EVANGELIUM AS THE GOSPEL Critical Reflections, &c, has clearly pies of Matthew and Luke against the and fully summed up the strong points genuine Gospels of these Evangelists,] of the case, coinciding in the same con- * On this point Mr. Behham ex clusion. [Indeed both the 2d and 3d presses himself with indignant warmth chapters of this work of Dr. Laurence, at the unfair treatment which the worthy deserve to be particularly attended to and learned Marcion has met with at by all who would wish to see a full ex- the hands of the Orthodox. Whilst posure of the absurd attempts of the this honest heretic, " did not pretend Unitarian Editors to set up the idle to pass off his Evangelium as the Gos- story of Ebionite and Marcionite co- pel of Luke, yet his" Orthodox review- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 275 of Luke." " The liberties which Marcion exercised in forming this eclectic gospel," Mr. B. admits, " would not tit ers, finding that Luke was his principal authority, rate him most unmercifully for every passage in which he deviates from what they choose to represent as his original; as if he was a voluntary falsifier and corrupter of Luke's text. " (Append, to Disc. p. 123.) What makes this conduct of the Orthodox the more unjustifiable is, that, as Mr. Behham assures us in the same page, " Marcion maintains, not that his was a genuine copy of Luke, but a genuine Evangelium." Now, undoubtedly, if Marcion's Gospel was not pretended, by him or his followers, to be a copy of St. Luke's Gospel, nothing eould be more unfair, than to allege its deviations from that Gospel, as proofs of its fal sification of St. Luke. But, then, the whole of this hard treatment of Mar cion turns upon the assertion, that his Gospel was meant to be received as a copy of St. Luke's : for, this being once admitted, no language of accusa tion, on the ground of corruption, could be too strong. Now, by whom has this assertion been made ? — I have often, in the course of these sheets, been com pelled to make my reader stare, by stating plain facts ; and I have no doubt I shall do so now. The persons by whom this assertion has been made, and repeated again and again, and dwelt upon as the great foundation of their arguments against the beginning of St. Luke's Gospel, are, — Mr. Belsham, the Editors of the I. V., and their associates. That the Orthodox, in deed, have, upon the position, that Marcion's Gospel was a copy of St. Luke's, been so unreasonable as to found the assertion that it must in that case be condemned as a false and cor rupt copy, cannot be denied. But that the position itself is a fundamental one with the Unitarian critics, the reader shall have the means of satisfying him self. First, we shall see what Mr. Behham says. In describing the degree of weight which Marcion's testimony had in determining his judgment in the re jection of the first two chapters of St. Luke, he says, — " He " (Marcion) "like some harmed Christians of mo dern times, rejected, but, as I think, without sufficient reason, all the evan gelical histories excepting that of Luke." [It must be a great satisfaction to the Orthodox to find that Mr. Belsham really thinks there is not quite sufficient reason for rejecting the Gospel of Mat thew, Mark, and Luke, although some learned Christians, meaning Mr. Evanson of course, are of a different opinion. But to return to St. Luke.] " Of this Gospel," ( St. Luke's) " we know, that he" (Marcion) "professed to believe, that the copy which he used was genuine and authentic, and that other copies had been interpolated and corrupted." — " His copy did not contain the history of the miraculous conception, this narrative he therefore rejected," &c (Letters on Arianism, p. 71.) [We may note^iere, as we pass, how exactly Mr. Belsham and his brother Editors have followed the ex ample of Marcion. " Their copy " (which they have made for themselves) " does not contain the history of the mi raculous conception : this narrative they therefore (!) reject," &c] Again, as an argument against the narrative of the miraculous conception both in St. Matthew and St. Luke, this Writer thus expresses himself in the very beginning of his Calm Inquiry, (p. 12.) "The Ebionite Gospel of Matthew, and the Marcionite Gospel of Luke, did not contain these accounts : and both those sects maintained their own to be the UNCORRUPTED, UNMUTILATED COPIES OF THESE EVANGELICAL HISTORIES." — Again, what say the Editors; that is, what says Mr. Behham in another form ? Just the same that he has said before. " The two first chapters of this t 2 276 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE deed be tolerated in modern times." He allows, also, the errors of this heretic to have been extremely gross ; and that " he Gospel were wanting in the copies used .by Marcion." — " He, like some mo derns, rejected all the evangelical his tories excepting Luke, of which he con tended that his own was a correct and authentic copy. " (Imp. Vers. p. 120.) The very same language used here by Mr. Belsham, both in his individual >. and in his aggregate capacity, is echoed ¦ by Mr. B. in his attack upon the 1 . Quarterly Reviewers, (Month. Repos. vol. iv.,) and by the Calm Inquirer, in his Address, &c. So that, in every shape in which Mr. Belsham had, or can be suspected to have appeared • before the date of his answer to Bishop Burgess, whether open or co vert, whether by himself or through his vicarius, his note is found to be uni formly the same, that Marcion main tained HIS GOSPEL TO BE A COPY OF St. Luke's ; and also maintained it to be a correct and authentic copy. Now, he tells us, as we have seen above in his answer to Bishop Burgess, that the assertion, that Mar cion's Gospel was»a copy of St. Luke's, was merely an invention of the wicked Orthodox, for the purpose of fastening upon the unoffending Marcion the charge of falsifying Scripture, on the ground of the great dissimilarity between his copy and St. Luke's Gospel ; where as Mr. Behham assures us, that Mar cion's Evangelium was a Gospel of his own composition, never intended to pass for a copy of St Luke's, nor even as serted by him to be a copy of that Gos pel. Thus we see it is never too late to learn. And that, which had been repeatedly pressed upon Mr. Behkam, and the Unitarians, (but in vain,) as a reason, why nothing could be inferred, as to the genuineness of any part of the Gospel of St. Luke, from what was or was not in the Gospel of Marcion, is now brought forward by Mr. Behham, as an important discovery, to the irre parable disgrace of the Orthodox ,¦ who, it seems, have hitherto been contending that Marcion's was designed to be a copy of St. Luke's Gospel I I sin cerely wish Mr. Behham joy of this discovery : and, at the same time, of its unavoidable result ; namely, that we can draw no conclusion affecting the genuineness of the narrative of the mi raculous conception in St. Luke's Gos pel, from the non-existence of this narrative in a Gospel, which did not affect to be a copy of the Gospel of St. Luke. However, on looking again into Mr. Behham, I find we orthodox are not to have the pleasure of his company throughout the entire of the argument. He has travelled with us through the premisses, but he stops short, and is ab solutely restive, at the conclusion. In deed, he seems to think, that the con clusion against the genuineness of the first two chapters of St. Luke's Gospel is as fairly to be derived from the sup position that Marcion's Evangelium was not a copy of that Gospel, as from the supposition that it was. Perhaps . he may be right upon this head. But we must let his reasons speak for them selves. Here, I apprehend, I shall again surprise my readers not less than before. After having made the various concessions, quoted in this note, and in the text above, together with many others, as to the arbitrary nature of the formation of Marcion's Gospel, espe cially as to his expunging whatever did not correspond with his theories, which are admitted to have been extravagant and absurd, and with which, by the by, the human birth of Christ under any circumstances was totally incompatible, — our author proceeds to say, — " And, though it is reasonable to admit, that Marcion left ovt of his Evangelium some passages, which were un favourable to his system, there is no proof that he inserted any thing, which he did not believe to be au- unitarian Version of the new testament. 277 took the liberty of leaving out, from his copy of the Gospel," (as well as from his Apostolicon,) " those passages from which thentic." And thus, having endeavour ed to clear this Gospel of the charge of the interpolation of false matter, he concludes that, " upon the whole, there is no reason to believe, that the ac count of the miraculous conception was found in that copy of Luke's Gospel which Marcion used"! Here now is the consummation of this most wonder ful of all the arguments, that either the author of the Elements, or even his critical and logical compeer Mr. Gil christ, has accomplished. Marcion, who was in the habit of "leaving out" what he did not approve in the Gospels from which he selected, could not have left out the account of the mi raculous conception, if it was in that copy of St. Luke's Gospel which he used. Very well: why not? He could not have left this out, — because, " there is no proof, that he inserted any thing which he did not believe to be authentic"! — He took away many things it is true ; but he did not take AWAY THIS : BECAUSE, HE MADE NO UNAUTHORIZED ADDITIONS. Or, to put it in a still shorter way : He did not take away this ; because, although he took away whatever he chose, he added nothing ! Learners, undoubtedly, in the elements of numbering, are in the habit of looking to addition as the proof of subtraction. — Really these things can only be laughed at. And, yet, such are the arguments which, in the nineteenth century, the advocate of Revelation is doomed to combat in defence of the integrity of the sacred text! I did think, that I had done with Mr. Belsham, on the subject of this note. But he furnishes matter almost inex haustible. There is a variety in his views of any one subject, that renders it impossible to do him justice, by any thing short of the actual perusal of his productions. And, in truth, unless from direct inspection, the reader cannot easily be brought to credit the perpetual self-contradiction, and direct violations of known truth, which openly and glaringly accompany the movements of his pen, on all subjects connected with the Unitarian question. We have seen him, both in the course of this note, and in the quotations from him in the text, earnest to vindicate Marcion from the charge of corrupting St. Luke's Gospel, on the ground of his not having designed or pretended his Gospel to be a copy of St. Luke's : and we have seen him ascribe to the invention of the male volent Orthodox this unfounded im putation of Marcion's having professed to copy Luke's Gospel ; whilst, as he is eager to prove, Marcion had really com piled a Gospel of his own, which had not Luke's for its model. We have, un doubtedly, at the same time, seen that Mr. Belsham himself and his associates have been the persons, in modern times, the most anxious, and the most inter ested, to support the opinion that Mar cion's Gospel was a copy of St. Luke's. This, however, was maintained by Mr. Behham, on other occasions, at a dis tance of time which might permit him to forget what, as it had not truth or knowledge for its foundation, might easily be forgotten. But, will it be credited, that, in this very publication, in which he maintains Marcion's Gos pel not to have been a copy of St. Luke's nor pretended to be such, and charges the contrary supposition against the Orthodox as a gross calumny, he himself supports this very supposition with all his might ? I must quote him, for I cannot expect otherwise to be be lieved. " Since Dr. Priestley, and others after him, have appealed to Marcion's copy of the gospel of St. Luke," (we see who the ill-minded orthodox are, that have viewed Mar cion's Gospel as a supposed copy of St. Luke's,) "as an authority for the omis sion of the account of the miraculous 278 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE it might be inferred, that Jesus was a missionary from the Creator of the world and the God of the Jews," &c. — " pas- conception of Jesus Christ, it is astonish ing to observe," (a very astonishing thing, indeed,) "with what incredible pains learned men have collected to gether the virulent abuse which the ancient orthodox writers have heaped upon that famous heretic," (all heretics are famous,) "for corrupting, as they call it," (certainly a very uncivil name to give it,) "the genuine Scriptures; that is, in other words, for using a dif ferent, and, in some respects, as im partial and well-informed critics ac knowledge, a more correct copy than themselves." (Discourse, &c, p. 117.) Here, then, we find ourselves back again on the old ground. Marcion's was a copy of St. Luke's Gospel. Dr. Priestley said so, and has turned this to account against St. Luke's canonical Gospel. His followers said the same. Mr. Behham said, and now re- says the same. The Orthodox, so far from af firming this, say that it differs so widely from St. Luke's Gospel, that it cannot reasonably be believed to be a copy ; and have actually had the baseness to proceed upon the ground of ecclesiastical history, and have quoted the reports of the ancient historians, who alone report any thing upon the subject. Mr. Bel sham also concurs ; he says that Mar cion and St. Luke are so unlike, that nothing but the calumnies of the Ortho dox could ever have given rise to the notion that the Gospel of the one was meant to be given as a copy of the other: for that it was quite a distinct Gospel. Yet, at the same time, (with a rapidity of counter movement, that leaves Breslaw or the Indian jugglers at immeasurable distance,) this Gospel of Marcion's was not only, as Dr. Priestley says, " a copy of the Gospel of St. Luke," but, Mr. Behham as sures us, " as impartial and well-in formed critics acknowledge, a more cor rect copy," than any of those early Fa thers, who have given us an account of Marcion, possessed themselves. [In deed, if I mistake not, Mr. Belsham has somewhere gone nearly the length of saying, that it was a more correct copy of Luke than Luke himself ever wrote. His habits of controversy with Irish professors possibly led him to this view of the subject.] But, extra ordinary as all this is, when taken to gether, the whole that is extraordinary has not yet appeared. Who are the "impartial and well informed critics," that "acknowledge" the superior cor rectness of Marcion's copy to that which the orthodox Fathers possessed? He tells us, that they are Michaelis and his Annotator : and refers us, at the foot of the page, to the exact passages, viz. " Marsh's Michaelis, vol. iii. part i. p. 271; part ii. p. 159." Now, what do these writers say ? Precisely, and un qualifiedly, the opposite, word for word, of that, for which Mr. Behham has claimed their support. The words of Michaelis are these. " St. Luke's Gos pel alone was admitted by Marcion, who made, however, many alterations in it, so as to render it more suitabh to his own system. But not all the alterations in Marcion's copy are to be considered as wilful corruptions, for several of them are nothing more than what modern critics call various readings." This is the whole of what Michaelis has said upon Marcion's Gospel, in the place referred to. The entire of the observ ations by Michaelis's Annotator, is too long to quote. But the reader, on re ferring to it, will find that Dr. Marsh, after speaking of the vast difference be tween Marcion's Gospel and that of St. Luke, proceeds, in refutation of the opinion that the one was a wilfully cor rupt copy of the other, to observe ; — " That Marcion used St. Luke's Gospel at all, is a position which has been taken for granted, without the least proof. Marcion himself never pretended, that it was the Gospel of St. Luke, as UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 279 sages" (in a word) "which were unfavourable to his system." (Appendix to Mr. Belsham's Discourse, March 31, 1814, pp. 121—128.) Thus, then, We have, from an authority which must be de cisive in our argument with the Editors of the /. V., being the authority of the principal Editor himself, under whose forming hand this Unitarian Version has been fashioned, the full admission of all that can be required upon this subject. It is of little consequence, that what is here admitted, is the most direct possible contradiction to all that this head Editor and his subalterns have hitherto maintained ; and maintained, as the essential ground of their rejection of the first two chapters of Luke : nor is it of the smallest consequence, that, by the application of that miraculous logic, by which the author of the Elements has already wrought such wonders, he has contrived to arrive at the very conclusion, which his premisses directly overturn. The grand point stands ad mitted, — that the Evangelium of Marcion was not a copy of the Gospel of St. Luke, nor intended as such. We shall, therefore, I trust, now that so much light has broken in upon the Editors, and that the facts of Ecclesiastical history are coming by degrees somewhat within their view, hear no more Tertullian acknowledges," &c. " It Luke, but must have used some apocry- is probable, therefore, that he used phal Gospel. some apocryphal Gospel, which had Thus are unlearned Unitarians much matter in common with that of abused by this writer, whom they re- St. Luke, but yet was not the same." fer to as their oracle. And, unfortu- In support of this he refers to Griesbach, nately, as Unitarians, in general, read and to Laffier, both of whom maintain, none but the writings of Unitarians, he that Marcion's was not, nor was pre- is enabled to abuse them in this manner, tended to be, a copy of St. Luke's without the danger of detection. The Gospel. Thus, then, to show, that truth is, the more I have been obliged Michaelis and Dr. Marsh affirm, that to examine of this writer's productions, Marcion used a more correct copy of the more I am satisfied that he is not St. Luke than the orthodox Fathers, to be trusted to in a single quotation. he produces the former, as saying, that I have often been obliged to feel the Marcion wilfully corrupted Luke, al- force of the position, that the religion though all the alterations he made in of modern Unitarians is not the religion Luke's Gospel ought not to be pro- of truth. No writer impresses this nounced wilful corruptions : and the sentiment more strongly upon my mind, latter as saying, that the difference is than that one who styles himself a Calm so immense, that Marcion could not Inquirer — The thing is shameful and have intended to give a copy of St. disgusting. 280 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE of the want of the first two chapters in Marcion's copy of St. Luke's Gospel, there having been no such copy. And, as little, I trust, shall we hear of the want of the first two chap ters in the Ebionite copy of St. Matthew's Gospel, there being as little reason to pronounce that any such copy of that Gospel ever existed. Those, who may have been weak enough to reject the history of the incarnation of our blessed Lord from the gospels, on the assurances of these critics, may now see what guides they have followed : yet, to such as by false lights have been led to make shipwreck of their faith, it will be but a poor compensation to discover, that it is to the ignorance of those who promised a safe steerage, they owe their misfortune. To bring this subject to a close, I shall here lay before the reader the one grand sweeping argument of the prime champion and leading Editor of the Unitarian Version, whereby the histories of the miraculous conception are at once banished from the genuine gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. It has been already quoted in the last note, (see page 275,) but it deserves to take a station here also. " The Ebionite gospel of Matthew and the Marcionite gospel of Luke did not contain these accounts : and both those sects maintained their own to be the uncorrupted, unmutilated copies of these evangelical histories." Now, after what has been said, the reader will, I apprehend, be prepared to follow me in saying, that in this whole sentence, whose object is at once to expunge four chapters from the gospels, in the hope of excluding the doctrine of the Incarnation from the New Testament, there is not a single clause, that has the slightest foundation in fact. That there was a Marcionite Gospel of Luke, and, still more, that the Marcionites maintained their gospel to be an uncorrupted unmutilated copy of Luke's history, are statements, now admitted by their very pro- pounders to be utterly false. No less false have we shown the corresponding statements a respecting the Ebionite copies, " We may here defy the Calm In- with all the Unitarian Missionaries, quirer, and his brother Editors, together (north, south, east, and west, ) to adduce UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 281 whether these gentlemen admit them to be so or not. And, therefore, with these heretics and their absurd admirers of modern times, we need for the present take no further trouble, on the subject of the genuineness of the Evangelical narratives of the miraculous conception : and shall now take our leave of them on this head, simply premising this one observation ; that, if all, that this extravagant and unfounded sentence contended for, were true, it would avail nothing for the purpose for which it is designed, so long as it is noto rious, that the very earliest proof we have, of the non-existence of the narratives of the miraculous conception in the respec tive gospels of these heretics, is much later, in point of time, than the a date to which we can carry up, beyond question, a single passage from any ancient writer, in which the truth of Mr. Behham's statement above given, respecting the Ebionites, receives support ; namely, that this sect maintained its Gospel to be an uncorrupted and unmutilated copy of St. Matthew. He has already ad mitted that he had averred the like un truly of the Marcionites. He has not dealt less untruly by the one than by the other. The fact is, that, of the two, there is even more colour for making the assertion, in the case of the Mar cionites, than in that of the Ebionites. A passage of Tertullian, (Adv. Mar cion, lib. iv. cap. v.,) misunderstood or misrepresented, might be drawn in to furnish some pretence, (as indeed it has been so used,) for the position, that the Marcionites averred their Gospel to be a copy of St. Luke's. But, they will find it difficult to discover any passage in the writings of the ancients, from which it can fairly be inferred, that the Ebionites affirmed their Gospel to be a copy of St. Matthew's. Epiphanius's assertion, (Hares. 30, § 13,) that the " imperfect, spurious, and mutilated" copy of the Gospel, which the Ebionites had, was spoken of as xxrx Mxrlxlev, would not of itself prove that the Ebion ites called their Gospel a copy of St. Matthew's ; but when coupled with the words, 'eGpx'i'xov St rovro xxXovv fixtfTitrpx pi-rxvoixs iv rai 'lopdxvvi mrx/tZ, appear to have been put to gether from Mark i. 4, and Matth. iii. 6. " (Marsh's MichaeUs, vol. iii. part 1, p. 179.) The objections made to these observations of this acute inquirer are destitute of weight. The magni tude of the blunder is a weak ground indeed ; it only affords privilege to ig norance. And the selection from va rious Gospels can create no difficulty, where the document itself is, as we have already seen, (and as is contended for by Michaelis,) formed by compila tion. Indeed, the very passage before us is, in itself, a decisive proof of this : unless it can be said, that John's being the son of Zachaiias and Elizabeth, &c, is to be found in St. Matthew's Gospel, and therefore need not be sup posed to be derived from that of St. Luke. A favourite hypothesis is a great enemy to impartial investigation. And the theory of a common Hebrew do cument has interfered more than it ought with many important truths affecting the Gospels. On this subject I am un willing to say more. I could wish not to be compelled to say so much. The 5th verse of the first chapter of St. Luke begins with the words, 'Eyi- vire iv. rxis vijlipxts 'Hpaioev rev (ixtrtXlats rris 'Uuixixs. The reader will judge for himself, whether the framer of the Gospel, described at the beginning of this note, had this passage in view. And he will be the better able toJform his judgment, when he finds this very verse proceed to speak of Zacharias and Eli zabeth of the family of Aaron, and fol lowed by an account of the birth of John from these parents. St. Luke's is the only Gospel in which the full title, king of Judea, is given to Herod. 286 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE this argument from resemblance ; namely, that the word king, also, must have been by the early transcriber erroneously written for tetbabch. The matter, we see, is accounted for by " a slip of the pen," — the way in which whatever plain and palpable errors arise {i. e. on the side of Unitarianism) is properly to be explained. (See Address, &c, p. 14.) All this, perhaps, may be very well, so long as we consider the case of a single slip. If the transcriber had, by " a slip," either written Judea for Galilee, or king for tetbabch, however the striking similitude in each couplet may be sup posed to have rendered this admissible ; yet, it is too much to reckon upon both slips at once ; and still more to reckon upon such a coincidence of slips, as should bring together just the two words that consort ; — since, to have stumbled either upon Herod a king of Galilee, or upon Herod te tbabch of Judea, would undoubtedly have appeared some what awkward, to those used to the language of Jewish his tory concerning the kings and governors of those countries. No, no. There is no b mistake of transcribers. It is the a That the general denomination of still better, if they can produce an King, should be sometimes used for example of either of them, entitled Herod who was the Tetrarch, where king of Judea. no formal designation was intended, b In addition to the great impro- and where no reference was made to bability of the two chances, in the the country which constituted his Te- errors of transcribing, just falling to- trarchy, is a matter which may be con- gether, so as to make a concordant ceded : the Tetrarch being the osten- whole, we have, also, to consider the sible Sovereign or Prince, to which the great unlikelihood, of the transcriber term fixiriXiiis, in a loose sense of the having made this double error, or in- word, might not improperly be applied. deed any error, in the very first sen- Hut, in connexion with the country over tence of the document. In longo ser- which he presided, I leave it for the in- mone, it is true, the quandoque bonus dustrious research of the Editors and dormitat may be allowed to the tran- all their Calm Inquirers to discover a scriber more reasonably even than to single instance of the application of the the poet. But that he should nod, or title of king to any one of the Te- rather I should say, dream, in the very trarchs who succeeded in the govern- first sentence, is not quite so credible. ment of the divided dominions of Herod It might as well be said, that the title the Great. They will, if they can, pro- itself was given wrong, by an error of duce an example of Herod Antipas the transcriber; and that by a mere being entitled King of Galihe, or of slip of the pen, the words " Gospel ac- Herod Philip being entitled King of cording to St. Matthew," placed at the Iturea and Trachonitis ,¦ and it will be head of a document to be transcribed, UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 287 plain direct blunder of a garbled document, which was the production of an age far removed from the time of which it treats; and in which we have seen enough of blundering already at pages 267, 268, to reconcile us to any degree of it, that might be exhibited in addition. The Editors, indeed, through their Calm Inquirer, go on to say, " that no child that was taught to read, ever mistook Herod the king, or tetrarch, of Galilee, who beheaded John, and who was living at the time of our Lord's crucifixion, for that Herod who died in the reign of Augustus, and who was the father of Herod the Tetrarch :" and they conclude with exclaiming against the attempt "to impose by such miserable sophistry." The "sophistry'1' consists in simply stating the blunder, which, it is confessed, appears on the face of this Ebionite document : and the refutation of it hes in asserting the blunder to beb so were changed into " St. Paul's Episth to the Romans." It will be remem bered that the sentence in question is not only the first sentence in this Ebionite document, but that it is de signed to mark the exact date of the transaction, with which the history con tained in this document commences ; to specify the precise time of the grand event, to which the whole history re lates. So that, if there were any one sentence in the entire, in which the transcriber might be supposed com pletely secured against the danger of mistake, it must be this. It was the first ; and it was the most important. The historian says, as Mr. Behham informs us, that it was in the days of Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, that John began to baptize. The tran scriber, as Mr. Behham also informs us, has, by an error of his pen, fixed this event in the days of Herod the kino of Judea. And the same critic, who informs us of these two things, at the same time assigns what affords a reason for the carelessness, that could have led to this error. For, he adds, (as we see above,) that no child who was taught to read could mistake Herod the king, OR (for he is very desirous to confound them) Tetrarch of Galilee, who was living at the time of our Lord's crucifixion, for that Herod, who died in the reign of Augustus, and who was the father of Herod the Tetrarch. Here, then, we have an excuse for the tran scriber. He must have been perfectly at ease upon the subject. It must be a matter of indifference, whether he wrote Tetrarch of Galilee, or King of Judea ; because any child could correct the error. The event would itself de termine the date ; contrary to what we have been weakly supposing in this note, that the date was intended to de termine the event. a In truth there is a solution of the problem, that reduces somewhat the extravagance of the blunder; and al though it must still leave the result, fatal to the authority of this Ebionite docu ment, from the grossness of the ana chronism which cannot be done away ; yet it affords some slight apology for the lapse, in addition to that which dis tance from the date of the event so ob viously supplies. But I leave it to the 288 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE great, that it is impossible it ever could have been made : and so, the two slips of the transcriber's pen come in, aided by the great similitude between the words Judea and Gali lee, and between the words king and tetbabch. But, what will the Editors and their Calm Inquirer say, if I produce them an instance, of this impossible blunder having been actually made, two hundred years before the time, at which we have any proof of the existence of the Ebionite gospel, in which this passage is found: and this, not by a child who had not yet learned to read, but by a great philosopher, of whose arguments, or rather of whose blasphemous sneers, against the divinity of our Lord, our Unitarian critics have not unfrequently availed themselves ; and by a philosopher, who had called to his aid the most learned Jews of his time to enable him to compose his True Word, in opposition to the gospel. I mean no less a person than the celebrated Celsus ; who, whatever the illiberal orthodox may think of him, will surely not rank low in the opinion of such Unitarians as the Editors and the Calm In quirer ; and who, it is to be presumed, the modesty of these gentlemen will lead them to admit, possessed more of know ledge and talents than they can collectively lay claim to. Now come we to the impossible blunder. " It was given out by Jesus, that Chaldeans were moved at the time of his birth, to come and worship him as a God, when he was but a little child, and that this was told to Herod the tetrarch ('HFXiAHi Tfii TETPAPXHi toSto SsdyxaxEvai,) who issued out an order to have all killed," &c. What is Lardner's remark upon this ? See his Works, vol. viii. p. 21, where the reader, who may not have Origen's book to refer to, will find the passage here quoted. This learned writer, and truly Calm Inquirer, whose errors even can never do away the respect that is due to the man, thus observes, " I admirers of these Ebionite compilers, to their favourites ; although it cannot set make the discovery of what may tend, up the authority of their document. in some degree, to repair the credit of UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 289 would here make two remarks upon Celsus mistaking (Herod) king of all Judea, in whose time Jesus was born, for his son Herod, the tetbabch of Galilee. First, we see the great difficulty, of any writer's taking upon himself the cha racter of a more early age than that in which he hves, with out committing some great mistakes." — " Secondly, since so learned a man as Celsus, about the middle of the second century, has made such a blunder in history, the Chris tian writers of the same age or later ought not to be too severely treated for any mistakes of the like kind." I will now leave the Editors, and their Calm Inquirer, to settle the remainder of this subject with Dr. Lardner: on whom, of course, the charge of " miserable sophistry " must fall, if they be right. They say, that even a child, provided he had learnt to read, could not have made this blunder ; and that it is an attempt to " impose upon " the reader by " miserable sophistry," to pretend that he could. Dr. Lardner says, that even a learned philosopher, not far removed from the time of Christ's birth, could make such a blunder, and assigns for the assertion no other reason, than that such a person lias made it. It must be confessed, indeed, that Celsus has made some other blunders ; which may, to the Unitarian critics, with whom we are concerned, appear to the full as objectionable, as that which we have just noticed : so that, from the repe tition of his blunders, they may be led to object to him as a fair example on the present question. The blunders, to which I allude, are his references to the accounts of the mi raculous conception, contained in the introductory chapters of Matthew and Luke ; which would, of themselves, be suf ficient to estabhsh the early and unquestioned existence of those chapters. This is a species of blunder, which these Unitarian critics cannot easily forgive. We have already at pp. 87 — 89 of this volume, observed upon the evidence, derived from Celsus, to St. Matthew's narrative of the mi raculous conception. The confirmation, which he affords to that contained in St. Luke's Gospel, may be seen in Lard ner ; to whose Works (vol. viii. pp. 6 — 68) I refer the VOL. II. U 290 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE reader for full satisfaction concerning the value and extent of the hostile testimony of Celsus. Two or three points, of those adverted to in the remarks on the unitarian version, yet remain to be noticed, to gether with the observations, which have been made upon these by the Editors through their Calm Inquirer. The points alluded to are to be found at pp. 81 — 87, of this volume. These sheets, however, have already so far exceeded the in tended bounds, as necessarily to preclude the further prose cution of this subject at present. But I am induced to regret this the less, because I conceive it to be desirable to present the whole of the animadversions upon the Unitarians, and their New Version, in one collective form, and in a separate tract, in which I shall have it in my power to enter more largely into the subject, than was practicable in the present work. For that tract I shall reserve what remains to be offered on the points to which I have alluded. Of these, the principal relates to the objection, raised by the Editors, on the ground of St. Luke's report of our Lord's age in the 15th of Tiberius, against the genuineness of the evangelical narra tives of the miraculous conception. The examination of this topic is now the more important, as the chronological con tradiction, which is here contended for, has, in truth, become the forlorn hope of the Editors. From the arguments against the introductory chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke, de rived from the pretended Ebionite and Marcionite copies of these Gospels, they appear to have been for some time gradually receding, if we may judge from Mr. Belsham's answer to Bishop Burgess's Brief Memorial, and other of their recent publications. In these, they seem to be prepar ing for themselves a retreat from the old favourite ground of the Ebionites and Marcion : and I cannot avoid indulging in the hope, that what has been offered in these pages will not tend in any degree to retard this retrograde movement. Now, as to the fastness to which they seem resolved to retire, for the purpose of making their last stand, I do not mean to take to myself much credit, and I trust it will hereafter appear that UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 291 I make no boast, when I say, that I shall not find much trouble in dispossessing them of that. In-truth, I must con fess, that these critics have themselves supplied me with some aid towards the accomplishment of this object: inso much that I am sanguine enough to expect, not only that I shall satisfy my reader of the truth of my positions, at pages 82 and 83 of this volume, — that the Editors have in their reference to Lardner confounded the true with the vulgar era of the na tivity ; and that they " have adduced the authority of Lardner's name in behalf of a position which Lardner has most triumph antly overthrown," — but, that I shall also convince him, that even the very showing of the Editors and their Calm In quirer supplies sufficient data to evince, that St. Luke does not contradict the alleged date of our Lord's birth, as given in either of the narratives of the miraculous conception. And thus, by the arithmetical aid of the Unitarians themselves, I hope to be enabled to prove, even to their own satisfaction, that the contradiction of dates, which (as they tell us) has compelled them to reject four chapters out of the received canon of the gospels, does not exist ; and that, therefore, they may, without the smallest offence to that delicacy of conscience which led them to reject these chapters, now re place them, fairly printed and stripped of their Itahc stigma, in their new translation. — I trust, also, that, in return for the aid thus bestowed by the Unitarian Editors, in clearing the character of the gospels from the alleged appearance of chronological inconsistency respecting the birth of Christ, I shall have it in my power to render them some compensa tion, on another head, already remarked upon at pages 83 and 84 of this volume ; by showing, that when they spoke of Ephrem Syrus, as " a writer of some note in the sixth cen tury," they had better ground for the assertion than has been generally supposed : so that, if they did fall into any con fusion respecting this ancient writer, it was a confusion aris ing (at all events) out of a certain degree of knowledge ; and the mistake is, therefore, not to be charged to that utter carelessness, which the Calm Inquirer would impute to the u2 292 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Editors, when he attributes it (as he has done in his Address, at p. 14) to a mere " shp of the pen, or error of the press." The Editors, it will appear, have not been quite so thought less and negligent, as their own vindicator would represent them to have been, in preparing their great work for the public eye. The discussion of these, and other points, con nected with the subject-matter of the Remarks, I expect soon to commit to the press. In the mean time, I comfort myself with the hope, that what has been already submitted, in this volume, will tend to throw some further light upon the nature of the Unitarian Version of the New Testament ; upon the true character of modern Unitarians ; and upon that of their system, and of the plans adopted for its promotion. And here, as I have done before, I must beg to be understood by my reader, as speaking of the Unitarians and their system, in reference to the description given of those who bear that name, by their chief advocate, Mr. Belsham. On all occa sions, he professes to represent their sentiments ; and, in that representation, the Body seem generally to acquiesce. To those who correspond not to Mr, Belsham's description, my observations are, of course, not intended to apply : and all such, who, individually, may feel cause to complain of the justness of those observations, as directed against Unitarians generally, must cast the blame upon him who has given them application, not upon him by whom they have been but con ditionally pronounced. Opinions, shocking to every pious mind, revolting to every well informed understanding, essen tially repugnant to Christian doctrines, and essentially sub versive of Christian principles, have been promulgated by Mr. Belsham, and a few other individuals. These opinions I have laboured to expose ; and have not scrupled, in strong terms, (though in terms very inadequate indeed,) to con demn. Mr. Belsham pronounces such to be the opinions of those whom he entitles Unitarians. It is for all, who do not maintain such opinions, to disclaim this title. Some, whom Mr. Belsham and his associates have so denominated, have already declined the honour intended for them in rank- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 293 ing them of this class. And I rejoice to have it in my power to announce, with respect to this island, that the imputation of Unitarianism has been disclaimed for the whole : and this, by an authority unquestionable on such a subject; the au thority of a gentleman of distinguished respectability, who ranks high amongst the dissenting ministry of Ireland, and whose perfect acquaintance with the state of the Dissenters throughout this country gives to his testimony in matters connected with the concerns of that body a decisive weight. From the testimony of this gentleman we learn, that there is not one Unitarian congregation in Ireland. I subjoin the letter" of Dr. Bruce, which announces a fact that must be so a The letter of Dr. Bruce, above re ferred to, was addressed to the Editor of the Monthly Repository, in conse quence of an article which had pre viously appeared in that Unitarian Jour nal on the subject of " Irish Unita rians." This article had exultingly an nounced the flourishing state of Uni tarianism in Ireland ; and had enume rated several ministers and congrega tions, decidedly Unitarian, throughout the island. The letter, dated from Bel fast, June 10, 1813, is as follows : — " Sir, — When looking into your Re pository for Dec. 1812, [vii. 753,] I find my name introduced in a manner liable to misconception. It is one of those instances in which your readers are often misled by the usurpation of the title of Unitarians on the part of the Socinians. This is a continual source of confusion in your publication, and sometimes exposes it to the sus picion of disingenuity. As I accept of the denomination of Arian without subscribing to the creed of Arius, I shall take the liberty of addressing you as a Socinian, without insinuating that you adopt any opinions of Socinus which you disavow. The confusion arising from this equivocal use of the word Unitarian appeared of late very remark able in your American correspondence : and, as you candidly corrected that mis representation with respect to America, I hope you will not refuse a speedy in sertion of what I have to say concern ing Ireland. I have a very general knowledge of the Dissenters of this country ; andean venture to assert, that there is not one Socinian congregation in Ireland. In the Southern Associa tion, one or two ministers and about a dozen of the laity may entertain such sentiments. In the Northern counties, which contain between 400,000 and 500,000 Presbyterians, including Se- ceders, I do not know of one minister who denies the pre-existence of our Lord, though I am intimately acquainted and connected with the most liberal di vines of that body. The Methodists, Covenanters, Moravians, and Evan gelical Societies, cannot be suspected of Socinianism : and the Quakers have of late been anxious to disclaim that doctrine." Dr. Bruce, after noticing by name certain dissenting ministers, for the pur pose of vindicating them from the im putation of Unitarianism, cast upon them in the article on which he anim adverts, thus proceeds : — " The ex cessive spirit of proselytism, which ac tuates so many of your correspondents, is not always confined to the living. It is a favourite opinion among them, that Newton and Locke were Socinians. The evidence for this is brought for ward in your Number for July, 1810, 294 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE gratifying to every Christian mind : and this I do, not merely for the purpose of showing that this country, happily, still though, I think, little to the satisfaction of the writer himself. Sir Isaac New ton is claimed on the strength of verbal expressions, which he is said to have used to a Mr. Haynes. For the truth of this we are referred to a Mr. Baron, himself a Socinian, who says, that Mr. Haynes, from whom he had it, was the most zealous Socinian he ever knew ; and therefore surely not an unexception able witness. For this quotation from Mr. Baron's tract, we are again referred to Mr. Lindsey's apology. This is slight ground for forming an opinion of the sentiments of so great a man, who wrote so largely on religion. As to the quotation from Sir Isaac's own writings, it might as well come from an Arian, or indeed from any Protestant, as from a Socinian." Dr. Bruce then proceeds, in considerable detail, and with unanswerable force of argument and evidence, to rescue the name of Locke from the stigma of Socinianism. He shows, not only that his explications of Scripture are inconsistent with the charge, but that he has himself in the strongest terms denied and repelled it : and he concludes his observations upon this subject, by pointing out Locke's manifest opposition to " modern So cinians on almost every article of their creed." For example, " He did not be lieve Christ to have been a mortal man of the seed of Adam ; he was neither a necessarian nor a materialist: he be lieved in the incarnation and miraculous conception, and in the separate nature and existence of the soul and body of Christ, and did not scruple to use the phrase, ' for the sake of Jesus Christ.' " (Monthly Rep. vol. viii. pp. 515 — 517.) I regret, that space does not permit me to lay before the reader the whole of Dr. Bruce's excellent observations upon this head. Joined with those of Bishop Burgess, and the remarks on the same point to be found in other parts of these pages, they supply what to every candid mind must appear de monstration, that Locke's opinions were as far removed from those of the Uni tarians, as the East is from the West. Before I advert to other points con nected with the subject of this letter, it may be expedient to apprize the reader, that Dr. Priestley, the great patriarch of modern Socinianism, main tained that there was " no more reason why a man should be supposed to have an immaterial principle within him, than a dog : " and, therefore, from his total rejection of " the doctrine of a soul," he inferred " the divinity and the pre- existence of Christ " to be " contrary to reason." (See Tracts in controv. with Horsley, pp. 18, 19.) This will explain the force of Dr. Bruce's ob servation in the clause preceding the conclusion of the passage last quoted from his letter. I must subjoin a few words, here, to what Dr. Bruce has said upon this plan of posthumous proselytism ( I may call it) lately adopted by the Unitarians. In addition to the names of Locke and Newton, they have been extremely anxious to claim that of Clarke, under various pretences. Bishop Burgess has abundantly shown (in his Postscript to the Bibh, &e. ) how little reason there is for ascribing to Dr. Clarke the Socinianised Liturgy, on which the Unitarians ground their right to asso ciate him with the favourers of Unitarian principles — I have just seen a publica tion of Dr. Mant's, in which additional light is thrown upon this subject. See the preface to his Academical Sermons. It is, fortunately, not necessary to ad duce, from Dr. Clarke's writings, proofs of his Anti- Socinianism, with which they abound. Dr. Lardner has saved us that trouble. In his Letter on the Logos, in which he exerts himself to the utmost in the cause of Unitarianism, he asserts of Dr. Clarke, that he " cannot forbear saying, that his interpretations of texts, UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 295 remains uninfected by the poison of the Socinian or Uni tarian heresy, and still enjoys that freedom from a pernicious are generally false, arising, as from other causes, so particularly from an aver sion to SabelUan or Socinian senses." ( Works, vol. xi. p. 112.) So much for Dr. Clarke's Socinian tendencies and Socinian Liturgy. The attempt on the memory of Dr. Watts is, if possible, still more flagrant than any other instance of the Socinian exhumation of distinguished persons, who had lived and died in a Christian faith. In defiance of every existing production of Dr. Watts's pen, in de fiance of the most established notoriety as to his religious opinions, and in de fiance of the testimony of those with whom he lived in daily and hourly in tercourse, the Unitarians are now la bouring to associate with their cause the name of that excellent and exalted Christian. It is in vain that proof is heaped upon proof; and that Mr. Palmer has lately adduced evidence, rationally irresistible, to show that Dr. Watts's opinions remained through life opposed to every doctrine of a Socinian bearing; still it is contended, that, though not Socinian, and although, as Mr. Behham admits, " he would, to the latest day of his life, have started from the imputation with horror;" that is, although he would have started with horror from the idea of admitting, or being supposed to admit, the mere human nature of Christ, — yet he might be a Unitarian, (which shows the very convenient use of this title,) and that although no written expressions of his can be produced, which favour Uni tarianism, yet his last thoughts were undoubtedly Unitarian. And thus is rudely, violently, and falsely, pressed into the service of the worst form of the So cinian heresy, the name of a man, who, it is admitted, would have started with horror from the imputation of a Soci nian behef. In Mr. Behham's Me moirs of Lindsey, the reader will find all that can be urged on the Unitarian side of the question respecting Dr. Watts's opinions : and, in Mr. Palmer's Tract, entitled, Dr. Watts no Socinian, he will find the complete refutation of Mr. Behham's arguments : and he will be the more confirmed in the admission of the completeness of that refutation, by the attempts which are made to answer it in the eighth vol. of the Monthly Re pository ; in which it appears, that, as in the case of Sir Isaac Newton, it is on the report made by a Socinian wit ness, of matter which cannot be pro duced, that the whole charge of Dr. Watts's Socinianism exclusively rests. A Mr. Baron was told, by a Mr. Haynes, (both zealous Unitarians,) that he (Mr. Haynes) had heard from Sir Isaac Newton (what it does not appear that any other human being had ever heard from him) expressions indicating a disbelief of our Lord's pre-exhtence. And Dr. Lardner was told by a Mr. Neal, (both zealous Unitarians likewise,) that he (Mr. Neal) had heard from Dr. Watts, expressions indicative of certain Unitarian (though admitted to be Anti-Socinian) sentiments : and, yet farther, that he had heard these expres sions from Dr. Watts, in the presence of his friends of the family in which he resided, who " were greatly concerned to hear him talk " thus, (Behh. Mem. of Lindsey, p. 220,) and who yet, at the same time, it appears never heard these conversations, as we find it ad mitted in Month Rep. vol. viii. pp. 716. 721. More proofs, we are assured, also, we should have, but that the above named Unitarians burned the papers of Dr. Watts, which would have esta blished the evidence of his Unitarian ism. One paper has, fortunately, re mained, of which Mr. Behham quotes a part, omitting that part of it which proves Dr. Watts to be the direct op posite of that which he labours to re present him. But, there is something still more 296 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE contagion, on which, fifteen years ago, I offered my con gratulations to the public, in the first impression of this indefensible in the treatment of Dr. Watts, which remains to be noticed. It is well known, that a collection of hymns, by Dr. Watts, for the use of children, had obtained the most widely extended circulation in all schools and places of instruction for the young. These hymns, it is also well known, are calculated to convey to the young mind the strictest notions of Orthodox Chris tianity. They who had dived into Dr. Watts's last thoughts, and had dis covered the secret which Dr. Watts had so carefully concealed from all the world beside, (and indeed, as Mr. Behham seems to say, even from himself,) namely, that he was a Socinian, have thought it right, as he had not himself made any corresponding alteration in his hymns, to make such an alteration for him; and have accordingly So- cinianised throughout those beautiful divine songs, which, until tainted by this foul contact, had breathed the purest spirit of Christian piety, regulated by Christian doctrine. Thus, Dr. Watts is now made to speak from the mouths of children, in language, which takes from our blessed Saviour all those at tributes, the habitual clothing him with which, in the young imagination, was the great object that he had laboured to effect. But this dishonest use of Watts's name, for the corruption of the infant mind, is not the only thing to be complained of. That alterations had been made in those hymns was, I be lieve, generally announced, in the pub lished collections that had undergone this change : at the same time, that, from the intimation that the variations were but slight, and from the ignorance of the greater number of purchasers, (who, finding Dr. Watts's name an nexed, would still receive them under the authority of that name,) the notice of the change was not likely to oppose any very material impediment to the influential operation of the name of Watts appearing on the title-page of the collection. Still, however, it might be said, that notice was given that the hymns were altered: and again, it might be pretended, as in the case of Archbishop Newcome, that justice de manded, that acknowledgment should be made, openly, in the title-page, of the author of the original work, from which this altered publication was prin cipally derived. Let all this weigh, as so many words, to those, whom mere words content. They, who seek some thing beyond sounds, may not feel per fect satisfaction. At all events, it must be admitted, that common honesty de manded that it should be announced, not only that alterations were made, but by whom they were made, by what de nomination of sect ; in order that the public might be fairly apprized of the character of those alterations. This, however, it is manifest, would have de feated the object. But, to pass this over, what will be said to the following fact? I have this moment lying before me a printed copy of a collection of the hymns with this title-page : — " Dr. Watts's Divine and Moral Songs for Children : revised and altered so as to render them of general use : To which are added, a short Catechism and Prayers. By Mrs. Trimmer." Now, that Mrs. Trimmer was a decided Trinitarian, in the strictest sense of the word, and that her opinions were in complete unison with the doctrines of the Established Church, is known to all who have the least acquaintance with her history and writings. The general notoriety on this head will be found to be fully verified by authentic details at pp. 91 . 120. 152. 241. of the first volume of the Account of her Life, &c. , lately published. The page last specified, indeed, evinces her habitual horror of the Socinian or Uni tarian opinions. " I am grieved to see, by the Reviews, that Unitarian books multiply continually. lam afraid that UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 297 work ; — but, also, for the purpose of affording a decisive proof, that it requires not the feelings which belong to the poison spreads itself. Oh I that I could furnish an antidote to it. Lord Jesus, convinced as I am of Thy Divinity, I am zealous to maintain it," &c. This is the writer, to whom the adaptation of Dr. Watts's Hymns to general use is ascribed, together with a short catechism and prayers ; all these, at the same time, executed by a Socinian pen ; every sentiment, which savoured of those great Christian doctrines, which both Dr. Watts and Mrs. Trimmer deemed essential to Christianity, carefully ex punged: and every artful insinuation of what both these writers would have viewed with abhorrence, as tending to supplant those doctrines, fraudulently introduced. I shall give a single speci men in one of the doxologies: — " To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One ; Be honour, praise, and glory, given, By all on earth, and all in heaven." Dr. Watts. The Socinian equivalent of this dox ology, ascribed to Mrs. Trimmer, is as follows : — " Praise to our gracious God be given, By all on earth and all in heaven ; Here would we celebrate his love, Until we join the host above." With the like fidelity the hymns at large are presented to the public. A Socinian catechism of a most extra ordinary structure is annexed. And all given as the joint production of Dr. Watts and Mrs. Trimmer, for the use of children. It is obvious, that the whole range of names, which the last century presents, could have furnished none by which free access to the nursery and the school-room could have been so readily and so extensively procured, as the very two names which have been here falsely assumed. That of Mrs. Trimmer, especially, (whatever special pleading there may be about the former, on the ground of a pretended change of opinions,) must be admitted to be abase and deliberate fraud : — a fraud practised upon the parent, to gain admission with in his doors, under a false name, in order to corrupt the mind and heart of his child : kidnapping of the most atrocious description, by which is stolen away, not the person, but the immortal soul of the infant. Such are Unitarian practices 1 Such are the fruits of a system, founded in the adulteration of Scripture truth ! They, who have falsi fied the word of God, cannot be ex pected to deal truly by the word of man. Deceptive titles, unfounded assertions, and false quotations, we have been fami liarized with, as we have advanced in our acquaintance with Unitarians and their writings. But the reader could scarcely have been prepared for a fabrica tion, so unprincipled, and treacherous, as this. I shall dwell upon it no longer. Dr. Clarke's Book of Common Prayer: Dr. Watts's Divine and Moral Songs: the same revised and altered by Mrs. Trimmer : and Arch bishop Newcome's Version of tke New Testament, — are all standing monu ments of the truth and fair dealing of modern Unitarianism; and the names of Newton, Locke, Clarke, and Watts, illustrious remembrancers of the respect which its professors manifest for the true characters of the dead. The bearing of the observation in Dr. Bruce's letter, relative to the " American Correspondence," deserves to be understood, as it tends to give still farther insight into the management of Unitarian concerns. A splendid account had been sent abroad, through Unitarian publications, in these countries, of the rapid and extensive progress of Uni tarianism in America. The Rev. Fran cis Parkman, a congregational minister of Boston, in a well written communi cation to the principal publisher of this account, gave it a direct and unqualified contradiction, disclaiming Unitarianism 298 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Clergy of the Establishment, to be disgusted with the dis ingenuous proceedings of Unitarians, with their false pre fer America, as decisively as Dr. Bruce has done for Ireland; and in terms still more emphatical. This gentleman, though in friendly intercourse with the leading Unitarians of England, and, equally with them, removed from all connexion with the Episcopal Church, concludes his letter on the above sub ject with these words : — " I only wished to show, as I trust I have done without offence, that in Boston in New England, and in America at large, we are not, and, permit me to add, as long as we study the Scriptures, I believe we shall not, become converts to your new doctrine." (Monthly Rep. vol. vii. p. 265. ) The reply made to this was, that the writer mistook altogether the meaning of the word unitarian : that it did not mean the same as hu manitarian, (such as Dr. Priestley, Mr. Behham, &c. ,) but that it extended to all who were not Trinitarians; and therefore included (with this exception) those who opposed the doctrine of the simple humanity of Christ, as well as those who maintained it : and to wind up all, comically enough assured this reverend gentleman, that he was himself an Unitarian without knowing it. The American Correspondent had de clared, for himself, and those of his brethren who might be supposed to ap proach nearest to Unitarians, that they, " holding high and exalted views of the personal mediation of Christ, resting on the merits of his atonement, his cross and passion, and zealous to pay the honour due to his name, would, consequently, be very unwilling to be confounded with the followers of Dr. Priestley." (Ibid. p. 201.) But, being now assured, that none of these things stood in the way of their taking the name which was proffered to them : that, provided they were not Trini tarians, they were Unitarians; found, all of a sudden, that he and several of his brethren were, as his English cor respondent had pronounced, Uni tarians, without knowing it. They could not travel to the name, but the the name had travelled to them : and, therefore, in a letter sent to the Editor of the Unitarian Magazine, (with the express condition, by the way, that it should not be published, and which the Editor accordingly published without delay,) he apologizes for having spoken so strongly against Unitarians, now that he finds that Unitarians may hold opi nions directly opposite to those which characterize the followers of Priestley. And thus, Unitarianism is now said to flourish in America ; where, in the true sense of the word, as it is applied by the modern Socinians, it appears, that there are scarcely any Unitarians to be found. They, who would wish to see the most curious specimen of a contrivance, whereby may be enlisted into a class a. multitude of persons, by whom that class is directly opposed, will be not a little amused, by tracing the history of this transaction to which I have here alluded, through pp. 198—201. 264, 265. 498 —501. of vol. vii., and pp. 478—480. of vol. viii. of the Monthly Repository. Some very interesting information, concerning the endeavours to introduce Unitarianism (that is, modern Socinian ism) into America, and the bad success of those endeavours, will be found in an Extract from the Panoplist of Dr. Morse, entitled Socinianism Unmasked, which has lately been published in London. This work was occasioned by Mr. Belsham's unfounded repre sentation of the progress of Unitarian ism in America, and, besides much valuable matter upon the immediate subject, it contains some curious facts concerning Dr. Priestley whilst in that country. We learn from it, that the exercise of Dr. Priesthy's ministry, in the United States, was attended with scarcely any effect ; and we are put in possession of an extraordinary observa- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 299 fences as to the extent of their numbers, their unfounded as sociation of distinguished names, and their dishonest use of an equivocal appellation. The Unitarian boast of the pro gress of their cause in Ireland is, as we have seen, completely - put down by the plain fact, that not a single Unitarian con gregation exists throughout the island. Similar boasting, as to America, has been sent abroad through Unitarian magazines, pamphlets, and sermons : but that this is nearly as unfounded as the former, there is good reason to think, from the authenticated contradictions which have reached these countries from America, as well as from the confessions since made upon this head by the Unitarians themselves. To Great Britain alone, the success of the Unitarian cause, to whatever that success may amount, is exclusively confined. And the appearance of progress, which is ostentatiously held out within this range, may, after all, be more justly considered as an illusion, growing from the noise and bustle of' a few, than as marking a real extension of the numbers of the sect. The reports of such extension, with which their monthly magazines are stuffed, are most of them manifest exagge rations ; and some of them are absolutely ludicrous. We have not merely clubs, and speeches, and dinner meetings, and toasts, to promote and celebrate the spread of the Uni tarian cause, and ladies assisting at these' seemly celebrations, tion, made by him, in a letter to Mr. Wardlaw are there in extensive circula- Lindsey, concerning Mr. Jefferson, of tion : and it is nearly three years since •¦ whom he uses these words : " He is I received, from Mr. Eastburn, of New generally considered as an unbeliever : York, a remarkably well printed copy if so, however, HE cannot re ear of the third edition of this work, which FROM us." (pp. 41. 47.) It appears, that gentleman had of his own motion also, from this pamphlet, that our Eng- published in that city. Upon the whole, lish Unitarians have been active at it is to be hoped, that America will re- least in putting forward their publica- main, as Ireland has done, free from the tions in America; and that, among taint of this most unchristian heresy: these, their New Version is included. and, that, however liberal the heads of It is matter of satisfaction to find that this heresy may be, in bestowing the works of another description, and which, title of Unitarian, like the honorary one it is hoped, will counteract the mischief, of LL. D., in both countries, it will be have found their way into that country, long before they find any real graduates without the efforts of a party. The of the school of Behham and Gilchrist writings of Dr. Middhton and Dr. in either. 300 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE but we have, in their monthly enumeration of Unitarian con gregations, accounts of some, composed of a number of individuals so scanty, that, to call the assemblage a congrega tion, is an application of the term altogether ridiculous. We have even, on one occasion, the exulting detail of a single individual*, determining to raise a temple to the Unitarian worship, and actually erecting himself into a Unitarian con gregation; contriving, at the same time, to satisfy literally the Scripture phrase of " two or three assembled together," by borrowing, from a distance, the attendance of two other Uni tarians, for the occasion of the meeting. The grand object of the Unitarians, at present, is prose- lytism. The increase of their numbers, whether that increase be real or apparent, whether it be an extension of the prin ciple, or only of the name, is now the point to which all their exertions are directed. The apparent, they think, will work the real. And for this purpose nothing could be better con trived, than the equivocal application of the title b which they 3 The account of this transaction will gether, in the name of Christ (two or he found at p. 518 of vol. ix. of the three are gathered together in my Monthly Repository. It is given by name,) and therefore that part of our the solitary agent, in this transaction, Lord's words he very properly omitted. himself. Southampton, no very small * The degree to which the equivoca- town, is the place, where, he says, he tion, in the use of this title, has been could not find a singh Unitarian beside carried, may be best understood from himself : notwithstanding which, he re- a controversy which has lately arisen solved upon a Unitarian " temple," and among the Unitarians themselves ; and a Unitarian congregation. The two which is to be found in the tenth vo- Unitarians, whom he drew to him, one lume of their Monthly Repository, (the from Southen and another from Rumsey, volume for the year 1815, ) at pages 226. made him feel comfortable, however, 278. 354, 355. 416. 475. 479. 483. 5.52. on the latter point ; because, " he re- 554, 555. 585. 590. 637, 638, 639. 709, collected the encouragement of our 710. 743, 744, 745. I have been thus great Master, that, ' where two or particular, in tracing out the whole field three are gathered together ' in sup- of the controversy, because" nothing can port of his cause, he has promised his more clearly manifest the true character assistance. " — This gentleman has, it and designs of the sect, than this do- must be confessed, shown greater mestic discussion which has taken place honesty, in his quotation from the Gos- within its pale. And, I can assure the pel, than many Unitarian teachers are reader, who is desirous to ascertain the used to do, who are attended by larger genuine objects of modern Unitarians, congregations. He knew that, in the that, in this view, he will find himself hue sense of the word, his two or three fully compensated for his trouble in could not be said to be gathered to- travelling through the entire range, UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 301 have assumed. To those who are to be initiated, the term Unitarian is presented, as merely denoting all who are not which I have here marked out for his inspection. Some extracts from the more important parts of this controversy I shall here subjoin. Mr. Behham, at page 34 of his Let ters to the Bishop of London, (intended as a reply to certain observations upon Unitarianism, contained in one of the most luminous, comprehensive, and dig nified pastoral discourses, thathave at any time issued from the Episcopal chair,) had asserted for the Unitarians, that that they " reject the doctrine of the Trinity, of the creation of the Universe by Jesus Christ, of the incarnation, of the atonement, of original sin, and other popular doctrines connected with these." — To this creed (of special disbelief) laid down for Untarians, by Mr. Behham, it was immediately objected, on the part of that body at large, that, their fundamental principle being " that there is only one God, the Father," they are grossly misre presented by Mr. Behham, in fasten ing upon them a creed, expressing a re jection of doctrines, every one of which, except that of the Trinity, is received by some among them : insomuch " that, if, from the body of Unitarians were to be excluded all those who do not be lieve according to Mr. Behham's ne gative creed, he would be left in a very inconsiderable minority." The advo cate, who thus maintained the unre stricted principle of Unitarianism, and whose education and habits of science gave him a decided superiority in pre cision and reasoning over the opponent with whom he had to contend, proceeds very justly to demand, — " why should we, who object to the creeds of our brother Christians, make ourselves ex clusive creeds?" And, at the same time that he fully admits Mr. Behham's absolute right to state hh own creed, he totally denies his right to state it as the creed of Unitarians : and, finally, in the name of the Unitarian body, he " protests against such an imposition of articles of faith," as beingboth unauthorized and un founded. Mr. Behham, in reply, con demns the vague use of the word Unita rian in modern practice ; it being em ployed (as he says) to express every class of religionists from the Athanasian down to the Mahometan ; and, assuming the high tone of authority, and fortifying himself by the sanction of Lardner, Priestley, and Lindsey, without conde scending to reason upon the subject, he declares his determination to apply the term in no other than in the restricted sense, which he had already ascribed to it. This authoritative style of Mr. Behham is met by his spirited oppo nent, as might be expected, with much indignation. After pointing out, that the consequence of such usurpation of authority, on the part of Mr. Behham, must be that others would, in like man ner, from time to time, with equal right, impose new articles of belief, until, at last, the Unitarian, instead of having one simple article of belief, would be lost in the complication of his own creed; he concludes with declaring, that, if to be a Unitarian, it is necessary to adopt the creed laid down by Mr. Behham, he must give up his preten sions to be called by that name; and hints, with much emphasis, that in this act he would be very far from being singular. Mr. Behham, in reply, still stands upon the high ground of " sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione volun tas ; " contends for the propriety of the restricted sense ; abuses the Arians ; and thinks it best that there should be a separation of the staunch followers of his opinions from the other classes of Unitarians ; for that, otherwise, the con ducting Society may send out mission aries of opposite complexions, who may defeat each other's views and doctrines. It is again pressed upon Mr. Behham, that he has no right to require the adoption of hh creed, which is emi- 302 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE Trinitarian ; that is, as these gentlemen again explain this expression, not Athanasian. To all, then, who do not re- nently defective in important points of Christian belief: that the rejection of certain doctrines, which is required by Mr. Behham, in a Unitarian, is not requisite to qualify for that denomina tion; but that many, who hold those doctrines, are as well entitled to the name, as Mr. Behham himself. Mr. Behham, now, calmly rejoins, that he merely meant to give his definition of Unitarian; that others were at equal liberty to give theirs : and so begs leave to withdraw from the contest. His op ponent, however, justly rebukes him for confounding " definition " with " asser tion : " and concludes with stating that, at all events, it is requisite for him to announce, that he is not of that class of Unitarians to which Mr. Behham be longs; for that he approaches much nearer to the Arians, whom Mr. B. had abused, than he does to Mr. Bel sham himself ; with whom he never can concur in his "opinions of the office and character of our Saviour." — Indeed, these last words distinguish the writer who uses them, very widely from Uni tarians of Mr. Behham's class. The very sound of them is Chrhtian. [But this same writer had, already, most ho nourably for himself, drawn a broad line of distinction between himself and such Unitarians as Mr. Behham, in what he had stated on the subject of Atonement in the same volume of the Monthly Re pository : and which, there is good rea son to think, had the effect of deterring the conductors of that journal from car rying forward the discussion on that subject, although, as I have before had occasion to observe, (see page 146 of this volume,) it was announced, that this im portant subject was to receive a length ened and elaborate investigation in the succeeding numbers of the journal. It was found prudent very soon to desist. It was discovered to be a dangerous dis cussion.] Whilst this controversy was going for ward, another started up, in conse quence of the apprehension excited, lest Mr. Behham's attempt to narrow the meaning of the term Unitarian should injure the good cause. The term, it was allowed on all hands, had been used as a generic name, including various classes, Arians, Socinians, Sa- bellians, and, if not Calvinists, yet such as held even the doctrine of atonement in a qualified sense ; — all, in short, who were not decided Trinitarians. It was contended, that it would be wise to con tinue it in this application, for that, hereby, those who differed from the be lievers in the simple humanity, being brought into contact with them, would, if these latter were not too hasty in urging matters forward, be drawn into the final adoption of their opinions. The term Unitarian, in short, is re commended to be continued, as it had been used, as a decoy ; for which, from its general, and simple, and uninvidious application, it seemed so admirahly fitted. It is emphatically urged, that it »is quite too soon for the Unitarians to split into parties ; that " they are too much like a rope of sand already ; " and that, however they may differ in their opinions, they must hold together as if they agreed in one system, till " they have by union chared the world of the Trinitarian doctrine." At the same time, in order to satisfy such as were de sirous of a term to distinguish those who hold the simple humanity of Christ, various titles are in succession proposed andrejected. — Socinian, Humanitarian, Priestleyan, have each their advocates. Thus it was supposed that all parties might be satisfied : Unitarian implying the general association, and the other terms indicating the particular creed. But, in the desire to reconcile the contending parties, it was forgotten by the persons who proposed this plan of conciliation, that the whole value of the name Unitarian would by this means UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 303 ceive the doctrine of the Trinity, as it is laid down in the Athanasian creed, the title of Unitarian is, in the first in- be lost: and, accordingly, a veteran, who saw his way more clearly than the rest, reccommends, that no such dis tinction of names should be at all ad mitted; but that the same word Uni tarian should be applied to the entire aggregate, comprehending the various classes of dissentients from the doctrine of the Trinity, and also be used as the distinctive denomination for that parti cular class which rests on the simple humanity of Christ. To this the ob vious objection was made, that the name of the entire genus cannot well designate exclusively any one of those species, to all of which it equally extends. This gentleman replies, that this is a peculiar case : that the name which designates thh species best is the very name which belongs to it in common with all the others : and that, therefore, the generic name is here the fittest for the specific appellation. This must be admitted to be very new logic : but, at the same time, it is, undoubtedly, very old management. The ambiguity (which is the primary object) is hereby preserved : since the same term can now be extended to the many, or appropriated to the few, as oc casion may require. The gentleman, who proposed this novel mode of conci liation, saw that the cause was in danger. There was reason to apprehend, that those links, which now bound together so many different classes firmly against Athanasius, and which might ulti mately draw them to Mr. Belsham, would, by the great eagerness of this gentleman to place himself at the head of the Sect, be prematurely broken. He had, openly, and rashly, affirmed, that none could be considered as Uni tarians, who did not accept his creed. He had, in other words, contended, that the name must be confined to one spe cific class; and he had, therefore, as the other classes were not yet prepared to allow themselves to be melted down into this one, and to receive him as their head, thrown off their co-operation, and reduced the boasted numbers of the Unitarian body to a contemptible few. How was this to be remedied? The name, Mr. Behham contended, how ever generic it might have been hitherto considered, must be appropriated to the species. The conciliator replies, the generic name may still continue as such. But, whilst it is the true name for the genus, it is, on the same principle, best fitted to particularise this one species. And, thus, he both satisfies Mr. Bel sham, by making it the proper appella tion for all who think with him ; and gives content to those of the general denomination, who will not accept Mr. Behham's creed, by continuing it as the generic name for all who do not think with Athanasius. The ingenuity, by which this pro fessed moderator of the contending par ties, who had solely the interests of one in view, has contrived to reconcile two things apparently contradictory, can only be conceived by reading the letters of Mr. Aspland, in this controversy. The grand point, however, is now effected. Matters are again settled as before : and the term Unitarian is, now, for all the purposes of proselytism, at the same time restrictive and comprehensive, to any degree, that the managers of the term may require In truth, I cannot better represent the nature of this term, as it is now used, than by an illustration, which there is undoubtedly one Unita rian who will comprehend; but that, a Unitarian far removed from the class to which Mr. Behham would confine the name ; as he has proved, in the very controversy to which I have referred. It will be readily understood, and for obvious reasons, that I mean Mr. Frend. The illustration to which I allude, is derived from the lunar sha dow : which, if the term be restricted to the direct cone, sends its darkening in fluence but to a small portion of the 304 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE stance, to be applied : and all such, of course, are hailed as brethren, and admitted within the pale of this honourable de nomination. Then, as, from the spirit of party, the force of association, the influence of flattery, persuasion, and other co-operating causes, the initiated is led to make still farther advances, the entire scheme is gradually unfolded, and em braced ; and the progressive convert is finally introduced into those interior regions, where Unitarians of full grown stature (such as Mr. Belsham and Mr. Gilchrist) properly reside; not, indeed, to what, with the Christian, may be deemed analogous to the " secretosque pios " of the poet ; but to mansions separated by a wide gulf from all that be longs to Christianity. Thus we see, that it is not under the influence of the Papacy only, that the principle of Jesuitism — that of an artful and elastic accommodation, joined with the careful separation of esoteric and exoteric — is called into active operation at the present day. By such means, the ju dicious application of a name may be employed to give a real earth's surface : but, if the expression verted to, at p. 642 of the volume re- be conceived to extend to the penum- ferred to, — viz. Budneians. This class bral space, spreads its partial obscuration of Socinians seems, in all general prin- to a comparatively wide space indeed. ciples, to correspond most exactly with In like manner, to the Unitarian in Mr. Behham's Unitarians. Possibly, Mr. Behham's more contracted use of however, in minuter matters, they bad the appellation, to whom, the whole not travelled sufficiently far. No ob- Sun of righteousness is eclipsed, the jection however can possibly lie against range is proportionally contracted : but the title of Priesthyan. And for the they, to whom, in a greater latitude of sake of clearness, I shall, in all future ob- the term, different degrees of increasing servations which I may be compelled to illumination are transmitted, spread over bestow upon this sect, designate them a wider extent, and with the benefit of by no other. Unitarian, it is manifest a progressively increasing irradiation, by their own confession, no more dis- until, having passed the boundaries of criminates the peculiar class which is the partial obscuration, they emerge into subject of our present remarks, than the bright and open day. word Christian discriminates any of the It ought to be observed, that in the particular description of the believers, course of this controversial discussion, who call themselves after the name of among the various names suggested, for Christ. 1 have, it will be allowed, suf- the class of Unitarians which forms the ficiently shown my desire to comply true nucleus of the body, and which with their wishes, so far as a name was is in truth the class to which the concerned, in having used it so long whole apparatus is adapted, I mean the without scruple : — but now, since they class of sueh persons as Mr. Behham have confessed the dishonest use they and Mr. Gilchrist, the most adequate mean to make of it, I can use it no seems one which Mr. Aspland has ad- longer. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 805 increase to the numbers of the sect. But, at all events, its apparent dimensions are widely dilated, by the extent of a signification, which is made to spread over all that lies be tween the boundaries of the strictest Trinitarianism, and of that open and ostentatious Deism, which rejects even the name of Christianity. With the Deist of this description the Unitarian prudently disclaims alliance ; whilst, to the oppo nents of Revelation, who carry their faculties more discreetly, he affords a convenient shelter. And thus, by the contriv ance of a name, a sect, which, in its true and real character, is, by the confession of its warmest friends % small and de spised, and whose principles are equally offensive to sober piety and to sound intellect, but, above all, diametrically op posed to the Christian Scriptures, is made to appear (if we except the Trinitarian worshipper) co-extensive with the Christian name. Indeed, it might be a question, whether, as the Trinitarian is pronounced to be a polytheist, and there fore cannot properly be admitted within the pale of Chris tianity, the title Christian might not be appropriated to * " We are a sect few in number, in that ambiguous sense in which it had unfashionable, unpopular, despised, already done so much good to the cause, hated, calumniated, everywhere spoken very justly observes, from Dr. South, against," &c. Letter to the Bishop of that " the generality of mankind is wholly London, by T. Behham, p. 48 This, and absolutely governed by words and of course, must be applied only to the names;" and that "he, who will set up genuine Unitarians, those of Mr. Bel- for a skilful manager of the rabble, so sham's own class, to whom he wishes to long as they have but ears to hear, needs appropriate the name, as wejiave seen never inquire whether they have any in the preceding note. For we know understanding whereby to judge : but how magniloquently the same writer with two or three popular empty words, has enlarged upon the numbers, and well tuned and humoured, may whistle weight, and consequence, and increased them backwards and forwards, upwards and increasing respectability of Uni- and downwards, till he is weary ; and tarians, in numerous other passages of get upon their backs when he is so. " his writings. It was, however, con- Month. Rep. vol. x. p. 481. — And venient, here, to use, in plaintive ac- what does Mr. Aspland deduce from cents, a language, which, although con- all this ? Why, neither more nor less tradicted in terms by the same writer in than this, — that the name Unitarian other places, is undoubtedly the truth. must never be given up ; but all pos- How great are the advantages of a well sible changes rung upon it, let the chosen name I Mr. Aspland, in his opinions of those who bear that name warm recommendation of the cpntinu- be ever so various and contradictory. ance of the use of the word Unitarian, VOL. II. x 306 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE those, who now call themselves Unitarians ; and thus, they, who, in the true sense of the phrase, deny Christ, be pro nounced the only persons who deserve to be called after his name. But, besides the insidious use of a deceptive denomina tion, the powerful engines of Societies and Missions are also now brought into action. The efficacy of these, so abund antly evinced in the propagation of Methodism, the pro moters of this new system are desirous to employ in the ex tension of theirs. At the late estabhshment of their general association in Scotland, they have announced the discovery a, that " Union is strength." This discovery had been made and acted upon before, with considerable energy, both in Great Britain and Ireland, for the purpose of relieving the inhabitants of these free countries from the pressure of the British constitution. Societies are now, as then, to be formed a See the account of the General Association of Unitarians in Scotland, at p. 390 of vol. x. of the Monthly Re pository. The consolidation of force is the grand object. Every man to his post. This is the grand discovery of modern days for the subversion of Esta blishments, of whatever aspect, civil or religious. An extended organization, a compacting discipline, a rapid com munication, and a combined movement : all this is said to be effective for the dif fusion of religious truth. Whether it be effective for this purpose or not, there are purposes which it is admirably fitted to accomplish. " Union is strength. " Undoubtedly. Acts of Parliament are not wanting to augment its force. The Unitarians are now labouring to prove, that they needed not that aid which the Legislature has lately, with so much magnanimity, bestowed upon them. The uses to be made of this consolidation of strength are now beginning to unfold themselves. The Unitarian Magazine for April, 1816, conveys a pretty signi ficant hint of the value of the argument, to be derived from numbers united in a common cause. There indeed we find the circle widened. That of Unitarian ism was felt to be too contracted, for the object to be embraced; which is neither more nor less, than the Abo lition of the Establishment. For this, it is deemed requisite to combine into one grand phalanx the whole body of the Dissenters, of whatever denomination. Against the assaults of this mighty co lumn, it is confidently asserted that the old bulwarks of the Constitution must give way. The Establishment is de clared to be a grievance no longer to be borne. And the Dissenters are pro nounced to have now attained such strength from their numbers, that it re quires but one combined effort to throw off the antiquated encumbrance. Pe tition, indeed, is for form sake men tioned ; and the peculiar mode of rais ing the revenues of the Church ad verted to : but intimidation by force are the means pointed out ; and the abo lition of the Establishment the end pro posed. " Union is strength." And the establishment must fall. De- lenda est Carthago. See Monthly Re pository, vol. xi. p. 207. UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 307 and combined together, in one general concert, but for a dif ferent object, that of banishing, not the name, indeed, but the reality of Christ's religion, out of a Christian land. It re mains, at the same time, to be submitted to experiment, how far such an organized system will be employed, in repaying to the constitution, what it may succeed in taking from the religion of the country. The law has recently bestowed in creased powers upon the Unitarian : it is to be presumed, that he will not employ these increased powers to reduce the strength of the law, however he may be disposed to employ them for the subversion of the national religion. At the same time it should always be carefully remembered by those whom these matters most concern, that one grand cause of hostility to the Establishment arises out of the fact of its forming a part of the Constitution. But, again, not only is the face of the land to be covered with societies, bound together in one firm league ; but mis sionaries are to be sent forth in all directions, to spread the opinions of this new sect. Here indeed is an extraordinary state of things. Missionaries to teach the truths of Chris tianity, we are well acquainted with : but missionaries to un- teach them, are of a description rather unusual. Missionaries there have been, who have encountered much for the love of Christ : but that missionaries, calling themselves Christian, should go abroad to work the rejection of his name, is a sin gularity indeed. It is impossible to behold this portentous retroversion of religious zeal, without being recalled to the recollection of that first great mission, on which our Lord sent his disciples. We, there, see the devoted followers of Christ commissioned by him to go forth, and teach all na tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Here we see the foUowers of a different Lord, going forth to inculcate, as the one great maxim, which alone is worthy to be taught, that there is no Son and no Holy Ghost. There we see the disciples of our blessed Master receiving directions from him, to preach that gospel which he had given them. Here we see the mes- x2 306 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE sengers of another master directed to carry with them a. false gospel, which, whilst it bears the name, shall more effectually subvert the doctrines of the true gospel of Christ. There, also, we find an authority conferred, to announce to man kind the gracious tidings of a Redeemer, through whom every one that believeth shall be saved. But, here, we find teachers directed to guard all against the danger of belief; and to enforce emphatically, as the most important truth, that he alone shall be saved who believeth not. When it is considered that the mo dern Socinian (who calls himself Uni tarian) is, under the name of Christian, the decided enemy of Christianity, and, under the guise of a translator of the New Testament, a deliberate falsifier of the Gospel, it may appear hardly ne cessary to offer an excuse for entering at any length, however great, into con troversy with persons who would thus clandestinely steal from the Christian all that forms his consolation and his hope. But that, in these volumes, the immediate subject of which is the doc trine of the Atonement, this controversy should have been carried in the di rection and to the extent to which it has travelled, may not unreasonably ap pear to demand explanation. It will be recollected by those who are acquainted with the writings of Dr. Priestley, and his fellowJabourers of that day, that the doctrine of the Atonement was that which they conceived to be the vitally distinguishing doctrine of the orthodox system : and, on looking back to pages 61—64 of the first volume of this work, it will be seen, that against this doctrine especially, as the foundation of all that he was pleased to call the corruptions of Christianity, the Father of modern Socinianism directed his most strenuous and persevering exertions. In this view of the case, the Author of these volumes was originally induced to engage in the vindication of this important doctrine, and in the discussion of the various ob jections which, by the united industry of Dr. Priestley and other Socinians, had been collected against it : naturally expecting that if he must be engaged in farther controversy with the followers of Priestley, it would be upon that ground which had thus been chosen by themselves. The matter, however, turns up differently. The question of Atone ment is no longer made the subject of investigation by the modern Socinians : and now, after a lapse of fifteen years from the first publication of this work, it is openly (and it may be said, offi cially) announced, that the prosecution of the controversy upon this doctrine is to be relinquished. For this, two rea sons are assigned: one, affecting the nature of the work, by which I had en deavoured to maintain the doctrine; and the other affecting the doctrine itself. The former, as it is stated by Mr. Belsham, the present champion of Socinianism, and repeated by his ad mirers, is, that it must be unnecessary at this time of day to prove, that the cause of Cain's rejection was not his having " offered a vegetable instead of an animal ;" (which is, of course, the whole that this discerning writer could discover, as bearing upon the question of Atonement, in the volumes of this work that have been hitherto pub lished ;) and the latter is, that the fact of the mere humanity of Christ being (as it is modestly assumed) completely established, the received doctrine of the Atonement is thereby at once virtually overturned. Thus, we see, the doc- UNITARIAN VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 309 trine of the Atonement, and the argu ments which have been urged in its de fence, are fairly run away from; and the various objections which had been so laboriously marshalled against that doctrine, by the ingenuity of former Socinians, are totally abandoned to their fate. The opponent of the doctrine of the Atonement having found it con venient thus to retire from the ad vanced position, and to direct his at tacks against the doctrine from a more distant quarter, taking his stand upon the ground of the mere humanity of our Lord; thither, of course, the de fender of the doctrine is obliged to fol low, and finds himself compelled to carry on the combat on the new ground which the adversary has selected. The contrivance, it has been seen, by which the modern Socinian deems it most expedient to maintain his extra vagant notions concerning our Lord's humanity, is the propagation of a false Gospel. To the exposure of this false Gospel the attention of the Author of these volumes has been consequently directed. And although the endeavour to accomplish this object has led to a considerable extension of the work, yet he trusts, that, in the nature of the case and the great importance of the sub ject, the candid and Christian reader will discover his apology. Perhaps, indeed, when well considered, it is not so much for the extent to which he has pushed his exposure of the modern So cinians and their Version, that he needs excuse, as for his not having carried it much farther. He is happy, however, to have it in his power to say, that, in addition to what has been advanced in these sheets, enough (to honest and informed readers, perhaps, more than enough) has been done by the several distinguished writers whom he has oc casionally named throughout the pre ceding Supplement, to put down the recent attempts which have been made by the modern Socinians in support of their system, through the medium of a falsified New Testament. To those several writers, especially to Bishop Burgess, Bishop Middleton, Dr. Nares, Dr. Laurence, Mr. Veysie, and Dr. Wardlaw, he refers the reader for the filling up what these pages have neces sarily left untouched. To these writers there ought indeed to be added the name of Mr. Nolan, who, although he has not treated directly of the subject at issue with the Socinians, has thrown a most valuable light on what they have artfully contrived to draw into connexion with their object, by bringing Gries bach (whom they claim, though un truly, as .1 powerful auxiliary to their cause) under strict examination, and subjecting his system of classification to a critical and searching scrutiny. The work upon the Integrity of the Vulgate Greek Text of the New Testament, a work marked by characters of great in dustry, learning, and sagacity, be the ultimate decision upon the momentous and difficult subject of which it treats what it may, has, besides the merit of yielding strong support to certain im portant texts of the New Testament, the additional merit of giving a salutary check to the too unqualified ( I had al most said the vulgar) admiration of an eminent critic, which the wily Socinians of the day have not failed to turn to mischievous account. An accurate ap preciation of the due value of that critic's labours must be of the last ad vantage to Biblical literature : such ap preciation has not yet been obtained, and to its attainment Mr. Nolan's work cannot but materially conduce. SERMON preached before THE ASSOCIATION FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE AND PROMOTING THE PRACTICE OF RELIGION AND VIRTUE, IN ST. ANNE'S CHURCH, DUBLIN, ON THURSDAY, THE 5TH OF MAY, 1796. SERMON. Joshua — Chap, xxiv., part of the 15th Verse. "AND IF IT SHALL SEEM EVIL UNTO YOU TO SERVE THE LORD, CHOOSE YE THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD;" If it seem evil to serve the Lord ! — ;to serve that great Being? before whom angels bow, and in whose presence the highest orders of seraphic dignities stand dismayed! — evil to serve the Lord ! — evil to serve him, whose goodness shines through all the wonders of creation ; and whose power, unbounded as it is, but ministers to the happiness of all his creatures ! And can it to any created being seem evil to serve this all- mighty and all-bounteous Master? Yes, my brethren,: strange and unnatural ! some there are, to whom such service seems an evil — some there are, who disdain to bend before the majesty of their Creator ; who scorn to accept the riches of his bounty ; and to whom it appears a hghter servitude to drag the chains of sin than to bear the yoke of their salvation. That such there are, that such, alas ! abound at this day, and in this nation, the occasion of our present assembling sufficiently announces — the existence and objects of the Association I am now called on to address but too manifestly evince it — for, wherefore have you linked together into a firm phalanx in behalf of virtue, but to repel the audacious and 314 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION overbearing assaults of vice ? For what purpose leagued, a sacred band, in defence of religion, but because the giant strides of infidelity have threatened it with instant ruin? You have associated in support of virtue, in support of your rehgion, and your God — because the enemies of virtue, of religion, and of God, abound. Glorious Association ! But in the same degree in which it is glorious is the cause of it disgraceful and deplorable — disgraceful, that in a Christian land you have been compelled to embody in defence of Christianity — and deplorable, that you have been arrayed to combat, not only the secret assailant of the Christian faith, but the open blasphemer of the divine administration. With these foes to the morals and the happiness of man you have now brought the matter to a fair issue — you have called aloud upon the people of this land, in the words of Joshua — " If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve ; " and you have, all and each of you, been pledged by this grand and awful declaration — " but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." May God grant, that the solemn appeal, which you have thus made, may warn the irreligious from the ruin of his ways ; and that the declaration, by which you have thus bound yourselves to the service of your God, may fix you immoveably in the paths of righteousness — " that your light may so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ! " To animate your efforts in the great cause you have under taken shall be the object of the present discourse — and to this end, what can more powerfully conduce, than a fair dis play of the excellence of that, for which you contend — of the necessity, which the present time furnishes for your ex ertions — and of the means most likely to crown those exertions with success ? To these three points, then, I solicit your most serious attention. Excellent indeed, my brethren, is that for which you con tend. The blessings of religion, which you labour to secure and diffuse, are placed far above all worldly valuation. The FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 315 sentiment which connects man with an all-powerful Superior — which inspires him with the reverence of a secret power, that can explore the deep retreats of thought — and fills his breast with anxious and humble longings for the approbation of a Being, whose purity will accept no service but that of virtue — can supply the only solid foundation of private recti tude and of public prosperity. That man, whether in his individual or collective state, can rest on this principle alone, as the source of his truest com forts and highest perfection — is a truth, which the native feelings of ages the most simple, and the cultured reason, and instructed experience, of nations the most refined, have been found, at all times, most forcibly to inculcate. It has been reserved for an age, vainly professing to enjoy higher degrees of illumination than any that has preceded, to question its validity, and in a great measure to disclaim its influence. The connexion, then, of the religious sentiment with the well- being of individuals, and of communities, it has unhappily become not unnecessary to discuss — nor let such discussion be deemed, on the present occasion, unseasonable. True it is, that your full persuasion on this very head has induced you, my brethren, to range yourselves thus openly around the standard of rehgion — and, from the cultivated under standings of my hearers, there is little reason to suppose them unacquainted with any of those arguments that urge to its defence ; yet so great is the importance of this truth, so beneficial must be the effects upon your zeal, from a strong and hvely conviction of it, that no enforcement can be un profitable, no repetition superfluous. — But, admitting that your knowledge requires no instructor — that your ardour demands no stimulus — yet surely the minister of God's word must deem no time unfit to proclaim this momentous truth, THAT WITHOUT RELIGION THERE IS NO VIRTUE WITHOUT VIRTUE, NO HAPPINESS. To be happy, a man must be satisfied with himself — he must view the past with complacency, and the present with contentment. The different parts of his nature must not be 316 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION discordant. He must, in short, be one uniform and consistent being — acting under the influence of one steady principle, that, by controlling the affections, and directing them to their proper objects, shall secure, to the state of the individual - an undisturbed tranquillity. Now,. whence can be derived this governing principle, that gives the "mind a power over itself? The power that resists self must be traced to something be: yond self. Like the philosopher, who boasted, that the might of his mechanism could move even this globe which we h> habit, we require ah external fulcrum — that great prop, on which the mind can rest, until it has acquired an energy su perior even to itself, can only be religion. Without this, what shall prevent the anarchy of conflicting passions, or the despotic tyranny of one overbearing and predominant apper tite ? For wherefore sacrifice any pleasure of this world, if for this world alone we live ? To what purpose "exercise any severities of self-denial, if there is no superintending Being, to whom the sacrifices of virtue are acceptable— nor any state of succeeding fehcity, for which they are to prepare ? Shall we say, that the happiness of the present life is best promoted by controlling the. irregularities of "appetite, and restraining the excesses of selfishness— and that therefore reason itself, enforcing the dictates of an enlightened selfr interest, furnishes to virtue a sufficient support? This, in deed, is a principle, that may perhaps operate on the phild^ sophic mind ; which, used to. contemplate actions in their consequences, can discern distant good, without the diminu tion of perspective ; and whose very, habits have reduced the violence of the fiercer passions ; but to the unlettered multi: tude, or their unreflecting superiors, its effect. must be of little value. Aided by all the power that religion can super? add, have we not to lament the insufficiency of its influence? Remove then this great auxiliary — how. feeble, how nugatory its operation! But what, if the corruptions . of the, human heart shall be seen to prove this boasted principle of modern refinement not only inefficient, but untrue— and if we shall find this pillar of philosophic tranquillity subverted by the FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 317 very' conditions of human existence ? " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," is the language of him who knows of no hfe beyond the present — the passing moment he feels may be the sum of his existence — the pleasure he post pones may be lost to him for ever — and surely he will not calculate so inconsistently, as to balance the bare possibility of future enjoyment against the certainty of the present. No — every pleasure that offers itself, will be seized with avidity — each new instance of mortality will but furnish a stronger impulse to immediate gratification — and thus the very warnings, which should reclaim from vice, will become the most powerful incentives to the unbounded indulgence of every criminal affection. ¦ But, shall we not find in public opinion a controlling power — and will not shame restrain where reason has proved insufficient ? In answer to this let it be observed, that even granting, that public opinion could reach beyond public offences — and that its operation affected, not merely the act but the motive, there yet remain certain classes, on which it can have little effect. The two extremes of society, are equally insensible to its influence — the one shrouded in its obscurity, the other shielded by its splendour, are alike se cure from the intimidation of public censure — and amongst the intermediate ranks, where reputation is admitted to exert its fullest force, shall we not find the rule itself fashioned by the manners, and consequently transmitting the corruptions of the higher ranks ? Or, should opinion for some time hold out against the influence of high example, what will avail its feeble voice against the clamorous importunity of passion ? The hope of secrecy will first encourage — next, example will be sought to justify — and, lastly, a bold and hardened de fiance will be held out to all its terrors and restraints. Thus we find this boasted succour itself requires support. Let us then advance one step farther — let the force of law be superadded— the operation of this, extending to every rank, and its enforcements to every mind ; it is urged, that this will supply what the former principle wanted as to uni- 318 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION versality, or as to coercion. And are we then at last obliged to fly to an external control ? — and do we acknowledge, that the only sure support of virtue is to be sought in the fear of a superior power — whilst we deny the beneficial operation of the same motive where its effects are infinitely more im portant ? Yes, we would place the sceptre in the hand of man, that we may wrest it from the hand of God The penal ties of human law we readily admit to be indispensable — but those of the divine law we labour to exclude from our minds, by the intervention of every plea that a perverted ingenuity can suggest — we discover that fear is a slavish principle of action ; and that obedience from such motive must be with out merit : nay more, we find out that there is nothing to be feared— either the soul is to be consigned to perpetual sleep — or, if reason and nature extort the admission of a future state, we repose on the assurance, that the goodness of the Deity cannot permit that any of his creatures should be un happy. Thus are we determined, at all events, to assert our independence of the Almighty — and thus we satisfy ourselves, that the fear of God is useless as an auxiliary to virtue ; whilst we find it unavoidable to call in the aid of human gower to its support. But let us examine a little the strength of this all-sufficient stay — will the force of law subdue the workings of the mind? Will it reach those passions that lurk in the retirement of the heart ? or will it repress those vices that confine their noxious influence to the individual? No — suited to the power that framed them, they can be directed only against such vices as stand forward in actual commission — and suited to the end at which they aim, they can restrain only such passions as war against the public peace — thus the heart re mains unaffected; and the passions, unimpaired in their force, though hmited in their range, are only turned into other channels, in which they may flow with unimpeded current. Thus interest, reputation, laws, are all found insufficient to the maintenance of virtue — some vices they may enable FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 319 us to restrain, and others they may teach us to conceal — but that great governing power of the mind, that proclaims hostihty against all, and that exercises over the passions a strict and sovereign dominion, must be traced to some higher source. Rehgion alone it is that can secure to man this authoritative principle — without its saving influence, miser able indeed had been his state — borne headlong by im petuous appetite, and distracted by contending passions, how dreadful the anarchy of the individual, how dismal the chaos of the heart, had not the Spirit of God moved upon its troubled surface, and hushed to rest its jarring elements ! Yes, re ligion alone it is that can bind these discordant parts into one consistent system ; and, by reducing all under the con trol of one steady and powerful force, maintain the stabihty and uniformity of virtue — and surely, if such be the power of the religious sentiment in general, it eminently belongs to that pure and perfect rehgion which we enjoy — a religion, which, by teaching the subhmest notions of the Deity — by inculcating the great heinousness of sin — and by estabhshing, beyond doubt, a future state of retribution, gives to virtue a strength that is irresistible — and which, unlike the fallacious principles that worldly wisdom would set up in its stead, ex tends its influence through all ranks and conditions of human nature ; addressing itself to the peasant with no less force than to the philosopher ; and directing its terrors, with equal justice, against the corruptions of the court and of the cottage — whilst the jurisdiction of its all-searching tribunal is not confined to the outward act ; but, penetrating the inmost recesses of the mind, explores and regulates the most secret movements of thought, and estabhshes external decorum on the solid basis of internal rectitude. But whilst many are ready to admit, that virtue is necessary to individual happiness — and that for virtue the only sure foundation is rehgion — they seem to consider man, in his collective state, by no means equally dependent on the same support — as if the happiness of society were something dif ferent from that of the individuals that compose it — or, as if 320 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION man underwent a total change of constitution by associating with his fellow men — a position, involving consequences so- irreconcileable with reason, I should not think it necessary to refute, did not both the theories, and the practice of mo dern politicians, evince the extensive range of its influence — did we not find, that in the computation of the strength of a people, the virtue of the individuals no longer forms any part of the estimate — and that in calculating the means, by which national prosperity may be advanced, religion is uniformly left out of the account. The wealth, the valour, the public spirit, and due subordination of its subjects are deemed the bulwark of the state — and in the vigorous administration of salutary laws the welfare of the community is thought to be permanently secured. Beyond these the pohtician looks not — vain, short-sighted man ! he looks not to that great, cre ative, and sustaining power, which alone can produce these, and without which they cannot possibly continue — for whence, but from frugal industry, from manly temperance, from diffused benevolence, from submissive resignation, and from disinterested patriotism, have these national safeguards been derived ? and surely from no other principle than that which is confessed to be the source of individual virtue, can these virtues originate ; — again, remove that principle, and you will see the very wealth of the state subverting it by luxury — you will see its valour dissolve into effeminacy — you will see its public spirit degenerate into an ambitious conflict for power — its subordination unhinged by licentiousness — and its laws perverted and depraved, as well by the rapacity of those who are to govern, as by the turbulence of those who should obey. The wealth of the state — must it not be supported by ex tensive commerce and multiplied manufactures ? and are not these, without the corrective of rehgion, the unfailing cor rupters of national morals ? Will not the same gales, that waft to our shores the produce of distant countries, carry to us their luxuries and their vices ? and will not the collected numbers, that are promiscuously crowded together for the FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 321 purposes of manufacture, engender a contagion, not less fatal to the morals than that which their unwholesome haunts daily send forth is found to be to the health of the lower classes of the community ? But it is not from the sources of national wealth alone that its corruptions are to be feared ; affluence in the higher ranks will beget extravagance — extravagance will be followed by want — and in the struggle to support former state, and to in dulge in habitual vanities, all means, however base, will be resorted to, — until, at length, a total profligacy succeed, and sweep away in its impetuous current every remnant of prin ciple and virtue. Nor will the mischief rest here — the ex ample will descend — until the general taste for pleasure and dissipation, having ranged with wasteful step through the in termediate classes, shall at length strip even the artizan of his industry ; and, robbing his family of then- natural support, leave his helpless offspring, if not to perish, to grow up in idleness, ignorance, and vice, for the disturbance, perhaps for the destruction, of society. Amidst this general disso luteness of manners, all generous ardour and manly spirit must melt away — pleasure will effeminate, and intemperance consume, the energies of the nation — until the enfeebled victim shall at length sink under its own corruptions, or fall an unresisting prey to the attacks of the first warlike invader. But should even the valour of the people rise superior to these enervating causes, are we to look to this as the bulwark of national prosperity ? Surely war will not be ranked amongst the means of national welfare — nor can increased dominion (the only acquisition of military achievements) be considered an additional security. If men are corrupt, by widening the sphere of empire, we only multiply the means of mutual cor ruption — and, in the extension of conquest, we lay a sure foundation for the perpetuity of the calamities of war. Be sides, what shall protect the state itself against the instrument of its victories ? May not the great engine of national car nage be turned against its employer ? And has not experience abundantly evinced, that in periods of general licentiousness, VOL. II. - y 322 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION and popular depravity, no reliance is to be pladed on the fidelity of armies ? Again — shall we find in public spirit a sufficient safe guard ? That there exists, between the pubhc good and the welfare of the individual, an indissoluble connexion, cannot be denied— but were this connexion even obviously dis cernible, the abstract contemplation of it would but ill serve, as a rule, or as a motive. Will thevunlearned see, or the un principled feel the public interest, so as to be regulated by its diotates ? The individual will, in many cases, be unable to trace the pressure, which bears upon him, to the general principle, whose operation overbalances partial inconvenience by pubhc benefit— or if he should in every case connect it with its true cause, of what avail is this without religion ? Why should he> who acknowledges no god but self, contribute to the general good, at the expense of personal enjoyment? What is pubhc spirit without private virtue ? What can it be ? Surely, nothing but vanity or ambition. Wound that vanity, or disappoint that ambition ; and you will see the patriot of to-day* become the incendiary of to-morrow — -the public good, lost in the contemplation of his own fancied wrongs— 'arid the torch of discord, and rebellion, lighted up from the flames of his private resentment. Every day's experience convinces us all of this — -ncs^ indeed, can it be otherwise — for what is patriotism, but the principle of rectitude moving in a larger sphere ? What, but the wider diffusion of the charities of private life ? Without virtue, there is no rectitude— with out rehgion,, there are no charities — the selfish principle alone can guide him, who is destitute of virtue — and a patriot with out rehgion can feel no interest in the welfare of his country, farther than as it is connected with his own personal ad vantage. Again — though wealth, valour^ and pubhc spirit, are fowd insufficient, will not the g)ower of government supply every deficiency — and binding together the great fabric of civil so ciety, secure it from 'dissolution ? Equally insufficient will this be found, if the .morA Of the people be corrupted — the FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 323 internal principle of dissolution is at work, and no human contrivance can stop the progress of its ruinous operation — for first, how shall government itself subsist ? It will not be said, by force. Despotic power, at all times unsafe, is, in the present state of things, impossible — men know too well their collective powers, to be compelled to slavery in the mass ; — but could even despotism maintain its usurpations, surely a system that subjects by debasing, and tranquillizes by crush ing, every human energy, will not be contended for, on the ground of national prosperity. Since, then, by force alone governments cannot subsist, what remains for their support, but the principle of subordi nation ? This, indeed, is the true cement of civil union — but without rehgion, whence is this to arise ? Since such is the condition of human affairs, that the greater part of mankind must be reduced to toil, for the necessary support of exist ence ; whilst they see all the luxuries, and, as they think, the blessings of hfe, heaped profusely upon their superiors, with out any effort for their acquisition ; and can discern no dif ference between themselves and those favourites of fortune, save what arises from the accidental circumstance of birth — what is to teach the poor man acquiescence in his lot ? What is there, to induce him, to pay a willing submission to those laws, that seem to place a barrier between him and happiness — and to contribute to the support of that system, which, whilst it secures to others all the pleasures of the world, has nothing in reserve for him, but hardship and misfortune ? The philosophy of the peasant will not reach to the discovery, that this partial pressure is general good — nor will his pa triotism find, in this reflexion, a sufficient consolation for the sufferings he endures. Let not the politician rashly say, that his willingness to submit is of httle moment, since that sub mission may be compelled — let him reflect, that in the mass of the people there is a principle, which, though it may be for a while kept under, can never be totally subdued ; it may be pent up by the force of compression, but it will at some y2 324 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION time undoubtedly break forth, with a violence proportioned to the restraint : let then this truth never be forgotten, that no government can be secure that is not exercised over a willing people. But we shall be told, that the pure administration of equi table laws will ensure an unconstrained obedience. Little will avail all human laws, if not sustained by national morality: why should they, who are at war with virtue, submit to laws framed for its support ? The laws themselves, if friendly to morals, will furnish occasion for discontent and resistance, and the very means, which in a virtuous community would have secured tranquillity, will, to a corrupt people, prove the source of discord and commotion. Thus we find that laws presuppose virtue, where they profess to befriend it, and that they must ultimately rest upon that very principle, the want of which it is pretended they can supply. But, granting that the laws possess sufficient power to se cure subordination, what shall guard us against the laws themselves ? Since both to frame, and to execute them, can belong but to a few ; if there be not virtue to restrain the love of power, to what are we to look for protection ; from their corrupt enaction, or their oppressive administration? Nay more, conceding the utmost that can possibly be re quired — that on the part of the governors, laws will be wisely framed, and impartially administered ; and, on the part of the people, willingly and readily obeyed — not to object that there are many and heinous offences that cannot possibly come within the circle of their jurisdiction, being beyond the power of man with strictness to define, or with certainty to discover, we shall yet find their boasted influence, even in that, which they claim as their peculiar province, the punishment of open crimes, entirely nugatory, if not sustained by the religious principle — for is it not on testimony that the efficacy of laws must ultimately depend ? Remove then the religion of an oath, and what protection is there for the good, what punish ment for the wicked ? Will the Atheist, respect an appeal to FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 325 that Being, whose existence he denies ? Or will he, who hves only to himself, scruple to sacrifice the property, or even the life of another, to that which he deems his final good? But, in fact, for a society of Atheists to exist is impossible. Without a God there is no conscience ; without conscience, the only duty is self-gratification ; social virtue of every kind vanishes — nothing remains on which mutual reliance can be built, all must be done in compliance with external power, and every law will be disregarded, when it may be done with secrecy or impunity — and present pleasure or profit tempts to the violation. Let the Atheist produce a single instance of any one nation, in any period, subsisting without religion, and then it may be admitted that rehgion is not necessary to the existence of a state ; if he finds the annals of history un stained by such an instance, let him then account for so ex traordinary a phenomenon in the moral world as this — that from the creation to the present moment, every society of men has been under a gross delusion, in a matter affecting their most important interests, and we shall be content to let the glory of his superior wisdom, rise triumphant on the ruins of all ancient opinions. If he assign political contrivance as the cause of the universality of the religious principle, let him consider what he allows us — that the religious principle has been deemed by all politicians and legislators the only sure bond of civil union ; and also, that it finds in the mind of man something so congenial to its nature, that it has been in the power of legislators and politicians to make it a matter of universal adoption ; — thus then the two great points on which we build are given up — that rehgion is necessary to civil society, and that it has its foundation in the natural reason and sentiments of man ; — and from this it follows, that the Atheist not only declares himself at war with reason and na ture, but is, by his own confession, a determined foe to go vernment, and to society. Nor can he avoid the force of this inference, by the few instances that may possibly be found, of those who, rejecting all rehgion, have yet conducted themselves as good moral 326 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION characters ; for it should be remembered, that such, though now they disclaim it's influence, had, at an age susceptible of permanent impressions, received the tincture of religious principles; which, though themselves discarded, have left behind them habitudes favourable to virtue. Besides, whilst religion is professed by the community at large, and the moral duties consequently held in general estimation, the force of opinion, aided by the vanity and zeal which usually accompany the profession of a new system, will lead to the observance of the latter, where all regard for the former has been thrown off"; so that, on the whole, the blameless mo rality of such persons furnish a proof, not of the inutihty, but of the indirect influence, of religion. This, then, is not an ex ample suited to the case — no — let an instance be produced of the entire body of a people, destitute of the religious prin ciple; and regularly trained up in the disbelief of a God, and we shall have a fair ground for decision. One unhappy experiment, indeed, has been made to ex hibit this melancholy example: what has been its effect? We have seen a nation, discharged of every moral feeling, and abandoned to every species of impiety, labouring to throw off a sentiment, which could only serve to give pain from its continual violation : we have seen these efforts aided by all the force that the example and the power of its im pious rulers could bestow ; and we have seen them, whilst cursed with a momentary success, bring forth atrocities more horrid than the page of history can produce; — and again, have we not seen this wretched people, whose refuge was Atheism, and whose best hope was annihilation, overwhelmed by the force of nature, and yielding to the voice of reason ? And do we nbt now behold those, who direct the affairs of that ill-fated country, labouring to build up that very system which their predecessors had gloried to overturn ? Now let it be remarked — that whilst the object of those who swayed the pubhc opinion was to subvert estabhshed order and ex cite to furious outrage— so long Atheism was made the boast of the legislature and the fashion of the multitude; but when FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 327 a settled system of civil regulation was to be adopted, rehgion was instantly called in — the behef of a God and his superin tending Providence, solemnly announced — and the dark sleep of death made to retire before the dawn of an eternal existence. — Thus, then, even from those whose testimony in favour of religion cannot be questioned, on the ground of superstitious attachment to its interests, we have received this instructive lesson — that if we would disturb all order, and disband so ciety, rehgion must be discarded-— and that on the contrary, if government is to be estabhshed, and social happiness se cured, to that saving principle alone must we look for ef fectual aid. If, then, from the whole it be an obvious result — that re~ ligion is necessary to civil society — that, without it, neither the comforts, nor even the existence of the social state can be preserved — it needs httle argument to shew, that the more pure that rehgion is, the more the happiness of the commu nity, as well as of the individual, must be advanced ; try this by experience' — amongst the nations of antiquity, do we not uniformly find their prosperity keeping pace with their morality, and their morality commensurate with their rehgion ? But I will not detain you with the particulars of an induction so obtrusive — every page of ancient history proclaims the fact — and if we find this to have been the case, even amidst the wild superstitions, and perverted morals of the heathen ; what should we not expect, from the subhme doctrines, and refined morality of the gospel ? — from a rehgion, which not only affords to individual virtue the most powerful support, but enforces with peculiar energy those qualities that sustain the social system ? In vain does the corrupt sophistry of the Deist object to this beneficent dispensation — that it has been the occasion of war, and persecution — that its precepts are inconsistent with civil liberty — and that those virtues, with which it pro fesses to adorn the Christian character, it has been found ineffectual to secure. To charge upon Christianity the faults and crimes of those that have usurped its name, is the only 328 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION resource that remains to its enemies, when they can find nothing in the rehgion itself on which to fasten condemna tion — but it requires uncommon hardihood, to impute the ferocities of war, and the cruelties of persecution, to a sys tem, whose very essence is benevolence — whose distinguish ing features are humanity, gentleness, long-suffering, kind ness, brotherly love — and whose glory it is, to have extended, even to foes and oppressors, those kindly affections, which the utmost stretch of heathen morality could not carry be yond the friend and the benefactor. The objection, then, that would fix upon the benignant principles of Christ's holy religion, the vindictive malignities of some of its professors, involves a confusion too clumsy, to pass even on the most unthinking. Of equal force is the argument, that would pronounce Christianity injurious to freedom. Patriotism, indeed, has not been formally announced, in the catalogue of Christian virtues — and the language of the gospel has declared peace ful submission to the powers that be, a Christian duty — but the same gospel has enforced a benevolence, embracing all the charities of social life ; and has enjoined to governors, a mild and equitable exercise of power, as imphed in the pre cept, and corresponding to the duty, of unresisting obedience. How, then, can that be called hostile to liberty, which me diates between the people and the ruler — which generates on the one hand, subordination and tranquillity ; and on the other, justice and moderation — which resists no rational and peaceful means of securing the just rights of the subject — and which, whilst it strengthens the ties of allegiance, and increases the public stock of virtue, diminishes the jealousy of power — and guarding freedom against the abuses of licen tiousness, renders those restraints unnecessary, which a cor rupt people require for their control ? But again, it is urged, that the advantages of Christianity, with regard to individual virtue, have been much overrated — and that in the Christian world, vice and immorality are still found to prevail. Now I will only ask, whether where FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 329 this immorality is found to prevail, there does not prevail irreligion also — and whether the man, who indulges in ha bitual vice, has not, in the first instance, released his con science from a sense of Christian obligation ? What deno mination he may wear, is of httle moment. The man who violates the precepts of Christianity, is not a Christian— and to object his vices to the rehgion which he rejects, is a spe cies of reasoning well suited to those who resist the cause of virtue and of truth. The value of the rehgion is to be judged of by its natural tendency, and by an actual effect upon those who are governed by its influence. That even in coun tries where Christianity is professed, there are many, to whom that influence has not extended, can furnish no argument against a system which works not by physical compulsion. But let not the infidel triumph in the inefficacy of the gospel — let him consider, that the multitudes which it silently leads to piety and goodness, are unobtrusive, and unknown — and that many, even of those who disgrace the Christian name, may possibly have been kept back from greater enor mities, by the restraints which Christianity may have wrought into their early habits, or which it may indirectly impose through the medium of society ; — but that, after every pos sible allowance, the number of those who live in opposition to the Christian precepts, is great — that the influence of re hgion upon our hearts and hves, is at this day considerably reduced, must unhappily be confessed — but what do I infer? — that the friends of virtue and rehgion should exert them selves the more. Yes, my brethren, the present times do indeed call for your exertions. The dechne of Christianity — the dechne of religion — the decline of morals — the threatened ruin of your country — all demand your most strenuous efforts. That Christianity, rehgion, and morals have declined, each day's observation furnishes proof in melancholy abundance — for whence the desertion of our churches — the disregard and violation of the sabbath — the neglect and ridicule of Christian duties — the eager reception of all works calculated to de- 330 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION preciate and traduce the Christian faith — the gross abuse of oaths — the perversion and defiance of pubhc opinion — -the universal rage of dissipation — the unbounded pursuit of plea sure — the contempt and hatred of all authority— the rapid decrease of modesty and chastity amongst our females— the extravagant profusion of all ranks— begetting in the highest, embarrassment, venality, meanness, profligacy ; — in the middle orders, — bankruptcy, indigence, family distress;— and in the lowest class, idleness, debauchery, violence, dis regard of law, impatience of control, insurrection, mas sacre ? I know, that at all limes the moralist and the preacher have deplored and condemned the vices of their contem poraries, as exceeding those of former ages, whilst in many cases they only borrowed from the nearer view an artificial magnitude ; but on inquiry, I fear it will be found that this picture, dismal as it is, merits not the eharge of exaggera tion — for look abroad and see what is the real state of tilings. As to rehgion, look even to its externals. In what manner do we find the worship of that great Being who made heaven and earth conducted ? Do we not see that day., peculiarly allotted to the glorifying of his name, consumed by the lower ranks, in gross intemperance, and blasphemy and riot — whilst among the higher, no longer able to excite even a weariness of its dull uniformity, have we not seen a liberalizing fashion strip it of its sanctity, and extend to it all the customary modes of pleasurable indulgence ? Not content with ex ploding the old-fashioned notion, that the pubhc worship of the most High should be attended with regularity, and en gaged in with reverence, do we not see it sending forth a more than usual display of vanity, and unfolding a more laborious magnificence ; as if to ridicule the humble votary of the temple, and to disgrace the festival of God's hallowed rest ? And with those who would be ranked amongst the more re fined, do we not see the evening of this sacred day conclude with all the usual around of dissipation — to the scandal of religion, to the prejudice of those whom thek .example may FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 331 corrupt, and to the actual hindrance of every member of their household from the discharge of any of the pious duties of the day ? Nay more — lest the abuses of God's sabbath should not be sufficiently pernicious, if confined within the privacy of their dwellings, have we not seen a pubhc enter tainment set apart for its peculiar use ? — thus openly pro claiming hostihties against the sabbath, and calling in the multitude to share in the profanation of the triumph. On this last act of profligacy I am unwilling to dwell — it is dif ficult to speak of such abominations with the moderation suited to this place. I shall therefore only beg to remind those, on whom this establishment may depend for patronage and support — that if there be any one species of impiety, by which the very notion of religion may be clean wiped from the minds of an entire people, it is that of an habitual vio lation and contempt of the sabbath — and if there be any one scheme, by which this may be completely effected, it is by an institution, which appoints a public entertainment for the regular returns of the sabbath — which stamps that enter tainment with the sanction of distinguished names — and which spreads round it all the attractive splendour of afflu ence and fashion — whilst the pretended harmlessness of the objects of the meeting are made to cheat timidity of its scruples, and the plea of charity held out as a compromise to conscience,— a plea ill becoming those who overlook a fund, which obviously presents itself, and which connects the cause of humanity with the worship and glory of the Creator. And are we to wonder, if after such examples we should find that, amongst the lower classes of our people, this day, which was given for rest, is turned to riot— that each return of it is celebrated as a bacchanalian festival— and that the interval which it affords from worldly occupations, for the purpose of impressing the seriousness of religious feeling, is employed for the sole end of violating every religious precept, and promoting every species of disorder and immorality ? When the worship, and consequently the reverence, of the Supreme Being has been thus generally laid aside, we might 332 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION naturally expect to find, amongst the many melancholy effects that follow, that even the last solemn appeal to divine omniscience should cease to be respected, and that the obli gation of an oath should in a great measure have lost its force — and is not this the case ? Do we not see it day after day bartered by the necessities of one class, and bent to the convenience of another ? Administered without ceremony, and taken without consideration, do we not find it frequently employed as an idle pageant to qualify for office, or as a destructive weapon suited to the basest purposes of rapacity or malice ? Look to those struggles of ambition, which each returning period of delegation brings upon a land more te nacious of liberty than virtue — what are they but great con vulsions of the moral system — by which every principle of truth is torn up by the roots — whilst the treasures of the rich are everywhere employed to create and purchase the per juries of the poor ? Nay, look even to those courts, in which the venerable form of justice is seen to preside — how is the solemnity of an oath trifled with and abused ? Even in that place, where this awful appeal to the Eternal Judge is made the security of life, reputation, liberty — of all that is dear to man — with what disgraceful levity do we too often find it treated ? What ingenuity do we see employed to colour the falsehoods of subornation, and to confound the honest sim plicity of truth into inconsistency ? And are we then, after all this, to wonder if the very notion of truth be not amongst the conceptions of our poor ? Are we to wonder, if we find the promise of the tradesman but the pledge of our disap pointment; and the confidence reposed in the domestic repaid -with the pillage of his master ? Are we to wonder, if we find fidelity in private hfe, and allegiance in public, scoffed at as empty names — and if the only covenant to which the lower classes of our people are found not unfaithful, is a covenant of blood ? — a covenant, which binds them to carry terror and desolation through the land, and with embodied outrage to menace even the venerable fabric of our con stitution. FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 333 Here opens one of the dreadful consequences of that irre- ligion which has long been creeping unperceived, but now lifts its head and stalks abroad in ghastly triumph. When the great one of this world ridiculed in theory, and by his practice insulted the sanctimonious duties of religion, he was not aware that the contagion of his example would rapidly descend. He was not aware that the restraints of religion must appear sufficiently burdensome to those on whom they imposed a patient submission to the hardships of poverty, and that httle encouragement was wanting to induce them to throw them off. He was not aware, that in shaking the au thority of rehgion, he was undermining the very foundation on which he stood. Let him now look round and survey the fruits of his achievements. He thought, perhaps, if he thought at all, that the operation of moral causes was slow, and with the philanthropy suited to his principles, consoled himself with the reflection, that things would last his time a, and that he need not fear to contribute by his vicious indulgences to the swelling of a storm, which was to burst on the head of posterity— -but let him now ponder the awful lesson of irre ligious example striking instantaneous root, and suddenly shooting up in savage outrage and national convulsion — let him behold an infuriate populace arming for the destruction of their country — and whilst the grand scheme of political subversion has been maturing by secret and systematic com bination, and awaiting its completion by the infusion of a foreign force, let him behold the genius of insurrection, mean time, impatient of delay, breaking forth in acts of violence and carnage— the laws resisted and defied — and the strength of government challenged to open conflict — let him also be hold the new monster assassination, coolly dealing out its havoc, and aiming its poniard, one time against the active vindicator of his own and his country's rights, and at another, a " After us the Deluge " — had been to draw down ruin upon a neighbouring a phrase of familiar consolation amongst country. On the awful anticipation of those whose vices concurred with the this reversion, it may not be unwise to principles of a destructive philosophy, reflect. 334 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION against the suspected partner of the dangerous, secret — and let him, whilst he is made to tremble for his very existence and whilst he is compelled to convert his house into a for* tress, and to exchange the comforts of domestic tranquillity for the terrors of intestine commotion — let him, I say, reflect upon the just judgments of that Providence which has thus visited him with the consequences of his impiety — let him reflect, that he it was who had provided the instruments for sedition — that, in preparing the minds of the people, for the willing and ready admission of those doctrines of treason and rebellion, that have been lately circulated, with a success to be equalled only by the zeal of their propagation — he it was who had pointed the dagger that the unnatural assassin of Ms country has aimed at her existence. The deadly blow has been, indeed, averted by the wise and vigilant exertions of our governors ; but let him not thence conclude all danger past. The wisdom and the strength of man will avail nothing against the councils of the Almighty ; and the scourge of our iniquities, though for a time withheld in mercy, will, if that mercy be slighted, return with tenfold vengeance. Let me then implore even those who can estimate religion only by its temporal effects, to awake at length to the con sequences of its dereliction, and to unite with the friends of virtue in stemming the torrent of pubhc immorality — if they can yet remain so blind, as not to see that the destruction of social order is the natural product of national irrehgion, let me entreat them to turn their eyes to the professed opponents of government and subordination, and observe in what manner they execute their schemes of subversion-^- whether it be not their plan to sow the seed of insurrection by scattering the principles of infidehty — and whether they do not make regular preparation for overturning allegiance to the magistrate, by stripping men of allegiance to their God ? For what has been the fact ? Have we not seen for some time past a regular systematic diffusion of Atheism through the land — societies dehberately formed for the purpose— their united talents and treasures charitably employed to reduce FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 335 the abstruseness and the bulk of ancient blasphemies within the apprehension and the purchase of the multitude — and thus, a system of diabolical retail (as it were) estabhshed by which even a pennyworth of Atheism is ready prepared for the poor — the very infant furnished with his primer of in fidelity — and the mendicant enabled to pick up the poisoned morsel on the highway a. And by whom has been conducted, this process of modern illumination ? Is it not by the very persons who have been labouring to disturb the public peace, and to overturn the constitution ? They knew too well that rehgion is the only basis of social order — they had seen the same methods successful in a late unhappy instance — and they naturally looked for the same consequences. That the same consequences have not followed, demands our fervent gratitude to the gracious Disposer of events ; who, by bring ing to light their wicked counsels, and prospering the salutary endeavours of our political protectors, has reserved us yet for further trial — and enabled us, if we will, to return to his righteousness and be saved. But although these enemies of human happiness have failed in accomplishing the whole of their destructive pur pose, it is dreadful to think how far they have been able to advance. To be released at once from the fear of God and man, to open wide the door to the indulgence of the worst and most violent passions of our nature, to unrein licentiousness, and to hold out to the meanest, the sudden acquisition of unbounded wealth and power, earry with them charms not to be resisted ; and treason and impiety have ac cordingly been found to spread around their baneful influence. Here, then, my brethren, is & field indeed for your exertions — when irreligion, hitherto confined to the palaces of volup- 3 It is a fact, unhappily too notorious that they have not only been sent abroad in this country to need any additional at prices so reduced as to make them testimony, that short and popular Athe- accessible to all, but have been distri- istical tracts have for some time back buted amongst the peasants, and literally been circulated through every part of scattered along the highways, by persons the kingdom, but especially the north, specially employed to travel through the with a degree of system and zeal which country for this very purpose. have scarcely ever been exceeded ; and 336 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION tuous opulence, or the closets of lettered scepticism, has found its way even into the cottage of the peasant — it is full time, I say for you, who know the comfort of God's holy word, and the ruin that must arise from its rejection, to put forth your best and most strenuous efforts — and when this spirit of irreligion has carried in its train the spirit of insur rection, and all its fiend-like attendants ; it is full time for all who regard the blessings of society, and the existence of our political estabhshment, to unite with you in rooting up this parent stock of every evil that can afflict the human race. When the impieties that are usually nurtured on the rich heights of affluence are found to have spread even through the lowest ranks, the depravation of society must, indeed, be alarming — and yet I know not whether another more deadly symptom does not remain to be noticed — I know not whether the increasing dissipation and unprincipled pursuit of plea sure amongst the female part of the community, and which, no longer confined to the highest class, have reached deep into the middle rank, do not furnish a proof yet more de plorably convincing of the degraded state of rehgion and manners in the land ; but if any dehcacy remains to the pubhc mind, let me not wound it by a review of the enor mities, which this subject necessarily suggests. Here then let me draw the veil ; but thus much it is unavoidable to remark — that if ever the women of any country shall become so far vicious, as to have thrown off all restraints of religion and decorum, and shall be able to turn the scale of fashion in their favour, so as to glory in their shame, and triumph in their dishonour — the fate of that country is decided — the descent to vice is no -longer gradual — the fences of virtue are every where borne down by a sweeping and resistless torrent — and the land is deluged with abominations. The recent example of a neighbouring country has evinced the necessity of these consequences ; it behoves us seriously to consider how far we of this nation, deserve to be secured from a similar cata strophe. FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 337 Alas ! my brethren, it is alarming to reflect upon those vicious practices that disgrace every rank and description of the community ; it is alarming to reflect upon that dissolute ness and dissipation which have nearly extinguished every moral and religious feeling ; and in which we fearlessly in dulge whilst we hang over the verge of a frightful precipice, which foreign and domestic enemies have prepared for our destruction. Dreadful infatuation ! When the judgments of the Lord are abroad upon the earth ; when the visitations of an insulted God are seen levelling the lofty mockers of his might ; when the finger of desolation is beheld tracing in characters of vengeance the doom of nations — shall we dis port ourselves in the revels of guilty pleasure, and slumber securely on the couch of sin, whilst the crash of Almighty vengeance thunders all around ? If such be our insensibility, then are you, who have stationed yourselves as the sentinels of religion, called on to exert a tenfold vigilance, to sound in our ears the ruin that awaits us, to rouse us from the deadly trance, and to gird us with the armour of salvation. Upon the whole, my fellow Christians, if ever there was a time when your exertions, and the exertions of all good men were indispensable, it is the present ; — in an age, which, in fected with the vanities of reason, and intoxicated with the pride of philosophy, affects to deride the great truths of Christ's holy rehgion, and mock at the sublime mysteries of our redemption ; — at a day when a spirit of wild licentious ness, claiming the name of liberality, sweeps away all distinc tions, and mixes all extremes; when religious sentiment is stigmatized as prejudice, and the simplicity of God's sacred word is branded with the name of folly ; when the refinements of what is called civilization havefrittered away the boundaries of right and wrong ; and the speculative corruptions of the understanding, communicating their depravity to the heart, have spread their pollutions through every channel of the community; when we see the sanctions of the highest names confirming examples of irreligion, arid creating a fashion that rapidly circulates their vices through every class, and VOL. II. z 338 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION shoots the poison of their crimes through every member of the public body, until at last the fatal lesson has returned upon themselves ; and those whom they had taught to disrespect their God, have learned to despise their governors ; when the support of the laws has become a mark for popular revenge ; when assassination has been reduced to system; when the furious spirit of innovation has gone abroad, and treason has not feared to rear its head in our very streets ; when interest, and ambition, and voluptuousness, have everywhere set up their idols ; and the only temple, in which the boasted wisdom of the present day refuses to bend the knee, is the temple of the living God ; — when these things are so, surely we are called on, as if a voice from heaven had warned us, to arm ourselves against these abominations ; these are evi dently the provocations and preparatives to those last heavy judgments, which the wrath of God visits upon abandoned and reprobate nations; and these are the very characters whereby those countries, that have been swept with the besom of desolation, have been ruinously distinguished in. the period immediately preceding their extinction. Having thus shewn that there exists _ a necessity for the exertions of all who regard private happiness, or public pro sperity, it remains to be considered what are the means most likely to render those exertions successful, and what means could have been devised more efficacious ' than those which you, my brethren, have adopted ? To strip vice of the sanc tions of fashion, to tear off the mask of infidehty, to inculcate the principles of religion by your instructions, and to ex hibit the loveliness of virtue in your practice ; — for these purposes you have united, and to effect these great objects you have multiplied your individual strength, by the energies of associated zeal. You are not indeed armed with the power of the magistrate, nor do you carry with you the war rant of ecclesiastical commission ;— 'but secured at the same time against those jealous fears of encroachment, that oppose. the one — and the suspicion of self-interest, which injures the utility of the other — you possess, in ' your numbers and your FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 339 cause, every enforcement of authority, and every title to re spect. In the prosecution of your plans you have been favoured with the co-operation of our governors : because they well knew that the best interests of government must be co-extended with the diffusion of rehgion : — the earnest con currence of the clergy you could not but have received ; your cause and theirs are the same ; — you have the hearts of all good men with you ; you have the judgments of all wise men in your favour ; even intelligent selfishness must be in terested for the prosperity of your institution : with these ad vantages, with an advantage that far exceeds all, the appro bation of that great Being, in whose cause you are enrolled, you have every assurance of success ; — in the magnitude of the abuses which you have combined to combat, you have every demand for your exertion. The specific measures of reform, which your collective wisdom has suggested, it is not my purpose to detail ; time will not permit the enumeration ; and the full and able dis cussion they have already received from my predecessors in this station must render it unnecessary ; I shall therefore de tain your attention only by such particulars as may deserve peculiar notice. Ignorance, your Association has rightly judged the most fertile source of all moral and political disorder. With regret they saw, at the first moment of their formation, that, amongst the lower orders of our countrymen, it had taken deep and extensive root— they had seen it in their personal inter course, they discovered it with still more formidable cer tainty, in the destructiveness of its effects. Against this great- national evil, therefore, were directed their earliest efforts; and to promote the religious education of the children of the poor, became one of the fvrst objects to which their energies were applied. What were the salutary expedients, and judicious modes of encouragement adopted, to carry this purpose into effect, has been on a former occasion publicly stated — it is only ne cessary for me to add, that the effect has hitherto been fully z 2 340 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION answerable to the most sanguine expectations, and that, so far as the operation of these means has hitherto been ex tended, their efficacy has been abundantly evinced by the emulation that has been excited, the desire of knowledge that has been diffused, arid the actual attainments that have been made. One point, however, there is, connected with the sub ject, to which my duty requires me to advert. Some there are to whom the instruction of the lower orders appears in a tight far from beneficial, and who consider the partial culti vation, to which, from the nature of their situation, they must necessarily be confined, as tending to render them dissatis fied with their condition, and exposing them to the insidious suggestions of the infidel and the seditious, by enabhng them to peruse those writings which are daily circulated for their delusion, and which, being artfully adjusted to the standard of their ignorance and their passions, easily find amongst them eager and tumultuous advocates — whilst, on the other hand, the dictates of true wisdom, and practical prudence, necessarily addressing themselves to just principles of reasoning, and an unbiassed feehng of right, are in vain offered in confutation. In answer to this, I will not urge that the very argument which is here advanced against the intel lectual improvements of the poor, derives its sole support from the abuses that grow out of a deficiency of knowledge ; — I will not urge that ignorance is an unsafe ground for au thority to rest on ; and that, with the same facility with which it crouches to power, it may be made to minister to faction : — I will not urge that whatever conduces to the true interests of mankind, can have a sohd foundation only in that know ledge which can discern those interests ; — I will not urge that in a neighbouring country", where instruction has been spread almost universally amongst the lowest class, the 0 The reader need scarcely be in- part of the British empire. In no part formed that the country here alluded to of the world, perhaps, has education is Scotland, in which it is well known been more extended, and nowhere that decent demeanour, as well as su- has there appeared more general in- perior intelligence, distinguishes the dustry and regularity. lower classes above those of any other FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 341 blessings of industry, good order, and religious principle, have been found singularly to prevail; — these, and other considerations on the same head, I shall not now press upon your reflection, since the objection, whatever may be its weight, cannot with justice be applied to the proceedings of the Association. Had indeed the scheme of education origin ated with them, and had that scheme been confined to the communication of the bare elements of learning, without any of their more useful combinations, your institution might have been chargeable with the injurious consequences supposed to follow : but when, on the contrary, your part has been to di rect the course of literary instruction, already established, to the most valuable objects ; and to furnish the materials for the highest mental improvement, none but the benefits of the system can be ascribed to you, whatever, under other circum stances, may be its disadvantanges. The knowledge, which it has been your great ambition to disseminate, is the knowledge of rehgion ; and, to this end, what means more happily suited than those you have em ployed ? In the address of last year, it was announced that a plan was then in contemplation for the distribution of Bibles amongst the lower classes — the number of Bibles to amount to 5000 — to be sold at a reduced price — and to be distributed amongst Christians of all denominations, without distinction. I am happy now to inform you that this plan has been carried into effect — the number proposed has been contracted for, the greater part actually procured and circu lated; and although the sum presented by the benevolent author of this scheme amounted only to ,£50, and not less than ;£1600 were requisite for its completion, yet so warmly has the beneficence of the original donor been seconded by the libe rality of the public, that the Association has been encouraged to carry the plan yet farther, and to annex to it a scheme for sending into circulation a larger number of Testaments, for the more constant use of the younger parts of families ; the speedy accomplishment of which there is every reason to ex pect ; as a large proportion of those, on whom this cause of religion and humanity furnishes the strongest claims, yet re- 342 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION main to contribute their assistance. But may it not be hoped that this scheme may be carried to a yet greater extent? Nay, may it not be hoped that the continually growing bene fits of its operation may at length place it upon a foundation, independent of individual munificence — and that the same superintending care, that provides for the peasant a place in which to worship his Creator, may also secure to him that in valuable book, which alone can teach him in what manner he is to be worshipped ? Mean time, what has been accom plished must afford to every friend of virtue the highest satis faction ; — it goes at the same time to evince the efficacy of your exertions, and to confirm this truth, that no good cause, taken up with zeal and maintained with perseverance, can fail of ultimate success. But, excellent as this work has been, your Association has not rested here ; — it was not enough that the great truths of revelation should be placed before the eyes of the people ; it was necessary that they should be read and relished. The books hitherto in use amongst the lower classes of our countrymen have been such as, faihng in with their ignor ance and their vices, could not but excite a distaste, and even incapacity, for every thing serious and instructive. To correct this false taste, and to create a relish for more whole some nourishment, was an object worthy of your notice. For this purpose you have wisely devised the scheme of send ing abroad, through the venders of cheap books intended for the use of the poor, small tracts, in which the principles of moral rectitude, and religious truth, are conveyed in the at tractive form oi fable ; thus interesting curiosity in behalf of virtue, and blending with the entertainment of the fancy the correction of the heart. By this means moral truths become insensibly impressed upon the mind — the more serious and useful concerns of hfe are raised to their due importance — and whilst the general cause of virtue thus receives ad ditional support, a taste and knowledge are diffused, that form the necessary preparatives for the profitable perusal of the. great volume of our salvation. " The children of this world are, in their generation, wiser FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 343 than the children of hght" — and with them, we find, had originated this plan of popular instruction. They had dealt out their lessons in the most compendious form — and by their unhappy zeal in the sendee of their master, they had contrived that every cottager should be supphed with a cheap and portable system of impiety. Without some counteraction, what must be the consequence ? Whilst the enemy had thus overrun the low grounds of society, was the supporter of Christianity to remain within his strongholds, and boast of his strength in fastnesses, which gave no com mand ; and in armour, which was too cumbrous for action ? No — we have learned wisdom from the foes of religion, we have armed ourselves with weapons fit for the encounter, and under the blessing of that great Being, who looks down with favour upon every effort in the cause of virtue, we will be successful. How far we have already succeeded may be in ferred from the prodigious number of the tracts alluded to, which have been actually dispersed, amounting to not less than 100,000 in the space of the last twelve months — and it deserves to be remarked that these have not been scattered gratuitously ; in which case they might have fallen in popu lar estimation, and would furnish no ground, from their consumption, whereon to estimate the degree of their de mand. What may be the benefits resulting from the prosecution of this plan it must be difficult to compute. May we not naturally expect that it will work an entire change in the manners of our populace ? When books, inculcating lessons of industry, and virtue, and religion, are made to form the amusement of the old, and the instruction of the young, may we not expect, that though the obduracy of matured habits should resist the salutary impression, yet the rising genera tion will grow up under its influence ; and that the feeling of utility, and the principle of right, will at length take place of that slovenly indolence, that improvident thoughtlessness, and that too prevalent disregard of honesty and truth, which have hitherto marked the lower classes of our people ? 344 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION But here I cannot help observing, that in order to secure these invaluable consequences, the scheme must be prose cuted with a vigour and extension suited to the exigence. I have mentioned the number already dispersed, — and con sidering the lateness of the commencement, it is a large one ; — but still " what is this amongst so many ? " This would, at the most moderate computation, amount but to a single tract to every five families through the kingdom. To attain the de sired end, they must be sent abroad, through every county, and town, and village, where there are any who can read ; and in order to this, there must be a vastly larger fund than the Association, engaged in so many other expensive under takings, can possibly supply ; and every man of station, of influence and virtue, must become an active assistant in dis persing them ; this, I scruple not to say, would produce an infallible effect ; — and, let me add, that it is the concern of every man who values life, or liberty, or property, who loves his country, or who honours his God. But whilst you were thus engaged in providing for the spiritual wants of your poorer brethren, you were not un mindful of their temporal necessities, and you thought it not unworthy of you, in the late season of threatened scarcity and distress, to employ your talents, and your knowledge, in communicating whatever information your experience or your reading might suggest, as to the modes by which a cheap . and easy subsistence might be procured. Nor have you confined yourselves to such publications as were suited only to the occasions of the poor. To have alleviated their present wants — to have taught them the value of cleanliness, and industry, and honesty, and truth — to have instilled into their minds the notion of utility and the sense of religion — to have thus prepared them for the profitable perusal of the holy scripture, and to have supplied them with that sacred book, for their final edification ; these were objects worthy of your institution — and yet there remained a species of publication, whose object was too important to escape your discernment, and whose benefits shoidd reach, FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 345 not merely to the peasant, but to him of less humble rank, and less limited attainments. The late growth of infidel writings, assuming a new shape, and decking themselves in all the colours of popular allurement, required a speedy counteraction. To this end, it was deemed expedient to send into general circulation such treatises as might most intel ligibly, and at the same time briefly, vindicate Christianity from the malignant attacks of its adversaries. With a pru dence which well became your wisdom, you determined not to anticipate the notoriety of those pernicious pubhcations by the precipitancy of reply ; and that their unhappy cele brity should be followed, not hastened, by their confutation ; well knowing also, that the Christian faith had little to fear from the powers of reasoning displayed in such performances, and that the true cause of their adoption was to be sought in the predisposition of the public mind, from an ignorance of the sacred word, and an impatience of its restraints : you, with equal prudence, resolved, that however the urgency of the occasion might draw from you argumentative replies ; on these you were by no means to rely, as your only, or even your principal strength. The general dissemination of the scriptures, and the religious education of youth, 'you rightly judged the truly efficacious mode of defence — at the same time you failed not to avail yourselves of the labours of those worthy persons, both in this and the neighbouring country, whose talents had been most successfully employed in counteracting those destructive doctrines which had been so industriously disseminated — and by printing cheap editions of tracts, both tending to establish the evidences of Revela tion in general, and to repel the particular attacks which have been lately made upon it, by that well-known writer, who has even vulgarised infidelity, so as to fit it for the taste and comprehension of the very rabble ; you have spread powerful antidotes throughout the land, so as to place them within the reach even of the poorest — and it is to be hoped that the exertions of individual members will com plete this beneficent work, in the promoting of which, some 346 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION of them" have already shewn so exemplary a zeal— and by an active, and where necessary, a gratuitous distribution of these valuable tracts, make provision, that even the meanest peasant may be able, according to the apostohc direction, to give a reason of the hope that is in him. But as it has been peculiarly the policy of modern infidels to strip rehgion of its sanctity, and to degrade the sacred books by heaping on them every epithet of scurrility and contempt — it appeared to you, that it might not be unprofit able to meet them on this very ground — and accordingly I find upon your journals, a measure resolved on, and I trust speedily to be executed, which may answer to this purpose — I mean the diffusion of tracts, calculated at the same time to enforce the excellence and true dignity of the sacred writings, and to retort on their calumniators the weapons of ridicule which they have insidiously, and but too successfully, employed against them, by pointing out the glaring and almost ludicrous absurdities that hang upon the several schemes that have been set up to the subversion of the Christian faith — and , on this head, indeed, you have an ample field. When you find one of the redoubted cham pions of infidehty, boldly contending, that man is capable of arriving at absolute perfection in this present life, for which alone he is destined, and that the day is fast approach ing, when the whole human race, having attained that glo rious state, shall exult in unbounded freedom ; knowing no law, and restrained by no government but that of individual reason — from the commencement of which happy era, the extinction of the passions is to perpetuate this perishable frame, and human immortality to crown the work. When you find another, with greater moderation, admitting the exist ence of what he calls a God, but denying him the power of communicating with his creatures — and whilst he rejects the a Particularly the Lord Bishop of Seed, Watson, and Pahy, has lately Elphin, at whose sole expense a most been published — to be distributed by useful compendium of the evidences of the Association. the Christian religion, extracted from FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 347 written word, as not suited to the simplicity of the unlearned, sending him to the abstract contemplation of the physical and moral world, for the intuitive knowledge of his Creator and his duty — when, I say, we find the adversaries of our faith seriously contending for these frenzies — and contend ing for them, as essential parts of their respective systems ; could we refrain from smiling at such extravagant follies, were we not grieved to see that there are fools who can em brace even these absurdities, because they carry to the cor rupt affections a release from the restraints of virtue and the terrors of religion ? But to return. Whilst you have been thus zealous in dis seminating such works as might conduce to the instruction and improvement of the public mind, you have been not un- profitably employed in suppressing many that were injurious. To your vigilant interference do we owe it, that publica tions offensive to decency, and destructive of morals, are no longer openly vended — and to you are our youth indebted for rescuing them from, that odious familiarity with vice, which fixes in a polluted imagination the basis of every thing that is unprincipled and dissolute. Hitherto, I have confined myself to a view of the exertions of the Association, as directed to the reformation of principle. If I have dwelt rather largely upon this topic, I have to seek my excuse in the general importance of the subject — and I look particularly for your indulgence, as the measures to which I have alluded, being almost all of recent growth, prove that your operations are progressive — and that in such cases as depend solely upon the Association itself, and in which they are not merely to recommend, but to act, the work of virtue is not permitted to linger. But let it not be supposed that, occupied, as you have been, in plans for the reformation of principle, you have in any degree neglected those that tend to the reformation of practice. No — the violation of the sabbath — the prevalence of the horrid crime of perjury — the mischiefs of lottery in surance — the gross abuse of spirituous liquors amongst the 348 SERMON BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION lower orders — these, and the other flagitious practices, that openly disgrace society, are the unceasing objects of your dehberation and your hostihty. But the different plans which your wisdom has suggested for the removal of these evils, have been already so amply detailed, that to the pubhc, nothing remains to be added for information ; and to you, nothing more can be needful, than to urge a persevering exertion for their accomplishment. Upon the whole, my brethren, great have been your efforts in the glorious cause you have undertaken — and not incon siderable has been your success — but to crown these efforts, and to complete the success, there is one thing indispensable — I mean example. This is, I may say, the very soul of your institution ; this alone it is, that can give hfe and efficacy to your resolves — without this, all your regulations become dead letter; and your Association, sunk into merited contempt, and put aside as an impertinent intruder, will only serve to furnish matter of derision and triumph to the enemies of our rehgion ; whilst to the friends of virtue, it must raise insuper able obstructions to any future attempt of a similar nature. Much then does it behove you, my brethren, to beware that your practice war not with your professions. Remember that you are as a city that is set upon a hill, and " cannot be hid" — remember, that you have voluntarily placed yourselves on that eminence — that you have challenged public observation, and taught the world to look to your hves and conduct for a proof of the excellence of that religion, by which you profess to be influenced — remember, then, that every instance of your personal misconduct is a wound to Christianity, and that, by evincing the inefficacy of the gospel upon the morals of its most ostensible advocates, you turn traitor to its Divine Author — and, like the perfidious disciple, deliver up the Lord of Life into the hands of his murderers. Let us, then, my brethren, as we value the well-being of society, as we value the interests of rehgion, as we value our own eternal welfare — let us seriously consider the excellence of this our work, and the ruin of its failure — let us remember, FOR DISCOUNTENANCING VICE. 349 that whether our efforts for the reformation of others prove prosperous or ineffectual, we have taken upon ourselves this sacred obligation — that " as for us," we and our " house will serve the Lord." And let us humbly implore that God, with out whom the strength of the mighty and the counsels of the wise are vain, to vouchsafe to us his assistance and protec tion, his guidance and his blessing — so that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in Him, we may glorify his holy name — and, finally, through his mercy, obtain everlast ing hfe, through Jesus Christ our Lord. SERMON PREACHED IN THE CHAPEL OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, ON THURSDAY, THE 16TH OF FEBRUARY, 1797, BEING THE DAY APPOINTED FOB A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING ON ACCOUNT OF THE PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE OF THIS KINGDOM FROM THE LATE THREATENED INVASION. SERMON. Proverbs, xxi. 30, 31. AGAINST THE LORD. THE HORSE IS PREPARED AGAINST THE DAY OF BATTLE : BUT SAFETY IS OF THE LORD." That the success of all human endeavours ultimately de pends, not on man, but on that Being from whom the powers of man have been derived — can be controverted only by such as madly presume to question the existence of an all controlling cause — approved by the reflection and con firmed by the experience of past ages. This momentous truth has been lately manifested to us of this nation, in characters so visible, and by proofs so convincing, that, not to discern it, were the extreme of blindness — not to acknowledge it, the deepest blackness of ingratitude. To him who does not confess that, in our late dehverance from the horrors of war, heightened by the ferocities of a brutal and ensanguined enemy, the divine mercy has been our safe guard — who has not beheld, as it were, the arm of the Lord bared for our preseiTation — to him the solemnities of this day must pass away as idle and unmeaning pageantry ; — and in the prayers and praises which the national gratitude is, at this moment, sending up to the throne of our Almighty De liverer, he can take no part. VOL. II. a a 354 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF Amongst you, my Christian brethren, who are here assem bled, I will hope that none such are to be found. I will hope that on this day, which our governors have appointed for one solemn and united expression of national thanksgiving — we have all met together, with feelings suited to the sacredness of the object and to the magnitude of the occasion — and, that there is not one of those who now hear me, who is not con vinced, that there is no wisdom nor understanding nor coun sel against the Lord — that although the horse is prepared against the day of battle, yet of tite Lord, and of him only, is safety — that safety, whereby we are now enabled to meet in this his temple, to invoke his protection, and to celebrate his praise. That such conviction may not pass off with the feeling of the moment, but may operate with an efficacy proportioned to its importance — that it may not terminate with the present effusion of grateful adoration, but continue to work substan tial and permanent improvement in our hearts and lives ; let me entreat your attention in a serious examination of the truth which has been generally proposed as the subject of the present discourse — a truth, to which it concerns us, not merely to yield our assent, but which we should be careful to embody, in the habits of our thinking, and in the principles of our practice. That a general superintending control is exercised by the Supreme Being in the conduct of human affairs — can be denied only by those who, excluding the Creator from our thoughts, would totally subvert the foundations of religion — to place an idle sceptre in the hands of him who governs the universe — is the insulting mockery of the modern Atheist, who admits the notion of a God but to deride it. But whilst this superintending control is necessarily maintained by all who are possessed of the first principles of religious belief; it has been contended by some, that its operations being conducted by fixed and general laws, no events are, conse quently, to be ascribed to its peculiar interference — -and that all being equally subject to its uniform and universal in- A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 355 fluence, it follows, that no particular occurences can be distin guished as Providential. Now, this position, so far as it goes to establish the neces sary subjection of all events to an overruling Providence, is perfectly consistent with the deductions of reason and the discoveries of revelation ; — but, inasmuch as it presumes that the workings of Providence are uniform, and that by the same unwearied means all its ends are attained — it is found directly contradictory to fact ; and, in our daily experience, meets the fullest refutation. For, whilst we observe the great majority of events proceeding according to general rules, and answering to common expectation ; do we not frequently discover others that seem to defy all previous calculation, and even to baffle all subsequent analysis of their causes — disappointing the toils and the hopes of the most persevering and sagacious con trivers — and often the very reverse of what the best devised and best executed schemes of human pohcy, had labour to accomplish ? Now of this inequality in the ways of Providence, what shall we venture to pronounce ? What shall we say of effects, for which no adequate causes seem to exist — of those which flow from causes altogether independent of human agency — or of those which human agents have been found instru mental in producing by the very means designed for their counteraction ? For what purpose shall we suppose these events to have been brought about, in a manner different from the ordinary course of nature ; when that all powerful Being — in whose hands are the issues of life, and whose creative word could instantly supply agents and instruments to his will — might have permitted them to arise from the common operation of obvious and familiar causes ? Is it not clear that these occasional deviations from the usual process of things, must have been purposely ordained to awaken mankind to reflection — to remind them of the true source of all their possessions, and to fix their attention on that Supreme Cause, which, in the exact and regular succession of worldly occurrences, might have passed unnoticed? That A A 2 356 sermon on the occasion of so, whilst, on the one hand, a general uniformity has furnished a ground for reasonable expectation, and an incitement to in dustrious exertion — the anomalies of Providence, on the other, by pointing out the mover of the great machine, should draw back the thoughts of man from second causes to the first spring and principle of all — and thus, whilst we ad mit all events to be equally providential as to their cause, they are clearly not so as to their effect. Those which depart from the common course of things — like the comet, breaking in upon the uniformity of our system, though its seeming irregularities are derived from the same force and influenced by the same law with the planetary movements — most powerfrdly arresting our attention, and directing us to the contemplation of their source. <• Now, what can be conceived more worthy of a beneficent Creator, than such an admixture of ordinary means and occa sional interpositions a, as should, at the same time, secure freedom to the agency of man, and yet remind him of his necessary dependence — at once incite him to an exertion of his powers, and yet prevent the success of that exertion from inflaming his pride and subverting his religion ? But if such be the methods of God's providence — and does not every suggestion of common sense, of philosophy, and of revelation, evince it ? — what events, so likely to call forth those striking and extraordinary interpositions, as * The terms interposition, interfer- a different set of means, as it can be on ence, and such like, which, in their com- the vulgar idea, that the Deity directly mon acceptation, seem to imply exclu- interferes only in the latter class, leaving sively an immediate exercise of the the former to the uniform operation of divine control, I feel myself justified established laws — the terms, which, in adopting, under a theory, which agreeably to this idea, are used to indi- equally refers all events — as well those cate the immediate agency of Provi- that follow in natural succession, as dence, may, with perfect propriety, be those that seem to digress from that applied to that use of means, which, ac- order — to the same powerful cause, and cording to the above theory, brings to to the same direct superintendence ; for our view that supreme agency, which the distinction between ordinary and ex- equally extends to all the affairs of life traordinary occurrences, being as clear — the effect being the same, whether and striking — upon the supposition that Providence, in some cases only, exerts they equally result from providential di- its peculiar operations, or in those alone rection, and differ only in the adoption of renders its operations visibh. A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 357 those by which the fate of nations and the well-being of communities are affected ? — instruments of God's moral go vernment, depositories of those moral causes, whereby col lective masses of mankind are to be regulated and im proved. It is in the superintendence of these that we are principally to look for those open and direct influences and overrulings, which are properly called providential — and as here they are chiefly to be expected, so they are most evi dently to be discerned — the magnitude of the effect ad mitting the greater contrast and more manifest disproportion to the apparently operating cause. Thus when we see a great political revolution, wrought out of the jealousies of a fa vourite, or the turbulence of a demagogue — when we see the blowing of a wind, or the mistaking of a signal, deciding the fate of a powerful empire — can we doubt that this manifesta tion of God's might, through the weakness of his instruments, was intended to arouse the nations to a sense of their depend ence ; and to demonstrate to the sons of men, that in him alone they were to put their trust — that his alone is the king dom, and that he if the Governor amongst the nations. If we look to the great empires of the ancient world — if we look to the recorded administration of the divine government amongst the people of the Jews — if we look to yet nearer events, and trace in the history of our own nation, the past vicissitudes of its fortune — do we not everywhere find the fullest confirmation of this reasoning* — the grand purposes of Providence, attained by means seemingly inadequate to their completion — and the awful judgments of the Almighty, marked out by characters too plain to be misunderstood ? Or do we wish to look to the still more interesting and impressive lesson of our own experience ? We shall there find the warnings of divine mercy, and the inflictions of unerring a See these points fully and satis- 30th, 1778 Bishop Porteus's Ser- factorily treated, by that excellent pre- mons, Dublin edition, vol. ii. pp. 215 — late, and distinguished writer, the pre- 220. See also a sermon preached by sent Bishop of London, in the begin- the Rev. Richard Graves, in the chapel ning of his sermon preached before the of Trinity College, Dublin, January 1 , House of Lords in England, January 1797, pages 9 — 12. 358 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF justice, most fearfully and visibly displayed — the greater pail, of Christian Europe, convulsed by the most furious and de structive war, — the iniquities of the nations overflowing in the bitterness of God's wrathful displeasure, — commotions the most violent, and changes the most unheard of, disturbing the established order of political arrangement, — and men's hearts everywhere failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth. If we apply to this alarming state of things the general principles that have been laid down, shall we not derive ad ditional strength to our conclusions ? Let a brief review of this eventful period convince us. In casting our eyes, but a few years back, upon the moral and religious state of the countries of Europe, what do we for the most part discern, but the grossness of an impious supersti tion, disgracing the name of Christianity, — combining with the progress of a wicked philosophy, and the growth of a corrupt ing civilization, to overturn the system of God's moral govern ment, and to efface from the mind of man the very idea of his Maker ? The sublime truths of revelation, trampled by the great, scoffed by the philosopher, and trafficked by the priest, — the peasant even, forgetting the source of his consolations, — and the licentiousness of vice, everywhere sweeping down the barriers and mounds of religion ? A system of such wide spread and ruinous depravation — embracing in its extent a great proportion of that part of the world called Christian — can we suppose it consistent with the purity of the divine Ruler of the Universe, to permit to continue — to the defiance of his power — to the reproach of his justice — and to the utter subversion of his authority amongst men ? Surely for these things the Lord will visit, — on nations such as these, his . soul will be avenged. Has the Lord visited for these things ? and has his vengeance been poured out ? Look, first, to that nation, whose refinements in every species of wickedness and impiety had procured to it an unquestioned preeminence in guilt — a nation, in which the voluptuousness of the higher ranks had dissolved every principle of moral A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 359 rectitude, and rejected even the decencies of external life — in which politeness was deemed the highest virtue ; and the blush of nature, almost the only thing of which to be ashamed, and in which the triumph of profligacy had been so complete, that even its priests had become atheists, and its women debauchees. Behold this nation, thus distinguished by its vices, no less distinguished as the first and most signal example of the divine judgments. Behold it passing— with a rapidity, not to be sufficiently accounted for on common principles of nature— from one extreme of manners and opinions to its opposite^-the sentiment of proud attachment to the prince, and of habitual submission to the higher orders of society, giving way at once before the most rancorous de testation of monarchy, and the most savage ferociousness of uncontrolled equality. Behold this new system, erecting itself amidst general carnage ; and towering to the view of Europe on the slaughtered heaps of its infuriate votaries — each armed against the life of his neighbour — and the triumph and murderer of this day, but preparing a richer banquet of blood for the murderer of the next. Behold the sword of divine vengeance, yet reeking from the bowels of this ill-fated nation, next turned against other countries, whose vices and irreligion had long challenged the judgments of the Almighty ; — see it, whilst executing the decrees of infinite justice against itself, employed to enforce them against the surrounding people ; — see it spreading amongst them the desolation of its arms, and of its doctrines, not less destructive than its arms ; — see it sending forth a tumultuous rabble, against the most powerful and well ordered array — opposing anarchy to disci pline — rashness to experience— and bankruptcy to national wealth ; — see the powers of Europe united against this mon strous disturber of all civilized society; and see it, against all human calculation, triumphant — see it triumphant, by a concurrence of events too wonderful and too significant not to mark the true source of its success — see the very ele ments contributing their aid ; as if he who rules the times and seasons were concerned to promote its conquests ; and 360 sermon on the occasion of see, at length, the political map of Europe entirely changed, by its victorious progress — see it adding province after pro vince to its dominions — see two independent nations already swallowed up by its all devouring ambition, and a third, whose corruptions of religion and dissoluteness of morals have long provoked the vengeance of the Almighty, deluged with the blood of contending armies, and, at this moment, apparently tottering to its ruin. When we look, I say, to all these things, to the discom fiture of the most powerful combinations of force by means, according to all human measure, inadequate, — to the almost miraculous concurrence of events, not depending upon human agency, — to the general depravation of those countries which have fallen a sacrifice to this universal invader,— and to the departure from the genuine principles of Christianity, unhap pily too prevalent in all ; — can we have a doubt that this over bearing power has been employed as a scourge against the apostacy of the Christian world, and that the evils of its in fliction are the dread judgments of a long neglected and long suffering God, whereby those nations, whose measure of ini quity is full, have been already visited, and others, not yet ripe for dissolution, are warned from the ruin of their ways ? Would to God, my brethren, that we of this island could plead our righteousness, in exemption from those terrors that have overspread the European continent, and that in the review of our national transactions we could discern no in stances of neglected mercy, no indications of divine resent ment ! But when we look back, and consider that, after a long enjoyment of the blessings of peace, after a full and rich increase of the wealth and comforts of our people, the sun shine of prosperity has only served to draw forth amongst us the rank weeds of irreligion ; and that in place of that grate ful piety and tranquil satisfaction, with which the divine mercies should have been received and cherished, our vices have kept pace with our advancement, and plenty has been found but to heighten our discontent ; when such has been the return for the unexampled favours that have been heaped A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 361 upon this nation, might it not have been expected that this abuse of the goodness of Providence would be succeeded by the severity of its judgments ? and was it then to be wondered? that the turbulence of faction, and the machinations of treason, should be permitted to disturb the national repose ? Was it to be wondered, that the neglect of religion should be followed by a contempt of all authority, and that in the too general rejection of the sovereignty of the Most High, the great principle of subordination being lost, the several parts of the community should be convulsed in mutual con flict, — the arms of the lower orders turned against their supe riors, and the supporters of legitimate authority silenced and overborne, by the furious demagogues of rebellion ? — and was a criterion wanting to prove to us that these manifold calamities had issued from the decrees of an insulted God ? Was it not manifest in various ways ? — was it not manifest, even by this one convincing proof, that the immediate instru ments by which these evils were brought upon us were men, whose hves and conversation were a continued defiance of the Almighty, — men, who whilst they assumed the glorious, but much abused, name of patriot, to blow the trumpet of discord with more direful effect, were everywhere seen openly to disavow rehgion and their God, and who, as professed enemies of the Most High, could naturally have been deemed the bearers of nothing but his wrathful inflictions ? All these, however, though to every serious and enquiring mind they were evidently the chastisements of the Almighty, and the warnings of his displeasure ; yet, because they seemed the result of near and obvious causes, led not our thoughts to their true and genuine source. Human correctives alone we looked to for their removal — and, whilst the chastenings of the Lord were held out, to admonish us of the danger of our ways, and we beheld the surrounding nations visited by his heaviest inflictions, we still continued, equally heedless of his wrath, and insensible to his goodness. Far removed from the storm of war that had burst upon the continent of Europe — long undisturbed by any foreign enemy 362 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF — and secure in our insular situation, whilst other nations were made to tremble for their very existence, we proudly deemed ourselves beyond the reach of danger. Long and often had we been entreated to turn from the evil of our ways ; long and often had we been warned, that the visitations of an offended God would at length find us out, and severely punish our transgressions ; but that such national consequences should follow from our individual sins, we presumed to be but the idle prognostics of the speculative moralist, or the in timidating fabrications of the interested divine — and whilst we reposed on present security, we continued to insult the mercies of him who bestowed it. What then remained, but that either we should be crushed, under the weight of divine vengeance, as no longer a fit subject for his mercies — or that one open and decided act of providential interference should be yet displayed, for our further trial and possible reforma tion ? Blessed be God ! the merciful part of the alternative has been our lot ; and to celebrate this signal act of divine goodness it is that we have this day assembled. The charac ters of its mighty Author are plainly legible to all, and no thing but the backwardness of our gratitude can impede the fulness of our conviction. The eager violence of a furious enemy has been permitted to reach our coasts, but to be. dashed away by the same hand that had conducted it. The skirts of the tempest, which we had hitherto only heard and neglected as the voice of distant thunder, have been allowed to sweep our shores. That cruel scourge, under which other nations had bled for their offences, has been, at the same moment, presented and withdrawn — thus evidently to remind us of that power whom we had too long forgotten — who is mighty both to save and to destroy, and who willeth not the death of sinners, but that all should repent and live. Does infidelity suggest that there has been nothing in this transaction that does not fall within the ordinary course of nature ? Let it take its answer from the estimate of the pro bability antecedent to the event. Do we not, all of us, re member the very idea of an intended descent upon our coasts, A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 363 ridiculed as visionary and absurd ? Most ridiculed by the very description of persons who would now deny all extraordinary interference ; notwithstanding that, in the wildness of the notion, they could at first discern nothing but the fabricated alarm of a corrupt administration ; and that, fortified by the utter inconceivableness of the event, their incredulity was long able to stand its ground against the notoriety of its completion a. Do we not all of us remember when the weakness of our fears would have been derided, had we conceived it within the ordinary, or (morally speaking) the possible course of events, that a nation, whose finances were exhausted, whose navy was almost annihilated, whose people were unused to maritime concerns, should yet be able sud denly to send forth a numerous and well appointed fleet, to brave us on our very coasts, — whilst protected by a power whose ships cover the seas, and whose mariners are used to rule the deep ? Still more had we conceived, that this ar mament — in defiance of unwearied vigilance, in defiance of one overpowering force stationed to mark and repress its earliest movements ; and of another, waiting but the signal of its approach to bring upon it instant destruction — should yet have steered through all these imminent and surrounding dangers, and have passed safe and unmolested to our shores ? a It is a fact deserving of notice, that as a proof of the degree of unlikeli- so strongly had the utter improbability hood, which calculation on ordinary of an attempt to invade this country principles had attached to the idea of taken possession of the minds of many, our invasion, than as an instance of the that during the entire period of the power of certain predispositions over enemy's stay upon our coasts, (which the mind, to create and fortify an un- was not less than three weeks,) and for belief, which no force of testimony, and some time after their departure, there scarcely any evidence of sense, can were found not a few amongst us, who overcome. It becomes those, then, in defiance of universal report, of every who, on a subject infinitely more im- circumstance of credibility — of the very portant than that we at present treat of, language of the thing itself (the pro- would shelter themselves from crimi- duction of a French prisoner, cast upon nality in their unbelief, by the pretence the coast by the violence of the storm, that their assent depends in no measure who confessed the designs and the pre- on themselves, but is the pure and ne- sence of the enemy)— were yet able to cessary result of the proofs laid before withhold their belief, and utterly to dis- them — to examine carefully whether credit the whole as a fabrication. This such predispositions war against their fact is not more deserving of remark, belief. 364 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF And shall we, when antecedently it would have been deemed the extreme of folly to have ranked these within the ordinary course of events, shall we now reverse that judgment ? No ! — the wonders of the divine interposition are too manifest to be mistaken. The natural order of events has been evi dently disturbed to mark out the true source of our preserv ation—our fleets have been withheld from victory, that our deliverance might come from God — and that, used as we have been to look to second causes for our security, and to build our strength upon our own resources, we might be re minded, that SAFETY IS ONLY OF THE LORD. It becomes us to reflect, with feelings of heartfelt gratitude and reverential awe, that had that overruling power— which in other cases had rendered the elements subservient to the designs of our formidable invaders ; which had bound up Holland in chains of ice to deliver it into their hands ; and which can still the raging of the sea and subdue the winds with a word — had that power, I say, vouchsafed to them a calm and favourable season — had it not, on the contrary, col lected against them all the furies of the storm — of a storm accompanied by severities which this chmate has seldom experienced, and which, combined in all their circumstances, but few of us have ever witnessed — what must have fol lowed ? I will not assert that we must have fallen a prey to our ferocious enemy — I will not presume to say that the valour of my brave countrymen would have proved insuf ficient finally to repel the foe ; but this at all events must be admitted, that, however ardent that valour, — however prompt their zeal, (and surely in no instance could either have been surpassed,) however splendid the success, that might ulti mately crown the arms of our national protectors — yet much of carnage — of cruelty — of terror — and of unhappiness must have attended the conflict ; — thus, not only from possible defeat and ruin, but from certain bloodshed and misery, have we been protected — the shield of Providence has been held over our island, and danger and dismay have been averted. May we not, then, humbly presume, from this instance of A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 365 the divine mercy, thus openly interposing in our behalf, that we have not yet arrived to that full measure of national guilt, against which the principles of God's moral govern ment might require the last overwhelming stroke of divine vengeance to be directed ? Whilst we stand, then, in this awful situation — placed between the judgments which have been sent to warn, and those which hereafter may be or dained to crush us, — it behoves us most seriously to ponder our ways — it behoves us seriously to consider, not only the many and great vices by which we have provoked the dis pleasure of our heavenly Father ; but also, those parts of our national character which, peradventure, have saved us from being utterly consumed ; — that, whilst a review of the former may quicken us to repentance, the contemplation of the latter may animate us in the progress of well doing — by convincing us, that any improvement of the talent intrusted to us, how ever small, will be sure to meet its proportional reward. On this latter topic, however, it becomes us to think and speak with deep humility ; and whilst I glance at some few circumstances of distinction, whereby this nation may have been recommended to the divine protection, let me not be thought to encourage the pharisaic pride, which would as sume merit from supposed superiority ; but let me be rather considered as pointing out the unworthiness of our best ex ertions, and the necessity of instant and earnest efforts after further improvement. Not to dwell, then, upon the acts of charity, for which this country has been eminently con spicuous, but which, as being equivocal in their motives, and local in their causes, may have but little connexion with the vital principles of Christianity — not to insist upon our re moteness from that extreme of corruption to be found in those countries, in which the severity of God's judicial in flictions has been displayed — not to seek shelter from the re flection, that neither the abominations of French atheism, the idolatries of Flemish superstition, the dissoluteness of Italian impiety, nor the unchristian selfishness of Dutch avarice, have so far prevailed amongst us, as to 366 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF render us radically incapable of promoting the purposes of God's moral government — not to rely upon the superiority of our constitution over that of every other country upon earth, in the security it affords to mental and personal freedom, in the encouragements it offers to virtue, and the rewards it holds out to meritorious exertion, in the even- handed distribution of justice, and in the production of indi vidual and general happiness — not to dwell on these points, on which our self-partiality would probably draw us into error and presumption ; let me direct your attention to that inestimable possession, which alone, perhaps, has rendered this, and the sister kingdom, objects of the divine regard ; and the contemplation of which, far from exalting our pride, must inspire us with the sentiments of true humihty. Let me remind you, that there exists among us, the basis of a pure, a rational, and enlightened rehgion ; and though we are far, indeed, from having acted up to its dictates; though our higher ranks have been found, too frequently, to deride its doctrines and disdain its control ; though the majority of our lower classes are used to revere it, under the mask of that superstition, which has so foully disfigured its genuine features — though even its teachers have, in many cases neglected, and in some disgraced, the sacredness of their profession — yet — thank God ! there are many, very many, amongst us, who, in defiance of modern dissipation, and philosophic novelties, sincerely worship the Lord in spirit and in truth — thank God ! there is to be found amongst us, the principle of religious reformation — a principle, not inoperative, but productive of effects which have already begun to display themselves, and whose fruits will, I trust, in due time, scatter their sweetness through the land — already has it sent forth, ana association of Christians, in defence of Christianity — men earnest to instruct in the truths and to encourage in the practice of true rehgion — already has it added to the zeal a The Association for discountenanc- not less than 500 members, of whom the ing Vice and promoting the Practice of greater part are of the clergy, and the Rehgion and Virtue, instituted in the remainder includes some of the most re- year 1792, and at this time consisting of spectable and distinguished of the laity. A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 367 and efficacy of our clergy, quickening them in the pursuit and propagation of that knowledge, which can alone make wise unto salvation — and, aided by the regulations a of our University, which, sanctioned by the heads of our Establish ment, have afforded the means, and induced the necessity, of a due preparation for the clerical office — may we not hope to see it, one day, raise up a national clergy, the true and faithful ministers of Christ, and the uncorrrupted preachers of his word ? With these present advantages, and future prospects, may we not then humbly hope, that we are not yet become that useless instrument, which should be rejected as no longer conducive to the providential economy — and since the fact has proved, that our heavenly Father, far from abandoning us to our own devices, has openly called us to the notice of his warnings, and by a signal mark of his protection, invited us to return to his ways — shall we not anxiously labour to cultivate and improve those feelings that may secure to us the continuance of his mercy ? Shall we not pay to our al mighty Deliverer that tribute which alone he will accept — the tribute of national reformation — the sacrifice of true re ligion ? Let us then on this day, on which we profess to have met together to celebrate our deliverance, and to offer up our united praises and thanksgiving to its divine Author — let us, every one, determine to put away sin, and all ungodliness — to promote by our example and instructions, the practice of true religion — to spread throughout the land, a serious and reverential feehng of its importance — and to manifest by our hves and conversation, the inestimable value of its effects : this is the true celebration of God's praises — this the incense of thanksgiving which he will propitiously accept ; and as it is by this alone we can express our present gratitude, so it a The regulations here alluded to lor of Arts; without a certificate of a are those, whereby certain courses of regular and profitable attendance of lectures in divinity are required to be which, the Bishops have wisely resolved attended by the students, after they not to give admission into holy orders. have answered for the degree of Bache- 368 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF is by this alone we can ensure our future preservation. God will not be mocked, nor will his Spirit for ever strive with us. The very means of improvement, which are now in our power, will, if neglected, prove our condemnation — and if, after the mercies we have experienced, we awake not to a just sense of our condition, the hope of our safety as a nation, no less than of our eternal welfare as individuals, is gone. All the experiments of Providence have been tried upon our case ; their failure places us beyond remedy. Let us think, then, my brethren, before it be too late, how dreadful a thing it is, to fall into the hands of the living God — let us search and try our ways, and turn again unto the Lord — convinced, that however we may prepare the horse against the day of battle, He is our strong refuge and tower from the enemy, and that without Him there can be no safety. "And now, before I conclude, let me address to you, my younger brethren, a few reflections which the occasion peculiarly suggests. It has been your lot to be reserved for times the most momentous that have ever employed the pen of the historian — times yet more momentous are, per haps, opening with the dawn of your rising manhood — the shock of moral causes has disturbed the frame of human affairs, and it is not now to be expected that things will go on as they have hitherto done. You may, perhaps, be destined for trials that shall call forth all the energies of your nature, and on your fortitude, your virtue, and your wisdom, may depend the crisis of a convulsion involving the liberty, the religion, and the happiness of your country. From amongst you are to arise the legislators and the clergy of the land ; they who are to defend the legal rights of the individual by their eloquence, and to protect the nation by the sword, are all to issue from your ranks. Think, then, I beseech you, how important, how perilous your station ! — the fate of the rising generation, the laws, the religion, the existence of your country, resting upon your exertions. Think that now, at this a The part of the discourse which was delivered in the College chapel follows, being applied to the students, only. A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 369 very period of your lives, you are forming that character of mind with which you will be called to meet whatever perils may await you, and that as you improve or neglect the present opportunities, you may be preparing either for the support or the subversion of civilized society. It is not now, as in unruffled times, when the stagnation of human things might have permitted you to sink into harmless insignifi cance in the community; the powers and passions of the mind, partaking the agitations of the day, will not admit a neutrality of effect, and you will either be actively beneficial or positively injurious to society. Let me conjure you, then, my brethren, to reflect that, for whatever trials you may be destined, there can be but one preparation — that God, who hath so wonderfully preserved you from a late threatened calamity, hath clearly pointed out to you what is to be the great rock of your dependence. Learn betimes to trust to him who is mighty to protect you — learn betimes that in him alone there is safety. At this day, when a wildness of speculation and a profligacy of practice have so disordered and con vulsed the moral world, and when the political face of Europe exhibits so many of those awful signs which portend some great and terrible day of the Lord, that there seems good reason to apprehend some wondrous and eventful change. Determine resolutely, to lay fast hold on that which alone can sustain you under the tremendous crash. Remember, that you are not only called on by the high stations in society which you may hereafter fill, and by the decisive influence which, in those several stations, your characters and your practice will command ; but that you are here furnished with those means of improvement that must render your misconduct in future life tenfold criminal. Not only is the page of knowledge here opened to your view, and every inducement of honour and of interest held out to stimulate to its careful perusal — not only is religious instruc tion sedulously pressed upon your attention — not only is your youthful ardour animated in the pursuit of what is every way honourable and praiseworthy and good ; but what must give VOL. II. b B 370 SERMON ON THE OCCASION OF life and efficacy to all, you are here trained up in the habits of discipline and subjection, without which, be assured, no character can be truly noble and virtuous. Rely upon it, the man who will not be governed by others, cannot govern him self ; and the mind that has grown up under impatience of restraint, must be destitute of real greatness ; for, believe me, my young brethren, there is a true pride in submission, and a dignity in unconstrained obedience, which the display of high spirit in resistance of authority, whilst it affects, proves to be wanting. Believe me, that in such habits, you must lay the ground work of real magnanimity, and that in such habits, bestowing firmness to your religion, and constancy to your patriotism, you will make the best preparation for what ever events may impend. Remember, that in throwing off the principle of subordination have originated all the evils and disasters of the present day. The tendency to reject what is enjoined, because it is enjoined, is that which has produced the Infidel and the Traitor. To counteract, then, this destructive tendency, by habits of early discipline, is in dispensable to our religion and our constitution ; let it be the effort of your patriotism and your virtue to confirm and cultivate such habits. Already has your patriotic ardour been displayed ; already have you, with a zeal well suited to your youth, your education, and your future prospects, started forward in the moment of danger to unite with your gallant fellow-citizens in the defence of our common country ; and, with no small degree of pride, let me add, that the modera tion and regularity11 with which your conduct has been dis tinguished, under this temporary departure from academic habits, have proved you no less worthy of the glorious cause in which you had engaged, than the readiness with which, on the removal of the public pressure, you have transferred a The author of this discourse con- he is the more forcibly impelled, be- siders the testimony here borne to the cause, from his office as junior dean, propriety and well regulated demeanour having immediate cognizance of all col- of the students, since their enrolment as legiate offences, he has had occasion to a military association, to be a debt which be the more strongly impressed by the justice demands ; and to this declaration fact. A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 371 your attention to your proper studies, has shewn you deserv ing of the confidence and esteem of your academic superiors. Such have been the first auspicious efforts of your patriotism ; but a nobler and more exalted patriotism is now demanded of you — a patriotism whereby you will not only preserve your country, but save your own souls — the patriotism of religion. Without this, be assured, all your exertions are vain. If God give us not help from trouble, vain is the help of man ; and unless the Lord keep the tower, the watchman waketh but in vain. Let us then be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace ; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked : and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. b b 2 A SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE, LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, AND VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY. delivered'TTn' THE CHAPEL OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, ON SUNDAY, THE 7TH OF FEBRUARY, 1802. SERMON. Isaiah, xxxviii. 1. " SET THINE HOUSE IN ORDER : FOR THOU SHALT DIE, AND NOT LIVE." We have here the awful warning, which Isaiah was com missioned to deliver to Hezekiah, king of Judah : a warning, which will appear the more awful, when we consider it ad dressed to one who was in the full possession of those enjoy ments, which render men most reluctant to part with hfe. Every good, which this world could afford, was subservient to his wishes. Rank, prosperity, power, all ministered (as far as such things can minister) to his happiness : and in the prime of hfe, and vigour of habitual activity, the Jewish prince might probably have felt a secret confidence, which whispered the sanguine promise, of a lengthened tenure of these blessings. He probably, hke the rich man in the Gospel, had, in the fulness of his heart, exulted in the pro spect of much goods laid up for many years ; and hke him, in the moment of his exultation, he receives the sad and unex pected intelligence, that his soul was forthwith required of him : For, in those days, Hezekiah became sick unto death ; and the prophet came unto him, and said, Tims saith the Lord, Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die, and not live. This admonition of the Prophet, which was graciously de- 376 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE signed to excite to the most awakened feeling, and to ani mate to the most earnest preparation for the momentous event which he had announced, although immediately di rected to the Jewish king, yet is no less apphcable to all, of whatever period or condition of life. The denunciation it contains is but the repetition of the original sentence, which has passed on every son of Adam, Thou shalt die and not live : and, as the things of early times have happened for en- samples, and have been toritten for our instruction ; that warning, which the Prophet delivered to Hezekiah, I shall not hesitate to address to every one of you, my brethren, who hear me this day. In vain is it that leach may, in his heart, endeavour to frame distinctions between his individual case and that of the Jewish prince : in vain is it that imagination, recoiling from an idea so repulsive as that of approaching dissolution, may suggest every topic of dissimilitude : " He, to whom the admonition in the text was given, was first visited with dis ease ; you are in the possession of health and strength, and most of you in the animating vigour of youth : — his sickness being unto death, he was on the point of closing hfe ; of you, many are but commencing its career, none perhaps feel cause to apprehend its immediate termination." Yet, under these, and as many other circumstances of unlikeness, as an interested ingenuity can discern or devise, I must still repeat to each the solemn warning of the prophet, Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die, and not live. For, consider for a moment, what is the space that inters poses between us and the grave ? What is the basis on which, the youngest and the strongest among us, can build his hopes, that he is not of the number of those whose soids shall be straightway demanded by him who gave them? Does any one require to be reminded of the shortness and the uncertainty of life ? Can any one, in this place, require to be told, that in those pages, in which are contained the words of truth and wisdom, those parts of nature which are most fleeting, momentary, and vanishing, are exhausted, to DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 377 supply representations of the shortness, the uncertainty, and the vanity, of human life. The vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away — the wind that passeth, and cometh not again — the post that hasteth by — the shadow that passeth away — the tale that is told — the remembrance of a guest, who tarrieth but a day — the flowers, and the grass of the field, which flourish in the morning, and in the evening are cut down and withered — the path of a ship through the waters — the flight of a bird — the track of an arrow in the air. These, and numerous other such images, have the sacred writers accumulated, in their endeavour to convey some faint idea of the nothingness of the life of man. Wherefore have they done so ? Are men ignorant of the precarious tenure by which they hold existence ? Do they not know, that man who is born of a woman, is of few days ? Does not the flight of the time that has already past, and which now seems as it were a dream, satisfy the experience of each that even though his life should be extended to its utmost natural boundary, yet is it but a short period; in retrospect, how short ! Does he need to be apprized of the unlikelihood of his attaining even that limit, when all nature, every surrounding object, every hour's acquaintance with himself, but supply one continued lesson of mortality ? Do not the numbers of all ages, that we see daily fall on every side ; do not the diseases, that so commonly occur within the circle of our friends, and that not unfrequently assail ourselves; do not the accidents, that continually threaten us ; do not even the refreshments of nature, which are de manded by its continual decays, and apphed to repair the incessant waste of hfe ; do not those very actions, which, whilst they constitute a great part of the employment of existence, are intended but for its preservation ; do not all these, announce to us the important truth contained in the text ? Do they not prove, that we should think of ourselves as standing on the very brink of the grave ? Do they not, consequently, render all remonstrances on the 378 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE shortness and incertitude of life, nugatory, because super fluous ? So it should naturally be imagined : and yet, strange to say, whilst there are no truths more inevitable, and none more readily admitted by all, than that death is certain, and that life is fugitive ; whilst, at the same time, reason, revela tion, and the natural apprehensions of man, bear united testimony to the awfulness of that change which death brings with it ; yet there are no truths to which it is more requisite to recall the memory, by frequent repetition and powerful enforcement. Truth does not necessarily operate in proportion to its re ception. What has been always known and often said, as it impresses the mind with no new images, at length fails to excite attention, and is allowed to become obsolete, and to lie unheeded in the memory. The very notoriety of the fact is converted, in the present case, into the means of its neg lect: and because it has cost men neither reasoning nor meditation, to be satisfied that they must shortly die ; they omit the reflection altogether as too trivial and obvious for consideration, and live as if it were never to happen. Thus, whilst a beneficent Providence, watchful for our eternal happiness, has spread around and planted within us so many images and memorials of our mortality, to present to us a constant warning of that irrevocable change to which we are hourly hastening ; we abuse those very remembrances to the defeat of the divine intentions : and by a criminal neglect, of what Providence has (we may say) taken so much pains to impress, we resist the plans and insult the goodness of God ; and that, in a matter involving no less than our everlasting salvation. That we should thus remain insensible to what is perpe tually obtruded on our view, argues an infatuation, whose ex istence might well be questioned, did not daily experience convince us of the fact. It is true, indeed, that reflection on the short and uncertain period of life, is not an employ- DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 379 ment to which the mind recurs for solace or diversion ; it supphes no matter for self-gratulation ; it offers no hope of immediate delight. It is one of those intellectual medicines, which, though highly beneficial, the fastidiousness of nature prompts us to refuse. What is salutary, however, should not be rejected, because it is unpalatable. The grave is a fear ful subject for all, even the best, to contemplate : and if, by turning away our eyes, we could escape it, to do so would not then be chargeable with absurdity. But since it is the unavoidable lot of all, whether we look upon it or not ; and since what lies beyond it, must be determined by the manner in which we approach it ; is it not the height of frenzy to rush forward, blindfold to our danger, and heedless of our ruin ? The traveller, if not destitute of understanding, will carefully view the way before him, whatever be the dangers that threaten, or the difficulties that obstruct; so in the pil grimage of life, whoever is not regardless of his safety, will proceed with his eyes open, intent to see the whole of his state, not in the false colouring of a fond fancy, but accord ing to the truth of divine destination. It should also be remembered, that the fearfulness which shuts its eyes against the evil it apprehends, whilst it increases the danger, heightens the terror. Industriously, then, to fly the thoughts of death, can only serve, by an augmented dread, to make death insupportable when it comes : whilst, on the contrary, courage being improved by a familiar inter course with danger, by the frequent contemplation of death, we contract as it were an intimacy with its terrors, and are enabled to meet its advance with resignation, firmness, and composure. It is in vain that, in the pubhc offices of our church, we offer up our prayers against the calamity of a sudden death ; if, in our conduct, we take care that no other awaits us, by omitting those provisions, and preparations of mind, without which it must, in the worst sense, come upon us unawares. In every view of the case, then, it is highly necessary that our thoughts should be directed to the subject of mortality. 380 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE It is salutary, and therefore to be recommended : it is un palatable, and therefore to be enforced: it is unnoticed from its very familiarity, and therefore requires to be im pressed anew. All are so occupied with life, that they seem not to recollect that there is such a thing as death. One man forgets it in his business, another in his amusements ; one in eager enjoyment of to-day, another in solicitous con trivance for to-morrow. Some die amidst the gratifications of luxury ; and some, in the tumult of contests undecided, and purposes uncompleted. Warnings are multiplied, but without notice. Wisdom crieth in the streets, but is rarely heard. The occupations of the world easily justle from the mind the unwelcome thoughts of death and judgment : and many, even of those who profess to lead Christian lives, rest altogether satisfied with what this world can afford them ; not indeed, that they doubt, but forget, a future state ; not that they disbeheve their own immortality, but that they never consider it. To such men, how necessary is it to proclaim, again and again, the shortness of human hfe, the vanity of its acqui sitions, and the fleetingness of its enjoyments. How neces sary it is to remind the man, whose whole attention converges to this world, that even were every one of his attempts suc cessful, and every one of his wishes completed, yet, after all, he has obtained only empty pleasure which he cannot keep, at the expense of eternal happiness, which, if now neglected, he can never gain ? Whilst worldly men, indeed, enjoy the sunshine of pro sperity ; whilst they feel no wants or sorrows, to call them to the remembrance of their true condition ; whilst, on every side, plenty surrounds, pleasure invites, and appetite impels; whilst they forget their Benefactor, in the multitude of the good things he has bestowed ; whilst the giver is concealed, as it were, by the very cloud of his gifts, and the gross atmo sphere of their earthly desires and gratifications intercepts the view of heaven and heavenly things, these remonstrances may fail of their effect : whilst their ears are filled with DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 381 the sounds of pleasure, and their hearts with the dehghts of sense, it is not wonderful that they will close the former against the grating tones of admonition, and reject from the latter, the bitter remembrance of death, judgment, and eternity. There are, however, seasons when, upon the most heedless or the most averse, these unwelcome recollections will force their way. When affliction has been employed as the mes senger of the divine warnings : when the heart has been touched with compassion, softened through sorrow, or struck with terror, by the nearer view of calamities or death : when the ravages of the destroyer have spread not only into our neighbourhood, but penetrated our very dwellings : — when, by an unexpected stroke, we find ourselves severed from the companions of our youth, the intimates endeared to our age, the relatives connected to us by the closest and tenderest ties : — when those with whom all our pleasurable reflections are associated ; who had been used to share in all our joys, and sympathise in all our sorrows ; on whose fidelity and affection we had been accustomed to unburthen and repose our minds, when agitated by the disappointments or wearied by the cares of life ; when those with whom all our habits and all our enjoyments have been interwoven have vanished, - and are no more : — when on a friend, perhaps on more than a friend, we have seen the grave to close for ever, leaving the world but as one great blank, and the heart but as one vast void ; whilst no consolation seems to remain but in that very grave which encloses what we had loved, and in that eternity which alone can restore what we have lost : — then, indeed, and on occasions such as these, those awful truths, which have been so long forgotten or repelled, will powerfully recur. When the judgments of the Lord are thus abroad, they cannot be overlooked : and what men have hitherto refused to see, they are now compelled to feel. On occasions such as these, the voice of the preacher will be heard : the warn ing of the prophet will not pass unheeded. And surely such occasions are not wanting at this day. 382 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE For when, in the recollection of those who now hear me, have the domestic visitations of the Almighty been more numerous or more awful ? What family, within the range of our acquaintance, that has not had either to mourn the loss, or to rejoice over the unhoped recovery of some beloved member ? Has not death been brought, as it were, to the doors of every one of us ? and has not even the youngest, and the most unthinking, been made to fear, either in him self or in some near connexion, from the prevalence of the late mortality ? In the deprivations, which a period of not many months has so abundantly witnessed, this place too has had its share. Many who were but commencing the career of existence > young, sanguine, ardent ; rejoicing to run the course of life ; full of the hopes, and elated by the buoyancy of youth : — many, distinguished by their academic exertions : — many, beloved for their endearing qualities : — many, putting forth the early and vigorous promise of a respectable and useful manhood : — many such have been suddenly snatched away from the midst of their associates, and have left behind them only the wholesome lesson, that even the youngest is not exempt from death ; that he too is called upon to set his house in order ; and that he is bound to remember his Crea tor in the days of his youth, for that he knows not how soon his God will call him into judgment. But we have not only had, within the short interval that has lately passed, to lament the loss of those in whom the fair blossom was but knitting into the fruits of manly virtue ; we have had also, at no very distant period, to deplore the loss of one in whom those fruits had been brought to full perfection and to a rich maturity. Little more than two years have elapsed since we were solemnly assembled in this place to discharge the last sad duties to him who had so long been the parental guardian of this seminary ; to him, whom all who had a judgment to estimate, or a heart to feel what was va luable in life, must remember with respect and veneration : — a man whose unostentatious virtues sought no recompense DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 383 from the applause of men ; whose life beamed forth through his retirement, a silent and modest example of all that was truly great and sincerely pious : — a man, whom no adversity could shake, no prosperity seduce : — a man, in whom the strictness of disciphne was combined with the suavity of benevolence ; the greatest solidity of understanding, with the most diffident exertion of its powers ; and the widest extent of erudition, with the most perfect indifference to literary fame. To this exemplary character, a subject hke the pre sent naturally leads us to look back with the sensations of a fond regret. As academics, as men, and as Christians, we may contemplate it with satisfaction and advantage. We must feel, of a man so gifted, that however confined the im mediate sphere of his operations, his life was a pubhc benefit, his death a general loss — and his memory should with us at least be a sacred deposit. Yet all these virtues and excel lencies are now to us but as a pleasing dream ; and their possessor has mingled in that dust, to which all, however eminent, however accomplished, however virtuous, must un avoidably return. But do we feel less affected by this instance of mortality, as derived from a case in which the ordinary period of human life was nearly exhausted ? Let us then turn our eyes to an event more recent, more melancholy, and more impressing. Let us revolve the fate of that distinguished member of this Society, whose superiority of talent, activity of mind, and ardor in the pursuit of knowledge, had secured for him a literary rank, which few men in later times have attained ; whilst the unassuming and playful simplicity of his manners seemed to mark him unconscious of his various and great endowments. Of this our departed brother, whose purity of character, and innocency of life, had rendered him the ob ject of general respect and love ; even you, my young friends, cannot have forgotten what was so lately told you from this place. I shall, therefore, only recall your attention to that part of his history which exhibits the most striking lesson of the futility of all earthly possessions and enjoyments. For 384 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE this purpose, then, you must view him, in reward of his long acknowledged merits, elevated to the highest ecclesiastical preferment; you must view him with an honest and hvely gratification entering upon the honours and engaging in the duties of this new and distinguished station : view him eagerly turning the whole force of his mind and talents to the pro secution of those studies which peculiarly belong to that most important of all earthly trusts : and then view him in the midst of the most valuable researches for the farther im provement of sacred learning, in the meridian of life, in the full blown vigour of his faculties, in the unenvied possession of friends, affluence, reputation — eveiy thing, in short, which could make his life a blessing to himself and a benefit to others, — borne down into the grave, under the pressure of the most fingering and afflictive malady : — under the pres sure of a malady which commenced its silent growth with the era of his promotion ; which allowed him to count the days of his elevation but by days of pain, whilst it could not pre vent his fortitude and zeal from employing them as days of the most laborious and profitable study. Have not these examples brought home to your feehngs the vanity of all human enjoyments ? An event, which has so recently occurred, that even the youngest has not yet had time to dismiss it from his recollection, summons your atten tion to another ; to that of a person whose station was yet more exalted, whose celebrity was yet more extended, and who, hke those whom we have already noticed, possesses a claim to our most serious remembrance ; not only as sup plying, like them, impressive confirmation to the truth, which is the subject of this discourse, but as having, hke them too, been closely connected with the interests of this University ; and having, like them, contributed not a little to its welfare and reputation. From these considerations, and from the respect due to the memory of a man whose endowments were not less eminent than his station, allow me to offer a few observations on the more remarkable circumstances of his life. DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 385 Having been engaged in scenes of peculiar agitation and difficulty : having, from the energies of his mind, and the duties of his situation, been led to take an active part in events which involved deep interest, and excited much re sentment : having been uniformly connected with the party of administration, during a period in which the governing power (from whatever cause) was occupied in the warmest contests, and resisted by the most vehement opposition : it should not excite surprise, if either his character should have taken some tincture from the acrimonious politics of the times, or if the exasperation of party should have affixed to it qualities which were either against or beyond the truth. Details of political conduct are not the proper subjects for this place : and perhaps, in all cases, the actions and motives of political men should be viewed from a distance, to reduce them, from the exaggerated standard of party feeling, to their true and natural dimensions. This much suffice it to say, that having once chosen the line of his public exertions, bis conduct was uniformly firm, manly, and consistent. Equally insensible to the acclamations and the menaces of popular zeal, he pursued undaunted his onward course ; and it is not impossible, that an indignation conceived against the gross and often mischievous sacrifices to popularity, which in his political experience he must have too frequently witnessed, might have thrown the bias to the contrary side, and con firmed in him an indifference to popular opinion. That unshaken firmness which marked his character, and directed his steps through life, was discernible on particular occasions, in proportion as they brought with them the dif ficulty, or the danger, that called forth its display. Of these occasions, two may be sufficient to notice ; one of them en dangering his political, and the other bis personal existence. On the former, we behold him risking station, emolument, and power, in the cause of loyal attachment to his sovereign, and in the maintenance of his rights ; at a time, when the hopeless recovery of the monarch could leave no expecta tion of recompense ; at a time, when wily calculation repu- vol. ii. c c 386 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE diated the side of the crown as a sinking cause ; and when, in his most sanguine speculations, he could have looked to no other issue than that, which must have dismissed him from political confidence. On the other occasion to which I allude, we behold him exposing himself to still more serious hazard, in the joint de fence of the king and the constitution against the furious onset of rebellion. We all may remember, that when treason wore the air of triumph, and the friends of loyalty and order hung their heads, he stood prominent and erect : when many, even of those whose fidelity was unimpeached, seemed to feel, that prudence required of them a more softened accent of reprobation, and reserving their tones of boldness until the danger had passed by, did not scruple to shrink from an open avowal of their sentiments ; when many, even of un questioned fortitude, deemed it not inconsistent with that fortitude, to seek a momentary shelter from the storm : when treason and loyalty hung trembling in doubtful scales, and not a few paused to see which would preponderate : when it appeared to many, not unlikely, that rebellion might through success change its title to revolution : — in times and under circumstances such as these, whilst he was known to be the object eminently selected for vengeance by the ferocity of an ensanguined rabble, he remained firm and unmoved : he stepped not, for a moment, from the post of duty and of danger ; and sought no safety from the perils which assailed him, save what might arise from presenting to them a bold and manly front. If from his political we pass to his judicial conduct, we shall find the firmness of the former equalled by the decision, the promptness, and the rectitude, of the latter. Here indeed is the high ground of this distinguished character. Uniting an ardent love of justice with a rapid intuition of truth, he combined in himself the two great qualities of the judicial station, integrity and despatch : and thus, as far as lies in the power of man, he diminished the evils of litigation, by taking from law all its delay, and much of its uncertainty. DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 387 Neither did the labours of his exalted station terminate with himself. His comprehensive view embraced the whole circle of the profession : and it was not more his study, to discharge his own immediate duties with fidelity, than to enforce on others the due observance of theirs. To purify the courts of justice, was with him an object of unremitting attention : and amongst the unprincipled part of the lower order of legal practitioners, it will not easily be forgotten, with what un wearied vigilance he detected, and punished, every attempt to defeat the claims of equity by the technical dexterities of a fraudulent chicane. Nor were the salutary effects of his superintending care confined to the subordinate ranks of the profession. To the honest exercise of that authority, which the eminence of his station and services must have secured to his official repre sentations, we may, in no small degree, attribute that chaste- ness of selection, which is allowed for many years to have guided the judicial appointments. The disinterested friend of real talents and true legal knowledge, to the zeal and mo ment of his recommendations is the public in a great mea sure indebted, for the many splendid ornaments of which the judicial bench of this country can boast: for it may safely be pronounced, that, in a majority of instances at least, the wisdom of the government took the direction of its choice from the opinions and views of him, whom all knew to be so well qualified to discern, and so warmly interested to pro mote, what was most conducive to the respectability of the bar and the interests of justice. An enemy to pretenders of all descriptions ; to those, who by indirect means would intercept the rewards of professional ability and worth; he must naturally have left behind him not a few, who will labour to traduce his character and vilify his motives. But from all that is liberal, judicious, and re spectable in the profession ; from all, who know how to ap preciate the value of an upright and able dispensation of jus tice in the land ; from the general voice of the nation, which may have long indeed to wait for a successor possessed of c c 2 388 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE similar endowments ; the most honourable and lasting tes timony will be borne, not more to his excellencies as a judge, than to his beneficial exertions as superintendent of the whole department of the law. On remaining particulars I must not too long detain your attention. As to his private life, it is well known, that the same steadiness, which sustained his public conduct, go verned his personal attachments. His friendships were sin cere, and fixed: — and although in a character marked by such strength of features, the lineaments of the softer virtues could scarcely be expected to mix, yet they who knew him in the unbendings of his retirement, have often witnessed the genuine indication of their existence, and can fully attest the spontaneous and animated emotions of a latent tenderness, which it seemed as much his study carefully to conceal, as, in this age of affected sensibility, it is that of others to dis play. In this, indeed, as in other parts of his character, it is to be lamented, that an habitual disgust against all hypocrit ical appearances had so far wrought upon his mind, as to render him generally anxious to suppress, lest he might be supposed to affect, feelings and qualities, the most honourable and endearing. The occasions, however, have not been few, in which, even to the public eye, the milder affections of his nature have broken through this restraint. And, if the chari ties of domestic life be received as evidence of the kindly dispositions of the heart, perhaps in no case can such proof be adduced, more abundant and convincing. In all matters of pecuniary concern his dealings were di rected by a strict and punctual regard to his engagements ; and, at the same time, distinguished by a liberality, which, without indulging in those excesses that beget embarrassment and sacrifice independence, manifestly evinced a mind aloof from the sordid love of accumulation. In him, indeed, ho nesty and liberality can scarcely be said to have claimed the rank of virtues. They required no effort, and could boast no triumph, where a rooted contempt of wealth precluded all means of their counteraction. And it deserves to be re- DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 389 marked, that amongst the numerous calumnies which a vin dictive malice has endeavoured to cast upon the fame of this distinguished person, the tongue of slander has never whis pered the imputation of a single act of mercenary meanness. With the quality here noticed was connected another, in which, as in the former, it were happy if the gentry of our country regarded him as the model of their imitation ; I mean his generosity as a landlord ; which, whilst it led him to look with an indulgent lenity on the deficiencies of the industrious tenant, secured to the ancient occupier of the soil, the re newed possession of his little patrimony, undisturbed by any apprehension from those necessities, or that avidity, which too often impel our landholders to sacrifice, to the prospect of gain, the claims, the comforts, and the independence of the peasant ; by surrendering him to the rapacity of a class of men, who, used to view the cultivator hke the clod he tills, but as a subject of profitable traffic, have, by their un feeling extortions, constituted one of the most perniciously operating causes of the wretchedness, the ignorance, and the degradation, of the lower order of our people. I turn now to the consideration of those points in which we must feel a more immediate concern. His unvarying at tachment to the interests of the established religion of these countries should not be forgotten in this place. Founded for the express purpose of teaching and propagating that re hgion, which we beheve to be the religion of the gospel, we must naturally retain a grateful remembrance of those stre nuous exertions, which at all times he opposed to the designs of those, who laboured to erect upon the ruins of our Protestant establishment, the gloomy fabric of an erroneous, an ex clusive, and an intolerant superstition. We must naturally retain a grateful remembrance of his services, when we con sider, that at the moment when a strange spirit of innovation (combined, as it must have been, with an indifference to re ligious truth) had so far perverted the judgment of some who held the helm of the state, as to induce them to hazard a mad experiment upon the establishment of the empire, he, boldly, 390 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE in the face of power, and in contempt of influence, resisted the attempt ; and, by the manliness of his efforts, co-operat ing with the beneficent views of the father of his people, con tributed to defeat the rash design. But it is not through the medium of the establishment alone, that we find an interest in the retrospect of his exer tions. Educated in this seminary, he here laid the founda tion of those intellectual improvements, and exhibited the first specimen of those talents, and that perseverance, which afterwards advanced him to the highest offices in the state. His early intercourse with this society, and the honours by which his academic labours had been so richly crowned, conspiring with his professional endeavours in behalf of its pohtical independence, naturally led to his connexion with the university, in the quality of representative : and to this, after an interval of some years, succeeded a connexion of another and a higher kind, by which the supreme superin tendence of the institution was vested in his hands. In this last relation, which continued whilst he lived, the benefits which this place has experienced have been import ant, and should be gratefully acknowledged. To him we owe that liberal and just decision, which, by restoring to the go verning part of this body its due deliberative weight, has for ever secured the interests of education from the blighting in fluence of a despotic will. To his vigilance we owe the pre servation of this place from the unnatural conspiracy which the frenzy of the times had raised up, even within these walls : and to his regard for the reputation of our seminary we are indebted for the honourable testimony which, on so many pubhc occasions, he willingly bestowed on the general loyalty of our youth. To him also we are indebted for another benefit, perhaps not inferior to any that has been noticed : for that active and zealous interference, which, by disappointing the hopes and disconcerting the intrigues of insufficient pretenders, was, on an occasion not far distant, so happily instrumental in preventing the recurrence of that system of political influence, which, by disturbing the ap- DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 391 pointment to the presidency of this Society from the just ground of academic claims, has already at certain times in jured, and whenever resorted to, must injure most essentially, the well being of the institution. Such were some of the merits and some of the actions of this eminently endowed personage, who is now no more. If there were faults in the character, which, in the opinion of some, cast a shade on its many shining qualities, this is but the lot of man. To detect faults is more easy and less pro fitable than to emulate virtues : and in a life so active and so conspicuous, it were strange if there were not many things to provoke resentment, and some to incur censure. If, how ever, there were faults, these are not for us to canvass. They are now before that Judge, in whose presence the greatest must stand, and to whom he must render a solemn account of all his actions. This awful consideration leads me unavoidably to the men tion of one particular more in the history of the deceased, which is too important to be omitted on the present occasion : I mean, that seriousness of religious impression ; that feehng of accountableness to a supreme tribunal, so unequivocally manifested in the interesting and emphatic language in which he has spoken (in his last melancholy document) of the mer cies and the chastenings of his God. There is too often reason to lament that such impressions have been weakened, if not effaced, by the distracting agitations of pohtical col lision ; and by the habits of a profession, whose object is, for the most part, rather the exercise of a gainful ingenuity than the scientific acquisition of truth. That the combina tion of these causes, although operating in the present in stance with peculiar force, yet failed to produce on his mind this unhappy effect, will be best proved by the recital of the words, in which he has himself expressed his religious sen timents — " I earnestly entreat for pardon of my sins from the mercy of Almighty God. I am truly sensible of, and grateful for, the many blessings which, through his mercy and good ness, I have enjoyed in this world, and bow, as becomes me, 392 SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE with resignation, to such afflictions as have been visited upon me ; hoping through the mercy and mediation of my Re deemer, his blessed Son, for salvation in the next world." Are these the feelings of a Christian or not ? And these, it must be remembered, are not the mechanical and moment ary effusions of a mind startled into an artificial piety at the nearer view of approaching dissolution ; but the calm and deliberate breathings of the heart, at a time when the enjoy ment of unimpaired health, and unabated vigour, might be supposed to preclude all apprehensions of death ; and when the full possession of wealth, power, and every other object of worldly pursuit, might be supposed not less to preclude every cause of dissatisfaction with life. Perhaps there was no one period at which he had apparently better reason to expect, or stronger inducements to desire, a continuance of hfe, than that very period at which he seems to have been thus anxious to set his house in order, in preparation for death. But the high value he set upon the behef and the hopes of a Christian, may be inferred yet farther, from the anxious sohcitude with which he entreats, that the same sources of consolation, and the same springs of virtuous action, which he describes as having ministered so effectually to his sup port and direction, should be secured for the guidance of those for whose happiness he felt in common with his own. After much excellent advice respecting the education and conduct of his children, he concludes with expressing his most earnest desire that the utmost care should be taken, " to instil into their minds, from their earliest years, the prin ciples of morality, and the Christian rehgion ; and above all other the precepts of the same, a love of truth and justice, which " (he adds) " they will find the best inheritance that I can transmit to them." Here, my young brethren, is a most invaluable lesson ; in valuable no less to you than to those for whom it was im mediately intended. Here is an instance of a man, who, like him that has pronounced all to be vanity, had known DEATH OF JOHN, EARL OF CLARE. 393 and enjoyed whatever good things this life can bestow ; and, hke him, has solemnly affirmed, that in such things happiness cannot consist. Here is an instance of a man, who, whilst surrounded by all that the world calls prosperous, yet openly announces that the only anchor on which he can place a sure reliance, is the mercy of his God, and the merits of his Redeemer ; and who bequeaths to his children, as an inhe ritance infinitely surpassing all the wealth or honours he could transfer, the principles of a Christian faith and prac tice : — thus seeming to sum up the whole of his experience and instructions, in language similar to that of the wise man before referred to : My son, be admonished — Fear God, and keep his commandments : for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every secret work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Study this lesson, my young brethren. Remember, I beseech you, your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when ye shall say, I have no pleasure in them : before the time come, when the dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit unto God who gave it. Remember, that in those days, no thing but the retrospect of a Christian life, and the hope of a Christian reward, can yield you comfort. Be assured, that in these you will have abundant consolation. Be assured, that with these, and with these alone, as your rod and staff, you may safely walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and fear no evil. Let these momentous reflections sink deep into your hearts. To these reflections I have wished to lead your minds, by the notice of those distin guished characters, whose peculiar connexion with our own situation might draw us to a nearer interest in their fate. You have seen what is the final period of all human schemes and undertakings : you cannot but feel, then, the vanity of all that terminates in the present state. You have seen the ardent hopes of youth, the matured wisdom of age, the at tainments of learning, and the acquisitions of power, all swept indiscriminately into the grave. You have seen how 394 SERMON ON THE DEATH OF THE EARL OF CLARE. awful is the government of God ; how easily human greatness bends before him ; and how quickly all our designs and mea sures, at his interposal, vanish into nothing : you have seen, also, and know, that youth and strength can furnish no shield against the Almighty. Are you not then convinced, that each individual should apply to himself the warning of the pro phet : Set thine house in order : for thou shalt die, and not live. May God bestow on each of us the grace to make this application, and to make it in such manner, that we may profit by it unto salvation ! NOTES. Page 380 — In this, and the two preceding pages, a similarity of sub- jectleading to a similarity of reflection, — I have not scrupled to adopt, in two or three instances, the language of a writer from whom no person, treating the same topics, need be ashamed to receive assistance. The felicities of Doctor Johnson's style are such, that having once laid hold of the memory, they will not easily yield their place to other forms of expression; and he, who is more desirous of utility than of novelty, will not be very anxious to dislodge them. P. 382, line 4, from the bottom, — " Parental guardian of this seminary." The Rev. Richard Murray, D.D., late Provost of Trinity College, who died in the month of June, 1799: and whose life and character have been sketched with equal truth and elo quence, by the Rev. Doctor Graves, in a funeral sermon preached and pub lished by that gentleman. P. 384, line 18, from the bottom, — " Laborious and profitable study. " The Right Rev. Dr. Matthew Young, late Bishop of Clonfert, and formerly a senior fellow of Trinity College, who died November 28, 1800, is the subject of this paragraph. In an appendix to the discourse, delivered, at the inter ment of the Bishop, by Doctor Elring- ton, the able successor of his lordship in the Philosophical chair of Dublin Col lege, the following interesting, though afflictive, account is given, of the rise and progress of this fatal disease, and of the literary labours, so perseveringly prosecuted under its agonizing pres sure. " His consecration took place on the third of February, 1799, and nearly at the same moment, the dreadful malady, which terminated so fatally, made its appearance. At first only a small ulcer on the tongue, it occasioned httle alarm : but the duty to which he was called, at the primary visitation of his diocese, of giving a public exhortation to his Clergy, produced such an aggravation of the complaint as gave serious cause for ap prehension. Its horrid progress was thenceforward continual. His utter ance became painful, and gradually in articulate. The disorder spread to the throat. To the dreadful pain attendant on cancer was added the torture aris ing from the application of the violent remedies which were judged necessary. Hopeless of relief from regular prac titioners, he went to seek it at Whit- worth in Lancashire; and there, after near five months of extreme suffering, he expired on the 28th of November, in the fiftieth year of his age. " It will hardly be credited, that dur ing the rapid progress of this deplorable malady, he drew up from his Lectures his Analysis of the Principles of Natu ral Philosophy, and superintended the publication with an accuracy and cor rectness scarcely to be equalled — la boured in the improvement of his com ment on the first book of Newton's Principia — -wrote an Essay on Sophisms, collecting examples of the various 396 NOTES. species from the Deistical writers, and thus serving at once the cause of Science and of Religion — made himself ac quainted with the Syriac language ; and completed a translation of the Psalms, of which before his illness he had done little more than sketch out the plan : — and drew up a Demonstration a priori of the existence and attributes of the Deity. These last two works occupied his attention as long as he could hold a pen, and were the subject of his corre spondence till within a very few weeks of his death. The axioms which he assumed as the foundation of his proof of the existence of a God, are discussed by him in a letter to the provost, dated the tenth of last October !" Having been led, by the subject of this discourse, to notice particularly the characters of those respectable and la mented members of our body, named in the two last notes; I find myself irresistibly impelled, in this place, to make mention of another, whose kin dred merits naturally link his memory to theirs ; calling up an additional re gret in the contemplation of those losses which the University has sus tained in talent and virtue ; and de manding a tribute from the same pen, that attempts to describe the excel lencies of those, who have, at any time, advanced its fame, and promoted its usefulness The Rev. Digby Marsh, D. D., and senior fellow of the College, although nine years have elapsed since his decease, yet lives fresh in the memory and the affections of all who knew him : and to them it will not be unacceptable, to see enrolled, in the same pages with the names of Murkay and Young, — names with which his had been closely connected in life, — a memorial, which, however deficient it may be in all other respects, has been deemed by those, who well knew the character it repre sents, to possess the qualities of accu racy and truth. This memorial was the production of the period of his decease, and exhibits the following picture of that amiable and revered character. " Whether we consider the strength of his mind, the greatness of his talents, or the number of his virtues, we cannot hesitate to pronounce him amongst the first characters of which the university, or perhaps the nation, can boast. " Calm, deliberate, and reserved ; — his calmness was fortitude ; — his delibe ration, wisdom; — his reserve, modesty. " That magnanimity, which raised him above the reach of passion, gave to every action of his life, decision and intrepidity ; and whilst he seemed slow in deciding, he was retarded, not by dulness of conception, but by the range of his sagacity, and the comprehension of his views. " The austerity of his deportment, — the effect not of pride but of consti tution, — was softened into affability by a native gentleness and benevolence, which could not be disguised; and through a severity of manner, perhaps not ill suited to the serious dignity of his mind, beamed the mildest effusions of a generous and feeling heart. " His affections were not easily ex cited, but they were strong, steady, and permanent: and whilst he scorned to make professions of regard, his actions proved him a sincere and disinterested friend. " Noble and elevated in his senti ments, he has left behind him a character unsullied by a single mean or dishonour able act. Nor, indeed, was it possible, that a man, the independence of whose virtue rested upon itself, and did not court, but rather shunned applause, could have deviated from the strict path which honour and conscience pre scribe. " Endowed with singular powers of understanding, he sought not their dis play : his genius was too proud to stoop to fame, too modest to hope for it : but the gratitude of that place, which has been enriched by his talents, and adorned by his virtues, will pay to his memory that tribute of admiration and praise, which the diffidence, that ever attends real abilities, would have pre vented him from accepting in his life." NOTES. 397 P. 385, line 5, from the botom, — " On the former. " The reader will easily perceive, that the measure of the Regency is that to to which reference is here made a measure, which, in opposition to the most able and strenuous exertions of Mr. Fitzgibbon, then attorney-general, was decided by the Irish Parliament in such a manner, as to give cause of deep and lasting regret to every true friend of the country, by breaking the unity of the councils of the empire, and en dangering the existing connexion of its parts. P. 387, last line,—" To wait for a suc cessor," &c. Since the time at which this sermon was preached, his Majesty's choice of a successor to Lord Clare has been publicly announced; and has happily devolved upon one whose high qualifi cations promise to repair the loss which the judicial bench has sustained, as far as such loss can be repaired. P. 388, line 15, from the bottom, " Even to the public eye." A striking instance of this appeared at the visitation held in the College, in the month of April, 1798, at which Lord Clare presided as vice-chancellor. On this occasion, notwithstanding his indignation at the horrible conspiracy which had shed its poison even into the recesses of academic seclusion, the se verity of justice seemed to melt away in compassion for the errors of youthful credulity; and the affectionate suavity of paternal remonstrance, in many cases, superseded the strict sentence of ju dicial condemnation. P. 390, line 12,—" So richly crowned." Mr. Fitzgibbon's collegiate honours make a distinguished appearance on the lace of our public records. Having entered the College of Dublin, as fel low commoner, in the year 1763, he appears to have prosecuted his studies with unusual diligence and success. The competition between him and the celebrated Mr. Grattan was unremit ting, through the entire of their course. Being always of the same division, they were necessarily engaged in immediate contest for those academic rewards, that are bestowed on superiority of answer ing at the stated quarterly examinations. It is interesting to trace through the judgments, and the prizes, allotted at these several examinations, the eager ness of the struggle for pre-eminence, which at this early day commenced be tween two men so conspicuous, and who have since carried that struggle into the highest concerns of life. Mr. Grattan seems to have taken the lead at the commencement of the course, having won from his competitor, the premium, and certificate, in two of the examin ations of the junior freshman year. But victory then changed sides, and con tinued with his opponent through the remainder of the contest : Mr. Fitz gibbon bearing away from him, in every succeeding instance, the premium or certificate; and being particularly distinguished, at the Hilary examination of 1766, by the extraordinary judgment of Optime, conferred on his translation of the Georgics, by the late Doctor Law. P. 390, line 13,—" Its political inde pendence." The validity of the return of Mr. Richard Hely Hutchinson, (now Lord Donoughmore,) as representative of the University of Dublin, was tried before a committee of the House of Commons, in the month of February, 1777. The ability and zeal of Mr. Fitzgibbon, who acted as counsel on the part of those who were desirous to preserve the purity of college elections, were on this oc casion conspicuous and triumphant. And, in the following month, he re ceived from the University, the honour able reward of his services ; being elected, in the room of Mr. Hutchinson, whose return had been annulled by the committee on the ground of undue in fluence in the returning officer, the right honourable John Hely Hutchin son, provost of the college. 398 NOTES. P. 390, line 18,—" Vested in his hands." On the resignation of the office of vice-chancellor of the university, by Primate Robinson, the Earl of Clare was appointed to that office by his Royal Highness the Duke of Glou cester, on the 22d of June, 1791. P. 390, line 16, from the bottom, — " Liberal and just decision. " To those who are unacquainted with the history of the College, some ex planation on this head is necessary. The charter has vested in the provost and senior fellows, the government of the society, and the election of fellows. The provosts, however, had, for a series of years, assumed a veto in all cases, and in the election of fellows the direct power of nomination, even in opposition to the suffrages of all the remaining electors. This unwarrantable usurp ation was not permitted long to survive the appointment of Lord Fitzgibbon to the office of Vice-chancellor. At a visitation held in the August of 1791, it was made the subject of judicial in quiry, and pronounced by the Vice- chancellor, with the concurrence of his co-visitor, the Archbishop of Dublin, to have been a gross violation of the charter. And by this means, a final stop was put to abuses, corruptions, and oppressions, of which none, who had not b melancholy experience of those times, can form any conception. It is but justice, however, to the memory of Dr. Young, to state, that by him was the legality of those extra ordinary claims first brought regularly into discussion : and that an argument on this subject, which would have done honour to the ablest and best informed legal understanding, had been drawn up and published by him in the year 1790. P. 390, line 3, from the bottom,— " On an occasion not far distant." It is well known, that on the last va cancy of the provostship, caused by the death of Doctor Murray, political in trigue was, as usual, busily employed, to supplant the regular academic claim ant. It is well known also, that what ever weight the opinion of the vice- chancellor could have with govern ment, was exerted in counteraction of that intrigue : and, happily for the Col lege, it was exerted with success : — hap- pily, indeed, in all respects : not only as rescuing it from the gripe of those, who might have called back those un happy days in which science had drooped, and the academic muse had mourned; but as placing it in the hands of a man truly competent to the arduous station; a man, equally recom mended by his academic merits, and by the confidence and respect of those he was to govern : — under the tempered discipline of whose parental guidance, the members of the society enjoy all that tranquillity, and all that encourage ment, which are so requisite to the successful cultivation of science, and which have already been productive of the happiest effects. P. 392, line 8, — " At a time when," &c. The Chancellor's will bears date from the month of December, 1800. N. B. This discourse, as it is now given to the public, differs, in a few passages near the conclusion, from the sermon as it was preached. Having been prepared on very short notice, it must naturally have required some cor rection : and one topic, particularly, I have omitted, as I have since dis covered, that the observations relating to it were founded on inaccurate in formation. CHARGE, DELIVERED TO THE CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE, AX THE PRIMARY VISITATION OP THAT DIOCESE, IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. EUNAN, ON WEDNESDAY, 17 TH OF OCTOBER, 1821. CHARGE, ETC., ETC. On this first occasion of my meeting you assembled, my reverend brethren, by the summons of your Diocesan, it is requisite that I should address myself to you on matters which concern us both deeply ; and which not only concern us, but are vitally connected with the best interests of those who are intrusted to our joint spiritual superintendence. During the first year of my connexion with this See, I did not deem myself qualified to enter with you, effectively, upon the details, which the circumstances of the diocese might re quire : and, therefore, within that interval I did not offer to you any communication from this place. It fortunately happened, that the triennal Visitation of the Metropolitan rendered the form of such a procedure less necessary. And I conceived, that I could not employ the early period of my residence amongst you to greater advan tage, than by taking a regular circuit of the several parishes of the diocese ; and thereby acquainting myself, by personal inspection, not only with the condition of the churches, glebes, and glebe-houses, throughout the whole, but also in a great measure with the habits, and characters, and localities, as well of the general mass of the population, as of the clergy themselves. By this domestic species of visitation, I was enabled the better to discover the respective wants of the different parishes YOL. IE D P 402 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE and districts of the diocese ; I became familiarised with the manner of reading, and the mode of conducting divine ser vice, usual in the several churches ; I was furnished with the opportunity of quiet and unostensive correction of any error or impropriety that had crept into either ; and I enjoyed the satisfaction of malting myself known, in a way the most likely to concihate cordiality and good will amongst those, through whose co-operation it is allotted to me by Providence to promote the spiritual welfare of this district, and from whom collectively 1 am this day to sohcit, that that co-operation may be for this great purpose, at all times, cheerfully and strenuously supplied. The intercourse, which such an occasion afforded, would, under any circumstances, have yielded me the means of forming an estimate of your respective exertions in the dis charge of parochial duty, and of their effect upon the congre gations committed to your care ; but the peculiar circum stances with which it was accompanied, rendered it singu larly conducive to that end. Having thought it expedient to connect with the circuit of visitation, a course of confirma tion throughout the diocese, in preparation for which your catechetical and pastoral labours were particularly called forth for several preceding months, I had ample opportuni ties of judging of the value of those labours, from the number and qualifications of those whom you brought for ward to partake of that rite ; and I should be guilty of an act of injustice to the clergy of the diocese at large, did I not say, that, with a very few exceptions indeed, I found that their exertions had been exemplary upon this occasion. The. result was such as to prove, at the same time, the great ex cellence of such an ordinance, and the vast importance of a regularly appointed ministry, constantly residing in their parishes, and zealous to bestow upon their flocks the benefit, of that, and of every other ordinance, which the pious wisdom of the church of this realm has ordained for the acquisition, of spiritual blessings. The solemn recognition, made by nearly four thousand CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 403 young persons, of that Christian covenant, which had been entered into for them at their baptism, and which was now for the first time (after due instruction in its nature and obli gations) openly taken upon themselves ; and this again, in the case of a large proportion of these young persons, fol lowed (at a proper interval) by the participation of the Sacra ment of the Lord's Supper, for which they had been pre viously apprized that their confirmation was to enable them duly to qualify themselves, and in the preparation for which they were sedulously assisted by their parish minister : — these were the visible fruits of the exertions that were then made : and the blessings attending such a spread of Christian know ledge and Christian devotion, amongst not only the young,. but amongst all classes of their respective flocks, will be the recompence of those faithful pastors, who exercised a Chris tian zeal upon that interesting occasion. So great and striking, indeed, have been the beneficial effects of the plan which was pursued in the last year, that I have been induced to determine (so long as Providence spares me hfe and strength sufficient for the undertaking) to repeat the entire process on the return of every third year. I shall thereby not only conform to the canon, which requires that confirmation shall be held at the close of every such period, but will be enabled, by the personal visitation and inspection of the parishes of the diocese, to make the best preparation for the archiepiscopal inquiries which are period ically renewed at the like interval. You also, my reverend brethren, I have reason to think, fully concur with me in the advantages of the plan which I propose. And I reckon confidently upon your assistance, in forwarding the various regulations, by which its full bene fits may be secured. On those regulations generally I shall not now dwell ; but on that one, to which I have already particularly alluded, and which I conceive to be of vital im port, I cannot forbear offering a few additional observations. Baptism, it has become too much the custom to consider, as a form. In its ordinary practice, as apphed to infants, it D d 2 404 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE seems to the unreflecting, as wanting that which could give it meaning and efficacy, the consciousness and consent of its subject, in the contract which it embraces : so that by those, who do not discern its true scriptural character as a sacra mental engagement, (which is unhappily the case with a large proportion of the community,) it is but too generally viewed either as a charm, or as a ceremony. Now, confirmation tends to remedy this deficiency. It may be conceived as the consummation of Baptism. It gives to that rite, in com mon view, significancy and substance. And, what before appeared as the gratuitous adoption of the unconscious infant into the visible church of Christ, becomes now the voluntary acceptance of the Christian's covenant, and the spiritual ini tiation of the intelligent and instructed. So that, with those who cannot comprehend the value of infant baptism, it may be considered, with a certain latitude, as the baptism of the adult. Again, as confirmation is prescribed by the church, as the legitimate introduction of the young Christian to the holy communion, it presents itself as an intelligible and connect ing medium between our two great sacraments. It renews and confirms the covenant entered into by the one ; and it makes the due preparation to seal and sanctify that covenant by the other. So that, in truth, the practice of this rite may be made the occasion of spreading through your entire parishes, in a way the best calculated to excite interest and attention, the whole scheme of a Christian's behef and duty. You have witnessed for yourselves, my reverend brethren, the great eagerness which was manifested for the instructions given, and the tracts circulated, previous to the late confirma tions ; and you can say, whether that occasion did not furnish you with opportunities of more extensive and edify ing teaching to your flock than you have usually enjoyed ; and whether it did not afford to them incentives, and inspire them with a zeal, to learn and profit from your teaching, which have not been manifested at other times. In truth, CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 405 nothing could tend more to stir up a spirit of religious im provement amongst the people, nothing could bring the clergy into more profitable contact with their parishioners, nothing could present them more in the hght of true pastors looking to the welfare of their flocks, than a system, which exhibited the whole clergy of the diocese, in all its ranks from the highest to the lowest, in active exertion, seeking everywhere after the young and uninstructed, visiting every cottage, so liciting every parent, encouraging and instructing every child, to draw them to the knowledge and the practice of rehgion, and to guide their feet into that path, which, if through the divine grace they continue in it, will lead them to everlasting happiness. Such a system must necessarily have spread through your several parishes, gratification no less than im provement ; and even those, who will not accept of your ministry, and who dissent from your doctrines, cannot but see and feel the advantages resulting from it, and must at least be warmed towards a church, which prescribes such practices, even though they be not led to conform to its institutions. I have mentioned, that, in the course of my circuit, I dis covered some irregularities in the mode of administering divine service. In some instances I observed parts of the Liturgy disturbed from their due order; in some, certain prayers were omitted ; in some, they were altered ; and upon the whole, liberties were taken not unfrequently with the directions of the Rubric ; as if the performance of the service were left to the discretion of the individual minister, or as if some of the matters prescribed were of such trifling import, as to render it a thing of indifference whether they were con formed to or not. But, it is to be remarked, that in the case of a rule, no departure is of trifling import. The very essence of a rule requires exactness, and its principle de mands obedience. To depart from a rule, is to relinquish its principle ; and if once its principle be given up, there is no limit to departure : all will then depend upon the judg ment, or the humour, of the individual. And here, in truth, 406 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE lies the great difference between the Churchman and the Sectarian. The one submits himself to the rules of the church ; the other obeys the dictates of his private opinion. But the clergy of the Estabhshed Church have yet further to reflect, that they are, in all depai'tures from the prescribed forms of the church service, not only exchanging the prin ciple of church discipline for the laxity of sectarian caprice ; but that they are also, at one and the same time, violating a trust, offending against the law of the land, and breaking through their own most solemn engagements. They violate a trust ; for the powers and privileges with which the church has invested them, were bestowed to enable them to preserve its discipline unimpaired, and to transmit its constitution pure and uncorrupt to those who are to succeed them in the hke station. They offend against the law of the land ; for the Act of Uniformity enjoins on them an undeviating adherence to all the forms of the Rubric. And, they break through their own most solemn engagements ; for on their admission into holy orders, as well as on their appointment to their several cures, they have bound themselves repeatedly, by their deliberate and recorded declarations, to an exact con formity to the Book of Common Prayer. It will readily be perceived, that these observations apply, not merely to variations in the prayers and forms of the usual service of the church, but that they equally extend to all departures from the known and established discipline in its several offices. Amongst these, none is more strongly to be condemned, than the practice of administering baptism in private houses. The laws of the church admit no such prac tice. The clergyman has no right to adopt it. An excep tion is, indeed, specially made for the case, where life may be endangered ; but even there, the full completion of the rite is reserved for the open celebration of the church. In no other way can the sanctity and religious character of this solemn ordinance be preserved. It should be remembered, that this is the solemn "dedication of the child to Christ; the admission of an immortal soul to the privileges-of the Chris- CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 407 tian covenant ; the first great sacrament which lifts the fallen offspring of the common parent out of the state of nature, and places it in a state of grace. Can it then be necessary, to enforce the propriety of confining an observance of such sacred import to the place, which is consecrated to sacred uses ? And that which the reason of the thing so manifestly prescribes, the authority of the law commands. No clergy man, therefore, of the Estabhshed Church, can conscientiously release himself from the obligation of the Rubric in the per formance of this office. I shall not dwell at present on the particulars enjoined in the performance of the other offices, and on the necessity of observing them. The Rubric sufficiently details them : the law of the land, and the canons of the church, sufficiently enforce them : and to some of the more important, I have already called your more immediate attention, in the circular letters, which I have from time to time addressed to you through the vicar general and the registrar of the diocese, as well as in my personal communications with you individually in the circuit of the visitation. But, here, I cannot refrain from adverting to an apology sometimes made, on the part of the parochial clergy, for omissions and irregularities, on the points to which I have alluded : namely, their want of knowledge of what the rules of Ecclesiastical Law demand. Now, not to mention, that the most important part of these rules is to be found in the Book of Common Prayer, which is appointed for the service of the church ; and that this, through the Rubric, the canons, and the Act of Uniformity, (all of which it contains,) presents a summary of Ecclesiastical Law, that leaves the ordinary parochial clergyman httle to seek for from other sources; there are, besides, cheap compendiums of easy access, with which every clergyman should provide himself, if he be really anxious to know and do his duty. In any other profession, it would be deemed an unpardonable ex cuse for the violation or neglect of* the rules of that profes sion, that the individual had not taken pains to learn what 408 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE they were. What then is to be said of such an excuse, in the case of a profession, whose members are persons of edu cation ; bound to the discharge of most serious and import ant duties, deeply affecting the welfare of society at large, essentially connected with the existence of the establishment to which they belong, indispensable to the due execution of the trust which has been reposed in them, and standing on the solemn obhgations of their ordination voluntarily in curred ! Again, should it be alleged, that, in a district abounding with dissenters from the estabhshed religion, it is expedient, in point of policy, to relax somewhat of the rigour of its rules, and to assimilate as far as can reasonably be done with those who differ from our forms, and whose objections to our church are often derived more from its discipline than its doctrines : it should, in the first place, be remembered, as before, that the parish minister has no right, no liberty is left to him, to make any such relaxation : and, in the next place, he is mis taken in the supposition, that good policy dictates such a procedure. He may, indeed, thereby lower the church to the dissenter: but he will not bring the dissenter to the church. On the contrary, if the dissenter is made to feel, that the churchman attaches no importance to the forms, why should he adopt a system which upholds them ? Why should even the churchman himself continue to regard them, since they no longer stand upon the ground of duty; or why should he conceive any real difference to exist between the church and the conventicle, unless what may arise from the difference of doctrine ? Thus, the principle of sectarianism is established, by the very means erroneously employed for its counteraction. No : the cause of sound policy coincides both with the truth of the case, and with the plain duty of the clergyman. The established forms of the church must be maintained ; and maintained with even the greater exactness, the more -the principle of dissent prevails around us. If the sectarian la bours to efface the notions of a church, and of a. priesthood, CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 409 he only points out to us the necessity of our carefully main taining the essential characters of both. If he directs his endeavours to the levelling those distinctions, and the under mining those institutions, which form the line of demarcation between him and the followers of an apostolic standard ; he only marks more strongly the importance of defending that boundary, which the ancient laws of the church have formed for its preservation. You will not, I trust, my reverend brethren, whilst I thus earnestly urge the necessity of supporting estabhshed forms, impute to me an overstrained attachment to forms, merely as such. No : the forms, which the laws of our church pre scribe, are all connected with essentials : they are connected with feelings, that sustain the sanctity of rehgion, and the reverence due to its ministers. The profession, in which we are embarked, is (it must be allowed by all) one of a grave and solemn character, one proposing for its object the salva tion of immortal souls. Surely, the rules and forms of such a profession should all bear the impress of its momentous object ; and none, which do bear that impress, should be lightly thought of. How then can we undervalue those rules, and encourage others to treat them as matters of in difference ? It should be remembered, that the true ground of our re spectability in human estimation, is to be found in the serious consistency, with which we are seen to pursue the objects of our calling : and, that, even amongst the world at large, those who are but too apt to shght their own duty, are still ready to bestow full condemnation and contempt upon the clergyman, who openly disregards his. The minister of the Established Church, then, who departs from the rules of his order, is not likely to obtain respect, even from those who might be supposed the most lenient and interested judges of his conduct The clergyman, who is faithful in his office, has httle cause to fear the charge of too great precision in the exact observ ance of rules. If he shews, that he labours in all cases after 410 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE what is essential, he will prove, that it is not by the love of form he is influenced ; he will prove, that he deems the form itself to be essential ; and even those, who may differ from him in that judgment, cannot but respect the principle and venerate the man. Let him be diligent and zealous in dis charging the various duties of a parish minister, not only in the serious and earnest administration of the services of the church, but in the offices of visiting, of catechizing, of in structing both the young and old of his parishioners, who need and will receive his instructions ; not contenting him self with being found at his post, when called upon for the occasional exercise of his functions, but forward to seek out and to discover every case in which his ministry can be em ployed with effect ; stirring up the spirit of rehgion amongst his flock ; calling them to the house of God ; expostulating affectionately with those who are not sufficiently attentive to that call ; and especially availing himself of the great festi vals, to excite them to increased seriousness of hfe, and to frequent and enlivened preparation for the holy sacrament. Let this consistent course be pursued ; and the clergyman, who is thus seen to labour after the true and substantial ends of godliness, will never be suspected of laying a stress on forms beyond what he deems to be essential to effect these ends. But, again, it is not merely with respect to the professional offices, that the clergy should be tenacious of the forms pre scribed to them, but with respect to their professional habits, at large, they should be equally careful to maintain them. The clergy are a body of men set apart from society for sacred purposes, and it ill becomes them to be desirous to reject those forms and habits of hfe, which not only the laws of the church, and the vows which they have taken, impera tively impose, but which the common feelings of mankind sanction and exact. We can never, surely, forget the solemn vows of our ordination service, that we would " apply all our diligence to frame and fashion our own hves and the hves of our families, according to the doctrine of Christ; and to CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 411 make both ourselves and them, as much as in us lieth, whole some examples of the flock of Christ." This, it is clear, marks us out, as bound by the most sacred engagements, to a course of life different from that which is unhappily too pre valent in the world at large : it marks us out, not as persons who may freely conform to all the fashions which surround us, but as persons who are to place before the eyes of society " wholesome examples." Are the clergy, then, to be afraid of the charge of singu larity, if they do not break through their solemn vows, and mix themselves in the secular pursuits, and the relaxed man ners and habits of those, who have not incurred the hke obligations ? Are they, who are set up, as lights upon a hill ; who are appointed to be the models and exemplars of the many ; are they to descend from that high and truly dignified station, and to submit to be the followers of that multitude, whom it is their business to direct ; nay more, of whom great numbers at all times look to them for direction ? They may depend upon it, if they act so, that they are not only acting in violation of their vows, and in defeasance of their useful ness, but that they are flinging from them that very respect and estimation, which they are making these sacrifices to obtain. It is manifest, I do not here speak of a conformity in what is decidedly profligate or immoral : that belongs to a higher order of criminality, about which no one can be mistaken, and which is sure to be visited with universal condemnation. But I speak of that conformity, which (unfortunately) too many of our order deem not inconsistent with their profes sion ; a conformity, in amusements, in manners, in occupa tions; a conformity, in short, which tends to blend and con found the clerical order with the other classes of society, so that every distinguishing character of a minister of the gospel is made to vanish from the view, the parish priest becomes lost in the country gentleman, and the spiritual guide super seded by the sociable companion. No : as in every profes sion, there is a certain demeanour which befits it ; so is there 412 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE eminently in ours. And that departure from such demeanour, which, in other professions would be unseemly, in ours be comes not less than criminal. It belongs to all, to abstain from evil ; but it is bound upon us, to abstain from all ap pearance of evil. Levity suits not the calling of a Christian minister. Secular occupations are not its true employment. His office is a grave one. And his manners and habits should not disgrace it. Let it not be supposed, that, whilst guarding the clergy against the faults to which I advert, I would recommend it to them to become monastic, or morose ; or, that I would deny to the clergyman, amusement and relaxation. On the contrary, without both, scarcely any man is long equal to the vigorous discharge of duty: and for their moderate and proper use no clergyman is to be condemned. But, the amusement of the worldly part of society is too often the toil of dissipation ; and, what is called relaxation by many, is for the most part (to say the least of it) an unpardonable waste of time. Pleasure is but too much the eager pursuit of the crowd. And are the clergy to be seen giving en couragement to the thoughtless in such a pursuit ; and to be found in habits of association with those who professedly make this the obj ect of their lives i No : the time was, when the sober discipline of the church imposed upon the clerical order even a distinction of garb, which tended to separate them from the irregularities of secular hfe. And, I trust, the time will never cease to be, in which the still higher disci pline of conscience will operate to preserve that distinction of manners and of conduct, which shall keep at least the worthy part of the order, from all those intercourses with society, which war with general sanctity of hfe, or with the particular designs of their institution. In the present state of the world, the clergy, in their several ranks, are to mix undoubtedly with the several classes of society. But still they are to mix, as clergy. They are never to forget their sacred and pecuhar chai'acter. They CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 413 are, as far as possible, to restrain and regulate. They axe not to follow, but to influence. It is their bounden duty to conciliate, as far as honestly can be done ; and, for this pur pose, they must take care, not to make rehgion appear un- amiable and repulsive in the eyes of the world. At the same time, they must take equal care, not to sacrifice the end to the means ; nor, whilst they endeavour to make rehgion agree able, ever to seek approbation or good will at the expense of the smallest of its interests. But, it is not through pleasurable pursuits only, but through those of business also, that the clergy may be drawn away from their proper duties, and lose their distinctive character. Those exertions of industry, which, in other situations of hfe, would be highly praiseworthy, may be, in that of a minister of the gospel, deserving of condemnation. We have already touched upon some of the chief occupations of a parish minister; and, not to insist here on the loss of station and of respect which must attend his engaging in any of the modes of worldly traffic, it is manifest, from what has been said, that no leisure can be left to him for such employments. To do justice to his spiritual trust, must fur nish a full demand upon all, of time, of ability, and of atten tion, that he can bestow. And, therefore, whatever of these he expends on worldly business, he withholds from that higher business, which he has engaged himself to discharge, to the exclusion of every other. It is not possible for him to serve both God and Mammon. And therefore it is, that, in the engagements which a minister is called upon to make, at the time of his admission to the sacred office, he is re quired to forsake and set aside (as much as heth in him) all worldly cares, and to give himself wholly to the one office, to which it had pleased God to call him. There may, undoubtedly, be cases, in which the wants of a family may press so upon the scanty provision of some of our poorer brethren, as to supply the plea of necessity for resorting to unprofessional modes of support. It is much to be lamented that such cases should exist ; and that any of 414 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE those, who are appointed to preach the ' gospel, should not be furnished with the decent means of living by it. This, however, can yield no shadow of excuse to the many, who, without such necessity, turn to their farm or their merchan dize, though invited and engaged to better things. And, indeed, in almost every case, it is well worth considering, whether the desire of conforming to the standard of living set up by the world, instead of that which befits the Clerical Order, be not the true cause of that necessity, which is com plained of. But, at all events, if there be some extreme cases, of the nature to which we have adverted, these can in no degree affect the general principle, — that the minister of the gospel is to devote himself to the great spiritual work which he has undertaken ; and that all, that it is in his power to bring forward, for the furtherance of that work, it is his bounden and irreversible duty to employ. But, does the clergyman still find some portion of his time undisposed of, even after the due attention to those pastoral duties which have been particularly noticed ? There yet remains another duty to be spoken of, for which, all the time that he can possibly command, will prove not more than enough. I mean that study of his profession, which is re quisite to enable him duly to inform himself, and rightly and powerfully to instruct his flock, in the things which belong to their everlasting welfare. Here, there is an ample and still uncontracted field for his exertions. When well considered, there is, perhaps, no profession, that demands more close and persevering study, than that of a minister of the gospel. And therefore it is, that the wisdom of our church has re quired, that, in preparation for the sacred office, a foundation should be laid in a lengthened course of instruction in the various parts of human learning; and has deemed it right not to intrust the sacred deposit of the Gospel to those who had not by their early habits familiarized their minds to study, and stored their understandings with the acquisitions of knowledge. Some, indeed, have affected to decry the use of learning CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 415 for a minister of the gospel ; and those especially have done so, who are destitute, and, consequently, ignorant of its advan tages. But, a sounder judgment has estabhshed its utility : and, the various demands upon the knowledge and the talent of the Christian minister, in the diversified exercises of his duty, prove, that he cannot possess too much of either for the important service in which he is engaged. No doubt, the knowledge in which, above all, he is to abound, is the knowledge of sacred things. But learning, and the habits of close and just thinking connected with it, render this, hke all other knowledge, more accurate, and sound, and compre hensive. And, the very circumstance of the treasures of Revelation being conveyed to us through the languages of antiquity, imposes it as a duty upon the authorized expounder of that Revelation, to acquire a critical and famihar acquaint ance with those languages ; as well to transmit to the un learned the full force and value of the original truth, as to guard its purity against the corruptions, which either pre sumptuous ignorance, or perverse heresy, would engraft upon the sacred word. At this day especially, when the genuine contents of Scrip ture are endangered by the circulation of new versions of that holy book, professing to open the eyes of the world upon the multiplied errors of our received translation ; and when, with the most imposing pretensions, the various sects (especially the Socinian, the most presumptuous and the least informed of all sects) are obtruding upon the various classes of society, their false transcripts of the word of God, for his pure revelation ; it surely is not unreasonable to expect from him, who is the appointed guardian of the great record of the Christian faith and hope, to be qualified to distinguish the counterfeit from the true, and to protect those intrusted to his pastoral care, against such insidious machinations of ungodly zeal. The Clergy, in the more retired walks of the profession, may not indeed be called to the exercise of critical know ledge of this higher order ; and all may not be equal to it. 416 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE But, all are called upon to give their best application to the acquisition of such knowledge of their profession as they can attain. The enemy is everywhere sowing his tares. False opinions, and wrong notions of Christianity, abound. They are plentifully spread in all directions. They surround us on every side. Can he, then, who has been appointed and named as the " Messenger, Watchman, and Steward of the Lord," be too vigilant, or too strongly fortified to repel them ? Remember, that, under this denomination, we have each of us solemnly bound ourselves to be " ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's word ;n and that, for this purpose, as well as the others which pertain to our ministry, we would persevere with " diligence, in prayers, and in reading of the holy Scriptures, and in such studies, as help to the know ledge of the same." Now, my reverend brethren, when the church has de manded of us such engagements on our entering into the ministry ; when it has required of us, in the previous insti tution for it, so much of study, and such proofs of know ledge ; when it has presented to us such difficulties to be surmounted, and such acquisitions to be made ; can we con ceive ours to be a profession, which releases us from the obligations of study, and leaves us at liberty to apply our time and thought to pursuits altogether foreign from its ob jects ? And yet, unfortunately, there are persons of our order who act as if they thought so ; and who, although they are often among the -foremost to exclaim against the illiterate enthusiast, who deems himself qualified to teach the Gospel "without the aids of learning or of study, yet in practice con cur with him in the total disregard of both. But to those of our brethren, who in any degree know and value their profession, it must be useless to dwell at greater length, upon the necessity of application and study for the proper discharge of its duties. The full knowledge of the grounds and evidences of our religion ; an accurate acquaint ance with its doctrines ; a thorough familiarity with the Scrip- CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 417 tures of the Old and New Testament ; a just appreciation of the arguments and objections which have been advanced; and are from day to day advanced, upon these several heads ; together with the means of communicating with clearness and effect to others the results of this knowledge, so as to convey to their minds correct notions and vivid impressions, and, at the same time, to enforce upon them, with interest and power, a corresponding practice ; must, to the minister who is anxious to perform his duty, appear rather to exceed the utmost exertion of his power and devotion of his time, than to leave to him any portion of either to employ on other objects. I shall, therefore, dismiss this subject, and only detain you with a few observations as to the mode in which we should conduct our own inquiries into religious truth, and our instruction of those who are committed to our spiritual teaching. The Christian world is, unhappily, much divided on some points : and, even within the pale of our own church, dif ferences have arisen, which interfere lamentably with that unity and harmony, which are so desirable in a Christian community. It might be expected, that the standard of doc trines, contained in the articles of our church, would have prevented this diversity, at least amongst all those who have embraced that admirable summary, as the rule of their Christian behef. But here, unfortunately, the difficulty re curs : and, such is the imperfection of human things, that that, which was designed to compose all differences of opi nion, is itself converted into a cause of difference, and made a ground of acrimonious controversy. The wisdom of the fathers of our church, a wisdom which seems little less than the result of inspiration, a wisdom cer tainly which marks its origin to have been from above, laid the foundation of this great scheme of Christian doctrine, in a deep knowledge of, the nature of man, as well as of the things of God. Those excellent persons were well aware that the minds of men are not all cast in the same mould • that, on the contrary, the varieties of the human understand- VOL. II. E E 418 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE ing are not less diversified than those of the human coun tenance ; and that, as in the case of the latter, even where the closest resemblance exists, there are still found some features of characteristic difference ; so in the former, even where the same general truths are embraced, some varying traits of thinking, and some distinguishing modes and quali fications of the primary principle will present themselves in different minds. The framers of our articles, therefore, did not determine to proceed as in a mathematical- right line ; but advanced in a path of reasonable and scriptural latitude ; which, whilst it comprised within it all that was essential in doctrine, excluded all that was erroneous ; and which, con sequently, enabled those, who agreed in the great funda mental truths of the gospel, to walk together in Christian harmony, as became those who were brethren in Christ Jesus. Now, in the same spirit, in which the articles of our church were at first propounded, they should continue to be received, and taught. And no individual should conceive himself at liberty, — not even the highest in the church, who, in this case has no more right than the lowest, — to impose upon these articles any private sense, or comment of his own, to the exclusion of every other, that may not happen to agree with his in every particular. It is manifest, that he who does so, proposes a new test, different from that which has been sanc tioned by the church to which we belong ; and, so far, usurps an authority to which he has no title, and himself violates the standard by which he presumes injuriously to judge the orthodoxy of others. To prove that this is a just view of the case, I shall read to you part of the declaration, which, by royal mandate, is prefixed to the articles ; and which openly manifests the true spirit in which they were composed, and the duty of those who profess to submit to their direction. For the purpose of heahng " the curious and unhappy differences which have for so many hundred years, in different times and places, exercised the Church of Christ," the royal declaration ob serves, "We will, that all further curious search be laid CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 419 aside, and these disputes shut up in God's promises, as they be generally set forth to us in the Holy Scriptures, and the general meaning of the articles of the Church of England, according to them. And that no man hereafter shall print or preach to draw the article aside in any way, but shall sub mit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof; and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the article, but shall take it in the literal and grammatical sense." Thus, happily, through the wisdom of the church, we have one standard, not many. We are not left to the authoritative dictum of every confident person who shall assume more than oracular authority, and pronounce that his view, and his view only, of the doctrines of the church, as set forth in the articles, is the true one ; but each individual is left to the " literal and grammatical sense " of the articles, and to his own conscience, to judge what they declare to be the doc trines of scripture : and the same articles refer him to that scripture, as the only authority by which they submit them selves to be tried. Thus we see, that, if the unity of the church be broken by the jarrings of those who exclude from the pale of her received doctrines all that differ from their pecuhar views of orthodoxy, the articles are not the cause of this dissension. They pronounce that a certain latitude exists, within which, those who differ may conscientiously subscribe to a common creed : and those, on the other hand, who will admit no such latitude, contradict the articles which they profess to support ; and, if they happen to possess authority in the church, they are fearfully responsible, as guilty of an act of schism, in driving from the church those who may be purer members of it than themselves ; in raising up those curious questions and controversies which war with Christian concord ; in rending asunder that one great family which should live together in brotherly union ; and in setting up a variety of creeds, in place of the one admirable, com prehensive, and scriptural digest, under which the members E E 2 420 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE of our church have the happiness to enjoy a Christian free dom. If any proof were wanting, that our articles are, as they profess to be, of a comprehensive character, it would be found in this, that, of the contending parties into which our church is unhappily divided, each claims them as its own. By those who hold the creed of Arminius, they are pro nounced to be Arminian : and, by those who hold the creed of Calvin, they are pronounced to be Calvinistic. The na tural inference of the impartial reasoner would be, that they are neither ; whilst they contain within them what may be traced to some of the leading principles of both. And this is the truth. They are not enslaved to the dogmas of any party in rehgion. They are not Arminian. They are not Calvinistic. They are scriptural. They are Christian. As the different parties profess to derive their leading tenets from scripture, so do they profess to find them in the articles. But these are answerable for the extravagances of no sect ; and are as far removed from the unjustifiable assumption, that man is sufficient for his own salvation, as they are from the monstrous metaphysics, that would render him in all respects a necessary agent, and altogether passive and in operative in that great work. At the same time, the true Christian teacher should not be deterred from setting forth the great fundamental doctrines which the articles contain, by the imputation of particular names, which ignorance may attach to those doctrines. No thing, in trutht has contributed to give to some of the sects and parties in religion so much credit and popularity, as the erroneously ascribing to them, as characteristics of their peculiar creed, tenets which belong to our common Christ ianity. Thus, for example, nothing is more common at the present day, than to hear a person pronounced to be a Cal vinist, because he holds the doctrine of Original Sin, or of Justification by Faith ; whereas he might with equal justice be so denominated for holding the doctrines of the Trinity, CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 421 or the Atonement. But, let the honest and faithful servant of his Lord not fear to insist on all the great doctrines of the gospel, as they are laid before him in the articles. The fall of man, the atonement by Jesus Christ, the personality and divinity of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of original and actual sin, the insufficiency of man to merit heaven by his own works, justification by faith, the need and nature of the divine influences, the importance of the Christian sacraments, the social, moral, and spiritual duties, which become the Christian, and which are to be grounded upon evangelical principles, on love to God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ : — these are the vital truths, which the articles fully justify him in preaching : and these are the truths, which, if preached zealously and honestly by the clergy of the established church, will not fail to uphold the credit of that church, whilst they promote the true cause of Christian holiness in these lands. At the same time, it is particularly necessary to guard the young student in divinity against extremes on these very points. The ardour of youth requires to be restrained, not stimulated ; it seizes upon strong points, and is disposed to take rapid views. The young preacher, therefore, should be particularly careful and suspicious of himself. He is in great danger of identifying himself with partisans, who are ever watchful to enrol him amongst their ranks. And, there fore, until he has time and opportunity to take a compre hensive and scriptural view of the gospel, and fully to ac quaint himself with the opinions and arguments of expe rienced and eminent divines, he will be much safer in not pushing his bark adventurously from the shore. His preach ing should be moderated on these great leading points, and dealing more in their results of hohness and good living, than in the schemes and systems to which they may seem to lead. I have been drawn on, my reverend brethren, to dwell at greater length on these important subjects than is altogether reasonable, considering the season of the year at which we 422 CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE are assembled, and the quantity of business which remains for us to bring within the compass of the day. I shall, therefore, omit, for the present, the farther consideration of these, and some other points not less important, and shall only add to what I have said upon the last head, that, as the business of a preacher of the gospel is not merely to con vince, but to persuade, so, in our discourses to our congre gation, we should hold this end always in view. It is not enough, that we prove from the pulpit what is true and sound in religion, we must endeavour also to make it be loved and followed. For this, it is manifest, we must interest the feel ings, as well as satisfy the judgment of our hearers : and, therefore, we should take pains (to the utmost of our power) to employ both language and manner, such as may produce this effect ; earnest and impressive, at the same time discreet and temperate; holding this still and constantly in view, that no powers of eloquence (did we possess them) can, in themselves, be sufficient for the due discharge of our minis try. Our addresses from the pulpit, to produce the full im pression, must be accompanied by a language which is un derstood by all ; the language of a holy and exemplary life. This is a more persuasive rhetoric than any tongue or speech can express : or, at least, this is a rhetoric, without which the highest powers of eloquence are lost ; without which they become but as the sounding brass, and as the tinkling cymbal. Now, my reverend brethren, I take my leave for the pre sent. But, before I do so, I must add, that there are, hap pily, amongst your number, several, who exhibit the fairest specimen of those clerical excellencies which I have endea voured to enforce. And I offer my sincere thanks to our heavenly Father, that, when it was his good will to place me in a station of such great responsibility as that which has been allotted to me, it has also been his will that I should have the aids of many pious and learned clejgymen, to whom, in all matters requiring the assistance of piety and learning, I can confidently resort ; and from whom, I am sure, at all CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF RAPHOE. 423 times, of that cordial co-operation, which the feelings of friendship in our early days, and those of the Christian bro therhood, in which we have been more closely connected in these latter times, render at once so gratifying and so be neficial. Of the great body of the clergy at large, to whom I stand at present related, I cannot but speak in terms of sincere respect. There are very few, indeed, to whom I do not feel it justly due to pay the tribute of high commenda tion. And of the younger members who have been lately introduced into this diocese, I am bound to say, that the diligence, the activity, the zeal, and, at the same time, the moderation with which they have commenced their pastoral labours, afford a happy presage of their future usefulness ; and to myself they yield the pleasure of a paternal joy, in contemplating the course of those whom I deem my children in Christ, as one which, if persevered in, will end in blessings to themselves and benefits to their flocks in this world, and in the rewards reserved for the faithful servants of their great Master in the world that is to come. To all the clergy of this diocese I have to express my gratitude for the readiness and cheerfulness with which they have comphed with the several points of discipline which I have thought it my duty to introduce ; and especially those which relate to the subject of residence ; on which I can say, to your great credit, that I am confident there is no diocese within the jurisdiction of the United Church, in which its rules are more punctually and perseveringly observed. And now, my reverend brethren, let us all join in putting up our prayers to our Almighty Father and Lord, that all of us, filling the several stations and orders in our sacred profession, may, in the admirable words of our Ordination Service, be so replenished by the divine grace, with the truth of Christ's doctrine, and so adorned by him with in- nocency of life, that both by word and good example we may faithfully serve him in this office, to the glory of his name, and the edification of his church, through His merits, who hveth and reigneth with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, world without end. NOTES. P. 401, line 11 ¦" From this place." These words are used in contradis tinction to the written communications transmitted on various points of dio cesan regulation. P. 401, line 12. — " Triennial visitation." The system of visitation in this part of the United Kingdom is attended with great advantage to the church. The bishops holding the visitations of their respective dioceses every year, and the Archbishop of each province holding a visitation in the several dioceses of his province once in every third year ; the bishop is hereby made better acquainted with his clergy and the concerns of his diocese, and is at the same time rendered the more vigilant in the discharge of his duty, as being subject to the revision of a superior, whose more extended knowledge of the condition of the na tional church gives him ampler means of overseeing for the good of the whole. P. 407, line 28.—" The canons." The Canons do not necessarily belong to the Book of Common Prayer; but they are commonly printed with it, and every clergyman should be careful, that the Prayer-books for the use of his church contain them. This is not only proper in itself, but it is the bounden duty of the clergyman, specially prescribed by royal authority, which has commanded that the book of the Canons be provided for every church. It is, indeed, to be lamented, that sufficient attention is not employed in the selection of the Prayer-books pro vided by the churchwardens for the use of parish churches throughout this coun try. In consequence of this it often happens, that even the Prayer-book appropriated to the clergyman's use, is without the Canons, and not unfre- quently without the Articles. It also sometimes occurs, even in places of worship otherwise respectably appointed, that the English Prayer-book is the one provided for the reading desk : an in correctness, which is not only attended with inconvenience, inasmuch as the English Prayer-book is unprovided with the Prayer for the Lord Lieutenant, as well as with the Forms of Prayer for the 23rd of October and for the Visit ation of Prisoners, (all of which are authorized constituent parts of the Irish Prayer-book,) but which also leads to error by prescribing the English Canons in place of the Irish, and still more by presenting a Rubric enjoining the pub lication of banns after the Second Les son, which by a special act of Parlia ment has been made legal in England, instead of their publication after the Nicene Creed, which publication is the only legal one in Ireland. Indeed, on this subject of the publi cation of banns, there is a remarkable inaccuracy in our authorized Book of Common Prayer for Ireland; one Rubric directing the publication to be made immediately after the Nicene Creed, and another (prefixed to the Office for Matrimony) requiring it to be made immediately " before the Sen tences of the Offertory," which sentences NOTES. 425 being read after the sermon, (if there be one,) it follows, that by the one Rubric the banns are to be published before the sermon, and by the other they are to be published after it. This was probably occasioned by the intro duction of the first of the three Rubrics which follow the Nicene Creed, in a wrong place, at the last review of the Common Prayer, at which time that Rubric was first inserted. This suppo sition accounts also for the apparent con tradiction as to the time of reading the Exhortation to the Communion. The mistake requires to be rectified, and may be removed by a slight transposition. P. 415, line 22.—" The versions of that holy book." In the version of the Old Testament lately attempted by Mr. Bellamy, not only has the true meaning been ob scured, distorted, and misunderstood; but, unfortunately, in the endeavour to recommend this new translation, every disparagement has been cast upon the old; and, by a person who has proved himself every way disqualified for so great a work, charges of ignorance and incompetency have been heaped upon those profoundly learned men and dis tinguished scholars, to whom we are in debted for the inestimable treasure of our authorized version of the Bible. It is to no purpose, that the Bishop of St. David's, Mr. Whittaker, Mr. Todd, and others (amongst whom the Editors of the Quarterly Review are not the least conspicuous) have demonstrated the utter incapacity of this new translator, and the emptiness of his charges against the received version. This is of weight only with educated persons, to whom these points must be sufficiently mani fest. But with the uninformed mass, with whom accusation is generally equi valent to proof, mischief not easily re paired is wrought ; and the impression, that our English Bible is not to be re lied upon as the faithful vehicle of the divine word, is made upon minds, from which such an impression, once made, will not readily be effaced. Of this impression, not only the infidel, who wishes to undermine all revelation, but the Romanist, the Socinian, and all who are adverse to that pure form of Chris tianity which is established in these countries, are ardent to avail themselves. And thus the distinguished names, that have been rashly employed to bestow a credit upon such an adventurer in sacred literature as Mr. Bellamy, are made to minister to the designs of those who labour to overturn the established re ligion of the land. As to the modern Socinian versions of Scripture, which, from their arbitrary insertions and rejections, and their total disregard and ignorance of grammar and idiom, and the received use of words, may be considered rather as fabrications than translations, little need be said. They have been abundantly exposed by va rious writers ; and with the scholar and the man of learning they can have no reception. But, to the ignorant and the uneducated, the confident and over bearing tone of their editors is imposing and attractive ; and to such it is neces sary to prove the utter incompetence of those false guides, who, under the pre tence of a purer exposition of the sacred text, would fasten upon it the most per nicious perversion of the divine truth. One of the principal writers of this un christian sect has lately presented to the world a translation of the Epistles of St. Paul, in which the notable discovery is made, that this illustrious Apostle con ceived that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Maker and Redeemer of the world, the Judge of mankind, He whom the Apostle himself has pronounced to be " God over all, blessed for evermore," was in reality in all respects a mere man tike himself! P. 418, line 30.—" The declaration." The Royal Declaration here re ferred to stands entire as follows : Articles agreed upon by the arch bishops and bishops of both provinces, and the whole clergy, in the Convo cation holden at London in the year 1562, for the avoiding of diversities of 426 NOTES. opinions, and for the establishing of consent touching true religion : re printed by his Majesty's command ment, with his royal declaration pre fixed thereunto. His Majesty's Declaration. Being by God's ordinance, according to our just title, Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Governor of the Church, within these our Dominions, We hold it most agreeable to this our kingly office, and our own religious zeal, to conserve and maintain the church com mitted to Our charge, in the unity of true religion, and in the bond of peace ; and not to suffer unnecessary disputa tions, altercations, or questions to be raised, which may nourish faction both in the church and commonwealth. We have, therefore, upon mature delibera tion, and with the advice of so many of our bishops as might conveniently be called together, thought fit to make this declaration following : That the Articles of the Church of England (which have been allowed and authorized heretofore, and which Our clergy generally have subscribed unto,) do contain the true doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to God's word: which We do therefore ratify and confirm, requiring all Our loving subjects to continue in the uniform profession thereof, and prohibiting the least differ ence from the said Articles ; which to thatend We command to be new printed, and this Our declaration to be published therewith. That We are supreme governor of the Church of England: And that if any difference arise about the external policy, concerning the Injunctions, Ca nons, and other Constitutions what soever thereto belonging, the clergy in their convocation is to order and settle them, having first obtained leave under Our broad seal so to do ; and We ap proving their said ordinances and con stitutions ; providing that none be made contrary to the laws and customs of the land. That out of Our princely care that the churchmen may do the work which is proper unto them, the bishops and clergy, from time to time, in convo cation, upon their humble desire, shall have licence under Our broad seal to deliberate of, and to do all such things, as being made plain to them, and as sented unto by Us, shall concern the settled continuance of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England now established ; from which We will not endure any varying or departing in the least degree. That for the present, though some differences have been ill raised, yet We take comfort in this, that all clergymen within Our realm have always most willingly subscribed to the articles esta blished; which is an argument to Us, that they all agree in the true, usual, literal meaning of the said articles ; and that even in those curious points, in which the present differences lie, men of all sorts take the articles of the Church of England to be for them : which is an argument again, that none of them intend any desertion of the articles established. That therefore in these both curious and unhappy differences, which have for so many hundred years, in different times and places, exercised the Church of Christ, We will that all further cu rious search be laid aside, and these dis putes shut up in God's promises, as they be generally set forth to us in the holy scriptures, and the general mean ing of the articles of the Church of England according to them. And that no man hereafter shall either print, or preach, to draw the article aside any way, but shall submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof: and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the article, but shall take it in the literal and grammatical sense. That if any public reader in either of Our universities, or any head or master of a college, or any other person re spectively in either of them, shall affix any new sense to any article, or shall publicly read, determine, or hold any NOTES. 427 public disputation, or suffer any such to be held either way, in either the universities or colleges respectively ; or if any divine in the universities shall preach or print any thing either way, other than is already established in con vocation with Our royal assent ; he, or they the offenders, shall be liable to Our displeasure, and the church's cen sure in Our commission ecclesiastical, as well as any other : and We will see there shall be due execution upon them. This declaration has been stated by Dr. Burn, in his Ecclesiastical Law, (vol. i. p. 90, 2d ed.,) to have been prefixed to the articles by the authority of James I. In this he has been fol lowed by Bullingbrook, ( Eccl. Law, vol. i. p. 401,) and also by a late writer on ecclesiastical law, of considerable merit, Mr. Williams (p. 22). But this is not the case, and the error in Burn on this head has been corrected in a recent edition of the work. It was first issued in 1628 by Charles I. And we are told by Collier, in his Ecclesiastical History, that Archbishop Laud, "for silencing the controversy between the Cah mists and the Arminians, procured the reprinting of the Thirty-nine Ar ticles, with the Royal Declaration pre fixed at the head of them," (ii. 476. ) The same historian afterwards adds, "The Calvinian party complained loudly of this Declaration : they gave out, that the design of it was chiefly for the suppressing orthodox books, for the discouraging godly ministers from preaching the comfortable doctrines of man's election to eternal happiness, and for promoting the growth of Arminian- ism." From this it would seem to follow, and indeed from the fact that the De claration was framed under the counsels of Archbishop Laud it might reasonably be inferred, that the Declaration was designed to favour the Arminian inter pretation. At the same time it has been contended by the advocates of the opposite doctrine, (especially in Over ton's True Churchman, pp. 46 — 48,) that the Declaration gives support to the Calvinistic sense of the articles. So that, in truth, what the Declaration pronounces of the articles, — that the opposite parties in the Church of Eng land "take the articles to be for them," — seems not less true of the Declara tion itself: a state of the case agree able to that which the full investigation of the subject cannot but establish to any fair mind ; namely, that this De claration went to authorize such a la titude of interpretation, as might enable both the contending parties conscien tiously to subscribe to the articles of the Church of England. I have thought it the more necessary to set forth the entire Declaration in this place, because it has so happened, that, in the editions of the Book of Common Prayer for Ireland, the ar ticles have been commonly printed without the Declaration. This must have been an accidental omission ; for the English articles have been adopted by the Church of Ireland in the year 1634, for the purpose (as it is declared in the first canon) of effecting a perfect agreement in doctrine between the two churches, and the King's authority in the concerns of the church being the same in the one country as in the other, the Royal Declaration must be con sidered as a like authoritative rule in both, and therefore in both connected itself alike essentially with the articles common to the two churches. Since these two churches have been conso lidated into one united church, the matter can admit of no appearance of question. But, in truth, from the year 1634, the two churches have been in all respects the same. The Church of Ireland having at that time, by its formal recognition (in its first four canons) of the doctrine, orders, liturgy and go vernment of the Church of England, identified itself so completely with that church, that it has been in reality the Church of England, only under another name; and the union of the two churches has but completed that in form which before existed in substance. 428 NOTES. P. 420, line 14.—" They are not Ar minian : they are not Calvinistic." With a point, that cannot redeem its want of truth, it has been said of our church, " We have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy." These words, which are un fortunately associated with the name of a distinguished statesman and illustrious orator, and from that alone are deserv ing of any serious consideration, have formed a fevourite motto, and are in daily triumphant use, in the publications of the Sectarians, the Romanists, and all who labour to calumniate and over turn the Church of England. It has been commonly considered, that theo logians do not form the best politicians. But, surely, it may, with at least as much truth, be asserted, that politicians are not always the soundest theologians. Had the noble person to whom these words are ascribed, been as loosely ac quainted with the principles of the Bri tish constitution, as he has in these shewn himself to be with the doctrines and liturgy of the Church of England, and as little interested for the honour and welfare of the former, as he has here proved himself to be for those of the latter, a name, which now ranks high in the annals of England's most enlightened statesmen, would take its place only amongst those of the splendid declaimers, who glitter during their day of popularity, and are forgotten. It surely is not too much to affirm of the noble author of this sentence, that he did not very accurately com prehend the meaning of the terms which he employed. The probability is, that, with the indifference with which politicians regard such subjects, he never condescended to examine with precision the doctrines either of Calvin or Arminius. Had he done so, he would have found that the doctrines of the Church of England are not the doctrines of Calvinism; and that the informed and intelligent clergy of that church are not the followers of Armi nius. Again, as to the charge of a Pophh liturgy, this great man has fallen into the vulgar mistake of those who con found Popery with the Catholic reli gion. But it is always to be remem bered, that the Reformers in England protested, not against the Catholic Church, but against Popery, in be half of that church. Their object was to preserve the purity of the ancient and true Catholic Church against the novelties and corruptions forced upon it by Popery. And therefore, although our Common Prayer-book abounds with what is Catholic, it is not disfigured by a single particle of what is Pophh. The English Catholic Church (the true designation of the Church of Eng land) need not desire to be exhibited in a stronger contrast to the Church of Rome, than by comparing its Prayer- book with the Missal. C H A E G E, DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION, ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN. THURSDAY, THE 24TH OF OCTOBER, 1822. CHARGE, To address the assembly which now surrounds me for the first time, upon objects so important as those for which it is con vened, and which press with not a greater weight of respon sibility on the members of this assembly than upon him by whom they are addressed, must be, at all seasons, a matter of serious and awful consideration. But, at the present, when the estabhshed clergy of this land are beset with difficulties and perils of more than common magnitude ; when, not only the interests of our order, but those of religion itself are en dangered ; when, from the abounding of iniquity, the love of many has waxed cold ; when more than usual hostihty pre vails against our Zion ; and even our very good is too often evil spoken of; — it is impossible to enter upon the reflec tions, which belong to the nature and occasion of our meet ing, without feelings of anxious and painful sohcitude. When, again, it is pressed upon our recollection, that, by the very event, by which (under the Providential arrange ment) I have been, through His Majesty's good pleasure, placed in this station, the Church of Ireland has been de prived of one of its noblest and firmest supports ; that the prelate, who, by the various high quahties which he possessed, was pre-eminently fitted to defend the church, over which he had so long presided with disinterested rectitude and Christian 432 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION truth, has been withdrawn at the moment when that church most needed such a defender, — I cannot but feel an increased inquietude, from the very occasion, which has empowered me to address the clergy of this united diocese upon this day. And when, in addition to these considerations, I reflect, that the body of clergy here assembled, are a body, the most influential of any that can now be assembled within the limits of this island ; that, from the commanding eminence which they occupy, and the conspicuous station which they fill, their conduct and their example must be attended with consequences to the community and to rehgion the most momentous ; I must be but httle affected indeed, by a con cern for the spiritual welfare of our people, were I not deeply solicitous for the success of my present exhortation, in stir ring up and invigorating, both in your breasts and my own, the sense of Christian duty, the saving spirit of Christian be nevolence ; the sense of Christian duty, in what relates to our own conduct ; the spirit of Christian benevolence, in what re lates to the salvation of others. On these subjects, many among you, my reverend brethren, must often have seriously and deeply pondered, as became the solemn obhgations which they had undertaken. To such, I can only serve as a remembrancer of what they already know. (And who, among us, does not require to be reminded of his duties ?) To those who have either not fully acquainted themselves with the awful nature of the charge which has been committed to them, or who have been heed less or lukewarm in its execution, I must assume a different character ; I must sound in their ears the duties, which they have disregarded ; I must warn them, that, if they persevere in such neglect, the day will come, when they will be called upon to render the tremendous account of an unfaithful stewardship. For what is the description, which our Ordination service presents, of the character, duties, and obhgations of those who are admitted to the Christian ministry in our Church ? Are they not there expressly represented, as the "Messengers, IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 433 Watchmen, and Stewards of the Lord;" who are "to teach, and to premonish, to feed and to provide for the Lord's family ?" Are they not warned to keep in constant " remem brance, how great a treasure is committed to their charge ;" no less than " the sheep of Christ which he bought with his death, and for whom he shed his blood : " and that " the church and congregation, whom they must serve, is his spouse and his body:" and that, "if it shall happen the same church or any member thereof, to take any hurt or hindrance by reason of their negligence," they should think with dread upon " the greatness of the fault, and the horrible punish ment that will ensue : " that they should, therefore, consider ing with themselves the " end of their ministry towards the children of God, towards the spouse and body of Christ," beware, " that they never cease their labour, their care and diligence, until they have done all that lieth in them, ac cording to their bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to their charge, into that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among them, either for error in rehgion, or for viciousness in life?" Well then, indeed, may they be solemnly called on (as they are immediately after) to " see, with what great care and study they ought to apply themselves ; as well that they may shew themselves dutiful and thankful to the Lord, who hath placed them in so high a dignity ; as also to be careful, that they neither themselves offend, nor be occasion that others offend;" and that, for this purpose, they should, as much as in them lies, "forsake and set aside all worldly cares and studies," and endeavour " by God's grace to give themselves wholly to the office, whereunto it hath pleased God to call them, so as to the utmost of their power, to apply themselves wholly to this one thing, and draw all their cares and studies this way; and that they will continually pray to God the Father, by the mediation of our only Saviour Jesus Christ, for the heavenly assistance of the Holy Ghost, that, by daily VOL. II. F F 434 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION reading and weighing of the Scriptures, they may wax riper and stronger in their ministry; and that they may so en deavour themselves, from time to time, to sanctify the hves of them and theirs, and to fashion them after the rule and doc trine of Christ, that they may be wholesome and godly ex amples and patterns for the people to follow." Is it not, then, demanded of them, in the most solemn manner, to bind themselves to all these things ; declaring, as in the more immediate presence of God, and at his holy altar, that they believe themselves to be " truly called to the order and ministry of their priesthood, according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the order of the church established in this realm;" — that "out of the Holy Scriptures they will carefully instruct the people committed to their charge ; " — that they " will give their faithful diligence always to minister the doctrine, and sacraments, and the discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this church and realm, according to the commandments of God, hath re ceived the same ;" — that they will be " ready, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's word, and to use to the utmost of their power both public and private exhortations, as well to the sick as to the whole within their respective cures ; " — that they will be " diligent in prayers, and in reading of the Holy Scriptures, and in such studies as help to the know ledge of the same, laying aside the study of the world and the flesh ;" — that they will be " diligent also to frame and fashion themselves and their families according to the doctrine of Christ, and to ntfake both themselves and them (as much as in them lieth) Wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ ;" — that they will " maintain and set forward (to the utmost of their power) quietness, peace, and love, among all Christian people, and especially among them that are or shall be committed to their charge : " and finally, that they " will reverently obey their ordinary, and other chief ministers, unto whom is committed the charge and government over them, following with a glad mind and will their godly ad- IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 435 monitions, and submitting themselves to their godly judg ments ? " Here, my reverend brethren, are the awful duties, which we have taken upon us to discharge. Here are the promises, by which we have bound ourselves to our great Master. Here is the standard, by which we are to be tried, by our selves, by the world, and above all, by our Eternal Judge. Happy, indeed, would it be for us, and for those committed to our care, could we bear to be measured by this standard. And yet, if not, what must be the consequence, both to our selves, and to those who are entrusted to us : — if we do not at least endeavour, through the divine grace, to approach towards the fulfilment of this our bounden duty ! It will, surely, be admitted by all, that the person, who has engaged himself by such solemn obligations, should have something to distinguish him, in his life and conversation, from those who hve after the ordinary habits and manners of the world. And yet, is this always found to be the case in fact ? Let us ask ourselves honestly the question, are there not some among us, who present no such distinctive appear ances ? Are there not some, who manifest no anxiety for the salvation of those who are committed to their spiritual charge ? Some, who seem to view the church, merely as the means of hvehhood; who appear to consider the promises made by them at their ordination, but as words of form ; and who, provided they discharge, with tolerable regularity, such external acts as are indispensably required for the tenure of their office and its emoluments, afford but little reason to suppose that they concern themselves about its weightier duties ; or rather, indeed, seem desirous to escape from every appearance of sanctity or piety, which might bear the stamp of their sacred profession, deeming it a higher honour to mix upon equal terms with the general mass of society, and to merge the minister of the gospel in the gentleman and the man of the world ? It were a lamentable thing, if such cases were numerous. I trust in God they are not. In the diocese from which I F F 2 436 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION have been lately removed, they were rare indeed. My very recent introduction into this diocese does not enable me to pronounce with the like certainty upon it. But, from what I have seen, there seems reason to form the most favourable anticipations. Yet, it is to be feared, we have, all of us, too much cause to apprehend, that, even with our best exertions, we have fallen far short of the demands of duty ; and that, by a deficiency of zeal and devotedness in the one great cause, we and those who have gone before us in the ministry of the established church, have to answer for no small portion of that irreligion, which now too fatally prevails among our people ; and which, whatever be our share in its production, repays it by the severe retaliation of obloquy and ill will, which it heaps unsparingly upon our order. Perhaps, indeed, at no time within the memory of any now living, has the established clergy, as a body, been less de serving of reproach than at the present : and certainly, the exertions of a considerable proportion of its members are de serving of the highest praise. And yet, at no time, it is to be feared, has an indifference to rehgion been more prevalent, or a disrespect to its lawful and estabhshed ministry been more extended. That the decrease of rehgion should be accompanied with the dislike of its ministers, is the natural course of things. But there are causes, connected with the local circumstances of this country, which aggravate the evil. Political consider ations, unfortunately, make it the interest of many, whose condition is influential, to court the favour of those who are hostile to the established church. And therefore, in their property, their character, and their teaching, the clergy of the national rehgion are resisted and oppressed. In their persons, it is deemed by many to be no violation of justice, to infringe or evade the laws, which are designed to protect the maintenance of all ; no violation of candour, to yield a ready belief to the most injurious reports, on grounds of evidence, which would not be admitted in the case of others. Exposed to assaults from various points, and in opposite directions, in st. Patrick's cathedral. 437 they are accused frequently of faults, which are opposite and incompatible : their opinions being at the same time censured as being too strict and too relaxed ; whilst their practices are condemned by some, as being too much accommodated to the manners of the world, and by others, as assuming a character of particularity, which must diminish their usefulness as members of society. One plain fact, that proves the malevo lence with which our order is too generally viewed, is this, that the faults of individuals of the body are almost always ascribed to the body at large. The individual offence is charged as an universal stigma. Whereas, respect for the order should rather soften down the offence of the individual, as the feelings of the child would cover the infirmities of the parent : or, at most, the offence of the individual should be treated as the exception, and visited with the condemnation it deserves upon the offender alone. But why do I dwell upon these things ? Not, surely, for the purpose of encouraging an indifference to opinions, even thus unjustly formed, much less to rouse a spirit of hostility and opposition to those who treat our order with such unde served reproach and injury. No, our business is not to render railing for railing. My object is, on the contrary, to excite to an increase of vigilance and energy in our call ing ; and to impress the necessity of employing every means in our power to mitigate the malignity of our adversaries ; and above all means, that of the faithful discharge of our duties, which, if it does not disarm our enemies of their virulence against us, will at least disarm it of its sting ; and, of all duties, more particularly that of kindness and good will, even to those at whose hands we have experienced most unkindness. It must be manifest that, in the observations hitherto made, I have not adverted to that description of persons (of whom we have unhappily at present but too many) whose avowed object is to overturn the estabhshed rehgion of the country; and who, the better to effect their purpose, labour to enlist the rapacity of the unprincipled in their unholy warfare ; 438 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION holding out the spoils of the temple, as the reward of its subversion; and representing its ministers, at all times, in such odious colours, as may reconcile one class of the com munity the more readily to their spoliation, and another even to their personal extinction : insomuch that, at this day, the national clergy are placed in a state little short of direct persecution, though under the apparent protection of the law. Against such adversaries our order can derive no security from their virtues or their religion. These would only pre sent greater impediments to the accomplishment of the pur pose of pillage, and excite greater provocation. Against such agents other safeguards are necessary ; the same which are required for the preservation of the state itself. Yet, even to these, although we can have no hope of subduing them by Christian forbearance and mildness, it is still the part of prudence, if not of duty, to employ them. Railing (it has been already observed) is not our province. That is a contest in which we should be outdone. And in attempting it, we should only give fresh advantage to our enemies ; who, though devoid of the Christian spirit themselves, would not fail to turn the want of it in us, to the discredit of the rehgion which we profess. In all cases, passion and bitterness are to be avoided ; and even in our moments of firmest resistance to the wrongs which are heaped upon us, we should never forget, that in ours is involved a greater cause than our own ; and that there are no wounds so deadly to the interests of religion, as those which are inflicted by the misconduct of its professors. Upon the whole our course is a plain one. Whatever be the obloquy, or the dangers, which we have to encounter, we have one single hne to pursue. We have to preserve our allegiance to our heavenly Master. We have bound our selves by the most solemn vows to his service. We have bound ourselves to advance his glory, and the interests of his kingdom amongst men, by all the powers which we pos sess. And we have, therefore, to pass onward, through good IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 439 report and evil report, fulfilling his holy will, and labouring, in the true spirit of self-devotedness, by every means that can be employed, by instruction, by example, by the very expenditure of life itself, if necessary, to promote the cause of God and the well being of our fellow men. Without such exertions, it is plain, that we neither can nor ought to stand. If the salt has lost its savour, it is good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot. Common exertions, it is manifest, will not now suffice. Irre- ligion, and false rehgion, abound. We have fallen on evil days, and evil tongues. And there is no slumbering on our post. We may rest assured, that if we join lukewarmness from within, to the unceasing hostility which assails us from without, and assails us in every form and degree from the false and hypocritical pretence of a desire for the improve ment of our order, to the open violence which avows the purpose of its extinction, — the triumph of those who labour for the downfall of our church will soon be completed. It will not do to boast of our orthodoxy, and shew no fruit of right opinions in our practice ; to content ourselves with exclaiming against what is called new light, without endea vouring to extend to our flocks the benefit of the old ; to be fearful of an excess of zeal, without any alarm as to the con sequence of indifference ; and to reserve for the appearance of sanctity and separation from the world amongst our bre thren, the indignation and censure which should be bestowed upon levity of demeanour and habitual carelessness about spiritual concerns. The time is come, when, if not from higher considerations, we must, from prudence at least, bring these things to an end. The time is come when we must shew ourselves, in truth and in spirit, what we profess ourselves to be, the sol diers and servants of Christ ; when we must manifest in our hves, the superior excellence of that pure and reformed re hgion, which we have undertaken to teach. And, whilst we object to the inveterate and unscriptural corruptions of one form, and to the schismatical irregulaiities of others, we 440 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION should prove ourselves to be the genuine ministers of that apostolical and catholic church, which has descended to us freed from the abuses of antiquated error ; and present ourselves to the world, as the worthy depositaries of the sa cred trust committed to our keeping. For this, we must, one and all, devote ourselves to the work of our ministry. Between the highest and the lowest classes of our order there should be but one object: and the only rivalry among us should be, which should labour most in the duties of his calling. In this, my reverend brethren, I am well aware, to how strict a scrutiny I expose myself: for it is no slight work, to which they are summoned, who are appointed to the office of chief pastor in our church. It is, indeed, a great error, to suppose that their duties are hght. It is not possible to con ceive a more awful weight of responsibility, resting on the conscience of a human being, than that which is imposed upon a Christian bishop. So to govern in the church of Christ, that " the ministry be not blamed." So to exercise superintendence, that, in the language of the solemn office of consecration, the authority conferred may be " used not to destruction, but to salvation ; not to hurt, but to help ; " and (to continue the language of the same office) to be " so merciful, as not to be too remiss ; so to minister discipline, as not to forget mercy :" to be " earnest to reprove, beseech, and rebuke, with all patience and doctrine," being at the same time " to such as beheve a wholesome example :" to be " faithful in ordaining and laying hands upon others :" to labour "to banish all erroneous and strange doctrine con trary to God's word, and both privately and openly to call upon and encourage others to the same :" to " maintain and set forward (as much as possible) quietness, love and peace among all men ; and such as be unquiet, disobedient and criminous, to correct and punish according to such authority as is given by God, and by the ordinances of the realm :" — in a word, to act, in all respects, the part of a faithful go vernor and a kind father ; at the head of one great Christian IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 441 family, the counsellor and friend of all whose heart is in the spirit of their calling ; the firm and undaunted reprover of those who shew themselves unworthy of the charge which they have undertaken. To do all this, hkewise, in the midst of a wilful and per verse generation, in which the spirit of resistance is abroad, adds not a httle to the difficulty of the task. There was a time, indeed, when religion was loved, and its ministers con sequently respected. The government of the church was then comparatively easy ; and he, who was truly desirous honestly to discharge his duty, seldom failed to obtain, amongst higher rewards, the reward of a just approbation. Now the state of things is so far altered, that the general search is, to discover where to blame : and the exercise, or the dereliction, of authority, is alike made the subject of condemnation. Should the authority, vested in the heads of the church, not be exerted for the purpose of control, the misconduct of the clergy is ascribed (and justly) to their neglect. It is then carefully remembered, that the chief end for which bishops are appointed, is to control and to cor rect. If, on the contrary, that authority be exercised in the just discharge of their duty, then the refractory offender be comes the object of general sympathy ; he suffers under the exercise of power ; all his allegations, however false and im probable, obtain a ready behef; and the tyranny of a domi nant priesthood forms the theme of the popular declaimer : and, yet more to increase the evil, the falsehoods, which are sent abroad, must be left without pubhc refutation, that a name and station, which should be respected, may not be dragged into familiar association with the scurrilities of a degenerate press. However, these are small difficulties to him, who has rightly learned the nature of his office, and to whom the tauntings and revihngs of worthless men should be as nothing, but so far as they may, unhappily, impress the ignorant and unre flecting with feehngs and wrong opinions, that may impede the usefulness of the ministry, and, through the character of 442 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION its teachers, injure the interests of rehgion. He must still pursue his onward way, without disturbance. Whilst he repels the froward, he must cherish all who are willing to assist him in the glorious work of bringing souls to God. And, at the same time that he is ready to hail, as a friend and a brother, every fellow labourer, even of the lowest order in the church, who exercises his ministry in godly sincerity and wholesome subordination, he should be fearless and im moveable, in executing the necessary discipline, against the highest of those under his jurisdiction, who are either remiss in the great duties of their office, or offend against the established order of their station. In truth, the value of a sound discipline in the church cannot be easily appreciated : and it deeply concerns all its members to assist in its support. If the several parts of the system be not kept in their due place and relative proportion, the whole must be dissolved. There is no longer harmony, and union, and brotherly co-operation: but discord, dis sension, and hostile repulsion must spring up in their stead, and defeat the entire object for which the admirable con stitution of our church was framed. Perhaps, when well considered, it is not possible to con ceive a more perfect scheme, than that under which we are enabled to exercise our Christian ministry : the great outline of which has been traced for us by divine authority, and the parts filled up by the best adaptations of human wisdom, fitting it to the condition, and applying it to the exigencies of human things; insomuch, that they, who, through an ambition of independence, or a fondness for their own opi nions, have refused to submit themselves to the order of things which it establishes, have been compelled to bear evidence to its excellence, by adopting in most cases a simihtude to this very system, which we derive from Apos tohc authority, and adjust to the Apostohc standard, but which will not satisfy those, who love only what is new, or who are unwilling to conform to any rule but what they have made for themselves. in st. Patrick's cathedral. 443 It has been the custom with such as are disposed to de preciate the character of the established church of these countries, to represent its government, and its hierarchy, as matters of mere human arrangement, and depending for their authority solely upon civil institution. Many, even of the members of our church, are habituated to view the system, as founded upon the state, and as deriving from it its title to obedience. This is a gross mistake. Its adoption by the state does not affect its origin, or its title. These are of a nature higher than any human constitution can reach. They are derived from that spiritual principle, which makes alle giance itself a duty. And the rights of the episcopacy and the priesthood, were they at this moment severed from the state, woidd not be less cogent over conscience, from the divine authority which they possess, than when backed by the power, and enforced by the penalties of law. The Ro manist, therefore, on the one hand, and the Independent on the other, alike mistake or misrepresent the character of our church, when they would describe it as built on human au thority, and not as standing on that great catholic founda tion, on which it has been placed by our Lord and his Apostles. I am the more desirous to press this consideration upon the members of the church, that they may be led to feel, that, in offending against that sound discipline, which is ne cessary for its well being, they not merely violate the laws of man, but they infringe the ordinances of God ; they not only incur the penalties of a temporal offence, but they expose themselves to the consequences of a spiritual transgression. Happily, the wisdom, by which the civil constitution of our church was framed, has partaken so largely of that higher wisdom, by which its spiritual foundations were estabhshed, that the leading regulations of its national conformation are directly calculated to secure the great points of Catholie dis cipline. So that, the most enthusiastic admirers of the pri mitive purity of the government of the church, will have little to desire in abiding by the principles of that ecclesias- 444 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION tical polity, by which the frame of our national church has been adjusted. And, whatever deficiency may be found in that respect, is more to be ascribed to the ignorance or the mistaken liberality of those who do not act up to the prin ciples of that pohty, than to any imperfection in the pohty itself. There are but too many, who profess to be zealous mem bers of our national church, and yet are altogether ignorant of the authority on which that church is founded. And, again, there are too many possessing greater knowledge upon this subject, but who are at the same time fearful of incurring the charge of bigotry, by contending for the apostolical origin and succession of the Christian ministry ; the only ground, on which the just rights of the church can be maintained, and on which the duty of strict communion with it can be legitimately enforced. We, my reverend brethren, are placed in a station, in which we are hemmed in by two opposite descriptions of professing Christians : the one, possessing a church, without what we can properly call a rehgion ; and the other, possess ing a religion, without what we can properly call a church : the one so blindly enslaved to a supposed infallible ecclesias tical authority, as not to seek in the word of God a reason for the faith they profess ; the other, so confident in the in fallibility of their individual judgment as to the reasons of their faith, that they deem it their duty to resist all authority in matters of religion. We, my brethren, are to keep clear of both extremes ; and holding the Scriptures as our great charter, whilst we maintain the liberty with which Christ has made us free, we are to submit ourselves to the authority to which he has made us subject. From this spirit of tempered freedom and qualified sub mission sprung the glorious work of the Reformation, by which the church of these countries, having thrown off the trammels of a slavish superstition, burst forth in the purified form of Christian renovation : and, having flung aside the novelties of human invention, presented to the world the in st. Patrick's cathedral. 445 fair picture of the true, and genuine, and ancient Catholic Church, retaining all that authority, and entitled to all that reverence, which belonged to the early church, of which it is the disencumbered and legitimate continuation. Now, by the same spirit, by which our church was thus restored, can it only be preserved : and from the decay of that spirit it is, that schism and confusion have arisen to disturb its tranquillity and impair its benefits. Not only have disputes and divisions, to the great triumph of infidehty and irreligion, broken off from us and multiplied various sects, which profess, that for conscience sake they reject our errors, as we did those of the church of Rome ; but also, amongst ourselves, and within our own pale, a sectarian spi rit has been engendered in the indulgence of an unqualified exercise of individual judgment, which, from want of due knowledge and a full comprehension of the relations and con sequences of things, is sure to issue, either in an unauthor ized assumption of rights, to which there is no just title, or in an inconsiderate abandonment of duties, to which a more enlightened conscience must feel itself bound to submit. There is one important respect in which these evil con sequences are so glaring at the present day, that I must beg to direct your attention to them, in that reference, at some what greater length. And I must notice them in a twofold view, both as they concern the laity, and as they concern the clergy. The former, exercising their right of private judgment, too generally imagine, that they are at perfect liberty to frequent what place of worship they choose, and to attend whatever minister they like. And, the latter, exercising the same right, too frequently hold themselves free to officiate where they please ; satisfying themselves, that if the clerical duty be discharged, it matters not, whether it be discharged by the regularly appointed minister or not. Hence, as the layman wanders from church to church, so do the clergy indulge a like rambling and vagrant disposition : both forgetting, that 446 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION there is a pastoral relation, that binds the clergyman to his flock, and the flock to their clergyman. And, indeed, it is not to be wondered, that if the clergyman loses sight of this relation, the layman should become insensible to it hke wise. Churchmen are not perhaps aware, that, in deserting their parish church, to seek out some minister agreeable to their taste, or even one from whom they imagine they receive most edification, they are departing from the true spirit of the church, and adopting the principle of the dissenter, who contends for the sovereign exercise of his will in the election of his minister. The same feelings also, which lead the indi vidual from church to church, will naturally lead him from the church to the conventicle. The young persons of his family, hkewise, are trained up in the same course. Thinking meanly of their parish minister, and exercising a premature judgment upon the merits of different teachers, they are taught to bring with them to their place of worship the feel ings of a critic, not the docility of a learner : they are to judge their minister by their own doctrines and opinions, not to receive instruction from his lips. And thus, the members of our church, instead of looking to their parish minister as their pastor and guide, instead of yielding to him the re verence that is due to his office, and affording to him by their regular attendance on his ministrations the fair encourage ment and reward of his exertions, humbly hoping on their parts to receive a blessing through his labours, — openly mark him out to others as insufficient to their instruction, discoun tenance the duty of attending the parish church, and recom mend by their example the spirit of wandering, and the love of novelty ; feelings, which are in direct opposition to the steady sobriety of true rehgion ; which excite the desire of what is new and striking, rather than of what is just and use ful ; begetting a principle of partisanship ; leading to a dis satisfaction with things as they are ; and which, amounting in fact to a spirit of secession, seldom fail to end in sectarian separation, if not in the individuals themselves, at least in IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 447 their famihes, who have been trained up from childhood under such powerful influences of ahenation. But, it is most carefully to be considered by the parochial clergy, how far their practices may contribute to generate such a spirit : how far their negligence, or frequent absence from their appropriate station, or their substitution of others for the discharge of duties properly their own, may have pro duced this evil, by undermining the respect and interest with which the parish minister should always be viewed ; by rendering it in some degree necessary to seek instruction and edification from others; and by familiarizing their hearers to that variety, which, whilst it distracts, is at the same time in its own nature too apt to present injurious at tractions. Nay, it is well worth the consideration of the pious and well disposed parish minister, whether he also does not afford encouragement to this spirit, if he wanders from the post allotted to him, even for the purpose of conferring a temporary benefit in another place by his exertions. To such men, I know I shall be intelligible, when I recommend it to them to consider well the danger of preferring imaginary to known duties. Such is the beauty and excellence of the system of our church, and such the perfection of order which it enjoins-, that within it each minister has his own proper station as signed to him by the due authority ; from which station he is not at liberty to depart, nor to it has he any power to depute. Every clergyman may rest assured, that he is contributing most to the advancement of Christianity, when he confines his exertions to his own allotted sphere of action : the curate to his curacy ; the rector to his parish ; and the bishop to his diocese. Thus is formed one great chain, which binds all to their duties. The true relation of the clergy to the people (it cannot be too often repeated)- is a pastoral relation. It is not by the parish minister's securing the ostensible discharge of the Sunday's duty, that he properly exercises his functions ; nor even by his providing for a punctual attention to- those oeea- 448 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION sional duties which he is invited to discharge. No, the clergyman should be the true parish priest; in continual contact with his flock ; one, whose voice they know ; not only in constant residence amongst them, but in continual in tercourse with them ; their adviser ; their friend ; the mode rator of their disputes ; the composer of their differences ; the careful instructor of their children ; not content merely to af ford spiritual aid where it may be demanded, but vigilant to discover where it may be apphed, and prompt to bestow it where it will be received : stimulating all, and particularly the young, to come to that fountain of living waters, which it is his office to dispense ; and proving to his people by every possible exertion, that the first object he has at heart is their everlasting welfare. All this, it is manifest, he can effect only by living conti nually amongst his flock, and by the continued personal dis charge of the several offices of the priesthood. And this, indeed, is his bounden duty. The parish minister has no right to depute another to the charge assigned to him, but under the special authority by which that charge had been conveyed. There is no point on which the laws of the church are more peremptory and more unquahfied, than on this, that no person shall exercise the functions of a preacher or parish minister without the express permission of the bishop, within whose diocese he wishes to officiate. Essen tially connected with this, is the injunction of the law, which demands that no person be admitted into holy orders, with out a true and real nomination to some cure in which he is to serve. An exception indeed is made with respect to cer tain collegiate bodies, in which, it is presumed, the members will have a proper and prescribed sphere for clerical occupa tion. But careful provision is made, that there shall be no idle clergyman ; none without some church or fixed sta tion to which he shall be appointed. And, agreeably to this, the course of duty is plainly marked out, and the range of it precisely hmited for each individual minister, by the very terms of his admission to orders, as well as by those of his IN ST. PATRICKS CATHEDRAL. 449 subsequent appointments in the church. At his ordination his commission is conveyed and restricted by these words, addressed to him by the bishop : " Take thou authority to preach the word of God, and to administer the holy sacra ments, in the congregation where thou shalt be lawfully ap pointed thereto.'' By the rules of our church, then, it is ma nifest that the authority of the minister to preach and exercise the clerical functions, is, under the very condition of his or dination, strictly confined to the congregation to which he shall be lawfully appointed : and this appointment is after wards exactly defined by the institution or the license which places him at his proper post. Thus, it appears, that the commission, which is given, is not a vague one, allowing the clergyman to rove at pleasure, and exercise his ministerial office wherever and however he may think fit. This is the system (if such it may be called) to prevent which, the laws of our church are specially enacted. This is the very spirit of sectarianism, the total destruction of order, and the direct subversion of the church of England. The individual must be lawfully appointed to his particular post. He must be appointed to it, by the only lawful au thority, which the church admits, the authority of the bishop ; in whom is vested the weighty responsibihty of assigning to each his place, and, as far as in him lies and as his powers extend, allotting to the individual minister, the station to which he is most adapted. The better to effect this, the bishop is required by the laws of the church, to examine minutely into the several qualifica tions of the clergyman to whose hands he is about to entrust the parochial charge. Not only is the production of his letters of orders indispensably necessary, but testimonials also from clergymen of credit, both as to his hfe and doctrine, must be demanded. And, if he has previously officiated in any other diocese, testimonials must be adduced from that diocese, of the manner in which he has exercised his ministry there ; and these testimonials, not only certified by grave and respectable ministers who vouch their actual knowledge on VOL. II. g G 450 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION this head, but also countersigned by the diocesan, testifying at least to the credibility of those whose signatures are an nexed. Nor is this all. The bishop is yet, in addition, to examine the individual himself, so as to receive the fullest satisfaction as to his worthiness, in all respects, to be ad mitted to the weighty charge which is to be confided to him. I will not detain you with reciting the canons, which re quire all these precautions. ' You will find them precisely and rigorously enjoined in the 30th, 31st, 32d, 33d, 38th, and 39th canons of our church : beside that they have been the uniformly acknowledged usage of the church, from the Re formation to the present day. Nor can all this be deemed too much, when it is con sidered, that such are the only means, whereby the purity of the church can be preserved against the irruption of un learned, immoral, or erroneous teachers. For this purpose the gates of the citadel must be well guarded. And the bishops must act as faithful sentinels. Yet what will all this care avail, if the very persons, who through this trying scrutiny are admitted to their respective stations in the church, will, without the knowledge of the bishop, assume the liberty to put others in their place ? and, whilst they either absent themselves from their post, or wish to indulge their ease, transfer their flocks, which were specially intrusted to them, to the guidance of others, who have received no au thority to act, of whom no trial has been had as to their suf ficiency, no testimony afforded as to their morals and doc trines ; who are under no obhgation of canonical obedience ; and who, for aught that may be concluded from the irregular and clandestine mode of their appointment, may not even have been admitted to holy orders ; of which extreme case some instances are actually on record ? But even granting, that the clergyman, who appoints the substitute, may (as he conceives) have had sufficient proof of qualification, yet is he assuming a right, which does not be long to him ; he is placing himself in the station of his bishop; he is'violating the laws and canons of the church, to which IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 451 he has promised to submit himself; he is introducing con fusion and misrule ; and makes himself answerable, both to the church, and to the pubhc, for whatever ill consequences may arise from his irregularity. In a word, in every case, in which a clergyman, entrusted by his bishop with a particular station, lets in another to discharge its duties, without having received the due and only lawful permission, the one party stands in the hght of an usurper, and the other in that of an intruder. And, if such conduct be persevered in, it becomes imperative upon those, by whom the laws of the church are to be administered, to proceed with the due animadversion against both. I have dwelt at greater length upon this particular point, not only because there is no irregularity more pregnant with evil to the church, than that of the clandestine admission of unli censed persons to the discharge of clerical duties ; but also, because, from the relaxed state of church discipline in this country, it is an irregularity which is but too prevalent amongst our clergy ; and give me leave to add, that,, perhaps, there is no diocese, in which it is more prevalent, than in that which I now address. For this there are many reasons ; but the principal reason seems to' be, that, for a considerable series of years, it had been the ill fortune of this diocese, from peculiar circumstances, to be deprived of the advantage of effective episcopal control : so that, with the exception of the administration of my predecessor, by whose prudent and firm attention to the regulation of the diocese, as much has been effected as could have been hoped for, within the space in which he presided over it; with this exception, I repeat, the discipline of this diocese may be said to have been totally neglected ; whilst, in truth, in this diocese pe culiarly, the discipline of the church requires to be most strictly enforced ; and more especially, the point of disci pline to which I have adverted, from the coUuyial nature of the metropolis, which naturally collects adventurers of all professions, and in which a number of persons, who are no credit to their profession,, are a! all times likely to abound. 452 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION If, therefore, that rule, which the laws of the church strictly prescribe, and which my predecessor wisely enforced, should be attended to by me with minuteness, I trust, my reverend brethren, you will not consider me as doing more than what I conceive to be my bounden duty. And that you will, on your part, when you have well considered the propriety of the rule, as well as its strict legality, cheerfully co-operate with me in carrying it into complete execution, I can have no doubt ; not only because it is binding upon every regu larly appointed clergyman, by his oath of canonical obe dience to his bishop, to obey willingly all his lawful orders ; but also because I have experienced, since I came amongst you, the kindest and promptest desire, on all occasions, to comply with whatever I have proposed for the better regula tion of our ecclesiastical concerns. I have every confidence, my reverend brethren, that you will not consider my enforcement of this rule, as springing from any wish to exercise authority. This is not an exercise of authority : the whole is a mere discharge of duty : — the duty incumbent on you by the canons and laws of the church, and by the engagements by which you have bound your selves, not being more obhgatory than the duty incumbent on me, to see that this your duty be faithfully discharged : a duty indeed, on both sides, so great, so important, and in fluential, that if it be not discharged, all the other rules and regulations of the church become of httle value. If there be no choice or selection of the ministers, who are to preach, and instruct, and administer the ordinances ; if every ignore ant and conceited person, who pronounces himself qualified to undertake the parochial ministry, may usurp the pulpit and the altar, it seems a matter of little consequence, whether the place of worship be the church or the conventicle; whether the self-appointed teacher, who breaks down and tramples upon the fences which circumscribe his order, has derived his qualification for such exercise of his functions from the college or the counter. But, my reverend brethren, whilst, for these reasons, I IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 453 must (as I have said) enforce the rule,;allow me at the same time to add, that there is no mode, by which I can prevent it from pressing inconveniently upon the parish minister, (whose duties, if he discharges them properly, are sufficiently laborious,) that I will not, on every occasion, be happy to adopt. It shall be my first business, as I feel it to be my bounden duty, to be at all times open to communicate with the clergy of the diocese. As I have urged it upon you, my brethren, to live continually among your respective flocks, so shall I deem it one of my first duties to hve continually amongst you. On all occasions, it shall be my greatest pleasure to consult with you, and for you, in every difficulty; and as far as you will permit me, to act as your friend and adviser, whenever I can be of use. My chief desire will be, to be in contact and intercourse with you all. And as my only object in enforcing the rule to which I have particu larly alluded, is to prevent improper and unqualified persons from occupying the stations which have been allotted to you, I shall be most anxious to assist you, by every means in my power, to provide proper substitutes, and even to provide them for you myself, when either your fair convenience, or health, or any other just cause may require it. I only expect of you, to deal openly, frankly, and honestly, with me ; and it will be the dearest gratification of my heart, to. deal kindly and affectionately by you. There are other heads, on which I could wish to address you. But, I have gone to so great a length, on points which I deemed the most important at this time, that it will be necessary to reserve them for a future opportunity. The heads, to which I refer, concern the nature and laws of resi dence ; the condition and number of parish churches ; the qualifications and duties of churchwardens ; the advantage resulting to the clergy from an acquaintance with the leading prmciples of ecclesiastical law ; the great value of a perfect uniformity ; the present state of parochial education, and the means of its improvement. On these various heads, many suggestions present themselves, but they must be postponed. 454 CHARGE DELIVERED AT HIS PRIMARY VISITATION I shall only say at the present, that if a strict residence, coupled with a close spiritual superintendence, be not main tained by our clergy ; if the churches be not kept in due repair, and new churches and chapels added when they may; if, for this purpose, the duties of churchwardens be not care fully enforced, and a reasonable attention to the laws of the church observed by the clergy ; if the performance of the clerical duties be not conducted in strict accordance with the established rules ; and, in addition to all, if the educa tion of the young be not assiduously promoted, an educa tion not of compromise or neutrality (which in truth is no education) but an education, religious and spiritual, and awakening ; — the cause of the established church, and with it the cause of Christianity, will, in the natural course of things, be lost in this country ; and nothing but the renova tion of a Providential interference can possibly restore it. There is one subject more, on which (although I am un willing to offer any thing from this place, that may seem to relate to the mere property of the clergy) it is requisite that " I should bestow a few words. The wisdom of the legislature has devised a plan, whereby, without disturbing the great principle of the system of the clergy's maintenance in this country, advantages are offered, which may render the opera tion of that system more convenient and satisfactory. A pa ternal government has devised this scheme, with a view to the joint accommodation of the clergy and the laity. And although those, who wish to subvert the property of the church, are wilhng to persuade the pubhc, that no good can arise from the application of the law which has been passed upon this subject, yet it is manifest, that to the two great objections which have been raised by interested persons against the peculiar nature of the property of the church, (namely, the uncertainty of the tenure, and the inconvenience of collection, — difficulties, which, after the acquiescence of centuries; this sharp-sighted age has discovered to inhere in the system,) a direct and special remedy has been provided. That the clergy, then, will leave to those, whose desire to IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL. 455 invade their property makes it their interest to condemn every measure devised for its preservation, the task of oppos ing this law ; and that they will both shew a rational regard for their own interests, and a grateful sense of the care be stowed upon those interests by the government, in forwarding, as far as in their power, the operation of the law, I do most confidently hope. In having thus adverted to the property of the clergy, I feel it right to add, that I have not introduced a topic, alto gether unsuited to this place. Because, with the independ ency conferred by the secure and deep-rooted tenure of their property, which the clergy of these lands enjoy, and which I trust they will never voluntarily relinquish, is essen tially connected the independent discharge of their duty; which enables them to proceed without fear either of the great or of the many, in the onward course of their high calling ; and ,which, next to the true Christian spirit that lifts above all, gives to them that tone and elevation, which raises them, if they be but faithful to themselves and to their great vocation, above every other body and description of clergy upon the face of the earth. NOTES. P. 444, line 19, — " The one possessing a church," &c. Protestants, whose first principle it is, to hold the free use of Scripture to be essential to true rehgion, can never admit that to be true religion, which for bids the free use of Scripture : nor can they who build the entire profession of the Christian faith upon the word of God, concede the attribute of Christian ity, in its vital character and in its proper sense, to a form of belief, which subjects the Word of God to the authority of man. The sentence in the charge, which is referred to in this note, has given offence. But as it only speaks the language of the Reformation, and merely gives in few words that which every sincere Protestant must maintain, it can offend only so far as Protestantism is itself an offence. It is painful to hurt the feelings of indivi duals. But it is impossible to compro mise vital principles. And, that would be a severe state of things indeed, in which a protestant bishop should not dare to utter a protestant sentiment. P. 445, line 1, — " Catholic church." The members of the Romish com munion deny to Protestants any partici pation in the Catholic Church. they exclude them altogether from its pale ; and describe them formally as heretics. Nor is it only in set theo logical expositions of doctrine, that they express this demarcation ; but in the daily use of the term Catholics, as applied exclusively to themselves. This use of the term, from which offence might justly be taken, if the avowal of theological dogmas were to be made matter of offence, it would be not ne cessary to remark upon, were it not that Protestants have permitted themselves too frequently to adopt it. They, of course, cannot be supposed to apply the term in the sense in which it insults; but the best that can be said of such abuse of the term by them, is, that it flows from ignorance, and the slightest censure that can be passed upon it is, that it is a vulgarism. It should, however, be carefully remembered, that this use of the term by Protestants seems to imply an acquiescence in the unjustifiable as sumption of the church of Rome j and is, in truth, employed as an argu ment in its support (and not an ineffect ive one) with the lower and more unin formed classes of that communion. It is therefore forced upon the Protestant clergy, as far as in their power, to dis abuse the public on this head: more especially as parliamentary language, which from the influence of the daily press is sure to become the language of the multitude, has of late years familiar ized the public ear to this injurious mis application of the term : politicians, as such, too generally concerning them selves but little with the true distinc tions of things, especially in matters of religion ; and being for the most part satisfied, if they can enlist the public feeling in support of their favourite schemes of policy, or by any tone of temporary conciliation secure increased popularity to the party they espouse. If it be said, that the appropriation NOTES. 457 of the term here objected to is to be excused on the ground of civility, inas much as the denomination by which tbe members of the church of Rome were formerly described, as in reference to the head of that church, is now become offensive to that body, it is to be an swered, first, that no civility can justify a falsehood, and that too upon a vital point of religion ; and, in the next place, that there is a designation, which is not of an offensive character, and which is reconcileable with truth ; the term Roman Catholic, which implies a member of the Roman branch of the Catholic church. This presents a just view of the case, inasmuch as our church, notwithstanding the corruptions of the church of Rome, does not deny to its members, that participation in the Ca tholic pah, which they refuse to us. The peculiar tenets of that church in deed we must reject, as not Catholic ; not having been universally received in the first ages of Christianity; but still there are preserved in it, though mixed with rubbish and much tarnished, some of the sterling treasures of the church. Deeply is it to be lamented, that the members of that communion cling so to the dross with which these are en crusted, that they not only put it out of our power to embrace them as brethren of one common faith, but have the strange folly deliberately to deny our connexion with the Catholic Church of Christ ; and the hardihood (almost lu dicrous) to deny the lawful orders of our clergy. Bishop Burnet, in speaking of the words of Cromwell, " I die in the Ca tholic faith," observes, " that the term Catholic was then used in England in its true sense, in opposition to the novel ties of the See of Rome." And Arch bishop Cranmer uses these memorable words, " I agree, that that doctrine is Catholic, which was taught fifteen hun dred years ago." I recommend to the clergy a Sermon of the Rev. Vaughan Thomas, pub lished in 1816, on the impropriety of conceding the name of Catholic to the Church of Rome, and its members, as a title of dhtinction. P. 450, line 9, — Enjoined in the 30th, 81st, 32nd, 33rd, 38th and 89th Canons. Canon XXX. Tiths of such as are to be made Ministers. No person shall be admitted into sa cred orders, except he shall at that time exhibit to the bishop, of whom he de- sireth imposition of hands, a presenta tion of himself to some ecclesiastical preferment then void in that diocese; or shall bring to the said bishop a true and undoubted certificate, that either he is provided of some church within the said diocese where he may attend the cure of souls, or of some minister's place vacant, either in the cathedral church of that diocese, or in some other collegiate church therein also situate, where he may execute his ministry ; or that he is a Senior Fellow of some col lege in the University ; or except he be a Master of Arts of five years' stand ing, that liveth of his own charge in the University ; or except by the bishop himself that doth ordain him minister, he be shortly after to be admitted either to some benefice or curateship then void, not to be removed until he be otherwise provided for, except by his notable evil carriage he deserve the contrary. Canon XXXI. The quality of such as are to be made Ministers. No bishop shall hereafter admit any person into sacred orders, which is not of his own diocese ; except he be a gra duate of some university within the king's dominions; or except he shall bring letters dimissory (so termed) from the bishop of whose diocese he is ; and desiring to be a deacon, is three-and- twenty years old, and to be a presbyter four-and-twenty years complete; and hath taken some degree of school in some of the universities ; or at the least except he be able to yield an account of his faith in Latin, (according to the 458 NOTES. articles of religion generally received in the church of England and Ireland,) and to confirm the same by sufficient testimonies out of the Holy Scriptures. And except moreover he shall then ex hibit letters testimonial, or authentical certificate of his good life and convers ation, under the seal of some college, where before he remained, or of three or four grave ministers, together with the subscription and testimony of other credible persons, who have known his life and behaviour, by the space of three years next before. Canon XXXII. The examination of such as are to be made Ministers. The bishop, before he admits any person to holy orders, shall diligently examine him in the presence of those ministers that shall assist him at the im position of hands : and if the said bi shop have any lawful impediment, he shall cause the said ministers carefully to examine every person so to be or dered. Provided that they who shall assist the bishop in examining and lay ing on of hands, shall be of his cathe dral church, if they may conveniently be had, or other sufficient preachers of the same diocese, to the number of three at the least. Neither shall any person be received in the ministry, nor admitted to any ecclesiastical living, nor per mitted to preach, read, lecture, catechise, or minister the sacraments ; except he shall first by subscription, declare his consent to the first four canons of this present synod, and every thing con tained therein. Canon XXXIII. Caution for institution of Ministers into benefices. No bishop shall institute any into a benefice, who hath been ordained by any other bishop, except he first shew unto him his letters of orders, and bring him a sufficient testimony of his former good life and behaviour, if the bishop shall require it ; and lastly, shall appear upon the due examination to be worthy of his ministry. Canon XXXVIII. None to be Curates but allowed by the Bishop. No curate or minister shall be per mitted to serve in any place, without examination, and trial first to be made of his sufficiency, sobriety, and fitness, every way for the minhtration where- unto he is deputed ; paying respect to the greatness of the cure and meetness of the party. And being found worthy, he should be admitted by the bhhop of the diocese, in writing under his hand and seal. And the said curates and ministers, if they remove from one dio cese to another, shall not be by any means admitted to serve, without testi mony of the diocese, or ordinary of the place, as aforesaid, whence they come, in writing, of their honesty, ability, and conformity to the ecclesiastical laws of the church of Ireland. Canon XXXIX. Strangers not admitted to preach with out licence. Neither the minister, churchwardens, or other officers of any parochial or collegiate church, shall suffer any stranger to preach unto the peoph in their church, except they know him to be sufficiently authorized thereto, as is aforesaid. And if any in his sermon, shall publish any doctrine either strange, or disagreeing from the word of God, or from the articles of religion gene rally received in the church of Eng land and Ireland, they shall by their letters subscribed with some of their hands that hear him, so soon as may be, give notice of the same to the bishop of the diocese, that he may determine the matter, and take such order therein as he shall think convenient. P. 451, line 8, from the bottom,— "The discipline of this diocese," &c. It would be unjust to the memory of one of the most valuable and upright prelates of whom this country can boast, NOTES. 459 the late Archbishop of Cashel, not to say, that all that it was possible for him to effect, in support of the discipline of the united diocese, was conscientiously discharged during the period of his coadjutorship in the archiepiscopal see. But, with the partial residence to which the nature of his situation necessarily confined him, and the contracted in fluence of his authority, occasioned by the separation of patronage from his deputed jurisdiction, it was not possible that he should accomplish all that the interests and regulation of the see re quired. That so much was actually ac complished, under circumstances so un favourable, reflects credit not only upon that distinguished and lamented prelate, but upon the clergy of the diocese at large, on whom his virtues more than his authority must have operated either in the way of incitement or of restraint. P. 453, line 20,—" Proper substitutes." By these words are intended clergy men already licensed in the diocese, or such as shall be specially permitted to officiate by the diocesan, after inquiry into their titles and qualifications. THE PRINCIPLE OP THE UNION BETWEEN CHUKCH AND STATE IN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES, EXPLAINED; and its VALIDITY DEFENDED AGAINST THE FICTIONS OF WARBURTON, AND THE USURPATIONS OF POPERY; IN A CHARGE DELIVERED TO HIS CLERGY, IN ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN, IN THE YEAR 1827. CHARGE, It has happened, my reverend brethren, from various cir cumstances, that I have been prevented from personally holding a regular visitation of these dioceses, since I last addressed you from this place. Many events have occurred, within that period, deeply affecting the interests of the church, and many important topics connected with those events, press for observation. But there is one paramount subject, to which I would beg to draw your considerate and patient attention : a subject too, of a magnitude well suited to the present occasion, on which I have to express my sentiments, in the presence not only of my own clergy as Diocesan, but in that also of the synod of the entire pro vince as Metropolitan. At this day, when from causes which cannot be mistaken, and are indeed no longer concealed, clamours have been raised and reiterated against our national clergy ; when false notions respecting the nature of our estabhshment are in dustriously and dishonestly circulated; when not only its efficiency, but its legitimacy, has been denied, so that even the very principle, which unites us with the state, has been brought in question ; it may appear no inappropriate use of the present opportunity, to review the first principles of our church establishment, and to ascertain the grounds on which, as a portion of the church of Christ, of the true Catholic church, we stand connected with the state ; as well as the 464 A CHARGE ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE UNION conditions which regulate, and the hmits which define that connexion. We shall thus be the better able to expose the fallacies, which fraud would impose on ignorance to our detriment ; and to deprive fanaticism, cupidity, and irreligion, of those false colours, under which they wage their unhallowed warfare against the estabhshed religion of the country. Indeed, independently of such considerations, it cannot but be at all times important, that the principles of a union, whose consequences to the community must be vitally in fluential, should be thoroughly understood, and steadily kept in view, both by the clergy and the pubhc. By the clear understanding of those principles it is, that the one will be enabled to see and preserve their true position in the state, and the other will be taught to value and defend that order of men, whose binding principle is the cement of the social pohty, and whose civil existence is essentially interwoven, even for temporal purposes, with the best interests of the nation. The ground of the union, of which we speak, is, happily for these lands in which our church is established, the same with that on which rests the stability of our civil fabric : and it is that, by which alone, in every state and country, unity and permanency can be secured to the system of government ; namely, a sovereign supremacy within the realm, not to be interfered with by any extrinsic power, not to be resisted by any domestic impediment. This was the first great principle, which, at the dawn of the Reformation in these countries, was rescued from the encroachments of a power, which, by the joint agencies of fraud and force, had erected a visionary throne above the thrones of the most potent monarchs ; had set conscience at its pleasure in array against allegiance ; and by a magic and mystic influence, superseding all civil authorities wherever dispersed, had threatened to make that kingdom, which our Lord pronounced not to be of this world, one great ambitious monarchy commensurate with the world itself. The great principle, which by the Reformation was rescued BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 465 from this corrupting domination, is one which it is equally incumbent on all to maintain in its present vigour. It is that, which alone can preserve the equilibrium of govern ment : that which gives religion to the state, as the soul to the body : not a distinct power, which may clash, or if drawn into union may enter as an ally, with conflicting claims and privileges and checks; but a vitalizing spirit, pervading, and animating, and guiding, and tranquillizing, the whole community. Nothing is more common with unreflecting minds, than to suppose a religious establishment, in its temporal character, as possessing an interest distinct from the state : a sort of incorporated craft, seeking its own ends, and working its own gains, through the power of its temporal associate. This may indeed be the case, where the established re hgion is not embodied with the state ; where it has a separate head from the state ; or where (as sometimes happens) it ac knowledges no human head, and claims an independent existence. But, where it rests upon the same supreme sovereignty with the state itself; where it and the state are but two different aspects of the same Christian community ; where it is harmoniously associated with the state for the ac complishment of its highest purpose, the greatest happiness of the people ; where it acts in such a manner as that it may be said to constitute the conscience of the state ; there it is impossible, with any justness, to view its ministers as a body pursuing their own ends, and to be considered merely in their individual relations. Contemplated in their temporal capa city, they must be looked on as the instruments of the state, for its great objects ; bound up in it for the public good ; - maintained by it on a public principle, and by means not left to individual option, even when made dependent on a re venue derived from individuals. Not hke those, who have con tracted with individuals, receiving a return as compensation for service done to the individual ; but as discharging a great public duty, and deriving the return allotted by the state, from the allegiance which the subject owes to the sovereign VOL. II. H H 466 A CHARGE ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE UNION power and the laws, and not from the value which he may please to set on the individual advantage conferred. And this view of the case, in truth, may, in direct opposi tion to one of the vulgarly prevailing errors of the day, re verse the proportion between the benefit derived by the in dividual from an established clergy, and his duty to contribute to their support ; since the very persons, whose irrehgious and immoral conduct and corrupting example, or whose un settling opinions may lead them to reject the offices of an authorized Christian ministry, or tend to make those offices barren and ineffective, are the very persons, who render the invigorated and multiplied exertions of such a ministry the more necessary for the confirming those binding principles of civil union, which the antisocial and decomposing notions of such men would relax and dissolve ; and therefore, they are eminently the very persons, on whom the increased burden of the more extended system of counteraction should princi pally press. But, in the very outset of the subject, and before we are permitted to enter upon the character and consequences of an establishment, we are met with the position, that religion is a matter which belongs not to the civil magistrate : that it is a concern between the individual and his God, which comes not within the range of human institution : that, con sequently, the very principle of a religious estabhshment is un sound : and that the civil magistrate has no right to exercise the powers of the state, either for its formation or support. Yet surely it seems a strange thing to say, that there are any matters connected with the well-being of a state, over which the sovereign power of that state shall have no control. It seems a still stranger thing to assert, that in that which above all connects itself most materially with the well-being of the community, he, whose first duty it is to promote the welfare of that community, shall have no concern. Man is a compounded being, not more impelled to seek his temporal advantage, than bound to pursue his eternal inter ests. Must not the state look to him in both conditions ; and BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE. 467 as far as possible assist its individual members in the attain ment of both ? Is not the sovereign to rule for the greatest good of the whole ? and can he leave out any part of that which constitutes their greatest good ? Is he not, again, bound by the duty which he owes to God, so to govern his people, as to enable them best to obey the will of the great common Sovereign of all ? Must he not, then, secure for his subjects the best aids of religion ? And ' does not the estabhshment of a national rehgion become a necessary branch of the duty of the sovereign, and an essen tial constituent of the well-being of the people ? Is not, then, the rejection of it by a state, or a professed indifference as to its truth or falsehood, an open declaration, that human affairs may be conducted without any regard to Divine super intendence or authority, and that man may live without God in the world ? In truth, every separation of divine and human things is a rejection of Providence : it is an enslavement of all to human pohcy : it has been, and is from day to day, the cause of those wholesale departures from the principle of right, which go under the name of "reasons of state ;" and which tend, by their pernicious example, to demoralize man and to dis organize society. No state ought to exist, that sets Providence aside, and openly disregards divine things, or acts so as to subvert divine truths. Man cannot war against God, and God must rule over the kingdoms of men. Those that will not be the subjects of his sway, must be the objects of his vengeance. And such nations as prove themselves not the fit instruments for promoting his moral government of the world, must ex pect to be broken up, so soon as they have effected those temporal objects, for which Providence may have suffered them for a time to continue : which, amongst others, may possibly have been, the infliction of punishment on other guilty nations, which may demand for them a momentary display of power ; or again, the open manifestation of their H h 2 468 A CHARGE ON THE PRINCIPLE OF THE UNION own profligacy, to the clearer justification of the ways of God in his dealings with men. I should not have dwelt so long upon so plain a pro position as that, which affirms it to be the duty of the sovereign to provide a true religion for his people, but that, strange as it may appear, it is a maxim, which hangs but loosely upon the minds of many at the present day : nay, even the contrary position is openly maintained by some, not 12 i. 200 iv. 2 i . 219 — 13 i. 196 note. — 3 1 . 458 201, 202. — 3-12 i . 233 204, 205 — 6 1 . 377 note. 19 397 _ 13, 14 1 . 219 21 194 — 13-22 1 . 233 23 201. 204. — 20 . 214 note. — 27 192. 194 — 21 . 458, 459 note. 206 — 23 . 219 29 i. 415 — 24 . 195. 458 xv. 25, 26 i. 366 — 26 . 195. 214 xvi. 8 i. 365 note. 13 i. 405 note. — 28 . 219 xviii. 11 i. 222 — 29 t. 458 12 i. 468, 469 — 31. 35 . 214 note. XX. 7 i. 231 v. 2,3 1. 219 xxi. 2- 6 i. 381 — 4 . 231 — 14 i. 222 — 5 1. 238 xxii. 26 i. 456 — 8 1. 159 xxiii. 7 i. 262 — 9 t. 159. 459 18 i. 192. 194 — 10 i. 214 note. xxiv. 8 i. 329 — 11 i. 159 10 ii. 240 note. — 13. 16 i. 214 note. xxviii. 38 i. 216, 217- - 17 i. 219 281. 283 — 18 i. 214 note. xxix. 14 i. 159. 458, 219 459 vi. 1, 2 i. 223 xxx. 9 448 - 2-7 i. 23 10 458 — s i. 231 12. 14. 16 i. 142 — 7- 18 i. 214 note. xxxii. 21 459 — 25 i. 458 EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 503 LEVITICUS. NUMBERS. Vol. Page. Vol. Page. vii. 2 . 159 xv. 22 220 8 . 315. 455 — • 24 219 ix. 22 . 284 note. 24- 28 220 — 24 . 369 note. — - 20, 26. 28 i. 214 note. x. 16 . 287 — 27 220. 222 — 17 . 281. 283, 284. 287 30 31 222222 — 23. 26 i . 287 xvi. 46, 47, 48 i. 214 xi. 44- -46 i . 336 xviii. 1 216. 283 xii. 7 . 173. 218 note. 8 12 286440 xiv. 32. 34. 49 i . 218 note. xix. 2 240 xvi. 5 . 239. ii. 2 — 7 216 6 . 240 16 218 note. — 7- 9 i . 2 — 17 217 note. 10 . 239. ii. 2 xxii. 22 383 -- 11 . 240 xxiv. 2 284 note. -- 15- 28 . 233 xxxiii. 1 377 note. 16. 20 . 211. 217 — 17 i . 2 DEUTERON03IV 21 . 236. 238. 284 i. 42, 43 222 22 l. 238. 281. 284 note. 288 iii. 11 vii. 7 xi. 2 413 note. 260 258 26 i. 238 xii. 5, 6, 11. 14 i. 193 xvii. 11 i. 231. 286 xiv. 3 341 xix. 20- 22 i. 23. xvi. 2 192, 193 22 214 note. — 4, 5, 6 i. 192. 195 xx. 19 . 301 xvii. 12, 13 i. 222 xxii. 21 i. 240 xviii. 10 246 note. xxiv. 14, 15 i. 242 22 222 16 i. 231 xxi. 18 258 xxvi. 18 23,28 . 258 xxii. 18 258 39 i. 221 note. xxiv. 1 XXV. 1 310262 NUMBERS. xxvii. 26 224. 231 xxviii. 21 280 v. 7 . 238 ix. 6, 7 . 193 JOSHUA. — 13 . 193. 195 xi. 31, 32 . 405 note. ii. 19 *xxiv. 15 i. ii. 242 313-349 — 33 . 397- 403. 405 32 i. 378 — 34 i . 397. 403 xiv. 18 . 282. 285. JUDGES. 289 vi. 6 ii. 196 note. 19 . 282 — 18 i. 447 — 33 i. 291. 294. - 21 i. 369 note. 300. 302 xiv. 15 ii. 196 note. 504 INDEX OF TEXTS 1 SAMUEL. ii. 7 — 17 xv. 22 xxiii. 26 xxix. 4 Vol. Page. ii. 206 note. i. 447 i. 365 i. 201 i. 133 note. 2 SAMUEL. i. 16 xviii. 33 xix. 22 xxiv. 16 I KINGS. v. 4 viii. 29 32 x. 25 xi. 14. 23. 25 xii. 11. 14 xviii. 29. 36 38 xxii. 19-23 242 162 383 397. 426 note. 383 162 262 448 383 258447 369 note. 372 2 KINGS. xxi. 15 26 ii. 2. 18 vi. 23 vii. 1 16 ix. 24 A. 11. 14 2 CHRONICLES. iii. 20 . 447 vii. 9 . 292 viii. 8,9 . 448 xii. 16 . 458 xxiv. 12 . 397 XXV. 27 . 397 1 CHRONICLES. i. 397. 426 note. i. 369 note. 2 CHRONICLES. 271 262 369 notes. 440 193448 258 xxix. 23 xxx. 15, 16 xxxii. 23 xxxiv. 13 xxxv. 5, 6. 10, 1 1 Vol. Page. 240 194 448 271 193, 194 EZRA. vi. 19. 22 ix. 4, 5 197 447 NEHEMIAH. iv. 45 i. 210 ESTHER. vii. 8 . 406 note. viii. 1.7 . 406 note. ix. 25 . 216 i. 4 i. i. 5 i. ii. 9 i iii. 19 i. iv. 10 i v. 16 i vii. 9 i viii. 10 i X. 11 i — 16 i xi. 8 i xii. 12 i 17 i. xiv. 13 i XV. 10 i. 30 i. xvi. 2. 6 i. xvii. 13. 16 i. 23 i. xviii. 13 i. xix. 4 i. 20. 26 i. 23-29 i. XX. 9 i. — 20 i. — 22 i. xxi. 13 i. xxiv. 19 i. xxvi. 5 i. 139 37. 468 402 note. 381 423 note. 386 409 note. 386 456 423 note. 409 note. 374 397 469 note. 373 384209 note. 409 note. 411 note. 438402 note. 456 395 note. 409 note. 397. 403 411 note. 409 note. 409 note. 397. 406 EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 505 xxrin. 8 xxx. 1 29 xxxi. 28 33 xxxii. 6,7 xxxiii. 19 23 17-20 xxxiv. 20 23, 24 26 37 xxxvi. 8-12 18 28 xxxvii. 13 xxxviii. 1 xxxix. 34 xl. 14 xii. 11, 12 xiii. 5 6,7 7,8 11 12 Page. 423 note. 373 424 note. 381 397- 421 373, 374 269 note. 397- 426 418-420 notes.397. 413. 421 420 note. 410 note. 411 note. 397411 note. 402 note. 258394 402 note. 381 433 note. 394 434 note. 19. 138. 420 379. 433 note. 433 note. vi. 1 i. 258 vii. 16 i. 242 xiv. 13 i. 269 note. xvi. 10 i. 412 note. XX. 3 i. 369 XXV, 7 i. 221 note. xxx. 4 i. 412 note. xxxii. 1 i. 210 6 10 i. 285 note. i. 268 xxxiii. 3 i. 461 note. xxxiv. 10 ii. 196 note. xxxviii. 1 i. 258 17 i. 268 xxxix. 11 i. 258 xl. 6 i. 364 — 7 i. 159 xlix. 16 1. 5. 16 — 8, 9. 13 li. 16 Ixix. 29 lxxi. 13 lxxii. 10 lxxviii. 30 lxxix. 8 lxxx. 7 lxxxi. 16 lxxxii. 3 lxxxv. 2 lxxxvi. 15 xci. 13 xciv. 17 ciii. 3 civ. 4 cv. 40 cix. 20. 29 cxviii. 18 cxlvii. 14 Vol. Page. ii. 204 note. i. 329 i. 364 i. 364 i. 268 i. 383 i. 448 i. 404 ii. 196 note. i. 275 note. i. 440 i. 262 i. 210 i. 282 i. 423 note. i. 412 note. i. 273 i. 319 note. i. 405 note. i. 383 i. 258 i. 440 PROVERBS. XIV. XV. xvii. xix. xx. xxi. xxn. xxiii. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. xxx. 11 18 7 24 13 8 15 18 4 1716 30,31 15 4 21 13 20 22 16 29 1. i. ii. i.i. 11. ii. i. 1. 258414 note. 191 note. 258268 364 262258 260 204 note. 414 note. 353-371 258 204 note. 196 note. 423 note. 414 note. 204 note. 414 note. 461 note. ECCLESIASTES. i. 18 i. 268 506 INDEX OF TEXTS ECCLESIASTES. ISAIAH Vol. Page. Vol. Page. ii. 18 ] ISAIAH. . 268 liii. 12 i. 250, 251. 263. 266. 280. 291. i. 8 . 262 301, 302 i. 11 12 i . 364 lvii. 9 409 note. I. XI, v. 14 . 405 note. 414 note. lx. 16 lxv. 14 383 note. 268 — 23 . 262 lxvi. 3 364 vii. 14 i . 95 ix. 6 . 51 JEREMIAH. xiv. 9 . 408, 409 note. 411 ii. 19. 30 i. 258 — 11. 15 . 409 note. v. 3 i. 258 xxiii. 16 461 note. — 27 ii. 204 note. xxvi. 14 . 413 note. vii. 22 i. 364, 365 16 . 258 — 23 i. 365 xxviii. 4 . 438 note. x. 24 i. 258 7 . 220 xxiii. 6 i. 229, 230 15. 18 . 409 note. notes. xxxi. 5 . 202, 203. xxiv. 2 438 note. 205, 206 xxx. 11. 14 258 xxxiii. 24 . 280 15 268 xxxv. 5 . 278 xxxi. 18 258 *xxxviii. 1 i . 377—394 • 29, 30 292 10. 18 ) . 409 note. xlvi. 28 258 xl. 2 . 292 note. li. 6 292 note. xlvi. 4 . 270 — 9 284 note. xlix. 23 • . 383 note. 1. 8 . 262 LAMENTATIONS liii. 3 . 269 — 4 i. 234. 266, iv. 21 i. 376 267. 273. v. 7 i. 263. 270. 278. 283. 292. 301 298, 299, 300, 301, EZEKIEL. 302 — 5 i. 256. 258 i. 19, 20,21 284 note. — 6 i. 294 note. — 26 125 — 5- 8 i. 144 iii. 14 284 note. - 9, 10 l. 257 iv. 4, 5 281 — 7 i. 141. 259 v. 15 258 — 8 i. 260 x. 16 284 note. — 10 i. 20. 146. 156. 256. 261 xiv. 14 xviii. 2 394292, 293, 294 — 11 i. 257.261- 13 294 263. 266. 19, 20 292. 301 270. 280. 19. 23 231 291. 300, xx. 15. 23 284 note. 301, 302 xxiii. 48 258 EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 507 EZEKIEL. Vol. Pagei xxxii. 30 301 xxxiii. 32 46) note xliv. 29 143 xiv. 23 458 ii. 35 i. 284 note. iii. 33 ii. 136 note. iv. 31 ii. 136 note. vii. 13, 14 ii. 125 note. xii. 3 i. 262 HOSEA iv. 8 i. 159. 458 — 15 i. 221 note. v. 14 i. 423 note. vi. 6 i. 365 vii. 12 i. 258 ix. 10 i. 438 note. x. 13 i. 292 note. xii. 8 ii. 204 note xiii. 7 i. 423 note ii. 13 365 Vol. Page. v. 21, 22 i. 364 MICAH. v. 2 ii. 98, 99 NAHUM. iii. 11 i. 260 HABAKKUK. ii. 5 i. 414 note. ZECHARIAH. ii. 13 i. 373 iii. 1 i. 373 v. 7 i. 284 note. xi. 5 ii. 204 note. xii. 3 i. 275 note. xiv. 19 i. 292 note. MALACHI. i. 13 — 14 ii. 7 iii. 1 447241. 447 464 note. 464 note. APOCRYPHAL BOOKS. TOBIT. iv. 21 ii. 196 note. JUDITH. v. 19, 20 i. 221 note. xv. 7 «• 204 note. WISDOM. iii. 5 i. 258 WISDOM. xvii. 8 i. 273 ECCLESIASTICUS. xi. 17 ii. 204 note. xvii. 5 i. 355 note. 1 MACCABEES. xiii. 39 i. 221 note. 508 INDEX OF TEXTS NEW TESTAMENT. MATTHEW. MATTHEW. Vol. Page. Vol. Page. i. 16, 17 ii. 262 note. xvi. 24 ii. 101 — 19 i. 309, 310 xviii. 3 4 ii. 102 — 21 i. 394 6 ii. 101 ii. 95, 96 19, 20 ii. 103 — 23 ii. 96 35 i. 221 note. ii. 2. 11, 12? .. xix. 12 ii. 103 6. 18 f n. »y, aa 23, 24 ii. 102 iii. 6 ii. 285 note. 29 ii. 139 note. — 15 ii. 103 xx. 12 i. 274 iv. 36 ii. 119 note. — 16 ii. 101 v. 3. 7. 10. 44 ii. 103 — 28 i. 144. 156. — 23 i. 18 231. 299. — 24 i. 18. 132- 304 134 xxii. 43, 44 ii. 101 — 28 ii. 102 xxiii. 6 ii. 102 — 42 ii. 101, 102 xxiv. 22 ii. 101 vi. 12-15 ii. 103 xxv. 5, 5. 10 ii. 101 — 25 i. 450 xxvi. 18 i. 182 note. vii. 1, 2 ii. 101. 103 24 ii. 101 3 ii. 139 note. 26 i. 198 — 12 ii. 101 28 i. 39 note. 29 ii. 137 note. 144. 299. viii. 17 i. 264, 265. 304 273, 274. 31 ii. 101 276. 278 41 ii. 103 note. 298 53 ii. 183 note. 22 ii. 156 note. ¦ 61 ii. 137 note. ix. 2 i. 278 note. 65 ii. 128 note. 280 xxvii. 54 ii. 120 note. — 13 ii. 101 xxviii. 18 ii. 102 — 42 ii. 101 x. 15 ii. 120 note. MARK. — 16 ii. 103 i. 4 ii. 285 note. — 32, 33 ii. 102 _ 22 i. 122 note. xi. 4 i. 278 ii. 8 ii. 236 note. — 10 i. 464 note. — 9 ii. 193 note. — 22. 24 ii. 120 note. iv. 12 i. 280 xii. 33 ii. 103 v. 26 i. 271 — 36 ii. 120 note. — 41 ii. 141 note. — 41 i. 450 vii. 7 i. 367 xiii. 5-7. 20} ix. 49 i. 329 -22. 31, { ii. 102 — 50 ii. 102 32 ) x. 45 i. 144 — 15 i. 280 — 46 i. 230 xiv. 33 ii. 120 note. xii. 26 i. 320 note. 19 ii. 139 note. xiv. 13 i. 274 xv. 9 i. 316 — 22 i. 194 note. EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 509 Vol. Page. xiv. 64 ii. 128 note. xv. 39 LUKE. ii. 120 i. 5 ii. 285 note. — 31 ii. 96 — 35 ii. 116. 126 note. 127 note. 131 note. — 53 ii. 197 note. — 77 i. 279 ii. 23 ii. 127 note. iii. 1, 2,3 ii. 285 note. — 23 ii. 78 — 24 ii. 262, 263 notes. iv. 3. 9 ii. 119 note. vi. 30 ii. 101 — 36, 37, 38 ii. 101 vii. 14 i. 274 — 27 i. 464 note. xii. 5 ii. 136 note. xiii. 24, 25 ii. 102 xiv. 27 i. 274. ii. 103 xvi. 18 ii. 102 xvii. 2 ii. 101 xviii. 12 ii. 443 xxii. 70 JOHN. ii. 118 note. i. 1 ii. 9 note. — 1- 14 i. 54. ii. 9 note. — 6 ii. 156 note. — 10 i. 53. ii. 84 — 12 ii. 116. 136 note. 140 note. — 14 i. 123 note. ii. 131 note. — 15 ii. 187 note. — 18 ii. 152.186 note. 187 note. — 29 '' 20. 140- 142. 198. £04 JOHN. Vol Page. i. 50 ii. 117 ii. 19 ii. 138. 141 note. 142 iii. 8 ii. 103 — 13 ii. 116.152 note. 154 note. 160 — 13. 31 i. 48 — 16 i. 15 — 31 ii. 152 note. v. 14 i. 280 — 18 ii. 128 note. — 26 ii. 133 note. — 27 ii. 125 note. - 28, 29 ii. 141 note. — 30 i. 310 note. vi. 27 i. 365 — 38 i. 48. ii. 152 note. — 62 i. 48. 59. ii. 152 note. 155 note. 156, 157 notes. vii. 24 i. 310 note. viii. 29 ii. 103 — 56 ii. 239 note. - 57, 58 i. 55, 56. ii. 187, 188 notes. ix. 17 ii. 182 note. — 25 ii. 182 note. 184 note. x. 9 ii. 103 - 17, 18 ii. 135 138 note. 139 note. — 33 ii. 128 note. xi. 44 ii. 141 note. — 50, 51, 52 i. 304 xii. 6 i. 274 — 41 ii. 238 note. — 49 ii. 103 - 49, 50 ii. 141 note. xiii. 3 i. 48 ii. 156 note. 157 note. - 7 ii. 183 note. 510 INDEX OF TEXTS Vol. Page. xiii. 12 ii. 139 note. — 37 ii. 183 note. xiv. 6 ii. 102 xv. 26 ii. 12 xvi. 7, 8. 13 ii. 12 — 11 ii. 103 — 12 i. 274. 276. 306 — 28 i. 48 ii. 103. 156 note. 157 note. xvii. 5 ii. 178 note xix. 7 ii. 118 note 128 note 36 i. 198 xx. 15 i. 274. 276 i. 7 ii. 24 — 32 iii. 15 - 17 iv. 12 v. 41 vii. 2 — 15, 16 — 30. 32 — 56 — 60 viii. 32 — 33 — 35 ix. 20 — 34, 35 x. 38 — 40 — 41 — 42 — 43 xiii. 22 32, 33 33 xv. 10 xvii. 31 xx. 28 n.ii. n.ii. ii. ii. i. 136 note. 103.137 note. 141 note. 137 note. 219 97 102 239 note. 378 239 note. 86, 86. 125 note. 85 141. 144 144 264 131 note. 89 231 note. 141 note. 103 101 97 101 451 131 note. 274 137 note. 141 note. 86 Vol. Page. xx. 35 ii. 101 xxv. 24 ii. 68 note. xxvi. 18 ii. .136 note. ROMAN! . i. 1,2 ii. 130 note. — 3 ii. 172 note. — 4 ii. 117, H8 notes. 138 note. — 7 ii. 168 note. — 29-32 i. 10 ii. 101 ii. 5 i. 310 note. — 20 ii. 101 iii. 24 i. 144 — 25 i. 144. 307, 308, and notes. 309, 310 — 20 i. 140. 308 note. — 26 i. 310 note. iv. 3 ii. 101 — 25 i. 144. 299 ii. 3 v. 6 i. 299 — 6-10 i. 144 — 8 i. 162 note. — 9 i. 136 — 10 i. 133, 134 — 11 i. 20. 157, 158 — 16 i. 221 note. ii. 101 vi. 4 i. 50 ii. 141 note. vjii. 3 i. 156 11 ii. 102. 137 note. 141 note. 27 ii. 67 note. 32 i. 20 — 33 i. 262 34 ii. 67 note. — 38, 39 ii. 103 ix. 4 ii. 101, 102 — 5 ii. 101. 116. 161. 163 notes. EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 511 ROMANS. Vol. Page. ix. 10, H, 12 ii. 101 — 21 ii. 136 note x. 3 i. 219 note — 17 i. 451 xi. 2 ii. 67 note. — 15 i. 134 — 29 ii. 102 — 36 ii. 101 xii. 17 ii. 103 xiii. 9, 10 ii. 103 xiv. 1. 3 ii. 101 10. 12 ii. 103 XV. 1 ii. 274101 - 7 ii. 103 — 8 ii. 101 1 COBINTHIANS. i. 5 ii. 204 note. — 10 ii. 103 — 12 ii. 101 — 18, 19, 20 ii. 103 »— 23, 24 i. 1—27 iii. 16 ii. 101, 102 — 17 ii. 102 - 19 i. 394 iv. 4 ii. 103 — 8 ii. 204 note. v. 7 i. 145. 192. 198 ii. 103 _ 11 ii. 103 vi. 2 ii. 103 - 9, 10 ii. 103 vii. 15 ii. 102 ix. 4, 5, 6 ii. 137 note. x. 9 ii. 223 note. — 24 ii. 101 xi. 20 ii. 101 — 26 i. 38 xii. 12. 24 15. 22. 1"- 101 xiii. 4 ii. 101 — 7 i. 271 12 ii. 183 note. xv. 3 i. 145. 299 — 8 ii. 103 — 15 ii. 137 note. _ 20 ii. 101 note. 1 CORINTHIANS. xv, 45 - 47 — 48, 49 xvi. 7 Page. 236 note. 48 227 note. 234, 235 notes. 237 note 236 note. 183 note. 2 CORINTHIANS. iii. 18 ii. 101 iv. 14 ii. 103 v. 14, 15 ii. 103 - 17 ii. 101 - 18, 19 i. 134. 157 — 20 i. 134 — 21 i. 145. 146. 299 vi. 7 ii. 103 vii. 10 ii. 102 viii. 5 ii. 101 9 ii. 116. 188 note. 191 note. 200. 202 note. 203, 204 and notes. 207. 220 21 ii. 103 x. 17, 18 ii. 101 xi. 24, 25 ii. 101 — 31 ii. 171 note. xii. 2. 4 i. 372 xiii. 4 ii. 3 GALATIANS. i. 1 ii. 101. 103 — 4 i. 162 note. ii. 101 iii. 10 i. 224. 231 — 13 i. 299 -27 ii. 102 iv. 4 ii. 125 note. _ 26 ii. 103 v. 4 ii. 103 — 10 i. 274 vi. 2 i. 274 — 7 ii. 103 512 INDEX OF TEXTS EFHESIANS. COLOSSIANS. Vol Page. Vol Page. i. 7 i. 145 i. 17 ii. 178 note. — 19, 20 ii. 131 note. — 20, 21 i. 134 ii. 2 ii. 101 — 28 ii. 103 — 5 ii. 184 note. ii. 13 ii. 184 note. — 8, 9 ii. 103 — 22, 23 i. 316 — 16 i. 134 — 22 ii. 103 1 THESSALONIANS. iii. 9 i. 51,52 ii. 68 note. ii. 7 ii. 183 note. iv. 3 — 4, 5 ii. ii. 103 101, 102, iv. 16 ii. 141 note. — 16, 17 ii. 159 note. 103 v. 4, 5. 7, 8 ii. 155 note. — 6 ii. 101 — 13 ii. 102 — 18 i. 219 - 17 ii. 102, 103 — 18. 23 ii. 101 — 26 ii. 103 — 30, 31 ii. 102 — 22 ii. 103 v. 2 i. 299 ii. 103 2 THESSALONIANS. — 16, 17 ii. 101 i. 5 i. 310 note. — 25, 29 ii. 103 iii. 15 ii. 103 vi. 13,14.16,) 17 i ii. 103 1 TIMOTHY. PHILIPPIANS. i. 13 i. 219 note. ii. 1. 12 ii. 103 i. 10 ii. 101 — 6 i. 145. 156 — 21 ii. 103 note. 230. ii. 3 ii. 103 299 - 5,6,7 i. 47 — 8 ii. 101 ii. 101. 103. — 14 i. 366 168 note. iii. 13 ii. 101 170. 202, — 16 ii. 101 note. 203. 207 131 note. note. 218 v. 4 ii. 101 — 8 i. 48 vi. 4 i. 273 — 10, 11. 16 ii. 103 — 7- 10 ii. 163 iv. 5 ii. 101 — 9. 18 ii. 204 note. — 18 ii. 102 2 TIMOTHY. COLOSSIANS. i. 9 ii. 101 i- 7 ii. 103 — 10 ii. 101 — 10 ii. 101 — 14 ii. 102 — 14 i. 145 — 16. 18 ii. 103 — 15, 16 i. 49 ii. 4 ii. 103 ii. 68 note. — 9 i. 271 102. 239 — 11, 12 ii. 103 note. iv. 8 i. 310 note. — 1G i. 50 note. — 10 ii. 103 52, 53 — 18 ii. 102 EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 513 TITUS. ii. 3 — 13 — 14 iii. 1 Vol. Page. ii. 103 ii. 168 note. i. 299 ii. 101 PHILEMON. 20 ii. 103 i. 2, 3 BUJi i. ii. 48, 49. 145 102 — 4 5. 7 ii 102 — 13 ii 102 ii. 0 ii 125 note — 7- 9 ii. 243 note 244 note. - 17 i. 145. 158 iii. 2 ii. 102 — 5 ii. 101, 102 iv. 12 ii. 102. 104 — 13 ii. 104 vi. 18 ii. 102 vii. 3 ii. 247 note. - 13, 14 17 i. 190 — 26 ii. 26 note. - 27 i. ii. 133143 note. ix. 7 i. 220 — 9 i. 226 — 9- -14 i. 32. 470 - 12, 13, 14. 22, 23, - i. 471 24. 26 . — 12- -28 i. 145 *— 22 i. 29—44. 471 — 28 i. 299. 303 x. 1. i. 21. 31. 226 — 10, 4, 18 i. 145 — 12 31 — 25 ii. 101 — 20 135. 222 - 27 135 — 28 ii. 103 — 29 ii. 471 103 L. II. HEBREWS. Vol. Page, xi. 3 i. 50 — 4 i. 33. 368. 441. 448 - 5. 7, 8 ii. 102 — 21 i. 464 note. — 31, 32— I 37. 39 J ii. 102 xii. 1,2,6.9, j. 10, 11 102 2 ii. 203 17 ii. 102 -- 24 i. 36. 38. 197 ii. 244 note. 25, 26 ii. 116. 233 xiii. 9 ii. 103 20, 21 i. 44 JAMES i. 5 ii. 102 - 6,7,8 ii. 102 ii. 7 ii. 102 ' — 10 i. 231 — 21, 23 ii. 102 iii. 13 ii. 102 — 15. 17 ii. 102 iv. 2 ii. 102 - 3,4 ii. 102 — 6 ii. 102 — 7- 12 ii. 102 v. 1, 2. 4 ii. 102 — 15 i. 280 1 PETER. 1- 6,7 ii. 102 — 8. 13 ii. 104 — 10 ii. 242 note. — 12 ii. 243 note — 14 i. 219 - 17 ii. 101 — 18, 19 i. 16. 142. 145 — 20 i. 16 — 21 ii. 104 ii. 5 ii. 101 L I 514 INDEX OF TEXTS EXPLAINED OR REFERRED TO. 1 PETER. 1 JOHN. Vo Page. Vol. Page. ii. 11,12.17.5 22 J ii. 104 iv. 3 — 6 ii. ii. 104102 — 24 i. 264. 277 note. 279. 294 note. — 10 i. 15. 20. 143. 145 158 296. 299. - 17 ii. 121 note. 303 v. 6 ii. 102 ii. 104 - 7 ii. 161 note. iii. 9. 14 ii. 104 - 17 — 18 i. i. 271299 2 IOHN. — 19 ii. 159 note. 4 ii. 102 iv. 5. 7 ii. 104 — 8 v. 5 ii.ii. 102102, 103, 3 JOHN 104 2 ii. 103 — 7 ii. 102 3,4 ii. 102 2 PETER JUDE. i. 3 — 21 ii. 4, 5. 7, 8 - 5, 6, 7- 9 i.i. i. ii. 49 note. 113, 114 361 102 36. 14, 21. 24 15 ii. i. ii. 104 361 102 — 9 — 15. 20 ii. ii. 120 note. ¦ 102 REVELATION. iii. 4 - 7 — 10 ii. ii.ii. 102 120 note. 101 i. 13 Hi. 17,18 iv. 1, 2 v. 9 ii.ii. i. 125 note. 204 note. 372 142 1 JOHN. — 9—12 i. 145 i. 2 ii. 2 ii. i. 103 20. 143, 144. 157, xiii. 8 xiv. 14 xviii. 3. 15. 19 i. ii. ii. 16. 34. 145 125 note. 204 note. — 7 - 27 iv. 2 ii. ii. ii. 158104 102132 note. xix. 2 xx. 6 xxii. 8 12 i. ii. ii. ii. 310 note. 136 note. 184 note. 101 II. INDEX THE PKINCIPAL MATTERS. Abar&anel, — his testimony respect ing expiatory sacrifices among the Jews, i. 168-172. 174. Abraham's intended sacrifice of Isaac, — a singular resemblance to it in the Mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians, i. 248-252. ATNOHMATA, or sins of ignorance, — fully explained, i. 218-222 — Opinion of the Rabbins concerning sins of this description,!. 172, 173. Animal food, — not granted to man before the Flood, i. 333 342. Apostolical Fathers, — their refer ences to various passages of the New Testament, ii. 89, 90, 91. 94. 100-105— the nature and objects of their writings, ii. 92, 93. 100-105 — their silence respecting the first two chapters of St. Matthew falsely urged as an argument against the authenticity of those chapters, ii. 91-106. Articles ( Thirty-nine), — observations on the interpretation of, ii. 41 8-421 — they are neither Calvinistic nor Arminian, but Christian, 420. 428 — the royal declaration prefixed to them, 426— remarks on it, 427 — reduced in number to twenty-five by Mr. Wesley ; and those which are retained by him, materially altered, i. 106 note — not to be sub scribed unless by those who believe the doctrines which they propound, ii. 15, 16. 18, 19— the bearing of the Sixth Article on the interpreta tion of the rest, ii. 15 — Mr. Fel- lowes'sun justifiable notions of their meaning and obligation, ii. 14-22 — Dr. Paley, Mr. Gisborne, Dr. Powel, and Bishop Tomline, re ferred to upon their interpretation, ii. 18, 19 notes. Asiatic Researches, — quoted respect ing human sacrifices, i. 67, 68 — the London Edition of this work con. tains a wicked fabrication calculated to subvert revelation, i. 489 note. Association for discountenancing vice, — important objects of, ii. 314. 339 — brief review of its efforts, 339- 348. Atheists, —a society of, cannot exist, ii. 325 — fatal influence of Atheism in France, 326. 330-333. Atonement, — publication of the dis courses and dissertations on, i. xxviii — dedication of them to the Rt. Hon. W. C. Plunket, i. ii — pre fatory address of them to the Divinity Students of Trinity College, lxxxv- xc— high opinion entertained of the work by Mr. Perceval, xxx— and by H.R.H. the Princess Charlotte, xxxi — the meaning of the word translated Atonement in the Old Testament, i. 207-215 — the re- L L 2 51G INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. ceived doctrine of, objected to on the ground that Christ's death was not a propitiatory sacrifice, i. 19, 20 — Objection answered by texts of Scripture describing it as such, i. 20. 144, 145— Objected, that the language in these texts is figurative, i. 20. 145. 160. 164 — Objection answered, i. 21, 22. 140-142 — Leading arguments against the doctrine, urged with their greatest force by Ben Mordecai, i. 165— Levitical atonement said by B. Mordecai and Dr. Priestley to im. ply only ceremonial purification, i. 209. 214— the contrary shewn, i. 209-215— more minutely argued, i. 215-227— Atonements in the Old Testament extended to the viola tions of moral law, and procured a real forgiveness, i. 22, 23. 222-227 — Objections against the doctrine, unfairly drawn from the expression, vicarious punishment, i. 227, 228 — Arguments brought by Sykes and B. Mordecai against the doctrine, on the supposition of an implied vicarious substitution, i. 228, 229 — shewn to have no weight against the true notion of atonement, i. 229-236 — Christian atonement de- scribed by the terms, bearing sins, &c, in such manner, as to convey the propitiatory and vicarious im port more strongly than is expressed in the Mosaic, i. 230, 231. 254, 255 — inconsistency in the argu ments urged on this head against the doctrine, i. 254— language of the New Testament more circum stantial and precise upon the nature of atonement, than that of the Old, i. 41. 475, 476 — contended by Dr. Priestley, that no trace whatever of the doctrine is to be found either in Old or New Testament, i. 303 — refuted, i. 303-306— the doctrine, why not as fully explained in the Gospels as in the Epistles, i. 304- 306— Doctrine of atonement does not sink our ideas of the divine mercy, i. 312-314 — opposition to the doctrine arising generally from what cause, i. 26— see Redemp tion. Bailly, — maintains an extravagant antiquity of the Indian Astronomy, i. 490 —followed by Professor Play- fair, ibid. — confuted by La Place, i. 491, 492 — and by Mr. Bentley, 492, 493. Balguy's excellent argument to prove the natural insufficiency of repent ance to procure forgiveness of sins, i. 62, 63. 140. Baptism, observations on, ii. 403, 404. Barbauld (Mm.)— her admirable re marks on prayer, i. 92 — defender of public worship against Wake field, i. 117 — represents good works as giving a claim of right to divine acceptance, ibid. — a highly accom plished writer, ii. 40 note. Beattie (Dr.)— his excellent confuta tion and exposure of Hume, i. 508- 511. 514— pronounces the human invention of language to be impos sible, i. 345. Bellamy's (Mr.) version of the Old Testament, character of, ii. 425. Belsham, (BIr.) —rejects the notion of Christ's pre-existence, i. 47, 48— refers to others for the proof, i. 48 — indulges in impious railleryon the subject of atonement, i. 112 —has no fixed creed, i. 11 0 — explains the difference between Unitarians and Socinians, i. 101— argues in support of a purgatory, ii. 30. 35— denies that any religious address should be offered to Christ, ii. 32 — maintains, in opposition to the received notion of the corruption of human nature, the preponderance of virtue over vice, ii. 31. 33 — makes virtue, mechanism, ii. 33, 34 — overturns his own scheme of merit, ii. 33-35 — must on his own principles reject the notion of punishment alto gether, ii. 35, 36— adopts the prin ciple of predestination, ii. 35-37 — and the fatalism of the Stoic, ii. 36 — inconsistently recommends grati tude to God, ii. 37— his new mode INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 517 of reforming a sinner, ii. 38-40 — objects specially to remorse in the sinner, as a thing pernicious, ii. 38 note — inconsistently calls upon the sinner to reform, whilst the princi ples which he advances go to prove the impossibility of reformation, ii. 38 — adopts the unintelligible phraseology of the Illuminati, ii. 39 — rejects the idea of prayer, and necessarily, ii. 39, 40 — objects to the Sabbatical observance, as for bidden by the Gospel, i. 60. ii. 40, 41 — considers it injurious to the cause of virtue, ii. 41 — short view of Mr. B.'s Christianity, ii. 41-43 — differs little from the deism of Lepaux, i. 114. ii. 43, 44— BIr. B. a moral teacher, ii. 44— but not a teacher of Christianity, ibid.— ad mits himself to be nearer to Infi delity than to Orthodoxy, ii. 44, 45 — guilty of a total want of charity in his judgment of the Clergy of the Established Church, ii. 45-48 — arrogates to himself exclusively the profession of a pure Chris tianity, ii. 48— complains of perse cution, ibid. — his proof of this perse cution, ibid. — sufficiency of this proof considered, ii. 49-51 — asserts the Unitarian cause to be progres sive, ii. 52— in what sense this can be allowed to be true, ibid. — his assertion of the increase of the number of Unitarians borrows an appearance of truth from one cir cumstance, ii. 55, 56 — One most extraordinary and irrefragable proof of BIr. B.'s assertion, ii. 56— he admits Unitarianism to be hard to be understood, ii. 58 note— called on to account for the dissolution of the Academy of Hackney, i. 61. ii. 52. 58 — admits and glories in the licentiousness of the system at Hackney, ii. 53 note — explains how the Unitarians contrive to retain the Bible, ii. 59 — interprets like Lord Peter, ii. 60— enjoys an ex clusive monopoly of the powers of reasoning, ii. 60-63— exhibits sin gular proofs of this in a treatise on Logics, Btetaphysics, and BJorals, by a reference to which treatise his high claims are estimated, ii. 60 62 notes — classes the clergy of the establishment under the heads of impostors and bigots, ii. 63 — charges Doddridge with supporting from prejudice an erroneous and unscriptural system, ii. 63 note — refers for the proof of the truth of his tenets to other Commentators, ii. 64— has made a good selection for his purpose, ibid. — why he could not add Paine, ii. 65 — why not Geddes, ii. 65 mote — exhibits a few specimens of his own criticism, ii. 65, 66 — pretends to convict St. Paul of ignorance, ii. 66 — sets him right, ibid. — commends Dr. Taylor's Scripture Key, reason why, i. 122. ii. 31 — refers to Dr. Taylor, whose observations make against him, ii. 66, 67 notes - compares Bonaparte to Jesus Christ, ii. 68 note— has given a new digest of the Uni tarian creed as touching the per son of Christ, ii. 69 note— asserts that the teaching of our Lord and his Apostles is to be received with great caution and distrust, ii. 69 note — expresses doubts as to the moral character of our Saviour, ii. 70 note— said to be the author of an anonymous pamphlet of a con temptible description, ii. 110-112 — his strange remarks on John v. 27 exposed, ii. 123, 124 notes — his extraordinary reasoning on Luke i. 35 exposed, ii. 126-129 notes — his gross falsification of Schleusner ex posed, ii. 139 note -his extraordi nary attempts at criticism and reasoning on John ii. 19 and x. 17 exposed, ii. 138-142 note— his mon strous absurdities on the subject of expiation for moral offences, ii. 143, 1 44 notes — ascribes enigmatical meanings to our Lord's discourses, ii. 153, 154 mote— explains Christ's descent from and ascent into heaven, as meaning nothing either of com ing from or going to heaven, ii. 154 -160 notes— proves from astronomy 518 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. that there is no heaven, ii. 158 note, col. 2 — at the same time contends for Christ's going into heaven, ii. 159 note — exhibits a curious in stance of his want of acquaintance with Greek, ii. 172 note— contends that the pre-existence of a miser may as well be deduced from 2 Cor. viii. 9 as that of Christ, ii; 177, 178 notes — easily disposes in his own manner of all the texts that declare our Lord's pre-existence, ii. 178 note— compares the texts that declare our Lord's pre-existence to the stars in the firmament, ii. 179 note— gives a curious specimen of his notions of astronomy, ibid.— gives a curious specimen of his knowledge of the Greek language, ii. 181, 18'2notes— blunders in plain English as well as in Greek, ii. 182 note— his extraordinary and self- contradictory notion of a mere man having miraculous powers at his own option, ii. 212 217 — his singu larly dishonest treatment of 1 Cor. xv. 47 exposed, ii. 234, 235 notes — his monstrous treatment of the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and his strange jumble of all that relates to Angels, Spirits, and Heaven, iii. 239-241 notes — objects strongly to hierarchies amongst angels, ii. 243 notes— pro fesses himself to be neither a ma terialist nor an immaterialist, ii. 245 note— says that his true posi tion is in the centre of oscillation, ibid. — manifestly ignorant of what the centre of oscillation means, ibid. — pretends to retract his avowed opinions both on Materialism and the Sabbath, in order to make pro selytes, ii. 245, 246 notes. Ben Mordeoai, (H. Taylor,) his letters written with acuteness, i. 86— his scheme of Atonement, i. 13, 14 — not free from a tincture of Socinian principles, i. 14. 1 18— different from that of Dr. Taylor of Norwich, i. 122— objects to the received doc trine of Atonement, its implication of the divine implacability, i. 15 — answered on his own principles, i. 15-17. 122-124— objects without reason to Grotius, Stillingfleet, and Clarke, i. 124 — objects to the doc trine of Atonement on the ground of a want of discoverable connexion between the means and the end, i. 16— answered, i. 16, 17- 130, 131 — objects on the ground of the divine immutability, and of the texts which speak of man's reconciliation to God, i. 17, 18. 129— answered, i. 18, 19. 132 — denies that the paschal lamb is referred to in calling Jesus the lamb of God, i. 140, 141— refuted, i. 141-143 — endeavours to prove that the word IXatrpis does not sup port the idea of propitiation, i. 143 — shewn to be mistaken, i. 143, 144 — his argument from the word KxraWayvi shown to be inconclu sive, i. 157, 158— endeavours to prove that the phrase for us, cannot mean in our stead, i. 161 — his ar gument shewn to be erroneous, i. 161-163. ii. 66, and note— attempts to deprive the Levilical atonement of all propitiatory import, and to re present it but as a ceremonial puri fication, i. 214— this notion refuted, i. 211-215 — his arguments against the doctrine of atonement on the supposition of its implying the ab surdity of a vicarious substitution, stated and answered, i. 229-236 — his attempt to do away the force of the expression bearing sins, ex amined and refuted, i. 265-303 — his theory of Sacrifice, i. 325, 326 — shewn to be erroneous, i. 30. Benson (Dr.) — admits that bearing sins, signifies suffering the penalty due to them, i. 296— his criticism on the word ccvxtpipu examined and re futed, i, 300-302. Blayney (Dr.) — not consistent, i. 293. Bolingbroke — supplies, without in tending it, a good argument against certain mistaken views of the Mo saic institution, i. 485, 486 — a short review of his character, and of his attempts to overturn Revelation, i. 497-504. INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 510 Brekell (Mr.)— his able refutation of Socinian sophistries, i. 135 and note. Bryant (Jacob) — grounds of his opinion that Philo Judseus derived his knowledge from Christian sources, i. 182 — his striking observ ations on the Mystical Sacrifice of the Phoenicians, i. 247-250. Buchanan, (Dr. Claudius)— his Me moir on the Expediency of an Ec clesiastical Establishment for British India, a work deserving most se rious attention, i. 74-76 note— it presents a melancholy view of the neglect of religion in India by the British, i. 74 note— exhibits a pleasing picture of the Church of Malabar, i. 75 note — represents that church as possessing the purity of the Protestant profession of Christianity transmitted to it from the Apostolic age, ibid. Burgess (Bishop)— has given an ex cellent account of Unitarian ma nagement of Scripture, ii. 107, 108 — his Brief Memorial deserves se rious consideration, ii. 112 note — his excellent observations on the proofs of Christ's divinity derived from his own declarations, ii. 128 note —has well exposed the dishonest use of Schleusner's name by the Unitarians, ii. 125 note — also the dishonest use made by them of the names of Locke and Grotius, ii. 133 note, 175 note— also that of Dr. Clarke, ii. 294 note — has well ex posed several of the Unitarian glosses, ii. 154 note— has made good observations on Mr. Belsham's ar gument against the existence of a local heaven, ii. 159 note— has ably exposed the Unitarian rendering of 1 Cor. xv. 47, ii. 235 note — has beaten down the attempt lately made to set up Dr. Priestley's ar guments against Bishop Horsley, ii. 241 note. Buxtorf, — his testimony respecting expiatory sacrifices among the Jews, i- 177, 178. Campbell (Dr. A.)— his undeserved commendation of Bishop Warbur ton, i. 153, 154. Catholic, — the appellation of, im properly conceded to the Papists, who arrogate it exclusively to them selves, ii. 456, 457- Celsus — bears testimony to the au thenticity of the first two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, ii. 87, 88. Charges, — to the Clergy of the diocese of Raphoe, ii. 401-428— to the clergy of the archdiocese of Dublin at the primary visitation, 431-459 — second charge to the clergy of Dublin, 463-498. Charlotte (H. R. H. the Princess),— her high opinion of Archbishop Magee's Discourses on the Atone ment, i. xxxvii. Chatham (William Pitt, Earl of)- his erroneous character of the Thirty- nine Articles refuted, ii. 428. Christian Observer — gives a just cha racter of Dr. J. Taylor's " Key to the Apostolic Writings," ii. 31 note. Chubb,— exhibits curious specimens of deistical arguments against Chris tianity, i. 86-90. Church and State, — the principles of the union between, inChristian com munities, explained, ii. 463 — ground of that union, 464-468 —its validity defended against the fiction of War burton, 469-474— and the usurp ations of Popery, 474- 485. Church of England and Ireland, — proved to be scriptural, ii. 485 — catholic, 486— tolerant, 486-488— social, 489— loyal, 490-492 -pro testant, 492 — statement of the points of difference between it and the Romish Church, 492-496. Clare (John, Earl of) — sermon on the death of, ii. 375-384 -his cha racter, 385-392 — his progress while at the University, 397. Clergy, — importance of their attend ing to the rules and orders of the church, ii. 405-408 — and to con sistency of character, 409-411 their proper studies and pursuits, 412-415 — responsibility of their of- 520 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. fice, 416, 417 — their duties, as laid down in the ordination office, 432- 435— line of conduct to be pursued by them, 438-442 — evils of their officiating in other parishes than those to which they are appointed, 448-450— canons relating to them, 457, 458 — observations on their pro perty, 454, 455. Cloppenburg 's judicious remarks on the distinction between the sacri fices of Cain and Abel, i. 443. Cocceius, — his remarks on " sins of ignorance," i. 220. Commerce and Blanufactures, — with out religion, a source of corruption to national morals, ii.>320, 321. Condillac (Abbe" de) — his attempt to explain the natural rise and growth of language, i. 350, 351 — followed by Dr. Adam Smith and Mr. Du- gald Stewart, 352 note — his theory untenable, 350-353. Confirmation, — design and importance of, ii. 404. Corruption, of human nature, i. 10. 101 — fully examined by Leland, i. 101 — eloquently described by Mr. Wilberforce, i. 102, 103— also by Mrs. Hannah More; 104 — denied in a certain sense by the Wesleyan Methodists, as well as by the follow ers of Priestley, i. 104, 105.109,110. Crellius, — his criticism on Isaiah liii. and particularly on the phrase bear ing sins, fully examined, i. 265-303. Cudworth (Dr.) — his remarks on the nature of the Passover, i. 193, 194. Cumberland (Bishop) — opposes the idea of the Phoenician sacrifice being derived from the intended sacrifice of Isaac, i. 253 note — the particular impressions under which this writer engaged in the Review of Sanohoni- atho's History disqualified him for the due discharge of the task, ibid. Religion, i. 3-8— not a true phi losopher, i. 3, 4— cannot prove from reason the sufficiency of repentance, i. 4, 5 — well answered by Balguy, i. 62, 63 — refuted by experience, shewing the necessity of a revelation on this head, i. 4-8. 65-85— his ob jections against a Mediator bear with equal force against repentance and prayer, i. 7 — the error in all such reasonings, i. 7, 8. 90-92. Dodson (BIr.) —his criticisms on Isaiah liii. and his endeavours to do away the force of the expres sion bearing sins, carefully ex- mined, i. 259-303 — commended, yet partial in his translation and commentary, i. 260, 261 — refers in proof of the justness of his criti cisms to writers who have given no proof, i. 269-272. 283-290. Druids, — prevalence of human sacri fices amongst them, i. 68. Dublin, — Dr. Magee elevated to the archdiocese of, i. 1 — Iii — state of the diocese, and peculiar difficulties of his situation, lii-liv — delivers his primary charge, lv — the charge it self, ii. 431-459 — observations on it, and on the hostility raised against him in consequence of it, i. lv-lvii. Ix— second charge, ii. 463- 498 — address to the Divinity Stu dents of the University of, i. lxxxv -xc. Daszius, — his remarks on "sins of ignorance," i. 221 note. Deist,— rejects totally the idea of a Mediator, i. 3— his objections apply equally to Natural as to Revealed Episcopivs, — his accurate distinction between moral and ceremonial im purities, i. 212, 213. Erasmus, — not always to be relied upon in his Greek criticisms, 193, 194. Ernesti, — his remarks on the style of the New Testament, i. 153 note. Evanson (Mr.)— charges the Evange lists with gross contradictions, i. 114 — retains only the gospel of St. Luke, and but a part of that, ibid. Fellowes (Mr.) — attacks most un warrantably the doctrines and ar ticles of the established church, ii INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 521 5-22 — observations upon his writ ings, 23. Female writers of modern times, who have contributed by their publica tions to the advancement of virtue and religion, ii. 39, 40 note c. Figurative language, — nature of it, i. 163-165. France, — awful effects of Atheism in, ii. 326-333. Geddes (Dr.), — specimen of his re spect for the writings, and of his qualifications as a translator, of the Old Testament, i. 318-321 and notes, ii. 65 note — instance of his grotesque rendering of certain words, i. 203 — his absurd view of the sacrifices of the Hebrews as bor rowed from the Egyptians, i. 320, 321— opposed and answered by Dr. Priestley, i. 321-323 — his strange distinction between those whom he calls the vulgar Papists and the vulgar Protestants, i. 465, 466 notes. George IV. — appoints Dr. Magee Dean of the Viceregal Chapel, at Dublin, i. xlviii — his reception of Archbishop Magee, and reply to the address of a deputation of Irish Bishops, against the Roman Catho lic emancipation Bill, lxix, lxx. Gospel — not hostile to patriotism, ii. 328 — its silent influence on society, 329. Graves (Rev. Dr.), — his character of Bishop Warburton, i. 484 note — his lectures on the pentateuch com mended, i. 486. Grotius, — his erroneous translation of Hebr. i. 2, i. 49 — charged with So cinianism, i. 50 — his extravagant application of the famous prophecy of Isaiah liii. to Jeremiah, i. 264 — his strange notion concerning the nature of Abel's sacrifice, examined, and confuted, 437-440 — his excel lent remarks on the relation sub sisting between the Mosaic and the Christian sacrifices, 470, 471 — his annotations on the Epistles, not published till after his death, ii. 202 note — unfoundedly claimed by the modern Socinians as supporting their opinions, ii. 175 note. Happiness— in$ep&rab\efrom religion and virtue, ii. 315-320. Heath (Mr.), — the objections urged by him and others against the anti quity of the book of Job fully ex amined, i. 381-386. Heidegger's interpretation of the pas sage in Gen. i. 29, 30, as a grant of animal food to Adam, shewn to be erroneous, i. 337-340. Herder's Essay to explain the natural acquisition of language, admitted to be the best in support of that notion, and yet radically defective, i. 354, 355. Hezekiah, — admonition to, by Isaiah, explained, and improved, ii. 377- 382. Holland (Lord), — severe but mild re proof of, by Archbishop Magee, i. lxvii. Horsley (Bishop), — his able refut ation of Dr. Priestley, i. 173, 174. Houbigant, — his remarks on " sins of ignorance," i. 219. Hume (David), — a short view of his character, and of his inveterate and impotent hostility against Revela tion, i. 504-524 — a dangerous guide in history as well as in philosophy, i. 518-523— his calumnies against Luther fully exposed, i. 520-522 Hurd (Dr.), — his well-known letter to Dr. Jortin, i. 1 54 note. Ignatius (Saint) — affords strong testimony to the authenticity of the first two chapters of St. Matthew, ii. 91- 93. 103— nature of his allu sions to Scripture, and of his writ ings generally, ii. 103, 104. Indian records — falsely asserted to be prior to the Mosaic writings, i. 488- 495 — dishonest attempt in the London Editors of the Asiatic Re searches to advance their extrava- 522 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. gant claims to antiquity, i- 489 and note. Ireland, — thanksgiving sermon, for the providential deliverance of, from invasion, ii. 353-371. Jehovah, — untruly pronounced to have been expressed uniformly by Kii^/os in the Septuagint, and never by ®ih, ii. 229, 230, notes. Jews, — their notions concerning the state of the dead, unfolded in the explication of their terms Sheol andREPHAiM, i. 411, 41 2 and 412- 415 in notes — their extraordinary admission of a compact with the Father binding the Son to a vi carious suffering for the sins of men, ii. 24. Job, — the reality of the history, and the date and author of the book, carefully considered, i. 370-437 — various opinions on these heads, and their principal supporters, i. 370. 373-375. 396, 397 -the book an inspired work, i. 394, 395 — er roneous objections to the antiquity of the book of Job by Bishop Stock, and their confutation, i. 397-435 — the history of Job handed down among the Arabians, i. 435-437- Johnson (Dr. Samuel), — his character of Warburton, i. 484 note. Josephus, — his testimony, as far as it goes, favourable to the notion of the propitiatory virtue of sacrifice, in opposition to the assertion made by Dr. Priestley upon that subject, i. 180, 181. 196 — employs expressions which clearly mark the use of the word iXmrrri^iov among the Jews in a strict propitiatory sense, i'. 144 note b. Justin Martyr— quotes from Ezra an extraordinary passage relating to the Passover, i. 197, 198 — affords ample testimony to the authenticity of theirs* two chapters of St. Mat thew's Gospel, ii. 89, 90. 92. 94. 95- 99. Kennicott — prefers Coverdale's to our present version of the Bible, i. 276, 277 — his criticisms on Hebr, xi. 4, not admissible, i. 444-450 — mistakes the nature of the Mincha, i. 446-449. Keschita, — the true meaning of this word considered, i. 378-380. Language, — its origin from divine institution, i. 342-356— of the New Testament peculiar, i. 153 — opi nions of Capellus, Ernesti, Mi chaelis, Middleton, Warburton, Le- land and Campbell upon this sub ject, ibid..— figurative distinguished from analogical, i. 163, 164. Leland (Dr. Thomas, of Trinity College, Dublin), — has best refuted the objections against the inspira tion of the writers of the N. T. derived from their unclassical style, i. 153 — an account of his writings, i. 153-156 notes. Lepaux, — deism of, little different from Mr. Belsham's system of Christianity, i. 114— ii. 43, 44. Life, uncertainty of, ii. 378 -380. Lowth (Bishop), — his fanciful notions respecting the passover, i. 203, 204. Loyalty of the Church of England and Ireland, ii. 490-492. Luther, — the calumnies circulated against him by Hume, exposed and refuted, i. 520-522 notes. Magee (William, Archbishop of Dub lin), — birth of, i. xi — notice of his parents, ibid., xii — his early educa tion, xiii-xvi — anecdotes of his childhood and youth, xviii-xx — enters the University of Dublin, xx — takes his first degree, xxi - his exemplary conduct, while at the university, xxii— his gratitude to his uncle, xxiii — elected fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, ibid. — his triumphant reception at Ennis- killen, xxiv, xxv — his ordination, xxv — his marriage, xxvi — character of his lady, ibid., xxvii — her de- INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 523 cease, xlvi — amiable character of Mr. Magee, as fellow of his col lege, xxvii, xxviii — and as a hus band and parent, xxix, xxx. Ixii — and as a master, lxiii, Ixiv — his exemplary filial piety, xxx, xxxi — preaches his first sermon, xxxii — delivers the Donnellan lectures, xxxiv — and his discourses on the Atonement and Sacrifice, ibid. — in teresting anecdote of the useful ness of that work, lxxix, lxxx — cha racter of it,lxxx — Mr. Magee retires on two college livings, xxxv — his character and conduct as a paro chial clergyman, xxxvi — liberality to the poor, ibid. — his work on the Atonement highly valued by the Princess Charlotte, xxxvii — poli tical impediments to his promotion, ibid., xxxviii — is appointed Dean of Cork, xxxix — his conduct there, iind. — especially when assailed by the Papists, xl— Bishop Barring- ton's opinion of his conversational powers, xiii — Dean Magee appoint ed Bishop of Raphoe, xliii — letter of Mr. (now Sir Robert) Peel on that occasion, xlvi — and of the Lord Lieutenant, Earl Talbot, ibid. — his benevolence to Mr. Trotter, xliv — character of his charge to the clergy of Raphoe, xliii — his deli cacy in administering reproof, xlvii — appointed by George IV. to the deanery of the viceregal chapel at Dublin Castle, xlviii — generous conduct of the Bishop of Meath to Dr. Magee, ibid.— Bishop Magee preaches before George IV., and is requested to publish the sermon, xlix— his humble sentiments con cerning his discourses, 1 — proceed ings respecting his elevation to the primacy, 1, li — is appointed Arch bishop of Dublin, Iii — peculiar dif ficulties of his situation, Iii, liii, liv — delivers his primary charge, Iv — observations on it, and on the hostility with which he was as sailed, lv-lvii. Ix. lxx — steadiness of his friendship for Mr. (after wards Lord Chancellor) Plunket, Ivii, lviii — the Archbishop's high sense of duty, lix — his character vindicated against the scurrility of Taylor, lxi, Ixii — his love of order, lxiv — success in treating and re moving scruples of conscience, lxv, lxvi — his deep sorrow on the death ofBIrs. BIagee,lxviii— his severe but mild reproof of Lord Holland, lxvii — his benevolence to the poor of Dublin, lxxi — his visit to Mrs. Han nah Blore, Ixxii-lxxiv — his de clining health, last sickness, and peaceful death, lxxv-lxxviii — proxi mate cause of it, lxxix — notice of his family, lxxviii, lxxix. Magee (Rev. John), — biographical notice of, i. lxv, lxvi. Maimonides, — his notion of the ori gin of sacrifice, i. 170. 174, 175 — his opinion of the book of Job fol lowed by Le Clerc and Michaelis, i. 371— the origin of his celebrated work, the Moreh Nevochim, i. 483 note b — followed by Spencer and Warburton, i. 482-484. Marsh (Rev. Dr. Digby), — character of, ii. 396. Matthew (St.) — reconciled with Isaiah, i. 265—280 — arguments re lating to the authenticity of the first two chapters of his gospel, ii. 77-82. 87-106. Mede, — his opinion that sacrifices were essentially federal feasts, i. 328-330 — shewn to be ill founded, i. 330, 331 — his excellent observa tion on those passages of Scripture which seem to depreciate sacrifices, i. 367. Michaelis, — his exposition of the word tXatrifytiv, i. 144 — his opinion of the Apostolical antiquity of the old Syriac version of the New Testa ment, i. 152 note— his objections against the reality of the history of Job examined, i. 373, 374— his ar guments in support of the anti quity of the book, i. 384, 385. Mickle's Enquiry into the Brahmini- cal philosophy, i. 73, 74 notes. Middleton (T. F., Bishop of Calcutta), — his observations on the language 524 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. of the New Testament, i. 153— his work on the Greek Article recom mended, ii. 87. Monboddo (Lord), — his strange theory of the origin of language, i. 349, 350. More (Mrs. Hannah), — a distin guished and powerful advocate of virtue and religion, ii. 39 note c— quoted on the subject of human corruption, i. 103, 104— her just and beautiful observations on Hume's History, i. 519-523 — ac count of Archbishop Blagee's visit to her, i. lxxii, lxxiii. Morgan, — his absurd idea of the ori gin of Sacrifice, i. 29. 314, 315. Nares (Dr.), — his Bampton Lecture a valuable work, i. 493, 494 notes— his Remarks on the Unitarian Ver sion of the New Testament referred to, i. 307, 308 notes, ii. 67. 86, and in many other places — the cause of Christianity much indebted to him, i. 308 note, 493, 494 notes. O'Beirne (Dr., Bishop of Bleath),— generous conduct of, towards Dr. Magee, i. xlviii, xlix. Outram, — his work De Sacrificiis de serves to be particularly consulted on the Sacrificial doctrine of the Rabbins, i. 169. 231. 236. 238. Ovid,— his testimony respecting the expiatory nature of sacrifice among the Heathens, i. 188, 189. Parr (Dr.)— unguardedly commends Mr. Fellowes's writings, ii. 21-23 — his eloquent eulogiura on Dr. Priestley, ii. 49 note — his defence of Dr. Thomas Leland, i. 155 note. Passover, — an accurate discussion of the meaning of the original word, i. 196. 199-207— shewn to be a sa crifice, i. 192-199— extraordinary passage relating to it in Justin Martyr, i. 197, 198. Peel (Sir Robert), — letter of, to Dr. Magee, i. xlvi. Perceval (Rt. Hon. Spencer) — pa tronizes BIr. Blagee, i. xxxvi. xxxviii. Percival, (Dr.) — a distinguished writer, ii. 42 note — his excellent remarks on Providence and Prayer, ibid. — valuable observations on the Origin of Evil, the Evidence of Christianity, and the Clerical cha racter and conduct, ibid. — Memoir of his Life and Character by his son, Dr. Edward Percival, ii. 43 note. Philo Judteus, — not accurately versed in Jewish customs, i. 181, 182. 187 -195 — his mistake respecting the nature of the passover, i. 195 — holds a number of doctrines, and particularly those of a Mediator and propitiation, that closely resemble the Christian doctrines, i. 182-187 —supposed by Bryant to have de rived his knowledge from the first Christians, i. 182— this notion op posed by Allix, i. 182. Flunket (Rt. Hon. W. C, afterwards Lord Plunket),— early friendship of Archbishop Blagee for, i. xvi, xvii — its unbroken continuance, xii, xiii. Ivii, Iviii — dedication of his Dis- sertationson the Atonementto him, lxxxiii, lxxxiv. Popish writers, — of the present day, not entitled to serious consideration, i. 462-465. Porteus (Bishop), — his Sermons on the Christian Doctrine of Redemp tion, excellent, i. 86. N Pre-existence, — texts supporting, i. 48, 49 — arguments against, by Grotius, i. 49— by modern Soci nians in general, i. 50-56 — by Mr. Lindsey, i. 51 — by BIr. Tyrwhitt, i. 52— by Mr. Wakefield, i. 54. 56, 57 — by Socinus, i. 55 — defended against the above objectors, i. 47- 53. Price (Dr.), — his strange opinion con cerning Universals, i. 347 note — offers some excellent observations on the compatibility of the efficacy of prayer with the divine immutabi- INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 525 lity, i. 90, 91 — also on the efficacy of intercession with the Deity, i. 93, 94 — remarks likewise on the bene ficial influence of intercessionary prayer on the mind of him who offers it, i. 95-97 — to be lamented that such a man should in some points have departed so far from Scripture truth, i. 97- Priestley (Dr.), — his irreverent lan guage concerning the sacred writers, i. 59. 113, 114. 166,167- 265— pro nounces it indispensable to his scheme to overturn the received doctrine of Atonement, i. 61, 62 — his boldness of assertion respecting historical facts relating to the cha racter of the Deity, i. 80-85— his historical incompetency fully esta blished, i. 65-85 — his incompetency as a reporter of the Rabbinical opi nions and writings, i. 166-180 — his gross misstatement of their writ ings, and of those of Philo and Jo- sephus, i. 186-188 — his extraordi nary, power of modifying and ap plying the testimonies of ancient writers, i. 169-187— seems as little conversant with classical as with historical writers, i. 188 — considers the death of Christ in the same light with that of any other good man, i. 100, 101 — misrepresents the arguments in support of the doc trine of .atonement, i. 112. 306, 307 — charges the sacred writers as ig norant and blundering, i. 113, 114 boasts of having no fixed creed, i. 116— instances of his mode of evad ing the force of Scripture authority, i. 127, 128. 145. 159, 160- directly misstates the book of Job, i. 138, 139 — his unjustifiable inaccuracy in Scripture criticism shewn in his re marks on two important passages, Isaiah liii. 10, and 2 Cor. v. 21, i. 146-156— his strange explication of the words for and instead, i. 159, 1 60 — confesses that he forces the language of Scripture, i. 164, 165 — contradicts himself, i. 166, 167 — his rejection of the attribute of Jus tice for the purpose of proving the sufficiency of repentance without any other consideration, i. 139, 140 — his principles go to exclude all punishmentwhatever,i.l40 — denies that the Passover was a sacrifice, i. 192— convicted by the direct words of Scripture, and all his arguments on this head shewn to be plainly contradictory to truth, ibid., 193 — Passover on the contrary proved to be a sacrifice, i . 1 92- 1 96 — his endea vours to prove that the Levitical atonement contained no idea of pro pitiation, but merely implied cere monial purification, i. 309, 310 — seems not to have attended to the original word "1&3, signifying atone ment, i. 210-212 — fallacy of his ar gument, i. 211— confuted, i. 211- 215 — his assertion that no trace of the doctrine of atonement is to be found in either New or Old Testa ment, shewn to be totally unfounded, i. 303, 304— his assertion that no trace of the principle of atonement is to be found in Scripture, refuted, i. 306 — his assertion that the doc trine of atonement sinks our ideas of the divine mercy, refuted, i. 312 -314— maintains, in opposition to Geddes, that the Blosaic sacrifices were not borrowed from the hea thens, but had a divine origin, i. 321-323— in this he contradicts himself, i. 323, 324 his theory of sacrifice, i. 325 — his reason for de nying, in opposition to accumulated facts, that the notion of expiatory sacrifice had ever obtained amongst the heathens, i. 359,360 - his private chai'acter and talents, ii. 49-51 — his public conduct censurable, ii. 50 ¦ — restrained by early habits, ii. 55 —his religious opinions less excep tionable as he advanced in life, i. 324 — his uncharitable animadver sions on the established clergy, ii. 56, 57 notes — affirms that Unita rians never become Deists, ii. 57 — is directly contradicted by fact, ii. 58 — gives such an account of the nature of Academies of the Unita rian description, as proves the pro- 526 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. gress to infidelity to be almost un avoidable, ii. 53, 54 mote — his theory of Early Opinions entirely overturned by Mr. Wilson's Illus tration, $c, ii. 129 note. Providential government of God, — ex plained and vindicated, ii. 355-367- Public Spirit, — without religion, no sufficient safeguard to a nation, ii. 322. Purgatory, — advocated by Mr. Bel sham, ii. 30. 35. Quarterly Review, — an excellent article contained therein on the sub ject of the Missions to India, i. 76 note — its just observations on the nature of Socinianism, ii. 55, 56 note. Rabbins, — full account of their opi nions on the subject of the sacri ficial Atonement, proving that they considered sacrifices not only as ge nerally expiatory, but as strictly vi carious, i. 168-178 — the notion en tertained by some of them of the human origin of sacrifice accounted for, i. 177. Randolph (Dr.),— his just observa tions on the divine origin of sacri fice, i. 245 note a. Raphelius, — his just remarks on the vicarious nature of the sufferings of Christ, i. 162 and note. Raphoe,— Dr. Blagee appointed to the see of, i. xiii. xlvi — his charge to the clergy of that diocese, ii. 401- 428— character of it, i. xliii — his delicate mode of reproving one of the clergy of that diocese, xlvii., xlviii. Rational Christian — his philosophic lights, ii. 37- See Unitarians. Rational Dissenters, — Unitarians so distinguish themselves from the other classes of non-conformists, i. 97, 98. ii. 63note a. See Unitarian. Redemption, — Scriptural doctrine of, naturally to be rejected by unas sisted reason, i. 1— principle of combated by Socinians with pe culiar vehemence, i. 61, 62 — in the highest degree necessary to defend it, i. 2, 3. 61 — arguments relating to it misrepresented by Dr. Priest ley, i. 15. 112. 306, 307— misrepre sented by H. Taylor and others, i. 123, 124. 127 — scheme of, held by the Unitarians, i. 8, 9 — held by B. Blordecai, i. 13 — held by Dr. J. Taylor, of Norwich, i. 118-121— the doctrine objected to, as imply ing divine implacability, i. 14 — ob jection answered, i. 15, 16 — ob jected to, for want of connexion be tween the means and the end, i. 16, 17 — objection answered, ibid., 130- 132 — objected to, on account of the Scripture phrase of our being recon ciled to God, i. 17 — objection an swered, ibid., 132-134— objected to, on the ground of the divine benevo lence, and of the stress laid on this attribute everywhere through Scripture, i. 19. 139 — objection an swered, i. 18, 19. 135-140 — nature of the Redemption fully opened up by Isaiah, i. 263-298 — advan tageous effects of the scheme of Re demption upon the mind, i. 26 — the full comprehension of the prin- ciple on which it is founded, im peded by the same difficulty which attaches to other parts of human knowledge, i. 132. See Atonement. Religion and virtue, — inseparable from happiness, ii. 315 et seq. Richie (Dr.) — refutes Dr. Sykes's theory of sacrifice, in his Criticism on Modern Notions of Sacrifice, i. 328 — furnishes an excellent refutation of Dr. J. Taylor's scheme of Atone ment, i. 121, 122— his remarks on " sins of ignorance," i. 220 — parti cularly recommended on the subject of the origin of sacrifices, i. 368. Roman Catholic, — import of the term, ii. 457. Romish Church, — points of difference between it and the church of Eng • land and Ireland, ii. 492-496 — the appellation of Catholic improperly conceded to it, 456, 457- INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 527 Rosenmiiller, — his just remarks on the nature of the passover, i. 204 — his remarks on " sins of ignorance," i. 220, 221. Rubric, — importance of the clergy at tending to, ii. 405-407. Sa orifice, — human,general through out the ancient world, i. 65-85 — deemed strictly vicarious by the heathens, i. 188 — heathen sacri fice a corruption of the rite divinely instituted, i. 244-240— a striking instance of this in the Mystical sa crifice of the Phoenicians, i. 246 252 — contended that the death of Christ was not a propitiatory sacri fice, i. 19— answered, i. 20-22. 144 - 1 56 — objected that under the Law there was no propitiatory sacrifice whatever, i. 20, 21. 166, 167— ob jection answered, i. 21-24.207-215 — the sacrifice of Christ, though spoken of in language seemingly fi gurative, intended as a real and effi cacious sacrifice, i. D33-165 — incon sistency of those who hold the death of Christ to have been but figura tively called a sacrifice, i. 24. 310, 311 — that the only true and real sacrifice, the sacrifices of the law being all but figurative of it, i. 31, 32. 475, 476— passover proved to be a sacrifice, and the nature and meaning of this sacrifice explained, i. 192-199 — sense in which, the no tion of vicarious is to he applied to sacrifices in general, i . 23. 227, 228 — vicarious import of the sacrifices of the law, expressed by the cere mony of the imposition of hands, i. 236. 238 — more strongly marked by the ceremony of the Scape-Goat, i. 238, 239— Sacrifice for Sin defined, i. 24 — means of reconciliation by Sa crifice explained, i. 25— not incon sistent with the divine dignity and attributes, i. 25, 26 — Sacrifice of Christ differs from all other sa crifices in one important particu lar, i. 26 — nature of Christ's sa crifice usually examined in an er roneous method, i. 29— supporters of the human invention of sacrifice, i. 290— theories of it : by Spencer, i. 29, 30. 324-by the Author of Scripture Account of Sacrifices, i. 324, 325 — by Dr. Priestley, i. 325 -by B. Mordecai, i. 325— by Sykes, i. 29, 30. 326— by Warbur ton, i. 29, 30. 331 — general heads of argument against all the theories of human invention of sacrifices, i. 30— only true mode of discovering the origin and nature of the rite, i. 31 — the rite unnatural in the view of unassisted reason, i. 356 — an argument hence in favour of divine institution, i. 359, 360 - the rite uni versally practised, an argument in favour of divine institution, i. 357, 358 — brief view of the Christian sacrifice, i. 31, 32— objections against the divine origin of sacrifice ex amined , i. 360-365 — divine origin in ferred from Abel's and the early patriarchal sacrifices, i. 32, 33. 367- 369— the sacrifice of Abel an animal sacrifice, i. 437-440— divine origin and true design of sacrifice inferred from the sacrifice of Abel, i. 33-39 — sacrifice of Abel, why accepted, whilst that of Cain was rejected, i. 33-38. 441-449— rite instituted at the fall, i. 34. 454-457 — the animal sacrifice peculiarly significant, i. 35 — sacrifices before the law, animal and piacular, i. 36-39. 245, 246. 468-470 - true import of the early animal sacrifices before and under the law, i. 245, 246 — history of Scripture sacrifice shown to be con sistent throughout, i. 39-41 — the sacrifice, of those under the law, most particularly typical and illus trative of that of Christ, i. 41, 42. ii. 1, 2 — sacrifice of Christ, in what sense, and how far, vicarious, i. 43. Scripture Aecountof Sacrifices, Author of, — his scheme of Redemption, i. 131— his singular notion concern ing the pollution of the Sqape-Goat, &c, i. 241 — refuted, i. 225— admits that bearing sin, means bearing its punishment, in the case of one's own 528 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. sin, but not in that of another's, i. 292 — answered, i. 292-295 — his scheme of the origin and meaning of sacrifice, and the objection to it, i. 324, 325. Septuagint translation of Isaiah, in ferior to that of any other part of the Old Testament, i. 150 — the translation of Job also inaccurate, and takes great liberties with the original, i. 401 note, col. 2— collation of the various copies of the Septua gint by Dr. Holmes, i. 62, 63 notes. Sharp ( Granville) — has, in his letter on certain particularities of the Hebrew Syntax, made some excellent re marks on the converted future of the Hebrew, i. 391 note. Smith (Dr. Adam) — argues from the natural sentiments of mankind, in behalf of the reasonableness of inter cession and atonement, i. 136, 137 infected by his connexion with David Hume, i. 137, 138. 510 note — his opinion of the process whereby the use of general signs is acquired, controverted, i. 352 note. Smith (Elizabeth),— her translation of the book of Job, an extraordinary work, i. 419 note— extracts from and observations on that translation, ibid., 420 note— praise of her byBIrs. Hannah Blore, ii. 40 note. Socinians distinguished from Uni tarians, i. 99-101. 115 notes — their mode of interpreting Scripture de. scribed,!. 114. 123, 124. Spencer, — his error concerning the na ture and origin of sacrifice, i. 316. 324— his wrong interpretation of the ikXolfWKiia of St. Paul, i. 316 note — his argument derived from the use of the word i&iett in Heb. xi. 4. refuted, ibid. — his work built upon the Moreh Nevochim of Maimonides, i. 482, 483 — a dangerous guide in theology, 483 — refuted by several writers, i. 482. 485, 486— his re flections upon divine Revelation, i. 483 note. Stock (Dr., Bishop of Killala)— objects to the generally received idea of the antiquity of the book of Job, i. 305- 307 — h's objections shown to be un founded, i. 307-404 — his transla tion of Job, a hasty, imperfect, and highly objectionable performance, i. 432. 434— indulges too freely in con jectural emendations of the sacred text, i. 432-435. Students at Trinity College, Dublin, addresses to, i. lxxxv-xc. ii. 368- 370. 393, 394. Sykes objects to the doctrine of atonement on the ground of texts stating man's reconciliation to God, not that of God to man, i. 133 — states the texts uncandidly, i. 134 — his whole objection answered, i. 17-19- 131-135— his erroneous criticism on the phrase "for us," i. 160-163— contradicts himself inhis endeavours to prove, that Christ, when com pared to the Paschal lamb, was not said to be sacrificed, i. 199 — his arguments against the doctrine of atonement, on the ground of its im plying vicarious substitution, stated and answered, i. 229-236— his af firmation, that the imposition of hands implied nothing vicarious, considered, i. 238-241 — his denial that the scape-goat was a sin-offer ing, examined, i. 239-241. 297, 298 ¦ — refers to a text as proving de cisively that N1M signifies removing or taking away, which makes di rectly against him, i. 290 — his theory of sacrifice, i. 30. 326 — shown to be erroneous, i. 30. 326-331. 333- 342— contends for the permission of animal food before the Flood, 334 — this notion refuted, 333-342. Talbot (Earl, Lord Lieutenant), — letter of, to Dr. Magee, announcing his elevation to the episcopate, i. xliv — letter requesting the pub lication of his sermon preached be fore George IV., xlix. Taylor (Henry). See Ben Mordecai. Taylor (Dr. John, of Norwich), — his scheme of atonement, i. 118-121 — falls in with some of the principles of the Socinian, i. 118. 121, 122— his whole scheme but an artful INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 529 accommodation of Scripture phrases, i. 118. 121— his key a false one, ii. 31— his works imprudently recom mended by Bishops, i. 121— the errors of his scheme fully refuted by the author of the Scripture Account of Sacrifices, and by Dr. Richie's Criticisms on Modern Notions of Atonement, ibid.— and well pointed out in the Christian, Observer, ii. 31 note —difference between his scheme and that of H. Taylor, i. 122 — his familiar illustration of his scheme, i. 138— his unjustifiable mode of in vestigating the nature of the Levit- ical atonement, i. 208, 209 —his en deavour to do away the force of the phrase, bearing sins, fully examined, i. 265-303 - his erroneous criticism on the word fcttt»J and the weakness of his endeavour to show that it merely signifies removal, and not sustaining the penal consequences, of sin, i. 280-289 —is referred to by Mr. Belsham, but turns out too orthodox for him, and is afterwards relinquish ed by him, ii. 66, 67 notes. Texts of Scripture — supporting the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ, i. 48, 49— texts proving the plan of atonement to have arisen out of the divine mercy, i. 15, 16— texts, wrongly urged by Priestley, Sykes, and Taylor, inproof of the sufficiency of obedience per se, i. 126, 127 — texts representing man as forgiven freely, how to be understood, i. 127- 130— texts representing us as re conciled to God, not God as reconciled to us, misunderstood by Crellius, Sykes, H. and J. Taylor, and others, i. 18. 132-134-texts proving the displeasure of God againstthesinner, ¦explained, i. 18, 19. 135-213— texts proving the death of Christ to have been a propitiatory sacrifice, i. 19, 20. 146. 255, 256— texts proving the sacrifice of Christ to resemble the paschal sacrifice, i. 192-199 — texts proving that atonement, in the Old Testament, included the idea of averting the divine displeasure, and obtaining forgiveness, i. 213, VOL. II 214— two important texts cleared from the erroneous criticisms of Dr. Priestley, i. 145-156 —celebrated one in Isaiah liii. particularly ex amined, and its application by St. Matthew vindicated, i. 256-298— texts ascribing the bearing of sins to Christ's sacrifice, and explaining the manner in which this phrase is used in Scripture, i. 255-298 —texts in Isaiah liii. fully explanatory of the doctrine of atonement, i. 256- 263. 296-300— text in 1 Pet. ii. 24 erroneously referred to Isaiah liii. 4, i. 266. 299, 300 -texts an nouncing the principle of atonement, i. 299. 304 — texts proving the sacri fices of the law to be typical of that of Christ, i.31 , 32 —texts erroneously supposed to support the idea of the human invention of sacrifices, 349- 353 - text proving Abel's sacrifice to have had a reference to that of Christ, i. 33— text in Gen. iv. 7 explained, i. 36 - texts evincing the piacular virtue of the animal sacri fice, i. 37, 38 - texts referred to by Justin Martyr and the Apostolical Fathers, ii. 95-97— texts instanced, in which the Unitarian Version of the New Testament has departed from Primate Newcome without notice, and which bear vitally upon the Unitarian question, ii. 116, 117 —these and other texts which are disingenuously treated by the Uni tarians, considered, ii. 117-246: index of texts explained or referred to, ii. 50 1-5 J 4. Tillotson's (Archbishop) unjustifiable idea of the origin of Jhe plan of re demption by the sacrifice of Christ, i. 476-478 -confuted, i. 478-484— his mistaken supposition of a Re ligion of Nature, ibid, and notes hiswritingsrecommended by Locke, as supplying a model of perspicuity, 476 note. Tindal — his absurd objection, i. 31, 314— the use to which it may be applied, 315. Tolerance of .the church of England and Ireland, ii, 486-488. M M 530 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. Tomline( Bishop)— on Philip, ii. 6, 7, deserves particularly to be consulted, i. 47 — his judicious reflections on the endeavours of the Christian after perfection, i. 108 note— his excellent observations on subscription to the Articles of tlie Church, ii. 16. Townson (Dr.) — gives a good account of St. Blatthew's peculiar mode of citing the prophecies, i. 280. Trimmer (Mrs.)— a book falsely pub lished under her name by the Uni tarians, in order to introduce their heresy into schools, ii. 296, 297 mote. Unitarians — brief view of their scheme, i. 8, 9 —their notion of the sufficiency of the promulgation of forgiveness on repentance, erro neous, i. 9-11 — adopt a principle of reasoning in common with the Deist, i. 8— are equally unassailable, on the ground of Scripture, with the Deist, i. 11 — their strange expli- cation of texts of Scripture, i. 50- 57- ii. 29-73 — mode of reasoning subversive of everypossible interpre tation of Scripture, i. 58, 59. 114, 115 — called by Mr. Howes, Hu manists; and by Mr. Hobhouse, Humanitarians, i. 98 — favourers of Blahometanism, i. 88, 89— pretend to be exclusively worshippers of one God, i. 97- ii- 30 — their scheme fully explained by Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham, but most compen diously by the latter, i. 98. ii. 29 32. 68-70 and notes— their scheme diffi cult to describe, why, ii. 29, 30 — they disclaim the title of Socinians, i. 99 — go far beyond Socinus, i. 99- 101. ii. 39 and notes — explain awa~y the meaning of Scripture, i. 12, 13. 58, 59. 113 116 — represent the Sacred Writers as erroneous and unphilosophical, i. 113, 114 -differ little from the Theophilanthrope Deists, i. 114. ii. 44 — cannot form any canon of Scripture, why,-i. 116 — nature of their version of the New Testament, ii. 74-86 - in that version admit the substitutive force of the word ujr^j, i. 162 note — reject humility, i. 12. 104— agree with the Stoics in their proud notions of virtue, i. 117, 118— refer to each other boldly for proofs which have not been given, i. 270-272. 289, 290. ii. 64 — said to hold a pure Christianity, ii. 48 — said to be per secuted, ibid. — falsely said to be a progressive cause, ii. 52— likely to decrease in number, ibid. 55 —do not all follow up their principles, ii. 54, 55— in one way seem to increase in number, ii. 56 — naturally pass to Deism, ii. 53, 54. 58— how they contrive to retain the Bible, ii. 59 — they alone sound critics, and why, ii. 60 — disingenuous in their treatment of ancient authorities, ii. 92, 93 — avowedly reject the received use of language, ii. 108 mote— deprecate the application of critical learning to Scripture, and why, 109 note— dishonestly desert Primate Newcome in their ver sion, ii. 116. 246 mote — make a ca pricious use of the Greek article to establish their own doctrines, ii. 117-126 — make a dishonest use of Schleusner's authority, ii. 124 mote — have adopted an organization similar to the Wesleyan, ii. 112. 306 — their mode of interpreting Scripture, ii. 129-132 and notes- have contrived an expedient where by they can in terms appear to ad mit those doctrines of Scripture which they reject, ii. 1 46, 147 notes — make an unguarded confession of their dishonest artifices for this purpose, ibid. — quote Erasmus, Gro tius, Clarke, Griesbach, Cyprian, Hilary, Chrysostom, all unfairly, ii. 163-167 notes— cite Locke's au thority unfairly, ii. 168, 169 motes — employ such criticism as the old So cinians would have been ashamed of, ii. 171 note— put in an unfounded claim to the support of Locke and Grotius, ii. 175 note— not very for tunate in their references to the ancient Classics, ii. 195 mote— sub stitute the " wilderness " for the INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 531 " heaven " into which the old So cinians fancied our Lord tp have been carried up after his baptism, ii. 214 note — do not follow Gries bach, though they profess to do so, ii. 226 note — libel Marcion, whom they profess to admire, ii. 227 note — have grossly misrepresented Dr. Clarke, ii. 238-240 motes— the re ligion of Unitarians not the religion of truth, ii. 246-250— the absurdity of their arguments (especialy those of Mr. Belsham) in opposition to the genuineness of the first two chapters of Alatthew and Luke, fully exposed, ii. 250-288— the in decency of their manner of treating grave subjects and persons, in stanced in BIr. Belsham and BIr. Gilchrist, ii. 256, 257 notes— their blasphemous treatment of subjects the most awful, ii. 257, 258 motes — the credulity of illiterate Unitarians sadly abused by their popular writers, especially by BIr. Belsham, ii. 277-279 notes — to be distin guished into different classes, ii. 284 note. 292. 300-302— their at tempt to defend (by the pen of Mr. Belsham) their blunder concerning Herod, King of Judea, exposed, ii. 284-289— not so ignorant with re gard to Ephrem Syrus, of the sixth century, as they pretend to be, ii. 291, 292— their studiously disho nest use of a title which they admit does not properly belong to them, ii. 292-305— their false reports of distinguished individuals, and their fabrications of writings under false names, to gain proselytes, ii. 293- 298 notes - have made no progress in Ireland, and but little in Ame rica, ii. 293-299 — the true Priest- leyan Unitarians confessed by Mr. Belsham to be few in number, ii. 305 note — thay call upon all Dis senters to unite and overturn the Established Church, ii. 306, 307 — have adopted the unnatural plan of sending abroad missionaries to teach unbelief, ii. 307. Unitarian Version of the New Testa ment — of a latitude which embraces opinions subversive of Christian doctrines, ii. 74, 75 — insidiously professes to found itself on Arch bishop Newcome's translation, ii. 75 — effected by means of the usual apparatus of Unitarian exposition, ibid., 420 — avows the design of clearing away all the leading doc trines of the Gospel, ibid. — is en abled to take the widest liberties of translation by its systematic re jection of verbal criticism, ii. 16. 109 note — gets rid of the doctrine of the Incarnation by rejecting the opening chapters of St. Matthew and St. Luke, ii. 76— futile and contradictory grounds on which it attempts to maintain this rejection, ibid., 80, 81 — quotes Lardner's au thority in support of the opposite of that which he maintains, ii. 81, 82 — does this from a gross blunder in confounding the true and vulgar eras of the nativity, ii. 82— falls into another blunder concerning the age and character of Ephrem Syrus, ii. 83 — gives a most extra ordinary and absurd translation of the first chapter of St. John's Gos pel, ii. 84— gives an equally extra ordinary and absurd explanation of St. Stephen's address to Christ, ii. 85 — the whole of this new Version judiciously examined and exposed by Dr. Nares, i. 308 note. ii. 86. 108, 109 — also by Dr. Laurence and BIr. Rennell, ii. 109- proved to be grossly dishonest in its use of the Archbishop's name, ii. 112. 249 note — its extraordinary use of the terms THE Son of God and A Son of God, ii. 117-120 notes -its ab surd interpretation of Luke i. 35 fully exposed, ii. 117-134 -its ab surd interpretation and exposition of Rom. i. 1, 2 exposed, ii. 129- 133 note -its unscriptural observ ations on the two natures in Christ opposed to the authorities of Locke and Grotius, ii. 132 note — its erro neous exposition of John i. 12 ex posed, ii. 135-147 and notes— its M M 2 532 INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. erroneous exposition of John x. 18 exposed, ii. 135-138 — its erroneous exposition of John iii. 13 exposed, ii. 148-160 — its extraordinary glosses upon John iii. 13, iii. 31, vi. 38, and vi. 62, exhibited, ii. 152, 153 notes — its erroneous exposition of Rom. ix. 5 exposed, ii. 161-1 74 — its disingenuous manner of speak ing of the text in 1 Tim. iii. 16 noticed, ii. 161 mote — its erroneous exposition of 2 Cor. viii. 9 exposed, ii. 176-220 — its dishonest quotation of Wakefield, ii. 189-191 notes— its extraordinary exposition of Heb. xii. 25, 26 exposed, ii. 220-244 notes — its .extraordinary treatment of 1 Cor. x. 9 exposed, ii. 223-232 notes — its unjustifiable treatment of 1 Cor. xv. 47 exposed, ii. 234-237 notes — its strange jumble of all that relates to angels, spirits, and hea ven, and especially in the beginning .of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ii. .242-244 notes— a. mere travesty of the New Testament, ii. 107— the probable reason for adopting Pri- jnate Newcome's Version for its basis, in preference to Wakefield's, ii. 237 note. 246 note— follows the Primate with servility where Uni tarian tenets are not affected, ii. 246-248 motes— copies even his mis takes in such places faithfully, ibid. — Tie reason for selecting the Pri mate's Version openly confessed, ii. 248, 249 notes. Universdls — the various opinions con cerning their nature, i. 343-348 notes — Aristotle's views on this sub ject, just, i. 343, 344 note — excel lent remark upon this subject, by Mr. Dugald Stewart, i. 345 note. Veysie (BIr.) — his judicious remarks on the sense in which God is said to forgive men freely, i. 130— his just distinction on the subject of figurative allusion, i. 163-165. Fillers — gives, in his Essay on the Reformation, a dismal account of the ignorance of Scripture enforced by the Romish Church, i. 463 mote — contrasts the characters of the Protestant and Romish Churches, ibid., 464 note— convicts Hume of falsehoods in his charges against Luther, i. 520 mote. Viridet(Rev.Mr.) — his generous treat ment of BIr. Magee, i. xix, xx. — Mr. Blagee's gratitude to him, xxiii. Vitringa, — his erroneous notions re specting the passover, i. 200. 203- 205. Walker (Air.) — has given, in his Letter to Mr. Belsham, an excellent refutation of his reasoning, ii. 31. Warburton (Bishop),— his strange po sition that repentance must neces sarily entitle to forgiveness, i. 64. 479 note —his singular theory on the subject of Natural Religion, i. 478- 480 notes — his well-founded observa tions on Wesley, i. 110 mote — his paradoxical position concerning the language of the New Testament, i. 153 note — this well refuted by Dr. Leland, ibid., 154 note — his idea of the scenical nature of the intended sacrifice of Isaac, i. 253 note — his theory of Sacrifice, i. 30. 331 — his objections against the divine insti tution of sacrifice considered, i. 360 -364 — his extravagant notion con cerning the book of Job, i. 375 — his unjustifiable adoption of the opinions of Spencer and Maimonides, i. 482-484 — his severe castigation of Bolingbroke, i. 499 — characters given of him by Dr. Johnson, 484 mote— and by Dr. Graves, ibid. Ward's Errata— a meagre abstract of Gregory Blartin's ancient refuted work, i. 464 note — its recent re publication a proof of the low state of Scripture Criticism in the Romish Church, ibid. — specimen of its mi serable cavils against the Protestant translations of the Bible, ibid., 465 mote— answered by Dr. Ryan and Mr. Grier, i. 465 note— the danger to which these gentlemen are ex posed by their attempts to answer it, ibid. INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS. 533 Wardlaw(T>i\), — his just observations on the Unitarian exposition of Rom. ix. 5, ii. 174 note — his excellent re marks on the Unitarian notion of a mere man possessing divine power, ii. 205 — his just exposure of BIr. Belsham's absurd reasoning, ii. 257, 258 notes. Watson (Bp. of Landaff ),— his judi cious observation on the position that the doctrine of Atonement is inconsistent with the divine attri bute of mercy, i. 312 mote — his just expression of indignation against the presumption of opposing a fan cied philosophy to Apostolic au thority, ii. 71, 72 notes. Watts (Dr.), — his memory traduced by the Unitarians, ii. 295 note — and publications falsely issued by them as his, ii. 296, 297 notes. Wesley (John), — his followers hold opinions of perfection inconsistent with Christian humility, i. 1 04 note — speak contemptuously of the Clergy of the Established Church, ibid. — not remarkable for the justness and accuracy of their reasonings, i. 105 — their numbers rapidly increasing, and the reason why, ibid. — danger to the Establishment from the in judicious countenance given to them by some of its members, i. 105, 106 — change of the Liturgy and Ar ticles, and rejection of the Catechism, two of the Creeds, and many of the Psalms, by Mr. Wesley, i. 106 mote — the Articles rejected by him in consistent with his favourite doc trine of perfection, and the rejection derogatory to the dignity of Christ, i. 106 note. 109 and note— extrava gant dogmas maintained by him and his followers, i. 105 — proofs of this in the writings of Mr. Wesley, i. 108-11 1 —his latitudinarian prin ciples respecting doctrines, i. 110 — ¦ mischievous consequences to true religion, i. 111. Wilberforce (Mr.), — his Practical View, a book of high value, i. 60. 101 — defended against Dr. Parr, ii. 22 note — his eloquent description of the corruption of man's natural state, i. 102, 103— describes Uni. tarianism as a half way house to Infidelity, ii. 45. Williams, — in his Free Enquiry, as serts that there are no certain re ferences to the first two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel, till the days of Celsus, ii. 89— this assertion re futed, ibid. 90 — his strange assertion concerning the silence of the Apos tolical fathers on those chapters fully examined and confuted, ii. 91 -104— this writer exhibits a striking specimen of the disingenuousness of Unitarian critics, ii. 92, 93. Young (Dr. Matthew, Bishop of Clonfert),— biographical notice of, ii. 395, 396. III. INDEX OF THE EDITIONS OF SUCH BOOKS AS HAVE BEEN QUOTED BY- A BEPERENOE TO PAGES, OR OTHER APPROPRIATE MARKS, THROUGHOUT THE DISCOURSES AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE ATONEMENT. Abarbanel, Exord. Comm. in Levit. a De Veil . . . Lond. 1683 Acosta, History of East and West Indies .... Lond. 1604 Account of the Life and Writings of BIrs. Trimmer . . Lond. 1814 Alberti Observationes Philological Lugd. 1725 Allix's Judgment of the Ancient Jewish Church . . . Lond. 1690 Archasologia ........ Lond. 1770, &c. Asiatic Researches ....... Lond. 1806-1811 Augustinus, De Civitate Dei . ..... Francof. 1661 De Has-esibus (ed. Welchman) . . . Oxon. 1721 Balguy's Essay on Redemption Winch. 1785 Banier's Mythology, &c, of the Ancients .... Lond. 1739 Barbauld's (Mrs.) Remarks on Mr. Wakefield's Enquiry Lond. 1792 Barrett's Enquiry into the Origin of the Constellations Dublin, 1800 Barrington's Bliscellanea Sacra Lond. 1770 Batt on the Blessage from John the Baptist . . . Lond. 1789 Bayle's Dictionary ........ Lond. 1734 Beattie's Essay on the Nature of Truth .... Dublin, 1773 Beausobre and L'Enfant, New Version of St. Blatthew's Gospel. Camb. 1790 Belsham's Calm Inquiry .... ... Lond. 1811 Elements of the Philosophy of the Mind . Lond. 1801 Letters upon Arianism, &c. ..... Lond. 1808 Review of Wilberforce's Treatise . . . Lond. 1798 Ben Blordecai's Apology, by H. Taylor .... Lond. 1784 Berkeley's Works Dublin, 1784 Berriman's (J.) Bloyer's Lecture Lond. 1725 Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric Lond. 1789 Bocharti Opera Omnia Lugd. Batav. 1712 Bolingbroke's Philosophical Works Lond. 1754 Works Lond. 1754 Boyle Lectures Lond. 1739 536 BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE DISCOURSES Brissonius de Regio Persarum Principatu . . . Argent. 1710 Broughton's Dictionary of all Religions .... Lond. 1742 Bruckeri Historia Critica Philosophise .... Lips. 1766 Bryant's Observations relating to Antient History . . Camb. 1767 Philo Judaeus Camb. 1797 Buchanan's Memoir on an Ecclesiastical Establishment in India. Lond. 1805 Christian Researches in Asia .... Camb. 1811 Bulli Opera Lond. 1694 Burgess (Bishop), Brief Blemorial Durham, 1814 , The Bible, and nothing but the Bible . Carmarth. 1815 Burgh's Inquiry York, 1788 Burnet's Life of Bedel ....... Lond. 1685 Butler's Analogy of Religion, &c. Lond. 1798 Buxtorfii Dissertationes Philol. Theolog. .... Basil. 1662 Synagoga Judaica ....... Basil. 1680 Cesaris Opera Lond. 1712 Calixti Schoke Propheticse, ab Ernesti .... Quedlinb. 1713 Campbell's Four Gospels, &c Aberd. 1803 Carpenter's (Dr. Lant) Unitarianism the Doctrine of the Gospel (2d ed.) Lond. 1811 Capelli Critica Sacra Paris. 1650 Chapellow's Commentary on Job ..... Camb. 1752 Cicero . . Parisiis, 1684 Clarke's 'Works Lond. 1738 Paraphrase, &c. (3d ed.) Lond. 1717 Clavigero's History of Blexico Lond. 1737 Clemens Romanus, by Wotton ...... Cant. 1718 Cloppenburg, Sacrif. Patriarch. Schola Ludg. 1637 Costard's Two Dissert, on Kesitah and Hermes . . . Oxf. 1750 Coventry's Philemon to Hydaspes Lond. 1753 Crellius, Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum .... Irenop. 1656 Cudworth's Intellectual System Lond. 1743 Treatise concerning Eternal and Immutable Blorality. Lond. 1731 Cumberland's Sanchoniatho Lond. 1720 Cyrilli Alexandrini contra Julianum Lips. 1696 Dathii Opuscula Lips. 1796 Dawson's Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity invalidated . Lond. 1803 De Dieu (Ludov.), Animadversiones in Vet. Test. . Lugd. Bat. 1648 Delaney's Revelation examined with Candour . . . Dublin, 1732 De Rossi, Varise Lectiones Veteris Testamenti . . . Parma?, 1784 D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale ..... Blaestr. 1776 Dodson's New Translation of Isaiah Lond. 1790 Letter to Dr. Sturges Lond. 1791 Edwards's Survey of the Methods of Religion . . . Lond. 1699 Ellis's Knowledge of Divine Things, &c Lond. 1743 Elrington's Donnellan Lecture Sermons Dub. 1796 Eisner, Observationes Sacra; . . . . . Traj. ad Rhen. 1720 Ennius ed. Hess. 1707 AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE ATONEMENT. 537 Episcopii Opera Theologica Lond. 1678 Ernesti Institutio Interpretis N. T Lips. 1792 Erskine's Sketches and Hints of Church History . . . Edinb. 1790 Estlin's (Dr.) Unitarian Christian's Defence . . . Bristol, 1815 Eusebii Demonstratio Evangelica Colon. 1688 Praeparatio Evangelica Colon. 1688 Evanson's Dissonance of the Evangelists .... Ipswich, 1792 Exposure of the unwarrantable Liberties taken by Unitarians, &c. Glasgow, 1813 Fabricii Bibliotheca Graeca Hamb. 1705 Bibliotheca Latina Hamb. 1708 Delectus Argumentorum, &c Hamb. 1725 Lux Evangelii Hamb. 1731 Farmer's Enquiry into the Temptation .... Lond. 1761 Fellowes's Guide to Immortality Lond. 1804 Picture of Christian Philosophy . . . . Lond. 1803 Religion without Cant Lond. 1808 Fortuita Sacra Roterod. 1726 Gataker de Novi Instrumenti Stylo Lond. 1648 Geddes's Critical Remarks Lond. 1800 Gillies's Aristotle's Ethics and Politics Lond. 1804 Gisborne's Principles of Moral Philosophy .... Lond. 1790 Glassii Philologia Sacra a Dathio. Lips. 1776 Goguet's Origin of Laws, &c Edinb. 1775 Graves's Lectures on the Four Last Books of the Pentateuch Dublin, 1807 Gray's Key to the Old Testament Dublin, 1792 Griesbachii Nov. Test. Lond. 1809 Gregory's Lowth's Lectures Lond. 1787 Grey, Liber Jobi, a. Schultens ...... Lond. 1742 Grotii Opera Basil. 1732 Gussetii Comment. Lingua? Ebraica? Amstel. 1702 Hales's Methodism Inspected .... Dublin, 1803 and 1805 Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws Lond. 1776 Hallet's Notes and Discourses ...... Lond. 1729 Harris's Comment, on the 53d Ch. of Isaiah .... Lond. 1735 Hermes Dublin, 1773 Haynes's (Hopton) Scripture Account, &c, ed. 4 . Hackney, 1815 Heath's Essay towards a Version of Job .... Lond. 1756 Heidegger, Historia Patriarcharum Sacra .... Amstel. 1667 Heliodori ^thiopica Francof. 1631 Hey's Lectures in Divinity Cambr. 1796 Hobbes's Leviathan Lond. 1651 Hodge's Elihu Dublin, 1757 Hodii de Versionibus Grsecis, &c Oxon. 1705 Holmes's Four Tracts ........ Oxon. 1788 Horsley's Hosea Lond. 1 804 Hottingeri Smegma Orientale Heidelb. 1658 538 BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE DISCOURSES Howes's Critical Observations — (Number 1.) - . . ¦ Lond. 1776 N.B. The remaining numbers of the 4 Volumes published at intervals through a period of about 14 years. Huetii Demonstratio Evangelica Francof. 1722 Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion . . . Lond. 1779 Essays and Treatises Dublin, 1779 History of England Blontrose, 1796 Hyde, Historia Religionis Veterum Persarum .... Oxon. 1760 Jablonski, Pantheon jEgyptiacum Francof. 1750 Jennings's Jewish Antiquities Lond. 1766 Job, Book of, translated by Miss Smith .... Bath, 1810 Jones (Jerem.) on the Canon of the N. T. . . . Lond. 1726 Jornandes De Rebus Geticis — Cassiodori Opera . . . Aurel. 1622 Jortin's Remarks on Eccles. History .... Lond. 1773 Life of Erasmus Lond. 1760 Josephus, Opera ed. Hudson. Oxon. 1720 translated by L'Estrange Lond. 1702 Ittigius de Hasresiarchis . Lipsias, 1690 Juliani Opera Lipsias, 1696 Justini Martyris Apologise Dua? Lond. 1722 Kennicott's Remarks on Select Passages State of the Hebrew Text . Two Dissertations . Kidder's Commentary on the Five Books of Moses Koecheri Analecta Krebsii Observationes e Flavio Josepho Oxf. 1737 . Oxf. 1753 Oxf. 1747 Lond. 1694 Altenburg. 1766 . Lips. 1575 Laplace, Exposition du Systcme du Blonde . . . Paris 1798 Traite de MecaniqUe Celeste Paris 1798 Lardner's Works, by Kippis Lond. 1788 Lavoisier's Elements of Chemistry Edinb. 1793 Laurence (Dr.) on the Logos Oxf. 1808 Critical Reflections on the Unitarian Version of the N. T. Oxf. 1811 Remarks upon the Systematic Classification of Griesbach Oxf. 1814 Law's Theory of Religion Camb_ 17y4 Layman's Letters to Mr. Wilberforce Lond. 1799 Le Clerc, Novum Testamentum Francof. 1714 Leland's Christian Revelation Lond. 1764 Less on the Authenticity of the N. T. by Kingdon . . . Lond. 1804 Leslie's Theological Works Francof.' 1721 Letters from a late Eminent Prelate Lond. 1809 Lightfoot's Works Lond>' 1684 Lindsey's Apology Dubjill) W5 Sequel to Apology Lond- 17y6 Lloyd's Christian Theology Lond. 1804 Loccenii Antiquitates Suevo Gothics Holm. 1647 AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE ATONEMENT. 539 Loccenii Historia Rerum Suecicarum .... Francof. 1676 Locke's Works Lond. 1768 Loesneri Observ. ad N. T. e Philone Alexandrino . . Lipsiae, 1 777 London (Bishop of), Charge Lond. 1815 Lowth, De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum .... Oxon. 1753 Letter to Warburton Lond. 1766 — Translation of Isaiah Perth, 1793 Maimonides De Cultu Divino Parisiis, 1671 — — Bloreh Nevochim, a. Buxtorfio . . . Basil. 1629 De Pcenitenti, a. Wavering .... Oxon. 1705 De Sacrifices, a De Veil .... Lond. 1683 Blallet's Northern Antiquities Lond. 1770 Maltby's Illustrations of the Christ. Religion . . . Camb. 1803 Blarsh's Course of Lectures, parts i. ii. iii. . Camb. 1809, 1810. 1813 Marshami Canon Chronicus ....... Franeq. 1696 Martinii Sinica Historia Amstel. 1659 Mason's Works of Gray Lond. 1807 Maurice's Indian Antiquities Lond. 1794 Blede's Works Lond. 1672 Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke Lond. 1752 Meuschen, Novum Testamentum, ex Talmude . . . Lips. 1736 MichaeMs (J. D.), Grammatica Syriaca .... Hake, 1784 Introduction to the N. T. (by Marsh) . . . Camb. 1793 Notae et Epimetra Oxon. 1763 Blickle's (Camoens) Lusiad Dublin, 1791 Bliddleton's Doctrine of the Greek Article . . Lond. 1808 Millii Novum Testamentum (ed. Kuster) .... Roterod. 1710 Mirabaud, Systeme de la Nature Lond. 1781 Blontucla, Histoire des Mathematiques .... Paris, 1758 More's (Hannah) Crelebs Lond. 1809 Hints for a Young Princess . . . Lond. 1805 Works Dublin, 1803 Morgan's Moral Philosopher Lond. 1737 Blorini Exercitationes de Lingua Primaeva . . . Ultraject. 1 694 Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History Lond. 1765 Nares's Bampton Lecture Sermons Oxf. 1795 Remarks on the Version of the N. T. by the Unitarians Lond. 1810 (2d ed.) .... Lond. 1814 Newcome's (Archhp.) Historical View of the English Biblical Trans lations ¦ Dublin, 1792 Newton's Chronology Lond. 1728 Nichols's Conference with a Theist Lond. 1723 Noldii Concordantias Particularum Ebrjearum . . . Jenae. 1735 Notfs Bampton Lecture Oxf. 1803 Orford's (Lord) Works .... . Lond. 1798 Origen against Celsus, by Bellamy ..... Lond. Orme's History of Indostan Lond. 1 803 540 BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE DISCOURSES Outram De Sacrifices Amstel. 1688 Owen on the Hebrews, abridged by Williams . . ¦ . Loud. 1790 Owen's Modes of Quotation Lond. 1789 PaLairet, Observationes Philologico-Criticae . . . Lugd. J 752 Paley's Moral and Political Philosophy .... Dublin, 1793 Parr's Spital Sermon Lond. 1804 Patrum Apostolicorum Opera, cura Ric. Russell . . Lond. 1746 Pauw Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains . . Berl. 1768 Pearce's (Bishop) Commentaries and other Writings . Lond. 1777 Pearson on the Creed Lond. 1715 Vindiciae Epist. S. Ignat Cantab. 1673 Pearson's Critical Essay on the Sixth Book of the Divine Legation Camb. 1808 Peirce's Paraphrase Lond. 1733 Percival's Father's Instructions, part iii. .... Lond. 1800 Peters's Critical Dissert, on Job Lond. 1754 Pfochenii Diatribe de Lingua Graeca N. T. ... Amstel. 1 633 Phavorini Lexicon ....... Basil. 1538 Philonis Opera Parisiis, 1640 Photii Bibliotheca Rothom. 1653 Pilkington's Remarks, &c Camb. 1759 Platonis Opera Francof. 1602 Plauti Opera (Lambini) Paris. 1577 Plutarchi Opera Francof. 1620 Pocock's Theological Works Lond. 1740 Porphyrins de Abstinentia Lugd. 1623 Powell's Discourses on various Subjects .... Lond. 1776 Pretyman's Elements of Christian Theology . . . Lond. 1 800 Price's Four Dissertations Lond. 1768 Review of Blorals Lond. 1769 Priestley's History of Corruptions, &c. .... Birming. 1782 Notes on Scripture Northumb. 1802 Tracts in Controversy with Bishop Horsley (by Belsham) Lond. 1815 Protestant Apology for the R. C. Church .... Dublin, 1809 Randolph's Sermons in Advent ..... Lond. 1801 Raphelii (G.) Annot. in Sacr. Script. . . . Lugd. Batav. 1747 Reid's Essays on the Intellect. Powers Dublin, 1786 Remarks on Hume's Essay on the Nat. Hist, of Religion . Dublin, 1777 Rennell's Discourses on various Subjects .... Dublin, 1801 Richardson's Dissertation on the Language of Eastern Nations Oxf. 1770 Richie's Criticism on Modern Notions of Sacrifice . . Lond. 1761 Peculiar Doctrines of Revelation . . . Warringt. 1766 Rosenmiiller (J. G.) Scholia in Nov. Test. . Norimberg. 1792, &c. Sale's Koran Bath, 1795 Schnurrer, Dissert. Philolog. Criticae Gothea?. 1790 Scholar Armed Lond. 1795 AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE ATONEMENT. 541 Schultens, Liber Jobi Lugd. Batav. 1737 Origines Hebraea? Francof. 1724 Scripture Account of Sacrifices (by Portal) .... Lond. 1755 Semleri Apparatus ad Liberalem N. T. Interpretationem. Halas Blagdeb. 1767 Senecae Opera Amstel. 1.672 Shaw's Travels in Barbary and the Levant .... Oxf. 1738 Sherlock's Use of Prophecy ...... Lond. 1749 Shuckford's Connexion of Sacred and Profane History . . Lond. 1743 Simon, Critique de la Bibliotheque et des Prolegomenes de Dupin. Paris, 1790 Critical History of the O. T Lond. 1682 Simpson's (Rev. David) Plea for the Deity of Jesus . . Lond. 1812 Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments Lond. 1759 Socini Opera (Biblioth Fratr. Polon.) .... Irenop. 1656 Socinianism Unmasked ........ Lond. 1815 Spanhemii Historia Jobi Lugd. 1672 Spearman's Letters on the Septuagint Edinb. 1759 Spencer, De Legibus Hebraeorum Cantab. 1727 Discourse on Prodigies Lond. 1665 Stebbing's Examination of Warburton . Lond. 1747 Stewart's (Dugald) Elem. of the Philos. of the Human Blind Lond. 1792 Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae Lond. 1724 Sermons on several Occasions ...... Lond. 1673 Stock's Isaiah • Bath, 1803 Job Bath, 1805 Strabo Amstel. 1707 Stuart's View of Society in Europe .... Lond. 1782 Suiceri Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus ..... Amstel. 1682 Suidae Historica Basil. 1564 Sykes's Essay on Sacrifices Lond. 1748 Essay on the Truth of the Christ. Relig. . . Lond. 1725 . Scripture Doctrine of Redemption .... Lond. 1756 Taciti Opera, ed. Brotier Theological Repository, vols. 1 , 2, 3 vols. 4, 5, 6 . Thesaurus Temporum cum Jos. Scalig. Animadv. Tindal's Christianity as Old asthe Creation . Tillotson's Works Townsan's Discourses on the Gospels Tyrwhitt's Commentaries and Essays Paris. 1771 Lond. 1795 Birm. 1784. 1786. 1788 Amstel. 1658 Lond. 1732 Lond. 1728 Oxf. 1788 . • . . Lond. 1782 [Unitarian] Version of the New Testament Universal History (Ancient) Lond. 1808 Dublin, 1745 Van Mildert's Boyle Lecture Sermons Velthusen, &c, Comment. Theologicae Venema, Opuscula Inedita Veysie's Bampton Lecture Defence of the Preservative Lond. 1806 Lips. 1794-1798 Leovardiae, 1778 Oxf. 1795 Exeter, 1810 542 BOOKS REFERRED TO IN THE DISCOURSES, ETC. Villier's Essay on the Reformation (Blills) .... Lond. Vitringae Comment, in Jesaiam Leov. Volney"s Ruins Lond. Vorstius de Hebraismis N. T Amstel. Vossius (Ger. J.) De Theologia Gentili et Idololatria . . Francof. Disputatio Gemina ..... Amstel. Wakefield's Inquiry into the Opinions of the First Three Centuries ......... Lond. Translation of the New Test. . . . Lond. Warbuiton's Divine Legation ...... Lond. Principles of Natural and Rev. Kelig. . . Lond. Wardlaw's Discourses on the Soeinian Controversy . . Glasg. Walker's Letter to Belsham Dublin, Ward's Errata of the Protestant Bible .... Dublin, Watson's (Bp. of Llandaff ) Two Apologies, &c. . . . " Lond. Wesley's (John) Sunday Service of the Methodists . . Lond. Wesley (Samuel), Dissertationes in Librum Jobi . . Lond. Whitaker's Origin of Arianism Lond. White's Commentary on Isaiah ...... Lond. Wilberforce's Practical View ...... Lond. Williams's Free Enquiry into the 1st and 2d Chapters of St. Blatthew .......... Lond. Wilson's Illustration of the Method of explaining the New Testa ment Camb. Winder's History of Knowledge Lond. Windet, De Vita Functorum Statu Lond. Witsii Egyptiaca Herb. Nassav. Bliscellanea Sacra ...... Herb. Nassav. Wolfiii Cura; Philological ....... Hamb. Wollaston's Religion of Nature ...... Lond. Young's Centaur not Fabulous Dublin, 1803 1714 17951665 1668 1643 1784 17951738 1753 1814 17991807 1806 1790 1736 17911709179717891797 1745 1677 17171712 17331725 1755 O. Woodfall and hon, Printers, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London. NEW EDITIONS OF THE FOLLOWING WORKS HAVE BEEN LATELY PUBLISHED BY T. CADELL, STRAND. The HISTORY of the CHURCH of CHRIST. By the late Rev. JOSEPH MILNER, A.M., with Additions and Corrections, by the late Rev. ISAAC MILNER, D.D., F.R.S., Dean of Carlisle, and President of Queen's College, Cambridge. New Edition, in Four Volumes, 8vo, price 21. Ss. boards. The HISTORY of the CHURCH of CHRIST, from the Diet of Augs- burgh to the 18th Century; in continuation of MILNER'S HISTORY of the CHURCH of CHRIST. By the Rev. HENRY STEBBING, D.D. Volumes 1 and 2, 8vo, price 12s. each. Volume 3, to complete the Work, is in the press. ANALECTA THEOLOGICA : a Critical, Philological, and Exegetical Commentary on the NEW TESTAMENT: adapted to the Greek Text; compiled and di gested from the most approved sources, British and Foreign ; and so arranged as to exhibit the comparative weight of the different opinions of disputed Texts. By the Rev. WILLIAM TROLLOPE, M.A., of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and formerly one of the Masters of Christ's Hospital. New Edition, in two thick volumes, 8vo, price 1/. 12s. cloth boards. ELEMENTS of CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY; containing Proofs of the Authenticity and Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; a Summary of the History of the Jews; a Brief Statement of the Contents of the several Books of the Old and New Testaments ; a Short Account of the English Translations of the Bible, and of the Liturgy of the Church of England ; and a Scriptural Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. By the late GEORGE TOMLINE, D.D., F.R.S-, Lotd Bishop of Winchester. 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A MANUAL of BIBLICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, handsomely printed in One Volume 8vo.— This MANUAL constitutes the Appendix to the "second Volume of Mr. Horne's *' Introduction." In consequence of very numerous applications made for it in a separate form since the publication of the Seventh Edition of that Work, a limited impression has been taken off, for the accommodation of Booksellers and others who are engaged in Biblio graphical Researches. Price 12s. cloth boards. DEISM REFUTED ; or, Plain Reasons for being a Christian. Seventh Edition, corrected and enlaged, 12mo, price 5s. A MANUAL for the AFFLICTED ; comprising a Practical Essay on Affliction, and a Series of Meditations and Prayers. Second Edition, corrected and en larged, handsomely printed in 18mo, on a very clear type, price 3s. 6d. in extra cloth boards. "* A MANUAL of PAROCHIAL PSALMODY, adapted to the Services of the Church of England, for every Sunday and Festival throughout the Year. 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