thing can be," and the word was God," John i. as also in denying his being from the beginning, against the very tenour of that of John i. and divers others, as at large is shewn in the third chapter of this treatise.-Again, Question, But what Scriptures prove the Divinity of Christ, against such as falsely deny the same? Answer, "And the word was God." "Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." Catechism, 1673. 17. After quoting the texts, "No man knoweth the Father, but the Son, or he to whom the Son will reveal him:" "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me;" he adds, "Hence he is fitly called the mediator betwixt God and man. For having been with God from all eternity, being himself God, and also in time partaking of the nature of man, through him, is the goodness and love of God conveyed to mankind, and by him again man receiveth and partaketh of these mercies." Apology, Lat. 1676. Eng. 1678, p. 10. 18. His (John Brown's) next perversion is yet more gross and abusive, p. 238, where from my denying That we equal ourselves to that holy man, the Lord Jesus Christ, &c. in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily;" he concludes, "I affirm him to be no more than a holy man; and because I use the words plenitudo Divinitatis, that I deny his Deity,which is an abominable falsehood. I detest that doctrine of the Socinians, and deny there is any ground for their distinction; and when I confess him to be a holy man, I deny him not to be God, as this man most injuriously would insinuate; for I confess him to be really both true God, and true man." Reply to John Brown's Examination of his Apology. From RICHARD CLARIDGE. 19. We do also believe that he (Christ) was and is both God and man, in wonderful union, not a God by creation or office, as some hold, nor man by the assumption of a human body only, without a reasonable soul, as others; nor that the manhood was swallowed up of the Godhead, as a (Ed. 1795.) 21. When the priest (Geo. Brooks) was speaking of the Trinity, T. Salthouse had asked him, where that word was to be found in the Scriptures; saying farther, "I know no such Scripture that speaks of the three persons in the Trinity; but the three that the Scripture speaks of, are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these Three are One." Page 211, (1655) Vol. I. 22. Extract from a Paper printed in 1693, entitled "The Christian Doctrine, and Society of the People called Quakers, cleared," &c. We sincerely profess faith in God by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, as being our light and life, our only way to the Father, and also our only mediator and advocate with the Father. That God created all things; he made the worlds, by his Son Jesus Christ, he being that powerful and living word of God by whom all things were made; and that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit are one, in divine Being inseparable; one true, living, and eternal God blessed for ever. We sincerely confess (and believe in) Jesus Christ, both as he is true God, and perfect man, &c. That divine honour and worship is due to the Son of God; and that he is, in true faith to be prayed unto, and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ called upon, (as the primitive Christians did) because of the glorious union or oneness of the Father and the Son, &c. Page 542 and 546, Vol. II. Signed by George Whitehead and Seven other Friends. P.S. I have to apologise for occupying so much room; but in the words of a writer whom I have before quoted, "the trouble of transcribing prevents the accumulation of extracts, (which might be carried to the extent of a folio volume,) of matter illustrative of the sentiments of the primitive Quakers, in which no Unitarian could possibly unite." SIR, May 22, 1817. WAS at the time when it first ap 578,] much pleased with and interested in the success of Doctor Thomson's admirable plan of establishing funds, to be subscribed in small weekly or quarterly sums, by the members of our numerous churches, for the purpose of assisting poor congregations in carrying on their worship, building chapels, supporting aged ministers, and other Unitarian purposes; and I hardly need say how highly gratified, to find his ideas so judiciously acted upon by our brethren at Birmingham and Swansea. I earnestly and confidently hope that this excellent example will be followed without a single exception, by the members of every place of Unitarian worship in the island: it will be a present bond of union amongst us, and a most powerful means of promoting the great cause, from which all who justly appreciate the efficacy of thetruth as it is in Jesus," look for the reformation of the Christian, and the conversion of the Jewish and Heathen world. Unitarians seem hitherto to have worked only by hand; and though some have laboured hard, and done much, still the business has been imperfectly and heavily carried on. But the general adoption of this admirable plan, will set a powerful machine in motion, which will execute all that we want, by the assistance of all, and without requiring the painful exertion of any, I am, with ardent wishes for the spread of genuine Scripture doctrines, M. H. The Spaniard's Letters from England. (Continued from p. 284.) 7. English Clergy-Clerical Traders. HE sermon is read, not recited, trade to supply the priests with discourses, and sermons may be bespoken upon any subject, at prices proportioned to the degree of merit required, which is according to the rank of the congregation to whom they are to be addressed. One clergyman of Cambridge has assisted his weaker brethren, by publishing outlines which they may fill up, and which he calls rank, to accommodate them still further, prints discourses at full, in the written alphabet, so as to appear like manuscript to such of the congregation as may chance to see them. The manuscripts of a deceased clergy; man are often advertised for sale, and it is usually added to the notice, that they are warranted original; that is, that no other copies have been sold, which might betray the secret. These shifts, however, are not resorted to by the more respectable clergy; it is not uncommon for these to enter into a commercial treaty with their friends of the profession, and exchange their compositions. But even with this reinforcement, the regular stock is usually but scanty; and if the memory of the parishioners be good enough to last two years, or perhaps half the time, they recognise their old acquaintance at their regular return. If, however, this custom be burthensome to one part of the clergy, they who have enough talents to support more vanity fail not to profit by it, and London is never without a certain number of popular preachers. I am not now speaking of those who are popular among the sectarians, or because they introduce sectarian doctrines into the church; but of that specific character among the regular English clergy, which is here denominated a popular preacher. You may well imagine, that, as the tree is known by its fruits, I have not a Luis de Granada, nor an Antonio Vieyra to describe. Threadbare garments of religious poverty, eyes weakened by incessant tears of contrition, or of pious love, and cheeks withered by fasting and penitence, would have few charms for Tnor delivered extemporaneously; that part of the congregation for whom which is one main difference between the regular English clergy and the sectarians. It has become a branch of Thomas Prichard. the popular preacher of London curls his forelock, studies gestures at his looking-glass, takes lessons from some stage-player in his chamber, and displays his white hand and white hand kerchief in the pulpit. The discourse vice, at the choice of the people, and supported by them at a voluntary expense, the appointment is in their hands as a thing distinct from the cure; it is decided by votes, and the election usually produces a contest which is carried on with the same ardour, and leaves behind it the same sort of dissension among friends and neighbours, as a contested election for parliament. But the height of the popular preacher's ambition is to obtain a chapel of his own, in which he rents out pews and single seats by the year: and here he does not trust wholly to his own oratorical accomplishments; he will have a finer-tuned organ than his neighbour, singers better trained, double doors, and stoves of the newest construction, I met to keep it comfortably warm. one of these chapel-proprietors in company; self-complacency, good humour, and habitual assentation to every body he met with, had wrinkled his face These gentlemen have two ends in into a perpetual smile. He said he view; the main one is to make a for- had lately been expending all his ready tune by marriage, one of the evils money in religious purposes; this he this of a married clergy. It was for- afterwards explained as meaning that merly a doubt whether the red coat or he had been fitting up his chapel; the black one, the soldier or the priest," and I shall think myself very badly had the best chance with the ladies: off," he added, "if it does not bring if, on the one side, there was valour, me in fifty per cent." there was learning on the other; but since volunteering has made scarlet so commou, black carries the day;-ce dunt arma toga. The customs of England do not exclude the clergyman from any species of amusement; the popular preacher is to be seen at the theatre and at the horse-race, bearing his part at the concert and the ball, making his court to old ladies at the card-table, and to young ones at the harpsichord: and in this way, if he does but steer clear of any flagrant crime or irregularity, (which is not always the case, for this order, in the heretical hierarchy, has had more than one Lucifer,) he generally succeeds in finding some widow, or waning spinster, with weightier charms than youth and beauty. His other object is to obtain what is called a lectureship in some wealthy parish; that is, to preach an evening sermon on Sundays, at a later hour than the regular service, for which the parishioners pay by a subscription. As this is an addition to the established ser * Pedir peras al olmo. 8. Frequent Executions for Forgery. The most The frequent executions for forgery in England are justly considered by the humane and thinking part of the people, as repugnant to justice, shocking to humanity, and disgraceful to the nation. Death has been the uniform punishment in every case, though it is scarcely possible to conceive a crime capable of so many modifications of guilt in the criminal. powerful intercessions have been made for mercy, and the most powerful arguments urged in vaiu; uo iustance has ever yet been known of pardon. A Doctor of Divinity was executed for it in the early part of the present reign, who, though led by prodigality to the commission of the deed for which he suffered, was the most useful as well as the most popular of all their preachers. Any regard to his clerical character was, as you may well suppose, out of the question in. this land of schism; yet earnest entreaties were made in his behalf. The famous Dr. Johnson, of whom the English boast as the great ornament of his age, and as one of the best and wisest men whom their country has ever produced, and of whose piety it will be sufficient praise to say that he was almost a Catholic,-he strenuously exerted himself to procure the pardon of this unfortunate man, on the ground that the punishment exceeded the measure of the offence, and that the life of the offender might usefully be passed in retirement and penitence. Thousands who had been benefited by his preaching petitioned that mercy might be shewn him, and the Queen herself interceded, but in vain. During the interval between his trial and his execution, he wrote a long poem, entitled Prison Thoughts; a far more extraordinary effort of mind than the poem of Villon, composed under similar circumstances, for which, in an age of less humanity, the life of the author was spared. Had the punishment of Dr. Dodd been proportioned to his offence, he would have been no object of pity; but when he suffered the same death as a felon or a murderer, compassion overpowered the sense of his guilt, and the people universally regarded him as the victim of a law inordinately rigorous. It was long believed that his life had been preserved by connivance of the executioner; that a waxen figure had been buried in his stead, and that he had been conveyed over to the Continent. More persons have suffered for this offence since the law has been enacted than for any other crime. In all other cases palliative circumstances are allowed their due weight; this alone is the sin for which there is no remission. No allowance is made for the pressure of want, for the temptation which the facility of the fraud holds out, nor for the difference between offences against natural or against political law. More merciless than Draco, or than those inquisitors who are never mentioned in this country without an abhorrent expression of real or affected humanity, the commercial legislators of England are satisfied with nothing but the life of the offender who sins against the Bank, which is their Holy of Holies. They sacrificed for this offence one of the ablest engravers in the kingdom, the inventor of the dotted or chalk engraving. A mechanic has lately suffered who had made a machine to go without horses, and proved its suc. cess by travelling in it himself about forty leagues. A man of respectable family and unblemished conduct has just been executed in Ireland, because, when reduced by unavoidable misfortunes to the utmost distress, he committed a forgery to relieve his family from absolute want. 9. Miserable Condition of the English Poor. The beadsman at the convent door receives a blessing with his pittance, but the poor man here is made to feel his poverty as a reproach; his scanty relief is bestowed ungraciously, and ungraciously received; there is neither charity in him that gives, nor gratitude in him that takes. Nor is this the worst evil: as each parish is bound to provide for its own poor, an endless source of oppression and litigation arises from the necessity of keeping out all persons likely to become chargeable. We talk of the liberty of the English, and they talk of their own liberty; but there is no liberty in England for the poor. They are no longer sold with the soil, it is true; but they cannot quit the soil, if there be any probability or suspicion that age or infirmity may disable them. If in such a case they endeavour to remove to some situation where they hope more easily to maintain themselves, where work is more plentiful, or provisions cheaper, the overseers are alarmed, the intruder is apprehended as if he were a criminal, and sent back to his own parish. Wherever a pauper dies, that parish must be at the cost of his funeral: instances therefore have not been wanting, of wretches in the last stage of disease having been hurried away in an open cart upon straw, and dying upon the road. Nay, even women in the very pains of labour have been driven out, and have perished by the way-side, because the birth-place of the child would be its parish. Such acts do not pass without reprehension; but no adequate punishment can be inflicted, and the root of the evil lies in the laws. When volunteer forces were raised over the kingdom, the poor were excluded; it was not thought safe to trust them with arms. But the peasantry are, and ought to be, the strength of every country; and woe to that country where the peasantry and the poor are the same! Many causes have contributed to the increase of this evil. The ruinous wars of the present reign, and the oppressive system of taxation pursued by the late premier, are among the principal. But the manufacturing system is the main cause; it is the inevitable tendency of that system to multiply the number of the poor, and to make them vicious, diseased, and miserable. To answer the question concerning the comparative advantages of the savage and social states, as Rousseau has done, is to commit high treason against human nature, and blasphemy against Omniscient goodness; but they who say that society ought to stop where it is, and that it has no further amelioration to expect, do not less blaspheme the one, and betray the other. The improvements of society never reach the poor: they have been stationary, while the higher classes were progressive. The gentry of the land are better lodged, better accommodated, better educated than their ancestors; the poor man lives in as poor a dwelling as his forefathers when they were slaves of the soil, works as hard, is worse fed, and not better taught. His situation, therefore, is relatively worse. There is, indeed, no insuperable bar to his rising into a higher order his children may be tradesmen, merchants, or even nobles -but this political advantage is no amendment of his actual state. The best conceivable state for man is, that wherein he has the full enjoyment of all his powers, bodily and intellectual. This is the lot of the higher classes in Europe; the poor enjoys neither-the savage only the former. If, therefore, religion were out of the question, it had been happier for the poor man to have been born among savages, than in a civilized country, where he is in fact the victim of civilization. 10. Mercenary Conduct of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. Some five-and-twenty or thirty years ago the best English artists offered to paint pictures and give them to this cathedral;-England had never greater painters to boast of than at that time. The thing, however, was not so easy as you might imagine, and it was necessary to obtain the consent of the bishop, the chapter, the lord mayor, and the king. The king loves the arts, VOL. XII. 2 z and willingly consented; the lord mayor and the chapter made no objection; but the bishop positively refused; for no other reason, it is said, than because the first application had not been made to him. Perhaps some puritanical feeling may have been mingled with this despicable pride, some leaven of the old Iconoclastic and Lutheran barbarism; but as long as the names of Barry and of Sir Joshua Reynolds are remembered in this country, and remembered they will be as long as the works and the fame of a painter can endure, so long will the provoking absurdity of this refusal be execrated.* 11. Dissenters“ Socinians.” † I have related in my last how the Dissenters, from the republican tendency of their principles, became again obnoxious to government during the present reign; the ascendancy of the old high church and tory party, and the advantages which have resulted to the true religion. Their internal state has undergone as great a change. One part of them has insensibly lapsed into Socinianism, a heresy, till of late years, * A story, even less honourable than this to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's is current at this present time, which if false should be contradicted, and if true should be generally known. Upon the death of Barry the painter, it was wished to erect a tablet to his memory in this cathedral, and the dean and chapter were applied to for permission so to do; the answer was, that the fee was a thousand pounds. In reply to this unexpected demand, it was represented that Barry had been a poor man, and that the monument was designed by his friends as a mark of respect to his genius: that it would not be large, and consequently might stand in a situation where there was not room for a larger. Upon this it was answered, that, in consideration of these circumstances, perhaps five hundred pounds A second remonstrance might be taken. was made the chapter was convened to consider the matter, and the final answer was, that nothing less than a thousand pounds could be taken. If this be false it should be publicly contradicted, especially as any thing dishonourable will be readily believed concerning St. Paul's, since Lord Nelson's coffin was shown there in the grave for a shilling a head.-TR. This passage was quoted in our ac count of The Spaniard's Letters on their first appearance, M. Repos. II., 500. ED. |