were encouraged, and the Scriptures in French and English in parallel columns were printed at his own expense for general distribution. "That he was a disinterested and incorruptible friend of Haytian freedom is beyond all dispute. He rejected, when only a subordinate general, all the splendid baits held out to his ambition by Buonaparte. He was found the same upright and inflexible patriot by Malouet and Louis. In both instances he braved all the terrors of exterminatory war, when the alternative was wealth and honour, and even the chief command of the island for himself, but slavechains and whips and drivers for the peasantry of Hayti." In short, when we consider his whole history, raised as he had been from the debasing condition of a West-Indian bondsman to the command of armies and to the possession of absolute power, and the disadvantages of various kinds with which he had to contend; and call to mind his distinguished military achievements, the propriety and dignity with which he exercised the functions of government, and his unwearied efforts to improve the intellectual and moral state of his countrymen, we may fairly regard him as entitled to rank among the eminent men who have brightened the page of history in different ages of the world.

SIR,

Bloxam,

March 28, 1821. AVING seen Dr. Priestley's

Hlarge work on the Person of our Lord, and part of his History of the Christian Church, I sent him a letter, dated 1791, in which I suggested some things concerning the pre-existence of Christ, and of his being employed in creating our world; observing, that a person who was employed by the Supreme Being to create loaves and fishes, and eyes and limbs, might also be employed to create a world; that some of our Lord's miracles contained in them real creation; for that no person, when he wrought them, saw mat

nest exhortation to all, and especially to philosophical Christians, not to fall into the same error, by making Scripture bend to their philosophical principles.

His answer, which has no date, is as follows:

"REV. SIR,

"I am not able to read the letter you was so good as to write to me, as I use a different short-hand, but Mr. Scholefield read it to me.

"I am far from saying that it is impossible that Christ may have pre-existed; but I say it is both unscriptural and improbable that it should have been for the purpose of creation. While he was on earth, he declared that he could do within him did the works. He himself, nothing of himself, but that the Father therefore, could do no more than Moses could Moses have been in the creation of or any other prophet; and of what use the world, if he had pre-existed? That God should perform a miracle at the indication of a man may be of use as a part of the divine mission of that man, but the other could not have been of any imaginable use.

"If that part of my History of Early Opinions relating to the Gnostics could I am far from having any objection to be of use for the purpose you mention, you or any other person making that use of it; but I have too many other pursuits to attend to it.

"I am,

"Reverend Sir,

"Your very humble servant,
"J. PRIESTLEY."

and would continue to the end of time, and that very many Christians, and more than a few ministers, greatly need the information; and for want of it are continually making severe remarks on Unitarians, which are totally void of foundation; 1, therefore, hope, some person will get it printed by itself.

I still think it is a desirable work,

SIR,

JOSEPH JEVANS.

May 6, 1821.

be permitted to hazard

arms, &c.

I also observed, that it appeared very desirable that what he had said in these two works concerning the Gnostics should be published by itself; and that it should be accompanied with an ear,

VOL. XVI.

2 r

For reasons that have been assigned over and over again, I cannot but consider the exclamation as a confession of faith immediately addressed by the

66

disciple to his Master. The question, upon this hypothesis, is, in what sense did he recognize him as his Lord and his God? Now it will be remembered that another incredulous disciple had, only a few days before, in his own name and in that of his brethren, challenged our Saviour to "shew them the Father," as a condition of their assured, unhesitating faith in him as the Son of God. The reply of Jesus is very remarkable. "Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ?" &c. &c. He was asking to see, he is told, what he had already seen. The Father" was at the very moment of the demand present to their eyes in the person of the Son. The indwelling Deity could not be an object of sight he could be manifested to sense only by his operations. Of that inexistence, the words which Christ spake, the works which Christ did, were sensible evidence. Of himself, as he had told them before, he (Jesus) could do nothing. But thus identified, thus "one with" the Father, as the Son palpably was, in the Son they might be said to see the Father. Their Jehovah, their Lord and God stood, literally speaking, as it were, before their eyes, face to face. Now it is more than probable that Thomas was present upon the occasion of these remarks being made and might not, must not the recollection have revived the impression, and suggested and prompted, as it well authorized, the apostrophe ?

SIR,

:

CLERICUS.

April 25, 1821. Other (XV. 657) nor any other BSERVING that neither Philalefriend of common candour and justice,

has taken any notice of the strange and unmanly attack of your Correspondent "Nonconformist," upon the national clergy, in your last Vol. (XV. 731), I would beg your permission to ask him whether he can seriously give credence from his heart, as an honest and sincere Christian, to all the virulent invectives in which he has in that letter indulged himself? Is it to be supposed, speaking of the political feeling of the clergy, that a body who have as large a stake as any set of men (even as private individuals) in the land of their birth, would blindly pursue a line of conduct, as here alleged against

them, calculated to destroy that very liberty and independence upon which the preservation and security of their rights and property depend?

As a consistent and conscientious Nonconformist, your correspondent is justified, and has an undoubted right freely to entertain and act upon his own scruples to the constitution and principles of a church establishment from which he openly and avowedly secedes; but it can upon no grounds be admitted, either that the honourable scruples of conscience will, that the spirit of Christian feeling will, and, especially, that the existing FACTS do justify such personal calumnies on a body of men whose independence of situation, whose confessedly superior education, whose very influence and connexions in society, and the manner in which (generally speaking †) they actually conduct their sacred trust, place them far beyond either the temptation or the wish to act in the manner so wantonly ascribed to them.

How far the peculiar denunciations of Christ quoted by this writer, and which, in a moment (it is in charity to be hoped) of unreflecting irritation, he would insinuate as descriptive of the character of "these men," do in reality portray their likeness, and if so, must, to verify the Saviour's predicted sentence, be their tremendous allotment, must, I think, be left to that Master only to apply, before whom both he and they must finally "stand

or fall."

V. M. H.

P. S. The respected Editor of the the spirgoing letter, and which many the spirit of the invectives repelled in Monthly Repository may possibly, in persons, friendly to his work, and all

the candid and liberal-minded advocates of all parties, will regret to see so often mixed up with that free inquiry

Vide second and third sentences of "Nonconformist's" letter. + Exceptions there may be, and instances of individual misconduct or occa sional ill-judging violence of party feeling may occur in so extended a class of somember, and might have had the candour ciety; but "Nonconformist" should reto have admitted, that individual error is no basis on which to found a just, and especially so broad and undiscriminating an indictment against a whole body,

to which his work gives access,) see some reason why the introduction of the Repository was prohibited by the Lancashire magistrates into a situation, where, by the perusal of some of its late communications, the functionaries of a church whom the law has prescribed to officiate in a very painful, and the writer of this is well assured, at all times, a most distressing duty, would be held up to the contempt and aversion of the unfortunate beings, of whom their own spontaneous wish would be in humble imitation of their divine Master, to be able to have it as their testimony, "I was in prison and ye visited me."

strength, which it was in his power to communicate. Peter had recently shewn, (xvi. 22,) that he could not endure the thought of a suffering and dying Saviour: John and James, the sons of Zebedee, were anxious (xx. 21) to sit respectively on his right hand and on his left in his kingdom. There was particular danger of their apostacy: and Christ graciously afforded every preventive demanded by their situation. It was not so much his individual regard for them as his solicitude for the future interests of his gospel, and for the greatest happiness of mankind at large, that governed his behaviour on the occasions to which I have alluded.

Mark vii. 9. FULL WELL [Kaλws] ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Schleusner, in loc., (Lexic. G. L. in Nov. Test., 1791,) says, 66 καλως per scilicet, h. e. pessime. Cf. G. Wakeantiphrasin intelligendum est; bene field Silvam Criticam, P. I. 160." But if any readers imagine that Schleusner's explanation of the word

p.

according to most translators and commentators," from the evil one." The clause, undoubtedly, adınits of this version, which, however, it is far from requiring. With great deference I suggest that Te Tope here signifies moral evil generally; as in John xvii. 15, 1 John v 19. On the other hand, some quotations in Wetstein's note, in loc., are well deserving of regard; although his selection of supposed parallel texts in the New Testament fails of establishing his conclusion.

Matt. xvii. 1. Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart. Our Lord favoured these three apostles with special opportunities of perceiving miraculous

attestations to his character as the Messiah. Did the indulgence arise from his personal attachinent to them, from the partialities of private friendship? To these he was no stranger. Yet in the discharge of his ministry he yielded to public and comprehensive principles of conduct. We cannot read the early history of Peter, James and John, without being sensible that, as the effect of their warmth of feeling, and of other circumstances, their faith in Jesus needed all the purity, all the

will soon perceive their error. In the passage of the Silva Critica to which reference has been made we find the following sentences: "Nec desunt qui, re penitus deploratâ, ad ipava confugiunt ; et servatorem mundi scilicet ludentis speciem sibi induisse non dubitant contendere.Sic reddi debet Evangelista locus: Ye ENTIRELY make void the commandment of God." The same author, under the signature of Nepiodidascalos had already proposed and illustrated this rendering in the Theological Repository.* there shall

Luke xi. 29, 30. no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, [see ver. 32,] so shall also the Son of Man be to this generation, An additional circumstance is stated in Matt. xii. 40: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Luke, who wrote immediately for the benefit of the Gentile converts, may have omitted this declaration of our Lord on account of its affirming a fact in

* Vol. IV. pp. 230, 231.

which he commends, and pronounces highly valuable. For the fear or reverence of the Supreme Being takes for granted a previous knowledge of him: and he who works righteousness, can scarcely be conceived ignorant of a rule of duty. If a virtuous and beneficent course of life be every thing even in cases where an acquaintance with the gospel may be obtained, and yet is rejected, or, so far as human agency is concerned, withholden, then the gospel becomes of none effect. On this construction, there can be no rational, no justifiable, zeal for communicating its blessings to the nations which have not been visited by its rays. And will any consistent disciple of Christ make it a question, whether the situation, the character, the prospects of Cornelius would receive unspeakable improvement from our Saviour's doctrine?

Acts xi. 26. the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Yet we read, in ix. 14, "he hath authority to bind all that call on thy name" [are called by thy name ]. The truth is, in the phraseology of the New Testament, to name the name of Christ, to be baptized into his name, implies no form of words, (nor of the existence of such a form have we any proof,) but simply the fact of being classed among his followers. It is a Hebraism: see Exod. iii. 18, with Wellbeloved's note. To many powerful arguments which shew that the earliest professors

of our religion did not denominate

themselves Christians, may be added the authority of Luke's example in the 29th verse of this chapter: he there continues to style them the disciples. Acts xiii. 6, 7. ―a Jew, whose name was Barjesus, who was with the deputy [proconsul] of the country, Sergius Paulus. It appears to have been nothing unusual with the governors of the Roman provinces to rank among their attendants men of reputation for science and learning. + Of this character was Barjesus. The probability is, that, against the convictions of his own mind, he represented the miracles of Paul as merely the effects of an acquaintance with the hidden

* Newcome's note in loc. + Tacit. Hist. I. 22, II. 78.

powers of nature, and thus sought to turn away the deputy from the faith. To the apostle belonged the gift of discerning spirits. There is not the faintest plausibility in arguing from a case so extraordinary for the civil punishment of any even the rudest assailants of Christianity.

The custom to which I have just referred, is admirably touched upon by Bishop Hurd, in one of the finest sermons in our language. Expostulating with Felix, this preacher asks, "Wilt thou find such a monitor, as Paul, in thy dependants? Will thy tax-gatherers preach righteousness to thee, and thy centurions, temperance? Or, thy philosophers (if, perhaps, thou hast of these about thee, to grace thy provincial pomp) will they reason with thee on a judgment to come ?"

Heb. i. 4, 5, 9. Being made so much better than the angels, &c.: "c'est de son exaltation que l'apôtre parle-un Dieu oint et consacré n'est autre chose qu' un roy," &c. I make this extract from p. 295 of Le Platonisme Dévoilé. Par M. Souverain. Cologne, 1700. Concerning the author of so valuable a work I should be happy to receive some information. Dr. Priestley occasionally refers to it in his History of Corruptions, &c.

SIR,

Dover,

N.

March 10, 1821. read with considerable

Hattention the observations of that excellent man, the late Rev. Mr. Howe, of Bridport, on the subject of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, through the channel of your useful Miscellany, and much approving of his remarks thereon, particularly in reference to the republication of that work in an amended shape, I beg leave to make a few additional observations on the subject.

Having passed the greater part of my life in the country, I have had much opportunity of ascertaining that the work above referred to is read with avidity by a great number of persons of different ages and conditions; that it is not only made a family book with

* At Lincoln's Inn: Vol. III. No. xvi,; or Bransby's Select. &c. II. 144.