poison the streams of divine truth, and promote an universal scepticism in matters of belief." To such persons as Mr. Wilson, I should use the words of Dr. Harwood, in his Funeral Sermon for Dr. Taylor: "Let those whose Christian principles could teach them to abuse him, and deny him salvation, heap upon his memory all the execrations that enthusiasın can very religiously and piously utter. Let them spurn his ashes and insult over his grave with the same ridiculous wildness, the same frantic postures, and the same low revenge, as it is well known some of them did over Dr. James Foster's after his interment. Such treatment now can no more affect his happiness, than it ever affected his arguments. He now enjoys a calm undisturbed repose, under the protection and guardianship of him, who has the keys of death, and the invisible world and in the morning of the resurrection, when those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, will rise from the ruins of the grave, the first in immortal glory, splendour and blessedness." I am, Sir, Ν Your's, respectfully, Mechanism; an Allegory. IN the mean time the Genius so or dered it, that while the mists of illusion continued to accumulate on one side of the horizon, the beams of light began to break in from the opposite hemisphere. Some of the operators now began to rouse out of their lethargy, and to resume the use of their faculties. An honest spirited fellow, who was not altogether averse to his employment, and had luckily discovered a copy of the original instructions, began to protest stoutly against the gainful trade of the managers; and by degrees discovered that the superabundant blessings which they pretended to dispense, on certain terms, had no existence but in their crafty imaginations. The mist, however, continued to be so great, that he could by no means distinguish between the Genius and the eminent Operator with whom he had been so strangely confounded; nor could he distinctly see to read the book of instructions. But from what he could trace, he concluded that the machines, when worn out and broken, lost their activity, though he could not divest himself of the idea that their essences remained. This conclusion did away at once the pretensions of the managers; but the admission that these essences remained indestructible, though their action was suspended, proved the fruitful source of numerous errors. This notion being directly opposed to the purport of the promise, that the machines having been destroyed would be reconstructed, led to conclusions no less opposed to it. It was supposed that they would be recalled to action and retain their activity, amid the continued fury of the most intense flames, serving but as the instruments of their violence. It was even believed that the language in the instructions, which plainly expressed the temporary destruction of the machines, purported their continued action, in vomiting incessant flames upon their respective operators; and also that all of them except the very first that had been made, were for one single offence of that operator, of which all the other operators were wholly unconscious, constructed for this very purpose. So far did many of them carry this persuasion, that they thought it the height of presumption to expect the least beneficial effects, by any exertions, or attention to the instructions of the Genius, of which they were ca pable. Both his machines and his instructions, according to their ideas, were the very reverse of being useful: nor did they think they could be better employed, than in making strong protestations that they were vile instruments, fit for nothing but mischief, and that it was impossible for them to do any real good whatever with them; and therefore that they hoped he would be pleased entirely to change their structure, and moreover, so to overrule and direct all their own operations, that they would in future shower down nothing but perpetual benefits upon themselves, whatever might be the fate of the great majority of their companions. This kind of language they considered as expressive of proper dispositions in the presence of the Genius, and such as he would be very likely to reward in that extraordinary, not to say most extravagant manner which they requested. It might have been well had they considered how they would T Mechanism; an Allegory. have liked to have workmen of their own, coming before them with similar complaints, and expecting to be rewarded ever after with the like liberality, without any further exertions on their part. They were intent only on obtaining deliverance from this imaginary calamity; and concluded that the great business of that operator, whom they confounded with the Genius himself, was to effect this deliver ance; by making the essence of his machine, while it was in the act of being broken to pieces, to discharge its fury so powerfully upon his own person, that the misery which it inflicted upon him, would compensate for that of as many of the sufferers as he thought fit; while the rest, for no other purpose than his own pleasure or glory, would be left the ceaseless victims of their mischief working machines. In consequence of this strange compensation, the essences of the machines of the chosen few were supposed to sustain the total change desired, and ever after to work in such a manner, as would no less inevitably shower down immense blessings upon them; so that from this time forward, they would have little to do, but to hymn praises to the Genius, and to pipe perpetual songs of joy and rejoicing, while their unfortunate companions were incessantly uttering the most dreadful groans and shrieks, from the agonizing sufferings to which they would be devoted. In all this there was little to encourage the operators in the sober pursuit of their employment, or to cultivate in their minds a proper sense of their obligations to their great Benefactor. His gracious promise of the future re-fabrication of their machines, was little understood or attended to; and the dreadful circumstances, both real and imaginary, attending the breaking to pieces of the distinguished Operator's machine, though an event common to the whole system of mechanism, was much more the subject of attention and triumph, on account of the supposed substitution, than those of its glorious re-construction, though this was the only pattern which had been presented of those improved machines, which were hereafter to be placed in the hands of the operators for their use. The day, however, was advancing, and copies of the instructions written in plain characters were now freely and extensively circulated; and though VOL. XI. 3 N 453 the root of the evil * was not very soon detected, yet many of its príncipal branches were by degrees lopped off. It was indeed long before the great body of the operators found proper opportunities of thinking and acting for themselves; and those who were employed as their guides, were too apt to throw obstacles in the way of their exertions and discoveries. Some of them even endeavoured to obstruct the free circulation of the instructions, and * The writer cannot help conceiving that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul lies at the foundation of theological error. It appears to deny the reality of man's primitive doom, "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return;" since it maintains the uninterrupted existence of the perceptive, conscious principle, without which man is indeed dust, but with which alone he may be said to be pure intelligence. It fabricates a new doom for him of a very different nature, viz. that he is destined to live and suffer the most exquisite torments amid flames to all eternity. It provides a new deliverance from this new calamity, by representing the mind of the man Jesus, not merely as a ray of divine intelligence, according to the more modest conceptions of the heathens, but as the infinite Intelligence itself; and then maintaining that this infinite nature underwent, in its sufferings on the cross, all the miseries, which the immortal souls of the elect were destined to undergo in hell, as a substitute for those miseries. Thus, this doctrine is continually amusing the majority of its votaries, with different natures, different destinics, and different deliverances from those about which the Scriptures are conversant. Without this persuasion, it is highly probable, that the idea of a Godman, of endless torments, and of the infinite Deity suffering in lieu of some of the rays of his immortal nature, with the change of nature, arising from the infusion of the Holy Ghost, a third person in the God-head would never have entered into the human mind. Admit that the whole man " rcturns to his dust," and "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," reversing this sad doom, and proclaiming the blessings of the second estate of man, when he shall many of them enjoined under the heaviest pains and penalties, that they should be understood precisely in the sense which they thought fit to prescribe. They were all, excepting a small number who had imbibed the true spirit of the instructions, decidedly against any persons, excepting themselves, presuming to open their mouths in public assemblies, so that their decisions for the most part assumed the character of laws; and the body of the operators, who, alas! in general, were too little disposed to it, were mich prevented from reasoning, or holding sweet converse together, upon the subjects which related to their common employment. This conduct, of the few who undertook to expound the instructions, was the more extraordinary, as by so doing, they were themselves in the constant habit of violating an express injunction of the Common Master.* Notwithstanding these obstacles, light gradually broke in often through the medium of some of those guides who felt its salutary influence. A large body of the operators under one of them (for they generally moved in bodies like a flock too implicitly following a shepherd), embraced the persuasion, that more depended upon the will of the operators, than some had represented. Hence though they supposed the nature of their calamities, and the means of their deliverance to be much as has been above described, and were even remarkable for insisting much on the great and sudden change in the machines, which they imagined was conspicuous in certain violent movements, in reality occasioned by the agitated state of the operators; yet they certainly laid more stress on their attention to their business than many others. And though while following their employment they were continually fancying that either the good or an evil genius was operating upon their machines, and were often relating each other curious ⚫to out giving a very unfavourable bent to the operations of their machines upon some neighbouring operators, who could not enter into their fancies. The time would fail were I to attempt to particularize the various discoveries and improvements which have been made and are still in progress. The attention of a few only has yet been directed to obtain a more distinct view of the Genius, and of the operator whose merits have been so signally rewarded. In this attempt, notwithstanding the opposition and annoyance which they have met with from the lovers of mystery and enchantment, they have succeeded, first in distinguishing them from each her, and them in recognising each of them in his true character. They have also learnt that each operator will reap benefits, precisely in proportion to the grateful and proper use which he makes of the excellent piece of mechanism which has been kindly placed in his hands. And by availing themselves of the advantageous circumstances in which they stand for apprehending the true structure of the machines, and the genuine purport of the instructions, with the necessity of applying closely to their business, actuated by a principle of gratitude to the Genius, of generous regard to the interests of each other, and of all their fellow operators, whatever may be their progress or want of progress either in knowledge, skill or industry, there is every reason to conclude, that they may rise to distinguished eminence in their employment. Then when this great Genius both of power and beneficence, shall perform his promise of re-fabri-· cating the whole system of mechanism, upon that highly improved plan of which a pattern has been given, they will find little difficulty in applying their respective instruments to the most lastingly beneficial uses. SIR, August 6, 1816. CORRESPONDENT in your about their experiences, yet as all these A last number, p. 362, 393.] who were in reality their own doings, they gradually learnt many just, with some very injudicious distinctions, between the right and wrong movements of the machine. Upon the whole they made considerable progress both in point of skill and industry, though not with Matt. xxiii. 8-11. signs himself T. R. S. proposes two questions, which he wishes me to answer through the medium of your Repository;-the one respecting my projected History of Unitarianism, the other concerning the translation of the Racovian Catechism, which was long ago announced as in preparation. With your leave, Sir, I will in a few Unitarianism, and Translation of the Racovian Catechism. words give him all the satisfaction in my power on both these points. I have certainly not abandoned the History to which your Correspondent refers. Ever since the first public notice was given of my design, my attention has been directed to the subject; and I have been engaged, as opportunity offered, in searching after and collecting materials for its execution. A variety of circumstances, which need not be here detailed, and, above all, a severe and long protracted bodily indisposition, have hitherto put it out of my power to digest and arrange the multiform mass of materials which I have succeeded in bringing together. I can, however, assure your Correspondent, that it is my fixed purpose, if Providence vouchsafe me health, to proceed with the work; and to devote to it as large a portion of time as I can spare, after the imperative demands of my professional and other avocations have been answered. It affords me satisfaction to be able to inform your correspondent, that the Translation of the Racovian Catechism after which he inquires, is in such a state of forwardness, that by the time this paper meets his eye, it will, most probably, be in the hands of the printer and unless some unforeseen accident occur to interrupt its progress through the press, I have no doubt of its being before the public by the month of December. In my original announcement of this work I stated my intention to be, to make the translation from the most recent authorized edition; but, at the same time, to collate the text with that of the preceding editions, in order to mark the alterations which had at successive periods been made, and thus exhibit the changes which had taken place in the opinions of the Polish Unitarians. I have deemed it adviseable, however, on re-consideration, to abandon this part of my design. On a minute comparison of the several editions, and I believe I am in posses sion of every one that was published in Latin, I observed that no material alteration, in respect to any matter of religious belief, had been introduced by the learned editors of those which were last printed. The chief differences consist of explanatory additions, when the subjects appeared to be obscurely stated or insufficiently explained; and of some considerable improve 455 ments in the language and style of the original text. Instead of the marginal notes with which such a collation would have disfigured and burthened the pages of the Translation, without answering any purpose of utility, I shall substitute some short remarks in those parts of the work that relate to points of doctrine, respecting which modern Unitarians differ in opinion from the authors of this formulary. By this method of annotation, the reader will be furnished with a comparative view of the two systems; that is, of Unitarianism as it is now generally professed, and of Unitarianism as it was held by those great and venerable men, who formed so brilliant a constellation in Poland at the era of the reformation, and to whom, under Providence, the cause of divine truth is so signally indebted. This course was thought to be in some measure necessary, in order to guard those persons, who have yet to learn what Unitarianism is, against attributing to its professors in the present day opinions which have long been abandoned, in this part of the world at least, as unwarranted by the Scriptures. A few other notes will be occasionally introduced, containing references to approved modern writers upon some of the topics discussed in the Catechism; and furnishing notices of additional authorities for particular emendations of the Greek text of the New Testament, which have been supplied, since the publication even of the last edition of this work, by the laborious researches of Griesbach and others, and the present highly improved state of Biblical criticism and Biblical knowledge. These are to be considered as supplementary to the learned and curious notes which were published by the last editors of the Catechism, and which will be given with the Translation. I shall only observe farther, for the information of your Correspondent, that there will be prefixed to the work a Brief Sketch of the History of Unitarianism on the Continent, from its first appearance in Poland, until the final expulsion of its professors from that country in the year 1660. This will exhibit a faint outline of what the larger History is intended to comprize. I am Sir, Your's, &c. THOMAS REES. SIR, July 5, 1816. BELIEVE it is very generally imputed as a fault to the liberal Dissenters, (most of whom are now denominated Unitarians) both by their orthodox brethren, and even by many of their own body, that controversial, or doctrinal preaching is becoming too prevalent among them. I have frequently of late heard this style of preaching severely condemned, and considered as a grievance by some of those who attend on it. That our opponents should complain of this style of preaching is not to be wondered at, as by its means the errors of the prevailing systems are exposed to view, and it seems to be the fashion of the day to belabour the poor Unitarians with every kind of accusation that may be conceived rather than proved. Thus by a writer in the Quarterly Review they are accused of indecency and ribaldry, though without quoting chapter and verse. But my surprise is, that any who are in the main with us, and who have embraced at least a comparatively pure system of Christian doctrines, should object to the occasional use of that kind of public instruction, which is the most effectual means of diffusing the knowledge of them in the world. As I have in some instances heard this objection strongly urged by people of great respectability, and cultivated minds, and as possibly it may be more generally extended than many are aware of, I have thought it my duty to draw the attention of your readers to the subject, that it may be fully discussed, and by that means become better, and more generally understood. "In a multitude of counsellors there is wisdom." It has rather excited my surprise to hear this style of preaching objected, exclusively, against the Unitarians, as if it were much more reprehensible in then than in others. I believe it may be correctly stated as a matter of fact, that it does not prevail to half the extent (to speak within compass) among those who have been called rational Dissenters, as it does among the orthodox, both within and without the pale of the church. Indeed the discourses of the evangelical party in the church, of the whole body of Methodists, and of the Orthodox Dissenters in general, consist almost entirely of controversial materials; and I know of no party in the Church that is not occasionally loud and bitter enough against all Schismatics (i. e. Dissenters) and Unitarians ap oxy. Now, to attribute a fault (supposing it to be a fault) to those who are least chargeable with it, appears to me very much like "pulling out the mote out of thy brother's eye, and behold a beam is in thine own eye." I cannot help again expressing my surprise, that the demerit of controversial preaching (if it has demerit) should be most laid to the charge of those who least practise it. I know that a bad construction must of course be laid on every thing done by the Unitarians, even on things praiseworthy in others. Thus, an Unitarian, who avows his religious opinions, and declares his reasons for doing so, is unpardonably arrogant and presumptuous, destitute of a real religious principle, devoid of charity, and neglectful of piety and a devo tional spirit. But let us now for a moment suppose the Unitarian religiously to follow the course chalked out for him by his friends. While the practice of controversial preaching is general and incessant against him, let him wholly withhold all controversial subjects from the pulpit: while others on every hand are denouncing his religious sentiments as heretical and damnable; while he is represented as belonging to the fraternity of Deists, and a more dangerous enemy to religion than Atheists because more concealed; while all this and much more is going on on every side of him, let not a word drop from his lips which shall lead any one to suppose that he is conscious of any difference, of any offence, of any opposition, of any denunciations against him; while others are zealously contending for error (as in his opinion they must be) let him not open his mouth even for the truth-let the unclean spirit of dumbness incurably possess him. Now let us suppose that the Unitarian were to follow this good advice of his friends, what construction would they in that case put on his conduct? They would then with much reason urge against him, that he is conscious that his principles are bad and false, and that he is ashamed to avow them; that they do not bear to be brought forth to the light, and to be made |