erance, he felt exactly the same respectful regard for the sincere and virtuous of all denominations, as for those of his own. He had the happiness, at Norwich, to be surrounded by a number of the clergy possessed of the same enlightened views, who rose with a noble superiority like himself above the prejudices which too often divide men of real worth from each other, and who were disposed and even eagerly desirous to cultivate the good opinion, and as opportunity offered, the acquaintance and friendship of those whose religious creed differed from their own. High indeed was the indignation which throbbed in his bosom, whenever he spoke of that unhappy spirit of censorious and intolerant bigotry, which in later years has too much pervaded the clerical body, undoubtedly with some splendid exceptions, more especially when he contrasted with it the wise moderation, the kind charity, the generous courtesy, towards those of differing opinions, which distinguished the clergy in the early part of his own life, and in the times immediately preceding. Which of our dig. nitaries of those times,' he would often say to the present writer, our Herring, our Conybeare, and Hoadley,-our Butler, our Benson, our Waddington, and Law, did not think themselves honoured by the esteem and the friendly regards of your Watts, your Doddridge, and your Lardner,-your Benson, your Chandler, and your Farmer.' But now thundering out with angry look and impassioned gesture, he would exclaim, 'Oh, what a difference!-to the good mind, how distressful!-to the right mind, how disgustful!' Then softening a little, and speaking half seriously, half jocosely, How I wish to be on the bench, were it only to show, to all about me, the example of a wiser and a better spirit!" In unison with this spirit, Dr. Parr cultivated a friendly connection with the Rev. Samuel Bourn, and the Rev. George Morgan, successively the ministers of the Unitarian chapel at Norwich.

Dr. Parr thus delivered his sentiments on the subject of Catholic emancipation: "In the present condition of the world, that restless and relentless temper, which once actuated the members of the Church of Rome, is visibly assuaged: a spirit of inquiry has imperceptibly, in speculative points, produced a spirit of moderation; and few, if any, of the practical mischiefs, which Popery might for merly have brought down upon us, are any longer to be dreaded. Gladly, therefore, should I hail the day, in

which the religious tenets of the Roman Catholics should not be permitted to obstruct the full recovery of their civil rights; and in which the Church of England, providing at once for its own interest and its own honour, should display to every other Church, a glorious example of holding the faith in the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.

Mr. Field is a Unitarian minister at Warwick, and after the removal of Dr. Parr to that neighbourhood, there subsisted between him and Mr. Field, the most friendly intercourse. "Their conversation on the various subjects of literature, morals, religion, and politics, when alone, was checked by no reserve, and fettered by no restraint. Their opinions sometimes differed; yet rarely did that difference create, even for a moment, one unpleasant thought, and never one angry feeling." This passage makes it evident, that at least Dr. Parr was not rigidly orthodox, either in his creed or his spirit. Dr. Parr attended the services and the dinner which took place on the occasion of the introduction of Mr. Field to the ministerial office at Warwick, when Dr. Priestley and Mr. Belsham conducted the worship.

The following passage merits attention, especially in this day, when lengthy and mysterious creeds are deemed the only passports to heaven. "Very few and very simple are the truths, which we have, any of us, a right to pronounce necessary to salvation. It is extremely unsafe to bewilder the judgment, or to inflame the passions of men, upon those abstruse subjects of controversy, about which bigots indeed may dogmatise with fierce and imperious confidence; whilst they who are scholars without pedantry, and believers without superstition, are content to differ from each other, with sentiments of mutual respect and mutual forbearance." Dr. Parr entertained the highest opinion of Dr. Priestley. "There is not a man living," he says, "who has a more sincere veneration for his talents and his virtues than I have." Speaking of two sermons of Dr. Priestley's the one, On the duty of not living to ourselves; the other, On habitual devotion-"I confidently affirm," he says, "that the wisest man cannot read them, without being wiser; nor the best man, without being better." "The high estimation," writes his biographer, "in which he ever held his (Dr. P's.) talents and his moral worth, was raised still higher, by commiseration for

sufferings so great and unmerited, endured by Dr. Priestley at the time of the disgraceful Birmingham riots, and by admiration of the calm composure, so worthy the philosopher, and of the magnanimous forgiveness so becoming the Christian, with which they were endured." After Dr. Priestley's flight from Birmingham, Dr. Parr wrote to him frequent letters of condolence or advice; and when far removed from his native land, Dr. Parr still followed him with kindly and friendly sympathy, and never shrunk from the task, invidious and even dangerous as it then was, of standing forth in attestation of his merits, or in vindication of his honourable fame, against all his ignorant or malignant opposers. "His attainments," wrote Dr. Parr, are numerous, almost without a parallel; his talents are superlatively great; his morals correct without austerity, and exemplary without ostentation; they present to common observers, the innocence of a hermit, and the simplicity of a patriarch; and the philosopher's eye will at once discover in them, the deep-fixed root of virtuous principle, and the solid trunk of virtuous habit. Nor can I think his religion insincere, because he worships One Deity in the name of our Saviour."

Of Mr. Belsham, too, Dr. Parr always "spoke in terms of high regard, and often expressed admiration of his talents as a man, of his attainments as a scholar, and his powers as a writer." His translation of the Epistles, Dr. Parr considered as one of the most important theological works that have appeared for a century past. Of the preliminary dissertation in particular, as a clear, reasonable, and judicious exposition of the principles which ought to guide every translator of the Apostolic writings, Dr. Parr declared the most unqualified approbation. "With the author of that dissertation," said he, on one occasion, to the present writer, "I go along smoothly and delightfully from the beginning to the end, with perfect accordance of sentiment and the most complete satisfaction of mind." "Yes," said he, upon another occasion, "this is indeed a work, of which those of your Church may well be proud, and with which the reasonable of every Church might well be pleased." Dr. Parr had once the intention to write the life of an intimate friend and school-fellow, the justly celebrated, pious, and deeply learned Sir William Jones. This, however, he did not execute, and, if we are rightly informed, the true cause is to be found in the intervention

of some friends, who feared that Dr. Parr might explicitly state the truth, as to the heterodoxy of Sir W. Jones' creed. This great man, in fact, was a Unitarian, and Mr. Field convicts his biographer Lord Teignmouth, of at least great disingenuousness in concealing his real opinions, and garbling his writings, in order to adduce something like proof of his orthodoxy. "Dr. Parr," says Mr. Field, "often asserted in the hearing of the present writer, as from his own knowledge, that so far from admitting the popular views of Christianity, Sir W. Jones held those which are commonly distinguished by the name of Unitarianism. That assertion is indeed proved, as far as negative proof can go, by the passages from his writings produced by Lord Teignmouth in the "Memoirs." In all these, it is impossible not to mark the total absence of every expression, which might imply the admission of such a theological system, as that attributed to him by his biographer. Every one of his devotional pieces, and all his observations of a religious kind, proceed upon the principles of what the learned Dr. Lardner calls the ancient Nazarene doctrine, or that of the early Jewish Christians," i. e. Unitarianism. In some degree, on the authority of those very passages, and still more on the decisive authority of Dr. Parr, the writer thinks himself warranted in placing Sir W. Jones amongst the members of the Anti-Trinitarian and AntiCalvinistic schools of Christian philosophers, and of adding his illustrious name to those of Newton, Locke, and Milton, of Clarke, Tucker, Hartley, and Law.

The celebrated scholar and ardent friend of liberty, Mr. Wakefield, who was alike Catholic in his spirit and Unitarian in his creed, was, amongst all his friends and admirers, and he had many, by few admired and loved more than by Dr. Parr. Mr. Field informs us, "For my part," says Dr. Parr, "I shall ever think and ever speak of Mr. Wakefield, as a very profound scholar, as a most honest man, and as a Christian who united knowledge with zeal, piety with benevolence, and the simplicity of a child, with the fortitude of a martyr."

It no longer admits of a question, that Sir W. Jones was a Unitarian, and those who have read this paper candidly, will perhaps be convinced, that in this particular, as in many others, Dr. Parr agreed with the sentiments of his learned and pious friend. If, however, any doubt remains, it must disappear at the following statement. Dr. Parr

had collected a large library, consisting of not less than 10,000 volumes. In the books, he was accustomed to write down his remarks, with a view to their publication in the catalogue of his library. This catalogue has now been published, and pretends to set forth the opinions of Dr. Parr, as recorded in his books. But in one particular, at least, there has been the greatest disingenuousness. Dr. Parr had in his library, a book with the following title: "The Divinity of Christ proved from his own declarations, &c." by Bishop Burgess. There follows in the printed catalogue, the following remark of Dr. Parr: "From the eminently learned and truly pious author." But it has been proved, that as the note stands in the original manuscript, the following words succeed those above quoted: "He does not convince me." “Few, but significant words!" exclaims the detector of the artifice. "To my mind," adds he, on the subject of Dr. Parr's religious opinions, "these few words speak volumes. It is reported," continues Mr. Field, "that other omissions equally important, have been discovered by means of printed copies of cancelled sheets, which have found their way into the hands of several persons, by some of whom it is hoped they will be given to the public."

We have been so much gratified and instructed by reading this the present volume of the Memoirs, that we anxiously expect the second and concluding one.

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G. C. S.

The true Worshippers, not those who worship the Trinity; a serious Address to Trinitarians, by a Dissenter from Trinitarianism.

THE writer of the piece which bears the above title, has already appeared before the public, in several useful tracts written upon the points at issue between Trinitarians and Unitarians; but in no one has he succceeded better in setting forth the cogency of truth, than in that which we now notice. The author deduces his arguments exclusively from Scripture, beginning with John iv. 23, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him." Such an explicit statement, proceeding from such authority, is adequate to decide the