undertaking; and that he might | especially in Mechanics, for which be more at leisure to prosecute his studies he begged permission to quit the service of the Duke of Somerset. The request at first piqued the pride of that nobleman; but when he understood that Mr. H. did not intend to serve any other master and was informed of the reasons of his request, he not only complied with it, but made him his Riding Purveyor, his Grace being at that time Master of the Horse to King George I. As this place is a sinecure with a fixed Salary of £200 a year, and a good house in the little Mews attached to it, the appointment was extremely agreeable to our author, who, from this time gave himself up to a studious and sedantary life. The first fruits of his retirement were presented to the public in 1724, in a work entitled "Moses's Principia," in which he ridiculed Dr. Woodward's Natural History of the Earth-and daringly adventured to oppose the principle of gravitation espoused by Sir Isaac Newton. In 1727, the second part of this work appeared, and in may be found the sum and substance of what he calls the Scripture philosophy. From this time he continued publishing a volume every year or every other year, till his death, which happened on the 28th of August 1737, in his sixty third year. it A he had a particular genius. But whatever may have been his sagacity or penetration, his temper seems to have unfitted him for the office of investigating truth. furious vindictive spirit is con spicuous in most of his produc tions, where it breaks out in indecent language, and betrays a strong propensity towards persecution. See Dr. Towers's Brit. Biog. Vol. ix. p. 67. et seq. According to the Hutchinsonian system, the Father of Lights has given in the Hebrew Scriptures, all true philosophy as well as theology; that it is, therefore, necessary to examine into the radical idea of the words he has employed; that, in order to this, we must discard the vowel points, which are a modern, if not a diabolical device, to conceal, rather than convey, the contents of the Bible; that when the Mosaic history is understood, it confutes all other systems of the universe, not excepting the Newtonian, with its doctrines of gravity, attraction, and repulsion; that the world is a machine of limited extent, of which the sun is the main-spring, at the centre, the most dense state of air forming a wall at the extremity, and all the planets revolving upon mechanical principles; that the deluge was an exhibition of the Creator's power to reduce the earth to its first principles, and That he was a person of a very form it again; that the visible singular turn of mind is sufficiently creation was intended to be an evident from the following con- image of the Creator, his attributes densed view of his tenets which and relations towards his creatures; are collected from the twelve that the heavens, or celestial fluid, octavo volumes of his printed composed of fire, light, and air, works. He seems to have wanted are designed to teach the Trinity neither parts nor learning; but it of Father, Son, and Spirit; that may well be questioned whether the Deity imparted a knowledge he did not want judgment to apply of all these mysteries to the first them properly. His talents, how-parents of the human race, who ever, were not confined to the sub-were placed, not in the paradise of jects of which he chiefly treated Epicurus, but in a kind of obserin his writings; he was curious vatory, or school of philosophy; and inquisitive in other matters, that, after the fall, visible repre See Bogue and Bennet's History of Dissenters, Vol. IV. p. 44, 45. Note. REMARKS ON 1 COR. XIV. 30. "If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace." &c. sentations of the Trinity in unitytinguished scholars, and cherished were given in the cherubim, on by some of the most devout bethe east of Eden, placed in a taber-lievers in Revelation, as an antinacle, similar to that of Moses, dote to what they deem the atheiswhere our fallen parents wor- tic tendency of the Newtonian shipped, being taught the rite of philosophy. It has, indeed, been sacrificing, circumcision, and other rendered ridiculous by some insymbolic ceremonies; that, from judicious friends, among whom thence, a revelation may be said may be ranked' Mr. Romaine; to have been given to the whole but the pious manner of bishop human race, without which, man Horne will insinuate its principles could know nothing of God or into the devout, the erudition of religion that the idolatry of the Parkhurst recommend it to the heathen was only an apostacy studious, and the cultivated taste from the true philosophy, by of Mr. Jones may procure it worshipping the works, instead of admirers among the lovers of learning from them the author of elegant learning. nature; that to recover the true philosophico-theology, the Mosaic economy was given, representing in its ta bernacle and utensils, the structure of the universe, as well as pre-figuring a Saviour, who should be the Creator tabernacling among his own works, to make expiation for sin by a sacrifice of which all nations have retained the aboriginal tradition; that the temple of Solomon was a figure of Christ's humanity, as the Saviour himself declared, in which, as a temple, dwelt all the fulness of the godhead bodily, while it was also a grand monument to the creative honours of the Deity; and finally, that the figurative language of Scripture is not mere allusion or embellishment, but an application of the material world to its true design of teaching spiritual and divine doctrine.* If this sketch of Hutchinsonianism, hasty and compendious as it is, be thought disproportionably protracted, let it be remembered that the system has founded a school in religion and philosophy, has been warmly espoused by bishops and their clergy, taught by the most dis THE forwardness of the Corinthian church to display the extraordinary gift of teaching, which they had received, under the pretext of being impelled by the Spirit of God, produced confusion in their assemblies. Instead of considering the revelations, which they received in the church, as subject to their discretion, in regard to the time of delivering them, one began to speak before the preceding speaker had finished his discourse; the consequence was, indecency, disorder, and confusion. To correct this, the apostle tells them that if any thing should be revealed to him who was sitting by, he should let the first speaker finish his discourse, before he proceeded; for, (as if he had said,) there is time and opportunity for you all to prophecy, not two or three at *To give the reader a single specimen of the whimsical things contained in the writings of this philosopher, take the following. DR. HOADLY, Bishop of Winchester, was one of his cotemporaries and being the leader of the low church party at that period he became the but of Mr. Hutchinson's malignity, which he vented by turning his name into Hebrew letters which sounded Hodli-this term he found was used in the Bible to denote a naughty or vain person, or some reproachful epithet, and thus bishop Hoadly was condemned by revelation!! once, but one by one, that all may learn, instead of being confused, and comforted, instead of being distracted. God is not the author of confusion, by inspiring his prophets in such an irresistible manner, as to cause them abruptly to deliver their discourses without regard to decency or order; He is the author of peace in all the churches of the saints, by inspiring the prophets in such a manner, as that their spirits, endowed with revelations from above, were, respecting the time of delivering them, in some degree subject to themselves. The scope and context clearly shew, that the apostle, by the phrase," Let the first hold his peace," does not mean that the first speaker should discoutinue his discourse that another might proceed; but that they who had any thing revealed to them should not commence their discourses before others had held their peace. To enforce this more strongly, he exhorts them to, "Let all things be done decently and in order.' PERMIT me, through the medium of your valuable Miscellany, to thank your Reviewer for his excellent and judicious remarks on Mr. Cowan's Reasons for leaving the Established Church; and to correct an assertion which, I suppose, to be indirectly levelled at Dr. Crisp. It runs thus-" Mr. Cowan also objects to the Baptists of Bristol, their considering the Moral Law as the rule of life to believers-an objection as old, we believe, as the days of Dr. Crisp, but of which it has always confounded us to make out the grounds and reasons." This objection was, I believe, Sir, never made by Dr. Crisp; and I think that a suspicion so repugnant to truth, should not, by any of your readers, be thought applicable to that eminent servant of Christ. Thus he speaks-"Indeed, the words immediately following give no little intimation that he understands seed thus; for it is the seed to whom the promise, to wit of justification and life by Christ was made; which cannot be understood of Christ personally, but of his mystical members: so then the law continues for a rule, and to point out the wrath due for transgressions; for so long as Christ hath any seed upon earth, the law is to hunt men into Christ, their rock of safety; and, another end is, for a rule to order their conversation in him. "Some, it may be, will object, that all this while it seems that Christ hath not freed us from being under the law, whereas the apostle saith, ye are not under the law, but under grace. I answer, 1st. That in respect of the rules of righteousness, or the matter of obedience, we are under the law still; or else we are lawless, to live every man as seems good in his own eyes, which I know no true Christian dares so much as think; for Christ hath given no new law divers from this, to order our conversation aright by; besides, we are under the law, to know what is transgression, and what is the desert of it." See Dr. Crisp's Sermon "On the Use of the Law," Vol. II. p. 630. 4th. edition. Nov. 17, 1817. CAROLINE. We are obliged to Caroline for the favour of her letter, because it gives us the opportunity of explaining an ambiguous paragraph, and of doing justice to an author whom we had neither the wish nor the intention to misrepresent. It is nearly forty years since we read Dr. Crisp's Sermons, and it would therefore be absurd in us to profess to have a distinct recollection of his sentiments upon the point in question. In penning the re mark to which our fair correspon- preaching at our place of worship; dent refers, the following para- he preached one evening a very graph in Robinson's Notes on fine Sermon from Rev. xxii. 16. Claude's Essay, Vol. II. p. 260. "The bright and Morning Star." suggested itself to recollection, the whole of which may he found and without waiting to examine verbatim in Dr. Styles's Sermons how far it was well or ill founded, on various Subjects. No. 10. I we unwittingly adopted the sense felt very sorry that any young man of it. should adopt such a plan, and had some thoughts of giving him a friendly hint, but have been informed by a friend that it has been mentioned to him several times; notwithstanding this he still continues to deliver it as his own, and has preached it in no less than a dozen or fourteen different places. But what is worst of all, is, that no one could hear him preach without being struck with the idea, that he thought himself a very clever popular preacher. If you, Sir, would please to insert this in your valuable Magazine with a little additional advice, you perhaps may do the young gentleman some good, and at the same time you will greatly oblige, Yours, &c. A CONSTANT READER. ANSWER BY THE EDITOR. The case referred to in this cor "John Agricola is called the father of the Antinomians-Luther suppressed his doctrine as well as he could, and his notions concerning the use of the law have been grossly misrepresented by the disciples of that reformer. They who were called Antinomians in the time of the Protectorate in England, and their great patron, Dr. Crisp, have been served in the same way." It was Mr. Robinson's terring Dr. Crisp "the great patron of the Antinomians," that we had in view, and it certainly does not appear that previous to the Doctor's time we had any amongst us who denied the moral law to be a rule of life to believers. So far, therefore, our allusion to Dr. Crisp's name is justifiable. We have no where charged him with discarding the law as a rule of life, and our correspondent has respondent's letter, is evidently successfully shewn that he was no advocate for that sentiment, which maxim with our great English quite a hopeless one! It was a it seems his disciples grafted upon moralist, Dr. Johnson, that "where his doctrine. We are glad that there is shame, there may in time justice is thus done to his princi-be virtue." But what can be exples, and that the subject is now pected from a stripling so devoid placed in a correct point of view of all decency as is the youth in through the kindness of our cor- question? Prok pudor! He ought respondent. We therefore dismiss to be sent to Coventry by all his the subject with merely adding Academical associates. the following attestation of Dr. Crisp's character from the pen of Mr. Robinson. "Dr. Crisp was a man of eminent piety, on whose character malice itself dare not ADMIRING as I do your cast a shade." Vide, Notes on interesting publication, entitled Claude, ut supra. EDITOR. "The New Evangelical Magazine,' To the Editor of the New Evangelical I cannot help wishing sincerely and being a constant reader of it, that each Monthly Number con SIR, Magazine. To the Editor of the New Evangelical SIR, A STUDENT from a Dissent-tained many more pages than it ing Academy has lately been has hitherto done, and that it was VOL. III. 3 B printed on much better paper, of the subject in all its bearings, being assured if that were the case, I am Sir, yours, ANSWER. Having been favoured with several letters during the present year, of a nature not very dissimilar to the preceding (which we perceive bears the BAWTRY post mark) we embrace this occasion of entering into a little explanation on the subject, which we are the more inclined to do, in the hope that it may relieve us from similar applications. We do not very clearly comprehend what it is that this respectable correspondent wishes of us. We presume he does not need to be told that we now publish two editions of our Magazine, and that one of them, the price of which is eight pence each number, is printed on a superior paper, and has first impressions of the portrait. This therefore must do away his objection on the score of paper. But as to the other particular, viz. giving an additional quantity of Letter press in each number, we can assure him that we as much wish it as he can do, but such difficulties attend it under every point of view, that it appears impracticable to us. If we are to continue to give portraits, and to keep up the style in which they are now executed (a thing which we are fully resolved to do so long as we give them at all) 'tis certain we cannot do this and at the same time encrease the number of our pages, without augmenting the price of the Magazine also-a project to which, however desirable on some accounts, the present depressed state of the country presents a formidable obstacle. So that after a careful examination we are of opinion that we cannot do better at present than prosecute the work in the manner and style in which it has hitherto been conducted. An increased circulation would indeed present an alternative, because it would enable us to enlarge its size without altering the price; and our friends may rest fully assured that whenever we find ourselves justified in doing that, we shall not be found wanting in compliance, since it would give us equal pleasure with themselves. We suspect that many of them are not aware that every Portrait given in this Magazine is an expence to us of more than FIFTEEN POUNDS. ANECDOTE. "A certain monk came to the convent at Mount Sinai, and finding the Monks all at work, shook his head, and said to the Abbot, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth." John vi. 27. "Mary chose that good part." Luke x. 42. Zachary said the old Abbot to his servant, give the brother a book and shew him into a cell. There sat the Monk alone all day long. At night wondering that nobody had called him to dinner, he goes to the Abbot. Father, says he, don't the brethren eat to day? O yes, replied the Abbot, they have eaten plentifully. And why added the Monk did you not call me? Because brother replied the Abbot, you are a spiritual man, and have no need of carnal food. For our parts, alas! we are carnal, we are obliged to eat, and therefore we work: but you brother! you have chosen the good part, you sit and read all day long, and are above the want of the meat that perisheth. Pardon me, father, I perceive my mistake. I do, subjoined the old man: but rewember, Martha is as necessary a Christian as Mary." |