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SIR,

I

Gloucester, December 9, 1818.

F the following articles be deemed worthy of a place in your intelligent Miscellany, have the goodness to insert them in your next Number. Prior to their perusal, it is right that the reader should be informed, that the Unitarian Christian Church in this city has a Sunday school, consisting of nearly seventy children, boys and girls. To defray the expense of it, recourse has been had, of late years, to the celebration of an anniversary about this time of the year, notice of which is given to the public by bills announcing the same, and containing select hymns, to be sung on the occasion, with an intimation, or at least under an understood expectation, of a collection at the door of the chapel. These steps being taken as usual, and due preparations made for the the Editor of the Gloucester Herald thought proper to insert the letter, sigued "A Christian," in his paper, bearing date the 5th instant, the day before the anniversary, but published the preceding night. The Handbill annexed to the Letter was circulated as speedily as could well be before Sunday, and on Sunday evening the observations were made upon it, which I have added to the other papers.

purpose,

N. B. The title and motto before the letter, are usually placed at the head of one of the columns in the

Gloucester Herald.

"The Christian Herald. "Fear God, honour the King."

"To the Editor.

"SIR,-I feel it my duty to caution your readers not to attend the anniversary of the Unitarian Sunday schools, as they have been invited by public handbills. I conceive that those schools cannot be conscientiously supported, (except by the members of that peculiar society,) for the following simple reasons:

"1. Because if a Churchman, or a Methodist, or a Trinitarian Dissenter, be correct in his interpretation of the Bible, every person who may contribute to support the Unitarian schools, will contribute to the support and diffusion of great, fundamental and destructive errors.

"2. Because (in addition to the

*

national and other weekly schools) there are now in this city four Sunday schools belonging to the Church of England, and four + others which agree with us in teaching the essential doctrines of Redemption through the blood of Christ, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit. These schools are able and willing to receive all the poor children of Gloucester, and have a sacred right to every shilling which a believer in the holy Trinity may be asked to contribute to an Unitarian school.

"It is not my disposition to make illiberal reflections. If the frequenters of the chapel in Barton-street, be indeed persuaded that they can find their way to the love of God' without the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost,' let them bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of-Socinus; but let it not be expected that we should join them in bours to tread under foot the Son teaching the children of our neighof God, count the blood of the cove

nant an unholy thing, and do despite to the spirit of grace.

66

'I am, Sir, &c.

"A CHRISTIAN."

THE public are respectfully assured that the letter to the Editor of the Gloucester Herald, in the paper of to-day, respecting the Unitarian Sunday school, is replete with <naccurate statements, erroneous representations, and unfounded insinuations. The minister of the Unitarian chapel pledges himself to prove this to be the case to any who will have the goodness to hear him from his own pulpit. A slight notice only can be taken of the letter to-morrow evening, but opportunity will be offered to discuss the subject more fully on the following Sunday evening, and during the winter months.

The Unitarians do not teach their children any controverted doctrines whatever, and on the evening of their anniversary nothing will be said that

"Attached to the Churches of St. Mary de Crypt, St. John's, St. Michael's and St. Nicholas."

"In connexion with the Independent, the Methodist, Lady Huntingdon's and Baptist Chapels."

can offend the conscience of the most scrupulous Trinitarian.

THEOPHILUS BROWNE.
December 5, 1818.

Address to the Congregation, which was
very large and respectable, on the
evening of December 6, 1818.
MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN,

In reply to the letter which appeared in the Herald of yesterday, I would beg leave to assure you, in the first place, that we, the members of this congregation, do not pretend to find our way (as it is strangely expressed) to the love of God without the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost or floly Spirit. Whether the love of God signifies our love of him, or his of us, (which is uncertain,) we are convinced that his love is not to be acquired, unless we strive to imbibe the true genuine Christian temper, which we understand to be meant by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; and we are very sensible that such feeble, frail creatures as we are, stand greatly in need of the enlightening, supporting and directing assistance of the Spirit of our God. We do not in general use the form alluded to as a valediction at the close of our devotion, because we think there is good ground to believe that the apostle referred, in the last clause of it, to the extraordinary and miraculous gifts and endowments bestowed upon believers in the very first age of the Christian church, and which have long since entirely ceased. Taking the clause to convey the sense of such guidance and direction as may be now and at all times humbly hoped for from above, we have no objection, in the smallest degree, to the use of it.

2. We do not bring up our own or our neighbours' children in the nurture and admonition of Socinus. With this person we do not agree in some material points, and if we did in all his opinions, we should not wish to be called his followers. He was a learned, and, upou the whole, an excellent man; but we look upon ourselves as no more belonging specifically to him than we do to Paul, or Peter, or Apollos. We profess to be the disciples of Jesus Christ, and look upon him as, under God, our proper Master, Teacher and Guide.

3. We are persuaded that what the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, x. 29, of treading under foot the Son of God, &c., was and is applicable only to the avowed and determined opposers and despisers of Jesus Christ and his religion, apostates from his cause, and wilful violaters of his commands; and we cannot but esteem it as contrary as possible to the true spirit of Christianity, to charge us with any thing so grossly impious and wicked.

We purpose to have evening lectures every Sunday in this place during the winter months; and if you, my Christian brethren, would be pleased to attend, we would inform you exactly what our sentiments are, and lay before you the grounds and reasons of our faith. We make a point of not teaching the children of the Sunday School those doctrines which are matters of dispute and controversy amongst Christians. Our advice to them is uniformly this: "Be guided by your parents so long as you are children, but when you grow up and become men and women, inquire and judge for yourselves to the best of your knowledge and power, with a single eye to the truth and in the fear of God." your parents think proper to put you under our care, we will do the best for you we are able, but we will not prejudice or bias your minds for or against any party or denomination of Christians.

As

I hope this may suffice, for the present, to convince our brethren that we are not those vile and worthless beings that we have been represented to be; and that, notwithstanding what has been said against us, you will be so kind as to assist us, by your generous contributions in our labour of love, in bringing up the children of our School in the nurture and admonition-not of Socinus, you may rely upon it, but of one very far superior to him, even Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour.

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far, those celebrated meu departed from the standard of moderate orthodoxy-which might easily be done, first, by collecting the evidence to this point to be obtained from their own writings; and, secondly, the external evidence.

BREVIS.

Hanwood,

October 12, 1818.

every one seemed anxious to ASSIST at the first solemn mass that has been celebrated in Edinburgh since the days of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scotland."

The above account is extracted from a St. James's Chronicle of the present weck, and I think describes one of the finest displays of the splendours or fopperies of Roman Catholic worship that has been witnessed in this country As the cere

"ON Sunday the 1st instant, being since the Reformation.

the festival of All Saints, a solemn high mass was celebrated in the new Roman Catholic Chapel in Edinburgh, with great magnificence. The Right Rev. Bishop, Dr. Patterson, officiated in pontificalibus, splendidly clothed in purple and gold, with a golden mitre and crosier. He was assisted by several priests in sacerdotal habits. After the epistle and gospel had been chaunted, the venerable and learned metropolitan Bishop, Dr. Camerou, delivered an appropriate discourse. The sacred orator dwelt with complacency upon that true evangelical spirit which at present diffuses itself throughout the Christian world, especially the British empire. He aptly observed, that the firebrand of discord, persecution and fanaticism, among the followers of Christ, was for ever extinguished; that it was no longer a matter of acrimonious contention between Christians, whether they belong to the Church of England or of Rome, Lutheran or Calvinistic, but that all true believers in the ineffable mysteries of the ever-glorious and adorable Trinity unite themselves under the triumphant banners of the cross, in order to combat manfully the obnoxious and baneful tenets of Socinianism and infidelity, which are so industriously disseminated by the pseudophilosophers of this degenerate age.' The learned prelate concluded by exhorting his flock to be guided by the torch of faith, whose resplendent rays alone illume the celestial path to the heavenly Jerusalem.'

"The music for the mass was very grand, being the celebrated composition of Mozart for the Imperial Chapel in Vienna. The choir was conducted by Mr.Corry, of London, and the whole was performed with great judgment and effect. The chapel was crowded to excess by people of the first rank and fashion, of every religious denomination, even Jews and Quakers;

monies attendant upon high mass, in all its ancient grandeur, with their various attractions for the eye and ear, have appeared once again amongst us, it may well be expected that proces sions of saints and relics will soon be seen in our streets! and I see no reason to object to this: let them come, with all their tinsel and their gands; in the 19th century we may surely venture to predict, from such ridiculous displays, a more speedy downfal of the superstition which brings them forward. Gross absurdities cannot long bear the increasing light of these days! To prolong their existence, they should be exhibited within the gloomy walls of convents, and in those seats of enforced ignorance, where the precious fruit of the tree of knowledge still remains a forbidden thing.

Unitarians may, I think, be proud to find how dangerous and alarming their doctrines appear to the infallible successors of l'eter; to see their metropolitan call not only upon those whom he esteems the true believers, but upon the Church of England, the Lutherans and the Calvinists, al! lesser heretics, to unite themselves in one band against them! He tells us that we are formi dable, when he exhorts the thousands and tens of thousands who profess the varying and anathematizing creeds of discordant sects to come forward with him, and “combat manfully" with Socinianism and infidelity, for with Dr. Cameron, as with many others, these terms are represented as nearly synonymous; and we will hail their coming. Free and fair discussion is what we earnestly desire; and while sound reason, and clear scriptural authority, again and again plainly repeated in every book of the sacred writings, is on our side, we fear not their embattled phalanx, of whatever number it may consist. While they are drawn up, as now, against our tenets, and not, as in

old times, against our persons and properties, we not only willingly, but gladly, meet them; and if, in the encounter, we should find that the strong arm of Truth fights on their side, we will readily, joyfully and thankfully enlist ourselves with them under her sacred banner.

These must be the sentiments of every sincere and consistent Unitarian: and that a full and patient discussion of all the points in which they differ from their Christian brethren may speedily take place, and be carried on by both parties in the spirit of meek ness and candour, is the earnest wish of your constant reader,

MARY HUGHES.

P. S. Will you permit me, before I close this paper, to make a few observations on the very interesting account given in your last Repository of the late Mr. Thacher. [XIII. 717-720.] I think, if Mr. Fearon himself, or, if such there be, one still less willing to allow any degree of talent or of virtue to exist among our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic, were to peruse it, he must confess that the Western Contiment has produced a man whose character does honour to human nature; and that, when he was called to his native skies, a survivor was not wanting, fully able, with simple, forcible and heart-affecting eloquence, to hold forth his bright example to the world.

But what chiefly induces me to notice this article, is the very striking resemblance which, in character and circumstances, in life and in death, the subject of it bears to our lamented friend, Benjamin Goodier; which I think cannot but have forcibly occurred to the mind of every reader who had, like myself, the happiness of being intimately acquainted with that excellent young man.

pointed an early immortality:" that though "sickness wasted his body, it had no power over his spirit!" "that his understanding retained all its vigour, and his heart gained new sensibility." The next circumstance mentioned of Mr. Thacher coincides, too, in a remarkable degree: "his sufferings called forth an almost unprecedented kindness," (in different parts of this country, and afterwards in a foreign land,) in those with whom he associated, "which furnished him with new and constant occasions of pious gratitude, and perhaps he was never so thankful to the Author of his being as during his sickness."

The parallel holds so entirely throughout almost every sentence, that I might go on transcribing to the end of the paper, and still imagine that it was expressly written to commemorate our departed friend, so perfect in all respects is the resemblance. To that admirable paper, then, I refer the many who feel a deep interest in the remembrance of Mr. Goodier, as presenting a likeness of him which cannot but be highly gratifying to their hearts.

SIR,

I KNOW not when I have bette

more shocked than in reading the account of the horrid execution at Edinburgh, where a malefactor being cut down from the gallows in a state of insensibility, was restored to conscious animation by being bled by a surgeon, and then hanged a second time. This is pure vindictive justice. But this is not the last nor the worst scene of the kind, if your correspondents who believe in both the resurrection and destruction of the wicked, be right. I submit the case to their moral sense.

SIR,

Q.

Who that witnessed his conduct and behaviour during any considerable part of the four years of illness which pre- A GREAT sensation has been cre

ceded his death, the great mental improvement that he made, and the zealous and active exertions for the benefit of his fellow-creatures which continually employed him, even under such trying circumstances, could fail to see in him "a young man uncommonly ripe in understanding and virtue!" and, though unwillingly, to anticipate that for him "God had ap

ated in the Church of England by the late secession of several of its ministers and members, distinguished at least by their opulence. They are ultra-evangelical, going beyond the Calvinists themselves on the subject of imputed righteousness and justification by faith. They appear not to be all of the same mind, but several of them are said to be Anti-trinitarians,

denying the personality, and of course the deity of the Holy Spirit. Every where they manifest great zeal and wonderful pecuniary generosity; building handsome places of worship at their own charges, and carrying on gratuitous service. Their forms are the same as those of other orthodox Dissenters.

I have learned the following particulars of their present state, which I put down, that, if incorrect, some of your correspondents may set me right, and that others, knowing more, may be tempted to impart their informa

tion.

Mr. Baring, a clergyman, of the great mercantile family, has erected a splendid chapel at Exeter, where he officiates. He has another, I believe, at Taunton. The clergy preach and publish against him, and for a time forget the Unitariaus.

Mr. Arnold (the same, I suppose, referred to Vol. XIII. pp. 724 and 754) has also opened a room for worship at Exeter. He is reputed to be higher in orthodoxy than Mr. Baring.

Mr. Cowan, a popular clergyman, has long attracted attention at Bristol, by his secession, and is now building a handsome chapel in Great Georgestreet, the most fashionable part of the city.

Mr. Snow, another clerical seceder, has a chapel at Cheltenham. It was reported that, becoming a Baptist, (several of his brethren in the secessiou have become the same,) he would be scarcely able to continue in the chapel, which was erected for him by a zealous Pædobaptist: I have lately heard a statement of the affair, which is very creditable both to him and his lay-patron.

Mr. Kemp, a country gentleman, of Sussex, formerly M. P. for Lewes, has erected chapels at both Lewes and Brighton, the latter a fine building, and officiates himself at both places, but, it is said, with a decaying popuJarity. A sister of his, a widow lady, was accustomed to preach a few years ago in the hall of her mansion, not far from Battle. She is said to have been very eloquent. At a village in the neighbourhood of Ditchling, a gentlemau, formerly in the army or navy, is said to have erected a chapel in the same interest.

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"1660, July 6. His Majestie began first to touch for the evil,* according to custome, thus: His Matie sitting under his State in y Banquetting House, the Chirurgeons cause the sick to be brought or led up to the throne, where they kneeling, y King strokes their faces or cheekes with both his hands at once, at which instant a Chaplaine in his formalities says, He put his hands upon them and he healed them.' This is sayd to every one in particular. When they have ben all touch'd they come up againe in the same order, and the other Chaplaine kneeling, and having Angel-gold + strung on white ribbon on his arme, delivers them one by one to his Matie, who puts them about the necks of the touched as they passe, whilst the first Chaplaine repeats, That is ye true light who came into ye world.' Then followes an Epistle (as at first a Gospell), with the Liturgy, prayers for the sick, with some alteration, lastly ye blessing; and then the Lo. Chamberlaine and Comptroller of the Household bring a basin, ewer and towell, for his Maue to wash." Evelyn's Diary, in Memoirs, 2 vols. 4to. Vol. I. pp. 323, 324.

Royal Farce may be seen in our VIIIth * A pretty full historical account of this Vol. pp. 5, 91, 232, 363. ED.

+ "Pieces of money so called from having the figure of an angel on them."

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