book consists of three treatises."*

the general title-page.

His copy seems to have wanted

After all, it is not improbable that the Editor has done right, in claiming the first and second as the productions of Gilbert Clerke, to whom they are also attributed by Bull, Nelson,† and the author of The Grounds and Occasions of the Controversy concerning the Unity of God. They were certainly both written by one and the same person, whoever that person may have been ;§ and the third and last treatise in the volume was as certainly written by a different person.

The difference of style has been admitted by Bock; but there is, in addition to this, a peculiarity of orthography in the third treatise, which renders the supposition that it came from the same pen as the two preceding ones, in the very last degree improbable. The author of the Ante-Nicenismus, and of the Brevis Responsio, always writes "quis," "qui,” 'qualis," quantus," &c., in the usual way; and the editor does the same. But the author of the third treatise invariably omits the u after the q, and writes "antiqa," "siqidem," "antiqitatis," "haudqaqam," "atqi."

66

66

One of the latest of the controversial publications of the year 1695, (the last, indeed, of that year, which we shall notice, as well as the last in the Third Collection of Unitarian Tracts,) is entitled, A Discourse concerning the Nominal and Real Trinitarians. Its object is to shew, that there is a broad and clear line of separation between these two classes of Trinitarian believers; that the Nominalists, who are properly the Church, since they form the large majority of its members, are, in truth, neither more nor less than Unitarians in disguise; and that the Realists, who constitute a very small minority, must be content to be set down as believers in three distinct Gods. He endeavours to establish the claim of the Nominalists to be considered the true Church, by shewing, first, that their doctrine was recognized, in the most ample manner and the most express terms, by the General Council assembled at the Lateran in 1215; and, secondly, that Divinity Professors, and all writers, whether of controversy or systems, have uniformly followed the doctrine so recognized. He next assigns the reason why the Nominalists are so called, and points out the substantial agreement of their doctrine with that of the Unitarians, although disguised by the use of a number of obsolete terms and phrases. He then explains, in a separate section, the doctrines of the ancient Nominalists, or the Noëtians and Sabellians; and, after a brief recapitulation, proceeds, in the five following sections, to substantiate the charge of Tritheism against the Realists. In the concluding section, he makes it his object to shew, that the doctrine of the Unitarians is essentially the same as that of the Nominalists; only that the Unitarians express themselves in plainer and more intelligible terms, and go to the point in a more direct and straightforward manner. recapitulation respecting the Nominalist scheme is as follows.

His

Johan. Vogt, Catalogus Historico-Criticus Librorum Rariorum, jam Curiis

tertiis recognitus, &c., Hamb. 1747, pp. 35, 36.

+ Nelson's Life of Bishop Bull, 2nd Ed., pp. 499, 501.

P. 17.

§ Brevis Responsio, p. 69.

1

"These at length are the divisions of the Nominals. They all agree, that the three persons of God are not subsisting persons; they are not so many distinct lives, understandings, wills, or energies, which (together with a particular substance) make a subsisting person, and if they are more than one, they make so many physical real or subsisting persons: no, they are persons in a quite different sense from that vulgar acceptation of the word persons. They are either three attributes of God; Goodness, Wisdom and Power. Or three external acts; Creation, Redemption and Sanctification. Or two internal acts of the subsisting person of the Father; that is to say, the Father, understanding, and willing himself and his own perfections. Or three internal relations; that is, three relations of God to himself: namely, the divine substance or Godhead, considered as unbegotten, begotten and proceeding. Or three names of God, ascribed to him by the Holy Scriptures, because he is the Father of all things, by creation; and because he did inhabit and operate (after an extraordinary and miraculous manner) in the person of the man Christ Jesus, who was verily the Son of God by his wonderful manner of conception; and (last of all) because he effecteth all things (more especially our santification) by his Spirit, which is to say, his energy or power."

In conclusion he says, with reference to such terms as Trinity, Incarnation, and Hypostatical Union, "But I must do the Church this right, to confess, that most of her greatest men, particularly the first Reformers, have published to all the world their hearty desire, that all these terms of the Realists were abolished, and all were obliged to use the Scripture-language and words only; which would heal all our breaches, and perfectly restore our peace, not only in this, but in (almost) all other questions and strifes. Let us hear, of so many as might be alleged, Dr. M. Luther and Mr. J. Calvin.-M. Luther complains, The word Trinity sounds odly: it were better to call Almighty God, God, than Trinity.' Postil. major. Dominic.-Mr. Calvin is yet less pleased with these kind of terms; he says, 'I like not this prayer, O Holy, Blessed and Glorious Trinity. It savours of barbarity; the word Trinity is barbarous, insipid, profane, an human invention, grounded on no testimony of God's word, the Popish God, unknown to the Prophets and Apostles.' Admon. 1, ad Polon." Manchester.

6

R. W.

LUTHER.

EVEN if Luther's writings were less fraught with the traces of a vigorous intellect than they are, there are two achievements of his, the like of which were never performed except where there was great genius. First, such was his mastery over his native language, that, under his plastic hand and all-subduing energy, it ceased to be a rugged and barbarous dialect, almost unfit for the purposes of literature, for which, indeed, he might be said to have created it. Secondly, he achieved, almost single-handed, the translation of the whole Scriptures; and (whatever the faults which necessarily arose from the defective scholarship of the age) with such idiomatic strength and racy energy, that his version has ever been the object of universal veneration, and is unapproachable by any which has since appeared.-Edinburgh Review, Vol. LXXXIII. pp. 106, 107.

SIR,

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE SACRED NUMBER THREE.

WILL you allow me to make a few observations in the Christian Reformer, in addition to the able criticism (May, 1846) on the very learned work entitled "Historical and Artistic Illustrations of the Trinity." The critic says, p. 282, "The object of the Illustrations is stated by the author to be, to trace the Trinity from its origin in the misty philosophies of the East, to the idolatrous corruptions into which it ran in the debased Christianity of the middle ages," and which he appears to have done with great historical research, and, as far as he goes, in a very satisfactory manner. But I do not find that he has attempted to trace the origin of the universality of the opinion of the sacred and mysterious character attributed to the number Three by almost all the nations of antiquity, but has left the Trinitarians in possession of their favourite theory, that it is a proof of a very ancient and general prevalence of their orthodox notions.

Another and much more rational origin has, I think, been detected, by a no less great and good man of our own times than the late Jacob Bryant, the author of the "Analysis of Ancient Mythology," of whom it was truly said in the introductory Memoir of his life and pursuits prefixed to that great work, that "in point of classical erudition he was perhaps without an equal in the world, and his studies were uniformly directed to the investigation of truth."

His opinion was, that this universal reverence had no reference to the Trinity, but to the three sons of Noah, the progenitors of the post-diluvian races, to whom he traced all the ancient dynasties and genealogies of the world. In the 108th page of the third vol. of this work (I quote from the 3rd edition, London, 1807), he says, "As all mankind proceeded from the three families of which the patriarch (Noah) was the head, we find the circumstance continually alluded to by the ancient mythologists, and the three persons who first constituted those families were looked upon as deities and kings;" and in the following page, 109, he observes, "I am sensible that some very learned persons have thought that they had discovered an allusion to a mysterious truth of another nature in the Triad of Plato and his followers. But if we collate what these writers have added by way of explanation, we shall, I believe, find they had no idea of any such mystery, and that the whole of what they have said is a refinement upon an ancient piece of history."

It is enough for my present purpose to confine myself to these short extracts from this great work, giving in the result of the author's conclusions a much more probable solution of the problem before us than has been yet given by a host of Trinitarians, neither of whom possessed one half of Mr. Bryant's learning and diligent investigation.

I am the more anxious to give publicity to the opinions of an author, not perhaps so much read now as he was in my younger days, as I do not recollect ever to have met with his view of this subject in any work of a strictly polemical description. It is the more valuable to us, as coming from so distinguished a member of the Church of England, and may not perhaps be thought unworthy of a place amongst "the Concessions of Trinitarians," in any future edition of Mr. Wilson's very able and useful work. Taunton.

R. L.

THE LATE MR. WINTERBOTHAM'S ACCOUNT OF UNITARIANS. SIR,

As many instances of violent attacks on Unitarians are recorded from time to time, it is pleasing to see a milder and more candid spirit in Trinitarians of late years manifested in several instances towards those whom they still think

err in their opinions about the Trinity. I beg leave to call the attention of your readers to the Christian temper in which Unitarians are referred to by the late Rev. W. Winterbotham in his History of America, written when imprisoned in Newgate for what were considered his political errors, and whose sufferings the late Theophilus Lindsey contributed much to alleviate. See Christian Reformer for 1839, p. 375.

Evesham, June 22, 1846.

T. DAVIS.

"The Unitarians, or, as they are denominated, though not with strict propriety, Socinians, are far from being numerous in the United States; they have, however, received considerable additions of late from different parts of Great Britain. The generous attachment of this body of Christians to the cause of civil and religious liberty, has marked them out as objects of the dread and vengeance of the British Government; every manœuvre has been tried and every influence exerted to sink them in the esteem of their countrymen, the consequence of which has been that many of them have found it necessary to seek a residence in a country more congenial with their sentiments and views of the rights of mankind, and where they can enjoy their religious principles without political degradation. Among the characters that are an ornament to this class of Christians, and whom the ungrateful and unrelenting hand of Persecution has driven to the hospitable shores of the United States, the names of Priestley, Russell and Cooper deserve particular notice; the former of these characters has long been celebrated as a philosopher and the avowed champion of the Unitarian faith. In both these situations, however we may differ from him in opinion, his candour, zeal and perseverance entitle him to our admiration; but as the FRIEND of MANKIND, he claims more than admiration-HE COMMANDS OUR ESTEEM. The direction of his philosophical pursuits to the benefit of his fellow-creatures-the warmth and ability with which he has espoused and defended the cause of civil and religious liberty-the patience, fortitude and resignation with which he has endured the most cruel and unjust persecutions-the discovery of the most amiable disposition to those who differed with him and even persecuted him,-will endear his memory to posterity, and awaken the utmost abhorrence and indignation at that spirit of bigotry and party rage which forced him from his country and friends, and obliged him, at an advanced period of life, to seek an asylum across the Atlantic. America will, however, value what Britain despised, and will no doubt reward him for all his past sufferings; his name will live in the affection of succeeding ages, while those of his persecutors will be consigned to the infamy they merit."-Historical, &c., View of the American United States, by W. Winterbotham, Vol. I. p. 377.

Plymouth.

ON THE DEATH OF AN INFANT.

"Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

THE child, whose winning presence, for a time,
Consoled in smiles her tender parents' breast,
Is hence translated to a happier clime,

To flourish in the regions of the blest.
There shall they find her, O transporting sight!
From death releas'd to life and love, on high;
Fair as the morning-star, whose virgin light

Sheds, at the dawn, new radiance from the sky.
When at the tomb in which a brother slept,

His sisters mourn'd, in tears, his dead repose;
Touch'd with divine compassion, "Jesus wept;"
Then from the grave reclaim'd, his friend arose.

W. E.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

Letters addressed to Relatives and Friends, chiefly in reply to Arguments in support of the Doctrine of the Trinity. By Mary S. B. Dana, Author of "The Southern and Northern Harps," &c. 8vo. Pp. 318. BostonMunroe and Co.; London-Chapman.

MRS. DANA is the daughter of a highly respectable orthodox clergyman in the United States. Before the publication of these Letters, she was favourably and extensively known in her own country as the author of the poems mentioned in the title of the present volume. Hence her conversion appears to have created no small sensation among her numerous friends, and to have given occasion to endless reasonings, remonstrances and warnings, all directed to the purpose of turning her from her new faith. It is her object, in these Letters, to reply to the " numerous communications" she thus received:

"It was impossible for me," she says in her Introduction "to answer individually all the letters I received; and even if I could have done so, there were many other persons saying, substantially, the very same things, and who could not have been reached by mere individual replies to my various letters. The extracts I shall make from these communications will, I think, abundantly prove that I have been, in a manner, compelled to speak in my own defence, and in defence of those who, through me, and in consequence of my present position, have been extensively and unjustly assailed. And may I not hope, that I may be instrumental in doing something to promote the interests of liberal and enlightened Christianity, or, at least, to soften the rigour of that judgment which has been so freely passed upon a conscientious and respectable body of Christians?"

The sound reasoning and knowledge of her subject displayed in these Letters, as well as the mild and temperate spirit which animates them, are excellently calculated to promote both these results among her readers.

Mrs. Dana was brought up in a Calvinistic creed. But, habituated to it, as she thus was, from her childhood upwards, she was yet far from happy with it. She describes the state of her mind on this subject in the following words -words, doubtless, which are applicable to the thoughts and feelings of multitudes still within the influence of Calvin's theology:

"When my mind began to act for itself, I often felt perplexed about some of the doctrines of Calvinism. My friends can bear me witness how, especially, the Calvinistic ideas of election and reprobation distressed and puzzled me at various periods of my life. The speculative portions of my faith were essentially opposed to my tastes and feelings. A want of harmony between my creed and what, I am sure, were the best feelings of my heart, has always been a source of undefined uneasiness; so that, in order to enjoy my religion, which, from the pressure of exceedingly severe domestic afflictions, was necessary for me, I clung to the harmonious, practical and true, and managed to keep out of sight those doctrines in which I could never fully acquiesce."-P. 112.

Mrs. Dana's intelligent and clear mind was, at length, however, enabled to release itself from the creed thus so repugnant to her. And heartily does she rejoice in her emancipation. In her first Letter, addressed to her parents, she declares,

"And now, when I sit down seriously to compare the system of doctrines with which I have so long been fettered, with those under the influence of which my freed spirit now joyfully springs to meet its benevolent Creator, I cannot but exclaim, "Thanks be to God who hath given me the victory through my Lord Jesus Christ!' My mind is disenthralled, disenchanted, awakened as from a death-like stupor-all mists are cleared away-and this feeling of light, and life, and liberty, arises from a delightful consciousness that I have learned to give the Scriptures a rational and simple interpretation, and that, on the most important of all subjects, I have learned to think for myself."-P. 8.