reign of terror. He did not, however, think that just notions of human liberty were to be despised, because bad men had embarked in the cause, any more than he was of opinion that our religion was to be considered as contaminated, because it had been for ages defiled by the impurities of superstition. He maintained, also, that Great Britain had no right to interfere in settling the French Government, and that the destructive war in which she afterwards engaged on that account, might have been avoided. The local politics of Scotland were at that period so virulent, and parties so much divided, that those who thought differently on these subjects, did not hesitate to brand him as an enemy to his country. Those, however, who knew Mr. Fleming's genuine worth, and that he differed with them purely upon principle, continued their friendship, and never ceased to cultivate his acquaintance. About 1793, when political feeling was at his height, and Muir, Margarot and others, were transported for the crime of sedition, under sentences of the High Court of Justiciary, Mr. Fleming's friends were not, for some time, without anxiety on his account, though he had certainly never attended any of the societies or meetings which were held at that period; but as the free expression of liberal opinions could not be characterized as criminal, he was never on that account made the object of any hostile measure. "Mr. Fleming was, in 1804, translated to the parish of Colinton, within four miles of Edinburgh, on the unsolicited presentation of the Earl of Lauderdale, the patron. This arrangement appears to have been communicated by his Lordship to Mr. Fleming, through the medium of a mutual friend, previous to the death of Dr. Walker, the then incumbent. A copy of Mr. Fleming's letter to the Noble Earl on this occasion, has been preserved, and its insertion here may not be deemed unsuitable. "Primrose, Dec. 20, 1802. "MY LORD, "Our very excellent friend, Mr. Gibson, has sent me your Lordship's letter to him, dated 26th of last month. The quaintness of compliment is suited to the character and intercourse of only vain and frivolous men. For this reason, the parade of verbal gratitude shall, on however, a fact too obvious to escape the present occasion, be forborne. It is, notice, that the unsolicited and spontapleased to make me, furnishes a proof neous offer which your Lordship has been that there remains, even among the Peers of Scotland, one whose liberal and disinterested mind considers an uniform adherence to those principles and measures which are favourable to the liberty and happiness of mankind, though unsupported by any other claim, as deserving patronage and encouragement. Permit me to assure your Lordship of another fact, that the satisfaction of mind arising from reflection on my conduct, and which has greatly overbalanced every inconve nience which the temper of the times may have occasioned, has been heightened by this testimony of your Lordship's approbation, and that it is one of the few things by which this effect could have been produced. "Whether your Lordship's generous intention shall ever be realized, like every future event, depends upon contingencies, many of which are beyond the reach of human foresight or controul. But whatever may be the event, I trust the kindness and generosity of your Lordship's intention shall always be sufficient to keep in my mind a just sense of the obligation, and lead to an independence and propriety of conduct which will shew that your Lordship's favour has not been entirely misplaced.' "Mr. Fleming had previously to this been offered two other livings in the Church, which he did not accept. We have reason to believe, that at first he was not very cordially received by his parishioners at Colinton; but the real worth of his character was soon discovered, and during the remainder of his life, he enjoyed their full regard and esteem. He thought that he could never serve God better than when doing good to men, and continued to make himself useful to his parishioners as a friend and adviser in their secular affairs, as well as in religion and morality. Being a scholar by education and taste, and a man of business by habit, he was a fit companion for men in all ranks of life; and from the natural frankness of his disposition, his society continued to be much courted. He was often consulted by gentlemen for his opinion on the value of land, and was frequently taken to distant parts of the country for this purpose, without, however, neglecting the duties of his charge. He was particularly strict in keeping up public worship in his church, and was seldom absent on the Sabbath. The keenness and intemperate zeal about trifles which often appeared in ecclesiastical courts, induced him, in a great measure, to absent himself; for it was his settled opinion, that the ministers of religion, by servility to the rich and great, and by making themselves the tools of political faction, degrade their office and their characters in the estimation of their flocks, and consequently diminish the extent of their own usefulness. "In his new charge at Colinton, Mr. Fleming continued to indulge his taste for elegant literature; and while in vigorous health, he often devoted eight or nine hours in the day to study. His desire of knowledge was insatiable, and his reading unwearied to the last. He understood Latin and French remarkably well; and some of the best authors in these languages, as well as the classical writers of our own, were the constant companions of his leisure hours. In French literature, Vertot, Fenelon, Le Sage, Rochefoucauld, (whose moral maxims he constantly perused,) Raynal and Say, were his favourite writers; Cicero, Sallust, Horace, Lucan, and particularly Juvenal, the greatest part of whose Satires he had completely by heart, among the Latins. In our own literature, he put a high value on the works of Adam Smith and Samuel Johnson; and Shakespeare, Addison, Pope, Crabbe and Campbell, were his frequent companions. "In the beginning of the year 1818, he suffered by a stroke of the palsy, which very much debilitated him, and was, indeed, the cause of his death; for although he lived nearly five years afterwards, he never recovered complete health, either of body or mind. In this condition, he once attempted to address the congregation at the time of the Sacrament, but was unable to proceed; he continued, however, to perform the offices of marriage and baptism until about a year before his death, when he found it necessary to desist, even from the exertion required on these occasions. But his mind was still sufficiently collected to be much affected by finding that he was now altogether useless in the discharge of his ministerial duties; to the last, however, it remained perfectly sound, although his power of expression by words became gradually less: but the same benevolence of disposition which characterised him in health, never deserted him, as was manifest to his friends, by his appearance when he could no longer articulate. He died of pure exhaustion, with hardly any struggle, on the 23rd of January, 1823, in the seventy-third year of his age, and was by his own desire, buried in the family sepulchre at Bathgate. "Mr. Fleming indicated strongly, by his appearance, the ideas which attach to his character; he was indifferent about dress, excepting as to cleanliness, and used no more of the clerical habit than a black coat on Sunday, and the Geneva band when in the pulpit. Yet, notwithstanding the plainness, and even occasional negligence of his dress, his appearance and personal manners were free from vulgarity, and always bespoke the man of education and refinement of mind. Simplex munditiis was his motto, and extended from his person to the frugality of his domestic arrangements. "But however frugal he might be in his own pecuniary disbursements, he was nobly generons on proper occasions, and by his judicious economy, was enabled to give more assistance to others, by lending money, sometimes to his great loss, than any other man in the same rank of life. He attached much importance to the science of political economy, not from any selfish or party motive, but from a pure and honest regard to the interests of his fellow-men. He was well versed in this science, and considered the study of it of so much importance to mankind, that he made an eventual bequest of a considerable part of his fortune, to establish professorships for teaching it, in the Colleges of Edinburgh and Glasgow. "The education of youth was also a favourite object with him, and he left a legacy for keeping a certain number of free-scholars in the parochial-school of Colinton; bequeathing, also, to the parish-library the remainder of his valuable collection of books, on Athanasians. "Quis tulerit Gracchos de Seditione after his particular friends had each The Charge of Presumption retorted selected a book as a token of remembrance. He died unmarried. In his person he was bulky, rather than muscular; his features were large, and strongly marked; and his coun tenance, especially when any friend addressed him, indicated at once the sense and benevolence of the individual. His manner in private society, though plain, was manly and engaging; he knew what was due to others, as well as to himself, and neither conceded nor demanded more. He enjoyed an equanimity of temper, and a flow of good spirits, which rendered him at all times social and cheerful. "His character, in two particulars, was well expressed in his own words, that he was a Presbyterian in his religion, and a Republican in his politics. He thought with Milton, that the trappings of a monarchy were sufficient to set up an ordinary commonwealth; a sentiment to which he was fond of recurring, and which was frequently the occasion of a good-humoured banter among his friends. But while his affection to the Presbyterian Church was not of an exclusive or bigoted description, so his republican principles were not adopted from passion, or a restless impatience of superiors, but on a conviction of their truth and utility, and because he thought that this form of government was best adapted to the general welfare, and gave a freer scope to the exertions of merit. He entertained a high veneration for the characters of Washington and Fox. He thought, truly, that the fame which the former had acquired, as the founder of the independence and freedom of America, was far greater than the laurels which accompany the mere victories of a successful general. He revered the memory of the latter, as the universal friend of humanity, and the firm and fearless champion of British liberty. *" At the desire of some friends, he sat for his picture to Watson, about ten years ago. It is in the possession of David Wardlaw, Esq., and a good engraving has been executed from it, by Mr. Young, of London." SIR, querentes ?" all the charges made against Unitarianism by Orthodoxy, I know not any that comes with so ill a grace, as that capital one commonly preferred against her, of not approaching the divine oracles in a spirit of comparative humility. Athanasianism is, I will not say, the creed of human reason, but it is emphatically the creed of human reasoning. In ratiocination (such as it is) did it originate, and by ratiocination (such as it is) only can it be maintained. Its patrons plead, that Christ is called God in the Scriptures; that the titles and attributes of God are repeatedly assigned to him; that he has, in so many words, identified himself with the Supreme Being, and that St. Paul hesitates not to speak of him as iσa ep. On the other hand they admit, (how could they indeed deny?) that the Son invariably proclaims his inferiority to the Father; his entire dependence upon him; his absolute impotency without him, and but for him; his ignorance of the "day and hour" of final judgment; his want of authority to dispose of the higher places in as kingdom, &c.; and that St. Paul as categorically affirms that, at the consummation of his mediatorial office, when he is to resign the kingdom into the hands of his heavenly Father, he is to be subject to him that did put all things under him, that God (the Father) may be all in all. Now here is a puzzle undoubtedly, but only to a reasoner. A "prostration of the understanding" would teach, what? that, as Dr. Carpenter says of the doctrines of Liberty and Necessity, they are both true, though he cannot understand how they should be; that the Son is an emanation from the Father, like him God, still deriving his Being from him, the creature of his will, the dependent on his power, one with him only by unlimited and complete subjection, the delegate, not copartner of his jurisdiction, the image, not counterpart of his person, cognizant only of what he is pleased to reveal, powerless beyond what he is pleased to impart, circumscribed as to know ledge, finite as to authority. But this degree of "docility" does not suit our theologians. No. "The Logos God, and not all that God himself is!" exclaim our logicians. This can never be. The Father and the Son -they must be then two persons, so. There can be no degrees in infinite. The anoуavoμa τns Ens and the don itself must be com mensurate. The χαρακτηρ της υποσ Taσews and the Taσis of which it is the xapakтn, must be in every respect identical. The being a εy, must be the being ισος Θερ. But if the Son be an equal person with the Father, q. e. d., all that is said of his inferiority, though that inferiority is expressly predicated of the Son in terms, must be, somehow or other, explained away. Accordingly, one of our dialectricians qualifies it by the supplementary phrase as touching his manhood:" another refers it to his mediatorial office: a third discovers that when the Son says "he does not know," he means, that he is not pleased to disclose what he does know: a fourth, that when the Son interdicts petition to himself, and says that even upon the occasion of an address to his Father, his intercession were a work of supererogation, for that as believers on him their petitions to God would be granted as a matter of course; he only intends to say, that they are not in future to put impertinent questions to him, for that prayer, direct and ultimate prayer, is always to be offered to the Son as well as to the Father, and that instead of making use of his name only, or presuming on its mediety in their behalf, they are to prefer one petition after another by the half hour together to him alone, and κat' oxy, as if he were the sole or supreme dispenser of spiritual and temporal blessings to his disciples. Now all this may be very sound and conclusive reasoning; but reasoning it is, and that as latitudinarian as possible, in the teeth of as categorical averment as ever fell from the lips of inspiration. And are these then the men who talk of "questioning rather than learning"? In good truth are they, though in pursuance and "confirmation strong" of their unique adherence to the litera scripta of holy writ, its ipsissima verba, many of Y Hinton, in his reply to an objection of mine to a paper of his on the Origin of Evil, admits, (p. 529,7 that on his theory it is impossible YOUR worthy correspondent, Mr. any created intelligence can exist without some portion of evil," even in heaven itself; "that not only ali creation, but that all happiness is necessarily inseparable from evil.” This reasoning may be allowed to be conclusive as to this world. But how can it apply to a future state, to “a new world," of which we know nothing, but which we are assured will be altogether different from the present? The argument from what God can do, and what he cannot do, is scarcely becoming such frail and ignorant creatures as we are, for the least flaw in our conception and argument destroys our conclusion. "We know but in part, we see through a glass darkly." Can any Christian so safely and confidently rely on the soundness of his metaphysical abstractions and conclusions, as to place them in opposition to the plain language of scripture? What may be true of this state may not be true of the future ; and what may apply justly to man here, who is a bundle of passions, feelings, and affections, of low, earthy origin and tendency, may not apply to a "spiritual body," clothed with immortality. No one will hesitate to admit that all created beings, however perfect and exalted, must ever remain finite and at an immeasurable distance from the peerless glory and excellence of their Creator." But the question is not whether man will ever possess infinity and absolute perfection, but whether the Deity can place him out of the reach of danger, of we have found out what God can do, we attain to the fulness of the stature of men in Christ," when we are come of age, then shall we leave the school of discipline, and enter upon the inheritance provided for the saints in light; and though not by nature infinite or equal to God, shall be pillars in his temple to go no more out." I DAVID EATON. Lewes, SIR, August 14, 1823. SHOULD hardly have presumed to enter the lists of controversy upon a question which, in almost every age, has employed the pens of the wisest and most intelligent of men, namely, the introduction of evil under the government of a God infinitely wise and benevolent; but some of the arguments adduced, (p. 378,) by your correspondent Mr. Hinton, as well as those of Rusticus, (p. 85,) to which he alludes, appear to me to involve some difficulties so insuperable; some necessary conclusions so ill-calculated to cherish that unlimited confidence which is so justly due to the glorious attributes of the benevolent Parent of the universe, from partial "evil still educing good;" and so unhappily tending to induce the appalling suspicion that evil, natural and moral, with all their devastating consequences, even now, and ever will through all eternity, ravage and deface the fair universe of God; that I cannot resist the temptation of offer4 F |