you, that neither the distribution of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, into its parts, made by Mrs. More; nor the dependence inferred of the moral upon the doctrinal part, appear to me, who am an old clergyman, to be a novel turn given to that Epistle. That such a division of the Epistle is not new, your Reviewer, if a Clergyman, ought to know. Beza, once accounted a learned and valuable commentator, thus begins his notes upon the twelfth chapter: "Quarta pars epistolæ, quæ, absolutis Christiane doctrinæ capitibus, versatur in vitæ Christianæ præceptis explicandis." Perhaps you will be startled at the name of a writer of this class; I refer you therefore to Grotius, whose opinion appears to me so fully to coincide with Mrs. More's, that your Reviewers might, all circumstances considered, have suggested with some shew of reason, that she had been perusing that learned author. After some preliminary observations, which mark the transition of the apostle from that part of the Epistle which is chiefly doctrinal, to that which is chiefly practical, Grotius thus enters upon the twelfth chapter:-" Пagana ουν υμας αδελφοι, id est, cum quæ dixi ita se habeant, monita vobis dabo doctrinam istam consequentia. Mos est Pauli quem secuti alii veteres, post to deyμatinov subjungere solent το ηθικόν.” Now I conceive, Sir, that when Grotius represents St. Paul as saying, "Cum que dixi ita se habeant, monita vobis dabo doctrinam itam consequentia;" i. e. since such is the doctrine which I have stated to you, I will give you those precepts which follow from, or which are the consequence of that doctrine; he supposes the Apostle to make "the duties of the twelfth chapter to grow out of the doctrines of the antecedent eleven, just as any other consequence grows out of its cause."

It appears, I trust, from what has been advanced, that the obnoxious remark of Mrs. More is not quite so novel or ill founded as was imagined.

Mr. D. in his letter to Mrs. More, p. 20, refers to Grotius, and, strange to tell, gives his reader a partial translation of the passage immediately preceding this quotation!

Your Reviewer, however, proceeds to represent it as 66 one of the favourite, though ill-founded, tenets of some particularly zealous and respectable Christians of our times, who by this and some other similar misconceptions, seem to many, as well as to ourselves, to threaten no less danger to our national Church, that it has to apprehend from avowed separatists." I suspect, Sir, that having been justly alarmed by the danger threatened to us by our enemies, we begin to class with them all persons whom the medium of mistake or prejudice represents, in a questionable form, to our affrighted imagination. "Somina, terrores magicos, miracula sagas "Nocturnos lemures!".

But on

But to be serious. The insinuation of your Reviewer, that the persons referred to have favourite tenets, which seem to threaten danger to the national Church, appears to many, as well as to the present writer, highly invidious. That the tenets referred to are those which relate to faith and justification, the general tenor of your remarks places beyond conjecture. these points it would appear, on a fair and impartial investigation, that neither Mr. Wilberforce nor Mrs. More, nor any others, Clergy or Laity, who are of the same sentiments with them, are the disciples of a new school. They are the disciples of a school much more ancient than many of your correspondents seem to apprehend. For my own part, I am fully persuaded, that their tenets on the articles specified are capable of a solid defence both from Scripture and primitive antiquity; and therefore that they cannot threaten any danger to the national Church, confessedly apostolic both in her doctrine and constitution. But I will not enter upon the main question. I will only ask, is it dangerous to the national Church for either Clergy or Laity, upon the doctrine of Faith and Justification, to approve the sentiments, and to adopt the language of Cranmer

of Latimer-of Hooper of Ridley -of Philpot-of Bradford, the glorious martyrs of Mary's reign?—or of Jewell the learned apologist of the national Church, and of his contemporaries

and successors?of the judicious Hooker? and of all our great Divines, with very few exceptions, even to the time of Beveridge? Is it dangerous to the Church for a man to state the doctrine of faith, as those pious and learned men supposed it was stated by the Apostles and ancient fathers of the Church from Clement downwards? Is it dangerous to follow such authorities in preference to Hammond, and Bull, and Burnet, and Clarke? These were certainly great and valuable writers, but by no means infallible. Must a man then adopt implicitly every paralogism of these latter writers, and with out examination admit all their misstatements of the opinions of those from whom they differed; and then apply those mis-statements to his contemporaries whom he happens to dis-, like; and without evidence, and even 'contrary to evidence, represent them as threatening no less danger to the Church, than is to be apprehended from avowed separatists? Is this Christian charity? Is it candour? Is it common justice?

The compass of a letter does not permit me to multiply quotations. I will only subjoin a few references to certain works, formerly of some credit and account; divers parts of which a man might imagine were written by anticipation, in reply to certain objections lately brought forward with much shew of learning, and of confidence.

*

With respect to those valuable writers, whose laudible efforts to promote the practical influence of our holy religion have occasioned these animadversions, suffice it to observe, that it is manifest from almost every page of their writings, that they do not make void the law through faith. They la bour to enforce the practical influence of the moral precepts of the Gospel, to an extent, which the greater part of the professors of Christianity account too severe. They enforce the same by the example of their own conduct. That meagre and inefficient opinion about Religion, which many miscal faith, and with which many persons of

* Mr. Wilberforce and Mrs. More, for to the works of both the Reviewers refer.

If a

an irreligious life content themselves, they do not allow to be the faith of the Gospel. They maintain that no wicked man has true Christian faith. man believe with the heart unto righteousness; if a man have that faith which justifies; they say with Archbishop Cranmer, that "it is impossible but that he shal fal to work, and be ready to the performance of al such works, as he knoweth to be acceptable to God." They say that good works do necessarily spring from such a lively faith not indeed by a physical, but by a moral necessity, which, though it secures the certainty of the effect, yet implies the will and exertion of a free and intelligent agent.

That your Reviewer should imagine it likely that Mr. Wilberforce and Mrs. More might pay a sort of implicit deference to Taylor of Norwich, is really astonishing. The most superficial reader of the theology of the age, it might be supposed, would discover, that in fundamental principles the parties differ toto cœlo. Wilberforce and More are strenuous advocates for the received and fundamental doctrines of the orthodox creed: Taylor was, at least very nearly, a Socinian.

It is certain that the parliamentary conduct of Mr. Wilberforce, from the question of the Test Act inclusively to this day, has been uniformly directed to the support of the constitution, both in Church and State. Of Mrs. More, the Lord Bishop of London observes, respecting the influence of her Tracts, so seasonably circulated for the instruction of the poor, that "of these no less than two millions were sold in the first year; and they contributed," adds his Lordship, “I am persuaded, very essentially to counteract the poison of those impious and immoral pamphlets, which, as I have already stated, were dispersed over the kingdom in such numbers by societies of infidels and republicans.'

As to those regular clergymen, whom some of your correspondents, for the reasons above alleged, have represented as threatening no less danger to our

+ Discourses on Justification.-Strype's Ap pendix to Life of Cranmer, p. 60.

of Trinity College, Cambridge, was a remarkable instance On his death bed, before Dr. Nowell, Dr. Young, and others, as related by Young, in his letter to Cheke, he said, "I lament and repent, beseeching God forgive ness of the same, that too seriously and earnestly have withstood this proposition That only faith doth justify; but I always feared that it should be taken to the liberty of the flesh, and so should defile the innocence of life,which is in Christ But that proposition, That only faith doth justify, is true, (quoth he) sweet and fuli of spiritual comfort, if it be truly taken and rightly understood. And when he was demanded, what he thought to be the true and very sense thereof, I understand, (quoth he) that to be the lively faith which resteth in our only Saviour Jesus Christ, and embraceth him, so that in our only Saviour Jesus Christ all the hope and trust of our salvation be surely fix. ed " Fox, vol. ii. p. 740-744.

V A short Catechism, &c published by authority, anno 1553, the 7th year of Edward VI.* This Catechism is re-published by the present Bishop of Oxford, in his very useful Enchiridion, 1792. Vide p. 43 of the Enchi-. ridion. The Bishop justly observes, "that it was the last work of the Reformers of that reign; whence it may be fairly understood to

See our First Numbers.

contain, as far as it goes, their ultimate decision, and to represent the sense of the Church of England as it was then established." Preface, p. vi. This Catechism is, p. 43 above referred to, very explicit on the doctrine of faith, and inculcates good works just in the same manner as they are taught by certain modern writers, who have upon that subject given your Reviewers such great offence.

VI. Jewell's Defence of the Apology for the Church of England. Part I. p. 66, et seq. and Part II. p. 301, et seq. Edition 1609. The Bishop's Reply to Harding is so much in point, that in various particulars one would imagine that it was written by anticipation, in reply to certain objections lately brought forward.

VII. It is worthy of notice, that there is scarcely an exception taken against what has been said upon the doctrine of faith, by Wilberforce and More, and other writers of that class, which is not to be found in the Letters of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, written by him to the Protector Somerset, against the Homilies on Salvation, penned by Archbishop Cranmer, and then published to be read in Churches. And yet we are gravely told, by those who now detail the same objections, that they are the only men who rightly understand the doctrine of our refor

mers.

GREAT BRITAIN.

An Abridgment of the Philosophical Transac tions, which now consist of ninety-two quarto volumes, is about to be published, to consist of a selection of such papers, as yet retain their interest, in about fourteen volumes; each volume will contain twenty-six numbers, one of which is to be published weekly.

Dr R HAMILTON, of Ipswich, proposes to publish a History of Health, Longevity, and Population, with the Duration and Value of Life in the County of Suffolk, deduced from baptismal and obituary tables, formed from parish registers. It will include observations on the influence of the soil and air on living bodies, and on the structure of cottages and buildings erected for the poor.

Dr. JAMIESON, of Edinburgh, has circulated proposals for printing by subscription, in two volumes quarto, An Etymological Diction ary of the Scottish Language, price three gui neas in boards.

Captain SCHOMBERG, of the Royal Navy, will speedily publish the first four volumes of a work, entitled Naval Chronology; or, an Historical Summary of Naval and Maritime Events, from the Romans to the Treaty of Peace in 1802; with an Appendix of Tables, in two volumes.

A Commentary on the Book of Revelations,

by the Rev. E.W.WHITAKER, with historical proofs of accomplishment, is in forwardness at the press.

Mr. PEARSON, of Rempstone, intends to publish some Remarks on the Arminian and Calvinistic Controversy, in a second Letter to Mr. Overton.

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN, who has at length completed that magnificent work of Portraits from Hans Holbein, is proceeding to publish, under the same royal protection, the Works of Leonardo de Vinci.

Notes on the Bible, by the late Rev. C. BULKELEY, in three volumes octavo, will soon make their appearance. They consist of quotations from various writers, Heathen, Jewish, and Christian, tending by parallels of sentiment and language, or explanations of allusions and customs, or hints of other kinds, to the illustration of the Scriptures.

Mr. HEY, senior surgeon to the General Infirmary, Leeds, has in the press a volume of Observations on the Practice of Surgery, illustrated by cases.

A work, intitled, Intellectual Physics, is soon expected from the pen of Governor PowNALL.

The conquest of Egypt has enriched this country with a number of ancient and rare monuments; some of them very entire, and of

the highest and most undoubted antiquity. The French, in digging up the earth at Fort Elleve, near the Bogar of Rosetta, discovered a black granite, containing inscriptions in Greek, in the vulgar language of the time in which it was executed, and in hieroglyphical characters. These inscriptions appear to contain one decree of the Egyptian Priests, in honour of Ptolemy Epiphanes. Colonel Turner has brought home this valuable monument in his Majesty's ship Egyptienne; and it is now placed in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, at Somerset House, for the inspection of the learned.

The Governors of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, in order to promote the vaccine inoculation among the children of the poor, have given public notice, that all persons desirous of being inoculated for the cow-pox, may, without any expense or letter of recommendation, attend the Dispensary in Great Russell Street, for that purpose, on Saturdays, at twelve o'clock.

Governor PoWNALL has communicated to Mr. Tilloch a paper on Coloured Light; which he says contains an hypothetic theorem, instituted to prove, not assuming to have proved, that there is but ONE PRIMARY COLOUR in our solar system, and that all the rest in the prismatic image are, on one side of the scale, only gradations of that colour towards pure light; and, on the other side the scale, merely degradations from light towards the actual absence of it; and that green exists only as an intermediate compound between the two. The process of this theorem is founded on the experiments actually made by Sir Isaac Newton, and on some further experiments and reasoning which his queries suggest. See Tilloch's Phil. Mag. Vol. XII. Art. 9 and 22.

Mr. Davy observes, (Journals of the Royal Institution, Vol. I. p. 48.) that, in analyzing the atmosphere in different places, by means of impregnated solutions, he has never been able to ascertain any notable difference in the proportions of its constituent parts. From a comparison of his own observations with those of others made in different parts of the world, he finds strong reasons for concluding, that the atmosphere, in all places exposed to the influence of the winds, contains very nearly the same proportions of oxygene and nitrogone: a circumstance which he considers of great importance; for, by teaching us that the different degrees of salubrity of air do not depend upon differences in the quantities of its principal constituent parts, it ought to induce us to institute researches concerning the different substances capable of being dissolved or suspended in air, which are noxious to the human constitution: particularly as an accurate knowledge of their nature and properties would probably enable us, in a great measure, to guard against or destroy their baneful effects. In the year 1799, a few scientific men, lamenting that Englishmen should be almost wholly indebted to foreigners for an acquaintance with their own mineralogical treasures;

and, though disclaiming all jealousy of foreign interference, yet regretting that the names of Ferber, Klaproth, Raspe, Jars, and Faujas de St. Fond, should stand the foremost among those who have illustrated the mineralogical geography of Britain, formed themselves into an association for the cultivation of this interesting department in the natural history of their native country, under the name of the BRITISH MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY. Having overcome most of the difficulties which at first presented themselves, the Society has made a public official statement of its objects, and promises to communicate from time to time such abstracts of its proceedings as may contribute to the advancement of science or the arts.

We announced to our readers, p. 126, the discovery of a new planet, by M. PIAZZI, of Palermo, which is named by him Ceres Ferdinandea. Another planetary body was discovered on the 28th March, by Dr OLLERS, of Bremen, to which he has given the name of Pallas. Dr. Herschel communicated observations upon these two bodies to the Royal Society, the beginning of last month. He assigns not more than 160 miles for the real diameter of Ceres, nor more than 80 for that of Pallas; from which it appears that out of the quantity of matter which the planet Mercury contains, 73,839 such bodies as Pallas could be formed. The existence of such relatively minute bodies in the solar system, and moving according to the laws of gravitation, is a circumstance altogether new and very interesting, the knowledge of which must still further distinguish the present era of astronomy, which has already been rendered so illustrious by Dr. Herschel's own labours in the field of discovery. A small coma or haziness surrounded both Ceres and Pallas, the appearance and extent of which seemed to vary according to the state of the air. As these new celestial bodies differ so much from planets and comets, as scarcely to be distinguished from minute fixed stars, even by very good telescopes, Dr. Herschel has adopted the term asteroids to denote them. From their very nature, the discovery of such bodies in the heavens necessarily requires a particular method of observing, which hitherto astronomers have but seldom pursued. On account of their minuteness, they lie so far beyond the power of good telescopes to distinguish them, that Dr. Herschel, in his five different reviews of the zodiac, detected none of those concealed objects. It is therefore, he says, only by an accurate attention to minute stars, in the view of discovering amongst them such as may be in motion, that asteroids can successfully be distinguished from the multitudinous collection of telescopical stars, which so much abound in the heaven. He takes honourable notice of an association of twenty-four astronomers in Germany, who have portioned out the zodiac into as many parts, in order more effectually to explore it. As this new method of searching, in the hands of Piazzi and Albers, so quickly produced