headed "Principles, which, on carefully reading and studying the Sacred Writings, I think I find unequivocally revealed there." In the thirty-second proposition, under this head, the following sentences occur; and as they are not one iota modified by the context, (indeed, any one will see that they are of that decided character that they speak for themselves), I shall here at once extract them : "The Sacred writings are a system of pure, unsophisticated reason, &c. They are addressed not to the passions, but to the reason of man; every command is urged with reasons of obedience, and every promise and threatening founded on the most evident reason and propriety. The whole, therefore, are to be rationally understood, and rationally interpreted, &c. We have gone too far when we have said, such and such doctrines should not be subjected to rational investigation, being doctrines of pure revelation. I know no such doctrine in the Bible, &c. Some men, it is true, cannot reason, and therefore they declaim against reason, and proscribe it in the examination of religious truth," &c. Surely this is Rationalism. But the tenth proposition contains such an exposition of the eternal generation of the Second Person in the blessed Trinity, as amounts to the most decided heresy. These are the words: "That his (Christ's) human nature is derived from the blessed Virgin Mary, through the creative energy of the Holy Ghost; but his divine nature, because God, infinite and eternal, is uncreated, underived, and unbegotten; which, were it otherwise, he could not be God in any proper sense of the word; but as he is God, the doctrine of the eternal Sonship must be false." The fact is, as appears from his Commentary, that this writer believed our Lord to be the Son of God only with reference to his human nature and his human birth. I need not point out to your readers that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, explained on such a principle, is nothing else than Tritheism. Whether the executors of the late Dr. Adam Clarke, and the Society of Methodists, by whom no doubt the work is patronised, and among whom it cannot but have a decided influence, and, through them, on other Christians also, ought to republish this work without the strongest protest against such opinions, and a strong caution to the unlearned reader to guard against them, is a question which can admit of no doubt. This writer clearly fell into these errors because he was ignorant of the fact, or knowing it, shut his eyes against it, that the terms Father and Son, strictly speaking, can be applicable only to beings who have bodies; and that, when transferred to the Divine nature, must be understood not in a gross and strictly literal sense, but analogically. As Bishop Gleig admirably argues on this point, in his Directions for the Study of Theology-" When such expressions are applied to the Godhead in a sense merely analogical, we must not reason from them in all respects as when they are spoken of men; or infer that, because a human son cannot be of the same age with his human father, the Divine Son cannot have been begotten from all eternity by his Divine Father." And again: "A father may beget a son equal to himself in every perfection, though necessarily subordinate in the order of nature; but he cannot, as an artist, make any thing of equal perfection with himself." And again: "The difficulty is not to conceive eternal generation, but NO. VI. VOL. XVIII. 3 A to conceive eternity." But the whole of this elaborate article is so directly subversive of these opinions of Dr, Adam Clarke, that I would at once refer your readers to it. If, in short, as he maintains, the Three persons in the blessed Trinity are three co-ordinate, collateral, coeternal, independent Beings, without any such subordination and dependence as is implied in the relation of Father and Son, then they must be three self-existent and independent Gods. The doctrine of the Christian Church has all along been this (I am here only abbreviating the arguments of Origen):-" The Father is the fountain of Deity; and in this Deity there is every kind of unity, except that of Hypostases, or Persons. First, unity of essence or nature. Secondly, unity of principle; the Father alone is the fountain of Deity, there being a due subordination and relation as of Father and Son, &c. Thirdly, unity of will, which implies unity of operation, creation, and government. Fourthly, unity of perfections. Fifthly, unity of providence. Here alone seems the only foundation and principle of worshipping the Trinity because it is thus in unity." But while the author under review thus sacrifices the Unity to the Trinity, I cannot but express my fear that the opposite error of sacrificing the Trinity to the Unity is one not uncommon in the present day. I by no means intend to affirm that this is designedly done; but I think, in our modes of explaining this doctrine, although not formally so explained, there is, nevertheless, an infringement on the doctrine which teaches us the Trinity of the Persons, in order to show the world our belief in the Unity. I have paid considerable attention to this point; and although, on so solemn a subject, I would not wish to speak otherwise than with the utmost caution, and the greatest deference to the opinion of others, if I should seem in error, (which indeed on such a subject without the utmost care we are all in danger of,) yet I think this mode of speaking of the Trinity arises from our regarding the word "God," (if I may so speak) as always a concrete, and never as an abstract. We always regard it as signifying a person; whereas, in some expressions relating to the Trinity, it is to be taken as an abstract as a word simply expressive of essence or nature. In the expression "Three Persons in one God," it is clear the word "God is to be taken in the abstract sense of Deity, Godhead, Divine nature, not in the sense of a person; for otherwise it would be equivalent to saying that three persons are one person, or three gods are one God; in fact, it would be a justification of the ridicule heaped upon Christianity in the early ages by the heathens, who thought the matter settled by saying that it amounted to ἑν τρία, τρία ἑν, one is three, and three is one. But the Christians never believed this, nor ever expressed themselves thus; they affirmed that the Divine persons were not three and one in the same sense, but that they were three in one sense, and one in a different sense; not tria unum, but tres unum. As the multiplied millions of the human race, however numerous, still are all one, forasmuch as they all partake of the one common human nature, and are all derived from the one and same original, and yet the whole human nature is possessed by every single individual; so, perhaps, (let it be spoken with the utmost reverence) we may conceive of the Three Persons in one Deity or Godhead, even as of a father and his sons; only removing from such a thought every thing that argues imperfection, or which is inconsistent with the glory and perfections of Deity, an essence and being which has no relation to time or space. To aid our conceptions, however, of the generation of the Son of God, and yet at the same time to express his co-eternity with the Father, the Nicene Creed has recourse to another and a different image from that of Father and Son, viz. the emission of light by the material sun-Christ is "God of God, Light of Light." If the material sun had existed from all eternity, it would have emitted rays of light from all eternity; those rays, therefore, would have been eternal, and yet derived from their source the sun in a way that we may conceive analagous to generation. I would only observe on this splendid image of the Nicene Creed, that it is fully borne out by the language of St. Paul, (Hebrews i. 3,) where he calls our Lord, “ απαύγασμα τῆς δόξης καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς VπоσTáσεws aνToũ:"— words, of which scarcely any translation can convey adequately the full sense; for they denote, not the mere reflection of God's glory, but that Christ is, as it were, the very outbeaming, the effulgence, the breaking forth of that glory, and the exact impress of his Essence or Being. I should not thus have dwelt on a subject so deeply mysterious, if, in my private ministrations, I had not more than once on recent occasions been questioned on these points by persons of the poorer and uneducated classes, and found that considerable evil had resulted from the very unsatisfactory way in which the doctrine of the Trinity is generally propounded to the people; and that even on such subjects as these they can argue and reflect with all the acuteness of those who imagine themselves elevated far above them by education and station of life; but, notwithstanding the errors of some of my poorer parishioners on these points, and which they themselves brought under my notice by their own questions, -for I should never otherwise have thought of speaking to them on uch a topic, I can safely affirm, that their opinions were far more scriptural than those of Dr. Adam Clarke. PRESBYTER ORTHODOXUS. UNIVERSITY, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND PAROCHIAL TRIBUTES OF RESPECT. THE REV. R. ELSDALE.-The visitors and teachers of Stretford Sunday-school have presented the Rev. R. Elsdale, Second Master of the Manchester Free Grammar School, with a very handsome large Bible, bearing this simple but impressive inscription:-"Presented to the Rev. R. Elsdale, by the Visitors and Teachers of Stretford Sunday-school, as a small but sincere mark of respect for his kind and persevering attention to the welfare of the School." This is the fourth present his village flock has given Mr. E. within the last seven or eight years; a circumstance very gratifying to the minister and very creditable to the congregation. But we have farther pleasing facts to show the improving religious disposition of the inhabitants of Stretford, under the pains-taking influence of their pastor. They have twice enlarged his chapel, and the communions have, în consequence, been more than trebled. Rev. W. CARPENDALE.-A more pleasing and handsome testimony to the merits of a clergyman has seldom been paid than in the town of Wincanton, on the occasion of the contribution of Easter offerings. The inhabitants came forward simultaneously, and tendered to their respected clergyman, the Rev. W. Carpendale, the sum of sixty guineas, in the place of offerings, which have heretofore been merely nominal. Rev. RICHARD KEATS-At a farewell dinner recently given at the town of Wivenscomb, to the Rev. Richard Keats, who had been nearly twenty years curate of that parish, a very handsome silver vase, value 751., was presented to him by a numerous and most respectable body of the parishioners, as a testimonial of their affectionate regard. MONUMENT TO DR. GRAY, THE LATE BISHOP OF BRISTOL.-A beautiful mural monument has lately been erected in the Newton Chapel, in Bristol Cathedral, to the memory of Bishop Gray. It is the work of a native of that city, W. H. Baily, R.A., and reflects much credit on his taste. The monument bears the following inscription:"In the burial-ground adjoining to this Cathedral lie the remains of ROBERT GRAY, D.D., "Sometime Rector of Bishop Wearmouth, and lately a Prebendary of the Cathedral Church of Durham, and Bishop of Bristol, who died on the 28th day of September, in the year of our Lord 1834, in the 74th year of his age, and in the 8th of his consecration. "Distinguished in the early part of his professional life by learning and piety, he was afterwards no less remarkable for the able discharge of the duties of his Episcopal office, combining with diligent attention to the ecclesiastical concerns and liberal support to the charities of his diocese, a zealous devotion to the general interests of the Established Church. This monument has been erected to his memory by the clergy and laity of this city and its neighbourhood, in testimony of their affection for his person, respect for his principles, and admiration for his firmness and fortitude." HARDWICK ESTATE. -The Lord Bishop of Llandaff has purchased the Hardwick Estate, near Chepstow, as the future residence of his Lordship within his diocese. WESTMINSTER SCHOOL.-The annual election of King's Scholars from this foundation to the two Universities has taken place, when Messrs. Robert Henry Gray, Vernon Page, and Charles Smith, were elected to studentships in Christ Church, Oxford, and Messrs. George Henry Drew, William John Butler, and Cuthbert Edward Ellison, to scholarships in Trinity College, Cambridge. The election was conducted by the Dean of Christ Church, assisted by the Rev. R. Hussey, and the Master of Trinity, assisted by the Rev. W. Heath, who employed the two preceding days in the examination of the candidates. We understand it is in the contemplation of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to make some alterations within the dormitory, with the view of diminishing the expenses and increasing the comforts of the King's scholars. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.-The eighteenth anniversary meeting of this society has lately been held at Cambridge. The Rev. T. Webster having been called to the chair, the proceedings were commenced, as usual, with prayer. The Rev. Professor Scholefield, the Secretary, read a favourable Report of the state of the Association, showing the continued prosperity of the Church Missionary cause in Cambridge and its neighbourhood. The remittance to the Parent Society, during the year, had amounted to 700l., being 501. more than that of the preceding year, and larger than any contribution made since the eleventh year. One cause which had assisted, during the past year, to augment the funds, was the visit of Mr. Yate, the zealous and devoted missionary to New Zealand. The contributions of the Branch Associations continue steady. The amount raised by the Undergraduates is a considerable increase upon that of last year, and the committee propose, in future, to print the Undergraduates' list in the form of a separate Association-a distinction to which they were well entitled by their active zeal and successful diligence in this sacred cause. The Report concluded by expressions of congratulation upon the continued prosperity of the Parent Society also. The Bishop of Bath and Wells will hold an Ordination on Sunday, the 16th of October next. The Bishop of Gloucester will hold an Ordination, in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on Sunday, the 5th day of June. LAYING THE FIRST STONE OF THE NEW CHURCH, ST. BOTOLPH'S, COLCHESTER. So frequently as the ancient town of Colchester has been made the arena of political strife, it was a most delightful change to witness the proceedings of Wednesday, May 11th, on laying the First Stone of the New Church in the parish of St. Botolph. For nearly two hundred years this parish had been destitute of a House of Prayer, for the reception of the members of the Church Establishment, and during that time its population (by the last census 2560 souls) were compelled to seek for spiritual instruction in other parishes, or to listen to the "uncertain sound" and varied doctrines of unauthorised, and not unfrequently illiterate teachers. The evil had from time to time been seriously felt by the true friends of religion, and more than one attempt was made by the late incumbent to remedy it; but it remained for their respected and pious townsman, the Rev. James Round, to effect, by his persevering zeal and influential liberality-that which others had tried in vain to accomplish. A proposal was issued to build a new Church, without interfering with the beautiful ruins of the Priory Church, capable of containing 1000 persons, and to endow it with an income of about 100%. a year. The supporters of the project were encouraged to hope for material assistance from the Society for Building Churches and Chapels, and from the Governors of Queen Ann's Bounty, which anticipations have since been in part realized, by a grant of 10001. from the former Society; but, in consequence of the parish being overburthened with poor, it was necessary to raise a large sum by private subscription. The call has been nobly responded to. Above 3000. have been already subscribed, and we feel confident the sum still required, amounting to about 14007., to complete the undertaking, will be cheerfully contributed by the friends of the Church. In the list of subscribers are the names of the Rev. James Thomas Round, with the munificent donation of 4001., to which may be added an expenditure of valuable time, persevering labour, and zealous activity without measure; the Master and Fellows of Balliol College 2007; the Lord Bishop of London 1007.; the late Lord Colchester 1001.; the Right Hon. Lord Ashburton 1007.; Richard Sanderson, Esq. 100l.; Rev. Dr. Prosser, of Belmont, 100.; Mrs. Wegg, of Acton, 1007.; the late Mrs. Cock 100.; Earl de Grey 501.; John Bawtree, Esq. 501.; W. Hawkins, Esq. 501.; C. G. Round, Esq. 317. 10s. ; J. F. Mills, Esq. 301.; George Round, Esq. 30%; Rev. J. Blatch, of Basingstoke, 301.; Thomas White, Esq., of Weathersfield, 251.; T. White, jun., Esq., of Berechurch Hall, 251.; Rev. W. Gresswell 201.; Rev. J. M. Chapman 201.; Rev. G. Maberley 201.; Dr. Nunn 201.; Miss Thorley 201.; Archdeacon Lyall 201.; the late Corporation of Colchester 217. 10s.; Lieutenantgeneral Rebow 201.; Mrs. Hoblyn 207. ; the late Rev.T. Sykes, of Guilsborough, 201.; Mrs. Waldo, of Worthing, 207. In addition to these the clergy, gentry, and other inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood contributed liberally to the undertaking; besides many others, who, though living at a distance, take an interest in the exertions thus made to provide the means of grace for a large and increasing district. An eligible spot of ground, the centre of the parish and adjoining the principal thoroughfare, having been purchased for the site of the Church, the Committee, although they were still about one thousand pounds minus the required sum, decided on commencing the work; and plans having been advertised for, one by Mr. Mason, architect, of Ipswich, was chosen, and in a short time the foundations of the building were laid by Mr. Benjamin Lay, of Colchester, the contractor for its erection. Wednesday, May 11, the foundation being sufficiently advanced, was fixed for the ceremony of laying the first stone, and the event was observed with a feeling that reflected the highest credit on the town and neighbourhood. Every care had been taken, in making the arrangements, to ensure order and to give effect to |