him to declare, that this execution was appointed as a most conspicuous and terrible manifestation of God's justice and wrath, and of the infinite woe denounced by his law; and suppose him to add, that all beings in heaven and earth are required to fix their eyes on this fearful sight, as the most powerful enforcement of obedience and virtue. Would you not tell him that he calumniated his Maker? Would you not say to him, that this central gallows threw gloom over the universe; that the spirit of a government whose very acts of pardon were written in such blood, was terror, not paternal love; and that the obedience which reded to be upheld by this horrid spectade, was nothing worth? Would you t say to him, that even you, in this infancy and imperfection of your being, were capable of being wrought upon by nobler motives, and of hating sin through more generous views; and that much are the angels, those pure flames of love, need not the gallows, and an execated God, to confirm their loyalty? "You would all so feel at such teach ing as I have supposed; and yet how does this differ from the popular doctrine of Atonement? According to this doctrine, we have an Infinite Being sentenced to suffer as a substitute the death of the cross, a punishment more ignomimous and agonizing than the gallows, a punishment reserved for slaves and the vilest malefactors; and he suffers this punishment, that he may shew forth the terrors of God's law, and strike a dread of sin through the universe."-In justice to the author we must add the following paragraph, though it must close our quotations: "I am indeed aware that multitades, who profess this doctrine, are not accustomed to bring it to their minds distinctly in this light; that they do not ordinarily regard the death of Christ as a criminal execution, as an infinitely dreadful infliction of justice, as intended to shew, that without an infinite satisfaction, they must hope nothing from God. Their minds turn, by a generous instinct, from these appalling views, to the love, the disinterestedness, the moral grandeur and beauty of the sufferer; and through such thoughts they make the cross a source of peace, gratitude, love and hope; thus affording a delightful exemplification of the power of the human mind to attach itself to what is good and purifying in the most irrational system. But let none on this account say that we misrepresent the doctrine of atonement, the primary and essential idea of which is, the public execution of a God, for the purpose of satisfying justice and awakening a shuddering dread of sin."-The ninth and last consideration in favour of the superior tendency of Unitarianism to promote piety is, that it is a rational religion, which, like all the others, is powerfully and successfully treated. The conclusion expresses a lively feeling of the value of the Unitarian doctrine, and the duty of diffusing it, and solemuly offers up the building to the service of God in the promotion of the great principles of true and practical religion. This Sermon eminently preserves the merit of uniting the defence of what is esteemed truth with practical utility. If it does much to convince the judgment and enlighten the understanding, it certainly does not do less to improve the heart. The piety which it claims as most naturally and most purely arising out of our sentiments, it causes to glow in our breasts with peculiar warmth, and excites us to love and cherish with increased ardour. Though employed in exposing error, it has no tendency to produce either angry or contemptuous feelings, and if it be apt to destroy a reliance on false grounds of hope, it does not do so without substituting those which can never be shaken. It is a Discourse which exhibits, as much as any with which we are acquainted, the true spirit of Unitarian Christianity, as well as the high intellectual powers of the gifted mind from which it emanates, and we recommend it to our readers with the fullest confidence of obtaining their gratitude for introducing it to their notice. a ART. V. - The Blessedness of the Faithful and Wise Steward: Funeral Sermon, preached in St. John's Church, Trichinopoly, on the Decease of the Right Rev. Reginald, Lord Bishop of Calcutta. By the Rev. Thomas Robinson, M. A., Domestic Chaplain to his Lordship. 8vo. London, 1826. FOR the immense field of duty before a Bishop whose diocese is India, no one seems to have been better adapted than Dr. Heber, so far as any one is capable in such situation of being much more than a moving pageant. The labour of any man will be pretty severe who traverses once or twice only during the probable duration of his career the vast world of territory placed under his guidance. From the many and affectionate tributes to his memory, Dr. Heber cannot have been otherwise than an excellent and virtuous man, a conscientious performer of his ministerial duties, and a zealous advocate of the cause of Christianity. There is a document, how ever, printed in an appendix to this Sermon, which, however creditable to the Bishop's ingenuity, and however curious in itself, we cannot consider either very judicious or very charitable in its spirit. A Bishop bringing the glad tidings of the gospel into a heathen land from a remote corner of the earth, does not act, perhaps, with very good policy in charge ing two-thirds of the professors of the faith he wishes to recommend, with crimes of the deepest dye. "Beautiful are the feet of those which bring glad tidings of good that publish peace;" but they must bring kind and charitable feelings, or their professions are an empty sound; aud so thinking, we feel that the worthy Bishop would have acted better if he had kept his tongue from slandering his neighbours, still more from imputing to them the sins of their forefathers. This singular document is a letter addressed by him in a mixture of scriptural and Eastern style, to the Archbishop of the Christians of St. Thomas, whose history Dr. Buchanan has illustrated. Mar Athanasius was in Bombay on his road from Antioch to take possession of his See, and was hospitably received by Dr. Heber. "To the excellent and learned Father Mar Athanasius, Bishop and Metropolitan of all the Churches of Christ in İndia, which walk after the rule of the Syrians-Mar Reginald, by the grace of God, Bishop of Calcutta,-Grace, Mercy, and Peace, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. "I have earnestly desired, honoured brother in the Lord, to hear of thy safe passage from Bombay, and of thy health and welfare in the land of Malabar. I hope that they have rejoiced at thy coming, even as they rejoiced at the coming of Mar Basilius, Mar Gregorius, and Mar Johannes.* And it is my prayer to God, that He who led our Father Abra "The last Syrian Bishops (before Mar Athanasius in 1825) who went to rule the Church in Malabar in 1751; all the Metropolitans after them (called Mar Dionysius, or Cyrillus, or Philoxenus, severally) being Indian Bishops of their ordaining." "Especially, I have been desirous to hear from thee of the good estate of our brethren, the faithful in Malabar, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons; and also of my own children in Christ, the English presbyters who sojourn among you at Cottayam; may God reward you for your love towards them, and may the good-will which is between you be daily established and strengthened! "Furthermore, I will you to know, my brother, that the desire of my heart and my prayer to the Lord is, that the holy name of Jesus may be yet further known among all nations; and also, that all who love Him may love one another; to the intent that they which are without, beholding the unity and peace that is among you, may glorify God also in the day of their visitation. Like as was the desire and prayer of the holy Bishop Thomas Middleton, my honoured predecessor in this ministry; whose memory is blessed among the saints of Christ, whether they be of the English or the Syrian family; not that there are two families, but one, which both in heaven and earth is named after His name who sitteth at the right hand of God, in whom all nations, tribes and languages, are united and shall be glorified together. "I also pray thee to write me word how thyself and they that are with thee fare, and how my own children the English presbyters fare, and in what manner of conversation they walk with you. Furthermore, it is my hope, that by God's blessing, I may be strengthened shortly to pass to Madras, Tanjore, and Trichinopoly, visiting the churches there which belong to my nation; whence my mind is, if God will, to pass on to salute thee, my brother, and the churches under thee, that I may have joy beholding your order, and partaking in your prayers. And if there be any thing more, it may be explained when we meet; for a letter is half an interview, but it is a good time when a man speaketh face to face with his friend. "This letter is sent by the hand of a learned and godly man, John Dorau, one of the presbyters before me: who purposeth, with thy permission, to sojourn in Cottayam, even as the presbyters, Benjamin Bayley, Joseph Fenn, and Henry Baker, have sojourned until now with license of the godly bishops of the Church of Malabar, to teach learning and piety to all who thirst after instruction, doing good, and offending no man. And I beseech thee, brother, for my sake, and the sake of the gospel, to receive him as a son, and as a faithful servant of our Lord, who is alone, with the Holy Ghost, most high in the glory of God the Father: to whom be all honour and dominion for ever, Amen. "Moreover, I beseech thee, brother, to beware of the emissaries of the Bishop of Rome, whose hands have been dipped in the blood of the saints, from whose tyranny our Church in England hath been long freed by the blessing of God, and we hope to continue in that freedom for ever: of whom are they of Goa, Cranganor, and Verapoli, who have in time past done the Indian Church mach evil. I pray that those of thy Churches in Malabar, who are yet subject to these men, may arouse themselves and be delivered from their hands. Howbeit, the Lord desireth not the death of a sinner, but his mercies are over all his works, and He is found of them that sought him not. "Our brother Abraham, Legate of the Armenian nation, who is sent from his Patriarch at Jerusalem,-may God rescue his holy city from the hauds of the Ishmaelites !-who is with us in Calcutta, salutes thee. He also brings a letter which was sent by his hand to thee from the Syrian Patriarch at Jerusalem, and has not found means hitherto of for warding it to thee at Malabar: and has therefore requested me to send it now to thee, All the Church of Christ that is here salutes thee. Salute in my name thy brethren Mar Dionysius, and Mar Philoxenus,t with the presbyters and deacons.-We, William Mill and Thomas Robinson, presbyters, that write this epistle in the Lord, salute you. "i. e. all Churches of the Syrochaldaic ritual, one half of which still are under the Romish yoke imposed by the Synod of Diamper. See Geddes and La Croze." "The former governor of the Church, who resigned the chair to the last Mar Dionysius, and now lives in voluntary retirement at Codaugalangary, or Anhur, in the North." "The blessing of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be with you evermore. Amen. "(Signed in Syriac) "REGINALD, BISHOP. "By the help of God, let this letter go to the region of Travancore, to the City of Cottayam, and let it be delivered into the hands of the grave and venerable Bishop, Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Church of Malabar." ART. VI. — The Historical Evidences of Christianity Unassailable, proved in Four Letters, addressed to the Rev. Robert Taylor and Mr. Richard Carlile. By J. R. Beard. 8vo. pp. 146. Robinson and Bent, Manchester; R. Hunter, London. 1826. THE ignorance, hardihood and ribaldry of the two persons named in this title-page, have excited so much contempt and disgust in the minds of wellinformed Christians, that they have been left in a great measure to their own extravagancies and follies. This is not perhaps wise; for disagreeable as is the task of exposing the practices of falsifiers of history and defamers of holy characters, lying statements and calumnious charges may impose upon the half-witted and "willingly ignorant," so long as they are not brought into open day-light. Mr. Beard has therefore deserved well of the moral and Christian public by this complete development of the arts of modern iufidels. Upon his opponents it was not to have been expected that he should make much impression; but could any of their deluded followers be persuaded to read his pamphlet, it is impossible that with all their credulity they could any longer place confidence in these "blind leaders of the blind." The last of Mr. Beard's Four Letters exhibits an excellent view of the internal, and, what may be called, the literary evidence of the genuineness of the Christian Scriptures: stripped of all that belongs to the controversy with the famous London champions of infidelity, and somewhat enlarged, it would form a very useful pamphlet, and would procure for the author the reward of a wider perusal than can, we apprehend, be expected for the present publication, valuable as it is, on account of the wretched names of the antagonists whom he is obliged to bring forward, in order to encounter, on every page. OBITUARY. ANTHONY ROBINSON, ESQ. "Were the Supreme Being to appear before me and say-Mortal! lo, in my right haud is all truth, and in my left hand the love of truth: choose between them: I should make answer-Lord! give me the contents of thy left hand, those of thy right hand can be held by none but thee."-LESSING, ANTHONY ROBINSON was born in July, 1762, at Kirkland, near Wigton, in Cumberland. His father, John Robinson, and his direct ancestors during several centuries, had resided on their paternal inheritance, and were, in the language of the Northern counties, Statesmen. In the happy mediocrity of his birth Mr. R. took pleasure, but rather in accordance with the prophet's prayer than as a modification of family pride. He received his education at the endowed grammar school of Wigton, where mathematics and the higher classics were taught. Being the youngest of three sons, he was designed by his father for trade, and his education was therefore probably limited by that object. Of his attainments in school learning little is known. It was a peculiar feature of his mind to hold in too little estimation every thing purely ornamental. Neither the fine arts nor polite literature had any value in his eyes, except in subserviency to serious truths and important duties. His avowed indifference to classical learning must have manifested itself both as cause and effect in the direction of his studies. He served an apprenticeship at Cockermouth, in Cumberland, but his father's death having left him in the possession of a small property and master of his own actions, on attaining his majority he availed himself of his liberty by becoming a pupil of Dr. Caleb Evans at Bristol, the head of an academy belonging to the Calvinistic Baptists. We are unable to account for Mr. R.'s abandonment of the Church of England, in which he was brought up, or his preference of a community so widely different from the Establishment. But we find, that having submitted to the rite of baptism, he pursued his studies for the usual period of three years; and at the end of that period accepted, under the auspices of his respected tutor, an invitation to supply for six months an orthodox Baptist he had, however, scarcely assumed the Church at Fairford, in Gloucestershire; ministerial office before his sensitive and scrupulous mind was disturbed by the discovery that he was not universally acceptable to the congregation. On this he wrote to the church, inviting his own dismissal. In answer, he was informed, in respectful and kind language, that some members found his ministry “ not adapted to their edification." And he was released from his engagement. He now returned to the North, and even then contemplated resuming his first pursuits as a man of business. From this he was diverted by an invitation through his friend Mr. Job David, then a General Baptist Minister at Frome, who had recommended him to the church of that community, assembled at Worship Street, London. And it is worthy of remark, as shewing how early Mr. R. had made known to his friends that peculiar mode of thinking, which afterwards gave occasion to such notable productions from his pen, that Mr. David urged as a reason for his friend's remaining in the ministry the intolerance of their churches. As if a correction of this vice was a fitter object for the labours of an ardent and vigorous mind than the support of any system of abstract metaphysical opinions. In no other way, propably, could Mr. R. have been brought to adopt the ministry as a profession. A rapid and striking change had taken place in his opinions and feelings, when he first assumed the ministerial office at Fairford. No sooner was the duty imposed on him of accurately defining the articles of the creed he was to promulgate, than, his faculties being sharpened by that sense of duty, he felt his inability to fathom the mysteries of orthodoxy, and he trembled before the responsibility of being an assertor dogmatically of any doctrines. He was informed that the learned Mr. Bulkeley, who preached in Worship-Street Meeting, was "in some sort a Unitarian." In fact, neither Mr. B. nor Mr. Noble, the last pastor of the church, had deviated further from popular opinions than Arianism. The unfixed state of the church on the dogma concerning the person of Christ, was a recommendation to the young divine, and be consented to become their preacher, but the more solemn charge of the pastoral office he did not accept. His personal connexion with his old friend and tutor remained unbroken. We have now before us an affectionate letter from the Doctor to his former pupil, kindly lamenting the change in his opinions, rejoicing that he had "not sank into Socinianism," which he thought 'less consistent than sober Deism;" and gently hinting, that his young friend would do well to "fix in Arianismthough far from the truth," rather than bethus ever learning," and "kept fluctuating in the boundless ocean of speculation." No advice was ever more unfortunately addressed, for it became the fixed opinion of Mr. R., that to be ever learning is both the duty and end of human existence. Mr. Robinson's services in Worship Street were interrupted by an event which altogether changed his prospects in life. By the death of an elder brother he inherited the paternal estate, which afforded a competent subsistence to a man of his humble wishes and simple habits. After a connexion of little more than a year with the Worship-Street congregation, be returned into Cumberland, where he remained, occupying his own estate, about seven years. During those few years he became husband, father, childless and a widower. The domestic losses which he sustained, deeply affected his spirits, for he had received from nature the perilous gifts of acute sensibility and very strong personal affections. During this period the interests of religion had not been disregarded by him. He took an active part in the erection of a Meeting-House at Wigton, in 1788, and was one of the largest pecuniary contributors. Here he preached, but as a locum tenens only, until a regular minister was appointed. That minister was the late Mr. Davis, of whom Mr. Robinsou published an interesting account in a late Number of the Repository.* Mr. Davis was a decided Unitarian-a circumstance which may assist us in conjecturing that Mr. Robinson had profited little by the well-meant counsels of his old preceptor. Mr. R., during this period, was an occasional preacher in the absence of his friend. The direction which Mr. Robinson's mind had taken on matters connected with religion, was fixed during his retirement in Cumberland. The result was * Vol. XX. p. 52. given in his first work, "A Short History of the Persecution of Christians by Jews, Heathens, and Christians." Ă second edition is now before us, published by Johnson in 1794. It is a brief manual, written with the "humble aim to instruct the common ranks of society into a practical use of the history of the church." It opposes the precepts of Christianity to the practices of all churches, which are developed and reprobated with perfect impartiality, and advocates the utmost extension of the rights of conscience. We have been informed by an old friend of Mr. R.'s, a professional gentleman, very competent to form an opinion on such a subject, that during his residence in Cumberland he printed and distributed in Wigton and the neighbourhood, a small pamphlet on "The Advantages of settling Disputes by Arbitration.” Dr.writes, "The pamphlet was so excellent that it ought if possible to be preserved, for I never read so much sound sense and such strong reasoning, compressed into so small a compass, and so perfectly intelligible to any human being." This pamphlet was reprinted by Johnson. But of this, as well as of another little book, "Hints to Juries in Trials for Libels," no copy has been found either at the publisher's or among Mr. R.'s papers.* During his residence in the North, Mr. R. cultivated an acquaintance with Archdeacon Paley, of whom he used to say, that he was out of his place, and that he would have been as great a judge as his distinguished countryman, Lord Ellenborough. The quiet pursuits in which Mr. R. indulged, were interrupted by the do-mestic calamities we have already mentioned. These led to an entire change in his views and plans of life. In the year 1796, he came again to London to settle permanently in business. About the same period he united himself for a second time in marriage, with a young lady of a respectable Cumberland family, a Miss Lucock. He entered into business as a sugar-refiner, in which he continued till his death, and in which, after the usual fluctuations of disappointment and success, he accumulated a handsome for tune. The gift or loan of a copy, communicated to the Editor, of the Monthly Repository, or Mr. Hunter, St. Paul's Churchyard, would be gratefully accepted. |