Though he professed to be merely a tradesman, yet he retained a strong interest in those momentous truths in which the happiness of mankind is involved, and became a steady and active assertor of civil and religious liberty. It was his good fortune to contract a close, personal intimacy with that excellent man, the late Mr. Joseph Johnson, of St. Paul's Churchyard. The unostentatious benevolence and integrity of his character, and the simplicity of his manners, were congenial virtues which Mr. R., after his friend's death, in 1809, was untired in eulogizing.

Mr. R. became a regular contributor to Johnson's Analytical Review, a shortlived publication, which deserved a longer duration. He took the department of politics and political economy, and adopted the signature of S. A. This lasted during the years 1797, 1798 and 1799. His articles are distinguished by clearness and spirit. He was by no means an unimpassioned contemplator of the great events of that momentous period, nor free from the illusions which it generated in every mind.

Mr. Robinson availed himself of his friend Johnson, in the publication of several small tracts.

In 1796 he published "The Catholic Church," a short but masterly argument, in which is opposed to the pseudo Catholic Church of Rome, as assuming infallibility, the genuine Catholicism of an institution in which "should be taught not the assertion but the examination of religious opinions; not the belief of, but an inquiry into, sacred positions-which should connect salvation, not with credulity but with sober thought and sincere benevolence."

In 1797, Mr. R. published, on occasion of the stoppage of the Bank, "New Circulating Medium; being an Examination of the Solidity of Paper Currency, and its Effects on the Country at this Crisis." The author partook of the general panic, and anticipated the national ruin which has not yet taken place, but which is still predicted.

In 1798, he published in 8vo., "A View of the Causes and Consequences of English Wars," which he dedicated to his friend Mr. William Morgan. An anxious solicitude for the happiness of mankind, and a just sense of their rights, will not be denied to the author, even by those who see in the work ordinary views, and an uncritical spirit.

In 1800, Mr. R. appeared as a controversial writer in "An Examination of a Sermon preached at Cambridge, by Ro

bert Hall, A. M., entitled Modern Infidelity considered with respect to its Influence on Society." Mr. Hall's eloquent discourse has attained just celebrity as a most splendid specimen of pulpit eloquence; Mr. R.'s Examination has been forgotten: yet a discriminating mind will allow to the Examiner as great a preeminence over the Orator in powers of thought, as inferiority to him in the graces of composition.

Persecution, in all its forms, had been the subject of Mr. R.'s painful study. That of infidels or sceptics by Christians was as offensive to him as any other, indeed more so, as in more decided opposition to the pretended principle of the persecutor. He who misrepresents and vilifies furnishes ready weapons to the persecutor; and with this impression Mr. R. penned his indignant and powerful Examination. He analyses with masterly skill the well-sounding common-places of his antagonist. We must in candour add our regret, when we observe, that there is a tone of acrimony, and almost of scorn, towards Mr. H., which is single in the history of Mr. R.'s works and mind. They had lived together as students at Bristol, and they parted not friends. Perhaps the possession of certain qualities in common, induced this alienation as much as the opposition of their opinions and tastes. It is but justice to add, that this is the only instance in Mr. R.'s life, where diversity of taste and opinion occasioned a want of friendship with those with whom he was connected. With the family of his old master at Cockermouth, with the son and descendants of Dr. E., he remained intimately connected during life; and he chose the Worship-Street cemetery for his family vault: proofs of affectionate attachment to those whom he had in some respect deserted.

In the same year, 1800, he printed, in quarto, but did not publish, "A Sermon preached to a Country Congregation in the Year 1795." In a caustic advertisement he remarks, that "out of many it alone survives, to report the labours of an individual who asks no longer the indulgence of a hearing, and who never thought the praise of the populace any honour." Its object is to prove, that on the several hypotheses-“There is no God"-" There is a God, and he is a malevolent being"-" There is a God, and he is benevolence," the conduct of a wise man will be the same. takes care to assert his faith in the last doctrine; and his practical object seems to be, as in his answer to Hall, to shew

He

that even the Atheist is not without a principle of virtue. Indeed, Lord Bacon had long before observed, that Atheism "leaves a man to natural piety." In his bitter strictures on the supposed doctrine of the malevolence of Deity he apparently aims a blow equally at Hobbes, who asserts, "that in God power constitutes right," and at the doctrine of the "sovereignty of divine grace,' maintained by high Calvinists. "What conduct will such a religion produce? To invent protracted means of torment -and after torturing the body, to agonize the mind by drawing the picture of an eternal hell, would be the legitimate practice which such a religion would introduce."

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It appears from this account of Mr. R.'s writings, that, though attached to religion, he contemplated with an eye of hostility its ordinary ministers, the priests of the established religions. He therefore readily concurred in trying the experiment of a school of mutual instruction for adults." We borrow a term since invented. In 1796, he assisted in founding a small society which met on Sunday evenings for conversation, first in Crispin Street and then in Colman Street; no one of the ordinary attendants came near him in ability. At that period of alarm it excited the attention of the magistracy who interfered, and the society dispersed. They came within no law or regulation of police, but the period was critical. With similar professions other societies have sprung up in later days, with which Mr. R. could have no concern, for he was alike repugnant to the insincerity which has marked some, and the violation of decency and good manners which has distinguished others of these societies. The writer of this memoir does not feel himself called upon to deliver any opinion of such experiments, the expediency of which must depend on circumstances of time, place and person; nor could he with impartiality on this occasion; for it was at one of those humble meetings that he formed an acquaintance with Mr. R., which in due time ripened into a friendship to be terminated after a duration of thirty years by that event which puts a period to all our enjoyments. After so long and intimate an acquaintance it becomes him to say of his departed friend, that as he scarcely ever knew his equal in colloquial eloquence, in acuteness and skill, and promptitude in debate, so he never knew his superior in candour and sincerity; he loved truth sincerely and without waver

ing. No imagined interest even of morality could induce him to affect an opinion he did not entertain. On many points of important speculation he would say nothing, and the friends who most honoured him respected his silence. It is possible that what Lord Clarendon said of John Hales was true of Mr. R., that he was silent from principle, conscious that he entertained opinions which he thought might injure others, though they had not injured him.

We are not aware of any other production of Mr. Robinson's pen, with the exception of articles which have at intervals appeared in the Monthly Magazine and in the former series of the Monthly Repository. It is a recollection of these latter articles which has encouraged the present writer to expatiate more at length on his friend's character and writings, than he should have ventured to do in any other publication; aware as he is, that the actual exertion of the rare powers of Mr. R.'s mind had fallen far below their capacity, and that he will live chiefly in the recollections of his personal friends and associates.

Mr. Robinson's connexion with the Monthly Repository began by an article of singular acuteness and ability, which excited great attention at the time, and generated no slight ill-will among some leading men of the Unitarians. In Vol. III. p. 184, appeared "Arguments to prove that Unitarians are not Rational Christians." This article drew down upon its author the severe comments of Mr. Belsham, Castigator, A Rational Christian, A Unitarian Christian, and Mr. Allchin. The controversy was continued till the late respected Editor of the Repository deemed it necessary, like the judge at an ancient tournament, to declare the combat at an end.

A brief enumeration of articles subsequently written by him may be acceptable to those who possess the miscellany. Vol. IV. p. 601, "Reasons for being a Churchman," in which the opposition between practical and speculative religion is strongly marked. Vol. VI. p. 149, signed D. D. has been ascribed to him. The article expresses his opinions, but not in his peculiar style. Vol. VII. p. 425, "On Creeds." Except in Lord Bacon's Essays it would be difficult to find so much wisdom in a single page. But the article is spoiled by a clumsy attempt at humour (in which Mr. R. was generally unhappy) in the invention of the term creedite. But the appellation should be forgiven for the sake of the portrait. One feature is, They may

be said to fall down and worship their creed instead of their Creator." Vol. XI. p. 276, On" Calvinism" denying its pretensions to be more evangelical than Unitarianism; and an article headed "Misery of Life an Objection to the Divine Government." This would have been fitly written with mingled tears and blood, so pitiably wretched must the writer have been. It is due to his memory to relate that at this period (April, 1816) he was bowed down by a heavy domestic calamity. He lost a child to whom he was excessively attached. From the shock he never completely recovered. His views of human life were henceforth neither correct nor healthy. It may be here added, that believing man born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, he estimated the virtues rather by their fitness to mitigate the evils of life than their capacity to confer felicity. In the same volume, p. 323, he deduces moral evil from natural evil. And in a subsequent article, Vol. XII. p. 393, urges, that criminals are to be contemplated rather with compassion than detestation, because pain produces crimes. So he affirms, Vol. XIII. p. 254, that original sin is nothing but original misery. Mr. R., however, declares his assent to the Unitarian doctrine concerning evil and its origin.

In Vol. XII. are several painful articles on the doctrine of Malthus on population, signed Homo, a signature he afterwards adopted. Malthus's book seems to have materially contributed to the depression of spirits under which Mr. R. was at this period suffering. Vol. XII. p. 274, on Southey's Letter to W. Smith. Vol. XIII. p. 362, on a sentiment ascribed to Dean Tucker. The religious tone of this article is remarkable. One striking observation deserves repetition : "I have never yet met with a writer on eternal torments who did not write as if himself were without either part or lot in the matter." Vol. XIV. p. 226, fine remarks on Dr. Johnson. The warm eulogy passed on the writings and character of Mr. Belsham ought to be noticed, as proving the generous placability of his disposition. Vol. XIV. p. 617, on Lady Russell. Vol. XV. p. 93, on "Li

It is at least equally plausible to affirm that pain is also the cause of error, and certainly those speculative opinions which the friends of Mr. R. suspected him to entertain, seemed rather to have their origin in the excitations of wounded sensibility than to be the result of calm contemplation of human life and nature.

berty and Necessity." "Doubt and suspense of judgment I conclude to be all that we can reach on this difficult and important question." This he wrote in 1820. The same conclusion he eloquently contended for in debate in 1796. In Vol. XVII. p. 11, he advances an argument in favour of liberty, which he anxiously wished to believe in, as he did in every doctrine promoting the wellbeing of man here and strengthening his hopes of a happy hereafter. Vol. XV. p. 593, "Importance of Revealed Religion." An earnest argument in favour of Christianity arising from the purity of its morality. This argument shews clearly what his life made manifest to his friends, that his affections were decidedly Christian. Vol. XVII. p. 163, in honour of Dr. Priestley for his moral as well as intellectual qualities.

The last, and certainly not the least excellent contribution of Mr. R. to the Repository was, Vol. XX. p. 53, an account of his old friend Mr. Davis, of Cullumpton, formerly of Wigton. In drawing a beautiful picture of this good man, his biographer has undesignedly portrayed his own feelings and affections towards religion and religious men. That these were his last words deliberately penned for general perusal, adds to their interest.

The concluding years of Mr. R.'s life were not years of happiness. Old age was still at a distance, but the serenity of health was gone, as well as the vivacity of youth. For several years before his death, languor and debility had been slowly undermining his constitution. While he still continued to attend to business, his strength was gradually failing. The powers of body seemed exhausted. He kept his bed three weeks before he died. His sufferings were not acute; and he never lost his equanimity. He died on the 21st of January, 1827, in the 65th year of his age. He was interred in the cemetery attached to the WorshipStreet Meeting, where, on the succeeding Sunday, an appropriate discourse was delivered by Mr. Aspland, which the deceased would have appreciated as it deserved, for the union of strong powers of reasoning and benevolent zeal for the truths of revelation.

Mr. Robinson was somewhat above the ordinary size; latterly corpulent; and his limbs were small, and seemed hardly able to sustain his frame. He had a florid complexion, a dark eye, prominent nose, and handsome mouth, his voice thin and piercing, his speech strongly marked with the Cumberland

dialect; his appearance altogether that of a remarkable man, a person of superior powers of mind.

Of the character of his understanding, and of his powers as a writer, the specimens given, and the books referred to, will enable every one to judge.

But those powers were more highly appreciated by those who associated with him daily, than by those who knew him only as a writer. The reproach that at an early period of his life he drew upon himself for too free indulgence in vehement censure and unsparing sarcasm, is to be met by this remark-that to imarine in one character a combination of a passionate love of every thing that is just and generous and lovely, an intense scorn of arrogance and imposture and vanity, with the most cool and impartial discrimination between all the shades of good and evil, would be foolish in a work of fiction, for it has never been met with in one in real life.

It may, indeed, startle those who have a lively recollection of Mr. Robinson's tone of conversation, to be told that he was a very humble man, for it is a common mistake to suppose that they who will not fall down before the idols of other men, are worshipers of themselves; yet, in truth, this praise belongs to him. No man could be less egotic and more free from selfishness in every form than he was. No man could value his own opinions less than he did; he never spoke of his writings in his family or to his friends. He never swerved from the political principles with which he first set out in life; but the vehemence of party feeling had long subsided. He attached himself to the cause of reform, and concurred gladly in every specific project of improvement. He took a strong interest in the recently-projected London University, but he had very faint hopes of any material improvement in society, for he was of opinion that the evils of social life had a source deeper than the corruptions of government.

Of his character and conduct in active life it cannot be necessary to say much. His judgment was highly valued, and his counsel freely given on all matters connected with business, which he thoroughly understood theoretically and in practice. He took an active interest in the unsuccessful attempt to introduce East-India sugar on equal terms with the produce of the West Indies. In his parish, St. Andrew's, Holborn, he took the lead in resisting the attempts of the clergy to procure the erection of another church against the will of the inhabitants. It

has occurred to his friends occasionally, that the bar would have been the proper field for the exercise of talents such as his. For the study of the law, and the due application of it, indeed, he was eminently qualified. For the practice of the bar he would have been utterly disqualified by the acuteness of his moral feelings, which ever blended themselves with the operations of his understanding; and he utterly wanted those strong animal spirits which are, after all, the main qualification for acting on the public mind.

To conclude, with an attempt to answer a question which may be put with peculiar propriety in the Repository, Could Mr. R. be justly deemed a religious man?

If religion be a system of confident conclusions on all the great points of metaphysical speculation, as they respect the universe and its Author; man and his position in the one, and relation to the other-it must be owned Mr. R. laid. no claim to the character. But if the religious principle be that which lays the foundations of all truth deeper than the external and visible world; if religious feeling lie in humble submission to the unknown Infinite Being, which produced all things, and in a deep sense of the duty of striving to act and live in conformity with the will of that Being; if, further, Christianity consist in acknowledging the Christian Scriptures as the sole exposition of the Divine Will, and the sole guide of conduct in life—then, surely, he may boldly claim to be a member of that true Christian Catholic church, according to his own definition of it, "an association of men for the cultivation of knowledge, the practice of piety and promotion of virtue." H. C. R.

DR. JOHN JONES.

THIS accomplished scholar and voluminous writer, whose death was announced in our last number, (p. 224,) was born in the parish of Landingate, near Londovery, in the county of Carmarthen. His father was a respectable farmer; and the son had been destined for agricultural pursuits, till it was discovered that he had neither taste nor inclination for such occupations. From his earliest childhood he had evinced an unusual predilection for books. It was his frequent practic, immediately after breakfast, to disappear from the family circle, and retire to the banks of a secluded rivulet, about a mile from the house, and there pursue his sta→

dies till hunger compelled him to return. His memory was at this time remarkable for its strength and tenacity.

His father finding that it would be vain to attempt to consign him to the drudgery of the farm, resolved to educate him for the Christian ministry. With this view he procured for him the best instruction in the elements of the Latin and Greek languages which he could obtain in the country schools of the neighbourhood. He made the most of these slender advantages; and he imbibed, with the knowledge he acquired, an ardent desire to become a proficient in classical learning. About the age of fourteen or fifteen, he was sent to the College Grammar School at Brecon, one of the first classical seminaries in the Principality, always under the superintendence of a clergyman of the Established Church, and then under the care of the Rev. William Griffiths. Here he remained three years, when the death of his father, in 1783, obliged him to return home.

About this period, his neighbour and relation Mr. David Jones, afterwards the colleague of Dr. Priestley, and known in the controversy with Dr. Horsley as the "Welsh Freeholder," was a student at the New College, Hackney. Through his recommendation, the managers of that institution admitted him a student on the foundation. Here he soon acquired the friendship and patronage of the late Dr. Abraham Rees, who then held the office of resident tutor. He remained at Hackney six years, enjoying, among other advantages, the enviable privilege of the classical instruction of the late Gilbert Wakefield, with whom he was a favourite pupil.

In the year 1792, the death of the learned and excellent Mr. Thomas Lloyd having created a vacancy in the office of classical and mathematical tutor in the Welsh academy, then stationed at Swansea, Mr. Jones was appointed by the Presbyterian Board to be his successor. After he had held this office about three years, some unhappy differences arose between him and his colleague, the late Rev. W. Howell, in which the students rashly embarked as partizans. The Board, finding that there remained no prospect of an amicable adjustment of the disputes, and not wishing to side with either party in a matter which was entirely personal, adopted the resolution of dismissing both tutors, and removing the institution to Carmarthen. On quitting Swansea, Mr. Jones settled at Plymouth Dock, as the pastor of the Unitarian congregation in that place. He remained here two years,

when he accepted an invitation to become the minister of the Unitarian congregation at Halifax, in Yorkshire. Here he resided. for three years, joining to his ministerial labours the instruction of youth, an employment for which he was singularly well qualified by his high classical attainments, and the peculiar bent of his mind. From Halifax he removed his residence to London, where he continued till the end of his life.

Not long after his settlement in London, he married the only daughter of his friend and former tutor Dr. Rees. This lady died, without issue, in the year 1815. In 1817 he married Anna, the only daughter of the late George Dyer, Esq., of Sawbridgeworth, in the county of Herts, who, with two children, survives him.

After his removal to the Metropolis, Mr. Jones occasionally preached for his brethren, but never had the charge of a congregation. Under some momentary feeling of disgust, never explained to his brethren, he destroyed all his manuscript sermons, and, from this time, never could be prevailed upon to appear in the pulpit. He still, however, adhered to his profession; was a member of the Presbyterian body of London Dissenting Ministers, and, for some years, one of the clerical trustees of the estates and endowments of Dr. Daniel Williams.

A few years ago, the University of Aberdeen conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and within a year or two of his death, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Literature.

Dr. Jones maintained a high reputation as a teacher of the classical languages. His instructions were for many years in great request among persons of rank and eminence, and he had to reckon, in the number of his pupils, some individuals of noble birth. He superintended for a considerable time the education of the sons of the late distinguished lawyer and philanthropist, Sir Samuel Romilly, and to the last he had under his care some young persons of opulent families. It must be observed here, to the honour of Dr. Jones, that while he was thus courted by the rich and the noble, he was ever ready to afford encougagement and gratuitous personal assistance and instruction to young men in humble circumstances, whom he found struggling with difficulties in the pursuit of learning.

Dr. Jones has acquired no small degree of celebrity as an author, if not by the uniform success, at least by the number, the originality, and the ability of his writings. In the year 1800, while he