The following passage, (p. 15,) will at once give the reader an idea of the general character of the poetry, and serve as the foundation for a remark. "Ah! why do war and bloodshed rage ; When not the wolf that roams the plain But man, more savage than the beast, And wields the blood-stained sword; Blessed are those the strife who stay, And bid the tumult cease! These verses are intended as a paraphrase on Matt. v. 9, "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God." The turn given to this passage in the above lines is well calculated for poetical effect, and for this reason it seems to have been adopted by our author. But it appears to us that the spirit of the passage would have been more nearly preserved, if the words of our Lord had been taken in a more restricted sense, and applied only to the circumstances of private and domestic life. Here, too, we may remark, that if the word happy had been uniformly adopted in the Beatitudes, as it sometimes is, instead of blessed, correctness and consistency would have been preserved, while the character of the poetry would have remained uninjured. These observations, it is hoped, will not be deemed fastidious and hypercritical. They are well intended, and, we have no doubt, will be taken in good part. If this little book should come to a second edition, we would recommend the author to give it a more general character. By the addition of a poetical version of some of the most interesting of our Lord's parables, and select passages from such of his discourses as are best calculated to arrest and fix the attention of the youthful mind, it might be made to assume a still more attractive dress than it already wears; and, under this new form, we feel no hesitation to one point, the result is more likely to be favourable to truth. The Archdeacon has chosen a narrow arena for the display of his polemical power and dexterity, and his opponent keeps strictly within the lists. We do not pretend to be impartial in the contest, but laying aside prejudice as far as we can, we feel authorized to pronounce, that the issue is decidedly favourable to Unitarianism. The "Letter" is highly honourable to Mr. Fox, on account not only of the logical ability which it eminently displays, but also of the good temper in which it is written, there being no one phrase in it that the least friendly reader can object to on the ground of uncharitableness. In the investigation of particular texts the Letter-writer is successful, but the general remarks towards the end are particularly valuable. There is a force in them which we see not how any candid inquirer can resist. Besides these, Mr. Fox has given (pp. 44-46) a table of propositions, supported by references to the Gospel of John, which justify the title of his Letter and prove the Apostle to have been an Unitarian. ART. V.-The Scriptural Meaning of the Title "Saviour" as applied to our Lord: a Sermon preached at Glasgow, July 28, 1822, at the Annual Meeting of the Scottish Unitarian Association. By James Yates, M. A. F. L. S. Member of the Geological Society, one of the Ministers of the New MeetingHouse, Birmingham. 8vo. pp. 46. Eaton. 2s. 1823. HIS is a very able discourse; for an unlearned auditory, but well deserving serious study in the closet. It has too the recommendation, rarely found in a Sermon, of some novelty, being the exposition (and it is a judicious and clear exposition) of a peculiar theory. The author will best explain his own design : "The prosecution of this inquiry will lead you, I apprehend, to consider the term Salvation' as denoting in its most common scriptural sense, deliverance, not from eternal misery in the next world, but from guilt, ignorance and wretched VOL. XVIII. 5 A It ness in this; and, when you acknowledge Jesus as your SAVIOUR, to regard him as preserving you, not (according, to the immediate reference and genuine force to come, but from the principles and of that title) from damnation in the life practices of this present evil world.' It is true, that all Christians, who shall attain to the bliss and glory of the heavenly state, will ascribe this deliverance, no less than the other, to the influence of their Christian faith; and, since the cultivation of Christian virtues here is the direct and appointed method of procuring unspeakable happiness hereafter, the acliverer from spiritual darkness and corkuowledgment of Jesus Christ as our deruption, implies an acknowledgment, that he is also our deliverer from shame and wretchedness in the life to come. nevertheless appears evident,—and I hope to prove it to the satisfaction of candid and impartial minds,—that the terms under consideration are not most commonly used with any immediate reference to the effects of the gospel upon our condition after death; but that they are stances, to describe its beneficial operation used, except in comparatively rare induring the present life; and I advance this interpretation with the greater confidence, because I am supported in it by the authority of some critics, held in high estimation by Christians of every sect; and especially by the authority of Dr. none in long-established reputation for Henry Hammond, who gives place to learning, diligence, accuracy and fidelity; and who, in his Commentary upon the New Testament, maintains in its fullest extent the view of the subject, which it is my design to lay before you."*-Pp. 6, 7. We think that Mr. J. Yates has "See especially his Note on Luke He shews the import of this question to xiii. 23: Are there few that be saved?' embrace the Gospel? He has also long and instructive notes, in support of the same views, on Rom. x. 1, and xiii. 11. Le Clerc, in his Additional Notes to Hammond, follows the same principle of interpretation; which is also adopted by Dr. John Taylor (see his Key to the Apostolic Writings, § 93, 94); by Mr. KenBooks of the New Testament;' by Mr. rick, in his Exposition of the Historical Belsham, in his valuable work, recently published, on the Epistles of St. Paul; ton, N. America, in his excellent Sermons, and by the late Mr. Buckminster, of BosNo. 18, on Eph. ii. 5.” 6 Around which friends may mourn; Ah here! from all Man's sweet Society apart, But these exist,-Sad Exile and a Banished Heart. Alnwick. R. B. Of the eight Epigrams,-" Hæc in schædis Pythæanis palam Senecæ adscribuntur," in the folio edition, this is one, and " De Temporum Mutabilitate," inserted and paraphrased in the Repository for August, p. 479, is another. The latter being there erroneously stated to be a passage in one of Seneca's Tragedies. What a striking illustration this Epigram presents of the influence of Exile, in acerbating the mind, even of a great man! Barren, however, as Corsica may be, it gave birth to another, and more celebrated exile-Napoleon. To find such men as Seneca and Napoleon, as well as some of the most distinguished of our own countrymen pining in exile, while it may cause us to heave a sigh for the weakness of human nature, should teach us how to prize the blessings of society and liberty. R. D. OBITUARY. 1823. July 20, at Dundee, Scotland, of a short illness, DAVID HUGHS, for many years a member of the Unitarian church in that place. He was a member of the first Unitarian church established in Scotland, by Mr. Christie, of Montrose; and also the first who joined Mr, Palmer in Dundee, where he gave zealous and effectual support to that gentleman, in his endeavours to establish a Unitarian church in that place. August 28, at Bridport, the Rev. MATTHEW ANSTIS. A few particulars, which have been ascertained respecting the life of one who was known to many readers of the Monthly Repository, and a brief notice of his worth of character, will, perhaps, not be thought unsuitable for insertion here. Mr. Anstis was born at St. Germains, in Cornwall, Feb. 27, 1740. A near relative gives the following account of his early history: "You are aware that his situation in the country, in early life, prevented him from having the benefit of a classical education, and it was not until about the 17th year of his age that he entered upon a course of study with the Rev. Thomas Morgan, the Dissenting minister at Liskeard, preparatory to his going to the Academy at Carmarthen, where I find he was in the years 1762 and 1763, under the tuition of the Rev. James Thomas. Here he formed an acquaintance with Mr. David Jones, late of Newberry, and corresponded with this gentleman till his death a few years ago; he also corresponded with his tutor for some years. I think he must have left the Academy about the year 1765, and gone to serve the Dissenting Meetinghouse at Falmouth: but as his religious views did not accord with the general toue of his congregation, and as he was not inclined to conceal what he believed, he did not long remain there, but in the year 1766 went to Colyton, in Devonshire, where he preached for a short time, not, I think, more than a year, and kept a school. I hardly know when he first went to Bridport, but I think it must have been about the year 1767." For a few years after he became a resident in Bridport, Mr. Anstis performed the duties of the pastoral office to a small society of Dissenters at a village in the vicinity. He was induced, however, by what particular circumstances does not appear, after a time to devote his attention to the education of youth, and till within some years of his death, conducted a large boarding and day-school. In this capacity he gained the gratitude of many excellent persons, who considered themselves under great obligations to him for the ability and faithfulness with which he discharged the duties of his station. The respected subject of this notice was remarkable for a quickness of susceptibility, which, while it sometimes evinced itself in a transient irritability of temper, rendered him habitually alive to every call of duty, and disposed him to take a deep interest in the welfare of all who had claims upon him. His readiness to sympathize with suffering, his lively concern for the welfare of mankind, especially as identified with the progress of truth and liberty, and his liberality, amounting at times to profusion, in pecuniary contributions, whether for the aid of individuals or for public purposes, will not soon be forgotten by those who had the best opportunities of estimating his character. In rather early life Mr. Anstis adopted the Unitarian system, and was an avowed believer in "Oue God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," at a time when the great majority of Unitarians in the West of England still held Arian opinions respecting the person of Christ. Although he withdrew from the charge of a congregation, he still occasionally preached, and never relaxed in his zeal for the diffusion of pure Christianity. The writer of this knew Mr. Anstis only after the burden of fourscore years had impaired his energies, and is therefore not competent to speak of what he was in the full vigour of life. It was pleasing, however, to observe that amidst bodily and mental infirmities, he never ceased to realize the full assurance of faith in the One True God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that this faith enabled the sufferer to express his firm conviction, in the sublime and beautiful sentiment of the venerable Lindsey, that "all things are from God, and for good to all." W. B. G. [Mr. Anstis was a liberal contributor to various Unitarian charities, under the signature of Senex Cornubiensis. He held a peculiar opinion with regard to the Lord's Supper, which he asserted and defended in several volumes of the Monthly Repository, in papers signed P. K. The reader is referred to Vol. III. p. 495, and Vol. X. pp. 571 and 749. There is also a paper of his, "on the Judgment of the World by Jesus Christ," Vol. III. p. 39, to which his intimate friend, the late Mr. Howe, of Bridport, replied in the same volume, pp. 563 and 605.] Oct. 1, at Key, West Thomson's Island, West Indies, Lieutenant STEPHEN ROGERS, of the American Marine Corps, the sixth and only surviving son of the venerable William Rogers, D. D., of Philadelphia. He was carried off in the 24th year of his age by the yellow fever, and which he is supposed to have caught by attendance upon the sick; so that he fell a sacrifice to his humanity! He appears to have been an amiable and interesting youth, possessing all those qualities which endear the child to the parental heart. In 1818, he graduated at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and subsequently at Nassau College, New Jersey. At both of these literary institutions his talents and attainments ensured to him academical distinction. Having entered the navy of the United States, he was acting under Commodore Porter, the object of whose commission was, with his squadron, to scour the seas of those pirates by which they had been long infested. A favourite with his superior officers, he would have risen to eminence in the service of his beloved country. But these flattering prospects have been termicated by a premature dissolution. Mysterious Ruler-so it hath seemed good in thy sight! His excellent parents, and three sorrowing sisters, whose loss is irreparable, have drunk too deeply into the spirit of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, not to bow submissively to the will of heaven. In the eye of Christian faith, and beneath the beamings of Christian hope, these distressing bereavements are "only so much taken from the enjoy ment of time to enrich the prospect of eternity!" J. E. November 7, at Bury, Lancashire, in the 83rd year of his age, Mr. ABRAM WOOD, ironmonger, of this place. He was the son of a respectable farmer, a truly conscientious and pious man, and was born at Stubbins, about four miles distant. In the early part of his life Mr. Wood lived in London. He afterwards opened a shop as an ironmonger in Sheffield, whence, more than forty years ago, be removed to this town, where he has continued in the same line of business ever since. Mr. Wood was possessed of a very strong, intelligent, comprehensive and penetrating mind. Few persons have a greater knowledge of the human heart than he had; or could more easily and at Monkwell Street. While at Sheffield Mr. Dickenson the writer of this article never knew; but he has often heard him spoken of in the highest terms by those who did know him, both as a man and a preacher. Mr. Evans was one of the first friends of the writer's ministerial life; and a better Christian, or a more judicious divine, he has never known! He was, indeed, a scribe well instructed to the kingdom of God; and of him it may, with the greatest justice, be said, "He shewed the path to heaven, and led the way." The writer would have felt uneasy if he |