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sarily imply a distant period, as our
daily usage of it shews. The termina-
tion of the Christian dispensation,
must of course be after the judgment,
because that solenin event belongs to
it, and constitutes the great mani-
festation of the glory of Christ, before
all men, as the reward that was set
before him. But I suspect it is a
mistake that the Apostle designed to
allege in ver. 25, a reason for the end
Hot immediately following the judg-
ment. For the enemies to which he
alludes do not seem to be "death,
sin and misery," in the sense intended
by Mr. F. but "all rule, authority
and power," ver. 24. So that no
power or authority will at that period
be exercised over men, but by Christ
Jesus; and this authority he will
then surrender into the hands of the
Father. I suppose it will not be
disputed that the rulers of this world
(see 1 Cor. ii. 1.) were in the Apostle's
days universally acting in opposition
to Christ and his cause; and many
different forms of power and authority
among men, even under the profes-
sion of Christianity, have been ever
since in real though not avowed hos
tility to the spiritual nature and be
nevolent tendency of his religion.
As little can it be doubted that all
such "rule, authority and power,"
will be ultimately "put down." It
has been the opinion of many sober
commentators that Christ will reign
personally upon earth, for a long
period after the suppression of all
Anti-christian power and authority.
If I mistake not, Dr. Priestley was of
this class. I only suggest this, to
shew that there are other ways of
interpreting these predictions, than
that which Mr. F. thinks so certain
and obvious. With respect to the
phrase "that God may be be all in
all," it seems to me to import that
when Christ shall have fulfilled all
the purposes of his being raised up as
the great teacher, ruler and judge of
mankind; then the sole supremacy
and unrivalled glory of the true God
will be universally and completely
established. After which, whatever
may take place as to the future con-
dition of his intelligent creatures, will
result from his inmediate operation,
in a way quite different from his
present government of the world by
mysterions dispensations of Providence
or partial revelations of his will.-

Before I quit this passage, I would just suggest in answer to the question with which Mr. F. concludes his paragraph upon it, that in the Book of Revelation, which I suppose we both appeal to as authentic," the second death" is never spoken of as destroyed or put under Christ's feet. In Rev. xxi. 8. 27, and xxii. 15, after the most glowing descriptions of the felicity of the righteous, there are still assertions that some are excluded therefrom; yet it has been said before, ch. xxi. 3, 4, that "GOD HIMSELF shall be with them, and be their God: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."

The next passage referred to by my friend is Phil. ii. 10, 11, and I do not feel it necessary to add any thing to my former observations on it, excepting a single passage in proof, that some may be compelled to give glory to God, by acknowledging Christ to be Lord, in a very different state of mind from that of the sincere Christian, in owning his authority now be fore men, as intended Rom. x. 9. I refer to Rev. i. 7, " Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." The passage therefore in the Philippians may be considered as a prediction of the universal subjugation of mankind to Christ, without admitting the doctrine of universal restoration.

:

Matt. xxviii. 18. "All power is given, &c." This passage I had for gotten in my former paper. And now I do not see any evidence to prove the correctness of Mr. Fox's interpretation of it. I think the whole sense of the text is nearly as follows-" All spiritual authority over men, is now invested in me; there fore go and convert all the nations to my doctrine, &c. &c." But this has nothing to do with the final happiness of all men.

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Rev. v. 13. Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say, &c." Mr. F. savs, "if this homage be not strictly universaly language is unmeaning and useless."

Doubtless the terms are as universal as could be selected, implying not only the whole human race, but the inferior animals, the beast that prowls the desert, and the fish that cleave the sea. It is also well known that in other parts of the Scripture, even the trees are said to clap their hands, and the mountains and hills to rejoice. But I am sure Mr. F. will never contend for the truth of the literal sense of these passages; and I trust he will also see that such highly wrought figures are not the strongest foundation on which to build any important doctrine of Christianity. Comparing the prophetic language of Scriptures together, it appears doubt ful to me whether any thing more be intended in the vision, Rev. v. than the very rapid and extensive spread of the Christian doctrine in the world.

I have no doubt, Sir, but some of your readers will think me a very cold, and perhaps a captious critic: indeed I must confess myself a little inclined to scepticism on points which to many of my friends appear bright as if written with a sun beam. However I do not wish to discourage the animating hope, that hereafter our Almighty and benevolent Creator may qualify even the worst of our race for heights of enjoyment which they certainly are not capable of when they depart out of this life. I think it is more reasonable to conclude thus, than to expect that myriads will be consigned to unlimited and everlasting tortures for the transgressions of a day, or that they will be utterly blotted out of existence. But I do not see any express prediction of this in the Bible. Before I lay down my pen, will you permit me, Mr. Editor, to request some of your Correspondents to say-Whether it is not conceivable, that on account of the progressive improvement of virtuous intellect in a future state, there may be strictly an everlasting difference between those who at the judgment day shall have their portion with the righteous and with the wicked?

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contain subjects of the greatest impor tance to mankind, and which 1, as well as your Correspondent, shall be very glad to see discussed in your pages. But I think he throws some dis couragement in the way of their being answered, by saying, that " crude thoughts in loose remarks will serve no good purpose;" it will not satisfy him unlesss they are digested" into "simple, clear, distinct, self-evident, or demonstrable propositions." Now as they are subjects on which many hundred volumes have been written, and on which, most likely, volumes will continue to be written, to the end of time, if they are all to be "digested," (supposing it possible) in the way he desires, you inust, I think, Sir, occupy the greater part of the Repository with them for some years to come, which would not I conceive be consistent with your plan however as far as relates to myself cannot pretend to send you any thing more than a few" loose remarks," which I shall proceed to make on the subject of government, to which some of Mr. G.'s queries relate, namely: "What are the principal advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of government ?" "What are the most effectual means of preserving a common-wealth in the even tenor of progressive improve ment, equi-distant from despotisin and anarchy?"

I suppose we shall mostly agree that that nation is the best governed where the people for the most part govern themselves; and I think it may be laid down as a fundamental maxim, whether we speak relatively to free or to despotic governments, particularly in the present state of society, that that is the best government in which there is least corruptionwhere mind has more influence than money, and where the officers of the state are chosen for their capability to fulfil their different offices, without respect to their opinions on subjects not connected with their official duties. The great degree in which this was the case in France, whilst Napoleon was on the throne, was doubtless a principal reason why the people of that country so much preferred his absolute tyranny to even the limited tyranny of the Bourbons.

I have no doubt that a republic is the best form of government-the real *

healthy state of society, but I should much prefer living under a limited monarchy, in which the checks and barriers against corruption were complete, than under a republic in which they were defective, and where corruption would consequently be continually encroaching on the rights of the community. The great aim of reformers should therefore in my opinion be, as indeed I believe it is, to get rid of that many-headed monster, that most baneful and detestable of all political vices, that secret, but sure means of undermining the freedom and virtue of a people, the original sin of all the existing difficulties of this country, which must indeed have arisen to an enormous height, ere the ministers of the crown would have dared to avow, that it was as notorious as the sun at noon, that they were in the habit of obtaining seats in parliament for their dependants by its means.

I think one of the best chapters in the "Political Justice" of that ingenious speculator, William Godwin, is that entitled "Of Forms of Government ;" and his advice to reformers and statesmen, in that chapter, so much accords with my own sentiments, and is so particularly applicable to the present time, that I will conclude my letter by extracting that part of it which is entitled in the margin-"Mode in which improvements are to be realised."

"It follows, however, from the principles already detailed, that the interests of the human species require a gradual but uninterrupted change. He who should make these principles the regulators of his conduct, would not rashly insist upon the instant abolition of all existing abuses: but he would not nourish them with false praise. He would shew no indulgence to their enormities. He would tell all the truth he could discover, in relation to the genuine interests of mankind. Truth, de

livered in a spirit of universal kind ness, with no narrow resentments or angry invective, can scarcely be dangerous, or fail, so far as relates to its own operation, to communicate a similar spirit to the hearer. Truth, however unreserved be the mode of its enunciation, will be sufficiently gradual in its progress. It will be fully comprehended only by slow

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degrees, by its most assiduous votaries; and the degrees will be still more temperate, by which it will pervade so considerable a portion of the community, as to render them mature for a change of their common institutions.

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Again: if conviction of the understanding be the compass which is to direct our proceedings in the general affairs, we shall have many reforms but no revolutions. As it is only in a gradual manner that the public can be instructed, a violent explosion in the community is by no means the most likely to happen as the result of instruction. Revolutions are the produce of passion, not of sober and tranquil reason. There must be an obstinate resistance to improvement on the one side, to engender a furious determination of realising a system at a stroke on the other. The reformers must have suffered from incessant counteraction, till, inflamed by the treachery and art of their opponents, they are wrought up to the desperate state of imagining that all must be secured in the first favourable crisis, as the only alternative for its being ever secured. It would seem, therefore, that the demand of the effectual ally of the public happiness, upon those who enjoy the privileges of the state, would be, Do not give us too soon; do not give us too much; but act under the incessant influence of a disposition to give us something.'

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T. H. JANSON.

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who

best of the heathens: this is an error,
as the following extract from the
writings of Sir William Jones,
cannot be suspected of heresy, will
prove:

"Our divine religion, the truth of which (if any history be true) is abundantly proved by historical evidence, has no need of such aids, as many are willing to give it, by asserting that the wisest men of this world were ignorant of the two great maxims that we must act in respect of others, as we should wish them to act in respect of ourselves, and that, instead of returning evil for evil, we should confer benefits even on those who injure us; but the first rule is implied in a speech of LYSIAS, and expressed in distinct phrases by THALES and PITTACUS and I have even seen it word for word in the original of CONFUCIUS, which I carefully compared with the Latin translation. It has been usual with zealous men to ridicule and abuse all those, who dare on this point to quote the Chinese philosopher; but instead of supporting their cause, they would shake it, if it could be shaken,

s;

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SIR,

March 1, 1817.

by their uncandid asperity; for they Number, p. 121, animadverting YOUR Correspondent in the last ought to remember, that one great end of revelation, as it is most expressly declared, was not to instruct the wise and few, but the many and unenlightened. If the conversion therefore, of the Paudits and Maulavis in this country shall ever be attempted by Protestant missionaries, they must beware of asserting, while they teach the gospel of truth, what those Paudits and Maulavis must know to be false the former would cite the beautiful Arya couplet, which was written at least three centuries before

our era, and which pronounces the duty of a good man, even in the moment of his destruction, to consist not only in forgiving, but even in a desire of benefiting his destroyer, as the sandal-tree in the instant of its overthrow, sheds perfume on the axe which fells it; and the latter would triumph in repeating the verse of Sadi, who represents a return of good for good as a slight reciprocity, but says to the virtuous man, Confer benefits on him who has injured thee,' using an Arabic sentence, and a maxim apparently of the ancient Arabs. Nor would the Musselmans fail to recite four distichs

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* Vol. III. pp. 242-4. 8vo. ed. 1807.

on the Political Prayer now offered up weekly in the churches belonging to the Establishment, notices the phrase "the madness of the people." He thinks it "not quite consistent with gratitude, truth or decorum,” for the servants of the public to charge the people with madness. But per. haps he was not aware of the high authority they had for so doing. If he or your readers will consult that wonderful repository of fore-knowledge, "Moore's Almanack Improved," for the present year, it will be seen that that sagacious astrologer in his observations in p. 11, has prognosticated great troubles at this time from "the square aspect of Jupiter and Saturn,” denoting

"the MADNESS OF THE

PEOPLE and the ambition of prin

ces. How our ecclesiastical teachers came to borrow the first of the astrolo

ger's phrases, and to leave out the latter, is not for me to say.

DEMOCRITUS.

+There is not a shadow of reason for believing that the poet of Shiraz had borrowed this doctrine from the Christians." Sir W. J. p. 244.

SIR,
T happens

I for Mr.

or

March 3, 1817. "rather unfortunately" (p. 87) that on the cover of your last Number, no less than three serinons by ministers educated at York, are advertised, and another is commended in your Review; and that of not one of the four their Alma Mater needs to be ashamed, for either justness of thought, correctness eloquence. I hope he will think it "rather fortunate," that in the course of the current month, he will have had repeated opportunities of witnessing the pulpit performances of another of her sons, while with a force of argument, a copiousness of language, and an animation of delivery, I had almost said worthy of his cause, he pleaded for the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not wish to follow Mr. through all his references to particular persons or places, still less to controvert his general position, in which I on the whole agree; but I think his arguments would have lost none of its force, if some of them at least had been spared.

N. C.

been brought to act in concert. The Reviewer, probably, lumps the two great bodies of Methodists with the Dissenters, though they have in fact little in common with them except their separating from the Church of England and forming distinct assemblies for religious worship.

The Dissenters in general supported Mr. Pitt in his early contest with Mr. Fox, but then Pitt was more than Fox the champion of freedom and reform. When Piu apostatized, the Dissenters withdrew their attachment, and, with the exception of a few money-changers, rallied round the Opposition.

Of late the course of politics has blended and confused parties; but the Dissenters have given no evidence of a leaning to the court against the people,

or of a confidence in administration in opposition to the popular leaders (if any such may be now spoken of) in the Two Houses.

Recently, the Ministers of the Three Denominations and the Committee of Deputies have addressed the Prince on his late escape from the populace; but the ministers at least found that they were below the standard of loyalty at

Political Character of English Dissenters. Carlton House, and both bodies went

"Liberal and enlightened as our English Dissenters are in comparison, they have been found but too often leaning towards the Court, where the concerns of their peculiar sects were not in question. The practical lenity of the Test laws towards them has produced this effect. Although the Crown has no immediate connection with their priesthood, it is very

much owing to their directing all their political feelings towards one object, Toleration, and being allowed in a great measure to attain it. Were the Catholic emancipated, and his spiritual guide an agent of the government (supposing always the impossible case of the body having acquiesced in such an arrangement), he would probably follow the same direction also in spiritual concerns.'

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Edinburgh Review, Dec. 1816, No. LIV. pp. 333, 4. I of estimates N this manner a cool Presbyterian

Dissenters. It is difficult to conceive in what way he calculates, since the people of whom he speaks have so little of a political character. They are not, like the Roman Catholics, one body, under one head; they are split into innumerable parties, jealous of each other, and except on one occasion, the memorable Sidmouth stir, have never

up to the Prince in his magisterial and not his personal character. The powers that be are ordained of God: this is their maxim: it was so in the time of Cromwell, and again in the time of the second Charles Stuart. There are, nevertheless, many amongst the ministers and deputies, who regret that the late addresses were made under such peculiar circumstances and at such a juncture.

These dissidents

allege that the outrage in the Park, though criminal, was not of so alarming a character as to call for congratu lation to the Prince as if he had escaped assassination. There is no proof, they say, that any injury to the Regent was meditated: the bullets are no longer articles of faith: "the potatoes" indeed, as a worthy magistrate who will be long remembered, observed, "speak appears for themselves," but they do not speak

no outrage until the soldiery attempted to disperse the people and drive them out of the Park; then the missiles of popular resentment flew about, but we may still believe, for the honour of the people, that they were aimed at the soldiers only, and that the stones or whatever other substances struck the royal carriage, did so by accident. The

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