length being let loose, and banished, he travelled into Italy, and at Ferrara he was made a Doctor of Physic. In the latter end of K. Henry VIII. he lived at Cologn, and other places in Germany. Returning, when K. Edward VI. reigned," besides a prebendship from the Archbishop of York, he had "a canonry of Windsor and the deanery of Wells" given him by the King. About which time, he was incorporated "Doctor of Physic" at Oxford. He procured a licence to read and to preach, as many laymen did that were scholars; practised his faculty among the nobility and gentry, and became physician to Edward, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector. After Q. Mary came to the crown, he went into Germany, with several English theologists, thence to Rome, and afterwards, for a time, settled at Basil. But when Q. Elizabeth succeeded, he returned, and was restored to his deanery." Besides several pieces, against the Roman Catholics, he published

"A Preservative or Triacle against the Poison of Pelagius, lately renewed, and stirred up again, by the furious sect of the Anabaptists. London, 1551," 12mo. which book being dedicated to Hugh Latimer, was ushered into the world by several copies of Latin and English verses set before and at the eud of it, made by Nich. Grimoald, of Merton College; Thomas Norton, of Sharpenhoe; Randal Harleston, or Huddleston; and Thomas Soame, a preacher.

Though Pelagius does not appear to have impugned the Trinity; yet, it can scarcely be doubted that Anabaptists, in 1551, accused of Pelagianism, were also Anti-Trinitarians. Dr.Turner wrote several pieces, more in the way of his medical profession; one entitled "Of the Nature and Virtue of Triacle." By this double use of Triacle, he was not unlike Bishop Berkeley, who recommended, even in the same pamphlet, tar-water and the Trinity. Dr. Turner died in 1568.

No. 629, p. 512. "Alexander Gill, born in Lincolnshire, 1564, admitted scholar of Corp. Christ. Coll. 15883. In 1590, left the College and became an instructor of youth," probably "in the city of Norwich, where he lived 1597, and then wrote his treatise of

the Trinity. In 1608 he became the chief master of St. Paul's school, was esteemed a noted Latinist, critic and divine. His works are

"Treatise concerning the Trinity in Unity of the Deity. Lond. 1601, 8vo. written to Thomas Mannering, an Anabaptist, who denied that Jesus is very God of very God.

"Sacred Philosophy of Holy Scripture, or a Commentary on the Creed. Lond. 1635, fol. At the end of which is printed, also, his Treatise of the Trinity, before-mentioned. He died 17th Nov. 1635." Dr. Knight mentions Gill among the masters of St. Paul's school, Life of Colet, p. 378, but gives no particulars except from Wood.

Fasti. p. 840, 1621. "George Walker, B. D. born at Hawkeshead, in Lancashire, educated in St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was esteemed an excellent Logician, Orientalian and Divine. When Walker, who was a severe Puritan, beheld the profanation of the Lord's day, he preached against it, and other prac tices and opinions, which procured him trouble and two years' imprisonment, as it is said. After the Long Parliament began, he preached against the King and his followers, and published several things, which before he was not permitted to do, among which were, Socinianism in the Fundamental Point of Justification Discovered and Confuted. Lond. 1641,

8vo.

70."

He died in 1651, aged about

At the close of the first volume of the Athenæ, is the following account of a Socinian, whose political propensities were such as have not been common among Christians who indulged in free inquiry:

Fasti. p. 901, 1640. "John Webberley, of Lincolne College, B.D. the son of Thomas W. of East-Kirbey, in Lincolnshire, was now esteemed by all a high-flown Soci..ian, and afterwards a desperate zealot for the King's cause, in the grand Rebellion. He had translated into English several Socinian books: some of which he had published without his name set to them and others, which were lying by him, were taken out of his study by the parliamentarian visiters, an. 1648, in which year he suffered

:

1648, April 17, Monday. The visiters commanded a mad woman to be whipt for calling them roundheads and rebels. Mr. Thomas Smith, also, of Magdall. Coll. and Mr. Webberley, of Lincoln, were committed to Bride well for speaking boldly to and uttering rash words against them; and especially for that Webberley did presume to take his commons in the Hall, after they had suspended him from his office of sub-rector and the emoluments of his place." Hist. &c. 5 vols. 4to. 1786-1792, B. i. II. p. 574.

Dr. Walker, a Churchman, of the school of Sacheverell, and worthy of the highest form, has mentioned Mr. Webberley, in his Sufferings of the Clergy. He has all his information from Wood, adding, “I should have been glad to omit him, because he was esteemed by all a high-flown Socinian. So that his expulsion wanted nothing but a lawful authority, to make it a most commendable act." Attempt, 1714, Pt. ii. p. 121.

Should you accept this offer of correspondence, you may, perhaps, hear again from

CIVIS RUSTICUS.

[We beg Civis Rusticus to continue his correspondence. He will find some account of Mr. Webberley, Mon. Repos. X. 82, 83, 498, 499. ED.]

fact, and in terms not more offensive than might be expected from a man of Mr. Wardlaw's faith. If to believe in "plenary inspiration," is to acknowledge every word of the Old and New Testament to be the dictate of inspiration; and if to submit to the "universal authority of the Scriptures," is to receive every book, and the whole of every book in the present Canon, as the undoubted word of God, I do not think it is a calumny to affirm that Unitarians do not generally believe in the plenary inspiration, and acknowledge the universal authority of the Scriptures. A railing and injurious and absurd accusation is indeed brought against them, when it is pretended, that they withhold their faith from what God has revealed, as if they disputed the veracity of God. They do refuse to submit their understanding to those interpreters of Divine revelation, especially, who presume to array their own interpretation in the same authority as the revelation itself; but this is to question not the veracity of God, but the infallibility of men. To an acknowledged declaration from God no man in his senses ever did, or ever could refuse his belief; and it is manifestly absurd to accuse him of such extravagant and impious folly, who refuses his belief only to what he does not acknowledge to be a déclaration from God, to what he considers on the contrary the mere doctrine of man, unsupported and contradicted by the revelation from God. This the Unitarian does in refusing his assent to the popular creed; and to accuse him on this ground of refusing to submit to the authority of God, if it be not calumny, is misrepresentation and injustice. On this charge Mr. Wardlaw and his brethren ought to plead guilty; they construe dissent from their expla

into

to the authority of God. But without pretending to say what is the actual opinion of the body of Unitarian Christians, I do not for myself complain of misrepresentation, when it is said, that they doubt the genuineness of a part of the present Canon of Scripture, and the plenary inspiration of a much greater part. It should, indeed, be added, that they do this because the evidence of plenary inspiration appears to be incomplete,

and not, as is asserted by their opponents, from an unwillingness to submit the controversy to the decision of the Scriptures. None more readily acknowledge that the only safe appeal is to the Scriptures, and that the only authoritative decision must be sought in the Scriptures; they wish their doctrine to be tried by no other test; and they demand constantly and earnestly that this test be applied fairly, that is, critically. But it may be asked, with what consistency do they unite in this appeal to a book of which they acknowledge not the inspiration and authority in every part? The question might be returned upon their opponents-Do they believe every word in the present Canon of the Old and New Testament to be the dictate of inspiration? Perhaps Mr. Wardlaw does so; if he does not, his own conscience will reveal to him, that he has betrayed a want of simplicity and candour in his accusation of the Unitarians, quoted above. He has not calumniated them, but he bas presumed to cast a stone, though himself not without sin. It is, how ever, charitable to believe that Mr. Wardlaw's faith on the subject of inspiration extends farther than that of many of his brethren. Of them there are many who know, that there is not equal evidence of genuineness for every book in the Canon; and there are many too, who, admitting some difference of circumstances in the narration of facts substantially the same, are rational enough to acknowledge, that the narrators were not all inspired. If any of this better in formed class of believers join also in the popular cry against Unitarians, "that they do not accept the entire Canon as the undoubted word of God," they may have their reward; but it is not in the satisfaction of an honest mind. Let them not accuse other Christians of want of reverence for the sacred writings in refusing to subscribe to a proposition which is not an article of their own belief; but to those who assert the plenary inspiration of the canonical books of the Old and New Testament a different answer is due: why appeal, they say, to an authority which is not held sacred? In the first place it is proper to ask, what are the grounds of their own persuasion? Where is

the proof of the proposition to which they subscribe? Is it in tradition, in the decrees of councils, or in the writings themselves? In what part of the Scriptures is it asserted that the present Canon was all written under inspiration of God? The Apostles did, indeed, affirm that they received their commission from Christ, and, that they were instructed by him and by the holy spirit what was Christian doctrine: but this was a very different thing from asserting that every word they spoke or wrote in the discharge of their commission was dictated to them by inspiration. Admit the former, and Únitarians do admit it as well as other Christians, and the authority of the Apostolic writings is sufficiently established; and the appeal to that authority, on every question of Christian doctrine, is made decisive. Yet, on this hypothesis, it is fair to ask, may not the Apostles as well as other men have conveyed their meaning in such terms as to make it difficult to ascertain at all times what they did mean? Undoubtedly they may and, Peter being judge, it is certain that the Apostle of the Geutiles, whose Epis tles form so large a part of the New Testament Canon, did write things difficult to understand, and liable to be greatly mistaken even by men who lived in the same age and spoke the same language as himself. It is, therefore, in vain to contend that the interpretation, which would first, or generally occur to the most simple and unlearned readers, must be the true interpretation of his meaning. The same labour and rules of criticism must be applied to some parts of the sacred writings, and especially to the epistolary for very obvious reasons, which are applied to other ancient writings, in order to arrive at the true interpretation. I apprehend it is in this opinion, and not in want of deference to the authority of the Christian Scriptures, that the Unitarian differs from the majority of Christians, and as long as this difference remains there is, indeed, little probability that he, and the great body of Christians, should think alike on several of the most important articles of the Christian faith.

J. M.

Letter to a Dissenting Minister's Wife. [The following Letter has been communicated to us as no unsuitable companion to the "Letter to a Young Dissenting Minister," Vol. VI. (1811), p. 471. ED.]

HOUGH I have followed you in idea, my dearest daughter, almost from hour to hour since you left us, amidst the various scenes through which I pleased myself with supposing you to be passing, I have not thought it necessary, or even seasonable, to trouble you with either my good wishes or my advice; because I was sure you would give my affection full credit for the former; and because I had no doubt of your conducting your self, through the various circumstances attendant on your change of character, with that modest and unaffected propriety, which would render the latter quite unnecessary, had I been qualified to offer it in this stage of your proceedings. But now that the ceremonials attending your first introduction are over, and you are beginning to think of settling upon a plain domestic plan, will you allow me to pour forth some of the overflowings of a father's heart, which has often, of late, engaged the head to meditate on your future duties and prospects?

On the qualities which a man of sense will most regard in the choice of a wife, you have read the judicious remarks of Dr. Aikin; on the general duties of a wife you have availed yourself of the advice of Mr. Gisborne, and you have perused the strong and often coarse, though too often wellfounded, strictures of Mrs. Wollstonecraft. I need not, therefore, say any thing to you on the general rights and obligations of husband and wife: you are neither of you, I trust, disposed to be jealous of each other's rights, or grudging in the discharge of mutual obligations. You will not be disposed to exclaim with Mrs. Wollstonecraft, "Is a wife to be an upper servant, to provide her husband's meals and take care of his linen?" No: not as an upper servant; but as a companion and helper, to make his home comfortable and his meals pleasant, when he returns from acting the part of a fellow-servant, in the discharge of

those public or more private duties, by which he is to make the necessary provision for the common maintenance.

But to have done with generals: it was my object to point out some of those particular duties which may be required from the wife of a minister, connected with such a congregation as that at Such person may

render herself a help meet for her husband in various respects.

In order to fom a full idea of all the ways in which she may be so, it is necessary that she carefully consider the nature of his profession, and the ends of it. No less than the religious and moral improvement of all his hearers, in order to their usefulness here, and their happiness hereafter. To answer such important purposes he is not to be a mere lecturer, to make his weekly appearance before them with a set discourse; he is to be their teacher, their exemplar, their friend and counsellor; the mediator between his richer and poorer hearers, the director of the charities of the former, and the consoler of the latter in distress; the institutor and manager of useful plans for religious education of the young, and the religious information of persons of all ages; in short, the promoter of religious truth and prac tice, both by precept and example.

In most of these respects he may be materially assisted by his wife: in many she may, with great advantage, be his proxy.

If she be not fitted or disposed to help him in any of them, he is greatly to be pitied, and, perhaps, even in some degree to be blamed: it is, at least, a sign that he has made a very injudicious choice. The conduct of a minister's wife may often benefit or mislead his flock, almost as much as his own.

I have somewhere read, that in the Protestant churches of Hungary, a minister has been degraded "whose wife has indulged herself in amusements which bespeak the gaiety of a mere lover of the world, rather than the gravity of a Christian matron:" a severity said to be grounded on the supposition," that a wife having promised obedience to her husband, can do nothing but what he either directs or approves." It might have been grounded on the apostolic precept, that the deaconesses "must be grave,

not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." 1 Tim. iii. 11.

A minister's wife ought, therefore, to study her husband's reputation, and give weight to his instructions, by her own discreet and prudent conduct. In the management of her family, aware that she has taken upon herself the task of making a limited income support a respectable appearance, she will study the arts of frugal but decent housekeeping: and will be particularly careful that no needless expenses be incurred on her own ac

count.

But this is, comparatively, a trifling object, though by no means to be overlooked. The main object of the Christian teacher will naturally be, to have his family set an example of attention to religious duties, and of general decorum and propriety of conduct: he will particularly look to his wife for ready and active co-operation in these important particulars. He will be greatly disappointed if she throw any obstacles in the way, if she do not rather cordially join with, and even encourage him, in the establishment and maintenance of family prayer; he will rejoice if she appear disposed to qualify herself for the future education of her own young family (if it should please God to entrust her with such a charge), by previous reading, by personal observation and inquiry, and by an active attention, in the meantime, to the religious and other instruction of the lower classes of the congregation, either in charity or Sunday schools or otherwise; and if she set, in these respects, a good example to the young women in general of her acquaintance. What better preparation can she make for a successful discharge of duty in the education of her own children; who, in the natural course of things, fall to be almost exclusively the objects of their mother's attention during that most important period of their lives, when those impressions are to be made which are most likely to be Jasting, and even to give the prevail ing direction to the whole of their future lives! For this you are indeed better prepared than most young women, by the care and attention you have shewn to the management of the Sunday schools at -; and by the alacrity with which, even to your

marriage day, you have submitted to be taught, as well as to exert yourself to teach. In both these respects you will, I am sure, continue to set a good example, as far as your situation affords you opportunity, will willingly place yourself on the bench of instruction, under either your husband or Mr. -; or will lend your assistance to establish order in any school which may at present subsist, or hereafter be established. But while you are thus actively religious yourself, and engaged in promoting it among others, you will not forget that you are to help, encourage and support your husband, by cultivating a prevailing cheerfulness, both of the countenance and heart. In the ordinary course of his multiplied employments, he will often return from the school, the study, or from visits abroad, fatigued and exhausted; let him find his home made comfortable by pleasant looks and cheerful conversation, or by a readiness to join in his plans of relaxation by such reading as you can be both interested in. I hope he will not often, but I cannot fatter him he will not sometimes meet with disappointments, from want of success in his public or private schemes, from the misbehaviour of his friends, either in a general, moral respect, or to himself in particular. In such cases you must be his refuge, his comfort and counsellor. In no such cases will you ever aggravate, but soften and conciliate as much as possible. In particular you will study to allay any little resentments he may feel upon such occasions.

This caution may, perhaps, be particularly necessary in the case of two ministers; for each of whom there will, of course, be partialities, according to the particular tastes and intimacies of individuals. Your husband is in this respect particularly happy in a colleague who, I

trust, will always find himself equally happy in him; indeed, I persuade myself that there will never be any jealousies or heart-burnings, in consequence of preferences which are inevitable, and in themselves perfectly innocent, either between them or among the members of the congregation. But if any thing of this kind should occur, let it be your business. never to hear any officious reports that may be suggested to you by well