Buttons and star, white waistcoat and small-clothes, white stockings and gold buckles in his shoes. His hat somewhat resembled that worn by the clergy, with the addition of a gold button and loop, mounted by a black cockade, which marks him out conspicuously from the rest of the company. His Majesty looked ruddy and full; his voice sonorous, and he converses with cheerfulness, though, when he attempts to speak rather hastily, it is with hesitation. His want of sight is very apparent, for his hat is drawn over the upper part of his face, and he feels about with his cane, especially ascending or descending a step. It is affecting to see him, though he appears cheerful when he speaks, and seems as if nothing were the matter with him. He now and then stops to converse either with the officers or with the nobility and gentry. We saw him several times on the Terrace; but on this first evening there was a more than ordinary degree of conversation. He was full of inquiries respecting the installation of Lord Grenville, as Chancellor of the University of Oxford, which had taken place during the week. He inquired also about the balloon in which Mr. Sadler had as cended on the occasion, and was particularly anxious to know how long it continued in the air and where it had alighted. Harrow on the Hill was mentioned, though the spot had not then been ascertained. He conversed at all times on a variety of topics with the utmost freedom and even hilarity. This daily promenade must benefit both his mind and body, while the presence, as well as the attention, of so many of his subjects, some coming from distant parts, nust yield him no inconsiderable gratification. The countenances of the Princesses are replete with good nature, and most exemplary is their attention to their aged parent. This, indeed, is their best praise, their noblest recommendation. Filial piety is the characteristic attribute of humanity. It sheds a lustre upon all the other virtues which enrich and adorn the great family of mankind. It should be mentioned that the King, in returning back to his apartments in the Castle, passing by the band of musicians on the steps, always touched his hat, and said, in an audible voice, Gentlemen, good night, I thank you.' Indeed, his Majesty, during the whole time, seemed in perfect good humour with all the company. "The only etiquette observed on the Terrace is, that when the King passes, ladies and gentlemen withdraw on either side, the latter merely uncovering the head, bows and curtsies being dispensed with on the occasion. A police officer is in attendance, who, with a little switch, keeps individuals from pressing too much a the King when he stops to converse; the but this is done with the greatest urbanity."-Pp. 291-295. Mr. Evans paid a visit to Dr. Herschel, which he thus relates: "We now pushed on to the little village of Slough, and paid our respects to the venerable Herschel, of astronomic renown. Introduced to him by a letter, he received us politely, and in shewing us his wonderful apparatus in the garden paid every forty feet long, raised and supported by possible attention. His immense telescope, complicated appendages, is seen by every passing traveller from the public road. like so many Satellites in the planetary The lesser instruments are ranged around, system! and originally a musician in the army, "Dr. Herschel, a native of Germany, was the discoverer (13th of March, 1781,) of a new planet, denominated the Georgium It is apparently at the extreme boundary Sidus, out of compliment to his Majesty. of the solar system. Other discoveries have been made by this iudefatigable astrowith a well-executed engraving of his great nomer. He was pleased to present me telescope, upon my telling him that I pupils at the conclusion of my lecture on always explained its construction to my Orrery I had lately purchased, he replied, astronomy. Mentioning, also, an excellent with great good humour, Orreries are pretty play-things-my Orrery is up there!" -pointing to the sky. The old gentleman was very affable, and, notwithstanding his his modesty. He is evidently an enthusiast extraordinary merit, is distinguished for in his profession, enamoured of the divine ineffable."-Pp. 359, 360. science of astronomy; its pleasures are The account of Bishop Pearce [p. 421], bears marks of a too hasty pen. For " Commentary on the Epistles," should be read Commentary on the Gospels; and something more might surely have been said of this invaluable work, than it " is held in estimation," and some higher eulogium might have been passed upon the author, as a scholar, than that he " possessed a considerable portion of theological learning." Mr. Evans relates the story of this prelate's wishing to resign his bishopric, and being opposed by his brethren the bishops, who reckoned that the measure would form an invidious precedent. The latter part of the volume is furnished, as the title-page announces, by Mr. Evans, Junior; and his Journal is introduced in a manner creditable to both father and son. ART. III. The Confessions of an Arian Minister; containing a Narrative of his Conversion, and exhibiting his present Views of the principal Doctrines of the Gospel, in a Letter to his Son, By William Gellibraud. 8vo. pp. 31. Williams and Co. 1817. WR E recollect to have read a pamphlet satisfactorily accounting for "the unbelief of Edward Gibbon, Esq." from the circumstances of his life. In like manner, it will not be difficult to explain Mr. Gellibraud's conversion; this letter shewing that his change of religious sentiment has been the effect of a bad theological education, of the want of studious habits, and of the force of certain social attachments. From his confessions we shall collect abundant evidence in support of our allegation: nor will attentive readers fail to perceive that such a convert's avowal of reputedly evangelical opinions is far from being presumptive of their truth. I. The Divinity Professor under whom Mr. G. studied, he represents (7) as 66 a man of great learning, eminent piety, and much Biblical acuteness," but adds that he " had not the happy talent of engaging the attention, or even of securing the respect of his pupils." As the natural consequence," his labours were disregarded," and in this branch of education the students "exhibited the most deplorable ignorance." Mr. Gellibrand's creed therefore was not the result of theological knowledge and inquiry it did not rest on an examination of the Scriptures. With some inconsistency† he speaks of him. self as having been, at this period of his life, a determined Arian; "advancing fast," says he, "to what I then considered as the pure and rational views of Christianity, as sup. ported and recommended by Dr. Priestly" [Priestley]. Now it does not appear that Mr. G. ever gave up the doctrine of our Lord's pre-exis tence and the following sentences are a memorable comment on this Arian minister's approximation to pure views of Christianity. His experience and his confessions prove, as ecclesiastical history also proves, that By the Rev. John Evans, M. A. + See p. 13 of this pamphlet. the grossest mistakes concerning the person of Christ have originated in a false shame of the "mere humanity" of the Saviour. Let us hear our author's acknowledgment: [18] "I could listen without any disgust or uneasiness whilst this friend and benefactor to the world was not only praised, but even exalted to a seat upon the throne of God. I often thought that the preacher erred, but it was an error more in unison with my heart and my love, than if he had attempted to degrade his Saviour by sink. ing him to the level of mere humanity." Defective indeed must have been the theological education of the man who could write such a sentence! What is Mr. G.'s avowal? That he approved of a creed which, neverthe less, he considered as erroneous! Of the light (Pref. 4) in which we view this or any part of his Letter let him be as careless as he please: he should know however that, by the declaration before us, he virtually accuses himself of inconsistency, and proves how little he is acquainted with the laws of evi dence and with the test of truth. Numerous additional illustrations of the evils of an ignorance of the principles of Biblical and Scriptural criti cism, are supplied by his pamphlet. When the candidate for the ministry is a stranger to them, he will not pos sess the ability-perhaps not the de sire-of explaining to his fellow-men the records of Revelation: his sermons will not be really evangelical; and it is probable that he will be indifferent to religious opinions,-will lightly embrace and as easily dismiss them. II. But did the "Arian minister," who makes these confessions, attempt to supply the deficiencies of his theological course, in the former academy at Hoxton, by any subsequent regard to theological studies? "The world,” says he, (8, 9,)" presented itself to my view, and stole too much of my heart from God and from heaven-I was hastening fast to a state of irreligion and unbelief; I was immersed in the pursuits, in the pleasures, and, oh! sad to relate, in many of the vices of the world." This, be it remembered, is his own statement of his own case. We "would not hear his enemy say so:" and, possibly, in the revulsion of his feelings, his self-accusation is extravagant. If however he was immersed in the pursuits of the world, he, plainly, had neither time nor reJish for those of sacred literature. His studies took a different, and even opposite, direction. Perhaps they were of a gainful nature (19). The neighbourhood of the metropolis, presents well-known temptations to such employments: and we have heard of Dissenting ministers, some of them orthodox, some of them heretical, who have been assiduous, and not unsuccessful, votaries at the shrine of Mam mon. So far as his own care and exertions are concerned, the respectability and usefulness of the Christian minister will much depend on the object and the regularity of his studies, after he has quitted the college or the academy. On the foundation which he there laid he ought constantly to build. His education is only begun: he must every day carry it forward to maturity. In the excellent charge which Mr. G. received at his ordination (8), this advice was enforced with the affection and earnestness due to its importance. By many divines, of every communion, Scriptural learning is neglected. Some of them, it is true, possess not the means of access to books which they are desirous of consulting: and more, we humbly think, should be done, by the enlightened, opulent and generous friends of religion and literature, to prevent or remedy this evil. If clergymen and ministers do not feel, or cannot fulfil, their obligation to make themselves acquainted with the volume of Revelation, in a critical no less than in a devotional and practical view, it is little wonderful if, like Mr. G. they are unfurnished with any consistent and stable knowledge of its doctrines. III. This "Arian minister" confesses, further, that his change of sentiment has been produced, in part, by the force of certain social attachments. To his son he says (11), "Since I married your most excellent mother-in-law, whom I must ever regard as being, in the hands of Providence, a principal means of my recovery to a just sense of the obligations of religion and virtue, I have constantly attended," &c. Now we cannot doubt that this consideration has exercised a much stronger influence on the mind of Mr. G. than he seems to be aware. But is not such an influence, however natural, and, to a particular extent, honourable and salutary, perfectly distinct from any thing like evidence, whether presumptive or direct? Speaking with reference to his conversion, he alleges (17), that “the plain and unlearned interpretations of the Scriptures seemed to his mind more consistent with the design and end for which they were written than those subtle and scholastic views he had been accustomed to regard." An unequivocal proof of his not being in the habit of studying the Scriptures as they ought to be studied, of his not making them, as Locke made them, their own interpreter! meaning of the sacred volume, is not The true necessarily, or even probably, that which those men affix to it whose explanations are dictated by the creed of their infancy or by the articles of their church; although, under the bias of self-love and self-deception, we confound vulgar prejudices with nátural and unforced comments. Nothing can be more incongruous than to explain the language of ancient and of foreign writers in uniform agreement with the conceptions of a modern age. Plain interpretations are not those which appear such to uninformed and unreflecting readers, but those, on the contrary, which are suggested by a correct acquaintance with the phraseology of the Scriptures. What Mr. G. intends by "subtle and scholastic views of Christianity," he has left us to conjecture. The propriety of his applying such epithets to the "Arian" and Trinitarian hypotheses we fully admit: to the views of in one God, the Father, and in one the persons who unequivocally believe Mediator, the man Christ Jesus, they are not in the slightest degree applicable. From scholastic ideas and scholastic terms the creed of the Unitarian is altogether free: and to its friends its simplicity is truly attractive, but to the lovers of mysticism, unspeakably revolting. Not a single passage of Scripture expresses literally and unreservedly the doctrine of the Trinitarian and of the Arian: while that of the Unitarian is represented in numerous texts, which are understood by us without any mental gloss. Is. this subtle? Is this scholastic P THE MOSLEM BRIDAL-SONG. Attributed to a modern living Poet. [From the Literary Gazette.] There is a radiance in the sky, A flush of gold and purple dye. Night lingers in the west,-the sun Floats on the sea.-The day's begun. The wave slow swelling to the shore Gleams on the green like silver ore; The grove, the cloud, the mountain's brow, Are burning in the crimson glow; Yet all is silence,-till the gale Shakes its rich pinions from the vale. It is a lovely hour,-tho' heaven Had ne'er to man his partner given, That thing of beauty, fatal, fair, Bright, fickle-child of flame and air; Yet such an hour, such skies above, Such earth below, had taught him love. But there are sounds along the galeNot murmurs of the grot or valeYet wild, yet sweet, as ever stole To soothe their twilight wanderer's soul. It comes from yonder jasmine bower, now Pour out the train, white veiled, like snow 'Tis sweet, when in the glowing west The Sun's bright wheels their course are leaving, Upon the azure Ocean's breast To watch the dark wave slowly heaving. 1 And oh at glimpse of early morn, When holy Monks their beads are telling, 'Tis sweet to hear the hunter's horn From glen to mountain wildly swelling. And it is sweet, at mid-day hour, Beneath the forest oak reclining, To hear the driving tempests pour, Each sense to fairy dreams resigning. 'Tis sweet, where nodding rocks around The nightshade dark is wildly wreathing, To listen to some solemn sound From harp or lyre divinely breathing. And sweeter yet the genuine glow Of youthful Friendship's high devotion, Responsive to the voice of woe, When heaves the heart with strong And Youth is sweet with many a joy, And age is sweet, with less alloy, In tranquil thought and silent pleasure. |