Western Unitarian Society. The Annual Meeting of this Society was held at Bristol, on Wednesday, the 21st of June. The devotional services were conducted by the Rev. Dr. Estlin and the Rev. T. Howe, and Rev. W. J. Fox, of Chichester, preached from Acts xxviii. 22. “As concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against." The object of the preacher was to display the fallacy and injustice of several of the popular charges against Unitarianism, charges which are in some cases utterly inconsistent with each other, and which are universally founded on very erroneous views either of the doctrines of Unitarianism, or of the motives and reasonings of its advocates. The discourse was alike eloquent and argumentative; and the powerful impressiveness of it was obviously and strongly marked in the fixed attention with which it was universally heard. Some passages could not fail to excite a peculiar interest in the minds of those who recollected that the preacher had known what it is to be involved in the gloomy thraldom of Calvinism, and had, from full conviction, embraced the grand doctrines of the unpurchased mercy and unrivalled supremacy of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the unanimous and earnest request of the Society, Mr. Fox consented to the publication of the discourse; and the perusal of it will, we feel assured, shew good reason for our hope that the zeal and abilities which it displays, will be increasingly employed to promote the spread of the great truths which it advocated. In the evening Mr. Fox conducted the devotional service and Dr. Carpenter preached. At the close of the morning service the usual business of the Society was transacted, and several new members admitted. It was resolved to hold the next Annual Meeting at Dorchester, and, if possible, on the third Wednesday in June: the appointment of as the Preacher was referred to the Committee at Bristol.-A proposal was made to employ part of the funds of works which, if not peculiarly suited the Society, in the reprinting of to the immediate object of the Society, would be more likely to obtain general circulation than books directly Unitarian, and which might have great efficacy in weakening the influence of religious bigotry, and at least preparing for the diffusion of our principles; such, for instance, Bishop Taylor's Liberty of Prophesying, Whitby's Last Thoughts, &c. : but the proposal was withdrawn on the representations of Mr. Rowe and others, that it was undesirable to burden the Society with a stock, which might prevent the employment of its funds in a method more directly within its scope and object. A gentleman present, however, suggested that what could not be well done by the Society, might by individuals; and he liberally offered the loan of 100l. towards accomplishing the object, if others could be found to unite in it.* When the Society met last year at Yeovil, the proceedings of the Committee led the General Meeting to consider by what means they might best mark their warm and grateful sense of Mr. Rowe's unremitting and very important exertions for the welfare of the Society, from the period of its removal to Bristol in 1804,-in aiding in the duties belonging to the Treasurer and the Secretary, in the general objects of the Society, and in the conduct of the Annual Meetings, which he had uniformly attended, and to the interest and proper direction of which he had so essentially contributed. It was finally determined to present to him, in the name of the Society, a copy of the Fac Simile of Beza's Manuscript, and (as soon as published,) of Mr. Wellbeloved's Family Bible, each with an appropriate inscription. At the present meeting Mr. Rowe, while he expressed his satisfaction at the approbation of his services to the Society which their vote had manifested, declared his determination to decline the proposed testimonial of it. About sixty gentlemen afterwards * If any friends of free inquiry are disposed to countenance this object, they are requested to address a few lines on the subject to the Rev. Dr. Carpenter, Exeter. 460 Obituary.-Samuel Whitbread, Esq. dined together. In the interval between dinner and the evening service, Dr. Estlin, and Messrs. Fox, Howe, Evans, Rowe, Gisburne, &c. addressed the Meeting on topics relating to the cheering prospects of the diffusion of Unitarianism, and on the proper Beans of promoting it. When the attention of the Meeting was particularly called to "the prosperity of the Western Unitarian Society," the Rev. J. Evans, (a member of the Committee,) read an interesting report of its state and progress. In the course of it, however, reference was made to the loss of members which had been occasioned by the establishment of the Devon and Cornwall Unitarian Association which has, in several respects similar objects; but the Committee expressed their hope that if the sphere of the Western Unitarian Society were narrowed, the interests of the grand cause would be promoted. Dr. Carpenter, having had a share in the formation of the Association referred to, stated to the meeting that its peculiar objects were to form a closer union, and to cause a more frequent intercourse among the professors (in Devon and Cornwall) of the fundamental doctrines of Unitarianism, the Absolute Unity, Exclusive Worship, and Unpurchased Mercy of God even the Father; that it afforded greater facilities for the purchase of Unitarian books in that district; and that it received subscriptions as low as five shillings per annuin. He said that it would have been decidedly his wish, and that of others, to connect it with the Western Unitarian Society, as a Branch-Society; but as the former was understood to imply the admission of the doctrine of Simple Humanity; this connection could not have been effected consist ently with the hope of uniting, on the wider basis, with those who either doubted or denied that doctrine: and that whatever deficiency in number might be experienced by the Parent Society, through the establishment of the Association, the general cause would gain four-fold.* Adverting then to the conviction which had been expressed by a preceding speaker, that Unitarianism was making a silent progress where it was not publicly embraced, and that it was spreading widely among the intelligent poor, Dr. C. called the attention of the meeting to the case of the Unitarian Church at Rossendale, (a truly animating account of which had been given in the Monthly Repository for May last;) and expressed his earnest hope that they would meet with aid among their Unitarian brethren, to extinguish their burdensome debt, and to supply them with serviceable books for their own use and for distribution.+Mr. Rowe, with his usual impressive eloquence, entered into some details respecting the early history of the Society, and the causes of its removal from Exeter to Bristol; and after having mentioned various Associations which, since its origin, had sprung up for the diffusion of Unitarianism, he gave an encouraging representation of the spread of those sentiments, which, while they afford the noblest views of the attributes and dispensations of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, lay the best foundation for christian obedience, and present the justest and most extensive views of its nature and obligations. May the genuine practical influence of Unitarianism, on the heart and life, be experienced, wherever it is embraced as Christian truth! C. OBITUARY. Samuel, Whitbread, Esq. (From the Morning Chronicle, Friday, July 7, 1815.) Yesterday morning, at his house in Dover Street, died suddenly, SAMUEL WHITBREAD, ESQ. He was found dead in his dressing-room about ten o'clock in the forenoon by his servant. The death of a patriot so steady, intrepid and zealous in the cause of his country and of human freedom, will be long, deeply and universally deplored. The loss of Mr. Whitbread in the British parliament is a loss to the civilized world; for, like the exalted model of his conduct as a senator, (Mr. Fox,) he was the constant, able and disinterested advocate of justice, freedom and humanity, wherever and by whomso the Devon and Cornwall Association is The present number of Subscribers to about 180, at an average of 73. or 8s. per anuum. The writer of this article has received ever assailed. No man who had a claim on the virtuous for protection, ever applied to him in vain. He was the earnest and indefatigable friend of the oppressed; and in the prosecution of justice was dismayed by no combination of power, clamour or calumny -wearied out by no difficulties and exhausted by no fatigue. In all his exertions, the only creature whose interests he did not consult, were his own; for of all public characters we should point out Mr. Whitbread as the individual who had the least consideration for himself, and who was the least actuated by personal motives. His heart and mind were wholly devoted to the amelioration of the state of society, to the maintenance of the rights which our forefathers acquired, and to the communication of those blessings to others which we our selves enjoy. His views were all public. He could not be diverted from the right path by any species of influence, for he was inflexible alike to flattery and corruption. He invariably objected to that system by which the burthens of Great Britain have been so dreadfully accumulated, because he believed that the object of the league of sovereigns was more to restrain the rising spirit of a just liberty, than to withstand the insatiate ambition of a single individual; and his justification in this sentiment was the proof, that they never adhered in success to the professions with which they set out in adversity. He was the warm, liberal and enthusiastic encourager of universal education, from the pure feeling of benevolence that actuated all his life. He was convinced, that to enlighten the rational mind and to make a people familiar with the holy scriptures, was to make them strong, moral and happy. He was no bigot to forms of the following Sums for the Rossendale Unitarians: viz. John Mackintosh, Esq. of Exeter, 5 0 0 Do. 4 6 worship, and therefore he was friendly to those institutions, the object of which is to instruct the young mind in the precepts of Christianity, according to the tenets which the mature judgment or predelection of the parent might wish to imprint on the child. In his friendships, no man went greater lengths, or was more ready to sacrifice time, ease and comfort, than himself. This was conspicuously shewn in the undertaking of the re-establishment of Drury-Lane Theatre, which will ever remain a monument of his disinterested labour and perseverance, as well as of the high confidence which was reposed in his power and integrity by the public; for to his exertions, to his character, and to his invincible constancy alone, are the public indebted for the restoration of that edifice; and it is a memorable trait in his character, that having the whole patronage in his hand, not one person, male, or female, employed in the establishment, owed their appointment to any personal dependence on himself, or connexion with his family, but in every instance he selected the fittest objects that presented themselves for the situation that they gained. We fear that to the daily and hourly fatigues, nay, we may say to the persecution that he endured in this great work, through the petulance, the cabals, and the torrent of contrary interests, we must attribute the decline of his health, and the sudden termination of a life so dear to the public. The incessant annoyance preyed on his mind, and strengthened the attacks of a plethoric habit of body which threatened apoplexy. For some weeks past he had been afflicted, with incessant head-ache, and his physicians had advised him to abstain from all exertion, even that of speaking in parliament. No man was more temperate in his mode of living. He was happy in his domestic society; surrounded by an amiable and accomplished family, and in the possession of all that fortune, with the consciousness of the honest discharge of every duty, public and private, could bestow. No man will be more sensibly missed by the people as one of their representatives, for no man was more vigilant, more undaunted, more faithful in watching over their interests, nor more ardent in asserting their rights. He had the good old English character of open Do, at the Rev. Mr. Evans's Meeting on the following Lord's day, - 4 0 6 He earnestly hoped, that our Rossendale Brethren will keep up their discipline as Methodists, as far as their peculiar citcumstances and the principles of Unitarianism will permit. ness and sincerity. He called things by their right names, and his detestation of every thing in the nature of a job, made him the terror of delinquents. His death will be a universal source of sorrow to the country; and now that courtiers are released from his castigation, even they will do justice to his talents and integrity. Died, on Sunday, July 23d, at Birmingham, Joshua Toulmin, D. D. one of the pastors of the congregation assembling at the New Meeting House in that town. Uncommonly affec MONTHLY RETROSPECT TH tionate in his temper and amiable in his manners; exemplary and useful through a life prolonged beyond the ordinary period; eminent by his piety and virtue as a Christian, and by his qualifications and services as a minister; he will be most tenderly regretted in a very wide circle of relatives and friends;-while his labours in various departments of Theology and General Literature, will carry down his name to posterity with the reputation which it has obtained among his judicious and candid contemporaries. OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS ; OR, The Christian's Survey of the Political World. HE thrones of the Bourbons are re-established. They are now sovereigns at Paris, Naples and Madrid; and their conduct in their different seats of government will form very curious pages in future history. Paris presents a very singular picture. It has been taken a second time, and the confederate armies, the supporters of the monarch on the throne, are in possession of the capital. In this situation the monarch issues his mandates to his subjects as in time of profound peace, and he has appointed a day for the assembling of the legislature, to act in concert with him for the government of the country. The events preceding this change are unexampled in history, and will scarcely be believed by posterity. The battle of Waterloo was most decisive. The ruin of the army under Buonaparte was complete, and the conquerors followed up their victory with such rapidity, that Paris fell into their hands without a blow. A military convention was made between the generals of the Prussians and English and those of the army of the French, at Paris, by which the latter agreed to withdraw with their troops to the south of the Loire; and Paris was given up to the conquerors, on the idea, that the inhabitants were not to be injured, and public property was left to future arrangements. The king followed them quickly, and was lodged in his palace, and the Sovereigns of Russia and Prussia soon after arrived in his capital. It could not be expected that the conquerors should in this manner march through the country without some inconveniences being felt by the inhabitants; and the Prussians, exasperated by former recollections, were not likely to be kept entirely free from availing themselves of the usual privileges of war. But Paris felt more, perhaps, for the apprehended injury to some of its works of art, than from the burning of a few palaces and villages at a distance: and the Emperor of Russia arrived in time to save the bridge of Jena, which Blucher had made preparations to destroy. The hardy veteran did not recollect, that if the bridge recalled the memory of the day in which the kingdom of his master was overthrown, the preservation of it with a memorial of its having been in possession of the Prussians, would have redounded more to their national glory. Paris had many similar monuments of the heroism of its great military chief, but their names have been changed, and thus the fury of the conquerors has been averted. With the return of the Bourbon, the white flag was restored; but the tri-coloured waves in many parts of France, which feels at present the horrors of domestic war and foreign invasion. On all sides from the Netherlands and the Rhine troops are pouring into this ill-fated country, whose day of retribution is come; and the pride of the great nation is humbled to the dust. A feeble resistance has been made in some places to the march of the Russians and Austrians, which ended in so much greater disasters to the inhabitants: but it is some cause of triumph, that the march of the English was conducted with the greatest regularity, and more reliance is placed on their protection than that of any other flag. The towns that held out are daily submitting to the Bourbon, and the army, weakened by continual desertions, is expected soon to follow the same course. It remains to be seen what will be the result of the new treaty. On the entrance of the sovereign into Paris, the chambers of the legislature then sitting were shut up, but many of its members assembled at another place, and there subscribed a protest dictated by the state of affairs. They also left a plan of a constitution: but, as it will be considered to have been the work of persons illegally assembled, no attention will be paid to it. The sovereign restored to their places all who had been in power on the day of his quitting Paris, and the interregnum of three months will produce little or no consequences as to the civil government of the country. Every thing will depend on the new legislature, and there is every reason to believe, that the sovereign will unite with it in cordial endeavours to place the government of the country upon a solid foundation. It appears evidently impossible to restore the monarchy to the situation in which it was under the three former sovereigns, and the king must consent to the limitations of a representative government. It will be recollected, that the Bourbons had destroyed the old constitution of France. The states-general were not allowed to assemble after the reign of Henry the Fourth, but despotism was not established till the latter end of the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, who gained the memorable victory over his parliaments. The disorder in the finances, produced by the American war in the reign of his successor, brought forward the ancient claims of the people, which terminated so fatally in the death of that ill-fated, but well-intentioned, monarch, and the consequent disasters must have taught king and people the value of true liberty. It must be long before they can experience its blessings. In this wonderful state of things the curiosity of the public has been naturally directed to the fate of the great character who has for so long a time convulsed all Europe. Soon after his arrival at Paris it was announced, that he had abdicated the imperial dignity, and a feeble attempt was made to preserve it to his son. He soon ceased to be visible. Various rumours were spread on the place of his retreat, and the most prevalent one was, that he had taken shipping with several of his generals for America. By many the belief was entertained that he remained in France; but all doubts were removed by news of his surrender to the admiral on the station off Rochfort. What will be his fate it is impossible to conjecture. Thus is overthrown a dynasty which a few years ago seemed firmly fixed, and with it, it is to be hoped, will be destroyed, that military system under which Europe has so long groaned. The calamities of the last twenty-six years cannot but produce some lasting and salutary lessons both for governors and governed. The fate of France remains to be determined. It depends on the allied sovereigns, who have now so many troops in the kingdom as must render farther resistance unavailable. They have great demands, and it cannot be expected, that they should return without some compensation for their labours. The keeping of so many troops will of itself be sufficiently burdensome, and France will now learn what it is to bear those contributions which it before was accustomed to lay on so many other countries. But besides, it may be considered, that France by her great power has been enabled to excite this confusion in Europe, and it may now be adviseable to reduce her within her ancient limits. These were extended in the reign of Louis the XIV., a despot of a character very much resembling that of Buonaparte; possessing all the ambition of the latter, and with it a degree of intolerant bigotry, which spent itself in most abominable cruelties on his own subjects. In his time the French gained possession of Alsace, Lorraine, Artois and French Flanders, and the united sovereigns may think, that France will be sufficiently powerful when these additions have been lopped off, and annexed to other territories. The great nation will then be reduced to its true limits,-to those regions where |