80 Marriage service of the Established Church Trinitarian. A proper question on this subject is, can a human nature exist without a human person? If not, then there is a whole person of Christ without the addition of a divine nature: again, can a divine nature truly and literally exist without a divine person? If not, then there is a complete person of Christ without the addition of a human nature; and if the two be united, he has not only two natures, but two persons, and therefore two natures in one person is as absurd as two natures in one nature, or two persons in one person. Be it remembered also, that what is called the Deity of Christ is said to be the second person of the Trinity; hence it follows, that either his huma nity is nothing, or that he himself is more than a single person, for he had (according to Trinitarianism) a complete person before he possessed humanity; and if the man Christ Jesus be truly a person, and if this person be united with the second person of the Trinity, then it follows as plainly as that one and one are two, that Jesus Christ is not one person but two persons. Again, if one of the natures comprehended in the person of Christ be the second person of the Trinity, then there is a person within a person; nay a divine person is in this case comprehended in a person neither wholly divine nor wholly human, but made up of both. And if the second person of the Trinity forms part of the person of Messiah, then the Messiah must be not only more than a complete person, but greater than either of the natures or persons of which he is supposed to consist: that is, a person neither wholly God nor wholly man, must be greater, not only than man, but also than God. It must be evident that the same mode of reasoning must be perfectly fair when applied to the Trinity. If there be three persons in God, then consequently, God is equal to all the persons, and greater than any one of them taken separately: thus God is greater than the third person of the Trinity, or Holy Spirit, and greater than the Son, the second person, and greater than the Father, the first person; that is, God is greater than himself, for the Father (it is said) is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. It is unnecessary to add more, we conceive, to prove that three divine persons in one divine essence is equivalent to three persons in one person, three essences in one essence, or three beings in one being; and that two natures in one person is equivalent to two persons in one person, two natures in one nature, or two somewhats in one somewhat, which is equivalent to absurdity. If it be said, this is reasoning, not scripture, we reply that it is better first to reason and then to quote, than first to quote and not to reason; and that unless we bring our reason to scripture, we shall only turn scripture into absurdity. DOULOSCHRISTOU. SIR, Jan. 25, 1815. marriage service, as conducted by the Established Church, has of late been frequently the subject of discussion among the Protestant Dissenters; and as they have more clearly understood the nature, or been impressed by the importance, of religious liberty, has excited a proportionate degree of hesitation, as to the consistency of a compliance. These scruples have more particularly taken place among Unitarians; who are apprehensive that they depart here from their great leading principle; a part of the service being undeniably Trinitarian. They have also to observe, that their Irish Dissenting brethren are exempt from this obligation, by the legality of their marriages among themselves. By an Act of the Irish Parliament, Dissenting Ministers may legally perform this service; which is, of consequence, in itself legal and binding. We should conclude, therefore, that there can be no just reason for refusing it to Protestant Dissenters of the sister Island. The Quakers, also have long enjoyed this privilege. It may indeed, be observed by some, that marriage is a civil contract. But if so, religious principles and opinions are blended with it, and a clergyman performs the ceremony. We refer your readers to the service itself for further information. Unitarians have indeed, by a late Act been brought more immediately under the protection of law; but they persuade themselves that the Legisla ture will not consider them as needlessly multiplying claims with the grants they have received; but here also discover that liberality which has marked their late proceedings, which are confined to theology and theological criticism. Of these the principal, besides those mentioned, are entitled, The Catechist, or an Inquiry concerning the only True God; an Historical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship Vindicia Priestleianæ; an Address to the Students of Oxford and Cambridge; an Examination of Mr. Robinson's Plea for the Divinity of Christ; Conversations on Christian Idolatry; and Conversations on the Divine Government, shewing that every thing is from God, and for good to all. Mr. Lindsey died Nov. 3, 1808, aged 86. Since his death there have been published Sermons, with appropriate Prayers annexed, in two volumes, and the Rev. Mr. Belsham, the present minister of Essex Street Chapel, has published (in 1812) Memoirs of the late Rev. Mr. Lindsey, addressed to Richard Reynolds, Esq. of Paxton, Mr. Lindsey's earliest pupil, and through life his intimate and chosen friend. Biographical Sketch of Edward Rush ton, written by his Son. [From the Belfast Monthly Magazine, for Dec. 1814.*] RUSHTON was EDWARD the 19th of November, 1756, in John Street, Liverpool. His education, which he received at a free school, terminated with his ninth year. At ten he read Anson's voyage, resolved to be a sailor, was bound as an apprentice to Watt and Gregson, and before he entered his eleventh year, he was a sea boy in the West Indies. He performed the various duties of his station with skill and credit; this was evinced by the following fact: at this time, i. e. when he reached his sixteenth year, he received the thanks of the captain and crew of the vessel, for his sea-man like conduct, having seized the helm, and extricated the ship, when the captain and crew were wandering about in despair. affectionate deference to the opinions of others, and in this sense, loving and honouring all men. We lament to add that the above is the closing Number of this valuable work. Why will Irishmen complain of Englishmen, when they themselves will not patronize Ireland? Before seventeen, whilst yet in his apprenticeship, he signed articles as second mate of the vessel, in which a short time before he entered as cabin boy. When in this situation in the West Indies, a circumstance occurred, which is worthy of preservation. He was despatched from the ship with a boat's crew, on some errand to the shore, the vessel then lying a few miles from the shore; when about three miles from Jamaica, the boat, from some unknown cause, upset, and five or six individuals were left to struggle for life, depending only on their bodily strength and skill for their preservation. The boat in a short time presented itself keel upwards, upon which they all speedily mounted, but no sooner had they seated themselves, and congratulated each other on their escape, than the boat slipped from under them, and they were again left to struggle. In the boat, among others, was a negro, whose name was Quamina, between this individual and my father, a friendship had for some time subsisted, for my father taught Quamina to read. When the boat disappeared, my father beheld at some distance, a small cask, which he knew contained fresh water; for this cask it, it was seized by the Negro, who, on seeing my father almost exhausted thrust the cask towards him, turned away his head, hidding him good bye, and never more was seen. This cask saved my father's life. I can remember well his telling me this story with tears in his eyes It made an impression on my mind, which no time can ever efface. As second mate of the vessel he continued until the term of his apprenticeship was expired. At this period, the offer of a superior situation, and of course, of greater emolument, induced him to proceed to the coast of Africa, on a slaving voyage. His sentiments of this disgraceful traffic, when he beheld its horrors, though in a subordinate situation, with that boldness and integrity which characterized his every action, he expressed in strong and pointed language; he went so far in this respect, that it was thought necessary to threaten him with irons, if he did not desist. On this fatal voyage, whilst at Dominica, he was attacked by a violent 68 Biographical Sketch of Edward Rushton, written by his Son. inflammation of the eyes, which in three weeks left him with the left eye totally destroyed, and the right entirely covered by an opacity of the cornea. Thus in his nineteenth year, was he deprived of one of the greatest blessings of nature; thus, to use his own language," doomed to penury severe, thus to the world's hard buffets left." In 1776, attended by my grandfather, he visited London, and amongst other eminent men, he consulted the celebrated Baron Wentzell, oculist to the king, who declared he could not be of the least service. In this hopeless situation, my poor father returned to Liverpool, and resided with my grandfather. With him he continued for some short period, until by the violent temper of my grandfather's second wife, he was compelled to leave the house, and to maintain himself on four shillings per week. For seven years he existed on this miserable, and, considering the circumstances of my grandfather, this shameful allowance; for an old aunt gave him lodgings. Whilst subsisting on this sum, he managed to pay a boy two-pence or three-pence a week, for reading to him an hour or two in the evenings. I have now in my possession, a gold brooch, to which I have heard him declare, he has often been indebted for a dinner; nor was this brooch confined to himself, a noted comedian of the present day, whose avarice has long since got the better of his principle, has borrowed and pledged this very brooch for the self-same purpose. From this state my father was removed to one much more comfortable. My grand, father placed one of his daughters and my father in a tavern, where he lived for some years, and soon after my aunt's marriage, his also took place, his age being then twenty-nine. My father finding, however, his pecuniary circumstances rather diminishing than increasing, left the public house. He now entered into an engagement as an editor of a newspaper, called the Herald, which he for some time pursued with much pleasure, and little profit, until finding it impossible to express himself in that independent and liberal manner which his reason and his conscience dictated, he threw up his situation, and began the world once more. With an increasing family, and a very small fortune, for a while my father hesitated before he fixed on any particular line of conduct. He thought of several plans, but none seemed more agreeable to his feelings, than the business of a bookseller; his habits and his pursuits combined to render it more eligible than any other which presented itself to his thoughts. With thirty guineas, five children, and a wife, to whose exertions we owe more than words can express, my father commenced bookselling. My mother, my excellent mother, laboured incessantly, and with frugality and attention, the business succeeded, and my father felt himself more easy. At this time politics ran very high in Liverpool, my father had published several of his pieces, all in favour of the rights of man. He became a noted character, was marked, and by some illiberal villain shot at; the lead passed very close to his eyebrow, but did not do him the smallest injury. His butterfly friends who had constantly visited while all was serene, now began to desert him; they were afraid of being seen near the house, merely because my father had boldly stepped forward in the cause of liberty and of truth. Let it not be forgotten, that the foremost of these was the comedian, before mentioned, a man who owes his wealth to my father's advice, who persuaded him to try the stage. Such are the narrow prejudices, and paltry feelings, with which a man has to struggle, whose determination it is to speak and act as his heart shall dictate. But great was the satisfaction my father experienced from the steady attachment, the unremitting attention of a few tried and true friends, who with him had hailed the light whereever it appeared, and exulted in the triumphs of liberty, in whatever land they were achieved. Whilst in business as a bookseller, the purses of the late William Rathbone, and of William Roscoe, were offered to him; he was invited to take what sum he might want; he refused them both; and he has often told me, his feelings have been those of satisfaction, when he reflected on this refusal. He was in poverty, nay, the very moment he was struggling hard to gain a scanty pittance, yet he maintained his independence, and triumphed. His life for some years was but little varied. He continued successively to produce poetical pieces, and in the year 1797 wrote a letter, since published, to Washington, on the subject of negro slavery. If I mistake not, in 1799 he wrote Mary Le More; the outrages daily committed roused his slumbering genius, and induced him to write, not only this, but several other pieces on the same subject; all of them breathing that spirit which it was at once his pride and boast to cherish. But the principal event in the latter years of his life was the recovery of his sight; an event which tended to make those years much more comfortable than any he had experienced since his youth. In the autumn of 1805, hearing of the repeated successes of Dr. Gibson, of Manchester, as an oculist, he was induced to obtain his opinion: that opinion was favourable, and after enduring with his accustomed fortitude five dreadful operations, in the summer of 1807 he was again ushered into that world, from which for more than thirty years he had been excluded. His feelings on this occasion, which I well remember, are truly recorded in the lines addressed to Gibson on this happy event.* For the last few years he has not written much, but those poems he has produced are excellent. The Fire of English Liberty, Jemmy Armstrong, and Stanzas addressed to Robert Southey, are all strongly in favour of those principles, which with “fire unabated," he preserved to the last moment of his mental existence. In January 1811, after a tedious illness, my mother died. On the 25th of May, in the same year, my sister Anne died also. For three or four years my father had been in the habit of taking Eau Medicinale for the gout. He again took this medicine about three weeks before his death. It is generally be lieved this was the remote cause of his death; its operation formerly was as a cathartic, but the last time it operated very forcibly as au emetic. So severe was the shock his constitution received, that the morning after tak ing the medicine, as I stood by his bedside, I expressed some fears respecting its operation; he rose to convince me of its wonderful effects; he knew not how weak he really was, for as he attempted to walk, he reeled, and had I not caught him, would most likely have fallen. He however walked down stairs and appeared very cheerful; he gradually amended, and once or twice walked out alone. A slight complaint in the ear, with which he had been troubled previously to tak ing the Eau Medicinale, now returned, accompanied by a slight discharge. On Saturday evening, the 19th of November, about nine o'clock, I left my father in high spirits, to attend my sister home. I returned about eleven; he was gone to bed. At nine in the morning, I passed through his room, and inquired how he was. He had had but a poor night, but he ordered his boots to be cleaned, intending to dine at my sister's. Not thinking any thing unusual in his slight complaints, I left him, and returned at twelve with a gig, in order to take him to my sister's. In the mean time he grew worse, and had twice asked for me. I immediately procured medical assistance. When the doctor arrived the pulse was lost; the feet were cold; and my father was then troubled with a violent vomiting. Prompt measures were resorted to for the purpose of re-animation, and not without success. A profuse perspiration broke out, but in vain, his faculties became more and more clouded, he was insensible to all around him, his children he knew not after a very short period, and gradually grew worse until Monday noon, when he opened his eyes and looked at those around him. He took some little nourishment, and perhaps possessed some little consciousness. Towards evening he seemed much better; at half past two in the morning a suffusion on the brain took place, the right side was paralized, the breathing became heavy and laborious. Medical assistance immediately arrived, and arrived but to see him expire, for no assistance could be given. At five o'clock on Tuesday the 22d of November, 8114, Edward Rushton died without a struggle, and without pain---leaving behind him a character, pure and immortal as the principles he professed. 70 Memoir of the late Rev. Herbert Jenkins. Memoir of the late Rev. Herbert Jenkins. an assiduous and useful assistant to the President of it, particularly in MR. HERBERT communication, au de reports, h a native of Maidstone, in Kent, where his father was minister of the Independent Congregation. He received the rudiments of classical learning under the Rev. John Wiche, the Baptist Minister in the same town:* but his proficiency was greatly as sisted by the attention and pains bestowed on his improvement by his father, whom he had the infelicity to lose early in life. But, stimulated by his own thirst after knowledge, he prepared himself, by assiduous application and study, pursued under unfavourable circumstances, to support the character of a private tutor to youth in families of the higher rank. A vigorous and capacious mind, united with a quick and lively imagination, aided his acquisition of a large share of information upon almost every sub. ject; which was fully known to those only who dwelt under the same roof with him. His system of instruction was rendered very complete and valuable, we have learnt, by an improvement of almost every circumstance and occurrence of the passing day, upon which some useful information might be grafted; and it was often remarked, that he had a peculiar happiness in his method of conveying his ideas to others. He spent some years, before he entered on theological studies, in the capacity of a tutor in several families; particularly in that of Sir George Staunton, whom he accompanied into Ireland; and by whom he was invited to attend his son in the embassy to China. This alluring offer he declined, particularly from an apprehension that an acceptance of it might draw him off from his views and purposes of settling, as a dissenting minister. During this period of his life, as he had bestowed peculiar attention on the study of clocution, he was engaged to read lectures on that subject, at the new College in Hackney. Relinquishing these useful employ ments, he commenced a student in divinity, in the academy under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Addington, at Mile End, near London. From his entrance into this seminary, he was * See a Memoir of Mr. Wiche in the Protestant Dissenter's Magazine for 1797, Vol. iv. p. 121. was his fellow-student reports, important information on the structure of the English language, and on topics connected with it. Here a close intimacy commenced between Mr. Jenkins and Dr. Addington, which lasted as long as the latter lived. When he appeared in the public character of the preacher, he became first, a colleague with the venerable Mr. Hampton, at Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 1792. From whence he removed to Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, July, 1796. He resigned his pastoral connexions there in 1808, and settled at Hinckley. He had not resided much more than two years in that town when it pleased Providence to visit him with a long and severe illness. His life was in imminent danger; and though his days were not immediately cut off, he never recovered his former vigour and health; and found it necessary to withdraw from the stated services of the pastoral office, at least in a large congregation, and where his appearance in the pulpit on both parts of the day was required. That severe illness he bore with pious resignation and Christian fortitude; though he devoutly acquiesced in the will of heaven, he deeply felt the affliction of being obliged to relinquish the public functions of the Christian ministry, even in part. In the duties of his public character he evidently took a high pleasure. In the performance of them he was ambitious to excel and to be thought to excel, and had, it may be regretted, too lively a feeling of the reception his services met with. A solicitude, as to the justness and propriety of his elocution, originating probably from the nature of his early studies, was thought by some to have given too studied an appearance to his delivery, so as to be unfavourable to the effect of discourses well-suited, by the subject, sentiments and spirit of them, to excite attention and impress the heart: so difficult is it for frail man, even in the pursuit of excellence, to avoid faults: so difficult is it, where we aim to merit praise, to escape blame. In estimating human attainments and human characters, much allowance ought to be made for unknown but very supposable impres |