subscribe. "We justly condemn the answers of the Heathen oracles," says he, as riddles, dark and obscure, vague and indeterminate, capable of being turned many ways, without certainly knowing which sense was intended, or in what way they are to be understood. But divine prophecies should be intelligible, and have one determinate meaning; that it may be known when and how they are accomplished.-We admire it as an excellence in Homer, and other celebrated writers of antiquity, that their meaning is expressed clearly; and may not we expect, when God speaks to men, that his meaning should be expressed in as clear and determinate a manner?-In one word, if the Scriptures are not to be interpreted, like the best ancient authors, in their one, true and genuine meaning, the common people will be led to doubt, whether or no the Scriptures have any certain meaning at all. They will be for ever at a loss what to believe, and what to practise, upon what to ground their comfort here, and their hope of salvation hereafter."

This subject is one among many to which Unitarians have not yet devoted so much attention as its importance demands. Nothing would give me more sincere pleasure than to see it fairly and candidly discussed in the pages of the Monthly Repository. It was on this very ground that Collins made his grand attack upon Christianity; and I lament to say that, among the numerous writers who professed to answer his arguments, I have hitherto met with none, who has entered fully into the merits of this important controversy.

R. WALLACE.

N your number for January last, (pp. 29, 30,) a correspondent, under the signature of An Old Subscriber, observes, that "the Editors of the British Critic, in their Review for October last, confess that the Genealogies of Christ given by Matthew and Luke, is a subject encumbered with many difficulties," and that they "observe, it is best reconciled by supposing that Matthew traces Christ's

legal descent from David through Joseph, and that Luke traces Christ's real descent from David through his maternal line." And your correspondent recommends to the Editors the perusal of Mr. Gorton's Solution of the Grand Scriptural Puzzle, the Genealogy of Jesus; for, says he, if it "be correct, there is at once an end of every difficulty on the subject." What these difficulties are, and what is the subject of them, your correspondent has left his readers to guess; but by a reference to Mr. Gorton's Work, it will be seen that its object is to expunge from the New Testament the narratives contained in the introductory chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which describe the conception of the Virgin Mary to be miraculous, and, as a consequence, he rejects the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ. So important and decisive does your correspondent consider Mr. Gorton's Work, that he expresses his surprise that no notice is taken of it by the Editors of the British Critic in their Review of "the seventh article in the number for October last," as their particular attention was called to it in July.

The simple fact is, that the Reviewer has adopted that explanation of the Genealogies which is given by the author of the work which he was then reviewing, entitled, A Vindication of the Authenticity of the Narratives contained in the first two Chapters of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, being an Investigation of Objections urged by the Unitarian Editors of the Improved Version of the New Testament, with an Appendix, containing Strictures on the Variations between the First and Fourth Editions of that Work. As the limits of the Reviewer did not allow of the introduction of the arguments by which his own solution of the difficulty was supported, it was not to be expected that he would travel out of his way to notice the objections of an opponent, whose work was not regularly before him. Whether Christ was miraculously conceived or not, the explanation of the Genealogical Tables, as given by the author of the Vindication, appears to me the most rational, and the best supported by evidence of any

that I have seen. I shall not unnecessarily occupy your pages by dis cussing the comparative merits of the different explanations of the Genealogies, but refer your readers to pp. 123 to 139 of the Vindication, and to Mr. Gorton's Work; or the superficial manner in which the latter has conducted his arguments, and the unsa tisfactory nature of his conclusions might easily be pointed out.

Mr. Wright's Essay on the Miraculous Conception, and a work by Rammohun Roy, are also referred to by your correspondent. An answer to every thing that is argumentative in Mr. Wright's Essay, will be found in the Vindication. With respect to Rammohum Roy it will suffice to ob serve, that I should place more confidence in the Evangelist Matthew's application of the prophecy of Isaiah, eh. vii. 14, as given in the first chapter of his Gospel, than in that of Rammohun Roy. If it be objected that I should first prove that Matthew was the author of the passage to which I refer, I answer, that this has been already done by the author of the Vindication.

An Old Subscriber could scarcely be serious when he supposes that the Reviewer of the Vindication did not allude to Mr. Gorton's Work, from an idea that it is incontrovertible, and 'consequently" from a desire not to give publicity to a publication that at once overturns this portion of the fabric of orthodoxy," as he sarcastically terms it; he, however, leaves the reader to discover what "portion of the fabric" it is to which he alludes: if he mean the first two chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, I can assure him that the Editor of the British Critic is under no more apprehension of those portions of the sacred text of the New Testament being overturned by any efforts of Mr. Gorton, than of the remainder of the Sacred Volume, through the imbecile attacks of the Deist. This must have been discovered by your correspon dent, had he looked beyond that part of the Review which he has cited; for the Reviewer, with Mr. Gorton's Work

before him, (if your correspondent's statement be correct,) says of the Vindication" Every objection to the first two chapters of the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke is solidly refuted, and the evidence in favour of their genuineness and authenticity is stated with the utmost clearness and force. The work is written in a spirit of candour and fairness-and we re gard it as an ample and most convincing vindication of the disputed chapters," and the Reviewer further expresses his opinion, that it is impossible to refute it! Whether the work itself merits this character, can only be determined by a perusal of it, which is therefore recommended to your readers, that they may judge for themselves, and not be improperly influenced by the opinions of others, whether friends or enemies of the cause espoused by the author of the Vindication.

I

SIR,

Z. N.

London, April 23, 1824. WILL thank you, or any corre spondent of yours, to inform me, through the medium of the Repository, whether Mr. Gorton's work, relative to the Genealogy of Jesus, has been noticed in any of the Reviews opposed to the Unitarian doctrine; and if it has, I shall be glad to be informed of the title of the Review, and the period of its publication.

Not recollecting to have met with any remarks in support of Mr. Gorton's statement-that it was formerly customary among the Jews to denominate, on the female side, the grandson the son; and, by the same rule, to term the grandfather the fatherI shall be thankful to any of your learned correspondents, who may be pleased to state their information on this very interesting subject. For, if such a custom formerly existed, the Genealogies, as expressed in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, perfectly accord in shewing, that Joseph was the real and legitimate father of Jesus.

AN OLD SUBSCRIBER.

ART. I.-A Memoir of the Rev. T. N. Toller. By Robert Hall, M. A. London. Published by Holdsworth. Svo. pp. 71. 1824.

[Concluded from p. 179.]

T may generally be expected, and indeed is not a little desirable, that à biographer shall feel a cordial interest in the subject of his memoir. At the same time, he comes under a literary, and even a moral, obligation to abstain from needless, irreleyant and ill-considered digressions: nor should he so mingle his own prejudices and attachments, his own passions and opinions, with the events which he records, as to interrupt the current of his narrative. Let our readers determine, whether, in the following paragraphs, this caution has been exercised":

" at the time of Mr. Toller's admission into the Daventry Academy, the literary reputation of that seminary was higher than that of any among the Dissenters but partly owing to a laxness in the terms of admission, and partly to the admixture of lay and divinity students, combined with the mode in which theology was taught, erroneous principles prevailed much; and the majority of such as were educated there, became more distinguished for their learning than for the fervour of their piety, or the purity of their doctrine. The celebrated Priestley speaks of the state of the academy, while he resided there, with great complacency: nothing, he assures us, could be more favourable to the progress of free inquiry; since both the tutors and students were about equally divided between the Orthodox and Arian systems. The arguments by which every possible modification of error is attempted to be supported, were carefully marshalled in hostile array against the principles generally embraced; while the Theo. logical Professor prided himself on the steady impartiality with which he held the balance betwixt the contending systems, seldom or never interposing his own opinion, and still less betraying the slightest emotion of antipathy to error, or predilection to truth. Thus a spirit of indifference to all religious principles was generated in the first instance, which naturally paved the way for the prompt reception of doctrincs indulgent to the

corruption and flattering to the pride of a depraved and fallen nature.

To affirm that Mr. Toller derived no injury from being exposed at so tender an age to this vortex of unsanctified speculation and debate, would be affirming too much; since it probably gave rise to

certain general manner of stating the peculiar doctrines of the gospel which attached chiefly to the earlier part of his ministry; though it is equally certain that his mind, even when he left the academy, was so far imbued with the grand peculiarities of the gospel, that he never allowed himself to lose sight of the doctrine of the cross, as the only basis of human hope."-Pp. 4—6.

It is not often that in the same number of sentences we meet with so much inaccuracy of statement and

conclusion.

"The literary reputation" of "the Daventry Academy, at the time of Mr. Toller's admission," was not

higher than that of any among the Dissenters:" it was inferior to the reputation of Warrington.* Truth and candour require this concession. "In the course of our academical studies," writes the celebrated Priestley,

"there was then no provision made for teaching the learned languages. Our course of lectures was also defective in containing no lectures on the Scriptures, or on ecclesiastical history."+ After Dr. Ashworth had presided, for a few years, over the academy, these defects were, in a certain degree, remedied; so that its

literary reputation" was, no doubt, better," at the time of Mr. Toller's admission." Even, however, at that period, it was not such as to warrant the unqualified encomium passed by the biographer. If languages and science form the constituent branches of a literary, or learned, education, the fame of Daventry must be placed on other ground. The institution was not, so far, pre-eminent even among Dissenting academies :

we

* See the instructive account of the Warrington Academy, in the Eighth and Ninth Volume of the Monthly Repository.

+ Memoirs of Dr. Priestley. Written by himself. 8vo. Vol. I. p. 21.

must again say, that, in these respects, it was surpassed by Warrington, if not by the seminary which Coward's Trustees maintained at Hoxton. Of Daventry the noble and almost unrivalled distinction was, that Theology, Metaphysics and Ethics, (and what studies so important?) were taught most accurately and laboriously, and with that impartiality which is honoured by Mr. Hall's censures and comminations. As the consequence, a large portion of valuable knowledge was communicated to the pupils, whose industry in availing themselves of their advantages, and whose firmness and charity in professing what they severally esteemed as truth, have rarely been surpassed.

But the author of the memoir assumes the existence of "a laxness in the terms of admission" at the Daventry Academy, and is desirous of tracing back to this cause an effect alike imaginary. Was "Mr. Toller's admission" owing to such a laxness"? Clearly not: and we will venture to declare, that in the majority of other instances the charge cannot be substantiated. Most of the students did credit to their profession, their patrons and their tutors. To say that all were of this character, "would be affirming too much" but where is the seminary, in which no such exceptions have been found?

In Mr. Hall's judgment, the effect, that he assumes, was further owing "partly to the admixture of lay and divinity students.". Had he reasoned on this fact, his arguments should have been met with arguments: but he contents himself with assertion: to which therefore our own shall be opposed. We passed four happy years in the Academy at Daventry: during that term, the number of its pupils was larger than at any former period: and with its history we are not perhaps less conversant than the biographer of Mr. Toller. Now we scruple not to say, that, taken altogether, the admixture of lay and divinity students was extremely serviceable to

When the writer of this article entered the Academy at Daventry, Mr. Robins, who had for some years, retired from his office in it, observed to him, that "perhaps in no seminary was business more regularly and steadily pursued."

individual character, to religious principle, and to the interests of Protestant Nonconformity. Such, moreover, it has been in two Dissenting colleges besides, with which our experience and observation have brought us acquainted. It is true, no human arrangements can be completely successful, no human advantages, perfectly unalloyed: and, here again, it "would be affirming too much" to maintain that in a few cases real inconvenience and evil did not result from the connexion. What we mean to declare, advisedly and distinctly, is, that in the great majority of instances the admixture was a mutual and a solid benefit, that, as the consequence, nearly all the lay students evinced, through future life, an enlightened, a cordial, and honourable attachment to the Dissenting cause, while the divinity students found in that class of the pupils whom Mr. H. proscribes, many virtuous and steady friends, not only of their youth, but of their succeeding years. Whither indeed shall the sons of wealthy, and, let us add, of consistent Nonconformists be sent for the higher branches of education; where shall they enjoy the benefits of such instruction, combined with domestic vigilance, if they be excluded from seminaries, which, at the same time, receive candidates for the ministry? The admixture existed long before the Academy at Daventry; long before the days of Jennings and of Doddridge-and was never regarded, by well-informed men, as unfavourable either to fervour of piety or to purity of doctrine.†

Mr. T.'s Biographer goes on to complain of " the mode in which theology was taught" at Daventry. The tutor in that department, it seems, did not impose his own opinions upon his pupils and hence, according to the writer before us, "erroneous principles prevailed much." really the case, we must exclaim, "Effect unhappy from a noble cause!"

If this was

It is not, however, the ipse dixit of even Mr. Hall, which can convert Truth into Error, or Error into Truth. Let him demonstrate, if he is able, that freedom of inquiry and impartiality of instruction produce evil fruits, that they issue in consequences generally and extensively pernicious. In the mean time, it may be useful to look back on "the mode in which theology was" actually "taught" at Hinckley, by Mr. Jennings, at Northampton, by Dr. Doddridge, and at Daventry, by Dr. Ashworth and his

successors.

With the course of lectures" delivered by the second of the individuals whom we have mentioned, a large portion of the public is familiar. This work, even if it possessed no other recommendation than the copi ousness of its references, would richly deserve a place in every theological library. Nevertheless, sufficient attention does not appear to have been bestowed by the generality of readers, on the circumstances of its origin, form and tendency. The plan and the materials, were not altogether those of Doddridge, whose tutor, the Rev. John Jennings, of Hinckley, had drawn up, in Latin, a work of the same kind, in manuscript, from which the mathematical form of "the course of lectures," &c. was taken, and from which, too, some of the propositions and demonstrations, especially in the former part, were borrowed. The method, though extremely curious, has not quite so friendly an aspect on free investigation as Mr. H. imagines. Both sides of a question-the orthodox and the heretical-are indeed discussed: but in what manner? Cur rent and popular doctrines, form the subjects of the propositions, or of what may be styled the leading articles; while those which Mr. H. would stig matize as erroneous," are consigned to scholia, &c., and thus marked as subordinate, in point of claims and evidence. It is the slightest objection to Doddridge's Lectures, that they exhibit the shadow of mathematical proof, without any approach to the reality: a far more serious evil is, that to generally-received tenets

66

See the Editor's (the Rev. S. Clark) Advertisement to the original edition.

they give the prominency which we have described, and by this means produce or cherish undue prepossessions and prejudices in the student's mind. On the other hand, the multitude and fairness of the references to books, may be stated as a counteracting cause, as favourable to the exercise of an honest judgment; though it be a cause which operates far more slowly than that to which it is opposed. Certain it is, and we acknowledge with lively gratitude and satisfaction, that, notwithstanding Coward, the patron of the academy, was excessively devoted to human creeds, and notwithstanding the arrangement of the theological lectures was singularly well calculated to recommend his own articles of faith, INQUIRY received encouragement, and found an ample field in which to exercise itself. This encouragement it obtained from Doddridge, in whom Orthodoxy (so men call it) was united with charity, and of whose temper, integrity and good sense in his habits of lecturing, our readers will better judge, when we have placed before them a few sentences from the memoirs of him by Orton:*

Speaking of Dr. D.'s pupils, that biographer says,

"He never expected nor desired, that they should blindly follow his sentiments, but permitted and encouraged them to judge for themselves. To assist them herein, he laid before them what he apprehended to be the Truth with all perspicuity, and impartially stated all objections to it.

He never concealed the

difficulties which affected any question, but referred them to writers on both sides, without hiding any from their inspection. He frequently and warmly urged them, not to take their system of divinity from any man or body of men, but from the word of God. The BIBLE was always referred and appealed to, upon every point in question, to which it could be supposed to give any light."

Free inquiry after truth, characterised, accordingly, most of Dr. Doddridge's pupils; and, whatever sentiments they embraced, they exer

P. 86, 2nd edit. and Kippis's Life of Doddridge, pp. lx. lxvii. How widely does the opinion of these valuable biographers differ from Mr. H.'s, on the subject of a theological tutor's duty!