their gratitude for his faithful attention to their SPIRITUAL IMPROVEMENT, and for his peculiar diligence in training up their youth to RATIONAL PIETY and GENUINE VIRTUE." What sort of spiritual improvement could be obtained under the teaching of a person who openly maintained, that our blessed and adorable Redeemer was a mere man, and also a peccable man; and that there is in fact no HOLY SPIRIT, I leave any common christian to judge. I have been formerly at some pains in reading the doctor's theological writings, even those of a practical, as well as those of a polemical nature, and so far from meet ing with any thing in them that could add to my Spiritual Improvement, there appeared nothing in them at the best, but a sapless morality, which is infinitely outweighed by the precepts in Epictetus, Antoninus, and Seneca. By the Rational Piety which the Doctor taught his young disciples, we are to understand, I suppose, the Materialism and Sociananism which he was at such unwearied pains to propagate; by the one robbing us of the prop consisting in the consciousness of the soul's separate existence, and by the other depriving us of the comfort arising from the belief, that "Christ died for our sins, and rose again for our justification." But the inscription goes on to speak of the Doctor's PURE, BENEVOLENT, and HOLY PRINCIPLES, which through the trying vicissitudes of life, and in the awful hour of death, animated him with the hope of a blessed immortality." This is undoubtedly a very high and splendid encomium, and would lead an uninformed reader to imagine that the subject of it was a man of uncommon devotion, and that his whole life must have been directed to the inculcation of the pure principles of Christianity. At all events, however, it proves that the writer of the paneygric is of the same principles with the Doctor, otherwise he certainly would not term them" pure, benevolent, and holy." I have already mentioned two of these principles in the general and I need not insult the faith or understanding of your readers by enumerating all the Antichristian doctrines which were strenuously defended by Dr. Priestley. He who could degrade the ever blessed Redeemer to the rank of common and sinful humanity; he who could deny the plenary inspiration, not only of the Evangelists, but } but of Jesus Christ himself; he who could call the holy St. Paul," an inconclusive reader;" in short, the man who could so mould the whole sacred volume, as to serve his own crude and impious notions, may be called a man of uncommon talents; but surely it is a perversion of all honest language to dignify his principles as "pure, benevolent, and holy." After speaking of his abilities as a natural philosopher, on which I shall say nothing, the epitaph declares that " he was endeared to many for his firmness as an advocate of liberty, and his sincerity as an expounder of the Scriptures." His firmness for liberty" means, if it has any real meaning, that he was a Jacobinical Republican; that he was admitted to the rights of French Citizenship, elected member of a convention of cut-throats and regicides, and although he did not personally take his seat among them, yet he sent over his son to France for that purpose, and in his writings he constantly praised that sanguinary Revolution, while he grossly libelled the free constitution of his own country. The epitaph may properly praise this man for his "firmness," as it does not appear that after his emigration to America, notwithstanding all the diabolical scenes which have covered with eternal infamy the Revolution of which he was the advocate, he never retracted his praises or expressed any concern for espousing or propagating such principles. 66 As an Expounder of the Scriptures," no man was ever guilty of more dishonesty than Priestley. Indeed, Wakefield, who infinitely exceeded him in learning and acumen, was a man of modesty compared to this refiner of Socinianism; and I question whether Geddes himself had not more integrity as a translator and expounder. As a trio, however, they have their appropriate excellencies; but no man, unless a Socinian or a Deist, will regard the memory of either of them as an object of veneration. Yet, a beneficed clergyman and dignitary of the Church of England, records on marble, His veneration of Dr. Priestley's principles political and religious! What is the direct inference to be drawn from this fact? Is it not this, that, in spite of his repeated subscriptions, the author of this epitaph approves of the theological creed of his friend, and consequently disbelieves what he pronounces at the head of the flock committed to his charge, to be his own Faith, and also the Faith necessary to Salva Dr. tion? Dr. Priestley termed the Trinitarian worship IDOLATROUS, and he utterly denied that the death of Christ is an atonement for sin. By characterising his piety therefore as rational, and his principles as pure and holy, the author of the epitaph, the Rev. Dr. PARR, does in plain words declare, that the faith and worship of the Church of England, are neither rational, pure, nor holy. There have been conscientious men who refused to subscribe to our articles, from their not being able to give their full assent to all things contained therein; and there have been some, who, on acount of an alteration in their religious creed, have withdrawn from our commúnion, and resigned the ministerial charge in a church whose offices they disapproved. The conduct of these persons in this respect, deserves praise: but what shall be said of those men, who while they treat with contempt all the essential doctrines of our Church, still conti-. nue to "eat her bread," to administer offices they despise, to read prayers which they consider as irrational, and to pronounce creeds which they in their hearts disbelieve? Surely if such men as "Priestley, Lindsey, and Disney" may be commended for their "firmness, sincerity, and integrity," SOCINIANS in the Church can be considered in no other light than as men void of sincerity, consistency, and integrity. I am, Mr. Editor, July 15th, 1806. J. W. SCRIPTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-No. IV. PSALM 1xxxiv. 3. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young; even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. HE pious and learned Bishop Horne observes on this passage, that the "psalmist is generally sup posed to lament his unhappiness in being deprived of all access to the tabernacle, or temple, a privilege enjoyed even by the birds, who were allowed to build their nests in the neighbourhood of the sanctuary." The The authority of this worthy prelate stands exceedingly high in my estimation; but here I apprehend his judgment has failed, and the text remains as obscure as ever. It is an assumption, without the adduction of evidence, that birds were allowed to build their nests even in the neighbourhood of the sanctuary. But the translation goes so far as to admit them even to the very altars of God's house, for the purpose of building their nests. This, however, is hardly possible; for the altar of incense was too sacred and reserved to permit such a profanation; and as to the altars of burnt-offering, the birds could not enjoy any repose there owing to the continued services of the priests. It is true, that in some representations of Egyptian sacrificatories which have come down to us, the Ibis is introduced on the steps of the altar; but this bird was domesticated and held sacred by the Egyptians, and it obtains a honourable place among their most venerated symbols. This, however, does not apply to the Israelites, who do not appear to have held any particular animals in religious respect. And we know, besides, that a leading point in their ritual was, a due reverence to the interior of the tabernacle and temple. The psalmist is, as Bishop Horne observes, feelingly deploring his exiled state from the house of his God; and in expressing the longings of his heart after the holy sanctuary, he has recourse to the strong and appropriate illustration of the known affection of birds to their young. His language is this: "As the sparrow findeth her house, after all her wanderings, and the swallow [or rather the ring-dove or wild pigeon] her nest where she laid her young; so should I find thine altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God." JOEL ii. 3. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. This, and much more in the same prophecy, is a wonderfully exact description of the locusts and their ra vages. Jerome, who resided a considerable time in Palestine, and had abundant opportunities of observing the desolation committed by them, says, that "they fly in such such order that every one keeps his place, like the squares in a pavement, and doth not deviate from it, if I may so speak, so much as a point." A modern traveller belonging to a nation whose character and exploits bear a very near analogy to those Scourges of the east, gives the following account :- -Having described the kamsin wind, or hurricane of Egypt, he says, "Two days after this disaster, we were told that the plain was covered with birds, which were passing from east to west, like the close files of an army; and, indeed, we saw at a distance the fields appear to move, like a broad torrent flowing through the country. Thinking that they might be some foreign birds, we hastened out to meet them; but instead of birds, we saw a cloud of locusts, who just skimmed the soil, stopping at each blade of grass to devour it, then flying off for new food. If it had been the season in which the corn was young and tender, this would have been a serious plague; for these children of the desert are as lean, as active, and as vigorous, as the Bedouin Arabs." Denon's Travels in Egypt, vol. ii. p. 230. W HAT think you of our new set of fanatics, called the Methodists? I have seen Whitfield's journal, and he appears as mad as ever George Fox the Quaker was. These are very fit missionaries, you will say, to propagate the Christian faith amongst Infidels. There is another of them, one Westley, who is come over from the same mission. He told a friend of mine, that he had lived most deliciously the last summer in Georgia, sleeping under trees, and feeding on boiled maize, sauced |