1768. MISO-BASKAN O S. of which a much more able pen than that of A. B. might have been guilty. Although A. B. dares not, cannot boast of abilities which would qualify him for a reformer of our liturgy, he is nevertheless of opinion that he hitherto ftands guiltless of fo palpable an abfurdity as this before us: And if at any time he should unhappily fink fo low as to commit fo grofs a blunder, he hopes his friends will deem it a fure fign of impaired faculties, and for the future deprive him of the use of pens and paper. I have in the next place charged the author of the Confeffional with a contradiction, which contradiction is inferted in my letter, published in the Mag. for Feb. laft. You, fagacious Sir, have inferted in your letter, only one part of this contradiction, and then infultingly cry out, what, in the name of truth, is there in this that looks like a contradiction? After which you bid me, if capable of conviction, blufb, and fill with confufion. I will, Sir, give you a piece of information, and I expect you will thank me for it it is this: there can be no contradiction without two affertions, the one of which must be contrary to the other. Mark well what I have faid, and rivet it in your memory: You will then know fomething. But, though you have given your readers a part only of the contradiction with which I have charged the author of the Confeffional, you have, I fuppofe to make us fome amends for the omiffion, given us a complete contradiction of your own. You quote the following paffage from the Confeffional. "The difqui 247 fitors have laid before you a great many particulars which, perhaps, give more open and immediate offence to the common people than the doctrines of the Trinity; about which, I am apt to think, few of them form any ideas;" foon after this you ask the following queftion: Who but a writer of a very bad mind would have made the Confeffional fay that the common people are not much offended at the doctrines of the Trinity, and that few of them form any ideas about them?" Pray, good Sir, is not the fame thing faid in the paflage by you quoted from the Confeffional? Let the candid reader now determine who ought to blush and fill with confufion. Your laft paragraph confifts of many bad words, and much good advice. You conclude it thus:" "Let him not once prefume to say the pen of the Confeffional can have no other effect with men of judgment than to produce a fmile-ill-minded, abufive man, look again over thine own infamous letter; repent, fin no more, left a much heavier rebuke, even than this, does foon fall upon thee." I will not any more fay that the pen of the author of the Confeffional can have no other effect with men of judgment, than to produce a finile: neither can I fo fay confiftently with truth. Having lately heard that fome men of judgment have by the faid pen been made to laugh heartily. To your menaces I bid defiance. The rancour of your heart is certainly very great, but it ceafeth to appear formidable when I confider the weaknefs of your head. A. B. The contradiction with which I have charged the author of the Confeffional is this, viz. in p. 358 he tells us the difquifitors have laid before you a great many particulars, which, perhaps, give more open and immediate offence to the common people than the doctrines of the Trinity; about which, he is apt to think few of them form any ideas; in the next page but one he tells us that " many of the congregations, where the Athanafian creed has been difufed, if by accident an officiating franger fbould read it to them in its courfe, have been known to express their furprize and dif like by very manifeft tokens;" this I have faid looks like a contradiction; it being incredible that men can by very manifeft tokens express their immediate furprize aad diflike at doctrines about which they do not form any ideas, and, confequently, at which they are not offended. N. B. If any man of fenfe will give himself the trouble to read over the abovementioned pages, viz. p. 358, 359, 360, he cannot fail of finding inaccuracies, or rather blunders, befide thofe already pointed out. Believe me, Mijo-baftanos, I cannot envy fuch writers. For 248 IN Mystery unfriendly to Religion. For the LONDON MAGAZINE. N an age of fcepticism and enthufiafm, I am one of thofe who would gladly contribute, the utmost of my ability, to promote the rational profeffion of chriftianity. By fome late publications, it should feem, that under a pretence of reviving the spirit of true religion, myflery is recommended with great folemnity, as the object of a molt profound reverence and awe! nay, more than this, the incomprehenfible is fpoken of, as the object of faith; because faid to be locked up in the impenetrable councils of uncreated wisdom! hence reafon is commanded to ftand aloof, and keep her distance. And the reconciling huth is thus pronounced, fecret things belong to God; but things that are revealed to us and to our children. One would have thought this divine inAruction should have clearly fhewn to mankind, that none of those fecret things have any thing to do with the religion of man: For if they had, they must have concerned both us and our children. Whatever belongs to the impenetrable councils of uncreated wifdom, is out of the reach of the human powers of conception; and therefore must be infinitely remote from his notice or attention.-This we furely may conclude fair reafoning; and what cannot admit of the least difputation. But what fhall be faid to the extravagant abfurdity of myftics, who, when they have thus profefled the abfolute unknowableness of the fecret things of God, do yet prefume to give us a detail of them? Among which, are a Trinity of perfons in Unity, of one undivided effence; and an hypoftatical union; the divine and human natures effentially united in the perfon of Chrift. Either thefe things are, or are not of the fecret things belonging to God: if they are of those impenetrable fecrets, how came they to be known? If they are not of thofe fecrets, but are revealed, why are they not to be examined and inveftigated by all to whom they are revealed? All the teachings of revelation belong to us, and to our children; and it must therefore be our May duty to know, what is the inftruction which they afford us. What has been called the church, has, in moft paft ages, made much noife about fubftance and perfon, as applicable to deity; and has formed creeds accordingly, and then demanded fubfcription. But it has never yet been fhewn, that the New Testament fays one word of a Trinity in Unity, or of an hypoftatical union, or of a famenefs of fubftance.-The utmoft of mens ability in conjuring up these fanciful images, has been, to cite an interpolated verse in St. John's first epistle, of three that bear record in heaven. And though the interpolation has been proved beyond the power of confutation, yet the myftic cites the fpurious text, with as much confidence as if it was gospel ! The myftic will perhaps tell us, the mystery does not lye in these articles as they are in themselves, but in the How of them. This would be very trifling, when we can defy him to point out to us the bow of many of the articles of our faith, that are moft plainly revealed; e. g. how it was that prophets of old were infpired? How it was that a virgin conceived and brought forth her first born fon? As was the cafe with the mother of our Lord. Or even the how it is that God exifts? How he creates, or preferves the worlds? But to tell us that there are mysteries which we are to reverence, of which the facred fcriptures make no mention; and concerning which as mystics report them, we cannot form any kind of conception; or from them make the leaft ufeful application, is fuch an unpardonable way of tantalizing the human mind, as language cannot exprefs. Cui bono? Is a question which demands a folution. What good end can be answered by any of thefe inconceivables and incomprehenfibles? e. g. does it help the regular devotions of a mind, that when the precept commands, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and foul, and mind and ftrength"-and when the bleffed Jefus affirms, "there is none good but one God;" and always pays homage himself to that one God, as his God and Father: That we fhould See Emlyn's tracts upon the passage, which any common reader may confult. fhould learn to fancy three perfons in the Godhead of equal power and glory; and Jefus to be one of thofe perfons? How is it that my mind can avoid the utmost confufion in its apprehenfions of the object of homage And how much confufion must fill a mind that contemplates DEITY as the infinite fpirit, and yet muft fuppofe this infinite fpirit united perfonally to an human body, by what is called an hypoftatical union? What useful purpofes can this ferve? or rather, what hurtful ones will it not neceflarily produce? Shall I not, by fuch abfurd idea, deftroy all the ideas of the exemplariness of my Lord's behaviour, to whom, it was abfolutely impoffible that any temptation could have the 249 against all innovations whatsoever.This makes the fituation of fenfible and confcientious men, in all establifhments, truly deplorable. Before I had read that excellent work, intitled the Confeffional, but much more fince, it has grieved me to fee the miferable thifts that fuch perfons (whether in the church of England or of Scotland) are obliged to have recourfe to, in order to gild the pill, which they muft fwallow or starve; and to obferve their poor contrivances, to conceal the chains that gall them. But it grieves one no less, to fee the rest of their brethren, hugging their chains and proud of them." ANTI-MYSTICUS. leaft accefs; and who must be, in the To the AUTHOR of the LONDON moft perfect fenfe, impaffible. SIR, MAGAZINE. The mysterious fyftem of churchmen, has brought an indelible reproach DOCTOR Taylor in his note on upon the most gracious and useful revelation, that ever was made of the mind and will of God, and has fadly fcandalized the divine teachings! the affent of the unbeliever is made to revolt, because in these cloudy interpretations of gospel-doctrines, he who faid, I am the light of the world, is made the darkness of it! It fhould aftonifh an obferver because of the abfurdity, and would fill him with furprize, if it was not, that the church has, in all ages, been most generally employed in inventing, broaching, and propagating abfurdity! the indefatigable labours of the prefent day, to write down the Confeffional, and to bewitch the people with a fondness for myftery, is one of the worst fymptoms of the fickly ftate of religious liberty; and of the vitious tafte of the times, hankering after the onions and garlic of Egypt. I will cite a paragraph from a fpirited fenfible writer" the bulk of mankind, being educated in a reverence for established modes of thinking and acting, in confequence of their being established, will not hear of a reformation proceeding even fo far as they could really wifh, left, in time, it fhould go further than they could with, and the end be worse than the beginning. And where there are great emoluments in a church, it is poffeffed of the strongest internal guard May, 1768. Rom. vi. 5. fays "the word Cupra fignifies fuch plants as grow the one upon and in the other deriving fap and nourishment from it, as miletoe upon the oak or the cion upon the flock into which it is grafted. If (fays he) I might take the liberty I fhould call them (i. e. Chrift and his difciples) growers together." The word juros occurs only in this verfe. By comparing it with the word sungu Luke viii. 7. the meaning of it is very plain. In this verfe it evidently fignifies any kind of grain that after it is fown fprings or grows out of the ground. The likeness therefore between that and a plant growing out of the ground after it is planted, is very apparent, and fhews the apoftle took the expreffion not from grafting but planting. This farther appears from its kindred word OUTEV Math. xv. 13. In this verse it is very apparent the primary fense fignifies only planting. This in the clearest and most particular manner is expreffed Luke xvii. 6. "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard feed, ye might fay unto this fycamore tree "Be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the fea and it should obey you." In allufion to the practice of planting (especially in hot countries) the apostle Paul fays 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7, 8. I have planted and Appollos watered; but God gave the I i increase, • Dr. Prieffley's Ejay on firft Principles of Government,” p. 147, 148. 250 Letter from a Nobleman to bis Son. May increase, i. e. made it grow. In this ever, as it has not yet been in our sense the word is used Math. vi. 28. Magazine, we hall oblige him and Mark iv. 32. See also Math. xxi. 3. the rest of our purchasers by it inn Mark xij. 1. Luke xiii. 6. xvii. 6, 28. sertion. *8.9. Agreeable to the plain fignikication of the word in these texts are Letter from a mucb esteemed Nobleman the words quas pupes, Luke viii. 6, 8. to bis Son, who was then in a public Heb. xii. s. Character in another Kingdom. mo be buried pwanted together bei ein I Have concerning morality interrelia tism-and to with you him - seem in the verse under confi- gion. Your own reason, I am perderation synonimous expressions, like fuaded, has given you right notions of as-rifing (with Christ in baptism) to both, chey Ipeak best for themlelves : newness of life and being in the like- but, if they wanted asistance, they ness of his resurrection. In the latter have Mr. H. at hand both for precept expression, i e. planted together, per- and example. To your own reason haps the apostle alluded to the like and him I refer you for the reanels there is between the same sort of lity; and shall here confine myself to plants when fully grown. the necessity, utility, and decency of That which will further thew the fcrupulously observing, the appearances, apoftle borrowed the expression supe quo- of both; when I say the appearance of Mai from planting only is this, that religion, I mean not that you should when he figuratively adopts that of take up a controversial cudgel againit grafting to his subject he makes use of whoever attacks the sect to which the word sylsytoitw instead'of oupore you happen to belong. This would as Rom. xi. 17. 19. 23. 24. where only be both useless and unbecoming it occurs. your age. But I mean that you should Upon the words---Buried with him in no wife seem to approve, much less (i... Christ) by baptism--the doctor to applaud, or encourage, those licensays, “ I question whether we can tious notions which strike at all reli. certainly from this place infer the gions equally, and which are the poor outward mode of administering bap. thread-bare topics of half wits and mi. tism. For, in the next verse, our be. nute philosophers. Even they who are ing incorporated into Chrilt, by bap- filly enough to laugh at their jokes, are tism, is also denoted by our being still prudent enough to distrutt and deplanted together in the likeness of test their characters, for, putting mohis death. But neither Noah's ark, rál virtue, in the highest, and religion nor these, give us the same idea of the in the lowest rank, religion mutt till outward form as burying.” be allowed to be at least a collateral secuFrom these words, it is not wholly rity to virtue; and every prudent improbable that the doctor was led man will trust two fecurities rather into the above interpretation of the than one. Whenever therefore you word omuputos as less favourable to fall into the company of those prethe mode of baptism by dipping, than tended esprits forts, or of those that which has been above given of it. thoughtless libertines, who laugh at all And though the author admits, that religion, to thew their wit, or disclaim a burial does more completely repre. it to complete their riot ; let not a sent the mode of baptism by dipping, word of your's intimate the least ap. yet he cannot but be of opinion it is probation. On the contrary, express very fignificantly represented by plant your dinike by a filent gravity, but ing, . e. putting the plants into the enter not upon the topic, and decline ground, and including their future such an unprofitable, indecent contro, growth-represents christians as grow. verly. Depend upon it every man is ers together with Chrift-with whom the worse regarded and the less trufted they have been planted together in for being thought to have no religion ; baptisin. I am, &c. in spite of all the fpecious titles he may asluime of eprijori, firsthinker or moVR correspondent is mistaken ral philofopuner. And a wife Atheist, if Das never appeared in print; bows his own intuisit and character in the world a 1788. Letter from a Nobleman to bis Son. 251 world, to have some religion. Your may ever so flightly taint it. Shew moral character must be not only pure, yourself on all occasions the aduos but unsuspected: A very little lpeck cate, the friend, but not the bully of or blemish on it may be irretrievably virtue. Colonel Chartres, who, I be. prejudicial. lieve, was one of the most notorious There are, indeed, in the world, blasted rascals that ever lived, and wretches profligate enough to explode who had, by all sorts of crimes, amall. all notions of moral good and evil; to ed immense wealth, was so much acmaintain that they are merely local, quainted with the disadvantage of a and depend entirely on the customs bad character, that I heard him in his and fathions of different countries : impudent, profligate manner, say that, There are still, if possible, more unac. though he would not give one far. countable wretches; I mean those who thing for virtue, he would give propagate such absurd and infamous 10000 l. for a character ; because he notions without believing them them. might get 100,000l. by it:" Whereas selves. These are the devil's hypo. he was to blasted, that he had no longer crites. Avoid, as much as possible, an opportunity of cheating people. Is the company of such, who reflect a it possible an bones man can neglect degree of infamy on all that converse what a prudent rogue would purcbase with them. But as you may some. so dearly? times accidentally fall into such com- There is one of the vices above men. pany, be very careful that no com- tioned into which people well educated, plaisance, no good humour, no warmth and in the main well principled, some of feltal mirth ever make you seem times fall, through miltaken notions cven to acquiesce in, much less to ap. of skill, and felf defence: I mean plaud, such infamous doctrines : Nei- lying: Though it is inseparably atther debate or enter into serious argu- tended with more loss and infamy than mentation on a subject so much be- any other. The prudence and neces. neach it, but content yourself with lity of often concealing the truth, insentelling these apostles that you know Gbly seduces people to violate it. It is they are not serious, that you have a the only art of a mean capacity, and much better opinion of them than the only refuge of mean spirits. Conthey seem to desire you to have; that cealing the truth may often be innocent, you are fully persuaded they would but lying on any occafion is foolish and not practise the doctrines they preach. infamous. I will state you a case in But, in the mean time, put your your own department suppose you private mark upon them, and thun are employed in a public character at a ihem ever afterwards. Nothing is so foreign court, and the minister of that delicate as your moral character: No- court is absurd or impertinent enough thing which it is so much your interest to ask you, what your instructions are : to preserve pure ; thould you be suf- Will you tell him a lie, which, as pected of injustice, malignity, perfi. soon as discovered, as it certainly will dy, lying, &c. all the ingenuity and be, must destroy your credit, blast koowledge in the world will never your character, and render you useless procure yon esteem. It is true, various there? No : Will you tell him the circumstances, strangely concurring, truth then, and betray your trust? have sometinies raised very bad men certainly, no: But you will answer to high stations, but they have been with firmness, that you are surprized raised like criminals to a pillory, at such a question, that you are perwhere their persons and crimes being fuaded he does not expeät an answer more conspicuous, are only the more to it, but that, at all events, he cer. detetted, pelted and insulted. If af- tainly will not bave one, such an answer fectation and oftentation are ever par. will give him confidence in you, and donable, it is with respect to morality, 2.good opinion of your veracity ; of though even there I am far from ad. which opinion you may afterwards vising you to a pharilaical pomp of make very honest and fair advantage. virtue. But I mult recommend to you But, if in negotiations you are once a most scrupulous tenderness for your regarded as a lyar and trickfter, no moral character, and the utmost care confidence will be placed in you, not to say, or do the least thing thas nothing will be communicated to you, I 1.2 |