are at a loss to account for the apparent harshness of the Proceedings of the Society of Friends, both in Europe and America, against this preaching female; who appears not to have transgressed the liberty in which the antient Quakers indulged with regard to the Scriptures; and who, on the topic of War, cherished sentiments which we should have imagined the Quakers would rather have approved than condemned. As the Society of Friends do not esteem the Scriptures the first rule, as the early Friends have expressed their doubts of the inspiration of some parts of the present canon, and as they have no specified articles of faith in their church, it will be thought by the public at large that, however free Hannah Barnard has been on some points of doctrine, she has been hardly treated; and we are told by the writer of the "Narrative of Proceedings in America," mentioned in our xlvith Vol. p 435 (who we suppose is Verax, i. e. Mr. Thomas Foster, of Bromley, in Middlesex,) that he has strong reason to believe that the most strenuous advocates of these coercive measures are rather inclined to tolerate and countenance ministers who hold similar sentiments, than undertake another prosecution on the same principles.' For the credit of the Society, we trust that this statement is well founded; and we are happy to learn that Hannah Barnard, in spite of all her persecutions, has preserved her tranquillity of mind, that she is happy in the bosom of her family, and that the repor.s of her derangement, and of her having being visited by leprosy, are unfounded. It is also stated that her conduct, since her suspension from the Quaker-ministry, has been exemplary; and that her attachment to the practice of silent worship appears to have continued, since she is induced to attend the meeting for worship at Hudson, as regularly as due attention to her health and the performance of other duties will generally permit.'

*

Verax, in addition to his able defence of Hannah Barnard, has taken great pains to prove that the early friends were strictly Unitarians, or asserters of the absolute oneness or unity of the Deity, in opposition to the doctrine of personality; though he admits that considerable ambiguity appears in their writings on this subject, for which he endeavours to account, from their sheltering themselves under the broad shield of allegory, and from their not always clearly discriminating between Christ as a person, and Christ as a principle. So far Mr. Bevans may be right, that Penn, Barclay, &c. were not Unitarians, in the modern sense of the word †, since they did not assert the proper humanity of Christ; but, if we may judge from the quotations made by Verax, they maintained the strict undivided unity of the Deity, and regarded Christ ́only as having an in-dwelling fulless of the Godhead,

*In the Quaker-church, a distinction is made between Meetings for Worship and Meetings for Discipline. On the former, disowned or ejected members may attend, though not on the latter.

Mr. Foster admits, in his Christian Unitarianism Vindicated, P. 277. that the early Friends never paid much attention to the subject of the Miraculous Conception.

Whoever

Whoever peruses the writings of Verax will find that he is well read in theological controversy, and that his defence of Unitarianism is supported by much learning and solid argument. In the last of the works above mentioned, he aims at the following objects:

First, To maintain the infinitely important doctrines of the strict unity and natural placability of God, as taught in the Scriptures, in opposition to the Trinitarian and Calvinistic tenets which have recently been professed, and in some degree countenanced among

38.

Secondly, To promote more just and reasonable ideas on the doctrine of divine influence on the human mind, than I apprehend many of my fellow professors at present entertain.

Thirdly, To excite an increased attention to the Scriptures, and thereby to augment their influence in favour of moral and religious truth; to which, I think, the unfounded idea of their plenary inspi ration is prejudicial.

Fourthly, To inculcate the obligation we are under, as professed Christians, primarily to regard the simplicity of the Apostolic faith in determining the conditions on which religious fellowship ought to be maintained; and consequently to abstain from the imposition of more extended articles of faith upon our brethren, than Jesus Christ and his Apostles have laid down as sufficient.'

Had these points been regularly discussed, and the tract not dis jointed hy minute replies to Vindex, the reader would have been more satisfied: but, notwithstanding the broken manner in which Verax has argued, we are induced to think that on the members of the church to which he belongs, his examination of those doctrinal questions which he has here discussed will have considerable effect. It will be seen that H. B. has found in Mr. Foster a very strenuous and clear-sighted advocate. By a correct exposition of her opinions, he has prevented the farther effects of misrepresentation; and by placing her character in a true light, he obtains for her the respect of all the truly liberal and well-informed. H. B.'s objection to the accounts given in the O. T., of bloody wars instigated by Divine command, manifests a reflecting as well as an amiable mind "In my opinion," says she," the credulity with which these records have been stamped with divine infallibility, has been, as it were, the very grind stone on which swords have been ground, for many ages, among pro fessing Christians." How just is this remark; and how astonishing that to the Society of Friends it should have been unpalatable! Indeed, on every article of charge, Hannah Barnard appears to advan tage as a woman of talents, integrity, and fortitude; and it seems not improbable that the harsh proceedings again her will contribute, especially in the Quaker church, to the extension of most of her principles will induce the Friends to be cautious how they in future narrow the terms of religious communion,-and will teach them the wholesome lesson of preferring evangelical charity to theological acrimony. Let us now hear no more of this subject.

Art. 3. Letters from an Irish Student in England to in Ireland. Crown 8vo. 2 vols. Cradock and Joy.

his Father

1809.

A large

A large portion of this publication consists of thread-bare amecdotes, the sweepings of magazines, bad and stale jests, (one of which is twice related, vol. i. p. 27, and vol. ii. p. 195.) false grammar, and incorrect statement; with occasional specimens of witless and offensive grossièreté, intermixed with some interesting information and some just remark. The author, however, shall have the opportunity of imputing our censure to the mortification which we may be imagined to feel, from finding the supposed secrets of onr vocation cruelly divulged to a stranger: for it seems that this young student, having procured an introduction to Mr. Sheriff Phillips from an eminent barrister,' in consequence of the obliging invitation of the Sheriff paid a visit to Newgate, where the misery of the debtors is described with pathetic eloquence. In enumerating these unhappy tenants of the prison, the following paragraph occurs:

REVIEWERS. On this side of the prison, we saw two persons who were busily occupied in writing. We were told by the turnkey that one had been a clerk to a cheesemonger, and the other the attendant of a quack doctor; that they got involved by dissipation and extravagance; but that they now were getting a comfortable maintenance in prison, as reviewers. The fellow made us laugh, by telling us, that at first they were so gentle, and milk and waterish in their occupation, that the booksellers threatened to withdraw their custom, unless they seasoned their criticism higher, and without justice or mercy abused every work they received orders to treat in that manner. He added, that by doing so, they had now good employ. We could scarcely believe what he said. Heaven protect the unhappy authors that come under their slaughtering knives! We observed that they had two or three volumes, extremely thumbed and dirtied, of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which we supposed to be their auxiliaries in criticism.'

We beg to express our gratitude for not being placed on the felons

side.

Mr. Nightingale, the author of "a Portraiture of Methodism," who has been charged with the authorship of the volumes before us, has requested permission to plead not guilty in our Review, and in a letter to us unequivocally disclaims the work.

LAW.

Art. 35. Hora Juridice Subsecive; being a connected Series of Notes respecting the Geography, Chronology, and Literary History of the principal Codes and original Documents of the Grecian, Roman, Feudal, and Canon Law. By Charles Butler, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn. 2d Edition. Royal 8vo. 9s. Bards. White. To Mr. Butler's learned leisure, the public is already indebted for aome valuable tracts which we have had occasion to mention with merited approbation. The essay before us contains much useful and well-digested reading on the subject of the Grecian, Roman, Feudal, and Canon Law; and it refers the student to the best authorities, to assist him in the prosecution of each head of inquiry. After having noticed the geographical limits of Greece, Mr. B. gives a short account of the rise, progress, and decline of the Grecian law. This article, it appears by the author's note, is principally extracted

from

from Ubbo Emmius's Vetus Gracia Illustrata, 3 Vols. 8vo. from Arch bishop Potter's Antiquities of Greece; from Bruning's Compendium Antiquitatum Græcarum; from various treatises of Meursius; from Mr. Mitford's and Dr. Gillies's Histories of Greece; and from Sir William Jones's translation of lsæus, which Mr. Butler justly describes as a lasting monument of the industry and quickness of that extraordinary man, in the acquisition of accurate and extensive knowlege, even of the abstrusest kind.

On the Roman law, the materials being more abundant, we have (as might be expected) a more extended article, which is subdivided into the following periods. I from the foundation of Rome to the æra of the Twelve Tables. II. The Twelve Tables. III. The Laws of Rome during the remaining part of the Roman republic. IV. the Reign of Augustus V. Adrian. VI. Constantine. VII. Theódosius. VIII. Justinian. IX. The fate of Justinian's Law. X. The revival of the Roman law in the West, in consequence of the discovery of the Pandects at Amalphi ;- concluding with an enumeration of the different schools in which the Civil Law was taught since its revival, and a concise and masterly discussion of its influence on the jurisprudence of the modern states of Europe.

--

The account of the Feudal law contains an enumeration of the original territories of the nations which introduced the feudal law, of their gradual extension and conquests, and the principal written documents which are the sources whence the learning of foreign feuds is derived ; divided into codes of law, capitularies, and customs.

The article under the title of the Canon-law is introduced with some curious observations concerning the religious worship and hierarchy of Pagan Rome, the rise and progress of the Christian hierarchy and its principal orders, and proceeds to describe the general materials and particular document of which the canon-law is composed. The extent of the writer's inquiries will appear by the following authorities, from which this part of his essay is extracted:

The works, principally used in framing this account are, Fleury's Institutions du Droit Ecclesiastique; his Discours sur l'Histoire Ecclesiastique; bishop Gibson's learned but very high church Preface to his Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani; lord Hardwicke's argument in the case of Middleton v. Crofts, 2 Mik. 650.; Pehem's Prælectiones in Jus Ecclesiasticum Universum, Lovanii, 4 vol. 8vo. 1787; Boehmer, Jus Ecclesiasticum Protestantium, Hale Magdeburgica, 6 vol. 4to. 1756; Gerhard Von Mastricht Historia Juris Ecclesiastici et Pontificii, Duisburgii ad Rhenum, Oct. 1676; Doujat's Histoire du Droit Canonique, Paris, Evo. 1677; Van Ispen's Jus Ecclesiasticum Universum, Lovanii, 6 vol. fol. 1753, a work, which, for depth and extent of research, clearness of me hod, and perspicuity of style, equals any work of jurisprudence which has issued from the press; but which," in some places, where the author's dreary Jansenism prevails, must be read with disgust :-a methodical and learned work with this title,

Quis est Letrus? Seu Qualis Fetri Primatus? Liber TheologicoCanonico Catholicus. Editio secunda, correctior et emendatior, cum Approbatione, Ratisbona, 1791;" the ablest work, in support of the papal prerogatives against the doctrines of the Sorbonne, which has come to the writer's knowledge. The account, given in it, of Isidore's

Isidore's Decretals is particularly interesting. The Religionis Natu ralis et Revelate Principia of Doctor Hooke, Paris 3 vols. 8vo. 1774; the third volume of this work is, perhaps, the best treatise extant, on the ecclesiastical polity of the church, according to the notions of the Sorbonists. It deserves to be more known in this country; it must have given the French divines an high opinion of the perspicuity and precision of English writing.'

The appendix to this treatise contains, 1. Observations on the exclusive dominion and property of the British seas, taken from a note to that part of the 14th edition of Coke upon Littleton which was executed by Mr. Butler. 2. An account of the Alps. 3. An extract from Dr. Bever's history of the legal polity of the Roman state, on the subject of the Pictor's judicial power. 4. The modes of quoting the civil and Canon Laws, from Dr. Halifax's analysis of the Roman Civil Law. Camb. 1775. note, p. 2. 5. A sketch of the professional life of the Earl of Mansfield, originally written by Mr. Butler, and inserted in seward's Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons. Vol. 2.

SINGLE SERMONS.

Art. 36. Preached in the Parish Church of Stoney Stratford, at the Visitation of the Archdeacon of Bucks, June 28. 1810. By the Rev. Latham Wamewright, M. A. F. AS of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Rector of Great Brickhill, Bucks. 4to. Is. 6d. Hatchard

After having displayed the importance of the clerical profession, Mr. Wainewright proceeds to exhort his brethren to the cultivation of that literature which is essential to qualify them for the due discharge of their high functions; and he particularly urges them to be prepared for combating the objections made to the established church by professed Infidels, by Catholics, and by Protestant Dissenters. Unlike the majority of the clergy, he does not think that the modern Unitarians are the most formidable of their adversaries, but regards their system as much too simple to attract the admiration of the multitude. In this idea, we conceive that he judges like a philosopher; since simplicity never pleases the vulgar, especially in matters of religion. --The doctrine inculcated by the interrogation in the text, Thou, therefore, which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself ?" (Rom. ii. 21.) is properly enforced by the preacher, with reference to the occasion of his discourse: the improvement of the human mind is judiciously advocated, against the opinion of those who can allow themselves to imagine that the security of a state depends upon the mental darkness of its inhabitants, and that the danger of depravity in their moral habits increases in the direct ratio of their intellectual advancement ;'-and opposition to the progress of Methodism is laudably rested on the efficiency and zeal of the clergy, and the diffusion of rational principles and liberal knowlege.'

From a preacher who argues thus rationally, it may be asked what treatment do the "Rational Dissenters" receive? They are passed with very slight notice; and it is stated that their declension is daily becoming more perceptible', and that every degree of apprehension which might originate from this source is completely dissipated by their absolute paucity.'-We apprehend that this fact

is