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    mfentioti ^ ( p . 22 ) * his Avion friend ' s prefect W Mr . Stennet's book - 6 f Hymks ; ' in- which he had * inferred ; from Pliriys Epistle to Tr a ^ H , that v the Christiana of' that tita& sang

    song's or by tfiris' to Christ as God /* laments , iti a note , that he should u afterwards renounce that important article- and continue so to his death . ' * I had the curiosity to look into Sfeh » net ' s " Hymns for the Lord ' s Supper , 3 rd edition , 1713 /* After an

    "Advertisement to the Reader , " there is " The Preface by another hand , " written chiefly "in vindication of the practice of singing the praises of God as a part of Christian worship . " The writer describes himself as oae who " laboured under the prejudices of education to thie contrary / ' At the end of the preface , in which are numerous quotations from the New Testament , all in Greek , there is ** a

    hymn written by the same hand , ujkm his being convinced that singing is a part of divine worship . " The " Country Gentleman" quotes , incorrectly , not , I hope , with design , his friend ' s translation of Pliny , whose Latin is in the margin , for , in the preface , the words relied upon are , ' * to Christ a 3 a God , " the proper sense of Pliny , who , familiar with the Pagan deification of heroes , and of favourites of

    fortune , who were no heroes , would easily misunderstand the language of grateful praise for blessings received through the mediation of Christ , which must , then , have abounded , as it always ought to abound , in the worship of the Christians . I have observed very little out of the way of modern Arianism in the quotations from the MS . ; except that the writer appears to have adopted Biddle 8 notion respecting the Holy Spirit , as he is said f € to take much

    pains to prove the Holy Ghost to be a creature , though with degrees of excellency superior to other creatures . Also , the author of the MS ., having P"t " the doctrine of the Trinity upon a level with Transubstantiatioti , " the " Country Gentleman" describes toe latter < p . 17 ) ad * ' & Gdd made by * creature ,.- ' which ,- ' * he acfcte ; * is downri ght nonsense , as wdt as ; blas ^ phenay , and > igS >\ sery near of ^ feinM > o that Aritiw positiojiV-that a cr ^ atiire cau ^ create prifttSipalities ^ angete arid * ori < fc . " y&fothe « V Co ttwlry Gentle-

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    man" had [ Said , iheorWefclyy ( p * I 4 > y thar €€ thodjd in tile AH&& " scheme generally triumpli when Ohibl ^ fe sbiSetimes spoke of afe mere rimv / as if that bespoke him to be nothing' more . " Incorrectness should , however , ^ be excused , for " these letters were not

    designed fdr the press ; the author was far enoug ' h from such a thought ^ Itut they ¦ having been pertised by divers gentlemen , that were ealled good judges id this controviersy , the author has been prevailed on , by their impor * tunity , to do violence to his inclinations , and suffer them to come

    abroad . ^ Having , however , done what he thinks ' * sufficient to convkice gainsay % risj as to those " that are fond of feftgagiftg in controversi ^ s- ^ - ^ he does not design to reply to any thing they nvay object ;* ' having discovered , after- disputing through nearly 100 pages , that ** disputes are endless , and not hiis province . " ¦

    • ' That Jesus Christ is God by nature , of the' same essence with tiie Father , " is * ' the proposition" which the f * Two L # etters" are designed to prove . Some of these proofs would , probably , be rejected , § is insufficient ,

    by ourmore cautious Trinitarians . However easily a " Country Gentleman" might be satisfied , a practised polemic wotiW not , I apprehend , venture to ar £ ue , as in the conclusion of this preface , that " if there is a God the Father , it- necessarily infers , that he has . a Son that is God also ; or the epithet Father , is impertinent and superfluous ; " and again , " that if there is God the Father , there must

    be God the Son , or he must be a Father without a Son , which would be an absurdity . *' Yet if the " Country Gentleman "

    was no great clerkyhe was not a confident and pitiless distributor of divine vengeance on ; supposed heretical pravityy such as too > many great clerks have proved themselves . He was ' 5 not one of tliose who damn to hell

    all that diffef-frbfl * him in tins point , though he wouldnot be one af th £ m , nor choose to take his lot'amdilg ^ t tKetn . " He noa ^ r also put > to slttime , unless they are ehai ^ te ^ s ; our €% rrw-4 4

    ttkm pfersectitors , % k ^« IBl * cry hav 0 ck , f though ^ X \ Mf \ 4 tafeW already brought an irfdelibl ^>* taJu upon the character of . BtitisU ^ reeciQmv ait d have done more than infidelity couW- ev ^ &r

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    Mr . Run on the Collet Family , fye . 715

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1823, page 715, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1791/page/35/