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    w $ s suppressed * Two days after that which had been named , the letter had not been received $ and at that time the Editor left home on an absence of several weeks ? committing the

    editorship of the work to a highly-valued and confidential friend * who was to act 0 as he had most satisfactorily , on former occasions , according to his own discretion * Under these

    circuritstances the delayed letter " arrived 5 and the temporary editor * knowing nothing of any previous correspondence or engagement * and exercising his own judgment upon the communication ,, determined that its insertion should depend upon the writer ' s subscribing it with his proper name : this condition was exacted on the

    ground of its containing personal allusions to a correspondent whose name was given . The Old Unitarian refused compliance * and appealed to the usual Editor , who did not feel himself at liberty * under all the circumstances of the ease * to reverse his

    friend's judgment ; and hence * the non-appearance of the letter and the Old Unitarian ' s complaint . The Editors of the Monthly Repository may have erred , but some allowance should be made for them by the Old Unitarian ,, who is now an

    Editor himself , and in his first appearance in that character has , if we mistake not * fallen into an irregularity , by republishing * from this work * Mr * FoxV Letter * without the consent ( not to speak more strongly ) of that gentleman .

    After what has passed , it may be thought that we are not sufficiently neutral to sit as censors upon the present publication ; ' but we are too much concerned iai the Old

    Unitarian ' s charges to be able to refrain from making a few remarks upon his Letters * We can write upon the subject with temper , though we shall be obliged to use the language of serious remonstrance .

    If we were to denominate the Old Unitarian a respectable writer , we should use a term very inadequate to our sense of his talents . He displays a general elegance and an occasional

    felicity of style , which prove his thorough acquaintance with the best classical models . ' AjQflff . were we at liberty to refer to him under other signatures in the Montjily Repository and else-

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    where * we could point out instances of his great acuteness and power in argument * We say so much to shew that prejudice does not wholly blind us to the merits of this controversy j and we are even disposed to go farther . and admit that the Old Unitarian is

    really solicitous for the best interests of mankind , and , whatever be his misconceptions and prejudices , has at « tacked those whom he terms "New Unitarians , " with no other view than that of protecting and promoting Christianity 9 pure and unadulterated But , with this concession , truth

    requires us to say , that we think that he has hazarded vague and unwarrantable charges , and that Ms prtfofs , in all that is of moment , are merely uncharitable surmises . The radical fault of the Old Unitarian ' s letters is his employment of undefined terms , which at once allow

    the enemies of Unitarians to quote him as an evidence against his brethren , and at the same time prevent them from meeting and refuting his accusations * Who , as Mr . Fox asks P are the " New Unitarians ? " If they be persons in whom all the Old

    Unitarian ' s marks are found , we boldly assert , that they are the creatures of his own imagination - if they be persons in whom any one mark is found ,, then nearly the whole body of the avowed Unitarians of the present day will be brought under the designation , and must answer for all the sin

    which it denotes , and not only the Unitarians of the present day , but the majority of those likewise that have existed within the last fifty years , including Estlin , Toulmin , Lindsey and Priestley - The correctness of this statement

    will appear by a detail of the Old Unitarian ' s charges , compared with Mr . Fox ' s replies and the Old Unitarian ' s rejoinders . The charges are five in number .

    TheJirst is , that the New Unitarians court persecution , and the proof is that the repeal of the penal statute ? against Anti-Trinitarians was ** very little acceptable" to them . Mr . Fox denies the fact on which the

    accusation rests , and alleges that Mr . Smith ' s Bill originated in the Committee of the Unitarian Fund , and that motions of thanks to the government fojr < this

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    Mewiew « **^ Unitariani ' $ mp Old and New * &T

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    voii . ' xiii * " 1

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1818, page 57, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2472/page/57/