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    considers as implying that Philo had views corresponding with his own , respecting the means of acceptance with God * and the nature and offices of him whom He appointed to be the spiritual deliverer of mankind . " A very partial acquaintance with Philo ' s speculations might yield support to the notions prevalent respecting the atonement made by the death of Christ : a more extensive and exact one must shew this support to be itself groundless . I do not think that the writings of a philosophical , imaginative Jew of Alexandria , can be considered as decisive evidence of the prevalent opinions of the Jews , even of his own country ; and I lay no stress upon them : but I do maintain , that whatever argument they afford , is decidedly in Dr . Priestley ' s favour . They afford no support for the supposition that

    he regarded sacrifices as operating on the Divine Mind , except as any other offering of devotion ; or that he believed , that the great Source of goodness and blessedness cannot , or will not , accept of sincere and

    humble repentance and devotedness of the heart to him ; or that he held , as numbers still hold , that the wrath of God could not be pacified , or that his justice could not be satisfied , without the death of some divine Mediator . "—Pp .

    182—184 . Towards Mr . Belsham , Bishop Magee " displays a rancorous feeling of personal hostility , which hears down all the usual restraints of prudence and decorum , and makes him lose sight of the characteristics of the Gentleman , the Divine and the Christian . " ( P . 242 . ) This heavy charge is fully substantiated by a collection of epithets and phrases from the Bishop ' s Postscript , which really make us blush for

    the degradation to which a scholar and divine ( the former of these characters cannot be denied to the Bishop , the latter is said to have been given him , with the warmest encomiums , by High authority ) has submitted for the sake of carrying a point ( Pp . 243 , 244 ,

    note ) . In his earlier editions , his Lordship seemed disposed to observe decency in his treatment of Mr . Belsham ; but in his latest , he has thrown aside every consideration of the respect due not only to this gentleman but

    also to himself , and has indulged a temper and a language which are scarcely equalled in the arena of brutal pugilistic contests . Is the right reverend author transported with rage at Mr . Belshain ' s significant silence with

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    regard to the unanswerable " D ; s , courses and Dissertations" ? * Or has he been stung with some of the hints which this gentleman has throw n out with regard to the motives and expectations of certain clerical defamers of the Unitarians ? Dr . Carpenter examines < c Dr . Magee ' s Representations of Mr . Belsham ' s Views and Arguments in

    reference to Prayer—the Religious Observance of the Lord's Day — the Inspiration and Character of our Lord —and the final Restoration of the Wicked /'

    The Bishop asserts , that Mr . Belsham < c rejects the notion of prayer , " which is just as true as if he had said that Mr . Belsham renounces every object of divine worship . In his " Review of Mr . Wilberforee , " Mr . Belsham explicitly renounces the popular sabbatical prejudices , and certainly expresses himself with a freedom that may be misconstrued . But though he denies the

    holiness of days , he declares himself a sincere advocate for public worship , and of the observance , in order to this end , of the first day of the week . The difference between Mr . Belsham and

    the proper Sabbatarian is , that whereas the latter regards a seventh portion of time as sacred , the former considers the whole of the time of a Christian consecrated to God , so that every day is a sabbath and every employment an act of devotion .

    From the unqualified position of Mr . Belsham in the work alluded to , that < r ' whatever is lawful or expedient upon any one day of the week is , under the Christian dispensation , equally lawful and expedient on any other day , " Dr . Carpenter says that he entirely dissents . For the due influence of public worship , he contends , it

    * So far , however , as I am myself personally concerned , I should have been content to have . suffered the Right Reverend Prelate ' s inexplicable tissue of errors , sophisms and calumnies to have passed unheeded into that vale of oblivion to

    which they are rapidly advancing , rather than to have had their progress retarded , and their venom exposed to public contempt and detestation by the powerful pen of my learned friend . "—Mr . Belsham ' s letter on Dr . Carpenter ' s work , Mon . Mepos . XV . 212 .

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    302 Hevk'W . —Dr . Carpenter ' s Examination of Bishop Magee .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1821, page 302, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2500/page/46/