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wto brands Unitarian Christians with •* sciolism , " with a want of literature n : o less thaa of honesty , should be unacquainted with the existence of a seventh edition of that work , in which is disclosed a most material change of the author ' s opinion , in respect of
the person of Jesue Christ ? WilL this l > e lightly credited , when we affirm it of a man , who had the best means and opportunities of being correctly informed on the subject , and whose l > ounden duty it waa , to know and understand , before he rebuked ? Astonished as we are that the Archdeacon
of Cleveland should be thus disqualified for estimating the writings and opinions of Bishop Edmund Law , we ca& scarcely regret the circumstance , when we advert to the opportunity of which the author of the " Three
Additional Letters" has so properly availed himself of laying the naked truth before his readers . 4 € Has , " he asks , " the Archdeacon of
Oleve 3 and forgotten—for he ma )* be offended , if I suspect him of the sciolism <© f never having known—that Bishop Law published not only a sivtk but a seventh edition of his Considerations ; from which
every passage you have quoted , or referred tOy ib expunged ! And not only these , but every other , which the sixth contained of a similar complexion ?"—P . 99 . The date of the seventh or Carlisle edition of the Considerations , of which that of 1820 is substantially a reprint , * we perceive to be 1784 . This was
about three years before the venerable Prelate's death . In the interval , Paley dedicated to him ( Feb . 1785 ) the * Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy ; " whence we are justified in concluding , that Bishop Law remained in full possession of his intellectual faculties—a conclusion which
is strengthened by the " Short Memoir" of him from the same pen . Dr . Whitby ' s Last Thoughts , or , as Archdeacon Wrangham styles them , iis "" Postreine Thoughts / ' now come to be discussed . Concerning these
the dignitary ' s * moderation / ' according to Ins own account , is * ' alm ost , " according to Mr . Wellbeloved ' s , " altogether" disturbed , when lie hears "it sturdily maintained that a whole rabble of arguments , suddenly 1 1 — ill iiitii ¦
r ~ 1 m » f i *'" - -, _ \ i t j , .... ¦¦¦¦ * Mon . Repos . XV . 524 . The edition « of 182 . 0 , retains the errors of the presa .
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bursting" upon him in his senility ( the poor old mun lived to the age of eightyeight ) had fairly encountered , and by mere superiority of force overset his preceding and long-maintained conclusions /'
The writer of the " Three AddU tional Letters /* puts the matter upon what is obviously the fair issue : ie May I be permitted to ask , Sir , whether you are acquainted tvrth the * Postreme Thoughts' of the venerable Precentor of Sarum ? And may I be further permitted to request , that you
will point out the passages in that work , that discover even a comparative decrepitude of understanding ? None sucii , I confess , are apparent to me . It bears testimony throughout to an intellect as vigorous , to say the least , and to a judgment as sound , as mark his Commentary , or any of his preceding writings /'—Pp . 103 , 104 .
With Robert Robinson , Mr . Wellbeloved cannot part as a Unitarian ; though he is by no means inclined to rank him among the IMustrissimi of Socinianism . Our author ' s remarks on the writings , sentiments and character of that very ingenious and
eloquent advocate of civil and religious liberty , are distinguished by his usual accuracy and good sense . Robinson , we have no doubt , became an Unitarian , in opposition to an Atlianasian . But scriptural criticism and interpretation were not those departments of theological literature in which he excelled , or with which indeed he had
cultivated much acquaintance . What Lardner says of Dr . Watts , is true of Robinson , " he had never been used to a proper way of reasoning on such a subject" * as the Divinity i \ f Christ , his Plea for which is declamation , and not argument .- \>—Pp . 106 , &c .
* Mon . Repos . VIII . 721 . t" iC He does not appear to me to understand the controversy about the Trinity ; and has misapplied several texts , which I have taken the liberty of pointing out to him . He frequently contradicts himself , being in some parts of his performance a Sabellian , while in others he seema to favour the Athanasian doctrine .
¦ In reality , I take him to be a Sabellian , or else I do not understand him . * ' This was Mr . Orton ' s opinion of Robinson ' s famous work . Letters to Stedman , No . XXV . How different from Sir James Stonhouse ' Letters to Ib , No , XXXIV * -
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166 Review - " -fffidlbelotoed * Letters t ® Archdeacon fPrangham *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1825, page 166, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2534/page/38/
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