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perties met ; as eminentl y appears m those of his volumes which treat of s ubjects connected with the laws and operations of the human mife'd . There is , no doubt , a very large class of readers * to whom he seems more rapid than profound , merely because he ex ^
presses himself naturally and with ease 3 because his style is not turbid and cloudy , but " deep , yet clear /* reflects like the mighty and unruffled ocean , the treasures which , for many a fathom lie beneath . Among * such
readers we are unwilling to rank Dr . Channingt * of whom , however , we must suppose that he cannot be extremely familiar with the Essays prefixed to the abridgement of Hartley on Man , with the Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever , and with the Observations on Education * Nor can we
admit that the celebrated person of whom he speaks was " constitutionally deficient in moral enthusiasm and deep feeling . " We are even of opinion that had not Priestley possessed a considerable share of both , he could
not have so writtenf and so taught as he did ; could not have been so daunt * less and persevering , have so laboured and suffered , have been so elevated above the fear and attractions of the world , or have quitted life with so much of Christian dignity and hope .
Let it not be hastily taken for granted that ^ moral enthusiasm and feeling " belong exclusively to some gifted poet , some wanderer and solitary , on the margin of a lake , or on the
summit of a mountain : they may also be found in many a philosopher ana divine ; and we think that in every correct sense of the words , they were qualities of Priestley . In particular , hi 3 Devotion was an habitual and a
master-spring of action : it governed , as they who had intimate access to him readily discerned , all his concepr tions and all his affections . He would pass a post precipitate judgment on j ) r . Priestley , who should question the warmth of his piety , only because it was not obtrusive and ostentatious .
Dr . Priestley was spiritually-minded : this is the deliberate , well-considered * Mou . Repose XX . 7 . t In this light the * Dedication of the second volume of the < c Disquisitions , " &C , to Dr .. John Jebb > is surely deserving of regard .
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testimony , declared by sortte who ha < l the beat means of estimating his pri * vate tfbaracter , who from his convex sation and example received their earliest impressions of praetiqal religion , and who , amidst the variations of
their theological faith , and its opposition to their illustrious friend ' s , do honour to themselves and to him , by pronouncing bis name with merited reverence and gratitude .
Like Mr . Wellbeloved , we deem highly of Dr . Channing . [ " Three Letters , " &c , p . 140 . ] We are not , therefore , the less disposed to neglect the present occasion of rectifying art error , the existence of which , ia such a quarter , may seem to be astonishing-, and is , assuredly , to be lamented .
The author of these tracts in controversy with Archdeacon Wrangham , deserves praise ,, not only for their intrinsic value and benefifciaL tendency , but further for his polemical writinp as compared with those of his antagonist , and even with the pamphlets and volumes of some of his
fellow-labourers in the cause of Unitarian Christianity . A correct judgment and taste , in union with appropriate and unostentatious learning , are perceived to mark the Letters of Mr . Wellbeloved : with
these his opponent's charges and appendixes are a perfect contrast . Why then has the Archdeacon of Cleveland done such , injustice to himself ? Why is he thus unscholar-like and
inelegant ? Because he is little conversant with studies properly scriptural , and has perhaps in&ensibly been constrained to substitute ' * railing accusation' * for inquiry and argument .
The simplicity of Christian truth , will not greatly suffer even in the hands of a feeble advocate : the force of truth , is far from depending altogether on " the strength of the arm that hurls the weapon ; the power being contained wholly within the
weapon itself , and having equal force whether it is discharged by a child * or by the arm of a giant . " * Christian Unitarianism is , in its nature , as in its evidences , so plain and scriptural , that even when stated by mea of extremely weak judgment and ; circumscribed information , it has . gained a * H . Cooper ' s Speech , in '' Westminster Hall , Nov . 15 , 1820 ,, y , 26 ,
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224 A ^ Mi ^ . - ^ - iBp ^^^^^ # " ¦ Zi ^*< W " | : ^ o Archdeacon IVran&Hant .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1825, page 224, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2535/page/32/
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