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    In the same spirit he writes on a different subject : * ' You have seen , I suppose , what the public prints inform us of , relating to the proceedings of the General Assembly in Scotland against Mr . Patrick Simson . They are going to deprive that churcb of one of the most valuable men it contains , because he does not think it necessary to tie himself down exactly to their Shibboleth , nor oblige himself to conform to all their

    scholastic ways of speaking concerning the person of our blessed Lord , in points where the Scriptures are silent . By what I saw and heard of that gentleman when in Scotland , he is a much better judge of such matters than the greater part of those who presume to judge him ! But his crime is , that he will tbink for himself ; but yet he is very cautious to avoid giving offence , which I perceive is by the bigots interpreted as cunning and dissimulation . One would think the experience of so many ages should be sufficient to make the world wiser , and that those who pretend to govern in the church , should learn at

    last that their power might be much better exercised than in destroying the usefulness of the best men it contains , merely for nice speculations against unrevealed or disputable points . Suppose a person should not speak with an exact propriety ( as we think ) concerning the existence of Christ , a point perhaps much above our reach , if yet he loves him above all , trusts in him , and sincerely obeys him , what harm does religion suffer ? But I need not enlarge upon this subject to you who are so well instructed in the unreasonableness of bigotry , as to any set of speculative notions . "—Vol . II . p . 308 .

    To this correspondent ( Dr . Clark ) he was indeed indebted , as also to bis tutor , Mr . Jennings , for early lessons in liberality and candour , which virtues were characteristic of both these excellent men , and appear to great advantage in tbose letters of the former which are presented to us in these volumes . The intercourse between the guardian and ward ( a self-constituted relation in this instance ) seems to have been exactly what it ought to be . There is perfect freedom on both sides ; on one , watchful tenderness ,

    and on the other as much affectionate confidence as respectful obedience . Dr . Clark ' s letters are by far the best in the collection , next to Doddridge ' s own ; though in interest they yield to a few , a very few , from a person of whom we long to know more , and for whom it is impossible to help feeling an immediate and strong affection . We refer to Mrs . Nettleton , th 6 only sister of Doddridge , and , we should imagine , strongly resembling him in character , intellectual as well as moral . She is , as far as we can gather , placed in circumstances of peculiar interest , and it is with a feeling of

    disappointment that we close the work without learning their issue—whether her precarious life was long spared , whether it was at length enriched with comforts which we are apt to consider essential , and what was the degree of intercourse which the brother and sister enjoyed after the settlement for life of the former . It would be painful to think of the degree of poverty against which they both had to struggle , if it was not evident that to minds constituted and regulated like theirs , godliness With contentment was sufficient gain . After visiting his sister at Hampstead , Doddridge thus writes on his return home :

    " I 4 o not know how to express my concern for the ill state of your health . I am really sometimes afraid , and I speak it with a very sad heart , that I shall never see you any more ; for , if your appetite does not mend , I do not see how it is possible that you should live another year ; and God knows that if I lose you , 1 lose the dearest friend I have in the world . I leave you , and all

    my other concerns , in the hands of that God who will certainly do that which is best for u 3 both ; but I can assure you , that if my prayers , and the prayers of a great many excellent friends here about , can keep you a few years longer tint or he / aveh ¦ you will not be there Veify soon . I ^ athestly insist upon it that you let me know how you do in a few days , and pray send me a particular

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    Doddridge ' s Correspondence mil' Diarfr . 2 B

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1830, page 25, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2580/page/25/