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Review-Memoirs of the Rev. Dan Taylor.

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with this attachment. The circum- ter, however, not answering the exstances of life, however, in which he pectations that had been entertained, was placed, were by no means fa- was soon discontinued; but Mr. Taylor vourable to literary pursuits. Having found no want of employment. In attained the age of five, he was taken visiting distant churches, attending to labour with his father, in a coal- public meetings, joining in the delimine, in which employment he conti- berations of numerous associations, nued many years. His mind, never- and discharging the duties of his own theless, rose superior to the disadvan-particular station, Mr. T. was actively tages of his situation; for, at an early engaged until the end of November, period, his fame for learning spread 1816, when, in a manner almost sudthroughout the neighbourhood; and, den, he exchanged time for eternity, before he had attained the age of ten, in the 78th year of his age. he was frequently engaged in teaching others to read. In the year 1758, he lost his mother, to whom he had been chiefly indebted for his religious instruction. At this time, being about twenty-one, he had attained a considerable acquaintance with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages.

At an early period of life, his mind had received some serious impressions, which a succession of events concurred to renew, and, finally, to render permanent. The first religious people with whom he was connected, were the Methodists, among whom he officiated for some time as a local preacher. In this connection he continued until 1762, when, with several others, he entirely withdrew, and became the minister of the party that had seceded, and of such others as felt disposed to join them in their public worship. At Michaelmas, in the above year, Mr. Taylor removed from Halifax, near which he had lately resided, and took up his abode at Wadsworth, where, having taken leave of the coal-mine, and devoting himself entirely to the work of the ministry, he was rendered instrumental in forming and establishing a church.

The question of adult baptism, now occupied his mind: to this doctrine he soon became a convert; and, to the principles thus adopted, he adhered through life.

Differing, in some essential points, from those with whom he had associated, Mr. Taylor, in conjunction with a few friends, laid the foundation of a new connection; and, after encountering many difficulties, engaging in many controversies, travelling to various places, and preaching to several congregations, he finally repaired to London. In this place, in addition to his ministerial labours, he became tutor to an academy, and Editor of the General Baptist Magazine. This latNo. 32.-VOL. III.

In addition to this personal history, of which we have just sketched the outlines, the biographer has introduced many of Mr. Taylor's letters, and given to his readers a general view of the controversies in which he was engaged. These letters, and this view, are very interesting; and without them, the narrative, which comprises Mr. Taylor's life, though enlivened by all that variety which the character and labours of a pious minister can be supposed to afford, would have appeared incomplete.

The delineations appear to have been drawn with a steady, but an impartial hand. The character of Mr. Taylor is set in a favourable light; but his defects are not passed over in silence; nor is he represented as a being exempted from the common frailties and infirmities of mortality.

The numerous extracts which are taken from Mr. Taylor's Diary, pleasingly display the various exercises of his mind, his humility, patience, selfdenial, and devotedness to God. They exhibit in a convincing, but an unexpected manner, the deceitfulness of the human heart, its propensity to cherish pride, and rob the divine Being of that glory which is alone his due. We have no doubt that many will acknowledge the faithfulness of this picture, by finding its counterpart deeply lodged within.

Mr. Taylor's publications are more diversified than voluminous; they amount to nearly fifty in number; but, with few exceptions, they are chiefly either pamphlets, to which the occasions of the moment gave birth, or sermons which owe their existence to some peculiar circumstances. Of all these we have a list at the conclusion of the volume; and another, of the numerous ordinations at which he assisted.

This volume, we think, contains a 3 P

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Review-Memoirs of the Rev. Dan Taylor.

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faithful delineation, not of an abstract of all the blessings of providence, as well and impersonal character, which a as the death of Christ." biographer might advertise to be let; but the portraiture of a laborious minister, spending his time and talents in the service of his Master, whose cause, such publications as this, are calculated to promote.

On the Eternity of future Punishments, Mr. Taylor thus writes to his friend Mr. Wm. Thompson in answer to a list of Queries proposed by an "Honest Inquirer." We give this letter entire, because it shows at once the author's religious sentiments on the points controverted, and places his talents in a commanding light.

"Turville-Street, Jan. 6, 1791.

"MY DEAR BROTHER, "Though much behind with business, and not much it for it, especially by a disorder in my eyes, probably arising from my late night fatigues with my family, who, blessed be God, are now in a good measure recovered, I do myself the pleasure of giving you a basty scrawl on the Queries of an Honest Inquirer.' But you must excuse great brevity.

"Query I. If a great part of mankind be eternally miserable, in what sense is it true that all flesh shall see the salvation of God?' and all the families of the earth be blessed in Abraham's seed, the Messiah?'"'

eternally miserable, what proportion of future Query III. If a great part of mankind be punishment is there between the least sinner and the greatest offender?' Answer. It is manifest to every one, that two persons may be punished an equal time, and yet the one punished, by many degrees, more severely than the

other."

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Query IV. Is it consistent with the nature of a Being, who has declared himself love itself, to punish eternally creatures born in such unhappy circumstances, for once transgressing derstand what is consistent in every thing with his law? Answer 1. I do not pretend to un

the nature of God. Though in some instances this is plain, and may deserve notice; yet the great inquiry is-What is contained in his word? 2. I do not think he ever did, or ever will, punish any man for once transgressing bis law. 3. How far it might be just if God did this, is another and very different inquiry?"

"Query V. Does not your doctrine of universal love, and of Christ's dying for all men, leave the wicked exactly in the same state of eternal misery, as the Calvinist system does? If so, where is the difference? Answer 1. I think it does leave the wicked, who continue wicked, in the same state, as to the punishment they must endure. The difference of my scheme and the Calvinist is this-the Calvinist leaves man necessarily exposed to this wickedness, and the misery consequent upon it. My scheme is, that provision is made for them that they may be saved; so that if they perish, the fault is wholly their own."

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Query VI. Would not the divine Being appear to us more abundantly glorified, on the supposition that wicked men were liberated from hell torments, after having been punished proportionably to the nature and number of their crimes? Answer. Yes, I think so. I have no notion that they will ever be punished more than the nature and number of their crimes require; nor do I believe they ever will be."

"Ans. 1. It is merely as an indulgence to you that I attempt to answer this and several other queries. In strict reasoning it would be highly improper. It is the business of an universalist to prove that these texts are true in his sense, and can be true in no other sense. Without attention to this, disputes would be, as they often have been, shamefully prolonged and confused. 2. All flesh shall see the sal- Query VII. Would it not appear a more vation of God,' was fulfilled in the first preach- wonderful display of the dying love of Jesus, ing of the gospel, Col. i. 6, 23.; will be more to have all the human race for whom he died fully accomplished in the Millennium state, partakers of his glory, than for a great part of and it will be awfully seen by all at the day of them to be punished in hell eternally? Answer judgment, even by those who have rejected 1. I do not know. Perhaps the love of Jesus it, and shall then be eternally excluded from it. will be the most displayed by the punishment 3. All the families of the earth have been more of those who trample upon it. 2. Supposing it or less blessed in the Messiah ever since the would, there are other attributes to be disdays of Christ. They were particularly so in placed besides love. 3. The very notion of the first centaries, and will be in the Millen- men being delivered from hell by the love of nium. If sinners turn divine blessings into Jesus, implies that they justly deserve that ourses, by abusing them, that is no proof that punishment from which he delivers them. If they are not blessed by Christ." they did not deserve it, it would not be love but justice to deliver them from it. Therefore the principle of this query is inconsistent with the principle of several of the former."

Query II. "If a great part of mankind be eternally miserable, is not the death of Christ then rather a curse to them than a blessing?' Answer 1. It is allowed on all hands, and on all schemes, that sinners who sin under the gospel have their sins more aggravated, and will be more severely punished, in proportion to the advantages which they have had, or might have had, from Christ. This is not only the language of revelation, but of common sense. 2. Yet it, does not follow that the death of Christ is in itself a curse to them; but that they are more awfully condemned for their slight or abuse of so great a blessing. 3. I may add, this is true

"Query VIII. Can it be supposed to be consistent with infinite power, love, and grace, to suffer the devil to keep millions of mankind for whom Jesus shed his blood, in hell torments eternally? Answer. I do not know that the devil keeps them in hell torments. I apprehend he is so far from keeping them in hell, that he would be glad to get out bimself. As to love and grace-if redeeming love and grace are despised and rejected, I do not find, in seripture, any other way to be saved, or for

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Review-The Eve of St. Hyppolito.

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love and grace to be manifested. It is right, | REVIEW.-The Eve of St. Hyppolito, a so far as I can see, for those who have awfully excluded themselves from it, to be for ever deprived of it."

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"Query IX. Would not preaching universal salvation to men, be more likely to affect them, and bring them to repentance than the contrary doctrine?' Answer 1. I think we are not very able to judge in theory what may be most effectual, nor would it be safe to attempt it, unless we were wiser than God. The evil of this is manifest; and has been awfully manifest in all ages. If the prophets and Christ and his apostles preached this doctrine, it is certainly useful. But if not, it must be hurtful. To me it is strikingly clear that the doctrine is a contradiction to the whole Bible, and to every thing that is good; and therefore I cannot in theory expect it to be profitable to men. 2. Does it appear in fact that this doctrine has been instrumental to accomplish the ends here mentioned? Have any been so affected as to be brought to repentance by it? 3. Is it not a fact to which all mankind are witnesses, that the contrary doctrine has frequently and certainly been the means of bringing sinners to repentance?"

Query X. However, is it not possible for a very good man to believe this doctrine to be scriptural,' &c.? Answer. I do not know but

it is."

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"Query XII. Is it to be supposed that men will all see eye to eye before the days of the Millennium?' Answer. Perhaps not.' "Thus I have endeavoured, as a mere indulgence to an esteemed and beloved friend, to give a short answer' to his queries. But I beg leave to observe, that queries of this kind are not, in my opinion, calculated to assist in the investigation of truth; but rather to pervert and poison the minds of men, and have always had this tendency. Our business, I think, in inquiring after truth is, not to propose queries concerning incidental circumstances; but to read the word of God, and believe it."

"I should take it as a particular favour, if you would inform me what you think of the necessity and propriety of writing a reply to Mr. Winchester's Five Letters to me. As you are better acquainted than I can pretend to be with the probable and certain effects of his pamphlet, you are better able to advise with respect to it. I must confess, if his five letters do not sufficiently convince every attentive reader that his whole scheme is a direct opposition to the word of God, I can hardly indulge a hope

of convincing men. Yet if any thing be necessary to drive the nail to the head,' I think the destructive tendency of his scheme requires it. Advise me on this subject."

Play, in five Acts, pp. 70. Baldwin,
Cradock, and Joy. London, 1821.

THERE is something in dramatic performances, in which the reader, even though he cannot define its nature, always feels himself particularly interested. The numerous persons that are introduced, the various speeches which they make, the diversified characters which they sustain, all tending to one important issue, conspire to awaken the feelings, and to throw the passions into a pleasing agitation.

Dramatic Poetry has, among all civilized nations, been considered as a rational and useful entertainment; and being employed both upon the light and the gay, and upon the grave and affecting incidents of human life, it has been divided into the two forms of comedy and tragedy. These, however, in the representations which appear, are generally exaggerated, so that life, in its volatile movements, assumes a gaiety and ludicrous form which nature has rarely imparted; and in its deeper scenes, its aspect acquires a degree of terror, which, even amidst the distresses that afflict the world, we endeavour in vain to find.

The stage, without all doubt, is a powerful engine, which, by its proper or injudicious management, might be made subservient either to virtue or vice. Viewed merely in the abstract, dramatic representations assume their existence on a kind of neutral ground; and when contemplated in reference to theory alone, they seem to be no more entitled to censure than to applause. But when we turn from theory to fact, and survey the stage as it really exists, it is to be regretted, that its standard of morals is assumed on the ground of public taste and opinion. Hence, too many of our tragedies varnish suicide, and countenance the detestable practice of duelling; while our comedies degenerate into licentiousness, and soften down the deviations from virtue, which they record, by giving specious names to actions, which ought, by their colouring, to excite the abhorrence and detestation of mankind.

The composition before us, is not without its political bearing and as

"Thanks for your last; and thanks to God that I am able to write or preach to the satisfaction of you and others! That every benediction may be the portion of you, Mrs. Thomp-pect; it, however, inculcates lessons of wisdom and moderation; and, in every branch of the dialogue, the

son, and all friends at Boston, is the prayer of your grateful, &c."

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Review-The Eve of St. Hyppolito.

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Alph. Fain would I think you spoke not without cause;

friend of order has always the advan- | And 'neath the splendid garb of sovereignty, tage of the argument. To illustrate Lurk care and danger. this position, and to furnish a specimen of the Author's talents, we subjoin the following extract from the conversation between Fernando and Alphonso, on the subject of political

reform.

Fern. Fallacious hope! impossible to re-
alize !

You say that all are equal-grant it so:
Shall he whom honest industry has raised
Above his neighbour, yield his hard-earned
gains,

The merited reward of patient toil,

Of rigid temperance, and strict frugality,
To him whose poverty is but the fruit

Of luxury and sloth? who from another wrests with violence

That sustenance his labour should provide? Shall not he, who years of youthful vigour spent in war,

His nights in watching, and his days in hardship,
Who in his Country's cause has nobly bled,
Transmit the laurels of the well-fought field
To his posterity? Or he whose anxious vigils
in the Senate

Watched for that Country's safety?
Who to the intellectual contest brought
Extensive stores of knowledge and of wisdom?
By weary hours and painful studies gained,
Receive the meed his arduous toils have won?
These, these are equal rights-the Rights of

Man,

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Dealt equally to all who merit them?
Fades there not many a genius in obscurity,
That would have graced a throne?

And many a heart, that from a noble station,
Wide had diffused innumerable blessings,
Drops in the shade, and perishes unknown.

Fern. That wealth and honours are the un-
ceasing prize

Of Genius and of Virtue, I aver not :
The preservation of tranquillity
And order in this varied scene, demand

That rank and titles should be still transmitted

In regular succession; otherwise,
What endless change! what jarring interests!
And shall our gratitude to those deliverers
Who were the blessed instruments of Heaven
To save our country and preserve our freedom,
Extend no farther than their own short lives?
"Twere poor indeed, to limit thus our thanks!
No, let us heap their merited rewards
On children's children, to remotest time!
But though on few these outward glories fall,
It is not so with Happiness: that purest gem
Shines not more brilliant in the monarch's
crown,

Than on the sun-burnt brow of ruddy labour.
With the conscience clear,

The tranquil passions, and the mind serene, There happiness is found; industry spreads the board

Health and content ensure a calm repose; Nor pomp, nor luxury, have charms for those Who know the bed of roses hides the thorn,

Gladly believe that all reform were needless,
Had I not witnessed such extent of misery
Stretched on a bed of languishing and pain;
As baffles all description.-A dying father,
Around his couch his helpless innocents
Craving with feeble cry the scanty morsel
To stay the hand of death while, by his side,
His faithful wife beholds, in speechless anguish,
Her offspring and the partner of her woes,
And weeps to hear them supplicate in vain.
The wretched husband lifts his eyes to Heaven,
And asks that mercy which the world denies;
While grief, disease, and poverty, conspire
To conjure up the demon of despair.

Fern. Scenes such as these would melt a
Stoic's heart,

And bid the stream of charity flow freely,
Even through unwonted channels.

But would the liberty you seek redress these griefs?

Put want to flight, or from the poor man's couch Banish disease and death? Were these its fruits,

With you I'd hail the dawning of Reform; And by all worthy means extend its influence To earth's remotest bounds. But, ah, too well

I know

The fatal consequence of such Reform! Without the rich, the powerful, and the great, Where would industry meet its just reward? Where labour find due exercise? Or in wealth and power

If all were equal, who would guide the loom?
Who till the field, or rear the splendid dome!
Or, who with patient eye would watch the helm,
When Commerce spreads her sail, and fearless
brave

The hidden dangers of the trackless deep?
Vain is thy boast, oh, Liberty, to bless,
When hand in hand with thee Rebellion walks!
And Infidelity, (offspring of guilt,
Of guilt and folly,) with pestilential breath
Blasting each scene where innocence and peace
Smiled, unsuspecting of the danger nigh.

The scene of this Tragedy is in Spain; the plot is not deeply laid, but the event is always sufficiently concealed from anticipation, to awaken in the reader much solicitude for the issues of those contests between men, those vicissitudes of fortune, and those conflicts of passion, in which he insensibly feels himself interested.

In the character of Rodolpho we see a deep designing villain, concealing his unbounded ambition under the mask of patriotism, and deluding the thoughtless multitude with promises of liberty, reform, and plunder, to make them subservient to his own perfidious purposes. The intended murder of his wife and child, added to his former treachery, gives completion to his character; and, loaded

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Queries to Correspondents.

with infamy, he falls by the hands of Fernando, who had always been engaged in a righteous cause.

Leoni appears almost equally as detestable as Rodolpho. These two characters, apparently acting in concert, but privately aiming to supplant and destroy each other, exhibit their intrigues, their blandishments, and their duplicity, in all the varieties of guilt, just as traitors might be supposed, when they aim to delude their instruments, and murder their rivals. Each had planned the destruction of the other; but before the plot ripens, the conspiracy is discovered, and Leoni falls by the sword of Alphonso, who had been deceived by the specious pretences of these popular leaders in the cause of faction.

This Drama, in its progress, presents every prospect of success to intrigue and conspiracy; but it closes with the triumphs of loyalty and virtue. If all compositions of this class, were as free from political and moral pollution as the one before us, the stage, and those productions which are prepared for it, might be recommended to public attention, not as nurseries of vice, but as pleasing auxiliaries in the cause of social order, calculated to promote the welfare of mankind.

QUERIES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

1. On the Assent of the Mind. The four questions which immediately follow, are proposed by W. F. of Liverpool:

1. Is the assent of the mind to the truth of any proposition, at all under the control of the will: and, if so, to how great an extent?

2. Can belief be, in any case, matter of choice: and if not, on what right principle can a man be accounted culpable, in not receiving that as true, for the support of which, he cannot find arguments satisfactory to his judgment?

3. Is the exercise of any other powers of the mind necessary to the perception of moral truths, than are requisite to the perception of mere intellectual or mathematical truths?

4. Is a man to be blamed for holding opinions, sincerely deduced from premises which appear to him to be correct and indisputable ?

2. On Latin Verses.

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E. C. would be glad to learn what benefits are likely to accrue from boys writing Latin verses, (a practice now very prevalent in most public places of instruction;) on what arguments the practice is founded; and whether the time might not be more advantageously spent?

3. On Marriage.

A. of B. wishes to be informed, if it be contrary to British Law, or the Scriptures, for a pious female, above 21 years of age, to unite in marriage with any suitable person, though her parents should oppose such marriage? And if there be no legal and scriptural objection, would it be prudent for a pious female to marry under such circumstances?

4. Gauging of Casks.

J. O. N. R. will feel obliged to any Practical Gauger to inform him the most correct method of ascertaining the contents of a full cask, of the 1st and 2d variety; also, If the different varieties are not to be known by the various proportions of a Cask, better than by inspection alone?

5. The Christian Sabbath.

GAMMA asks, what scriptural authority is there to bind us to keep the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, sacred to the worship of God and other religious duties?

6. On the Training of Dogs.

T. D. would be particularly obliged if any correspondent would inform him, what species of Dogs are most susceptible of being taught to imitate human actions? also, at what age their instruction should begin; and whether they should be taught by caresses or threatenings? He would be glad to obtain an answer, illustrated by an appeal to fact and incident.

7. On Literary Studies, and Books.

A young man, who can devote about four hours in a day to literary pursuits, asks, what course of reading and study might be pursued, with most advantage to the general improvement and enlargement of his mind; and also what books he should peruse?

8. On the Physical Distinction between Man and Animals.

J. W. asks, What is it that constitutes the physical distinction between man and the brute creation?

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