ready to brandish the polemical weapons; and, when successful, they rejoice more at conquest than at the thought of having advanced the cause of truth. In London, I find that there is far more intercourse between the different sects than in the country. In the former, though the partition wall is not demolished, it is so reduced that men on each side can shake hands with one another; while in the latter, the Jews have still scarcely any dealings with the Samaritans. Be it your and my care, my dear friend, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,' while we acknowledge that it is God who worketh in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure.' Hoping that this will find you restored to your accustomed health and spirits, I remain, my dear sir, "Your's, most sincerely, Constituted as society is, it is impossible but that offences will come;' and Mr. Drew, notwithstanding his pacific temper, had not learnt to wear armour over his feelings.' But, whatever apparent incivilities he at any time experienced, he never charged upon a community the offensive deportment of individuals. When the Wesleyan Book Committee refused to sell the Imperial Magazine, though he felt their want of courtesy to himself as editor, he felt much more, lest Methodism should be identified with a measure which he esteemed illiberal and injudicious. If the admission of any article into his pages were deemed a proof either of his hostility to the Conference, or of his becoming the instrument of a party, the two letters which follow will shew how hasty was the conclusion. "MY GOOD SIR, "38, Newgate-Street, London, Aug 16, 1831. 66 "When your letter reached London, I was in Cornwall, from which place I did not return until within a few days past; and since that time I have been busily employed in arranging what had become disordered, and answering letters accumulated during my absence. 66 I have not, I can assure you, been an indifferent spectator of the late commotions in the Methodist community; and I sincerely regret that power should ever usurp the dominion of right. In my official situation, however, I have never borne any active part in the controversy; nor admitted any of the belligerents to figure in our pages. Should the door be once opened to either party, to shut it would be next to impossible; and our pages would be filled with polemics, in which, perhaps, eight out of ten among all our readers would feel less interest than disgust. "I can most sincerely assure you, that this consideration, my advancing age, and with it a desire to live in peace with all, form the only embargo laid upon me. I have endeavoured, in my official capacity as editor, to keep up a kind of armed neutrality, and, by so doing, have exposed myself to suspicions from each party. With the ecclesiastical tory I am viewed as a radical, and with the ecclesiastical whigs, as a tory in disguise. I find, however, that I have enough to do to attend to my own concerns, and walk peaceably along the cool, sequestered vale of life.' "The Circular' to which you allude, I do not recollect ever to have seen; and of the books, pro and con, I scarcely ever catch a glimpse. I am, therefore, totally ignorant of the warfare still carried on, unless, by accident, I meet with a partisan, and then I find his statement generally tinctured with the principles he had embraced. I have occasionally heard, in company, the word radical contemptuously applied, and have as invariably noticed, that reproachful epithets are not arguments, and that the charge of despotism will be the language of retaliation. 66 Wishing you every blessing for time and eternity, "I remain, my kind sir, "Your's, most respectfully and sincerely, "Mr. Thomas Garnett, Leeds." "SAMUEL DREW." "MY GOOD SIR, 66 [To the Same.] "38, Newgate-Street, London, Dec. 7, 1831. I really was not aware that you expected from me a written reply to your letter, until your renewed inquiries gave me the information. I am so much in the habit of answering inquiries in ' replies to correspondents,' that I sometimes half forget other modes of communication. In our last number I had given a reply to you; but, as the inquiries are again renewed, I will endeavour briefly 6 to answer all. "The advertisement of the Circular' we shall not hesitate to insert, as such; but in the polemic contention we shall bear no part. To an armed neutrality prudence directs me rigorously to adhere. "Are Unitarians Christians?' Who shall decide when doctors disagree? To their own master they stand or fall. Much will depend upon the definition of the term Christians.' To questions of this kind there is scarcely any end. We may ask Are heretics, schismatics, &c., Christians?' If we put one sect to decide upon the destiny of others, but few will be permitted to enter heaven. 'One thinks on Calvin Heaven's own Spirit fell; For "Every person, who has noticed passing events with attention, must have observed, that red-hot Arminians anathematize Calvinists, and the fiery zealots of Calvinism in their turn consign Arminians to perdition! I do most sincerely assure you that I will not become a tool in the hands of either party. I would do any thing in my power to promote peace; but, if war has determined them, they will be easily able to bring auxiliaries into the field; and, when they have tired themselves with worrying each other, they will be just where they began. 66 Wishing the contending parties more of the Christian spirit than controversies in general display, and you every blessing for time and eternity, "I remain, with much respect, "Your's, most sincerely, "Mr. Thomas Garnett, Leeds." SECTION XXIX. Miscellaneous traits of character · · Conversational talents. THE lines of the human countenance admit of endless variety. We may enumerate those settled features which are common to the species;-we may describe the shape of a nose, the colour of an eye, the dimensions of a mouth, the hollowness or prominence of a cheek; but that, which gives expression to the whole, and without which we sketch but a formal and rigid outline, bids defiance to our powers of arrangement and description. This, which is true of the countenance, is equally applicable to the character. The touches which give individuality to a portrait cannot be placed in categorical order. To delineate perfectly, it is not enough to give the prominent characteristics, the biographer must catch the manners living as they rise,' and transfer them to his pages. In Mr. Drew's mental constitution there were some peculiarities which it would be difficult to classify, and we therefore present them without studied arrangement. It has been already observed, that he was a great lover of order, and extremely sensitive of little deviations from it. When questioned as to the cause of his punctiliousness in matters of small moment, his reply was, "The sum of life is composed of trifles." |