laws are our ancient title to our lives, liberties and estates, without which this world were a wilderness. But what retribution can we make to your Highness? Our thoughts are full charged with gratitude. Your Highness has a lasting monument in the hearts, in the prayers, in the praise of all good men amongst us. And late posterity will celebrate your ever-glorious name, till time shall be no more!" Once more, when the body of lawyers addressed the King, his Majesty asked the aged and the truly venerable Serjeant Maynard, who read the Address, if he were not the oldest of his brethren. "Yes," replied the veteran," I have lived longer than all my brethren, and had not your Majesty come amongst us, I should have outlived law itself!" A finer compliment could not be paid to the Revolution.

But to come down to the present day, it must be mentioned that the Centenary Anniversary of the Revolution was kept Nov. 4, 1788, by a religious service, held at the Old Jewry, introduced by Dr. Abraham Rees, who devoutly prayed, when Dr. Andrew Kippis preached an admirable sermon, and a numerous company dined together at the London Tavern. The Committee and Stewards had on blue coats, the Dutch uniform, with buttons exhibiting the head of William, and the room was embellished with the identical Dutch colours which William bore at Torbay. It was the honour and felicity of the writer to be present on that occasion. The character of William has been traduced by the Jacobite Smollett, but Mr. William Belsham, in his Memoir of Great Britain, has thus done ample justice to his memory:

"William the Third, King of Great Britain and Stadtholder of Holland, was a monarch on whose great actions and illustrious character history delights to dwell. In his person he was not above the middle size, pale, thin and valetudinary. He had a Roman nose, bright eagle eyes, a large front, and a countenance composed to gravity and authority. All his senses were critical and exquisite. His words came from him with caution and deliberation, and his manners, excepting to his intimate friends, reserved. He spoke Dutch, French, English and

German, equally well, and he understood Latin, Spanish and Italian. His memory was exact and tenacious, and he was a profound observer of men and things. He perfectly understood and possessed a most extensive influence over the political concerns and interests of Europe. Though far above vanity or flattery, he was pertinacious in his opinions, and from clear perception or persuasion of their rectitude was too impatient of censure or controul. He attained not to the praise of habitual generosity from his frequently and apparently capricious deviations into the extremes of profusion and parsimony. His love of secresy was perhaps too nearly allied to dissimulation and suspicion, and his fidelity in friendship to partiality and prejudice. Though resentful and irritable by nature, he harboured no malice, and disdained the meanness of revenge. He believed firmly in the truth of religion, and entertained a high sense of its importance. But his tolerant spirit and his indifference to the forms of church government made him very obnoxious to the great body of the clergy. He appear ed born for the purpose of opposing tyranny, persecution and oppression, and for the space of thirty years it is not too much to affirm, that he sus tained the most glorious character of any prince whose name is recorded in history. In his days and by his means, the first firm and solid foundations were laid of all that is most valuable to civil society. Every vindication of the natural and unalienable rights of mankind was, till he ascended the throne of Great Britain, penal and criminal. To him we owe the assertion and final establishment of our constitutional privileges. To him the intellectual world is indebted for the full freedom of discussion and the unrestrained avowal of these sentiments on the subjects of the highest magnitude and importance. To sum up all his character-he was distinguished for virtues rarely found amongst princes-moderation, integrity, simplicity, beneficence, magnani. mity. Time, which has cast a veil over his imperfections, has added lustre to his many great and admirable qualities. His political views were in the highest degree laudable and upright. He had true ideas of the na

ture and ends of government, and the beneficial effects of his noble and heFoic actions will probably descend to the latest generations, rendering his name justly dear to the friends of civil and religious liberty, and his memory glorious and immortal!”

To this just and elaborate delinea tion of the character of William, shall be subjoined some elegiac stanzas by Dr. Isaac Watts, taken from his Lyric Poems. The poet's family had suffered grievously from the tyranny of the Stuarts. His father, a layman of great worth and piety, lay incarcerated in the common gaol at Southampton for his Nonconformity. His wife, with young Isaac at her breast, had sat on a stone many a cold morning during the wintry season close to the prison, awaiting the opening of its doors to visit her husband shut up within the dreary walls! The poet was fifteen years of age at the Revolution. Visions of bliss must have broken in upon his soul when he beheld his parents and suffering brethren brought forth into day-light and liberty! On the decease of the great Deliverer, the muse takes fire at his hallowed name, overwhelmed with admiration and gratitude.

Fair Liberty in sables drest, Write his lov'd name upon his urnWilliam, the scourge of tyrants past, And awe of princes yet unborn. Sweet Peace his sacred relics keep, With olives blooming round his head, And stretch her wings across the deep, To bless the nations with the shade. Stand on the pile, immortal Fame, Broad stars adorn thy brightest robe, Thy thousand voices sound his name In silver accents round the globe. Flattery shall faint beneath the sound, While hoary TRUTH inspires the song, Envy grow pale and bite the ground, And Slander gnaw her forky tongue. Night and the Grave, remove your gloom, Darkness becomes the vulgar dead, But glory bids the royal tomb, Disdain the honours of a shade. GLORY with all her lamps shall burn, And watch the warrior's sleeping clay, Till the last trumpet rouse his urn, To aid the triumphs of the day!

William was born Nov. 4, 1650, married Nov. 4, 1677, landed in England Nov. 4, 1688, died March 8, 1702, having reigned 13 years and 23 days. His chief residence in this country was Hampton Court, now a

full.

Thus the splendour of Hampton Court, (the abode of the Belgic Hero,) though enveloped in gloom and seeming to lie more heavily on its founlustre to set at a more distant period dations, would emerge with renovated and with an accumulated glory.

SIR,

J. EVANS.

Birmingham, Jan. 9, 1826. Waining Calcutta, I mentioned N writing about a year ago to Mr.

to him some of the reasons which I thought rendered the Unitarians in this country tardy in furnishing the aid which he has looked for towards the support of his and their cause at Calcutta. I have recently received from him the inclosed letter, which contains his answers to my remarks, or rather what I believed were the remarks of others. He also wishes me to make the contents of it known among my friends, which is sufficient to authorize me to publish it. I therefore submit it to you for insertion in the Repository, if you think that step advisable.

JAMES YATES.

Rev. James Yates, Birmingham. Dear Sir,

The arrival of the Bengal, put me in possession of your letter of the 8th of January, which was delivered to ine by Mr. Bakewell Cumberland, and I only regret that you did not furnish me with an earlier opportunity of offering you an explanation of the estimated expense of our Chapel and the objects contemplated in its erection.

With regard to the expense of the Chapel, the only place where I have

seen it estimated at 40007. is on the cover of the Monthly Repositoryan estimate which was, I suppose, calculated from one contained in the First Number of the Unitarian Repository, published in Calcutta in October 1823, in which it is stated that "the estimated expense is Sa. Rs. 30,000, but on account of the increased and increasing value of landed property it is probable that Sa. Rs. 40,000 may be ultimately required." But the former of these sums, at the exchange of 18. 10d. per Rupee, then and till very lately current, amounts only to 27507., and the latter to 36661. 13s. 4d, either of which forms a very considerable deduction from the amount stated in the Monthly Repository, and consequently removes, in some measure at least, the appearance of extravagance in our plans. The rate of exchange has very recently become more favourable for remittances to England than it was at the above-mentioned date, which it is not improbable may occasion a change less favourable for remittances to India. In this event the amount stated in the Monthly Repository will approach nearer the truth, as the same amount in pounds sterling will then produce a smaller amount in Sicca Rupees. From these remarks you will perceive that any given sun in English currency is not a fair criterion of the expense actually incur red, or estimated to be incurred, in Bengal currency, unless with express reference to the rates of exchange prevailing between the two countries. Confining my remarks, therefore, to the estimate contained in the Unitarian Repository, I think I can shew by actual experiment that it was formed upon a just consideration of the circumstances of the case. Within the last five years two Dissenting Chapels have been built in Calcutta, the one by the Baptists, the other by the Independents; the one capable of containing a congregation of about 200, the other of 400 persons; the one having a vestry, a baptistery, a range of offices for carriages and palankeens, but no school-room; the other having a vestry and a schoolroom, but no baptistery nor any accommodation for carriages and palankeens; the one without, the other with, punkahs; and both built in the

very plainest and least expensive style, and furnished with the same regard to economy. Now, according to printed reports lying before me, the Baptist : Chapel cost altogether upwards of Sa. Rs. 24,000, and the Independent Chapel, exclusive of school-room and vestry, nearly Sa. Rs. 33,000, and, inclusive of school-room and vestry, upwards of Sa. Rs. 36,000; but in comparing the actual cost of these two chapels with the estimated cost of the Unitarian Chapel, I beg your attention to the three following particulars. First, we have allowed ourselves a considerable latitude by estimating the probable expense of the Unitarian Chapel at from 30 to 40,000 Rupees: if our funds enable us to build a vestry, a school-room, outoffices for carriages and palankeens, a printing-office, and a dwelling-house for the minister, all of which are contemplated as desirable, the ultimate cost cannot be less than the lastmentioned sum; if only a Chapel be built, the ultimate cost will not be more than the first-mentioned sum. Secondly, it seems desirable (to avoid a diminutiye appearance on the one hand, and to prevent on the other a striking, disproportion between the usual number of attendants and the number it is capable of accommodating) that the Unitarian Chapel should be larger than the Baptist and not so large as the Independent one; and also that the furniture, such as seats, railings, &c., should be executed in a somewhat superior manner to that belonging to the other two chapels : if, according to these views, it be furnished somewhat more tastefully than both of the other chapels, and be built larger than the smallest of them, the ultimate cost will be proportionately affected. Thirdly, one important item of the ultimate cost is the price of the ground, and in this particular we have laboured under great disadvantages in consequence of the unprecedented increase in the value of land during the last few years. At present, indeed, and for the last two months, money has become very scarce, purchasers fewer, and land less valuable, but we had purchased our Chapel ground several months before the change was even thought of by the best-informed in these matters, and were consequently

obliged to pay very high for it. The ground on which the Baptist Chapel stands measures 1 biggah 12 cottabs, and cost less than 2000 Rupees-that on which the Independent Chapel stands measures 1 biggah 8 cottahs, and cost 10,000 Rupees exactly-that which has been purchased for the Unitarian Chapel measures 1 biggah 4 cottahs, and cost upwards of 12,000 Rupees. It is true that the Independent Chapel is more eligibly situated than the Baptist one, and the Unitarian Chapel, when built, will be more eligibly situated than even the Independent one; but eligibility of situation, although it may in some measure account and compensate for the difference, does not enter into the present question, which is not one of cui bono. Viewing the question merely as a pecuniary one, you will at once perceive that the high price we have paid for the ground-which we were induced to give from the fear, occasioned by a long-continued and till then fruitless search, that we should not be able to get ground at all-gives an appearance of extravagance to our plans which they do not really possess. The fact is, that we will go as far as our funds will enable us in what we consider will serve any one purpose of practical utility, but as far as my influence extends we will not incur a single farthing of debt to serve even such a purpose, much less to spend it on what is either superfluous or useless. I hope I shall be found to have afforded you satisfaction on this point; if not, I shall willingly afford you whatever other explanation you may consider necessary or desirable.

The objects contemplated in the erection of a Unitarian Chapel in Calcutta are two-fold, consisting, first, in the diffusion of correct views of the gospel among professing Christians; and, secondly, in the diffusion of correct views of religion in general among Hindoos and Mussulmans. Now, although each of these objects, when both are combined, will prove greatly auxiliary to the other, yet each is also capable of being considered on its own independent merits. Waving, then, all reference to the natives, I would ask those who, considering the obstacles to their conversion and improvement, "object to distant schemes of

benevolence," whether it is not a matter of vast importance to raise the standard of pure Christianity among the 900,000 professing Christians who have been calculated to reside on the Continent of India and its contiguous islands, and whether the word of God can be sounded forth with greater advantage from any other place than Calcutta, where it is now proposed to erect a Unitarian Chapel with that object especially in view? I hold that the single object of evangelizing the Christians residing in this quarter of the world, would fully justify the establishment of a Unitarian Mission on a much more extensive scale than is now contemplated, for that and another object at least equally important. Such a Mission may be considered an experiment," " inasmuch as it has never been tried before, and, like every other first attempt, may ́ fail from causes which no prudence could foresee and no wisdom avert. But in such matters, where human nature is the subject of experiment, an absolute certainty of success can never be held out; a probability of success, proportioned in degree to the nature of the work to be done, and the amount of means employed, is all that can reasonably be expected, and such a probability of success, I have no hesitation to affirm, exists in the present instance, even if we extend our views to the natives, and much more if we limit them to professing Christians. Among professing Christians it is those born in Europe that give a tone to society, whether as officers in the army, as civil servants of the Company, as lawyers, or as merchants and traders. Of these different classes there is a respectable proportion sincerely and zealously attached to the popular system of belief; there is also a respectable proportion firmly attached to that system merely because it is popular and established; there is a certain proportion smaller, but also respectable, conscientiously attached to the doctrines of Unitarianism; there is at least an equal proportion open and avowed unbelievers, i. e. persons who would ridicule Christianity, or profess their unbelief of it in conversation, but who would not perhaps permit themselves to be published as unbelievers to the world; and there is a greater proportion than

all these put together of persons who care for none of these things, who do not consider religion a subject worthy of their attention. Among all these different descriptions of persons is there not ample scope for exertion and usefulness? The very orthodox would be perhaps the last to be benefited, but the honest inquirer might be enlightened, the wandering Christian might be reclaimed, the unbeliever might be convinced, the indifferent might be awakened, and the profligate might be reformed. Would all this be nothing? Considering what pure gospel truth has wrought in similar circumstances, have you not committed a mistake in speaking of an attempt to accomplish these objects as a mere experiment"? The human mind is operated on in the same way in India as in Eupope. Let the means be furnished to exhibit truth-pure truth-to exhibit it clearly, fully, constantly-and he who doubts its success must doubt its existence-must doubt that there is such a thing as truth. I am a firm believer in the omnipotence of truth. Its progress in the world has been retarded by two causes-by its mixture with error, and by its not being permitted to shew itself. Let it be separated from error, and exhibited in all its native beauty and excellence, and it must make its way into the mind of man. Assuming that Unitarian Christianity is the truth, if we do not succeed in our present attempt to spread it, this will be not because truth is not adapted to the mind, or because the mind is not adapted to truth, but because the means are not possessed to bring the one fairly and fully into operation upon the other.

Accept my sincere thanks for your sympathy, and the interest which you take in our plans. I look to you and others to convey just ideas of them to the Unitarian public.

I have conveyed your good wishes to Rammohun Roy.

Necessary Knowledge of the Lord's Supper, and the necessary Preparation for it, shewn from the Words of its Institution, in a Sermon preached at the Cathedral of York, March 29, 1727. 4th edition. By Thomas Sharp, M. A., Archdeacon of Northumberland, and Prebendary of York." The copy from which I transcribe (ed. 1766) was given by Mr. Granville Sharp, a relative of the author, to the friend to whom I am indebted for the loan of it.

"Now, truly, whatever you may think of this matter, there is so little of nicety or curiosity in it, that a man of the meanest capacity, and dullest understanding, may comprehend the notion. It is not required that every ordinary communicant should be able to give an account of the several opinions and disputes which have been held about this Sacrament; it is not required that he should be able to determine the questions about the real presence of Christ, or give an account of the points about the Sacrament, which are maintained and defended, by the Papists on one side, and the Lutherans on another, and the Socinians on another, &c. God be thanked, neither Transubstantiation, nor Consubstantiation, nor any other of the controverted points, are made necessary to be known either by Christ or his apostles. The Sacrament which our Lord hath commanded all disciples to observe till his coming again, and which he has appointed as a means generally necessary to our salvation, must needs be such a thing, as all men, the meanest of men, may understand, if they will, and carry in their minds."

66

I have been much interested in examining, lately, a little work, by C. Baring, Esq., of Exmouth, entitled, Thoughts on Final Universal Restoration," 2nd edition, 1823. The same gentleman, under the assumed naine of John Smith, Gent., (which he has since replaced with his own name,) had published several interesting works, on Prophecies, the Person of Christ, &c., which clearly exhibit a manly love of religious truth, and no inconsiderable pains in the search after it. The present little book professes to be a compilation from the most judicious writers, on the subject