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I feel equally assured of your ready patronage, and of the obliging information which I request from the possessor of it. Indeed, the more immediate object of this inquiry is the munuscript letter above-mentioned from Mr. Cholmondeley to Mr. Forester, of which there may be other copies preserved in private hands; and if by any means I can be favoured with a communication of that letter, 1 should hope that the " very curious case" by which I have endeavoured to gain attention will at once justify its title, and apologize for its singularity. Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

SP. M.

Feb. 2.

HAVE just met with a new and revised edition of "The Great Importance of a Religious Life," written by the elder Mr. Melmoth. Upon looking into the Editor's Preface, at the end of which are only the initials J. D. (and who J. D. is I neither know nor am concerned to know) I found the two following extraordinary paragraphs:

"It must not be omitted to be observed, that it would ill become an honourable mind to be accessary to the practice of any literary deception: and none shall be attempted, either by clandestine obtrusion, or concealment, on the present occasion."

Again:

"In the doctrinal parts of this little work there were expressions which were supposed not to be supported by Scripture, correctly interpreted, and which ill corresponded with the sentiments of the present Editor, and other like-minded Christians. He has therefore omitted these excepted expressions," &c.

Having read the preface, I immediately sent for the old and genuine edition of Melmoth; and supposing the Editor of this new edition to be an Unitarian, I expected from the hints above given to find certain "concealments;" but I also found concealments which I was not prepared to expect.

Among the concealments which I had not anticipated, were the many passages in which the eternity of future punishments was asserted by Mr. Melmoth, and the existence of the Devil; and a very long extract from Tillotson was expunged, for no reason that I can see but that it contained

such expressions. And all the passages in which Jesus Christ is men-, tioned as a Saviour, an Advocate, &c. have undergone such alterations as might naturally be expected from the preface of this Unitarian. The fate which would attend the morning and evening prayers may easily be imagined.

On the conduct of J. D. on this occasion, there can, I think, be but one opinion. A great majority, even of Unitarians, I should hope, would, equally with other Christians, both in the Church and out of it, disapprove of a proceeding so disingenu

ous.

Mr. Melmoth is not allowed to speak his own sentiments: his sentiments are, by the present editor, unfairly suppressed, and a most unwarrantable, and, I had almost said, unpardonable liberty is taken with the writings of a deceased author. From this new, and (as the editor with singular felicity calls it) revised edition,

it
appears, that Mr. Melmoth is to
be handed down to posterity as one
who believed that Jesus Christ was no
Saviour, no Advocate, no Mediator,
and no Redeemer! and, could he see
the present edition of his own work,
he would not recognize it for his
own; or he would apply the words of
Martial:

"Quem recitas meus est, O Fidentine,
libellus,

Sed malè cum recitas, incipit esse tuus."

In the above doctrinal points a vast majority of Christians think themselves right: and the Unitarians also think themselves right. But if the latter should not be right, which is very possible, they then keep back and "conceal" some of the most important doctrines of Divine Revelation. Till therefore the infallibility of the Unitarians can be clearly established, there seems no small impropriety in their taking such reprehensible liberties with the works of the dead. Has the cause of Unitarianism no better support?

When Unitarians publish their religious opinions, as a friend to the liberty of the press and to free inbut, in return, I hope for their graquiry, I by no means object to it; cious permission, not only to publish mine, but that these opinions, whatever they are, may be allowed to re

main upon record; neither expunged without my knowledge and consent while I am alive, nor "concealed" when dead, under the specious name of a new and revised edition. To this, and to this only, do I object.

But what, Sir, can be the design of J. D. in this curious literary manœuvre, for I must not, it seems, call it "deception," in this improvement on the Index Expurgatorius of the Roman Catholicks,—this semiclandestine procedure, in which the Reader is indeed taught to expect both omissions and additions, but is left to the labour of collating the editions, passage by passage, before he can discover the number, the nature, and the importance, of these "obtrusions" and "concealments?" He cannot intend it for the benefit and security of the Unitarians. I will not suppose their opinions to rest on such slender foundations, that the

mere assertions of Mr. Melmoth will overthrow them. Is it then to obliterate by stealth and stratagem the remembrance of Trinitarian doctrines, and to entrap the unwary? Is it to buy up by degrees the old editions of our Nelsons, our Tillotsons, and our Melmoths, and to substitute spurious, I beg pardon,-revised edi

tions?

Let not J. D. suppose that the notice I take of his edition arises from bigotry. I may be wrong in my religious sentiments, but am open to conviction. And should I, in consequence, at some future day, see reason to change any of my opinions, yet I could never so far forget myself as to adopt his method of opposing tenets which I no longer espoused.

any

When J. D. says, "It would ill become an honourable mind to be accessary to the practice of literary deception," his notions of honour are certainly, in this instance, not very correct; but I will candidly suppose that bis zeal in the cause has warped his judgement; and shall only add, that in this very singular performance he has exhibited, I am fully persuaded, without being conscious of it himself, a rare specimen, at once, of "literary deception," and selfdeception.

Might I offer my advice to J. D. it would be, that he should abandon

the practice of giving such revised editions, and instantly recall the impressions of a book which will reflect little credit either on the cause of Unitarianism, or the name of J. D. whenever it shall be known.

Yours, &c. A PLAINDEALER. Could not J. D. have published a new edition with these words in the title-page, "altered from Mr. Melmoth for the use of Unitarians?" This would have been fair and unexceptionable; but this, perhaps, would not completely have answered his

purpose.

Mr. URBAN,

A

Hint to Clergymen officiating at Funerals. Feb. 13. SINCERE wish that the Clergy may be universally respectable and respected, has induced me to trouble you with a few lines on a subject in which their credit is materially involved.

It sometimes happens that, in the discharge of their official duties at the funerals even of persons who were not less distinguished by their virtues than their wealth, they take no notice whatever, either before or after the service, of the mourners and other attendants, discover no sympathy with them, and are deficient in the common forms of courtesy. You, Sir, will agree with me, that such conduct is ill calculated to remove the prejudices of men who are disaffected to the Church of England: and as the fact and its tendencies are unequivocal, I flatter myself that the evil may in some degree be checked by this communication from Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

A

'N.

Feb. 14.

SI have not seen an answer to the request in your last volume, p. 343, for the inscription at Cuddesden on Bishop Lowth's daughter, the following is a copy of it. The tomb is a white marble Sarcophagus ; and was repaired in 1806, by Mr. Forster, formerly butler to the Bishop.

Yours, &c.

H. H. OXON.

"Maria, Roberti Lowth Episcopi Oxon. Et Mariæ Uxoris ejus Filia, Nata xinto die Junii A. D. MDCCLV. Obiit vto die Julii A. D. MDCCLXVIII."

Mr.

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Mr. URBAN,

Arvon, Dec. 2.

HARLECH is 1 sera torn on the ARLECH is a small town on the shire. The privileges of a borough were granted to it by Edward 1. but, from the obscurity of its situation, it is fallen into decay. The only remains of its former prosperity are the Castle, one or two antient timber houses, and the shattered shell of the Town

hall, which appears to be of the same style as the Castle. The Church, a small mean building, stands two miles off, at Llanvaier. The other buildings are mean, and the whole place presents strong features of desolation and decay. It stands on the side of a high mountain overlooking the Irish sea, exposed to all the storms and blasts of the S. W. wind. The view into Llyn is highly beautiful; and that of the Eryri mountains (Snowdon) is grand and sublime, equal, if not superior, to any in the Principality. The Castle stands on a high rock; the neck that connects it with the mountain has a broad deep ditch cut out of the solid rock; the other sides, overlooking the sea and marsh, are defended by precipices and outworks, rendering it nearly inaccessible. In its early state it appears to have been the residence of the British chieftains, Brouwen, sister of Bran ap Llyr, King of Britain, gave the first name to the fortress, it being called Twr Brouwen. In after-times it was called Caer Collwyn, from Collwyn ap Tango, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and lord of Efionydd, Ardudwy, and part of Llyn. He resided in a square tower in the oldest part of the fortress, the remains of which, and part of the old walls, are at this time plainly to be distinguished: the more modern walls are built on them. Edward 1. about the year 1282, rebuilt a great part of the Castle, and enlarged it. The form is

square,

with large round towers at the angles, having elegant round turrets rising above the battlements. The entrance to the inner ward is by a deep gateway, between two large round towers, defended by massy gates and a portcullis. The entrance to the outer ward is through a smaller gateway, with banging round towers on the sides, and (formerly) a drawbridge over the foss. The whole is

GENT. MAG, February, 1813.

grand and majestic even in decay. In the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster, after the battle

of St. Alban's, 1460, Margaret of Anjou took refuge in this castle before In 1468 it she fled into Scotland. was bravely defended by Dafydd ap Jevan ap Einion, and surrendered on honourable terms to Edward IV. In the civil wars of Charles I. it was

alternately in possession of both parties, and finally surrendered in 1647, being the last fortress that held out for the King in North Wales. The first Constable after its rebuilding by Edward 1. was Hugh de Wlonkeslow, with a salary of one hundred pounds per ann. It was afterwards reduced to twenty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence; in some accounts fifty pounds; which probably was the fee for both Constable and

Captain of the town. The whole garrison at that time consisted of twenty soldiers, whose annual pay amounted to one hundred and forty pounds. The present Constable is Sir R. W. Vaughan, bart. with a salary of fifty pounds a year, payable out of the revenues of North Wales. Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

T. S.

Sept. 1. HEREWITH send you a Narrative, which is tremendously awful in its circumstances; and trust it may prove as interesting to the minds of others, as I myself found it, many years since, when I transcribed it from the manuscript. It is as yet unpublished; deem it you per to be inserted, by portions, in a few numbers of the Magazine, it is much at the service of yourself and readers.

and if

pro

In Mr. Lysons's entertaining Environs, vol. IV. p. 314, I find the following inscription, which is so suitable an accompaniment to the Narrative, that you will oblige me by letting them go together.

Mr. Chase is buried in Bromley church, Kent; and at the East end

of the South wall is his monument,

thus inscribed:

"Sacred to the memory of THOMAS CHASE, Esq. formerly of this parish; born in the City of Lisbon, the first of November, 1729,

23d

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