Mr. Galton has Horsley's edition of Newton; but I do not know how to get his Latin prospectus, except Mr. Cappe have it, which, I think, he said he had.

I propose on my journey to write my Address to the Bishops; though I shall not publish it till the year following. At my return, I shall have nothing to do but to sit down to translating.

I am glad to see the Commentaries,* and shall take it along with me. I shall send you some copies of the "History of Early Opinions," that you need not trouble Mr. Johnson about them. We set out to-morrow morning, and I shall write when I get to Castle-Head. Direct to that place, near Lancaster.†

DEAR FRIEND,

TO THE SAME.

Castle Head, Sept. 21, 1789. I AM concerned at your frequent indispositions; but as you are subject to feverish complaints, I hope you will be able both to guard against them, and manage yourself better in them. I am glad to hear you are so well recovered from this last attack. I keep in very good health, and am the better for the journey and the exercise I have here.

We leave this place on Thursday, and propose to spend Sunday next at Manchester, in our way home; so that your next should be directed to Birmingham, where I hope to arrive in the middle of the next week.

I am much pleased that you do not dislike the Letters to Dr. Knowles and Mr. Hawkins. The other letter to the latter, which I had not time to get transcribed, and which relates to the doctrine of the Trinity, I am pretty sure will not displease you.

Having sufficient leisure in this place, I have written my Address to the Bishops, and at my return shall have it transcribed and sent to you, along with the third letter to Mr. Hawkins.

Having dispatched these little things, I shall sit down to the translation, which I have at heart more than any thing I ever ↑ Orig. MS.

* See I. 394, ad fin.

undertook. If I was not sufficiently interested before, this Letter to the Bishop of Norwich,* (for which I thank you,) would have done it. His shameful conduct is well exposed, though the Letter is, in some places, rather obscure, as irony is apt to be. If he be capable of feeling, he must be miserable, as he deserves to be. I shall not forget this business in my Address to their Lordships. But what I have yet done is only a rough outline, such, however, as I wish to put into your hands before I proceed to finish it. For I wish to execute this piece with the greatest care, as I think it will close the controversy, and will, I hope, draw some attention.

I am sorry for the difference between Mr. Palmer and Mr. Robson, though not for the consequences of it, hist leaving Newcastle. I think you will do well to acquaint him with our scheme of translation, and ask his assistance. But, unless a person be stationary, and have access to books, he cannot do much. He may, however, assist by his remarks on particular passages. I hope we shall do without many more hands than are now engaged. We had better take another year than embarrass ourselves with intractable people.

I am concerned at the account you give me of the affairs of France. The courtiers here will triumph in it; but I hope the best, as the people in general are in favour of liberty, and the king cannot, I should imagine, find many to carry on a war.+

TO THE EDITOR OF THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.

MR. URBAN, Birmingham, Oct. 5, 1789. As it seems to be the wish of many of your readers to see every thing that could throw light upon the character and conduct of Mr. Badcock, especially as far as they respect myself, I send you a copy of one of his letters to me,§ as it gives the clearest idea of the state of his mind, not long before

By Mr. Garnham. See infra. The bishop had declared " a new translation of the Scriptures to be unnecessary." See XXV. 194. + Mr. Palmer's. § Dated " Barnstable, Dec. 23, 1774," and annexed to the "Familiar Letters." See W. XIX. 533.

↑ Orig. MS.

the termination of our correspondence, concerning which I shall have no objection to give you a few anecdotes, with candid remarks, upon a future occasion. The letter I now send was written in answer to one of mine, in which I had given him some account of what I had observed abroad.* I had also expressed, as I frequently did to him, my concern lest his ardour in the cause of truth should expose him to some inconvenience with his congregation.†

TO REV. T. LINDSEY.

DEAR FRIEND,

Birmingham, Oct. 8, 1789.

I SEND you something for the Gentleman's Magazine, occasioned by Mr. Badcock in the last. If you see Mr. Nicholls, you may tell him it is not fair to publish letters of the dead§ respecting the living, unless he admit of replies, and that it is for his credit to be impartial.

At my return I found a letter from Mr. Tayleur, with a bill of £150, for the expenses of my Ecclesiastical History. I told him I apprehended it would be considerably too much, and that I should consult with you, and did not doubt we should dispose of the overplus to his satisfaction. How unboundedly generous Mr. Tayleur is! I may well afford to give my books, when they are paid for before-hand.

Before I took my journey, I ordered twenty-five copies of my History of Early Opinions" to be sent to you. I am really desirous of giving a great part of the impression. I cannot consider them as my property, and only wish to place. them where they may be of the most use.

You will be pleased to be informed, that at Manchester I met with two Unitarian street-preachers, men of good sense and great zeal, who had read hardly any thing besides the Bible; nothing of mine or yours. They are Baptists, fourteen in number, not more than two months' standing. One of them had been in Mr. Wesley's connexion. As they had hired a building for their meetings in the winter, and were at expense

See I. 237-257.

+ Gent. Mag. LIX. 871.

Essex Street. § Badcock's, in which Dr. Priestley had been very freely censured.

in travelling to preach in the neighbouring towns, &c., I gave them five guineas. They are all working men. I was exceedingly pleased with their conversation. They told me of another society of the same kind in York, of sixty members, and others are forming in different places. Young Mr. Toulmin was with me, and gave them some of my small pieces, and I promised to send them other books. The name of one of them is John Laycock, and of the other, friends were also preachers. and propriety.*

Burton. Two others of their They spake with great fluency

The late Mr. David Eaton, (see M. R. (N. S.) III. 357; Christian Reformer, XV.196, 227, 345,) whom I have a pensive pleasure in recollecting, for his attachment to the progress of Christian truth and human improvement, as well as for our long-continued friendly intercourse, gave, in 1805, from his own personal knowledge," an account of this interview. Referring to Dr. Priestley's "visit at Manchester," Mr. Eaton says,

"Far from being entirely engrossed by the rich and great, the attentions that were paid him, or the invitations which he received, he was employed in making strict inquiry into the state of religion in that populous town. Amongst the different sects and parties that were named, there was one described as highly dangerous, who denied Christ, &c. The doctor, from experience, being well acquainted with the language and prejudices of ignorant declaimers, who, without knowledge or inquiry, abuse every thing that is contrary to their own received notions, was only the more desirous of knowing their true character. He obtained the address of their leading man, and speedily dispatched a note, inviting him to come and see him the next morning.

"At the time appointed, John Laycock (the name of the person invited) made his appearance, and was very cordially received by the doctor, who learnt from their history, that they were a number of poor persons who had seceded from the Methodists on Unitarian principles, and were now using their best endeavours to make their sentiments known. This information could not but delight the doctor, who, it is well known, ardently desired and longed for the time when scriptural, rational views of religion should be received, and be propagated among the lower orders of society, by plain, popular preaching. After he had inquired into their numbers, mode of proceeding, place of meeting, &c., he declared himself highly gratified with the conversation; he praised their zeal; he exhorted them to exemplary conduct and steady perseverance; and, in conclusion, begged their acceptance of a ten-pound note towards fitting up their meeting-room." Mr. Eaton adds,

"This secret, but meritorious action, never likely to be known, and performed to a few poor persons, who were entire strangers to him, is no less an evidence of the doctor's ardent, disinterested love of truth, than of the intrinsic goodness of his heart." Univer. Theol. Mag. IV. 23. On “the society in York," see Mr. Eaton's "Narrative."

I think it will be right to ask the assistance of Mr. Garnham,* in translating some part of the Old Testament. If you approve of this, give my respects to him, and desire him to undertake Proverbs or Ecclesiastes. I rejoice to hear of the new edition of the Duke's pamphlet,† and of the progress you make in your second part of Vindicia.

I rejoice exceedingly in your account of Mr. Belsham and the academy. Dr. Barnes has eighteen pupils, five for the ministry. Mr. Harrison having resigned, he and a mathematical tutor do every thing. He cannot conceal his jealousy of Mr. Hawkes's Unitarian chapel, which I doubt not will answer very well in time. I preached there both parts of the day. I am much better for my journey, and, they say, am getting flesh. I hope it will not make me idle.‡

TO THE SAME.

DEAR FRIEND,

Birmingham, Oct. 12, 1789. To give you a better idea of Mr Wilberforce's peculiar, and, I may add, extraordinary reasons, § for refusing us his vote for the abolition of the Test Act, I send you Mr. Simpson's letter, which gives an account of it. Please to return it.

I wish you would apply for me to Dr. Price or Mr. Morgan for such an opinion of Bishop Horsley's edition of Newton as I may safely quote; and when Mrs. Lindsey writes to Mrs. Cappe, I wish she would ask for the prospectus which Mr. Cappe once told me he either had, or could procure. I think to print in December, so as to publish in January. Mr. Dodson thinks that, as I cannot have any occasion to write any more Defences, my Address to the Bishops may soon follow this. But it will be better to defer it at least one year.

Mr. Marsom || will be able to give you some account of the Unitarian Baptists at York; for they sent one of their number

See I. 403, note ↑.

Orig. MS.

+ See infra, "Feb. 26, 1790."

§ In reply to an application from Dissenting ministers in Yorkshire. | Who still survives, to recommend, "in full age," those Christian principles to which he had uniformly devoted his life's activity.