The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-07-20 00:00:00

•1.

NIL rosrirtwors TRE.47ISg.
We present our readers with a further extract from this
oak. The origins!, which is written entirely in Latin, is
supposed to be in the hand-writing of one of the poet's
daeghters, of whets it is recorded that he brought her up
ia the knowledge of Latin end Greek. It is fortunate for
Ma literature of our country that Milton fund an amanu-
ileitis in the domestic circle of his family ; for, as this and
ohm of hie celebrated productions were composed after the
uss of his sight, tb' rich current of his thoughts might
sot otherwise hare come down to posterity. It appears
'eldest that this work was intended by Its author
tette a posthumous ptildication. I,t • ill *lour into which
the late. Protector's Secretary naturally fell upon the re-
storation of royalty, is sufficient to account for Milton's
reluctance to bring himself into public notice by chat-
iengiog attention to a controversial work of this kind. lit
the State Paper Office it was found, tied up with a parcel
of affidavits and documents connected with the Popish
plot of (Seers, and the Rye House plot. It had always
been said ht the Biographers of Milton, that a work
awn the Christian Religion had been confided by Milton
to a Mr. Skinner, one of the Bard's known familiar
Mends. Among the loose papers found tied up along
with the treatise, Or itt immediate contiguity with it, was
.in eriginal deposition of Titus Oates, signed also by Sir
Edmund Bury Godfrey, a few days before big murder,
eontaining !Avenge others the name of Skinner, as one of.
those eusreoted of being concerned in the plot. The pro-
theterore, is, that this work was seised amongst I
the papers of the Skinner, whose name was here set down,
ind whose supposed possessien of a secret manureript of
/films saight have led telt% falling under the suspicion of
Government. This is the " strange eventful history" con-
nect:el with the discovery of the Treatise in such odd
company. The further we go into the work, the more we
are confirmed in our original opinion of its practical and
theological value.

OF 001).
Though there he not a esw who deny the existence of
OA for " the fool bath said in his hewn, there is no God,'
Peal. xiv. 1. yet the Deity has imprinted on the human
Lind so many unquestionable tokens of himself, and so
n.any tram of him are apparent throughout the whole of
nature, that no one in his senses can remain ignorant of
the truth. Job. xii. 9. " Who knoweth not its all these
that the hand of Jehovah hall wrought this? Psal. xix.
1. "The Heavers declare the glory of God." Acts xiv.
17. "He left not himself without witness." xvii. 27, 244,
"He is not far from every one of us." Rom. i. 19, 20,
" That which may heknown of Gott is manifest in them,
and ii. 16, 13, " The Gentiles—show the work of the law
written in, their hearts, thee' conscience also bearing wit-
ness." 1 cot. i. 21, " Art 'l' that in the wisdom of God,
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
feelislinces of preaching to save them that believe." There
tan be no doubt but that every thing in the world, by the
twenty of its order, and the evidence of a determinate and
beneficial purpose which pervades it, testifies that some
supreme efficient Power must have pre-existed, by which
the whole was ordained for a specific end.
There are some who pretend that nature or fate is this
lumen Power; but the very name of nature implies that
it must owe its birth to some prior agent, or, to ap -ak
properly, signets in itself nothirei; but means either the
(neon of a thing, or that general law which is the origin
of every thing, and under which every thing acts—and
Lite can be nothing, but a divine decree emanating from
some almighty power.
Further, dine who attribute the creation of every thing
to nature, must necessarily associate chance with nature as
a joint divinity ; so (that they gain nothing by this theory,
erec:pt that in the place of that one God, whom they cul-
ture tolerate, they are obliged, however reluctantly, to sub-
stitute two sovereign rulers of affairs, who must simoet
Always be in opposition to each other. In short, many
ocular demonstrations, many true predictions verified, many
wonderful works have compelled all nations to believe, I
either that God, se that sore evil pewee whose name enee
unknown, preseLd over the affairs of the world. Now that ,
evil should peeved ov, r coot], and be the true supreme
power, is as unmet tasit he incredible. Hence it follows
as a necessary cons, quence, that God exists.
Again : the existeuce of God is -further proved by that
feeling, whether we term it consience, or right reason,
which even in the worst of characters is not altogether ex-
tinguished. If there were no Gcd, the re would be no die-
tinstion between right and wrong; the estimate of virtue
and vice would entirely depend on the blind opinion of
men; no one would follow virtue, no one would be re-
strained from vice by any sense of shame, or fear of the
the laws, unless conscience or right reason did from time
to time convince every one, however unwilling, of the ex-
iatene of God, the Lord and ruler of all things, to whom,
sooner or later, each must give an account of his own
anions, whether good or had.
The whole tenor of Sc-ipture proves the same thing •
and the disciples of the doctrine of Christ may fairly be
required to pre assent to this truth in the first instance,
according to the expression haile). xi. 6. " lie that corned'
to God, must believe that he is." It is proved also by the
dispersion of the ancient nation of the Jews throughout
the whole world, according to what God often forewarned
them would happen on account of their sins. Nor is it
only to pay the penalty of their own guilt that they have
. been reserved in their nattered state, among the rest of the
. nations, through the revolution of successive ages, snd
even to the prevent day ; but rather to be a perpetual and
bring testimony to all people under Heaven, of the exist-
nee of Ged, and of the truth of the Holy Scriptures.
No one, however, can hive right thoughts of God, with
snare or reason alone as his guide, independent of the
word, or menage of God. Rein. x. 14. " how shall they
believe in him of whom they have rot heard ?"
God is known, so far as he- is pleased to make us ac-
quinted with himself, either from Lis own nature, or
from his efficient power.
When we speak of knowing God, it must be understood
whir reference to the imperfect comprehension of man; for
so know God as he really is, far transcends the power of
man's thoughts. much more of his perception. 1 Tim. vi.
16, " dwelling in the light which no man can approach
ento." God therefore has made as full a revelation of
himself es our minds can conceive, or the weakness of our
nature nn bear. Liad, mil. 20, 23, " there shall to man
toe. me, and lie. - but thou shalt see my Lack parts."
bee vi. 1. " I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up, and the train filled the teenple." John i.
"no man bath seen God at any time." vi. 46. " not
that any man bath seen the Father, save he which is of
, Gerd, he hash seen die Fa:her." v. 37. "ye have &idler
heard his role* at any utne." 1 Cur. xiii. 12. "we see
thmugh I glass, darkly - - . - in parte'
Our safest way is to form in our minds such a eoricep-
tin'at of God, as shall correspond with his own delineation
• awl representation of himself in the sacred writings. For
ranting that bo:h in the literal and figurative descriptions
of God, he is exhibited not as he really is, but in such a
tosueer as maybe within the scope of our comprehensions,
Yet we ought to entertain such a conception of him, as he,
are Pneleseending to accommodate himself to our cape-i
seine has shown that he desires we should conceive. For
it is on this MI acceuit that he has lowered himself to
oar level, lest in our flights above the reach of hilman un-
ders:andinLand beyond the written word of Scripture,
we should tempted to indulge in vague cogitations and
retie, tin.
'There is no need, then that theologians should have n-
ears@ Isere to what they call anthropopathy—a figure in-
vented by the grammarians to excuse the absurdities of the
Kati CM the subject of the heathen divinities. We may
be sure that sufficient care hiss been taken that the Holy
Ilniptures should contain nothing unsulteble to the charac-
teror dirtni:y of God, and that God should say nothing
if himself which could derogate from his own majesty. It
is letter therefore to contemplate the Deity, and to con-
• No of him, not witb reference to human passions, that is,
eater the manner men, who are never weary of forming
T
'ele imaginations respecting him, but after the manner of
Ile•ipt we, that is, in the way in which God has offered himti
cif earcontemplation ; nor should we think that Ile would
ay et' direct any thing to be written of himself, which is