New-York tribune., 1880-04-11
LETTERs FROM THE PEOPLE.

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DR.. PARK AND JONATHAN EDWARDS.
THE REV. JOHN MILLER BEGs THAT MANUSCRIPT
OF THE LATTER IN THE FORMERS POSSESSION
BE PRINTED DID THE GREAT THEoLoGIAN
DENY THE TRINITY
TO the EDITOR OF The Trsbuae.
SIR: The Rev. DR.. Park is perhaps the greatest
living English speaking theologian. IL there Is any
greater he is not f Britain, unless include ex-
egetica research and he is not in this country,
less we 20 West and indulge the somewhat uncer-
tain augury of what a certain young man In that
boundless region is sure in my belief. one day to
become. Taking things as they are, the Andover
divine s dong more than anybody else. with
scholars to keep up what Sir William Hamilton
told the writer was the great distinction of America
to be, in doctrinal divinity, in advance of the
world. ~
viii Dr. Park, for this very reason. answer
uuestioni Suppose he were dead, and had left
wonderful power to impress the ages. Suppose
lot of literary executors divided him, and gave the
manuscripts in which he agreed with them to the
press, and hid out Of sight one in which he denied
their system would il. or would it not. be moral
TO give as his effective testimony that in which they
agreed and to smother him and choke him down
in that in which he dIffered3 Is that moral ! And
now for our case.
Jonathan Edwards was o greater man than DR..
IdTk. JIG WAS BI6lO III OCOlluuus LuSf o"y e"SAo'
Three great Americans! Washington, Franklin and
Edwards. They collatinR him years ago as
men would Goethe. They would not let O manu-
script of his risk the sea. Scotland published his
books first, and has worshipped him the most and
longest They say : Three great theologiaus Paul,
Augustine and Edwards. Add Scotlands greatest
men, instead Of aspiring to the first place them
selves delight to quote him and if they have any
jealousy at all it is of us in claiming any provincial
right instead of allowing him as great cosmopoii-
tan possession. Now manuscript OF this man is In
Dr. Parks house at Andover. Three years ago
wrote for it. | was trial for heresy Edwards
had been president at Princeton and his tomb is the
most distinguished in this neighboring ground.
sentence from his pen would have worked wonders.
and begged for it and urged the right Of the great
thinker to have every word from him inspected and
known. l raised the same question that raise
now. DR.. Park replied very cOurteously. aud in
formed mo that the paper was mis!ad. wrote at
long intervals more than once. Since last wrote
have received no reply. have suspicion that
Dr. Park has no sympathy with tue policy Of con-
cealment and have no doubt, OF course. tnat tne
paper was mislad but have hope that the
great New Eng lander has never thought tins matter
through. beg the alliance Of IHE TRIBUNE 10 ask
him whether such paper ought to be misia,d. l l
mean by that whether after being long withheld
importance as to lapse out of sight, and be- perhaps
irretrevaby lost. though perhaps the last view on
And all my thinking whether IL should or must,
has been stirred up aresh by one of the last Inde-
pendents: As we'll say that President Edwards was
not Calvinist because he left behind him trea-
tise on the Trinity on which his son wrote the in-
junction that it was not to be published. an injunc-
tion which has been obeyed by his editors" T. IL,
This gives fuller view than had yet had. Now,
boldly is this rightf Does God care to be defended
in snch fashioni Z And suppose that He is lrin-
itv would He expect in order to show it, the sup
preston of the deliberate thought of one Of the
noblest students of any ageG Ought not theolo-
gizers 10 be like C@sar's wifef To say that Ed
wards may never have composed the paper that ne ne
NAV have copied it; to say that he may never nave
embraced its teaching but may have framed it into
speech simply to look At 1t as tentative conceit,
he never could pay to publish half his worksl-is
trifing with the case. Ought not the public 10
have a chance to judges We're there any other lay
figures or mere specular studies among all bis
works. And would not the style and manner OF
the task or the discovery of the other if i was
a copy reveal the truth, and show whether it was
tentative in its cast or the absolute thought OF
grave and deliberating mindf JNo. MILLER
Princeton, April 4, 1880.