selves should be really of one mind on all disputed questions), on one grand and leading principle they were all cordially agreed;—in asserting for themselves, and conceding to others, the inalienable right of private judgment, and in acknowledging the duty incumbent upon all of exercising this right (or rather of performing this duty) without bias or prejudice, examining the scriptures for themselves, and openly and candidly professing the doctrines which they honestly believed to be inculcated by the word of God, without regard to any creeds or systems of human devising, whether imposed by the civil power, or recommended by the authority of synods and councils.

This is the principle on which we endeavour to act; and we cannot doubt that it will lead all who adopt it throughout, and consistently, to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. May that time speedily arrive, when the eyes of men shall thus be opened to prove all things; when they shall discern that God is one, and his name one, acknowledging the Father to be the only true God, and Jesus his messenger to be the Christ!

23

JOHN BIDDLE

May without impropriety be called the father of English Unitarianism; for though, as we have already observed, there is good reason to believe that Arianism spread so rapidly in the reign of Edward VI. as to excite the alarm of the rulers of the church, and that several refugees from the horrors of the Marian persecution returned home with a considerable tincture of the Anti-trinitarian views which had already been professed by some of the most distinguished reformers on the continent, and though more than one Unitarian martyr may be cited from the annals of those gloomy times, yet, as far as is distinctly known, Biddle was the first Englishman who came forward openly to vindicate Unitarian principles either from the press or from the pulpit. He also appears to have been the first to gather even two or three to offer their requests to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in the form which may be presumed to be most acceptable to him who laid the injunction on his disciples, "In that day ye shall ask me nothing; but whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." It was but a little flock, and was speedily dispersed when the shepherd was taken away; but the leaven still remained to work more extensively in happier and more liberal, if not more enlightened, times. On these accounts, we justly place his name at the head of that catalogue of worthies in whose characters and history, we, as

Unitarians, may be expected to take a peculiar interest, as the ornaments of our faith, and as mainly instrumental in recommending it to the Christian world, not only by their able appeals to scripture and reason in its behalf, but by illustrating its efficacy and practical value in the example they have set before us of the virtues which ought to adorn the Christian character.

Mr. Biddle was born at Wotton-under-Edge, in Gloucestershire, in the year 1615. Though he had no pretensions to the rank or eminence derived from a long line of distinguished ancestry, he inherited from his parents that truest respectability which arises from a faithful discharge of the duties of life, and which procured them, along with other more valuable advantages, an intercourse with persons of superior station. He received his classical education at the grammar school of his native place, where he seems to have distinguished himself by early proficiency, and to have attracted notice as a youth of high promise. It is pleasing to learn that there was also observable in him, at this early period, that singular piety of mind and disregard of mere worldly and temporal considerations which characterized him through life; for he now not only devoted himself to liberal pursuits and studies, but engaged with great diligence and assiduity in the assistance of his recently widowed mother.

In 1632 he was admitted of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he continued his studies with increasing success and reputation; and there is reason to believe that he already gave indications of that disposition to exercise an independence of judgment and freedom of inquiry which were ever after a leading feature of his character, and the

mainspring at once of his eminence and of his misfortunes. After occupying with high reputation for a few years the post of college tutor, he was offered the mastership of the grammar school in which he had received the rudiments of his education, but declined in favour of a competent person, who at his recommendation was appointed. At length he was induced to accept the appointment of master of the free school of St. Mary of Crypt, in the city of Gloucester. In this honourable station, on which he entered in the year 1641, he met with the success which was anticipated from the high reputation he had previously acquired; and notwithstanding the dangers attendant on the impending political struggle, there can be little doubt that, if he could have refrained from an earnest and ardent inquiry after religious truth, or (having met with it, as he believed, in a different track from that pointed out by the ruling sects of the day); if he could have reconciled his conscience to an outward conformity, he might have remained unmolested in a condition of great credit, usefulness, and prosperity. But though, doubtless, well aware of the troubles which awaited him in that violent and intolerant age, his high sense of duty did not permit him to chain himself down to an implicit adoption of authorized creeds, nor to bury in the silence of his own breast what he conceived to be important, though unpopular and obnoxious, truth.

In addressing his mind to this inquiry, he did not (as is the practice with too many) first examine what the rulers and pharisees believe,what the fathers, the councils, or the church, have determined, and then seek to adjust the scripture

to a conformity with the comments and traditions of fallible men, but applied in the first instance to the fountain head, seeking for his religious faith nowhere but in the oracles of God. Nor had he, when he finally embraced Anti-trinitarian sentiments, any familiarity or even acquaintance with the writers on that side, though he afterwards studied the works of the Polish Socinians. There are few who have the impartiality or independence of mind to adhere rigidly to this rule; and yet there can be no question that, if the object be to ascertain not what this or that sect or church believes, but to learn as nearly as possible the true meaning of the sacred scriptures, the most likely way is first to acquire a competent knowledge of the languages in which they are written, and then read and judge for ourselves. If commentaries or any other extraneous sources of information are sought for, they should be such as are chiefly critical; or make it their business to collect the various facts relating to the history of ancient nations, the habits, manners, and general condition of the people, and other circumstances which may serve to illustrate obscure allusions and difficult passages which a mere acquaintance with the language will not alone enable us to explain.

It is not to be expected, such is the diversity of connexions, previous opinions, and peculiar associations, which variously influence the mind of man, that this method, even when conscientiously pursued, shall always lead to the same results; and therefore we ought neither to be surprised nor offended to find honest and candid inquirers differing in their conclusions;-least of all, however satisfied of the truth of our own, are