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    Orlando does to Jacques— < c I do desire that we may be better strangers /' I had certainly imagined , that it was not altogether unlawful ( more

    particularly among the Unitarian Nonconformists ) for an individual to form an opinion for himself , upon any pas * sage of Scripture without reserve ; and to publish it without apprehending an accusation of " contributing to perpetuate an atrocious calumny . " It appears , however , that I was decidedly

    mistaken ; for here is a personage , whose "indignation has been roused , " and who seems to think me worthy of ' the darkest times of Gothic ignorance /* because upon the character of Mary Magdalene I happen to have formed an opinion that is not his own . I know not , Sir , what your irascible correspondent will think , or what words he will find to do justice to his thoughts , when I candidly avow , that , after all his four columns of " indignant" dulness , I feel no wish to unwrite one line that I have written . I prefer nay supposition to his demonstration ; and I am happy to believe that my life ( though not very long ) has been sufficient to convince all whose praise or censure I would win or avoid , that it is not one of my habits to traduce the dead , or one of my pleasures to defame a woman .

    I am , however , open to conviction . I will read , as soon as an opportunity is given me , the works to which your correspondent has done me the honour to refer me . In return for this condescending attention , will he allow me to recommend to his reperusal that chapter of Matthew , to which no man can recur too often , which

    begins with , " Judge not , that ye be not judged "—and proceeds to intimate something respecting the folly of attempting to remove a mote from another ^ eye , while the operator himself has a beam in his own ?

    I have also , Sir , to thank my indignant" monitor for his extraordinary advice respecting the quarters , in which I am in future " to seek subjects for my muse . " I regret that I cannot pacify him by a promise of compliance ; but a poet ' s privileges zire too precious to be lightly resigned . The restrictions to which he submits must be imposed by himself alone ; and the critic that shall prescribe

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    those limitations to him , which Canute is said to have prescribed to the ocean may chance to be only rewarded by discovering , that it is a property of water to wet , * In the same page , Sir , which contained the obnoxious poem , there are

    _ , - * Shakspeare—As You Like It .

    some stanzas to the fate of the brave and noble Riego : —if your correspondent will give himself the trouble to read them * perhaps he will coincide with me in opinion , that the same pen which was volunteered to the memory of a patriot , was not likely to be prostituted to the defamation of a

    woman . My parting advice , Sir , to your correspondent is this—that he reserve his " indignation" in future for other and juster occasions ; and that he pass over whatever compositions may appear in your periodical under the same local

    date as the " Hymn of Mary Magdalene . " He that has any wish to avoid the plague will not make an unnecessary pilgrimage to Smyrna ; and no man who has a particular dread to encounter a crocodile , will perform his ablutions in the waters of the Nile . THE AUTHOR , &c .

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    Sir , June 26 , 1825 . IN reading the letter of " A Father of a Family , " ( p . 285 , ) it occurs to me that there are schools established on the plan he speaks of , not exactly

    perhaps by a Joint-Stock Company , but by the union of individuals , wlo agree to subscribe so much a year , with a deposit to start with , to defray outfit , &c , and have for this a share

    and the privilege of nominating a scholar , such privilege to be transferable , subject to approbation . I have been told , that at Plymouth , Chatham , Edinburgh , such associations exist , and are enabled at a

    moderate expense , say eight or ten guineas a year , to provide a very good education . I am not acquainted with the details of their plans , which 1 suppose are capable of being adapted to various situations ; perhaps some of your readers are and would favour us with them ,

    [ — which would be agreeable to Another Father of a Family , We earnestly request communications and information upon this subject . Ed . ]

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    466 Union Schools . -

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1825, page 466, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2539/page/14/