FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 CD 
 
 /</37/ 
 
Engraved especially /or] 
 
 Uhe Centenary Volume. j 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OK THE LATE REVEREND 
 
 THEOPHILUS LlNDSEY, M.A. 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 A BRIEF ANALYSIS OF HIS WORKS ; 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 ANECDOTES AND LETTERS OF EMINENT PERSONS, 
 
 HIS FRIENDS AND CORRESPONDENTS : 
 
 ALSO 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF THE UNITARIAN 
 DOCTRINE IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 
 
 By THOMAS BELSHAM, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE CHAPEL IN ESSEX STREET. 
 
 Simulacra vultus, imbecilla ac mortalia ; forma mentis, seterna, 
 quam tenere et exprimere tuis ipse moribus possis. Tacitus. 
 
 Care .... Vale. At veniet felicius sevum 
 Quando iterum tecum, eim modo dignus, ero. Loicth. 
 
 THE CENTENARY VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 
 
 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN; 
 
 AND 
 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. 
 1873. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDKR, 
 
 MILFORD LANE, STRAND, W.O. 
 
PREFACE TO THE CENTENARY VOLUME. 
 
 It was in November, 1773, that this venerable man, Theophilus 
 Lindsey, when over fifty years of age, and in the enjoyment of 
 a rich living in the Church of England, surrounded also by many 
 friends, and with the certain prospect of a bishopric, resigned all 
 the comforts of an elegant home, and all chances of preferment, 
 for the sake of what he esteemed to be Christ's truth and a good 
 conscience. He became a Dissenter when dissent was very much 
 despised, and Dissenters generally shunned. He also openly 
 avowed his Unitarian views when these sentiments were nearly 
 everywhere abhorred. From a commanding sense of duty he left 
 the Church when he knew not where to find a home for himself 
 and,wife ; and sold his library and some other effects to supply 
 for a time the necessaries of life. In 1774 he came from the 
 North to London, and founded Essex-street Chapel — probably the 
 first distinctly named Unitarian congregation in England. And 
 now, after the lapse of one hundred years, we confidently affirm 
 that Lindsey's theological views are becoming daily more widely 
 known and honoured; and we are inclined to believe they will 
 remain as a pyramid for ever on the landscape of religious truth, 
 to guide into all truth ; while his integrity, like a star, will lead 
 onward the theological inquirer to be sincere, not to palter with 
 words in a double sense, or to tamper with conscience. It is 
 surely better to suffer affliction for what we esteem to be truth, 
 than to enjoy the emoluments or positions of dishonesty. This 
 reprint is now published to advance the highest moral and 
 religious interests of society at the suggestion of Mr. Samuel 
 Sharpe, of Highbury, London, whose zeal for the Unitarian 
 Christian faith is only surpassed by his admiration of the sincere 
 and upright of all denominations. It is possible that this volume 
 may induce other members of the Unitarian Church to republish, 
 in a cheap form, some valuable religious works which are little 
 known to the present generation. The best monument that 
 any one can leave behind — next to the memory of a good life — is 
 a good book that may reach the homes of all our people. 
 
 ROBERT SPEARS. 
 
 73, Angell Road, London 
 November, 1873, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The publication of this tribute of respect to the memory 
 of a highly venerated friend has been delayed beyond expectation, 
 partly by a necessary attention to other publications, but chiefly by 
 the time which was occupied in the perusal of letters and other 
 documents, which far exceeded what was antecedently supposed to 
 be requisite. 
 
 The events which occur in the life of a scholar and a pastor 
 seldom possess novelty and variety sufficient to excite public 
 attention. Those of Mr. Lindsey's life, indeed, were of no 
 common complexion. But the chief design of publishing this 
 Memoir is to exhibit the picture of an eminently virtuous, pious, 
 and disinterested mind in circumstances of great difficulty and 
 perplexity, as an example to others who may find themselves in 
 similar difficulties, and as an encouragement to sacrifice every 
 secular consideration in the cause of religious truth, and to prefer 
 the performance of duty and the approbation of conscience to 
 all the honours and emoluments which the world can offer. It was 
 also the author's design to mark the progress of that glorious 
 cause which lay nearest to the heart of this venerable man, that of 
 a long-lost and almost- forgotten truth, the proper Unity of God, 
 and the supreme unrivalled undivided homage which is due to the 
 Father alone : a cause for which he voluntarily sacrificed all 
 his secular possessions and expectations, to the promotion of 
 which he devoted all his labours, and in testimony to which 
 he would, if needful, have cheerfully laid down his life. Happily, 
 he lived in an age which was enlightened and liberal beyond 
 all that preceded it : and though some alarm was excited, and 
 some risk incurred, when he first opened a chapel for Uni- 
 tarian worship, he met with no real impediment or molestation 
 in the discharge of his official duties : and he lived to see the 
 time, when, in consequence of the increasing knowledge and 
 liberality of the age, owing in great measure to his unwearied and 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 successful exertions, the profession of Unitarianism ceased to 
 be regarded either as singular or hazardous. 
 
 It was also the design of the author to communicate some 
 information relative to other generous advocates of the same 
 righteous cause, some of whom were also sufferers for truth. 
 Among these are Dr. William Robertson, Mr. Tayleur of Shrews- 
 bury, and, above all, Dr. Priestley, whose letters cannot be perused 
 by any feeling and intelligent reader without great interest 
 and sympathy with the venerable exile : and it cannot but excite 
 astonishment in every serious and reflecting mind, that such 
 a person should not have been allowed to end his days in peace in 
 his native couutry. But Providence had wise and good cuds 
 to answer by permitting this afflicting event, some of which 
 are sufficiently apparent; so that Dr. Priestley might justly say to 
 his enemies and persecutors, as Joseph said to his brethren, 
 "It was not you that sent me hither, but God." 
 
 The author very much regrets that the respectable relict of Mr. 
 Lindsey did not live to see this work complete, and to give 
 her sanction to the narrative. But it may be some satisfaction 
 to the reader to know that the first eight chapters were written 
 some time ago, and were read over as they were finished to 
 Mrs. Lindsey, who expressed her kind approbation of them, 
 and her decided attestation to the truth of the facts stated in them. 
 And the author flatters himself that no circumstances will be 
 found in the remainder of the narrative which- are not supported 
 by sufficient testimony. 
 
 By far the greater part of the materials from which this Memoir 
 is composed were supplied to the author by Mrs. Lindsey, for the 
 express purpose of selecting from them what might be interesting 
 and useful. To other friends and correspondents of Mr. Lindsey 
 he is indebted for the rest; and on this account he acknowledges 
 his particular obligations to the Rev. William Turner, of New- 
 castle, and the Rev. Dr. Toulmin, of Birmingham. Of these 
 materials, he trusts, it will appear that he has not made an indis- 
 creet use. There is no living friend of Mr. Lindsey, from whose 
 correspondence he has made more copious extracts than from the 
 letters of the Rev. Dr. Freeman, of Boston, in New England ; but 
 these are of a public nature, relating wholly to the state and pro- 
 gress of the Unitarian doctrine in America; and they do great 
 credit to the ability and the piety of the writer, who, it is hoped, if he 
 should chance to hear of this Memoir, will pardon the liberty which 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 the author has taken with the letters which he addressed to his 
 venerable friend. 
 
 This Memoir will be of little interest to any but those to whom 
 a calm impartial inquiry into the sacred Scriptures is a considera- 
 tion of supreme importance, and by whom the firm undaunted 
 profession of Christian truth is regarded as among the first of 
 duties. To these the author hopes it will not be unacceptable ; 
 to their candour he commends it ; and if they derive any portion 
 of that satisfaction and advantage from the perusal, which he has 
 done from the composition of the Memoir, they will not have read, 
 nor he written, in vain. 
 
 Essex House, 
 July 16th, 1812. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The Author has republished the Memoirs of Mr. Lindsey with- 
 out any material alteration, excepting the addition of an Appendix 
 to the Ninth Chapter. This Chapter having been republished 
 separately in America, gave rise to a warm controversy at Boston 
 and in its vicinity j which, though it does not make it necessary 
 to introduce any considerable change in the state of facts, has ren- 
 dered it expedient for the Author, in his own vindication, to show 
 that he has not used his terms in any new or unusual sense ; and 
 much less that he has affected to set himself up as the head of a 
 religious party. 
 
 Essex House, 
 March 23d, 1820. 
 
CONTEN T S. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Account of Mr. Lindsey from the time of his birth to his settlement 
 * at Catterick, in Yorkshire. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey born at Middlewich, p. 1. — early noticed and patronized by Lady 
 Betty and Lady Ann Hastings, p. 2. — and by Lady Huntingdon, p. 2. — Anecdotes 
 of Lady Huntingdon, p. 2, note. — Mr. L educated under .Mr. Barnard at Leeds, p. 3. 
 — spends his vacations with Lady Ann Hastings at Ash by Place, p. 3 — where his 
 mother when she became a widow lived and died, p. 3. — Mr. L. admitted at St. 
 John's College, Cambridge, where he greatly distinguished himself by his proficiency 
 and good morals, p. 3. — and is intrusted by the Bishop of Lincoln with the superin- 
 tendancy of his grandson, Richard Reynolds, Esq., which laid the foundation of long 
 and mutual friendship, p. 4. — Mr. L. ordained by Bishop Gibson, and presented by 
 Sir Gr. Wheeler to a chapel in Spital Square, p. 5. — is recommended by Lord Hun- 
 tingdon as domestic chaplain to the Duke of Somerset, p. 5. - treated with ereat 
 kindness and friendship by the Duke and his family, p. 5. — accompanies Lord Wark- 
 worth to the continent, p. 5. — and upon his return is presented by the Earl of North- 
 umberland to the living of Kirkby Whiske, p. 6. — becomes acquainted with Arch- 
 deacon Blackburne, p. 7. — at the desire of Lord Huntingdon Mr. L. resigns the living 
 of Kirkby for that of Piddletown, p. 7. — marries Miss Elsworth, p. 7. — begins to 
 entertain scruples concerning the Trinity, p. 8. — and forms a design of retiring from 
 the church, p. 9. — declines the solicitations of the Duke and Dutchess of Northum- 
 berland to accompany them to Ireland, p. 10. — by the interest of Lord Huntingdon 
 he is permitted to exchange the living of Piddletown for the vicarage of Catterick, 
 p. 10. — Mr. L., now become a Unitarian, reconciles himself to subscribing the Arti- 
 cles, and using the Liturgy, p. 11. — his reasons for this conduct stated by himself, 
 p. 12. — shelters himself under Dr. Wallis's account of the Trinity sanctioned by the 
 University of Oxford, p. 14. — but upon reflection does not approve his own conduct, 
 p. 17. — Mr. Lindsey's manner of performing his parochial duties at Catterick, where 
 he continues ten years, p. 17. — Mrs. Cappe's testimony to his zeal and success, p. 18. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 From Mr. Lindsey's settlement at Catterick, to his resignation of that 
 
 vicarage, a.d. 1773. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey becomes dissatisfied with his reasons for conformity, p. 20.— Iip i-; in- 
 troduced by Archdeacon Blackburne to Mr. Turner of Wakefield, aid Dr. Priestley, 
 p. 22. — State of Mr. L. s feelings, p. 24. — Dissenters not likely to receive him cor- 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 dially, p. 24. — Cowper's censure and Orton's applause of Mr. L.'s conduct, p. 24, 
 note. — Mr. L. not satisfied with altering the church service, p. 26. — Resolves upon 
 resignation of his living, p. 27. — is encouraged by the example of the ejected 
 ministers, p. 27. — and of Dr. W. Robertson, p. 28. — Mr. L. defers his resignation on 
 account of the clerical petition, p. 29. — Origin of this petition, p. 30. — Mr. L.'s 
 great exertions to procure signatures to it, p. 30. — the number small, but respecta- 
 bility great, p. 32. — Mr. Lee's account of the unfavourable aspect of the case, p. 33. 
 — and of the manner in which it was supported in and received by the House of 
 Commons, p. 34. — Sir George Savile's speech from Dr. Furneaux's notes, p. 36, note. 
 ■ — Mr. Lindsey's account of the same debate, p. 38. — Mr. Pickard and Dr. Furneaux 
 take encouragement from what passed to summon the general body of dissenting 
 ministers to apply to Parliament for relief from subscription, p. 39. — Account of the 
 Rev. Edward Pickard, late minister of Carter Lane, p. 39, note. — Dissenting 
 ministers succeed in their application, p. 42. — Mr. L. confirmed in his resolution by 
 reading Calamy, p. 42. — determines that he will delay no longer, p. 43. — his state 
 of mind, p. 44. — preaches the assize sermon at York, p. 46. — visits Alnwick Castle, 
 p. 46. — reflections upon this visit, p. 47. — Mr. L. communicates his intention to 
 Archdeacon Black burne, p. 48. — to Dr. Jebb, p. 49 — and to Dr. Markham, his dio- 
 cesan, p. 50. — declines Mr. Turner's proposal of recommending him to the Octagon 
 Chapel at Liverpool, p. 51. — takes leave of two of his chapels, p. 52. — and is pre- 
 vailed upon to publish his Farewell Discourse, p. 52, note. — Distress of his pai'ishioners 
 at parting with their minister, p. 53, note. — Some account of Dr. Chambers, p. 53, 
 note. — Poverty of Mr. Lindsey, p. 54. — Dr. Markham dissuades Mr. L. from resigning 
 his living, but in vain, p. 54. — Mr. Lindsey resigns his vicarage, p. 55. — and leaves 
 Catterick in the month of December, 1773, p. 55. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 From Mr. Lindsey's resignation of Catterick, to his opening the 
 
 Chapel in Essex-street. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey treated with coldness by former friends, p. 56. — Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey 
 visit Mrs. Harrison, p. 56. — Mr. Turner, p. 56. — and Mr. Mason, p. 57. — Mr. L. 
 violently attacked by Dr. W. Cooper, p. 57, note. — and defended by Mr. Cappe and 
 Mr. Turner, p. 57, note. — sells his library for his subsistence, p. 58. — visits Dr. 
 Disney, p. 58. — and transcribes Dr. S. Clarke's alterations in the Liturgy, p. 58. — 
 visits Dr. Chambers, at Achurch, where he finishes his Apology, p. 58. — hopes for co- 
 operation from Dr. Jebb, p. 59. — and has great promises of support in London, p. 59. 
 — visits Mr. Reynolds at Paxton, p. 61. — where be hears of the death of his friend, 
 Thomas Hollis, Esq., p. 61, note. — Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey arrive in London, p. 61. — 
 visit at Dr. Ramsden's, and take lodgings in Feathei'stone -buildings, p. 61. — sell 
 their plate to provide necessaries, p. 61. — Mr. L. soon meets with friends, p. 62. — 
 Samuel Shore, Esq., of Norton Hall, p. 62. — Robert Newton, Esq., of Norton House, 
 p. 62, note. — Mr. Johnson secures the house in Essex-street, p. G3. — Mr. Lindsey's 
 state of mind, p. 64. — declines an invitation to Norwich, p. 64. — improves upon Dr. 
 Clarke's Liturgy, p. 65. — Obstructions threatened from the civil power, p. 65. — the 
 magistrates object to licensing the chapel, p. 67. — Mr. Lee demands it as a matter of 
 .right, p. 69. — and obtains a promise of it from the bench, p. 69. — which promise 
 was not fulfilled, p. 69, note. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 From the first opening of the Chapel, to the purchase of the premises, 
 and the erection of the present building in Essex-street. 
 The chapel opened, p. 70. — Account of it by Mr. Lindsey, p. 70. — by Mr. Lee, 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 p. 70, note. — Lord Le Despenser subscribes to it, p. 71. — How far Mr. L. receded 
 from the church service, p. 71. — Analysis of the sermon preached and printed on 
 the occasion, p. 72. — Mr. L. in a manner pledges himself not to introduce contro- 
 versy into the pulpit, p. 73. — Evil consequences of equivocal preaching stated and 
 exemplified, p. 74, note. — Success of doctrinal instruction, p. 74, note. — Mr. Lind- 
 sey obliged to violate his rule, p. 75. — Early hearers of Mr. Lindsey, p. 76. — Mr. 
 and Mrs. Rayner, p. 70. — Sir George Savile, p. 77.— Michael Dodson, Esq., p. 77. — 
 Robert Martin Leake, Esq. and others, p. 77. — Sir Barnard Turner's letter and 
 liberal contribution, p. 77. — Mr. L.'s great satisfaction and peace of mind, p. 78. — 
 Mr. L.'s conduct gives offence to some of the associated clergy, p. 79.— he is accused 
 of mercenary views, p. 80.— his defence, p. 81. — Mr. Lindsey's Apology attacked by 
 Mr. Burgh, p. 82. — whose work is approved by Mr. Mason and Dr. Hurd, p. 83, 
 note. — he is also attacked by Mr. Bingham and Dr. Randolph, p. 83.— to all which 
 he replies in the Preface to his Sequel, p. 83. — Mr. Lindsey publishes the Sequel to 
 his Apology, p. 83. — Analysis of that elaborate work, p. 84. — Mr. L. desires a col- 
 league, p. 85. — applies to Dr. .Tebb, who declines the proposal, p. 86. — Moderate 
 income and liberal spirit of Mr. L., p. 86, note. — Generosity of Mr. Smith, now 
 Lord Carrington, and others, p. 86, note. — Mr. L. applies to other clergymen to join 
 him in the chapel service, but without success, p. 86. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 From the erection of the building in Essex-street, to the appointment 
 of Dr. Disney to be the colleague of Mr. Lindsey in 17S3. 
 
 House and chapel erected in Essex-street, p. 87. — Mrs. Lindsey's activity and 
 zeal, p. 87, note. — Brief account of William Tayleur, Esq., of Shrewsbury, p. 88. — 
 of Richard Kirwan, Esq., P.R.S.I., p. 90. — Mr. L. in quiet possession of his dwelling- 
 house and chapel, p. 91. — seized with a dangerous fever, p. 92. — his reflections upon 
 recovery, p. 92. — The Author's reflections upon his first hearing Mr. Lindsey preach 
 in 1779, p. 93. — Mr. L. no party writer, but a zealous whig in politics, and opposer 
 of the American war, p. 94. — publishes his two Dissertations on the Preface to St. 
 John's Gospel, and on Prayer to Christ, p. 95. — with a Postscript by Dr. Jebb, p. 96. 
 — Mr. L. publishes The Catechist, p. 97. — regrets the title, which has misled many 
 as to the intention of the work, p. 97, note. — Analysis and specimen of The Cate- 
 chist, p. 97. — Dr. Disney unexpectedly offers to join Mr. L. in his labours in Essex- 
 street, p. 99. — the proposal embraced with joy by Mr. L., p. 99. — Mr L.'s liberality, 
 p. 99. — and Mrs. Rayner's extraordinary generosity upon this occasion, p. 99. — Mr. 
 L.'s communication to Dr. Toulmin, p. 100. — Great prosperity of the Unitarian 
 congregation at Birmingham, under the care of the Rev. Dr. Toulmin and the Rev. 
 J. Kentish, p. 100, note. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey publishes the Historical View. Some account of Dr. 
 
 William Robertson. Society for promoting the knowledge of the 
 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Mr. L. publishes an Historical View of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship, 
 p. 101. — the execution different from the original plan, p. 101, note. — to be regretted 
 that he did not accomplish his design of treating on the pleas of Unitarians for attend- 
 ing Trinitarian worship, p. 102, note. — Design of the work, p. 103. — Analysis of 
 its contents, p. 103. — Bishop Law's letter of thanks, p. 104, note. — sends Mr. L. a 
 present of a new edition of his Theory, purged from prejudices relative to the pre- 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 existence of Christ, p. 105, note. — Dr. Robertson's death, p. 105. — interesting 
 account of that venerable professor, by Thomas Hollis, Esq., under the signature of 
 Pierce Delver, p. 105. — Bishop of Ferns's (afterwards Primate Robinson) remarks 
 upon Dr. Robertson's scruples, p. 106. — Dr. R. appointed by the Merchant Taylors' 
 Company to the Free Grammar School at Wolverhampton, p. 107. — Extraordinary 
 generosity of a country clergyman, Rev. W. Hopkins, to Dr. R., p. 107, note. — Dr. 
 R. applied to by Mr. L. to become his colleague in Essex-street, p. 108. — declines it on 
 account of a threatened prosecution at Wolverhampton, which he determines to brave, 
 p. 109. — his admirable letter upon the occasion, p. 109. — reflections, p. 110. — happy 
 termination of the affair, p. 111. — Apology for Dr. R.'s violent expressions against 
 the Catholics, which do not apply to present times, p. 112, note. — Institution of a 
 Society for promoting the knowledge of the Scriptures, p. 113. — Plan drawn up by Dr. 
 Jebb, p. 113. — does not succeed according to expectation, p. 114. — publishes two 
 volumes of Commentai'ies and Essays, p. 114. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Controversy with Robert Robinson. Analysis of the Vindicise Priest- 
 leianse. Misunderstanding and reconciliation with Dr. Price. 
 
 Rev. Robert Robinson publishes a Plea for the Divinity of Christ, p. 115. — 
 plausible and candid, but weak and trivial, p. 115. — much applauded both by church- 
 men and dissenters, p. 116. — Dr. Furneaux and Dr. Kippis not dazzled by it, p. 117. 
 — Archbishop Blackburne thinks it unanswerable, p. 117. — Mr. Lindsey urged to 
 reply to it, p. 119. — publishes an Examination of Mr. Robinson's Plea, p. 120. — 
 Analysis of the work, p. 120. — complete success of the Reply, p. 121. — Mr. Robin- 
 son stung by the answer, p. 121. — but convinced, and becomes a decided Anti- 
 trinitarian, p. 122. — Mr. Robinson no enemy to Scripture criticism, though he some- 
 times expresses himself unguardedly, p. 122, note. — Uncertainty as to Mr. R.'s final 
 sentiments, but probably perfectly Unitarian, p. 123. — certainly no Arian, p. 124, 
 note. — Mr. R.'s friends do not allow that he was a proper Unitarian, p. 125. — Mr. 
 Lindsey publishes his Vindicise Priestleiame, p. 126. — The reasons which induced him, 
 p. 126. — Analysis of the work, p. 127. — Mr. Kirwan's testimony to Dr. P. s talents, 
 p. 127. — Mr. L.'s character of P. Courayer, p. 129. — and of Bishop Butler, p. 130. — 
 Bishop Butler's letter to the Dutchess of Somerset, and Her Grace's remarks, p. 130, 
 note. — Mr. L.'s testimony to the benevolence of the Creator, p. 131. — Offensive 
 remark with respect to Dr. Price, p. 132. — Dr. Price's letter, p. 132. — and Mr. 
 Lindsey's reply and retractation, p. 133. — the misunderstanding cleared up, p. 134. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Analysis of Mr. Lindsey's second Address. Dr. Watts an Unitarian. 
 Mr. Lindsey's alarm at Dr. Priestley's bold assertions, and ultimate 
 conversion to his doctrines. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey publishes a second Address to the Students of Oxford and Cambridge, 
 p. 135. — Analysis of the work, p. 135. — proves Justin Martyr to have been the in- 
 ventor of the commonly-received doctrine of the Logos, p. 136. — Catalogue of false 
 readings published separately, p. 138. — Dr. Watts believed by many to be a Socinian, 
 p. 139. — probably did not believe himself to be one, p. 139. — his last papers 
 destroyed contrary to the judgment of Dr. Doddridge, p. 140. — his pathetic address 
 to the Deity, p. 140. — Dr. Lardner believed Dr. Watts to be a proper Unitarian, 
 p. 141, note. — he assigns his reasons in a letter to the Rev. Samuel Merivale, p. 140, 
 note. — Mr. L. disapproves of Dr. Priestley's language concerning the inspiration of 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Moses and of Christ, p. 142. — his letter to Mr. Cappe, p. 143. — Dr. Priestley de- 
 fended, p. 143. — and freedom of discussion vindicated, p. 144. — Mr. L. farther 
 disapproves of Dr. Priestley's rejection of the Miraculous Conception, p. 148. — and 
 repeatedly urges Mr. Cappe to reply, p. 148. — Mr. Cappe declines tbc task which he 
 had given reason to expect he would undertake, p. 151. — Mr. L., upon further 
 consideration, inclines to Dr. P. 's hypothesis, p. 151.— Mr. Cappe's final judgment 
 unknown, p. 151, note. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Unitarian Liturgy adopted by the congregation at the King's Chapel, 
 at Boston, in New England. Mr. Lindsey corresponds with Dr. 
 Freeman, Mr. Vanderkerap, &c. Progress and present state of the 
 Unitarian churches in America. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey is informed that an Unitarian Liturgy is adopted at Boston in New 
 England, p. 153. — Mr. (now Dr.) Freeman expresses regret that it is not more per- 
 fect, p. 153, note. — a new edition, cleared from exceptionable phrases, printed in 
 1811, p. 154, note. — Dr. Freeman at a loss for episcopal ordination, p. 154. — 
 ordained by his own society after a form recommended by Governor Bowdoin, 
 p. 155. — an example of Bishop Seabury's mode of ordination satisfies the scruples 
 of Mr. Freeman's friends, p. 156, note. — Dr. Styles" s reply to a claim of prece- 
 dence by Bishop Seabury, p. 156, note. — Mr. Cary associated as a colleague with 
 Dr. Freeman, p. 156. — Mr. Cary dies of a decline in England, p. 157, note. — 
 Mr. L. presents Dr. Priestley's works to Harvard College, p. 157. — Men of emi- 
 nence in America Unitarians in principle, p. 157, note. — Unitarian congregation 
 formed at Portland, under Mr. Oxnard, p. 158. — and at Saco, under the auspices 
 of Mr. Thatcher, a gentleman of great respectability, p. 159. — Hopes formed 
 which events have not justified, p. 160. — Mr Bentley of Salem a declared Uni- 
 tarian, p. 161. — Progress of the Unitarian doctrine, p. 161. — Dr. Freemans ex- 
 cellent letter to Mr. Lindsey upon Mr. L.'s resignation, p. 162. —apprehensive that 
 he may have been too sanguine in his expectations, p. 164.- Unitarianism in 
 Northumberland and Philadelphia, p. 164. — at Oldenbarneveld under Mr. Yander- 
 kemp and Colonel Mappa, p. 165. — Case of the Rev. J. Sherman, minister of 
 Mansfield in Connecticut, p. 165. — becomes an Unitarian, p. 1*',5. — his reasons 
 for professing his sentiments, p. 165, note. — is approved by a great majority of 
 his congregation, p. 166. — but disowned by the association of ministers, p. 166. 
 — and by a Mutual Council dismissed from his church, p. 168. — Form of Inde- 
 pendent churches, p. 168, note. — Reflections, p. 170. — Mr. Sherman's friends wish 
 to retain him, p. 172. — but he removes to Oldenbarneveld, p. 172. — from wdiich 
 situation he retires in 1810, p. 175. — the similar case of the Rev. Abiel Abbot, 
 expelled by the Consociation under a charge of heresy in 1811, p. 171, note. — 
 appeals to a Mutual Council, p. 171, note. — Dr. Osgood's just remarks, 171, note. 
 — the Mutual Council dissolves the connexion between Mr. Abbot and his congre- 
 gation, p. 172, note. — Mr. Abbot's prudence and moderation, p. 172, note.— State 
 of Unitarianism in the district of Maine, p. 176. — Promising state of the Uni- 
 versity of Cambridge under the direction of Dr. Kirkland, p. 176. — Griesbach's 
 Greek Testament, published by the Rev. J. E. Buckminster, p. 176. — and the 
 Improved Version by Mr. W. Wells, p. 176. — Curious account of the present 
 state of the town of Boston, in a letter from a gentleman in America to his 
 friend in England, p. 177, note. — Reflections, p. 179, note. 
 
 Appendix to Chap. IX. — Controversy excited at Boston by the facts stated in 
 the preceding chapter, p. 180. — Professed Unitarians in America disclaim being 
 roch in Mr. B.'b sense of the word, p. 181. — Mr. B. uses the word in the sense 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 of Lardner, Lindsey, and Priestley, p. 181. — Arians in the proper sense of the 
 word maintain a plurality of Grods, p. 182. — in express contradiction to Scripture 
 they deny worship to their Maker, p. 183. — and confine it to their Maker's 
 maker, a being unknown to the sacred writers, p. 183. — Extraordinary fact that 
 Arians now deny worship to their Maker, p. 183, note. — Different feelings of the 
 author when an Arian, p. 183, note. — Remarks on practical and doctrinal preach- 
 ing, p. 184. — Success of Unitarianism in America, p. 185. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Account of the New College at Hackney. The Author's introduction 
 to and intimacy with Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley. Loudon 
 Unitarian Society. Western Unitarian Society. Reverend Timothy 
 Kenrick. Unitarian Fund Society. 
 
 Origin of the New College at Hackney, p. 186. — zealously supported by the 
 Dissenters, p. 186. — causes of its failure, p. 187. — remaining funds, p. 188. — 
 the author of the Memoir becomes connected with the Institution at Hackney, 
 p. 189. — brief account of the Institution supported by the bequest of "William 
 Coward, Esq., p. 189, note. — The author appointed divinity tutor at Daventry, 
 p. 189, note. — mode of lecturing on the Unitarian controversy, p. 190. — the effect of 
 it upon his pupils, p. 191. — and himself, p. 191. — becomes an Unitarian, and 
 resigns his office, p. 192. — introduces himself to Mr. Lindsey, p. 193. — appointed 
 a tutor at Hackney, p. 194. — becomes intimate with Mr. L., p. 191. — Dr. 
 Priestley, driven from Birmingham by the riots, is chosen successor to Dr. Price, 
 p. 194. — the author's frequent intercourse with Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, 
 p. 195. — Unitarian Society formed, p. 196. disputes concerning the preamble, 
 p. 197. — first annual dinner, p. 199. — political toasts, p. 199.— animadverted upon 
 by Mr. Burke in the House of Commons, p. 200. — the Society disavows all political 
 views, p. 200. — its growing prosperity, p. 200. — Western Unitarian Society formed, 
 p. 201. — brief account of the late Rev. Timothy Kenrick, p. 201.— his zeal and 
 success as a minister, tutor, and an advocate for truth, p. 202. — his sudden and 
 lamented decease, p. 202. —'his family and his posthumous works, p. 202. — South- 
 ern Unitarian Society, p. 203. — Unitarian Fund Society, p. 203. — its great success, 
 p. 204. — present state of the London Unitarian Society, p. 204. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Analysis of the Conversations upon Christian Idolatry. The Duke of 
 Grafton corresponds with and visits Mr. Lindsey, and attends Uni- 
 tarian worship. A hrief account of the progress of the Duke's 
 opinions, and of his reasons for seceding from the Established 
 Church. Keflections. 
 
 Circumstances which gave rise to the Conversations upon Christian Idolatry, 
 p. 205. — account of the characters introduced, p. 205. — Analysis of the work, 
 p. 206. — Trinitarians acknowledge themselves to be Idolaters, if their doctrine is 
 false, p. 208, note. — Remarks upon the conduct of the dialogue, p. 211. — Duke 
 of Grafton attends Mr. Lindsey's ministry, p. 211. — The Duke's reasons for 
 inquiry, p. 212. — becomes an Unitarian, and corresponds confidentially with Mr. 
 Lindsey, p. 213. — requests permisson to visit Mr. L. , p. 213. — continues firm to 
 his principles to the end of life, p. 213. — takes memorandums of the progress of 
 his mind, p. 213. — of which he prints a few copies for the use of his famiiy and 
 
CONTENTS. Mil 
 
 friends, p. 213. — continues to hold communion with the Established Church, 
 p. 214. — his reasons for this conduct, p. 215. — remarks, p. 215. — the Duke's 
 humility, p. 216. — perplexed about the doctrine of atonement, p. 216. — believes 
 Christ can hear and help, but disapproves of prayer to him, p. 217. — rejects the 
 perpetual inspiration of the apostks find evangelists, p. 217. — and the doctrine of 
 original sin, p. 217. — God reconciled by repentance, p. 218. — unintelligible doc- 
 trines not essential, p. 218. — natural arguments for the immortality of the soul 
 unsatisfactory, p. 218. — the Duke vindicates his secession from the church, p. 218. 
 — Reflections upon the fortitude and strength of principle in the Duke of Grafton, 
 p. 220. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey publishes a new and reformed edition of his Liturgy; 
 resigns his office in Essex-street Chapel. His Farewell Serraou 
 printed, but not preached.' Interests himself for those who suffered 
 by unjust prosecutions. Cases of Fyshe Palmer, Muir, and Winter- 
 botham. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey 's resolution to resign his office at the age of seventy, p. 222. — pub- 
 lishes a new edition of his reformed Liturgy, omitting the Apostles' Creed, and the 
 three invocations in the Litany, p. 223. — preaches and publishes a sermon upon the 
 occasion, vindicating the alterations, p. 223. — this Liturgy changed for Dr. Disney's, 
 p. 225. — but resumed, p. 225. — Mr. Lindsey's letter of resignation, p. 226. — he 
 recommends Dr. Disney as his successor, p. 226. — Reply of the Trustees, p. 226. — 
 Mr. Lindsey publishes a sermon upon the occasion, which his feelings would not 
 permit him to preach, p. 227- — On the great importance of the Unitarian doctrine, 
 p. 229. — interesting conclusion, p. 230. — Mr. L. justified in resigning, though in 
 the vigour of his powers, p. 231. — still continues to reside in Essex House, p. 232; 
 note. — Mr. Lindsey interests himself for those who were under State prosecutions, 
 p. 232. — Singularly hard case of Mr. Fyshe Palmer and of Mr. Muir, p. 232. — their 
 sentence reprobated abroad, p. 234. — legality of it questioned in the House of Com- 
 mons, p. 234. — sent among felons to Botany Bay, p. 235. — and treated with great 
 rigour, p. 235. — Mr. Fyshe Palmer dies on his return, p. 236. — Rev. W. Winter- 
 botham's unjust sentence, p. 237. — his sufferings mitigated by the kindness of Mr. 
 Lindsey, Mrs. Rayner, and others, p. 227. — Mr. "W. acknowledges his great obliga- 
 tion to Mr. Lindsey, p. 237, note. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Dr. Priestley emigrates to America. His reasons for this measure. 
 Mr. Lindsey's judgment in the case. Dr. Priestley's Farewell 
 Sermon at Hackney. Letters to Mr. Lindsey from Gravesend, 
 Deal, and Falmouth. Arrives at New York. Pieception in America. 
 
 Dr. Priestley determines upon emigration to America, p. 238. — assigns his reason 
 in the Appendix to his Fast Sermon, p. 239.— Remarks, p. 241. — Dr. Priestley 
 hopes to return to England, p. 240, vote. — Mr. Lindsey approves Dr. P.'s resolution 
 of going to America, p. 242.— Dr. Priestley takes his passage on board the Sansom, 
 p. 243. — delivers an excellent Farewell Discourse at Hackney, p. 243. — Analysis of 
 the discourse, p. 243. — expresses, in conversation with the author of the Memoir, 
 his firm expectation of the speedy personal appearance of Christ, p. 248, note. — 
 passes his last Sunday in Essex-street, and hears an impressive discourse from Dr. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Toulmin, p. 248. — Dr. Priestley goes to Gravesend, p. 248. —Letter from Gravesend, 
 p. 248.— from Deal, p. 249.— from off Falmouth, p. 250.— from New York, p. 251. 
 — giving an account of his passage, p. 251. — and his reception in America, p. 253. — 
 Letter from Mr. Henry Wansey to Mr. Lindsey, giving some account of Dr. Priest- 
 ley's reception at New York, p. 254, note. — Dr. Priestley accompanies his son to 
 Philadelphia, p. 256. — and to Northumberland, p. 256. — projected settlement on the 
 Loyalsoc, p. 254, note. — Dr. Priestley refuses offers of preferment, and fixes his resi- 
 dence at North umbei'land, to the great regret of his friends, p. 256. — but with an 
 ultimate beneficial effect to the cause, p. 256. — he keeps up a regular correspondence 
 with Mr. Lindsey, p. 257. — his death, p. 257. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Dr. Priestley's Reply to Paine's Age of Reason ; reprinted in England 
 by Mr. Lindsey, with a Preface in vindication of Dr. Priestley's 
 character. Mr. Lindsey republishes another work of Dr. Priestley's, 
 with a short preface. Dr. Priestley's acknowledgment of Mr. Lind- 
 sey's kindness. Analysis of Mr. Lindsey 's last publication, entitled 
 Conversations upon the Divine Government. 
 
 Paine's Age of Reason makes great impression in America, p. 258. — Dr. Priestley 
 replies to it immediately after his arrival, p. 259. — Mr. Lindsey reprints the work 
 in England, with a preface in defence of Dr. Priestley, p. 259. — Analysis of the pre- 
 face, p. 259. — Dr. Priestley esteemed and beloved by many, p. 260. — hostility to 
 him accounted for, p. 260. — Bishop Hurd's illiberal reflections upon the Unitarians 
 censured, p. 261. — Mrs. Barbauld's elegant verses addressed to Dr. Priestley, p. 261, 
 note. — Falsehoods circulated concerning him in England, p. 262. — and America, 
 p. 262. — Mr. Lindsey's reflections on the prostituted talents of the editors of the 
 British Critic in giving currency to foul calumnies, p. 263. — Dr. Priestley's acknow- 
 ledgments to his friend, p. 264, note. — Mr. L. reprints Dr. Priestley's treatise on 
 the knowledge which the Hebrews had of a future state ; with a preface, p. 264. — 
 Dr. Priestley's thanks, and testimony to the value of religion, p. 265. — Mr. Lindsey 
 publishes his Conversations on the Divine Government, p. 265. — dedication, p. 265. 
 — design of the work, p. 266. — First Conversation, p. 266. — Photinus argues that 
 miracles result from general laws, p. 267. — Remarks, p. 267. — Second Conversation, 
 p. 268. — Photinus argues argues the goodness of the Divine Government, p. 268. — 
 Third Conversation, p. 269. — Photinus defends the Mosaic history, p. 269. — The 
 author rather too peremptory on this point, p. 269. —Extermination of the Canaanites 
 considered, p. 270. — Imperfection of heathen philosophy, p. 271. — Superior excel- 
 lence of the Gospel, p. 272. — depraved by Mohammed, who was at first sincere, 
 p. 272. — Moral state of the world better than it is sometimes represented, p. 273. — 
 Archbishop King's original and valuable observations upon this subject, p. 274, note. 
 — Fourth Conversation most impoi'tant, p. 275. — Marcellinus wishes to see if proved 
 that natural and moral evil are of Divine appointment, and permitted for good, 
 p. 275. — Photinus undertakes the proof, p. 275. — Volusian is delighted with the 
 conclusion, and laments the errors of Frederic and D'Alembert, p. 276. — Photinus 
 endeavours to reconcile this doctrine with the responsibility of man, p. 277. — a 
 different solution pi'oposed, p. 278. — In the Fifth Conversation Synesius recants his 
 errors concerning the Mosaic history, p. 280. — refutes the doctrine of eternal tor- 
 ments, p. 280. — and defends the theory of universal salvation, p. 281. — in which 
 Photinus concurs, p. 281. — In the Sixth Conversation Synesius argues to the satisfac- 
 tion of his friends against the existence of such a being as the devil, p. 282. — The 
 author's remarks upon Mr. Lindsey's last work, p. 284. 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey suffers a paralytic seizure, but recovers. Dr. Priestley's 
 reflections upon the situation of his friend, and upon Mr. Lindsey's 
 last work. Mr. Lindsey interests himself in the appointment of 
 the author to the chapel in Essex-street. Encourages and assists 
 the Improved Version. His gradual decline and death. Conclusion 
 of the Work. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey is seized first with a slight and afterwards with a violent paralytic 
 affection, p. 286. — from which he recovers so far as to be able to finish his last pub- 
 lication, p. 286. — Dr. Priestley's feelings upon the occasion expressed in a letter to 
 Mrs. Lindsey, p. 286. — and in another to Mr. L., p. 288. — his joy at receiving a 
 letter in Mr. L.'s own handwriting, p. 290. — Reflections of the author upon tbis 
 correspondence, p. 291. — Letter from Mr. Jefferson to Dr. Priestley, p. 292, note — 
 Dr. P.'s letter to Mrs. Lindsey, and testimony to the distinguished excellence of that 
 lady's character, p. 294 — Plan of a subscription to defray the expense of Dr. Priest- 
 ley's Church History, and Notes on the Scriptures, p. 295, note. — Bishop of Elphin's 
 letter and liberal subscription, p. 295, note. — Letter of thanks from the Rev. C. 
 AVyvill for Mr. L.'s Conversations on the Divine Government, p. 298. — Dr. Priestley's 
 death, p. 298. — Mr. Lindsey interests himself in the appointment of the writer to 
 Essex-street Chapel, on the resignation of Dr. Disney, p. 299. — and renews his at- 
 tendance at the chapel, p. 299. — Mr. L. takes great interest in the publication of 
 the Improved Version of the New Testament by the Unitarian Society, p. 299. ■ — Dr. 
 Priestley's original plan of a continually improving translation of the Scriptures, in 
 1789, p. 299. great progress made in the undertaking, p. 301. — stopped by the de- 
 struction of Dr. Priestley's papers at the Birmingham riots, p. 301. — Unitarian So- 
 ciety take up the design, p. 302. — resolve, at the General Meeting in 1806, to carry 
 it into immediate execution, p. 302. — reasons for adopting Archbishop Newcome's 
 Translation as the basis, p. 303. — Bishop of Killala's expostulation with the author 
 of the Memoir upon this subject, p. 304, note. — reasons for the introduction of ex- 
 planatory notes, p. 305. — zeal with which this undertaking was supported, p. 306. 
 —liberal subscriptions by Mr. Lindsey, the Duke of Grafton, and Mr. Prime, p. 306. 
 — Mr. William Smith distributes many copies with a judicious preface for the use of 
 students, p. 306, note. — Objections to the improved Version, and answers, p. 307. — 
 Mr. Lindsey approves the execution of the work, and takes great pleasure in reading 
 it, p. 311. — His health declines rapidly, p. 311. — his last sickness, p. 311. — and 
 death, p. 312. — Brief recapitulation of his character, p. 313. — Reflections of the 
 author, p. 313. — Death of Mrs. Lindsey, p. 314. — and of Mrs. Jebb, p. 314. 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. Letters of the Duchess of Somerset to Mr. Lindsey, p. 315. 
 II. Letters of the Countess (afterwards Duchess) of Northumberland, p. 325. 
 III. Letters of Archdeacon Blackburne, p. 328. 
 
 Letter from Thomas Hollis, Esq., p. 333. 
 IV. Letter of Hans Stanley, Esq., refusing to support the Petition of the Clergy, 
 p. 334. 
 Correspondence between Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Markham, then bishop of Chester, 
 on Mr. Lindsey's resignation, p. 338. 
 V. Letters to Mr. Lindsey upon his resignation of the vicarage of Catterick, 
 
 p. 341. 
 VI. Letters of Thomas Hollis, Esq., under the assumed name of Pierce Delver, 
 
 p. 345. 
 VII. Letters of the Rev. William Hopkins, p. 347. 
 IX. Letter of P. Courayer, p. 354. 
 X. Letter from William Wells, Esq., with some account of the present state of 
 the Unitarians in New England, p. 356. 
 XI. Letter of the Rev. Thomas Fyshe Palmer, giving an account of his cruel treat- 
 ment on board the Surprize, p. 359. 
 XII. Letters from Dr. Priestley to Mr. Lindsey; and from Thomas Jefferson, Esq., 
 President of the United States, to Dr. Priestley, 362. 
 XIII. List of Mr. Lindsey's publications, p. 381. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF MR. LINDSEY FROM THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH TO 
 HIS SETTLEMENT AT CATTERICK, IN YORKSHIRE. 
 
 The Reverend Theophilus Lindsey was born at Middle wich, in 
 Cheshire, June 20, 1723, O.S. His father, Robert Lindsey, de- 
 scended from an ancient family in Scotland, was a mercer in that 
 town, and also possessed a lucrative concern in the salt works in 
 that neighbourhood. He was a man of excellent character, and 
 originally in easy circumstances ; but through the imprudence of 
 an elder son by his first wife, whom he had admitted into partner- 
 ship, his property was considerably reduced. His second wife, 
 the mother of the subject of this Memoir, was a lady of exemplary 
 character. Her maiden name was Spencer; she was distantly 
 related to the Marlborough family, and previously to her marriage 
 had lived upwards of twenty years in the family of Frances, 
 Countess of Huntingdon. By Mr. Robert Lindsey this lady had 
 three children, the youngest of whom was named after his god- 
 father Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon, the son of the above- 
 mentioned lady, and the husband of Selina, Countess of Hunting- 
 
 B 
 
A MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 don, so well known as the zealous and liberal patroness of Mr. 
 Whitfield and the Calvinistic Methodists. # 
 
 Lady Betty and Lady Ann Hastings, the kind friends of Mrs. 
 Lindsey, who had lived with them from their childhood, soon 
 remarked the ingenuous temper, the promising talents, the love of 
 learning, and the serious spirit of her youngest son, and took 
 him under their own immediate patronage. From a school in the 
 neighbourhood of Middlewich, at which he had made consider- 
 able proficiency in proportion to the advantages which he enjoyed, 
 they removed him to Leeds, and placed him under the care of 
 the Reverend Mr. Barnard, master of the free grammar-school in 
 that town ; a gentlemen of great eminence both for learning and 
 piety, who devoted himself wholly to the honourable and arduous 
 duties of his profession ; and to whose superior talents and exem- 
 plary assiduity his grateful pupil was wont to ascribe, under Divine 
 Providence, not only all his literary attainments, but almost all 
 
 * With this very respectable lady Mr. Lindsey lived many years in habits of friend- 
 ship. And though after his secession from the established church, and the public 
 avowal of his theological principles, all personal intercourse was for many years sus- 
 pended, yet when Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey, in the summer of 1786, called upon Lady 
 Huntingdon at Talgarth, in Wales, they were received, as he expresses it in a letter to 
 a friend, " most graciously, as usual." Not only did she direct that every possible 
 attention should be shown them in their visit to her Academical Institution in the neigh- 
 bourhood, but she earnestly pressed them to prolong their stay. With her old and much 
 respected friend she had much serious conversation ; and seemed particularly impressed 
 with a hint which Mr. Lindsey threw out, in reference to a dear and only surviving son, 
 of the safety of whose final state her ladyship entertained the most painful apprehen- 
 sions, that possibly the state of future punishment might be only a process of severe 
 discipline, and that the greatest sinners might ultimately find mercy. And when they 
 parted, she took a most affectionate leave of them, and gave them her kind maternal 
 benediction, expressing at the same time her hope of meeting them in a better world. 
 *' Some good I hope is done," sa}'s Mr. L. to his correspondent above referred to, "where 
 much is intended, by this praiseworthy lady, who has, for full forty years, devoted her 
 fortunes, time, and labours to promote what she believes to be the truth : though I 
 cannot but hope it will be a place for more rational inquirers after she drops into her 
 grave." This venerable lady was at that time "turned eighty, but hale and sensible 
 for that age." And though she might for a moment be soothed by a glimpse of hope 
 of the ultimate restoration of a darling child, it was not to be expected that Mr. Lind- 
 sey's conversation would make any permanent impression upon her mind. He after- 
 wards speaks of his aged friend as " still in the depths of mysticism and methodism, 
 though she was become more moderate towards those who held different opinions." 
 Nor does it appear that any material change ever took place in Lady Huntingdon's 
 religious views, though the abuse of her generosity by some persons in whom she had 
 placed a confidence which they did not deserve, made it necessary for her in some 
 measure to restrain her munificence, and gave rise to a report that she had deserted the 
 Methodist connection. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 
 
 that was honourable and right in his personal character. To the 
 edifying instructions of Mr. Barnard, in concurrence with the 
 impressions of his earlier domestic education, Mr. Lindsey was 
 indebted for that ardent love of truth, that firm integrity, that 
 purity of spirit, that early and deeply-rooted principle of piety, 
 by which he was so eminently distinguished. 
 
 His vacations were usually spent at the mansion of his noble 
 patronesses, in the vicinity of Leeds, during the life of Lady 
 Betty Hastings, and, after her decease, at Ashby Place, near Ashby 
 de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, where Lady Ann then fixed her 
 residence. To this house, likewise, Mrs. Lindsey removed, together 
 with her only daughter, at the invitation of Lady Ann Hastings, 
 after the decease of her husband in the year 1742, where she 
 continued to reside with her noble and pious friend till her death, 
 which took place a.d. 1747, after having been gratified by the 
 accomplishment of the first wish of her heart, that of seeing her 
 son in the pulpit. Over the remains of this exemplary lady a 
 neat monument was erected in Ashby churchyard, with an in- 
 scription, purporting that " while a child she had been the play- 
 fellow, and a widow the friend, of Lady Ann Hastings, who 
 erected that monument to her memory, and was a sincere and 
 affectionate mourner for her death. " 
 
 With these advantages, public and domestic, for improvement 
 both in learning and piety, in concurrence with a temperament 
 cast in the happiest mould, " having," as he expresses it in the 
 modest account of himself annexed to his Apology on resigning 
 the vicarage of Catterick, " been impressed from early youth with 
 a love of truth and virtue, a fear of God and desire to approve 
 himself to him, which never left him;" and having been well 
 instructed in classical literature, Mr. Lindsey was well qualified 
 for the university, and was admitted as a student at St. John's 
 College, in Cambridge, May 21, 1741, in the eighteenth year of 
 his age. Here his literary attainments and exemplary conduct 
 soon attracted general notice and admiration. And when the 
 late learned and pious Dr. Reynolds, Bishop of Lincoln, being 
 desirous of sending his grandson, a promising youth of fifteen, to 
 
 b 2 
 
4 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the university, inquired after some senior student under whose 
 care he might place him, to assist his studies and to protect his 
 morals at that early age, Mr. Lindsey was the person recom- 
 mended for the office. This circumstance laid the foundation for 
 a firm and tender friendship, founded upon a thorough knowledge 
 of each other's character, and a consequent mutual affection and 
 esteem, which continued without interruption to the end of Mr. 
 Lindsey's life; and the recollection of which is cherished by the 
 venerable and grateful survivor as one of the best blessings which 
 Heaven bestowed upon him. Mr. Reynolds, after having finished 
 his education at the university, was taken by the late Lord Sand- 
 wich as his private secretary to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he remained 
 during the negotiation of the celebrated treaty which takes its 
 name from that city. After his return to England, declining the 
 engagements of public life, he retired to his estate at Little 
 Paxton, in Huntingdonshire. There he still resides (1812) ; and 
 amidst the high estimation in which he is universally and de- 
 servedly held, both for his public and his private virtues, he justly 
 regards it as not the least of his honours to be known as one 
 of the earliest friends and warmest admirers of the venerable 
 Theophilus Lindsey.* 
 
 Having passed through his academical course and taken his 
 degrees with high reputation, Mr. Lindsey was elected a Fellow 
 of St. John's College in April, 1747; and had he chosen to devote 
 himself to literary pursuits, he was well qualified to have attained 
 considerable distinction; but his chief ambition was to be a minis- 
 ter of the gospel. Accordingly, he relates of himself that, "after 
 the usual time spent at school and in the university, he entered 
 into the ministry of the gospel, out of a free and deliberate 
 choice, and with an earnest desire to promote the great ends of it. 
 
 * " I recollect," says this gentleman in a letter with which he favoured the writer of 
 this Memoir, " that Mr. Lindsey excelled in college exercises ; that he was singularly 
 pious; that he attended the chapel prayers, and monthly received the sacrament. His 
 manners were mild and gentle, and his conversation was of a serious turn, but agreeable, 
 and sought by his fellow-students. I have reason to believe that he obtained the 
 highest honours on taking his degree, I mean Wranglership, but this I cannot positively 
 assert." Mr. Reynolds died in 1814. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. O 
 
 And having been educated in the established church, he did not at 
 that time feel any scruples either concerning the use of the 
 liturgy, or subscription to the articles." 
 
 Having been ordained by Dr. Gibson, the learned and exem- 
 plary Bishop of London, he was in the twenty-third year of his 
 age presented to a chapel in Spital Square by Sir George Wheeler 
 of Otterden Place, in Kent, at the recommendation of his noble 
 sister-in-law, the unwearied friend and benefactress of Mr. Lind- 
 sey, Lady Ann Hastings. 
 
 In a short time after his settlement in London, Algernon, Duke 
 of Somerset, being in want of a discreet and pious clergyman to 
 officiate as his domestic chaplain, received such a character of 
 Mr. Lindsey from Francis, Earl of Huntingdon, the nephew of 
 Lady Ann Hastings, that he immediately invited him into his 
 house. To this amiable nobleman and his accomplished lady, 
 better known as the Countess of Hertford, the honoured pa- 
 troness of genius and virtue, he recommended himself to such a 
 degree, by his prudent and exemplary conduct, and by the suavity 
 of his manners, that he soon acquired the affection and confidence 
 of his illustrious patrons; and during the short remainder of the 
 Duke's life, who expired in his arms, he was treated not with the 
 distance and coldness of a dependant, but with the liberality and 
 affection of a friend. 
 
 After the decease of the Duke of Somerset, Mr. Lindsey con- 
 tinued for some time in the family of the Duchess. And at her 
 particular and earnest request, he accompanied her grandson, the 
 late Duke of Northumberland, then about nine years of age, and 
 in a delicate state of health, to the continent, where he continued 
 two years; at the expiration of which term he brought his noble 
 pupil back, restored in health and improved in learning. 
 
 Of the kind and successful attention of Mr. Lindsey to Lord 
 Warkworth, his illustrious parents entertained a just and grateful 
 sense, and from that time they were set upon advancing his in- 
 terest in the church.* Nor was his faithful superintendence lost 
 
 * See Appendix, No. I. How anxiously these noble personages were bent upon 
 making a comfortable provision in the church for their highly esteemed friend, appears 
 
6 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 upon the mind of his noble pupil, who, to the latest hour of 
 Mr. Lindsey's life, entertained the highest esteem for his charac- 
 ter, and manifested his regard for his venerable preceptor by more 
 than empty professions. 
 
 Immediately after Mr. Lindsey's return from the continent, he 
 was presented by the Earl of Northumberland to the valuable 
 rectory of Kirkby Whiske, in the North-riding of Yorkshire, at 
 first under condition to resign it when the person for whom it was 
 intended came of age; but this young man dying a short time 
 afterwards, it was given to Mr. Lindsey unconditionally in the 
 usual form. And Mr. Lindsey, declining the proposal of his noble 
 patrons to accompany Lord Warkworth to Eton as his private 
 tutor, hastened down into the north to take possession of his 
 living, and to enter upon the office of a parochial minister, which 
 was the highest object of his ambition; this being, in his judg- 
 
 from the following extract of a letter from the late Duchess, then Countess of 
 Northumberland, to Mr. Lindsey, when he resided at Piddletown, in Dorsetshire : — 
 
 " I dare not give you another invitation to come to us, though both my lord and I 
 wish much for the pleasure of seeing you, as you say it may be inconvenient to your 
 affairs. I am truly sorry that it is so, and shall be sincerely glad to do anything in my 
 power to make it otherwise, and find myself really obliged to you for believing I would 
 do so. You say, dear sir, that if any small matter fell in my way for your service, you 
 are persuaded I would think of you. Of this you may be assured. At the same time, 
 I could wish you would be so good as to hint to me of what kind ; whether in the 
 church, or a domestic chaplainship, or a private tutor, would be most agreeable to you. 
 At the same I must tell you that I some years ago told my lord that I desired he 
 would give me the next presentation of Hasilbury Bryan, as I hoped its vicinity to 
 Piddletown might make it agreeable to you ; and upon this you may depend whenever 
 it shall become vacant: but, in the meanwhile, I beg you will let me know if any of 
 these above would suit you. And if I can be of any service to you in these, or any 
 other things, it will give me great pleasure. I will not trouble you now any longer 
 than to assure you of the sincere and affectionate friendship with which I am, dear sir, 
 
 " Your most faithful humble servant, 
 
 "E. Northumberland.'* 
 
 It may be proper to mention here, that during his residence at the Duchess of 
 Somersets, Mr. Lit>dsey so recommended himself by his discreet and exemplary 
 behaviour, that a worthy and pious lady, Mrs. Pearce, a friend of the Duchess, be- 
 queathed to him without his knowledge the next presentation to the rectory of Chew 
 Magna, near Bristol. The living became vacant after Mr. Lindsey had left the church 
 and was settled in Essex Street. And, honourably resisting all the proposals which 
 were made to him to dispose of it to great advantage, he presented it to a worthy 
 clergyman, Mr. Hall, the brother-in-law of Mrs. Lindsey, who married Arch- 
 deacon Blackburne'e youngest daughter, and who is now (1812) the respectable 
 incumbent. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. < 
 
 merit, w the way in which he could best serve God and be useful 
 to man ;*' and which, therefore, he engaged in, " with an earnest 
 desire that he might promote these great ends of the ministry of 
 the gospel." * 
 
 In this very retired situation Mr. Lindsey continued about three 
 years : and during his residence in Yorkshire he was introduced 
 to the acquaintance, and became a visitor in the family, of the 
 celebrated Archdeacon Blackburne, at llichmond, a circumstance 
 to which he was afterwards indebted, under Divine Providence, for 
 the most valuable blessing of his life. 
 
 At the request of the Huntingdon family, who considered 
 themselves as having a prior claim, which they were unwilling to 
 relinquish, to the honour of providing for Mr. Lindsey, he re- 
 signed the living of Kirkby Whiske, in the year 1756, in order to 
 succeed Dr. Dawney in the living of Piddletown, in Dorsetshire, 
 which was in the gift of the Earl of Huntingdon. In this place 
 he lived and laboured in his parochial and official duties with high 
 reputation for seven years. While he was minister of this parish, 
 Mr. Lindsey was married, Sept. 29, 1760, to Miss Hannah 
 Elsworth, the stepdaughter of Archdeacon Blackburne, -j- a lady 
 whose principles and views were congenial to his own ; whose 
 superior understanding and exalted virtues were eminently cal- 
 culated (as her excellent consort most cheerfully acknowledged) to 
 aid and second him in all his schemes for the temporal and 
 spiritual benefit of his parishioners, and especially of the poor 
 and ignorant ; to go hand in hand with him in his researches 
 after divine truth ; to encourage him in every labour, in every 
 
 * Apology, p. 217. 
 
 f Archdeacon Blackburne, noticing this event in the Memoirs of his own life, prefixed 
 to a new edition of his Works, published by his son, the Reverend Francis Blackburne, 
 A.D. 1804, says, " The friendship between Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Blackburne was not 
 nearly so much cemented by this family connection, as by a similarity of sentiment in 
 the cause of Christian liberty, and their aversion to ecclesiastical imposition in matt rs of 
 conscience. In the warfare on these subjects they went hand in hand." The Arch- 
 deacon, who did not, for reasons which were afterwards published, approve of the 
 magnanimous sacrifice which his relation had made, coldly adds, that " when Mr. 
 Lindsey left Yorkshire and settled in London, Mr. Blackburne used to say he had lost 
 his right arm." See Blackburne's Works, vol. i. p. 48. Upon the subject of Mr. 
 Lindsey's marriage with Miss Elsworth, see an entertaining letter of the Countess, after- 
 wards Duchess, of Northumberland, Appendix, No. II. 
 
8 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 profession, and in every sacrifice, to which he might be prompted 
 by a sense of duty; and to fortify and console his mind under 
 trials and privations of no common sort, and which it required no 
 ordinary share of fortitude and magnanimity to support with dig- 
 nity and to encounter with success. * 
 
 It was while Mr. Lindsey resided at Piddletown that he first 
 began to entertain serious scruples concerning the Scripture war- 
 rant for Trinitarian worship, and the lawfulness of his continuing 
 to officiate in the established church. His susceptible and inqui- 
 sitive mind had, indeed, from early youth disapproved of some 
 things in the thirty-nine articles ; and even while he was at the 
 university, it struck him as a strange unnecessary entanglement, 
 to put young men upon declaring and subscribing their approba- 
 tion of such a large heterogeneous mass of positions and doctrines, 
 as are contained in the liturgy, articles, and homilies. " But," he 
 adds, " I was not under any scruples or great uneasiness on this 
 account. I had hitherto no doubt, or rather I had never much 
 thought of or examined into the doctrine of the Trinity, but sup- 
 posed all was right there." + 
 
 Some years afterwards, many doubts concerning the truth of 
 this doctrine sprang up in his mind, which induced him to study 
 the Scriptures with very close attention, in order to settle his 
 judgment and to relieve himself from a painful state of suspense 
 upon a question of such high importance. The result of his 
 learned, calm, and diligent inquiries shall be stated in his own 
 words : " The more I searched, the more I saw the little founda- 
 tion there was for the doctrine commonly received, and interwoven 
 with all the public devotions of the church, and could not but 
 be disturbed at a discovery so ill suiting my situation. For in the 
 end I became fully persuaded, to use St. Paul's express words, 
 
 * Mr. Lindsey, who was deeply sensible of the high value of the inestimable trea- 
 sure he possessed, in a letter to a friend, when he had it in contemplation to resign his 
 benefice in the church, speaks of Mrs. Lindsey as one who was ready to run any 
 hazard or loss to promote the cause of truth, and that in every step which he took in 
 this business he had the full concurrence of his wife, "quae quoque currentem incitat." 
 See Memoirs of the Reverend T. Li dsey, published in the Monthly Magazine for Dec, 
 1805, drawn up by a friend from original papers in his possession. 
 
 t Apology, p. 217. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. V 
 
 1 Cor. viii. 6, c that there is but one God, the Father, and He alone 
 to be worshipped/ This appeared to be the uniform unvaried 
 language and practice of the Bible throughout : and I found the 
 sentiments and practice of Christians, in the first and best ages, 
 corresponding with it." * 
 
 The scruples excited in Mr. Lindsey's mind from the result of 
 his inquiries, gradually rose to such a height as to induce him, 
 while he lived in Dorsetshire, to take some previous steps with a 
 design to relieve himself by quitting his preferment in the church. 
 The considerations which chiefly weighed with him to relinquish 
 this design at that time will be stated hereafter. It may be 
 sufficient for the present to observe, that self-interest and worldly 
 considerations were not the motives ; for by these, as he truly 
 observes, and as all who knew him and the whole tenor of his 
 life will testify, " be was never much influenced." Besides which, 
 "he had at that time a prospect of not being left entirely desti- 
 tute of support if he had gone out of the church." f 
 
 In the year 1762, upon the resignation of the Whig adminis- 
 tration, the late Duke of Northumberland was appointed to suc- 
 ceed the Earl of Halifax as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Upon 
 this occasion his illustrious consort, eager to testify her regard to 
 distinguished worth, at the Duke's desire wrote immediately to 
 Mr. Lindsey to offer him the place of chaplain to the Lord 
 Lieutenant, accompanied with a request that he and Mrs. Lindsey 
 would reside with them in the vice-regal palace till some prefer- 
 ment should offer worthy of his acceptance ; " at the same time 
 assuring him that the Duke and herself should consider his 
 acquiescence as a favour conferred on themselves ; that they 
 should want the society of so kind and faithful a friend in a 
 situation so new and untried." J That the acceptance of this 
 
 * Apology, p. 218. t Ibid. p. 221. 
 
 + See the Memoir of the late Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, in the Monthy Repository 
 for December, 1808, by Mrs. Cappe. This lady, the daughter of Mr. Lindsey's worthy 
 predecessor at Catterick, and the widow of the late learned, pious, and eloquent New- 
 combe Cappe, of York, who is also herself well known to the public by various works 
 which equally display the superiority of her intellect and the ardour of her piety and 
 benevolence, was the early and faithful friend of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey : and to her 
 great honour be it known, that this lady was one of the very few who remained firmly 
 
10 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 offer would have been a prelude to some exalted station in the 
 church of Ireland cannot admit a doubt.* But ambition of high 
 ecclesiastical dignity formed no part of Mr. Lindsey's character. 
 Eminently qualified as he was by learning and piety, by prudence 
 of conduct, and politeness of manners, to have filled and adorned 
 the most conspicuous station in the church, his humility aspired 
 to no higher preferment than that of a parochial minister. With 
 much gratitude, therefore, but with equal firmness and decision, 
 he declined the splendid offer of his noble friends, and contented 
 himself with remaining for the present in his beautiful retirement 
 in Dorsetshire, 
 
 Not, indeed, that Mr. Lindsey felt any particular predilection 
 for the situation in which he was now placed, however agreeable 
 or advantageous. It was the secret wish both of him and of Mrs. 
 Lindsey to return to the north, and to fix their residence in the 
 vicinity of Richmond, where they might enjoy the society of 
 many valuable friends, and particularly of the venerable Arch- 
 deacon Blackburne. An opportunity for effecting this purpose- 
 occurred in the year following, by the vacancy of the vicarage of 
 Catterick, in Yorkshire, occasioned by the decease of the Rev. 
 Jeremiah Harrison, in July, 1763. With the consent and by the 
 interest of Lord Huntingdon, Mr. Lindsey was permitted to 
 exchange his living in Dorsetshire for the vicarage of Catterick ; 
 a benefice in every respect inferior to that of Piddletown, except- 
 ing that of its proximity to those learned and virtuous friends 
 whose society he was most anxious to cultivate, f 
 
 It may appear singular that Mr. Lindsey, who, while he re- 
 sided in Dorsetshire, had, in consequence of his more diligent 
 study of the Holy Scriptures, discarded the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, and other doctrines of the established church which are 
 
 and affectionately attached to them in the season of severe trial, and who, upon all 
 occasions, came forward as their generous and intrepid advocate, when many who had 
 formerly made great professions stood aloof, and not a few were disposed to cavil and 
 condemn. 
 
 * Dr. Dodgson, who accepted the appointment which Mr. Lindsey declined, was soon 
 advanced to the Bishopric of Ossory, from which he was afterwards translated to that 
 of Elphin, where he died a few years ago. 
 
 + See Mrs. Cappe's Memoir in the Monthly Repository, ibid. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 11 
 
 connected with it ; who had even proceeded so far as to have 
 formed a design of resigning his preferment in the church, and 
 had taken some steps towards the accomplishment of this purpose, 
 could by any means reconcile his ingenuous mind to that renewed 
 subscription to the articles and declaration of his assent, which 
 were necessary upon his induction into his new living. And the 
 case appears the more extraordinary, as many clergymen, who in 
 consequence of a revolution in their opinions had become dis- 
 satisfied with the articles, would never, for the sake of obtaining 
 the most valuable preferment, subscribe them again, though, 
 while they were permitted to remain unmolested, they did not 
 perceive it to be their duty to retire from the church. * With 
 the frankness natural to his liberal mind, Mr. Lindsey himself 
 gives the following solution of this difficulty. After having 
 stated the considerations which at that time overruled his 
 scruples of remaining in the church, he adds, " My great 
 difficulty was the point of worship. In comparison with this, 
 subscription to the articles, however momentous in itself, gave me 
 then but little concern. For as the devotions of the church are 
 framed in strict agreement with the articles, and correspond with 
 them more especially in what relates to religious worship, 1 looked 
 
 * In the foremost rank of these worthy confessors is the venerable Archdeacon 
 Blackburne, who, though he has opposed the Unitarian doctrine with much more of 
 acrimony than of argument, in a small tract which he left for publication after his 
 decease, entitled, An Answer to the Question, Why are you not a Socinian] has, in the 
 same tract, advanced reasons for the continued conformity of those who disapprove of 
 many things in the doctrine and discipline of the established church, which, if not 
 completely satisfactory, will at least induce a candid reader, who can make allowance 
 for human frailty, to pause before he passes a sentence of unqualified condemnation upon 
 those serious and inquisitive persons, who retain their official situations in the 
 church so long as they continue unmolested in making those alterations which they 
 judge to be necessary in the unscriptural phraseology of the public liturgy. Upon 
 these principles, Archdeacon Blackburne continued to the end of life an officiating 
 minister of the established church, while at the same time, though the whole emolu- 
 ment which he derived from his profession amounted to little more than the scanty 
 pittance of a hundred and fifty pounds a year, he peremptorily and repeatedly refused 
 to accept of better preferment, which required renewed subscription to the thirty-nine 
 articles. On the other hand, he declined an offer of more than double that income 
 from the numerous and respectable congregation of the Old Jewry, in London, who 
 were desirous of inviting him to be their pastor, in succession to the learned Dr. 
 Chandler. — See Memoir of Archdeacon Blackburne's Life prefixed to his Works, pp. 74, 
 75, and 120. See Appendix, No. III. 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 upon my continuing to officiate in them as a constant virtual repe- 
 tition of my subscription : and therefore I needed not nor did 
 decline the actual repetition of it when occasion served ; though 
 I was not forward in seeking such occasions." * It cannot be 
 denied that Mr. Lindsey's conduct in this instance has the merit 
 of consistency ; for it seems hard to assign a satisfactory reason 
 why they who do not hesitate to use the liturgy should 
 decline subscribing the articles of the church. It would, how- 
 ever, be the extreme of uncharitableness to pass a severe censure 
 upon those who approve their integrity by rejecting preferment, 
 when it could not be obtained but at the price of a renewed sub- 
 scription to articles, even though (inconsistently as we may think) 
 they may continue to retain their stations in the church, and 
 to officiate in its devotions. Every man has not the firmness 
 of a Luther or a Lindsey, and to his own master must every one 
 stand or fall. 
 
 It may now therefore be proper to state those considerations 
 which reconciled this venerable confessor's own mind to remain- 
 ing in the church, and to the regular performance of his official 
 duties, for so many years after that by his own acknowledgment 
 he had abandoned its main doctrines, and regarded its forms of 
 worship as erroneous and unscriptural. Upon this subject, we 
 are happily not left to vague conjecture ; for Mr. Lindsey himself, 
 with all his native modesty and candour, has clearly stated, in the 
 last chapter of his Apology on resigning the vicarage of Catterick, 
 the interesting process of his mind upon this trying occasion. 
 I transcribe his own words, f 
 
 "1. Destined early and educated for the ministry, and my 
 heart engaged in the service, when the moment of determination 
 came, I felt a reluctance at casting myself out of my profession 
 and way of usefulness that quite discouraged me. This was 
 probably heightened by my being alone at the time, having no 
 intimate friend to consult or converse with, and my imagination 
 might be shocked by the strangeness and singularity of what I 
 
 * Apology, p. 225. t Apology, p. 220. 
 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 13 
 
 was then going to do ; for such subjects, then upwards of fifteen 
 years ago, were not so much canvassed or become so familiarized 
 as they have been since. * 
 
 "But I did not enough reflect, that when unlawful compliances 
 of any sort are required, the first dictates of conscience, which 
 are generally the rightest, are to be attended to ; and that the 
 plain road of duty and uprightness will always be found to lead 
 to the truest good in the end, because it is that which is chalked 
 out by God himself. 
 
 "2. Many worthy persons whose opinions varied little from 
 mine, could nevertheless satisfy themselves so as to remain in the 
 church and officiate in it. "Why then, it often occurred to me, 
 and others did not spare to remonstrate, why must T alone be so 
 singularly nice and scrupulous, as not to comply with what wiser 
 and better men could accommodate themselves to, but disturb 
 others and distress myself by enthusiastic fancies purely my own, 
 bred in gloomy solitude, which by time, and the free communica- 
 tion and unfolding of them to others, might be dispersed and 
 removed, and give way to a more cheerful and enlarged way of 
 thinking ? It was worth the while at least to try such a method, 
 and not rashly to take a step of which I might long repent. 
 
 "3. It was suggested that I was not author or contriver of the 
 things imposed and complained of. All I did was ministerial 
 only, in submission to civil authority, which is within certain 
 
 * The time alluded to must have been about the year 1758. This was previous to 
 the resignation of the Reverend and learned Dr. William Robertson, who, in January, 
 1760, for the sake of a good conscience, gave up a valuable living in Ireland. So that 
 at the time when Mr. Lindsey first thought of relinquishing his station in the church, 
 he had scarcely any example, for nearly a century back, of a similar act of self-denial 
 to encourage and fortify his mind. Those eminent divines of the established church 
 who, at the commencement of the eighteenth century, thought and wrote with great 
 freedom upon theological subjects, contented themselves, for the most part, with declin- 
 ing to renew their subscription to the articles in order to obtain further preferment, but 
 did not feel themselves obliged to resign the stations which they held. And though, as 
 the century advanced, much had been said and written in recommendation of greater 
 liberality and latitude in the terms of conformity, the lawfulness of clerical conformity 
 had been but little canvassed. It is not therefore surprising that Mr. Lindsey should 
 have been at first shocked, and in some degree intimi ated, at the prospect of the 
 strange singularity of the measure which he had in contemplation. After the resigna- 
 tion of Dr. Robertson, he was much affected and encouraged by- the example of that 
 venerable confessor. 
 
14 MEMOIRS Or THE LATE 
 
 limitations the authority of God, and which had imposed these 
 things only for peace and public good. That I ought not only 
 to leave my benefice, but to go out of the world, if I expected a 
 perfect state of things in which there was no flaw or hardship. 
 That if there was a general tendency in what was established to 
 serve the interest of virtue and true religion, I ought to rest satis- 
 fied, and wait for a change in other incidental matters that were 
 grievous to me, but not generally felt by others. That in the 
 mean time I had it in my power to forward the desired work, by 
 preparing men's minds for it, whenever there should be a dis- 
 position in the state to rectify what was amiss. Therefore, if I 
 could in any way of interpretation reconcile the prescribed forms 
 with the scripture in my own mind, and make myself easy, I was 
 not only justified, but to be commended." 
 
 Being influenced by these considerations to regard it as a duty 
 to retain his station in the church, the great difficulty now was, 
 to devise some way of interpretation by which to reconcile the 
 prescribed form of Trinitarian worship with his own just and 
 scriptural view of the proper unity of God, and that the Father 
 alone is to be worshipped. In comparison with this, the objection 
 against subscription to the articles appeared to Mr. Lindsey to be 
 of trivial account, or rather as a less intricate case under the same 
 problem. And the method which he took to satisfy his mind upon 
 this subject he thus describes : — 
 
 " I brought myself to consider the Trinitarian forms in the 
 liturgy, and the invocations at the entrance of the litany, as a 
 threefold representation of the one God, the Father, governing all 
 things by himself and by his Son and Spirit ; and as a threefold 
 way of addressing him as a Creator and original benevolent cause 
 of all things, as Redeemer of mankind by his Son, and their 
 Sanctifier by his Holy Spirit.* 
 
 * Thi9, which is usually called the Snbellian hypothesis, and which differs only in 
 words from the proper Unitarian doctrine, was advanced by the learned Dr. Wallis, 
 Savilian professor of mathematics at Oxford, and well received by the university, in 
 opposition to the hypothesis of three infinite minds, maintained by the celebrated Dr. 
 Sherlock, which underwent a public censure. 
 
 " This reasoning," says Dr. Wallis, alluding to the objections of the Unitarians, " is 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 15 
 
 " I took all opportunities, both in public and privately, to bear 
 my testimony to this great truth of Holy Scripture, that there is 
 but one God, the Father, with great plainness and without any 
 reserve. And I hoped I was laying a good foundation to build 
 on for those that come after me, when the time of a further re- 
 formation should come; and that I might thus innocently con- 
 tinue in a church where there were many things I disapproved, 
 and wished to have amended, as I knew not where I might be in 
 any degree alike useful." 
 
 These were the considerations which, as Mr. Lindsey expresses 
 it, were of weight to divert him then from the thought of quitting 
 his station in the church, and which brought him in time to 
 remain tolerably quiet and easy in it. But however plausible these 
 arguments might be, and whatever real weight some of these con- 
 siderations might possess, they were not likely to maintain a 
 permanent ascendancy over the honourable, ingenuous, and in- 
 quiring mind of this excellent man ; and in his Apology he 
 frankly and with great humility acknowledges their invalidity, 
 and his own infirmity in yielding to them. 
 
 " Not," says he, p. 225, " that I now justify myself therein. 
 Yea, rather I condemn myself. But as I have humble hope of 
 the divine forgiveness, let not men be too rigid in their censures. 
 Let those only blame and condemn who know w r hat it is to 
 doubt, — to be in perplexity about things of the highest impor- 
 tance, — to be in fear of causelessly abandoning a station assigned 
 
 grounded on this silly mistake, that a divine person is as much as to say a Divinity or 
 a God, when indeed a divine person is only a mode, or respect, or relation of God to 
 his creatures. He beareth to his creatures these three relations, modes, or respects, 
 that he is their Creator, their Redeemer, their Sanctifier : this is what we mean, and 
 all that we mean, when we say God is three persons. He hath those three relations 
 to his creatures, and is thereby no more three Gods than he was three Gods to the Jews 
 because he calleth himself the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 Ja-ob. See Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrine of the Trinity, p. 7, 
 1693, apud Lindsey's Apology, p. 227. The learned professor might have spared his 
 supercilious reflection upon the understandings of his Unitarian brethren, whose only 
 error consisted in taking common words in their common acceptation. Is Dr. Wallis's 
 doctrine that which still prevails in the learned university] If so, the pure Unitarian 
 doctrine is much more extensively diffused than many of its most zealous .advocates 
 imagine. Happy would it be for the cause of truth if, when error is detected and dis- 
 carded, the language of error were discarded with it. 
 
16 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 by Providence, and being found idle and unprofitable when the 
 Great Master came to call for the account of the talent received." 
 He must be a very severe moralist whom such a concession does 
 not satisfy. 
 
 These reflections, however, occurred at a subsequent period. 
 For the present, Mr. Lindsey had made up his mind to continue 
 as an officiating minister in the established church; and with 
 those views and in this posture of mind, in the month of Novem- 
 ber, 1763, he took possession of his vicarage of Catterick, fully 
 determined to seek out and accept of no other preferment, and 
 expecting (i here quietly to have ended his days," * though it 
 pleased God in his providence to order it otherwise. 
 
 No sooner was Mr. Lindsey settled in his new situation than 
 he applied himself with great assiduity, in his extensive and 
 populous parish, to perform the duties of a parochial minister. 
 He regularly officiated twice on the Sunday in his parish church, 
 and in the interval between the services he catechized young 
 people. He visited the sick, he relieved the poor, he established 
 and supported charity-schools for the children, he spent consider- 
 able sums of money in feeding the hungry, in clothing the naked, 
 in providing medicines for the diseased, and in purchasing and 
 distributing books for the instruction of the ignorant. In his 
 domestic arrangements the greatest economy was observed, that 
 he and his excellent lady might have the greater surplus to expend 
 in liberality and charity : for it was a rule with him to lay up 
 nothing from the income of his living. " It is a great satis- 
 faction," says he, in his Farewell Address, p. 7, " at this, my 
 departure from you, that I can truly say I have coveted no man's 
 silver, nor gold, nor apparel. In nothing have I made a gain of 
 you, or sought to enrich myself; nor am I enriched by you at 
 all ; but what was over and above the supply of necessary wants 
 has been freely expended in what was thought might be most 
 useful for your present benefit and future happiness. I have not 
 sought yours, but you." 
 
 * See Farewell Address to the Farisbioners at Catterick, p. 1. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 17 
 
 His instructions, public and private, were judiciously adapted 
 to the state of his hearers. " I have endeavoured," says he, p. 8, 
 " to teach you the truth which Christ our Lord taught, as far as 
 I was able to learn it by an impartial and diligent search of the 
 Holy Scriptures. And I often reminded you that you were not 
 to believe anything because spoken by me, but to examine and 
 compare how far it was agreeable to Holy Scripture, our only rule 
 and guide." 
 
 His discourses were scriptural and practical, consisting, as he 
 says, " altogther of expositions of large portions of the New Testa- 
 ment, with such inferences as naturally and plainly flowed from 
 them." " In these discourses," he adds, "I was led continually 
 to point out to you that religion lay not in outward forms and 
 ordinances, even of God's own appointment, though they be helps 
 to it ; but in an entire conversion and devotedness of the heart to 
 God, influencing to sobriety _, chastity, brotherly love, kindness, 
 integrity, in all your conversation; to do everything out of a sense 
 of duty to God, ever present with and supporting us in life ; and 
 chiefly for his infinite love to us in Christ Jesus our Lord, by whom 
 he hath called us to his eternal glory." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey often pressed upon his village hearers the duty of 
 family religion : " That every house should be a little church, as 
 it were, wherein all the members of it were carefully instructed in 
 the things of God ; and once at least at the close of each day called 
 together to join in a short prayer to God." This he represented 
 as a constant check upon parents in their daily conduct; as a 
 means of inducing them to hasten home with pleasure after their 
 labours were over ; of making their families orderly and happy ; 
 of preventing early depravity and corruption in the youth of both 
 sexes ; and of training them up in habits of piety and virtue. 
 
 He still more inculcated upon them the necessity of keeping 
 the LordVday holy. " As many of each family as can be allowed, 
 to attend the public worship of the great Creator and Heavenly 
 Father, and to be mindful afterwards of a suitable employment 
 of time at home. For the spending one part of this sacred day 
 in unnecessary worldly cares, or in sports and diversions, tends 
 
 c 
 
18 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 to efface every serious impression made on the mind on the other 
 part ; and by degrees leads to spend the whole of it in the same 
 ungodly sort. Not that the service of God is to make us morose, 
 or sad and uncheerful at this or at any time. There are ways of 
 passing this holy day in walking out and contemplating the works 
 of God, in pleasing charitable offices to our neighbours, and in 
 innocent useful conversation, which will cheer and refresh both 
 mind and body far beyond all those noisy and riotous games, 
 always accompanied with profane oaths, and generally ending in 
 the alehouse or worse. - " — Ibid. 
 
 Thus did this truly apostolic man, at the conclusion of his ten 
 years' ministerial labours in the parish of Catterick, modestly yet 
 firmly appeal to those who had been the constant witnesses of his 
 life and doctrine, to bear their testimony to the simplicity, fidelity, 
 and zeal with which he had instructed them in the truths of 
 divine revelation, and to the unblameableness and the uniform 
 disinterestedness of his conduct. He laments that he had not 
 seen so much of the fruits of his labours among them as he 
 desired. But, he adds, " I would not now complain. Let us all 
 make haste to repent and amend, for the time is short. I would 
 hope that more good may have been done than I know of ; and 
 that there are more truly pious than the few that appear to be 
 so ; and that some seed of the word which has been sown may 
 hereafter spring up and bear good fruit." — Ibid. p. 11. 
 
 To the exemplary conduct of this venerable man in the discharge 
 of his official duties, and in particular to his interesting and con- 
 descending manner of communicating instruction to the young 
 and the ignorant, I willingly transcribe the eloquent testimony of 
 an early and attentive hearer and witness, who was also a frequent 
 visitor at his house, and through life an ardent and grateful 
 admirer, to whose narrative I have before alluded. 
 
 " Young at the time," says Mrs. Cappe in her elegant Memoir 
 of Mr. Lindsey in the Monthly Repository, " uninformed, and 
 accustomed to the society of those among my general acquaint- 
 ance who form their estimate of right and wrong in the scale of 
 commonly-received opinion, I was little qualified to comprehend, 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS L1NDSEY. 19 
 
 or duly to appreciate, the full excellence of such a character ; yet 
 I was exceedingly interested by the amiable, unassuming dis- 
 position of my new friend ; by the patience with which he 
 endeavoured to set right every mistake or prejudice; by his total 
 disregard of every personal indulgence ; and by his unwearied 
 solicitude to make all around him good and happy. It was the 
 constant subject of his thoughts in what way he could most 
 effectually benefit the people committed to his care, whether in 
 their temporal or eternal interests. And to this end a plan of 
 great frugality was adopted by himself and Mrs. Lindsey, who 
 perfectly acceded to his views, that they might have the power of 
 distributing books, in aid of personal instruction ; of giving 
 medicines to the sick, and food to those who were ready to perish 
 with hunger. But it was on a Sunday evening chiefly, when the 
 labours of the day were over, a day devoted to the public and 
 private instruction of the congregation at large, of the children 
 of those who composed it, of servants and others who attended 
 in his own study, that the irradiations of a mind so heavenly were 
 the most striking. Never shall I forget, as he walked across the 
 room with cheerful and animated step, unmindful of weariness or 
 fatigue, discoursing, perhaps, on the beauties of creation, the 
 goodness of God everywhere manifested, the perfect example of 
 Christ, or on the heroism and virtue of martyrs and confessors 
 gone to their reward, how his eyes would sparkle with delight. 
 When, he would say, will the happy time arrive, that all men will 
 be virtuous and happy ? M 
 
 In this pleasing manner, and with these promising prospects, 
 did Mr. Lindsey commence his career at Catterick. Surrounded 
 with parishioners who idolized him; in the neighbourhood of 
 friends who loved him, and whose society charmed and edified 
 him ; and engaged in offices most delightful to himself and useful 
 to others, he devoted himself wholly to the duties of his ministry, 
 and aspired to no other preferment. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM MR. LINDSEY'S SETTLEMENT AT CATTERICK, TO HIS 
 RESIGNATION OF THAT VICARAGE, A.D. 1773. 
 
 But this sunshine of felicity did not continue long without 
 interruption : Mr. Lindsey's ingenuous mind could not satisfy 
 itself in a compromise with sincerity. A dangerous fit of sickness 
 roused his conscience, and he became secretly but firmly resolved 
 to seek an opportunity to relinquish a situation which was no 
 longer supportable. The further process of his mind upon this 
 interesting occasion I shall state in his own words.* 
 
 " I could not now satisfy myself with Dr. Wallis's and the like 
 softenings and qualifications of the Trinitarian forms in the liturgy. 
 I wondered how I had been able to bring myself to imagine that 
 I was worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth, whilst I was 
 addressing two other persons, God the Son and God the Holy 
 Ghost, and imploring favours severally of them in terms that 
 implied their personality, and distinct agency and deity, as much 
 as that of the Father.f 
 
 * Apology, p. 230. 
 
 T This miserable casuistry, for such it now appeared to the venerable man who had 
 formerly been entangled in its web, silenced the scruples of many of the learned 
 Unitarians at the close of the 17th century, and induced them to acquiesce in con- 
 formity to the established form of worship ; while, contrary to the obvious meaning of 
 the words, they interpreted the language of the liturgy in a Unitarian sense, upon the 
 principles of Dr. Wallis's explanation of the Trinity, and of the Oxford Decree. 
 Amongst others, the celebrated Thomas Firmin, the friend of Tillotson and the patron 
 of the poor, who made no secret of his Unitarian principles, from which, at the par- 
 ticular request of Queen Mary, the pious Archbishop in vain laboured to reclaim him, 
 was influenced by these considerations to adhere to the communion of the established 
 church, and to dissuade others from separating from it. His friend John Biddle appears i 
 to have seen the question in a juster light ; and rather chose to suffer imprisonment 
 and banishment than to join in worship, the language of which, however he might 
 interpret it to his own satisfaction, must necessarily convey an erroneous sense to the 
 majority of those who use it. — See the Life of Firmin, p. 14, ed. 1791. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 21 
 
 u If invocations so particular, language so express and personal, 
 might be sifted and explained away into prayer to one God only, 
 I might, by the like supposals and interpretation, bring myself to 
 deify and pray to the Virgin Mary, and maintain that I was still 
 only praying to the one God, who was thus invoked in his creature 
 that was so nearly united to him. 
 
 " It appeared to me a blameable duplicity, that whilst I was 
 praying to the one God the Father, the people that heard me were 
 led, by the language I used, to address themselves to two other 
 persons or distinct intelligent agents : for they would never 
 subtilize so far as to fancy the Son and Holy Spirit to be merely 
 two modes, or respects, or relations of God to them. 
 
 " As one great design of our Saviour's mission was to promote 
 the knowledge and worship of the Father, the only true God, as 
 he himself tells us, I could not think it allowable or lawful for me, 
 on any imagined prospect of doing good, to be instrumental in 
 carrying on a worship which I believed directly contrary to the 
 mind of Christ, and condemned by him. 
 
 " If it be a rule in morals, quod dubitas ne feceris, it is still 
 more evident that we are not to do anything that we know to be 
 evil; no, not to procure the greatest good. For God does not 
 want my sinful act. It would be impious to suppose that he. 
 cannot carry on his government, and promote the felicity of his 
 creatures without it. And although in his providence he may 
 bring good out of any evil, he will not let the doer of it go 
 unpunished. And if anything be evil and odious in his sight, 
 prevarication and falsehood is such ; and most of all an habitual 
 course thereof in the most solemn act a creature can be engaged 
 in, — the worship of him, the holy, all-seeing God." 
 
 While these thoughts w r ere passing through Mr. Lindsey's mind, 
 and probably before he had formed an absolute and final deter- 
 mination upon the subject, he had the happiness to be introduced 
 to the acquaintance of two persons, like-minded with himself, 
 whom he ever afterwards numbered amongst his most intimate 
 and confidential friends, and whose friendship he with reason. 
 
22 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 regarded as among the greatest consolations and blessings of his 
 life. These were the Rev. William Turner, the learned, liberal, 
 and pious minister of the Presbyterian congregation at Wakefield, 
 in Yorkshire, and the celebrated Dr. Priestley, then a Dissenting 
 minister at Leeds. Early in the summer of the year 1769, these 
 gentlemen met Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey by appointment at the 
 house of Archdeacon Blackburne at Richmond, where they passed 
 some days together in that unreserved and delightful interchange 
 of sentiments, and in those free and amicable discussions which 
 would naturally take place among persons of high intellectual 
 attainments, in whose estimation the discoveries of divine revela- 
 tion held the most honourable place, and who were all equally 
 animated with the same ardent love of truth, and with the same 
 generous zeal for civil and religious liberty. 
 
 This memorable interview made a favourable and lasting im- 
 pression upon the minds of all the parties, and was followed with 
 very important consequences. It gave birth to friendships between 
 the strangers who were then first introduced to each other, which 
 improved rapidly upon further acquaintance, which were ever 
 afterwards a source of the highest mutual satisfaction and im- 
 provement, which continued unimpaired to the end of life, and 
 will no doubt be resumed under happier auspices in a better and 
 immortal state. 
 
 In a letter from the Archdeacon to Mr. Turner, which is now 
 before me, and which was written soon afterwards, he says : " I have 
 had Mr. Lindsey's thanks in form, for bringing him acquainted with 
 two valuable men. The company of such worthies as Mr. Turner 
 and Dr. Priestley is one of my luxuries ; and the last small taste I 
 had of it will make me long till another opportunity affords me a 
 second course. And I had the less relish for the dessert (1 mean 
 the rambles), as it was a kind of interruption of that conversation 
 for which I am always sharp set. Friend Lindsey can talk and 
 even dispute on horseback. In that situation I am sure to fall 
 into reveries, and often forget both myself and my company ; and 
 for something of that sort which might look like ill manners, I 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 23 
 
 believe I ought to make an apology in our pilgrimage to Master 
 Buncle's cave."* 
 
 Dr. Priestley, in the interesting Memoir of himself, mentions 
 this introduction to Mr. Lindsey as one of the greatest blessings 
 of his life. Speaking of the connections he formed during his 
 residence at Leeds, he adds : — 
 
 " Here it was that, in consequence of a visit which, in company 
 with Mr. Turner, I made to Archdeacon Blackburne at Richmond, 
 I first met with Mr. Lindsey, then of Catterick, and a correspon- 
 dence and intimacy commenced, which have been the source of 
 more real satisfaction to me than any other circumstance in my 
 whole life. He soon discovered to me that he was uneasy in his 
 situation, and had thoughts of quitting it. At first I was not 
 forward to encourage him in it, but rather advised him to make 
 what alteration he thought proper in the offices of the church, 
 and leave it to his superiors to dismiss him if they chose. But 
 his better judgment and greater fortitude led him to give up all 
 connection with the established church of his own accord."f 
 
 Mr. Turner was not less sensible than Dr. Priestley of the 
 value of Mr. Lindsey' s friendship ; and to these two excellent 
 men, of spirits congenial with his own, did this venerable con- 
 fessor first communicate his intention of resigning his prefer- 
 ment in the church. And that, not to ask their advice upon 
 the subject, for his resolution was already fixed, but to consult 
 with them concerning the proper time and manner of accomplish- 
 ing this extraordinary design, and to derive that support and 
 
 * Mr. Turner was a3 eminent for prudence as he was for learning, piety, and 
 liberality of sentiment. An intimate friendship was formed between this gentleman 
 and Mr. Lindsey soon after the interview at Richmond, and an interesting and con- 
 fidential correspondence took place, which only terminated by disability on the part of 
 Mr. Turner from age and infirmity. It was then taken up by his son, the present 
 highly respected minister of the Unitarian congregation at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and 
 continued till Mr. Lindsey himself became disabled by the infirmities of age. To the 
 kindness of this gentleman the author is indebted for a sight of Mr. Lindsey's letters; 
 of which it will be perceived that a liberal, though it is hoped not an improper, use has 
 been made in the course of the narrative. It will easily be conceived that Mr. Lindsey 
 was not deficient in expressions of affection and esteem. How high a value he set 
 upon the fiiendship of these excellent men, will be seen from various extracts of letters 
 to Mr. Turner, which will be introduced in the sequel of this Memoir. 
 
 t Dr. Priestley's Memoirs, p. 61, London edition. 
 
24 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 comfort which a virtuous mind, in trying circumstances, needs 
 and seeks from the sympathy and kind suggestions of enlight- 
 ened and generous friends, who, having adopted similar prin- 
 ciples, enter cordially into all its views, feelings, and difficulties, 
 and by seasonable counsel, and tender expressions of encourage- 
 ment and approbation, soothe and tranquillise the emotions of 
 an anxious and disquieted spirit. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey was now in a situation to need all the comfort 
 which his friends could administer. This venerable man was no 
 professed ascetic : he was no enthusiast or visionary. He had 
 ever lived in a station of ease and affluence, and Comparatively 
 high consideration. His company had been sought after by the 
 opulent, the learned, and the great. Nor was he insensible to 
 the advantages and the comforts of an eminent and respectable 
 station. He had not been at all accustomed to struggle with 
 difficulties, or to endure the privations and the obscurity of 
 indigence. His delight had been to employ his affluence in doing 
 good, and he had even made conscience of saving nothing for 
 his own use from the revenues of his living. 
 
 He was fully apprised that, if he carried his present virtuous 
 resolution into effect, the scene would soon be changed. " To 
 leave a station of ease and affluence M (he observes in his Farewell 
 Address to his Parishoners at Catterick), " and to have to combat 
 with various straits and hardships of an uncertain world, affords 
 but a dark prospect." Instead of opulence and high estimation 
 in the world, he clearly foresaw that the step he was about to take 
 would entail poverty, contempt, neglect, and calumny. He could 
 not but be sensible that by the majority of those who either knew 
 him or who might hear of his withdrawing from the church, and 
 who could not or would not duly appreciate his motives, his con- 
 duct would be severely censured as rash, fanatical, and absurd. 
 He expected that his means of usefulness, whether in the way of 
 instruction or beneficence, would be exceedingly reduced, if not 
 entirely annihilated. Among the dissenters his connections were 
 very limited, and he had little prospect of encouragement. By 
 the great majority of them his principles and his person would be 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LTNDSEY. 25 
 
 regarded with horror * Not many even of those societies which 
 call themselves rational and liberal would endure to hear the pure 
 Unitarian doctrine j and very few indeed would justly appreciate 
 the sublime principles and the exemplary character of this faithful 
 servant of Christ. And, as he observes with great feeling, it was 
 
 * They now are deem'd the faithful and are prais'd, 
 
 Who, constant only in rejecting Thee, 
 
 Deny thy Godhead with a martyr's zeal, 
 
 And quit their office for their error's sake. 
 
 Blind, and in love with darkness ! — Cowper. 
 Such is the language of our admired poet, whose gloomy system of theology cast a 
 deeper shade upon the natural morbid tendency of his constitution, and involved his 
 innocent and tender spirit in the darkest clouds of religious melancholy, under which 
 he sunk in sad despondency to the grave. Peace to his hallowed ashes ! When the 
 last trumpet shall summon the sleeping sufferer from the tomb, free from the oppressive 
 chain of ignorance and infirmity, he will rejoice to find the parent of the human race 
 infinitely more kind and merciful to his erring offspring than his rigid system, so much 
 at war with his gentle temper, led him to believe ; and will greet with delight on their 
 thrones of glory, those whom his rash and misguided zeal had formerly consigned to 
 regions of woe. — Let the reader forgive the above almost involuntary effusion of re- 
 spect to departed genius, combined with high moral worth, but oppressed with melan- 
 choly, and entangled in a system the most sombre and terrific of all that have ever 
 been grafted upon the mild and benevolent doctrine of Jesus. As to the rest, the 
 sentiment expressed in the above quotation was certainly that of the great body of 
 Dissenters at the time when it was written. It is so still ; but not to the same extent. 
 Happily, within the last thirty years, owing under God to the labours and sacrifices of 
 Mr. Lindsey and others his worthy coadjutors or followers, " the gospel light of the know- 
 ledge of the one true God, and the worship to be paid to him only, as taught by Jesus 
 Christ, has been spreading its beautiful ray through the British nation : so that many 
 of all ranks begin to see with concern the striking opposition betwixt our public forms 
 of worship and those laid down in the word of God." (Apology, p. 236.) And 
 among the dissenting churches in particular, where there were formerly only one or 
 two solitary individuals who received the proper Unitarian doctrine, and who were 
 almost afraid of avowing their belief, lest they should be hunted out of society like 
 wild beasts, flourishing congregations of professed Unitarian Christians have of late 
 sprung up, whose conduct is an ornament to their profession, and whose enlightened 
 zeal is diffusing the salutary odour of pure evangelical truth with a rapidity and success 
 almost unprecedented. 
 
 Nevertheless, that all the Dissenters who were Mr. Lindsey's contemporaries, though 
 differing from him in doctrinal principles, were not insensible to his great moral worth, 
 is evident from the correspondence of the late Reverend Job Orton, the able assistant 
 and confidential friend of the late pious and celebrated Dr. Doddridge; who in one of 
 his letters published by and addressed to the Reverend S. Palmer, of Hackney, ex- 
 presses himself in these words : " Were I to publish an account of silenced and ejected 
 ministers, I should be strongly tempted to insert Mr. Lindsey in the list which he 
 mentions in his Apology with so much veneration. He certainly deserves as much 
 respect and honour as any one of them for the part he has acted. Perhaps few of 
 them exceeded him in learning and piety. I venerate him as I would any of your 
 confessors. As to his particular sentiments, they are nothing to me. An honest, pious 
 man, who makes such a sacrifice to truth and conscience as he has done, is a glorious 
 character, and deserves the respect, esteem, and veneration of every true Christian." 
 — Orton's Letters, vol. ii. p. 159. 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 a severe aggravation of his distress, in the prospect of straits and 
 difficulties, that he was not alone involved in them. The per- 
 son who was most justly the dearest in the w r orld to him must 
 share in his privations and sufferings. And though that excellent 
 person, as soon as his pious and honourable resolution was com- 
 municated, expressed the highest approbation of it, animated and 
 encouraged him to pursue it, and urged him on with a zeal 
 almost superior to his own, testifying the utmost readiness to 
 forego ease and comfort, and, what was the most dear of all, the 
 many opportunities of active benevolence, and to accompany him 
 into the shades of solitude and poverty ; yet Mr. Lindsey did not 
 on that account feel less sensibly the hardships and miseries to 
 which his beloved and worthy consort would inevitably be ex- 
 posed. But none of these things moved him. He fixed his eye 
 upon the line of duty, and determined to adhere closely to it, and 
 to leave the event to God. 
 
 These were the difficulties which Mr. Lindsey foresaw, and 
 which he made up his mind to encounter. But though the con- 
 flict of his feelings must have been inexpressibly great, the 
 delicacy of his spirit would not permit him to disclose them at 
 large even to his most confidential friends, that he might not give 
 them unnecessary pain ; and, chiefly, lest, if they were acquainted 
 with all the circumstances of the case, they should endeavour to 
 dissuade him from that measure which was now become the fixed 
 purpose of his heart. " It was not till long after this," says 
 Dr. Priestley (Memoir, p. 61), " that I was apprised of all the 
 difficulties he had to struggle with before he could accomplish his 
 purpose." 
 
 It had occurred to himself, and had been suggested by Dr. 
 Priestley and some other friends who knew the embarrassment he 
 was under, that " he might change the public service of the 
 church, and make it such as he could conscientiously officiate in," 
 leaving it to his superiors to dismiss him if they disapproved his 
 conduct. And there was no ground to suspect that he would ever 
 have met with any molestation from them ; but, as Dr. Priestley 
 observes, " Mr. Lindsey's better judgment and greater fortitude 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 27 
 
 led him to determine the contrary." The foundation of this 
 determination he has explained in his Apology, p. 237. 
 
 u I could not/' says he, " reconcile myself to change the public 
 service of the church, because I looked upon the declaration of 
 conformity and subscription at institution to be such solemnities, 
 that I could not be easy under so great a violation of them. For 
 I must have adopted all Dr. Clarke's amendments, or even more ; 
 which would have been making almost a new service of it.* 
 
 " But, could I have brought my own mind to it, there were 
 some things in my situation in so large a parish, with three 
 chapels in it, which would have made such a change impracticable. 
 Not to mention, also, that when incapacitated by sickness or re- 
 moved by death, the people in all probability must have returned 
 back to their old forms again. In short, such an attempt would 
 have been likely, in my place, to have produced much confusion 
 and perplexity, to say the least : and I could not see any adequate 
 religious improvement or edification among my people likely to 
 arise from it ; the only justifiable end of making such a change, 
 and staying with them." 
 
 The venerable writer adds : u Upon the most calm and serious 
 deliberation, therefore, and weighing of every circumstance, I am 
 obliged to give up my benefice, whatever I suffer by it, unless I 
 would lose all inward peace and hope of God's favour and accept- 
 ance in the end." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey was encouraged and fortified in his virtuous resolu- 
 tion f by the example of those pious and conscientious clergymen, 
 
 The following is the form of the engagement to conformity at institution to a living 
 before a bishop : — 
 
 " I do declare that I will conform to the liturgy of the Church of England 
 as it is now by law established. A. B." 
 
 " This declaration was made and subscribed before me by the said A. B. to 
 be admitted and instituted into the rectory or vicarage, &c, in the year of our 
 
 Lord and in the year of our consecration." 
 
 t Mr. Lindsey was particularly struck with the following pious and affecting 
 soliloquy of Mr. Oldfield, an ejected minister of Carsington, in Derbyshire, whose pri- 
 vate papers fell into Dr. Calamy's hands : — 
 
 "When thou canst no longer continue in thy work without dishonour to God, dis- 
 credit to religion, foregoing thy integrity, wounding conscience, spoiling thy peace, and 
 hazarding the loss of thy salvation ; in a word, when the conditions upon which thou 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 who, in the year 1662, on the 24th of August, the too memorable 
 Bartholomew-day, being the day on which the Act of Uniformity 
 was carried into effect, to the number of two thousand, suffered 
 themselves to be ejected and silenced, rather than submit to the 
 new impositions, and subscribe and conform to the liturgy and 
 articles against their consciences ; " a long list/' continues Mr. 
 Lindsey, " that does honour to human nature, and to our own 
 country in particular, which has hitherto taken the lead in the 
 restoration of God's true religion." 
 
 But the example which, if possible, pressed with still greater 
 weight upon his thoughts, and which urged, and, if I may so 
 express it, even stung his tender and upright mind to a decisive 
 resolution upon the subject, was the recent and affecting but 
 little noticed case of the Reverend Dr. William Robertson, who, in 
 the year 1760, having embraced Unitarian principles, though he 
 had a large family and very slender means of subsistence, for the 
 sake of preserving his integrity inviolate, resigned a valuable pre- 
 ferment and the offer of much better in the diocese of Ferns in 
 Ireland. This venerable confessor, in his affecting epistle to his 
 worthy diocesan, Dr. Robinson, afterwards the celebrated Primate 
 of Ireland, who was anxious to retain him in the church, expresses 
 himself thus : — 
 
 " In debating this matter with myself, besides the arguments 
 directly to the purpose, several strong collateral considerations 
 came in upon the positive side of the question. The streightness 
 of my circumstances pressed me close ; a numerous family quite 
 
 must continue (if thou wilt continue) in thy employments are sinful and unwarranted 
 by the word of God, thou mayest, yea thou must, believe that God will turn thy very 
 silence, suspension, deprivation, and laying aside, to his glory and the advancement 
 of the gospel's interest. When God "will not use thee in one kind, yet he will in 
 another. A soul that desires to serve and honour him shall never want opportunity 
 to do it ; nor must thou so limit the Holy One of Israel, as to think he hath but 
 one way in which he can glorify himself by thee. He can do it by thy silence as well 
 
 as by thy preaching: thy laying aside as well as thy continuance in thy work. 
 
 It is not pretence of doing God the greatest service, or performing the weightiest duty, 
 that will excuse the least sin, though that sin capacitated or gave us the opportunity 
 for the doing that duty. Thou wilt have little thanks, my soul, if when thou art 
 charged with corrupting God's worship, falsifying thy vows, &c, thou pretendest a 
 necessity for it in order to a continuance in the ministry." — Calamy's Account of 
 ejected Ministers, vol. ii. p, 175. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 29 
 
 unprovided for, pleaded with the most pathetic and moving 
 eloquence. And the infirmities and wants of age, now coming 
 fast upon me, were urged feelingly. But one single consideration 
 prevailed over all these — that the Creator and Governor of the 
 universe, whom it is my first duty to worship and adore, being the 
 God of truth, it must be disagreeable to him to profess, subscribe, 
 or declare, in any matter relating to his worship and service, what 
 is not believed strictly and simply to be true."* 
 
 " The example of this worthy person/' says Mr. Lindsey, Apo- 
 logy, p. 239, " has been a secret reproach to me ever since I heard 
 of it. For I thought, and perhaps justly, that he might not have 
 all those reasons of dislike to our established forms of worship 
 that I had : and though myself not without unknown straits and 
 difficulties to struggle with, and not alone involved in them, yet 
 have I not all those dissuasives and discouragements that he paints 
 forth in his affecting letter to the Bishop of Ferns, subjoined to 
 his instructive and learned work." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey's purpose being now irrevocably fixed quietly to 
 retire from the established church, he only waited for a favourable 
 opportunity of carrying his honourable design into effect. 
 
 In the mean time an event occurred which induced Mr. Lindsey 
 for the present to postpone his intended resignation. This was an 
 Association formed in the year 1771, by some of the clergy of the 
 established church and a few of the laity, for the purpose of 
 making an application to parliament to obtain relief in the matter 
 of subscription ; that a declaration of assent to the sufficiency of 
 the Holy Scriptures might be substituted in lieu of subscription 
 to the thirty-nine articles and the book of Common Prayer. Mr. 
 Lindsey from the beginning " entertained very slender hopes of 
 success. Least of all did he expect that reformation in the liturgy 
 would be carried to such an extent as to make it practicable for 
 him, with a safe conscience, to retain his situation in the church. 
 But he was anxious to avoid the charge of precipitancy. He 
 
 * This epistle is annexed to a small publication of Dr. Robertson's, entitled, An 
 Attempt to explain the Words, Reason, Substance, &c. Of this excellent man some 
 further account will be given iu the sequel of this narrative 
 
30 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 would not leave room for cavillers to allege that he had deserted 
 his post before he knew that such a step would be necessary. And 
 he thought that after having waited the issue of this important 
 measure, his resignation would be more justifiable in the sight of 
 the world, and would produce a better effect."* 
 
 This application to parliament originated in the great impression 
 which was made upon the public mind, and especially upon the 
 minds of many of the learned, liberal, and serious clergy, by the 
 celebrated work of Archdeacon Blackburne, entitled The Confes- 
 sional. At the desire of some of his brethren, the Archdeacon 
 published, in the beginning of the year 1771, "Proposals for an 
 Application to Parliament for Relief in the matter of Subscription, 
 &c, humbly submitted to the consideration of the learned and con- 
 scientious Clergy." In consequence of these proposals, a meeting 
 of the clergy residing in or near the metropolis was advertised for 
 the 17th of July, when it was unanimously agreed to form an As- 
 ssociation for the purpose of applying to the legislature for relief. 
 This, from the place of meeting, was called The Feathers' Tavern 
 Association; and an excellent petition having been drawn up by 
 the Archdeacon, was adopted by the Association and circulated 
 through the country with great industry, in order to obtain signa- 
 tures previous to the meeting of parliament. 
 
 It is almost needless to add that, in a cause so right and honour- 
 able in itself, and so congenial to his principles and feelings, Mr. 
 Lindsey exerted himself with more than his usual activity and 
 ardour. He undertook to solicit signatures in the extensive dis- 
 trict where he resided; and for the purpose of adding names to 
 this venerable list, he spared neither labour nor expense.f For 
 
 * " From the first that I engaged," says Mr. Lindsey, Apology, p. 235, " with 
 the associated clergy for procuring the removal of subscription to formularies of faith 
 and doctrine drawn up by fallible men, I forsaw that if no relief was obtained, nor 
 any prospect opened of a refonnation of the liturgy with regard to the great object of 
 worship, or of a disposition to indulge a latitude to private persons to make discre- 
 tionary alterations in it for themselves by the express rule of Holy Scripture, it would 
 certainly terminate, as to myself, in resignation of my office in the church ; and I 
 thought this would be a fitting season for it. " 
 
 f In a letter upon this subject to his confidential friend Mr., afterwards Dr., Jebb, 
 Mr. Lindsey says, " I own to you, sir, I cannot but be greatly interested in a cause 
 in which I bless God that I have an opportunity to engage and declare myself ; and 
 
REVEREND THEOPniLUS LINDSEY. 31 
 
 this end, he travelled upwards of two thousand miles at the worst 
 season of the year, and often through roads which were almost im- 
 passable. But his success did not correspond with his labours 
 and his hopes. The majority, as usual, saw no reason for any 
 alteration ; the violent and bigoted expressed their abhorrence of 
 the undertaking, and calumniated the motives of the petitioners ; 
 the cautious and timid were unwilling to commit themselves, and 
 thought it more prudent to defer the application ;* and some, of 
 whom better hopes were entertained, and who were known to be in 
 their judgment friendly to the objects, unexpectedly hesitated and 
 drew back at the critical moment, and instead of their signatures 
 they could only proffer their good wishes. 
 
 " These well-disposed and good sort of men," says Mr. Lindsey, 
 in a letter dated November 19, 1771, written just after his return 
 from one of these fruitless circuits, " have done the cause more 
 harm than they intended. They may wait long before the season 
 of reformation comes, and their brethren of the clergy and the 
 governing powers be more inclined to promote it than they are at 
 present. May they have no regrets in reflecting that Providence 
 put it in their power to bring on the desired season, and propagate 
 the requisite dispositions and zeal for relieving the oppressed truth 
 of God by their much-wanted example ! I really never expected 
 success in this our undertaking ; and still less, since I have had 
 cause to observe the desertion of many from whom one might 
 have expected better. And yet I do not give it up for gone; nor 
 will those worthy persons who have taken an active part in pro- 
 moting it." 
 
 In another letter to the same friend, dated December 21, 1771, 
 and written soon after his return from a general meeting of the 
 Association in London on the 11th, in which it was finally deter- 
 
 for which I do not know, with the help of God, the pains or sufferings that I would 
 
 refuse. 1 have offered, and if health be permitted will carry the petition to 
 
 Kendal in Westmoreland, to Newcastle in Northumberland, to York and Wakefield ; 
 all places at a very great distance from me, and in which labours I am alone without 
 any assistance whatever." — See Mr. Joyce's excellent Memoir of Mr. Lindsey in the 
 Monthly Magazine for December, 1808. 
 
 * It has been observed by an elegant writer, that the verb reform wants the present 
 tense. 
 
32 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 mined to present the petition to parliament during the present 
 session, after stating the violent opposition which was expected 
 from the University of Oxford, from Lord North, from the Metho- 
 dists and others, Mr. Lindsey adds, — 
 
 " Be the event, however, what it may, still good, much good, I 
 am sure, has arisen, and more will rise from this shaking of the 
 stagnant waters, and stirring up of better principles. Political 
 statesmen without any principle are afraid of disturbances which 
 may hurt the enjoyment of their ease and emoluments. Political 
 divines, and reverend unbelievers and half-believers, are still more 
 haunted with fears of the like kind. Bigots are enraged at the 
 thought of a free, rational examination of the Holy Scriptures. 
 Whilst serious and honest men, for such there are in all places, 
 rejoice at the Christian and Protestant undertaking." 
 
 The petitioners, though comparatively few in number, not 
 amounting to two hundred and fifty, were of high consideration in 
 point of talents, of learning, and of moral worth. The names of 
 Lindsey, of Blackburne, of Wyvill, of Jebb, of Law, of Disney, 
 of Chambers, and many others, are such as would do honour to 
 any cause. The majority were clergymen ; the rest were gentlemen 
 of the professions of law and medicine, who thus entered their 
 protest against the yoke of subscription imposed upon students 
 at the universities who had no view to the clerical office. 
 
 It being determined by the Association not to defer the petition 
 to another session, the petitioners and their friends were very active 
 in soliciting the support of those members of the House of Com- 
 mons who might be disposed to listen to their arguments. Their 
 reception in general was civil, but not very encouraging. Many 
 regarded the object of the petition as frivolous ; and many believed, 
 or pretended to believe, that it would be hazardous to meddle with 
 the articles. The prevailing opinion was, that the application was 
 ill-timed, and that it was best to let religion alone. Some, how- 
 ever, who were in the foremost rank for talents, integrity, and 
 eloquence, took up the cause with great ardour, and promised 
 their most zealous support. The state of the business is thus re- 
 presented in a letter from John Lee, Esq., who was afterwards 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 33 
 
 Solicitor-General, to a friend in the country, dated January 31, 
 1772:— 
 
 " It will surprise you who live in the country, and consequently 
 have not been informed of the discoveries of the metropolis, to 
 hear that the Christian religion is thought to be an object unworthy 
 of the least attention ; and that it is not only the most prudent, 
 but the most virtuous and benevolent thing in the world to divert 
 men's minds from such foolish subjects with all the dexterity that 
 can be. This is no exaggeration, I assure you : on the contrary, it 
 seems to be the opinion (and their conduct will show it) of nine- 
 tenths of both houses of parliament. On Thursday, a committee 
 of petitioners waited upon Lord North to apprise him of the 
 nature of their application, and to inform themselves of his inten- 
 tion concerning this matter. He received them with great cour- 
 tesy, commended the decency of the petition itself; but before he 
 parted with them, he told them that all with whom he had con- 
 versed were of opinion that innovations would be very improper. 
 Mr. Pitt, the nephew of Lord Chatham, has undertaken to second 
 the motion, and I am sure he will acquit himself ably. I spoke 
 with him on the subject, and he understands it very well. Lord 
 George Germaine is hearty in the cause, has studied the contro- 
 versy, and speaks admirably. Mr. Dunning has promised me to 
 attend it ; and as his abilities are unequalled by any man's I ever 
 knew, I hope he will do honour to the cause and to himself. 
 Some others there are of less note who will enter into the debate ; 
 yet such a general confederacy is there against the measure, that 
 I do not believe we shall divide forty members, perhaps not twenty ; 
 yet the debate will do honour to the petitioners, though at present 
 no good to the cause. Perhaps it may excite an attentioa to the 
 subject ; and who knows what time may do ? This may cure Dr. 
 Priestley of writing divinity, which, to be sure, hardly anybody 
 minds. Yet I do not think our sons are more honest, our dau"-h- 
 fcers more chaste, our liberties more sacred, or our property more 
 secure, than in the days when it was thought no dishonour to read 
 or to believe the Scripture/' 
 
 This able advocate, whose powers were equalled by few, and 
 
 D 
 
34 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 whose integrity was surpassed by none, the worthy and confidential 
 friend of Mr. Lindsey, and Dr. Priestley, and Mr. Turner, was 
 engaged to exert his superior abil ties and energetic eloquence 
 in pleading the cause which he so well understood, and which he 
 had so much at heart, if the petitioners had been permitted 
 to be heard by counsel at the bar of the House of Commons. 
 " If I attend at the bar," says he, " I will do my utmost to serve 
 the petitioners ; but I fear counsel will not be permitted." 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1772, agreeably to the resolution 
 of the general meeting, the petition was presented to the House of 
 Commons. It was introduced with a very neat and appropriate 
 speech by Sir William Meredith, the member for Liverpool ; Lord 
 John Cavendish and Sir George Savile having declined the 
 office, not from any want of zeal for the cause, but because 
 thev did not consider themselves as sufficiently masters of the 
 subject. It was intended by the Minister that the petition should 
 be treated civilly, be laid upon the table, and the consideration of 
 it adjourned for six months. It was Lord North's policy, if 
 possible, to preclude debate upon so delicate a subject. But the 
 intemperate zeal or the secret instructions of Sir Roger Newdigate, 
 one of the members for the University of Oxford, a gentleman 
 of mild dispositions and exemplary character in private life, 
 happily defeated the artful policy of the noble Lord, and gave 
 rise to one of the most interesting and animated debates that 
 was ever heard in that house ; " a debate," as Mr. Lindsey 
 expresses it in a letter to a friend, " which entered gloriously 
 into the whole merits of our cause, and which was w r ell worth 
 going two hundred and forty miles to hear." It lasted for 
 eight hours. Of this debate I will take the liberty to introduce a 
 brief account, extracted from a letter of the learned gentleman 
 above mentioned to his friend in the country : — 
 
 " Sir William Meredith in a few words informed the House 
 that he had in his hands a petition of a number of respectable 
 clergy and others, praying relief in the matter of subscription ; and 
 therefore he moved that it might be brought up. Mr. T. Pitt 
 seconded the motion. On this, Sir Roger Newdigate rose up 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 35 
 
 in great anger, and demanded to know what the contents of 
 the petition were, and what the number and names of the 
 men who had subscribed it. Sir William then read the petition 
 in his place, and a few of the names, adding, that the number 
 was about two hundred and fifty. Sir Roger Xewdigate then 
 began the debate, and opposed with great vehemence the bringing 
 up of this petition. In his opinion it aimed at the destruction 
 of the church, whose existence depended upon the continuance of 
 the articles. Sir Roger spoke contemptuously of the number 
 and quality of the petitioners, and sustained with great fortitude 
 the character of member for Oxford. He was followed by Mr. 
 Hans Stanley, who opposed the bringing up of the petition, 
 as it tended to disturb the peace of the country, which, in his 
 opinion, ought to be the subject of a fortieth article, which would 
 be worth all the thirty-nine.* He was succeeded by Mr. 
 Fitzmaurice, who is brother to Lord Shelburne, and spoke on 
 the same side, throwing out some very indecent reflections on 
 The Confessional and its author, and endeavouring to prove 
 the petitioners to be a parcel of canting hypocrites, who, under 
 pretence of reformation, meant the ruin of our civil and eccle- 
 siastical government. This conduct roused the resentment of 
 Mr. Pitt, who with great dignity and good sense observed upon 
 the indecency of calumniating any persons appearing in the 
 character of petitioners for redress of grievances, more especially 
 the persons then applying for relief in a matter that highly 
 concerned the purity of religion, the integrity of their own 
 minds, and even the morality of the people. He stated very 
 w r ell the principles of the Reformation, and fairly inferred from 
 them the propriety of the petition. 
 
 " The motion for bringing up the petition was also supported by 
 Lord George Germaine, Mr. Sawbridge, Mr. Thomas Townshend, 
 Lord John Cavendish, Mr. Dunning, Sir Henry Hoghton, Mr. 
 Solicitor-General Wedderburne,t and Sir George Savile. I believe 
 
 * Upon this subject see a very curious letter of Mr. Hans Stanley to Mr. Lindsey, 
 Appendix, No. IV. 
 
 •f The author of this Biographical Memoir is neither inclined nor called upon 
 to vindicate Mr. "Wedderburne, afterwards Earl of Rosslyn, and Lord High Chancellor 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE I ATE 
 
 Sir George Savile's speech was one of the best that was ever 
 delivered in that house. I can give you no idea of its excellence, 
 unless by repeating some parts of it when I have the pleasure 
 of seeing you. I cannot help saying, however, that I never 
 was so affected with, or so sensible of the power of, pious 
 eloquence as while he was speaking. It was not only an honour to 
 him, but to his age and country.* Mr. Solicitor- General spoke 
 
 of Great Britain, in the whole of his political conduct. But let it be remembered 
 to Lord Bosslyns praise, that he was always the enlightened advocate of a liberal 
 toleration ; and that he was the steady zealous friend and disinterested patron of 
 the late learned Edward Evanson, A.M., vicar of Tewkesbury, whom he carried 
 triumphantly through a mean and savage persecution instituted ; gainst him by a 
 few of his parishioners, in opposition to the sense of a decided majority of the 
 inhabitants of the town, unc'er pretence of heresy, and because of a few verbal 
 alterations or omissh ns in rearing the Liturgy. 
 
 * The speeches of Sir William Meredith and-of Sir George Savile were afterwards 
 written down from memory by Dr. Furneaux, and corrected by Sir W. Meredith him- 
 self. Of these speeches, so corrected, I am in possession of a copy, from which I will 
 . trespass upon the indulgence of the reader by presenting him with a hw extracts 
 of the admirable speech of Sir George Savile, which he will easily perceive was well 
 entitled to the high eulogium of Mr. Lee. The earnestness and fervour with which 
 it was delivered manifested how deeply the honourable speaker wa3 impressed with his 
 subject, and the house listened from beginning to end with silent astonishment. 
 
 The honourable speaker, after a few preliminary remarks, in which he distinguishes 
 between the church of England and the church of God and Christ (with which Sir 
 Boger"' Xewdigate had confounded it), after having stated that adherence to the 
 Scriptures only, in opposition to human inventions, was the grand principle of 
 Brotestantism, and having made some judicious and pointed observations upon some 
 of the doctrines which are contained in the articles, proceeds to vindicate the character 
 of the petitioner.-, and to reply to the objections which had been started in the course 
 of the debate. It may be proper to rremise that the zealous member for the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford had in his speech used words to this effect : " Some, perhaps, mpy 
 ask what is the use of requiting subscription to the thirty-Bine articles ? All blind 
 as they are, cannot they see that the articles are bairiers for the proti ction of the 
 church?" It was also fully tinderstood at the time that the beautiful allegory, 
 in rep y to this allegation, though mentioned as a quotaticn, wa> in fact the extem- 
 poraneous suggests n of the eloquent orator's own vivid in agination. 
 
 " I must now, sir, express my very great concern at the manner in which the 
 
 petition, and they who signed it, have been treated. They have been treated in a 
 
 manner very unparliamentary, in a manner that none should be treated who come to the 
 
 bar of this house to jepresent grievances and to solicit rediess. Their characteis 
 
 have been aspersed : injurious suspickns have been thrown out against their designs and 
 
 intentions. I wish many things not to have been said which have been said. The 
 
 petitioners, sir, t-re cleigynen. men of respectable characteiBj I verily believe gotd 
 
 and conscientious n en. We nay treat their situation with indifference, because we 
 
 are strangers to it and feel not their difficulty. But let us lor a moment put ourselves 
 
 in the place of these petitii nera, who are reejuired to bring themselves under a solemn 
 
 obligation on the ( ne hand to pi each according to Scripture (which, if it means 
 
 anything, must mean according to what they apprehend to be the sense of Scripture., 
 
 and on the other, are reqii red to decline their belief of articles whieh in their 
 
 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS L1NDSEY. 37 
 
 very well, and gave a very handsome testimony to the character of 
 Mr. Blackburne as a learned, pious, virtuous, and venerable man, 
 
 consciences they think contrary to the Scripture, and which few will pretend to believe 
 
 or to under.- and This sir, is a debate in which the honour of God, the 
 
 interests ot religion and virtue, our own consciences, and the consciences of others, 
 are deeply concerned. Let us, then hear no mure of private characters, of confes- 
 sionals, and Feathers' Ta\ern. I have always thought that th,> persons of men who 
 petition this house were under our protection. The r characters ought to be still moie 
 so. I therefore beseech you— I become a humble and earnest supplicant to you by 
 the benevolent spirit of the Gospel, by all that is serious. I beseech y< u by the 
 bowels of Christ, that this affair be treated, not as a mattter of policy, not as a matter 
 of levity, not as a matter of censoriousness, but as a matter of religion. 
 
 " Some a gentlemen seem to apprehend that we are to make the doors of the c' urch 
 as narrow and to exclude as many as possible. I think we should make them as wide 
 as we can to take in as many as possible. Others are apprehensive that, in case 
 the Scriptures are substituted in the room of the articles, it will be the means of 
 admitting into the church a great number of sectaries. Sectaries ' sir : had it not 
 been for sectaries, this cause had been tried at Rome. Thank God. it is tried here. 
 
 " Some gentlemen fear that if we lay aside the articles and place the Scriptures 
 in their stead, by t' rowing down all distinctions, we shall admit Papists, and to- 
 gether with them their religion too. But they forget that Papists are excluded by the 
 oath of snf remacy, and by the declaration against transubstantiation, against the 
 invocation of the Virgin Mary and other saints, and against the sacrifice of the 
 mass. And if any other test be need'.ul, let them be made to acknowledge liberty 
 of conscience and the right of private judgment; let them abjure persecution —that 
 were a truly Protestant test. But can any one seriously think that encouraging free in- 
 quiry and the study of the Scriptures will issue in the Romish religion 1 Wi en I fee 
 a rivulet flow to the top of a high rock, and requiring a stong engine to force it \ ack 
 again, then shall I think that freedom of inquiry will be prejudici.il to tiuth — • 
 then shall I think that liberty of judgment will bo prejudicial to the Protestant 
 religion — then shall I think that adhering to the Scriptures only will lead to Rome. 
 
 " Some gentlemen talk of 'raising barriers about the church of God. and protecting 
 his honour.' Language that is astonishing, that is shocking, tha" almost approaches to 
 blasphemy. What ! man ' a poor, vile, contemptible reptile, talk of raising barriers 
 about the church of God ! He might as well talk of protecting Omnipotence, and 
 raising barriers about his throne. Barriers about the church of God, sir! about, that 
 church, which, if there be any veracity in Scripture shall continue for ever, and against 
 which the gates of hell shall not prevail ] If 1 may be allowed on so serious an 
 occasion to recollect a fable, it puts me in mind of ore which 1 have met with, 
 of a stately, magnificent, impregnable castle built on a rock, the basis of which was the 
 centre of the earth, the top of >t pierced the clouds, the thickness of the wal s could 
 not be me; sured by cubits. At the bottom of it a few moles were one day very 
 busy in raising up a little quantit}' of earth, which when some mice saw, What are you 
 doing, said they, to disturb the tranquillity of the lord of this castle] We are not 
 disturbing his tranquillity, replied the moles ; all blind as you are, you may see that we 
 are only throwing up a rampart to protect his castle. 
 
 "The church of God, sir, can protect itself. Truth needs not be afraid of not 
 obtaining the victory on a fair trial. The lovers of truth will love all sincere inquirers 
 after it, though they may differ from them in various religious sentiments. For it is to 
 impartial and free inquiry only that error owes its ruin and truth its success. Those 
 who are penetrated with the benevolent spirit of the gospel will not condemn as 
 heretxs, will not rejtct as unworthy of their affection, any who believe the Christian 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 aud vindicated his book as an excellent and entertaining per- 
 formance. The speakers on the opposite side were Sir Roger 
 Newdigate, Mr. Fitzmaurice, Lord Folkstone, Mr. Byrne, Lord 
 North, Mr. Charles Fox, Mr. Burke, Mr. Dyson, Mr. Jenkinson, 
 Mr. Stanley, Dr. Hay, and Mr. Cooper. Nobody but Sir Roger 
 Newdigate attempted to defend the articles. And all the house 
 explicitly declared it was foolish to require subscription at the 
 university, and expressed a wish that it might be laid aside 
 there. 
 
 u After a very fine debate the house divided ; the numbers 
 for not receiving the petition were two hundred and seventeen — 
 for receiving it, seventy-one — which, considering the influence of 
 the bishops and ministry, and the character and weight of the 
 minority, was thought a very great affair. The clergy petitioners 
 were delighted with the debate, all of them that were in town 
 being admitted to hear it. Dr. Hallifax, of Cambridge, was 
 in the gallery, and seemed disappointed that his violent nonsense 
 had produced so little effect on the house. This scene was acted 
 yesterday, beginning at three and ending at eleven o'clock." 
 
 •' The XXXIX. Articles/' says Mr. Lindsey, in a letter of nearly 
 the same date to the same friend, " underwent such a scrutiny, and 
 had such a just exposition, that the civil power must soon be 
 ashamed of imposing what not one of our adversaries de- 
 fended, except Sir Roger ; and many of them gave them up. 
 
 religion, who search and endeavour to understand the Scriptures, though they may be 
 unable to comply with creeds and articles. 
 
 •'Some gentlemen suppose that the Scriptures are not plain enough to be a rule and 
 centre of union to the church. They must have articles and creeds to supply its 
 defects. But if the things which are necessary to salvation are not plainly revealed, there 
 is no way of salvation revealed to the bulk of mankind at all. Whatever is obscurely 
 revealed will be always obscure, notwithstanding our decisions. It can never be 
 authoritatively determined by men. The only authority which can explain it, and 
 make the explanation a test of faith, is the authority of God. As to what he has 
 plainly revealed, it needs no articles to ascertain its meaning. We should not then 
 adopt views and measures which are contracted and narrow. We should not set bars in 
 tlie way of those who are willing to enter and labour in the church of God. When the 
 d : sciples came to Christ and complained that there were some who cast out devils in 
 his name, and said, We forbad them because they followed not us — what did our 
 Saviour do] Did he send them tests and articles to be subscribed? Did he ask them 
 whether they believed this, or that, or the other doctrine? whether they were Athana- 
 sians, or Arians, or Arminians ? No. He delivered that comprehensive maxim — He 
 that is not against me is for me. Go ye, and say likewise." 
 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LIND8EY. 39 
 
 " Burke declaimed most violently against us in a long speech, 
 but entirely like a Jesuit, and full of popish ideas; the multi- 
 farious strange compound of the book called the Scriptures; the 
 uncertainty what were the Scriptures; the necessity of a priest- 
 hood; of men in society, religious as well as other, giving up their 
 right of private judgment, &c, &c. 
 
 " Can it be true?" continued Mr. Lindsey; "I hope not; but 
 it is said;, and suspected, that this man spoke the sentiments of 
 his patron, Lord Rockingham. The persuasion, however, does 
 my Lord Marquis no good in the esteem of judicious men. 
 
 "Though defeated/'' adds he, "we sing a victory; as truth and 
 reason were all for us, and overpowered only by power; and we 
 are not disheartened, but in high spirits, with thankfulness to the 
 good providence of God so happily disposing things; and shall 
 certainly not give up the cause, though what steps next are to be 
 taken we cannot say. " 
 
 So little interest did the Dissenters take in this application of 
 the clergy, that only two of the General Body of Dissenting 
 ministers happened to be present at this memorable debate*. 
 These were, indeed, gentlemen of the first eminence and re- 
 spectability among their brethren; the late Reverend Edward 
 Pickard,* minister of the congregation at Carter Lane, a gentle- 
 
 * Let it be permitted to one who, after an interval of more than thirty years, enter- 
 tains a grateful and unabated sense of many and important obligations, to bear a humble 
 testimony to the distinguished, but retiring and unobtrusive, merit of the friend of his 
 youth. The Reverend Edward Pickard was born at Alcester, in Warwickshire, a.u. 
 1714, of reputable and pious parents. He was educated in high Calvinistic principles, 
 and after he had finished his studies under the Reverend and learned J. Eames, F.R.S., 
 he settled with a congregation at Stratford-upon-Avon. The excellence of his under- 
 standing a'id the benevolence of his heart, combined with a serious and diligent study 
 of the Scriptuies, soon led him to discard the gloomy system in which he had been 
 brought up, ; nd to embrace the more rational hypothesis of Ari.nism, which was then 
 in the zenith of its glory, being supported by the great abilities, learning, and reputation 
 of Dr. Clarke Nlr. Whiston, Dr. Daniel Scott, and others. To this opinion Mr. Pickard 
 ever afterwards adhered. His deviation from the orthodox creed having created 
 uneasiness in his situation at Stratford, he removed to London and was at first settled 
 with a small congregation in the borou.'h. Put his eminent talents were not destined 
 to remain long in obscurity. And in 1746, upon the accession of .Mr. Newman to the 
 pastoial office in the flourishing congregation at Carter Lane, in the room of Dr. Wright, 
 Air. Pickard was chosen afternoon preacher; and, upon the death of Mr. Newman, a.d. 
 175i>, he was appointed sole pastor, and continued in that connection, happy, useful, and 
 beloved, beyond the common lot till his own det ease in February, 1778. Air. Pickard 
 
40 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 man distinguished by benevolence of heart and urbanity of man- 
 ners, who was afterwards Chairman of the Committee for conducting 
 
 had great pulpit talents. He was, indeed, no professed orator; and perhaps he enter- 
 tained too great a prejudice against the artificial helps of public elocution. But his 
 voice was clear and strong, his matter was judicious well composed, interesting, and 
 practical. He spoke as one who deeply felt the power of religious truth. In prayer, 
 he chiefly excelled. In vnriety of thought, in copiousness of lauguage, in simplicity, 
 in propriety and pertinence to the occasion, in pathos, and in fervour of devotion, he 
 was unequalled. No one could hesitate in preferring free prayer to written or public 
 forms, if all could pray like Mr. Pickard He rivetted the attention and captivated the 
 heart. And it was the same in the more private and family circle as in public. His 
 public services did not indeed attract the crowd, but they delighted the intelligent, the 
 judicious, and the devout, and have been honoured more than once by the attendance 
 of dignitaries of the highest order in the established church. 
 
 Mr. Pickard possessed talents which qualified him eminently for conducting business. 
 "What he planned with calm and cool deliberation and advice, he executed with promp- 
 titude, with vigour, and with perseverance. And his kindness of heart and conciliatory 
 manners made it a pleasure to every one to transact business with him. He was a 
 leading and active member in many important trusts. He was chairman of the com- 
 mittee for that application to parliament which originated with him, for the relief of 
 Protestant Dissenting ministers, tutors, and schoolmasters; and in this office he con- 
 ducted himself with a degree of prudence and activity which commanded universal 
 approbation. His conduct in this affair was, indeed, severely, not to say rudely, 
 attacked, in an anonymous pamphlet, by an author who did not at that time fully 
 appreciate his worth. But at the next general meeting of the three denominations, 
 which was most numerously attended, Mr. Pickard, as chairman, delivered a most excellent 
 speech, which he was strongly solicited tn publish, stating and defending his own con- 
 duct and that of his brethren of the committee, and repelling the attack which had been 
 made upon him and them, with a spirit, truth and energy, which gave complete satis- 
 faction to the audience, and even to the accuser himself, who was present, and who was 
 ready frankly to acknowledge that he had not formed a just estimate of Mr. Pickard's 
 character and talents.* 
 
 In the American war. and in the party politics of the time, Mr. Pickard took a side 
 opposite to that of Dr. Price and most of his Dissenting brethren. This he did honestly 
 and conscientiously, and without any improper or interested bias of mind. He was a 
 man of a truly independent spirit, and disdained to be the tool of a party. And when 
 the Minister of the Crown, knowing his character, his political principles, and his weight 
 among the Dissenters, offered him the whole management of the Regium Donum he abso- 
 lutely declined having any concern in it at all, that he might not give the shadow of 
 pretence for the allegation that he was warped in his political principles by court 
 favour. 
 
 Mr. Pickard died after a short illness, in February, 1778, in the sixty-seventh year 
 of his age. And very few in a smilar situation have been more justly, more generally, 
 or more deeply lamented. It is much to be regretted that his great humility and 
 modesty, together with his numerous avocations, did not permit him to instruct and 
 edify the Christian world from the press as well as from the pulpit. But he has left 
 
 * The anonymous assailant was Dr. Priestley, who has, to the author himself, 
 acknowledged his error with respect to the qualifications and merits of Mr. Pickard; 
 and the gentleman who requested that the speech might be published was Mr. Turner, 
 of Wakefield. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS L1NDSEV. 41 
 
 the application of the Dissenting ministers to Parliament for relief; 
 and the learned Philip Furneaux, D.D., minister of the congrega- 
 tion at Clapham, well known to the public by his Letters to Mr. 
 Justice Blackstone upon the subject of Toleration, and whose 
 memory was so correct and tenacious, that having taken down 
 from recollection the celebrated speech of Lord Mansfield in the 
 House of Peers, in the great Dissenting cause, concerning the 
 liability of Dissenters to serve the office of sheriff, and having 
 shown it to the noble and learned Lord for his correction, it was 
 returned by Lord Mansfield with very few alterations, and with 
 his express consent to publish it as his genuine speech : which 
 Dr. Furneaux has accordingly done in the Appendix to the second 
 edition of his Letters to the learned Judge. In the course of 
 the debate, many of the speakers who opposed the petition of the 
 clergy, and particularly Lord North, who, having with his usual 
 good-humour observed, that he saw no ground to complain of 
 intolerance in times when every one was permitted to go to heaven 
 in their own way, remarked, that had a similar application been 
 made by the Dissenting clergy, who derived no emoluments from 
 the church whose articles they were compelled to subscribe, he 
 could see no reasonable objection to it. These two reverend 
 gentlemen, talking the matter over with each other after the 
 debate was closed, and consulting with some others of their 
 brethren, summoned the General Body of Dissenting ministers of 
 the Three Denominations, who concurred in an application to 
 parliament the next year, for relief from the obligation to sub- 
 scribe the articles of the established church, in order to secure 
 the benefits of the Toleration Act. And though they were for a 
 time vehemently opposed by bigots, both of their own body and of 
 the establishment, and though the bill for their relief, having 
 twice passed the House of Commons, was twice rejected by the 
 Lords; yet a few years afterwards, a.d. 1778, the times becoming 
 
 one splendid and lasting monument of his philanthropy and piety, the Dissenters' 
 Orphan School, in the City Road ; of which noble and useful institution I believe that 
 I am correct in saying that the idea originated with him; at least, it will be allowed 
 that he was one of its first founders, and of its most able, most unwearied, and most 
 successful managers and advocates. 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 more favourable, the bill for their relief passed both Houses al- 
 most unanimously, and received the Royal assent. So that at 
 present Dissenting ministers, tutors, and schoolmasters, are en- 
 titled to all the benefits of the Toleration Act, by making a 
 declaration, in addition to the oaths usually required, that they 
 receive the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as con- 
 taining a divine revelation. 
 
 The associated clergy having resolved, notwithstanding their 
 late defeat, to renew their application for relief the next session of 
 parliament, Mr. Lindsey, though his hopes of success were less 
 than ever, did not deem it expedient at this juncture to carry into 
 effect his resolution of resignation. This, however, he plainly 
 foresaw must soon happen; and in the mean time he fortified his 
 mind by reading Calamy's Account of the Ministers who were 
 ejected for nonconformity in the year 1662, and by collecting 
 materials for a history of persons who had suffered for their pro- 
 fession of Unitarian principles. Upon the former subject he 
 thus expresses himself, in a letter to a friend, dated April 12, 
 1772:— 
 
 " I never was more affected with any book than with Calamy's 
 History of those worthy confessors that gave up all in the cause 
 of Christ, and for a good conscience, at the Restoration. No 
 time or country ever did furnish at once such a list of Christian 
 heroes; and I fear our own country now would fall far short of 
 furnishing so large a number upon a like trying occasion. But it 
 was the effect of their Puritan education. They had learned to 
 fear God from their youth, and to fear nothing else." 
 
 He further adds to the same correspondent, in reference to the 
 plan which he was himself pursuing, of collecting materials for a 
 similar history, — 
 
 " As it was your own obliging offer, I need not ask you, as it falls 
 in your way, to inquire out, and to note down for me, any such 
 good witnesses of our own days. And I will endeavour that their 
 names and example may not be wholly lost." 
 
 In another letter, dated May 10, 1772, he observes, — 
 
 " If I did not sufficiently in my last, I ought to acknowledge 
 
 
REVEREND THE0PII1LUS LINDSEY. 4 3 
 
 myself highly indebted to you for the pains you have taken, and 
 are taking, in the inquiry first started to me by you, though 
 thought of by me, and to which you so willingly lend your aid. 
 Their names have gone up for a memorial before God, who have 
 suffered for the testimony of Jesus, and nobly refused to worship 
 the beast and his image. But surely their memory should live, 
 and be preserved upon earth for the benefit of the present and 
 succeeding times. Eut such materials are slowly collected, and 
 hardly to be come at by us of the church; and, to our shame be 
 it said, fall more in your way. Therefore I will beg you, at your 
 utmost leisure, to go on as you have begun." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey, though his own mind was fully made up as to the 
 step which he would take if the application of the associated 
 clergy did not succeed, was very cautious of dropping any hint 
 of his intention, even to his most intimate friends, till the time 
 approached when it would be necessary for him to take public and 
 decisive measures. The first allusion which he makes to his own 
 secret purpose, in his correspondence with Mr. Turner, is in a 
 letter dated June 2, 1772. 
 
 " What will further be attempted in our affair," says he, " I 
 know not; but I trust we shall agree still to do something. For 
 my own particular, if no disposition to reformation appear, and 
 nothing be done, I do not know where things will end." 
 
 The associated clergy judging it expedient not to renew their 
 application to parliament at the ensuing session in the spring of 
 1773, Mr. Lindsey, who never expected any reformation to be 
 introduced which would relieve his scruples with respect to con- 
 formity, conceiving that he had now protracted his resignation to 
 the utmost limit that the most cautious prudence could require, 
 and having now an open course before him, determined forthwith 
 to relinquish his preferment at the close of the current year. 
 And in the mean time he employed himself in preparation for this, 
 to him, very important event — not, indeed, by hoarding up a 
 purse of money for the support of himself and Mrs. Lindsey 
 while he continued out of office, and unprovided with the means 
 of subsistence : for this was not his chief concern. True to the last 
 
44 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 to the generous principle that the income arising from a parish 
 should be employed for the benefit of the parishioners, both he 
 and Mrs. Lindsey, as we are informed by his amiable biographer, 
 who was eye-witness to the fact, continued their accustomed 
 charities, and had this year the additional expense of inoculating 
 all the poor children in the parish, the small-pox being then very 
 fatal in the neighbourhood. Mrs. Lindsey attended them in per- 
 son, gave them all their medicines, and was so successful in her 
 attendance, that she did not lose a single patient.* Mr. Lind- 
 sey, in the mean time, employed himself in drawing up and print- 
 ing a copious and learned Apology to the public, which in its 
 original state contained a large and comprehensive view of the 
 arguments for the Unitarian doctrine. But, upon reconsideration 
 and by advice of his friends, he considerably reduced the size of 
 the volume, comprising what was most material, and what related 
 to himself personally, in a smaller work, which was to be ready 
 for publication immediately upon his resignation; and judiciously 
 reserving the more elaborate portion of the argument to be pub- 
 lished afterwards, at a more convenient season, as a Sequel to the 
 Apology. In the mean time, as opportunity offered, he communi- 
 cated his purpose without reserve to his confidential friends. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1773, some letters in a newspaper 
 appeared under the signature Laelius, which discussed the question 
 concerning the conformity of clergymen who in their judgment 
 and conscience disapproved of the doctrine and worship of the 
 established church. Upon this subject Mr. Lindsey thus feelingly 
 expresses himself, in a letter to a friend dated March 2 : — " The 
 subject of Lselius's last letter may give one many a pang. I 
 cannot say that I have been, for many years, a day free from 
 uneasiness about it."f 
 
 The interesting posture of his mind, as the crisis approached, 
 he thus pathetically describes to his friend Mr. Turner, who seems 
 to have been almost the only person admitted to his entire confi- 
 dence. The letter is dated June 13, 1773. "It is not possible 
 
 * Mrs. Cappe's Memoir of Mr. LinJsey, Month. Rep. vol. iii. p. 641. 
 t Monthly Mag. December, 1808, p. 448. 
 
 
 
 
REVEREND THEOFHILUS LINDSEY. 45 
 
 to describe to you the straits and anxieties of mind which one 
 person daily passeth through — not through any doubts of the thing 
 itself, but lest he should have deserved to be laid by, lest there 
 should be anything to reproach himself with hereafter, lest he 
 should suffer unprofitably as to himself; for a man may give all 
 his goods to the poor, and his body to be burned, and yet want 
 charity ■ may make the greatest sacrifices, and yet want the 
 proper disposition to make them acceptable. "What need has one 
 daily to cry with the psalmist, ' Make me a clean heart, God, 
 and renew a right spirit within me ! ' You will hence observe, it 
 was not lightly that the last word said at K. at parting, was 
 ' Ora, Orate pro nobis f and you gave me comfort in the assurance 
 of this your way of remembrance. And I would beg another 
 person not to be forgotten, who has indeed the true spirit of a 
 Christian, and has been more than ready to do everything j but 
 who must be exposed to one knows not what, and there must be a 
 great change from what is at present. These things are hinted 
 darkly to you, for which there is a reason. But there is a relief 
 in it, and the more, as it is to no one else whatsoever, now Dr. P. 
 is gone." 
 
 To the same friend, at the same time, he sent his Apology and 
 its Appendix, now finished and ready for the press, requesting at 
 the same time his free and impartial strictures. " You will find 
 it run out/'' says he, "longer than you would think. But one 
 tiling drew on another. And it seemed to me necessary to com- 
 plete my plan. I will not be ashamed to own to you that it has 
 cost me some pains. And some things seem to be set in a 
 stronger light than 1 have seen them ; and some I had not seen 
 observed before. When I have borrowed, I have fairly owned it. 
 You know what severity of judgment, perhaps unkind, it is to 
 pass through ; and therefore I beg you will be severe beforehand, 
 and also suggest any improvements winch may occur to you." 
 And in his next letter, dated June 21, he says, "I beg you will 
 I! particularly mark any expression or sentiment that savoureth of 
 pride or obstinacy, or contempt of others'' opinions, or that is 
 deficient in a proper and humble sense of myself." So solicitous 
 
46 
 
 MEMOIRS OE THE LATE 
 
 was this excellent man that he might be influenced by none but 
 the purest and most disinterested motives in all he did, or suffered, 
 or wrote, through the whole of this arduous concern. 
 
 At the latter end of July, Mr. Lindsey was invited to preach 
 the Assize sermon at York; of which opportunity he availed 
 himself to bear his testimony to the cause of the petitioning 
 clergy. This discourse gave great satisfaction to a liberal and 
 enlightened audience, and the preacher was much solicited to print 
 it. But as the bulk of it had been composed only for his country 
 parishioners, to which a few additions had been made for the 
 purpose of adapting it to the occasion, Mr. Lindsey did not think 
 it worthy the public eye. Had it occurred to him that he might 
 possibly be requested to publish, he would have been better pre- 
 pared. And he expresses his regret to his friend, that "an 
 opportunity of bearing a more public and useful testimony had 
 been lost by him." 
 
 Soon after his return from York he made a visit to Alnwick 
 Castle, ' ' the noble owners of it having invited him in such a way, 
 that in this juncture he thought it wrong to decline it, however 
 inconvenient." He regarded it as proper upon this occasion to 
 drop a hint to his illustrious friends of the important measure 
 which he had in contemplation, not without some faint hope that, 
 in some shape or other, some little effort might have been made 
 to serve him, some temporary ^relief might have been offered. 
 Happily, no such idea entered into the minds of the noble 
 inhabitants of that princely mansion. On the contrary, "his 
 words seemed to them as idle tales." Nor did it fall within the 
 comprehension of persons of their high rank and dignity, that it 
 was possible for a person of Mr. Lindsey's good understanding, 
 for the sake of a few trifling scruples, to quit a situation of 
 respectability and affluence, and expose himself and the person in 
 the world who was the dearest to him to all the miseries of 
 poverty and dependence. The disappointme nt of his expectations 
 from the Duke and Duchess of NorthumbcrlanU docs not appear 
 to have given Mr. Lindsey one moment's uneasiness. Before he 
 set out for Alnwick he had written to his friend, " If God be with 
 
 
REVEREND T0EQPHILT7S LTNDSEY. 47 
 
 us and go along with us in all we do, and wherever we go, we 
 shall prosper. I trust, I desire to do his will more ardently than 
 ever." And after his return, August 10, he briefly states: — 
 " My late journey was undertaken in view of my approaching 
 affair, and to try something towards procuring a viaticum for the 
 pilgrims. But I cannot say it has answered. Nobody will 
 believe any one can be in earnest to take such a step."* 
 
 Mr. Lindsey was no fanatic who fancied merit in voluntary 
 poverty. He had enjoyed and had duly valued and improved the 
 blessings of affluence. Nor could anything but an imperious 
 sense of duty have induced him to forego them. He is not, 
 therefore, to be blamed for using any prudent and honourable 
 means of saving himself and Mrs. Lindsey from falling at once 
 into an abyss of poverty, m which they would be left to struggle 
 with difficulties unaccustomed and unknown. It could be no 
 offence to say, " Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away 
 from me;" provided that it was added, as in this case it certainly 
 was, with the most entire resignation of spirit, "nevertheless, not 
 our will, but thine, be done." And it was the wise and merciful 
 design of Providence that this venerable confessor's faith and 
 principle should be tried to the utmost. Nor indeed would it 
 have been possible for Mr. Lindsey 's character to have appeared 
 with equal brilliancy and effect, nor could the purity of his own 
 motives have been so evident, even to himself, if immediately 
 upon his resignation of the vicarage of Catterick he had found a 
 
 * This disappointment wa* not owing to any personal dislike, or to any indifference 
 in his noble patrons to the concerns of their venerable friend. On the contra* y, they 
 j took a very lively interest in his future fortunes. And after he came to reside in 
 1 London, on the very day in which he opened tie chapel in Essex Street, when there 
 was some apprehension that j\lr. Lindsey migl t incur personal danger, the Duchess 
 herself called at his humble apartments after the morning service, to inquire after the 
 safety of the revered confessor. But these illustrious persons, having offered him tie 
 highest preferment which it was in their power to confer, when Mr. Lindsey resigned 
 his connection with the established church, probably considered him as having placed 
 himse'f without the sphere of their patronage. Nor did it occur to them, nor would 
 Mr. Lindsey's delicacy permit him to insinuate the most distant hint, to what a state 
 of depression and dependence he had reduced himself by his magnanimous conduct. 
 Afterwards, when his situation came to be better understood, a liberal present was 
 ade to his venerated preceptor by the late illustrious possessor of tl e title, which was 
 I IJcontinued annually till Mr. Liidsey's decease. 
 
48 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 safe and splendid asylum in Northumberland House. It was 
 therefore expedient for him, and for the cause which he had at 
 heart, that he should be taught not only to be ready, but actually 
 to suffer the loss of all things for the sake of truth and of a good 
 conscience. 
 
 The disappointment at Alnwick Castle produced a very slight 
 and momentary impression. A far severer conflict awaited Mr. 
 Lindsey when he came to reveal his purpose to Mrs. Lindsey's 
 relations, to Archdeacon Blackburne, her stepfather, who loved 
 her as his own daughter, who from principle utterly disapproved 
 the measure of leaving the church, and who could express his 
 disapprobation with a strength and energy of language, which, 
 though it could not shake Mr. Lindsey' s purpose, might greatly 
 agitate his feelings ; and to Mrs. Blackburne, who, if she did not 
 disapprove the principle of Mr. Lindsey's conduct, would feel 
 most bitterly the inevitable consequence — that of tearing from her 
 arms a beloved daughter who was the chief solace and support of 
 her advancing years. This disclosure, so much dreaded, was 
 indeed deferred by Mr. Lindsey perhaps beyond the time which 
 strict propriety would justify, of which his friend at Wakefield 
 appears to have given him a gentle hint. In reply to which, 
 upon his return from Alnwick, he writes, "In my next I shall 
 perhaps be able to tell you how the notification is received by one 
 to whom you wished it to be made." This communication was 
 made in the month of September ; and the result of it, and the 
 impression it made upon his mind, he thus concisely but feelingly 
 describes in a letter dated September 17 : — 
 
 " What I said to you then (alluding to his last letter) I can ill 
 recollect; for I had been then, and was some time after, under 
 such agitations of mind in disclosing a certain important matter 
 to some friends, that I was hardly master of myself to do any- 
 thing properly. Something of this kind I could not avoid even 
 at York. But all such trials are now over. Affliction, great, you 
 will readily believe on the side of a loving mother and justly 
 beloved daughter, on the prospect of so sudden a removal to such 
 a distance ! But it gives place to better sentiments, and trust in 
 
REVEREND THEOPHTLUS LINDSEY. 49 
 
 Providence. I cannot say the matter is so kindly taken by others. 
 But such things are to be expected ; and they may be of service to 
 prepare for coldness, neglect, misrepresentation, and unkindness 
 from the world, and to lead to depend only on Him who never 
 faileth those who in well-doing put their trust in Him." 
 
 It was about the same time that he communicated his intention 
 and his motives in a letter to another respectable correspondent :* — 
 
 " I think," says he, " you must have perceived in my letters, 
 perhaps in my conversation, a dissatisfiedness with our ecclesias- 
 tical impositions, and a tendency to relieve myself from them. 
 This indeed had taken place long before our association was 
 formed, and the execution only suspended and retarded by it, 
 though some pleasing expectation was formed, that Providence 
 might unexpectedly give such a turn to our endeavours as might 
 make me easy, or give me liberty to make myself easy. But as 
 my chief dissatisfaction is with those Trinitarian forms which per- 
 vade the whole liturgy, all hope of that kind is entirely cut off. 
 The resolution I have formed of retiring has been absolutely fixed 
 
 * See the Memoir in the Monthly Magazine, ibid. p. 448. This correspondent was 
 the celebrated Dr. John Jebb, so well known and so honourably distinguished by the 
 learned and instructive Critical and Theological Lectures which he delivered at 
 Cambridge ; by his zealous, active, and in part successful exertions to improve the 
 system of education in the university, and to excite a laudable spirit of emulation 
 among the students by frequent examinations and honorary premiums ; and to abolish 
 or to mitigate the yoke of subscription to the thirty-nine articles. This gentleman, 
 however, finding his efforts for reformation in a great measure fruitless, resigned hia 
 preferment in the church, and afterwards took his degree in medicine, and entered upon 
 practice in the metropolis with great reputation and success; but he died a few years 
 afterwards, in the meridian of life, at the age of fifty-three. — See Dr. Disney's 
 interesting Memoir nf Dr. Jebb, prefixed to the collection of his works. Dr. Jebb did 
 not actually quit his situation in the church till some time after the resignation of his 
 friend Mr. Lindsey. But it is remarkable that the letters of the two friends, com- 
 municating to each other their respective resolutions to that effect, crossed upon the 
 road. Dr. Jebb, as he was the active and energetic coadjutor of Mr. Lindsey in the 
 business of the clerical association, so he wa3, with Mr. Turner, his confidential friend 
 and adviser in all his subsequent proceedings and difficulties, particularly concerning 
 the opening of the chapel in Essex Street, and the alterations in the Liturgy. Mr. 
 Lindsey also submitted his various publications to the revisal of Dr. Jebb, and derived 
 much benefit from his critical remaiks upon difficult and disputed texts. It was the 
 earnest desire of Mr. Lindsey that his pious and learned friend shculd have been 
 associated with him as his colleague in Essex Street. But this Dr. Jebb declined ; 
 though afterwards when he was settled in London, he was a constant worshipper in 
 Mr. Lindsey 's chapel, and a most zealous and decided advocate for Unitarian principles, 
 and supporter of the sole worship and unrivalled supremacy of the One God, the Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
50 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 for some time, and will take place in a few months. It was 
 absolutely necessary for my own peace with God, which is to be 
 preferred above all considerations. But I have found great diffi- 
 culties and opposition already, and expect to find more. My 
 greatest comfort and support, under God, is my wife, who is a 
 Christian indeed, and worthy of a better fate in worldly things 
 than we have a prospect of; for we leave a station of ease and 
 abundance, attended with many other agreeable circumstances. 
 But, thanks be to God, we have not given way to ease and indul- 
 gence, and can be content, with little." 
 
 In the month of October, Mr. Lindsey writes to his friend, 
 " that their courage and trust in God did not relax, though 
 difficulties and discouragements increased ; and that, if these 
 produced the effect of bringing them nearer to God, and to more 
 entire reliance upon him, whatever might befall them they would 
 have reason to be thankful." 
 
 On the 12th of November, Mr Lindsey wrote to his diocesan, 
 Dr. Markham, then Bishop of Chester, afterwards Archbishop of 
 York, to inform him of his intention to resign his vicarage, and 
 that in a few days he should wait upon his Lordship with the 
 legal instrument of his resignation. On the same day he wrote 
 a long letter to Dr. Jebb, in which he says, " I have never had 
 the least doubt, from the first moment I resolved on the step I 
 am now about to take, but that it was right, and my duty. I 
 have had some subsequent hope, too, that it might serve our 
 cause, and the cause of God's truth. I bless the God of heaven 
 for myself, and my wife, who is destined to bear a great part of 
 the burden, that as difficulties increase (and they must increase 
 the nearer the time approaches), our resolution and courage in- 
 crease. And I have no doubt but the promises made to the 
 faithful servants will be fulfilled to us ; that we shall have strength 
 proportioned to our trial and want of it."* 
 
 * In another letter to the same friend, dated December 5, 1773, Mr. Lindsey writes: 
 '* I have always had great satisfaction and information in your letters, and iu your 
 later ones much comfort and encouragement. If I had been opposed and condemned 
 by all my friends, by all the world, in what I have been long meditating and have 
 now accomplished, I must have done it. The track of duty was so plain and straight, 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 51 
 
 On the same day he wrote a letter to his friend Mr. Turner, 
 who had proposed to recommend him to a congregation of liberal 
 Dissenters at the Octagon Chapel, Liverpool, which was then in 
 want of. a minister. In this letter he expresses his deep sense of 
 his friend's kindness, and his own further views and purposes, in 
 the following terms : — 
 
 " I must ever say that I have had no such consolation from 
 any one as from you, during the conflict and trial which the 
 providence of God has cast upon me. You have ever been leading 
 to the right point of view in which to consider it, and suggesting 
 the most animating motives for encouragement under it. And 
 not satisfied with doing this, your last convinces me of your 
 earnest desire to contribute your endeavours to procure me an 
 establishment when I quit this, which may preserve some degree 
 of usefulness which I anxiously wish, and serve for that worldly 
 support which we shall want. But with regard to what you 
 kindly suggest, I believe it will be best to wait, and not lay out 
 for anything of this kind at present, though no less obliged to 
 you than if you procured me success in it. My reason is, that 
 my design, which I specify very particularly in my tract, is to 
 try to gather a church of Unitarian Christians out of the esta- 
 blished church. My hope is, that it may please Providence to 
 excite some Philadelphians in our church to favour such a design. 
 And when I go to town, which will be in the beginning of the 
 winter, I shall do all I can to forward it; with hope, I said before, 
 not very sanguine however, for serious religion is not the tone 
 and temper of the times. But attempts must be made in such 
 matters oftentimes when there are even greater improbabilities of 
 
 I must have been abandoned to every moral principle not to have gone in it. I have 
 no doubt I shall have increasing joy in what I have done, to the latest day of my life. 
 And I feel myself delivered from a load which has long lain heavy upon me, and at 
 times nearly overwhelmed me. I shall be still more happy if what I thought myself 
 called upon to speak to the public in my own behalf, but more in the cause of oppressed 
 truth, may but serve its interests. The Bishop of Chester, my diocesan, has behaved 
 with great friendliness, and kindly wished and sought to have prevented my taking 
 such a step. And the same has been endeavoured by other great friends lately, and 
 various expedients proposed. But I now only wonder I did not sooner make my 
 retreat ; and I am persuaded that will be the general cry of many when they see my 
 book." 
 
 E 2 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 accomplishing them. T could wish, and I think it my duty, to 
 be instrumental in bringing those who are now in the darkness 
 in which I was bred up to the acknowledgment and worship of 
 the One true God, through the mediation and according to the 
 true doctrine of our Saviour Christ, rather than attach myself to 
 those who are already emancipated from that darkness. And we 
 are willing to expend what little we have for that end for a year 
 or two in town, and make the trial. Should it fail, I should be 
 glad to be useful in any congregation where the worship of the 
 true God is allowed and professed. As to future provision, 
 though gloomy thoughts for a moment have sometimes come 
 across the mind, we have no doubt but our own industry and the 
 friends that Providence will raise will furnish everything needful 
 for it. 
 
 " On Sunday last I took my leave of two of the chapels in my 
 parish, that lie at a good distance off, near the moors, a poor 
 simple-minded people, who much affected me by the concern 
 they showed and expressed in words at my telling them that I 
 should never more speak to them from that place ; and all desired 
 to have the little tract which I mentioned I should distribute 
 amongst them, and which would give them an account of the 
 reasons why I left them."* 
 
 * This excellent and affecting little tract, from which large extracts have been made 
 in the preceding part of this Memoir, was originally intended for private circulation 
 only among Mr. Lindsey's parishioners, but by the desire of many judicious friends it 
 was afterwards published. Mr. Turner, in a letter to a friend (Mr. Astley, of Chester- 
 field) to whom he sent a copy of this Farewell Address, says, '* I think you will be 
 pleased with the simplicity of the composition, as well as with the integrity and good- 
 ness of heart manifested in it. In short, it bears the very spirit and character of the 
 man." Of the effect produced by it in the district where it was first circulated, Mr. 
 Lindsey thus expresses himself in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated December 5, 1773 : " I 
 may not omit to mention, though I ought not perhaps to do it, but you will be glad to 
 know that my resignation has excited a spirit of serious inquiry not only in this parish 
 but in this neighbourhood to a pretty wide extent. The little sheet I gave away is 
 much sought for, and all seem to think it a sore thing that we should not be ruled by 
 the Dible alone, and that their ministers should be put on praying to any but the true 
 God whom the holy prophets prayed to, and our Saviour Christ not only prayed to 
 himself, but ordered us to pray to the Heavenly Father and no other." He adds : 
 14 To my great surprise I have found, at this trial of them, all my large parish, even the 
 honest and serious day labourers, not only petitioners, but Unitarians." It may per- 
 haps be doubted whether this excellent man was not somewhat too sanguine in the 
 credit he gave to the effect produced by his doctrine and example upon the mass of his 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 53 
 
 (C 
 
 With such deliberate and cheerful resolution," says his 
 worthy correspondent, in a letter to a friend dated a few days 
 afterwards, " does this confessor to what he conceives to be the 
 truth of the gospel resign a certain establishment for dependence 
 and poverty. The glorious triumvirate, Robertson, Chambers,* 
 
 parishioners. At any rate, it is to be feared that the valuable impression is now almost, 
 if not altogether, effaced. The good seed fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air 
 devoured it ; or among thorns, which grew up and choked it ; or on stony ground, where 
 it soon withered. Haply some may have fallen on good ground, where, in the shade of 
 obscurity, unknown and unnoticed by the world, but not unobserved by that eye to 
 which all things are open, it may still diffuse a refreshing fragrance and bring forth 
 abundant fruit. 
 
 How much the parishioners were affected by their separation from their beloved and 
 venerated pastor, may be learned from the following testimony of one who was present 
 at his valedictory discourse. " Indeed," says the writer, " I think no one could hear 
 that sermon without being struck and affected. The whole congregation was dissolved 
 in tears; even children caught the infection; and the old men crowded about the church 
 door when the preacher passed along, as if the peace of their few remaining days de- 
 pended on a farewell benediction." " His life," says one of his near neighbours, a 
 man of sense and education, in reply to some foolish and anonymous calumnies in the 
 York Chronicle, "and conversation have been uniform and consistent, without spot or 
 blemish, and his active and devout disposition of mind has rendered him no less 
 eminently great than useful. Those who knew him best admired him most. He did 
 not, like too many of his profession, merely preach, but he practised virtue. His ex- 
 ample was as worthy imitation as his precepts. Most assiduous and attentive in every 
 department of his holy function, he was an ornament to the church, and the most rare 
 example of disinterested integrity which this age or perhaps this country has produced. 
 Far unlike our modern churchmen, whose views are all directed on preferments, the 
 kingdom that he sought was not of this world. He yearly expended in acts of noble 
 benevolence the whole revenue of his vicarage, which he reluctantly resigned because 
 he could not reconcile himself to the glaring inconsistencies of a liturgy to which, while 
 he continued in the church, he found himself obliged to conform." — See a letter in the 
 York Chronicle for February, 1774, signed "A Layman," written by Mr. Metcalfe, notary 
 public, of Richmond, who received Mr. Lindsey's resignation. In a letter to a friend 
 at York, dated December 3, 1773, Mr. Lindsey, with his usual humility and kindness 
 of heart, expresses himself thus : " Great are their lamentations at our leaving them, far 
 more than we expected. But I attribute it chiefly to the great loss they will have in 
 my wife, who will not soon be replaced." 
 
 * William Chambers, D.D., rector of Achurch, near Oundle, in Northamptonshire, 
 formerly of St. John's College, in the University of Cambridge, where Mr. Lindsey 
 commenced a friendship with him which continued unabated through life. Dr. C. is 
 described by his friend as having a mind above all sordid love of gain, who knew no other 
 use of his fortune than to make others happy. He was remarkable for a constant cheer- 
 fulness and innocent pleasantry which much enlivened conversation. His mind was 
 always open to conviction; he had a tlirst after all useful knowledge, and spared no 
 pains nor cost to attain it. Yet still he was most concerned about what related to God, 
 how best to serve and make him known. He was deeply impressed with a sense of 
 the truth and importance of the doctrine of the Divine Unity ; and was zealous to diffuse 
 and impart his light and knowledge to others. He had long determined never to renew 
 his subscription to the articles, and upon this ground had dt clined considerable prefer- 
 ment in London, which had been offered bim by a noble Earl, bis relation. He did not, 
 
54 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 and Lindsey, do honour to Christianity and the present age. 
 You will be surprised and grieved at the following particulars 
 
 which Mr. of lately gave me in a letter. Archdeacon 
 
 Black burne thinks Mr. Lindsey wrong ; that his resignation will 
 not benefit the common cause ; that he should have made it 
 sooner ; that the public has nothing to do with his reasons and 
 apologies ; and says, that when he has quitted Catterick he and 
 his wife will have no more than twenty pounds a-year, and the 
 interest of a very small sum of money." 
 
 This is a noble testimony from the best authority to the 
 disinterestedness of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey, and to the difficulties 
 which they had to struggle with ; but for a good conscience they 
 left all, and for the sake of Christ and his word they forsook 
 father and mother. And happily the learned Archdeacon himself, 
 who now so much disapproved their conduct, afterwards saw 
 reason to retract his judgment, and, if he could not altogether 
 approve, at least he ceased to condemn and learned to acquiesce. 
 
 The venerable diocesan received the intelligence of Mr. Lind- 
 sey's intended resignation with much regret, and endeavoured, 
 by every argument and motive which zeal and friendship could 
 suggest, to retain in the church so bright an ornament to the 
 established priesthood. But his efforts, though well intended, 
 
 however, think it necessary to follow his venerable friend's example of resigning his 
 living; but he altered the liturgy in accommodation to his own views of scriptural wor- 
 ship, and he made it so perfectly Unitarian that Mr. Lindsey professes that the only time 
 that he visited his friend after his own settlement in London, he attended public worship 
 in his church with great satisfaction. If these innovations had been officially noticed, 
 Dr. Chambers was fully prepared to have given up his living rather than have violated 
 his conscience. But such were the popularity of his character and the moderation ot 
 his worthy diocesan, Dr. Hinchcliffe, that he met with no molestation. This excellent 
 man died of an apoplexy, September 4, 1777. He left a widow, who survived him up- 
 wards of thirty years, and three children, two sons and a daughter, who inherit his 
 virtues. Dr. Chambers had a near relation who was a merchant in London, who had 
 a country house at Morden, in Surrey, where he lived with two unmarried sisters, ladies 
 possessed of uncommon intellectual attainments, and whose characters were most ex- 
 emplary. In this family Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were accustomed to pass the greater 
 part of the summer; and to these ladies Mr. Lindsey dedicated his last work, "Con- 
 versations upon the Divine Government," " in gratitude," as he expresses it, "for 
 unwearied offices of the most disinterested friendship for near thirty years to himself 
 and Mrs. Lindsey, and in testimony for their enlightened zeal for the worship of the 
 One true God, and a constant unostentatious readiness to do good." — See Mr. Lindsey 's 
 Historical View, p. 486. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 55 
 
 were unavailing. Mr. Lindsey's resolution had been formed upon 
 deliberation too mature, and upon principles too sacred and too 
 firmly rivetted, to be in the least degree shaken by the arguments 
 or expostulations of the worthy prelate ; who frankly and hon- 
 ourably acknowledged, when the deed of resignation was at last 
 delivered in at the end of the month, that he had lost the most 
 exemplary parochial minister in his diocese.* 
 
 Thus did Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey, in obedience to the voice of 
 enlightened conscience, resign their beloved residence at Catterick, 
 with all its secular advantages and comforts, and with their little 
 pittance of private property set out, in the bleak month of Decem- 
 ber, in search of a resting-place where they might be able to 
 maintain themselves by honourable industry, and might best pro- 
 mote the great doctrine of the Divine Unity and the sole unri- 
 valled supremacy of the Father. 
 
 The world was all before them, where to choose 
 Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM MR. LINDSEY's RESIGNATION OF CATTERICK, TO THE 
 OPENING OF THE CHAPEL IN ESSEX STREET. 
 
 Indeed they soon found that the diminution of income was not 
 the only difficulty with which they had to contend. In the days 
 of their prosperity, and while they continued in connection with 
 the established church, they had many warm friends who gladly 
 received them at all times into their houses, and entertained them 
 hospitably, and many of whom concurred with Mr. Lindsey in 
 the application to parliament for relief from subscription. But 
 
 N.B. — For the interesting correspondence between Mr. Lindsey and his worthy 
 diocesan, see Appendix, No. IV. 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 now the case was quite altered. Former friends looked coldly 
 upon them ; and some, of whom better things might have been 
 expected, whose conduct was silently reproved by the magnani- 
 mous example of Mr. Lindsey, were not sparing in loud and 
 strong expressions of disapprobation of what they were pleased 
 to term the precipitancy and imprudence of his conduct in aban- 
 doning a situation of respectability and usefulness in the church ; 
 and not a few were willing to leave them to their fate. Some, 
 indeed, of Mrs. Lindsey's more opulent relations offered to pro- 
 vide for her an asylum and competence, if she would abandon the 
 society and the fortunes of her husband. It is needless to say 
 that such a proposal was rejected with the indignation it de- 
 served. 
 
 From Catterick " the pilgrims " first went to Bedale, to Mrs. 
 Harrison's, and the next day to Wakefield, accompanied by their 
 accomplished friend who had drank deeply into the same spirit, 
 Miss Harrison, now Mrs. Cappe, to pass a day or two in the 
 society of the venerable Mr. Turner, to enjoy the benefit of his 
 sympathy, his counsels, his consolations, and his prayers. Of 
 this delightful and instructive visit this excellent man gives the 
 following account in a letter to an intimate friend : — 
 
 " Since I wrote to you last I had the pleasure of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lindsey's company one whole day and part of another. 
 They both appeared very cheerful, considering that they were 
 launching into untried scenes of an uncertain world, with hopes 
 far from sanguine of the success of the scheme they had pro- 
 posed, and consequently of obtaining the very means of sub- 
 sistence. But confiding in the care of him who promised, ' Who- 
 sover shall confess me before men, him will I also confess/ &c, 
 they both, and particularly Mrs. Lindsey, seemed to exult in 
 having broke loose from ecclesiastical thraldom and gained 
 mental liberty, and expressed much indignation against those 
 who, having been educated in liberty of inquiry, and instructed 
 in the value of it, have for the sordid considerations of this 
 world submitted to shackles and to servitude." 
 
 From their hospitable friends at Wakefield, where they took an 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 57 
 
 affectionate leave of their amiable fellow-traveller, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lindsey proceeded to Aston, near York, the residence of the Rev. 
 William Mason, the celebrated poet, the friend and biographer 
 of Gray, who entertained them for a week at his house with great 
 cordiality ; — though the conduct of Mr. Lindsey in resigning his 
 living was much canvassed at York, where Mr. Mason was pre- 
 centor of the cathedral, and was much condemned by some who 
 were in repute for wisdom, who spoke of him as " a well-meaning 
 person, who would have done much less harm to society if he had 
 never gone into the church at all."* 
 
 To York Mr. Lindsey had sent his library, which he consigned 
 
 * Whatever might be the language of these wise judges'in their select parties con- 
 cerning Mr. Lindsey, none of them were so indiscreet as to publish their censures of 
 his character and conduct excepting one, Dr. William Cooper, a dignitary of the cathe- 
 dral at York, and brother to Grey Cooper, Esq., M.P., who hud also been a college 
 friend of Mr. Lindsey. This Dr. Cooper, amongst others, made great interest to obtain 
 the vicarage of Catterick upon Mr. Lindsey's resignation. But not being successful 
 in bis suit, the living being given to Dr. Cliaytor, the brother-in-law of Mr. Robin- 
 son, Lord North's private secretary, this worthy dignitary grew very angry that the 
 living was resigned at all: and in the York Chronicle of January 28, 1/74, under 
 the signature of Erasmus, he published a most foolish and furious invective against Mr. 
 Lindsey. It begins thus : — " Before you attempt to amend the liturgy, amend the 
 articles, or amend anything else — you would do well, in the judgment of all rational 
 beings, to amend your mode of writing, and, what is of more consequence, to amend 
 your mode of thinking. But I cry your mercy. You c mnot err, illuminated sir ; 
 you have had a Divine impulse," &c. And again, — " If you had either the courage, 
 or the goodness of heart, to let us know what your real sentiments are, 'tis more than 
 probable that we should deservedly hold you in extreme contempt,"' &c. 
 
 Such despicable and outrageous rant merited nothing but " extreme contempt." 
 However it had its use. It brought forward a host of advocates in defence of the fair 
 fame of the absent and calumniated confessor. In the foremost rank of these were 
 the Reverend N. Cappe, of York, and the Reverend W. Turner, of Wakefield. To 
 the credit of the order, and the still greater credit of Mr. Lindsey's unimpeachable 
 and spotless character, not one of the clergy of the established church, how much so- 
 ever they might be offended with Mr. Lindsey's doctrine or his secess on, stood for- 
 ward to join in the attack, or to assist a distressed brother. They prudently and 
 silently left him to his fate. And the miserable assailant, having in vain attempted 
 under different signatures to maintain his ground and to defend his charge, after being 
 detected, defeated, and exposed in every shape that he assumed, was in the end com- 
 pelled to retire from the field, humbled, confounded, and disgraced. Nor does it appear 
 that this officious and malignant zeal for the church was at that time thought worthy 
 of additional preferment. 
 
 That everybody did not entertain the same opinion of Mr. Lindsey's conduct as 
 Dr. Cooper and his associates at York, appears from some letters written to Mr. Lind- 
 sey upon this interesting occasion, which are inserted in the Appendix ; one of which 
 j is from Mr. Grey Cooper himself, the brother of Dr. C. and the friend of Lord North. 
 Appendix, No. V. 
 
58 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 to the care of his friend Mr. Cappc, to be sold in order to raise 
 a temporary supply for the support of himself and Mrs. Lindsey; 
 having reserved for himself a small number of books only for 
 immediate use.* 
 
 From Aston, Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey went to Swinderby, near 
 Newark, where they made a transient visit to Mr., afterwards Dr., 
 Disney, a clergyman of great learning and respectability, who was 
 an active member of the Association at the Feathers Tavern. 
 He shortly afterwards married Miss Blackburne, the daughter of 
 th^ learned Archdeacon of Cleveland, and half-sister to Mrs. 
 Lindsey, who, much to her honour, expressed upon all occasions 
 her high approbation of the step which Mr. Lindsey had taken; 
 and with the generosity and ardour which belonged to her 
 character, she defended the principles and the conduct of her 
 calumniated friends. Dr. Disney himself was at that time much 
 dissatisfied with many things in the established liturgy ; but he 
 contented himself with making the alterations which he thought 
 necessary, leaving it to his ecclesiastical superiors to animadvert 
 upon him as they might think fit. This conduct, however, did 
 not prove ultimately satisfactory to his ingenuous mind, and a few 
 years afterwards he bore his faithful testimony to Christian truth 
 by following the shining example of Mr Lindsey, in resigning 
 his preferments and prospects in the established church. Of the 
 process of mind which led to this honourable conclusion, Dr. 
 Disney has given an interesting narrative in a small tract which 
 he published upon the occasion. t 
 
 While Mr. Lindsey continued at Swinderby, he met with and 
 transcribed the alterations proposed by Dr. Clarke in the esta- 
 blished liturgy, which he at that time intended to print, but which 
 he afterwards made the foundation of the improvements in the 
 reformed liturgy which he introduced at Essex Street. 
 
 From Swinderby the travellers directed their steps to A church, 
 in Northamptonshire, the rectory and residence of their highly 
 
 * This, no doubt, select and valuable collection at that time produced no more than 
 the scanty pit'ance of £38. 
 
 + This tract is in the catalogue of those which are circulated by the London Uni- 
 tarian Society. 
 
 
 j 
 
REVEREND THEOPH ILL'S LINDSEY. 59 
 
 valued friend Dr. Chambers. In their road, they passed one day 
 with Mr. Lindsev's sister, who was married to Mr. Harrison, an 
 eminent grazier in Leicestershire. This venerable lady, three 
 years older than her brother, and the exact model of him in pi 
 and benevolence, is still living (a.d. 1810), meekly and with 
 humble resignation bending under the infirmities of ninety 
 years. 
 
 From Achurch, he writes to Dr. Jebb, in a letter dated January 
 1, 1774, u I cannot but rejoice in your full approbation of my 
 conduct hitherto, and future plan, and feel myself continually 
 encouraged by it. I have from the first entertained a feeble 
 imagination that perhaps I might have an honourable coadjutor 
 in the mend I am writing to for an Unitarian chapel, if it should 
 meet with the patronage which some promise it." He add- : 
 " Our common friend and present host is most heartily with us 
 in everything." The patronage to which Mr. Lindsey alludes 
 was probably that of which he received intelligence from Dr. 
 Priestley, who was then in London with Lord Shelburne, and inde- 
 fatigable in his exertions to serve his friend, and to promote his 
 design of opening a chapel in London, and whose sanguine spirit 
 led him, perhaps, to rely rather too much upon the promises of 
 the great. In a letter to Mr. Turner he writes : u All my friends 
 
 i are very sanguine in favour of Mr. Lindsey's Unitarian chapel. 
 Dr. Franklin says he knows several persons of distinction who 
 will wish to encourage it, and several have proposed to subscribe 
 to it. His Farewell Address I have just read, and was much 
 affected with it : and so was Lord Shelburne, to whom I showed 
 it. He is very desirous to see him as soon as he comes to Lon- 
 don." This, no doubt, was encouraging. But it will appear in 
 the sequel that the persons to whom Dr. Priestley alludes were 
 
 :not those to whose exertions and support Mr. Lindsey was most 
 indebted for the execution of the scheme which he had so much 
 at heart. 
 
 A: Achurch, Mr. Lindsey finished the revisal of the last sheet of 
 this Apology, which was published the beginning of January, 
 notwithstanding the remonstrances of Archdeacon Biackburne, 
 
60 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 who was apprehensive that it might be of disservice to the cause of 
 the petitioning clergy. To this objection Mr. Lindsey paid no 
 attention, justly remarking, that if the Apology was to produce 
 any effect, its publication must be immediate, while the occasion of 
 it was fresh in memory. " To suspend it now/' says he, in a 
 letter to a friend, " would be to sink it for ever." And as he 
 conceived that such a work was necessary for his own vindication, 
 and, what in his estimation was of far greater moment, that it 
 would be of use for the promulgation of truth, he also hoped 
 that it would contribute to promote, rather than obstruct, the 
 object of the associated clergy. 
 
 The design of this excellent treatise, as set forth in the preface, 
 " was not barely to offer a vindication of the motives, conduct, and 
 sentiments of a private person upon the subject of it, however 
 important to him, but to promote that charity without which a 
 faith that can remove mountains is nothing, and to excite some to 
 piety, virtue, and integrity." 
 
 It begins with some strictures upon the origin of the doctrine of 
 the Trinity, and the opposition it met with to the time of the 
 Reformation. It then treats of the state of the Unitarian doc- 
 trine, in our own country more especially, from the era of the 
 Reformation, with an account of those Christians who have 
 professed it ; and proceeds to prove that there is but One God, the 
 Father, and that religious worship is to be offered to this One 
 God, the Father, only. In the next chapter it states the causes 
 of this unhappy defection among Christians from the simplicity 
 of religious worship prescribed in the scriptures of the New 
 Testament. It then shows how union in God's true worship is to 
 be attained, and concludes with a modest and concise but affecting 
 detail of the writer's particular case and difficulties. The work, 
 the first in which the venerable author publicly adventured to 
 defend his unpopular tenets, is drawn up with great care, and 
 with much simplicity and candour. It breathes throughout an 
 excellent spirit of piety and benevolence. It was revised with 
 great attention by Mr. Turner; and in the judgment of every 
 serious and impartial person, whether agreeing or disagreeing 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 61 
 
 with the writer in his peculiar principles, it contains a complete and 
 masterly vindication of his conduct in withdrawing from his 
 situation in the established church. This Apology, in less than ten 
 years, passed through four editions. 
 
 On the ]0th of January, 1774, Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey arrived 
 at London, having spent a day or two in their way at Paxton, with 
 Mr. Lindsey's old college friend, Richard Reynolds, Esq., who, 
 having imbibed the principles and the spirit of the virtuous 
 protector of his youth, and his esteem and affection for his 
 venerable friend having been if possible increased by his late noble 
 act of disinterested virtue, received him and his fellow-traveller 
 and fellow -sufferer upon the present occasion with redoubled 
 satisfaction.* 
 
 Upon their arrival at London they proceeded by particular 
 invitation to Dr. Ramsden's, then in an inferior situation, after- 
 wards the worthy Master of the Charter-house, a gentleman of 
 great learning and probity, and of the most liberal principles; 
 who rose to the honourable office which he occupied by no 
 other interest than that of personal merit, and who was not afraid 
 of hazarding his reputation and his preferment by affording an 
 asylum to his ex- beneficed friend. Here they were very hospitably 
 entertained for ten days or a fortnight, till they had provided 
 themselves with decent but humble lodgings, being two rooms on 
 a ground-floor, in Featherstone Buildings, llolborn, where they 
 now fixed their abode, and sold the plate which they had brought 
 with them to London to purchase necessaries for present sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 But the scene soon began to brighten. Though few com- 
 
 * "While he was at Paxton, Mr. Lindsey received intelligence of the sudden decease 
 of Thomas Hollis, Esq., the celebrated and zealous friend to liberty, civil and religious. 
 Of this gentleman Archdeacon Blackburne published an interesting Memoir in two 
 volumes in quarto. He was the friend and confidential correspondent of Mr. Lindsey, 
 under the assumed title of Pierce Delver. He was the ready and liberal patron of all 
 who were in distress, and particularly of those who suffered in the cause of civil 
 and religious liberty, or for the sake of truth and a good conscience. It cannot be 
 doubted that, had his life been continued, be would have extended a liberable patron- 
 age to Mr. Lindsey. Happily the venerable confessor did not stand in need of it. 
 Some curious extracts from the correspondence of this virtuous and honourable man are 
 cited in the notes to this work, and a specimen or two in the Appendix, No. YI. 
 
62 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 paratively of Mr. Lindsey's former friends visited or noticed him 
 in his voluntary retirement ; though some, whose principles nearly 
 coincided with his own, but whose timidity and half-measures 
 were condemned, not by his language, for he was the humblest 
 and most candid of mankind, and very far indeed from making 
 his own conduct a law to others, but by his bright and edifying 
 example, not only gave no encouragement to the plan he had 
 in contemplation, but openly and without reserve expressed 
 their disapprobation of it ; he nevertheless met with great appro- 
 bation and support from quarters where it was least expected. 
 Many persons, both of the establishment and among the dissenters, 
 perfect strangers to Mr. Lindsey, deeply impressed with veneration 
 for his character, and admiration of the noble sacrifice which 
 he had made for the sake of truth and conscience, visited him 
 in his humble lodgings to testify their regard to him, and to 
 offer their services in any way in which they might be of use. 
 And when they heard of Mr. Lindsey's design of opening a 
 chapel for the worship of the One God, the Father of Jesus Christ, 
 many expressed their warm approbation and their active hearty 
 concurrence in the execution of the design. Some promised to 
 indemnify Mr. Lindsey in making the experiment. Others, 
 and chiefly among the rational Dissenters, subscribed liberally 
 towards the design. Dr. Priestley and Dr. Price were active 
 and zealous friends. Samuel Shore, Esq., then of Norton Hall, 
 now of Meersbrook, in Yorkshire, whose name ranks high among 
 the advocates for civil and religious liberty, the patrons of 
 truth and science, and the friends of pure and practical Christianity, 
 called upon Mr. Lindsey with a present of a hundred pounds from 
 a friend whose name was then concealed, but since known to have 
 been Robert Newton, Esq., of Norton House,* whose delight was 
 
 * Robert Newton, Esq., of Norton House. Of the character of this eminently 
 benevolent man. the following interesting sketch is given by his intimate acquaintance, 
 the R&verend W. Turner, of Wakefield, to Mr. Lindsey, in a letter dated June 14, 
 1777:— 
 
 " Robert Newton, Esq., is a near neighbour to Mr. Shore in the same village, 
 aged about sixty-six or sixty-seven, and a bachelor of large fortune. I have known 
 him since the year 1732, Avhen, and for two or three years afterwards, we were 
 fellow-pupils under Dr. Latham, at Findein, near Derby. His mother lost her husband 
 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 63 
 
 to spend the income of a large estate in doing good in the 
 most private manner possible, and from the shade of retirement to 
 scatter blessings upon his fellow-creatures. To this princely 
 donation of Mr. Newton, Mr. Shore generously added a very 
 liberal present of his own ; and to the end of Mr. Lindsey's life 
 he continued the warm personal friend, and the firm and liberal 
 supporter of him and his cause. In this way a sum was very soon 
 subscribed adequate to every purpose which Mr. Lindsey had 
 in view. And by the exertions of the late Mr. Joseph Johnson, 
 of St. Paul's Churchyard, a room was soon found and taken in 
 Essex House, Essex Street, which having before been used as 
 an auction-room might, at a moderate expense be fitted up as 
 
 when she was pregnant of this son, and gave so much way to grief for that event 
 as was supposed to have an ill effect on the constitution of her child. He has always 
 had very weak nerves and uneven spirits, but generally a prevailing hypochondria. For 
 many years past he has been telling his friends that he should soon give them the slip : 
 but in the mean time he has looked well and grown bulky. When any extraordinary 
 case, particularly for the service of his friends, called for it, he could exert as much 
 vigour, activity, and resolution as any man. To an exertion of this kind the two 
 
 Miss owed their fortunes. They had an unhappy brother, of either defective 
 
 understanding or capricious or bad temper, or both, who being past his majority, and 
 a student at Edinburgh, died there. Immediately an episcopal clergyman, in whose 
 
 house he had boarded, pretended that Mr. had married his daughter, and made 
 
 a will by which he had bequeathed all his fortune to her absolutely. When the family 
 was informed of this, Mr. Newton, having furnished himself with proper power, 
 and being also a guardian and trustee, set off express, met the corpse on the road, which 
 they were bringing to be deposited in the family burying-place, arrested and secured it ; 
 went forward to Edinburgh, made diligent inquiry, discovered many suspicious circum- 
 stances, and partly by remonstrances, and partly by threats of a legal discussion at the 
 expense of his own whole fortune, prevailed upon the Scotch pretenders, in considera- 
 tion of a few ready thousands, to relinquish their whole claim. He then returned with 
 great satisfaction and honour, and ordered the corpse to proceed to the family burial-place. 
 For such a service, all the connections of the family owe and pay him great esteem and 
 gratitude. Mr. S. says, Nature formed him for a soldier ; and that as a commander, and 
 especially as a partisan, he would certainly have distinguished himself. When younger, 
 he made little of riding from his own house to Scarborough in one day ; supping, 
 and perhaps dancing there till midnight with a party of his friends, and would 
 then remount and return next day. Like sudden excursions and returns, to and from 
 London, Bath, Bristol, and even abroad, were common with him,— and all the while he 
 was dying. From all the above circumstances you will easily conclude he must 
 have had some humours, and even whims; but they have always been very innocent, and 
 only laughable. He has always been very steady in his friendships, of which Mr. H., a 
 Dissenting minister at Mansfield, who for many years has been his most familiar friend 
 and companion, both when at home and in many of his excursions, has hid, I doubt not, 
 ample experience. — So much for your generous back-friend Mr. Newton, who, as 
 a friend of mine said of another person, delights to do such extraordinary good deeds and 
 nobody must know ! I need not caution you not to draw the curtain behind which he 
 ! chooses to conceal himself." 
 
64 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 a temporary chapel. In a letter to Mr. Turner, dated February 9, 
 1774, Mr. Lindsey thus expresses himself: — 
 
 "Dr. Priestley is indefatigable in his endeavours; and to him, 
 Dr. Price, and other friends of theirs, it will be owing that 
 the matter is brought to bear at last, as they kindly offer by 
 subscription of their friends to indemnify me on the first outset. 
 If it be of God, as I trust it is, it will succeed. But should it fail, 
 some good 1 still persuade myself will result, and others will easier 
 take it up and proceed better. I desire the help of your prayers 
 for illumination and direction now and always." In another 
 letter, dated March 17, to the same friend, in reference to his 
 Apology, he writes, " Your earnest prayers are desired for the 
 writer, that he may persevere to the end and be found faithful 
 unto death : and with him one other also to be joined, whose 
 trial has been and is the same or greater." And in the same 
 letter, after acknowledging Mr. Turner's kind and successful 
 recommendation of his undertaking to some generous friends 
 at Wakefield and elsewhere, he adds, " I have reason to say, 
 and have said it to more persons than one of late, that I have had 
 the gospel promise of the hundred-fold in the number of friends 
 increased in this world ; and should an evil day of persecution 
 come, they would be a great consolation in it. This, indeed, 
 is what some forebode, especially when our new form of worship 
 is set up." In his next letter, dated April 5, after acknowledging 
 the liberality of Mr. Milnes, and relating the munificence of 
 the gentlemen of Norton, he writes, " We compute that two 
 hundred pounds will nearly fit up and pay the rent of our chapel 
 for two years. Behold then this sum nearly supplied by a few 
 generous hands. I am thankful. But I am sorry to say they are 
 all, one excepted, not of the established church." 
 
 In this letter Mr. Lindsey notices to his friend a very honourable 
 invitation which he had lately received to settle with a Dissenting 
 congregation at Norwich, which, however, it did not comport 
 with his present plans and purposes to accept. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Lindsey was settled, and especially after he 
 had met with such great encouragement to pursue his primary 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 65 
 
 purpose, he began in good earnest to draw up his Reformed 
 Liturgy, very much upon the plan of Dr. Clarke's, but with 
 considerable variations and improvements adapted to his own more 
 correct and extended views of Christian doctrine, and of the 
 mode of conducting Christian worship. Many of his timid and 
 lukewarm brethren earnestly recommended to him to adhere without 
 any variation to Dr. Clarke's copy, that every innovation might 
 be introduced under the sanction of the venerable name of that 
 learned and eminent theologian. But Mr. Lindsey had advanced 
 too far to be deterred by the fear of calumny, or to adopt 
 error because it was supported by a great name. Indeed, though 
 he was far from wishing to introduce any unnecessary change 
 in the public service, he justly thought that it would be very 
 inconsistent in him, who had resigned a lucrative situation in the 
 established church principally because of his objections to the 
 public liturgy, now that he was at full liberty to choose for him- 
 self, to compromise his principles by adopting a form which 
 was open to many objections solely because it was the work of Dr. 
 Samuel Clarke. Rejecting therefore every proposal of this nature, 
 and judiciously resolving upon carrying Dr. Clarke's own principle 
 of reform to what appeared to him to be its proper extent, he 
 requested the assistance of his friend Mr. Turner in this 
 important undertaking ; but he chiefly relied upon the able 
 co-operation and prudent advice of his friends Dr. J ebb, Mr. 
 Tyrwhit, and a few other learned and liberal members of the 
 University of Cambridge; and with their aid, in conjunction with 
 his own indefatigable exertions, the Reformed Liturgy was com- 
 piled and printed ready for use by the middle of April, 1774. 
 
 When it came to be generally known that it was Mr. Lindsey's 
 intention to open a chapel upon principles strictly Unitarian, with 
 a reformed liturgy, great offence was taken by many, and means 
 used, but without effect to, intimidate this magnanimous confessor 
 from the execution of his purpose. It was even intimated to him 
 that the civil power would interpose to frustrate his design. But 
 none of these things moved him; nor could any worldly con- 
 sideration induce him to abandon what he regarded as the line of 
 
 p 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE, 
 
 duty. " Our church-superiors," says he in a letter to Mr. Tur- 
 ner, dated February 9, " are said to glory in laying everything to 
 sleep. I doubt not but it will appear that their policy is as much 
 mistaken as their Christian principle is certainly defective in this 
 respect. Our design of a reformed liturgy is much spoken 
 against by them, and highly condemned as forward, schismatical, 
 and I know not what, and intimations given as if such an attempt 
 would not be suffered. But these things deter not one person, 
 and I hope they will not others." Of the methods which were 
 used to intimidate and divert him from his purpose, Mr. Lindsey 
 mentions an example in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated February 28 : 
 " If it were not making an obscure man of too much importance, 
 I might tell you that two of the Commons' House have desired 
 to see me, and to divert me from a design which will turn that 
 general compassion now shown towards me into open hostility 
 and hatred. I wish no other situation but that in which I may 
 be made instrumental in removing the shocking snares that are in 
 the way of conscientious men, and the impure idolatries of 
 Christian worship." 
 
 That many of the friends of the established hierarchy, and 
 that some persons who were of great consideration in the Govern- 
 ment, entertained no small anxiety with respect to the conse- 
 quences of Mr. Lindsey's public secession from the church, there 
 is great reason to believe. The spirit of inquiry and of reforma- 
 tion was then abroad, and it could not be foreseen how far the 
 generous contagion would spread. And who could say that 
 another glorious Bartholomew-day might not be added to the 
 calendar of English martyrology, and that hundreds might not 
 be stimulated by the noble example of this truly primitive con- 
 fessor to resign their preferment, like their predecessors in the 
 preceding century, for the sake of a good conscience ! The time 
 however was not yet come. And there is no reason to believe 
 that there ever existed in the minds of men in power a design or 
 a wish to molest Mr. Lindsey. They had too much understand- 
 ing, and too accurate a knowledge of human nature and of his- 
 tory, not to be aware that persecution, if it does not extend to 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 67 
 
 extermination, promotes the interest of the persecuted sect. And 
 in fact Lord North, who was then at the head of the Administra- 
 tion, and the rigour of whose high-church principles was counter- 
 balanced by the suavity of his temper, avowed his wish without 
 hesitation that every one should be permitted to go to heaven in 
 his own way, provided that the public peace was not disturbed. 
 And though, upon the opening of the chapel in Essex Street, an 
 emissary of Government was known for some time to attend the 
 public service regularly, in order to communicate information to 
 persons in power; yet when it was discovered that nothing was 
 either taught or done contrary to the allegiance due to the State, 
 and likewise that few of the dissatisfied clergy were disposed to 
 follow Mr. Lindsey's example, and that the obnoxious principles 
 were not likely to gain over many proselytes, Ministers of State 
 wisely ceased to trouble themselves about Essex chapel, and 
 suffered the new sect quietly to im merge and to find its level in 
 the vast mass of religious dissentients. Nor indeed, if the 
 governing party had been so unwise as to have urged a prosecu- 
 tion, can it be with reason supposed that a Sovereign who began 
 his reign with the memorable declaration that he would " main- 
 tain the toleration inviolable;" and who in the course of a long, 
 an agitated, and an eventful administration has never in a single 
 instance violated his promise, would for a moment have lent his 
 countenance to so unjust and cruel a procedure. 
 
 But though the tolerant spirit of the times, together with the 
 wisdom and lenity of the superior and more enlightened function- 
 aries of the State, imposed a restraint upon the spirit of persecu- 
 tion, there were not wanting some busy ignorant people in the 
 inferior departments of magistracy, who, " dressed in a little brief 
 | authority," were anxious to show their zeal for the church, their 
 loyalty to the crown, and their own official consequence, by crush- 
 ing Mr. Lindsey's design at the moment of its execution, and by 
 attempting with equal malignity and folly to nullify the provisions 
 of an Act of Parliament by the decrees of a petty sessions. The 
 Westminster Justices hesitated to grant a license for opening the 
 chapel. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 The place was fitted up, the Liturgy was printed, and all was 
 in readiness for performing divine service early in the month of 
 April; but as the Justices did not meet till Easter Tuesday, April 
 5th, the place could not be legally registered till that day, and it 
 was necessary to defer opening the chapel till the Sunday follow- 
 ing. On the day of meeting, application was made in due form 
 to the Justices assembled at Hick's Hall to register the chapel as 
 a place of Dissenting worship. But these gentlemen returned for 
 answer, that they were holding a sessions for the county of Mid- 
 dlesex, and that, the chapel being situated in Westminster, the 
 application for a license must be made to the Westminster magis- 
 trates, who would not sit till Monday. This was a great dis- 
 appointment; and many of Mr. Lindsey's friends urged him to 
 open the chapel without waiting for the license. But his great 
 legal adviser, John Lee, Esq., warmly remonstrated against it, as 
 giving his opponents an undue advantage, and earnestly recom- 
 mended to him to keep as closely as possible within the limits of 
 the law. It was therefore agreed to defer performing divine 
 service in the chapel till the Sunday following. 
 
 On the day appointed, application was made to the Bench of 
 Justices holding their session for Westminster, at Hick's Hall, for 
 a license to open the chapel in Essex Street as a place of worship. 
 What passed upon that occasion was so remarkable and instruc- 
 tive, that I shall set it down as it is detailed in a letter from 
 Mr. Lindsey to Dr. Jebb, dated the very day that the license was 
 promised. 
 
 " I have the pleasure of assuring you that our difficulties are 
 over, and we certainly begin (may it be with the divine blessing 
 upon us!) on Sunday next. But we have not succeeded without 
 striking with the great hammer, if I may so speak. For this 
 morning Mr. Johnson, the bookseller, went, according as he was 
 appointed, to Hick's Hall, and was there at the opening of the 
 court. He got the clerk to move for him that he was waiting to 
 have our entry recorded, as the court had given him reason to 
 expect. But Lord Ward, who was that day in the chair, said it 
 was a matter of some deliberation, and must be set over till the 
 
 ! 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSET. 69 
 
 next meeting, i.e. Saturday. It appeared from hence that they 
 would put us off civilly, and leave us in the lurch at last. I met 
 Johnson coming out of the court, and took him with me to 
 Mr. Lee, who was engaged at Guildhall, where I found him plead- 
 ing before Chief Justice De Grey. I got to him, however, and 
 told him our situation. He said it did not look well; but that 
 the Chief Justice's Court would soon be up, and he would go im- 
 mediately to Hick's Hall and see what was to be done. He came 
 like a lion soon; f desired to see the entry that had been given 
 into the court to license a place of worship for a society of Dis- 
 senters; was sorry such unusual obstructions had been put to so 
 legal a demand; that he understood it was said by some that the 
 Justices had a discretionary power in such cases; that they were 
 mistaken; that, on the contrary, they were merely official; and if 
 they refused, a mandamus from the King's Bench would compel 
 them; that he hoped the great Magna Charta of the religious 
 liberty of Englishmen was not now going to be attacked.' Upon 
 this, one or two of the Justices said it was their opinion, and always 
 had been, as Mr. Lee's, that they had no discretionary powers. 
 On something being said concerning the doctrine to be preached, 
 and the officiating minister, that some inquiry was to be made 
 about them, he told them that ' those were subsequent facts 
 and matters of inquiry; that the house of worship was the object 
 before them, and they were bound to make record of it as desired.' 
 After this, on a pause being made, he desired to know 'whether 
 the court would give him the trouble to come again the next day 
 and move the matter and argue it before them, or would now 
 grant it.' The latter was conceded, and our certificate, it was said, 
 should be ready next court day. We begin, however, without it 
 on the authority of our counsel.* 
 
 Such was the triumph of firmness and good sense over the 
 narrow spirit of bigotry and persecution. And much to the 
 credit of the improved liberality of the times, and of the Govern- 
 
 * The fact, however, was, that the certificate was never granted, nor was the chapel 
 registered or licensed as a place of worship till after the defect had been noticed by Dr. 
 Horsley in his Letters to Dr. Priestley; after which the neglect was immediately and 
 without any difficulty rectified. 
 
70 
 
 MEMOJKS OF THE LATE 
 
 merit, this was the only obstruction which Mr. Lindsey ever met 
 with from the civil power during the whole course of his ministry. 
 All difficulties were now surmounted. The vessel was afloat, and 
 commenced its voyage under the happiest auspices and with the 
 most propitious gales. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST OPENING OF THE CHAPEL TO THE PURCHASE 
 OF THE PREMISES AND THE ERECTION OF THE PRESENT BUILD- 
 ING IN ESSEX STREET. 
 
 On Sunday, April 17, 1774, the chapel was opened, and divine 
 service was performed before an audience as numerous as could in 
 reason be expected, and as respectable for rank and character as 
 were ever collected together upon a similar occasion. In a letter 
 to his friend Dr. Jebb, dated the next day,* Mr. Lindsey writes : 
 
 * It will be interesting to compare Mr. Lindsey's account of this memorable event 
 with that of his warm friend and supporter the late John Lee, Esq., in a letter of the 
 same date to Mr. Cappe at York : 
 
 " After a little difficulty in getting his chapel registered at the Quarter Sessions, 
 which I had the good luck to remove, he entered upon his ministry yesterday. His 
 chapel is a large upper room in Essex House, Essex Street, in a very central part of 
 London, and in my neighbourhood. The place is convenient for the purpose of contain- 
 ing about 300 persons; a greater number would crowd it. He was well attended, con- 
 sidering thn t no public notice was given of the intended service. There were about ten 
 coaches at the door; which I was glad of, because it gave a degree of respectableness to 
 the congregation in the eyes of the people living thereabouts. Of those that I knew 
 and remember were Lord Despenser, Dr. Franklin, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Calder, Mr. 
 Shore jun., Mrs. Shore, Mrs. Robert Milnes, Miss Milnes, and Miss Shore; Dr. Hinck- 
 ley, Dr. Chambers, Dr. Primatt and two or three other clergymen, with a few barris- 
 ters whom you do not know. All the rest were to all appearance persons of condition, 
 and in the whole were I think near two hundred, and mostly of the establishment. We 
 were all pleased with the service and witli his manner of performing it. His sermon, which 
 I thought very good, will be printed, and you will of course see it. I begin to con- 
 ceive hopes that his scheme will be patronized, so far at least as to produce him a com- 
 fortable subsistence. Indeed, I hope it will teach those who ought not to have needed 
 such teachings, that Reformation is both a safe and an easy work." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LTNDSEY. 71 
 
 "You will be pleased to hear that everything passed very well 
 yesterday ; a larger and much more respectable audience than I 
 could have expected, who behaved with great decency, and in 
 general appeared, and many of them expressed themselves, to be 
 much satisfied with the whole of the service. Some disturbance 
 was apprehended, and forboded to me by great names, — but not 
 the least movement of the kind. The only fault found with it 
 was that it was too small. From the impressions that seemed to 
 be made, and the general seriousness and satisfaction, I am per- 
 suaded that this attempt will, through the divine blessing, be of 
 singular usefulness. The contrast between ours and the church 
 service strikes every one. Forgive me for saying, that I should 
 have blushed to have appeared in a white garment. No one 
 seemed in the least to want it. I am happy not to be hampered 
 with anything, — but entirely easy and satisfied with the whole of 
 the service ; a satisfaction never before known. I must again say 
 it, and bless God for it, that we were enabled to begin well. And 
 we only desire to go on as through his blessing we have begun. 
 I must mention one circumstance of yesterday to you and Mrs. J., 
 and confidential friends : that Lord Le Despenser was at our 
 chapel yesterday : whether he will come again we cannot say, but 
 he has subscribed handsomely towards indemnifying us for the 
 expenses of the chapel, &c. ,; * 
 
 As Mr. Lindsey's professed design was to gather a congregation 
 from the members of the established church, it was his desire and 
 endeavour that the form of worship should recede no further from 
 that of the establishment than was necessary to edification, and 
 
 * This nobleman, as might naturally be expected, soon discontinued his attendance. 
 But it was cons : derate and liberal in him to contribute to the expenses of the chapel at 
 a time when ass ; stance wa8 particularly needed. Other noblemen of still higher rank 
 attended much longer and professed great approbation, but contributed nothing. Not 
 that the late Duke of Richmond, or the preseut Duke of Norfolk, would have hesitated 
 to have given whatever was right and liberal, if the idea had occurred, or if application 
 had been made o ihem. But to attend a place of worship supported by voluntary con- 
 tribution, was to them a novelty ; and delicacy, perhaps misplaced, prevented the 
 friends of the new sanctuary from suggesting a hint to the illustrious visitors. Such 
 hints have not always been needful : and liberality unsolicited has been sometimes as 
 ample as it was unexpected. 
 
72 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 to reconcile it to the pure scriptural doctrine concerning the su- 
 premacy and the sole worship of the Father. The clerical dress 
 was retained, with the exception of the surplice only. By the 
 recommendation of his friend Mr. Turner, a prayer was intro- 
 duced before and after the sermon.* And upon this memorable 
 occasion Mr. Lindsey composed an appropriate discourse, which 
 was immediately published, together with the prayers. The 
 Liturgy also was published at the same time. Both these works, 
 as well as the Apology, had a rapid and extensive sale.t 
 
 The subject of the discourse was Ephes. iv. 3 : " Endeavouring 
 to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ; " and the 
 preacher shows that by unity of spirit is intended " the kind 
 affection, good order, and attention to mutual edification, which 
 ought to subsist among those who profess the doctrine of Christ. 
 The way in which this is to be preserved is ' in the bond of peace.' 
 To illustrate which principle it is observed, that it is a maxim of 
 undoubted truth, that in their religious capacity, mankind are 
 subject only to the authority of God and of their own consciences, 
 — that it has nevertheless been the doctrine of too many in all 
 periods of the church, that peace and unity are not to be attained 
 unless you bring all Christians to be of one opinion in religion, — 
 that when other arguments have failed, the Scripture has been 
 pressed into the hard service of enslaving mankind to one system 
 of religious opinions, though such system has been oft in direct 
 opposition to it, — that God never designed that Christians should 
 be all of one sentiment, but that there should be different sects 
 of Christians and different churches, — that while a friendly, 
 
 * In a letter to Mr. Turner, dated April 5, Mr. Lindsey says : "lam highly obliged 
 to you for your hint about prayers before and after sermon. The latter I have practised 
 for some years, and shall attend to the other." In a letter, dated June 13, he writes: 
 " I am happy that I adopted the idea which you suggested, of introducing a short 
 prayer of my own before and after sermon. And I am more happy to find that it is 
 not only approved by, but seems to have a good effect in solemnizing the minds of the 
 hearers." 
 
 + Of the sermon five hundred copies were disposed of in four days, and of the 
 Liturgy seven hundred copies were sold in six weeks. The Apology passed through 
 four editions. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 73 
 
 benevolent temper is cultivated towards each other, the different 
 sects and churches among Christians, far from being a hurt or 
 discredit to religion, are an honour, and of singular service to it : 
 nor can it with truth be said, that different sects of religion in a 
 country have a tendency to disturb the public peace and quiet. 
 And though it must not be dissembled that the disputes and 
 contentions of Christians with each other have caused great 
 miseries and disturbance in the world, yet the blame lies not on 
 the mild and gentle doctrine of the gospel, but on the civil 
 powers who have given life and importance to these disputes by 
 interfering with them. But that wise experience has now taught 
 them a better lesson." The sermon concludes with stating that 
 "the peculiar reason of forming a separate congregation distinct 
 from the national church is, that we may be at liberty to worship 
 God alone, after the command and example of our Saviour Christ. 
 So that if any ask what we are, or for what purpose we are joined 
 together in a Christian society, our answer is with the apostle, 
 ( We are a people that worship God in the spirit, and make our 
 boast in Christ Jesus/ Phil. iii. 3." 
 
 To this discourse is annexed a summary account of the 
 Reformed Liturgy used in the chapel in Essex Street : the prin- 
 cipal object of which is to vindicate the deviations of this liturgy 
 from that of Dr. Samuel Clarke, to which many respectable friends 
 of the author wished him to have strictly confined himself, but 
 which advice Mr. Lindsey, with his usual correctness of judgment 
 and firmness of spirit, declined to follow. 
 
 Upon this occasion Mr. Lindsey, by the advice of Dr. Jebb 
 and his Cambridge friends, but as he soon discovered without 
 due consideration of the subject, pledged himself in pretty strong 
 language not to introduce disputed points into his public dis- 
 courses. " Far will it be from my purpose/' says he, " ever to 
 treat of controversial matters from this place." But if popular 
 and pernicious errors are not to be combated, and if the plain, 
 simple doctrine of Christianity is not to be taught from the pulpit, 
 it is difficult to say how public attention is to be excited : how the 
 mass of hearers are to be instructed, and how truth is to make its 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF THE LATK 
 
 way. In fact it appears that where public teachers have confined 
 themselves to mere moral instruction, and have either not touched 
 at all upon Christian doctrine, or have veiled their real opinions 
 under ambiguous language, the consequence has often been that 
 the teacher by reading and reflection has become enlightened 
 while the hearer has been left in darkness ; the preacher has 
 reformed his speculative creed while the hearers have retained all 
 the erroneous and unscriptural notions which their pastor has 
 long ago renounced. And as a natural consequence, when a 
 vacancy has occurred, a successor has not unfrequently been 
 appointed whose system has been directly opposite to that of the 
 person who immediately preceded him.* Those who hold senti- 
 
 * Dr. Doddridge's congregation refused to invite Dr. Ashworth, whom he recom- 
 mended as his successor both in the pulpit and in the academy, and whose sentiments 
 were in perfect unison with his own, and chose a gentleman, a very worthy person, but 
 whose orthodoxy was of a much higher tone than that of his predecessor. A late minister, 
 well remembered by many, made his boast, that though he had officiated twenty years 
 at the same chapel, he defied any of his hearers to know what he believed concerning 
 the person of Christ. And it is a fact of sufficient notoriety, that a flourishing congrega- 
 tion in the metropolis, in appointing a colleague to their respected pastor, who had 
 officiated among them with great acceptance for more than thirty years, fixed their 
 choice upon a person so opposite in sentiment that he would not even hear his colleague 
 preach, or ever join in communion with him. Could such a case have happened had 
 the hearers been properly instructed in their religious principles, and rationally grounded 
 in their Christian faith ] It is absurd to say that if these people had been better in- 
 structed they would not have been equally serious. How does it appear that they 
 would have been less virtuous if they had been more consistent ? 
 
 The writer of this note can bear testimony, from his own experience, to the very 
 opposite effects of different modes of public instruction. While he resided in the 
 country as minister of a congregation and divinity tutor in the academy upon Mr. 
 Coward's foundation, he gradually changed his theological views from an affinity to 
 those of Dr. Doddridge, to perfect Unitarianism, and a belief in the proper humanity of 
 Jesus Christ. But not being at that time so clearly convinced as he was afterwards of 
 the duty of an explicit avowal of important truth, he, like many others, satisfied him- 
 self with using language which, though not contradictory to, was certainly not ex- 
 planatory of his new opinions. The consequence was, that when he thought it his 
 duty to resign the connexion, a successor was chosen, a worthy young man, one of his 
 own pupils, but one who in Trinitarian orthodoxy far exceeded all his predecessors from 
 the first foundation of the chapel. Not so when he resigned his place at Hackney to 
 succeed at Essex Street. That intelligent society, traned up under the candid and 
 liberal instructions of Dr. Price and the enlightened zeal of Dr. Priestley, to which his 
 own humble efforts for ten years in the same good cause had not been wanting, when 
 a vacancy was declared, acted in a manner worthy of themselves and of their teachers.. 
 To them it was an object of the first consideration to look out for a minister who should 
 be disposed and qualified to support the doctrines in which they had been instructed, 
 and which from conviction they embraced and cherished. Happily divine Providence 
 directed them to a choice which fulfilled their utmost wish, s and hopes. And the very 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. /O 
 
 ments to which they give the pompous name of orthodox or 
 evangelical, never decline to avow their systems in the most manly 
 and explicit manner. And they do right while they believe those 
 sentiments to be true and important. How unbecoming, then, is 
 it for those who hold a better and a purer faith to shrink from 
 the public profession and defence of it, and to leave the adversary 
 master of the field ! It is a silly objection which is urged by 
 some weak, or timid, or indolent, I will not say interested persons, 
 that speculative preaching, as they call it, tends to diminish a 
 serious and pious disposition, and promote a sectarian spirit. As 
 to the latter part of the objection, let them read Sir George 
 Savile's remark upon the subject of sectaries: and with respect to 
 the former, I confess I could never see how the increase of know- 
 ledge had a tendency to produce deterioration of practice; and he 
 would be a very injudicious teacher who did not combine practical 
 exhortation with doctrinal instruction. 
 
 " Yesterday/'' says Mr. Lindsey, in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated 
 May 23, '' I ventured to deviate from the idea which you and. my 
 friends with you seemed to entertain as right, of preaching merely 
 practical discourses, and enlarged with much earnestness on John 
 xvii. 3. I find it was acceptable to many, and that it was even 
 looked for, that I should sometimes treat upon the great object 
 and principle on which our new church is formed, in order to 
 confirm some that are already come out, and awaken others to 
 come out of Babylon. But I expect the greatest effects by and 
 by through the nation, from the thunder of yours, of Mr. ? s, 
 
 prosperous state of the congregation, which required a larger chapel to accommodate the 
 increasing number of worshippers, d monstrates the energy and, if I may so express it, 
 the omnipotence of plain, simple, uncorrupted truth, when taught with openness, with 
 firmness, with ability, and zeal. May t 1 is glori* us cause continue to prosper among the 
 ri>ing generation there and elsewhere, under the same or a similar able, active, and 
 eloquent ministry, when those who are now passed the burden and the heat of the day, 
 and upon whom the shadows of the evening are fast lengthening themselves out, shall 
 be at rest with their fathers in the land of silence and obi vion ! And may the conduct 
 of all who profess to hold the pure and uncormpted doctiine of Christ, at all times, 
 silently, but powerfully and irresistibly, repel the unfounded and ungenen us charge, so 
 triumphantly advanced l.y ignorance or malignity, that Unitarian principles and a zeal 
 for truth arc inconsistent with seriousness of spirit, with iervour of devotion, and with 
 holiness of life ! 
 
76 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 and Mr. 's apologies, for you can never go out in mute 
 
 silence and without bearing your testimonies against her witch- 
 craft and idolatries." 
 
 Among the earliest hearers of Mr. Lindsey was Mrs. Rayner, 
 a near relation of the Duchess of Northumberland and of Lord 
 Gwydir. This lady was married to a gentleman of large fortune, 
 and was attracted by curiosity and the invitation of a friend to 
 hear the new doctrine at Essex Street, on the day when the chapel 
 was first opened. Through the whole service her eyes were fixed, 
 and her attention riveted upon the preacher ; and when it was 
 over, she and Mr. Rayner introduced themselves to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lindsey, and from that time to the end of life she became a 
 constant hearer at the chapel, and a firm and generous friend to 
 Mr. Lindsey, and to the cause which he supported and for which 
 he suffered. Mrs. Rayner was a lady of open and unaffected 
 manners, of superior intellect, and of a well-informed mind. She 
 possessed unbounded generosity of spirit, and, especially after the 
 death of Mr. Rayner, denied herself almost what was necessary to 
 support her rank and station in life, that she might spend her 
 money in acts of great but not indiscriminate munificence. She 
 became a liberal and powerful patroness of the cause of truth. 
 And to this lady the Christian world is indebted for the publica- 
 tion of one of the most learned and most useful theological works 
 which the age has produced : Dr. Priestley's History of Early 
 Opinions concerning Christ : a work which demonstrates in a 
 manner which never has been and never can be confuted, that 
 from the earliest age of the Christian religion down to the fourth 
 century, and to the time of Athanasius himself, the great body of 
 unlearned Christians were strictly Unitarians, and consequently 
 that this was the original doctrine concerning the person of Christ. 
 This most valuable treatise was a work of great labour and ex- 
 pense, the demand for which would by no means have defrayed 
 the charge of the publication. But Mrs. Rayner, with exemplary 
 generosity, supplied the money, and to her the work is with great 
 propriety dedicated. Many other acts of this lady's princely 
 munificence might be mentioned which almost exceed belief in a 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. <7 
 
 selfish and irreligious age. But she sought not worldly applause ; 
 and she is now gone where her works and virtues will follow her, 
 to receive their appropriate and everlasting reward.* 
 
 The cause now began to flourish beyond all expectation. The 
 chapel was always crowded with attentive hearers, so that many 
 who came late were obliged to go awav for want of room. Con- 
 
 CD O J 
 
 siderable numbers of very respectable names were continually 
 given in as subscribers to the expense of the chapel and to the 
 support of the minister. Among the rest were the late distin- 
 guished patriot Sir George Savile, member for Yorkshire ; Mr. 
 Serjeant Adair, with his father and mother ; the late learned and 
 eminent scripture-critic, Mr. Dodson, the translator of the book 
 of Isaiah ; and the present Sir Thomas Bernard, the benevolent 
 treasurer of the Foundling Hospital. Nor must I omit to mention 
 the name of my respected friend Robert Martin Leake, Esq., the 
 present worthy Master of the Report Office in the Court of 
 Chancery, who, being then a young man, and having by reading 
 and reflection emancipated himself from the Trinitarian and high- 
 church prejudices in which he had been educated in his father's 
 house, the late Garter King-at-Arms, was one of the first who 
 called upon Mr. Lindsey at his lodgings in Featherstone Buildings, 
 and encouraged him to persist in his design of opening a chapel 
 for Unitarian worship ; and though not then in affluent circum- 
 stances, offered a liberal contribution to the object, and has ever 
 since remained a firm and enlightened advocate of the cause : he 
 is now senior trustee of the chapel, and one of the few surviving 
 original founders and supporters of the place. 
 
 But nothing of this kind gave Mr. Lindsey more pleasure than 
 
 * One instance out of many, and that by no means the greatest, of this benevolent 
 lady's extraordinary munificence is related by Dr. Priestley in his Memoirs, p. 77, 
 London edition. The Doctor mentions that upon his separation from Lord Shelburne 
 he was barely able to support the expense of removal. He adds, " But my situation 
 being intimated to Mrs. Rayner, besides smaller sums with which she occasionally as- 
 sisted me, she gave me a hundred guineas to defray the expenses of my removal ; and 
 deposited with Mrs. Lindsey, which she soon after gave up to me, four hundred guineas, 
 and to this day has never failed giving me every year marks of her friendship. Hers 
 is, indeed. I seriouslv think, one of the first Christian characters I was ever acquainted 
 with, having a cultivated, comprehensive mind, equal to any subject of theology or 
 metaphysics, intrepid in the cause of truth, and most rationally pious." 
 
78 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 a letter which he received in the beginning of June from the late 
 Sir Barnard Turner, who afterwards distinguished himself so much 
 in quelling the riots in London in 1780, at the head of the Lon- 
 don Association. Of this letter the following is an extract com- 
 municated by Mr. Lindsey to his friend Mr. Turner, to whom he 
 knew that it would give the same satisfaction which it gave to 
 himself. 
 
 " I have long been held from associating with any sect of 
 Christians with that sincerity which my conscience and gratitude 
 to the Supreme Being tell me are needful in religion, from a 
 thorough conviction that the adoration of any but the one true 
 God was highly sinful. It is therefore with the utmost earnest- 
 ness that I beg to be considered as one of your congregation, and 
 also that you will do me the favour of accepting my annual sub- 
 scription of five guineas towards the welfare of the society, and the 
 making you some amends for the loss and expense to which your 
 love of truth will make you liable. I shall, besides, be always 
 ready with cheerfulness to bear a reasonable share of any further 
 expense that the future exigencies of the society may make neces- 
 sary." 
 
 In reference to this application from Sir Barnard Turner, Mr. 
 Lindsey expresses himself thus in a. letter to Dr. Jebb : " I 
 have found this institution a means of drawing out, and I hope 
 will be of encouraging and perfecting, many excellent characters. 
 Your heart would rejoice in reading a letter I received this very 
 week from one of these desiring to become a member of our 
 church. We are still crowded on Sundays." 
 
 The satisfaction and comfort which this excellent man experi- 
 enced upon his deliverance from the galling yoke of an establish- 
 ment which he disapproved, in the perfect liberty which he enjoyed 
 of conducting the. services of religion in the manner which best 
 approved itself to his understanding and to his heart, and in the 
 success of a scheme for the accomplishment of which he had 
 made such strenuous exertions and such great and costly sacrifices, 
 a success so far beyond his most sanguine expectations, may be 
 more easily conceived than described. He often gives vent to the 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 79 
 
 pious and grateful emotions of his heart in his communications to 
 his confidential friends. 
 
 In a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated March 31, a week before he 
 expected to open the chapel, he writes : " No one has more fears 
 or diffidences, and I think justly, of what I do. I sometimes 
 wonder how I came into the service in which I am embarked. 
 But I have met with such friends and encouragement that I go on 
 cheerfully and without fear." 
 
 In another letter to the same friend, dated July 24, three 
 months after the grand experiment had been tried, and the success 
 of it was complete, he thus expresses himself : " I have not known 
 what entire quiet of mind and perfect peace with God was for 
 many many years till now ; and I would not exchange it for a 
 thousand worlds. Encouraged also as I am that good, extensive 
 good, to glorious Truth does arise and will arise from it. I must 
 have died much in the dark had I been called away before this. 
 How thankful ought I to be for that good Providence which has 
 conducted and preserved me ! You will be glad to hear that last 
 Sunday we had a more respectable audience at the chapel than 
 I ever saw, except the first day. And to-day quite full." So 
 mightily did the word of God, and the cause of pure and uncor- 
 rupted Christianity grow and prevail under the ministration of 
 this venerable confessor, and so abundantly did his heart overflow 
 with consolation and delight in the success of his benevolent and 
 pious exertions. 
 
 It is not however to be concluded, that all was now sunshine 
 with Mr. Lindsey, and that the season of clouds and darkness 
 was completely over. The tide of prejudice at that time set so 
 strongly against the Unitarian doctrine, that there was some rea- 
 son to apprehend — at least, many of Mr. Lindsey's friends did 
 apprehend — that some popular disturbance might take place at the 
 opening of a chapel professedly upon Unitarian principles, and 
 that some personal insult might be offered to the minister, or 
 some interruption attempted in the service. This, however, gave 
 Mr. Lindsey little concern. He did not indeed court, but neither 
 did he shun, persecution in the performance of duty. But in truth, 
 
80 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 though he had received many anonymous libels in the form of 
 letters, he had no considerable apprehension of personal violence. 
 Happily, under the mild administration of the House of Bruns- 
 wick, religious toleration was the wise and liberal principle of 
 government, and lawless outrage was kept under severe restraint. 
 
 It gave Mr. Lindsey more concern that his motives should be 
 mistaken by some of his associated brethren, who regarded the 
 decisive step which he had taken as injurious to the object of 
 their petition, a reformation in the subscription and in the service 
 of the established church. Mr. Lindsey, though he much 
 regretted that offence was taken where none had been intended, 
 consoled himself with the conviction which he felt that his brethren 
 had formed an erroneous judgment in the case, and that his seces- 
 sion from the establishment, so far from being of disservice, would 
 eventually be very beneficial to the cause of the petitioning clergy, 
 by exciting attention to it, and by interesting many in their favour. 
 " You and Jebb," says an eminent leader among the associated 
 clergy, in a letter to Mr. Lindsey, " have obliged the Balguys and 
 Randolphs by your integrity, but none else, though more may 
 commend. It has been the utter ruin of the plan of the peti- 
 tioners." Mr. Lindsey thought far otherwise. " A few," says 
 he to his friend Dr. Jebb, " of our petitioning friends, and but a 
 few, will have it that my retreat has hurt our cause. But I am 
 emboldened to say, from fact and knowledge in this great city and 
 a wide range elsewhere, that it has and does serve it greatly — nay, 
 has been a great means of keeping it from dying entirely." And 
 upon another occasion, alluding to the same misconception of some 
 of his petitioning friends, he says, " These things must not move 
 us. I hope to be enabled to go on in a way which promises to 
 be of some present use, nay, actually is so already, in removing 
 prejudices and enlarging the minds of some, and may be of un- 
 known benefit." 
 
 But nothing appears to have hurt Mr. Lindsey's mind so much 
 as the malignant reports which were industriously circulated by 
 some, that he had been influenced throughout by mercenary views, 
 that he was now in a better situation than that which he had left, 
 
REVEREND THE0PI1ILUS LINDSEY. 81 
 
 and that he had a promise of this before he resigned his benefice. 
 Mr. Lindsey could not but feel indignant at the imputation of 
 motives which his soul abhorred, of which his conscience entirely 
 acquitted him, and to which the whole tenor of his life was a pal- 
 pable contradiction. Upon this subject he expresses himself with 
 a very becoming and a truly christian spirit in a letter to his kind 
 friend at Wakefield, dated June 13, 1774. 
 
 " We have about thirty names upon the list of our society as 
 members, who have signified their intentions, and some of them 
 what they shall contribute. This gentleman's (Sir Barnard Turner's) 
 is much the largest. I mention this not as if 1 had any doubt of a 
 sufficient provision for myself and the society, but that you may 
 know in a general way the whole of our state : because I find that 
 it is said 1 have already an establishment of four hundred pounds 
 a year, and that I knew what a good exchange I should make 
 when I left Catterick. Such reports we must expect. It is here 
 spread about, and believed by many, that my wife's uncle, at our 
 quitting Catterick, settled 200 pounds a year on me, though he has 
 never seen us, nor admitted us to write a letter to him from that 
 time to this. I believe that with Mr. Shore's and his friend's bene- 
 faction, and those of other friends, I have received upwards of four 
 hundred pounds. But upwards of two hundred out of this was 
 given purely to indemnify me for the expenses of fitting up the 
 chapel; its rent, fifty pounds a year : clerk's wages, &c. I am a 
 little sorry I have blotted so much paper and taken up so much 
 of your time on such a subject, but I was desirous you should be 
 acquainted with it. And as I have hitherto done, I desire to keep 
 my hands and heart clear of all mercenary views, though I cannot 
 bind others from imputing them to me." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey alludes feelingly to the same reports in his corres- 
 pondence with Dr. Jebb.* How little foundation there was for 
 
 * " Nothing," says Mr. Lindsey in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated May 22nd, u is yet 
 settled with regard to those who are or will be members of our church, and their con- 
 tributions, though several of them have spoken to me about it. But I am in no hurry 
 on that account. And I wish ever to keep at a distance from the suspicion of attention 
 to money; though such suspicions have been, are, and will be imputed by those who 
 judge of others by themselves.'' In another letter, dated June 7th, he writes: " You 
 
 G 
 
82 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 them is manifest from the following extract of a letter from a 
 friend, who about that time visited them at their lodgings : " I 
 had the satisfaction of finding our worthy friends in pretty 
 good health and spirit : but by no means in the affluent 
 situation in which common fame in Yorkshire had placed them. 
 The lodgings they are in at present are close, inconvenient, and 
 expensive : nor have they yet been able to meet with any thing- 
 more suitable to them. But the cause in which Mr. Lindsey is 
 engaged has power to soften every difficulty, and he has need of 
 such support/' 
 
 It became now incumbent upon Mr. Lindsey to defend his 
 principles from the press as well as from the pulpit. The Apology 
 was not permitted to pass without animadversion and attempts at 
 refutation. The first who entered the lists was Mr. Burgh of 
 York, a member of the Irish parliament, a young man of some 
 talents, of estimable character, and of liberal political principles, 
 but little versed in theological controversy. He published so 
 early as the month of June, 1774, a work entitled A Scriptural 
 Confutation of the Arguments against the One Godhead of the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, produced by the Rev. Mr. Lindsey 
 in his late Apology. This treatise as an argumentative work was 
 trifling in the extreme, and must immediately have passed into 
 the oblivion to which it has long been consigned, had it not been 
 supported and puffed off by some persons of note, who no doubt 
 thought it was calculated to make an impression upon the numer- 
 ous class of readers to whom sounds are a ready substitute for 
 sense.* Of this work Mr. Lindsey thought it sufficient to take 
 
 shall know every thing when I see 3 r ou, how we go on. In the mean time, though I 
 have the highest cause to be thankful to God's good providence, there is no foundation 
 for reports which some put about with no good design." 
 
 * Of Mr. Burgh's argument, the following are curious specimens. Because we read in 
 Scripture of the grace of God, and also of the grace of our LordJesus Christ ; because 
 Paul calls himself a servant of God, and also of Jesus Christ ; and because the gospel 
 is called the gospel of God, and also the gospel of Christ ; and " that which is God's is 
 not another's," as the author sagaciously remarks, u therefore Christ is God, one with 
 the Father." Sequel, Pref. p. x. xi. To attempt a refutation of such arguments would 
 be a prostitution of reason. Mr. Lindsey, in a letter to Mr. Turner, dated June 13, 
 1774, mentions that the pamphlet, then anonymous, had been sent him by the author 
 ten days before. " I really took the book," says he, " to be the work of some methodist 
 at first perusing it, and nothing in it solid or that might require an answer. But I was 
 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 83 
 
 a slight notice In the preface to the Sequel to his Apology. In 
 tin- same preface he also replied, as far as it was judged needful, 
 to two other pamphlets which had been published against his 
 Apology; one of which, by Mr. Bingham of Dorsetshire, was 
 entitled A Vindication of the Doctrine and Liturgy of the 
 Church of England, occasioned by the Apology of Theophilns 
 Lindsey, M.A. ; the other by Dr. Randolph, Lady Margaret's 
 Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford. These treatises 
 were written with more knowledge of the subject than Mr. Burgh's, 
 but their arguments contained nothing of novelty which required 
 particular attention.* The passages of scripture which were 
 alleged by these writers in favour of Trinitarian doctrine and 
 worship, and which had been adverted to in the Apology, were 
 explained in the Sequel. 
 
 This able and learned work appeared early in the year 1770. 
 It is much more copious than was originally intended, and con- 
 tains, as the author expresses it, "a full inquiry into the questions 
 concerning the nature and person of Christ, and what is the 
 
 much surprised the other d;iy in conversing with Mr. Mason, to find that he had been 
 privy to the publication, h.-id revised some of the proof sheets, and approved the doc- 
 trine in the highest degree. Nay, he told me that Dr. Hurd had just then told him 
 that the writer expressed his own sentiments upon the Trinity. but I could not help 
 telling Mr. Mason that he and his friend were easily pleased. That he boasted too 
 much of the author's freedom from prejudice as being a young man who had never read 
 any controversy on the Trinity : as if we received no prejudices but from reading. 
 Mr. Mason added, 'the book must make a great noise,' which I would easily believe if 
 they cried it up." In a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated June 17th, he writes : " The zeal to 
 propagate the Layman s (Mr. Burgh's) pamphlet is most extraordinary. A friend of 
 mine on Sunday, dining with a very high personage, found the book brought to the Lady 
 of the house by a noble Lord of the company, a friend of Mr. Mason. With regard 
 to the two original commenders of it, I declare I am am;ized they can find no better 
 salvo for their consciences in the use of our Trinitarian forms. And it has much 
 lessened them both in my estimation. If upon perusal of it you should put a few 
 thoughts together, and be disposed to let them be printed, I should be very glad : 
 not for the importance of the piece itself, but for the vogue which it is to have given 
 to it." 
 
 * Save that Mr. Bingham discovered that the word Father, when used by our bless d 
 Saviour in prayer, signifies the first person of the godhead, but when used by us it sig- 
 nifies the same first person, together with two other equal persons, the Son and the 
 Holy Ghost. And that the learned Margaret Professor found out that every thing 
 which the candid Whitby had to say in his " Disquisitiones modestae," in reply to 
 Bishop Bull, had been "fully answered by Dr. Waterland," though he acknowledges 
 that he had never been able " to obtain a sight of the book." See preface to the Seq. 
 p. xvi. xxi. 
 
 o2 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 worship due to him \* also, " a further illustration of sonic things 
 advanced in the Apology to which objection had been made/ 1 In 
 his preface Mr. Lindsey acknowledges his obligations to Dr. Jebb, 
 who had lately resigned his situation and prospects in the church, for 
 his trouble and assistance in revising the greater part of the work. 
 In this volume, the most elaborate of all Mr. Lindsey's publi- 
 cations, the learned author in his first chapter states the design 
 of his work, and relates the sufferings and the testimony of Mr. 
 Elwall, who was tried for heresy and blasphemy before Judge 
 Denton at the Stafford Assizes, in the reign of George the First; 
 and gives an account of Hopton Haynes, a zealous and learned 
 Unitarian, the friend of Sir Isaac Newton, with copious extracts 
 from Mr. Haynes's excellent treatise on the attributes of God, 
 which was then very scarce, but which has since been published 
 and very widely circulated by the Unitarian Society. Ch. ii., the 
 author treats at large of the Arian and Socinian worship of Christ, 
 and shows that it has no foundation in the New Testament. 
 Ch. iii., he argues, that the Logos or word is not a divine person 
 or intelligent agent, but that it is the wisdom and power of the 
 Father by which the world was made, and by which Christ and 
 his apostles were inspired and were enabled to perform their 
 mighty works. Ch. iv., this doctrine, concerning the divine 
 Logos, word, or wisdom, is further illustrated by comparing it 
 with various passages in the New Testament, in which Christ is 
 represented as being guided and assisted by the spirit of God, 
 which the learned writer assumes to be the same as the Logos. 
 Ch. v., he examines distinctly and critically those passages in the 
 New Testament which have been supposed to favour the pre- 
 existence of Christ, and particularly those in St. John's gospel. 
 Ch. vi., he argues very forcibly -and successfully against the 
 strange and unscriptural doctrine of two Jehovahs, the one 
 supreme, the other subordinate : the latter a great angel who 
 personated the character and assumed the name of the Supreme, 
 who was the medium of all the divine dispensations to mankind, 
 and the immediate object of religious worship to the Jewish 
 church : which angel animated the body of Christ. This hypo- 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 85 
 
 thesis, which had always been maintained by learned Arians, 
 ancient and modern, had lately been very plausibly stated, and 
 very ably defended, in a learned work by the Reverend Henry 
 Taylor, the Hector of Crawley, under the assumed character of 
 Benjamin Ben Mordecai, a converted Jew. To this treatise Mr. 
 Lindsey makes a calm, detailed, and satisfactory reply. Ch. vii., 
 the work goes on further to plead from the language of Moses 
 and the Prophets, and from the explicit declarations of the 
 Apostles and Evangelists and even of Christ himself, that he was 
 really a man, and that the truth of this doctrine is not impeached 
 by the great and lasting errors of Christians concerning it. 
 Ch. viii., the author comments upon the testimony of the 
 Apostolical Fathers concerning the nature and person of Christ, 
 and, lastly, he concludes with a critical examination of those 
 passages in St. Paul's epistles, in which creation is supposed to be 
 ascribed to Christ, and clearly shows that creation is the proper 
 work of God himself without any instrument or deputy ; that 
 this is the uniform doctrine of the scriptures, and that those 
 expressions of Paul which are thought by many to teach a 
 different doctrine, are to be understood of the new creation, and 
 cf the renovation of the moral world by the gospel of Christ. 
 
 In his interpretation of some of the controverted texts all may 
 not be entirely agreed, who nevertheless coincide with the learned 
 and worthy author in his views of the person of Christ. But as 
 long as that important controversy shall continue, Mr. Lindsey's 
 Sequel must always be regarded as a standard work, and as a 
 bright example of free and fearless discussion, blending itself with 
 that amiable spirit of Christianity which softens the asperities of 
 theological controversy, and which allows to all the equal right of 
 private judgment. 
 
 From the commencement of his arduous undertaking, and 
 especially from the time when success appeared probable, Mr. 
 Lindsey, modestly diffident of his own powers and qualifications 
 both of body and mind, was anxiously solicitous to secure the 
 aid of an able coadjutor. The first person upon whom he cast 
 
86 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 his eye was Dr. Jebb, to whom he suggested a hint of the busi- 
 ness before he left Yorkshire. But afterwards, when the prospect 
 brightened at Essex Street, and Mr. Lindsey was assured that his 
 friend intended speedily to execute his long-formed determination 
 of resigning his preferment and his prospects in the church, he 
 made the proposal to him in more direct terms.* " I must not 
 forget to add," so he writes in a letter dated October 20, 1775, 
 "as it need be said to yourself alone, that with Mr. Tayleur's, 
 Sir George Savile's and Mr. Smith's subscriptions, our amount, 
 all things paid, is one hundred pounds,t which I should be most 
 glad to share annually, and more that I am sure w r ould accrue 
 with such a coadjutor. I mentioned this formerly, but your plan 
 did not lead to the pastoral line in London ; but I thought I 
 would name it again." Dr. .Tebb, however, rather chose the pro- 
 fession of medicine ; and though, after he had retired from the 
 church he was regular in his attendance at the chapel, and re- 
 tained all his zeal and his activity in the cause of Christian truth, 
 he declined to officiate as a Nonconformist minister. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey was also disappointed in his application to another 
 most truly excellent and learned person, eminent for his piety, 
 benevolence, and zeal for truth, whose assistance would have been 
 most acceptable to Mr. Lindsey and to his friends, but who 
 
 * In the meantime Mr. Lindsey. probably in consequence of Dr. Jebb's delay to 
 secede from the church, appears to have made an overture to Dr. Robertson of Wolver- 
 hampton. This is hinted at in a letter to Dr. Jebb, wriiten in May, 1775. 
 
 f This was but a very moderate income, even when the necessaries of life were at 
 less than half the price which they bear at present, and far short of what Mr. L'ndsey 
 relinquished at Catterick. His willingness to divide this pittance with his colleague is 
 an ample confutation, if such were needful, of the calumnies which represented him as 
 acting from mercenary motives. But the ten' r of his whole life demonstrated that his 
 soul disdained the imputation. It is but justice to the liberality of Mr. Lindsey's 
 friends and supporters to add, that his income was rapidly increased, and that he was 
 soon placed in a situation, not only to live with comfort, but in which both he and 
 Mrs. Lindsey could gratify to a considerable extent the favourite wish of their hearts — 
 to do good to others. The third name in Mr. L'ndsey's list, Mr. Smith, is probably 
 that of Lord Carrington, who continued his liberal but uno.-tentatious patronage of 
 Mr. Lindsey as long as Mr. Lindsey lived. And it may now, March, 1812, be added 
 that his lordship's bounty was continued to the widow of the deceased confessor, by 
 contributing largely to an annuity of £100, which was settled upon her for life, to 
 enable that excellent lady to continue her extensive and judicious charities, in which 
 his lordship was joined by a few other friends of Mr. Lindsey, whose names were never 
 made known to Mrs L. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 87 
 
 declined the office from principles most honourable to his feel- 
 ings, and no doubt perfectly satisfactory to his own ingenuous 
 and enlightened mind. Thus this venerable confessor was left to 
 sustain the conflict, and to fight the battle alone. But his God 
 was with him : a good conscience and a good cause bore him up 
 and carried him through, and " his strength was equal to his 
 day/' For ten years he continued the sole pastor of a numerous 
 and flourishing congregation, all the members of which held their 
 revered instructor in the highest estimation, and many of them 
 gladdened his heart by their visible improvement in Christian 
 knowledge and virtuous practice. 
 
 CHAPTEll V. 
 
 FROM THE ERECTION OF THE BUILDING IN ESSEX STREET TO 
 THE APPOINTMENT OF DR. DISNEY TO BE THE COLLEAGUE OF 
 MR. LINDSEY, 1783. 
 
 As the congregation increased, and the interest appeared likely 
 to be permanent, it became necessary to provide a suitable place 
 of worship ; and after much inquiry and deliberation, it was 
 agreed to purchase the premises in Essex Street, which, by the 
 liberal contributions of the friends of the cause,* Mr. Lindsey 
 
 * In the foremost rank of these were the generous inhabitants of Norton Hall and 
 Norton House, whose great and unexpected liberality to Mr. Lindsey upon his first 
 coming to town has been before mentioned. Upon the present occasion, having com- 
 municated the intelligence to a friend, to whose kind offices he thought himself much 
 indebted for " the friendly disposition of these worth}' persons,"' he adds, " I cannot 
 describe the feelings I had on such an unexpected instance of generous and public 
 spirit, especially when contrasted with some from whom much might have be< n ex- 
 pected, but who are t' o poor to do anything." In a letter to the same friend, dated 
 May 14 1778, after having mentioned Mrs. Lindsey's frequent indisp sitions, he adds, 
 " but nothing hinders her indefatigable attention to what she takes in hand. It was 
 owing to her that our new chapel was ready so soon. And she is now no less busily 
 eng ged in the habitation underneath, which we are to inhabit, and which requires 
 much more to be done at it than we expected ; in short, a new house and chapel might 
 
88 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 was enabled to accomplish, and to repair and fit them up in their 
 present commodious form for the purpose of a chapel, and for a 
 residence for himself and Mrs. Lindsey. This great work was 
 completed early in the spring of 1778, and the new chapel was 
 opened March 29. Upon this occasion Mr. Lindsey delivered an 
 excellent discourse from John iv. 23, 2i, upon the unity of God 
 and the spirituality of Divine worship, which, with the prayers 
 before and after the sermon, were immediately published. 
 
 Among the most zealous advocates of the Divine unity, and 
 for the erection of a place of worship upon the avowed principle 
 that the Father alone is to be worshipped as God, the late William 
 Tayleur, Esq., of Shrewsbury, holds a distinguished place. This 
 gentleman, who by a careful study of the scriptures had become 
 a decided Unitarian forty years before, who had in vain attempted 
 to form a society for Unitarian worship in his own vicinage, and 
 who began to despair that he should ever live to see the accom- 
 plishment of his favourite object, concurred most cordially in Mr. 
 Lindsey's design ; and though from the remoteness of his resi- 
 dence it was impossible that he should derive any personal bene- 
 fit, he was nevertheless extremely solicitous that the affairs of the 
 chapel in Essex Street should be placed upon a respectable and 
 permanent foundation. He hoped that the honourable example 
 would be followed by many others both in the metropolis and in 
 the country, and that houses for the worship of the one God 
 would be multiplied through the nation. To this end he con- 
 tributed very liberally upon the present occasion ; and a few years 
 afterwards he had the satisfaction to see his pious and benevolent 
 expectation in some measure realized. A congregation of Uni- 
 tarian dissenters at Shrewsbury were induced by his exhortations 
 and encouragement to adopt a reformed liturgy ; and the last 
 years of the life of this exemplary Christian were consoled and 
 delighted by the quiet possession of a privilege, the hope of 
 which he had hardly permitted himself to indulge, that of join- 
 ing at stated seasons in the public worship of the one God, the 
 
 have been built for much less expense. But it was convenient to have one place to 
 assemble in while the other was building : and we had no idea that the house was in 
 such a ruinous way as we have found it." 
 

 REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 89 
 
 Father of all, in the way that his conscience dictated as most 
 rational, scriptural, and edifying.* 
 
 Of this excellent person Mr. Lindsey gives the following 
 interesting account in a letter to a friend, dated September 1, 
 1783, immediately after his return from making him a visit : — 
 
 * " It is now forty years," writes this excellent man in a letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated 
 May, 1777, " since I was clearly convinced that the Father alone ought to be worshipped 
 as the only true God. Had any one then told me that I should live to see a society of 
 Christians openly professing that doctrine, meeting together in a chapel of their own. 
 and using a form of prayer avowedly drawn up to perpetuate the honour due to the 
 only true God, I should have treated such a person as a well-meaning visionary. Much 
 yet remains to be done, but what may not be expected from so prosperous a begin- 
 ning]" In another letter, dated November 13, after having made over £500 in the 
 three per cent. S'ock towards building the chapel, Mr. Tayleur adds, " I have many 
 opportunities of declaring that I cannot giv»* my assent to the Athanasian forms of 
 worship, or join in the use of them ; but still it is very disagreeable to appear to do 
 this by frequenting the service of the church. I have long sought a remedy ; gainst 
 this inconvenience, but hitherto I can find none ; for there is no dissenting congrega- 
 tion here, or here-about, who profess to worship the Father as the only true God, or 
 who would not be offended if any of their members should make such a declaration. 
 Could such a congregation be found, I should think it my duty to join them, though I 
 think it too much, at least for an old man, to hear, judge, and pray at the same 
 time : and therefore wish for a form of prayer on the Unitarian plan. I have 
 endeavoured to prevail on some few persons, laymen, who think as I do, to meet 
 one Sunday at least in a month, to read together your lit irgy, and to declare openly, 
 without blaming those who are otherwise minded, our reasons for doing this : but 
 hitherto I have met with no success, nor have I much prospect of it till the laity take 
 the matter more to heart than they at present do." 
 
 What an exemplary spirit of piety, zeal, and moderation ! It is easy to conceive 
 how delighted this worthy man must have been when his own plan, which he had so 
 long laboured in vain to accomplish, was at last, when he was ready to abandon it in 
 despair, unexpectedly carried into effect. Thus we learn not to desist from generous 
 efforts to promote truth and virtue, though they may for a time be ineffectual. This 
 excellent man modestly assigns his reasons for preferring a liturgy to free prayer. Let 
 those b'ush who judge harshly of their brethren for differing from them in forms of 
 pra\er or modes of worship. The prayer of the upright will be accepted, whether it 
 be offered in language which occurs upon the occasion, or in a written or a printed 
 form. 
 
 Mr. Tayleur was possessed of a large estate, and his generosity was unbounded. He 
 settled a hardsome annuity upon the chapel at Shrewsbury for the support of Uni- 
 tarian worship. And Dr. Priestley acknowledges himself indebted to the liberality of 
 His gentleman for the most matt-rial assistance in th< pub'ication of n any of his theo- 
 logical works, without which he would not have been able to publish thera at all. — 
 l>r. Priestley s Memoirs, p. 104, English edition. 
 
 This excellent Christian died May 0, 1796, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. An 
 eloquent and instructive discourse was delivered upon the occasion at the High S'reet 
 Meeting, in Shrewsbury, by his accomplished friend Theophilu3 Houlbrooke, LL.Ji. 
 F.R.S. Ed., originally a clergyman in the established church, but who became one 
 of the honourable band of confessors in the glorious cau-e ot" the Divine unity. This 
 sermon was published. It is much to be wished th it the learned author had fu'filled 
 his original intention of prefacing his discourse with an account of Mr Tayleur, as the 
 public has in \ain waited for the memoir exp.cted from another quarter. 
 
90 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 " We took a long flight, you will call it, thence (i.e. from 
 Richmond, in Yorkshire) to Shrewsbury ; but were well repaid 
 when we arrived there by the sight and society of one of the most 
 valuable of mankind, Mr. Tayleur, in whose house we lodged. 
 He was educated at Westminster, and went off Captain of the 
 school to Christ Church, Oxford, where he resided as student or 
 fellow seven years, a hard and real student all the while; thence 
 to the Temple for nearly as long a space. But an elder brother 
 then dying, and the family estate coming to him, he married the 
 late Sir Rowland Hill's sister and settled at Shrewsbury. An 
 excellent classic scholar both in Geeek and Latin, which he re- 
 tains, and not unskilled in the Hebrew language. A very good 
 mathematician also. His time and talents have been alwavs much 
 turned, but entirely of late years, to the scriptures, of which he 
 is a great master. A strict Unitarian, but of deep piety at the 
 same time ; without which, opinions are of little value. If you 
 have not heard of it you will be glad to know, that some years 
 past, when he could no longer attend the Trinitarian worship of 
 the Church of England, and could not through long association 
 join with edification in- extemporary prayer, he had service for 
 many Sundays in his own house in which he officiated, at which 
 some gentlemen of the Church of England attended, and some 
 of Mr. Fownes's congregation who preferred a form of prayer ; 
 and this continued till Mr. Fownes yielded to the requests of 
 many of his congregation to admit the form they now use, with 
 some additions made by him. One cannot but wish that other 
 gentlemen of the Church of England would follow his example. 
 Were there to be many instances in different places, I apprehend 
 it would be one of the most likely means to put the churchmen 
 on reducing their liturgy nearer the scripture model of worship." 
 
 Another very eminent person, who was indeed from the begin- 
 ning a zealous encourager and supporter of Mr. Lindsey's design, 
 was Richard Kirwan, Esq., F.R.S., the late venerable President 
 of the Royal Society in Ireland ; a gentleman of the first eminence 
 in Europe in chemical and geological science, and of whom Dr. 
 Priestley was wont to say, that he was the best general scholar he 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 91 
 
 ever knew, and particularly able in theology. This distinguished 
 philosopher, being from principle and a profound study of the 
 sacred scriptures zealously attached to the great doctrine of the 
 Divine unity, and that the Father alone is the proper object of 
 religious worship, constantly attended Divine service in Mr. Lind- 
 scy's chapel during his residence in London. 
 
 From the summer of the year 1778, when he took possession 
 of the premises in Essex Street, Mr. Lindsey may be considered 
 as fully settled. All difficulties were completely removed ; every 
 thing went on comparatively in a smooth, easy, and equable 
 tenour : and the succeeding years of life were not more diversified 
 than those of other studious persons and ministers of religion 
 commonly are. Mr. Lindsey was in general blessed with a good 
 share of health, and a natural equal flow of good spirits. His 
 circumstances, if not affluent, were at least easy and comfortable. 
 His friends were numerous, and he was in the habit of daily 
 familiar and delightful intercourse with persons of the highest 
 respectability for rank, talent, character, and information. His 
 public services were attended by as large a congregation as the 
 chapel would admit, all of whom revered and loved their venerable 
 pastor, and listened to his words as though he were an apostle 
 of Christ. He was engaged in an office, to himself the most 
 delightful, and to others the most instructive and edifying ; at 
 full liberty to search the scriptures without any control, and 
 to speak his sentiments without the least reserve to a people 
 candid, affectionate, and warmly prepossessed in favour of what- 
 ever he addressed to them, as the result of his own pious and 
 diligent researches, and of what he seriously and conscientiously 
 believed to be the genuine doctrine of Christ. Happy in a 
 consort who felt a lively sympathy in all his sorrows and his 
 joys, whose principles were in perfect unison with his own, and 
 whose prudence, activity, and energy of mind relieved him from 
 every secular care, and left him at perfect liberty to devote all 
 the powers of his mind to the great object in which his whole 
 soul was engaged. If ever any person resigned a situation of 
 ease and affluence from principles the most pure and disinterested, 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 with expectations the most humble, and with prospects the most 
 gloomy and uninviting, it was Mr. Lindsey. And if any person 
 ever experienced the accomplishment of the evangelical promise, 
 that he who should voluntarily forsake all for Christ and for his 
 words, should even in the present life receive remuneration a 
 hundred fold, Mr. Lindsey was the man. Of this mark of 
 divine goodness this truly excellent man, who from his cradle had 
 been taught to see the hand of God in every thing, was most 
 deeply sensible; and without any affectation of humility, or parade 
 of piety, he was ever most ready upon every proper occasion, and 
 especially in correspondence with his intimate friends, to express 
 the gratitude and admiration which he felt for blessings so far 
 beyond his expectations and deserts. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1778, Mr. Lindsey was seized with 
 a violent fever, which for some days excited the greatest alarm 
 amongst his friends, lest they should lose their revered and 
 beloved instructor, while, for a time, 
 
 the important die 
 Of life and death spun doubtful, ere it fell 
 And turned up, life. 
 
 The pious and becoming posture of his mind upon this trying 
 occasion he thus describes in a letter to his friend Mr. Turner, 
 dated October 4, 1778. 
 
 "I never remember to have had an illness, and I have had 
 many, for which I could not see reason to thank the hand that 
 sent it. I have reason to say so of this last on many accounts ; 
 but T would add to ?jou on this : because it has given me such con- 
 vincing proofs not only of the tenderness of my old friends, but 
 of the kindness and attachment of all the congregation to their 
 minister; and of others not so nearly connected. I desire the 
 help of your prayers that I may live, while I do live, if it so 
 please God, to be useful in promoting the truth of the gospel." 
 After expressing his great concern at Mrs. Turner's illness, and 
 his joy at her recovery, he adds, " I do not know whether the 
 tender husband or wife that is a by-stander, does not endure 
 more than the patient on the sick bed. My wife 1 am persuaded 
 
REVERExVD TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSET. 93 
 
 slept as little as I did for the three weeks nearly that I was con- 
 fined to a bed; and during all that space, when my head was so 
 apprehensive and sore with continual watchfulness, that the least 
 noise was a torture to me, she admitted no one into the room but 
 the physicians. During my illness happily she kept very well ; 
 since she has been much otherwise, which is not to be wondered 
 at, considering what she underwent, but I bless God she is now 
 tolerably recovered/' 
 
 May the writer of this memoir be permitted to mention, that 
 soon after this, in January, 1779, being at that time the minister 
 of a congregation in the country, and upon a visit in London, he 
 was taken by a friend to attend the evening service in Mr. 
 Lindsey's chapel ? The subject of the discourse was a good 
 conscience ; and the seriousness and gravity with which it was 
 treated confirmed him in the opinion which he had already formed 
 from the perusal of some of Dr. Priestley's writings, that it was 
 possible for a Socinian to be a good man. At the same time he 
 felt a very sincere concern, that persons so highly respectable as 
 Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, should entertain opinions so 
 grossly erroneous as he then conceived, and so disparaging to the 
 doctrines of the gospel. This he ignorantly imputed to the little 
 attention which they paid to the subject of theology. Little did 
 he then suspect that further and more diligent and impartial 
 inquiry would induce him to embrace a system from which his 
 mind at that time shrunk with horror. And had it been foretold 
 to him that in the course of years, and the revolution of events, 
 he should himself become the disciple, the friend, the successor, 
 and the biographer of the person who was then speaking; that 
 it should fall to his lot from that very pulpit to pronounce before 
 a crowded assembly of weeping mourners the funeral oration of 
 Theophilus Lindsey, he would have regarded it as an event almost 
 without the wide circle of possibilities, and as incredible as the 
 incidents of an Arabian tale. So strange are the vicissitudes of 
 human life, and so little does man know of what lies before him, 
 or of the path in which the mysterious wisdom of divine providence 
 may conduct him. 
 
9 A MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 At the time when Mr. Linclsey came to settle in London the 
 American contest was carrying on with the greatest animosity. 
 It was an awful crisis for the country. The nation was torn 
 asunder by the conflicting parties, and it was on all sides portended 
 that the separation of the colonies must he inevitably followed by 
 national bankruptcy, if not with the loss of national independence. 
 Not to be deeply interested in a state of affairs so gloomy and 
 alarming, would hav^e indicated a deficiency in some of the most 
 generous and honourable feelings of human nature. Mr. Lindscy 
 felt deeply for the miseries of his country, and for the errors or 
 misconduct of the government. And though, standing at the 
 head of a religious party which was exposed to popular prejudice, 
 and amenable to the laws of the land, he wisely abstained from 
 rendering himself personally obnoxious by taking a public part in 
 political meetings ; and though, being chiefly intent upon the 
 great object which he had in view, to restore the simplicity of 
 Christian truth, he seldom or never made the pulpit the vehicle of 
 party politics, he nevertheless thought and felt as a man and a 
 Briton, and hesitated not to express his opinions upon all proper 
 occasions with freedom and warmth. The part he took in the 
 political contests may easily be inferred from his intimacy with 
 Dr. Priestley, Dr. Jebb, Dr. Price, Dr. Franklin, Mr. John Lee, 
 and many other eminent writers and partisans of the times : and 
 Mr. Lindsey was one of those patriotic alarmists who augured 
 much worse of the issue of the contest than the event justified, 
 and who perhaps attributed worse motives to the authors of these 
 unfortunate measures than in fact they deserved. " For my own 
 part," says he, in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated June, 1 774, " I must 
 own I have been so much dejected at the present measures and 
 condition of our country, that it has broken my rest and peace 
 both night and day. Instead of teachers of knowledge, wisdom, 
 virtue, and true religion, which we might and ought to have been, 
 to be a nation the most debauched in principle and practice, 
 exerting its powers to extinguish light and liberty wherever its 
 vast power reaches, is a melancholy reverse of what we expected." 
 
 Happily the American war terminated in the independence of 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 95 
 
 the United States : and this event, contrary to the predictions 
 of boding politicians, so far from proving the ruin of the two 
 countries, has been found by experience to be the greatest blessing 
 which could have happened, to both. America for upwards of 
 twenty years has enjoyed peace and liberty, both civil and religious, 
 to an extent unknown in the world before. And Britain, exonerated 
 from the expense and trouble of governing a distant empire, and 
 forming a liberal commercial connection with her emancipated 
 colonies, far from sinking into bankruptcy and servitude, soon 
 emerged from her difficulties and rose to a state of opulence and 
 prosperity unparalleled in the annals of history. Thus she stood 
 the admiration and envy of the world, till the portentous Revolu- 
 tion of France involved her, as some think unwisely, and as others 
 believe inevitably, in a contest infinitely more hazardous, and the 
 termination of which it is impossible to foresee.* 
 
 The gentle and pacific spirit of Mr. Lindsey was averse to all 
 personal and angry controversy : nevertheless, he regarded it as 
 his duty to watch over the cause of which he had avowed himself 
 the advocate, and particularly to notice any remarks which might 
 be made upon his own publications, and which might give birth 
 to any further corrections or illustrations of his arguments. The 
 feeble and intemperate attacks of Burgh and Randolph had been 
 sufficiently exposed by the Rev. A. Temple, M.A., a worthy 
 clergyman of Richmond in Yorkshire, and solid evidence produced 
 by him to prove that the universal church for a good part of the 
 two first centuries was decidedly Unitarian. This gentleman, 
 however, was not satisfied with Mr. Lindsey's interpretation of the 
 proem to St. John's gospel; and in the year 177G, he published 
 a pamphlet entitled " Objections to Mr. Lindsey's Interpretation 
 of the first fourteen verses of St. John's gospel, &c." And two 
 years afterwards another pamphlet was published entitled " A 
 Letter to Dr. Jebb about the unlawfulness of all religious 
 Addresses to Jesus Christ." These works gave rise to a publica- 
 tion by Mr. Lindsey, in the year 1779, entitled "Two Disserta- 
 
 * This was written in 1812. The unexpected issue of this disastrous conflict is now 
 well known. 
 
96 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 tions, i. On the Preface to St. John's gospel, ii. On Praying 
 to Jesus Christ/' In the first of these Dissertations the learned 
 writer has alleged further evidence in favour of the interpretation 
 of this difficult passage, which, after Le Clerc, Lardner, and 
 others, he had advanced in the Sequel to his Apology, viz., " that 
 the Logos in this Preface to St. John's gospel is not Christ, but 
 the word, wisdom, and power of God, communicated to him and 
 manifested by him/' This interpretation, though adopted by 
 many learned moderns, differs from that of the Polish Socinians, 
 who by the Logos understand Jesus Christ, who at the com- 
 mencement of his ministry was admitted like his great predecessor 
 Moses to intercourse with God, from whom he received his com- 
 mission, and by whom he was appointed to introduce that great 
 change in the moral world which is figuratively represented by 
 the new creation. This hypothesis has been lately revived and 
 ably defended by Mr. Cappe in the first volume of his ingenious 
 and learned Dissertations, and the arguments on both sides are 
 stated and abridged in the notes to the Improved Version of the 
 New Testament. In the second Dissertation Mr. Lindsey shows 
 with great force of reasoning that religious worship is not due to 
 Jesus Christ. For, that God is one person, the sole object of 
 prayer — that Jesus Christ is a man, and not God — that he never 
 taught men to worship or pray to himself — that the worship of 
 Christ is not deducible from his offices and powers — that the 
 apostles never teach that prayer is to be offered to him — and that 
 there is no sufficient precedent or example of praying to Christ 
 recorded in the New Testament : under which head the learned 
 writer gives an able, and, in general, a very satisfactory analysis 
 of those texts which arc commonly produced in favour of the 
 worship of Jesus Christ. This pamphlet concludes with a post- 
 script by Dr. Jebb, in which, though he denies the assertion of 
 the letter-writer that he had referred to Mr. Lindsey's book in 
 support of his opinions in the pamphlet containing the reasons 
 for his resignation, he adds, " I will freely own that I entirely 
 assent, both in general and particular, to the arguments by which 
 Mr. Lindsey establishes the proper Unity of God, as well as to 
 
 
REVERENT) TIIEOnilLUS LTNDSEY. 97 
 
 those by which he demonstrates the offering of addresses to Christ 
 Jesus to be destitute of all scripture foundation: and that not- 
 withstanding what his opponents have objected, I am persuaded 
 he has sufficiently, and very ably, proved these points." 
 
 In the year 1781, Mr. Lindsey published a small work in 
 duodecimo, called "The Catechist^'* or an Inquiry into the 
 Doctrine of the Scriptures concerning the Only True God, and 
 Object of Religious Worship. In the preface he obviates the 
 insinuation of Mr. Gibbon, that the evangelist John had borrowed 
 the doctrine of the Logos from the philosophy of Plato. The 
 work itself is cast into the form of dialogues between Artemon, 
 an Unitarian Christian, and Eusebes, a virtuous inquirer after 
 truth, who being dissatisfied with the popular opinions in which 
 he was educated, is solicitous to gain information concerning the 
 character of God, and the proper object of religious worship. 
 The dialogue is well supported, and the argument is treated clearly, 
 popularly, and concisely, of which the following is a fair specimen. 
 In the sixth dialogue the question proposed is, " Whether Christ 
 had not two natures, so that he was God and man at the same 
 time, and all the depreciating things which he speaks of himself 
 as being a creature belonging to his human nature only, as it is 
 called?" Artemon replies, " The supposition of Christ's having 
 
 * " The title Catechist," says Mr. Lindsey, in a note to a work published two years 
 afterw irds, " prefixed to the work, and which occurred to the w iter from the idea of 
 the famous Origen being Catechist of the church of Alexandria, has, it seems, misled 
 and disappointed some persons as if it were a composition fitted only for very young 
 persons : whereas it was intended, whether it will answer the purpose others must 
 judge, for those of mature age, who have not had sufficient leisure to attend to the 
 subject ; not without striving at the same time to make the whole plain to ordinary 
 capacities." (Historical View, Pref. p. 1.) In a letter to Mr. Cappe, dated October 22, 
 1782, Mr. Lindsey, says, " The title has long displeased me. It was taken up indis- 
 creetly and in haste at first. A grave man the other day told me that he thought it 
 related only to children, and therefore had not sent for it As soon therefore as I have 
 got off my hands what engages me at present, I shall profit by ycur hints and new 
 mould the work in some measure, adding the second part to it, and, if life be continued, 
 may add other parts, and particularly consider the doctrine of th* pre-existence in the 
 same way." The title which the learned author proposed to give to the new-modelled 
 work was, u Dialogues concerning the True God, and the Object of Religious Worghip." 
 He did not, however, complete his design, the demand for the work not being sufficient 
 to encourage a second edition until it was taken into the catalogue of the Unitarian 
 Society. 
 
98 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 two natures, a divine and a human nature, taketh for granted the 
 very thing in question which ought to be proved. 
 
 " It is a supposal which has no countenance whatever in the 
 sacred writings. Our Saviour most assuredly used no reserve or 
 ambiguity in what he said of himself. When he averred that he 
 received life from the Father and Creator of all things, that he 
 could do nothing of himself, he meant what he said most sincerely, 
 and would have us so to understand him. When he prayed to God 
 for help and strength, he stood in need of what he prayed for, 
 and wanted that assistance which was given him. 
 
 " It is a thing in itself utterly impossible that a being should 
 be God and man; Creator and creature; self-existent, eternal, in- 
 dependent, and limited, dependent, and having beginning of 
 existence at the same time; omniscient and omnipotent, and yet 
 ignorant and weak. These things are not compatible: we should 
 be shocked at their absurdity, if they were not instilled into us 
 before we began to make use of our reason, and if many were not 
 afterwards afraid to make use of it about them, suffering them- 
 selves to be dazzled by great names and authorities, and imposed 
 on by high antiquity, which can give no prescription to what is 
 unintelligible and impossible. In short, this doctrine of Christ 
 being possessed of two natures, is the fiction * of ingenious men, 
 determined at all events to believe Christ to be a different being 
 from what he really was and uniformly declared himself to be; by 
 which they solve such difficulties of scripture as they cannot other- 
 wise get over, and endeavour to prove him to be the Most High 
 God, in spite of his own most express and constant declarations to 
 the contrary. And as there is no reasoning with such persons, 
 they are to be considered and pitied, as being under a debility of 
 mind in this respect, however sensible and rational in all others." 
 
 From the commencement of Mr. Lindsey's connection with the 
 congregation in Essex Street, it had been his earnest desire to 
 obtain an associate whose principles, views, and feelings were con- 
 genial with his own, mighty in the scriptures, zealous and intrepid 
 
 * See Mr. Lindsey's Answer to Mr. Robinson, p. 172, note. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 99 
 
 in the cause of the Divine Unity, who might actively co-operate 
 with him in diffusing the light of Christian truth. While he 
 could entertain the least hope of engaging the able assistance of 
 Dr. Jcbb, he could fix his attention upon no other person. But 
 when every expectation of this kind vanished upon the deter- 
 mination of his learned and pious friend to enter upon the pro- 
 fession of medicine, his views and endeavours were directed to 
 another most excellent and amiable person, a very respectable and 
 learned member of the University of Cambridge; but in this 
 application he was now also disappointed. He was almost ready to 
 give up the point in despair, when to his great surprise and joy 
 he received a letter from the Rev. Dr. John Disney, the rector of 
 Panton, and vicar of Swinderby, in the diocese of Lincoln, an 
 intimate friend, and a near relation by marriage, informing him of 
 his resolution to resign his situation in the church, and offering to 
 unite with him in officiating to the congregation in Essex Street. 
 This was in the autumn of the year 1782. Nothing could be more 
 agreeable to Mr. Lindsey than this proposal. He had indeed 
 long been acquainted with Dr. Disney's scruples; but while his 
 friend could reconcile himself to continuing in the church, Mr. 
 Lindsey did not conceive it to be his duty officiously to solicit him 
 to quit his preferment; especially as he knew how offensive this 
 step would be to Dr. Disney's own connections, and particularly 
 to the venerable archdeacon of Cleveland, whose daughter he had 
 married. The trustees of the chapel and the friends of Mr. 
 Lindsey cordially concurred with the wishes of their beloved 
 pastor, who with his usual liberality offered his colleague, who 
 had a growing family, a certain income nearly equal to that which 
 he had resigned. And in return, some of his friends, subscribers 
 to the chapel, had the consideration to increase their annual sub- 
 scriptions ; and Mrs. Rayner, with a liberality peculiarly her own, 
 added to her former annual donation fifty pounds a year, which 
 she continued till Mr. Lindsey resigned his pastoral office at the 
 chapel. Of Mr. Lindsey's feelings upon this happy occasion we 
 may form a judgment from the following expressions of them in 
 correspondence with his friends. " I must not delay to tell you," 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 says he, in a letter to a friend,* dated November 28, 1792, "lest 
 you should hear of it less directly, that Dr. Disney, who left us 
 last week, was here somewhat more than a fortnight, and during 
 that interval resigned two livings to the Bishop of Lincoln, preached 
 afterwards with great acceptance both parts of the day to our 
 congregation, and the next day was approved as my colleague by 
 as many of the benefactors to our building as were in town. 
 This you will believe has made me very happy. I am the more 
 so, because it was an event unlooked for a few months ago. In 
 the autumn, when I was at his house at Swinderby, I was in treaty 
 with another friend and very eminent person to become my col- 
 league. But I said not a syllable of it to Dr. Disney, for I knew 
 how sore he was; and for six years past have never by letter or in 
 conversation touched the subject of conformity." The Doctor, 
 however, having heard by other means that this negotiation was 
 at an end, " wrote to me," continues Mr. Lindsey, " to offer him- 
 self, and the result has been as I have told you. I have been 
 enabled to allow him something handsome, and some few friends 
 have come forward to enable me, and so I trust everything will 
 turn out as we wish it. We expect them in January. They have 
 a journey first to make to the good archdeacon, who thinks that 
 the original sin lies with me in drawing his son-in-law out of the 
 church. But I have told you the truth and nothing but the 
 truth." 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Turner, dated January 1, 1783, Mr. Lindsey 
 writes : " My new colleague is this week arrived with his wife and 
 three children. The enclosed (viz. Dr. Disney's Reasons for re- 
 
 • The Rev. Dr. Toulrain, then minister of a small congregation of Protestant Dissen- 
 ters at Taunton, now settled with a very large and flourishing society of Unitarian 
 Christians at Birmingham, the same which formerly enjoyed the privilege of Dr. Priest- 
 ley's instructions. In this place persecution has produced its usual effect of multiplying 
 the persecuted sect. Under the prudent, affectionate, and pious labours of their present 
 venerable minister, and of his able and equally zealous colleague, the Reverend John 
 Kentish, the cause of pure uncorrupted truth, and of serious and practical religion, without 
 which knowledge is of no use, is advancing with a celerity most encouraging, and 
 almost without example. Dr. Toulmin for many years kept up a regular correspondence 
 with Mr. Lindsey, of which he has had the goodness to permit the author to avail him- 
 self in drawing up this Memoir. N.B. This amiable and useful man died July 23, 
 1815, universally beloved and regretted. He is succeeded in office by the Rev. James 
 Yates, well known bv his able and learned reply to Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 101 
 
 signing the Rectory of Panton, and the Vicarage of Swinderby) 
 which I present you with in his name, will give you pleasure, 
 as a mark of good sense and a good heart, and likely to do good 
 in our common cause. I am the more pleased with this connec- 
 tion, as it was both unthought of and unexpected. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MR. LINDSEY PUBLISHES HIS HISTORICAL VIEW. SOME ACCOUNT 
 OF DR. WILLIAM ROBERTSON. SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE 
 KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 In the spring of 1783, Mr. Lindsey being now more at liberty, 
 committed to the press a work, the materials of which he had 
 been collecting for some years. This work is entitled, " An His- 
 torical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship 
 from the Reformation to our own Times ; with some Account of 
 the Obstructions it has met with at different Periods." This is 
 an elaborate work, and one of the most interesting and important 
 of Mr. Lindsey's publications.* The professed design of it is to 
 
 * The plan and title of this work is somewhat different from the author's original 
 intention, as announced to his friend Mr. Cappe, in a letter dated October 22, 
 1783. 
 
 " The title of my intended work will be, Impediments to the Acknowledgment 
 and ^Yo^8hip of the One Living and True Ood the Father, caused by (or arising from) 
 Christians themselves, especially Socinians and Unitarians, from the Reformation to our 
 own Times. 
 
 " Chap. I. will contain, — 
 
 "1. The state of the Unitarian doctrine at the Reformation. 
 
 " 2. The state of the Unitarian doctrine in England at that time. 
 
 ** Under the last section will be an opportunity of comparing the advantages enjoyed 
 from the liberal interpretations of scripture given on the point in question, with the 
 narrow and systematic turn of our interpreters in general. 
 
 "Chap. II. will contain. — 
 " 1. Impediments from Socinus, and Socinians properly speaking. This will be a 
 
102 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 establish the great truth, that the One Almighty Father of the 
 universe is the only God of Christians ; and that he alone is the 
 proper Object of worship. With this view the author intermixes 
 illustrations of scripture with historical facts, many of which are 
 little known, and are well calculated to excite the attention of 
 those who are interested in theological inquiries, in detecting the 
 corruptions and in recovering the genuine doctrines of the Chris- 
 tian religion. 
 
 " These facts," says Mr. Lindsey, Pref. p. 5, "it is appre- 
 hended, will be reckoned curious by such as wish to know what 
 passes and has passed upon the stage of this world of ours, con- 
 cerning a point of so sublime a nature, the diversity of opinions 
 that have been entertained upon it, the warm passions it has 
 excited, and the singular events to which it has sometimes given 
 occasion, in whatever light they look upon the religion of Christ. 
 But to those who believe that religion to come from God, it is 
 presumed they will appear both important and curious. 
 
 " The history of virtuous, upright minds and inquirers after 
 truth, emerging out of the long night of anti-christian darkness, 
 seeking the great Source of being and benevolent Father of all, 
 and having found him, yielding themselves to torture and death 
 rather than disown him, rather than not confess and maintain, 
 
 large discussion. Socinus will be proved as he is really believed to be, an idolater; 
 and consequences will be intimated >\ ith respect to other Christians. 
 
 " 2. Impediments from English Unituians. Mr. Firmin; a good deal conoerning 
 him, and the Unitarians of his day. 
 
 " 3. Impediments from Dr. Clarke, Bishop Hoadley, &c. 
 
 " 4. Impediments from Mr. Tucker, who was a complete Unitarian, but, out of good 
 thoug'i mistaken motives endeavoured to quiet himself and others by giving an Uni- 
 tarian sense to Trinitarian language. 
 
 " Chap. III. will consider — 
 
 " 1. The general pleas for Unitarians attending Trinitarian worship which they dis- 
 approve. 
 
 " 2. The part they ought to take." 
 
 One cannot help wishing that the learned and pious author had more completely 
 executed his plan, especially under the two last divisions. This is indeed an interest- 
 ing and a painful subject; concerning which it is greatly to be feared that many err, not 
 for want of knowledge, but of firmness of mind. For, of what avail is the still small 
 voic^ of reason and duty in opposition to the loud clamours of self-interest, fashion, and 
 the estimation of the world 1 How few lay it seriously to heart, that a day is coming 
 when the Man of Nazareth will be "ashamed of those who are now ashamed of 
 hiro : " 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 103 
 
 and declare to others his transcendent majesty and excellency, 
 and superiority to the things he has made, presents the most 
 instructive, awful, and animating spectacle and lesson of all others, 
 tending to inspire the reader with the like unshaken courage and 
 love of truth, and loyalty to the righteous and moral Governor of 
 the world. 
 
 " It would be great satisfaction to be made an instrument in 
 any the least degree, to lead others out of the mazes of im- 
 penetrable mystery and polytheism to this parent Mind, to the 
 first Good, first Perfect, and first Fair, alone worthy of the 
 highest love, adoration, and gratitude." 
 
 In pursuance of his design, the worthy author begins with 
 representing the state of the Unitarian doctrine at the beginning 
 of the Reformation, and exhibiting the superior advantages then 
 enjoyed for understanding the scriptures in this respect. He then 
 notices the promising state of the Unitarian doctrine in England 
 at the time of the Reformation, with the violent means used to 
 suppress it. He next treats of the worship of Jesus Christ by 
 Socinus and his followers, and particularly enlarges upon the 
 controversy on this subject between Faustus Socinus and 
 Francis David, and upon the severity exercised towards 
 David and others, for refusing to acknowledge Christ as an 
 object of religious worship. In this chapter, Mr. Lindsey in- 
 troduces a section in reply to some severe and unfounded remarks 
 of Bishop Newton upon the Unitarians. The succeeding chapter 
 exhibits the state of the Unitarian doctrine in the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth and of the Stuarts ; and the author here explains the 
 cause of the great silence concerning the Divine Unity during 
 this period, and gives some account of that truly eminent con- 
 fessor John Biddle, M.A., of the University of Oxford, who, for 
 the profession of his principles, was banished by Cromwell to the 
 Scilly Islands, and afterwards died in prison. Then follows an 
 account of the state of the Unitarian doctrine and worship from 
 the Restoration to the close of the seventeenth century, in which 
 is included a brief memoir of the celebrated Mr. Thomas Firmin, 
 merchant of London, a disciple of Biddle, and his protector and 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 friend; a man eminently useful in his day, the friend of Whichcote, 
 Burnet, and Tillotson, an avowed and zealous Unitarian, but who 
 hesitated not to conform to the worship of the established church, 
 justifying his conduct, but surely erroneously, upon the principles 
 of Dr. Wallis and the Oxford divines in the controversy with Dr. 
 Sherlock, that the three persons in the Trinity were nothing more 
 than three different characters or relations of one and the same 
 Being. In the following chapter the author describes the state 
 of the Unitarian doctrine and worship in the eighteenth century: 
 and here he gives a particular account of the opinions and 
 writings of Emlyn, of Whiston, of Dr. Samuel Clarke, of Bishop 
 Hoadley, of Sir Isaac Newton, and of Abraham Tucker, the 
 author of a curious and profound work entitled, " The Light of 
 Nature pursued, by Edward Search, Esq/' The concluding 
 chapter contains a relation of some circumstances favourable of 
 late years to the progress of the doctrine of the Divine Unity, in 
 which the worthy author, after representing the benefit accruing 
 to the cause of truth from an open defence and maintenance of it, 
 records some recent public declarations in favour of the Unitarian 
 doctrine and worship, by an open and avowed separation from the 
 worship of the Church of England. And in particular, he relates 
 the circumstances of the first rise of the church of Unitarian 
 Christians assembling in the chapel in Essex Street, to which he 
 annexes a brief memoir of some eminent persons who had 
 honourably, and from a sense of duty, avowed Unitarian prin- 
 ciples, and some of whom had for conscience' sake resigned 
 lucrative situations and fair prospects of preferment in the 
 national church. Ii. this honourable catalogue are the highly 
 respected names of Dr. Robertson, Dr. John Jebb, Dr. Chambers, 
 Mr. Tvrwhitt, of Jesus College, Cambridge; Mr. Evanson, Mr, 
 Maty, Mr. Harris, and Dr. Disney.* 
 
 * The following letter from the late learned and venerable Dishop of Carlisle, Dr. 
 Edmund Law, was received by Mr. Lindsey in return for a present of this valuable 
 work, dated Cambridge, September 23, 1783 : 
 
 "Dear Sir, — I received the favour of your Historical View, and read it with satis- 
 faction. You appear to have cleared up all the passages of scripture usually alleged in 
 lavour of he contrary opinion, and to have exhausted the subject. As a small return 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. J 05 
 
 Of the first of these venerable worthies, Mr, Lindsey thus writes 
 in the concluding paragraph of the Introduction : "Whilst I am 
 finishing this sheet, I have an account sent me from Wolverhamp- 
 ton of the decease of my ingenious, amiable friend, Dr. Robertson, 
 mentioned near the close of the following work. He was born in 
 Dublin, October 16, 1705, and died May 20, 1783." 
 
 Of this truly eminent person, " this venerable father of Uni- 
 tarian Nonconformity of our own days," as he is styled by Mr. 
 Lindsey, I will here subjoin a few anecdotes which may serve to 
 illustrate the uncommon excellence of his character. The follow- 
 ing account of him is given by the late celebrated Thomas Hollis, 
 Esq., under the fictitious name of Pierce Delver, which he assumed 
 in his correspondence with Mr. Lindsey, in a letter dated 
 February 2, 1768. It appears that Mr. Hollis had requested an 
 interview with Dr. Robertson. 
 
 " The Reverend] William Robertson, author of a work entitled, 
 An Attempt to explain the W r ords, Reason, &c, &c, was with a 
 certain person lately at his own desire, and stayed with that per- 
 son from eleven till two. That person talked him over closely, 
 so as to get informed of his family, education, situation throughout 
 life, and present views. He found him to be in all respects a 
 learned, ingenious, cheerful, polite man ; a voluntary martyr to 
 the Candid Disquisitions, and religious liberty. He presented 
 him with ten guineas, assured him of all his general good offices, 
 with open doors at all times ; and though very sensible, yet a 
 suckling to the world, suggested to him the likeliest means of his 
 attaining some civil post, by what interest he possesses. At part- 
 ing, Mr. Robertson was please to say, he should esteem that day as 
 
 for the obligation, I must desire your acceptance of a new Cumberland edit'on of my 
 Theory, purged of some ancient prejudices relative to pre-existence, &c. I have re- 
 commended to my executors to procure a publication of Dr. Bullock's two Discourses 
 which clear up the doctrine of atonement, and which I think I communicated to you 
 formerly. The Bishop of Clonfert was returned to Ireland before your letter reached 
 us. He would have been delighted with seeing your account of his favourite author 
 A. Tucker, whose work I have often said wanted methodizing and abridging to be of 
 more general use. My compliments to your worthy coadjutor, and to my old friend 
 Dr. Jebb. That all the success and satisfaction may attend your labours to which they 
 are so justly entitled, is the most hearty wish of your sincere friend and servant, 
 
 "E. C." 
 
100 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 one of the most interesting of his whole life. And indeed so, in 
 a certain sense, he might say, as the informations given him must 
 necessarily appear new, many of them useful and determining.^ 
 
 u He is of a Scottish family, born in Ireland, was bred regularly 
 for the church, was some years at school in Dublin, where his 
 father lived, under Mr. Hutcheson, the after celebrated Scottish 
 Professor at Glasgow, — studied several years in Glasgow, was pre- 
 sented, so soon as he was capable of holding them, to Ravilly and 
 other adjoining livings, by a then bishop, his patron. These 
 livings are worth, on my poor memory, about ,£150 a year. On 
 them he resided till about the year 1760, when he resigned them 
 on account of his scruples in relation to some parts of the public ser- 
 vice. Some art was used to induce him to resign these livings on his 
 evidencing those scruples, with promise, in case he did quietly, of 
 providing for him decently in some way suitable to himself. On 
 such resignation, no care was taken of him, but, at best, much 
 coolness shown towards him ; nor will, he thinks, and one person 
 believes, any care be taken of him. Before his scruples he was a 
 favourite of Lord Primate Stone, who recommended him to Dr. 
 Robinson, then Lord Bishop of Ferns. Became a favourite of 
 the Bishop's, who offered him the livings mentioned in his letter, 
 value, I think, about nett £80 a year, £40 a year being allowed 
 for a curate, with promise of further countenance. And he thinks, 
 had he continued in the church and in favour of the bishop, now 
 Lord Primate of Armagh, he should be probably possessed of 
 church preferment at this time to the amount of £1000 a year. 
 When he waited on his patron under scruples, he was told, ' You 
 are a madman : you do not know the world.' 
 
 " He has several children which are all tolerably settled, save 
 one daughter single, who lives with another married. Himself 
 alone has no subsistence. After having sought it years at Dublin 
 in vain, he came over here in August last, to that end, with toler- 
 able recommendations to two persons of some influence and will 
 to assist him. These, however, had the indiscretion at best to 
 tender it on the church line, to the amount of c€l00 a year or so ! 
 which he declined at once, and so matters rest with him at pre- 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 107 
 
 sent. One person has put him on a new plan, and hopes it may 
 issue to subsistence. He is aged sixty-three, middle-sized, and 
 tolerably hearty. The same person recommended to him to main- 
 tain his cheerfulness, and was thanked for so doing. 
 
 " My dear sir, I scribble off-hand and tired, but you cannot, I 
 think, but perceive a colossus of a good man. In our age, he 
 should indeed be miserable. There is great simplicity with ease 
 in his behaviour ; but I suspect under it, for my time was but 
 short with him considering what I had to throw out to him, strong 
 parts." 
 
 The pains which this respectable gentleman took to serve this 
 worthy friend in procuring for him some civil establishment, were 
 however unsuccessful. But in the same year a provision was 
 made for him by the Merchant-Taylors Company of London, who 
 presented Dr. Robertson to the office of head-master of the free 
 grammar school at Wolverhampton, in Staffordshire. A laborious 
 employment, and not very lucrative at best; and at this time 
 charged with an annuity to a superannuated incumbent who had 
 retired, and who lived some years afterwards. To this humble 
 station did the venerable confessor repair, now in his grand climac- 
 teric, when an office requiring less exertion might have better 
 suited his advanced age ; and here he resided content and thank- 
 ful for fifteen years, discharging the duties of his office with great 
 reputation ; and though in this situation he survived all his 
 children, and was left alone and unpropped, he still retained, as 
 Mr. Lindsey expresses it, " that serenity and cheerful trust in the 
 divine Providence, which can only belong to the virtuous and 
 innocent mind."* But the malice of bigotry pursued him even 
 into this retreat. 
 
 * In a letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated March 9, 1769, Pierce Delver (Mr. Hollis com- 
 municates to his friend the following interesting intelligence concerning this venerable 
 confessor : 
 
 " Dr. Robertson, I believe, at first thought the school in Staffordshire to be better 
 circumstanced than it really was ; and afterwards having been chosen to it with great 
 good will and earnestness of the trustees of it, he then thought it a kind of shame to 
 decline it. A little before the Doctor went out of town, he communicated to me the 
 following singular and very fine anecdote, but in his own finer manner : ' That a 
 country _ clergyman, of a good look and great simplicity of manners, had then lately 
 
108 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 It has been before stated, p. 28, upon Mr. Lindsey's own 
 authority, that no consideration pressed more strongly upon his 
 mind, nor urged him more forcibly to resolve upon his resignation, 
 than the sentiments expressed by Dr. Robertson in his letter to 
 the Bishop of Ferns. And when at last Mr. Lindsey had given 
 up his preferment, and had succeeded so far beyond his expecta- 
 tion in opening a chapel in Essex Street and establishing an 
 interest which offered a good prospect of permanence, Dr. Robert- 
 son appears to have been one of the first persons to whom he 
 directed his thoughts and wishes as an associate in his labours. 
 To this he was prompted more perhaps by motives of veneration 
 and gratitude, than by his usual sense of propriety and expedi- 
 ence ; for Dr. Robertson, though vigorous and active for his years, 
 and not unwilling to listen to the application, must at that time 
 have been turned of seventy. To this application Mr. Lindsey 
 appears to allude in a letter to Dr. Jebb, dated May 10, 1775. 
 
 "R. was to have preached for me the last Sunday afternoon; 
 but on Friday he came to tell me he was not quite provided. He 
 is, however, to do the duty on Sunday next. I shall be glad to 
 engage him if approved by our congregation, and have told him 
 so. But as what I can allow him will not be sufficient for his 
 support, he is looking out for some that may be consistent with 
 it. N.B. Half of what I at present receive from our subscrip- 
 
 called upon him one morning at his lodgings, and asked him if his name was Robert- 
 son 1 ? On being answered in the affirmative, he seized his hand, shook it heartily, 
 said he had heard much of him, had read and approved his book, rejoiced to see him 
 more than any man in England, and that having brought foursc< re pounds to town 
 to lay out by way of addition to some Stock which he already possessed in the Funds, 
 there it was, pulling out a bag of money from his pocket and laying it upon the table 
 by Dr. Robertson,— he could never dispose of it so usefully, so excellently, as to him. 
 The Doctor, astonished, entreated him many times to put up his bag again, for that he 
 had no need of it, being without want : which at length, with very great reluctance, he 
 did, after having repeatedly exclaimed, Why ! man, I have no use for it; at least take a 
 part.' The name ot this clergyman was William Hopkins, of Cuckfield, a gentleman, 
 it seems, who has long since distinguished himself for good sense, learning, and public 
 spirit, l>y his writings. Archbishops of England ! Ireland ! who declare difference of 
 opinion from your small sect to be a misfortune, match, if ye can, in your like, this pair! 
 I oould not help saying to Dr. Robertson, that for both's sake, I thought he should have 
 taken ten guineas." 
 
 So far Pierce Delver. After Mr. Lindsey's resignation, when he came to reside in 
 London, Mr. Hopkins became his friend and correspondent. A few of this excellent 
 man's letters are inserted in the Appendix, No. VII. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 109 
 
 tions, the expenses of the chapel deducted, I propose to give him 
 if we engage/' 
 
 What steps were afterwards taken do not appear. For when Dr. 
 Jebb had fixed to leave the church and to remove from Cambridge, 
 Mr. Lindsey could think of no other colleague till he had peremp- 
 torily declined. After this, Mr. Lindscy's attention appears to 
 have been again turned towards his venerable friend at Wolver- 
 hampton, who thus addresses him in a letter dated April 5, 
 1778: 
 
 " Some weeks ago I had prepared boxes, and had actually packed 
 up some of my luggage, and was saying to myself, Transmigratio 
 hinc sit felix, faustaque ! when I was privately informed that 
 there were some people here consulting together what methods 
 they should take in putting the laws in execution against me for 
 teaching a school without a license. The Company of Merchant- 
 Taylors, London, who presented me to this school, 1768, had a 
 bill filed against them in Chancery three years ago, by some very 
 troublesome people of this town, to compel them to give an account 
 of the issues and protits of the manor of Rushock, which was be- 
 queathed in trust to them for the support of the school. The 
 Company have set forth in their answer, that they have expended 
 £1,200 upon this school more than they received out of the estate. 
 And this I verily believe to be true. I have, therefore, upon every 
 occasion vindicated the Company, and have spoken my mind very 
 freely here with respect to the persons who are plaintiffs in this 
 suit. This, I find, has drawn upon me their displeasure; and as 
 religion must be brought into every dispute, public and private, 
 they have now, I am told, taken it into their heads to prosecute 
 me on account of non-subscription. To this indeed, I believe, 
 they have been instigated by some orthodox clergymen, whose 
 zeal is without much knowledge. — And shall I now decline the 
 contest ? No ! — I am resolved either to gain the victory over 
 these assailants, or to fall gloriously in defending the most noble 
 privilege of human nature : Liberty of Thought ! To fly now 
 would look like cowardice. I cannot, therefore, avoid abiding the 
 event. If they should proceed, you shall be informed of every step 
 
110 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 taken on either side. The cause between the Company and their 
 accusers is to be heard by the Lord Chancellor next Term. If he 
 makes a decree, as is expected, it may either animate or discourage 
 these warm gentlemen. A little time will therefore determine 
 that. I long to be with you, but I think it is my duty in present 
 circumstances to continue here a little longer at least. I am but 
 poorly in health ; both the gout and stone have been lately very 
 pungent. But submission to my God, gratitude to my friends, 
 afford the greatest comfort to your most obliged and most affec- 
 tionate, W.R." 
 
 Who can read this excellent letter without admiring the piety, 
 the fortitude, the magnanimity of this extraordinary man, this 
 aged confessor, this veteran champion of Christian truth ? How 
 dignified, how sublime, does Dr. Robertson appear, at the age of 
 seventy-three, clad in the armour of innocence and truth ; collect- 
 ing the remaining vigour of his powers, firmly resolved to stand 
 his ground in the day of trial, and to perish in the conflict, rather 
 than tarnish the honours of his former years, or to recede a tittle 
 from that good confession to which he had cheerfully sacrificed all 
 his temporal possessions and prospects ! In comparison with this 
 Christian hero, how mean, how contemptible do his persecutors 
 appear, insidiously and maliciously plotting in their dark cabals 
 to deprive an old man of his bread, and to consign him to the 
 horrors of a gaol ! And why ? Was it because he had offended 
 against the laws of eternal justice and committed crimes worthy 
 of bonds and imprisonment ? Was Dr. Robertson a bad neigh- 
 bour, a faithless friend, a dishonest citizen, a disloyal subject ? 
 This was not even pretended. What was it then that provoked 
 the zeal, that roused the malignant passions of these holy in- 
 quisitors ? It was this : that Dr. Robertson professed himself a 
 worshiper of the Father only ; of that Being whom Jesus wor- 
 shiped, and of whom he speaks as his Father and our Father, as 
 his God and our God. For the sake of this object, he had quitted 
 his situation and all his hopes and prospects in a church where 
 this pure primitive worship was not allow r ed, and had cast himself 
 and a large family upon the wide world to seek their bread, with- 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. Ill 
 
 out any friend but a good conscience, and without any patronage 
 or protection but that of divine Providence. His enemies u could 
 find nothing against him, except it were touching the law of his 
 God." The crime charged upon this venerable confessor was the 
 same which was alleged against the apostle before him; "after 
 the way which they called heresy, so did he worship the God of 
 his fathers." Persecution, what a hideous fiend art thou in 
 every shape, in every place, and in every age ! Put never, surely, 
 more hideous, more disgusting, nor more contemptible, than when 
 enlisted in the service of men calling themselves Christians, to 
 fasten thy venomous fangs upon such a character as Dr. Robert- 
 son. 
 
 Happily, in this case the success of the enterprise did not 
 correspond with the malignity of the purpose. A flourishing 
 school of Papists subsisted in the neighbourhood, zealously 
 patronized by the lord of the domain, the same nobleman who 
 being chairman to the bench of Westminster justices demurred to 
 register Mr. Lindsey's chapel, Lord Dudley and Ward ; and 
 bigotry herself did not think it decent to prosecute a Protestant 
 clergyman for keeping a school, while a popish seminary was left 
 unmolested. Happily the danger of such persecutions is now 
 passed; and in this enlightened age, and in this tolerant reign, 
 both Protestants and Catholics are protected by law in the exercise 
 of that indefeasible right, that primary duty of parents to educate 
 their children in the principles and habits which they judge to be 
 most conducive to their virtue and happiness. But now let this 
 excellent man tell his own story in his letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated 
 April 27, 1778. 
 
 " I congratulate you most heartily upon getting again into vour 
 chapel. But I hope you have too much prudence to go to dwell 
 in the house till it gets the next summer's seasoning at least. 
 My friend Mrs. Abernethy tells me she has got a seat in the 
 chapel, and invites me to sit there. But you invite me to a higher 
 station. It is possible I may accept of both. This day was our 
 visitation, to which I was cited. I expected articles would have 
 been exhibited against me, but none appeared. Our Official very 
 
312 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 civilly invited me to dine with him, and placed me next himself. 
 I asked him if he had heard anything of the design against me 
 that was whispered about. He made no direct answer to my 
 question, but said I might be quite easy in that respect. There 
 is a popish school set up in our town within this half year, — but 
 one of much greater importance within two miles of us, kept in a 
 house in which the Lords Dudley resided, and was set up by the 
 late lord, whose lady was suspected of popery, for that purpose. 
 This school is supported by large contributions from Catholics 
 both at home and abroad, and contains now one hundred and 
 fifty scholars, who are taught, and most of them clothed and fed, 
 gratis. Now I find that a prosecution could not be carried on 
 with any decency against me, without obliging the same persons 
 to prosecute the masters and supporters of the popish school upon 
 the same principles, and this design they know would meet with 
 all possible discouragement from the ruling powers. Therefore, 
 under the protection of popery, wonderful event ! I find myself 
 safe. It was the profound policy of the counsellors of James II. 
 to grant an universal toleration to all dissenters from the established 
 church, amongst whom were included the Papists, and thus popery 
 became tolerated at least, and highly encouraged. Protestant 
 dissenters are more the objects of popish persecution than the 
 established episcopalians. But though the devil shows sometimes 
 as an angel of light, yet he is a devil still, and only puts on that 
 appearance that he may the more effectually deceive, and in the 
 end more surely destroy."* 
 
 * This expression may be thought harsh, and to savour of a persecuting spirit, in 
 one who was himself at that very time threatened with persecution. Bur let it be 
 recollected, that the venerable septuagenarian was born in the reign of the last of the 
 Stuarts, who earnestly sought to set aside the Act of Succession and to introduce a 
 popish successor. And through the reigns of the two first princes of the House of 
 Hanover the Papists were regarded, and as a body justly, as enemies to the family upon 
 the throne, and decided partisans of a popish Pretender ; and were, therefore, properly 
 c msidered by the friends of civil and religious liberty as political enemies ; who, if they 
 gained the ascendency, would subvert the government and religion of the country, and 
 introduce popery, tyranny, and persecution. The state of things is now materially 
 c ! anged. The Pretender s family is extinct ; and the present generation of English 
 Catholics are as good and loyal subjects as the Protestants, and equally entitled to civil 
 rights and to religious liberty. And though popery, as a system of faith and an 
 enormous corruption of Christianity, ought still to be attacked by every argument of 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 113 
 
 In September, 1783, a society, was instituted " for promoting the 
 knowledge of the Scriptures." The meetings were held at Essex 
 House. Among the original members of the society were Mr. 
 Lindsey, Dr. Disney, who accepted the office of Secretary, Dr. 
 Jebb, Dr. Kippis, Dr. Price, Dr. Calder, Mr. Dodson, Mr. 
 Lee, &c. in London ; and in the country, Mr. Tayleur of Shrews- 
 bury, who generously remitted jBIOO to the society for immediate 
 use, and entered himself as a subscriber of five guineas annually ; 
 Mr. Shore, and Mr. Newton of Norton, Mr. Turner, Dr. Priestley, 
 Dr. Toulmin, Dr. Law, bishop of Carlisle, and others, in all about 
 thirty or forty members. The society limited its object to the 
 illustration of the Scriptures, and declined all tracts which 
 were wholly controversial, or which were formal defences or 
 confutations of specific doctrines. A very able sketch of the 
 society's plan was drawn up by Dr. Jebb, in which he states and 
 illustrates what he calls the analytic plan of interpretation which 
 the society proposed to pursue and to recommend, viz., Having 
 selected a passage of scripture for the purpose of illustration, 
 to begin with discussing preliminary questions relating to the con- 
 nexion, &c. These being settled, the judicious interpreter is to 
 proceed, by settling the text by a comparison of various readings; 
 by accurate translation, division, and punctuation ; by a concise 
 well-digested commentary; by notes philological and explanatory; 
 and finally, by adding doctrinal and moral conclusions. This, 
 which is unquestionably a most excellent plan of interpretation, 
 
 reason and scripture, the professors of that corrupt religion ought not to be laid under 
 political restraint. Many of the Catholics themselves have learned in the school of 
 adversity the true principles of rebgious liberty. And the Christian petition for 
 universal religious freedom, originating with that eminent patriot and clergyman of the 
 established church the Reverend Christopher Wyvill, presented to Parliament in June 
 1810, and ably supported by Samuel Whitbread, Esq., and W. Smith, Esq., wa3 signed 
 not only by Protestants of all denonrnationa but by many gentlemen of distinction 
 among the Catholics. Popery, as a political system, is no longer an object of terror. 
 Babylon the great is fall n. In this event the professors of rational Christianity must 
 rejoice, and the friends of civil and religious liberty must share in the triumph. Put 
 this is a very different thing from insulting the individuals of the catholic persuasion. 
 And nothing, surely, can be more ungenerous than rejoicing in the calamities of the 
 aged and respectable pontiff; who is now (1812) a victim to a merciless tyranny. We 
 exult in the fall of an anti-christian domination ; but we pity the sufferings of the man 
 ai.d execrate the cruelty of the oppressor. 
 
114 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 was laid down as a general rule, without meaning to require 
 from their correspondents a rigid conformity to it, or to any other 
 specific model ; but to admit any communication which tended 
 to the advancement of scriptural knowledge. 
 
 This society did not nourish in the degree nor to the extent of 
 the desires and expectations of its learned and benevolent founders.* 
 Its members were never numerous, and they were very sparing 
 in their contributions : the plan was too circumscribed, and 
 interfered too much with the larger, the more comprehensive, 
 and more useful plan of the Theological Repository, at that time 
 resumed by Dr. Priestley : and after languishing a few years, it 
 was altogether given up. Not, however, without bequeathing 
 a valuable legacy to the theological student, consisting of two 
 volumes of Commentaries and Essays. Among these are a curious 
 dissertation of Mr. Lindsey's upon John xiv. 1-3 ; and a 
 gleaning of remarks on Mr. Travis's attempt to revive the exploded 
 text of 1 John v. 7. A translation with notes, by Mr. Dodson, 
 of the twelve first chapters of Isaiah, and likewise of the fifty- 
 second and fifty-third chapters, which were all afterwards repub- 
 lished by that learned writer in a complete translation of the whole 
 book, with notes. Another communication was added by Mr. 
 Dodson in the second volume, in the form of a letter to Mr. 
 Evanson, in defence of his hypothesis concerning the spurious- 
 ness of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John. Also two 
 inestimable dissertations of the Rev. Robert Tyrwhitt, one upon 
 the " Creation of all things by Jesus Christ," and the other upon 
 the "Resurrection of the dead through the Man Jesus Christ." 
 The bulk of the second volume is made up of remarks, many 
 of them very ingenious, upon select passages in the Old Testament, 
 by the late Rev. Henry More, of Leskiard in Cornwall. 
 
 * " This circular letter which our secretary sends," says Mr. Lindsey in a letter 
 to Mr. Turner, dated December 5, 1785, u will but too much prove that our society 
 does not flourish at present. Not that we receive no contributions to it ; but unless 
 they have something original in them, and are ingenious, it would not answer our 
 design to give them admission. You have well earned your dismission from 6uch 
 labours, though we cannot but lament it." 
 
REVEREND TIIE0PI1ILUS LINOSEY. 115 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONTROVERSY WITH ROBERT ROBINSON. ANALYSIS OF THE VIN- 
 DICIJ5 PRIESTLEIAN/E. MISUNDERSTANDING AND RECON- 
 CILIATION WITH DR. RICHARD PRICE. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1776 the late celebrated Robert 
 Robinson, minister of a Baptist congregation at Cambridge, pub- 
 lished a book entitled " A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." This treatise, written with great ingenuity, and which 
 breathes throughout a most amiable spirit of candour, is con- 
 sidered by many as one of the most plausible and imposing 
 defences of the popular doctrine concerning the person of Christ 
 which ever issued from the press. So far indeed as argument is 
 concerned, it is egregiously trifling, and contains a sort of defence 
 of the deity of the Son of God which the learned Trinitarians, the 
 Bulls and Waterlands of a former age, would have blushed to 
 avow. It consists chiefly of a collection of texts arranged under 
 different heads as suited the author's purpose, without any inquiry 
 into their genuineness, without any attention to the connection, 
 and even without any attempt to ascertain the correctness of the 
 translation. These texts so arranged, the worthy author commented 
 upon and explained agreeably to his own preconceived opinions, 
 and with all the confidence of inspiration itself. He even goes so 
 far as to denounce Jesus and his apostles as " idiots and im- 
 postors," if they intended any other meaning than what he was 
 pleased to annex to their language.* This specious and dog- 
 
 * " Notwithstanding so many reasons for precision, Jesus Christ declares, All things 
 tliat the Father hath are mine, a very dangerous proposition if he were not God." 
 Robinson's Plea, p. 14. Again, p. 17 : " If they who ascribe the perfections of deity 
 to Jesus Christ have fallen into an error, they have been led into it by the writers of 
 the New Testament. If Jesus Christ be God, the ascription of the perfections of God 
 to him is proper ; if he be not, the apostles are chargeable with weakness or wicked- 
 ness, and either would destroy their claims to inspiration."' Further, p. 18 : " Con- 
 
 i 2 
 
116 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 matical style, combined with much ingenuity, and wit, and elo- 
 quence, and accompanied with great liberality towards those who 
 held a different position, and particularly with many expressions 
 of marked respect to Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Jebb, rendered the 
 treatise extremely popular, and made a considerable impression 
 upon many who ought to have been better informed; but who 
 were not forward to pry with too curious an eye into the validity 
 of arguments in support of doctrines which they dare not dis- 
 believe. " Accordingly," says Mr. Robinson's biographer, " a pro- 
 fusion of compliments followed the publication, as well from 
 several dignitaries of the church as from the dissenters. Dr. 
 Hinchcliffe, bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Hallifax, afterwards 
 bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Goddard, master of Clare Hall, Dr. 
 Ogden, Woodwardian professor, Dr. Cooke, provost of King's 
 College, Dr. Beadon, afterwards bishop of Gloucester, at that time 
 public orator, and Dr. Tucker, dean of Gloucester, courted his 
 acquaintance. And it was pretty generally agreed that the Plea 
 was the best defence of the divinity of Christ which had been 
 published." Handsome compliments likewise were paid to the 
 author by ministers of his own persuasion, particularly Dr. 
 Stennet, Dr. Evans, Daniel Turner, and several others of the 
 moderate Calvinists. The Rev. Josiah Thompson, late of Clap- 
 ham, in particular, writes, " I have read your Plea with singular 
 pleasure, but not more than I expected from it. Everything you 
 write never fails to entertain and delight me." This good man 
 
 sider now into what contradictions these writers must fall if Jesus Christ be not God. 
 They contradict one another : they contradict themselves. They degrade writings 
 which they pretend are inspired, below the lowest scribbling of the meanest authors." 
 
 Such is the censure which this ingenious and well-meaning but mistaken writer 
 passes upon Jesus and his apostles if they did not mean to teach the doctrine which he 
 imputes to them, not a suspicion of which ever entered into their imaginations, not a 
 single trace of which is to be discovered in their discourses or in their writings ; and 
 from the very idea of which they would have recoiled with horror. 
 
 "The few who examine and decide for themselves," says Mr. Lindsey, "are not to 
 be dazzled and overawed by these confident declarations, knowing that mortals are 
 oftentimes most ignorant where they are most presumptuous and assured. But it is 
 not so with others ; especially if their prejudices lean that way already. Such violent 
 language overpowers them before they are aware of it, and puts an end to all cool and 
 fair inquiry, so that they will hear no reason from those of a contrary sentiment ; and 
 it will be well if even their resentments are not instantly kindled against them." 
 — Exam, of Robinson's Ph>a, p. 4. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 117 
 
 showed the Plea to Dr. Furneaux and Dr. Kippis ; but though 
 these learned and judicious divines express themselves in hand- 
 some and becoming terms of the author's superior abilities, and 
 his great talents for original composition, they understood the 
 controversy too well to pay any compliment to his argument.* 
 
 Of the admirers of this celebrated Defence of the Divinity of 
 Christ, though not in the number of Mr. Robinson's corre- 
 spondents, the learned Archdeacon Blackburne is one of the most 
 conspicuous. This eminent divine, who, it is plain, had paid 
 more attention to the subject of Christian liberty than of theolo- 
 gical controversy, thought but slightly of the arguments contained 
 in Mr. Lindsey's Apology; and at the same time, he had too 
 much good sense to be satisfied with the superficial replies of 
 Burgh and Randolph. But after he had read Mr. Robinson's 
 pamphlet, which he did not see till it came to a second edition, 
 the good archdeacon, in the warmth of his zeal, began to think 
 that the controversy was by this unanswerable work completely 
 settled, that Unitarianism was now silenced for ever, and that all 
 her learned advocates were humbled in the dust by u the sling and 
 the stone " of this new champion of the orthodox faith. But let 
 the worthy dignitary speak for himself. 
 
 In a tract written in the year 1782, and printed in an Appendix 
 to the Memoir of his Life, (prefixed to an edition of the Arch- 
 deacon's Works in seven volumes, in the year 1804, published by 
 his son, the Reverend Francis Blackburne,) entitled an Answer to 
 the Question, " Why are you not a Socinian ? " Mr. Blackburne 
 expresses himself thus : " When Mr. Lindsey's Apology came out 
 I read it, and thought some things in it well enough. In other 
 passages he seemed to me to be infirm in his proofs ; I then read 
 several answers to him, which, among a few tolerable hits, had a 
 considerable mixture of weakness and absurdity. About five years 
 ago, I know not what chance threw in my way a pamphlet entitled 
 A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. I perused this 
 pamphlet with care and attention, and was both surprised and 
 concerned to find so many of my friend Lindsey's arguments and 
 * See Dyer's Life of Robert Robinson, p. 109. 
 
118 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 positions totally subverted, a fundamentis , provided the pleadings, 
 reasonings, and authorities were well grounded. To prove this to 
 myself I consulted a number of the texts he had cited, and found 
 his superstructure bottomed upon a rock. It is now six years since 
 this pamphlet was first published. I have looked in every news- 
 paper, review, magazine, &c, I met with, and could never find an 
 answer to it either from Mr. Lindsey, Dr. Jebb, Dr. Priestley, or 
 even Mr. Evaneon, who I think is one of the best writers among 
 the Socinians, either ancient or modern. Indeed, so far as con- 
 cerns the Socinians, I think it unansvverable." * 
 
 Such was the judgment of the venerable Archdeacon of Cleve- 
 land ; and in this judgment be was supported by the multitude, 
 who always find it to be less trouble to take a doctrine upon trust 
 than to examine its evidence with care. Thus was this spirited 
 assailant for many years left master of the field, and his work not 
 being answered was of course reckoned unanswerable. 
 
 In the meantime the Unitarian divines were not negligent of 
 what was passing, nor inattentive to the temporary triumph of 
 orthodoxy in one of the chief seats of science and learning. Mr. 
 Lindsey and Dr. Jebb were the principal persons whose writings 
 were attacked in this popular publication ; and the author with 
 much good nature had sent to each of those gentlemen a copy of 
 his work, accompanied with letters professing his high regard for 
 their talents, their learning, and their character, and apologizing 
 for any expression which might through inadvertency have dropped 
 from his pen, and which was capable of being construed into per- 
 sonal disrespect. Courteous answers were of course returned. f 
 But neither of the gentlemen so addressed entertained at that 
 time any thoughts of writing a confutation of the Plea ; Dr. Jebb 
 
 * Whether the archdeacon was ever convinced of the futility of the arguments of 
 the " Plea," by that forcible train of reasoning which converted the candid author him- 
 self, does not appear. His worthy biographer concludes the contrary. It appears, 
 says he, that in the year 1785 an Examination of Mr. Robinson's Plea was published 
 by the Rev. T. Lindsey, but without a name, and by him presented to Mr. Blackburne. 
 We have not, however, been able to discover that the archdeacon's sentiments of Mr. 
 Robinson's work underwent any change, as he recommended the serious perusal of it 
 to some young clergymen, a very few weeks before his death. lUackburne's Works, 
 vol. i. Memoir, p. exxvi. 
 
 T Dyer's Life of Robinson, p. 116. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 119 
 
 being fully engaged in preparing for the new profession to which 
 his views were then directed, and Mr. Lindscy being always averse 
 to personal controversy, and neither of them regarding this super- 
 ficial attack as deserving of a serious reply. 
 
 The " Plea/' however, excited greater attention, and made a 
 deeper impression than these gentlemen expected, and than its 
 intrinsic merits deserved, and it soon became apparent that a 
 reply of some kind was advisable. Mr. Lindsey, conceiving that, 
 as the author resided at Cambridge, an answer to his work would 
 come with the best effect from " that famous seat of learning/"* 
 inquired from time to time of some of his literary and theological 
 friends at the university whether any notice was likely to be taken 
 from the press of this new " Plea," which for a time had so much 
 vogue. All, however, that he could learn was, "that it was 
 looked upon as so very superficial, and had so little argument in 
 it, that it could not long deceive any one, and needed no con- 
 futation."* 
 
 Mr. Lindsey's learned friends probably thought, and indeed 
 justly, that his own writings having been the principal object of 
 attack in the " Plea," it was more particularly incumbent upon 
 him to draw up a reply; and they knew that they could rely with 
 confidence upon his prudence, his learning, his zeal, and his 
 moderation. Mr. Lindsey himself, perhaps, was conscious that 
 
 * Examination of Robinson's Plea, p. 3. A brief account of the origin of this pub- 
 lication is contained in the following extract from a letter to Mr. Cappe, dated early in 
 the year 1785, in which Mr. Lindsey requests Mr. Cappe to apply to Dr. Leechm in, 
 the principal of the University of Glasgow, for some authentic account of Professor 
 liutcheson. 
 
 ** Did you ever read Mr. Robinson, minister of Cambridge's Plea for the Divinity of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, printed first in 1770, which has undergone three editions ) Mr. 
 Archdeacon Blai kburne has often asked me, in triumph, how we could go on in Essex- 
 street without confuting thi3 work? It is also much commended by several dignitaries 
 in the church ; and held as gospel very generally among dissenters. I have been 
 formerly and often pressed to take some notice of it. I a>ked the Cambridge men at 
 the time and since, but they declined. Very much importuned by some persons lately, 
 I have undertaken it, and am actually in the press. Unless I put my name to the 
 work, about which I am not decided, not loving to appear in controversy, the title will 
 be," 6cc. In another letter to the same friend, dated the 25th of February, h»* save, 
 " I often wonder at myself, and am often not a little drooping, to think how I should 
 venture on the public, when certa n persons, so much more able and capable, are silent. 
 But then it recurs, that it is fit something should be opposed to such triumphant non- 
 sense and declamation, which seems wvll received because many know no better." 
 
120 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the task properly devolved upon him ; and his sense of duty, and 
 zeal for the cause which was, as he thought, so petulantly and 
 dogmatically impugned, overcame his natural aversion to personal 
 controversy, and determined him at length to put on the harness, 
 and to enter the lists with his courteous but presuming opponent, 
 and in the year 1785 he published, anonymously, "An Examina- 
 tion of Mr. Robinson of Cambridge's Plea for the Divinity of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by a late Member of the University." 
 
 In his preface, Mr. Lindsey remarks, that " the Author here 
 examined has seldom given himself the trouble of doing anything 
 more than barely to bring together texts of Scripture, without 
 explaining them, or even showing how they apply to his purpose 
 in proving Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God ; presuming 
 that it would be taken for granted, at sight and upon his authority, 
 that they prove the point for which he assigned them ; so that the 
 title of this tract of mine might with very great propriety have 
 been, ' An Explanation of all the Texts of Scripture produced by 
 Mr. Robinson in Proof of the Divinity of Jesus Christ/ How 
 far it may afford anything new or useful the reader will judge." 
 
 The learned writer, in his Examination of the Plea, pursues 
 Mr. Robinson's method, and examines and sifts his popular 
 opponent's defence of the divinity of Christ argument by argu- 
 ment, and text by text. Accordingly, he inquires in order whether 
 the sacred writers speak of God in peculiar appropriated terms, — 
 whether Jesus Christ is the Supreme God, — whether the same 
 titles are given to Christ in the Christian Scriptures which are 
 given to God in the Jewish Scriptures, — whether the perfections 
 which are ascribed to Christ are the same with those which are 
 ascribed to the Supreme God, — whether the like worship is given, 
 or commanded to be given, in the Scriptures to Jesus Christ as 
 to Almighty God, — whether there be any passages in the Old 
 Testament, and applied to Jesus Christ in the New, which prove 
 Jesus Christ to be Jehovah, the Supreme God, — whether the 
 Scriptures which foretell the destruction of idolatry by the 
 Gospel have not been fulfilled, although Jesus Christ be wrongly 
 worshipped as God, — whether, if Jesus Christ be not the Supreme 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 121 
 
 God, Mahomet has written more clearly on the nature of Jesus 
 Christ than the Apostles have, — whether numberless passages of 
 Scripture have no sense, or a very absurd one, if Jesus Christ be 
 a mere man, — and, finally, what is the source of men's erroneous 
 opinions concerning the person of Christ, according to the author 
 of the " Plea." After having with great ability and learning dis- 
 cussed these important questions, explained and illustrated the 
 several texts, confuted his opponent's arguments, and occasionally 
 animadverted with a warmth and severity more than was usual 
 with him upon the presumption, the ignorance, and the dog- 
 matical spirit of the writer, and particularly upon his unbecoming 
 abuse of the sacred writers if their meaning is different from what 
 he chooses to represent, Mr. Lindsey concludes his treatise with 
 some pertinent observations upon the inattention of the author of 
 the " Plea " to those numerous passages of Scripture which in 
 direct terms exclude Christ and every other person from all 
 pretensions to deity, — on the general tenor of the Scriptures, 
 from which no man of plain understanding would ever suspect 
 more gods than one to be therein revealed, — and on the great 
 injury which is done to true religion and the gospel by such 
 representations of it. 
 
 The success of this Examination was complete. From the time 
 that it was published no person who had the least pretension to 
 Biblical learning was heard to open his lips in defence of this 
 famous Plea for the Divinity of Christ ; not a syllable was written 
 in confutation of the Reply. Those who would not retract were 
 at least compelled to be silent ; and it seemed to be universally 
 conceded, that if the divinity of Christ was to be defended at all, 
 it must be upon a very different ground from that which was 
 occupied by this much vaunted performance. 
 
 The impression made by the Examination upon the ingenuous 
 mind of the author of the Plea was very considerable. Mr. 
 Robinson was stung to the quick by the grave, and, as his con- 
 science must have testified, the not unmerited rebuke of his 
 unknown opponent. His friends urged him, his opponents 
 challenged him, to stand upon his defence, or to fulfil his promise, 
 
122 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 — that "if ever he discovered his deception he would retract his 
 error." He resolved, however, to keep a prudent silence. " I do 
 not intend," says he, in a letter to a friend, " to answer the 
 anonymous examiner. He hath not touched my arguments ; and 
 his spirit is bitter and contemptuous. His faith stands on 
 criticisms; and my argument is, that if the doctrine required 
 critical proof, it is not popular, and therefore not divine. Yes, 
 they will have the last word, and let them."* This amiable man, 
 however, soon recovered the tenor of his mind ; and wisely 
 profiting by rebuke, he paid greater attention to the important 
 question, not disdaining to call in the aid of sober and just 
 criticism, and in a short time reformed his opinion and became 
 decidedly anti-trinitarian. This is a known fact. I shall mention 
 but one proof of it. In a letter to a friend, dated March 4, 1789, 
 speaking of an aged minister who had applied for relief to the 
 Baptist-board, he says : — " Instead of sending him charity they 
 sent him faith, and informed him that they had made a law not to 
 relieve any except they subscribed a creed, a human creed which 
 
 * See Dyers Life of Robinson, p. 113. It is said to have been a favourite maxim 
 of this extraordinary man at one time of his life " Criticism is a good thing in its 
 place; but woe to the system which depends upon it!" And from this it has been 
 weakly inferred by s me of Mr. Robinson's admirers, whose zeal exceeded their know- 
 ledge that a doctrine supported by criticism must be erroneous, because, forsooth, the 
 common people could not understand it. These wise men, it seems, are not aware that 
 the main object of Scripture criticism is to discover the sense which would be most 
 obvious to those for whose immediate use the Scriptures were written which must no 
 doubt be the true sense, however contrary to modern ideas and prejudices. That Mr. 
 Robinson was not serious in this sarcastic reflection upon criticism or that he afterwards 
 thought more rationally upon the subject, is evident from the following extract of a 
 letter to a friend : — 
 
 " I have remarked only a few of the many ministers who are sincerely studying the 
 New Testament, the four gospels I mean. I want a man who vindicates the book, and 
 ascertains the fact that the history of the incarnation is not an addition ; and this, 
 by sober just trilicism. I do not want authorities of great names ; I want reasons to 
 convince my understanding, — I want one who gives me the genuine doctrine of the 
 four gospels, before the epistles were written ; a man as familiar with Palestine as with 
 his own country. I do not want a quoter of texts and a packer of ecclesiastical news ; 
 I want a good sound log : cian, who knows how to reason, and who is no novice, — a 
 cool, deliberate, honest dis< iple of Jesus, who pauses and weighs, and admits the 
 refining fire of inquiry to burn freely." Speaking of Mr. Winchester, who taught the 
 doctrine of universal salvation, he says of his opponents: — " They preach and print 
 against him. They pretend that God is of their temper and will not bate a day of 
 eternity. They never knew what criticism was ; and they do nothing but chaunt for 
 ever, and forever, and forever. Poor honies ! Servants who know not what their 
 Lord doeth."— Dyer's Life of Robinson, p. 287, 289. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 123 
 
 they sent him ; and the first article of which is : — There are three 
 divine persons in the Unity of the godhead ! Absolute nonsense ! 
 supported by tyranny over men's consciences."* 
 
 It is not quite clear to what distance from the standard of 
 orthodoxy this ingenuous and inquisitive man carried his specula- 
 tions upon the subject of the person of Christ. "For many 
 years/' says one of Mr. Robinson's family and congregation in a 
 letter to Dr. Priestley, dated three days after his decease, " but 
 especially for the last two or three of his life, he taught the 
 doctrine of the unity of the great Cause of all things expressly 
 and effectually." He had promised himself much pleasure from 
 an interview with Dr. Priestley ; and in a letter addressed to Dr. 
 Priestley a few weeks before the interview, and the only one 
 which Mr. Robinson ever wrote to him, he says: "I am indebted 
 to you for the little I know of rational defensible Christianity. 
 But for your friendly aid I fear I should have gone from enthu- 
 siasm to deism : but a faith founded on evidence rests upon a 
 rock." In the admirable sermon which Dr. Priestley preached 
 and published on the melancholy occasion of the sudden death of 
 this excellent man, the author expatiating upon the character 
 of his deceased friend justly remarks, that " what most of all 
 distinguished Mr. Robinson was his earnest love of truth, and 
 his laborious search after it. Notwithstanding his long attach- 
 ment to the doctrine of the Trinity, yet continuing to read and 
 think on the subject, he came at length to change his opinion, and 
 before he died he was one of the most zealous Unitarians. The 
 subject of the Divine Unity was ever uppermost in his mind, and 
 he urged it not only in season, but, as you would observe, out 
 of season. Such also was his power of persuasion, such the 
 excellence of his character and the just esteem in which he 
 was held, that in time his congregation came almost universally to 
 embrace his opinions, as I was myself informed about a year ago, 
 by one of them who had himselt't been a Trinitarian, but who 
 
 * Dyer's Life of Robinson, p. 300 301. 
 
 *f" Dr. Priestley s Sermon on the Death of the Rev. R. Robinson, p. 20 21. This 
 excellent man was found dead in his bed on Wednesday morning, June 9, 1790, after 
 having preached twice at Birmingham the Lord's day before. 
 
124 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 was then a Unitarian." Dr. Priestley in a letter to a friend, 
 expressing his delight in Mr. Robinson's conversation and his 
 disappointment in his preaching, says " His discourse was uncon- 
 nected and desultory, and his manner of treating the Trinity 
 savoured rather of burlesque than serious reasoning. He attacked 
 orthodoxy more pointedly and sarcastically than I ever did in 
 my life."* 
 
 Upon the whole, it is evident that Dr. Priestley and his friends 
 regarded Mr. Robinson as decidedly an Unitarian in the sense in 
 which Dr Priestley always used the word, that is, as a believer in 
 the simple humanity of Jesus Christ. And there can be no doubt 
 that these were the sentiments which he expressed in his last visit 
 at Birmingham. Nor does it appear that Mr. Robinson was ever 
 inclined to the Arian hypothesis concerning the person of Christ. 
 His plea for the divinity of Jesus Christ is framed more upon 
 the Sabellian than the high Arian scheme; and he tells Dr. J ebb, 
 in a letter written at the time of its first publication, " It is not im- 
 possible that our sentiments, much as they seem to differ, may, 
 after all, differ less than they appear to do."t And in this 
 very treatise he scouts the Arian doctrine as utterly unscriptural 
 and inadmissible. J 
 
 * 
 
 Dyer's Life of Robinson, p. 397. t Ibid. p. 118. 
 
 X In reply to the proposition which, he puts into the mouth of a supposed opponent, 
 " That God may enable an inferior being to create a world ; that Jesus Christ is such a 
 delegated God ; " he answers, " My concern is not with what God may do, but 
 with what he declares he has done. I am Jehovah, and there is no God besides 
 me. I am God, and there is none like me. Yea, there is no God, I know not 
 ant. This is the God of my Bible. But besides this God there is in my proposition 
 another God a delegated God. Here are two Gods. Here is a supreme God, and 
 a subordinate God ; a natural God, and an artificial God; a great God, and a little God. 
 A Philosopher has one God, a Jew has one God, but a Christian it seems has 
 two Gods. What a world of difficulties belong to this proposition ! Is this delegated 
 God entitled to worship 1 The idea of a God without a title to religious worship 
 is an idea inadmissible. Is all worship to be paid to the subordinate God, or does the 
 supreme God claim any ? Which acts of devotion belong to the one, and which to the 
 other ] A mistake would be dangerous, aid I have no guide. Every inspired writer 
 forsakes me. Jesus Christ, it seems, created all things in heaven and earth ; and 
 a Creator, it seems, proves by creating his ctern;d power and godhead. The proposition 
 says, God may empower a creature to create. Perhaps he may : but God declares 
 he hath not done so. Hast thou not heard that the Lord, the everlasting God, the 
 Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, &c. I am then obliged to reject 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS L1NDSEY. 125 
 
 It is however certain, that Dr. Priestley must have been 
 misinformed with respect to the state of Mr. Robinson's con- 
 gregation ; for, though many of them had become decided Uni- 
 tarians, many, and perhaps the majority, thought differently. And 
 this mixture of jarring and inconsistent opinions in a religious 
 societv is always to be expected where the eloquence of the speaker, 
 and not the truth of principles, is the bond of union. The 
 advocates of Mr. Robinson's expiring orthodoxy maintain that he 
 never did in the pulpit directly avow the doctrine of the mere 
 humanity of Jesus Christ; and that, if he professed this opinion 
 at Birmingham either in the pulpit or in the parlour, it is to 
 be recollected that at that time he laboured under great infirmity 
 both of body and mind ; and that of this he was himself so very 
 sensible, that to a person who was then introduced to him he made 
 the affecting declaration, " You are only come to see the shadow of 
 Robert Robinson. "* It is argued therefore, and with some 
 degree of plausibility, that, in this debilitated state of health 
 and intellect, it is not easy to collect the last deliberate result of 
 the calm judgment and mature reflection of his better days. It 
 is however said that Mr. Robinson had avowed Unitarian principles 
 in conversation before his constitution was impaired : at the same 
 time he might not be so far confirmed in these principles, or think 
 them of such great importance, as to feel it to be his duty explicitly 
 to avow and to defend them before a mixed assembly of persons 
 holding a great diversity of sentiments. 
 
 Dr. Priestley, in his Defences of Unitarianism, for the year 
 1786, having taken occasion, from his controversy with Dr. Home, 
 then dean of Canterbury and president of Magdalen College, 
 Oxford, afterwards bishop of Norwich, to address a series of 
 
 the notion of a subordinate God, a delegated Creator and to admit that the living and 
 true God united himself to the man Jesus." — Kobinson's Plea, p. 66 68. 
 
 It seems very improbable that a person who argues so forcibly and unanswerably 
 against the Arian hypothesis should himself soon afterwards become an Arian. 
 The natural process of such a mind, after discarding the divinity of Christ, would be to 
 adopt that of his simple humanity. Such was the pi ogress of Mr. Lindsey'e reflections 
 and such probably was that of Robert Robinson. 
 
 * Dyer's Life of Robinson, p. 397. 
 
]26 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 letters to the young men who are in a course of education at the 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, upon subscription to 
 articles, the doctrine of the Trinity, and on the difficulties attending 
 an open acknowledgment of the truth, a smart letter in reply 
 to Dr. Priestley was published under the signature of an Under- 
 graduate, which was however soon discovered to have proceeded 
 from the pen of the worthy President of Magdalen. To this 
 letter the learned champion of the Unitarian faith made a very 
 suitable and spirited answer in his Defences of Unitarianism 
 for the succeeding year, under the impression that the pamphlet 
 had been really written by a youth of the lowest form in the 
 University. But Dr. Home, though a good-natured man, and 
 upon the whole a candid disputant, had occasionally followed 
 the illiberal practice introduced by those controversial bravos, 
 who having first entered the lists with Dr. Priestley, soon discovered 
 that it was by much the easiest and shortest method of dealing 
 with their formidable antagonist to assume a lofty and super- 
 cilious air, and to arraign his literary character, instead of dis- 
 proving his stubborn facts, and refuting his potent arguments. In 
 this crisis Mr. Lindsey generously stood forward in defence 
 of his insulted friend; and in the year 1788 he published a 
 volume entitled " Vindicirc Priestleianse, an Address to the 
 Students at Oxford and Cambridge, occasioned by a Letter to Dr. 
 Priestley from a Person calling himself an Undergraduate, &c " 
 " The idea of drawing up this tract first arose," as he informs his 
 readers in the preface, " from observing a studied affectation in 
 many persons of treating Dr. Priestley's theological and metaphy- 
 sical writings with slight and contempt, and an endeavour in 
 others particularly to infuse the like sentiments of him in the 
 rising generation. 
 
 " I had no view therein/' continues Mr. Lindsey, " was I capable 
 of it, of lending him any aid against the attacks made upon him, 
 as if he were in danger of being overpowered by his opponents. 
 For he is more than equal to a whole host of them, which 
 they have all experienced in their turns; Bishop Ilorsley, one 
 of the most violent of them, the least of all excepted. But 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 127 
 
 I thought it might be possible for another to suggest some 
 circumstances, and to say certain things in his behalf, which 
 he would never think of offering, and which indeed could not 
 so properly come from himself, by which the edge of prejudice 
 might be taken off, and a juster estimate formed of him and 
 his writings." 
 
 In the progress of the work the learned author vidicates Dr. 
 Priestley's conduct in addressing his letters to the youth of the 
 two universities, and represents subscription to articles and creeds 
 as a grievance which had long been complained of. He enters 
 at large into the defence of his friend's character as a philosopher 
 and a theologian. In the department of philosophy he introduces 
 a very high encomium upon him by Mr. Kirwan, the late venerable 
 and learned president of the Royal Society of Ireland, drawn 
 up in the year 1787, of which I shall take leave to transcribe 
 an extract. 
 
 " To enumerate Dr. Priestley's discoveries," says this eminent 
 philosopher, " would be to enter into a detail of most of those 
 that have been made within the last fifteen years. How many 
 invisible fluids whose existence evaded the sagacity of fore- 
 going ages has he made known to us ! To him pharmacy is 
 indebted for the method of making artificial mineral waters, as 
 well as for a shorter method of preparing other medicines ; 
 metallurgy, for more powerful and cheaper solvents; and chemistry, 
 for such a variety of discoveries as it would be tedious to recite : 
 discoveries which have new modelled that science, and drawn to it 
 and to this country the attention of all Europe." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey adds, " that Dr. Priestley's genius is equal to 
 all subjects ; that he is remarkable for selecting only the strongest 
 and most suitable arguments, and applying and arranging them 
 with exquisite method and simplicity, and seldom to fail to 
 work conviction in the unprejudiced mind." 
 
 He then proceeds to vindicate a declaration of Dr. Priestley's 
 in his debate with Dr. Price, that he could not pretend to say 
 when his creed would be fixed; a declaration which the soi-dis:mt 
 undergraduate affects to ridicule, but which Mr. Lindsey plainly 
 
128 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 proves to be a truly just and philosophic maxim, and confirms 
 by the testimony of Archbishop Tillotson, who mentions it to 
 the commendation of his deceased friend, Dr. Whichcote, " that he 
 was so wise as to be willing to learn to the last." 
 
 The learned author next proceeds to justify Dr. Priestley's 
 sentiments concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures, the im- 
 perfection of the Mosaic account of the fall of man, and the 
 occasional inaccuracy of the apostle Paul's reasonings. And upon 
 these subjects he introduces some curious extracts from a work 
 of the celebrated Castellio, but little known, entitled "De arte 
 dubitandi et confitendi, ignorandi et sciendi," and which was 
 published by Wetstein at the end of the second volume of his 
 New Testament. " The title itself/' says Mr. Lindsey, " has 
 more in it to be learned than you find in many large books. 
 For it is no ordinary attainment to know when to doubt, and 
 when to be assured, and when to be ignorant." 
 
 In the course of this excellent little treatise, amongst other 
 pertinent observations, the learned and liberal writer remarks, 
 that " men with difficulty admit at first, what they have been 
 ignorant of, however most true it be. For, as Christ says, 
 those that are used to old wine do not immediately take to 
 the new, though it be better. But we must not be discouraged in 
 our attempts, when persuaded of the truth of what we have 
 to offer, if we would in earnest serve mankind. Otherwise, if we 
 go on in the same track with those who have never benefited 
 the world, we shall, like them, be wholly useless." 
 
 The Dean of Canterbury having in his undergraduate's letter 
 represented Dr. Priestley's notion concerning the simple humanity 
 of Christ to be as incredible as the "stories of the Alcoran,"* 
 Mr. Lindsey remonstrates upon the indecorum of the remark, 
 and shows that the simple humanity of Jesus is the doctrine both 
 of the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures; and he cites a 
 passage from the Last Sentiments of Pere le Courayer, a work of 
 that celebrated Catholic refugee given by the author to the 
 late Princess Amelia, and bequeathed by her to Dr. Bell the pub- 
 
 * Undergraduate's Letter to Dr. Priestley, p. 25. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 129 
 
 lisher, in which that learned divine avows his opinion concerning 
 the person of Christ, which nearly coincides with the proper 
 Unitarian doctrine. 
 
 This excellent man was under the necessity of leaving France 
 on account of a treatise which he published in vindication of the 
 validity of English episcopal ordination. " He was a person," 
 says Mr. Lindsey, " of remarkable simplicity of manners and 
 sweetness of disposition, and of a constant, even cheerfulness, 
 befitting the innocence of his life, and his well-grounded hope of 
 exchanging it for a better. I lived formerly for months together 
 under the same roof with him, in a noble family who had been 
 his friendly protectors from the time of his being forced to fly his 
 country for his religious opinions." This venerable man lived to 
 the age of ninety-three, and continued to the end of his life in the 
 communion of the Roman church.* 
 
 In reply to the supposed undergraduate, Mr. Lindsey further 
 pleads, that Christ being a human person, his power and know- 
 ledge were necessarily limited, and that Dr. Priestley is right in 
 ascribing to him the frailties and moral imperfection and pecca- 
 bility of human nature. Also, that the question concerning his mira- 
 culous conception has nothing to do with his qualification for his 
 office. He maintains, that Dr. Home errs widely from the doctrine 
 of the New Testament, in his notions concerning the atonement 
 and intercession of Christ. And he justly rebukes the worthy Pre- 
 sident of Magdalen for the false and invidious light in which he 
 has represented Dr. Priestley's opinions concerning the nature of 
 the soul and the state of the dead, which nevertheless were per- 
 fectly consonant to the doctrine of the holy Scriptures, and had 
 been very zealously supported by Luther, the great reformer, and 
 more lately by two very learned dignitaries of the established 
 church not long since deceased, viz. Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, 
 and Archdeacon Blackburne, to both of whom he pays a tribute 
 of deserved applause. The work closes with some just animad- 
 versions upon Dr. Home's fanciful interpretation of many pas- 
 
 * See an excellent letter from this amiable and learned ecclesiastic to Mr. Lindsey, 
 Appendix, No. IX. 
 
130 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 sages of Scripture, and particularly of his strange and extravagant 
 commentary upon the book of Psalms, in which he applies almost 
 everything to Christ which the writer addresses to the Supreme 
 Being ; and a neat and very proper form of reply is proposed from 
 the students of the University to Dr. Home. A postscript is 
 added, containing a very high and justly merited character of Dr. 
 Priestley's History of Early Opinions concerning Christ. 
 
 To the large account which I have already given of this work, 
 I will take leave to add a short extract which exhibits a striking 
 view of the feelings and character of the pious and benevolent 
 author. He is remarking upon the sad and sombre view of the 
 physical and moral state of the world, which the learned Bishop 
 Butler exhibits in his celebrated Treatise upon the Analogy of 
 Religion, Natural and Revealed. Of this eminent prelate, Mr. 
 Lindsey had some personal knowledge ; and he speaks of him as 
 a person that had great piety, but of a gloomy cast, and tending 
 to superstition, which he seems to have caught from reading the 
 lives of Romish saints. He always appeared dissatisfied with the 
 public state of things and of the world ; which probably originated 
 in the erroneous opinions which he entertained of the character of 
 the Divine Being, and of his governing providence. In his Ana- 
 logy he represents the world as having the appearance of a ruin, 
 and that mankind, according to the Scriptures, are in a state of 
 degradation.* 
 
 * Mr. Lindsey occasionally met this respectable prelate at the Duchess of Somerset's. 
 The following extract from a letter written by the Bishop to the Duchess soon after his 
 promotion to the see of Durham, and which she transmits to Mr. Lindsey in a letter 
 dated July 23, 1751., exhibits, as the noble writer expresses it, " a pleasing picture" of 
 the Bishop's mind. 
 
 " I had a long letter last Friday," says her Grace, " from the good Bishop of Durham, 
 and will transcribe a paragraph of it, as I think you will like to know what his thoughts 
 iire amidst the novelty of pomp whnh surrounds him. 
 
 " ' I had a mind to see Auckland before I wrote to your Grace ; and as you take so 
 kind a part in everything which contributes to my satisfaction, I am sure you will be 
 pleased to hear that the place is a very agreeable one, and fully answering expectations, 
 except that one of the chief prospects, which is very pretty (the river Wear, with hills 
 much diversified rising above it), is too bare of wood. The park not much amiss as to 
 that. But I am obliged to pale it anew all round, the old pale being quite decayed. 
 This will give an opportunity, with which indeed I am much pleased, to take in forty 
 or fifty acres competently wooded, though with that enlargement it will scarce be suffi- 
 cient for the hospitality of the country. These, with some little improvements and 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LTXDSEY. 131 
 
 Upon this, Mr. Lindsey remarks, p. 253, " Surely this is an 
 exhibition of the dark side of things, giving a partial and untrue 
 account of our present state." He adds, p. 254, u Far, very far, 
 is it from being a miserable world that we now live in, but very 
 much the contrary : nor, I apprehend, has there ever been any the 
 least reason to call it so in general, however some individuals may 
 have suffered much in it." 
 
 " For my own part," says he, p. 256, " I am bound to say, 
 that my condition has been most happy from the beginning of my 
 existence to the present day. Happily preserved from great cala- 
 mities, I have not been exempt from hardships, reverses, and sick- 
 nesses ; but the kind hand of Providence has been discernible in 
 them all, leading to good by them. I have most particularly 
 cause to speak well of those of my fellow-beings whom I have 
 been acquainted with, and among whom my lot has been cast ; 
 and I would desire no better company for ever than those I have 
 known, and loved, and esteemed, and heard, and read of, especially 
 when divested more of all selfishness and terrene concretions, as 
 Edward Search calls them, which we expect, nay, rather are per- 
 suaded, will take place in our future progressive state. Indeed, 
 was there to b^ no such state, and all was to end here, though so 
 dark and abrupt a conclusion of the fair promising scene is not 
 
 very great repairs, take up my leisure time. Thus, madam, I seem to have laid out 
 a very long life for myself; yet in reality everything I see puts me in mind of the 
 shortness and uncertainty of it : the arm3 and inscriptions of my predecessors, what 
 they did, and what they neglected, and, from accidental circumstances, the very place 
 itself, and the rooms I walk tlirough and sit in : and when I consider in one view the 
 many things of the kind I ha\e just mentioned which I have upon my hands, I feel 
 the burlesque of being employed in this manner at my time of life. But in another 
 view, and taking in all circumstances, these things, as trifling as they may appear, no 
 less than things of greater importance, seem to put upon me to do, or at least to begin : 
 whether I am to live to complete any or all of them, is n >t my concern.' " 
 
 The Duchess adds, in a style that does credit to her piety, " I thought this so 
 pleasing a picture of this excellent prelate's mind, that I c^uld not deny you or myself 
 the satisfaction of sending you a copy of it. Libertines may lay schemes and talk as 
 much as they please of happiness, but it can only reside in the breast of the sincere, 
 humble Christian." 
 
 It may not be amiss to add, as one proof among thousands of the vanity of human 
 grandeur, or, to use Sir. Burke's memorable language, kl what nothings sve are and 
 what nothings we pursue," that this excellent prelate enjoyed his splendid preferment 
 but for a short time. He was translated to the see of Durham in 1750, and died at 
 Bath of a decline in June, 1752, within less than a year after he had written the 
 above letter, and in the sixtieth ye;ir of his age. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 credible, and would be wholly unaccountable, I must for my part 
 take my leave and depart as a well-satisfied guest : satur conviva 
 recederem : thankful that I had passed so many happy days, and 
 lived, and seen, and experienced so much of the goodness of my 
 Creator, and been favoured with the knowledge of so many 
 amiable and valuable characters among my species, though con- 
 cerned to take a farewell for ever of the one and the other, and to 
 know nothing any more." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey having in this work connected the name of Dr. 
 Price with that of Bishop Butler, p. 249, as having " fallen into 
 and adhered fixedly to this gloomy and unscriptural doctrine, that 
 repentance alone is not sufficient to restore sinful mortals to the 
 favour of their Maker ;" and having, contrary to his usual mode- 
 ration of language, ascribed this to their "not keeping strictly to 
 the doctrine of Scripture concerning the Divine Unity and the 
 proper humanity of Christ, there delivered in the clearest cha- 
 racters to all who come not to the reading of it under a rooted and 
 fixed contrary persuasion ; " and having in other parts of his book 
 expressed himself in terms which bore rather hard upon his Arian 
 brethren, this unprovoked attack drew from Dr. Price, who felt 
 himself not a little hurt upon the occasion, the following spirited 
 letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated Hackney, May 26, 1788 : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I know not how to avoid writing to you a few 
 lines to return you thanks for your book in defence of our friend 
 Dr. Priestley. I have read it with pleasure, and been instructed 
 by it. If, contrary to my apprehensions, the Socinian doctrine is 
 true, T wish you success in your endeavours to propagate it ; but 
 whether true or not, good must be done by all fair and candid 
 discussions of it. — You have done me honour by joining me to 
 Dr. Butler : but will you excuse me if I tell you that I am sorry 
 that, in your animadversions on him, you have not intimated that 
 I do not think as he does on the subject of worshipping Christ, 
 and that I have given an account of the Divine character and 
 government, and human life, very different from that which you 
 censure ? I am afraid that, from your not distinguishing between 
 him and me, those who read vou only will be led to very wrong 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 133 
 
 ideas of my sentiments on these points, and also on the dignity of 
 Christ, and our redemption by him. 
 
 " My convictions, generally, are only a preponderance on one 
 side, attended with a feeling of difficulties ; and I am often ready 
 to wish I was more assured of the truth of my opinions. But in 
 forming this wish I am checked by reflecting, that this assurance 
 is most enjoyed by those who are most in the wrong, — Trinita- 
 rians, Calvinists, Papists, &c. ; and that were I possessed of it 
 with respect to my opinion of the dignity and offices of Christ, I 
 might possibly be led to a sad loss of candour by charging 
 Socinians, as you do Arians, with ' resisting an evidence so in- 
 surmountable that all the rational are seeing it every day more 
 and more/ p. 189, and 'so vast that every eye must see it that is 
 not wholly blinded by prejudice/ p. 177. And also by saying of 
 some of the ablest and best men who differ from me, but of whom 
 I have every reason to believe that they inquire as fairly and as 
 diligently as myself, that ' they see things through a mist/ that 
 they are ' ignorant and gloomy/ that * they have narrow minds 
 bound down to a system/ and 'have never properly searched the 
 Scriptures to see what Christianity is/ 
 
 " I am, dear Sir, 
 " With affectionate and sincere respect, yours, 
 
 " Richard Price." 
 
 The venerable advocate of the Unitarian doctrine felt the justice 
 of the rebuke, and immediately returned the following answer : 
 
 "Dear Sir, — As there is no one living for whom I have a 
 higher respect and esteem than yourself, I am proportionally 
 concerned that you think yourself at all intended or involved in 
 what I say of Bishop Butler and his system. To make what 
 reparation I can, if my book should ever come to a second edition, 
 I will either omit your name entirely, p. 249, and I now wish I 
 had done it ; or, when I publish Part II., which I hope to be able 
 to do in the course of the next year, I will do that justice which 
 is clue to your very different sentiments to those of Bishop Butler. 
 
 " For that perhaps too vaunting style in which I speak of Christ 
 
134 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 being purely one of the human race, and of no other order of 
 beings, I make some apology to my young men, p. 168, and am 
 sorry that any conclusion should be drawn from it but that of 
 speaking from the fullness of my own mind, without the least 
 thought of casting blame on those of different sentiments, or 
 impeaching their judgments or understandings." 
 
 This letter gave complete satisfaction to the ingenuous and 
 liberal mind of Dr. Price, and produced in return the following 
 candid reply, dated June 2, 1788 : — 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Accept my best thanks for your kind letter. It is 
 extremely satisfactory to me, and leaves in my mind no room for 
 any other sentiments than those of affection and respect which I 
 have always entertained for you. If my letter discovered any 
 degree of unreasonable sensibility, I hope you will forgive me. 
 Indeed, I care not what strong expressions of dislike are applied 
 to my opinions concerning Christ, provided they are properly 
 represented, and I am not understood to hold that he is almost 
 equal to the Svpreme God, a sentiment at which I shudder, and 
 which probably no Arian now holds." 
 
 Thus did these two Christian worthies of congenial spirits, 
 equally lovers of truth, of virtue, of unrestrained freedom of 
 inquiry, and of political and religious liberty, by mutual forbear- 
 ance, explanation, and concession, put an end to the misunder- 
 standing which for a short time cast a cloud upon their counte- 
 nance and interrupted their accustomed harmony. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey, agreeably to his promise, performed his amende 
 honorable in the Introduction to his Second Address to the 
 Students of Oxford and Cambridge, published in the year 1790, 
 where, p. xxx, he "takes blame to himself for having in the 
 former part, without just grounds, included Dr. Trice in Bishop 
 Butler's gloomy conclusions concerning the character of the moral 
 governor of the world, whose notions in this respect that, excellent 
 person is as far from approving, as from countenancing the 
 Bishop's metaphysical, superficial way of introducing two new 
 deities among Christians, without ever in any proper way con- 
 sulting the Bible about them." Mr. Lindsey adds, ' I should 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 135 
 
 indeed be in pain if in anything of importance to morals I should 
 differ from Dr. Price, whose judgment and heart I must ever 
 honour ; who from the first of my coming to settle in this great 
 city has been one of my chief friends, and whom to know is the 
 same as to esteem and love." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MR. LINDSEY's SECOND ADDRESS. DR. WATTS's 
 UNITARIANISM. MR. LINDSEY's ALARM AT DR. PRIESTLEY^ 
 BOLD ASSERTIONS, AND ULTIMATE CONVERSION TO HIS 
 DOCTRINES. 
 
 "The Second Address to the Students of Oxford and Cambridge, 
 relating to Jesus Christ and the Origin of the great Errors con- 
 cerning him," was originally designed to trace the invention of 
 these errors to the honest enthusiasm of Justin Martyr, and to 
 exhibit a list of false readings and mistranslations of the English 
 Bible which contribute to support them. But in the meantime, 
 the Rev. John Hawkins having published his Bampton Lectures, 
 which contained some curious arguments in favour of the doctrine 
 of the Trinity, Mr. Lindsey regarded it as not travelling much 
 out of his road to introduce a few animadversions upon this gen- 
 tleman's doctrine, and to exhibit to serious and inquiring youth a 
 better mode of reasoning from the evangelical writings. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity, as Mr. Hawkins describes it, 
 maintains the existence of " three efficient, living, intelligent 
 persons, the sovereign causes and rulers of all things;" and he 
 strangely presumes that this w T as the doctrine of the church pre- 
 viously to the publication of the holy writings; and that, if this 
 fact be allowed, the Scriptures " are sufficiently full and intel- 
 ligible;" but if otherwise, they contain " more than enough to 
 
13G MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 perplex and misguide the readers, and to lead them into errors of 
 the first magnitude/'* So that, upon Mr. Hawkins's hypothesis, 
 the Scriptures do not teach the doctrine of the Trinity, but only 
 allude to it, and that obscurely. From whence it follows, that no 
 one who takes his creed from the New Testament only, will believe 
 in the doctrine of the Trinity. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey, justly regarding it as a vain attempt to reason 
 with a person who advanced an hypothesis so arbitrary and 
 unfounded, thought that he should engage the attention of his 
 readers to better purpose by presenting them with " a sample of 
 the right method of interpreting the sacred writings." Accord- 
 ingly, he exhibits in his first chapter the evidence concerning the 
 person of Christ contained in the four Evangelists and in the Acts 
 of the Apostles, and thanks Mr. Hawkins for putting him upon 
 the inquiry ; as, says he, " it has given me an opportunity of 
 drawing forth and exhibiting, even beyond my own expectation, 
 the most overwhelming evidence of the following facts, clear and 
 plain to every understanding, and which all men who believe the 
 Scriptures sooner or later must bow down to and acknowledge : 
 namely, 
 
 " 1. That there is One God, one single person who is God, the 
 sole Creator and Sovereign Lord of all things. 
 
 " 2. That the holy Jesus was a man of the Jewish nation, the 
 servant of this God, highly honoured and distinguished by him. 
 
 " 3. That the Spirit, or Holy Spirit, was not a person or 
 intelligent being, but only the extraordinary power or gift of God, 
 first to our Lord Jesus Christ himself in his lifetime, and after- 
 wards to the apostles and many of the first Christians, to impower 
 them to preach and propagate the gospel with success."f 
 
 In the second chapter the learned author produces evidence to 
 prove, " that Justin Martyr was the first person who ascribed 
 divinity to Christ, by maintaining, that before his works of creation 
 God produced from himself a rational power or agent, in scripture 
 
 * Mr. Lindsey 's Second Address, Iiitrod. p. vi. Hawkins's Discourses at the 
 Bampton Lecture, p. 59. 
 f Ibid. p. xix. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 137 
 
 God the Word, the Son, &c, who was his instrument in the 
 creation, and his substitute and representative afterwards in the 
 appearances made to the patriarchs, and at the giving of the law 
 to Moses, and was afterwards united to the man Christ Jesus."* 
 
 Justin Martyr was a Platonic philosopher, an honest and zealous 
 inquirer after truth. He embraced Christianity as a more excellent 
 system of philosophy than that of Plato, but he wished to reconcile 
 his new doctrine as nearly as possible to his former opinions. 
 And some peculiarities in the phraseology both of the Jewish and 
 Christian Scriptures being, as he imagined, favourable to his hypo- 
 thesis, he easily persuaded himself that this hypothesis was true ; 
 and the rather, because the doctrine which he maintained exalted, 
 as he thought, the person and the character of the founder of the 
 Christian philosophy, and entirely effaced the reproach to which 
 the Christian religion was exposed from the low birth, the humble 
 circumstances, and the ignominious death of its author. This 
 hypothesis he defends in a dialogue, real or fictitious, with one 
 Trypho, a Jew, whom he introduces as declaring that his whole 
 nation expected the Messiah to be a mere human being, brought 
 into the world in the ordinary way : and that " it was to them a 
 thing unheard of, and the height of folly, to suppose him to have 
 pre-existed before the ages as a God, and to have submitted after- 
 wards to have been born and to become man."f Justin, however, 
 undertakes to prove the truth of the doctrine, which to the Jewish 
 nation appeared so extravagant. And to this end he appeals to 
 their own Scriptures in a series of arguments which Mr. Lindsey 
 has detailed, and which have been borrowed from age to age by all 
 who have adopted a similar opinion, viz. : That it is to the Son 
 that God speaks when he says, " Let us make man ;" that Christ 
 was the Jehovah who appeared to Abraham ; and that he was the 
 angel who spake to Moses in the burning bush, and who delivered 
 the law from Mount Sinai. Nor does this Christian philosopher 
 appeal either to the authority of Christ or his apostles for the 
 truth of his doctrine or the correctness of his interpretation, but 
 
 * Lindsey's Second Address, Introd. p. xx. 
 
 f Justin Martyr, Opp. p. 143, 144. Lindsey's Second Address, p. 153. 
 
138 MEMOIRS OF THE LA.TE 
 
 without any hesitation he declares himself inspired to explain the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament, and expects his readers to believe 
 it upon his own word. 
 
 "I shall tell you plain fact,'' says he, "without any art or 
 embellishment of words, for which I have no talent. But it hath 
 pleased God of his especial favour to impart to me the gift of 
 understanding his Scriptures. And of this his grace to me I call 
 all to partake freely and without reward, lest for not communicating 
 so great a benefit to others I should myself be condemned in the 
 judgment which the Creator of the world will exercise by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ."* 
 
 Mr. Lindsey upon this, with his usual candour and judgment, 
 remarks, that " as Justin was a person of unquestioned probity, 
 we cannot doubt of his sincerity in believing himself to have had 
 an extraordinary insight into the Scriptures given him by the 
 Almighty, though he most wretchedly imposed upon himself in it. 
 His alleging that he himself was inspired is no proof to us of it ; 
 and we can no more admit any new revelation from his own word 
 without the stamp of divine authority, than we can pay respect to 
 the waking dreams and revelations of Baron Swedenborg."t 
 
 The Third Part of the work contains a copious catalogue of 
 False Readings and Mistranslations in the English Bible which 
 countenance the doctrine of the divinity of Christ ; in the room of 
 which the learned writer substitutes those readings which are 
 supported by the best authorities, and the translations which 
 
 * Justin. Dialog, cum Tryphon, p. 154. Second Address, p. 176. 
 + Second Address, pp. 177, 178. Mr. Lindsey, in a note, mentions an anecdote 
 which he had " received from a person of great worth and credit: that a friend of his 
 several years ago walking with Baron Swedenborg along Clieapside, the baron suddenly 
 owed very low down to the ground ; when the gentleman lifting him up and asking what 
 he was about, the baron replied by asking him if he did not see Moses pass by, and told 
 him that he had bowed to him." After this anecdote, one may easily admit that the 
 baron himself was a sincere believer in his own doctrines and visions. But that any 
 persons who are not in the same state of mind can be induced to give credit to his extra- 
 vagant reveries, and to profess themselves his disciples, is a problem of very diiHcult 
 solution. It is not, however, more wonderful than the confidence which has been 
 placed of late years in the inspiration of Richard Brothers and Johanna Southcote, and 
 that not only by persons of the lowest rank in society, but by men of sense and educa- 
 tion. How lamentable is it that religion, which is the most rational thing in the 
 world should thus, by the. errors and weaknesses of its friends and advocates, be brought 
 into contempt and made the laughing-stock of unbelievers ! 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS L1NDSEY. 139 
 
 appear to him to be the most correct. This very valuable portion 
 of his work was afterwards re-published in a separate pamphlet, in 
 order to give it a more extensive circulation. 
 
 In the First Part of this Second Address to the Youth of the 
 two Universities, Mr. Lindsey introduces some curious and affecting 
 passages from Dr. Watts's " Solemn Address to the Great and 
 Ever-blessed God, on a Review of what he had written in the 
 Trinitarian Controversy." It is well known that this learned and 
 pious writer (who paid very great attention to the question), in 
 the latter part of his life receded very far from those mystical 
 opinions concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, and particularly 
 the person of Christ, which he held in his youth. His well-known 
 volume of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, so much used in Calvinistic 
 congregations, was published when he was very young, and contains 
 many expressions and many sentiments from which, though 
 regarded by great numbers as the standard of Christian verity, 
 his judgment revolted in maturer years, and which he would 
 gladly have altered if he had been permitted by the proprietors of 
 the copyright, who knew their own interest too well to admit the 
 proposed improvements. 
 
 His sentiments concerning the person of Christ were believed 
 by many to approximate very nearly to those of the old Socinians. 
 But it is not certain that Dr. Watts ever regarded himself as a 
 Socinian. 
 
 On the contrary, there can be little doubt that, owing to early 
 prejudice, he would to the latest day of his life have started from 
 the imputation with horror. How nearly soever his opinions might 
 really approach to the Socinian scheme, possibly he himself appre- 
 hended that he still kept at an inaccessible distance from them, by 
 contending for a mystical personal union by which a true and 
 proper deity was communicated to the human nature of Christ. 
 Absurd as this supposition is in itself, and as it must be viewed by 
 all unprejudiced minds, it did not appear in that light to Dr. 
 Watts, nor to many others who, influenced by his authority, have 
 since embraced the same strange hypothesis, lie and they were 
 
140 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 serious believers in this modern notion, and have thought that they 
 have discovered in it a salvo for their falling orthodoxy. And they 
 have no doubt as good a right as others to retain and to defend 
 their own system. Dr. Watts's latest opinions concerning the 
 Trinity are supposed to have been contained in some papers pre- 
 pared for the press, which were left to the discretion of Dr. Jennings 
 and Dr. Doddridge, and which were committed to the flames (very 
 much, as the author of this Memoir has been credibly informed, 
 against the judgment and inclination of the latter), probably 
 because it was suspected that they would give offence to the zealots 
 of orthodoxy. At any rate, Dr. Watts's last sentiments concerning 
 the person of Christ cannot, perhaps, now be absolutely ascer- 
 tained ; but the feelings of his humble, pious, and inquisitive mind 
 are beautifully exhibited in that devout Address to the Deity from 
 which Mr. Lindsey has made some copious extracts, of which the 
 following are an interesting specimen : — 
 
 " Hadst thou informed me, gracious Father, in any place of thy 
 word that this divine doctrine is not to be understood by men, and 
 yet they were required to believe it, I would have subdued all my 
 curiosity to faith. But I cannot find thou hast anywhere forbid 
 me to understand it, or make these inquiries. I have, therefore, 
 been long searching into this divine doctrine, that I may pay thee 
 due honour with understanding. Surely I ought to know the God 
 whom I worship, whether he be one pure and simple being, or 
 whether thou art a threefold deity, consisting of the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Spirit. 
 
 " Thou hast called the poor and the ignorant, the mean and 
 foolish things of this world, to the knowledge of thyself and thy 
 Son. But how can such weak creatures ever take in so strange, 
 so difficult, and so abstruse a doctrine as this, in the explication 
 and defence whereof, multitudes of men, even men of learning and 
 piety, have lost themselves in infinite subtilties of disputes and 
 endless mazes of darkness ? And can this strange and perplexing 
 notion of three real persons going to make up one true God be so 
 uecessary and so important a part of that Christian doctrine which, 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 141 
 
 in the Old Testament and the New, is represented as so plain and 
 easy even to the meanest understandings ?" # 
 
 * See Mr. Lindsey's Second Address, pp. 5, 6. The extracts are taken from a work 
 published in 1785, entitled, H The Life of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D.D., by Samuel 
 Johnson, LL.D., with Notes, containing Animadversions and Additions.'' 
 
 The following extract from a letter written by the late Reverend and learned Samuel 
 Merivale, of Exeter, to Dr. Priestley at Leeds, exhibits the most authentic account of 
 Dr. Watts's last sentiments concerning the person of Christ ; from wliich it appears 
 that, in Dr. Lardner's estimation, Dr. Watts became in the strict and proper sense of 
 the word an Unitarian. 
 
 ""What I mentioned to Mr. Aikin" (the late Rev. Dr. Aikin, Professor of Divinity 
 at Warrington) " concerning Dr. Watts, I had from Dr. Lardm r, who told it me as a 
 thing known to few, though without enjoining me secrecy.— Having mentioned in the 
 course of my correspondence with the latter the difficulty of fixing my sentiments with 
 regard to the person of Christ, though I had formerly thought the doctrine of his 
 pre-existence sufficiently proved by Dr. Clarke, Dr. Watts, and others, he replies, ' I 
 think Dr. Wats never was an Arian, to his honour be it spoken. When he first 
 wrote of the Trinity, I reckoned he believed three equal divine persons. But in the 
 latter part of his life, for several years before his death, and before he was seized with 
 an imbecility of his faculties, he was an Unitarian. How he came to be so I cannot 
 certainly say, but I think it was the result of his own meditations on the Scriptures. 
 He was very desirous to promote that opinion, and wrote a great deal upon the sub- 
 ject. But his papers fell into good hands (meaning Mr. Neal's), and they did not 
 think them fit for publication. I also saw some of them.' 
 
 " As there seemed some ambiguity in the word Unitarian, though I knew very 
 well in how strict a sense the Doctor generally used it, and being aware that Dr. 
 Watts in his later publications quite gave up the notion of a threefold Deity, though 
 he contended earnestly for the pre-existence of Christ's human soul, originally possessed 
 of powers superangelical, on which, however, he is silent in his Solemn Address to the 
 Deity, printed in the quarto edition of his Works, I begged leave to be informed, 
 whether in his unpublished papers he had appeared to have given up that point; in 
 answer to which Dr. Lardner wrote : — 
 
 " ' I question whether you have anywhere in print Dr. Watts's last thoughts upon 
 the Trinity. They were known to very few. My nephew Neal, an understanding 
 gentleman, was intimate with Dr. Watts, and often with the family where he lived. 
 Sometimes in an evening when they were alone, he would talk to his friends in the 
 family of his new thoughts concerning the person of Christ, and their great importance ; 
 and that, if he should be able to recommend them to the world, it would be the most 
 considerable th'ng that ever he performed. My nephew, therefore, came to me and 
 told me of it, and that the family was greatly concerned to hear him talk so much of 
 the importance of these sentiments. I told my nephew that Dr. Watts was in the 
 rijzht in saying they were important, but I was of opinion that he was unable to 
 recommend them to the public, because he had never been used to a proper way of 
 reasoning on such a subject. So it proved. My nephew, being executor, had the 
 papers, and showed me some <f them. Dr. Watts had written a good deal, but they 
 were not fit to be published. Dr. Watts's last thoughts were completely 
 Unitarian.' " 
 
 One cannot help regretting that such should have been the judgment of Dr. 
 Lardner, and such tie decision of the executors with respect to the publication of 
 Dr. Watts's last essays upon a subject on which he had thought and written so much. 
 The judgment of Dr. Doddridge, one of the trustees for Dr. Watts's papers, himself 
 a professed Trinitarian, but a lover of truth and a friend to inquiry, was, as I have 
 mentioned above, very different, and, as many think, more correct. How interesting 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Dr. Priestley, who was very sensible that his ardent spirit, his 
 haste in writing, and his reluctance to revise and to correct, occa- 
 sionally betrayed him into inaccuracy in his reasonings and some- 
 times in his facts, and into an unguardedness of language of which 
 his enemies were glad to avail themselves to the utmost, was ac- 
 customed to submit his more important publications to the cooler 
 judgment of his calm and prudent friend, and very frequently he 
 yielded, at discretion to every erasure or alteration which Mr. 
 Lindsey recommended. But he was not always equally passive. 
 Where he believed the cause of truth to be at stake, no advice of 
 friends, no earnest expostulation, no serious representation of the 
 offence which would be taken, or the supposed injury which might 
 accrue to himself or to the cause, could deter the learned, zealous, 
 and inflexible detector of the corruptions of Christianity from 
 exhibiting what he believed to be important truth, and from 
 exposing what he thought gross and pernicious error, in language 
 the most direct and explicit, without giving himself the least 
 concern about personal consequences, or the offence which might 
 be taken by the political supporters of corrupt systems or the 
 partisans of orthodox creeds. 
 
 And it is happy for the interest of rational Christianity that 
 this intrepid champion of truth had the resolution at times to 
 persist in his own judgment, in opposition to the remonstrances 
 of his less informed and more timid friends. In the year 1784, 
 Dr. Priestley, then residing at Birmingham, resumed the Theo- 
 logical Repository, a work which had been discontinued for 
 upwards of twelve years, chiefly it should seem with a view to 
 bring forward for open discussion some original ideas which he 
 had long entertained concerning inspiration, the gradual formation 
 and improvement of the character of Christ, and the history of 
 the miraculous conception. These papers, as usual, he put into 
 the hands of Mr. Lindsey for his perusal and correction. And it 
 is amusing to see how anxious this venerable confessor, who had 
 
 and instructive would it have been to have traced the mind of this great and good man 
 through the various steps of his progress, from the darkest shades of error to the clear 
 light of rational and evangelical truth ! 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 143 
 
 exposed himself to so much hazard by the frank and unreserved 
 avowal of the proper humanity of Jesus Christ, was to warn his 
 friend, and to save him from the odium which he apprehended 
 would accrue from pursuing this principle to its just consequences, 
 which at any rate could not be so obnoxious as the principle 
 itself. For, if Jesus Christ be in truth one of the human race, 
 can anything be more reasonable than to admit that his character, 
 however exalted, was the result of the discipline through which he 
 passed ; and that his inspiration, how superior soever to that of 
 other prophets and messengers of God, did not extend beyond 
 the purposes of his mission, and might leave him involved in the 
 common misapprehensions of his contemporaries and countrymen 
 upon physiological or philosophical subjects ? And as to the case 
 of the miraculous conception, which is a mere insulated fact upon 
 which no one important conclusion depends, it is surely a very fair 
 cpiestion of historical research. 
 
 These questions, however, were at that time quite new, and the 
 discussion of them alarmed Mr. Lindsey lest it should be attended 
 with ill consequences to his friend, by creating enemies, injuring 
 his character, or impeding his usefulness. In a letter to Mr. 
 Cappe, dated Dec. 2, 1781, in reference to the papers in the 
 Theological Repository concerning the inspiration of Moses and 
 of Christ, he adds : " He was so good as to send me the whole ; 
 but I expressed myself so vehemently against the latter part, that 
 he yielded to defer the publication in the first number, but I 
 apprehend it will be brought forward in the next. 
 
 " Concerning it I would first say, in general, that granting him 
 to have proved his fact, that our Saviour was as much in the dark 
 as the most vulgar among the Jews about possessions, and believed 
 them in the gross literal sense ; and if also he was in ignorance of 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament and misapplied them : 
 
 "Yet our friend has no call whatever to tell this to the world, 
 because it would increase the prejudices of multitudes against him, 
 and hinder others less indisposed from reading his works. 
 
 " I do not, moreover, apprehend that the persuasion of Christ 
 being an infallible teacher, and perfectly sinless, does now stand in 
 
144 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the way of any one's embracing Christianity. If our friend had 
 been pushed upon this point in the way of controversy, I should 
 have said nothing against his delivering the sense of his own 
 mind ; but as things now stand, to go on to attack a character held 
 in such different universal estimation, unprovoked, seems to me 
 likely to do harm and no good. 
 
 " But still more will the outcry be increased against him, if it 
 should appear that he has not proved his facts, and made good 
 his accusation ; which may be reasonably questioned in some 
 instances. And not only myself, but Dr. Jebb, and one other 
 whom I have consulted, are persuaded that his chief argument 
 fails him, when he would prove Christ's mistaken imperfect citation 
 of the Old Testament similar to that of the rest of his country- 
 men, from Luke xxiv. 27. 
 
 " I own I am unwilling that he should let anything fall from 
 his pen that might co-operate with the endeavours of many to 
 prevent the reading of his works, which are so calculated to open 
 the eyes of many, and have had and have that effect with all that 
 can be brought to read them." 
 
 These animadversions, which are tinged with something which 
 appears more like asperity than was usual with Mr. Lindsey, prove 
 at least, that if he was partial to the merits of his inquisitive and 
 learned friend, he was not blind to his failings, and that he did 
 not hastily adopt all his opinions. Nor was he deficient in that 
 sure criterion of true and virtuous friendship, faithful reproof 
 where he thought it needful ; for there can be no doubt that the 
 sentiments which he here expresses to Mr. Cappe he had pre- 
 viously expressed in language at least equally strong to Dr. 
 Priestley himself. 
 
 Yet, after all, it may be doubted whether the over-cautious 
 spirit of the friendly monitor, and his anxious apprehension lest 
 the uncommon boldness of his friend's remarks should swell the 
 tide of popular prejudice against him, have not induced him to 
 overcharge the picture. Dr. Priestley was as far as his friend 
 could be from desiring to make an unprovoked attack vpon the 
 character of Christ. Put holding the character of Jesus perhaps 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 145 
 
 in as high estimation as Mr. Lindsey himself, he did not think it 
 necessary to presume, nor did he find evidence to prove, that our 
 Lord, being in all other respects a man like other men, was born 
 into the world a perfect character, or that his character was 
 miraculously superinduced. On the contrary, believing that 
 Jesus was in all respects like unto his brethren, and pursuing his 
 principles to their just consequences, he argued that our Saviour 
 came into the world with the frailties and infirmities of a human 
 being, moral as well as physical, and that, by the peculiar pro- 
 cess of mental discipline to which he was subjected, he grew 
 up to that consummate dignity and elevation of character under 
 which he appears in the writings of the evangelists. And this 
 truly Christian philosopher believed it to be not only a more 
 rational way of accounting for the excellence of our Lord's 
 character, and more agreeable to the language of the New Testa- 
 ment, which represents him as growing in wisdom and in favour 
 with God and man, but, in truth, more honourable to our Lord 
 himself, that his perfect moral excellence should be the result of 
 his own exertion, vigilance, and fortitude, rather than of a super- 
 natural operation. And upon this supposition, the example of 
 Jesus becomes far more interesting and efficacious than upon the 
 common hypothesis. Dr. Priestley's doctrine was new and origi- 
 nal, and at first very obnoxious and startling even to those who 
 thought with him upon most subjects. And as his generous 
 mind was above courting popularity, he took no pains to avoid 
 offensive language in expressing his ideas : but in the present day, 
 the alarm having subsided, and a cooler examination of the sub- 
 ject having taken place, it would I believe be hard to find any 
 considerate and consistent Unitarian who does not adopt Dr. 
 Priestley's ideas concerning the formation of our Lord's moral 
 character, and who does not rejoice that he did not yield to the 
 prudent timidity of his worthy but less adventurous friends. Mr. 
 Lindsey acknowledges to his learned correspondent that " he had 
 not then paid much attention to the subject." Afterwards, when 
 he reflected more deliberately upon it, there is reason to believe 
 
 L 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 that his alarm ceased, and that he became convinced that his 
 difference with his friend was more nominal than real. 
 
 Whether, as Dr. Priestley apprehends, our Lord was mistaken 
 
 with respect to the cause of epilepsy and insanity, or whether, as 
 
 Mr. Farmer maintains, knowing the falsehood of the popular 
 
 opinion, he still thought fit, and indeed found it necessary, to use 
 
 the popular language, is a more doubtful question than that 
 
 concerning the natural perfection of our Lord's character. But 
 
 surely it is a question highly worthy of public discussion among 
 
 those who are desirous of obviating objections to the credibility 
 
 of the New Testament. The language of Jesus to those who w r ere 
 
 believed to be possessed by demons, that is, by human ghosts, 
 
 and especially in the case of the Gadarene demoniac, Luke viii., 
 
 is hardly reconcilable to the simplicity and sincerity of our Lord's 
 
 character, if he at the same time knew that the symptoms were 
 
 occasioned by natural disorder, not by demoniacal possession ; 
 
 nor can it be regarded as any objection to his prophetic authority, 
 
 or to the reality of the miracle, that his inspiration did not extend 
 
 to the knowledge of the nature and causes of the diseases which 
 
 he was empowered to heal. On the contrary, it may be urged 
 
 with great appearance of truth, that it cannot with any reason be 
 
 admitted that our Lord was so grossly ignorant of the state of 
 
 the dead, as to believe that the souls of bad men were permitted 
 
 to enter into the bodies of living men and to torment them. 
 
 Upon the whole, with the exception of the case of the Gadarene 
 
 demoniac, it seems more easy to admit that our Lord used the 
 
 popular language without adopting the popular philosophy, than 
 
 to suppose him chargeable with such an egregious error upon a 
 
 subject so closely connected with the proper object of his mission. 
 
 The contrary hypothesis is, however, more generally adopted by 
 
 those who inquire freely into the subject, as I believe I am 
 
 warranted to say it certainly was by Mr. Lindsey, notwithstanding 
 
 the alarm he expresses at his friend's insinuation, that u our 
 
 Saviour was as much in the dark as the most vulgar among the 
 
 Jews, about possessions ; and believed them in the gross literal 
 
 sense." 
 
 I 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPniLUS LINDSEY. 147 
 
 That our Lord misunderstood and misapplied the prophecies of 
 the Old Testament, relating to the Messiah, is a position main- 
 tained by Dr. Priestley, which did not meet with the general 
 concurrence of those who were disposed to think with him upon 
 other subjects. Dr. Jebb and Mr. Lindsey had some reason to 
 say that "here his main argument failed him." Our Lord so 
 expressly asserts his knowledge of the true sense and application 
 of the prophetic Scriptures ; he so frequently interprets, without 
 the least hesitation, and with the highest tone of authority, those 
 prophecies which relate to the Messiah ; he so gravely rebukes 
 his disciples for not understanding what he had so plainly and 
 repeatedly taught; and after his resurrection he so explicitly 
 assumes an authority to " open their understandings that they 
 might understand the Scriptures ;" that to deny to Jesus a power 
 which he so directly challenges, looks like an attack upon his 
 veracity, and is little less than charging him with vanity and 
 arrogance. Nor are we by the necessity of the case driven to 
 this conclusion. For it is not allowed that Dr. Priestley, though 
 he has attempted it, as indeed his argument required, has suc- 
 ceeded in any one instance in proving that our Lord has actually 
 fallen into error, in his explanation and application of the pro- 
 phetic Scriptures. This, however, is a fair and interesting topic 
 of discussion ; and the friends of scriptural knowledge will rejoice 
 to have the question set in a satisfactory light. 
 
 Dr. Priestley, unawed by the remonstrances of his friends, and 
 fearless of personal consequences in the pursuit of Christian truth, 
 and in the detection and exposure of the corruptions of the 
 Christian doctrine, or of the sacred text, and justly thinking that 
 nothing would prove more favourable to the discovery of truth 
 than fair and animated discussion, proceeded in his open and 
 manly way, under the signature of Ebionita in the Theological 
 Repository, to urge his objections against the narrative of the 
 Miraculous Conception in the introductory chapters to the gospels 
 of Matthew and Luke. This bold attack upon an article of faith 
 which had maintained its ground undisputed for upwards of a 
 thousand years, not only renewed the clamours of bigots against the 
 
 l 2 
 
148 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 insolence and impiety of the hardy assailant, but excited consider- 
 able apprehensions among many professed friends to free inquiry, 
 who not only feared that the author's own reputation might suffer, 
 and his writings be brought into discredit, and that his usefulness 
 might thereby be greatly impeded, but that the credibility of the 
 gospel history itself might be impeached, if so large a portion of 
 it should be regarded as spurious. Nor were the apprehensions 
 of any one upon this occasion more vivid than those of the vener- 
 able subject of the present Memoir; who thus expresses his 
 feelings and his fears, in confidence, to his learned and estimable 
 friend, the Rev. Newcome Cappe, at York. 
 
 April 30, 1785. "I wish some able hand would send him 
 some remarks on his account of the miraculous conception ; for 
 no one I believe would sooner relinquish any opinion, was he 
 made to see cause for it. A friend told me that he thought the 
 doctor seemed moved, when he remarked to him that an extra- 
 ordinary event of that kind might be most important in forming 
 the character of Christ, by inducing his parents to pay particular 
 attention to him in this respect, and by the early impressions it 
 might make upon his own mind ; neither of which had occurred 
 to him. However, whether he or any one retains or rejects the 
 notion, is of little consequence. A man may be most fully per- 
 suaded that Jesus is the Christ, whether he holds him as the son 
 of Mary, or of Joseph also. Only I have much wished Dr. 
 Priestley could restrain himself from appearing the patron of the 
 latter opinion, lest it might hurt his usefulness in preventing the 
 reading of his many valuable theological writings." 
 
 These are the natural and liberal reflections of Mr. Lindsey's 
 candid mind upon the first proposal of the subject. But his own 
 correct feelings appear to have been in some degree aggravated, 
 and, if I may so express it, acidified, by the less candid observa- 
 tions which he occasionally heard from others. He thus expresses 
 himself in a letter to his friend at York, dated December 8, 
 1785: 
 
 "I am exceedingly gratified by your leaving your letter to 
 Dr. Priestley unsealed, and permitting me the perusal of it. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 149 
 
 When you but barely intimated your sentiment at York, but now 
 much more from your further enlargement upon it, I think 1 see 
 a new light thrown upon our Saviour's language and manner of 
 address to Almighty God throughout the gospels, though I have 
 not considered yet at all, how the idea of his extraordinary birth 
 at times pervades the language of his apostles concerning him. I 
 shall, however, most earnestly long for your full discussion of the 
 subject, and I hope it will please Providence that nothing will 
 prevent your going on to finish this disquisition in the manner in 
 which you have planned it. 1 do not, however, imagine, as you 
 formerly expressed yourself, that the suggestion of any argument 
 of this kind will have such an effect on our friend as to work any 
 change in his sentiments j though I hope, if he attends to it, as 
 I trust he will, the remarks on Ebionita pointing out so many 
 mistakes, and several less fair (however undesigned) methods of 
 application to his readers, will prevent him exhibiting his opinion 
 in such a disgusting form, and with so wrong a spirit, in his 
 greater work now printing. 
 
 1 Besides the ardour of his own natural temper, I am sure that 
 he has been hurried on further than that would have carried his 
 judicious mind, by the vehemence of some persons about him, so 
 as to look upon the miraculous conception as one of the great 
 corruptions of Christianity. So that he set out without weighing 
 the consequences ; and as his method of treating the subject did 
 not affect himself nor disturb him, he thought it would be the 
 same with others. And having happily got over the outcries 
 raised against him on other like points, as he conceived, he 
 believed it would be the same here. I will, however, entertain 
 hope that your most candid but strong manner, at the conclusion 
 of your letter, of representing to him your own and the opinions 
 of others concerning his treating the subject, will prevail with him 
 to treat the matter with a better temper, as not a day passes but 
 I meet with one or other friends that earnestly wish it for his 
 own, and for the truth's sake." 
 
 Dr. Priestley, in his essay upon the Miraculous Conception, in 
 the Repository, expresses his sentiments upon this subject, as 
 
150 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 upon all others, unequivocally, and without disguise; and certainly, 
 though not with the intention to give offence, yet without any 
 precaution to guard against it. But surely his language, and his 
 manner of treating the subject, hardly deserve the severe censure 
 of making " unfair applications to his readers, and of exhibiting 
 his opinion in a disgusting form, and with a wrong spirit/' In 
 an argument so novel, the prejudices of some would undoubtedly 
 be shocked. But there were many who, though not converted to 
 his opinion, were by no means offended with the argument or the 
 spirit of the writer, but rather admired the ingenuity which could 
 give plausibility to an hypothesis in their apprehension so un- 
 founded, and so inconsistent with what they judged to be the 
 plain declaration of the New Testament. Such was unquestion- 
 ably the first impression upon the ingenuous mind of Mr. Lindsey; 
 and nothing but a too great facility in yielding his own judgment 
 to that of his friends, could have induced him to think and to 
 express himself with such unusual asperity upon the temper 
 and spirit of his honest and able fellow-labourer in the field of 
 truth. 
 
 It is, however, of more consequence to remark, how widely 
 Mr. Lindsey differed from his inquisitive friend upon the subject 
 of the miraculous conception, and how unlikely he was at that 
 time ever to be reconciled to his sentiments. But an upright 
 inquirer will never think it too late to learn, and will be always 
 ready to embrace doctrines the most opposite to his pre- 
 conceived opinions, if after mature examination he sees reason 
 to believe that they are founded in truth. Such was the character 
 of the venerable subject of this Memoir; and in the following 
 extract from a letter to his friend Mr. Cappe, he expresses himself 
 in a more hesitating tone. 
 
 April 10, 1787. " I am much concerned to find you have 
 Buch a multiplicity of business and of avocations ; but I hope 
 you will steal time to give us your arguments for the miraculous 
 conception, which I have not hitherto seen auy cause to give up, 
 though some inconsistencies with which the evidence for it is 
 encumbered have disturbed me a little ; and I should be happy to 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 151 
 
 see your further positive scriptural proofs for it made out at full 
 length." In a letter dated nine months before, in July, 1786, 
 Mr. Lindsey had importunately urged the same request : " I can- 
 not conclude without entreating you, my most worthy friend, to 
 give us, and give the public, your valuable thoughts on the 
 miraculous conception. If Dr. Jebb had been alive, he would 
 have joined with me, and would have told you it was a duty for 
 you to do it. He had not attended much to the argument ; but he 
 had no doubt about the fact, or the genuineness of those scrip- 
 tures which relate to it, any more than you have. Adieu. But 
 1 beg you will think of this seriously and in earnest." 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, these repeated and urgent calls, the 
 oracle remained silent. Whatever might be the reason, whether, 
 upon further inquiry, he found that, when he first promised the 
 answer, like his precursor Dr. Jebb, he had not attended much to 
 the argument, or from some other unknown cause, this truly 
 learned and acute theologian, who was looked up to as the only 
 person competent to advocate the sinking cause of the suspected 
 narrative, declined to enter the lists,* and the historian and 
 detector of the corruptions of Christianity was left the undisputed 
 master of the field. His venerable friend, thus deserted by his 
 principal ally, after a few more ineffectual struggles, found himself 
 compelled, by the power of truth and the irresistible force of 
 argument, to lay down his arms and surrender at discretion ; 
 and, like the man of Tarsus, to become the champion of the 
 faith which he once disapproved. In other words, Mr. Lindsey, 
 upon further consideration of the subject, and seeing no satis- 
 factory reply to his friend's arguments, gave up, though not 
 without some reluctance, his belief in the miraculous conception : 
 and in the next edition of his Liturgy, in the year 1789, he 
 
 * Mr. Cappe's first remarks upon Dr. Priestley were published in the fifth volume ot 
 the Theological Repository, under the signature of Nazaraeus. The principal object was 
 to prove that the miracle, though in its own nature necessarily private might neverthe- 
 less have its use. Dr. Priestley in the same volume adverts to this objection, in a paper 
 signed Nazarenus. Whether Mr. Cappe, like his ingenuous correspondent, ever aban- 
 doned the miraculous conception, does not appear from any of his posthumous publica- 
 tions. The " Connected History of the Life of Christ,' published by his excellent 
 widow, leaves the fact in a state of considerable doubt. 
 
152 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 omitted that creed erroneously called the Creed of the Apostles, 
 which contains this unscriptural article. 
 
 This doctrine, that Jesus of Nazareth, the great prophet of the 
 Most High, was the son of Joseph and Mary, which was so 
 alarming when it was first asserted by Dr. Priestley, is now per- 
 fectly familiarized, and is, I believe, generally received by those 
 who maintain the proper humanity of Jesus Christ. Indeed the 
 direct assertion of Luke, which can by no fair and legitimate 
 criticism be set aside, that our Lord had just completed his 
 thirtieth year,* in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, fixes the birth of 
 Christ at least two years after Herod's death. This single un- 
 deniable chronological fact at once invalidates the introductory 
 narrative to Matthew and Luke. And the uselessness of the 
 train of splendid miracles there recorded; the very little attention 
 which they excited to the object of them ; the apparent fabulous- 
 ness of many of the circumstances; the irrelevance, not to say the 
 absurdity, of the quotations from the Old Testament; the incon- 
 sistency of the two narratives with each other; the entire omission 
 of the whole transaction by Mark and John ; the want of the 
 introduction to Matthew in the Ebionite copies, and to Luke in 
 those of Marcion ; the rejection of the miraculous conception by 
 the Gnostics, with whose system it would so well have harmonized, 
 and by the Ebionites or Jewish Christians, whose history supplied 
 so many prior accounts of miraculous births; the prevailing 
 desire of Christians to aggrandize their Master, and in every pos- 
 sible way to diminish the disgrace of his extraction and the 
 reproach of his cross; and, in fine, the general credit given to 
 the narrative in distant countries, and the discredit under which it 
 laboured in those regions which are represented as the very scenes 
 of these extraordinary events; all concur to establish the con- 
 clusion, that the introductory narratives to Matthew and Luke 
 were not written by the evangelists to whom they are ascribed. 
 By whom they were written, and at what time they were prefixed 
 to their respective histories, it may not be easy to ascertain ; but 
 
 Afx e H- Kl uv » T *" rpiaxovra, est hicipio jam esse iricenarius, quod non dicitur 
 nisi post impletum annum tricessimum. — (Jrotius. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 153 
 
 as we are certain, from the date of Luke's history, that the facts 
 cannot be true, we may be equally certain that they could not 
 have been related by the apostle of Jesus, or the faithful and 
 accurate companion of Paul. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 UNITARIAN LITURGY ADOPTED BY THE CONGREGATION AT THE 
 KING'S CHAPEL AT BOSTON IN NEW ENGLAND. MR. LINDSEY 
 CORRESPONDS WITH DR. FREEMAN, MR. VANDERKEMP, ETC. 
 PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCHES 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 The grand theological controversies which excited so much atten- 
 tion, and were conducted with so much animosity, in England, 
 could not fail to attract notice in America, and especially in the 
 New England States, where a manliness of character, a decency 
 of morals, and a serious though not universally enlightened spirit 
 of piety, dispose the minds of considerable numbers to religious 
 inquiries, and where freedom of investigation suffers no restraint 
 from the civil power. It was with great pleasure that Mr. Lindsey 
 received information in the year 1786, from a respectable corre- 
 spondent (the Rev. J. Smith, afterwards Librarian to the University 
 of Cambridge in New England), that the principal Episcopalian 
 church in Boston had consented to the introduction of a Liturgy 
 reformed nearly upon the plan of that which had been adopted in 
 Essex Street, and perfectly Unitarian.* The minister of this 
 
 * In Mr. Freeman's first letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated July 7, 1786, he tells his 
 venerable correspondent, " The Liturgy of our church was during a long time unpopular. 
 But your approbation, the note of Dr. Price annexed to a letter of Dr. Lush, and the 
 mention which Dr. Priestley is pleased to make of it in his sermon upon the fifth of 
 
154 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 congregation, which assembled at what was called the King's 
 Chapel, was the Rev. James Freeman, and is described by his 
 friend as " a young man of a great deal of knowledge and good 
 sense, and of an excellent disposition." Some of his hearers left 
 him on account of the change introduced into the service ; but the 
 majority adhered to him, and the congregation flourished under 
 him. He was for some time under considerable embarrassment 
 for want of episcopal ordination, upon which some of his hearers 
 laid much stress, though in the estimation of the more judicious 
 members of his congregation, as well as of Mr. Freeman himself, 
 it was rather a matter of expedience than necessity. To avoid, 
 however, giving unnecessary offence, he applied for orders first to 
 Bishop Seabury, who had lately been consecrated by the non-juring 
 
 November, have raised it in esteem. It now seems to be acknowledged that that book 
 cannot be very absurd which is praised by gentlemen of such great learning and 
 abilities, who have been so long known and so justly admired in this country. I 
 wish the work was more worthy of your approbation. I can only say that I endea- 
 voured to make it so by attempting to introduce your Liturgy entire. But the people of 
 the chapel were not ripe for so great a change. Some defects and improprieties I was 
 under the necessity of retaining, for the sake of inducing them to omit the most excep- 
 tionable parts of the old service, the Athanasian prayers. Perhaps in some future day, 
 when their minds become more enlightened, they may consent to a further alter- 
 ation." 
 
 The writer of this Memoir is happy to add, that the day of increased light and 
 liberality, foretold by this enlightened reformer, is now arrived, and that Dr. Freeman 
 has himself lived to see his own prediction verified, In a new edition of the Boston 
 Liturgy, printed in the year 1811, a copy of which the writer has had the honour to 
 receive as a present from the ministers, wardens, and vestry of the King's Chapel, 
 nothing is to be found which is inconsistent with the purest principles of Unitarian 
 worship as such, and with a very few alterations, chiefly verbal, it might be made 
 perfectly unobjectionable. May it long be the efficacious means of supporting the 
 purity and simplicity of Christian worship, and diffusing a spirit of rational piety ! 
 
 Mr. Freeman further proceeds to state the progress which Unitarian principles were 
 making in the United States, and particularly in New England. This he imputes to 
 the many excellent books published in England, and to Mr. Lindsey's works in 
 particular, which were much read and with great effect. The sermons and conversation 
 of some clergymen in New England also contributed their share ; and amongst these he 
 mentions the Rev. Mr. Hazlitt, a pious, zealous, and intelligent English minister, who 
 after his return to England settled at Wem, in Shropshire. Mr. Freeman speaks of 
 himself as particularly indebted to the instructions and conversation of this respectable 
 person. "I bless the day," says he, "when that honest man first landed in this 
 country." In another letter, dated June, 1789, Mr. Freeman writes, " Before Mr. 
 Hazlitt came to Boston, the Trinitarian doxology was almost universally used. That 
 honest, good man prevailed upon several respectable ministers to omit it. Since his 
 departure, the number of those who repeat only scriptural doxologies has greatly 
 increased, so that there are now many churches in which the worship is strictly 
 Unitarian." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 155 
 
 bishops of Scotland, and who exercised his jurisdiction over the 
 episcopal churches in Connecticut. But this prelate, being a rigid 
 Calvinist, would not lay hands upon his suspected brother. Appli- 
 cation was then made to Dr. Provost, who had been elected bishop 
 of the province of New York, and who, together with Dr. White, 
 had been consecrated to the episcopal office by the prelates of the 
 Church of England. This gentleman, who had been a pupil of 
 Dr. Jebb, was a man of great learning, of liberal sentiments, and 
 of deep piety. At the Convention of the Episcopal clergy at 
 Philadelphia, he had himself proposed a very important alteration 
 in the Litany, viz., to leave out the invocations to the Son, the 
 Holy Ghost, and the Trinity ; and to retain only the first, w T hich 
 is addressed "to God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven 
 and earth." To this worthy prelate, therefore, the members of the 
 congregation at the King's Chapel repeatedly applied to obtain 
 episcopal ordination for their respected minister. But the bishop, 
 perhaps unwilling to give offence to his weaker brethren, referred 
 the matter to the next Convention at Philadelphia ; which deter- 
 mined Mr. Freeman's friends, who had reason to apprehend that, 
 whatever might be the information and liberality of some indivi- 
 duals, the majority would decide against him, to ordain their own 
 pastor at home. This solemn rite, therefore, w T as performed, with 
 the previous approbation of many persons of high character and 
 worth w r ho had been consulted upon the occasion, on Sunday, the 
 18th of November, 1787, according to a form suggested by 
 Governor Bowdoin, a gentleman whose learning, good sense, and 
 merit, as Mr. Freeman expresses it in his letter to Mr. Lindsey, 
 " would give a sanction to any sentiment which he espouses," 
 though the honourable Governor was not a member of the King's 
 Chapel congregation. " The whole ceremony," says Mr. Freeman, 
 u was performed with great decency and solemnity in the presence 
 of a very numerous assembly. Deep attention was impressed upon 
 every countenance, and many of the advocates for religious liberty, 
 of our own and other churches, could not forbear expressing their 
 sensibility by tears of joy." The form used upon this interesting 
 occasion is published by Mr. Lindsey in his Vindiciae Priestleianae, 
 
156 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 who there expresses his entire approbation of it. All difficulties 
 were at length surmounted : the remaining scruples of those who 
 were advocates for episcopal ordination gradually subsided,* and 
 the cause of the congregation continued to flourish under the 
 auspices of this pious and exemplary preacher for upwards of 
 twenty years. Since January, 1809, Mr. (now Dr.) Freeman has 
 been associated with a colleague, the Reverend Samuel Cary, who, 
 if we may judge by the specimen of his talents and spirit in the 
 sermon which he delivered on the day of his ordination, and by the 
 esteem and affection expressed in the charge of his revered asso- 
 ciate, is worthy of the honourable situation which he occupies, and 
 
 * In tenderness to the prejudices of some worthy members of the congregation, a vote 
 was passed by the society, that Mr. Freeman's ordination should be confirmed by an 
 episcopal imposition of hands, if it could be at any future time conveniently procured 
 without sacrificing their own religious sentiments. But a circumstance occurred 
 shortly afterwards which contributed more effectually to overrule the scruples of those 
 who were unsatisfied, than anything which Mr. Freeman or his friends could say or 
 write upon the subject. This was the ordination of a clergyman at Boston, by Bishop 
 Seabury. 
 
 " If any prejudices remained upon the minds of my people in favour of episcopal 
 ordination," says Mr. Freeman in a letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated October 15, 1788, 
 " what you say in your book, the Vindiciae Priestleianae, would effectually remove 
 them. But they are already cured of all prepossessions of that nature. I mentioned 
 in a former letter that Bishop Seabury had ordained a priest in Boston. The members 
 of my congregation in general attended. They were so shocked with the service, 
 particularly with that part where the bishop pretends to communicate the Holy Ghost 
 and the power of forgiving sins, which he accompanied with the action of breathing on 
 the candidate, that they now congratulate me upon having escaped what they consider 
 as little short of blasphemy. Few of them had ever read, or at least attentively 
 considered, the Ordination service. Since they have heard it, I have frequently been 
 seriously asked by them, whether I would have submitted to so absurd a form. I 
 confess that I am convinced I should have acted wrong if I had done it. I shudder 
 when I reflect to what moral danger I exposed myself in soliciting ordination of the 
 American bishops, for I certainly never believed that they had the power of conveying 
 the Holy Spirit." 
 
 Bishop Seabury might be, and probably was, a very honest man. How far his 
 wisdom kept pace with his honesty, the following anecdote may assist the reader to 
 judge. This venerable prelate, after having been invested, or imagined himself to be 
 invested, with extraordinary powers by the manual imposition of a few obscure priests 
 in Scotland, when he had returned to Connecticut, wrote to Dr. Styles, the president of 
 the college, the learned friend and correspondent of Dr. Price, that it was his 
 intention to be at the annual meeting of the Institution, but that he " hoped he 
 6hould be received with proper distinction, and that his precedency would be allowed 
 in the place allotted to him." To which the learned president sent back a courteous 
 answer : " That they should be very glad to see Bishop Seabury, but that he could 
 not promise him any such mark of distinction as he expected. One thing, however, he 
 could engage for, and would assure him of, that he would meet with a hundred and 
 ninety-one as good bishops as himself." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 157 
 
 is well qualified to carry on the cause in which his excellent 
 colleague has been so long and so successfully engaged. May 
 this holy cause continue to prosper in their hands, and when 
 the chief Shepherd shall appear may they receive a crown of 
 glory !* 
 
 As a further means of diffusing the important doctrines of the 
 proper Unity of God, and the simple humanity of Jesus Christ, 
 Mr. Lindsey made a present of his own and of Dr. Priestley's 
 Theological Works to the library of Harvard College, in the 
 University of Cambridge in New England ; for which, " as a very 
 valuable and acceptable present," he received the thanks of the 
 President and Fellows. These books were read with great avidity 
 by the students. But though there is great reason to believe 
 that the seed thus sown took deep root, and that in many instances 
 it produced a correspondent harvest ; and though many persons 
 eminent for rank and talent in the New England States f openly 
 avowed the Unitarian creed, it does not appear that any numerous 
 societies of Christians have hitherto followed the example of the 
 congregation at the King's Chapel in making a public profession 
 of the Unitarian doctrine. 
 
 * This sincere and ardent wish it was not the will of Providence to ratify. Mr. 
 Cary'8 connection with his affectionate flock and his revered colleague was of very short 
 duration. In the autumn of 1815, he fell into a deep decline from a neglected cold ; 
 and being advised to try a milder climate, he came to England with his wife in 
 October. For a few days he appeared a little revived ; but the disorder soon returned 
 with increased violence, and on Sunday, October 22, he expired at Royston, on his 
 road to London, in the thirtieth year of his age. He was interred in the burial- 
 ground belonging to the Unitarian chapel, at Hackney, and the service, by his 
 particular desire, was performed by the minister of Essex-Street chapel, who delivered 
 a discourse upon the melancholy occasion upon the next Lord's-day. Mrs. Cary, 
 whose Christian fortitude and pious resignation under this severe trial was the 
 admiration of all her friends, returned to Boston in the spring. The removal of such a 
 person as Mr. Cary, in the prime of life, and in the midst of usefulness, is one of the 
 unsearchable mysteries of Divine Providence. 
 
 + "Governor Bowdoin," says Mr. Lindsey's worthy correspondent, ' is a critic in 
 biblical learning. General Knox, one of the most distinguished officers in the late 
 war, is an admirer of such authors as Edward Search. General Lincoln, our present 
 worthy Lieutenant-governor, appears uniformly and openly the friend of those 
 doctrines that you approve. There are many others, besides, in our legislature, of 
 similar sentiments. While so many of our great men are thus on the side of truth and 
 free inquiry, they will necessarily influence many of the common people. As we have 
 no establishment to oppose, the same zeal which is felt in England cannot be expected 
 in this country ; but rational Christianity will, I doubt not, make a rapid, though not 
 very visible progress." This letter was written in 1788. 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 In March, 1792, an Unitarian congregation was formed at 
 Portland, a considerable town of the district of Maine, in the 
 north-eastern part of the State of Massachusetts. The worthy- 
 founder of this society was the Reverend Thomas Oxnard, a man 
 of good talents, of sincere piety, and of ardent zeal, who had for 
 some years officiated as minister of the episcopalian church at 
 Portland, and who had been convinced of the truth of the 
 Unitarian doctrine by reading the works of Dr. Priestley and 
 Mr. Lindsey, with which he had been supplied by his friend 
 Mr. Freeman. Through the same means, and by the public and 
 private instructions of this good man, in the course of a few years, 
 many other persons of property and respectability of character 
 embraced and avowed the same principles. u T cannot," says 
 this worthy man, in a letter dated November, 1788, "express to 
 you the avidity with which these Unitarian publications are sought 
 after. Our friends here are clearly convinced that the Unitarian 
 doctrine will soon become the prevailing opinion in this country ; 
 which must afford great pleasure to those good men Mr. Lindsey 
 and Dr. Priestley. Three years ago I did not know a single 
 Unitarian in this part of the country besides myself : and now, 
 entirely from the various publications you have furnished, a 
 decent society might be collected from this and the neighbouring 
 towns. When you again write to Mr. Lindsey, you may assure 
 him in the most positive terms that his and Dr. Priestley's 
 publications have had, and probably will have, great effects in 
 this part of the country ; which I am sure must afford him great 
 satisfaction." 
 
 Agreeably to this account, the doctrine of the proper Unity of 
 God made a progress so rapid in the town and vicinage of Port- 
 land, that in the beginning of the year 1792, an effort was made 
 to introduce a reformed Liturgy into the episcopal church j which 
 being resisted by one or two leading members of the congregation, 
 the Unitarians, who constituted a considerable majority of the 
 society, seceded from the rest ; and forming themselves into a 
 separate church, they chose the Reverend Mr. Oxnard to be their 
 minister ; and being denied the use of the episcopal chapel, they 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 159 
 
 assembled for religious worship at one of the public school-houses 
 which was large and commodious, and where they carried on the 
 worship of the One God with increasing popularity and success. 
 
 About the same time another society for Unitarian worship was 
 formed at Saco, a populous village about twenty miles distant 
 from Portland, under the auspices of Mr. Thatcher, a gentleman 
 of considerable property and of excellent character, who was 
 repeatedly returned as representative in Congress for the northern 
 district of the State of Massachusetts. Mr. Thatcher, it is said, 
 was originally an unbeliever; but possessing a candid and in- 
 quisitive mind, he became a very sincere and rational Christian in 
 consequence of reading Dr. Priestley's works ; and, as Mr. 
 Lindsey's correspondent expresses it, (t the influence of our divine 
 religion became very evident in his life and manners." This 
 gentleman, by his conversation, his occasional publications, by 
 lending Unitarian books, and by the great influence of his moral 
 and religious character, contributed much to diffuse rational and 
 pure Christianity in the vicinity of his residence, and formed at 
 Saco a congregation of Unitarian Christians which was for some 
 time connected with that at Portland, but afterwards became 
 sufficiently numerous and respectable to maintain a separate 
 minister. In England the spirit of the times is more liberal than 
 the spirit of the laws. In America it is the reverse ; and the 
 bigotry of individuals sometimes labours to counteract the un- 
 limited freedom of faith and worship, which is the glory of the 
 Constitution of the United States. The active zeal of Mr. 
 Thatcher, in promoting the worship of One God in opposition to 
 unscriptural formularies and creeds, excited the malignant efforts 
 of some of his bigoted neighbours to oppose his re-election to a 
 seat in Congress. But the high character, the approved patriotism, 
 and the distinguished talents of that honourable gentleman secured 
 him an easy triumph over the mean attacks of ignorance and envy, 
 and he was again returned by a great majority. 
 
 Upon the formation of the first Unitarian society in the district 
 of Maine, Mr. Lindsey's intelligent correspondent makes the 
 
160 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 following just and important observations, in a letter dated May 
 21, 1792:— 
 
 " 1 consider the establishment of this society as an event pecu- 
 liarly favourable to the progress of Unitarianism in this country. 
 The eastern division of this State, commonly called the province 
 of Maine, of which Portland is the capital, is one of the most 
 flourishing parts of the United States. It is rapidly increasing 
 in population and in wealth. Portland, which under the name of 
 Falmouth was almost totally destroyed during the last war, has 
 now become a large and respectable town, and bids fair in the 
 course of half a century to rival Boston. Like other capital 
 towns, it will probably influence the opinions of the surrounding 
 country. It may be expected, therefore, that Unitarianism will 
 grow with its growth, and be widely diffused. What favours this 
 expectation is, that one of the ministers of the town, a very 
 liberal and enlightened man, is upon very good terms with the 
 Unitarian society, and not disposed to discountenance them. 
 In sentiment he professes to be a Sabellian. The other ministers 
 in the neighbourhood are in general ignorant, and some of them 
 vicious. The consequence is, that there is less appearance of 
 religion in the province of Maine than in any other part of New 
 England. I have no doubt, therefore, that a number "of Unitarians 
 possessing that purity of morals for which they are generally 
 distinguished will have a great effect, not only in diffusing rational 
 sentiments, but also in reforming the practice of their fellow- 
 citizens. I give this not merely as my own opinion, but as the 
 opinion of some gentlemen who are best informed in the State of 
 the province of Maine. The establishment of a rational Christian 
 society, and the happy changes which are to be expected in future, 
 must, sir, in a great measure be ascribed to the books which you 
 have sent over. What, therefore, must be your triumph when 
 you reflect that you have enlightened the minds of your fellow- 
 christians, and that you will probably be the means of turning 
 many to righteousness ! " 
 
 How far this worthy and ardent correspondent of Mr. Lindsey 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 161 
 
 was warranted in the sanguine expectations he expresses of the 
 success and beneficial effects of the Unitarian doctrine in the 
 New England States, docs not very distinctly appear. In 1788, 
 he states to his venerable friend, that the Socinian scheme is less 
 frightful than it was some years ago, and begins to have some 
 public advocates. The only minister, however, who then preached 
 in favour of it was Mr. Bentley, of Salem, a fellow-collegian and 
 intimate friend of the writer, who describes him as " a young 
 man of a bold independent mind, of strong natural powers, and 
 of more skill in the learned languages than any person of his 
 years in the State." This gentleman had the good fortune to be 
 connected with a congregation uncommonly liberal, who were not 
 alarmed at any improvements, and who- were pleased with the 
 introduction of Bishop Lowth's translation of Isaiah, and of other 
 improved translations of the prophetic Scriptures, in preference 
 to the common English version, which was a liberty that few of 
 the ministers in New England would be allowed to take. In 
 1 793, Unitarianism remained at Portland in the state in which it 
 had been settled the preceding year : but the clergy in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Saco having passed a censure upon these opinions as 
 unsound and heretical, jhe consequence of this attack was an able 
 defence of the doctrine by its advocates in that vicinage, and a 
 subscription for building an Unitarian church. In the year 1794, 
 the same respectable correspondent communicates to his venerable 
 friend the progress which the doctrine and worship of the One 
 true God, the Father, were making in the southern districts of the 
 State of Massachusetts. " The counties of Plvmouth, Barnstable, 
 and Bristol, were the first part of New England settled by the 
 English ; and till the year 1692, when they were annexed to 
 Massachusetts, constituted a distinct province. The first settlers 
 were a religious and industrious people, of more candid minds 
 and less disposed to persecution than the settlers of Massachusetts. 
 Though the country is barren, yet it has become one of the most 
 populous districts of the United States. The inhabitants are 
 enlightened and virtuous. Crimes are unknown ; and there has 
 not been a capital execution for upwards of sixty years. Such 
 
162 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 characters are valuable acquisitions to the cause of truth. It must 
 give you pleasure, therefore, to learn that two ministers, one in 
 the county of Plymouth, and the other in the county of Barnstable, 
 have lately come forward and openly opposed the doctrine of the 
 Trinity. Their preaching has made a deep impression, and converts 
 have been multiplied. In Barnstable county in particular, there 
 is a very large body of Unitarians/' 
 
 This letter was written not long after the worthy writer had 
 received intelligence of Mr. Lindsey's resignation of the pastoral 
 office, on account, not of declining health, but of advanced age ; 
 and I cannot deny myself the gratification of transcribing Dr. 
 Freeman's excellent and judicious reflections upon that occasion : 
 " I fervently pray, dear sir, that your health may long be preserved, 
 and that your old age may be as happy as the meridian of your 
 life has been active and useful. You now enjoy the fruits of your 
 labours. You have reclaimed many from the errors of idolatry 
 and superstition. You have diffused knowledge and truth, not 
 only in England, but in America. But what is most to your 
 honour, though you have displayed all the zeal of a reformer, yet 
 you have possessed none of that bitterness of spirit with which 
 reformers are too often infected. In your numerous works I find 
 no harsh expressions or malignant censures. I contemplate this 
 part of your character with peculiar pleasure ; and though I am 
 conscious I am frequently more angry with error and bigotry than 
 a Christian ought to be, yet I ardently desire to imitate your 
 candour and mildness of temper. Excuse this praise ; it is 
 suggested to me by your two last excellent discourses." This is a 
 high and at the same time a discriminating and justly merited 
 eulogy, and must no doubt have been gratifying to the venerable 
 person to whom it was addressed, whose great humility would, 
 however, lead him to disclaim, in part at least, his title to it. 
 
 In a letter dated May 24, 1796, the amiable and candid writer 
 expresses some little doubt whether his zeal may not have induced 
 him inadvertently to exaggerate the success of Unitarian principles 
 in the United States; and he endeavours to give a correct account 
 of the actual state of the public mind upon this subject. As this 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 163 
 
 is the last of Dr. Freeman's letters upon the state of Unitarianism 
 in America which is in my possession, and as it contains a more 
 general view of the case than he had before exhibited, I shall make 
 no apology for the length of the extract : — 
 
 " I consider it/' says this intelligent correspondent to his 
 venerable friend, " as one of the most happy effects which have 
 resulted from my feeble exertions in the Unitarian cause, that they 
 have introduced me to the knowledge and friendship of some of 
 the most valuable characters of the present age ; men of en- 
 lightened heads, of pious and benevolent hearts; 'quibuscum 
 vivere amem, quibuscum obire libens/ 
 
 " Though it is a standing article of most of our social libraries, 
 that nothing of a controversial nature should be purchased, yet 
 any book which is presented is freely accepted. I have found 
 means, therefore, of introducing into them some of the Unitarian 
 tracts with w T hich you have kindly furnished me. There are few 
 persons who have not read them with avidity; and when read, they 
 cannot fail to make an impression upon the minds of many. From 
 these and other causes, the Unitarian doctrine appears to be 
 still upon the increase. I am acquainted with a number of 
 ministers, particularly in the southern part of this State, who avow 
 and publicly preach this sentiment. There are others more 
 cautious, who content themselves w r ith leading their hearers by a 
 course of rational but prudent sermons gradually and insensibly 
 to embrace it. Though this latter mode is not what I entirely 
 approve, yet it produces good effects. For the people are thus 
 kept out of the reach of false opinions, and are prepared for the 
 impressions which will be made on them by more bold and ardent 
 successors, who will probably be raised up when these timid 
 characters are removed off the stage. In the eastern part of this 
 State, or what is called the district of Maine, the Unitarian 
 doctrine also makes progress, as I have just been informed by 
 a worthy and judicious minister from that quarter. The clergy 
 are generally the first who begin to speculate : but the people 
 soon follow, where they are so much accustomed to read and in- 
 quire. 
 
 m 2 
 
164 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 " In the accounts which I give you of the state of religious 
 opinions in this country, I always endeavour not to exaggerate, 
 sensible that every zealous man (and I confess that I am zealous) 
 is naturally disposed to rate his own party as highly as he can. It 
 is possible that Unitarianism may be losing ground in one quarter 
 while it is gaining it in another, and that I may not perceive 
 or may not attend to the former. Indeed, I confess and lament 
 that the opinion is scarcely known in the largest part of this 
 vast republic. It nourishes chiefly in New England ; but not 
 much in Connecticut, Ilhode Island, New Hampshire, and the 
 western counties of Massachusetts. A few seeds have been 
 sown in Vermont, and an abundant harvest has been produced 
 in the vicinity of Boston and the counties directly south of it. 
 In Pennsylvania much may be expected from the labours of Dr. 
 Priestley." 
 
 It was in the year 1796 that this letter was written ; and though 
 it cannot reasonably be doubted that the important doctrines 
 of the unrivalled supremacy and sole worship of the Father, and 
 of the proper humanity of Jesus Christ, have since that time 
 been gradually advancing in a country so favourable to freedom of 
 inquiry ; yet it may justly be questioned whether the progress 
 of truth has been quite so rapid, visible, or extensive, as the zeal of 
 this ingenuous and ardent lover of truth prompted him to expect. 
 Dr. Priestley's personal ministry in the United States was attended 
 with very little apparent success. In Northumberland, where 
 he resided, he collected but few proselytes ; and in Philadelphia, 
 where the chapel in which he preached was at first crowded with the 
 principal characters in the United States, he was afterwards for 
 some reason or other almost deserted. Yet here his labours were 
 not whollv ineffectual. Since Dr. Priestley's decease, a small but 
 highly respectable congregation has been formed, in which, till 
 a regular minister can be procured, a few of the most intelligent 
 and best informed numbers conduct the service by turns; and the 
 society, upon the whole, is increasing, though some who once 
 professed zeal in the cause have turned their backs upon it. 
 The Unitarians in Philadelphia have erected a chapel for religious 
 
REVEREND TI1E0PIIILUS LINDSEY. 165 
 
 worship, to which many of different persuasions contributed 
 liberally. 
 
 Another Unitarian congregation has been formed at Olden- 
 barneveld, a new settlement in the back country of the State of 
 New York, under the patronage of Colonel Mappa, a gentleman 
 of a truly respectable character, and of considerable property and 
 influence in that district, aided by the exertions of the Rev. 
 Frederic Adrian Vanderkemp, a learned and pious emigrant from 
 Holland, whose zeal for the doctrine of the Divine Unity has 
 exposed him to many difficulties and privations. This church 
 was, for a few years, under the pastoral inspection of the 
 Reverend John Sherman, who in the year 1805 was dismissed, 
 on account of his Unitarian principles, from his office as minister 
 of the first church at Mansfield, in Connecticut, where he had 
 officiated upwards of eight years with great and increasing accept- 
 ance and success. Of the circumstances which led to this 
 separation, and of the inquisitorial spirit which was exerted 
 against him by the bigoted clergy in his neighbourhood, he 
 published a plain and affecting account, a copy of which now 
 lies before me. And if some expressions of irritation have escaped 
 him, which it would perhaps have been better to omit, it requires 
 but little charity to make allowance for them where the provoca- 
 tion was so great and unmerited. 
 
 This gentleman, in eonsequence of an attentive perusal of the 
 works of Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, became a sincere and 
 zealous convert to the doctrine of the proper Unity and sole 
 Supremacy of God, to the simple humanity of Jesus Christ, and 
 to the appropriation of religious worship to the Father only. A 
 doctrine of such high importance, and so materially differing from 
 the popular creed, he justly conceived it to be his duty to avow 
 and teach.* And, in the first place, he communicated his change 
 
 * This worthy confessor's plain and artless narrative of the feelings of his mind upon 
 this occasion is well deserving of being here transcribed, and may it make a due im- 
 pression upon all who are placed in similar circumstances, and called out to similar 
 trials ! 
 
 " Settled," says he, " in the sentiment that God is one person only, and that Jesus 
 Christ is a being distinct from God, dependent upon him for his existence and all hia 
 
166 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 of sentiments to the congregation with which he was connected ; 
 when, to his great surprise and satisfaction, he found that, with a 
 single exception, they were all earnestly desirous that he should 
 continue his connection with them, and that each should quietly 
 allow to others the right of private judgment in this and every 
 other case. This, however, did not satisfy his clerical brethren, 
 with whom, as residing in the neighbourhood, he had joined in a 
 voluntary association. Being duly informed by Deacon South- 
 worth, the dissatisfied member before alluded to, of his reverend 
 pastor's departure from the faith, they, first in a formal session, 
 held in October, 1801, excluded him from their society, and dis- 
 avowed ministerial connection with him. And in this measure 
 was no injustice ; for the associated ministers had as good a right 
 
 powers, I was involved in much trial and perplexity of mind with respect to the course 
 which duty required me to pursue. I was aware of the prejudices of my brethren in the 
 ministry, and foresaw that, should my sentiments be made public, they would certainly 
 exert themselves to destroy my ministerial and Christian standing; that my standing 
 with the people of my charge, whose confidence I was so happy as to possess, would 
 be endangered, if not by their own prejudices, yet by the influence and exertions of 
 others; and, considering the state of the American churches, that I could hardly expect 
 an invitation to minister to any people on this side of the Atlantic. Poverty, a diminution 
 of my usefulness, and the unhappy condition of my beloved family, stared me in the face, 
 and conjured me to be silent respecting my opinions. 
 
 "On the other hand, I considered that, having avowed different sentiments at my 
 ordination, it could not be reconciled to a frank and open honesty to allow the world 
 to be deceived as to my real belief; — that it is the dutv of the minister of the gospel 
 to instruct men in the knowledge of its important doctrines; — that I was accountable 
 to God for my conduct in this matter, who requires of stewards that a man be found 
 faithful, and who certainly must desire his people to be acquainted with the truth, or 
 he would never have revealed it; — that no reformation from prevailing errors could take 
 place if those who are acquainted with the truth should, through the fear of persecution, 
 conceal it from public view; — and. finally, that it is base, and unbecoming the dignity 
 of man, in this 19th century of the Christian era, in this bind of liberty and free 
 inquiry, to bow down to popular absurdities and superstitions, and quietly to abandon 
 the inalienable right of private judgment. These considerations detei mined me to put 
 all temporal things at hazard, and to place my trust in that wise Providence which had 
 always been kind, and which will cither deliver us from the evil, or inspire us with 
 fortitude to endure it." Upon these generous and pious principles did this Christian 
 confessor act throughout the whole of this arduous conflict ; and however 1 is ignorant 
 and malignant persecutors might injure his good name, and deprive him ;w,d his family 
 of the comforts of society, and leave them destitute of the ne essaries of life, the)' could 
 not rol> him of the inestimable treasure of an approving conscience. How rapidly and 
 extensively must the cause of Chii^tian truth prevail, if all who were convinced of it 
 possessed the fortitude and zeal of Mr. Sherman ! JJut this is an elevation of character 
 to which every one c ;nnot attain. Different persons have different gifts, and are 
 called to different duties. Let every one judge impartially for himself, and candidly 
 for others. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDBEY. 1 67 
 
 to judge of the truth and importance of their opinions as Mr. 
 Sherman of his. But the zeal of these pious inquisitors did not 
 stop here : they wrote an official letter to the church at Mansfield, 
 stating that they had judged it to be their duty to withdraw from 
 their heretical brother their own ministerial connection, and pretty 
 plainly intimating their expectation that the society would follow 
 their example, and dismiss their pastor, who stood convicted by 
 his own confession of many capital errors. This advice, though 
 treated with merited neglect by a majority of the church, never- 
 theless made a considerable impression upon a small number of 
 feeble-minded members, who, in April, 1805, addressed a letter to 
 the venerable Association, expressing their dissatisfaction with their 
 worthy pastor for denying, as they express it, that ' ' the man 
 Christ Jesus is truly and properly God;" which, say they, "is a 
 doctrine which wc cannot be persuaded to give up but with the 
 Bible which contains it." And they further profess that " the 
 doctrine of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, as held by 
 Calvinistic divines for ages, is a doctrine clearly taught in the 
 holy Scriptures;" and that, "however mysterious and incompre- 
 hensible, it lies at the very basis of Christianity." Under this.; 
 difficulties, they implore the advice of the reverend Association. 
 But notwithstanding all the activity of Deacon South worth, and 
 the artifices and intrigues of some bigots in the neighbourhood, 
 only ten signatures could be procured to this address. Such, 
 however, was the eagerness of the venerable body, and such their 
 zeal to exterminate heresy, that they immediately directed an 
 answer to be sent to the complainants, advising them to have 
 recourse to a Council or Consociation, which is an ecclesiastical 
 court, consisting of ministers and messengers, and invested by 
 law with great and indefinite powers. But as the Consociation 
 was to consist in a great measure of the same ministers of whom 
 the Association was formed, who had already prejudged the cause; 
 and as the congregation at Mansfield had never acknowledged the 
 jurisdiction of this court, they rejected the advice with the con- 
 tempt it de-erved. Nevertheless, as this worthy confe>sor saw 
 that his unrelenting adversaries were determined to pursue e\> 
 
168 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 possible method to disturb the peace of the society, and to ac- 
 complish his ruin, and being desirous of preventing the disastrous 
 consequences of religious discord, he came to the resolution of 
 resigning his pastoral office. This resolution he communicated 
 to his friends; and at his desire the church and congregation 
 concurred with him in inviting, according to the custom of the 
 country, a mutual council of respectable ministers to give their 
 advice in the case, and, if they should judge it expedient, to grant 
 Mr. Sherman an honourable dismission and recommendation. 
 
 This council assembled in October, 1805, and Mr. Sherman 
 first stated his case and the reasons which led him to wish to 
 resign his connection with the congregation at Mansfield. After 
 which, a deputation from the church, that is, from the com- 
 municants,* were heard on their own behalf; who stated that, 
 
 * It may not perhaps be known to the generality of readers, that in the strict Inde- 
 pendent form of church government, the whole power of ecclesiastical discipline, the 
 entire management of the property, and the sole right of choosing or dismissing a 
 minister, is vested in the church, that is, in the body of communicants, of those who 
 have been admitted into the communion of that church in particular, according to its 
 prescribed forms, or who have been received by regular dismission from other churches. 
 Mere subscribers have no vote, however numerous and opulent. Mr. Howard, the 
 celebrated philanthropist, was the richest member and the most liberal supporter of the 
 congregation at Bedford ; he also joined statedly in communion with the church : but 
 not having been regularly admitted into the church, he was only regarded as an 
 occasional communicant; and in the choice of a minister not the least attention was 
 paid to his expressed opinion and desire, and a minister was chosen who was by no 
 n eans acceptable to him. 
 
 In Northamptonshire I recollect another instance in which a venerable minister of 
 irreproachable character, of most amiable manners and uuimpeached orthodoxy, was 
 dismissed from his office by the church under some trifling pretence, in opposition to 
 the sense of by far the most respectable part of the congregation. His friends 
 appealed to a court of law to reinstate their rest ected minister in his office. But 
 Lord Mansfield, who, whatever might be his politi.al delinquencies, was a most 
 liberal and impartial judge in all cases in which the rights of Protestant Dissenters 
 were concerned, demanded to see the writings of the place; and finding that they 
 vested the communicants with the discretionary power of choosing and deposing a 
 minister, he dismissed the cause immediately, and the worthy veteian was obliged to 
 resign his claims. Another chapel, however, was provided for him, where he continued 
 to officiate, and was supported by his friends as long as he lived. 
 
 In America, it is presumed that where the Independent form of church government 
 prevails this principle is in general maintained. But in Connecticut they have 
 strangely deviated from the original freedom of the separate churches, by the 
 institution of what is called the Consociation, a sort of spiritual court, which was 
 established in Connecticut in the beginning of the last century. This court has 
 power to interfere "upon all occasions ecclesiastical," and its censures are authorized 
 and supported by the civil power. Each Consociation consists of ministers and 
 
REVEREND TIIE0PH11XS LINDSEY. J 69 
 
 though the discontented party did not constitute more than one 
 third of the church, yet they plainly perceived that their design 
 was first to exclude their pastor, and then to excommunicate 
 their brethren. That, in order to prevent this schism, they had 
 offered to the complainants either that they should remain un- 
 molested with the majority ; or that the majority, for the sake 
 of peace, should dismiss their pastor, in order to remain unmo- 
 lested with them ; or, if this would not satisfy their opponents, 
 Mr. Sherman's friends would retain and maintain their own 
 minister, and let the discontented party have theirs. This eon- 
 cession however, liberal as it was, did not satisfy the dissidents. 
 Lastly, a deputation from the congregation were heard before 
 the Council, who stated that not less than nine-tenths of the 
 society were well satisfied with their minister, and had no desire 
 to part with him, or to restrain him in his inquiries. "Being," 
 as they express it, " tenacious of the right of private judgment, 
 they wish to indulge their minister in the same : neither would 
 they wish that he should act the hypocrite to gain the approbation 
 of any man ; and they apprehend that, in case Mr. Sherman is 
 dismissed, the society will soon be found in a most unhappy 
 situation, not likely to be settled with another minister for many 
 years." 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, these strong facts, this noble pro- 
 fession, and this conciliatory spirit, the prudent Council proceed, 
 as a matter of expediency, to dismiss Mr. Sherman from his 
 connection with the society ; and while they bear honourable 
 testimony to his character and talents, and " recommend him to 
 the kind reception of those who may see lit to employ him," they 
 cautiously subjoin that they "do not consider themselves as 
 giving their approbation of Mr. Sherman's peculiar phraseology 
 or circumstantial difference of sentiment on the subject of the 
 
 messengers from every congregation which belongs to it. But no congregation is 
 compelled to join it. As far as its power extends, it is properh a court ot inquisition ; 
 and in some cases the members have discovered too much of an inquisitorial spirit. — 
 N.B. 1820 : it is said that in consequence oi the popular party haying gained the 
 ascendancy in the Mate of Connecticut, th sc inquisitorial courts have been put 
 down. 
 
170 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Trinity." And in their subsequent advice to Mr. Sherman they 
 admonish him to " guard against a bold spirit of speculation, and 
 an inordinate love of novelty." 
 
 It is not a little curious to contrast those differences of opinion 
 which this venerable Council coolly describe under the soft 
 expressions of peculiar phraseology and a circumstantial difference 
 of sentiment. The man whom they gravely caution against a 
 bold spirit of speculation and inordinate love of novelty, asserts 
 the doctrine that there is One God, the sole object of religious 
 worship, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ 
 Jesus, who is the prophet and messenger of God. While his 
 orthodox opponents, to accommodate whom the Council think 
 it expedient to dismiss their exemplary pastor, maintain as a 
 doctrine essential to salvation, and which they " can never give 
 up but with the Bible which contains it," that " the man Jesus 
 is truly and properly God." Is the venerable Council serious 
 in stating differences so glaring and so substantial as these, as 
 nothing more than a " peculiar phraseology," and a " circum- 
 stantial difference" of sentiment ? No! No! Opinions such 
 as these can no more harmonize with each other than light and 
 darkness, than Christ and Belial. They who hold doctrines so 
 diametrically opposite cannot be fellow-worshippers in the same 
 temple. It was expedient that they should separate. So far the 
 Council judged right. But the difficulty lies in discovering the 
 expedience, the justice, the common sense of making the greater 
 submit to the less ; in deciding in opposition to the declared 
 principles and wishes of two-thirds of the church and nine- 
 tenths of the congregation. It is not to be doubted that the 
 members of this Council were upright and honourable men. 
 But as the case now stands it is impossible to approve of their 
 decision. Why is the majority to be sacrificed to the minority ? 
 Why is the upright conscientious inquirer after truth to fall a 
 victim to bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance ? This surely is a 
 miserable way of promoting either truth or peace. So the 
 members of this truly respectable but too timid and cautious 
 Council have themselves seen reason to acknowledge ; and one 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 171 
 
 of them at least has amply redeemed his character, and has 
 himself very lately become a fellow-sufferer in the cause of 
 truth.* 
 
 * This gentleman is the Rev. Abiel Abbot, late pastor of the first church in Coventry, 
 in the state of Connecticut, where lie was settled in February, 1795, and continued to 
 exercise his ministry peaceably and acceptably for fifteen years. In Februaiy, 1810, 
 some of the members of his church discovered in their worthy pastor symptoms of 
 heresy, and after some discussion the church applied for advice to the Association, 
 which assembled in October, who again referred them to the Consociation, which 
 assemble I in April, 1811. The Consociation summoned the worthy pastor to reply 
 to the charge : but Mr. Aboot protested against their jurisdiction ; neither himself, nor 
 the church of which he was pastor, nor the congregation, having ever joined the 
 Consociation, or acknowledged its authority. The society likewise entered a similar 
 protest. The Consociation, however, nothing daunted, voted its own competency and 
 authority, and in their way proceeded to examine the merits of the case ; the result of 
 which was, that the Rev. Abiel Abbot does neither preach nor believe the doctrine of 
 the sacred Trinity ; that he does neither preach nor believe the divinity of Jesus 
 Christ ; that be does neither preach nor believe the doctrine of the atonement by the 
 blood of Christ, nor of justification by his imputed righteousness ; and that doctrines 
 contrary to these, and subversive of the Christian's faith and hop^, are by him 
 taught and inculcated. Voted, That the man who neither believes nor preaches the 
 doctrine specified, is disqualified for the office of the gospel ministry; for he has 
 essentially renounced the Scriptures, has made shipwreck of faith, has denied the 
 Messiah, &c. The Council, therefore, feel themselves required by Jesus Chris/, the 
 great God and Saviour, &c, to declare, and they hereby do declare, that the 
 ministerial relation between the Rev. A. A. and the first church at Coventry ought to 
 be, and is dissolved, &c. 
 
 Such, at the commencement of the nineteenth century, was the language, and such 
 were the extravagant claims, of an assembly of Protestant Christian ministers 
 assuming the title of the Consociation of the County of Tolland, in the State of 
 Connecticut. Neither the Fathers of the Council of Trent, nor those of Nice, nor of 
 any intervening Council, whether General or Special, ever pretended to higher 
 authority, nor made a bolder claim to inspiration or infallibility. 
 
 Mr. Abbot, however, and his friends, the great majority of his society, not feeling 
 themselves inclined to submit to the dictates of the inspired Council, resolved that the 
 unwarranted censure of the Consociation should have no effect upon their mutual 
 connection; and he still continued to officiate among them as before. Nevertheless, 
 to guard on the one hand against the interposition of the secular arm, and on the ot'>er 
 to testify his respect to the Council itself, the members of which were individually 
 respectable, this amiable and persecuted confessor thought it advisable to invite a 
 mutual Council of giave an/l learned divines from the State of Massachusetts to 
 deliberate how far it was his duty to respect the decision of the Tollan 1 Consociation. 
 The very sensible and pious answer of Dr. Osgood, who declined attending, contains 
 many very just and pertinent observations. " For myself," says he, "I have little 
 faith in, or respect for, Ecclesiastical Councils. I have long thought them unauthorized 
 in Scripture, and for the most part worse than useless, excepting as mere referees or 
 arbiters mutually chosen by parties at variance to settle their disputes." Speaking of 
 the censure of the Consociation, he adds : " It is indeed a most extraordinary procedure 
 in this land of republican liberty, where all Ecclesiastical Establishments are explicitly 
 disclaimed. This consideration, however, assures you, that though the tongues and 
 pens of Ecclesiastical Councils be a3 free and unrestrained as those of any other 
 description of citizens, yet they have no power to execute their decrees; and you have 
 no more reason to tremble at the anathema of the Consociation of Tolland County, than 
 
172 MEMOIRS Or THE LATE 
 
 Mr. Sherman being thus dismissed from a congregation where 
 he had passed eight years in harmony and usefulness, now found 
 himself cast out upon the world destitute almost of the necessaries 
 of life, and under the ban of a powerful party, who were deter- 
 mined to the utmost to obstruct his future exertions, and to 
 drive him from the ministry. Happily, though the will Mas 
 good, the power was wanting. The pastor and the congregation 
 appear to have regarded it as their duty to acquiesce in the 
 decision of the Council, however painful : and in an affecting 
 address which was presented by the society to Mr. Sherman, they 
 express their deep regret at the unexpected dissolution of their 
 connection, when they most wished for its continuance, — when 
 they most wanted his ministerial services and friendly counsels, 
 — and when he stood highest in their esteem, and had engaged 
 their warmest affections. This address was voted November 12, 
 1805, and the answer to it is dated from Oldenbarneveld, 
 January 1, 1806. Mr. Sherman's talents were not suffered to 
 remain long unemployed; and he appears almost immediately 
 
 at a bull of the Roman Pontiff. It nrght therefore, perhaps, be advisable to let it pass 
 with as little notice ; suffering it to have no other effect than to render you a better 
 Christian and a better man." 
 
 These are the observations and advice of a wise and good man ; which perhaps it 
 would have been most prudent to have followed. The mutual Council, however, 
 convened by Mr. Abbot and his friends, assembled at Coventry, on the 15th of June, 
 1811, the venerable Dr. Lathrop in the chair ; and after due deliberation they conclude 
 that " the Consociation had no ri^ht to dissolve the connection between the pastor and 
 society, the great majority of whom manifest a warm attachment to his person and 
 ministry; but that from considerations of expediency they do dissolve it, and declare 
 that it is dissolved accordingly. ' Thus again we see the sacred cause of Christian truth 
 sacrificed to a mean and temporizing policy ; and the faithful champion of truth, the 
 amiable, useful, and beloved pastor torn from his weeping flock, and consigned to 
 poverty and solitude for the sake of preserving a hollow, deceitful, temporary peace. 
 But this cannot last long ; nor can such a measure be approved by the great Head of 
 the Church. Of this strange event, the virtuous sufferer has published a fair and 
 interesting narrative, which is written with a temper and spirit truly Christian. " I 
 will bring," says he, " no railing accusation. The men from whom I have differed, I 
 have loved: the men from whom I have suffered, I have respected ; and to none am I 
 conscious, to this hour, of feeling an unfriendly sentiment. From the heart I wish 
 them grace, mercy, and peace. * It is. however, but justice to the members of this, 
 perhaps, too cautious Council, to add, that they do not presume to jud^e of :he faith of 
 their unfortunate brother ; that they express the highest respect for his moral character, 
 and that they cordially recommend him to the pastoral office in some other church. And 
 if there be, as I am sure there is, a love of truth, virtue, and liberty, in the New 
 England States, this able, honest, and pious sufferer for truth will not be suffered to 
 remain long in silence and seclusion. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LTNDSEY. 173 
 
 after liis dismission to have been invited to undertake the 
 pastoral charge of the small congregation which had been 
 collected chiefly by the labours of the excellent Adrian Vander- 
 kemp. And to enable him to remove his family to this distance, 
 he received a very handsome pecuniary present from his friends 
 at Mansfield j which he acknowledges with warm gratitude. At 
 last this respectable society seems to have roused itself from 
 its slumber, and to have taken the step which it might 
 have been expected that their affection would have dictated im- 
 mediately upon their worthy pastor's dismission. The church 
 and the congregation invite him to resume the pastoral office at 
 Mansfield. This invitation was dated December 19, but it was 
 then too late. A scene of greater usefulness had, in his estimation, 
 opened before him, and to this consideration he regarded it as 
 his duty to sacrifice personal gratification and social enjoyment. 
 But in his reply to this application, he introduces a very judicious 
 summary of the evidence of the Unitarian doctrine, and concludes 
 with expressing his grateful sense of the kindness of his friends, 
 and with a very impressive address to the youth of the con- 
 gregation.* For some years afterwards Mr. Sherman remained 
 at Oldenbarneveld ; and in a letter to Mrs. Lindsey, dated 
 November 5, 1807, the worthy Mr. Vanderkemp expresses 
 himself thus favourably of the exertions and success of his re- 
 spected coadjutor : 
 
 * The conclusion of this worthy confessor's address to the youth of his late congre- 
 gation of Mansfield is so excellent, that no apology can be necessary for inserting it. 
 
 " To the great question in dispute undoubtedly your minds are also directed. The 
 subject is of primary importance, and demands your serious and attentive consideration. 
 Surely you ought to know whether you are to be the worshippers of Three Gods, or of 
 One God only. Let me exhort you to search the Scriptures diligently on this point, 
 and see whether they teach you that three divine persons, three distinct moral agents, 
 make, when added together, only one individual being. Should the result of your 
 investigation comport with the doctrine which I have taught you from the Scriptures, I 
 wish you may be duly impressed with the importance of openly avowing it, and 
 appearing as its advocates . that as you rise into public life you will never be 
 asha : ed of the interesting truth, but boldly and faithfully stand in its defence, 
 though the multitude should be against you. Let your zeal, however, be well tempered 
 with Christian charity. Br mo ieratc and candid, liberal and catholic, in your treatment 
 of those who may differ. Above all, always remember that the best orthodoxy is a 
 faithful observai.ee of the sacred precepts of that One God, whom you profess and 
 acknowledge." 
 
174 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 " It must fill Mr. Lindsey's heart with gladness that his labours 
 are blessed here in the wilderness, through the means of those 
 whom he enlightened and confirmed in the gospel doctrine by his 
 writings. Our pastor, with his amiable arid worthy wife, has the 
 greatest reason for gratitude to the Divine Being, being beloved, 
 respected, and useful in spreading religious knowledge far and 
 wide. Our situation, in a religious point of view, is very gratify- 
 ing. Notwithstanding, our pastor has to struggle with furious 
 bigotry and ignorant superstition, which blacken his character 
 and slander his innocence, while infidelity has her adherents 
 through the whole country. That kind of writings are spread 
 everywhere, and peddled round the country by hawkers in the 
 wilderness, sometimes under spurious titles. Volney and Paine 
 and Hollis are found in miserable cots and hovels, while it is 
 often difficult to meet the sacred Scriptures.. This evil has been 
 nursed through the misconduct of high-flying Calvinist teachers 
 in New England, in choosing their missionaries from the most 
 stupid and bigoted ; perhaps from necessity : while men of talents 
 among them decline the task. It is therefore not surprising that 
 our pastor is heard with delight wherever there remains any claim 
 to virtue and religion. His plain affable manners, his energetic 
 manner of preaching, his vast superiority over his antagonists in 
 disputes whenever they attack him, increase his influence every 
 day. He preaches in the week twenty miles round, and is san- 
 guine in his expectations that he shall form another society twelve 
 miles from hence. Few weeks are passing in which some one or 
 other of the vicinity do not join our church, and those by far the 
 most respectable among them. Disney's tracts and Seddon's 
 sermons have operated a great deal of good : so, too, have the 
 works of my worthy friend, who now ere long shall receive the 
 glorious reward of his labours. Our minister has instituted a 
 school of moral instruction, in which every subject of natural and 
 revealed religion is discussed freely/' 
 
 In a letter dated April, 1809, Mr. Vanderkemp writes in a less 
 sanguine, yet not altogether discouraging strain : " The gospel 
 cause gains slowly here and at Philadelphia. We have at length 
 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 175 
 
 succeeded to re-engage our worthy minister," who it should seem 
 was about to leave them for want of necessary support for his 
 family. " His ministerial labours are not in vain. Well supplied 
 with a tolerable library, he has seen it enlarged, by Mr. J. 
 Priestley and Mr. J. Taylor from Philadelphia, by some valuable 
 additions. He deserves fully this encouragement. His talents 
 are bright : his sermons are plain and persuasive ; his prayers 
 devout and ardent ; — and his conduct struck his slanderers dumb." 
 Unfortunately, whether it were owing to the inability of the 
 congregation at Oldenbarneveld to raise an adequate income for 
 the support of their worthy pastor ; or whether, as is often the 
 case with persons of genius, and whose minds are devoted to 
 intellectual pursuits, there might be on his part too little atten- 
 tion paid to economical arrangements ; in the next account we 
 learn that Mr. Sherman was under the necessity of dissolving his 
 connection with this society, and that the flock was at that time 
 left without a shepherd, and in a state by no means encourag- 
 ing. " The best that I can say about our situation is," says the 
 excellent Mr. Vanderkemp, in a letter to Mrs. Lindsey, dated 
 August, 1810, "that we are in a very torpid state. Since March 
 we have had no minister. Though a few doubled their subscrip- 
 tions, though twice we took the defalcations of others on our 
 account, we could not raise a sum adequate to his salary : so the 
 connection was dissolved, to our great grief and the irreparable loss 
 of this community. AVe have resolved, however, and continue 
 steadfastly our religious meetings. Some of us have engaged to 
 read in turns; so that we are edified sometimes by Clarke and 
 Tillotson, sometimes by Blair, and sometimes by Lindsey, Priestley, 
 Price, and Toulmin."* 
 
 * In a letter which I received from Mr. Sherman, dated Oldenbarneveld, August 25, 
 1818, he states that his sole reason for resigning his connection with the congregation, 
 wa3 the necessity of providing for a large and growing family. He now keeps a 
 flourishing academical school, by the profits of which his circumstances have been 
 retrieved : and he expre.-ses a hope that, if life be spared, he may again be called to 
 preach the gospel of the grace of God. Mr. S. likewise states, in justification of the 
 Council at Mansfield, that it was at his own desire that he was dismissed; — this fact, 
 however, should have been more clearly stated in his publication. 
 
176 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Of the present state of the Unitarian doctrine in the district 
 (now the State) of Maine, the author of this Memoir is not in- 
 formed. Whether the congregation at Portland collected by the 
 worthy Mr. Oxnard, or that at Saco, under the patronage of the 
 truly excellent Mr. Thatcher, still exist, or in what state they now 
 are, he has not heard. At Hallowell, the first families in the 
 place are in their principles decidedly Unitarian ; and it is hoped 
 that they will find some opportunity of erecting an altar to the 
 One God, and that by the powerful influence of instruction and 
 example they will diffuse the blessings of national religion in a dis- 
 trict which, under their auspices, is rapidly rising into opulence 
 and distinction. 
 
 In the State of Massachusetts, and particularly in the environs 
 of Boston, the great cause of Christian truth is making a silent 
 but rapid and irresistible progress. From the inquisitive and 
 liberal spirit which prevails in the University of Cambridge, 
 which has never been checked at any time, but which there is 
 reason to expect will receive every requisite aid and encouragement 
 from the present learned and accomplished Principal, Dr. Kirk- 
 land, the happiest consequences may be expected to ensue. 
 
 The edition of Griesbach's Greek Testament with select various 
 readings, and with the accurate and laborious author's latest 
 corrections, a copy of which was procured in Germany by the 
 late reverend, learned, and eloquent Joseph S. Buckminster, which 
 under his inspection was elegantly and correctly reprinted in 
 America as a text- book for the students of Harvard College, can- 
 not fail to contribute essentially to the true interpretation of the 
 sacred oracles. And a large and beautiful impression of the 
 Improved Version, with the Notes, published by my intelligent, 
 learned, and valuable friend and correspondent Mr. W. Wells, of 
 Boston, whose zeal for truth is beyond all praise, will, it is hoped, 
 contribute to the better understanding of difficult and doubtful 
 passages in holy writ. The Monthly Anthology, the General 
 Repository, and of late the Christian Disciple, and other valuable 
 periodical publications conducted by gentlemen of distinguished 
 talents and liberality, tend very much to diffuse a spirit of inquiry. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 177 
 
 Bigotry is discountenanced; and divine worship in many of the 
 principal churches at Boston is carried on upon principles strictly, 
 if not avowedly, Unitarian.* Being myself a friend to in- 
 
 * A very correct, certainly not a partial account of the present state of professed 
 Unitarianism in the State of the Massachusetts, and particularly in Boston, has lately 
 been published in the Monthly Repository for March and April, 1812, in a letter 
 addressed by my highly esteemed friend the Reverend Francis Parkman, of 1 oston, to 
 the Reverend John Grundy, in reply to a flattering account of the state of Unitarian iem 
 in Boston and its vicinity, contained in the Appendix to Mr. Grundy's eh quent dis- 
 course at the opening of a new place of worship at Liverpool. This account appears to 
 have been communicated to my worthy friend by some person whose zeal in a good 
 cause led him to see the objects of his wish in rather too favourable a light. — See 
 Appendix. No. X. 
 
 The following extract from a letter written by a minister in America to his friend n 
 England, dated October, 1810, though somewhat long, will, it is hoped, be found both 
 entertaining and important; it will throw much light upon the sta'e of religion in 
 Boston, and may give rise to some useful reflections : — 
 
 " On my return home I spent the Sabbath at Templeton, and I preached twice. 
 There are not more than forty or fifty families near the meeting; but they come in all 
 directions from the woods and mountains in such numbers as to make altogether a 
 goodiy company. There being in almost every parish, est ecially in Massachusetts and 
 Connecticut, a settled minister always of good morals, and generally of real piety, to 
 administer divine ordinances to them and lead them in the way of tuth and duty, can 
 scarcely fail having a good influence upon the people at large, in preserving them 
 from that gross ignorance and grievous profligacy so prevalent in many countries that 
 are called Christian. Nothing would satisfy my son but I must, whilst in Boston, 
 have my picture drawn ; this cut up my time so very much, I could not attend so many 
 of their private meetings as I otherwise should. It was the General Election for the 
 State; the Democrats gained the ascendency. I heard the election sermon preached by 
 Dr. P., a very warm Federalist. He made it his business to expose the nefarious pro- 
 ceedings of the opposite party — in truth, a most copious subject; and was heard by the 
 people in the gall-Ties with high approbation, and almost clapping. The Convention 
 Sermon (i.e. the sermon preached before the General Assembly of Ministers) was 
 preached by Dr. Porter. Full two hundred ministers were in town. Their public 
 business is transacted in the Court-house. The Convention has no ecclesiastical 
 authority. Their proceedings and resolutions are merely advisory, but are not without 
 considerable effect. The principal thing that came before them was a complaint against 
 some missionaries for going into parishes where there were settled ministers, holding 
 meetings without their knowledge, and even in opposition to their advice. The con- 
 duct of the missionaries was highly disapproved. The Monday after the General 
 Election for the State, there is always a sermon preached to the Artillery Comply. 
 Mr. L., I was informed, gave them an excellent discourse, but I did not hear it. I 
 went to the meeting door, but the crowd was so great that I did not go in. The two 
 Legislative bodies, the Governor, and a number of the principal gentlemen and clergy, 
 after the service was over, dined at Fanuel Hall, a large building over the market-house, 
 where they have their t<>wn meetings and transact their town business. Mr. Jackson, 
 the late British Minister, was there. I was invited to dine with them, but declined it. 
 I was, however, introduced to Mr. Jackson at his lodgings, and once dined with him 
 at Mr. B.'s. Mrs. Jackson, with four other ladies were there; the rest of the party 
 were gentlenv n, about thirty in all. We had a splendid entertainment. Two courses 
 of all the delicacies money could procure. Among the rest, a dish of green peas, the 
 first brought to market, which, the papers said, c st four dollars a bushel. The 
 
 N 
 
178 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 genuousness and candour, I could wish to see all who are truly 
 Unitarians openly such, and to teach the doctrine of the simple 
 
 Bostonians paid Mr. Jackson great attention, and were much pleased with his 
 behaviour while among them. I preached for Dr. E., Mr. B., Mr. L., and Mr. F., at 
 the Stone chapel. The last-mentioned gentleman was never episcopally ordained; of 
 course, the ministers who have been so never exchange with him. In this place the 
 Governor used to worship when the State was a British colony. It is a large stone 
 building, just like an English church. The other three are large and costly buildings, 
 and have numerous assemblies meet in them. The galleries were designed principally 
 for Negroes ; but there is now a meeting built for the Africans to worship in by them- 
 selves. A mulatto minister preaches to them. There are said to be eleven or tw. Ive 
 hundred people of colour in the town. It was Communion-day at Mr. B.'s ; there 
 were about one hundred and fifty communicants. At Dr. E.'s, there must have been 
 two hundred. Never did I see such a display of plate on the Communion-table. At 
 Dr. E.'s, there were five or six flagons, which held from three to four quarts each ; six 
 tankards, each containing a full quart ; two dozen of cups of various sizes and forms, 
 with six large plates for the bead ; all handsome, and as bright as silver can be made. 
 No person of a grain of sense can suppose these things to be of any i nportance. But 
 as many of these people display great opulence in their own houses, I see nothing 
 improper in their expending a portion of their superfluous wealth upon the house of 
 Go 1. A charity sermon is preached once a quarter for the benefit of the poor belong- 
 ing to the Congregational societies in this town. The ministers of that denomination 
 preach it in UVir turns, and the money is equally divided among the societies for dis- 
 tribution. About fourteen hundred dollars are collected in this way in the year. Mr. C. 
 preached an excellent discourse, and is in truth a charming preacher ; being remarkably 
 serious and sensible, and universally liked. The place was quite full, though it will 
 accommodate upwards of two thousand people. There is always a collection at the 
 Convention Sermon for the relief of poor ministers and their families. About six 
 hundred dollars were collected on that occasion. Though the people in Boston have 
 lost much of their ancient rigidity respecting the Sabbath, great attention is paid to 
 that day. Few resort into the country, and those who do, go early in the morning that 
 they may not be noticed. Very few visit on that day, and but few are to be seen in 
 the streets, except when going to or from public worship, and then the streets are 
 crowded. At sunset their Sabbath is considered as ended ; the gentlemen often visit 
 their friends, and the ladies sometimes take their work. In religious families the 
 Saturday evenings are observed with strictness ; but some, as might be expected, under 
 pretence of keeping Saturday evening in preference to the other, keep neither. It is 
 customary in the gayest, and even the most profligate, to connect themselves with some 
 religious society, so far as to contribute to its support, and occasionally to attend. This 
 is necessary if they would be . thought of any consequence in society, and even to 
 preserve themselves from ridicule and reproach. Dr. E., who has been a minister at 
 Boston above thirty years, tells me he never knew a greater regard paid to religion in 
 that town than now, nor does he think there ever was in his time more real goodness 
 among them. On election day I dined with about thirty gentlemen at Mr. P.'s, one of 
 the deacons of Dr. K.'s church. We had a most sumptuous entertainment. When they 
 h id drunk two or three glasses of wine after dinner, the company dispersed. This I 
 find is a pretty general practice, and thus all te nptation to drink to excess is avoided. 
 Their graces before and after meals are generally longer than with you. That office 
 is assigned to the minister of the host, or to the oldest minister present. Epis- 
 copalianism is at most only upon a level with other denominations. The Bostonians are 
 very commendable for keeping very much to their own places of worship, and for speak- 
 ing of their own minister as one or the best preachers in the town. The clergy seem 
 to be comfort ibly supported, their salaries being from 1,500 to 2,000 dollars a year, and 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 179 
 
 indivisible Unity of God as well as to practise the rites of 
 Unitarian worship. But I will not presume to judge for another. 
 
 they are constantly receiving handsome presents. They very generally wear in the 
 summer a "ilk gown and cassock, with a band ; in the winter a cloth one ; and altogether 
 their worship is kept up in a splendid style. The pulpits throughout the country will 
 hold from four to six ministers; and in Boston their rich cushions and curtains, or 
 Venetian blinds, ornamental pillars and splendid chandeliers, give their meetings a 
 magnificent appearance I think those which have been lately built are too lar^e; 
 a minister mast have a good voice to fill them. Boston is said to contain 30,000 
 people, and is increasing very fast. The ground on which the town stands is greatly 
 elevated on the south-west. It makes a noble appearance from the country. The 
 State House on Beacon Hill is a magnificent structure. All their Meetings have 
 steeples with one b 11. Th it to the new Meeting in Park Street is very lofty, and one 
 of the handsomest I ever saw. It stands on high ground at the top of the Mall, is 
 seen all rou d the country, and indeed beyond the lighthouse far into Massachusetts 
 I '>ay. The High Calvinists, who built this Meeting, expected to have lessened the other 
 congregations, but I am told they have not yet done it. Should they get a popular 
 minister, I have no doubt there will be a large society : the disposition of the people 
 for attending public worship being such that I expect all their meetings will be well 
 attended. In the o'd part of the town the streets are narrow and crooked, but are 
 much improved and improving in that respect. Formerly, they were much exposed to 
 depredations from fire, the houses being mostly built of wood. The danger from this 
 quarter is lessening daily, as no buildings higher than fourteen feet are permitted to be 
 erected of wood now. The town s ands on a peninsula, joining to the main land only 
 by a narrow neck on the south. Th y were, therefore, obliged to make use of boats to 
 get to and fr m town. But since the wa , five bridges have been built over the 
 different waters that surround Boston and Charleston, which are a vast convenience to 
 the inhabitants. These bridges are all built of wood, and some of them are above a 
 mile in length. The ministers of Boston and that vicinity discover considerable accuracy 
 and taste in their compositions, and, generally speaking, may be considered as well 
 furnished divines. Dr. 0. is a man of very strong powers of mind; and though he 
 distinguishes himself upon all public occasions, and especially tho*e of a political nature 
 his general manner of preaching is very pious and edifying. The clergv are invited to 
 a great many good dinners. A Boston merchant would hardly think of making a 
 dinner for his friends without inviting t l iree or four clergymen. Some that I once 
 knew I believe injured their health and shortened their days by eating and drinking 
 too much. Those now on the staje do not give in to any excess." 
 
 For this long, but curious and interesting extract, I trust that the reader will require 
 no apology. I will only add two brie! reflections. First, that the ministers of the 
 Church of England are not the only persons who dislike itinerant intruders into 
 parishes which are served by regular clergymen. The spirit of all establishments is the 
 same, whether the favoured sect be Episcopalian Presbyterian, or Congregational. 
 Secondly — may it be permitted to put the question without offence ] —Can it upon the 
 common principles of human nature be reasonably expected of a bodv of clergy, nursed 
 in the lip of ease and affluence, and placed in a station of such high secular con- 
 sideration and comfort as that of the ministers of Bos-ton, that they s ouid come forward 
 and. by an open profession of unpopular truth, voluntarily risk the loss of all their 
 temp ral dignity and comfort, and incur the contempt and enmity of many wh • are now 
 their warmest admirers and friends 1 I say not this by way of disparagement to the 
 present body of mini-teis in Boston and its neighbourhood. Some of these I have the 
 pi asure to call my fri-nds. an 1 1 know them to be possessed of talents th.- most dis- 
 ting f the most fervent, and of lien 'Vol,. nee ail( ^ z .. a | t i 1(1 Tn( , s - H( ] ( . ntj 
 
 active, ar.d laudable, and of the rest I have heard a most favourable character. It is 
 
 N 2 
 
180 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 There may possibly be reasons for caution which do not occur to 
 me, and of which I am not competent to judge. The time must 
 however come, perhaps it is near, when truth will no longer 
 endure confinement, but will burst forth in all her glory. The 
 dull hollow rumbling at the bottom of the sea, which is scarcely 
 noticed by the inattentive traveller who is gliding carelessly over 
 the solid plate of ice which encrusts the surface, is, to the wary 
 and experienced observer, a sure presage of the speedy and sudden 
 explosion of the immense superincumbent mass, and of the 
 restoration of the imprisoned waves to their native freedom, to 
 the consternation and often to the utter destruction of those who 
 refuse to listen to the friendly premonition.* 
 
 APPENDIX to CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A have republished this chapter without any material alterations ; 
 though I have learned with regret that some worthy persons have 
 taken offence at it, and that it has given birth to a warm, not to 
 say an angry, controversy on the other side of the Atlantic. 
 
 It should seem that many who claim the honourable title of 
 Unitarians in the American States, are very desirous to have 
 
 the situation, not the men, which excites my apprehension. And who will venture to 
 say of himself that his virtue would be equal to the trial ] Yet still it cannot reason- 
 ably be hoped tliat truth will make any visible and rapid progress till her advocates 
 rise .above the fear of man and the love of ease, and are willing, with the Apostles of 
 Christ, and the reformers of every age, to forsake all and to sacrifice their devest 
 interests in her glorious cause. The encouragement and success which such faithful 
 confessors would meet with in that populous and opulent city would, I doubt not, be 
 very great. The harvest truly is plenteous ; it is ripe and ready to be gathered in. 
 Highly honoured will that servant be to whom the great Master of the field shall 
 communicate a portion of his energetic spirit, and shall say, " Put in thy sickle and 
 
 reap." 
 
 * See the interesting narrative of the very narrow escape of two Moravian mis- 
 sionaries in travelling over the ice, in consequence of neglecting the advice of some 
 friendly Esquimaux, in the History of the Mission of the United Brethren to 
 Labrador. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 181 
 
 it known that they are not " Unitarians in Mr. Belsham's sense ot 
 the word." Of this I have no right to complain : I never desired 
 to set myself up as the head of a party : nor have I the slightest 
 pretensions to it ; being nothing more than a humble disciple 
 in the school of Lardner, of Lindsey, and of Priestley; having 
 learned of them and of a few others, particularly Locke, how 
 to read and examine the Scriptures, and being a follower of them 
 so far as they appear to me to be followers of Christ and his 
 Apostles. But I do complain of palpable misrepresentation of my 
 opinions, and of an exaggerated account of my sentiments con- 
 cerning the person of Christ, to which I am by no means dis- 
 posed to subscribe. 
 
 In perfect concurrence with the first-named venerable men, 
 I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a human being, in all respects 
 like unto his brethren, only distinguished from the rest of mankind 
 as the greatest of all the prophets of God, chosen by the Most 
 High to be the founder of a new and universal dispensation, 
 the prince and the leader of life, the first begotten from the dead, 
 to whom the spirit was communicated without measure. By which 
 I mean, that he was fully instructed in the nature, object, and 
 extent of his divine mission, and that he was endowed with a 
 voluntary power of working those miracles which were necessary 
 to excite attention, and to demonstrate the divinity of his mission. 
 
 In this definition of Unitarianism I perfectly harmonize with 
 Dr. Lardner, Mr. Lindsey, and Dr. Priestley : it is no more 
 my definition than it is theirs : and I have no right to the honour 
 of being represented as its author. They who disclaim Uni- 
 tarianism according to my definition, disclaim the Unitarianism of 
 Lardner, Lindsey, and Priestley — men of the greatest distinction 
 for theological learning, for their researches into the Scripture, and 
 for the unblemished sanctity of their character. 
 
 I agree with Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley in rejecting upon 
 critical grounds the story of the miraculous conception, and in 
 believing that Jesus Christ was the son of Joseph and Mary. 
 And being in all respects like other men, he must originally have 
 been a peccable, or he could not have been a moral agent : and the 
 perfection of his character was owing to moral discipline. Though 
 he was a Son, he learned obedience by the things he suffered : 
 and he grew in wisdom as he grew in stature. And though 
 inspired with a perfect knowledge of everything relating to 
 his divine mission, it would be absurd to suppose that a human 
 
182 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 being was inspired with omniscience. In those philosophical, 
 historical, and other topics which were not immediately connected 
 with the objects of his mission, he probably entertained opinions 
 similar to those of his countrymen in similar circumstances. This 
 is all that is meant when it is said that Jesus was fallible : and in 
 this conclusion all consistent believers in the proper humanity 
 of Jesus Christ must agree. Dr. Priestley thought that Jesus had 
 erred in the interpretation of Scripture prophecy, and in the case 
 of the Gospel demoniacs. I do not completely agree with my 
 late learned and pious friend in all his conclusions upon these 
 subjects : but if they were true, they would not at all affect 
 the authority of Christ in those points to which his divine mission 
 properly extended. 
 
 If Unitarianism is a belief in the existence of one God only, in 
 opposition to a plurality of deities, I am decidedly of opinion, 
 with Dr. Lardner, Mr. Lindsey, and Dr. Priestley, that genuine 
 Arians have no claim to the title of Unitarians. Dr. Lardner, 
 with all his mildness, had such a dislike to Arianism that he could 
 hardly speak of it with temper. "Dr. Watts," says he, " to his 
 honour be it spoken, never was an Arian." And though he lived in 
 an age when Arianism was triumphant, so profound was his know- 
 ledge of Christian antiquity, and so clear his discernment of 
 Scripture theology, that it was a well-known maxim with him, 
 " The pride of Arianism will have a fall." Mr. Lindsey, " to his 
 honour be it spoken," never was an Arian. Dr. Priestley and 
 others descended from the heights of orthodoxy to the plains 
 of Unitarianism through the medium of Arianism. I am there- 
 fore very far from intending the slightest disparagement to 
 those who hold the Arian doctrine, as I myself for many years 
 very honestly did, with perhaps a slight modification of what 
 is now called the indwelling scheme, in whatever language I may 
 now think it right to enter my protest against it. No one surely 
 who thinks rightly concerning the Unity of God will ever 
 admit that Dr. Clarke's scheme of an eternally begotten Logos, 
 or the proper Arian doctrine of a created Logos, who is the sole 
 former, preserver, and governor of the whole created universe, 
 which completely excludes God from all concern in his works, 
 is consistent with just notions of the Unity oi the Supreme 
 Being. Upon both these hypotheses, if the Father is nominally 
 God, the Logos is really and the only God. And as to modern 
 Arianism, such as that of Dr. Price, which supposes the Logos to 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 183 
 
 be only the former, supporter, governor and judge of this world, or 
 of the planetary system, if ever polytheism existed in the world, 
 this doctrine is such. For not only does it exclude God from his 
 works like the theories of Alius and Dr. Clarke, so far as this 
 world is concerned ; but it naturally and necessarily leads to the 
 conclusion that there are as many Logi as there are systems, 
 and that each Logos is endowed with infinitely more power than all 
 the gods and goddesses of the heathen world put together ; who 
 yet were also subject to one great Supreme. Arianism therefore is 
 polytheism in its strictest sense. But modern Arians, as if they 
 were determined to recede as far as possible from the letter of 
 Scripture, having thus deified their Lord and Master, and 
 raised him into the situation of a substitute for the Supreme 
 Being, strangely, and in direct opposition to the dictates of 
 common sense and to the plainest language of Scripture, deny him 
 the worship and homage due to the rank and character to which 
 they have elevated him. For while the Scripture expressly requires 
 that we shall worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our 
 Maker, for he is our God ; the modern Arian replies, "No, 
 we will not worship the Lord our or, for he is not our God; 
 
 and to worship him would be an act of downright idolatry : but we 
 will worship our Maker's Maker, for he alone is our God : " a 
 strange doctrine; for which if any one can find any foundation 
 in the Scripture, he must read with very different eyes from mine. 
 It is indeed astonishing that so many wise and good men should 
 be so blind to the plain consequences of their own opinions, 
 and should fancy that they are Unitarians, when they believe 
 not only in two, but in two hundred thousand gods. But, as 
 Dr. Price says, we are apt to wonder at one another : and it is 
 almost impossible to make sufficient allowance for the strength of 
 early prejudice and the influence of* fixed principles. But at 
 least 1 think it will be allowed me that, while I entertain these 
 sentiments of the Arian hypothesis, I cannot very consistently 
 class Arians with Unitarians.* As to the verv modern doctrine 
 
 * Nothing can be more extraordinary and unaccountable than the zeal writh which 
 modern Arians explode the worship of Jesus Christ. For upwards of twenty year-* (if 
 my life I was an Arian or a Clarkist. I believed that the spirit, the Logos which 
 animated the body of Christ, was the maker of heaven and earth and sea, and all 
 things therein : I believed that he was my maker, supporter, benefactor and governor, 
 in whom I lived and moved and existed : I believed that he descended from his 
 celestial glories; that he became incarnate; that he took the form of a servant; 
 and, that by undergoing the severest pains of body and mind, he satisfied Divine 
 
184 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 of the simple pre-existence of Christ, the abettors of it have 
 certainly no claim to the title of Arians, but have a very good 
 right to be numbered with Unitarians, though, as I think, under 
 a cloud of error. 
 
 No small share of credit is claimed by many on both sides the 
 Atlantic for being what they call practical preachers, and for not 
 troubling their hearers with what they represent as speculative 
 notions. And not unfrequently a sarcasm or an inuendo is 
 thrown out against those of their brethren who think it their 
 duty to instruct, as well as to exhort. If such practical teachers 
 satisfy their own consciences, and are useful to others, it is well. 
 Happy is he who condemneth not himself in the thing that he 
 alloweth. Theirs is comparatively an easy task. Others are 
 placed in circumstances of greater difficulty and severer trial. 
 Enlightened by a serious, long, and painful study of the Scrip- 
 tures in the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, they feel 
 themselves not only called to resign their most cherished pre- 
 judices, but to abandon their dearest connections, to exchange 
 
 justice and expiated the sins of men. I believed that after his resurrecion he ascended 
 into heaven ; that he resumed his original glory ; and that he ever lives to make 
 intercession for us, in the usual sense of the words. I believed that the first duty of 
 a Christian was to commit his immortal interests into the hands of Christ, who was 
 ever willing to take the charge of thorn ; and who was always at hand to sympathize, 
 to strengthen, to console, to advise, and to keep what was committed to him to that day. 
 With these views of Christ, was it possible to Mippress the feelings of veneration, 
 of gratitude, of hope, of confidence, of joy and the like ; or to restrain the natural 
 expressions of those feelings, in the language of prayer and praise] It was utterly 
 impossible. And never sh 11 I forget the delight with which 1 have a thousand and a 
 thousand times repeated the language of Grove's Sacramental Meditations : "Do 
 I not love thee, my Saviour ! thou knowest all things, thou knowestthat I love thee. 
 1 love thee, O Jesus ! but not as 1 would not as I ought to love thee,'' &c. Or of that 
 beautiful hymn of Dr. Doddridge : 
 
 11 Do I not love thee, my Lord ! 
 
 Then let nie nothing love ; 
 Be dead, my heart, to every joy, 
 
 If Jesus cannot move." 
 
 And even now I hardly dare trust my feelings with those recollections ; even though, 
 in consequence of having acquired correcter notions of the person of Christ, I am fi.lly 
 convinced that our exalted Master would not think himself honoured by those affectii ns 
 and addre.-ses which are alone due to his Fa her and our Father, to his God and 
 our God. But how it is that modern Arians can possibly entertain these sentiments of 
 Jesus Christ, and yet refuse him the correspondent homage; and not only so, but make 
 their boast of it, a d glory in it as a ciicuinstance which entitles them to the honour- 
 able title of Unitarians, is utterly beyond my comprehension. When I entertained 
 their sentiments concerning the person and offices of Christ, I should rather have said, 
 " Perish Unitarianism ! if it requites a sacrifice so costly as that of the affection 
 and homage which are due to the Redeemer." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 185 
 
 affluence for poverty, and reputation for contempt. Being them- 
 selves happily possessed of the simplicity of evangelical truth, 
 discerning its inestimable value, and feeling its enlivening and 
 consolatory power, they believe it to be their duty to enter their 
 solemn protest against popular and prevailing errors, and to be as 
 explicit in teaching God's sacred truth, as others are in publishing 
 their unscriptural and pernicious errors. In thus fearlessly obey- 
 ing the dictates of conscience they often incur severe privations, 
 and are censured and even abandoned by some from whom they 
 would have expected more liberal treatment. It is however 
 enough for them that God knows their heart ; and that his appro- 
 bation will make ample amends for every loss which they may 
 sustain, for every pang which they endure, for all the calumny 
 and reproach which they encounter from the world, and from 
 the unkind censures of their mistaken brethren. If they are 
 honoured as the humblest instruments of promoting the truth of 
 God and the purity of the Gospel, none of these things move 
 them. 
 
 As to the rest, I trust that this discussion has been the happy 
 means of promoting the great cause of the proper Unity and the 
 sole unrivalled glory of God in the United States. I am happy 
 to learn that ministers both of the Arian and Unitarian per- 
 suasions are now in the habit of openly professing the doctrines 
 which they believe : and I do not wonder that, in consequence of 
 this fearless integrity in a land of perfect religious liberty, Chris- 
 tian truth is Hashing like lightning through that highly favoured 
 empire, from Boston to Baltimore, and from Philadelphia to the 
 Illinois. And I doubt not that in less than a century the belief 
 of one God even the Father, and of one Mediator between God 
 and man, the man Christ Jesus, will become the prevailing religion 
 of the Western world.* 
 
 * The admirable discourse of the Rev. W. E. Charming, delivered at the ordination 
 of the Rev. Jared Sparks, the respectable minister of the new Unitarian church at 
 Baltimore, in May, 1819, and the explicit language used upon that occasion, are amply 
 sufficient to redeem the liberal theologians in America from the censure of concealing 
 what they believe to be the truth : and the discussion excited by this eloquent address 
 cannot fail to be greatly conducive to the cause of free inquiry and the propagation of 
 Christian knowledge. 
 
18G MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE NEW COLLEGE AT HACKNEY. THE AUTHORS 
 INTRODUCTION TO, AND INTIMACY WITH, MR. LINDSEY AND 
 DR. PRIESTLEY. LONDON UNITARIAN SOCIETY. WESTERN 
 UNITARIAN SOCIETY. REV. TIMOTHY KENRICK. UNITARIAN 
 FUND SOCIETY. 
 
 From this long but I trust not irrelevant nor uninteresting di- 
 gression concerning the present state of the Unitarian doctrine 
 in America, it is now time to return to the venerable subject of 
 the present Memoir. 
 
 In the year 1786, the Dissenting Academical Institutions at 
 Exeter, Warrington, and Hoxton, having been lately dissolved, 
 and no place of education for Dissenting ministers remaining 
 where freedom of inquiry upon theological questions was allowed, 
 excepting that at Daventry, which was by no means equal to supply 
 the demands of the Nonconformist churches, some gentlemen in 
 London formed a plan for erecting an Academical Institution in 
 the vicinity of London for the purposes of general education, and to 
 supersede the necessity of sending the sons of Dissenting parents 
 to the English Universities, where they are under an obligation of 
 subscribing to articles which they do not believe, and of attending 
 upon forms of worship which they do not approve. The design 
 was generous and noble; and it could not have failed to produce 
 the most beneficial and permanent effects, had the wisdom of the 
 execution been proportionate to the beneficence of the plan, and 
 to the disinterested liberality, the zeal, and the public spirit of 
 the original founders. The Dissenters through the country took 
 up the case most warmly, and subscribed most liberally; so that, 
 if the sums raised had been judiciously applied, an institution 
 might have been founded and endowed which would have bid 
 defiance to opposition and calumny, and the duration of which 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 187 
 
 would have been equal with that of the nation. Some have 
 objected to its vicinity to London : but the true and conclusive 
 answer to this is, that other very flourishing Academical Institu- 
 tions have existed, and do exist, in the vicinity of the metropolis : 
 there is, therefore, no impossibility, physical or moral, why an 
 Institution of this kind, established upon liberal principles, and 
 aided by a vigorous system of discipline, might not have been 
 equally successful. And the advantages of the vicinity of Lon- 
 don are obvious and numerous, particularly as it affords the 
 greatest facility of obtaining the best means of instruction in 
 every art and science. If the funds of the Institution had been 
 permanently established and economically applied, any error, 
 however great, in the internal management might have been 
 corrected without affecting its existence. It was a grand experi- 
 ment ; in the conduct of which it might reasonably be expected 
 that, from the want of experience, errors would arise without any 
 imputation of blame to individuals. And from my own know- 
 ledge of the case, having been personally connected with the 
 Institution for the last seven years of its existence, I will presume 
 to say that it did not fail from any deficiency in attention or zeal, 
 either on the part of the committees or the tutors. The spirit 
 of the times was against the Institution ; and the mania of the 
 French Revolution, which began so well and ended so ill, pervaded 
 all ranks of society, and produced a general spirit of insubordina- 
 tion. The ferment of the times gave birth to insidious and even 
 to daring attacks upon natural and revealed religion, which pro- 
 duced mischievous effects upon uninformed and undisciplined 
 minds. And the founders of the Institution, with the best inten- 
 tions in the world, introduced a principle which they held up to 
 the public as the peculiar and distinguishing excellence of the 
 plan, and which was to render this Institution paramount in dis- 
 cipline and order to all others; but which, in fact, sapped the 
 very foundation of all discipline, and was the banc of all salutary 
 authority, viz., that a superintending committee should be always 
 at hand to watch over the conduct of the students, and to support 
 the authority of the tutor-. This regulation, in fact, left the 
 
188 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 tutors totally destitute of all authority ; for whatever happened 
 amiss, they had no other power to rectify but by an appeal to this 
 committee. Every one who is in the least degree acquainted with 
 the dispositions of young men, must see at once that such a con- 
 stitution is directly and necessarily productive of anarchy. And 
 in fact it did produce it to a considerable degree; and it was 
 owing to the principles and habits which many of the students 
 brought with them to the college, that this spirit was not more 
 prevalent. 
 
 Yet, after all, everything might have been rectified had the 
 funds been properly managed. The principal, and in truth the 
 only, cause of the failure of the Institution was the unfortunate 
 purchase of the estate at Hackney, which involved the committee 
 in an expense of building and a load of debt, which the funds of 
 the Institution never were, nor could have been able to support. 
 The creditors became clamorous, and it was necessary to sell the 
 estate to great disadvantage in order to pay off the debt. 
 
 The principal of this debt has been long since discharged ; and 
 by the accumulating interest of the residuary funds, during the 
 suspension of the Institution, under the management of the 
 worthy and respectable treasurer, John Towgood, Esq., a sum has 
 been raised sufficient to discharge the interest of the debts, and to 
 relieve the College honourably and faithfully from every just demand 
 upon its assets. A considerable permanent fund still remains, 
 agreeably to the resolution of the General Meeting, July 1, 1786,* 
 
 * The resolution is expressed in the following words, extracted from the minutes 
 annexed to the discourse delivered by Dr. Price, in April, 1787, before the supporters of 
 the College, viz. : " That one-third of the present and future donations, benefactions, and 
 bequests to the new Academical Institution in the neighbourhood of London, the 
 same not being annual subscriptions, shall go to create a Permanent Fund, the capital 
 whereof shall be preserved for ever inviolable and inalienable, in the hands of 
 Trustees." A subsequent resolution purports, " That the annual income arising from 
 the Permanent Fund shall alone be paid from time to time as it arises towards the 
 support of the said institution, in such manner as the General Committee shall 
 direct. Or if the said institution shall at any time hereafter be dissolved, or be 
 discontinued for the space of three years, to the founding or to the support of any 
 other academical institution, or of any institution preparatory to such among the 
 Protestant Dissenters for the liberal education of youth in any part^of England or 
 Wales; or in giving exhibitions to students for the ministry, or in supporting one 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 189 
 
 which is now vested in public securities in the names of four 
 trustees; the dividends upon which are applied by them to the 
 purposes for which that fund was appropriated. 
 
 Of this Institution, Mr. Lindsey was from the beginning a 
 sincere well-wisher and an active and liberal supporter : no one 
 more ardently desired its success, nor did any one more sincerely 
 lament the circumstances which led to its suspension. 
 
 It was his connection with this Institution which first intro- 
 duced the writer of this Memoir into an intimacy with the 
 revered friend who is the subject of it. As a minister whose 
 principles were known to be what is commonly called Evangelical, 
 the author of this Memoir had been appointed, in the year 1781, 
 Theologial Tutor in the Academy at Daventry, w r hich was a con- 
 tinuation of the Academy under the late pious and celebrated Dr. 
 Doddridge at Northampton, and was supported by the trustees of 
 the late William Cow r ard, Esq., who bequeathed a considerable 
 estate for the education of Dissenting ministers, and for other 
 religious purposes.* The office of pastor of the Independent 
 
 or more tutors at any such institution or institutions within the same limits as the 
 General Committee shall direct." 
 
 As the annual subscriptions have been discontinued for many years, the only 
 persons who now have any interest in or control over the funds of the institution are 
 the Life -Governors, out of who-e donations the Permanent Fund has been formed. 
 
 * William Coward, Esq., was a merchant in London, a man of large property, and 
 a zealous Calvinist. He left his great fortune to pious purposes, intending, however, 
 that it should be limited to the support of the Calvinistic doctrine. But the 
 professional gentleman who drew up the will, who was a man of great talent and 
 liberality, expressed it in such terms as to leave the trustees at full liberty to apply it 
 to the support of whatever they might judge to be the cause of Christ among 
 Protestant Dissenters. The trustees consist of three Dissenting ministers and one lay 
 gentleman ; and when a vacancy occurs, the survivors appoint a successor ; and this 
 important trust has always hitherto been filled by persons of high respectabilitv. For 
 many years th s fund supp >rted two very respectable and flourishing institutions for 
 the education of Dissenting mini ters ; one in the vicinity of London, first under the 
 direction of Dr. David Jennings, and afterwards of Dr. Savage, and Dr. Kippis, and 
 Dr. Rees ; the other in the country, first at Northampton, under the care of Dr. 
 D ddridge, and afterwards at Davei try, under Dr. Ashworth, the Rev. T. Roliiis, and 
 finally the writer of this Memoir. And it was during this inteival that Mr. Coward's 
 trust was in the meridian of its glory. To them the whole Dissenting interest looked 
 up as its patrons and benefactors ; and from one or ot er of their institutions most of 
 the respectable congregations w. re supplied with well-educated ministers. Indeed, it 
 may be questioned whether more good has ever been done for so great a length of time 
 at so moderate an expense. For though they exerted themselves to the utmost of the 
 powers with which they were vested, the allowance which they were able to make to 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 congregation at Daventry was at that time held in connection 
 with the office of divinity tutor, and to this he was also invited. 
 The Unitarian controversy, revived with so much animation by 
 the writings of Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, and brought home 
 so closely to the feelings by the truly christian and disinterested 
 conduct of the former in the resignation of his vicarage, was at 
 that time in its zenith. And the tutor regarding it as a question 
 of the highest importance, conceiving it to be his duty to state it 
 fairly before the theological students, and observing that the 
 question concerning the simple humanity of Christ, which was 
 now become the great controversy of the age, was scarcely glanced 
 at in Dr. Doddridge's Lectures, which were the text-book of the 
 Institution, he determined to draw up a new course of lectures 
 upon the subject. And to this he was impelled by an additional 
 motive, namely, the hope of putting a speedy termination to this 
 newly-revived controversy; since whatever respect he entertained 
 for the abilities, the learning, and the character of the great 
 champions of the Unitarian faith, he felt a perfect confidence that 
 their arguments would be found capable of an easy and satisfac- 
 tory reply ; and, whatever might be the errors of his own 
 education, he had been happily instructed and firmly fixed in 
 the grand principle that freedom of investigation must ultimately 
 be favourable to truth. The method which he pursued in 
 instituting this inquiry he has detailed at large in another place. 
 It is, therefore, sufficient at present to mention that he first 
 selected all the texts of the New Testament upon which the 
 
 the tutors was never such as to enable them to make any considerable provision for 
 their families, never amounting, I believe, upon nn average, including board, tutors' 
 salaries, house-rent, &c, to more than 30/. a-head for each pupil, and in the country not 
 so much. But there was no complaint, and the tutors performed the duties of their 
 office with cheerfulness, looking for remuneration of a different kind, having never 
 entered upon the Dissenting ministry with the expectation of aggrandizing their 
 fortune. In the year. 1785, upon the resignation of the tutors of the Hoztoi 
 Academy, Mr. Coward's trustees, feeling the support of two institutions as a burden 
 too oppressive, determined upon uniting them together at Daventry, under the charge of 
 th" writer of this Memoir, under whose direction the united institution remained till 
 his resignation in 1789 ; after which it was placed lor some years under the care of the 
 Rev, John Horsley, at Northampton ; and upon his resignation it was removed to 
 YYvniondelv. in llei tiordshm 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 191 
 
 controversy is allowed to depend ; most certainly not omitting 
 any which appeared to him favourable to the pre-existence and 
 divinity of Jesus Christ. These he arranged under distinct 
 heads ; and under each text he introduced the explanations 
 of the most approved commentators of the Trinitarian, Arian, 
 Socinian, and Unitarian hypotheses, very rarely introducing any 
 theological comments of his own, choosing rather to leave the 
 remarks of the different expositors to make their own impression 
 upon the minds of his pupils. The labour was considerable ; but 
 it was not thought burdensome either by the teacher or the 
 learner ; the consciousness of honest unbiassed inquiry, and the 
 gradual opening of light, was ample compensation for all. But 
 the result was widely different from what had been expected. 
 First, the pupils, whose ingenuous minds, not so firmly bound by 
 prejudice, were more open to conviction, began to discard the 
 errors of education ; and some of them, much to the regret of 
 their worthy friends, and not least to that of their tutor, became 
 decided Unitarians. The tutor's habits of thinking were more 
 firmly riveted ; and though from the beginning of the inquiry he 
 was a little surprised at discovering so few direct, and, as he 
 thought, unequivocal, assertions of his favourite doctrine, and 
 though in the process of his labours he found himself obliged to 
 abandon one text because it was spurious, another because it 
 admitted of a different and more probable interpretation, and so 
 on, and was thus driven by degrees out of his strongholds; yet 
 such was the ascendency which the associations of education had 
 obtained over his mind, that he does not believe it would have been 
 in the power of argument to have subdued it, had not the nature 
 of his office, which made it necessary for him to repeat the 
 lectures to successive classes, and which thereby compelled his 
 attention again and again to the subject, eventually, and almost 
 imperceptibly, overruled his original prepossessions, and brought 
 him over to the faith to which he had certainly no previous 
 partiality, to the profession of which Ik; had no interest to induce 
 him, and which he had fondly flattered himself that he should 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 without much difficulty have overthrown. Those who have never 
 changed their opinions, who are not much in the habit of inquiry, 
 or who have not watched the vacillations of the mind when it is 
 deliberating upon subjects of high importance, when it is 
 anxious to form a correct judgment, when much depends upon 
 the decision, and when it once begins to suspect as erroneous 
 what it has long regarded as sacred and essential truth, may 
 wonder that the teacher should be so long in making up his own 
 mind, and that he should not be able to mark the day and the 
 hour of his conversion. The fact is, that he was not himself 
 aware of it, till, upon the repetition of a sermon which he had 
 preached a few years before, and in which the pre-existence of 
 Christ and its concomitant doctrines were assumed as facts, he 
 found himself so embarrassed from beginning to end by his 
 sceptical doubts, that he determined from that time to desist 
 from teaching what he now first discovered that he no longer 
 believed. This was in the autumn of 1788. And conceiving 
 that, his mind being now made up upon the subject, it was his 
 duty no longer to hold his peace, but to bear his public testimony 
 to the truth ; and at the same time being conscious that he no 
 longer possessed the qualifications which were deemed essential to 
 the offices he sustained, and regarding it as both unhandsome and 
 unjust to put his friends under the disagreeable necessity of dismiss- 
 ing him from his office, which they probably would have thought it 
 their duty to do ; at least, being fully persuaded that it was right 
 to give them their option in the case, he determined to resign 
 both the Academy and the congregation. His resignation of the 
 former he sent in to the trustees in January, 1789, requesting 
 them to keep it concealed till March, as it would be impossible 
 for him to leave his situation till Midsummer; and he had no 
 desire to make himself the topic of conversation till it became 
 absolutely necessary. The trustees, with great propriety, ex- 
 pressed their acceptance of the resignation, in a respectful letter 
 of form by the late excellent and benevolent Joseph Paice, Esq., 
 the lay trustee, accompanied with a kind, affectionate, sympathetic 
 
REVEREND THE0PI11LUS LINDSEY. 193 
 
 letter of his own — like himself.* Nor were the rest of the 
 trustees deficient in expressions of sympathy and friendship. 
 
 In March, 1789, the writer of this Memoir went up to London 
 to officiate at the ordinat'on of his friend j and pupil the Rev. 
 Edmund Butcher, f at Leather Lane, and for a few days he resided 
 in lodgings in Essex Street. It was upon this occasion that he 
 took the liberty of introducing himself to the venerable patriarch 
 of the Unitarian church. His visit was short : as a stranger he 
 was received with the politeness and benignity which were in- 
 separable from Mr. Lindsey ; but nothing confidential passed. It 
 was a visit of form, perhaps it may be said of curiosity, not, it is 
 hoped, wholly unwarrantable in the new proselyte to see the holy 
 confessor and champion of truth, whose doctrine he had embraced, 
 and whose dignified example he had endeavoured, in his humble 
 measure, to follow. But his intended resignation was not then 
 known; and he did not choose to be the first nolifier of it to this 
 excellent man. AVhile he continued with Mr. Lindsey, a gentle- 
 man came in, who, without knowing the stranger present, an- 
 nounced to Mr. Lindsey that the ordination was to take place at 
 which that stranger was to officiate. Upon this solemnity Mr. 
 Lindsey attended : but no further personal intercourse passed 
 between them while the writer of this Memoir continued in town ; 
 and he returned into the country gratified with the opportunity 
 
 * Of this gentleman, so long and so well known in London, and so highly 
 esteemed for his amiable manners, his unimpeachable integrity, and his unbounded, 
 disinterested, and almost romantic benevolence, an elegant Memoir was printed by his 
 intimate friend and executor, James Gibson, Esq., addressed to Mr. Gibson's only 
 child. Mr. Paice was a Dissenter upon principle; and for many years a distinguished" 
 ornament of the highly respectable congregation at Carter Lane, under the pastoral care 
 of Mr. Pickard, and Mr. Tayler, and now of the Rev. Joseph Parrett. He was 
 eminently pious, and of a truly catholic spirit. He died on the fourth of September, 
 1810, and on the 16th of the same month, an excellent and impressive discourse was 
 delivered upon the occasion by the Rev. T. Tayler, at Carter Lane, before a numerous, 
 respectable and much-affected auditory, at whose request it was given to the public. 
 
 + This gentleman in the course of a few years was obliged to resign his office on 
 account of ill health and the weakness of his voice. Happily, by the blessing of 
 Divine Providence, on the use of proper means, he gradually recovered both. He is 
 now the respected and useful minister of a congregation of liberal Dissenters at Sid- 
 mouth ; and having upon more mature investigation seen reason to abandon the system 
 of A nanism, to which he was formerly much attached, he very honourably made a 
 public profession of his conversion to the pure Unitarian doctrine, in a serm >n preached 
 before the Western Unitarian Society two years ago, 1810. 
 
3 94 MEMOIRS or THE late 
 
 which he had enjoyed of visiting Exeter House, but little expect- 
 ing that this interview would be introductory to the happy 
 intimacy with which he was afterwards honoured by its distin- 
 guished inhabitants. 
 
 For at that time Unitarianism was far from being a popular 
 doctrine ; and the highest ambition of the tutor, when he quitted 
 a connection which had existed for eight years, with great har- 
 mony and comfort, and to which from principle and from habit 
 he was fondly attached, was to reside in a cottage in the vicinity 
 of Birmingham, where he had many kind and excellent friends, 
 and where he flattered himself that he should enjoy the society 
 and the interesting and instructive conversation of Dr. Priestley. 
 But Divine Providence ruled otherwise. It was thought by 
 many of the respectable friends and supporters of the New 
 College at Hackney that his labours might be of use to that 
 rising Institution. Some, indeed, of the old school objected to 
 the new proselyte ; and his own expectations of usefulness or of 
 comfort, in a situation so materially different from that which he 
 had left, were not sanguine. But being now in an unconnected 
 and insulated state, he had nothing to lose, and he sacrificed 
 nothing, though his labours might be in vain. He was urged by 
 many respectable persons to embark in the undertaking. Many 
 objections were obviated, sacrifices made, and difficulties removed, 
 to make room for him. Dr. Priestley and Mr. Lindsey both con- 
 curied in pressing his acceptance; and, what perhaps weighed 
 more than all the rest, a prospect was opened, by residing in 
 the neighbourhood of London, of cultivating the friendship of 
 Mr. Lindsey. This, it must be confessed, was the favourite 
 wish of his heart ; and in the accomplishment of this wish 
 his mind was completely gratified, and every sacrifice which 
 he had been called upon to confer upon the altar of truth 
 and integrity was compensated a hundred-fold. He settled at 
 the College in August, 1789; and from that time his intimacy 
 with the venerable subject of this Memoir commenced, and con- 
 tinued without interruption or abatement till the end of his days. 
 Two years afterwards, in the year 1791, Dr. Priestley, the most 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 195 
 
 spotless and innocent of men, as well as the most sagacious 
 of philosophers, and the most laborious and ingenuous of theo- 
 logians, having been driven from his home by the insane riots 
 at Birmingham, and having been invited to succeed his learned 
 and virtuous friend Dr. Price in the pastoral care of the congre- 
 gation at Hackney, he voluntarily and gratuitously undertook to 
 deliver to the students at the College his admirable lectures upon 
 history and chemistry. This was the consummation of every wish 
 which the writer of this Memoir could form for intellectual, 
 moral, and social felicity and improvement. To be received into 
 the familiar intercourse and admitted to share the confidence of 
 these venerable men, whose honourable exertions and generous 
 sacrifices in the cause of truth had placed them so much above 
 the level of ordinary characters, and even of celebrated divines, 
 was a blessing to which he had indeed earnestly aspired, but the 
 enjoyment of which he had never ventured to anticipate. Few 
 days passed without some personal intercourse with one or other 
 of these estimable men, and often with both. And the usual 
 topics of conversation, besides the great events of the time which 
 arrested everyone's attention, were some subject in theology, 
 some passage of Scripture, the elucidation of some point of doc- 
 trine, the solution of some objection, the present slow progress of 
 Christian truth, the anticipation of a day of greater light and 
 knowledge, and happiness and peace. The friends did not entirely 
 agree in opinion upon all points ; but the discussions, sometimes 
 animated, were always amicable, for all were lovers of truth, and 
 they sought after no other object. To discover truth was to gain 
 the victory. 
 
 How oft did they talk down the summer's sun, 
 
 How often thawed, and shortened winter's eve, 
 
 By conflict kind, that struck out latent truth ! * 
 It is pleasing to see that the society which was so truly interesting to the writer of 
 the Memoir, contributed, in a considerable degree, to the gratification of the other 
 parties. Upon this subject Dr. Priestley thus expresses himself in the Memoir of his 
 Life, p. 107: — 
 
 " On the whole, I spent my time even more happily at Hackney than I had ever 
 done before ; having every advantage for my philosophical and theological studies, in 
 some respect superior to what I had enjoyed at Birmingham, especially fro'n my easy 
 access to Mr. Lindsey, and my frequent intercourse with Mr. Belsham, Professor of 
 Divinity in the New College, near which I lived. Never, on this side the grave, do I 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 But tins felicity was too pure to last : and in a short time these 
 two eminent veterans in the service, whose friendship had been the 
 growth of thirty years, and whose writings had, for the greater 
 part of that time, been the food and sustenance of the revived 
 primitive Unitarian Church, were destined to be separated, never 
 to see each other's face again. But of this more hereafter. 
 
 la the year 1791 was formed the Unitarian Society for Pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge and the Practice of Virtue by the 
 Distribution of Books. The object of this Society was two-fold : — 
 the first was, that the few who then professed the unpopular doc- 
 trine of the unrivalled supremacy of God, and that the Father 
 alone is to be worshipped, and the simple humanity of Jesus 
 Christ, might have some common bond of union, that thev 
 might know and support one another, and that they might 
 thus publish their profession to the world, and excite that serious 
 inquiry which would lead to the diffusion of truth. The second 
 object of the Society was, to print and circulate, at a cheap 
 rate, books which were judged to be best calculated to propagate 
 right views of the Christian doctrine, and to apply it to the 
 direction of the practice. It was proposed at first to combine 
 this Society with that for promoting the Knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures, of which some account has been already given. But this 
 combination was opposed by Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, who 
 thought it best that the Societies should be kept distinct; and as 
 the writer of this Memoir was the person who first suggested the 
 plan, it was allotted to him to draw up the preamble to the rules. 
 And as the object of the Society was by no means to collect a 
 great number of subscribers, but chiefly to form an association of 
 those who thought it right to lay aside all ambiguity of language, 
 and to make a solemn public profession of their belief in the 
 proper Unity of God and of the simple humanity of Jesus Christ, 
 in opposition both to the Trinitarian doctrine of Three Persons 
 in the Deity and to the Avian hypothesis of a created Maker, 
 
 expect to enjoy myself so much as I did by the fireside of Mr. Lindsey, convening 
 with him and Mrs. Lindsey on theological and other subjects ; or in my frequ nt walks 
 with Mr. Belsham, whose views of most important subjects were, like Mr. Lindsey's, 
 the same with my own." 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIULUS LINDSEY. 197 
 
 Preserver, and Governor of the world, it was judged expedient to 
 express this article in the preamble in the most explicit manner. 
 This was objected to by some, as narrowing too much the ground 
 of the Society, which, as they thought, ou^ht to be made as exten- 
 sive as possible. But the objection was easily overruled, it being 
 the main intention and design of the Society to make a solemn, 
 , public, and explicit avowal of what in the estimation of its mem- 
 bers was Christian truth ; to enter a protest against the errors of 
 the day; to unite those who held the same principles, and who 
 were scattered up and down in different parts of the country, in 
 one common bond of union ; and to encourage them to hold fast 
 their profession, and to stand by and support one another. 
 
 A much more plausible objection against the preamble was urged 
 from the introduction of the word idolatrous. The obnoxious 
 sentence is thus expressed : " While, therefore, many well-mean- 
 ing persons are propagating with zeal opinions which the members 
 of this Society judge to be unscriptural and ido la trous, they think 
 it their duty to oppose the further progress of such pernicious 
 errors, and publicly to avow their firm attachment to the doctrine 
 of the Unity of God, of his unrivalled and undivided authority 
 and dominion," &c. Now, as the proper definition of idolatry is 
 the worship of a being who is not truly God, and more especially 
 the worship of a deified man, nothing can be more evident than 
 that the worship of Christ must, in the estimation of Unitarians, 
 be in that sense idolatrous; and no persons are more ready to 
 allow this consequence than Trinitarians themselves are, upon the 
 supposition that their doctrine is erroneous. Yet nothing appears 
 to give greater offence than the use of this epithet by the Uni- 
 tarians, though they adopt it chiefly to excite the attention of their 
 fellow-christians to the importance of the question ; and arc at the 
 same time solicitous to point out the wide difference between 
 Christian and Pagan idolatry ; the former being solely an error 
 of judgment, upon the culpability of which they presume not to 
 decide; while the other is essentially connected with the most 
 odious vices, is branded in Scripture with the most contemptuous 
 epithets, and justly threatened with the most awful punishments. 
 
198 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 The introduction of this expression into the preamble gave very 
 great offence to many of the friends of the infant Institution, 
 and it was very seriously debated whether it should be retained 
 or not. Perhaps it might have been prudent to omit it, as the 
 doctrine which the Society desired to hold forth as their common 
 faith might have been expressed with equal distinctness and pre- 
 cision without it. But as it had been introduced, many were 
 unwilling to abandon it : they even considered the omission of it 
 as little less than a dereliction of principle. Among these were 
 Mr. Lindsey, Dr. Priestley, Mr. llussel, of Birmingham ; and 
 Mr. Tayleur, of Shrewsbury. On the other side were some 
 gentlemen of Cambridge and elsewhere, whose names would have 
 been an ornament to the Society, but who either declined joining 
 it, or withdrew from it when they heard that it was decided to 
 retain the offensive epithet. And, in fact, some who still con- 
 tinued in the Society were not well pleased with the expression, 
 which they regarded as having a tendency to fix an opprobrium 
 upon their fellow-christians.* 
 
 * As the preamble to the Rules of the Unitarian Society is not of any great length, 
 and has been the subject of much discussion, it may not be amiss to introduce it in 
 this place : 
 
 "Christianity, proceeding from God, must be of infinite importance; and a more 
 essential service cannot be rendered to mankind, than to advance the interests of truth 
 and virtue ; to promote peace, liberty, and good order in society ; to accelerate the im- 
 provement of the species ; and to'exalt the character and secure the greatest ultimate 
 happiness of individuals, by disseminating the right principles of religion, and by excit- 
 ing the attention of men to the genuine doctrines of revelation. 
 
 " This is the chief object of Tiie Unitarian Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge and the Practice of Virtue, by distributing such books as appears to 
 the members of the Society to contain the most rational views of the Gospel, and to be 
 most free from the errors by which it has most been sullied and obscured. Error, 
 voluntary or involuntary, so far as it extends, must have a pernicious influence. The 
 members of this Society think, therefore, that they are doing signal service to the cause 
 of truth and good morals, by endeavouring to clear the Christian system from all 
 foreign incumbrances, and by representing the doctrines of revelation in their primitive 
 simplicity. Truth must ultimately be serviceable to virtue. 
 
 ''The fundamental principles of this Society are, That there is but One God, the 
 BOLE Former, Supporter, and Governor of the universe, the only proper object of reli- 
 gious worship ; and that there is one Mediator between God and men. the man Christ 
 Jesus, who was commissioned by God to instruct men in their duty, and to reveal the 
 doctrine of a future life. 
 
 "The beneficial influence of these truths upon the moral conduct of men will be in 
 proponion to the confidence with which they are received into the mind, and the 
 attention with which they are regarded. Consequently, all foreign opinions which 
 men have attached to this primitive system of Christian doctrine, and which lend to 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 199 
 
 The first annual dinner of the Unitarian Society was held at 
 the King's Head, in the Poultry, in April, 1791 : the number 
 assembled was between forty and fifty : among these were Mr. 
 Lindsey, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Kippis, &c, and several eminent 
 political characters were also present who were not members of 
 the Society. It was at a time when the French Revolution was 
 in its glory, when it excited the highest hopes, and when its suc- 
 cess was the object of the most cordial wishes of the best friends 
 to civil and religious liberty in this country. Mr. Burke had 
 published his celebrated book six months before ; and Dr. 
 Priestley and Mr. (now Sir James) Mackintosh and others had 
 written or were preparing answers to it. The subject so occupied 
 the public attention, that it almost engrossed the conversation in 
 every company. Unfortunately, upon this occasion many political 
 toasts were given ; and, amongst others, " Mr. Burke, and thanks 
 to him for the discussion which he has provoked/' And still 
 more unfortunately for the Society, they were published the next 
 day in some of the morning papers, from which they were trans- 
 ferred into the Moniteur and other French journals. The right 
 
 divert their thoughts from these fundamental principles, are in a degree injurious to the 
 cause of religi n and virtue. While, therefore, ma iy well-meaning pers uis are propa- 
 gating with zeal opinions which the members of this Society judge to be unscriptural 
 and idolatroi.s, they think it their duty to oppose the further progress of such per- 
 nicious errors, and publicly to avow their firm attachment to the doctrine of the U.mtv 
 of God, of His unrivalled and undivided authority and dominion ; and their belief 
 that Jesus Ci rist, the most distinguished of the prophets, is the ckeatuke and mes- 
 senger of God, and not his equal nor his vicegerent in the formation and gove n- 
 ment of the world, nor co-partner with him in divine honours, as some have Strangely 
 supposed. And they are desirous to try the experiment, whether the cause of true 
 religion and virtue may rot be most effect 'ally promoted upon proper Unitarian prin- 
 ciples; and whether the plain unadulterated truths of Christianity, when fairly taught 
 and inculcated, be not of themselves surfii ie. t to form the minds of those who sincerely 
 embrace them to that true dignity and excellence of character to which the gospel was 
 intended to elevate them. 
 
 " Rational Christians have hitherto been too cautious of publicly acknowledging their 
 principles, and this disgraceful timidity has been prejudicial to the progress of truth 
 and virtue. It is now high time that the friends of genuine Christianity should stand 
 forth and avow themselves. The number of such, it is hoped, will be found to be much 
 greater than many apprehend. And their example, if accompanied with, and recom- 
 mended by, a correspondent purity of life and morals, will naturally attract the atten- 
 tion of ethers, and produce that freedom of inquiry, that liberal discussion, and that 
 fearless profession of principles embraed after due examination, which can be formid- 
 able to nothing but to error and vice, and which must eventually be subservient to the 
 cause of truth and virtue, and to the best interest- of raan-ind." 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 honourable gentleman whose name had been introduced with such 
 distinction animadverted upon the meeting the next day in the 
 House of Commons with great indignation. And twelve months 
 afterwards, when a petition was presented to the House, which, 
 though it originated with the Unitarian Society, had been signed 
 by persons of all persuasions, Churchmen and Dissenters, for the 
 repeal of the penal laws relating to religion ; though it was intro- 
 duced and supported by Mr. Fox with all his super-eminent powers 
 of reason and eloquence, it was most vehemently opposed by Mr. 
 Burke, who made the house merry, and at the same time alarmed 
 their prejudices, by reading and commenting upon the toasts 
 which had been given at the dinner, and which he, with some 
 humour, described as the articles of the Unitarian creed. This faux 
 pas of the Society at its commencement, in mixing politics with 
 religion, gave much and reasonable offence to many of its friends 
 and absent members, and induced the Society afterwards, to hold 
 their meetings more privately, to decline all publicity in their 
 proceedings, and to determine that, as a body formed upon a 
 religious principle and directed solely to a religious object, they 
 would not intermeddle with temporary politics. 
 
 This Society, the dawn of which was thus ushered in with clouds, 
 soon emerged from its obscurity. It was joined by numbers of high 
 respectability in different parts of the kingdom, who were not 
 afraid or ashamed to be enrolled in the catalogue of Christians 
 who were the avowed worshippers of the One God, the Father, 
 through the one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ 
 Jesus. And the success of the Society, thus constituted, greatly 
 exceeded the most sanguine expectations of those by whom it 
 was originally formed. It made Unitarians known to one another. 
 It diffused the doctrines of uncorruptcd Christianity, by the ex- 
 tensive circulation of books which were calculated to check the 
 progress of popular errors. It encouraged the public profession 
 of these long-neglected truths. And, what was of the greatest 
 importance, it gave birth to many similar societies in different 
 parts of the country, some of which are in a state as prosperous, 
 or even more more so, than the London Society itself. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 201 
 
 The first of these affiliated societies was the Western Unitarian 
 Society, which was formed under the auspices of that truly excel- 
 lent man, the late Reverend Timothy Kenrick, of Exeter, a gen- 
 tleman equally distinguished by the soundness of his judgment, 
 the accuracy of his learning, the piety and rectitude of his 
 character, and the warmth and inflexibility of his zeal in the 
 cause of truth, virtue, and liberty. Having after long and 
 rigorous inquiry seen reason to adopt the doctrine of the proper 
 humanity of Jesus Christ and the unrivalled supremacy of the 
 Father, he regarded it as an imperious duty to bear his testimony 
 to the truth, to communicate the light which he had received, 
 and to eradicate from the minds of the people of his charge the 
 deeply-rooted errors which they had derived from the writings and 
 instructions of the learned Peirce and the venerable Towgood, of 
 a second and inferior God, a delegated Creator, Preserver, and 
 Governor of the Universe. This erroneous and unseriptural 
 doctrine Mr. Kenrick gradually undermined by judicious dis- 
 courses and plain and practical expositions from the pulpit, and 
 attacked still more directlv in the familiar lectures which he 
 delivered to the young men of his congregation, and by the forma- 
 tion and zealous support of the Western Unitarian Society. He 
 saw with much regret that few young persons were in a train of 
 education for the Christian ministry among the rational Dissenters. 
 And he himself opened an institution for that purpose at Exeter, 
 in connection with the Reverend Joseph Bretland, and received 
 students into his family, gave up his time and labour to their 
 instruction, and boarded them upon terms from which it was 
 impossible for him to gain anything. He can hardly be said 
 to have done justice to his own family in thus expending 
 his time, his talents, his vigour, and even his substance, with so 
 little prospect of adequate remuneration. But this was to him an 
 object of light consideration, in comparison with the great end 
 he had constantly in view — the diffusion of Christian truth, and the 
 extrication of the Christian doctrine from the mass of rubbish in 
 which it has been for many centuries overwhelmed. In this great 
 work he met with much opposition ; with opposition from those 
 
202 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 who, from early habit and education, were sincerely and zealously 
 attached to the errors which he was labouring to eradicate, and 
 who of course believed it to be their duty to oppose him in all his 
 measures ; and with opposition from some wise men of the world, 
 who, though their opinions perhaps were not much at variance 
 with his own, did not think it prudent to excite religious dis- 
 sensions and to give public offence; arguing in the same way, 
 and acting upon the same principles, as the first opposers of the 
 Information, and even of Christianity itself. Mr. Kenrick's 
 vigorous mind was in no respect daunted by this opposition ; but 
 persevering in his object with inflexible resolution, he ultimately 
 obtained complete success. It pleased the Almighty, in his 
 mysterious providence, to put a stop to this excellent man's 
 exertions by an awful and unexpected stroke in the midst of his 
 career. While in full possession of his health and faculties, and 
 rejoicing in the increasing success of his pious and benevolent 
 schemes, he was suddenly cut off by an apoplectic seizure at 
 Wrexham, in Denbighshire, August 22, 1804, in the forty-fifth 
 year of his age. The success of Mr. Kenrick's labours in his 
 congregation appeared by their choice of a successor of similar 
 ability and zeal in promoting the same great and good cause of 
 Christian truth, the Reverend Dr. Lant Carpenter — and in his 
 Academical Institution by the reverence and affection in which 
 his name and character are held by his pupils, and by their zeal 
 and usefulness in the respectable stations which they occupy in 
 the Dissenting churches. The Western Unitarian Society has 
 continued to flourish since Mr. Kenrick's decease, and Arianism 
 seems to be nearly expelled from one of her strongest citadels. 
 Mr. Kenrick left three sons, the eldest of them, after his father's 
 decease, passed a few years at Birmingham under the tuition of 
 the Reverend John Kentish, his father's friend; and, having 
 afterwards finished a brilliant career at the University of Glasgow, 
 is now settled as a tutor in the College at York, an Institution 
 of deservedly high reputation, under the able direction of the 
 Reverend Charles Wellbeloved. And at this Institution Mr. 
 Kenrick's youngest son is in a course of education for the 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 203 
 
 ministry.* Two volumes of posthumous Sermons and three of 
 Exposition of the Evangelists, published at the desire of his 
 congregation, are ample proofs how well qualified the learned and 
 pious author was to teach the pure, uncorrupted doctrine of Christ. 
 Let the reader pardon what it is hoped may be considered as a 
 not totally irrelevant digression, which the author has introduced 
 to testifv his respect and veneration for one in whose education he 
 had the honour to sustain no inconsiderable share, and with whom 
 he had afterwards the happiness to be connected as a colleague, a 
 friend, and a brother. 
 
 His saltern accumuiem donis, et fungar inani 
 Munere. 
 
 The Southern Unitarian Society was formed soon after the 
 Western, and a few years afterwards the Northern and other 
 similar societies. These gave birth to Unitarian Tract Societies 
 in different parts of the kingdom, the design of which was to 
 distribute small tracts for the purpose of diffusing just principles 
 of religion among the inferior classes of society. With these 
 have been united what are called Christian Tract Societies, which 
 are intended to spread among the inferior classes interesting little 
 compositions wholly practical and entirely unconnected with con- 
 troversy, These societies have met with great encouragement, 
 and many have contributed to them who by no means agree in 
 sentiment with the original founders of these useful associations. 
 But the Society which at present holds the foremost rank, and 
 engages the most general and the warmest support of the 
 Unitarian body, is that which is called the Unitarian Fund 
 Society ; the professed object of which is to encourage popular 
 preaching, and to engage missionaries to visit different parts of 
 the country, and, wherever there is an opening, to preach pure 
 and uncorrupted Christianity in opposition to popular and prevail- 
 ing errors. Some of the ministers employed in these missions, 
 
 * The Reverend George Kenrick is now (1S20) fettled with a respectable con- 
 gregation at Hull, where he is discharging his official duties with a zeal aud activity 
 worthy of the descendant of such a father. 
 
204 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 though not possessing the advantage of regular education, are 
 men of very popular talents and very extensive information ; and 
 by the great success with which their labours have been attended 
 they have abundantly proved that simple unsophisticated truth 
 has charms to captivate even the most ordinary minds, when it is 
 exhibited to them in a clear and affecting light, and have demon- 
 strated the fallacy of the commonly received opinion that Uni- 
 tarianism is not a religion for the common people. This being a 
 new experiment, in which unlearned ministers were chiefly em- 
 ployed, many of the more learned and regular members of the 
 Unitarian body stood aloof, and declined to give countenance to a 
 proceeding, of the prudence and propriety of which they stood in 
 doubt. Some do not even yet approve it ; and others who wish 
 well to the design do not regard it as within the field of their 
 personal exertions. But after the success which has attended the 
 efforts of this Society, no person who is a real friend to the cause 
 can consistently be hostile to its principle. How far the venerable 
 patriarch of Unitarianism, who is the subject of this Memoir, 
 would have patronised a society of this description, cannot now 
 be ascertained. That he was in the highest degree favourable to 
 the main object of it, is evident from the following extract from a 
 letter to a friend, dated October 23, 1789 : " I find that your 
 son's account of the Unitarian street -preachers is true, and that 
 he was with Dr. Priestley at Manchester when he saw them. It 
 will be very desirable to have their numbers increased. We want 
 much to have the common people applied to, as enough has been 
 done, and is continually doing, for the learned and the higher 
 ranks." 
 
 The parent Institution, the London Unitarian Society, still 
 exists upon a very respectable footing; and though its numbers 
 may not be so large, nor its funds so ample, nor its proceedings 
 attended with so much eclat, as those of some associations of 
 later date, it still retains the honour of having set the first 
 example of a society publicly professing Unitarian principles, and 
 constituted with an avowed design of supporting and diffusing 
 them. One of its main objects no longer exists. The title of 
 
REVEREND THEOFHILUS LINOSEY. 205 
 
 Unitarian, then a term of general reproach, is now, in consequence 
 of the extensive diffusion of Unitarian principles, become a mark 
 of honour, and is courted rather than shunned. The Society 
 still continues to distribute, every year, a very considerable 
 number of Unitarian books and tracts. And if its numbers 
 should decline, of which however there is no immediate prospect, 
 the members of the Society, whose only object is to promote the 
 cause of truth, and who have no personal or party interest to 
 consult, will rejoice to see it superseded by any institution which 
 promises to be of greater utility to the general cause. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CONVERSATIONS UPON CHRISTIAN IDOLATRY. 
 THE DIKE OF GRAFTON CORRESPONDS AND VISITS MR. 
 LINDSEY, AND ATTENDS UNITARIAN WORSHIP, A BRIEF 
 ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS OF THE DI'Ke's OPINIONS, AND 
 OF HIS REASONS AND MOTIVES FOR SECEDING FROM THE 
 ESTABLISHED FORM. REFLECTIONS. 
 
 The introduction of the charge of idolatry into the Society's 
 Preamble having been much misunderstood and given great 
 offence; to obviate the objections, and to correct the error, Mr. 
 Lindsey published a small work, in octavo, in 1792, entitled 
 " Conversations upon Christian Idolatry." The scene is laid in 
 the house of Marcellinus, a gentleman of large fortune and 
 great liberality of sentiment, and the conversation is supposed to 
 have taken place in his library after breakfast, between himself; 
 Volusian, an eminent barrister and moderate churchman ; Synesius, 
 a person of great worth, who seldom attended public worship, 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 but who was a zealous friend to a religious establishment ; and 
 Photinus, an enlightened and zealous Unitarian, who writes an 
 account of the conversations to his friend Victorin. And the 
 author leads his reader to understand that the whole transaction 
 had some foundation in fact. 
 
 The dialogue begins with some severe animadversions upon the 
 late disgraceful riots at Birmingham, the whole blame of which 
 Marcellinus imputes to the operation of the Test Act, and other 
 laws against the Dissenters ; but is interrupted by Volusian, who, 
 while he expresses his entire disapprobation of the Test Laws, and 
 his indignation at the insults and injuries offered to Dr. Priestley, 
 nevertheless expresses his suspicion, that " Dr. Priestley had 
 contributed to excite the bad spirit which, however wrongly, had 
 appeared against him;" and particularly by his late sermon at 
 Hackney, in which he had " bluntly and peremptorily declared 
 the worship of Jesus Christ to be idolatrous." Marcellinus 
 defends Dr. P. upon his own principles, and represents him as 
 " worthy to be remembered as a benefactor to mankind, particu- 
 larly for the light which he has thrown upon theological subjects." 
 But Volusian, without impeaching his moral character, regards a 
 restless love of novelty as " evidently his failing ;" and " having 
 been bred up in the belief that Jesus Christ is God, and to be 
 worshipped, he cannot endure the rudeness and impertinence of 
 the man who tells him that he is an idolater." Here Photinus 
 interposes, and puts the question seriously to Volusian, " whether 
 he had ever searched the Scriptures to know how many Gods 
 there are, and whether Jesus Christ was one." This leads 
 Volusian to the confession, that " he had not made the Scriptures 
 his particular study ; " — that, " in general, these theological 
 matters are left to be settled by the divines, those especially of 
 the upper ranks ;" and that, " at his time of life, he had no 
 leisure, and less relish, for such intricate inquiries." This 
 confession introduces from Photinus a serious remonstrance, and 
 an earnest exhortation to study the Scriptures for himself, in 
 which he would very soon attain entire satisfaction concerning the 
 God he is to worship. This ends the first conversation. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHJLUS IINDSEY. 207 
 
 Volusian, much impressed with his friend's advice, goes home 
 for a week under pretence of business, but passes the greater part 
 of his time in reading and studying the Scriptures with the 
 greatest attention ; in consequence of which he becomes a sincere 
 proselyte to the faith, that there is but One God, the Father, the 
 only proper Object of religious worship, and that Jesus Christ is 
 the servant and faithful messenger of God, but not the object of 
 worship ; and, upon his return, he embraces the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of communicating his conversion to his friends. This 
 constitutes the subject of the second day's conversation ; in 
 which Volusian is almost the only speaker, and details to his 
 friends the principal arguments, both from the Old Testament 
 and the New, by which he was led to the conviction that " God is 
 strictly One, one person : and the blessed Jesus nothing but his 
 favoured creature and servant." " Still, however wrong, he could 
 not look upon himself as an idolater in the worship he had 
 hitherto paid to Jesus Christ; and though mistaken, he could 
 not look upon himself to have been a wicked man, which that 
 language implies." 
 
 This, of course, forms the subject of the third day's conver- 
 sation, in which Photinus replies at large to Volusian's objection, 
 that " idolatry is represented in the sacred writings as a heinous 
 sin, an idea which he could not entertain of any who are sincere, 
 however erroneous, in their worship of Jesus Christ." Photinus 
 very justly remarks, that the idolatry against which the judg- 
 ments of God- were denounced, was that of the heathen, which 
 was not a mere " speculative error, but attended with the most 
 shocking vice and immorality ;" whereas "nothing of this kind 
 can be charged on the idolatrous worship of Christians, though 
 the Almighty and Infinite Being is dishonoured and degraded by 
 it." And in answer to the question of Volusian, "to show 
 wherein their idolatry lies," he states, that " idolatry consists in 
 paying divine honours to a creature;" the doing which is a direct 
 violation of the first commandment in the decalogue, which is 
 not only not repealed, but is solemnly confirmed by Christ. If, 
 therefore, Jesus Christ be a creature, " to call him God, and to 
 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 worship him, can be nothing less than idolatry." Syncsins now 
 interposing the observation, " that the members of the Church of 
 England are not idolaters; because, though charged with wor- 
 shipping three Gods, they are themselves persuaded that they 
 worship, only One/' Photinus replies, that " if men's own 
 thoughts will exculpate^ them, there never was such a thing as 
 idolatry in the world ; " for all idolaters, the worshippers, for 
 example, of the Virgin Mary, are persuaded that their worship is 
 allowed by God. " Our convictions concerning actions cannot 
 make that right which is in itself wrong, though they will 
 excuse us in doing it, in proportion to the insuperable ignorance 
 under which w r e labour." And in answer to Volusian's expression 
 of anxiety at the great prevalence of Christian idolatry, Photinus 
 reminds his friends of the innocence of those who, through the 
 errors of education,' are involuntarily involved in it ; but adds, 
 that "how far those are innocent who, believing Jesus Christ to 
 be a creature, do, nevertheless, customarily join with others in the 
 worship of him as the Supreme God, is a very serious question." 
 He then observes, and produces some very remarkable instances 
 to prove, that the most orthodox in our own country have had no 
 scruple of terming the worship of Christ to be idolatrous if he be 
 a creature ;* and after a few general remarks the conversation 
 closes. 
 
 The fourth conversation discusses the question which Volusian 
 tells his friends presses with much weight upon his mind, viz., 
 " how a person should act upon discovering that the established 
 
 * See Waterland's Defence, p. 231, 252. Dr. Hughes' Sermon at Salter's Hall, 
 vol. ii. p. 8. Whitaker's Origin of Arianism, pp. 4, 5. The expressions of the last- 
 cited author are very remarkable. " If," says he, ''this doctrine of the Trinity be false, 
 then nine-tenths of the Christians throughout every age, and every country, are guilty 
 of idolatry, of idolatry more gross than that of the Papists at present ; becau-e, not 
 merely the worship of saints and angels in subordination to God, but the worship of a 
 creature along with the Creator; placing him equally with God on the throne of the 
 universe ; giving God a partner in his empire, and so deposing God from half his 
 sovereignty." These are the words of a zealous Trinitarian : surely, then, it becomes 
 every one who offers divine worship to Jesus Christ, we!! to consiiler the ground upon 
 which he stands : much more does it become the decided believer in the proper Unity 
 of the great Object of worship, to flee from that which must in his own estimation, 
 and even in that of those who are themselves worshippers of Christ, be gioss 
 idolatry. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 209 
 
 worship of the country in which he was bred, was idolatrous?' 
 Syncsius gives it as his opinion, that public worship should be 
 abandoned altogether. For " all right worship is in the heart, 
 and the moment you mix with others in the worship of God, you 
 are in danger of being misled by a thousand fancies, and idle 
 superstitious forms and practices." Photinus, in reply, vindicates 
 public worship as a duty, enjoined even by natural religion, to 
 keep up the knowledge of him in ourselves and others, and to 
 cherish in our breasts that attention to him which is necessary 
 for our present right conduct and comfort, and to qualify us for 
 his favour hereafter •" that it was expressly required under the 
 Mosaic institution, and authorized by the example of Christ, and 
 the practice of the apostles. Synesius, conceding this point to 
 Photinus, contends, nevertheless, for joining in the established 
 worship, " out of the general principle of doing homage to the 
 Creator. If there be any which you cannot conscientiously join 
 in and repeat, you have only to adopt what you like, and pass 
 over the rest, leaving it to those who are edified by it." Photinus 
 allows that, for lesser matters, it would be peevish and hyper- 
 critical to dissent ; but he maintains, and he supports his argu- 
 ment by the authority of Archdeacon Paley, that, with respect 
 to the Object of worship, " there seems to be no latitude." And 
 having been charged by Synesius with having spoken disrespect- 
 fully of the public Liturgy, he expresses high approbation of it 
 as an excellent form of prayer; but at the same time enters his 
 strong protest against many parts of the Litany, in particular, 
 "which is ordered to be read every Wednesday, Friday, and 
 Sunday, throughout the year ;" in which " a variety of beings are 
 addressed in a manner utterly inconsistent with the first com- 
 mandment ; and our Saviour, in particular, " is worshipped as the 
 Supreme God ; and is addressed in such gross degrading lan- 
 guage, as nothing but custom from early youth could reconcile 
 any to use •" and he concludes his argument with asserting that 
 all worship, excepting that addressed to the Supreme Being, is a 
 direct violation of our Lord's express precept to his apostles, 
 that they should teach men to observe all things whatsoever he 
 
210 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 commanded them. Volusian, who, through the whole of this 
 conversation had been a hearer only, now expresses his obligations 
 to Synesius and Photinus for their temperate discussion of this 
 important subject, and declares his entire conviction " that he 
 can no longer with a quiet mind continue to frequent the worship 
 of the Church of England, or say one thing with his mouth to 
 the all-seeing God, while his heart and better knowledge mean 
 another." Here the conversation ends. 
 
 In the beginning of the next letter, Photinus describes to his 
 correspondent Victorin, the rise and progress of idolatry in the 
 Christian church, and represents how very imperfectly the 
 Reformation recovered the great body of Christians from this 
 enormous error. He then proceeds to relate the subjects of the 
 fifth day's conversation, which Volusian begins with expressing 
 his hope that the public sentiment would soon change, and a 
 corresponding change be adopted in the public forms of worship. 
 Marcellinus expresses very little expectation of this happy event, 
 and relates to his friend the steps which Dr. Samuel Clarke had 
 taken to reform the Liturgy, and the approbation of his plan 
 by Archbishop Herring ; and in reply to the animadversion of 
 Volusian, he defends the character of Dr. Clarke in continuing 
 to officiate in the church ; which, however, it is not improbable 
 that he might have relinquished, if he had not succeeded in his 
 plan of reform. And to the inquiry of Volusian, how it would 
 be advisable to act, especially in the country, with regard to 
 public worship, Photinus refers, with high approbation, to the 
 conduct of a gentleman, Mr. Tayleur, of Shrewsbury, who had 
 used the Reformed Liturgy first in his own house, and afterwards 
 in a separate place of worship ; an example which had been 
 followed by some others, and which it was hoped would continue 
 to spread. The conversation concludes with an interesting 
 quotation from a late publication, by a gentleman who had, upon 
 principle, retired from his connection with the Established Church. 
 " Christian reader, this is no matter of barren speculation ; it 
 strikes directly on our conduct through life, on a point of serious 
 importance. The public worship of God we all consider as a 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 211 
 
 duty of indispensable obligation : and whether we shall perform 
 this worship in the way most acceptable to him, and most con- 
 formable to the precepts of the sacred writings, or in that way 
 which best suits our indolence, or coincides with our interest; 
 whether we shall pay to God the homage of an upright heart, or 
 with gross negligence and solemn mockery publicly repeat what 
 we cannot understand, and join in professing what we do not 
 believe ; are subjects of inquiry which (however easy to determine) 
 every Christian, of whatever denomination, must acknowledge to 
 be of high concern." 
 
 In this work a question of considerable importance is treated 
 with great judgment, impartiality, and moderation; the characters 
 of the speakers are well sustained, and every argument and 
 objection are allowed their due weight. And no person can rise 
 from a serious and attentive perusal of the Conversations upon 
 Christian Idolatry without feeling the conviction that, whatever 
 allowance may be made for error, which is the result of invincible 
 prejudice, it is the indispensable duty of every one who believes in 
 the Unity and Supremacy of God, and that he is the proper and 
 sole Object of religious worship, and in the simple humanity of 
 Jesus Christ, the servant and messenger of God, to withdraw 
 from worship which must to him necessarily be, and appear, 
 idolatrous, and, wherever opportunity presents, to join with those, 
 however small their number, however humble their condition, 
 who, agreeably to the precept of their Great Master, associate for 
 the worship of God the Father only. 
 
 Some years before the venerable subject of this Memoir retired 
 from his office at Essex Street chapel, his ministry was statedly 
 attended by the late Duke of Grafton. This illustrious nobleman 
 appears, after his retirement from public life, upon the accession 
 of the famous Coalition Ministry in 1783, to have devoted a very 
 considerable portion of his leisure hours to serious inquiry into 
 the evidences of divine revelation, and into the contents of the 
 holy Scriptures. To this he was impelled, as he himself declares 
 in the papers which he drew up and printed chiefly for the in- 
 
 p 2 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 formation of his family, by the suspicion which his intercourse 
 with the world raised in him, and which the observation of every 
 day confirmed, that many persons, in the more elevated ranks of 
 life especially, had little or no belief in the truth of the Christian 
 religion. The result of this inquiry was, that the Christian religion 
 had been promulgated to mankind by a person sent by, and acting 
 under, the authority of the Supreme Being; and that this religion, 
 having been corrupted from very early times by various means, 
 and these corruptions having been mistaken for essential parts of 
 it, had been the cause of rendering the whole religion incredible 
 to many men of sense. The noble inquirer soon discovered that 
 one of the plainest precepts, both of the Jewish and Christian 
 revelations, was the worship of one Gtfd ; and that the public 
 forms j. of worship in all the established churches in Christendom, 
 not excepting that of our own country, contained a grievous 
 deviation from this fundamental precept by prescribing the 
 worship of two other persons, called the Son and the Holy Ghost, 
 jointly with that of the Almighty Father, as being in all respects 
 equal to him and consubstantial with him. And it soon occurred 
 to the inquisitive mind of this virtuous nobleman that this was 
 not a speculative discovery of little practical importance, but that 
 to one who was a firm believer in the divine origin of the Christian 
 religion, it was attended with very serious consequences. Con- 
 vinced upon the highest authority that Christianity required the 
 worship of one God only, the Duke could no longer satisfy his 
 mind to attend the worship of three Gods; and it became a 
 subject of anxious and even distressing inquiry, how far it was his 
 duty, in the situation and rank which he held in his country, not 
 only to desert the established mode of worship, but to join a 
 separate congregation, whose sole and professed bond of union 
 and ground of dissent was the worship of the Father only. Upon 
 this subject, and upon some others of a personal kind, this noble- 
 man opened a confidential correspondence with the venerable 
 founder of the Essex Street congregation ; in consequence of 
 which, his difficulties being satisfactorily removed, he became a 
 regular attendant at the chapel in Essex Street, and continued a 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LTNDSEY. 213 
 
 serious and exemplary worshipper there till bad health and in 
 creasing infirmities confined him at home. 
 
 It was not till some time after the Duke became a worshipper 
 in Essex Street chapel that his peculiar intimacy and personal in- 
 tercourse with the venerable pastor commenced, which continued 
 unabated through the remainder of Mr. Lindsey's life. This will 
 be evident from the following extract of a letter from his Grace, 
 dated June 4, 1789: — "The Duke of Grafton is much gratified 
 by the acquaintance of Mr. Lindsey ; and though he would be 
 very desirous to profit from it by taking the liberty of calling on 
 him now and then for half-an-hour's conversation on serious 
 subjects, he would at the same time be very unhappy to obtrude 
 on his time. But if Mr. Lindsey is so obliging as to allow him 
 that advantage, the D. of G. would be much obliged to him if he 
 would point out about what time of the morning or evening he is 
 commonly least engaged, and at which he is most likely to be 
 found at leisure." The Duke after this became a frequent 
 morning visitor at Essex House, and to the end of life he main- 
 tained a character worthy of his profession. After a long and 
 painful decline, the Duke expired at Euston, Suffolk, March 14, 
 1811. A sermon was preached upon the afflicting occasion at 
 Essex Street chapel on the 24th by the author of this Memoir, 
 which was afterwards published, and which contains some further 
 particulars of this venerable and lamented nobleman. 
 
 The Duke of Grafton at different times set down in writing the 
 result of his inquiries and his own reflections upon them. These 
 extended from the year 1788 to the year 1797, and they contain 
 a simple and interesting account of the progress of a virtuous and 
 intelligent inquirer in his pursuit after truth. These papers were 
 printed in his own lifetime, but not published. A few copies were 
 given by his Grace to select friends, but they were principally in- 
 tended for the use of his own family. And he desires that six 
 copies may be given to each of his children, hoping that these 
 may remind them of the true and honest sentiments of their father 
 at different times in his better days, and that they may accustom 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 themselves thereby to improve their lives more and more every 
 day by a study of the Scriptures. 
 
 The first paper is dated December, 1788. The Duke was at 
 that time, from the best search he was able to make into the holy 
 writings, confirmed in the belief that " there is but one God only, 
 who ought to be acknowledged and worshipped as such by all his 
 creatures, and that he is the Creator and Governor of the 
 universe. " But at this time he appears not to have completely 
 made up his mind upon the subject of the pre-existence of Christ. 
 " I do," says he, u most sincerely believe in Jesus Christ, and am 
 convinced that he was the Messiah, and sent by our Heavenly 
 Father that the glad tidings should be made known to all man- 
 kind." The noble writer adds : "Whether Christ pre-existed at 
 all or not, in what manner, or from what time, I find in Scripture 
 no sufficient ground or necessity to make this point a matter of 
 faith, and this both comforts and rejoiceth me. It may not, 
 perhaps, be displeasing to God that pious or learned and well- 
 intentioned persons should ruminate and form their conjectures 
 upon these high subjects ; but I conceive that no man should 
 offer, for the belief of others, his opinions on them, but with the 
 utmost deference, and adducing proof from Scripture sufficient to 
 justify his way of thinking. ,J He concludes this paper with great 
 humility and piety in the following words : "If I am in any 
 eiTor, and under any mistake in these sentiments, I earnestly beg 
 of Almighty God that I may be convinced of it, and that he will 
 pardon me in my ignorance, and that he will enlighten my under- 
 standing by his Holy Spirit, and lead me into the way of truth, 
 establishing me in the same more and more every day." In a sort 
 of postscript to this paper, the Duke expresses his " humble 
 judgment" that the example of Christ is more impressive and 
 efficacious upon the supposition of his " having been a man liable 
 as we are to all the weakness of human nature, but to whom God 
 gave not the spirit by measure." 
 
 In another paper, dated December 25, 1789, his Grace remarks, 
 " that the service for the Lord's Supper is not cleared from some 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 215 
 
 things which deter numbers from joining in that holy rite. A few 
 omissions in the prayers would render this service very suitable to 
 comprehend large denominations of Christians, who cannot join 
 with the congregation at present and acquit themselves to their 
 own consciences, and who cannot bring their minds to do as I 
 have this day done, by joining devoutly where I could, and in 
 humble silence submitting myself, where I could not join, to 
 the direction of that light which it has pleased God to grant 
 unto me." 
 
 This practice of joining in a religious service in many respects 
 so very exceptionable, and, as a Unitarian must think, even idola- 
 trous, cannot perhaps be strictly justified, even with the mental 
 reservation which this virtuous nobleman exercised when he joined 
 in the solemnity. But it is most evident that he acted under a 
 sense of duty; and that, far from condemning those who could 
 not in conscience join in communion with the Established Church, 
 he wishes that the service mi°:ht be so altered as to obviate their 
 objections. Surely, then, it ill becomes those who judge perhaps 
 more correctly, and who act more consistently in abstaining from 
 such worship, to censure others with severity who think it their 
 duty to attend what they justly deem a corrupt, and in many 
 respects an unscriptural form of worship, rather than entirely 
 forego the benefit of religious institutions, or exhibit an example of 
 the total neglect of Christian ordinances which may be misunder- 
 stood, and may mislead the lower orders of society. Happy is he 
 who condemneth not himself in the thing which he alloweth. 
 Let every one be a severe judge of his own conduct, and candid 
 in his estimate of others. 
 
 In a paper dated December 30, 1790, the noble writer declares 
 his now firm conviction, that " Jesus was a man, one in our own 
 nature, and that his example and precepts were designed to direct 
 us in our duty, as well as to afford the greatest possible consola- 
 tion and encouragement in the regular discharge of it.'' 
 
 In the next paper, which is dated January, 1791, the Duke, 
 having stated that he by no means would be understood to repre- 
 sent the proper humanity of Christ as a doctrine essential to 
 
216 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 salvation, adds, " Yet I cannot but think that a belief in the 
 divinity of Christ, and the invocation of him as God, is dis- 
 pleasing to the Almighty, as breaking his first great and unre- 
 pealed command ; and that every man who wilfully neglects to 
 inquire has much to answer for ; and much more those who have 
 presumed to fetter his creatures by forcing them in their belief. 
 Let ministers and teachers of religion, let fathers of families and 
 others who are enforcing the belief of a mystical union in the God- 
 head, let them be aware, that they are using a most unwarrant- 
 able authority over the consciences of their fellow-creatures, for 
 which they will ultimately have to answer to the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to the One only true God, who on this very head 
 has been pleased to style himself a jealous God ; and also that 
 if they should be in an error, as I conceive them to be, they 
 become dangerously responsible for the restraints which they 
 have presumed to lay upon the consciences of others." 
 
 I transcribe the whole of the memorandum dated March 5, 
 1791, as expressive both of this virtuous nobleman's enlightened 
 views and deep humility. a On the truth of the Christian 
 dispensation and religion I confidently rest my hopes of immor- 
 tality ; and, with thankfulness for so great a boon, I trust to the 
 mercy of God towards me, who stand so much in need of it." 
 
 In a paper dated January 1, 179.2, the Duke expresses a belief 
 that the exaltation of Christ to dominion and authority was the 
 consequence of his submission to those sufferings which " were so 
 efficacious, perhaps so necessary, to his own glory and to the 
 future happiness of mankind." His mind seems at this time to 
 have been perplexed with some obscure notion of the unscriptural 
 doctrines of meritorious sufferings, and of the external authority 
 of Jesus Christ; which, however, he regards as a mystery which 
 " it will probably never be given to man in the present state" to 
 understand, and which therefore "must consequently be ranked 
 among those articles the belief of which cannot be necessary to 
 salvation." 
 
 In a paper dated April 21, of the same year, the Duke repre- 
 sents himself as differing from some with whom lie generally 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 217 
 
 agrees, in believing that Jesus Christ in his present state can hear 
 and help us. At the same time he adds : " I presume, and do 
 firmly believe, that he would be offended at being addressed by 
 any of his followers as an object of that divine worship which, as 
 I conceive, the Scriptures represent to be due only to the 
 Almighty Father and Creator, the ever-living God." 
 
 The difference upon this subject between his Grace and the 
 theological friends to whom he refers, was probably merely 
 nominal. Agreeing with the noble writer in the great principle 
 that Jesus Christ is not the proper object of worship, they would 
 be far from presuming to limit the extent of his knowledge or his 
 power in his present exalted state. 
 
 In a paper dated June 10, of the same year, the Duke, after 
 expressing his firm belief in the inspiration of the prophets, and 
 of the information communicated to the apostles by the instruc- 
 tions of Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, proceeds to state 
 his objections to " the notion generally inculcated concerning the 
 perpetual inspiration of the apostles and evangelists, which," says 
 he, " I humbly conceive has much more assisted the cause of infi- 
 delity : which, in its turn, will recede in proportion as our divines, 
 becoming every day more liberal in their opinions, shall advance to 
 a candid admission that the apostles were fallible, and not at all 
 times directed by the Holy Spirit." 
 
 In a paper dated June 10, 1794, the noble writer states, that 
 his " own unenlightened reason had ever revolted against the 
 church doctrine of original sin, as wholly incompatible with the 
 attributes of a benevolent and omnipotent God." He adds : 
 " And my mind received great comfort when I found that Scripture, 
 so far from justifying an idea so derogatory to the honour and 
 glory of the Deity, does, through its whole tenor, furnish ample 
 ground for concluding against this sad and, I trust, unsupported 
 doctrine." After this, he proceeds to state some of those passages 
 which, in his view, appeared to be most irreconcilable to this 
 popular opinion, particularly Matt, xviii. 3, xix. 4; Luke xviii. 
 17. 
 
 The paper dated March, 1795, contains rather an elaborate 
 
218 MEMOIRS OP THE LATE 
 
 disquisition upon the subject of the redemption of sinners by the 
 death of Christ, which seems to have pressed very much upon the 
 mind of the noble writer. He discards the common notion of 
 vicarious suffering and satisfaction. He conceives that " Scripture 
 redemption consists in a deliverance from the practice and guilt of 
 sin to be effected by sincere repentance, followed by total amend- 
 ment of life, to which the merciful goodness of God has vouch- 
 safed to annex the forgiveness of all past sins and offences." " That 
 which propitiates God is the forsaking of sin and newness of 
 life. If so, may not Christ, who teaches us this method of being 
 reconciled, be fairly and properly called the propitiation of our 
 sins ? " 
 
 In a paper dated April 17, 1796, the noble writer expresses his 
 decided conviction, that if doctrines are unintelligible, the belief of 
 them cannot be necessary to salvation. " Arrogant indeed," says 
 he, u is the theology of those who would enforce the belief of 
 superstitious or inexplicable opinions as divine truths, annexing 
 the hard alternative of eternal punishment. Far otherwise, I 
 believe, speaks the conciliating language of the gospel of our 
 benevolent Lord and Master." 
 
 The paper dated March 14, 1797, represents the expectation of 
 a future life, founded on the natural immortality of the soul, as 
 involved in inextricable difficulties ; " whereas he who believes 
 in the truth of Christianity, and who confides in the assurances of 
 the gospel, has no occasion to fly to any metaphysical disquisitions, 
 for he feels at once that God, who was able to create him originally, 
 has promised through Jesus Christ to raise him again to life at 
 the last day; that he who has done the first has equally power 
 to perform the second, and has given an irrefragable proof of it 
 by the resurrection of Jesus himself from the dead." 
 
 The conclusion, which, though it has no date, appears to have 
 been written in the year 1797, begins with a most ingenuous 
 and affecting apology to the noble writer's friends, acquaintance, 
 and to the world in general, for embracing a form of public worship 
 differing essentially from that of the church in which he was 
 bred ; expressing his deep sense of the responsibility which he 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 219 
 
 incurred by it, his entire satisfaction in the choice which he had 
 made, his earnest regret that he had not turned his serious 
 attention to the subject of religion earlier in life, and his ardent 
 desire that what he writes may be instrumental in rousing others 
 to an earlier attachment to the pure religion of the gospel. As 
 this introduction has been cited at length in the discourse which was 
 published by the author of this Memoir upon occasion of the 
 lamented decease of the noble Duke, it is unnecessary to repeat it 
 here. 
 
 The noble writer goes on to animadvert upon the egregious 
 error of those who, regarding religion chiefly as an engine of 
 state, expect to establish good order by the help of it, without 
 "reviewing the Articles and Liturgy, and presenting to the people 
 a purer Christianity, not liable to the formidable attacks which 
 are daily made upon the present system." The remainder of tbis 
 paper is taken up in commenting upon the first Article in the 
 Church of England, which teaches that " in the Unity of the 
 Godhead there be three persons of one substance, power, and 
 eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; " and in 
 showing how repugnant this doctrine is to the declaration of 
 the apostle, that " there is One God, and one Mediator between 
 God and men, the man Christ Jesus." After this, the noble 
 writer severely condemns the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian 
 Creed, which, though it still remains as a creed required from 
 those who profess to be of the Church of England, had no 
 existence till a hundred years after the Council of Nice, and 
 was not admitted even into the Church of Rome till the tenth 
 century. 
 
 Having expatiated somewhat at large upon these subjects, he 
 adds : " My objections are weighty against the Article of the 
 church on original or birth sin, against the doctrine maintained 
 relative to good works done before justification having the nature 
 of sin, against that on predestination, and some others. But 
 I trust I have said enough, without now entering on these, to 
 prove that, if I be in the wrong, it is with an honest and firm 
 desire of searching for the truth." " It is from the Scriptures 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 alone," continues this illustrious inquirer after truth, and with 
 these remarks he closes his interesting volume, " It is from the 
 Scriptures alone that we can know the revealed will of God ; 
 and it is from thence I venture to draw my justification for 
 wishing to join in communion with a church which will admit of 
 no article of faith that is not expressed in the very words of 
 Scripture; no creed which disclaims the right of private judgment 
 in the concern of religion, and still, more, which allows the right 
 of persecuting any human creature for conscience' sake." 
 
 As there is little reason to expect that these interesting papers 
 will be soon published, the writer of this Memoir thought that 
 it would be acceptable to his readers to exhibit this brief abstract 
 of their contents, accompanied with a few specimens of the 
 observations themselves ; and in so doing he is convinced that 
 he complies with the expressed desire of the noble writer, that 
 "not only his friends and acquaintance, but the world in general, 
 might know that he embraced a form of public worship essentially 
 different from that of the church in which he was bred, not hastily 
 and through levity, but with all the consideration and investigation 
 which so awful a decision required ; " and that what he wrote 
 u might be instrumental in rousing others to an earlier attachment 
 to the pure religion of the gospel, and to remember their Creator 
 in the days of their youth." And it cannot be doubted that 
 the noble writer's vindication of his conduct must be perfectly 
 satisfactory to every serious, liberal, and enlightened mind, how 
 strange and unaccountable soever such conduct and such reasoning 
 may appear to a gay and a thoughtless world. 
 
 Indeed, that a person of the Duke of Grafton's elevated rank in 
 society, who had filled the principal offices of the state, and 
 who was allied by birth, and associated by habits of familiar 
 intercourse, with the first nobility of the land, should, in the 
 vigour of life, sit down calmly to study the Scriptures ; that, 
 in consequence of this, he should embrace a system of Christianity 
 widely different from the popular creed ; that, impelled by a 
 commanding sense of duty, he should secede from the church 
 established by law, in which he had been educated, and to the 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 221 
 
 worship and constitution of which he was affectionately attached ; 
 that he should publicly unite himself to a society of Christians 
 not then tolerated by the state, which existed by connivance only, 
 and the principles of which are held in public disrepute ; whose 
 primary principle and professed bond is the unrivalled supremacy 
 and the sole worship of God the Father, as revealed and taught 
 by his faithful servant and messenger Jesus Christ, — indicates 
 perhaps as pure a principle of integrity, and as high a degree 
 of mental vigour and Christian fortitude, as can be conceived to 
 exist. It may even be questioned whether the noble sacrifice 
 made by Mr. Lindsey of all his preferments in the church and his 
 prospects in life, or the calm and dignified self-possession of Dr. 
 Priestley under calumny and persecution, discovered a more 
 generous and intrepid spirit in the cause of truth. In all 
 the changes of their fortune, and amidst the severest trials of 
 their constancy, these Christian heroes were encompassed with 
 friends who stood by them, who kept them in countenance, 
 who protected them from, or who shared with them in, the con- 
 tumely and the insult of their misguided opponents. But the 
 Duke of Grafton stood alone — the Abdiel of the sacred cause. 
 He had no one to join him, no one to stand by him, no one 
 to share in the reproach ; and yet he persevered. And though he 
 fully understood, and feelingly describes, the delicacy and re- 
 sponsibility of his situation, he at the same time attests the 
 unspeakable satisfaction which he experienced from a faithful 
 adherence to the dictates of an enlightened conscience. Had the 
 Duke been a religionist only, and without inquiry or discrimination 
 continued a believer in the popular creed and a frequenter of the 
 'established worship, his conversion, so far from being a subject of 
 reproach, would have been blazoned to the world with every mark 
 of honour and applause. Nor would he have wanted associates 
 even among persons of his own rank, who generally, and almost 
 unavoidably, confounding the Christian religion with the creeds 
 and catechisms and other articles of human device to which 
 they are accustomed, when they become religious too often 
 degenerate into narrow bigots to the tenets of their childhood. 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 But the Duke of Grafton disdained to take his religion upon 
 trust. His superior mind examined the Scripture for itself. And 
 having discovered Truth, he valued it most highly ; he held it 
 fast, and would upon no consideration part with it. By an 
 habitual attendance upon a form of public worship addressed 
 exclusively to the One God, even the Father, he calmly but firmly 
 avowed his principles ; and to all who had the happiness of 
 knowing him, he exhibited their powerful and beneficial influence 
 in a virtuous and Christian life. 
 
 Some have affected to believe that this virtuous nobleman 
 was not thoroughly consistent, and that he did not carry his 
 principles to their proper extent. Suffice it to say, in reply to 
 these ungenerous insinuations, that the Duke of Grafton at all 
 times acted up to his own ideas of consistency and rectitude, 
 though his judgment might not entirely correspond with that 
 of his accusers. Let such persons recollect what this illustrious 
 nobleman did, before they presume to arraign him for what he did 
 not. And it may not be unbecoming those who are so very 
 sharp- sighted in discovering a mote in the eye of another, to 
 consider well whether there may not at the same time be a beam in 
 their own. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. LINDSEY PUBLISHES A NEW AND REFORMED EDITION OF HIS 
 LITURGY; RESIGNS HIS OFFICE AT ESSEX-STREET CHAPEL* 
 HIS FAREWELL SERMON PUBLISHED, BUT NOT PREACHED. 
 INTERESTS HIMSELF IN FAVOUR OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED 
 BY UNJUST STATE PROSECUTIONS. CASES OF FYSHE PALMER, 
 MUIR, AND WINTERBOTHAM. 
 
 Early in the year 1793, Mr. Lindsey, at that time approaching 
 the term assigned by the sacred writer as the usual limit of 
 human life, or at least of the active and useful portion of it, and 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 223 
 
 being secretly but firmly resolved, though in a high state of health 
 and vigour, corporeal and intellectual, to retire from public service 
 in his seventieth year, he revised and printed a fourth edition of 
 the Reformed Liturgy, that he might bequeath it to his bereaved 
 flock, as containing the last corrections, and the most approved 
 sentiments, of their faithful and affectionate pastor. He intro- 
 duced it with a sermon delivered upon the occasion in the month 
 of April in that year, and which he afterwards published. In 
 this sermon, after giving a judicious account of the duty, the 
 reasonableness, and the efficacy of prayer, he proceeds to state 
 the nature and the grounds of the alterations which he had made 
 in this new edition of the Reformed Liturgy. They were indeed 
 not inconsiderable. He had omitted what is called the Apostles' 
 Creed, and the three invocations in the Litany. 
 
 After stating the preference which the society in Essex Street 
 give to forms of prayer, he observes that " one capital incon- 
 venience belongs to this mode of worship, viz. that forms of 
 prayer drawn up in one age, through greater improvements made 
 by the study of the sacred writings, may become improper to be 
 used ; and things of this nature once established, are too apt on 
 that very account to be held sacred, and by no means to be 
 changed : by which serious thinking persons are often brought 
 into great difficulties. The proper remedy would be, frequently 
 to revise public devotional forms of human institution, and to 
 correct and bring them nearer to the Scripture model. * And 
 having glanced at the ineffectual attempts which had been made in 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for the reformation of 
 the established Liturgy, he reminds his readers that Dr. Samuel 
 Clarke's amendments of the Book of Common Prayer had been 
 adopted by the society in Essex-Street chapel,* but not without 
 
 * Mr. Lindsey observes in a note, that it is very probable that Dr. Clarke's Reformed 
 Liturgy was approved by King George II., certainly by his consort Queen Caroline; 
 that Dr. Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury, gave it the fullest and highest com- 
 mendations in a letter to the amiable and excellent Dr. Jortin ; and that it also received 
 very signal tokens of approbation from a learned and venerable prelate, lately deceased 
 (probably Bishop Law), the intimate friend of Dr. Jortin. " And I cannot suffer 
 myself to doubt/' continues the venerable writer, "that whenever the people of Great 
 Britain shall calmly weigh the reasons offered, they will be earnest to attain such an 
 
224 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 " some alterations and improvements in the different editions of 
 the Reformed Liturgy," which had hitherto met with the appro- 
 bation of the Society; he bad no doubt that the same approbation 
 would be extended to the changes introduced into the present 
 edition ; the reasons for which he proceeds to state : 
 
 "The first omission is that of the Creed, concerning which I 
 would observe to you that I had thought of leaving it out when 
 our worship first began in this place; but it was retained at the 
 suggestion of judicious friends, lest without further examination 
 or inquiry we should on that account be represented as a society 
 of mere Deists, and other Christians be deterred from uniting with 
 us. But I persuade myself that it has been long seen that there 
 are no grounds for such an imputation." 
 
 The author then proceeds to assign the following reasons for 
 not continuing this Creed as a part of public worship. "1. It 
 was not written by the apostles, and therefore is of no authority. 
 2. It is very wrong and unwarrantable to put persons upon 
 making a profession of their faith in assemblies for Christian 
 worship. 3. No man, or number of men together, have any 
 authority to make a creed for others. 4. The imposition of creeds 
 in all ages has been the cause of great mischief and dissension, 
 
 important alteration in their public form of prayer so easily accomplished : a circum- 
 stance fervently wished for by many of the clergy of the Church of England twenty 
 years ago, when 1 ceased to be one of them, and now much longed for by many of its 
 lay members." 
 
 May I be permitted to suggest, how much wiser it would be, in the present critical 
 period, when the church is alarmed, and not without reason, at the rapid growth of 
 Nonconformity in various shapes, instead of anxiously devising means to shore up a 
 system of doctrine and worship, which no effort of human ingenuity can support in 
 opposition to the liberal and inquisitive spirit of this enlightened period, to open the 
 doors of the Established Church to learned and conscientious inquirers, by substituting 
 ttie Scriptures in the place of the Articles, and reforming the Liturgy upon the plan of 
 Dr. Clarke's, so as to contain nothing unscriptural, or offensive to the judicious and 
 serious worshipper] The Church of England would then be built upon a rock, and 
 might bid defiance to all assailants. Nor would it then exhibit the extraordinary 
 phenomenon of the whole body of the clergy setting themselves in array against the 
 laudable efforts of a humble individual for the instruction of the poor, assigning for 
 their conduct this singular reason, that of a system which teaches the Scriptures only, 
 without the aid of the Catechism and Liturgy, "the natural consequence must be to 
 alienate the minds of the people from, or render them indillerent to," the u doctrine and 
 discipline of the Established Church. ' — See the Preamble to the Catalogue of Sub- 
 scribers to the National Society for the Education of the Foor, in the Morning 
 Chronicle for Dec. 28, 1811. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS L1NDSEY. 225 
 
 and a constant snare to honest minds who are tied down to 
 them. 
 
 " The other omission is in the beginning of the Litany, where 
 the three invocations are changed into one. Many persons of 
 high estimation for learning, judgment, and piety, favourers of 
 Dr. Clarke's Liturgy, have always esteemed it a great oversight 
 and blemish therein, that when that celebrated person rejected the 
 Trinity from the Liturgy he should so far accommodate himself to 
 the doctrine he exploded as to retain three different invocations in 
 form, which carry to common heedless persons a sort of appearance 
 of the Trinity." 
 
 The Liturgy thus amended was glady accepted by Mr. Lindsey's 
 congregation, and continued to be used in the chapel till the year 
 1802, when it was superseded by a Liturgy drawn up and intro- 
 duced by his successor, the Rev. Dr. John Disney. But though 
 this Liturgy was judicious, unexceptionable, and, as many 
 thought, in some respects an improvement upon the former, yet, 
 from the modern style of the language, and other circumstances, 
 and particularly from its wide deviation from the established 
 Liturgy, it was not so acceptable to the congregation as that of 
 the venerable founder of the society. And upon the choice of a 
 successor to Dr. Disney, upon that gentleman's resignation in the 
 year 1805, the general wish of the Trustees and the congrega- 
 tion was expressed to resume Mr. Lindsey's Liturgy, which was 
 accordingly acceded to ; and a few alterations, chiefly verbal, 
 being made, to which that excellent person gave a cordial assent, 
 a new edition was printed, a copy of which was locked up with 
 the writings of the chapel, and a resolution passed that no further 
 alterations should be made, nor any new form of worship be 
 introduced, without the express consent of a majority of the 
 Trustees.* 
 
 Mr. Lindsey having now completely made up his mind upon 
 
 * This cannot with justice be regarded as any infringement upon the rights of con- 
 science ; for, as the Trustees have the disposal of the chapel property, they have a right 
 to annex what terms they please to the grant, consistently with the tenor of the trust 
 with which they are invested. And this condition was approved by the original grantor 
 of the premises, Mr. Lindsey, who was then living. 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the subject of his resignation, in the beginning of the summer 
 addressed a circular letter to the Trustees, of which the following 
 is an extract : 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I beg leave to address you in the capacity of a 
 Trustee for the chapel in Essex Street, and to inform you of my 
 intention of resigning my office of minister of it. 
 
 "My advanced age and growing infirmities have for some time 
 intimated to me the rightness and necessity of this step ; but as 
 I was enabled to perform the service, I thought it my duty 
 to accomplish two points previous to my retiring from my 
 station." 
 
 The points to which the writer alludes, were a renewal of the 
 Trust, and a complete repair of the whole premises, w r hich had 
 been done in the best manner possible. Having stated these 
 circumstances for the information of the Trustees, Mr. Lindsey 
 adds: "I have fixed the middle of July next for the time of 
 my resignation ; and I am happy in having a candidate as 
 a successor in my colleague, Dr. Disney, whose zeal for the 
 principle upon which the society was founded, and whose 
 abilities, assiduity, and acceptableness to you and the con- 
 gregation, in the discharge of his duty, have been for a long 
 time ascertained." 
 
 In this simple and unostentatious manner did this pious veteran 
 resign his connection with a congregation which he had served 
 faithfully for nearly twenty years, during which period he had 
 enjoyed the unintermitted veneration and attachment of every 
 member of the society, both old and young, and had been 
 witness to the progress of those principles, to the propagation 
 of which his life had been devoted, and for the sake of which 
 he had made the greatest sacrifices, to an extent far exceeding 
 his most sanguine expectation, both in his own society and in 
 the world, and in a great measure by means of his own labours 
 and writings. 
 
 To Mr. Lindsey's letter of resignation, the Trustees of the 
 chapel returned the following appropriate and respectful answer : 
 
 " The Trustees for the chapel in Essex Street, at this time in 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIITLUS LINDSEY. 227 
 
 London, having received a circular letter from the Reverend Mr. 
 Lindsey, declaring his intention to resign his office as minister 
 of that chapel on the fifteenth day of July next, resolve : That, 
 together with their sincere regret on the occasion, their very 
 affectionate acknowledgments, in the names of themselves and 
 the absent Trustees, be presented to him for the rare and noble 
 example which he gave to the professors of genuine Chris- 
 tianity, when he sacrificed the honours and emoluments of the 
 Established Church, in compliance with the dictates of his con- 
 science; for his active zeal in the cause of truth, manifested by 
 the institution of the religious society in Essex Street; for the 
 able and disinterested services by which he has raised it to its 
 present state of prosperity; for the distinguished spirit of 
 benevolence and piety which hath uniformly marked his dis- 
 charge of the duties of his office, and endeared him to all 
 under his pastoral care ; and also for his attention to the future 
 prosperity of the institution, by introducing to the society h is 
 worthy colleague, the Reverend Dr. Disney." 
 
 Upon this interesting occasion Mr. Lindsey composed a 
 judicious and suitable discourse, which, however, he would not 
 trust himself to deliver from the pulpit, finding himself, as he 
 expresses it, u too tenderly impressed with taking leave of so 
 many indulgent friends, to be capable of personally addressing 
 them with any tolerable degree of vigour."* This discourse, 
 therefore, was published and distributed among his friends, 
 and to the members of his congregation. In the exordium 
 he states, that " having now attained the term of life when 
 the human faculties naturally lose their vigour and decay, and 
 being in the twentieth year of his happy services as their minister, 
 it is now time to withdraw, and meet the unavoidable infirmities 
 of nature in a private station ;" and having assigned his reasons 
 
 * In a letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated July 8, 1783, Mr. Lindsey thus expresses 
 himself : " I take my final leave of the pulpit in this cliapel on Sunday next, in the 
 morning, and shall endeavour to say something suitable, though without any hint of 
 bidding farewell, which my own nerves would not bear ; and many kind friends of 
 those who are not yet gone into the country say, that they must keep away from the 
 Qhapel if I do anything of this kind." 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 MEMOIRS or THE late 
 
 why he declined the pressing solicitations of many of his friends 
 to continue public services, with any additional assistance that 
 he might require, he takes for his text those words in the Lord's 
 Prayer, " Thy kingdom/* or rather, " Thy reign come," professing 
 his ardent wish upon this occasion to impress his readers with a 
 sense of the importance of the principle by which we distinguish 
 ourselves from other Christians, and of the obligations which it 
 lays upon us to the practice of piety and all virtue. In the 
 progress of his discourse, the pious and learned writer professes 
 to show that the gospel being from God, it must prevail ; — 
 that its success is to be gradual ; — that a principal obstacle 
 to the progress of the gospel is the making of Jesus Christ 
 the Supreme God, and worshipping him. Here he introduces 
 a brief history of the long and lasting corruption of so funda- 
 mental a doctrine of the gospel as the Unity of God, and of its 
 revival after a seemingly total extinction of it ; and shows that 
 this corrupt doctrine concerning Christ is the cause of atheism and 
 infidelity among Christians ; from which he infers that it is only 
 by the revival and spreading of the strict doctrine of the Divine 
 Unity that the kingdom of God, or the gospel of Christ, can 
 be fully established in the world : — and upon this the venerable 
 writer justly and forcibly remarks, that "it is not any religious 
 sentiment, any opinion of our own, which is frequently objected 
 to us, that excites our zeal. In contending for the strict Unity 
 of God, and that Jesus, his messenger to us, was a man like 
 ourselves, we contend for the gospel itself, as in this enlightened 
 age serious and rational inquirers are not likely to be reconciled 
 to any other form of Christianity."* 
 
 * Under this head the venerable writer remarks, " You will perceive that your 
 duty to Christ and to truth requires you to do nothing whereby you may encou- 
 rage such undue sentiments of him, especially not to frequent the worship of him as 
 God, when you are absolutely convinced that he is not entitled to such regards, and 
 expressly requires you to pay them to God only." 
 
 In a note, the author observes that " the apostle Paul, in his adjudication of a case 
 where any doubt remained upon the mind concerning the lawfulness of an action, 
 has given it entirely against compliance. Whatever is not of faith is of sin :" 
 Rom. xiv. 14, 22, 23. He .adds: " It must be owned, however, that there may be 
 peculiar situations in life, which may incline some to doubt whether greater good may 
 not accrue from an Unitarian Christian sometimes attending Trinitarian worship. The 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 229 
 
 Having thus established the great importance of the Unitarian 
 doctrine, this venerable apostle of primitive truth proceeds to 
 state that holiness of life is indispensably necessary for promoting 
 the success of the gospel ; and especially " the most perfect 
 benevolence towards all other Christians, and all men." He 
 laments over the prevalence of an intolerant spirit among 
 Christians in all ages, and particularly alludes to the disgraceful 
 scenes which had been lately acted at Birmingham. " He 
 flatters himself, notwithstanding, that this hostile, barbarous 
 temper is by no means generally prevalent, but that a spirit of 
 candour and gentle forbearance is gone forth and spreading itself 
 silently through the nation ;" of which, " the place of public 
 worship in which we assemble is no small proof. Although it is 
 founded upon the principle of the worship of the church 
 established being directed to wrong objects, and such as we 
 cannot conscientiously frequent, there is not perhaps a Christian 
 society in this great city, for its numbers, more respectable or 
 more respected than ours ; and such it has been from the very 
 first of its institution." The pious writer adds, what it is to 
 be hoped that all his successors in office, and all who do now or 
 who may hereafter join in the religious services of that society, 
 of which he was the founder, will practically remember : " I 
 have no doubt of our going on to be more and more respected, 
 whilst we adhere to the just and liberal principle with which 
 we first set out, and from which I have never knowingly deviated, 
 viz. never to arraign or condemn other churches or Christian 
 
 instances can be but rare. But where this is done, the persons should act without 
 disguise, and let their real sentiments be known — as in the remarkable case of the 
 captain of the army of the King of Syria: 2 Kings v. 17. 18. The safe side, however, 
 is to refrain entirely. - ' 
 
 The question is indeed of very difficult solution. The case of Naaman, to which 
 the writer alludes, will scarcely be allowed to have much weight in the decision. The 
 Syrian courtier states his own purpose : and the prophet, having no authority over a 
 heathen, dismisses him courteously. But this will by no means amount to a justification 
 of a Unitarian joining habitually in Trinitarian worship. How far this may be lawful 
 when no other worship is accessible, is a question of grrat nicety of which every 
 one must form a judgment for himself; nor has any one a ri«ht to arraign the 
 conduct of another. Happy is he who condemueth not himself in the thing which 
 ho alloweth. 
 
230 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 societies, for their different worship or opinions, who have a right 
 to judge for themselves as much as you have." 
 
 The conclusion is interesting and very appropriate. It is too 
 long to be wholly transcribed, but it is hoped that no apology 
 will be thought necessary for inserting a few extracts. 
 
 "And now, brethren, I bid you finally farewell. And having 
 for many years earnestly desired and endeavoured, however 
 weakly, to serve you in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 to promote your virtue and everlasting happiness, I commit you 
 to God and his overruling providence ; for, however diligently 
 others may plant and water, the increase and the fruits are to be 
 expected from him. 
 
 " I can never be sufficiently thankful to the bounty of Divine 
 Providence in raising up a number of serious and generous friends, 
 when alone, and destitute of all means to set on foot this place 
 of worship, to concur in the design, and for all the support 
 continued by them and others to the present day. 
 
 " Happy, thrice happy, if both they who have been called away 
 before us, and we that are left, may be found worthy objects of the 
 Divine mercy, and meet together at the resurrection of the last 
 day, never to be separated more ! And as no energies in the 
 cause of truth and virtue are lost, we may perhaps have the felicity 
 to perceive that we, in our narrow spheres, have been honoured 
 with being made instruments of good in the hands of our Maker. 
 And particularly, that our humble and honest testimony against 
 so early and lasting a corruption of the honour and worship due 
 to him alone, had its beneficial effects in the great scheme of his 
 providence, in bringing forward that more perfect state of things 
 which we look for, when knowledge shall increase, and benevolence 
 be universal." 
 
 Such were the pious and benevolent sentiments which this 
 venerable teacher of truth and righteousness expressed and 
 endeavoured to inculcate upon the minds of his congregation 
 when he took his final leave of the pulpit, and closed those public 
 and paternal addresses of which they had so often been the 
 attentive and delighted hearers. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS L1NDSEY. 231 
 
 Some of Mr. Lindsey's friends who were witnesses to his almost 
 unabated vigour, both of body and mind, could hardly excuse him 
 for thus prematurely, as they thought, withdrawing himself from 
 an office the duties of which he was so fully competent to dis- 
 charge. But this resignation of his public ministry was no hasty- 
 step. Tt had long been a settled principle with Mr. Lindsey and 
 his friend Dr. Priestley, and, to the best of the author's recol- 
 lection, of their common friend Dr. Price, that at the age of 
 seventy it was expedient for ministers to retire from public service, 
 even though their faculties should appear to be in full vigour, and 
 that they should not wait till resignation became necessary in con- 
 sequence of bodily or of mental decay. After the age of three- 
 score and ten, the faculties cannot long remain unimpaired, and 
 the decline of physical or intellectual capacity is often more 
 apparent to others than to a person himself. Often were they 
 accustomed to speak with regret of ministers whose age and 
 infirmities would have made retirement eligible, but who were 
 necessitated to continue in office for the sake of a scanty sub- 
 sistence ; and still more did they deplore the case of those whose 
 incapacity and incompetency to the duties of their office were 
 obvious to every one but themselves. They disapproved the in- 
 judicious partiality of friends who were urging aged ministers to 
 official duties to which their strength was not equal; and they 
 highly applauded the discretion and firmness of those ministers 
 who, like their late friend the learned Hugh Farmer, having once 
 resigned the pulpit upon account of age and infirmity, resolutely 
 declined, upon any consideration whatever, officiating again in 
 public. Upon this principle Mr. Lindsey thought proper to act ; 
 and having, for reasons which he judged satisfactory, taken leave 
 of his public charge, he took leave of it for ever, and could never 
 be persuaded to ascend the pulpit again.* 
 
 * Upon this subject Mr. Lindsey thus expresses himself, in a letter to a friend, dated 
 June 13, 1793 : " I ought not to keep secret any longer from you what was known to 
 one or two friends a year ago, and lately been signified to the Trustees of the chapel, 
 that T intend very soon to resign my office of minister in it. On the first of July I enter 
 into my seventieth year; and though 1 have cause of all thankfulness for the health and 
 strength I enjoy, being able tolerably to go through the duty, yet T find infirmities 
 coming, <ind have had some nervous spasms, particularly in my head, that have long 
 
232 memoirs or THE late 
 
 The venerable subject of this Memoir, though neither his 
 judgment nor his inclination led him to take a prominent part in 
 the politics of the time, was nevertheless a warm advocate for civil 
 and religious liberty, and his generous feelings and principles 
 upon this most interesting of all subjects he scorned to disguise. 
 He sympathized deeply with those political characters who, what- 
 ever indiscretions some of them might be chargeable with, suffered 
 from that which, in Mr. Lindsey' s estimation, was the overstrained 
 rigour of the law both in Scotland and England, penalties far 
 beyond the demerit of any crime which could be proved against 
 them. Among these sufferers, the person on whose behalf Mr. 
 Lindsey was in the highest degree interested was the Reverend 
 Thomas Fyshe Palmer, a gentleman descended from a respectable 
 and opulent family in Bedfordshire, who, having been destined to 
 take orders in the Established Church, had been educated at the 
 University of Cambridge, and was a Fellow of Queen's College. 
 This gentleman, in consequence of perusing the writings of Dr. 
 Priestley and Mr. Lindsey, became a decided Unitarian ; and 
 being a man of an ardent, active spirit, he devoted himself to the 
 propagation of those principles which to him appeared scriptural 
 and evangelical. In the year 1792, he was preacher of the 
 Unitarian doctrine in Scotland, where his official labours were 
 chiefly employed in the town of Dundee, in which a considerable 
 society of Unitarian worshippers had been formed by the united 
 exertions of himself, Messrs. Christie, Millar, and other respectable 
 
 satisfied me that it is right to retire with a good grace. I have recommended my worthy 
 colleague, and he will certainly be chosen to succeed me. F>ut we shall continue to live 
 on in our present situation. For the whole premises being purchased, and the chapel, 
 &c, built by money collected by me from various friends, with not less than five hundred 
 pounds of our own, and the accommodations, &c, being much owing to my wife's atten- 
 tion, skill, and daily superintendence, when I gave up the fee of the whole, which was 
 vested in me. and made choice of the Trustees in the trust deed, which perpetuates the 
 premises for the proper uses, they settled the house rent-free to my wife lor her life." 
 
 To the same purpose Mr. Lindsey writes to another friend, September 9, 1793 : 
 " We shall still continue to reside in the house in Essex Street ; for the Trustees of the 
 chapel would not appoint a successor, but under the limitation of my enjoying the 
 house, &c. for life, as was appointed in the original trust-deed for my wife if I had died 
 the minister and she had survived me. This was thought reasonable, as by collections 
 from our friends, with no small sura of our own, we had purchased, built, and furnished 
 the premises." 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 233 
 
 inhabitants. Mr. Fyshe Palmer was a man of excellent under- 
 standing, unimpeachable morals, and of great simplicity of 
 character ; and being a zealous friend to liberty, and upon all 
 occasions ardent, he, perhaps inconsiderately, was concerned in the 
 republication of an Address to the People of Scotland concerning 
 the Reform of Parliament, for which, in the autumn of 1793, he 
 was tried by the Circuit Court of Justiciary ; and being convicted, 
 a sentence of banishment was passed upon him, which was inter- 
 preted and executed as a sentence of transportation for seven years 
 to Botany Bay. After this inhuman sentence, Mr. Palmer 
 experienced very rigorous treatment. He was confined for some 
 weeks in the common gaol of Perth, from which, without any 
 previous notice, he was hurried away at four o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, in the month of November, and taken on board a cutter, 
 which brought him to London, where he and Mr. Muir, a gentle- 
 man of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland (who, for a similar 
 offence, had been subjected to a still severer sentence), were for 
 some time lodged in Newgate, and were afterwards confined in the 
 hulks at ^Woolwich, where they were treated by the governor with 
 much humanity, and were allowed all the accommodations which 
 their situation would admit.* They were permitted to see their 
 
 * u Mr. Muir and Mr. Palmer/' says Mr. Lindsey, in a letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated 
 December 14, 1 793, "are on board the hulks with the felons, and many of my friends 
 have been to see them. I also hear from Mr. Palmer, and have sent him some books. 
 Neither of them, I believe, is in want of anything, the place considered. But the situa- 
 tion is, upon the whole, horrible. Mr. Palmer, however, is most cheerful in the midst of 
 it, and Mr. Muir not otherwise." In another letter to the same friend, dated 
 January 10, ] 794, Mr. Lindsey writes : "Since I la3t wrote, opinions have varied 
 about the destiny of Mr. Palmer and Mr. Muir, as the Scotch judges have, upon revisal, 
 adhered to the sentence pronounced upon them. Mr. Palmer's health ; nd spirits are 
 most cheerful ; Mr. Muir far from well in health since the cold weather set in ; both of 
 them supported by their integrity and future hopes. Some friends who visited the hulks 
 on Wednesday had a commission from some others to offer a purse to Mr. Palmer and 
 Mr. Muir. The former declined taking anything, but Mr. Muir thankfully accepted it." 
 Mr. Pamer afterwards saw reason to alter his mind, and accepted the proffered kindness 
 of his friends. In a subsequent letter, Mr. Lindsey informs his friend that the amount 
 of the contribution was between five and six hundred pounds, and that it was vested in 
 the hands of a committee of seven for the benefit of Messrs. Palmer, Muir, Skirving, 
 and even Margarot, " who, as a joint sufferer, was not to be overlooked, though his 
 general character was not so high as the others." How true this observation of Mr. 
 Lindsey's was, and how justly this person was entitled to participate in the bounty of 
 Mr. Palmer s friends, those who were witnesses to his conduct to that gentleman on 
 board the transport in the paisage to South Wales could properly appreciate. 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 friends. Here they were visited by Mr. Lindsey and Dr. Priestley, 
 and by many other virtuous friends of liberty and reform, who 
 contributed by their sympathy to alleviate their sufferings, and 
 who, with others, raised a very handsome subscription to provide 
 necessaries for their voyage and requisites to their future establish- 
 ment when they had reached the place of their destination. The 
 extreme inhumanity of the sentence passed upon these reformers, 
 and the unparalleled severity of the penalty annexed by the 
 barbarous law of North Britain to an offence which, if proved to 
 its utmost extent, was punishable in the South only by a few 
 months' imprisonment, considered in connection with the excellent 
 characters of the defendants, w T ho could not in reason be regarded 
 as capable of intentionally involving the country in confusion and 
 anarchy, excited general indignation and horror ; and that not 
 only in England, but in foreign countries. 
 
 " The trial of the Scottish advocate, T. Muir," says a respect- 
 able writer in the Altona Journal, a.d. 1794, "who, for various 
 endeavours to effect a reform of the Parliament of his country, was 
 condemned to be transported to Botany Bay, must excite in the 
 breast of every German an esteem for his native land. AVe here 
 see a man sent to Botany Bay on account of an accusation to 
 which a German court of justice would have been ashamed to 
 listen." 
 
 The legality of the sentence was called in question by many 
 distinguished advocates at the Scotch bar ; the punishment for 
 leasing-making, i.e. libelling, being expressed by the word banish- 
 ment in the Scotch statute, not transportation to another country. 
 Upon this ground, when Parliament was assembled in the begin- 
 ning of 1794, various motions were introduced by an honourable 
 member eminently learned in Scotch jurisprudence, William 
 Adam, Esq., with a view to a revision of the Scottish law relating 
 to sedition ; to an inquiry into the legality of the sentence ; and, 
 finally, to the regulations of the Justiciary Courts of Scotland. 
 These motions were overruled ; but from the interest which 
 many persons of great weight and influence in the country 
 appeared to take in the fate of the prisoners, the sufferers and 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 235 
 
 their friends fondly flattered themselves with the hope that 
 the punishment would be mitigated.* But the Administration 
 of that day had determined upon ruling by a system of terror, 
 unprecedented since the accession of the House of Brunswick : 
 and while the conduct of the Scottish courts of justice was 
 under discussion in Parliament, in the month of March, 1791', 
 these two upright and respectable sufferers, and others in the 
 same predicament, w r ere hurried on board the Surprise, a Go- 
 vernment transport, and despatched to Botany Bay, among a 
 crowd of felons of various descriptions, who were fur their 
 crimes condemned to the same punishment.f The treatment 
 of Mr. Fyshe Palmer on board this ship was so gross and 
 
 * " The sentence against Mr. Muir and Mr. Palmer," says Mr. Lindsey in bis 
 letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated February 20th, "is so unjust, that I can hardly persuade 
 myself still that it will be executed, at least till their case has undergone the intended 
 parliamentary discussion. My friends say thi3 is hoping against hope. At present 
 they are at Portsmouth, and it is said are to remain there a fortnight." In a letter 
 dated March 8th, Mr. Lindsey writes : " I hear that Mr. Palmer was not quite so 
 well at Portsmouth on board the ship, and that their fare and accommodations were 
 not such as were expected. However, some of my friends still flatter me with hope 
 that Government will not take such a bold step as to send these men away whilst the 
 legality of their sentence is questioned, and its discussion pending in the national 
 legi>lature." These flattering hopes, however, proved abortive. And in a letter to 
 the same friend, dated May 3, 1794, Mr. Lindsey states, that they had then actually 
 6et sail, and taken leave of their native country, never, alas ! to return again. " A 
 letter from Mr. Scott this day mentions the whole fleet being at length out of sight 
 yesterday morning, with a very fair wind down the channel ; and whatever some 
 intend, I trust a good Providence carries some to Botany Lay for most important 
 purposes of human virtue and happiness." 
 
 The correspondent from whom Mr. Lindsey received this intelligence was the 
 lleverend Russell Scott, of Portsmouth, a gentleman of most active benevolence, who 
 was indefatigable in offices of kindness to these persecuted reformers while the ship 
 which conveyed them remained at Spithead. "Mr. Scott cannot enough be com- 
 mended," says Mr. Lindsey to Dr. Toulmin, " for his exertions to serve those worthy 
 martyrs, and to see them accommodated with everything needful." 
 
 f " The case of men of education and reflection," says Dr. Priestley, "and who act 
 from the best intentions with respect to the community, committing only what state 
 policy requires to be considered as crimes, but which are allowed on all hands to imply 
 no moral turpitude so as to render them unrit for heaven and happiness hereafter, is not 
 to be confounded with that of common felons. There was nothing in the conduct of 
 Louis XIV. and his ministers that appeared so shocking, so contrary to all ideas of 
 justice, humanity, and decency, and that contributed more to render their memory 
 execrated, than sending such men as Mr. Marolles, and other eminent Protestants, 
 who are now revered as saints and martyrs, to the galleys, along with the vilest 
 miscreants. Compared with this, the punishment of death would be mercy. I trust 
 that, in time, the Scots in general will think these measures a disgrace to their 
 country." — Dr. Priestley's Fast Serm., 1791. Pref. p xviii. note. 
 
236 MEMOIRS OF TIIE LATE 
 
 inhuman, as to excite a suspicion that it was never intended 
 that he should reach the place of their destination alive ; nor 
 would it have been possible for him to have survived the hardships 
 he endured, had it not been for the humane attentions of James 
 Ellis, a young person who, from affection and sympathy, volun- 
 teered his services to Mr. Palmer, and accompanied him to the 
 colony as a free settler. Mr. Palmer's own affecting narrative 
 of the barbarous severities which he encountered on his passage, 
 is contained in a letter to Mr. Lindsey, immediately after his 
 arrival in New South Wales, and is inserted in the Appendix.* 
 
 This excellent man lived to complete the period assigned by his 
 sentence for his banishment in this dreary country, enduring 
 many hardships, but highly respected by all who were themselves 
 respectable in this motley community. When the term limited 
 for his residence was expired, he, and the faithful companion 
 of his fortunes, James Ellis, fitted out a small ship to convey 
 them to England, meaning in their way to carry on some 
 advantageous traffic in the islands of the Southern ocean ; 
 but their little barque was not equal to the undertaking, and 
 in a gale of wind it was wrecked upon the coast of Golam, one 
 of the Ladrone islands belonging to Spain, with which this 
 country was then at war. The Spanish governor made prisoners 
 of the ship's crew, and during his imprisonment Mr. Fyshe 
 Palmer fell a victim to a fever. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey interested himself very feelingly in behalf of many 
 
 * See Appendix, No. XI. In order to justify the severities used to Mr. Palmer, 
 and even the infliction of capital punishment if that had been resorted to, the most 
 infamous calumnies were industriously circulated against that virtuous sufferer, viz. 
 that he was exciting the felons to seize the ship and to take it to America ; a 
 report which, for a time, gained too easy credit, but which, as it afterwards 
 appeared, had not the least foundation in truth. " Serious apprehensions,"' says Mr. 
 Lindsey in a letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated Novemb-r 8, " are entertained by Mr. 
 Palmer and Mr. Skirving's friends — I am concerned to mention it— that they have 
 been engaged in some mutinous intention of rising and seizing the ship on their 
 parting from the grand fleet, and going off to America ; I wisli there may be no truth 
 in this report.'' In a succeeding letter, dated December 15, Mr. Lindsey expresses his 
 conviction that these worthy men were wrongfully accused. " There is reason to 
 believe that there have been disturbances on board the Surprise, and that Messrs. 
 Palmer and Skirving have been very injuriously accused, as principally concerned in 
 fomenting of them." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 237 
 
 other respectable characters, who at this period suffered by the 
 harsh measures of Mr. Pitt's Administration. The Reverend 
 William Winterbotham, minister of a Calvinistic congregation at 
 Plymouth Dock, was accused of uttering seditious language in 
 two discourses which he delivered from the pulpit ; and upon the 
 slightest evidence, such was the ferment of the times, he was 
 found guilty, and sentenced to four years' imprisonment in 
 Newgate. " I have not read Mr. Winterbotham's trial," says Mr. 
 Lindsey, in a letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated February 8, 1794, 
 " but lawyers, and others whom I have seen, declare that there 
 never was a more iniquitous verdict." It reminded many of the 
 conviction of Mr. Rosewell, a Presbyterian minister in the reign 
 of Charles II., for treasonable words uttered in the pulpit, 
 upon the evidence of two notorious prostitutes ; concerning 
 which, a noble lord who had attended the trial, immediately 
 reported to the King at the levee, that he had just seen one of 
 His Majesty's subjects, a man of learning and piety, convicted 
 of high treason upon evidence on which he would not hang a 
 dog. And when Jefferies came in soon afterwards, and bragged 
 to the King of the feat which he had performed in inducing the 
 jury to convict Rosewell, the King ordered him to arrest the 
 judgment, and the prisoner was soon afterwards set at liberty. 
 It was hoped by the friends of liberty and justice, that a sentence 
 so glaringly outraging every feeling of equity and humanity 
 as that passed upon Mr. Winterbotham, would not have been 
 carried into execution. But the Administration were inexorable; 
 not a single day of confinement was remitted; and the innocent 
 sufferer was compelled to drink the cup of bitterness to the very 
 dregs. During his confinement he was visited occasionally by 
 Mr. Lindsey, who, by his kind sympathy, and by his own great 
 liberality, and his influence with his good and generous friends, 
 and particularly the excellent Mrs. Rayner, contributed very 
 materially to the mitigation of Mr. Wintcrbotham's sufferings.* 
 
 * The following extract from a letter of Mr. "Wintrrbotham's, dated Plymouth, August 
 31, 1S02, will show the grateful sense which that gentleman entertained of the kind- 
 ness of Mr. Lindsey and his other benefactors : 
 
 " Reverend and Dear Sir, — Although I am far separated from you, and possess brt 
 
238 MEMOIRS OK THE LATE 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 dr. priestley emigrates to america. his reasons for 
 this measure. mr. lindsey ; s judgment in the case, 
 dr. priestley's farewell sermon at hackney, letters 
 to mr. lindsey from gravesend, deal, and falmouth, 
 arrives at new york. his reception in america. 
 
 The time was now arrived in which the venerable subject of 
 this Memoir was destined to experience the severest privation 
 which had ever yet fallen to his lot, by the emigration of the 
 approved friend of his heart, his fellow-labourer and fellow-sufferer 
 in the cause of divine truth, Dr. Priestley, to America. This 
 memorable event took place in the spring of 1794. In the 
 preface to his Fast Sermon preached in February that year, 
 
 few opportunities of intercourse with you, yet my heart ever contemplates you with 
 affection and gratitude ; nor, indeed, can it be otherwise : for while I feel myself 
 surrounded with comforts, I cannot, I trust, ever forget the man to whose kindness so 
 many of them are owing. Indeed, my dear sir, your name, and that of dear Mrs. 
 Rayner, borne by my two eldest boys, has added pleasure even to the sensations they 
 naturally inspire, and a parent's heart has dared to indulge the hope that they may 
 one day imitate the virtues of those after whom they have been called. 
 
 " Permit me here to thank you also for the present of your last publication. I have 
 perused it with pleasure and profit, although every sentiment therein may not accord 
 with my own. And I feel thankful to the Father of Mercy, who thus kindly continues 
 to you the faculties of the mind so entire, while your advanced period of life forbids the 
 more active labours of the house of God. 
 
 "Whatever differences of opinion may exist between us on religious subjects, I hope 
 and trust that I shall be enabled to imitate that sincerity of soul of which you have 
 given me and the world so brig t an example. My heart, I can truly say, is alive to 
 the duties and the importance of Christianity, and I trust that I am not altogether a 
 stranger to its pleasures. I continue my public labours, and my aim amidst my little 
 flock has been to cultivate that mind that was in Christ Jesus, and to promote those 
 dispositions which render obedience to the divine will delightful. I do not labour in 
 vain, although my success is not adequate to my wishes. 
 
 " I trust I shall yet have an opportunity of seeing you in the flesh : but if this 
 favour is denied, I will cherish and indulge the pleasing hope of meeting you in the world 
 of sprits, and enjoying your friendship in a state of immortality through the ages of an 
 eternal world." 
 
 It is to be remembered that Mr. Winterbotham is a minister of the Calvinistic 
 persuasion. The letter does great credit to the head and to the heart of the writer ; it 
 shows that the 6pirit of Christianity is not limited to any sect or party of Christians. 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 239 
 
 Dr. Priestley states the reasons which induced him to leave his 
 country : the principal of which were, the removal of his sons, 
 the transfer of the greater part of his property to America, and 
 the apprehended insecurity of his own person in consequence of 
 the rancorous spirit of the times, and the violent measures of the 
 Administration. Dr. Priestley naturally enough concluded that 
 the same bitter and tyrannical spirit which dictated or enforced 
 the cruel and unjust sentences upon Muir, Palmer, and Winter- 
 botham, and especially the latter, who was convicted upon evi- 
 dence the most suspicious, of an offence of which no reasonable 
 person could believe him guilty, and condemned to four years' 
 confinement in Newgate, might, upon a similar pretext, which 
 could never be wanting if it was sought for, deprive him of his 
 liberty, or expose him to political persecution. It is not, indeed, 
 probable that the Government of the country, who knew his 
 innocence, ever meant to disgrace itself by the direct prosecution 
 of the most enlightened and most virtuous of its philosophers. 
 It was sufficient for them that a hireling crew had raised against 
 him a popular hue and cry; and it cannot be doubted that the 
 men then in power would have been better pleased if, after 
 having been burned out of his house by a hired mob of ruffians 
 at Birmingham, he had fled the kingdom, instead of finding 
 an honourable asylum at Hackney. Warned, however, by the 
 terrible example of 1780, and even by that of the late riots at 
 Birmingham, there is no reason to believe that they would have 
 encouraged a mob in the vicinity of the metropolis to have pulled 
 down Dr. Priestley's house a second time. And in fact, though 
 the venerable sufferer met with a few personal insults at his first 
 settlement at Clapton from some of the lowest of the rabble, that 
 spirit had entirely subsided; and had he chosen to have remained 
 at Hackney, it cannot be doubted that he would have lived in 
 equal security and tranquillity with the rest of his fellow-citizens ; 
 admired, beloved, and revered, by a numerous, respectable, and 
 continually increasing circle of hearers, pupils, and friends. But 
 the high spirit of Dr. Priestley could not brook to hold his liberty 
 and security upon what appeared to him to be so precarious a 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 tenure ; and he therefore resolved to seek an asylum in a country 
 where, if civilization has not attained to so high a polish as in 
 older countries, thoughts, and words, and consciences are free; 
 and no restraint is laid upon freedom of inquiry, latitude of dis- 
 quisition, or openness of profession upon the most important 
 subjects of religion or politics. It was not, however, without 
 much regret that this much-injured man bid adieu to his native 
 country, nor without indulging the fond hope that he might 
 eventually return and end his days in peace in the land which 
 gave him birth. But the circumstance which most touched his 
 feelings was the loss of the society of his old, tried, and beloved 
 friend, Mr. Lindsey, "in whose absence," says he, "I shall for 
 some time at least find all the world a blank." * 
 
 But though many of Dr. Priestley's friends, those especially 
 who resided in the vicinity of Hackney, and who were naturally 
 
 * The concluding paragraph of this interesting preface is so truly characteristic of 
 Dr. Priestley's amiable, affectionate, and ingenuous mind, that I trust I shall be excused 
 for inserting it here. 
 
 " The sentence of Mr. Winterbotham for delivering from the pulpit what I am 
 persuaded he never did deliver, and which similar evidence might have drawn upon 
 myself, or any other Dissenting minister who was an object of general dislike, has 
 something in it still more alarming. But I tru3t that conscious innocence would support 
 me, as it does him, under whatever prejudiced or violent men might do tome, as well as 
 say of me. But I see no occasion to expose myself to danger without any prospect of 
 doing good, or to continue any longer in a country in which I am so unjustly become 
 the object of general dislike, and not retire to another where I have reason to think I 
 shall be better received. And I trust that the same good providence which has attended 
 me hitherto and made me happy in my present situation, and all my former ones, 
 will attend and bless me in what may still lie before me. In all events the will of God 
 be done ! 
 
 " I cannot refrain from repeating again, that I leave my native country with real 
 regret, never expecting to find anywhere else society so suited to my disposition and 
 habits; such friends as I have here, whose attachment has been more than a balance to 
 all the abuse I have met with from others; and especially to replace one particular 
 Christian friend, in whose absence I shall, for some time at least, find all the world a 
 blank. Still less can I expect to resume my favourite pursuits with anything like the 
 advantages I enjoy here. In leaving this country I also abandon a source of main- 
 tenance which I can but ill bear to lose. I can, however, truly say, that I leave it 
 without any resentment or ill-will. On the contrary, I sincerely wish my countrymen 
 all happiness ; and when the time for reflection, which my absence may accelerate, shall 
 come, my countrymen I am confident will do me more justice. They will be convinced 
 that every suspicion which they have been led to entertain to my disadvantage has been 
 ill-founded, and that I have even some claims to their gratitude and esteem. In this 
 case I shall look with satisfaction to the time when, if my life be prolonged, I may 
 visit my friends in this country ; and perhaps I may, notwithstanding my removal for 
 the present, find a grave, as I believe is naturally the wish of every man, in the land 
 that gave me birth." 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 241 
 
 most anxious to retain him in the country, allowed perhaps too 
 little weight to the arguments for emigration ; there were others, 
 possibly equally well informed, and certainly not less interested 
 in the result of his deliberation, who thought him fully justified 
 in the resolution which he adopted of abandoning, at least for the 
 present, a country which no longer knew how to appreciate his 
 transcendent merits, and in which his property, and even his 
 person, was believed to be no longer safe. In the number of these 
 w T as the venerable subject of this Memoir, to whom the emigration 
 of Dr. Priestley must have been a most afflicting event. He thus 
 expresses himself upon the subject in a letter to Dr. Toulmin, 
 dated January 10, 1794, before Dr. Priestley had made up his 
 mind to leave the country : — 
 
 " We have seen Dr. Priestley very frequently of late, as also 
 Mrs. Priestley, and they are both very well. If his sons do well 
 in America, I have no doubt of his following them, but do not 
 apprehend that he will remove thither at any time but upon some 
 opening or prospect of being provided for, so as to be useful in 
 his own way as a teacher of philosophy. He is now preaching at 
 Hackney a course of lectures on the Evidences of the Mosaic 
 and Christian Revelations, which he intends afterwards to print ; 
 and which, from what I have seen of the former, will be most 
 useful and highly seasonable at a period when many in this 
 country, and the greater part upon the continent, count all revealed 
 religion as a fable, which might be well intended at first, but has 
 proved most destructive to the morals and happiness of man- 
 kind." 
 
 In his next letter to the same friend, dated February 8, 1794, 
 he thus communicates the intelligence of Dr. Priestley's final reso- 
 lution : — " I return your son's two letters, which I like much, as 
 everything which comes from him.* They show a good mind, 
 
 * The Reverend Henry Toulmin, who was settled with a large and respectable con- 
 gregation in Lancashire. This gentleman, when a violent spirit, not discountenanced by 
 the Administration of the day, broke out against the Dissenters, and particularly the 
 rational Di&senters, soon after the riots at .Birmingham, emigrated with his family to 
 America, and after some time settled at Kentucky, where he was appointed to the high 
 office of Secretary of State, with a salary of about eighty pounds a year ; but this being 
 
 R 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 sensible, active, and ever attentive to the proper business of bis 
 journeyings. At Dr. Priestley's request, I let him take them 
 home with him a day or two since to show to Mrs. Priestley, as 
 they are every day more and more interested in what relates to 
 America ; and I now believe, in the course of not many months, 
 will both of them remove thither. This full decision I have come 
 to the knowledge of since I last wrote, though I have for some 
 time suspected it. It will cut off a great source of the highest 
 satisfaction to me, amongst many others. But I hope it will be 
 for his greater good and contentment upon the whole, as his 
 family have gone before Lira ; and I have for some time thought 
 that his chief business was done here, and we were no longer 
 worthy of him, and that he may be of eminent service to that 
 other country, retaining still in great vigour his powers of body 
 and mind; and there can be no doubt of the intimate friend of 
 Franklin's being there well received/' 
 
 In this manly way does Mr. Lindsey express his approbation of 
 his friend's emigration, though mixed with deep regret. In the 
 following extract of a letter to Dr. Toulmin, dated February 20. it 
 appears that other intimate and judicious friends of Dr. Priestley 
 entertained similar sentiments : " The Doctor has received letters 
 
 which are very encouraging. The family of V here, who 
 
 have two sons (that were both the Doctor's pupils) in America, 
 one well settled in Philadelphia, the other in Kennebec, but who 
 is part of the year at Boston, all advise and rather press him to 
 
 thought too extravagant, it was reduced to fifty. The Governor of the State was Mr. 
 Toulmin's friend. lie had been a liaptist minister, and a colonel in the army. His 
 revenues weie in proportion to those of the Secretary. The fact is that he was a m;in 
 of a liberal and enlightened mind; and while he continued at the head of the Govern- 
 ment, he and his Secretary introduced many wise and salutary regulations, and con- 
 tributed to the utmost of their power to establish order and tranquillity in a state of 
 society which was but a few degrees removed from a state of nature and barbarism. 
 Hut their patriotic Administration was not permitted to continue long. After a few 
 years, in consequence of one of those political revolutions to which empires are liable, 
 another party gained the ascendency, — the Administration was changed, and the 
 ( iovernor and Secretary retired to private stations. The President of the (Tinted States, 
 however, Mr. Jefferson, to whom the abilities and merits of Mr. Toulmin were well 
 known, soon afterwards appointed him to the office of Judge in a district of the United 
 States upon the river Alobille, which he now fills with great reputation to himself and 
 advantage to the community. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 243 
 
 go, though greatly grieved to lose him hence. As to the Doctor, 
 his purpose is certainly fixed to leave England towards April, and 
 he is making preparations for the purpose." 
 
 In a letter to the same correspondent, dated March 8, Mr. 
 Lindsey states : " You will be pleased to know that our friend, 
 though we cannot think of losing him without deep concern, has 
 taken places for himself, Mrs. Priestley, and two servants, in the 
 Sansom, which is to be ready to sail the latter end of this or the 
 very beginning of next month. Happily, the other persons, all of 
 them emigrants, who are going in the same ship, are known to 
 him or his friends." 
 
 On the 21st of February, 1794, Dr. Priestley sent in his letter 
 of resignation to the congregation at Hackney, to which, after 
 some time, when they found all efforts to induce him to remain 
 with them unavailing and hopeless, they returned an answer 
 expressive of their veneration and gratitude for his person and his 
 labours, their poignant regret at the dissolution of the connection, 
 and their affectionate good wishes for his future welfare. On the 
 30th of March, he delivered to a crowded auditory a farewell dis- 
 course from Acts xx. 32. The subject of it was the " Use of 
 Christianity, especially in Difficult Times." It begins with stating 
 " the great design of the gospel to raise the sons of men to the 
 high character and honour of sons of God, and make them heirs of 
 a happy immortality;" it represents "the situation of Dissenters, 
 and especially of Unitarian Dissenters, at that time, as calling in a 
 particular manner for the exercise of Christian principles ; and 
 that the insult and outrage to which they were then exposed, 
 though not to be desired, was most favourable to the cultivation of 
 that temper of mind which is most eminently Christian, to the 
 virtues of patience, fortitude, forgiveness, and heavenly-minded- 
 ness." The preacher then shows how much superior these virtues 
 are to that courage and zeal which is so generally applauded in 
 heroes and martyrs, and of how much more difficult attainment ; 
 and in the true spirit of Christian philosophy he remarks, that 
 "we shall be the less disturbed at the malignity of others when we 
 consider that our enemies, as well as our friends, are acting the 
 
 R 2 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF THE late 
 
 part assigned them by the Supreme Ruler of the universe ; that 
 they are in their proper place as well as we in ours, though, being 
 instigated by their own bad dispositions, this is no apology for 
 their conduct; and that the plan of the great drama in which we 
 are all actors is so arranged that good will finally result from the 
 evil which we experience in ourselves or see in others." He adds, 
 that " all the opposition we meet with makes part of the useful 
 and necessaiy discipline of life, and no great character could be 
 formed, or any great good be done, without it; — our Saviour, the 
 apostles, the reformers from popery, the Puritans, and Noncon- 
 formists, were equally exposed to it. And shall we complain ? 
 We must not forget that it is only by discipline, and often very 
 severe discipline too, that great and excellent characters are ever 
 formed; and there is a source of satisfaction, even in adversity, or 
 nearly connected with it, that persons in prosperity and affluence 
 have no idea of." 
 
 In proof of this observation, he cites his own example : "Of 
 this I am myself not without some experience. My violent expul- 
 sion from a favourite situation at Birmingham was to appearance 
 sufficiently disastrous; and I was not without feeling it to be so. 
 Yet I have had more than a recom pence, internal and external, so 
 as to make me consider it even now as no evil upon the whole ; 
 and I am far from wishing, if it were possible, that it might not 
 have happened " The preacher then proceeds to show " that a 
 state of suffering is a state of usefulness, no less than one of most 
 active exertion." Also, that u such a state of persecution as that 
 to which we are exposed will tend to purge our societies of luke- 
 warm and unworthy members ; of men who prefer the world and 
 the things of it to the cause of truth and a good conscience — and 
 such are many of the richer sort among us and in all societies — 
 men who, by associating with other rich and worldly-minded men, 
 and especially those who are within the influence of a court and 
 the honours and emoluments derived from it, catch too much of 
 their spirit, become assimilated to their manners, and adopt their 
 views. Let all such go to their proper place;— we want them not; 
 — we want not even their wealth. True Christianity docs not sup- 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LINDSEV. 245 
 
 pose nor require it. Bat in all cases of persecution, some of the 
 most wealthy have proved the most zealous/' It is further re- 
 marked that "true Christians, devoid of superstition, will meet for 
 public worship and edify one another, even without the aid or 
 expense of regular ministers; — in situations in, which ministers 
 cannot be had, Christian laymen will, I hope, have the good sense 
 to do themselves everything which has been usually done by their 
 ministers; and this excellent lesson will be taught more effectually 
 in a season of adversity than of prosperity.' "It is our pride 
 that, as Unitarians, our religion has been so far from being 
 befriended, that it has in all ages been frowned upon by the civil 
 magistrate; and yet in these seemingly unfavourable circum- 
 stances it has constantly gained ground." As an evidence of 
 their having imbibed the true spirit of Christianity, the preacher 
 recommends that his hearers should "exert themselves in their 
 several spheres to extend the knowledge of it to others, and not to 
 imagine that this is the business of ministers only. Gladly," con- 
 tinues he, " would unbelievers have it to say that all men of sense 
 are with them. On the contrary, I am confident that men of real 
 knowledge and reflection, as well as men of virtue and integrity — 
 men who have- given the most serious attention to the subject, and 
 men of the most upright and unbiassed minds — are with us. But 
 to recommend Christianity to men of reason and reflection, it 
 must be made to appear a rational thing. Men cannot embrace 
 as sacred truths anything at which their common sense revolts." 
 Hence he infers that it is our duty, " if we have any real value for 
 Christianity, to exert ourselves to free it from those great incum- 
 brances which have already done it the greatest injury, and have 
 endangered its very existence." He congratulates the congregation 
 upon its honourable denomination of an Unitarian society, and 
 augurs the happiest effects from the public avowal of their Chris- 
 tian principles. " The opinions/' says he, " of single persons are 
 often overlooked or disregarded, but a Christian church is a city 
 set on a hill that cannot be hid." 
 
 And the congregation having, chiefly upon his recommendation, 
 chosen as his successor the writer of this Memoir, the preacher 
 
246 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 is pleased to say, " I cannot conclude this discourse without 
 expressing my satisfaction in your choice of my successor :" and 
 after expressing, in language which it does not become the writer 
 to repeat, his persuasion that this successor would carry on plans 
 of instruction, public and private, on the same principles with 
 himself, he adds, " By making choice of such a person, you have 
 greatly lessened the pain that I shall feel from our separation. 
 It will appear to me that I am still with you in his person. May 
 the connection be long and happy ! " 
 
 Having thus finished what he had to say to his regular audi- 
 ence, he closes his discourse with addressing a few hints of advice 
 to the numerous strangers which thronged to hear him upon this 
 interesting occasion. The introduction to this address is most 
 judicious and conciliatory. "Most of you, I presume, are come 
 hither from an innocent curiosity to see and hear a person of whom 
 you have heard much evil, and perhaps some good, and whom you 
 do not expect to hear or see any more. Others, though I hope 
 not many, may have come for some less innocent purpose. These, 
 let them have come whenever they please, must have found them- 
 selves disappointed, and I hope agreeably so ; as, instead of finding 
 any occasion of harm to me, they may have found some good to 
 themselves. Nothing else can they have heard here; nothing 
 but what is calculated to confirm the faith of all Christians, and 
 to inculcate those sentiments of the heart, and that conduct in 
 life, which are the proper fruits of that faith." The preacher 
 having said a few words to justify his doctrine, though deemed 
 heretical, defends it briefly from the charge of sedition. " No- 
 thing," says he, "that can by any construction be supposed to 
 have that tendency has ever been delivered from this pulpit, unless 
 it be sedition to teach what the Apostles taught before, viz. that 
 we are to obey God rather than man ; and that in what relates to 
 religion and conscience, we disclaim all human authority, even 
 that of king, lords, and commons. In these things we acknow- 
 ledge only one Father, even God, and one master, even Christ, the 
 messenger or ambassador of God. If any doctrine be really false, 
 being contrary to reason and the Scriptures, it is not an Act of 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 247 
 
 Parliament that can make it true. Or, if any action be morally 
 wrong, as being contrary to natural justice and equity, it is not an 
 Act of Parliament that can make it be right. But while we thus 
 1 render to God the things that are God's/ we render to Cresar 
 the things that are Csesar's. We are subject to every civil 
 f ordinance of man for the Lord's sake/ though not their ordi- 
 nances relating to religion. Learn, then, not to give ear to mere 
 calumny. As to us, I trust that we have learned of Christ to 
 bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that despitefully 
 use and persecute us." 
 
 The peroration is beautiful and appropriate, and strongly 
 indicates the truly Christian spirit of the venerable fugitive : 
 u Whether, then, you come as friends or as enemies, whether we 
 shall ever see one another's faces again or not, may God, whose 
 providence is over all, bless, preserve, and keep us ! Above all, 
 may we be preserved in the paths of virtue and piety, that we 
 may have a happy meeting in that world where error and 
 prejudice will be no more, where all the ground of the party 
 distinctions which subsist here will be taken away ; where every 
 misunderstanding will be cleared up, and the reign of truth and 
 of virtue will be for ever established !" 
 
 Such was the posture of mind, such the dignity of spirit, of 
 this first of philosphers and of Christians, when taking leave of a 
 country whose reputation he had extended, and to whose in- 
 tellectual and moral improvement he had devoted his superior 
 energies ; but which, too little sensible of his pre-eminent worth, 
 treated him with neglect, and refused redress to his cruel and 
 unmerited injuries; and if she did not absolutely banish from 
 her shores the worthiest of her sons, she at least appeared to 
 withhold from him that protection which he thought essential to 
 his security, and to the peaceable and successful pursuit of his 
 professional duties and his philosophical inquiries. But the 
 spirit of Christianity carried him through all; and Dr. Priestley, 
 in the possession of a good conscience, and in the exercise of the 
 mild, forbearing, forgiving spirit of the gospel, was more truly 
 happy in his mind, and more enviable in his exile, thau the most 
 
248 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 violent of his enemies and persecutors, on their couches of prefer- 
 ment, or their thrones of state.* 
 
 The following Sunday, April 6, Dr. Priestley passed with his 
 friends in Essex Street, whose faces he was never more to behold 
 again in this world. Dr. Toulmin that day preached for Dr. 
 Disney a judicious, seasonable, and affecting discourse, which 
 made a very deep impression upon a respectable and numerous 
 audience. The next day Dr. Priestley and his family went to 
 Gravesend, from which place he addressed the following short 
 letter to his venerable friend : 
 
 " Dear Friend, — We were rather unexpectedly summoned by 
 the captain to be wdth him here at two in the afternoon yesterday ; 
 and here we met him and all the company, expecting to sail that 
 evening. However, we are now actually about to take a boat 
 and go to the ship, which lies at the Hope, about six miles 
 
 * After Dr. Priestley had given notice of his intention to leave the country, the 
 writer of this Memoir had frequent opportunities of accompanying him in his walks to 
 visit and to take leave of his friends. The conversation upon these occasions usually 
 turned upon some interesting subjects. Upon one occasion the topic of discussion was 
 the second advent of Christ : and Dr. Priestley, who had studied the Apocalypse with 
 great attention, inferred, from the state of the world, compared with the language of 
 prophecy, that the second personal appearance of Christ was very near at hand. 
 " You," says he, " may probably live to see it; I shall not. It cannot, I think, be 
 more than twenty years." Of these twenty years, eighteen are now (1 812) elapsed, 
 and the signs of Christ's appearance are not more perceptible now than they were 
 twenty years before; and he must be a sturdy believer who now expects the visible 
 appearance of Christ to restore the Jews to their country, and to assume the government 
 of the world within two years. Mr. Evanson, who did not in all points coincide with 
 Dr. Priestley, agreed with him in expecting the early personal appearance and reign 
 of Christ. But his interpretation, with greater prudence, postponed the event for sixty 
 years. I have not, however, heard that either of these gentlemen was quite so unreasonable 
 and inconsistent as the celebrated W. Whiston, who having foretold that the world would 
 come to an end in twenty years, asked thirty years' purchase for a small estate which lie 
 had to sell. I mention these facts to show how grievously the most enlightened minds 
 may err when they attempt to apply the language of prophecy to passing events, and to 
 become prophets themselves, instead of waiting till time unfolds the mysterious volume 
 of divine dispensations, and points out the true sense of the prophetic vision. Joseph 
 Mede himself is a memorable instance of the egregious mistakes into which learned 
 and inquisitive men are liable to fall upon this sul ject ; who, having supplied the best 
 key to the mysteries of the Apocalypse, and given the most rational solution of the 
 symbols which are supposed to refer to events win h had long been past, interprets two 
 of the symbols as relating to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and to the wars in 
 Germany against the House of Austria; events which, however important to the 
 British nation, make little figure in the history of the world, and are far beneath the 
 dignity of prophetic notice. 
 
REVEHEND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 219 
 
 below this place. We spent an agreeable evening, all things 
 considered; Mr. Russell and Mr. Vaughan being of the party. 
 The morning is fine, but the wind still west. When we get to 
 the Downs it is to be determined whether we go north round 
 Scotland or through the Channel. The Pigou sails at the same 
 time ; and we hope to keep company. 
 
 " Poor Sally (Mrs. Finch, his only daughter) is most affected, 
 as Mr. F. seems more determined than ever not to follow us ; but 
 she hopes that circumstances may arise which will change his 
 resolution. However, that resolution will be guided by a will 
 wiser than his or ours ; and this is my greatest consolation, 
 especially in parting with you and Mrs. Lmdsey. 
 
 "Trusting to Mr. J., who said he. would take my thermometer 
 to Gravesend himself, I shall be obliged to go without it. I 
 wish, however, you would see him, and desire him to send it by 
 Johnson's package, if it will bear that conveyance. Take also 
 any number you please of any of my publications, and dispose 
 of them as you think proper. 
 
 " I will write again from Deal, where the pilot leaves us. Yours 
 and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, "J. Priestley." 
 
 " Gravesend, April 8, 1794. 
 
 The next day, April 9, Dr. Priestley wrote to Mr. Lindscy, as 
 he promised, from Deal. 
 
 " Dear Friend, — This, I hope, will be the last time I shall write 
 to you from Old England. Yesterday we had a fair wind to 
 carry us off Margate. We lay-to the greatest part of the night, 
 when a fair wind sprung up, to carry us, they say, within an 
 hour of Deal, by half-past eight, which it now is. Most of the 
 passengers yesterday were ill ; my wife most of the day ; and 
 I did not wholly escape, though I am better than most of 
 them. To-day we seem to be all pretty well, just ready for 
 breakfast. 
 
 "The cabin passengers are only nine, and promise to be suffi- 
 ciently agreeable, though almost all unknown to each other. I 
 have barely learned their names. 
 
 " Mr. Lyon, who had but little time to speak to Mr. Russell on 
 
250 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the subject of our purchase of land, desires to have one share with 
 us, if the subscription be not full. He will be a valuable associate, 
 on account of his being an excellent farmer. 
 
 "Our captain has just informed us, that if he falls in with 
 the fleet of merchantmen at Portsmouth, he will join them 
 for the sake of the convoy : if so, I will write from that place. 
 
 " With my best wishes and prayers for our re-union here, or 
 hereafter, yours and Mrs. Lindsey's, in which my wife joins me, 
 most affectionatelv, 
 
 " J. Priestley." 
 
 The next letter is dated off Falmouth, on Friday evening, 
 April 11. 
 
 "Dear Friend, — We came in a very short time opposite to the 
 Start, but then, which was last night, the wind changed, and 
 turned west ; so that on this account, and likewise apprehending a 
 storm from that quarter, we have just dropped anchor in Falmouth 
 Road, where we shall stay till to-morrow morning, and then sail 
 or not according as the wind shall be. 
 
 " On Wednesday evening we had a strong gale, which continued 
 all night and part of the next day. This made all the passengers very 
 sick, and my wife and myself among them. I could eat nothing till 
 supper. But the next night was calm, and we rose recruited, and 
 all this day have been in very good spirits, but much disappointed 
 at not being able to proceed on our voyage, when we had got fur- 
 ther in three days than the captain says he got in three weeks and 
 five days the last voyage. We begin to be acquainted with all our 
 cabin, and many of the steerage passengers, and like them very 
 well. They are all well-behaved, and good company. The only 
 woman cabin passenger is come from France ; knows our friends 
 there, and seems well acquainted with the politics of the country. 
 
 " On the whole, I think we shall pass our time pretty well 
 during the voyage. I have much time for reading, and shall be 
 able to write. I am meditating a discourse on the Causes of Infi- 
 delity, led to it by reflections on that of Mr. C. and other intelli- 
 gent men. 
 
REVEREND TI1E0PHILUS LINDSEY. 251 
 
 " I think I shall nearly read my Greek Testament through 
 before I get to New York ; and I think I read it with more satis- 
 faction than ever. Unbelievers, I am confident, do not read it 
 except with a predisposition to cavil. A person wait3 for our letters, 
 and therefore I am, in haste, yours and Mrs. Lindsay's most 
 affectionately, 
 
 "J. Priestley." 
 
 Here we see what was uppermost in the mind of this truly 
 apostolic man. An exile from his country, to which he was never 
 more to return, writing in confidence to his most intimate friend, 
 whose face he was never to see again, instead of giving veut to his 
 feelings in effeminate and unavailing lamentations, he thinks of 
 nothing but how he may best fortify his own mind, and confirm 
 the minds of others in the grounds and principles of the Christian 
 faith as the only solid foundation of virtue and peace. Nothing 
 further was heard of Dr. Priestley till his arrival at New York. 
 The following is the first letter addressed to his venerable friend 
 from the shores of the western continent. Its contents are too 
 interesting to require an apology for its length. 
 
 " New York, June 6, 1794. 
 
 "Dear Friend, — I hope you received the letters I w r rote from 
 Gravesend, Deal, and Falmouth. T now write from New York, 
 where we are safely arrived, after a passage of eight weeks and a day, 
 owing to our having had none but westerly winds after w r e got 
 clear of the Channel till the last fortnight. We also found the 
 coast covered with a thick fog, very unusual at this time of the year, 
 so that we were three days before we could get into the bay after 
 we reached the coast. 
 
 "We had an excellent ship ; but the captain was not the man 
 he had been represented to me. He swore much, and was given 
 to liquor; and the crew very disorderly. However, he made a 
 point of behaving in his best manner to us ; and is naturally very 
 generous and good-natured. Unfortunately the mate and he did 
 not agree ; and no care had been taken of the water-casks, so that 
 the steerage passengers suffered much in consequence of it ; and 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 we had many complaints : and if the voyage had been much 
 longer, the consequence might have been serious. 
 
 " Our society in the cabin was agreeable enough, though the 
 majority were aristocratically inclined ; but all in the steerage were 
 zealous republicans, and persons of good character, and several of 
 good property. In the steerage also was more religion than in the 
 cabin ; but they were universally Calvinists, though the majority 
 very moderate, as you will suppose, from their applying to me to 
 perform divine service to them; which I did with much satisfac- 
 tion when the weather and other circumstances would permit, 
 several in the cabin joining us, though some of them were un- 
 believers — but for want of information. This is the case with 
 Mr. L., a most excellent man, who is now reading my sermons on 
 the Evidences of Revelation, — and I hope to good purpose. He, 
 like thousands of others, told me that he was so much disgusted 
 with the doctrines of the Church of England, especially the Trinity, 
 that he considered the whole business as an imposition, without 
 further inquiry. 
 
 " The confinement in the ship would not have been disagreeable 
 if I could have written with convenience, but T could do little 
 more than read. I read the whole of the Greek Testament, and the 
 Hebrew Bible as far as the First Book of Samuel, and I think with 
 more satisfaction than ever. I also read through Hartley's second 
 volume ; and for amusement I had several books of voyages, and 
 Ovid's Metamorphoses, which I read through. I always ad- 
 mired his Latin versification. If I had a Virgil, I should have 
 read him through too. I read a great deal of Buchanan's Poems, 
 and some of Petrarch's and Erasmus's Dialogues. All Peter Pin- 
 dar's Poems, which Mr. L. had with him, and which pleased me 
 much more than I expected. He is Paine in verse. 
 
 " Though it was particularly inconvenient to write long hand, I 
 composed about as much as will make two sermons, on the Causes 
 of Infidelity, which will make a proper addition to the volume of 
 my discourses. If 1 do not print them here, I will send you a 
 copy. Now that I have access to the first volume of Hartley, in 
 the fine edition Mrs. Lindsey gave me, I think I can improve what 
 
REVEREND TIIEOrHILUS LINDSEY. 253 
 
 I wrote. The second volume I had in the ship was an odd 
 volume of the set that w r as destroyed in the riots. 
 
 " We had many things to amuse us in the passage, as the sight 
 of some fine mountains of ice, water-spouts, which are very un- 
 common in those seas, flying fishes, porpoises, whales, and sharks, 
 of which we caught one, luminous sea-water, &c. I also amused 
 myself with trying the heat of the water at different depths, and 
 made other observations which suggest various experiments, 
 which I shall prosecute whenever I get my apparatus at liberty. 
 
 " We had some very stormy weather; and one gust of wind as 
 sudden and violent as perhaps ever was known. If it had not been 
 for the passengers, many of the sails had been lost. 
 
 " I had not much sea-siekness ; but owing to our wretched 
 cookery had no appetite for anything till within a fortnight or 
 three weeks of our landing ; but then I was perfectly reconciled to 
 everything. My wife was really very ill a great part of the time ; 
 but at last grew very well, and looks better almost than ever. On 
 the whole the voyage has done us no harm, but good. 
 
 "J and his wife had been waiting for us some time. They 
 
 and their brothers are well ; which is a great satisfaction to us. 
 We shail probably go with them to Philadelphia before we go 
 anywhere else, as I hear there are proposals to be made to me 
 about establishing a new college in some part of Pennsylvania, 
 about which you shall know more when I know more. 
 
 " I never saw any place that I liked so well as New York ; it 
 far exceeds my expectation, and my reception is too flattering ; no 
 form of respect being omitted. I have received two formal 
 addresses, to which I have given answers. More, I hear, are 
 coming, and almost every person of the least consequence in the 
 place has been or is coming to call upon me. This is rather 
 troublesome, but it shows the difference of the two countries. I 
 am lodged in the house which was the head-quarters of Generals 
 Howe and Clinton, in view of the Bay, which is the finest pro- 
 spect that I remember ever to have seen. 
 
 " This must be a glorious country ; and I doubt not of finding 
 a peaceable and useful establishment in it. When that is accoiu- 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 plished, my only wish will be to have you and a few other Christian 
 friends to come and end their days with us. But we must not 
 promise ourselves too much in this world. 
 
 " Say for me everything that a grateful heart can dictate, both 
 from myself, my wife, and my son, to Mrs. liayner. 
 
 " Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 " J. Priestley/' 
 
 Dr. Priestley madi but a short stay at New York,* where, not- 
 
 * It will not perhaps be uninteresting to read the account of Dr. Priestley's recep- 
 tion at New York, by a gentleman who was present at the time, and who soon afterwards 
 returned to England, Mr. Henry Wansey, who wrote the following letter to Mr. Lindsey 
 fro:n Salisbury, August 28, 1794 : 
 
 " Dear Sir, — A packet was given me by Dr. Priestley to deliver to you. and I fully 
 intended calling upon you with it, but could not get my boxes and baggage passed 
 through the Custom-house, and was obliged to leave London at last without accomplish- 
 ing it ; your parcel, from over care, having been put into it. I lodged at the same house 
 with the Doctor and family at New York, Mrs. Loring's, where you have no doubt 
 heard how well and respectably he was received. All the families of consequence, even 
 some of the clergy, called to pay their respects, though the latter did not carry their 
 civility so far as to offer any pulpit to him during the two Sundays he was there. Dr. 
 Rodgers from his pulpit declared his abhorrence of all those who denied the divinity of 
 Christ, and he hoped none such would come to his administration of the Lord's Supper. 
 Yet Dr. Priestley was not prevented attending divine service there the Sunday after he 
 arrived. The violence of the clergy against this doctrine, particularly on Trinity Sunday 
 last, has been of as great service as a persecution ; for many principal families of New 
 York, chiefly English, have stepped forward, and determined to have an Unitarian 
 chapel there. That at Boston, under the care of Mr. Freeman, I observed was well 
 attended, and, Mr. Freeman told me, considerably increased. He (Dr. P.) requests you 
 will get a minister of pleasing address and a good delivery to come to New York imme- 
 diately. The Doctor, whom I accompanied out of New York across Hudson's River, on 
 his way to Philadelphia, assured me repeatedly he was perfectly satisfied with the 
 change he had made. His reception far exceeded his expectation ; his health and spirits 
 were good ; but, however, that he should not enter into public life. At Princeton 
 College, I learned from Dr. Smith, the Vice-President, that he would be offered the 
 Presidency of a new College erecting in North Carolina ; but he told me he should posi- 
 tively decline it, and, after a very short stay at Philadelphia, go up the Susquehanna to 
 Northumberland, while his sons went on about forty miles further to put forward the 
 new settlement, of which I have so good an opinion that I have taken two shares. 
 Many families of my acquaintance are going to the Loyalsoc, and my only fear is 
 that they do not proceed with clearing and building tiil next spring, which is certainly 
 losing time. For though the settlement will be rapid after a beginning is made, yet 
 losing this season may induce some of those respectable families now going out to fix 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " Tt is a pleasant country ; and the people I found everywhere friendly and hospi- 
 table ; a great sobriety of manners; equality exemplified in its true sense ; nor do I once 
 rememb- r to have seen either a beggar or a ragged person. Adieu, dear Sir, and believe 
 me, Sic. &c." 
 
 Tliis settlement upon the Loyalsoc did not answer expectation, and upon further in 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 255 
 
 withstanding all the respect shown him by the laity, there was not 
 one clergyman who offered him his pulpit, and some thought it 
 
 quiry it was given up. The State prosecutions commenced soon after Dr. Priestley left 
 England] and many of his friends were the more reconciled to his emigration, as thinking 
 that he might have been some way or other involved in them. But this was not pro- 
 bable. A man who joined no political society, who attended no public meetings, and 
 who wrote no political books or pamphlets, was not likely to be the object of the 
 vindictive animadversion of an Attorney-General. Even Mr. Lindsey's fears seem to 
 have been needlessly alarmed upon this subject. In a letter to the Rev. William 
 Turner, of Newcastle, dated June 10, 1794, he writes: " Nothing has been known of 
 or from Dr. Priestley since his being off Falmouth, between seven and eight weeks 
 since. Put under the protection of a good Providence, we persuade ourselves that he 
 has ere this touched the American shores. And such have been the changes since, 
 that some of his best friends who sought to detain him here are now glad at his depar- 
 ture. For the prejudices against Dissenters, especially of the more liberal sort, as 
 enemies to their country because they are against the present war, are so violent, and 
 would have been so much heightened against him, that it might have made his life un- 
 pleasant, though I hope not insecure." 
 
 I shall add but one extract more upon this subject from Mr. Lindsey to the same ex- 
 cellent per.-on, the son of his old revered confidential adviser and friend at Wakefield. 
 The letter is dated November 9, 1794, and strongly expresses the affectionate feelings 
 of the venerable writer's heart : 
 
 " I rejoice to hear that you have so favourable an opportunity of bearing testimony to 
 such injured worth in exile from our unworthy country, and of recording that intimate 
 friendship and union of studies and pursuits, which subsisted between that excellent 
 person and your most worthy father. To have any place in the niche with two such 
 eminent characters is a real honour. No satisfaction do I know beyond that of recol- 
 lecting the hours passed and benefit received in friendly communications with both. For 
 some years, particularly when I resigned Catterick, there was no step of importance 
 which I took without consulting both ; and the sketch of the Apology, soon after pub- 
 lished, they were so good a3 to take the trouble of meeting, and passing a day with me 
 at an inn in Knaresboroagh, when I read it to them. 
 
 " I have been made happy by several letters received from Dr. Priestley since his 
 arrival in America. In his last he mentions a very important matter: the large pur- 
 chase of lands on the Susquehanna was all over. They had been deceived by tbe pr - 
 prietors, and by evidence which did not turn out satisfactory, and thus, after much delay 
 and some expense, many will be disappointed. 
 
 " In the same letter he says he had an invitation from New York to read lectures 
 philosophical, and to open an Unitarian congregation. Put he had declined on account 
 of the distance from the place where his sons would be likely to st ttle. I am grieved 
 at it, because New York was the p'ace for him, the English Anerican metropolis, 
 the inhabitants more cultivated, of most easy access from Europe, &c. &c. This 
 concern, however, wa3 a 1 ttle abated by the subsequent paragraph of his letter, re- 
 lating that the Chemical Professor of the College in Philadelphia was believed to be 
 on hi- death-bed, and ;hat Dr. Piush had told him that he believed he would be invited 
 to succeed I im. This, he add>, will oblige him to four or five months' residence 
 in Philadelph'a. And as there is a certain prospect of being able to establish an 
 Unitarian congregation in the place, he shall not hesitate to accept the offer." 
 
 This offer was made and declined, much to the regret of many of Dr. Priestley's 
 friends at the time ; but, as there is now reason to believe, not with any eventual 
 detriment to the cause of Christian truth. 
 
256 MEMOIRS or THE late 
 
 their duty to caution their hearers against Unitarian errors. Many 
 persons were, however, much displeased at thebigotry of their minis- 
 ters; and the venerable exile was given to understand that if he would 
 fix his residence in New York, a chapel and a congregation would not 
 be wanting. But his destination was otherwise. He accompanied 
 his son, who met him at New York, to Philadelphia, where he met 
 with the same flattering attention from the laity, and the same re- 
 pulsive spirit from the clergy ; and after remaining there a few 
 weeks, he went with Mrs. Priestley to Northumberland, a small 
 settlement upon the banks of the Susquehanna, near the western 
 boundary of Pennsylvania ; and here, to the great disappointment 
 and extreme regret of all his friends, both in Europe and America, 
 he determined to fix his residence. Nor could the inconvenience 
 of a new settlement, the want of literary and polished society, the 
 many and great obstructions to epistolary intercourse with his 
 philosophical and theological correspondents, the difficulty of ob- 
 taining books and philosophical instruments, nor even the offer of 
 the Chemical Professorship, and ultimately of the Presidency of the 
 College of Philadelphia, prevail with him to change his resolution. 
 The reasons upon which a choice so extraordinary and unexpected, 
 and so universally regretted, was founded, were never made known 
 to the public. But whatever these might be, and though Dr. 
 Priestley's resolution to fix his residence at Northumberland was at 
 that time generally disapproved and lamented, the event has shown 
 that it was a most beneficial choice. In no other situation would 
 it have been possible for him to have commanded the leisure which 
 was necessary for drawing up those important, learned, and 
 instructive works which occupied his attention to the last hour of 
 his life, and by which, being dead, he yet spcakcth, and will pro- 
 bably continue to speak, and to promote the great cause of Christian 
 truth, and particularly the glorious, long lost doctrine of the Divine 
 Unity, for ages to come. I particularly refer to his excellent 
 Ecclesiastical History, and his judicious and valuable Notes upon 
 the whole Bible, which are the result of much reading and reflec- 
 tion, though he makes no parade of authorities, a species of osten- 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPI1ILUS LINDSET. 257 
 
 tation which he always despised, and the neglect of which, to a 
 
 proper extent, may be regarded as a defect in his work much to be 
 regretted. 
 
 In this sequestered wilderness the venerable exile maintained 
 a regular correspondence with his revered and beloved friend 
 the subject of this Memoir, which continued with little or no 
 interruption till within a fortnight of his decease. He numbered 
 his letters : there are one hundred and four ; all of them now 
 in the possession of the writer of this work. They are interesting 
 to those who knew and admired and loved the writer, but few of 
 them would be interesting to the public. Dr. Priestley thought 
 little of himself. He seldom touches upon personal concerns ; 
 and gives little account of what it would have been particularly 
 interesting to know, the mode of life in a situation so remote 
 from, and so unlike to, that of civilized and polished Europe. 
 His great mind was occupied in greater things. His whole 
 soul was absorbed in the acquisition of knowledge, in the search 
 after truth, and in devising and executing the best means of 
 communicating information to others. And his letters are chiefly 
 occupied in stating what he has done, is doing, and further 
 intends to do, for promoting this great object : they breathe 
 throughout a spirit of ardent zeal, of rational piety, and of 
 active and disinterested benevolence. In the Appendix a few 
 are given, as a specimen of his general manner, and of the style 
 and spirit of his correspondence.* Dr. Priestley, who had 
 originally an excellent constitution, and who generally enjoyed 
 uninterrupted health and an uniform flow of good spirits, natu- 
 rally and reasonably expected to outlive his aged friend, who 
 was ten years further advanced in life than himself. But Divine 
 Providence ordered otherwise. This great man gradually declined 
 in health, after a severe fever which attacked him in Philadelphia, 
 in the spring of 1801, and from which he was by copious bleeding 
 with much difficulty recovered. He expired in the bosom of 
 his family on the 6th of February, 1801. A most interesting 
 account of his last sickness was written by his son, Mr. Joseph 
 
 * Appendix, No. XII. 
 
258 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Priestley, in a letter to Mr. Lindsey, which by some means 
 found its way into the public papers, and was, it is believed, 
 copied and circulated in all the periodical publications in Europe, 
 Asia, and America, to testify to the world how a well- informed 
 philosophic Christian can die. 
 
 His aged friend bore the intelligence with the calm dignity and 
 pious resignation of one who placed entire confidence in the hopes 
 and promises of the gospel; and who, feeling the infirmities 
 of age advancing fast upon him, expected soon to rejoin his 
 beloved fellow-labourer in happier circumstances, and in an 
 improved and permanent state of existence, where virtue that has 
 been tried and perfected shall receive its appropriate reward. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 dr. priestley's reply to paine's age of reason reprinted in 
 england by mr. lindsey, with a preface in vindication of 
 dr. priestley's character, mr. lindsey republishes 
 another work of dr. priestley's, with a short preface, 
 dr. priestley's acknowledgment of mr. lindsey's kind- 
 ness. ANALYSIS OF MR. LINDSEY's LAST PUBLICATION, EN- 
 TITLED, CONVERSATIONS ON THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 When Dr. Priestley arrived in America, he found that Pause's 
 Age of Reason had been lately imported into that continent, 
 and that by its bold dogmatical spirit, and by its successful attack 
 upon those corruptions of the Christian doctrine which usually 
 pass for Christianity, and which in this treatise were assumed 
 as such, a deep impression had been made upon the minds of the 
 unthinking and the unwary; and that many were seduced by this 
 plausible and popular performance from the Christian faith. 
 No sooner, therefore, was this zealous advocate for revealed 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPIIILUS LTNDSEY. 259 
 
 truth settled at Northumberland, than he published an answer 
 to Paine's work, in the form of Letters to a Philosophical Un- 
 believer, in October 1794, a copy of which he sent over to Mr. 
 Lindsey, who reprinted it in England, in the beginnning of the 
 year 1795, with a preface, the chief design of which was to vindi- 
 cate the character of his absent and much-injured friend. 
 
 " As every event whatever," says this able -advocate of exiled 
 merit, " every circumstance of the life of every man, is ordained 
 and overruled by the infinitely wise and good Creator for the 
 virtuous improvement and present and final happiness of the 
 universe, and of each individual in it, we may be fully persuaded 
 that where man intends evil, God intends and brings forth 
 good, and that the best purposes of the Divine government will be 
 promoted by the means of those unworthy passions which com- 
 pelled this eminent person to take refuge in America." He adds, 
 that " they have begun to show themselves in the reception which 
 has been given to Dr. Priestley, and in the general estimation 
 in which he is held, notwithstanding the base arts which have 
 been used to poison that people's minds, and to turn them against 
 him/' 
 
 Mr. Lindsey then states, that it was desired and expected 
 by the friends of divine revelation in America, that he should reply 
 to Paine's Age of Reason, and undertake a cause he was so 
 well able to defend ; and he flatters himself that the republication 
 of it in England may contribute to rescue some who arc "hasten- 
 ing to the dreary gulf" of infidelity. 
 
 He puts the question, " What could raise up such a storm 
 against so respectable a character as to constrain him to retire 
 a voluntary exile from his country, where he was so justly 
 loved and esteemed by some of the most exalted characters?" 
 He instances Dr. Price, Sir George Savile, and Mr. Lee, the 
 late Solicitor-General, who particularly admired his Letters to 
 Mr. Burke, and at whose house " in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields for 
 near twenty years the friends were wont to spend their Sunday 
 evenings together, whenever they were in town, in cheerful plea- 
 santry, and free discussion of all subjects ; for two men more 
 
 s 2 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 formed and furnished for social converse than Dr. Priestley and 
 Mr. Lee are rarely found." To the catalogue of Dr. Priestley's 
 friends he also adds the respected names of Dr. Shipley, Bishop of 
 St. Asaph, and Dr. Law, Bishop of Carlisle, " who was in perfect 
 accord with him in his sentiments on most subjects." He 
 concludes with the name of Dr. J ebb, to whom Dr. P. dedi- 
 cates his Treatise upon Philosophical Necessity. "In that 
 beautiful and luminous composition," says Mr. Lindsey, " pro- 
 ceeding from the fullness of the heart, and conviction of the 
 truth of that glorious principle in which they both agreed, you 
 read the true character of the men, and what all may become who 
 are under the like influences." 
 
 It is obvious to remark here how cordially Mr. Lindsey concurs 
 with his learned and virtuous friends in the belief of the truth 
 and importance of what he calls the "g^o.ious principle" of 
 philosophical necessity, and in admitting those grand and con- 
 solatory consequences which flow r from it, " that every circum- 
 stance of the life of every man is ordained and overruled by 
 the infinitely wise and good Creator " for the best purposes. 
 What childish simplicity and ignorance does it betray in some 
 to feign or to feel alarmed at the tendency of those doctrines 
 which are avowed by such men as Lindsey, Priestley, Hartley, 
 and Jebb, and which are represented by them as lying at the 
 foundation of all right views of the Divine government, of all 
 rational piety and virtuous practice, and of all rational and sub- 
 stantial consolation ! And yet such persons feel no alarm at 
 the vulgar notion of philosophical liberty, or the power of acting 
 differently in circumstances precisely similar ; a notion, the fond 
 persuasion of which encourages men to venture into circumstances 
 of moral danger, and to which thousands of the young and inex- 
 perienced, especially, are daily falling victims. 
 
 To account for the hostility against Dr. Priestley, which even- 
 tually compelled that great and good man to seek an asylum in 
 America, his friendly advocate states most truly, that " Dr. Priestley 
 had an ardent, active zeal for reformation ; that, penetrated with the 
 most absolute conviction of the reality of the Divine Unity, and of 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 261 
 
 the connection which the belief of it had with the peace, the virtue, 
 and happiness of mankind, he hesitated not in his immortal writings 
 from the press in the smallest size, and to the level of the lowest 
 capacities, as also in larger and more learned volumes, from the 
 pulpit also on public and proper occasions, to maintain and defend 
 that there was no God but the Father ; and that the worship of 
 Jesus by Protestants was equally idolatrous with the worship of 
 his mother Mary by the Papists." He adds, that " in nothing did 
 Dr. Priestley give more offence, or more excite the ill-will of many 
 against him, than by those freedoms in censuring the interference 
 of the civil power in things of religion, all usurpation upon con- 
 science, wherever lodged, or by whomsoever exercised." And he 
 instances particularly in the Doctor's Familiar Letters to the 
 Inhabitants of Birmingham. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey then introduces some just strictures upon the 
 illiberal reflections cast upon the Unitarians by Bishop Hurd, in 
 his Life of his friend and patron, Bishop Warburton. Such 
 obloquy, however, so far as Dr. Priestley was the object of it, he 
 states was abundantly compensated by the grateful and admiring 
 testimony of numbers, both in and out of the Established Church, 
 " to his exalted character and extraordinary merits." As a speci- 
 men, he introduces some beautiful lines addressed to Dr. Priestley 
 by Mrs. Barbauld, whom he justly styles " a genius of superior 
 order, and the strains such as Milton himself might have been 
 proud to own." The reader, and I trust the elegant and accom- 
 plished writer, will excuse me for inserting them at the bottom of 
 the page. They were written when a panic was for party pur- 
 poses spread through the country, of a plot to overturn the 
 Government, and when many fulsome addresses were carried up 
 to the throne, and many foul and unfounded calumnies were cir- 
 culated against theDissenters, as conspiring to overturn the 
 Government, though they have always shown themselves firm 
 friends to the illustrious family upon the throne.* 
 
 * Stirs not thy spirit, Priestley, as the train, 
 With low obeisance and with servile phrase, 
 File behind file advance with supple knee, 
 And lay their necks beneath the foot of power? 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 The friendly advocate next animadverts upon the infamous 
 paragraphs circulated in the Times and other Ministerial papers, 
 charging Dr. Priestley, who was not present at the dinner, with 
 having given as a toast at the hotel at Birmingham, on the 14th 
 of July, "Destruction to the present Government, and the King's 
 head in a charger;" which, though it could neither be given nor 
 received by any persons who were not insane, was nevertheless 
 currently believed, and contributed to inflame the frenzy of the 
 day. Another paragraph inserted in the True Briton and the Sun, 
 replete with falsehood and calumny respecting Dr. Priestley's 
 reception in America, is cited by Mr. Lindsey, who also intro- 
 duces Mr. Lyon's distinct contradiction and confutation of it. 
 
 The generous and spirited advocate then proceeds to notice a 
 cruel attack upon Dr. Priestley, published in America soon after 
 his arrival there, entitled, Observations on the Emigration of Dr. 
 Joseph Priestley, &c, the design of which was to represent Dr. 
 Priestley as a firebrand, an open and avowed enemy to the consti- 
 
 Burns not thy cheek indignant when thy name, 
 
 On which delighted science loved to dwell, 
 
 Becomes the bandied tin me of hooting crowds'? 
 
 With timid caution, or with cool reserve, 
 
 When e'en each reverend brother keeps aloof, 
 
 Eyes the struck deer, and leaves thy naked side, 
 
 A mark for power to shoot at? Let it be, 
 
 " On evil days though fall'n and evil tongues,'' 
 
 To thee the slander of a passing age 
 
 Imports not. Scenes like these hold little space 
 
 In his large mind, whose ample stretch of thought 
 
 Gra-ps future periods. Well can'st thou afford 
 
 To give large credit for that debt of fame 
 
 Thy country owes thee. Calm thou can'st consign it 
 
 To the slow payment of that distant day, 
 
 If distant, when th}' name, to Freedom's join'd, 
 
 Shall meet the thanks of a regenerate land. — December, 1792. 
 It is truly gratifying to all the admirers of taste and genius to find that this lady's 
 muse, though long silent, has not deserted her. The same genius which inspired the 
 strains which immortalized the patriots of Corsica in their struggles with their French 
 and Genoese tyrants shines forth resplendently in the beautiful and sublime poem of 
 ' Eighteen Hundred and Eleven." But as in the former case, the muse, too sanguine in 
 her expectations of success, apologized for having " read the book of destiny amiss," so 
 may it prove with regard to the gloomy forebodings of the latter poem ! And may 
 centuries after centuries elapse, as we trust they will, before the traveller from the 
 western continent shall have occasion to inquire, Where once stood the renowned seats 
 of the Muses, the opulent emporiums of Commerce, or the proud Metropol ; s of the 
 world ? 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LTNDSEY. 263 
 
 tution of his country, &c. It was doubtful whether this scur- 
 rilous libel was the production of an author on this or the other 
 side of the Atlantic. Mr. Lindscy justly remarks, that "from 
 whatever quarter it issued, it is the work of a man who showed 
 himself void of truth and of every moral principle, if he were an 
 Englishman; if an American, a gross and ignorant calumniator." 
 This pamphlet, by the falsehood of its assertions and the foulness 
 of its abuse, was rather of use than otherwise to Dr. Priestley in 
 America; and upon this side of the Atlantic it could do him no 
 harm. The British Critic, indeed, with its wonted malignity, 
 gave it all the currency it could, by a formal review of this 
 " atrocious attack on the most virtuous of men," in the month of 
 November, 1794. Mr. Lindsey ably exposes the disingenuous 
 and immoral conduct of this band of critics in "deliberately 
 adopting and recommending what they could not but know to be 
 a tissue of abominable calumnies." And it being understood that 
 some persons of literary eminence were then concerned in the con- 
 duct of that monthly journal, the author spiritedly expostulates 
 w T ith them upon the baseness of their conduct, so unworthy the 
 estimation in which upon other accounts they were held. " O 
 moral degradation ! shame to Science ! when its votaries can 
 lend their rare abilities, Heaven's gift for better purposes, to 
 please the great, and gain their favour, and to lower and depress 
 eminent virtue, and hinder others from reaping advantage from 
 that example and those writings by which they might be formed 
 to goodness, and excellence, and happiness for ever ! " 
 
 As to the work to which this defence of abseut and injured 
 merit is a preface, Mr. Lindsey says that " a copy of it having 
 been put into his hands, he resolved to reprint it immediately." 
 He adds, " It soon occurred that it would be desirable and proper 
 for me, if I could acquit myself in it in any tolerable manner, to 
 take the opportunity that offered, of saying something in behalf 
 of an honoured and beloved friend, that might remove or soften 
 the violent prejudices entertained against him in this country, and 
 in this country only : for in all others his fame is great, and 
 his character revered." And having justly animadverted upon 
 
264 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 the mean, unmanly conduct of his enemies and slanderers, be adds, 
 with much truth and pertinence, " Dr. Priestley's enemies, how- 
 ever, by their ignorant, malevolent detraction, cannot make him 
 unhappy, but only hurt themselves. Changing his country, he 
 changes not those habits which form the virtuous, the holy, the 
 benevolent, the upright character. These constitute happiness ; 
 these accompany a man wherever he goes, of which no malice or 
 violence can deprive him."* 
 
 In the year 1800, Dr. Priestley published in America a treatise 
 upon the Knowledge which the Ancient Hebrews had of a Future 
 State, which Mr. Lindsey republished in England with a short 
 preface, in which he notices with high satisfaction his honoured 
 friend's continued activity as the advocate of true religion; and 
 augurs that ci his writings will continue to promote this great end 
 in his native country and America, and wherever the English lan- 
 guage shall prevail, when he shall be no more. A rare privilege 
 of Heaven's chosen favourites and the truly good ! ' Dr. 
 Priestley was highly delighted with this kind testimony of his 
 venerable friend, and in a letter dated June 11, 1801, he thus 
 expresses his grateful sense of Mr. Lindsey's friendship : — 
 
 * It will not be uninteresting to the reader to see what Dr. Priestley writes to his 
 friend upon the subject of his own work and Mr. Lindsey's preface. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Lindsey, dated Northumberland, October 16, 1794, Dr. Priestley 
 says, " I have near'y printed the Continuation of my Letters to the Philosophers of 
 France, and to a Philosophical Unbeliever; the latter in answer to ]\Ir. Paine's Ago of 
 Reason, which is much read, and has made great impression here. Nor will yon 
 wonder at it when you consider what kind of Christianity is preached here. I am 
 told that the Quakers read it with great avidity ; and they have no knowledge at all 
 of the proper evidence of Christianity, or the doctrines of i f . Many of them, therefore, 
 in this country either actually are, or are easily made, unbelievers. There are great 
 expectations, I am told, from my Answer to Paine, and I hope it will do good." 
 
 July 12, 1795, Dr. Priestley writes, " I am exceedingly glad that you have at last got 
 my Arswer to Mr. Paine, and that you like it. I wish to see your preface. It cannot 
 give more pleasure to you than it does to me to have our names connected in every pos- 
 sible method. I hope they will be for ever inseparable. One of my greatest mortifica- 
 tions is, that I cannot show you what I write, and be directed by you as usual." 
 
 Dr. Priestley's modest and grateful acknowledgment of his venerable friend's kind 
 and zealous vindication of his injured character is thus expressed in a letter dated 
 Northumberland, December 6, 1795: 
 
 " It is not long since 1 received the copy of your edition of my Answer to Paine. I 
 read the preface with much emotion, from a sense of t' e friendship to me expressed in 
 it. If I had laboured ten times more than 1 have, I should not have thought it too much 
 for Buch a reward." 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 265 
 
 " I thank you for your very friendly preface. When shall I 
 acknowledge my many obligations to you in person ? Not, I now 
 fear, on this side the grave. I therefore think the more of the 
 state beyond it. But while I remain here, I am thankful that you 
 continue here too. I sometimes think, and not without pain, how 
 I shall feel when you are gone ; though our separation cannot be 
 of long continuance, the difference in our ages not being quite ten 
 years; and I do not expect to survive you so long as that, if 
 indeed at all. Of what unspeakable value is religion in circum- 
 stances like mine ! Without this, I think I should hardly have 
 been able to support myself; but with it, all difficulties, troubles, 
 and disappointments are as nothing, being enabled to look 
 beyond them." Such was the Christian spirit which animated 
 the correspondence of these virtuous friends, who were equally 
 distinguished as lovers of truth and examples of piety. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey, now declining far into the vale of years, being 
 upon the verge of four-score, but in the enjoyment of perfect 
 health, and the full possession of his intellectual and active 
 powers, seems to have taken up the design of his old friend 
 Dr. Courayer, and to have come to a resolution of laying before 
 the public his last thoughts concerning the doctrines of revelation, 
 and particularly concerning the wisdom and goodness of the 
 Divine administration ; and with this view, in the year 1802, he 
 published a small volume, entitled, " Conversations on the Divine 
 Government ; showing that everything is from God, and for Good 
 to all." This volume is dedicated to Mrs. Sophia and Mrs. 
 Frances Chambers, the sisters of the late Dr. Chambers, rector of 
 Achurch, in Northamptonshire, Mr. Lindsey's early friend, of 
 whom mention has been made in a former part of this Memoir. 
 Another brother was an eminent merchant in London, who had a 
 country-house at Morden, where these ladies resided ; and in this 
 house Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey found a quiet and hospitable retreat 
 during the summer season, when they did not take any consider- 
 able journey. In the repose and leisure of this delightful man- 
 sion, Mr. Lindsey appears to have composed and written this his 
 last present to the public; and he inscribes it to his worthy friends, 
 
266 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 " in gratitude for unwearied offices of the most disinterested 
 friendship, for near thirty years, to himself and Mrs. Lindsey, 
 from them and their worthy brother ; and in testimony for their 
 enlightened zeal for the worship of the one true God, and a con- 
 stant unostentatious readiness to do good." 
 
 In his preface, he observes that the following work results from 
 the study and experience of a long life; and he apologizes for the 
 introduction of some repetitions by the remark, that " till a full 
 conviction is wrought in the mind that the government of this 
 world is the wisest that could have been adopted, and that the 
 evils and distresses of life are not permitted but for the good of 
 all, the attention of the public cannot be too often solicited for 
 the vindication of our Creator. Under the hope of promoting, 
 in some degree, the interest of his fellow-creatures in so noble 
 a cause, and of leading them to their happiest state, a full con- 
 fidence and satisfaction in the never-ceasing love of their Maker 
 and God, the following remarks, imperfect as they are, are com- 
 mitted to the candour and serious attention of the benevolent 
 reader." 
 
 The conversations are supposed to be held at the same place, 
 and conducted by the same parties, as those upon Christian Idola- 
 try, published ten years before. Victorin, in a letter to his friend 
 Volusian, requests him to give some account of a very curious and 
 interesting question, upon which they had come to an unanimous 
 resolution, viz. " That there is nothing really and ultimately ill 
 in the state of man, but everything ordered for the best for all." 
 Volusian's reply contains an account of each day's conversation; 
 though this incident seems to be lost sight of in the course of the 
 work. 
 
 Volusian informs his friend that the company " having fallen 
 into conversation upon the very low repute in which the religion 
 of Christ was everywhere held, at home and abroad," one of the 
 party mentioned that "in Holland and other parts of the conti- 
 nent, a little before the French Revolution, a general persuasion 
 prevailed that the Christian religion would soon be at an end." 
 And he imputes that indisposition to Christianity which appeared 
 

 REVEREND TIIE0PI1ILUS L1NDSEY. 267 
 
 to be rapidly increasing, to the corruption of the Christian doc- 
 trine. 
 
 Photinus, in reply, expresses his confidence that Christianity 
 would maintain its ground; and ascribes the hatred which the 
 philosophers upon the continent bore to revelation, to the inter- 
 ference of the civil power in supporting it by pains and penalties, 
 which led them to conceive that all means, however dishonest, were 
 lawful to overthrow a sanguinary and pernicious superstition. 
 Photinus, however, maintains that the religion of Jesus will remain 
 unshaken, being confirmed by miracles. He affirms the same of 
 the Mosaic revelation, which also rests upon the basis of miracles, 
 and of prophecy which is even now receiving its accomplishment. 
 lie makes some just observations on the nature, use, and prove- 
 ablcness of miracles. He then briefly states, what he calls "the 
 plain old argument for a Deity : viz. that otherwise, the world we 
 •live in, with all its furniture and inhabitants, must have come into 
 being of itself, without any original designing mind." He adds, 
 that the most serious difficulty with relation to the Divine existence 
 arises from the existence and prevalence of vice and misery in the 
 world ; and that if this state of things could by any means be re- 
 conciled to perfect goodness, it would provide the best remedy 
 against scepticism. Marcellinus, in the name of the company, 
 requests Photinus to undertake this task ; to which he consents, 
 and the conversation is adjourned. 
 
 In the process of the preceding conversation, the author, under 
 the character of Photinus, obviates the objection against miracles 
 as inconsistent with the Divine immutability, by the supposition 
 that " those events which we call supernatural may be the result 
 of established laws, and a more comprehensive plan of things, 
 though unperceived by us ; so that those operations called 
 miraculous are as much the result of general laws as the most 
 ordinary events." But the learned writer docs not seem to have 
 adverted to the fact, that this supposition destroys the very exist- 
 ence of miracles, and subverts the argument founded upon them. 
 The resurrection of Lazarus, upon this hypothesis, is no more 
 miraculous than an eclipse of the sun ; and the prediction of the 
 
268 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 former, which, according to this theory, would have happened 
 whether foretold or not, no more proves the divine mission of 
 Christ, than foretelling an eclipse proved the inspiration of Thales. 
 This hypothesis is in the highest degree arbitrary and incredible. 
 The essence of a miracle consists in its being a deviation from the 
 established course of nature; and the existence of a miracle proves 
 a divine interposition, because no being but the Author of nature 
 himself could control its laws ; and this violation of the law and 
 course of nature in any given case is perfectly consistent with the 
 divine immutability ; because, at the instant when the laws of 
 nature were fixed r the Supreme Being foresaw and determined that 
 in this instance he would, for just and sufficient reasons, deviate 
 from that rule of conduct to which it was his pleasure generally 
 to adhere. 
 
 The second conversation begins with a vindication by Photinus 
 of the character of Lord Shaftesbury, the author of the Charac- 
 teristics, as a believer in revelation ; though his Lordship speaks 
 lightly of the characters of Abraham, Moses, and others of the 
 Old Testament saints, expresses doubts concerning some of the 
 narratives contained in the Pentateuch, and hesitates to admit the 
 existence of miracles. This is advanced in reply to Volusian, who 
 represents Lord Shaftesbury as one of those infidels who entertain 
 right views of the character and government of God. How far 
 the candid writer, under the character of Photinus, has succeeded 
 iu his charitable purpose, is not material to inquire. The remain- 
 der of the conversation is employed in a very pleasing dissertation 
 by Photinus upon the great goodness of God, as manifested in the 
 wise and kind provision which he has made for the preservation, 
 support, and enjoyment of animal and rational beings ; at the con- 
 clusion of which, Marcellinus, after expressing his high approba- 
 tion of his friend's doctrine, intimates his apprehension that " it 
 would all be regarded merely as a beautiful theory, and these fine 
 capacities of the rational nature to be bestowed in vain, and never 
 likely to be brought to maturity, when we take a survey of the 
 world at large, and scan what mankind have been, and still are, 
 in a moral view ; 5; and he concludes with expressing his hope that 
 
REVEREND TI1E0PIIILUS LINDSEY. 2G9 
 
 Photinus will continue to give his kind help in " exploring this 
 momentous subject." 
 
 In the third conversation, Marcellinus begins with making some 
 remarks upon the account of the Creation and the Fall, in the 
 Book of Genesis, much of which he acknowledges to be " un- 
 doubtedly couched in allegory;" while it is "to be taken literally 
 in other parts, which are at the foundation j" the moral instruc- 
 tion intended, is, however, " not difficult to be understood." 
 Photinus, who is the chief speaker in these conversations, having 
 expressed his high satisfaction in the suggestions of his friend, 
 proceeds to inquire what the history of man teaches concerning 
 his attainment of that virtue and happiness for which he is in- 
 tended. To this end, he enters into a brief detail of the dispen- 
 sations of God to mankind, as they are related in the Jewish 
 Scriptures, first offering remarks upon the incidents which occur 
 from the Creation to the Deluge, by which " the almighty and 
 merciful Being judged it expedient to destroy the whole race of 
 men from off the earth, all, except one righteous man and his 
 family." 
 
 The venerable writer then proceeds to comment upon the divine 
 communications to Noah, to Abraham, and to Moses, and the 
 effect which they produced in restraining the vices of mankind, 
 and in promoting virtue and piety. He contends earnestly for the 
 excellency of the character of the Jewish legislator, the credibility 
 of his history, and the divine authority of his institute, and repre- 
 sents those persons as " true objects of pity who, through some 
 unfortunate bias on their minds, are led to reject a history of facts 
 so well authenticated as those which have Moses for their author." 
 He adds, not altogether in that spirit of candour which was 
 habitual to Mr. Lindsey, that "one is the more concerned for this 
 incredulity, because the rejection of the important truths conveyed 
 in these books, most commonly springs from a fixed determination 
 not to admit any accounts, however well attested, of divine extra- 
 ordinary communications and revelations to mankind." But, 
 surely, if the venerable writer had for a moment reconsidered the 
 case with his usual calmness and impartiality, he would have seen 
 
270 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 that a person may be a very firm believer in the divine mission and 
 doctrine of Christ, and be well satisfied with the general evidence 
 of the divine legation of Moses, while he at the same time may 
 entertain very serious doubts whether the books commonly attri- 
 buted to Moses were really throughout written by him, and 
 whether either the narrative or the institute exist at present 
 exactly in the form in which he delivered them. And these 
 doubts may be so far from springing " from a fixed determination 
 to admit no doctrine as revealed/' that they may originate in an 
 anxious concern to extricate revealed truth from those human ad- 
 ditions by which it is corrupted and disgraced. The respectable 
 writer, therefore, may perhaps be regarded as not quite correct 
 when he adds, in a tone of sarcasm unwonted with him, that " so 
 long as such a person cannot be brought to see his error by the 
 arguments laid before him, you can only be sorry for him, and wish 
 him a mind more teachable and better informed." 
 
 Photinus next goes on to justify the extermination of the 
 Canaanites by the Israelites as an act of obedience to a divine 
 command, and makes light of an argument sometimes offered in 
 defence of this command, as being analogous to events which 
 take place under the natural government of God, where human 
 beings are " destroyed promiscuously by earthquakes and the 
 like: as this is a defence which souie are dissatisfied with, not 
 holding the cases to be parallel." And it cannot be doubted, 
 that if a divine command is proved, all objections must give way. 
 If God required this great public execution, it must be consistent 
 with the Divine character to issue this decree ; and if he manifested 
 his displeasure by repeated miraculous interpositions, the conduct 
 of these chosen executioners of the Divine will must be justified 
 to themselves, to the world, and even to the miserable sufferers, 
 by the terrific mandate. So that the history is consistent. God 
 does what he has a right to do, and the Israelites are the innocent, 
 and even meritorious, instruments of executing his sovereign 
 pleasure. The case, however, is attended with difficulty; and it 
 must be allowed to be a very alleviating circumstance, it it can be 
 shown that the order thus issued is analogous to what happens fre- 
 
REVEREND THEOFHILUS LINDSEY. 271 
 
 qucntly under the Divine government. He that made has a right 
 to destroy; and the wise and just Being-, who makes use of natural 
 calamities for the promiscuous extermination of myriads, has an 
 equal right to use voluntary agents as the instruments of inflicting 
 similar calamities. But the fact which applies still more closely to 
 the case in question is, that the righteous Governor of the world 
 does continually employ voluntary agents as the executioners of 
 his will in the destruction of their fellow-creatures. Nebuchad- 
 nezzar is the rod in the Divine hand to execute his vengeance upon 
 Tyre and Egypt ; and a Caesar, or a Napoleon, are equally the in- 
 struments of spreading desolation and destruction among the 
 human race, as a Joshua or a David, though not equally innocent : 
 one, if we credit the history, acting under a divine commission ; 
 the other, prompted by bad passions and sanguinary ambition. 
 The purposes of infinite Wisdom are fulfilled as well by the evil 
 actions of evil men, as by the good actions of the virtuous. And 
 this, without any diminution of the responsibility of the agent. 
 Such is the express doctrine of the Scripture, in perfect harmony 
 with the true philosophy of the human mind. 
 
 The venerable author supports his own assertions and views of 
 the institutes of Moses and the conduct of the Hebrew nation, by 
 an appeal to the authority of Dr. Priestley. " See/' says he, 
 " that last and most invaluable work, his Comparison of the In- 
 stitutions of Moses with those of the Hindoos, of my most 
 beloved friend Dr. Priestley. Although now far separated during 
 this transitory life, on the verge of which we both stand, there is 
 humble hope of meeting again when the sleep of death is over. 
 His numerous works will continue to enlighten the world till the 
 only true God will be more universally known, and the pure gospel 
 of Jesus, his messenger, have its natural influence." 
 
 Photinus next proceeds to state the great moral benefit which 
 the heathen world derived from its enlightened philosophers and 
 legislators, particularly Socrates and Cicero, the distinguished 
 moralists and instructors of Greece aud Rome in the ages in which 
 they flourished ; at the same time acknowledging that the fairest 
 characters in heathen story were clouded with many inconsisten- 
 
272 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 cies and imperfections, and that their instructions were ineffectual 
 for the reformation of mankind: "nothing was done to recovei 
 men to the knowledge of the true God and their obedience to 
 him ; " nor " to put men upon attending to the inward principle 
 of their actions, and amending their dispositions." 
 
 This naturally introduces the necessity and advantage of the 
 gospel dispensation which was now introduced into the world, and 
 which was to be made known to the whole human race. " This 
 was the new doctrine promulged from heaven, holding forth the 
 supreme love of God, the common Creator and Benefactor, mani- 
 festing itself in the love of their fellow-creatures and seeking 
 their good as their own, as the sum and substance of all human 
 duty and of all true religion, and leading to the highest perfection 
 and happiness." This divine religion, however, was soon cor- 
 rupted; "objects of worship were multiplied, the mother of Christ 
 and other dead persons, male and female, a trinity of three per- 
 sons in God, instead of the single person of the God and Father 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all mankind." So that, "to 
 preserve the important doctrine of the Divine Unity from being 
 overwhelmed and lost in Christian idolatry, Divine Providence seems 
 to have permitted the impostor Mohammed to succeed in spreading 
 his new religion over a great part of the globe." This religion 
 professed to stand upon the great doctrine of the Divine Unity; 
 in which, as some think, he was at first sincere; but being elated 
 with success, he grew ambitious, insolent, and cruel, and propa- 
 gated his religion by fire and sword. 
 
 Volusian here interposes, and enlarges upon the folly of ascrib- 
 ing to God " a religion, whose first article is a direct violation of 
 the first law of nature, in compelling by force to acknowledge and 
 worship him." He insists upon the absurdity of persecution in 
 every shape; and he observes, that Christians cannot, with any 
 decency, " condemn the Mohammedans for intolerance and 
 cruelty," being themselves equally guilty ; and represents it as a 
 very great error, and that which lies at the foundation of all reli- 
 gious bigotry and persecution, to teach that Christians only can be 
 saved, much more ° Christians only of this or that particular 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 273 
 
 church or sect f 3 whereas the truth is, that "all persons will 
 be saved who are made pious and good by their religion, and none 
 else." 
 
 Photinus in his reply expresses his approbation of Volusian's 
 principles ; and, proceeding in his history of divine dispensations, 
 he takes notice of the increased diffusion of light and knowledge 
 by the dispersion of learned Greeks through Europe, after the 
 taking of Constantinople by the Turks in the fifteenth century, 
 and by the invention of the art of printing. He adds, that much 
 good had been done "by the noble efforts of many excellent Chris- 
 tians, at the hazard, and sometimes the loss, of life, to revive and 
 restore the worship of the true God, and to vindicate the inalien- 
 able right of all men to judge for themselves of the things of 
 God." And he expresses himself in terms of high commendation 
 concerning the religious liberty which had lately been established 
 in France. Photinus concludes his long discourse with the general 
 inference that, though the little effect of genuine virtuous prin- 
 ciple, and the defective knowledge of God, too much appears in 
 wars and persecutions, yet " it would be unfair and unjust not 
 to admit that knowledge and virtue have been upon the whole 
 progressive, and that very many eminent examples of both have 
 been formed, and are forming, in every age and country." 
 
 Photinus, after a pause, expresses his apprehensions, that " the 
 account which had been given of the moral state of the world 
 might not be acceptable to those who look for perfection all at 
 once in everything that comes from God. But as we are convinced 
 that a Being of all goodness has, in fact, appointed otherwise, and 
 as we certainly do not love our fellow-creatures nor desire their 
 improvement and happiness more earnestly than he that made 
 them, and his wisdom can best judge and direct how to attain 
 that happiness, we may probably find that the methods he has 
 actually chosen are fully suited to answer this end, though we may 
 not immediately see it." 
 
 He then proceeds to give a brief 'detail of the discipline by 
 which the moral character is usually formed ; the result of which 
 he states to be, that " the bulk of mankind are, and have ever 
 
 T 
 
,274 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 been, employed in useful labours for their families, and in doing 
 good offices to others, their friends, neighbours, and acquaintance, 
 and in giving or procuring relief and assistance where needed, and 
 in a thousand beneficent actions." This favourable view of the 
 human character he confirms by a curious quotation from Arch- 
 bishop King, on the Origin of Evil.* And Photinus concludes 
 
 * The sentiments expressed by the learned prelate are so uncommon, and at the same 
 same time so just, and so exactly coincident with those which the writer of this Memoir 
 has offered to the public in a work printed some years ago without any consciousness 
 that they had before met with so able an advocate, that he will take the liberty of tran- 
 scribing a considerable part of the quotation alluded to above. 
 
 The Archbishop is replying to an anonymous opponent who had said, "that the 
 prevalence of wickedness or moral evil is a thing so certain, that he was confident no 
 one could have the least doubt of it, and he durst say the author (the Archbishop) him- 
 self believed it." 
 
 " The author professes himself to be of a quite different opinion," replies the Arch- 
 bishop. " He firmly believes, and thinks he very well comprehends, that there is much 
 more moral good in the world than evil. He is sensible there may be more bad men 
 than good, because there are none but do amiss sometimes, and one ill act is sufficient to 
 denominate a man bad. But yet there are ten good acts done by those we call bad 
 men, for one ill one. Even persons of the very worst character may have gotten it by 
 two or three flagrant enormities, which yet bear no proportion to the whole series of 
 their lives. The author must profess, that among such as he is acquainted with, he 
 believes that there are hundreds who would do him good for one that would do him 
 hurt, and that he has received a thousand good offices for one ill one. He could never 
 believe the doctrine of Hobbes, that all men are bears, wolves, and tigers, to one 
 another ; that they are born enemies to all others, and all others to them ; that they 
 are naturally false and perfidious ; or that all the good they do is out of fear, not virtue. 
 Nay, the very authors of that calumny, if their own character were called in question, 
 would take all possible pains to remove the suspicion from them, and declare that they 
 were speaking of the vulgar; of the bulk of mankind, and not of themselves. Nor, 
 in reality, do they behave in this manner toward their friends and acquaintance ; if 
 they did, few would trust them. Observe some of those who exclaim against all man- 
 kind for treachery, dishonesty, deceit, and cruelty, and you will find them diligent'y 
 cultivating friendship and discharging the several offices due to their friends, their rela- 
 tions, and their country, with labour, pain, loss of goods, and hazard of life itself; even 
 where there is no fear to drive them to it, nor inconvenience attending the neglect of it. 
 This, you will say, proceeds from custom and education. Be it so. However, the world 
 then has not so far degenerated from goodness, but the greater part of mankind exercise 
 benevolence ; nor is virtue so far exiled as not to be supported and approved, praised 
 and practised, by common consent and public suffrage, and vice is still disgraceful. 
 Indeed, we can scarce meet with one, unless pressed by necessity or provoked by in- 
 juries, who is so barbarous and hardhearted as not to be moved with compassion and 
 delighted with benevolence to others; who is not delighted to show goodwill and kind- 
 ness to his friends, neighbours, children, relations, and diligence in the discharge of 
 civil duties to all ; who does not profess some regard to virtue, and think himself 
 affronted when he is charged with immorality. If any one take notice of his own or 
 another's actions for a day together, he will, perhaps, find one or two blameable, the 
 rest all innocent and inoffensive. Nay, it is doubted whether a Nero or Caligula, 
 a Commodus or Caracalla, though monsters of maukind, and prone to^every act 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 275 
 
 the conversation with observing, " that thus the wisdom and good- 
 ness of the Creator are vindicated ; that he was not disappointed 
 in the noblest work of his creation here below ; and that the world 
 has been from the first, and all along, a nursery for virtuous, noble, 
 and useful characters." 
 
 The fourth conversation is short, but by far the most interest- 
 ing and impressive of the whole. In this, the venerable author 
 states and argues, with a warmth of feeling which shows how 
 deeply his own heart was impressed with the magnificent specula- 
 tion, and with a cogency of argument which can never be refuted, 
 that all things are from God; that evil as well as good, moral as 
 well as natural evil, are not only permitted, but appointed by 
 infinite unsearchable wisdom and benevolence. 
 
 The conversation is introduced by Marcellinus, who observes 
 that if evil be the result of the " untractable nature of matter," 
 or of " a powerful evil being whose interference is unavoidable, 
 we must submit, and make the best of what we cannot avoid or 
 amend. But all gloom would vanish, if it could be shown that 
 the great whole of things is in such sort from God, that natural 
 and moral evil are all of his appointment, and permitted for 
 good." 
 
 Photinus with great solemnity replies, " Be assured, my friends, 
 that we do not, any of us, deem so highly of the boundless mercy 
 and goodness of the sovereign Creator and Parent of all things as 
 his works and dealings with us and with all his creatures call for 
 and demand, or we should entertain more exalted thoughts of him 
 and live under his government with a more uninterrupted joy and 
 confidence than we seem to do ; so as not to admit any the least 
 doubt or mistrust that his goodness will in the end bear down 
 every opposition." 
 
 After this eloquent exordium, having stated that "we behold 
 everywhere, and in all things, wise contrivance and intentions of 
 kindness," also that the rational creation are formed by their 
 
 of wickedness and fury, have done more ill than innocent actions through their whole 
 lives." 
 
 See Bishop Law's Translation of Archbishop King's Origin of Evil, p. 388, fifth 
 edit. See also Belsham's Elements of the Philos. of Mind, p. 397-403. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 great Creator u to be happy with his own happiness," in 
 " supreme love to him and invincible affection to all our fellow- 
 creatures ; " he lays it down " as a safe and solid foundation of 
 reasoning, that as the universe and all things in it are made to 
 produce happiness, and as there was nothing to overrule him in 
 his operations, such a discordant revolting mixture as vice and 
 misery would not have been admitted, but because he saw it 
 necessary for the fulfilment of his benevolent purposes, or rather 
 because those purposes could not be obtained without it." 
 
 This, which is probable in theory, Photinus proves " to be true 
 in fact ; " for, if there had been no moral evil, mankind would 
 have been destitute of those dispositions and affections which are 
 their highest perfection, and the source of their purest happiness. 
 "Where would have been patience and forgiveness of injuries; 
 where the godlike disposition of returning good for evil ; if there 
 had been no fraud, or cruelties, or oppression ? " Had the good 
 and virtuous of mankind been wholly prosperous," says an excel- 
 lent person ; " had goodness never met with opposition, where had 
 been the trial, the victory, the crown of virtue ? " He concludes 
 with the important and sublime inferences, " So that, as it has 
 been justly said of natural evil, pain, diseases, and the like, in 
 vindication of the divine goodness, that there is no useless evil ; 
 so must we say of moral evil, sin, and wickedness, that, in the 
 hands of God, every evil of every kind is made an instrument of 
 greater good and higher felicity than would otherwise have been 
 enjoyed." 
 
 Here Volusian, in a kind of ecstasy, interrupts Photinus to 
 express his delight in the satisfactory solution which his friend 
 had given of this most difficult of all problems, the introduction 
 of moral evil. And he laments that the great Frederic and his 
 friend D'Alembert, rather than acquiesce in this easy and pro- 
 bable hypothesis, should have assumed that the Deity, if he 
 exists at all, is an evil and imperfect Being; that Christianity is 
 untrue; and that there is no future life in which the difficulties 
 and obliquities of the present state would be solved and rectified ; 
 while he applauds the opposite conduct of M. Turgot, the able 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 277 
 
 and disinterested minister of Louis XVI., who, though, under the 
 influence of invincible and inevitable prejudices, he rejected the 
 Christian revelation, entertained just ideas of the Divine character, 
 and was a believer in a future life. 
 
 Photinus, resuming his discourse after Volusian had finished, 
 observes, "that it is matter of the highest exultation and joy, in 
 which we may justly triumph, to be fully assured that mere 
 arbitrary will and sovereignty, from which we could never know 
 what we were to expect, has no sway in the divine government 
 under which we are placed; and that original love and goodnests 
 are the beginning and end, the spring and measure, of all the 
 actions of the Deity, and of all his dealings with us. Hence we 
 conclude, that every evil of every kind is ordained for present or 
 ultimate good. All natural and moral evils are from God, and 
 under his sovereign control." 
 
 To guard against the abuse of this sublime doctrine, Photinus 
 remarks, that " we frail, ignorant creatures are on no account to 
 transgress the plain rule of moral duty, and to do evil that good 
 may come ; because our understandings are weak and limited, and 
 we cannot be sure that the good we intend will happen. But our 
 Maker, out of that limited quantity of evil which he judges fitting 
 to appoint or permit, continually produces virtue and every good." 
 And he offers some observations to obviate the common objection 
 that this doctrine represents God as the author of sin. 
 
 " We shall avoid," says Photinus, " some of the perplexity and 
 difficulties in which good minds are wont to be involved, from the 
 idea of the evil actions of men being of divine appointment, as 
 though God himself were the immediate author of sin and wicked- 
 ness, if we consider that the Almighty Being, if we may so 
 speak, acteth not immediately himself in directing the actions of 
 men and influencing them to good and evil, but by the interven- 
 tion of second causes; in other words, it is by the different 
 motives which arise in our minds from our situation and circum- 
 stances, which are all of divine appointment, that we are led to 
 evil and to good." Upon this supposition he explains the case of 
 Lydia, whose heart the Lord had opened, and that of Pharaoh, 
 
278 memoirs or THE late 
 
 whose heart was hardened. He afterwards adds, that " though 
 we eannot but be persuaded that all the actions of men are under 
 the antecedent appointment and direction of God (for how could 
 he otherwise govern the world ?), yet mankind are not a mere 
 piece of clock-work, a set of unconscious machines. They acquire 
 voluntary powers, by which they do what they please, choose for 
 themselves, and follow their choice ; take blame to, and condemn, 
 themselves when they do what is wicked; and, more than this, 
 think themselves not unrighteously dealt with in being made to 
 suffer for their evil dispositions and actions in order to correct and 
 amend them ; nor, if they continue unreformed, to expect to 
 escape punishment in a future state. So that, if God be charged 
 in any way with being the author of men's sins, it is not in any 
 such sense as to acquit the perpetrators, or to excuse them even in 
 their own estimate from being responsible." Photinus sums up 
 his argument by stating that " we are conscious that we are not 
 mere puppets acted upon, but agents responsible for what we do. 
 We are also fully persuaded, that all we do is beforehand known 
 to God, and appointed by him. How this divine knowledge and 
 appointment are to be reconciled to the freedom and responsibility 
 of our actions, is beyond our comprehension ; nor need w r e be at 
 all concerned about it." And he pleads Mr. Locke's declaration 
 and example for giving it up as an inexplicable difficulty. 
 
 The venerable writer's solution of this famous difficulty does not 
 appear to be perfectly satisfactory. The question may be con- 
 sidered either popularly or philosophically. As a popular ques- 
 tion, it is sufficient to state, that vice and wickedness, arising from 
 the bad passions of men, will and ought to be punished here or 
 hereafter j and, which is indeed true, that the foreknowledge of 
 God makes no difference either in the crime or the punishment. 
 But if the inquisitive mind, pursuing the inquiry in a philoso- 
 phical way, is brought to the conclusion, which the venerable 
 writer so clearly and forcibly states, that all evil, natural and 
 moral, proceeds from God, and that vice, as well as misery, is of 
 divine appointment, it becomes a serious question, and appears 
 under the shape of a formidable objection to this sublime doc- 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 279 
 
 trine, Does it not make God the author of sin ? And is not God 
 unrighteous in punishing sinners ? Nor will such an inquirer be 
 satisfied with being told that God does not act directly upon the 
 will, but through the medium of motives ; and that we are con- 
 scious that we are not puppets, but responsible agents, and that 
 guilt is deserving of punishment. For in the first case it will 
 immediately occur, that the cause of the cause is the cause of the 
 foreseen effect ; and that to leave a child upon a bank, from which 
 it will inevitably roll into the river, is the same as to push him in. 
 And in the second case, it is asked, Where is the justice of pun- 
 ishing what was inevitable ? 
 
 The true solution of the first difficulty, whether God be the 
 author of sin ? appears to be this, that God is, strictly speaking, 
 the author of evil ; but that, in the first place, he never ordains 
 or permits evil but with a view to the production of a greater 
 good, which could not have existed without it. And, secondly, 
 that though God is the author of evil both natural and moral, he 
 is not the approver of evil ; he does not delight in it for its own 
 sake ; it must be the object of his aversion, and what he 
 would never permit or endure if the good he intends could have 
 been accomplished without it. As to the second question, con- 
 cerning the justice of punishment, the best and only philosophical 
 solution of it is, that under the divine government all punishment 
 is remedial. Moral evil is the disease, punishment is the process 
 of cure, of greater or less intensity, and of longer or shorter 
 duration, in proportion to the malignity and inveteracy of the 
 distemper, but ultimately of sovereign efficacy under the divine 
 government to operate a perfect cure ; so that those whose vices 
 have been the means of proving, purifying, and exalting the 
 virtues of others, shall, in the end, share with them in their virtue 
 and their triumph; and the impartial justice and infinite benevo- 
 lence of the Divine Being will be made known, adored, and cele- 
 brated to all eternity, through the whole created universe. But to 
 return to the author : 
 
 Photinus having finished his discourse, Synesius rose to speak; 
 
280 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 but the company agreed to defer the conversation to another 
 opportunity. 
 
 In the fifth conversation, Svnesius takes the lead. This gentle- 
 man, a real character it should seem in the Conversations upon 
 Christian Idolatry, is represented as a blunt man, of sound under- 
 standing, zealous for the church, though seldom seen within its 
 walls, and not much attached to its peculiar doctrines. He intro- 
 duces the conversation with a profession of his conversion, and a 
 recantation of his past errors, particularly in his doubts concerning 
 the Divine character, his scepticism concerning the Mosaic cosmo- 
 gony, his account of the primitive dispensations of God to the 
 human race, and the destruction of the Canaanites : he expresses 
 his great satisfaction in the " vast care and attention n which the 
 writers of the Old Testament display in " teaching and holding 
 forth " the Unity of God ; and wonders that at this time of day 
 Mr. De Luc should take so much pains to " deprive us of the one 
 true God, and introduce in lieu of him a God consisting of three 
 persons/' upon the authority of the exploded text of the heavenly 
 witnesses, which the Bishop of Lincoln, " to the credit of his 
 judgment and integrity," gives up as spurious. Synesius further 
 expresses his satisfaction in the solution given to the great diffi- 
 culty, that " Christianity should have done so little to reform the 
 world : " and he particularly admires Dr. Adams's judicious and 
 temperate reply to the severe and unfounded sarcasms of Mr. 
 Hume upon the Jewish nation, and their sacred writings, citing at 
 length both the objection and the reply. Synesius then notices 
 the character of Abraham, and enters into a defence of the 
 account of his offering up his Nson Isaac, first in the words of 
 Archbishop Tillotson, and afterwards by some observations of 
 his own. 
 
 In conclusion, Synesius observes that his friends, after all, u had 
 left untouched a main difficulty which Christianity puts in their 
 wa y> by teaching the doctrine of endless punishments. " They 
 had indeed shown, that virtue naturally leads to happiness, and 
 vice to misery; and that in the state after death, as we continue 
 under the same laws and divine moral government, those severe 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 281 
 
 punishments which await evil-doers must, in the progress of in- 
 finite ages, produce a return to virtue and goodness." He further 
 submits to their consideration, that u as the Scriptures teach that 
 all the dead shall be raised and judged according to their works, 
 and do thereby implicitly give us hope, may we not rather say, 
 give us humble assurance, that the gloomy sentence of annihila- 
 tion will not pass on any of our species ; for we cannot entertain a 
 thought that our benevolent Creator would bring back his 
 creatures to life to put them on the rack as it were, and make 
 them suffer for a time and then consign them to their primitive 
 nothing ; we may, therefore, make this inference, that none of the 
 human race will be consigned to fruitless, unavailing suffering 
 and misery for ever, but that, by the discipline to which they will 
 be doomed, all will be brought to repentance and be saved. " He 
 further professes, that ""the threateningsof eternal punishment in 
 the gospel have long since ceased to make any impression upon his 
 mind, being counterbalanced by contrary declarations that God 
 loveth all his creatures, and would not that any should perish, but 
 that all should have everlasting life ; " and he cannot be disap- 
 pointed in his purposes. 
 
 Synesius having ended his harangue, Photinus applauds the 
 observations of his friend, and particularly "what he had done to 
 relieve the gospel from the imputation of holding forth the 
 doctrine of eternal torments, a mill-stone which some mistaken 
 Christians had hung about it, and thereby alienated the minds of 
 many." He then proceeds to state, that "the words eternal, 
 everlasting, for ever, and the like, generally signify limited periods 
 of duration : so that our Saviour meant only to express that the 
 sufferings of a future state would be of an exceeding long duration, 
 and thereby to enforce the necessity of attending to the divine 
 laws, and the dreadful danger of violating them ; " and he con- 
 cludes the conversation with a pertinent quotation from Dr. 
 Hartley's Observations on Man, in which that great philosopher, 
 with his usual acuteness and strength of argument, establishes 
 the joyful doctrine of the " ultimate unlimited happiness of all 
 mankind." 
 
282 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 In the sixth and last conversation, Synesius is again almost 
 the only speaker. Having observed to Marcellinus, that after 
 having hinted at the existence of an evil spirit as one of the sup- 
 posed causes of the " great misery and wickedness complained of 
 in the world, he had afterwards been wholly silent about it ; " he 
 represents the vindication of the divine goodness as very " lame 
 and defective," unless they can show the insufficiency of the 
 evidence produced to prove " the existence of such a foul 
 malignant fiend," and " begs permission to state his own 
 thoughts upon the subject, which he had with some diligence put 
 together." The company having expressed high satisfaction, 
 Synesius enters with alacrity upon the interesting argument. He 
 first expresses his surprise that it should be so generally current 
 with the learned as well as the unlearned, that the serpent who 
 tempted Eve was a wicked spirit, when Moses gives no such 
 intimation, and never alludes to the existence of any such evil 
 being in any of the five books ascribed to him. 
 
 The word Satan in the Old Testament is only used to signify 
 an adversary, which is its proper meaning. And that the Jewish 
 Scriptures contain no revelation of the existence and agency of an 
 evil spirit is evident, because " we perceive not in them any 
 religious exhortations or cautions to beware of the wiles and power 
 of such an evil being from first to last." 
 
 Synesius further argues, that " as the Christian Scriptures cer- 
 tainly contain no new revelation of an evil being, and as the Jewish 
 Scriptures did not teach it, the Jews must have acquired this 
 notion ' during the captivity, and probably from the Chaldeans 
 among whom they dwelt." This doctrine was incorporated into 
 their theology, and their language framed and accommodated to 
 it ; and this would remain in common use even after the doctrine 
 itself was given up. " And to this language our Saviour and 
 his apostles would conform themselves, though there be no good 
 reason to think that either the one or the other gave credit to 
 the reality of this evil being." 
 
 The speaker having remarked that no evil being had any 
 concern in Christ's temptation, proceeds to state our Lord's own 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 283 
 
 sentiments concerning Satan ; and shows — 1. "That Christ very 
 commonly uses the word in its primary sense, as signifying an 
 adversary, as when he said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan." 
 2. " There is no reason to believe that he ever means to imply 
 that there was in reality any such being f 9 for example, by the 
 expression, " I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven," he means 
 nothing more than selfish worldly desires, hatred of God and 
 goodness, &c* He then adduces many passages in which the 
 word Satan, devil, &c, are used figuratively to express the prin- 
 ciple of evil in general, or evil habits and affections in particular. 
 And from various citations from the Acts and the Epistles he 
 draws the conclusion, that "the apostles of Christ, like their 
 great Master, seem not to have understood that there was any 
 devil or evil being without them whom men need to be afraid 
 of." 
 
 " The sum of all is this : There is no evil in the world but 
 what takes its rise from men themselves ; nor any devils, but so 
 far as men extremely wicked and abandoned may deserve the 
 name. And to uphold such evil beings is to engraft heathenism 
 on Christianity ."+ 
 
 " To these conclusions of Synesius the whole company gave their 
 
 * Satan, i.e. the enemy, the principle of hostility, the opposing persecuting power ; 
 Christ, by the spirit of prophecy, foresaw tliat his gospel should make a rapid progress 
 in the world, and triumph over all opposition. This interpretation seems better to suit 
 the primary sense of the word and the connection in which it is introduced, than 
 that of the venerable writer in the character of Synesius. See the Improved Version on 
 Luke x. 17, 18. 
 
 + The venerable author in a note, highly gratifying, though too partial to the writer 
 of this Memoir, has referred to a passage upon the subject of this conversation in his 
 review of Mr. Wilberforce's Treatise. A more complete and accurate view of the sub- 
 ject may be found in the Rev. John Simpson's Dissertations on the Language of Scrip- 
 ture. The writer of this Memoir has also treated the subject much more at large in a 
 series of Discourses delivered from the pulpit, which may perhaps at some future time 
 be offered to the public. In the mean time, may he be permitted to express the high 
 gratification he feels at the recollection that when his venerable friend, bending under 
 the weight of years, was taking his final leave of the public, almost the last sentence 
 that he penned should be a public testimony of affection and friendship to the writer of 
 this Memoir, which that writer esteems as the highest honour and happiness of his 
 life, and an ample compensation for all his exertions and sacrifices, whatever they 
 may have been, in the cause of truth and undefiled Christianity, even (as Dr. Priestley 
 expresses it on another occasion) had they been ten times more and greater than they 
 were. 
 
284 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 hearty concurrence; and after these friendly conferences, they 
 returned to their respective homes and duties, more fully impressed 
 with their obligation as Christians to study the word and works of 
 God, to add practice to knowledge, and to communicate to others 
 that light and truth which lead to eternal ^6.'' 
 
 The " Conversations upon the Divine Government ,J are not, 
 perhaps, equal, as a composition, to those upon Christian Idolatry, 
 which were published ten years before. The speeches are rather 
 too long and too formal ; and the sentiments of the speakers are 
 not sufficiently contrasted to keep up the spirit of the dialogue. 
 Also, the arguments and criticisms are such as will not in every 
 case satisfy the critical reader. And the venerable writer has need- 
 lessly encumbered his work, and in some degree weakened his 
 argument, by assuming, and that in rather too lofty a tone, the credi- 
 bility of the whole, or at least of too great a proportion, of what 
 is commonly called the Mosaic history. But the work is curious 
 and interesting, as containing the last thoughts of an eminently 
 pious, benevolent, and inquisitive mind upon a variety of subjects 
 of great practical importance. Much of the philosophical part of 
 the work is admirable, and the arguments are irresistible. In 
 his conclusions he sometimes falters by adopting popular rather 
 than philosophical language. But in the grand conclusion of 
 all, the assertion of the great and sublime doctrine of the ulti- 
 mate unlimited virtue and happiness of all mankind as the 
 glorious consummation of the divine government, and the illus- 
 trious and magnificent display of infinite and impartial goodness 
 overruling, absorbing, and extinguishing all vice and misery in 
 the creation, the venerable author is explicit and decided. The 
 work exhibits a most interesting view of the aged patriarch's pious, 
 candid, benevolent, and cheerful mind, of his humble and devo- 
 tional spirit, and of the happy influence of that rare combination 
 of the principles of a sublime philosophy with the doctrines of a 
 pure and unsophisticated Christianity, which, when they become 
 the ruling principles of conduct, elevate the human character to 
 its highest dignity, and ensure the most substantial, exalted, and 
 permanent felicity. Thus gently, thus usefully, did this eminent 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 285 
 
 servant and minister of Christ pursue his way to that quiet abode 
 which is the house appointed for all the living. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 mr. lindsey suffers a paralytic seizure, but recovers, 
 dr. Priestley's reflections upon the situation of his 
 friend, and upon mr. lindsey^s last work. mr. lindsey 
 interests himself in the appointment of the author 
 to the chapel in essex street. encourages and assists 
 the improved version. his gradual decline and death, 
 conclusion of the work. 
 
 Mr. Lindsey, after the resignation of his office in 1793, con- 
 tinued for some years to enjoy an uncommon portion of health, 
 vigour, and activity, and that uniform flow of cheerfulness which 
 is the natural result of a good constitution, and the recollections 
 of a well-spent life. His retrospects were most gratifying, his 
 anticipations delightful, his principles most rational and consola- 
 tory, his circumstances easy. He was happy in the affection and 
 attention of the best of women, in the society of chosen and vir- 
 tuous friends of principles and spirit similar to his own, in fre- 
 quent correspondence with the man after his own heart, in an 
 ardent but unostentatious piety and confidence in God, in unlimited 
 resignation to the Divine will, and in the growing success of the 
 great cause which was nearest to his heart, the cause of Christian 
 truth and Christian virtue, to the revival of which he could not 
 but know that his own exertions and example had in a considerable 
 degree contributed ; he possessed his faculties entire, bodily and 
 mental, and seemed to be in a degree privileged with exemption 
 from the infirmities of age. The first alarm was excited in the 
 
286 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 spring of 1801, when Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were upon a visit for 
 a few days at Reigate, the residence of their learned and estim- 
 able friend, Francis Maseres, Esq., Cursitor Baron of the Exche- 
 quer.* The weather being uncommonly warm for the season, Mr. 
 Lindsey experienced a slight paralytic affection on one side, which 
 however disappeared in a few days. But in the latter end of 
 December of the same year, he suffered a severe stroke, which at 
 first excited the greatest apprehension. From this indeed he soon 
 recovered surprisingly, so as to be able in the beginning of January 
 following to finish his last interesting work, the Conversations 
 upon the Divine Government. After this seizure he gradually 
 declined in bodily strength and vigour, though he was generally 
 free from pain, and his faculties for a considerable time were not 
 sensibly impaired. 
 
 The writer of this Memoir first announced the painfnl tidings 
 to the venerable exile at Northumberland. Soon afterwards 
 Mrs. Lindsey wrote, and at that time Mr. Lindsey was so far 
 recovered as to be able to add a postscript. The feelings of Dr. 
 Priestley's affectionate heart, upon the sad intelligence of his 
 friend's illness, are expressed with so much simplicity, and in a 
 strain of such exalted piety, founded upon such just and philo- 
 sophic views of the Christian revelation, in the following letters, 
 that they cannot fail to be exquisitely gratifying to the serious 
 reader. 
 
 (To Mrs. Lindsey.) 
 
 " Northumberland, May 8, 1802. 
 
 " Dear Madam, 
 
 " I cannot express how much I was affected on reading your 
 letter ; though I was apprized of the situation of my best friend 
 
 • To Mr. Earon Maseres, Mr. Lindsey acknowledges himself indebted for many 
 favours for near thirty years, and describes his friend as " one whose liberal, benevolent, 
 and generous labours are constantly exerted in various ways to benefit mankind, and 
 promote the cause of true religion and virtue." And he adds that to this gentleman's 
 " suggestions, jointly with those of John Lee, Esq., was owing the variation made in 
 the last edition of the Reformed Liturgy in 1793, after the model of the excellent Dr. 
 Samuel Clarke, by changing the threefold address retained in the liturgy to one solemn 
 and appropriate one ; they justly observing, that a threefold address would keep up 
 the old impression of a threefold nature in the Deity, so contrary to the Scriptures." 
 Conversations on the Divine Government, p. 140, note. 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 287 
 
 by the letters of Mr. B., so that I had no reason to expect any 
 different account. But the few lines he added with his own 
 hand quite overcame me; and if I read them, as I shall do, a 
 hundred times, I shall have the same emotions. Such friendship 
 as his and yours has been to me can never be exceeded on this 
 side the grave: and, independent of the real emolument, has 
 been a source of such satisfaction to me as I have not derived 
 from any other quarter. And yet what I feel is not properly 
 grief. For, considering how near we both must be to the close of 
 life, in which we could not promise ourselves much more enjoy- 
 ment, or be of much more use, what remains cannot, according to 
 the common course of nature, be of much value, and therefore the 
 privation of it is no great loss. And considering how soon we 
 may expect, and I hope without much presumption, to meet again 
 in more favourable circumstances, the causes of joy may almost 
 be allowed to balance those of grief. The loss to you will be 
 much greater than to any other person, as that of such a constant 
 companion and Christian friend necessarily must be. How few 
 couples are there so suited to one another in dispositions and 
 views, and those of the best and noblest kind, as you are ! I 
 have never known the like. You have therefore every reason to 
 expect a renewal of your union, though in some other way, 
 hereafter. 
 
 " If you saw me now, you would not flatter me with the pro- 
 spect of long surviving my excellent friend. Judging from my 
 illnesses last year, and my present feelings, I am far from expect- 
 ing it myself. And indeed, as it will be the will of God, whatever 
 the event be, and therefore no doubt for the best, I cannot say 
 that I greatly wish it. My labours, of whatever kind and what- 
 ever be their value, are nearly over ; and I have now hardly any 
 wish but to see the printing of my Church History and Notes on 
 the Scriptures. 
 
 " I beg, dear Madam, you would not fail to continue the cor- 
 respondence of your excellent husband, and write as you say 
 upon all sorts of subjects. "Whatever interests you will interest 
 
288 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 me, and I hope Mr. Lindsey, whenever he is able, will add his 
 signature. 
 
 " Yours and Mr. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 " J. P." 
 
 (Rev. T. Lindsey.) 
 
 " Northumberland, June 26, 1802. 
 
 " Dear Friend, 
 
 " Whether it be you or Mrs. Lindsey that is my correspondent, 
 I consider it as the same thing. You are alike my friends, and 
 my best friends; and whoever survives, this correspondence will 
 not, I hope, cease, while it is possible to continue it, on this side 
 the grave. This great change to which we are making near ap- 
 proaches, I regard, I hope I may say, with more curiosity than 
 anxiety. It is the wise order of Providence that death should 
 intervene between the two different modes of existence, and 
 what engages my thoughts is the change itself, more than the 
 mere manner of making it. I look at your portrait, and that of 
 Dr. Price and Mr. Lee, which are always before me, and think of 
 my deceased friends whose portraits I have not, with peculiar 
 satisfaction, under the idea that I shall at no great distance of 
 time see them again, and I hope with pleasure. But how we 
 shall meet again, and how we shall be employed, we have 
 little or no ground even for conjecture. It should satisfy us, 
 however, that we shall be at the disposal, and under the govern- 
 ment, of the same wise and good Being who has superintended 
 us here, and who knows what place and employment will best suit 
 all of us. The more I think of the wonderful system of which 
 we are a part, the less I think of any difficulties about the reality 
 or the circumstances of a future state. The resurrection is really 
 nothing compared to the wonders of every day in the regular 
 course of nature : and the only reason why we do not wonder is, 
 because the appearances are common. Whether it be because 
 I converse less with men in this remote situation, I contemplate 
 the scenes of nature, as the production of its great Author, more, 
 
REVEREND THliOPHILUS LINDSEY. 289 
 
 and with more satisfaction , than I ever did before ; and the new 
 discoveries that are now making in every branch of science, interest 
 me more than ever in this connection. I see before us a boundless 
 field of the noblest investigation, and all we yet know appears to 
 me as nothing, compared to what we are wholly ignorant of, and 
 do not as yet perceive any means of access to it. I now take 
 great pleasure in my garden, and plants as well as other objects 
 engage more of my attention than they ever did before ; and I 
 see those things in a more pleasing light than ever. I wish I 
 knew a little more of botany, but old as I am I learn something 
 new continually. I admire Dr. Darwin's Phytologia, and am 
 reading it a second time. But this work, which I believe con- 
 tains all that we yet know of this part of nature, shows me how 
 little that all is. Before he died, I am informed he was about to 
 publish another work, in which he maintained the doctrine of 
 equivocal generation ; and of all absurdities this appears to me to 
 be the greatest, if by it they mean to exclude intelligence from 
 the system of nature. And I cannot see any other reason why 
 unbelievers in revelation should lean, as many now do, to that 
 doctrine. Their faith has certainly less evidence than ours. 
 
 " 1 have written a dedication of the second part of my History to 
 Mr. Jefferson, and have sent him a copy of it for his approbation. 
 The preface is the longest I ever wrote ; but I hope you will not 
 dislike it. It consists chiefly of reflections on the middle and dark 
 ages. As soon as a copy can be made up, one shall be sent to you. 
 In the Monthly Magazine I see an account of your late publica- 
 tion. How I long to see it ! and surely it might have been here 
 as soon as that magazine. 
 
 " I have not heard from Mr. Johnson for near two years. My 
 time is short and uncertain, and consequently my wants, though 
 not many, are urgent. 
 
 " Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 "J. P. 
 
 te l have just received yours of March 23. I need not say how 
 happy it makes me/ 
 
 u 
 
 >> 
 
290 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Dr. Priestley's next letter is an answer to this of Mr. Lindsey's ; 
 the insertion of it will need no apology ; the sentiments contained 
 in it must be acceptable to every friend of the Christian religion who 
 has a head to think, or a heart to feel. 
 
 " Northumberland, July 3, 1802. 
 " Dear Friend, 
 
 " How rejoiced I was to receive your letter written wholly with 
 your own hand, after your late alarming attack ! I now hope I 
 shall have more of them; and nothing on this side the grave 
 gives me more satisfaction. And yet, considering how soon we 
 may hope to meet again, the separation by death should not give 
 us much concern. While we live we ought to value life and friend- 
 ship, especially Christian friendship, as the balm of it. But we 
 have a better life in prospect, and therefore should not regret the 
 parting with the worse, provided we have enjoyed it properly, and 
 improved it so as to have ensured the better. Absolute confidence 
 does not become any man, conscious, as we all must be, of many 
 imperfections, of omissions, if not of commissions. But surely, a 
 general sincere endeavour to do what we apprehend to be our duty, 
 will authorize so much hope as will be the reasonable foundation of 
 joy, with respect to a future state, without being chargeable with 
 arrogance or presumption. 
 
 u You could not have made choice of a more pleasing or interest- 
 ing subject than that of the work which you have happily com- 
 pleted, and which, as I believe it is in Philadelphia, I expect very 
 soon to receive. It occupies my own thoughts, I may say almost 
 constantly, and is the greatest source of satisfaction that in my 
 present situation, and under my late trials, I enjoy. Indeed the 
 reflection that we are under the government of the wisest and best 
 of Beings, and that nothing can befall us without his permission, 
 is sufficient to balance the very idea of evil, and make us regard 
 everything as a good, for which we ought to be thankful. At the 
 moment, none who have the hearts and feelings of men but must 
 grieve for many things that he sees and feels. But Christian prin- 
 ciples soon bring relief, and are capable of converting all sorrow into 
 joy. But this will be in proportion to the strength of our faith, 
 
 
REVEREXD THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 291 
 
 in consequence of the exercise of it ; when, according to Hartley, 
 speculative faith is converted iuto practical. 
 
 "We have printed one volume of the History, and, as I told 
 you, I have dedicated it to Mr Jefferson. I enclose his letter on 
 receiving a manuscript copy of it. I have since altered it, I hope, 
 to his mind, and shall very soon send it, together with the volume. 
 I do not mean to dispose of any of the copies till all the three 
 volumes be completed, which, if I do not take a journey in October, 
 will be done about Christmas. I now hope you will see this work, 
 and even the Notes on the Scriptures, which I hope you will like 
 still better. As I wish you particularly to see the Preface and 
 Dedication, I shall send a copy by the next post. The latter 
 will not please you, as not calculated for England. But I have 
 done with that country, and am indifferent to what my enemies 
 may think of me. I shall always appear, as I am, a sincere friend 
 to the country, and shall not with intention say anything offensive 
 of its constitution, or the administration of it. I rejoice that its 
 situation is much better than I feared such a war would leave it. 
 " Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 "J. Priestley." 
 
 How great must be the excellence of those principles which, in 
 circumstances that to a common mind would be most depressing, 
 could produce this habitual consolation, peace and hope, and could 
 convert evil itself into good, and sorrow into joy ! How infinitely 
 superior to that sad and cheerless scepticism which can meet the 
 troubles of life, the evils of oppression and persecution, and the 
 separation or death of friends, with nothing better than a stern and 
 stoical apathy, and is destitute of every pleasing and consolatory 
 hope of a life to come ! It was a just observation of Lord 
 Rochester, that if Christianity be a delusion, it is a pleasing delusion. 
 And strictly true is the remark of Dr. Price, that the worst which 
 can happen to the Christian is the best which can be expected by 
 the unbeliever. On the other hand, how much more dignified that 
 equal tenor of mind, that tranquil and sublime satisfaction, which 
 is the result of enlarged and comprehensive views, and of a sober 
 
 u2 
 
292 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 and rational faith, than those ecstatic raptures of which some make 
 their boast, which result from a fancied arbitrary election of them- 
 selves to happiness, and the unintelligible imputation of another's 
 righteousness as a substitute for their own, while millions are left 
 to perish, and even doomed to eternal torments, for the sin of a 
 remote ancestor ! One marks the fond credulity of a child ; the 
 other, the cultivated intellect of the man. How much to be desired, 
 how pleasing to look forward to, that new and happy era w r hich 
 the word of prophecy authorizes us to anticipate, when all those 
 puerile conceits, those anti-Christian doctrines, which are the crude 
 offspring of ages of ignorance and superstition, which obscure and 
 disgrace the fair form of true religion, shall be dispelled as mists 
 before the rising sun, and genuine, uncorrupted Christianity, with 
 its beautiful and animating ray, shall enlighten every understand- 
 ing, and enliven every heart ! 
 
 Mr. Jefferson's answer to Dr. Priestley's letter, enclosing a copy 
 of it for the President's perusal, previous to its publication, is given 
 in the notes as an interesting document, highly creditable to the 
 character of that eminent person.* The original letter, with Mr. 
 Jefferson's signature, is in the author's possession. 
 
 {To the Rev. Dr. Priestley.) 
 " Dear Sir, " Washington, June 19, 1802. 
 
 91 Your favour of the 12th has been duly received, and with that pleasure which the 
 approbation of the good and the wise must ever give. The sentiments it expresses are 
 far beyond my merits or pretensions. They are precious testimonies to me, however, 
 that my sincere desire to do what is right and just is received with candour. That it 
 should be handed to the world under the authority of your name is securing its credit 
 with posterity. 
 
 " In the great work which has been effected in America, no individual has a right to 
 take a great share to himself. Our people, in a body, are wise, because they are under 
 the unrestrained and unperverted operation of their own understandings. Those whom 
 they have assigned to the direction of their affairs have stood with a pretty even front. 
 If any one of them was withdrawn, many others, entirely equal, have been ready to fill 
 his place with as good abilities. A nation composed of such materials, and free in all 
 its members from distressing wants, furnishes hopeful implements for the interesting 
 experiment of self-government, and we feel that we are acting under obligations not con- 
 fined to the limits of our own society. It is impossible not to be sensible that we are 
 acting for all mankind : that circumstances, denied to others but indulged to us, have 
 imposed on us the duty of proving what is the degree of freedom and self-government 
 in which a society may venture to leave its individual members. 
 
 " One passage in the paper you enclosed me must be corrected ; itisthe following : ' And 
 all savthat it was yourself more than any other individual that planned and established 
 the Constitution.' I was in Europe when the Constitution was planned and established, 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 293 
 
 In the letter enclosing this from Mr. Jefferson, dated August 
 28, 1802, and addressed to Mr. Lindsey, Dr. Priestley tells his 
 friend that he had just been very happy by the receipt of a letter 
 from him, dated May 5, and expresses his great satisfaction at 
 hearing of a scheme which had been formed and adopted for de- 
 fraying the expense of printing his two great works. In noticing 
 Mr. Jefferson's letter, he adds, " Such things as these give us a 
 better idea of a man's principles and character than more public 
 documents. I shall not be able to visit him as he wishes. Indeed 
 the state of my health is such as warns me that I have no time to 
 lose ; and I am desirous of doing all I can in what remains of life. 
 If well spent, longer or shorter makes no difference; but mine 
 has been a long life, though not so long as yours. Whenever 
 we die, we shall start together at the same time hereafter. May 
 it be in the same place, and our happy connection be resumed \" 
 
 In the next letter, dated September 25, after expressing his 
 anxiety to hear about his friend's state of health, Dr. Priestley 
 adds, " It would be extreme folly for either of us to flatter our- 
 
 and never saw-it till after it was established. On receiving it, I wrote strongly to Mr. 
 Madison, urging the want of provision for the freedom of religion, freedom of the press, 
 trial by jury, habeas corpus, the substitution of militia for a standing army, and an 
 express reservation to the States of all the rights not specifically granted to the Union. 
 He accordingly moved, in the first session of Congress, for these amendments, which 
 were agreed to and ratified by the States as they now stand. This is all the hand I 
 had in what related to the Constitution. Our predecessors made it doubtful how far 
 even these were of any value. For the very law which endangered your personal safety, 
 the Alien Act, as well as that which restrained the freedom of the press, were gross 
 violations of them. However, it is still certain, that though written Constitutions may 
 be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those 
 who are watchful may again rally, and recall the people. They fix too for the people 
 principles for their practical creed. 
 
 ** We shall all absent ourselves from this place during the sickly season, say, from the 
 22nd of July to the last of September. Should your curiosity lead you hither either 
 before or after that interval, I shall be very happy to receive you, and shall claim you as 
 my guest. I wish the advantages of a mild over a winter climate had been tried for you, 
 before you were located where you are. I have ever considered this as a public as well as 
 personal misfortune. The choice you made of our country as your asylum, was honour- 
 able to it ; and I lament that, for the sake of your happiness and health, its most benign 
 climates were not selected. Certainly it is a truth that climate is one of the sources of 
 the greatest sensual enjoyment. I received in due time the letter referred to in your last 
 with the pamphlet it enclosed, which I read with the pleasure I do everything from you. 
 Accept assurances of my highest veneration and respect. 
 
 " Thos. Jefferson." 
 
294 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 selves with the prospect of many years to come; nor at our 
 time of life is it in general desirable. Before this time, the busi- 
 ness of life, whatever it has been, must be over, and nothing 
 can remain but retrospect ; and with respect to neither of us, I 
 trust, is this very painful ; though no man ever lived who might 
 not have done more good in the world (and for that end we came 
 into it) than he actually did. Of late, but not more than a fort- 
 night, I have had a better prospect of health than I have had for a 
 considerable time, having no ague or indisposition of any kind, 
 and 1 feel nothing of the languor which I did for some time past, 
 but as much ardour in my pursuits as I generally have had, 
 though I find I am not capable of doing as much. I now hope, 
 that with care, I may see through the printing of both my works, 
 and I have hardly a wish to live longer, especially as I shall 
 hardly be capable of undertaking anything more of much impor- 
 tance." 
 
 I shall insert the next letter almost entire; not only because 
 it contains Dr. Priestley's opinion of Mr. Lindsey's last work, 
 and expresses many fine sentiments concerning the wisdom and 
 goodness of the divine government, but because of the strong 
 testimony which, after a friendship of thirty years, the venerable 
 writer bears to the excellence of Mrs. Lindsey's character, and 
 her vigorous and successful exertions in doing good, which can 
 hardly be conceived by those who only saw that extraordinary 
 woman in the last year or two of her active and useful life, when 
 her health and faculties were in a rapid decline. The letter is 
 dated October 16, 1802, and is addressed to Mrs. Lindsey: 
 
 " Dear Madam, — What do I not owe to you and Mr. Lindsey, 
 and at present more particularly to yourself? Tf I have been of any 
 use in the world since my acquaintance with you, one half of it 
 at least must be placed to your account. I have, I hope, endea- 
 voured to improve my opportunities and means, but these have 
 been in a great measure furnished by you. "Without your active 
 assistance 1 find that the works which I have now in hand would 
 hardly have been printed in my lifetime, unless I should live 
 
REVEREND THEOPIITLUS LINDSEY, 295 
 
 longer than I have any reason to expect.* Dr. Doddridge used 
 to say, he was confident there would be more women in heaven 
 than men ; and certainly you excel in the milder, and, what are 
 more peculiarly called, the Christian virtues of patience, meekness, 
 sympathy, and kindness ; and I think that the history of persecu- 
 tions proves you have your full share of the more heroic virtues, 
 
 * Dr. Priestley here alludes to the exertions which were made by his friends in 
 England to raise a sura of money to defray the expense of printing his two great 
 works. The writer of this Memoir learning, from his own and Mr. Lindsey's corre- 
 spondence with Dr. Priestley, the difficulties which had occurred upon this subject, and 
 apprehensive lest, after all, the Christian world might be deprived of the benefit of his 
 most valuable labours for want of a sufficient fund to enable him to publish the work, 
 it occurred to him that if a hundred persons could be found to subscribe five pounds 
 each for a copy of the whole of both the works, and to pay their subscriptions in ad- 
 vance, every difficulty would be surmounted. No sooner was the proposal made than it 
 was adopted with great ardour and zeal by Dr. Priestley's numerous friends, and the 
 friendsof freedom of inquiry in general; so that the sum wanted was very soon far 
 exceeded, and the venerable exile's mind was made perfectly easy. Mrs. Lindsey 
 exerted her usual energies in the cause, and his friends at Birmingham and Hackney 
 were not deficient; and among these no one was more indefatigable or successful than 
 Benjamin Travers, Esq., then resident at Clapton. The list of subscribers was nume- 
 rous and respectable. The Duke of Grafton, with his accustomed liberality, subscribed 
 fifty pounds, and his noble friend Lord Clarendon twenty, Mr. Lindsey twenty, and 
 Robert Slaney, Esq., of Tong Lodge, the generous friend of al! that is liberal and good, 
 thirty guineas, with a promise of more if more should be wanted. And now that he is 
 at rest beyond the reach of envy and of calumny, from which neither exalted station 
 nor exalted merit could have protected him here, it may be permitted to mention, that 
 by far the most liberal subscriber to this object was the late Right Reverend Dr. John 
 Law, Bishop of Elphin, one of the numerous able and prosperous family of the late 
 learned aud liberal prelate of Carlisle, and brother to the late Lord Chief Justice of 
 England, and to the Bishop of Chester. An extract from the Bishop of Elphin's 
 interesting letter shall close this note. It is addressed to Mr. Lindsey, who had sent 
 him a copy of his last publication, dated Elphin, October 7, 1802. 
 
 "My dear Sir, — Want of health, and indisposition, have prevented me from thanking 
 you for your letter and obliging present sooner. I have read your valuable work with 
 as much attention as pains in the head and stomach, arising from a flying gout, would 
 let me ; and think it is calculated to do a great deal of good. 
 
 "Enclosed is a draft for one hundred pounds, which you will apply in aid of Dr. 
 Priestley's publication, in any way he chooses ; but my name must on no a count be 
 mentioned to him, or any one else, as it would involve me with some acquaintance here, 
 and do me more mischief than you can imagine, and which I am sure you would not 
 wish. Our religion hereabouts is evidenced chiefly in hating and abusing those that 
 differ from us ; and excepting this zeal, we scarce show in other things that we have any. 
 You will be surprised at it, but neither Popery nor Methodism are losing any ground. 
 
 " Reprint my father's Life of Christ whenever you please, and believe me to be, with 
 the sincerest esteem, 
 
 " Your very f aithful and obedient servant, 
 
 "J. Elphin." 
 
 Mr. Lindsey availed himself of the Bishop's permission to reprint the Life of Christ, 
 and this small but valuable tract is now upon the catalogue of books circulated by the 
 Unitarian Society. 
 
29G MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 and have shown as much true courage as men. When I reflect, 
 as I often do, on the character of my good aunt, that of Mrs. 
 Rayner, and to those let me add yours, I do not think that I can 
 find many of my acquaintances to compare with them among 
 men; and yet I have known many of great excellence. Of 
 these, the foremost in my list are Dr. Price, Mr. Tayleur of 
 Shrewsbury, and Mr. Lindsey. Those in a lower class, however, 
 are numerous ; and I doubt not but that hereafter we shall fiud 
 there has always been more virtue than vice in the world, and that 
 the vice has had its use in producing virtue. The more I contem- 
 plate the great system, the more satisfaction I find in it; and the 
 structure being so perfect, there cannot be a doubt but that the 
 end and use of it in promoting happiness will correspond to it. 
 These views, as 1 take more pleasure than ever in Natural History, 
 contribute much to brighten the evening of my days. But my 
 great resource is the Scriptures, which I have not of a long time 
 passed a single day without reading a portion of, and I am more 
 interested in it continually. I seem now to see it with other eyes, 
 and all other reading is comparatively insipid. 
 
 " But I shall tire you with my moralizing. You are very kind 
 to interest yourself about my health. On this day se'nnight I 
 wrote to Dr. Disney, and told him I was much recruited. But 
 this week I have relapsed again, but without fever. The least 
 thing disorders my power of digestion : and when I have any- 
 thing amiss there, it is a long time before I get right again. At 
 present, a long continued indigestion seems to have affected the 
 liver. I feel in several respects as I did when I was subject to 
 the gall-stones ; and being further advanced in life, I am less able 
 to struggle with disease of any kind. My flesh and muscular 
 strength are greatly impaired. I hope, however, that with care 
 I may live to print the two works, and then my mind will be 
 entirely at ease. Whatever may be thought of them, I have 
 spared no pains to make them as perfect as I could, and both the 
 works are of a kind that I am sure are much wanted. 
 
 " I find by Mr. Lindsey that my tract on Baptism has arrived : 
 and his two words of approbation are a sufficient reward for my 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 297 
 
 labour. I hope he will live to see what I am now printing, as the 
 History will probably be printed before the winter be out, and 
 another year will be sufficient for the Notes on the Scriptures. 
 I no more expect fame than I do profit from either of these works, 
 but neither of them is any object with me at present. I have had 
 enough of every thing that this world can give me, and consider 
 my lot as having been a singularly happy one. But I flatter 
 myself that my writings, which are overlooked at present, will be 
 found useful some time hence. 
 
 " Mr. Lindsey's last work I read with peculiar satisfaction ; it 
 is excellently adapted to gain its object, and discovers a happy and 
 most desirable state of mind with which to take leave of the 
 world : praising the great and benevolent Author of it, and 
 looking forward to the same excellent disposition of things here- 
 after. 
 
 " Give my best respects to the ladies at Morden. I shall never 
 forget their excellent characters, or their kindness to myself. 
 Remember me also to Dr. Blackburne.* I often wish I was 
 under his care. 
 
 " Yours and Mr. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 " J. Priestley/' 
 
 Many letters of thanks and testimonies of approbation were 
 sent to Mr. Lindsey upon the publication of his last excellent 
 work : of these I shall take the liberty of inserting an extract from 
 one by the Rev. Christopher Wyvill, of Burton Hall, near Bedale, 
 in Yorkshire, a name that will be ever dear to the friends of civil 
 and religious liberty, the celebrated Chairman of the Yorkshire 
 Association for the Reform of the Commons House of Parliament, 
 and who is terminating his long career of patriotic exertion by a 
 series of vigorous and benevolent efforts in the cause of universal 
 religious liberty, to which few would be equal even in the meridian 
 of life. Nor is it to be despaired of, considering the changes 
 which have lately taken place in the political world, that the 
 
 An eminent physician in London ; the Archdeacon's youngest son, and half- 
 brother to Mrs. Lindsey, now resident near Wells, in Somersetshire. 
 
298 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 veteran champion of the rights of conscience may live to see the 
 complete success of his generous exertions, at a time when success 
 was the least expected. In a letter dated from Burton Hall, 
 March 31, 1802, he thus addresses his aged friend, whose views 
 and principles upon almost every subject were congenial with 
 his own : 
 
 " My dear Sir, — Last night I finished the perusal of your 
 Conversations on the Divine Benevolence, and other subjects 
 connected with it, and I hasten to return you my cordial thanks 
 for the pleasure and benefit I have derived from it. I think your 
 last work, if it is to be your last work, closes your labours with 
 great honour to yourself and utility to the world, by presenting 
 such an amiable picture of religion, as must, one would hope, win 
 the affections of many who are at present disinclined. I saw 
 nothing in which I could not agree with you; as I have long been 
 accustomed, like yourself, to consider the goodness of God as the 
 true foundation of religion. It is the principle of St. John ; for 
 God, he says, is love. It is the principle of our Lord ; for God so 
 loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. 
 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
 but that the world through him might be saved. That is the 
 gracious design of Providence we see : and what Providence 
 designs, as you justly argue in your book, must come to pass. On 
 this principle, therefore, of Divine love, I have raised a structure 
 nearly similar to that which you have built upon the same ground. 
 I have found it the consolation of my mind, and it will be still 
 more so from having read what you have so well drawn together 
 to illustrate that great truth. I will only add, that the temper 
 of your mind in the whole course of your composition well accords 
 with the amiable principle you are recommending." 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1804, Mr. Lindsey lost his 
 admired and beloved friend and correspondent Dr. Priestley; an 
 event which he felt as deeply as any calamity which could have 
 happened to him in his declining state of health and vigour, but 
 the tidings of which he bore, as has been already observed, with 
 
REVEREND TIIEOPH1LUS LINDSEY. 299 
 
 the Christian fortitude and resignation of one who was hastening 
 apace to the same quiet and undisturbed abode, and who hoped 
 for a speedy and happy re-union in a better state, and in more 
 auspicious circumstances. 
 
 Two events occurred after the decease of Dr. Priestley, which, 
 from the light in which they were viewed by the venerable 
 patriarch, contributed greatly to cheer and enliven his closing day. 
 
 The first was the very lively interest which he took in the 
 appointment of the writer of this Memoir to be the officiating 
 minister at the chapel in Essex Street, in succession to Dr. Disney, 
 whose infirm state of health obliged him to resign his charge in 
 the spring of 1805. This event, the idea of which first occurred 
 to Mr. Lindsey, and to the accomplishment of which both he and 
 Mrs. Lindsey contributed their utmost and united efforts, seemed 
 for a time at least to infuse fresh vigour into his debilitated frame ; 
 and upon this occasion he resumed his seat in the chapel, from 
 which he had for some time withdrawn on account of his declining 
 health. This attendance upon public worship Mr. Lindsey con- 
 tinued with exemplary regularity for upwards of two years and a 
 half: he often expressed himself as particularly gratified with the at- 
 tendance of the young persons upon those Lectures on the Evidences 
 and Doctrines of Revealed Religion, which were introduced by the 
 preacher after the morning service ; and he augured the best con- 
 sequences to the interests of truth and goodness from that spirit 
 of inquiry which discovered itself in the rising generation. May 
 those favourable prognostications be happily verified in the event ! 
 After the first Sunday in November, 1807, Mr. Lindsey's feeble 
 state of health and his growing infirmities compelled him finally, 
 but reluctantly, to withdraw from the chapel worship. 
 
 The other event alluded to was the publication of the Improved 
 Version of the New Testament by the Unitarian Society, of 
 which it will be proper to give a brief account. 
 
 In the spring of the year 1789, Dr. Priestley, whose active and 
 benevolent mind was always engaged in some scheme for the 
 instruction and improvement of mankind, formed a project, which 
 he communicated to Mr. Lindsey, for a continually improving 
 
300 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 translation of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. 
 This plan was matured at the annual interview which he had with 
 his friend in the month of April ; and it was determined immedi- 
 ately to engage a competent number of coadjutors, and to complete 
 the work within the year. The general idea was, that the whole 
 Scripture should be distributed among a certain number of trans- 
 lators ; that the translators should adhere to certain rules which 
 were laid down for the purpose ; the principal of which was, not 
 to deviate from the public version without an evident necessity : 
 and superintendents were appointed to revise and correct the 
 translation previously to its being sent to the press.* Dr. 
 
 * The following is the plan, accompanied with the rules of translating, which was 
 printed, and circulated among those whose assistance was solicited, or to whom it was 
 thought expedient to communicate the design : — 
 
 A Plan to procure a continually improving Translation of the Scriptures. 
 
 I. Let three persons, of similar principles and views, procure the assistance , of a 
 number of their learned friends, and let each of them undertake the translation of a 
 portion of the whole Bible, engaging to produce it in the space of a year. 
 
 II. Let each of the translations be carefully perused by some other person than the 
 translator himself; and especially let each of the three principals peruse the whole, 
 and communicate their remarks to the translators. 
 
 III. Let the three principals have the power of making what alterations they 
 please ; but if the proper translator prefer his own version, let the three principals, 
 when they print the work, insert his version in the notes or margin, distinguished by 
 his signature. 
 
 IV. If any one of the three differ in opinion from the other two, let his version be 
 also annexed with his signature. 
 
 V. Let the whole be printed in one volume without any notes, except as few as 
 possible relating to the version, or the phraseology. 
 
 VI. Let the translators, and especially the three principals, give constant attention 
 to all other new translations of the Scriptures, and all other sources of information, 
 that they may avail themselves of them in all subsequent editions, so that this version 
 may always be in a state of improvement. 
 
 VII. Let the three principals agree upon certain rules of translating, to be observed 
 by all the rest. 
 
 VIII. On the death of any of the three principals, let the survivors make choice of 
 another to supply his place. 
 
 IX. Let all the profits of the publication be disposed of by the three principals to 
 some public institution in England, or any other part of the world, or in any other 
 manner that they shall think most subservient to the causes of truth. 
 
 RULES OF TRANSLATING. 
 
 I. Let the translators insert in the text whatever they think it was most probable 
 that the authors really wrote, if it has the authority of any ancient version or MS. ; 
 but if it dilfer from the present Hebrew or Greek copies, let the version of the present 
 copies be inserted in the margin. 
 
 II. If the translators give the preference to any emendation of the text not autho- 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 301 
 
 Priestley undertook to translate the Hagiographa, and engaged 
 the writer of this Memoir to assist him in the book of Job. Mr. 
 Frend, whose abilities and learning are well known, and who had 
 lately seceded from the Established Church, and resigned all his 
 well-founded hopes of preferment in it for the sake of truth and 
 a good conscience, undertook to translate the Pentateuch, or the 
 historical books. Mr. Dodson was applied to for translating the 
 prophetical writings ; but that gentleman not having leisure 
 sufficient, Dr. Priestley undertook the whole. Mr. Garner, a 
 learned, liberal, and respectable clergyman at Bury St. Edmund's, 
 in Suffolk, engaged for, and executed, the translation of the whole 
 New Testament. Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Dodson were to revise 
 the work. The task, however, was found to be too great even for 
 Dr. Priestley's energies to accomplish within the year; and it 
 having been postponed till the summer of 1791, the riots of 
 Birmingham unfortunately intervened, and the ruffians who broke 
 into Dr. Priestley's house, among other valuable papers, demo- 
 lished his translation of the New Testament, and in their demoniac 
 fury they left not a wreck behind.* 
 
 This disastrous event put an entire termination to the promising 
 
 rized by any MS. or ancient version, let such conjectural emendation be inserted in the 
 margin only. 
 
 III. Let the additions in the Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch be inserted in the 
 text, but distinguished from the rest. 
 
 IV. Let not the present English version be changed, except for the sake of some 
 improvement. 
 
 V. In the Old Testament, let the word Jehovah be rendered by Jehovah, and also 
 the word xvpws in the New, in passages in which there is an allusion to the Old, or 
 where it may be proper to distinguish God from Christ. 
 
 VI. Let the present division of chapters be adhered to with cs little variation as 
 possible, and the whole be divided into paragraphs, not exceeding about twenty of the 
 present verses; but let all the present divisions of chapters and verses be noted in the 
 margin. 
 
 VII. To each chapter let there be prefixed a summary of the contents, as in the 
 common version. 
 
 1 For a complete account of the irreparable loss which the theological, the philoso- 
 phical, and the learned world sustained from this unparalleled outrage, see Dr. 
 Priestley's Appeal to the Public on the Riots in Lirmi^gham, p. 36. Of these losses, 
 if the writer of this Memoir may presume to judge, the greatest and the most irrepara- 
 ble is a manuscript volume containing Illustrations of Hartley's Doctrine of the Asso- 
 ciation of Ideas, and further Observations on the Human Mind. No one ever under- 
 stood Dr. Hartley's theory better than Dr. Priestley, and no writer ever exceeded 
 him in simplicity and clearness of exposition, or in appositeness of illustration. 
 
302 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 project of a new and continually improving translation. But the 
 design was never lost sight of for a moment; and when the 
 Unitarian Society was instituted in 1791, and especially after the 
 destruction of Dr. Priestley's manuscripts, the translation of the 
 Scriptures, and particularly of the New Testament, was a main 
 object of their attention. 
 
 With this view, application was first made by a deputation from 
 the Society, consisting of Mr. Lindsey, Mr. Dodson, and the 
 writer of this Memoir, to the late celebrated and learned Gilbert 
 Wakefield for leave to introduce his valuable translation into the 
 Society's catalogue; to which request Mr. Wakefield not only 
 gave his cordial consent, but promised to revise his translation 
 with the utmost care, and to render it as perfect as he was able 
 for the Society's use. In this generous purpose he was defeated 
 by the contract which he had made with his bookseller, who had 
 not then disposed of all the copies of the second edition. After- 
 wards, the Unitarian Society in the West of England formed a 
 project for a new translation of the New Testament, which was 
 soon abandoned in consequence of the sudden and unexpected 
 decease of the Reverend Timothy Kenrick, who took the lead in 
 that and every other scheme for promoting learning, truth, and 
 genuine Christianity in principle and practice in that district of 
 the united kingdom. 
 
 Here the matter rested till the General Meeting of the London 
 Unitarian Society in April, 1806, when it was unanimously re- 
 solved, that this important undertaking should be no longer 
 deferred; and a committee, consisting of all the ministers who 
 were members of the Society, and of a certain proportion of lay 
 gentlemen, was nominated to carry the resolution into effect. It 
 was also unanimously agreed, that instead of a translation en- 
 tirely new, some respectable version already in existence should be 
 adopted as the basis of the new publication, into which might be 
 inserted the alterations which were judged necessary. The prin- 
 cipal reasons for this decision were, that a new translation would 
 require a considerable length of time; that few persons had 
 leisure sufficient for the purpose, or were willing to incur the 
 
REVEREND THEOPHTLUS LINDSEY. 303 
 
 responsibility; and that such a version, however impartially con- 
 ducted, would be exposed to the vulgar cavil of an intentional 
 warping of the Scripture to support an unscriptural hypothesis. 
 
 As Mr. Wakefield's Version could not be obtained, Archbishop 
 Newcomers Translation was selected, with the full consent of the 
 late Mr. Johnson, to whom it was understood that the copy- 
 right belonged. And the reasons for selecting this Version were, 
 that, though not faultless, it was in the main excellent; that the 
 style in general was simple and unaffected ; that the translation 
 was fair and impartial ; that it rectified many errors in the public 
 Version ; but chiefly, because the learned prelate had, in his 
 translation, followed the corrected text of Griesbach. And 
 though it was taken from Griesbach's first edition, the variations 
 in the second, though numerous, are in general very incon- 
 siderable; that learned and laborious critic having himself 
 remarked, that his later inquiries had in general served only to 
 confirm the critical principles and to justify the variations which 
 he had introduced into the first edition. Another inducement for 
 adopting the Primate's Version was, that it was out of print, 
 without the least probability of. its ever being printed again.* In 
 order to preserve the uniformity of style, it was resolved that no 
 alterations should be made in the Primate's language but those 
 which were judged to be absolutely necessary. And, to preclude 
 every possibility of misleading the reader, wherever it was thought 
 proper to give a different translation of any passage, or to deviate 
 even in a single expression from the Primate's text, his own 
 words, with the initials of his name, were required to be set down 
 at the foot of the page. So that the editors of the Improved 
 Version, far from desiring to cast a slur upon the Primate's 
 orthodoxy, or to avail themselves improperly and dishonourably of 
 
 * It is very well known that the Translation was printed while the Primate was 
 living, but that it was withheld from the public at the request, and by the influence, 
 of some in high station, who thought it not expedient for an Archbishop to let the 
 public into the secret, that the common Version is capable of improvement, and that the 
 received text, formed by the meritorious but not infallible labours of Erasmus, Stephens, 
 Beza, and Elzevir, is not inspired. Unfortunately, the impression of the Primate's 
 Works was much damaged in crossing the water, in consequence of being carelessly 
 packed. So that the copies which were left for sale were comparatively very few. 
 
304 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 his truly respectable name, to give currency to opinions contrary 
 to his avowed sentiments, really considered themselves as entitled 
 to thanks for having rescued a meritorious work from oblivion, 
 and having given a wider extent to its circulation ; and they con- 
 scientiously believed that the pious and venerable prelate himself, 
 had he been living, would not have condemned the liberty which 
 they have taken with it.* 
 
 * The only person, excepting the possessor of the copyright, who had a right to he 
 offended at the liberty taken by the editors in adopting the Primate's Version as the 
 basis of their own, was Dr. Stock, the late venerable Bishop of Killala, and afterwards 
 of Waterford, who published an interesting account of the invasion of Ireland by the 
 French, who seized the Episcopnl palace at Killala, and made it their head-quarters, 
 detaining the Bishop and his family prisoners. This worthy and learned prelate also 
 distinguished himself by his new Version of the books of Job and Isaiah ; and being 
 a near relative by affinity of the venerable Primate, he may be regarded as the proper 
 guardian of his reputation. From this learned and respectable prelate the author of 
 this Memoir received the following mild and polite expostulation, very different from 
 the gross language in which the Improved Version is commonly attacked : — 
 
 " Reverend Sir, "Bath, Aug. 7, 1809. 
 
 " I shall with pleasure avail myself, when occasion offers, of your kind invitation to 
 call on you at Hackney. I may then, perhaps, be allowed to expostulate with you, 
 not on the religious opinions you maintain, for these I leave to every man's own con- 
 science, but on the covert, I had almost said the unfair, manner in which your Society 
 have endeavoured, by the means of the New Translation, to instil those opinions into 
 the minds of the common people. Two things I mainly object to you ; the name your 
 Society has assumed, which is calculated to dtceive by its resemblance in sound to that 
 of another and more ancient Society in London, whose labours have been confined to 
 the spreading of gospel truths without any mixture of opinions disputed among 
 Christians. And, secondly, your adopting through the greater part of your work the 
 Version of Archbishop Newcome, while, by alterations of your own, and by your com- 
 ments, you endeavour to lead the reader into opinions which that respected Father of 
 our Church entertained no more than I do. It is true you have sought to obviate this 
 charge, by marking in your notes the difference between your interpretation and our 
 Primate s; but common readers will not be ready to advert to such distinctions; neither 
 can the friends to Primate Newcome's reputation be pleased to see his name coupled, as 
 it was sometimes most untruly in his lifetime, with those of the Unitarians and 
 Socinians. I have the honour to be, with respect, Reverend Sir, your most obedient 
 humble servant. 
 
 "Joseph Killala." 
 
 The author of this Memoir wrote an answer to the venerable and liberal prelate, 
 which, he trusts, satisfied his Lordship that the editors, even if they erred in their judg- 
 ment, intended nothing disingenuous or unfair. He hoped to have had an opportunity 
 by personal intercouise to have effaced every remaining unfavourable impression. But 
 his Lordship's infirm health, and his professional avocations, did not admit of his return 
 to the metropolis. 
 
 The reader will judge how far the Bartlett's Buildings Society, who do not venture to 
 circulate the Bible itself but in connection with the Common Prayer Book, are entitled 
 to the worthy prelate's encomium, of " confining themselves to spreading gospel truths 
 without any mixture of disputed opinions." And as to the rumour that the late learned 
 Primate favoured the Unitarian principles, it is a certain fact that the Primate's own 
 
REVEREND THEOPIITLUS LINDSET. 305 
 
 It was an object of primary consideration with the society, 
 that the Version published under their sanction should contain 
 notes explanatory of those passages which are commonly under- 
 stood as giving the greatest countenance to popular errors, and 
 especially of those which bear upon the Unitarian controversy. 
 And it was judged expedient that these notes should commonly be 
 extracted from the works of authors who are esteemed by 
 Unitarians as the most judicious expositors of the Scriptures, and, 
 as far as might be, should be expressed in their own words, and, 
 at any rate, without any asperity of censure upon Christians of 
 different sentiments who interpret the Scriptures in a different 
 manner. By the introduction of these notes, in which brevity was 
 to be consulted as far as was consistent with perspicuity, it was 
 intended that Unitarian Christians who might be in possession of 
 the Improved Version, might at all times be able to recur to the 
 most approved interpretations of difficult and disputed texts, 
 especially those which are of the greatest importance for establish- 
 ing the doctrine of the Unity and unrivalled supremacy of God, 
 and of the proper humanity of God, and of the proper humanity 
 of Jesus Christ ; and others who wished to know what the real 
 sentiments of the Unitarians are, and how they explain those texts 
 which are commonly understood as contradicting their opinions, 
 might gain the information which they desire. 
 
 It w r as determined to publish two large editions at the same 
 time ; one in royal octavo, the other for common use in royal 
 duodecimo. And as some expressed a wish for the Version with- 
 out the explanatory Notes, a numerous edition in a smaller form 
 was printed for their satisfaction. It was also resolved that a 
 
 brother, who was a worthy tradesman in London, not perhaps deeply versed in theological 
 lore, did assure Dr. Priestley that his brother's opinions coincided with Dr. Priestley's, 
 and that he had heard the Primate say it. The Primate's Works, and Dr. Stock's 
 testimony, prove that this respectable gentleman was mistaken. Perhaps, however, the 
 learned Primate, who was certainly a profound theologian, and mighty in the Scriptures, 
 might satisfy his mind, as Mr. Lindsey once did, with Dr. Wallis's hypothesis, 
 sanctioned by the University of Oxford, and the three names in the Trinity, of Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit, were nothing more than three different titles of the same in- 
 dividual person; like the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; 
 which is, in fact, the purest Unitarianism. 
 
306 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 subscription should be opened to defray the expense of the under- 
 taking, and that the money should be paid in advance; that the 
 Committee, who were appointed to superintend the publication, 
 might be in possession of ready money to enable them to go to 
 the best market. 
 
 This plan of an Improved Version with explanatory Notes was 
 adopted by the Unitarians and their friends with the greatest 
 ardour. The subscription was filled rapidly. The venerable 
 patriarch, who is the subject of this Memoir, delighted and grate- 
 ful to Divine Providence that he had lived to see the accomplish- 
 ment of the fervent and favourite wish of his heart, approving 
 most heartily, in concurrence with his intelligent and zealous 
 consort, of every part of the plan, was eager to open the sub- 
 scription with a liberal donation of fifty pounds ; the Duke of 
 Grafton gave fifty guineas, and a second donation of fifty pounds. 
 Samuel Prime, Esq., in whom every scheme for the improvement 
 and happiness of mankind found an enlightened and munificent 
 patron, gave fifty guineas to the first and twenty to the second 
 subscription.* The example of liberality set by these eminent 
 
 * The laudable example of William Smith, Esq. (whose manly, independent, and 
 persevering exertions in the cause of civil and religious liberty, in that honourable house 
 of which he is now a veteran member, are universally acknowledged and admired,) 
 ought not to be passed over in silence ; who, in addition to his own liberal subscription 
 to the Improved Version, purchased a considerable number of copies, which he sent 
 down to the tutors of the colleges at York and Wymondely, to be distributed as presents 
 among the candidates for the ministry in those respectable institutions ; to which copies 
 were prefixed the following judicious remarks : 
 
 "Search the Scriptures ; for in them ye think that ye have everlasting life ; and tlwy 
 
 bear ivitness of m ." 
 
 It having been thought expedient to attempt an Improved Version of the New Testa- 
 ment for the reason stated in the Introduction to the following work, this copy of it is 
 presented to the student, not with any view or wish unduly to influence his opinion by 
 authority, or to entrap him by the charm of novelty into any change ; but merely to 
 afford him additional motives and facilities for the careful and anxious study of the 
 Sacred writings. — This, in proportion to his opportunities, is allowed to be the duty of 
 every Christian; but more especially ofthoM dedicated to the ministry, who, before they 
 commence teachers of others, should themselves be diligent to learn ; and should resolve 
 not to rest satisfied with any system which, from education, connection, example, or 
 authority, mav have been their early creed, unless by serjous, and, as far as is perm tted 
 to human frailty, impartial inquiry, they shall have acquired for themselves a conviction 
 of its truth. 
 
 The writer of -this notice may be supposed himself to have settled opinions; but he 
 has ever been adverse to the practice, too prevalent among all sects, of usurping to 
 
REVEREND THEOPIIILUS LINDSEY. 307 
 
 characters was followed by many others equally willing, if not 
 equally able to contribute ; and in a short time the sum requisite 
 for the commencement of the undertaking was raised, and the 
 press was not delayed for an hour by the want of necessary funds. 
 In two years the work was complete ; and the several parts, as 
 they were printed, were placed in Mr. Lindsey's hands, who was 
 pleased to express his high approbation both of the plan and of 
 the execution ; and it may truly be said that the perusal of the 
 Improved Version, reading it himself or hearing it read by others, 
 constituted the principal part of Mr. Lindsey's enjoyment during 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 Of a work in which many are so deeply interested, and of which 
 every one thinks himself competent to judge, it is impossible that 
 there should not be a great diversity of opinion, both as to the 
 design and execution. Accordingly, when the Improved Version 
 made its appearance it soon became an object of rigid criticism 
 and severe animadversion. 
 
 The " Title " was objected to as arrogant and assuming. The 
 editors, however, are not conscious of being influenced by an 
 improper spirit. They called it an Improved Version, because 
 they regarded Archbishop Newcomers translation as a very great 
 improvement upon the public Version, and they conceived their 
 own alterations to be an improvement upon the Version of the 
 learned prelate. Nor did they see that there was greater arrogance 
 in calling their work, or rather that of the Primate, an Improved 
 
 themselves epithets, in their very terms decisive of all controversy. Who but the in- 
 fallible shall presume to arrogate to himself alone the title of orthodox or evangelical ] — 
 who, duly conscious of the weakness of his reason and the strength of his prejudices, 
 shall claim to be exclusively rational and liberal] — The question still remains, as in our 
 Saviour's time, " What is the truth ]" i.e. the true doctrine of the Gospel. That which 
 is not such cannot be either orthodox or evangelical. Nor is it possible that this truth 
 of God as it is in Jesus, when ascertained, should not be found sufficiently rational and 
 liberal for his creature man : — rational, — for, " He that giveth understanding, shall not 
 he know]" — and liberal, — (if indeed in such a connection the word be at all allowable) 
 for it is of the essence of that truth to " make us free," — free from error —free from 
 prejudice — free from uncharitableness. — While then to the Gospel all Christians equally 
 appeal, it is surely equally incumbent on all to scrutinize its contents, with patience 
 and reverence indeed, but without that servile fear which, as it paralyses man's 
 intellect, can surely never be pleasing to God who gave it, commanding us there wi.h 
 to "search the Scriptures" " that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom he hath 
 sent." 
 
 x 2 
 
308 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 Version, than in calling Dr. Clarke's Liturgy, a Reformed Liturgy, 
 or the Protestant Church, a Reformed Church. 
 
 The editors are also blamed for stating that their Version is 
 "upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome's," as though they 
 intended to impose upon their readers, and to make the Arch- 
 bishop responsible for their opinions. But the reasons which 
 induced them to adopt the learned Primate's Version have been 
 assigned already : and not to have acknowledged the obligation 
 would have justly exposed them to the charge of fraud and 
 plagiarism. — That they intended to shelter their own peculiar 
 opinions under the authority of the Primate's name cannot be 
 believed for a moment by any person of common understanding 
 who reads beyond the title page.* 
 
 It has even been surmised that the editors, professing that the 
 Improved Version is " published by a society for promoting 
 Christian knowledge and the practice of virtue by the distribution 
 of books," intended to insinuate that they published under the 
 patronage of the society at Bartlett's Buildings for distributing 
 Bibles and Common Prayer Books. But the venerable society 
 may rest assured that it was an object the most remote from the 
 thoughts of the editors to take shelter under their fostering wing. 
 They did not even know that the title of the society, under whose 
 direction they acted, so nearly accorded with that of any other 
 society. In fact, they thought it needless to insert the word 
 Unitarian in the title page, which would deter some ignorant and 
 prejudiced people from looking into a work from which they might 
 
 * The enemies of the Improved Version may well be angry with the editors for 
 having assumed the Archbishop's Translation as the basis of their own, for it has been 
 the means of leading unwary critics into some egregious mistakes. Grievous have been 
 the wounds which the unfortunate Primate has received from the hands of his undis- 
 cerninti friends through the sides of his heretical editors. One accomplished critic 
 wonders, forsooth, that a Unitarian Version should not be more elegant and classical : 
 not adverting to the fact that the Version, in the main, is not theirs, but the Primate's. 
 Another learned and sagacious opponent cites the Archbishop's own words, as a proof 
 how the Unitarians pervert the Scriptures to support their own unscriptural tenets. 
 Some future opportunity may perhaps be taken to animadvert upon these and other 
 misrepresentations. In the mean time it may be sufficient to remark, that these pitiable 
 ami ludicrous blunders cannot fail forcibly to remind the reader of the wisdom of those 
 discriminating judges in the fable, who hissed the pig itself. 
 
 
REVEREND THEOPHTLUS LINDSEY. 309 
 
 otherwise derive instruction. The learned and the honest Whitby 
 did not think it necessary to write Armenian in his title page ; 
 nor Guyse, nor Doddridge, Calvinist in theirs ; but each of those 
 pious and laborious expositors explained the sacred text to the 
 best of his own judgement : so do the editors of the Improved 
 Version. 
 
 It lias been alleged as a great offence, that these editors have 
 " given up the authenticity of the prefaces of Matthew and Luke." 
 But they have assigned their reasons for this conclusion, and let 
 their adversaries refute them if they can. 
 
 It is further objected, that " they appeal to Lardner as favour- 
 able to their hypothesis," though he decides directly against them. 
 But all which they appeal to Lardner for, is to prove, which he 
 has done most abundantly, that Herod died at least seventeen years 
 before Augustus ; but Luke himself informs us, that Jesus was but 
 lately turned of thirty in the fifteenth year of Tiberius :* and con- 
 sequently he must have been born two years after H erodes death. 
 And as to the idle fiction of the double date of Tiberius' s reign, it 
 is well known to all who are conversant with Roman history, that 
 this is a distinction which never existed till the time of the Lower 
 Empire. 
 
 It is further charged upon these daring editors, that they have 
 presumed to " print the suspected chapters in a different type. 
 PI ad they, indeed, left out a passage that is found in all manu- 
 scripts which are now extant, however suspicious in itself, there 
 might have been some reason for charging them with indiscretion. 
 But it was their fixed rule not to remove from the text any. passage 
 which was supported by the consent of manuscripts, however 
 doubtful upon other grounds, and whatever proof there might be 
 of its omission in copies of greater antiquity. But being convinced 
 by the evidence alleged that these chapters are a palpable forgery, 
 they considered themselves as fully justified in fixing the mark of 
 reprobation upon them, though they would not wholly omit them. 
 
 Some have objected to the introduction of any " theological 
 Notes " whatever, as savouring too much of a sectarian spirit, and of 
 
 * See Grotius in Luc. iii. 23. 
 
310 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 dogmatism. But it has been already observed, that the main 
 object of the society in publishing the Improved Version, was to 
 represent what they believed to be the genuine sense of the sacred 
 writings, and to guard against popular delusions. And of course 
 the editors, being from inquiry and conviction Unitarians, would 
 interpret the text in the Unitarian sense. And what should hinder 
 them from doing so ? It is a practice in use among all parties, 
 and laudably so. Had they, indeed, distorted the Scriptures, or 
 forged texts to support their doctrines, they would have been justly 
 liable to censure; but of this they are either not accused, or not 
 convicted. 
 
 The editors of the Improved Version are further accused of not 
 having " strictly adhered to Griesbach's text, and of not adopting 
 all the improvements of his second edition." But everyone who is 
 acquainted wUh Griesbach knows that more than nine tenths of his 
 various readings are of the most trivial kind, and make not the 
 least alteration in the sense. But to have introduced every trifling 
 variation into the text, and to have supported it by notes and refe- 
 rences in the margin, would have wasted much time ; would have 
 answered no one valuable end ; and would either have swelled the 
 work to too large a size, or would have occupied the space of more 
 useful exegetical Notes. The design of the editors was to intro- 
 duce the variations of Griesbach's interior margin ; and if they have 
 omitted even one which would make a difference in the sense of the 
 text, it was on their part wholly unintentional, and they will feel 
 obliged to any friendly critic who will point out the error that it 
 may be corrected in succeeding editions. As to various readings 
 by which the sense is not affected, a very minute attention to these 
 was not within the scope of their design. Yet they do not deny 
 that where gentlemen have leisure and inclination to undertake the 
 task, a translation including all Griesbach's preferable readings, 
 supported by his authorities, would be a gratification to the 
 curious.* 
 
 * In the fourth edition of the Improved Version a very minute attention has been 
 paid to all the various readings of Griesbach 8 second edition, by the late reverend and 
 much to be lamented T. 13. IJroadbent. 
 
REVEREND THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 311 
 
 The exertions, however feeble, which Mr. Lindsey made, in con- 
 currence with the more active energies of Mrs. Lindsey, to en- 
 courage the progress and to extend the circulation of the Improved 
 Version, may be regarded as the last public act of Mr. Lindsey's 
 life ; as the perusal of that work, when it was complete, was his 
 last and greatest delight. To its composition it was too late for 
 him personally to contribute. But to his valuable writings and 
 comments upon the Scriptures, the Notes of the Improved Version 
 are deeply indebted. And to the aged saint it was an exquisite 
 gratification to see, that though he was now about to obtain his 
 dismission from the world, his writings, and particularly his 
 accurate and learned observations upon the Scriptures, would con- 
 tinue to support Christian truth after he was gone. This bright 
 star, which had so long diffused its mild and benignant influence, 
 was now rapidly hastening to its horizon. Mr. Lindsey's health 
 declined apace, and his infirmities visibly increased. But though 
 at times he suffered much ; yet through the constant attention and 
 great professional skill of Dr. Blackburne (who had thoroughly 
 studied his case, and who watched and prescribed for his revered 
 relative with filial solicitude), and by the tender, judicious, and un- 
 wearied care of Mrs. Lindsey, his sufferings were greatly mitigated, 
 so that he continued upon the whole in a comfortable state ; and 
 to the last week of his life he enjoyed the company of his friends, 
 though he was not able to support much conversation with them. 
 Mr. Lindsey' s strength declined so fast through the summer of 
 1808, as to allow little hope that he would be able to struggle 
 through the severity of the winter. But no symptom of immediate 
 danger appeared till the latter end of October, when he was attacked 
 with a complaint which was judged to be a pressure upon the 
 brain : and though the disorder appeared to yield in part to the 
 usual applications, it was nevertheless attended with a very con- 
 siderable degree of fever, which made it necessary for him to 
 take to his bed on Thursday the twenty-seventh. The fever now 
 increased rapidly, and it soon became evident how it would termi- 
 nate. After Monday he lay in a state approaching to stupor and 
 insensibility ; he took little notice of anything, and spoke little or 
 
S12 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE 
 
 nothing. Thus he was prevented from bearing that testimony to 
 the truth and power of Christian principles in his last hours, which 
 his friend Dr. Priestley had done, and which Mr. Lindsey himself, 
 notwithstanding his great natural reserve, and his abhorrence of a 
 loquacious and ostentatious piety, would no doubt have been glad 
 to do. It is, however, said that some of the last rational expres- 
 sions which he was heard to utter were, " God's will is best ; w but 
 whether he spoke these words or not, we are sure that the principle 
 was uppermost in his thoughts as long as reason and thought re- 
 mained; for a mind more resigned and more devoted to the will of 
 God, more desirous and disposed to sacrifice all its fondest wishes 
 and views to the decrees of all-governing wisdom and goodness, 
 never existed.* He appeared to suffer little bodily pain; but his 
 respiration grew gradually shorter, till at six o'clock in the evening 
 of Thursday the third of November he ceased to breathe; and left 
 the world destitute of one of the most upright, consistent, and emi- 
 nently virtuous characters which ever adorned human nature. 
 Mr. Lindsey died in the eighty-sixth year of his age. He 
 was buried in Bunhi.il Fields on Friday the eleventh of November, 
 agreeably to his own request, in the most private manner, in a 
 vault the property of which he had purchased twenty years before, 
 and where the remains o£ his kind and generous friends Mrs. 
 llayner had, by her express desire, been already deposited ; and in 
 the vicinity of which reposed his learned and venerable associate in 
 labours and in self-denial, Dr. John Jebb. A sermon upon the 
 occasion was preached at Essex Street on the following Sunday to a 
 crowded audience of attentive and deeply-affected mourners, which 
 was afterwards published.f 
 
 * When Mr. Lindsey was a little recovered after his severe paralytic seizure in the 
 beginning of the year 1802, Mrs. Lindsey thus expresses herself in a letter to the 
 author, who was then upon a visit to a friend in the country : " He said this morning, 
 after reading family prayer in his usual good manner, " I wish, if it is the will of God, 
 to be enabled to finish my little work ; but should be sorry any moment that the will of 
 (Jod should not take place of mine, either by incapacity or by death. ' 
 
 t Discourses were delivered upon the same mournful occasion by many other ministers, 
 friends and admirers of Mr. Lindsey, some of which were published ; particularly by the 
 Rev. Robert Aspland, at Hackney; the Rev. Dr. Tonlmin, and Rev. John Kentish, at 
 Birmingham ; and the Rev. J. H. Hransby, at Dudley : and Memoirs of Mr. Lindsey 
 were published by Mrs. Cappe in The Monthly Repository, Mr. Joyce in The Monthly 
 Magazine, and by Mr. Fiend. 
 
REVEREND TI1E0PIIILUS LINDSEY. 313 
 
 Of the character of Mr. Lindsey, if the writer of this memoir 
 has succeeded in giving a faithful exhibition of his mind and of his 
 works, no large recapitulation is necessary. Disinterested glowing 
 benevolence, springing from rational, ardent, and deeply-rooted 
 piety ; supreme solicitude to discover truth j unwearied pains in 
 searching after it ; and inflexible firmness in what, after due in- 
 quiry, he believed to be right ; just views of revealed religion, 
 combined with earnest but not obtrusive zeal for their promulga- 
 tion, and blended with the most unaffected humility, and a singular 
 courteousness of manners, formed by early and familiar intercourse 
 with the great ; finally and eminently, a commanding sense of God 
 and duty, constituted the principal lineaments in the character of 
 this excellent and truly venerable man. To have been his coad- 
 jutor in the cause of divine truth, his friend, his successor, and his 
 biographer, is a privilege of no common value : and to be admitted 
 hereafter into the society of such men as Lindsey, Priestley, Price, 
 and Jebb, and of other eminent lovers of truth, and confessors in 
 the glorious cause, and to share in their lot, whatever it be, is the 
 highest felicity of which the writer of this memoir can form a 
 conception, or to which he presumes to aspire. And happy will 
 he think himself, and amply rewarded for all his labour, if this 
 imperfect delineation of the character of his venerable friend shall 
 excite the ambition of any of his readers, and especially among the 
 rising generation of ministers, to emulate the spirit of the departed 
 prophet, and like him to be ready, when duty calls, to sacrifice 
 every secular consideration upon the altar of truth and integrity, 
 leaving consequences without dismay in the hands of governing 
 wisdom and goodness; which, if their future services be needful, 
 will open a different and perhaps a more extensive sphere of use- 
 fulness ; or, if that should be denied, will not forget in the day of 
 final remuneration the generous self-denial, the dutiful submission, 
 nor the virtuous purpose, of the pious and upright heart. 
 
 Mrs. Lindsey survived her venerable husband three years and two 
 months. The health of this excellent lady was completelv broken up 
 by her close and anxious attendance upon Mr. Lindsey during his 
 
314 MEMOIRS OF THE LATE THEOPHILUS LINDSEY. 
 
 long illness and growing infirmities : so that had he lived a few 
 months longer he would probably have been the survivor. And 
 though her constitution seemed for a time to recover itself, and 
 gave reason to hope for continued life, yet the stamina appear to 
 have been worn out ; and a gradual decay both of corporeal and 
 mental vigour soon began to take place, till after a short illness she 
 expired January 18, 1812, in the seventy-second year of her age, 
 and was buried the week following in the same vault with Mr. 
 Lindsey and Mrs. Rayner. A funeral discourse bearing testimony 
 to the uncommon merits of this admirable woman, was delivered 
 to a numerous and sympathizing audience on the Sunday after the 
 funeral, and has since been published. It may be added that Mrs. 
 Lindsey' s intimate friend, Mrs. Jebb, the relict of the celebrated 
 Dr. John Jebb, a lady of the highest intellectual attainments and 
 accomplishments, a fellow labourer and fellow sufferer in the same 
 righteous cause, died two or three days after Mrs. Lindsey, and 
 was buried with her husband in the contiguous grave. 
 
 THE END. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 No I. p. 5. 
 
 The following letters exhibit a specimen of the terms upon 
 which Mr. Lindsey stood with his noble patronesses, and of the 
 high estimation in which he was held by them: — they also contain 
 no mean illustration of the piety and virtue of the illustrious 
 writers. 
 
 FROM THE DUTCHESS OF SOMERSET. 
 
 Percy Lodge, July the 9th, O.S. 1751. 
 Sir, 
 
 I received your letter last week, and intended writing on Sun- 
 day as usual, but when that day came I found it impracticable ; 
 Mr. Saunders having found it more employment than I chose, by 
 sending a long letter of business which I was obliged to answer. 
 I hope your little pupil is well, though you did not name him in 
 your last. Mrs. Pearse* dined here yesterday, in her way to the 
 Forest, she looks thin, but otherwise well, and in pretty good 
 spirits. She owns that Mrs. Scott has done more for her than she 
 could have expected from the best daughter, and has taken the 
 whole trouble and business off her hands. I find she thinks her 
 circumstances will be easy, though not great ; the house in the 
 Forest is to be sold ; she is not yet resolved about that in London. 
 
 As things generally happen crossly, Lord ISateman and Mr. 
 Bateman came in a little before three, and old Saunders just at 
 twelve, but we left him to himself: however, he chose to stay din- 
 
 ■ This is the !ady referred to in p. 6, who bequeathed to Mr. Lindsey the next 
 presentation to the rectory of Chew Magna. 
 
316 APPENDIX. 
 
 ner. Mr. Cowslad says you write to us because you think it civil, 
 when you are not a bit inclined to it : he is a good deal better, 
 and so am I, but we can neither of us yet boast of our activity. 
 
 My domesticks go on pretty peaceably, though Edward met 
 with a trial of his patience last Saturday, which would have stag- 
 gered yours or mine. He was almost mad with the pain of a 
 hollow tooth, and went to Colebrook to get it drawn ; but the 
 cruel operator, instead of it, drew the only sound one in his 
 head. I do not know what you will think of me when I tell you 
 I am going to try the Glastonbury water here, and own to you 
 that I am induced to it by a persuasion that the discovery of it 
 is in some degree miraculous ; and if one may believe affidavits, 
 witnessed by ministers of parishes and churchwardens, the cures 
 it has performed are so too, in scorbutic cases, king's evil, and 
 asthmas of many years standing, as it is witnessed by their 
 nearest neighbours. I have had no letter from Lady Huntingdon, 
 but I hear she is at Cheltenham, and pretty well. Clavering has 
 done plaguing me, but I have sent his son ten guineas this 
 morning. I have heard but twice from Lady Northumberland 
 since she left London, by which I conclude, she finds diversions 
 and company are not confined to the town. You judge very 
 rightly that a little spirit and resolution would contribute greatly 
 to my tranquillity ; and I often lament the want of it, not only as 
 a misfortune, but as a fault, since it is often necessary, to enable 
 one to support one's integrity through a wayward and designing 
 world, where few are what they appear to be : yet even that 
 would be of little consequence, was one perfectly assured of 
 being in the right one's self. 
 
 My gentlemen send you their compliments; and I desire my 
 compliments to little H. who, I hope, improves in more things 
 than his French ; for, though that is a very proper accomplish- 
 ment of a gentleman, there are yet higher titles to be aimed at, 
 those of an humble Christian, and lover of all mankind. I am 
 glad you find the air you are in agrees with your health. Lord 
 Albemarle is made groom of the stole, and Lord Rockingham lord 
 of the bedchamber. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 A. Monsieur 
 Monsieur Lindsey, chez Monsieur Pillard, 
 a Blois. 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Sir, 
 We were all very sorry to find by your last letter that you have 
 had so violent a cold ; but if your weather has been (as I think 
 by your letter it has) like ours in England, it is no wonder that 
 you have suffered from it, for I never remember so cold and wet 
 a summer. You may depend upon my silence, in regard to your 
 
 observations on Lord W 's constitution, as I know the 
 
 ticklishness of treating some subjects without giving offence, 
 which I am sure neither you nor I intend to do. I am so far 
 from thinking you oddly employed, when you were contemplating 
 the storm of thunder and lightning, that I rather envy you for 
 the fortitude which is necessary to be a calm spectator of so awful 
 and noble a scene. My own want of that virtue often makes me 
 apprehensive that I am in the number of the wicked, who flee 
 when no man pursueth, while the righteous are bold as a lion ; 
 yet I do not despair of becoming better, and consequently more 
 courageous, as I can with truth affirm it is the only point I have 
 in view ; and my most earnest desire to keep God in all my 
 thoughts. Yet how apt are the cares, and even the amusements 
 of life, to displace his image, and obtrude their own vexatious im- 
 pertinence in his room ! Poor Lady Thanet is dead. I am told 
 that when Lady Huntingdon heard of her illness, she sent to 
 offer her to come and prepare her for that solemn hour : but 
 Lady Thanet sent her word it was in vain, for she could neither 
 be prepared to live or die. Her great care upon her death- bed 
 was the fear of being buried alive ; to prevent which, she ordered 
 herself not to be taken out of her bed for twelve days. She has 
 left her daughters ten thousand pounds a-piece. The last we 
 heard of the Dutchess of Richmond was, that her doctors had 
 little or no hopes of her. The mortality which within two years 
 and a half has been so remarkable amongst men of the first rank, 
 seems beginning amongst the ladies, but still the same eternal 
 round of dissipation is pursued ; cards and gay parties are the 
 great business of the modish world. The Duke of St. Alban's 
 died last Saturday se'nnight, and I am afraid has left his family 
 in very indifferent circumstances. If going abroad is a preserva- 
 tive for health, I may expect to be very well ; for within these last 
 three weeks 1 have been at London, twice at Sion, dined with 
 Mrs. Mordaunt, been at Thorpe with Mrs. Foley, visited at Bui- 
 
318 APPENDIX. 
 
 strode, and, in short, tired myself and my horses sufficiently. To- 
 morrow Lord and Lady Brooke, Lady Archibald and Miss 
 Hamilton, Mrs. Mordaunt, and Mr. Hamilton, are all to dine here; 
 and on Thursday Lord Guernsey and Lady Charlotte. I dined 
 last week at Isle worth with the Dutchess of Somerset, and saw 
 my little nephew, who is a fine child. Mr. Bernard spoke of you 
 in a very friendly manner ; I think he appears a modest pretty 
 kind of man. A sermon of his is much talked of at Islesworth 
 for the singularity of the text, which was " Remember Lot's 
 wife ; " and his discourse greatly admired for the piety and good 
 sense of it. 1 am with very sincere friendship, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most faithful humble servant, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 To the Reverend Mr. Lindsey. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Michaelmas Day, O.S. Sunday, 1751. 
 
 Sir, 
 T fully intended writing to you, either by Sunday or Tuesday's 
 post, but was prevented by a swelled face and pain in my 
 head, which put me extremely out of order : it is not yet quite 
 gone ; but as it is something better, I would no longer defer tell- 
 ing you that I am very glad to see Lord and Lady Northumberland 
 lay hold of the first opportunity in their power of showing their 
 regard for you. I only wish that the living of Chatton were 
 of greater value, or that in Yorkshire were entirely free, which- 
 ever you choose; they have had the kindness to tell me they 
 will not think of your leaving my family ; but I know your 
 thoughts in relation to the duty of a parish too well to reckon 
 upon keeping you in it ; for which reason I must apply to you 
 whenever it becomes necessary for you to change your situation, 
 that you will be so good as to choose a successor who will conduct 
 himself as nearly like you as possible, for I am as little fond of a 
 pretty gentleman in a gown as out of one. 1 opened Mr. 
 Comber's letter because you desired me ; it did not contain above 
 eight lines, complaining of not hearing from you, begging to 
 do it soon to relieve his fears for your health; and telling you 
 he had met with many mortifications, that he feared he had 
 lost Almira's correspondence, by no fault of his, but her over 
 delicacy. The huge paper enclosed was two or three hundred 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 lines, on the immensity of the Divine Being, which appeared to 
 me unequal to a much humbler subject. 
 
 I had a very agreeable letter last week from Dr. Oliver, who 
 tells me that Lady Huntington is pretty well, and much employed 
 in attending Dr. Doddridge, who is in a deep consumption at 
 Bath, but is to set out in a few days in order to embark at 
 Falmouth for Lisbon, from whence, it is Dr. Oliver's opinion, 
 he will never return. Lady F. Shirley was with me two days 
 ago; she told me that Mr. Hervey is quite recovered : but Lady 
 Pembroke's marriage with a man of no birth or money (though, 
 it is said, a very sensible agreeable man,) pinned us down to mere 
 worldly conversation ; and to tell you the truth in a whisper only 
 for your own ear, her ladyship seemed to think, that as Lady 
 Pembroke could not be easy to live without him, she had acted 
 more prudently if she had taken him on any other terms ! You 
 will easily believe this doctrine amazed me in the mouth of so 
 pious a person, and that I have not thought fit to mention it 
 to one of my company, as he needs no new motives to censure 
 whatever he fancies aims at being more serious than the fine world 
 in general. Mr. Wilkins writes me word that Mrs. Wilkins is 
 almost well, and proposes being here himself a few days after 
 Michaelmas. 
 
 A. C. is ill at Oxford, and his wise father has wrote to desire he 
 may come hither to be taken care of and drink asses milk, 
 and desires me to send for Dr. Hayes as often as is neces- 
 sary. This I must beg to be excused from, as Lord and Lady N. 
 will be here this week, and I expect Mrs. Pearse and Mr. Scot very 
 soon. I have only one milch ass, of which my poor gardener 
 is drinking the milk, though I doubt to very little purpose, for he 
 appears quite spent in a consumption, though James's powder 
 did cure his fever. I thank you for the epigram, which I 
 read without blushing. I should have been glad to see the young 
 nun take the veil, but at the same time have felt some concern lest, 
 in so tender an age, she might have been iniluenced or awed into 
 it by her friends ; or supposing it were her inclination at present, 
 how little it could be depended upon to last fifty or sixty years, 
 which she may probably live. I saw Lady Pomfret last Saturday, 
 and said all I could think of to express your gratitude and 
 my own, both to her and the Bishop of Blois, for his civility 
 to you and your little charge, to whom I desire my blessing. 
 I think the King of France disposes of his money in giving 
 
320 APPENDIX. 
 
 portions to young women much better than if it were to procure 
 fire- works, masquerades, &c. 
 
 I had left all the space betwixt these two lines to direct my let- 
 ter, that it might not be a double one ; but Lord and Lady N. 
 came in just as I was finishing it on Thursday, and staid till eleven 
 o'clock this day; they bid me make their compliments to you, and 
 send Lord W. their blessing. Lady Pomfret sent us a letter in 
 English, which she has received from the Bishop of Blois, where 
 he expresses himself so kindly on Lord W.'s account, that his 
 father and mother as well as myself are extremely obliged by the 
 notice he takes in it both of him and you. 
 
 The Duke of Bolton I fancy will find a stronger restorative in 
 his Dutchess's death than from all the air in France; she died 
 last Monday was se'nnight. How widely do the great and little 
 folks differ in sentiments ! Poor Obadiah is in the deepest affliction 
 for the loss of his wife. They tell me you will be obliged to come 
 over, if you accept either of the livings, in which case I hope 
 you will find a few hours, if not days, to let us see you at Percy 
 Lodge, where you may always be assured of a most friendly and 
 sincere welcome from, 
 
 Sir, Your most faithful humble servant, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Downing Street, March 14th, O.S. 1752. 
 
 Sir, 
 I heartily wish my constitution would as readily enable me to 
 comply with the desires of my friends as my inclination submits 
 to what they prescribe, but I am afraid I have little reason to in- 
 dulge so flattering a hope ; I have hardly enjoyed an hour's health 
 since I came hither, and though 1 have been out four or five times 
 I am now confined again with great pain and lameness ; a great 
 inflammation upon my leg cannot be produced by fancy ! and sit- 
 ting continually in one place has brought an almost constant pain 
 in my stomach, attended with great oppression and shortness of 
 breath; these are not good ingredients to give me spirits for mix- 
 ing with the beau monde; and indeed were I in better health, I 
 believe I should as easily enter into the manners of the fine folks 
 in the moon, as into the present fashionable way of life in London^ 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 so different it is from what it was when I left it three years ago. 
 I have had a letter from Lady Huntingdon, who seems very mueh 
 pleased with Lady Rawdon's marriage, and says that Lady Selina 
 is much better. Lord Coventry was married to Miss Gunning 
 this day se'nnight, and L idy Charlotte Capel is to be so very soon to 
 Mr. Villiers, Lord Jersey's brother, and Lady Di. Egerton to Mr. 
 Seymour's son by Lady Hinchinbrooke. The Chapter is to be 
 held on Friday for giving away the garters, the new knights are 
 declared, and they are not all those who were first talked of; they 
 are Prince Edward the little Stadtholder, Lord Lincoln, Lord 
 Winchelsea, and Lord Cardigan. 
 
 The constant good accounts you send us of Lord W. are very 
 encouraging; pray assure him of my blessing, and tell him his 
 papa has won the service of Dresden china, which was raffled for 
 at White's, and valued at .£400. I see by the advertisement that 
 Mr. Mason is going to publish a poem called Elfrida, which I shall 
 certainly buy if I am alive at the time it comes out. Miss Blandy 
 is condemned for the barbarous murder of her father, and you 
 will wonder at me for being discontented that she is only to be 
 hanged. H. is marched off at last, though I could not get her 
 out of my house till the new housekeeper had been two days in it. 
 I hope she will prove more peaceable. It signifies little what out- 
 ward appearances and ceremonies are observed, if the heart and 
 intentions remain inflexible; and yet some shadow of regard to 
 the mere observances of religion, may serve to renew the remem- 
 brance that there is the reality of such a thing in nature, though 
 laid aside for the present ; but here the names of times or sea- 
 sons are never thought of, unless when the fine ladies are ex- 
 pressing their gratitude to Lady Cobham for comforting them 
 in the Dutchess of Dorset's absence by having an assembly on 
 Sundays. 
 
 The Dutchess of Somerset, my mother-in-law, did me the honour 
 of a visit yesterday morning ; she is not well, and is to go to Bristol 
 as soon as Lady Charlotte is brought to bed, which is expected 
 about the beginning of May. 
 
 I am with sincere friendship, 
 Sir, 
 Your most faithful humble servant, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 A Monsieur 
 Monsieur Lindsey, a Orleans. 
 
322 APPENDIX. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Downing Street, March 19, 1752. 
 
 Sir, 
 As I do not love to have any of my bright actions pass unob- 
 served by my friends, and as I am afraid they may be neglected 
 by the foreign news-writers, I had a mind to let you know under 
 my own hand, that I was last night at a ball at Northumberland 
 House, where all the people who are famed for beauty, youth, 
 gaiety, and grandeur, were assembled ; the house and suppers in 
 three rooms were truly magnificent, and the owners did the 
 honours with a politeness and cheerfulness which I think could 
 not fail to please, at least it ought not, for it must have given them 
 infinite trouble as well as great expense, and poor Lady Northum- 
 berland had a violent cold. I saw Lady Coventry there, who is 
 certainly very handsome, but appears rather too tall to be genteel, 
 and her face rather smaller than one would wish, considering the 
 height it is placed, and her dress appeared more in the style of an 
 opera dancer than an English lady of quality. Lady Di. Egertou 
 and Mrs. Sclwyn's granddaughter, Miss Townsend, appeared either 
 of the full as pretty in my eyes with the addition of great 
 modesty. 
 
 The pure and eloquent blood spoke in their cheeks : 
 
 which it would do in very few there, for they cannot paint more 
 in France than our ladies do here; and as we always run into 
 extremes, white is as liberally laid on as rouge : poor Lady Mary 
 Capel had, I believe, only the latter, but that in such abundance 
 that it made her look older and plainer than ever I saw her. Now 
 I must tell you under the seal of confession, that from some 
 civilities I had received from Lady Lincoln, I thought it proper to 
 make her some compliment; but when I came near her with that 
 design, she was so very immodestly stripped that I was ashamed 
 to look toward her and forced to drop my speech. The wind last 
 Sunday alarmed me extremely here, but did me much greater 
 injury at Percy Lodge, where it blew down the high elm behind 
 King Edward's bench, turned the bench itself topsy-turvy and 
 broke it all to pieces, blew down several rod of paling, and some 
 of the best trees in my fields; it broke a very tall fir-tree near the 
 Gothic bench, above fourteen feet above the ground, and carried it 
 over the wood into the Abbey walk, where it set it upright. Here 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 some bricks were blown off Payne's chimney, who was dressing 
 me, and rolled along the room over our heads; and at that instant 
 we heard the most dreadful yell below stairs that you can conceive : 
 but what was our amaze when, upon running out, we found the 
 staircase so filled with smoke and soot that we could scarce see 
 one another or breath ! and Lady C. Petersham, with her hair 
 about her ears, four children, and five or six maids with another 
 woman whom I did not know, all screaming as if they were 
 bewitched ! A stack of chimneys had fallen there, and the lire 
 catched in two or three places ; but by the mercy of God nobody 
 was hurt, and the fire soon stopped. The woman I did not know 
 was Mrs. Cibber, who was reading a new farce to Lady C. when 
 this accident happened. I meant to have dined alone that day, 
 so my meal was slender ; but I could not help asking Lord 
 Petersham and Lady Caroline to partake of it, as they could have 
 nothing dressed at home, and none of their acquaintance (though 
 Lady Lincoln lives but two doors off and was alarmed at the noise) 
 had the humanity to invite them, which Lady C. seemed to resent, 
 and I thought with reason. As I have now wrote sooner than my 
 usual time, perhaps I shall exceed it before I write again ; and if 
 the date of my next should not happen to please you, I hope you 
 will not tear the letter before you read it. Pray assure your little 
 charge of my blessing, and Mr. Thierchen of my remembrance. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 Your very sincere and faithful humble servant, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 A Monsieur 
 Monsieur Liudsey, a Orleans. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Percy Lodge, March 5th, 1754. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I feel myself extremely obliged to you for both your last 
 letters, and would have told you so sooner if I could have resolved 
 to send you a half a side of paper with nothing but formal thanks, 
 which I think is not an obliging way of corresponding with one's 
 friends. 
 
 I was surprised to meet Lady Huntingdon upon the road last 
 Saturday was fortnight ; she was on her way to London, but her 
 coach drove bv so fast that I had onlv time to send Lomas after 
 
 y 2 
 
324 APPENDIX. 
 
 her with my compliments ; she seemed to me to look as well as 
 ever I saw her. 
 
 Poor Mr. Thierchen has been laid up with the gout almost 
 these three weeks, but insists it is the effect of having worn too 
 short a stocking, in spite of the apothecary. A. has passed a 
 month with me since Christmas : if he is not quite so droll as he 
 was, he makes amends by displaying the seeds of every virtuous 
 and generous disposition, with the most docile temper I ever 
 knew : he would not tell a lye to avoid the severest punishment 
 that he can have a notion of, and has no peace if he thinks he has 
 offended the lowest person about the house. Poor Lord G. is the 
 melancholy reverse of all these amiable qualities: with the face of 
 a cherub, he is one of the most perverse, obstinate, ill-disposed, 
 children that ever was born. He is severely and constantly 
 whipped, at least once a week, but discovers no fear of punish- 
 ment, and (what is much worse) no sense of shame w r hen he is 
 detected in lies that he has stood in for a week together, or for 
 taking other people's things unknown to them ; and this last week 
 he even ventured to sell a reading-glass for two shillings and there 
 is no making him confess how he came by it. 
 
 I am yet far from being in a good state of health, though I 
 bless God, in a much less painful one than I was some months 
 ago ; I have now no remains of lameness, but I am, from the 
 shortness of my breath, obliged to be always carried up stairs 
 and often dowm ; yet this is not to excuse me from a London 
 journev. I have promised to make my appearance there next 
 Friday se'nnight, if no unforeseen accident happens ; but hope 
 not to make a longer stay than I did last year, unless I am 
 detained in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 I was much obliged to you for sending that fragment of Milton, 
 which pleased me much, and I took the liberty to copy and con- 
 vey it to Miss Talbot, who was delighted with it, but made the 
 sa re objection with yours, that he was wrong in regard to that 
 part of the Bible account of David's misfortunes and their source ! 
 I must now, under the seal of confession, own to you, that after 
 reading the Bible every day of my life for forty years together, I 
 always understood it as Milton seems to have done. But since 1 
 received your letter I have read the history of David in Samuel, 
 with all the attention I am mistress of, to find some other cause, 
 and rummaged the library to find some commentator who would 
 explain it — but they all seem to be in Milton's error — and even 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 consulted the ouly divine in my reach (Clavering), who stared, and 
 said he had always thought as Milton did. I hope you have some 
 neighbours that you can converse with ; for, as partial as I am to 
 retirement, I think absolute solitude is too melancholy a way of 
 life for creatures intended by the wise ruler of all things for society. 
 Our excellent friend Dr. Courayer has been very ill, but is got 
 quite well again, and I had a very good and cheerful letter from 
 him on Sunday morning. Indeed he has the only true cause for 
 cheerfulness, the reflection on a well spent life, and having pre- 
 pared himself to leave it whenever its great Author shall call him 
 from hence. This preparation I hope I have been seriously en- 
 deavouring after for many months and some years past ; but we 
 are so apt to flatter and deceive ourselves, that I dare not trust 
 myself too far, and find such continual defects in my best meant 
 actions, as would take away all hopes of their efficacy if I did not 
 trust in the merits and sufferings of our ever blessed Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 I have told you I am better, and to outward appearances I am 
 so ; yet I should not be surprised myself, nor would have my 
 friends be so, if I should be dead before this letter reaches you. 
 Dr. Hayes calls my disease a nervous asthma, in which case I may 
 possibly suffer on some years longer; but by my own feelings, 
 especially the violent beating of my heart and jugular veins, I 
 should suppose it some great obstruction in my blood. I have 
 hardly left room to subscribe myself, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your very sincere friend, &c, 
 
 F. Somerset. 
 
 No. II., p. 7. 
 
 FROM THE COUNTESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 
 
 Stanwick, June 27. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I know your friendship for me will prevent your thinking 
 a letter troublesome, though it comes fraught with no other news 
 but that of my safe arrival at this place, which happened on Wed- 
 
32G APPENDIX. 
 
 nesday last, after I cannot say a pleasant (for the first day we were 
 choaked with dust, and the second deluged with rain) journey of 
 three days, one of which we spent at York with Mrs. Smithson, 
 where we have deposited Elizabeth. I find the whole country 
 here in an uproar, as they say their former Archbishop (the late 
 Metropolitan) Hutton died an Arian ; they own they do not know 
 what that is, but are sure it is something that is not the right 
 religion. We are impatient to hear of the taking of St. Male's ; 
 which good news I hope a few more days will bring us. We leave 
 this place for Newcastle to-morrow, where we shall stay a week, 
 and then proceed to Alnwick. I had the ill luck to sprain my 
 knee in such a manner at York, that I am not able to stir a step 
 without a stick, which confines me from walking ; which, how- 
 ever, I the less regret, as the weather is thoroughly disagreeable, 
 being both damp and cold. x\s I am in some doubt about your 
 direction, I shall send this to Northumberland House, and order 
 them to carry it to Lord Huntington, where, 1 conclude, they will 
 be able to learn how to convey it safely to you. My Lord desires 
 his compliments to you, and I beg to trouble you with mine to 
 Lady Huntingdon, Lady Selina, and Mrs. Hastings. J am, with 
 the truest friendship, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate humble servant, 
 
 E. Northumberland. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Lindsey. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Alnwick Castle, July 25th. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 1 am very much mortified to find that you have entirely forgot 
 me, for I verily think that if you had not, you would have let me 
 have had the pleasure of hearing from you before now ; to no other 
 cause can I assign it but your being in love, and to that account 
 will I place it, as I think love the only justifiable excuse for forget- 
 ting one's friends; and where that passion is divested of some of 
 its sensual attributes, I think such an oblivion far from blameable, 
 highly praiseworthy, as I am convinced no passion exalts the soul 
 so much as it does, nay, even in great measure, spiritualizes it ; but 
 this being a subject 1 am much more versed in the theory than the 
 practice of, 1 am liable, like other theoretical and aerial castle- 
 
APFENDIX. 327 
 
 builders, to have no foundation for my sparkling edifices ; but as 
 they in beauty resemble the bubbles blown by children, they pro- 
 bably do the same in fragility and short duration. Thus far had 
 I talked wisely without meaning (as many wise people do), when I 
 received the favour of your letter, for which I heartily thank you, 
 and assure you, your letters are always truly welcome to me, come 
 they often or seldom ; and though I am always glad to hear from 
 you when you have nothing else to do, yet I am far from wishing 
 you to write when you have either business, company, or what you 
 allow me to guess at to prevent you. I was, as you observe, at 
 Stanwick for two nights only ; but notwithstanding the shortness 
 of the slay, I had time enough to hear a most admirable character 
 of Mrs. Lindsey elect, which gave me extreme great pleasure; and 
 I also heard of a chance for a certain four thousand pounds, which 
 (though I assure you, in an inferior degree) gave me great plea- 
 sure also. "We set out for Scotland the sixth day of next month, 
 but of how long a duration our stay there will be I know not. 
 We go from Berwick by Haddingtoun to Edinburgh, and from 
 thence by Stirling and Glasgow to Air, so that we shall entirely 
 cross that part of the island from east to west; but as we do not 
 proceed to the Isle of Skey, I fear I shall return without the gift 
 of second- sight. Something of after-sight I believe I have men- 
 tioned to you that I really think I have of a night when I go to 
 bed, a very odd instance of which I had lately ; but the story is 
 not interesting, and is besides too long for a letter. The last ac- 
 counts we had of Lord Warkworth were from Minden, where he 
 arrived July 16th, after a most tedious march of twenty-five days 
 (through miserable roads, iu wretched weather), in perfect good 
 health and spirits, and hoped to join the army the 18th or 19th. 
 You may believe I am under the greatest anxiety for a son so 
 deservedly dear to me; but to the care of the Almighty I commit 
 him, who, I hope, will cover his head in the day of battle, and 
 afford me the unspeakable pleasure of receiving him again after 
 the campaign safe and with honor. I am sure he has not only 
 my daily but hourly prayers, and I also beg to recommend him to 
 yours. You are very good to have wrote to him ; 1 have sent him 
 your letter, the receipt of which 1 am sure will make him very 
 happy. I am very sorry any company 1 had deprived me of the 
 satisfaction of seeing you, or wishing you a good journey, before 
 you left London. Lord Ilchester's estate is a noble one, and I 
 hope he bestows it noblv ; otherwise I am sure he does not deserve 
 
328 APPENDIX. 
 
 it. You have no notion how glad I was to hear of Sir Harry 
 Heron ; I was very desirous to know if any of that family (one of 
 the most ancient in this county) were yet in being. If ever you, 
 Sir Harry, and myself are in London at the same time, I desire 
 you will present me to him. I have often heard Mr. Delaval (the 
 member for this county) say, that his mother frequently told him 
 that in her memory nothing but trenchers were in use in Northum- 
 berland, and that his grandfather had seventeen dozen of them ; 
 and that in all the gentlemen's families an officer called a trencher- 
 scraper (for they were not to be washed) was kept for that purpose 
 only ; and that Seaton Delaval (the seat of Long Delaval) and 
 Chipchase (the seat of the Herons) were the only houses where 
 they had pewter (and theirs was only dishes, and but few of them ), 
 which was only used on high days and holidays, and was admired 
 by the whole country as an unusual piece of magnificence. This 
 anecdote of his ancestors' grandeur I daresay Sir Harry never 
 heard. Supper bell rings; so I have only time to add my lord's 
 compliments, and that I am ever, 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your faithful friend and humble servant, 
 
 Elizabeth Northumberland. 
 
 No. III., p. 11, 
 
 FROM ARCHDEACON BLACKBURN E. 
 
 March 1, 1756. 
 My Dear Friend, 
 
 I am much obliged to you for your last kind remembrance of 
 me from Bristol ; and if you had not made me a sort of promise 
 that it would be followed presently by another, you would pro- 
 bably have had this acknowledgment a post or two sooner. A 
 gentleman, whose correspondence does me honour, lately trans- 
 mitted to me a most curious case of a British dissenting clergy- 
 man, who went to Geneva to be ordained, that he might avoid 
 subscription to the Westminster Confession, or nay such tests of 
 human orthodoxy. He was chaplain to the Scots Greys (being yet 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 unordained), travelled as tutor to two young gentlemen of the first 
 rank, was himself a fine gentleman and excellent scholar, and yet, 
 when, after having made the tour of Europe, and displayed his 
 ministerial talents in Holland with the greatest applause, he came 
 to settle in a congregation in Ireland, he met with rather worse 
 treatment than Mr. Emlyn, being, as I understand him, perse- 
 cuted and put to flight for opinions which he really held not, 
 merely because he would not subscribe to those he did hold. By 
 the way, this account (if 1 mistake not) was sent me upon a 
 chimerical suspicion which my friend, himself a dissenter of emi- 
 nence, has entertained that I am secretly pushing for a settlement 
 among his brethren ; among whom he finds himself as uneasy 
 as we find ourselves in the church of England. And lest you 
 should think I have any such aim, it may not be amiss to inform 
 you, that all these surmises have arose from a letter 1 wrote to a 
 loquacious man, to enquire after the character of a dissenting 
 academy in his neighbourhood, with a view of furnishing a young 
 man for whom I am concerned, with a little mathematical learn- 
 ing. You must not expect long letters from me from hence to 
 the other side of Easter, as I have not only additional sermons 
 weekly, during Lent, and catechising, &c, but am pressed on all 
 hands to dispatch the Confessional, the plan after much debate, 
 ab intus et extra, being now settled, and all occasions cut of squib- 
 bing at the fungose Doctor, otherwise than as his solutions are 
 considered in form among those of other men. 
 
 March 2. No letter but one from Watson, announcing his safe 
 arrival, and transmitting a curious MS. (wrote by a lady) and 
 tending to prove an indispensable obligation upon Christians to 
 keep two Sabbaths in a week. When one sees what different 
 opinions are founded upon the Scriptures, by different heads, and 
 none of them void of plausibility, I am strongly tempted to parody 
 a striking passage in the Gospel thus : Except your charity 
 exceeds the charity of the Athanasians, methodists, mystics, and 
 zealots of every sect, ye shall in nowise enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven. O my friend, what shall we do to unlade our hearts of 
 the world, and to fill them with God, so as to do, think, and say 
 all to his glory ? I am so far a mystic as to think this attainable, 
 and am miserable, wretchedly miserable, in finding myself so far 
 behind those who have already attained hitherto. Pray for me, 
 dear Mr. Lindsey, as I do daily for you, that we may be really 
 instrumental in doing some of that good which is well-pleasing to 
 
330 APPENDIX. 
 
 God ; and, at least, that this evBoKia may receive no let, either 
 from our indolence, or the incongruity of our doctrine or manners. 
 O, what a glory to carry with us one soul to heaven for seraphs to 
 rejoice over, and to raise the exultations of the heavenly host ! 
 What are all the cares, riches, pleasures, or anxieties in the world, 
 compared to this ? Teach me, for 1 know you can, how that frame 
 of mind is to be put on which must carry us to our utmost perfec- 
 tion in Christ. 
 
 I am, with unabated love for you, the unworthiest of all your 
 fellow servants, F. B. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Richmond, Nov. 15th, 1757. 
 
 The choicest blessings of heaven on your noble and thrice 
 worthy patroness for espousing, and on my dear good friend for 
 recommending, the cause of the fatherless. If any thing farther 
 remains to be done on our part towards forwarding the relief of 
 these orphans you will let me know, and in the meantime I beg 
 you would, with all humility, tender my sincerest acknowledge- 
 ments to her good ladyship, to whose humanity and christian 
 charity I hold myself the more obliged, as some other would-be- 
 good ladies were applied to without success. Lady Northumber- 
 land indeed would have delivered our petition, but that was to the 
 other court, which we thought not so expedient as at Leicester 
 House. My lord, too, has done an act of humanity and gratitude 
 to a poor shoe-maker of this town, who was his schoolfellow, and 
 often assisted him in his exercises at Richmond school, which will 
 make me love him as long as I live. How shall 1 express the 
 sense I have of the parental feelings of the good lady for her 
 afflicted son ! Would to God my poor intercessions might take 
 place, either towards removing, or alleviating what cannot be 
 removed ! I was lately in company with a physician who told me 
 he had been so fortunate as to prevent gutta3 serense in two ladies 
 (one of them his own wife) by gentle and seasonable mercurial 
 purges, at proper intervals. He says the sight of both is weak in 
 general, and they have returns of the visual obstructions ; but the 
 cinnabar pills have as yet never failed to remove them, and they 
 pass their time very comfortably, so comfortably, that if he had not 
 told me this circumstance 1 should never have suspected his lady 
 

 APPENDIX. 331 
 
 (whom I see very often) of any such infirmity. lie added, that in 
 some other cases he had known this malady attended with a defluxion, 
 in which case a solution of camphire in French brandy, softened 
 with an emulsion of almonds, has done service by way of outward 
 application. He adds, that he knew an infirmity of this kind 
 brought upon a young lady by over-bathing in Uarrowgate waters. 
 If any farther information I can get about these cases will be of 
 use, let me know, and depend upon my utmost endeavours. 
 
 Be ingenuous, my good friend: were any of the noble family 
 with which you are connected, to be opposed in a borough, where 
 your situation were the same as mine, could you be an indifferent 
 spectator ? I wish I had time to tell you the beginning and whole 
 progress of my engagements ; but Heaven has heard my prayers, 
 and I trust the disagreeable contest is now at an end for this time. 
 For such has been the firmness and unanimity of Mr. Yorkers 
 friends, that Sir Conyers .Darcy thought proper the other day to 
 send a message to the corporation, that, " in consideration of the 
 peace of the town, he would acquiesce in any person the burgesses 
 should make choice of." This has amazed some people, who knew 
 not our preparations, of which the old knight had some intima- 
 tions from London. Though, indeed, as he had secured the 
 returning officer, I for my part expected he would have put us to 
 our petition. Yesterday it was reported that the borough was sold 
 to a young baronet, who has made some purchases of that sort in 
 his own county. But this is so very dishonourable to a certain 
 principal officer of state, that I cannot tell how to believe it, 
 though apart from the circumstance of honour, it might not per- 
 haps be improbable. My good friend will be cautious of men- 
 tioning these matters as from me. However, take notice, all I 
 have been concerned in has been fair and upright, and void of all 
 corruption, which our worthy candidate abhors so much that he 
 could not be brought into some measures recommended to him by 
 some very honest friends as merely prudential, which if he had 
 taken, he might have secured his seat beyond all dispute; but his 
 answer was, " That he had lived to the seventy-first year of his 
 life without one reproach from his heart of contributing to the 
 public corruption, and he would not sow the seeds of those thorns 
 at this time of life." You will now collect perhaps an apology for 
 me, without taking in my particular obligations and alliance to 
 this family. But after all, alas ! I find too feelingly, that all this 
 is but to busy ourselves about burying the dead, when we should 
 
332 APPENDIX. 
 
 be preaching the kingdom of God ; and it is impossible to tell you 
 the impressions of my heart under a load of trash, which my soul 
 abhors, and from which it shall ever be my study for the future 
 to escape, if possible. 
 
 I have not time to collect all the scraps I have of David Hart- 
 ley's meditations, which are chiefly dispersed in M. P. H/s letters 
 to me. But you may expect a summary of them from me within 
 a very few posts. What good may be done in our parishes, and 
 by whom the most, is a problem that I cannot undertake to solve 
 for myself, much less for you. Pray God direct you in every 
 thing ; your present avocation is not to be found fault with, and 
 if Heaven had given me talents such as yours for consolation, I 
 should surely have dispensed with my public province (at least for 
 a time) when the occasion called me to the relief of such sufferers. 
 For the rest, you know I put the whole upon a prior obligation to 
 him who called me; an obligation I mean prior to all engage- 
 ments, to church-modes and church nonsense in support of them. 
 My principle of attachment to the Scriptures would make me 
 uneasy in any other church I know of. If I can be of any service 
 in this, God have the praise, it is a reason why I should press 
 forward. He will reform all in his good time, and w T ill not im- 
 pute a failure in duty to those who would but cannot. In the 
 mean time, I trust as to sincerity we have a good conscience. We 
 fail not on all proper occasions to bear our testimony. We scruple 
 not to acknowledge our own weakness in being drawn in to sub- 
 scribe, especially the last time, when we fear the good opinion we 
 had of a dear friend, and the regard we paid to his judgment, 
 prevailed more with us than any conviction from the weight of his 
 arguments, which we have since found to be feeble and insufficient. 
 In the mean time, this we know, if we know any thing of our- 
 selves, that though we labour under manifold difficulties, arising 
 from a large family, and a scanty income, and the necessity upon 
 us of spending every shilling of it to answer the expectations of 
 the world in our station, and to avoid the least suspicions of 
 avarice, yet would we not repeat our subscription, to gain the 
 wealth of the Indies, or the honour and power of a popedom. 
 Some people, my dear friend, would be much mortified that they 
 could not give their children that polish of education which is 
 necessary to recommend to respectable connexions with the world. 
 I do not boast when I say I am got above all this. My en- 
 deavours shall not be wanting to create them the most important 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 connexions with God : if I succeed there, I and they are happy; 
 happy in our obscurity and disengagements from many tempta- 
 tions ; happy in seeing our own infirmities, and ten times happy 
 in the protection of a wise and gracious Providence, who will 
 never leave us nor forsake us. Here comes three of them to call 
 me to dinner. 
 
 Grace and peace from the fountain of both be with you. 
 
 The following letter from Thomas Hollis, Esq. under the fictitious 
 name of Pierce Delvcr, throws some light upon the reported 
 invitation of the Archdeacon to succeed Dr. Chandler at the 
 Old Jewry. 
 
 Saturday morning, Oct. 18, 1766. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to hear of the perfect recovery of the 
 excellent A.D. (Archdeacon.) I fear he studies, labours too in- 
 tensely, though to such noble purposes and great effects ; and the 
 human machine though a very fine is yet a very delicate one. Let 
 us applaud his magnanimity, however, and wish him every good ! 
 
 At my visit to worthy Mr. Fleming, he told me, that he had 
 been assured the people of the Old Jewry were inclined to invite 
 the excellent A. D. B. to their chair, in the room of the late Dr. C. 
 if they thought he would accept it. The same was told me more 
 generally at'tenvards in mixt company. 
 
 September 27. Worthy Dr. H. (Dr. W. Harris) wrote me as 
 follows : u What think you of A. D. B.'s succeeding the late Dr. 
 C. at the Old Jewry ? I saw Mr. Amory at Taunton, and he tells 
 me it is talked of by that society. The Confessional is much read 
 and admired." To this I replied generally, as I remember, for 
 I cannot copy everything, as follows : 
 
 That I had avoided writing to you on the subject. 
 
 That I knew the incomparable A. D. had a real and high 
 esteem for the body of Protestant Dissenters. 
 
 That whatever his resolution might be, I was confident the 
 proposition, if made, would be treated by him with perfect 
 civility and respect. 
 
 That for my own part, I should be sorry the A. D. should 
 accept the proposition, however handsomely tendered, for his own 
 
334 APPENDIX. 
 
 sake and the public; as I was persuaded it would render uncom- 
 fortable, and shorten his valuable life by town air and customs; 
 and lesson bis power of doing great public good, by taking him 
 out of the alone, precise situation in which, with his powers and 
 magnanimity to effect it, he 
 
 " Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm." 
 
 From Dr. II. I have not since heard. 
 
 For the rest. The Dissenters are, it may be, best seen in then- 
 principles and not individually ; though the people of the Old 
 Jewry rank, not only in point of wealth, but of sense and polite- 
 ness, among the first of them. 
 
 I am, with highest respect to two gentlemen, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and most obedient servant, 
 
 Pierce Delver. 
 
 To the Rev. T. Lindsey, Catterick. 
 
 No. IV., p. 35. 
 
 A LETTER FROM HANS STANLEY, ESQ., TO MR. LINDSEY, AS- 
 SIGNING HIS REASONS FOR DECLINING TO SUPPORT THE 
 CLERICAL PETITION. 
 
 Taultons, Nov. 12, 1771. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 You certainly need no apology for addressing yourself to me 
 upon any subject ; your own merit and our long aequaintance 
 entitle you to my attention, and give you a right to expect that 
 answer, which you are pleased to ask as a favour. 
 
 You will <rive me leave to follow your introduction of this 
 matter, by assuring you on my part, that if your request related 
 to any private interest of your own within my small power, I 
 should heartily wish to serve you ; but in the present ease it can- 
 not weigh with me to promote innovations in the law, which I 
 think not only unnecessary, but extremely mischievous. 
 
 The peace of mankind is a fortieth article of my religion, which 
 I hold to be much more important than any of the thirty-nine 
 

 APPENDIX. 335 
 
 objected to by those who, with a very blameable indiscretion (and 
 some, I believe, from worse motives), are willing to disturb it. I 
 shall not easily concede that any alteration either in these or the 
 Liturgy is necessary, unless they contain doctrines contrary to 
 sound morality and civil obedience, but even then I should by no 
 means concur in the prayer of your petition; I should rather 
 be led to a conclusion totally different, for I should think that the 
 specific article ought to be amended, and not the whole set aside; 
 but this is a work in the first instance for synods and convoca- 
 tions : many preparatory steps, which I have not wisdom enough 
 to indicate, ought to precede the parliamentary consideration. 
 
 I deny that any of the Reformers whose names are transmitted 
 to posterity with respect, ever adopted so wild an idea as that of 
 a Christian society without an established church holding certain 
 defined tenets. The liberty of judging for yourselves of the sense 
 of Scripture is a possession, which, you say, all men have a right 
 to enjoy; I not only agree with you in this proposition, but 
 I will add, that you have a right to teach and inform others 
 according to your own sense of Scripture, provided your lessons 
 are conducive, or at least indifferent, to the happiness of mankind 
 and the tranquillity of the state; but these concessions do not 
 exclude every government from giving the preference to such 
 forms, or to such doctrines, which appear most eligible in their 
 united public sense, which constitutes the law. Therefore the 
 ministers of Separatists are maintained at the expense of their 
 congregations; dignities and preferment belong exclusively to 
 the Established Church alone ; this has been, is, and ever must 
 be the rule in the most tolerant states, and even in the freest 
 republics. 
 
 The wisdom of Providence seems in its dispensations to have 
 reserved this authority for the future succession of Christian 
 churches ; it never could be supposed that the poor, and the 
 ignorant, who compose the greater number of the laity, could 
 give up their labour for, and pass their lives in, the investigation 
 of this divine system. It may perhaps be asserted, that the 
 Scripture is so clear, and so full, that it wants no interpretation, 
 nor any supplementary addition. If this be true, how happens 
 it, that we are hitherto not better agreed ? AVhy has the world 
 been disturbed by so many leaders of sects and heresiarchs, who 
 (if they were all now alive upon the face of the earth) might 
 
336 APPENDIX. 
 
 compose as large an army as that with which Alexander the Great 
 conquered the Persian empire? Yet, all these men were convinced 
 and maintained that their opinions were founded in, or derived 
 from, Holy Writ. 
 
 If the Scripture needs no explanation, I will turn Quaker, and 
 join in any measure which tends to set aside your whole order as an 
 useless expense. But if it does require explanation, I chuse to 
 trust that task rather to the well digested and mature studies 
 of our venerable Hierarchy, than to the crude transient notions 
 which caprice, vanity, self-conceit, and folly may suggest to every 
 idle coxcomb, who wants to be taken notice of for his singularity. 
 I am therefore (within the bounds of toleration which I have laid 
 down) an advocate not only for strict subordination, to overawe and 
 coerce such dangerous impertinences, but for written canons, 
 creeds, and articles to warn rash unthinking men of the future 
 censure and punishment they may incur ; for it is essential to 
 justice to mark out plainly offences of every kind, and it is 
 an arbitrary exertion of power to inflict penalties without such 
 notice. I should at the same time strenously oppose the com- 
 pelling any individual to sign any article of faith whatever. But 
 nothing of this kind is at present done ; every man is left to 
 his own free choice, and every honest man will therein follow 
 the dictates of his own opinion ; nor will there arise the slightest 
 inconvenience if (from peculiar objections to the Liturgy, or 
 the Thirty-Nine Articles) some few persons more should chuse in the 
 various professions of laymen to follow an active life of virtuous 
 industry : I thank God we live neither in a desart country, nor 
 an illiterate age, and I hope we are not likely soon to want a decent 
 and worthy succession in our priesthood. 
 
 If (as you are pleased to inform me) bishops and others have in 
 their writings, preachings, &c. receded from what they have 
 signed, and what the law has enjoined, 1 do not think the 
 precedent so good as to wish the practice general ; nor docs 
 the example of a College in Cambridge weigh greatly with me : 
 I have quite accidentally heard somewhat of the secret history 
 which has passed within those wall ; if I am not deceived, that 
 signature has been chiefly promoted by a factious abetter of those 
 senseless seditious disputes which have divided us upon political 
 subjects, and which are already enough envenomed without 
 your throwing in the fresh corrosive of religious controversy. 
 
 
APPENDIX. 337 
 
 How total a fermentation such a mixture may produce is well 
 known to all those who have read the history of this country for 
 the last century. 
 
 As no church is so purely of divine institution as not to smell a 
 little of humanity, our Establishment may be liable to some 
 errors ; yet does it leave you sufficient scope to be, as you actually 
 are, a very good man, and to contribute greatly to render your 
 parishioners such. The wisdom of government, ever since the 
 house of Hanover ascended the throne, has maintained your order 
 in the possession of sufficient respect, and has kept you perfectly 
 quiet ; neither the good treatment you have enjoyed nor your want 
 of power have been founded of the plan of any particular ad- 
 ministration, they have arisen from the general sense and temper 
 of this age. The reign of the Angelick and Scraphick Doctors 
 is past and gone ; were they now to appear again, the world 
 would busy itself very little about their subtilities; nay, I am 
 sanguine enough to believe that Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick 
 would at present have few partizans unless they were perse- 
 cuted, which I think very unlikely to happen to any man. The 
 vice of the present times is rather too much indifference about 
 religious matters, and opinions : if I might, therefore, as a real 
 friend, presume to advise the clergy, they ought not, while total 
 infidelity is gaining ground upon them, to expose any partial 
 weaknesses of their system, and thus by trivial and frivolous dis- 
 agreements among themselves perhaps endanger the whole fabrick. 
 I have sometimes in my more serious hours regretted that the 
 poor Apocrypha found no better advocate, because by rejecting 
 those books the rest of the Bible was perhaps brought under some 
 degree of doubt ; and if the Liturgy or the Thirty-Nine Articles 
 were now deserted, who knows where the growing incredulity of 
 mankind would stop ? 
 
 Upon the whole, my dear sir, I heartily wish it was possible for 
 you to desist from a design which I so highly disapprove and 
 must so entirely discountenance; but I well know the warmth 
 with which these speculations are pursued by those who have onee 
 adopted them. I trust, however, there will be found sobriety and 
 understanding enough in the House of Commons to reject your 
 petition without any more debate than what every single member 
 has a right to command upon every question however improper to 
 be moved. I beg you will believe that though we differ so widely 
 upon this public point, which I have endeavoured to treat with all 
 
 z 
 
338 APPENDIX. 
 
 possible candour and frankness, I shall ever be ready to receive 
 your commands with regard to all matters which regard yourself, 
 or in which I can prove to you the affection and esteem with 
 which I am, dear sir, 
 
 .Your most obedient and most humble servant, 
 
 II. Stanley. 
 
 Correspondence of Dr. Markham, Bishop of Chester, afterwards 
 Archbishop of York, with Mr. Lindsey, upon his Resignation of 
 the Vicarage of Catterick. 
 
 FROM THE REV. T. LINDSEY TO THE BISHOP OF CHESTER. 
 
 Catterick, Nov. 12, 1773. 
 
 My Lord, 
 It is my duty, and full time that I should acquaint your Lord- 
 ship with my intention of resigning the vicarage of Catterick, in 
 your diocese of Chester, the latter end of this month. 
 
 If your place of residence had been within any convenient dis- 
 tance, as it would have been more respectful, I should have been 
 desirous to have waited on your Lordship, and made my resignation 
 into \ T our own hands. 
 
 I am obliged to take this step after long deliberation, for the 
 relief of my own mind, not being able in any way to satisfy myself 
 with officiating according to the present forms of our church, and 
 not thinking myself at liberty to make those very material altera- 
 tions that would satisfy me : I mean in changing the object of 
 worship, which to me appears to be sadly mistaken in many parts 
 of the service. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 My Lord, 
 Your Lordship's most humble and obedient servant, 
 
 T. Lindsey. 
 
 FROM THE BISHOP OF CHESTER TO THE REV. T. LINDSEY. 
 
 Sion End, near Brentford, Nov. 16, 1773. 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 I received this morning the favour of your letter, acquainting 
 me witli your intention to resign your vicarage, and at the same 
 
APPENDIX. 339 
 
 time signifying your motives. The business is so important, and 
 the time you mention so very short, that I am using the first 
 moment to give you my sentiments, in hopes that I may possibly 
 put the question in such a light as may at least procure a sus- 
 pension of your design. For, to say the truth, rny heart has 
 taken a very serious and sad concern in this transaction, not only 
 from the charity which I owe to you, as my brother, and because 
 I seek the truth, as I believe you do, but from the impressions 
 which I have received of your character from two very good men, 
 Mr. Cooper and Mr. Smelt. T have heard from them that you 
 are a sincere believer of the Holy Scriptures : upon that ground 
 I speak to you : the question is not to be tried at the bar of human 
 reason, but depends entirely upon a true explanation of the divine 
 writings, which those who have supported the opinions which you 
 seem to hold are used to interpret in such a manner as the original 
 languages can no wise suffer, and without it they could never have 
 contrived to get over a number of texts which are as strong and 
 explicit as any in the Bible. But carnal wisdom is followed. 
 Philosophy will know everything, and has as yet discovered 
 nothing ; it is still a stranger to the essence of the meanest thing 
 about us, and yet will know the essence of the Deity, and will say 
 this and this is contrary to it. Our religion is supported by the 
 fullest and clearest testimonies, and yet the whole of it is truly 
 incomprehensible from the creation of man to his final resurrection ; 
 but the filiation of our Saviour is not only a great mystery, but 
 though explained to us as far as is useful in our present state is 
 from the nature of the subject particularly involved. We are pre- 
 pared for this difficulty by the Prophet Isaiah ; his words are, as 
 quoted in the Acts, rqvcf yzvzav avrov rig SirjyricrtTai ? But the 
 embarrassment has chiefly risen from the number of texts that 
 seem to militate against his divine nature ; which must necessarily 
 happen, as he is most commonly spoken of in his inferior capacity, 
 the man Jesus, the visible Agent on earth, the Teacher, the Re- 
 deemer, in which characters he has a more immediate relation to 
 the human race ; and in which his office and ministration were 
 exemplified. But there are other texts which are very express. 
 I will mention a few of such as occur to me, and which I think 
 least liable to disputation, because they appear in both the Old 
 and New Testament, in the first applied to God, in the second to 
 our Saviour. 
 
 When Moses asks the name of God, he is told in those words 
 
 z 2 
 
310 APPENDIX. 
 
 which denote eternal existence that his name is I am. Our Saviour 
 answers the Jews, Verily before Abraham was, / am. 
 
 Isaiah says of God, At his name every knee shall bow, of things 
 in heaven, &c, which very words are by St. Paul used directly of 
 our Saviour. 
 
 God is continually spoken of in the Old Testament, by the 
 names of the just one, the holy one, &c. The same are applied to 
 our Saviour. The appellation of the Lord is given to God through- 
 out the Old Testament, by which Christ is constantly named in 
 the New. 
 
 Indeed I do not know what they would make of that person 
 who is so often declared to be far above all angels, and whose shoes 
 St. John Baptist (who had been declared greater than a prophet) 
 was not w r orthy to unloose. 
 
 I cannot flatter myself that this slight discussion of a great 
 subject should have so much weight, as at once to determine you 
 against your former deliberate reasonings ; but it may call to your 
 memory how r often we are told 'fxn i)7r£p(ppovuv irap 6 £a (ppovtiv, 
 that without humbleness of mind our faith is always in danger. 
 It may prevent your taking a hasty step, by which, if I do not 
 misconceive your character, you of all men may be made most 
 miserable, if you should see occasion to change your opinion, ami 
 then reflect that you had not only deserted your station, but had 
 encouraged schism and heresy. Indeed, if you reflect that the 
 words Iti the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost 
 were given by our Saviour to the Apostles, and that St. Stephen 
 called upon Christ to receive his soul, you cannot think yourself 
 unauthorised in the use of our forms, and may satisfy your 
 conscience in acquiescing, at least, till all that is said in support 
 of them can be disproved. 1 write this for your own use, and 
 confidentially. I detest the wrangle of controversy. Et Tig Soutt 
 tivai (ftiXoveiKor, fifing ouk £\Ofii:V roiavrr)v trvvqueiav. I quote by 
 memory, probably incorrectly. Pray, consider this, and give me 
 your answer. 
 
 I am, with a true regard, 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 W. Chester. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM MR. LINDSEy's REPLY. 
 
 1 am surely obliged to the friends your Lordship mentions 
 lor giving your Lordship such a favourable representation of my 
 
APPENDIX'. 311 
 
 character, and feel the serious concern and kindness which dic- 
 tated the letter 1 have the honour to receive from you this morn- 
 
 in s- 
 
 It was natural for your Lordship with these dispositions to- 
 wards me to bid me beware of precipitation in a matter of such 
 moment. But though suddenly and so lately communicated to 
 your Lordship, this resolution is no hasty step, but the result of 
 many years' anxious enquiry and deliberation, and trying every 
 expedient that might give me ease. 
 
 And my faith is built not on a system of philosophy, but on 
 an impartial examination of the mind and will of God, as dis- 
 covered in the Old and New Testament. And I am constrained 
 on this occasion to tell your Lordship, that I am so persuaded of 
 the strict unity of God, taught by Moses and the prophets, and 
 last of all by our Saviour Christ, that though no one is further 
 from condemning others that differ, I should hold it impiety in me 
 to continue to worship Christ, or any other being or person. I 
 cannot, therefore, continue to lead the devotions of a congregation 
 in the Church of England, who esteem it sinful in myself con- 
 stantly to use that worship and abet it. 
 
 Your Lordship will believe, all those texts which you point out 
 to me have fallen under consideration, and which if I note, it is not 
 in the spirit of dispute, which ill becomes me towards you on such 
 an occasion, but out of respectful attention to what you are pleased 
 to select. 
 
 [Mr. Lindsey having suggested the usual explanations of the 
 texts alleged by the worthy prelate, proceeds as follows :] 
 
 Whatever be the distressing consequences of this determination 
 with regard to worldly things, I can never repent of it, as led to 
 it by no motive but a desire to approve myself to God, and what 
 my duty to him required. 
 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Letters to Mr. Lindsey upon his resignation. 
 
 PROM THE RIGHT HONOURABLE GREY COOPER. 
 
 Kew Lane, Nov. 6, 1773. 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 1 have received your letter, which filled my heart with grief, 
 and made my eyes glisten with tears; I have not a word to say 
 
342 APPENDIX. 
 
 or an argument to offer against your resolution to quit your pre- 
 ferment ; I must, however, lament the cruel necessity that forces 
 you out of a situation in which you and your good wife might 
 have continued blessings to your parish and neighbourhood ; I 
 will add only this short but sincere assurance, that it would give 
 me the utmost satisfaction to have it in my power to assist you 
 in any new course of life which you may think proper to follow. 
 Lord North has seen your letter, and was affected by reading it ; 
 he has an excellent heart, and a just feeling for every act of honour 
 and conscience. It is not yet decided who is to have Catterick ; 
 Mr. Chayter has applied for it, and his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 Ilobinson, my colleague ; — will you allow me to ask what is the 
 annual income of it, and on what account it is as you say eligible? 
 Perhaps it may be better than my brother's at Mansfield, and in 
 that case I would try to manage an exchange between Mr. Chay- 
 ter and my brother. I beg pardon for troubling you with such 
 things at this time ; but as soon as I receive your answer I shall 
 be able to inform you with certainty who will be your successor ; 
 at present I am rather inclined to think it will be Mr. Chayter. 
 My wife sends her best compliments to you ; she was much moved 
 with the contents of your letter. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, 
 Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 Grey Cooper. 
 
 EROM EARL PERCY, LATE DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 
 
 Nov. 1773. 
 
 Stanwick, "Wednesday morning. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I am sorry to find by your letter which I received just now, 
 that 1 have been deprived of the pleasure of seeing you by 
 a cold. AVhen my mother was so good as to show me her answer 
 to your letter, I told her I thought she had said all that could be 
 said on that subject, but that I knew your way of thinking on 
 that affair much too well, to suppose anything on earth could pre- 
 vent you from resigning a living, which your conscience told you, 
 you could no longer hold as a honest man, void of time-serving 
 hypocrisy. I hope, however, 1 shall have the pleasure of seeing 
 you here before you leave the country, as I do not think of going 
 to town till after Christmas. At any rate I shall wish much to 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 see your Reasons, when they are published ; and have riot the 
 least doubt but they will give me great satisfaction. I beg my 
 respects to Mrs. Lindsey, and be assured I am and ever will be 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 Percy. 
 
 FROM THE REV. NEWCOME CAPPE. 
 
 York, Nor. 1, 1773. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your truly christian and heroical determination is above my 
 praise, and will afford you such hope and joy in God a3 will render 
 human praise unnecessary to you, and human censure insignilicant. 
 I thank God from my heart, that there are men in the world who 
 will buy the truth and sell it not. Your example, I think, can- 
 not fail to increase the number of them. Sure, it must impress 
 some hearts with a conviction that there is something serious in 
 religious truth and liberty, and something real that is not of this 
 world. The comfort and reward of confessing Christ you must 
 have, and your name I trust will be held in everlasting remembrance 
 by the friends of truth and virtue, and will continue to do good 
 when your personal services are over. Those who esteem you as 
 they ought, cannot be unaffected with the inconveniences you may 
 suffer, and that not in your own person only, from your integrity. 
 It is an afflicting thought ; but the utility of your example is con- 
 nected with this circumstance, and I hope in God that the 
 righteous will not be forsaken. As to the business you mentioned, 
 Mr. llotham (who presents to you his most respectful compliments 
 and the sincerest tenders of his service) will join with me to do 
 the best we can for you. If you will send either the books or a 
 list of them, we will treat with a bookseller about them. It his 
 proposal comes not up to your idea of their value, and the books 
 are numerous enough, it may be worth while to sell them by a 
 marked catalogue, and this, if you approve of it, we will do. I 
 am greatly obliged to you for the tender regard you express 
 toward me and my little family, and I remain, with the highest 
 esteem, and all manner of good wishes for you and every one that 
 is dear to you, 
 
 Your affectionate humble Servant, 
 
 N. Cappe. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Lindsey, at Catterick. 
 
344 APPENDIX. 
 
 FROM THE REV. SAMUEL BADCOCK OF BARNSTAPLE. 
 
 June 11, 1774. 
 Rev. Sir, 
 
 Having read your Apology with peculiar pleasure, I cannot resist 
 the impulse of writing to you. There was a time when, shackled 
 by the bonds of intellectual slavery, I should have shuddered at 
 your freedom, and have forgot your honesty amidst your heterodoxy. 
 But now I measure mankind on a larger scale, and if I see the 
 former I forget the latter. My travels in the theologic region 
 have been variously conducted : but amidst every intricacy I never 
 lost sight of sincerity. When reason was hoodwinked, that, like a 
 faithful companion, attended even my wanderings; and I hope I 
 shall never forfeit the protection of such a friend. I enter into 
 your feelings with a sympathy which I cannot express. I in- 
 sensibly catch your spirit as it shines forth in the mild lustre of 
 primitive simplicity ; and pray that I may be a follower of those 
 who through faith and patience pursue the promises. 
 
 Most heartily do I congratulate you on that exalted superiority 
 of mind which, abstracting you from the world, must inspire you 
 with such joys as the world cannot give nor take away. They 
 flow from that noble independence which is the first gift of heaven. 
 Go on and prosper. May the influence of your example be as 
 diffusive as corruption hath been ! Truth, like the sun, may be 
 clouded, but cannot be extinguished — No : it will, when it begins 
 to dawn, pursue its course till it gains the perfect day. Then will 
 the sons of ignorance and bigotry fly with dismay, when the Lord 
 shall scatter the one with the breath of his mouth, and eclipse the 
 other in the brightness of his coining. 
 
 Fox's letter at the end of your Apology is really an excellent one. 
 I have translated it, to gratify a friend ; and have been urged 
 to publish it for general entertainment in some paper or magazine. 
 
 I beg leave to ask you one question, — Was you the author of a 
 paper in the Theological Repository, signed Socrates Scholasticus ? 
 I think I trace Mr. Lindsey in it. Barnuensis is the very person 
 who is now writing to you; and it would not in the least lessen 
 my esteem and love of you, if I w r as sure that you had opposed me. 
 In one respect I merited correction ; though in another respect it 
 was doing me too much honour. Let this plead for my pertness. 
 1 was scarcely two-and-twenty when I writ that paper, and did it 
 in a hurry, urged on by the warm solicitations of bigotry. 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 I suppose you are acquainted with that worthy man Dr. Priestley. 
 I am happy in his friendship, and owe much to his writings. I 
 love every good man with the most sincere affection ; and in 
 proportion as he is distinguished for the noble qualities of dis- 
 interested zeal and sincerity, so proportionally do I value and 
 esteem him, as the highest character that earth can be blessed 
 with. On these principles, 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 Your most affectionate brother and friend, 
 
 S. Badcock. 
 
 To the Rev. Theoph. Lindsey. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Extracts of Letters from the late Thomas Hollis, Esq., under the 
 title of Pierce D elver, to the Rev. T. Lindsey. 
 
 As I think to be well informed, Mrs. Macaulay has lately sold 
 to Messrs. Dilly, booksellers, in the Poultry, the power of making 
 an octavo edition of her w r orks, she reserving her right afterward 
 in those works for 900/. ! Also, the right of every future volume 
 which she shall write, for one thousand pounds each volume ! 
 
 It seems this lady thinks there will be three more volumes to 
 the elevation of the House of Hanover. When those are written, 
 she purposes to write the History of the Tudors. And then, to 
 place a large Introduction before her History, which shall begin 
 with the earliest account of Britain, and stride down to her History 
 of the Tudors. 
 
 The bargain seems to be a good one on her part. But, to me, 
 it would be a sad case to write of liberty, magnanimity, at a price, 
 and against a reason, at any price ! 
 
 It seems for some time past, when only three volumes of her 
 History were published, Mrs. M. wanted Mr. Cadell to buy the 
 copyright of them, &c. ; but he chose not to meddle with her His- 
 tory in so imperfect, uncertain a state. 
 
 On the present occasion she has not said one word to him, though 
 always in every shape most respectful toward her and vigilant to 
 promote her interests. Mr. C. is rather concerned at her behaviour ; 
 
3iG APPENDIX. 
 
 and tells me that he should have been glad to have taken share in 
 the octavo edition, but not in the agreement for the future un- 
 begotten volumes at any rate. 
 
 The other day I paid her a visit at her house in Berners Street, 
 Oxford Road, on a particular occasion, by desire. That house, a 
 new one, she has bought, and furnished handsomely. She had 
 the air of a princess, out-Cornelised the Cornelisians, and had the 
 frank Bath air upon her countenance. 
 
 It seems she keeps two servants in laced liveries, treats cleverly 
 and elegantly, and in short, author or fine lady, surpasses all her 
 sex. 
 
 All this in confidence, for I respect her exceedingly, and she is 
 to be maintained in much just commendation for her many extra- 
 ordinary qualities and the cause sake. 
 
 I am, with great esteem, dear Sir, 
 Your affectionate friend and most obedient servant, 
 
 Pierce Delver. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 The writer, considering the uncertainty and accidents of life, is 
 desirous of sending a copy of a curious letter written to him by 
 a worthy person, August 3, 1767. 
 
 " Thomas Secker was born about the year 1693 or 4, son of 
 a reputable shopkeeper in Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. His sister 
 married Sam. \Vildbore, of Brewhouse-yard, near Nottingham, a 
 Protestant Dissenter, and by trade a dyer. His brother George 
 was put to the Coventry business, where he lived many years, a 
 professed Protestant Dissenter; and, for aught I kno\v ; may yet 
 live; though theABP has one of his sons in the church. 
 
 " Thomas Secker, after he left the Grammar-school, I think 
 went to the Academy at Attercliff, and, however this, he finished 
 at Sam. Jones's Academy in Tewksbury. There it was he wrote 
 some letters in the controversy between Dr. S. Clarke and Leibnitz, 
 on Liberty and Necessity, which gained him the Doctor's favour. 
 
 " After this, he was some time with his sister aforesaid, in Brew- 
 house-yard, where he constantly attended the worship of the Pro- 
 testant Dissenting church, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. 
 Bateson, with whom he was very familiar. 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 " He then went to study physic at Lcyden ; and then took the 
 degree of M.D. 
 
 "Becoming acquainted with one of the sons of Dr. Talbot, 
 Bishop of Durham, he travelled with him; when great affection for 
 T.S. led the son to recommend him so strongly to the patronage of 
 the Bishop, that he gave him expectation of providing for him in 
 the church : whereupon he went to Oxford, studied there some 
 time, and would have exchanged his diploma of M.D. for that of 
 D.D., but could not obtain any higher than LL.D., which is his 
 signature to this day. 
 
 " Bishop Talbot gave him a rich prebend in the Durham 
 cathedral, and also soon a great living. He married a lady in the 
 Talbot family, as was thought by some in gratitude. Chancellor 
 Talbot was his friend ; and he thus had the ladder of preferment 
 made easy to him.'" 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 Letters from tbe Rev. W. Hopkins. 
 
 Cuckfield, March 29, 1784. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I have lately perused your Historical View of the State of the 
 Unitarian Doctrine and Worship, and take an early opportunity to 
 express my grateful thanks for this useful and entertaining history. 
 But before I proceed to take any notice of the contents of it, I 
 cannot help sending my sincere congratulation upon the victory 
 you and Mrs. Lindsey have gained over one of the greatest temp- 
 tations of human life, and have set a noble example of Christian 
 fortitude, even in these times. You have laid a glorious founda- 
 tion for the establishment of genuine Christianity amongst all 
 Protestants, which of course will prove an excellent means to 
 demolish the gross corruptions of Popery, which derive some sup- 
 port from the flagrant errors yet remaining in Protestant churches. 
 In your Historical View I meet with many curious anecdotes with 
 which I was unacquainted ; though, several years ago, I was 
 engaged in a scheme something resembling the Historical View, 
 but was interrupted after some little progress made in it. I was 
 very much surprised to find that the eminent Dr. Doddridge 
 should contend for that very absurd notion of Christ's being pos- 
 
318 ATPENDIX. 
 
 sessed of two natures ; but the vast convenience of being provided 
 with a solution, well accommodated to reconcile the most palpable 
 contradictions, had too much influence upon his mind. Pbilpot's 
 case affords a striking instance of a cruel persecuting temper, at 
 the very time he was suffering himself for his religious principles. 
 The cause of Christianity was at first supported and propagated 
 by fair and open professions, though frequently attended with 
 terrible evils. But it is to be lamented that, during the corrupt 
 state of the apostate church, many nice arts have been employed 
 to palliate established forms, and hinder the progress of the plain 
 simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Your strictures upon those 
 great and good men, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Clarke, and Bishop 
 Hoadly, are, I think, very just. What persecution could the 
 bigots have inflicted upon such persons, since this family came to 
 the throne, if they had taken very bold steps in maintaining the 
 cause they certainly had at heart ? It may perhaps appear not 
 impertinent to take notice of a conversation that passed many 
 years ago, when I was very young, at a worthy clergyman's house, 
 who had been preferred by Bishop Hoadly, and likewise was inti- 
 mate with Dr. Clarke. The clergyman was speaking in a soft 
 and cautious way of his friend Dr. Clarke, and observed that he 
 could not make it do very well : in other plainer terms, it was 
 difficult to make the Athanasian Creed consistent with subscrip- 
 tion. But the Doctor, he said, could say as much for a bad cai/.^c 
 as any one. This declaration made a strong and lasting impression 
 upon my mind. It only shows that the Doctor was an able 
 pleader, and at the same time the cause was bad : and indeed I 
 found, by dear-bought experience, that it proved a bad cause to 
 me. The learned Mr. Wasse, of whom you make mention, gave 
 a noble example to the members of Oxford and Cambridge, by his 
 open professions and declaration of holding a debate with Dr. 
 Potter, late Archbishop of Canterbury, at that time Regius Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity at Oxford. I have been always of opinion that 
 the method proposed by Mr. Wasse was an excellent one, and am 
 really concerned that this plan has never been imitated and 
 reduced to practice. Of what use are theological debates, as com- 
 monly held by the Professors of Oxford and Cambridge, when the 
 disputants are tied down to determine the questions proposed by 
 established standards of orthodoxy ? I cannot help my hearty 
 approbation of your inserting Archbishop Herring's letter to Dr. 
 Jortin : 1 am of opinion that this letter will be of service to the 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 cause. I have the satisfaction to find in the list of your worthies, 
 names which I never heard of before : viz. Mr. Maty, Mr. Harries, 
 and Mr. Ross of Scotland. May the number of such worthy 
 persons perpetually increase? My own story relative to the cause 
 is not worth relating, and I pass it off in silence. But I would 
 just remind you, that you have omitted some Unitarians worthy of 
 notice, viz. Gilbert Clerke, fellow of a college in Cambridge before 
 the Restoration. As the statutes obliged him to go into orders by 
 a particular time, he made it his choice to resign his fellowship, 
 and all pretensions to church preferment. The great Mr. Locke, 
 the Rev. Mr. Tomkins, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, two dissenting 
 ministers who were ejected from their congregations upon account 
 of their Unitarian principles. 
 
 Unitarians, as they are uniformly agreed in the grand points of 
 the question, should carefully avoid disagreeable altercations upon 
 their lesser differences. Upon a review, the whole of what I now 
 maintain is no more than this, that the direct invocation of Christ 
 is lawful upon some occasions, and that I cannot protest against 
 the lawfulness of it, as I have openly done against the third and 
 seventh petitions of the Litany, and all passages of a similar 
 nature. It is now high time that I should make my sincere acknow- 
 ledgements to you and Dr. Disney for the trouble you have given 
 yourselves about my translation, which I find is done in an hand- 
 some manner. I heartily wish all possible success to your ministry 
 at the chapel in Essex Street, and likewise to the Society ; and 
 am, dear Sir, with my respectful compliments to Dr. and Mrs. 
 Disney, to Dr. and Mrs. Jebb, and Mrs. Lindscy, 
 
 Your much obliged friend, 
 
 W. Hopkins. 
 
 P.S. Unless my memory deceive me, for I am not in possession 
 of the tracts, Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley had a friendly debate upon 
 liberty and necessity. I profess myself strongly attached to the 
 cause of moral liberty in the strictest sense, in opposition to neces- 
 sity of every kind, whether arising from external or internal 
 causes. If 1 remember right, Dr. Price maintained his point, 
 viz., liberty, in an able and rational way ; but when he came to 
 the grand difficulty, which has perplexed the best writers upon 
 the subject, viz., how to reconcile prescience with liberty, he 
 seemed distressed. It has generally been taken for granted on 
 both sides, that divine prescience must be admitted as a truth. 
 Put really I entertain very great doubts, occasioned by a careful 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 perusal of a chapter in Crellius's De Sapientia Dei, which does not 
 seem to have engaged the attention of the learned so much as it 
 deserves. A rational and sensible person was going to write upon 
 this subject, to whom I recommended this chapter of Crellius ; 
 but as he was unacquainted with the learned languages, I engaged 
 to translate part of the chapter. If Dr. Price has never seen 
 this chapter, and Creliius's works have not fallen in his w r ay, I 
 should esteem it as a favour if you would present my respects to 
 him, and beg of him to accept of this translation, if not disagree- 
 able, which possibly may tend to illustrate a subject he has fre- 
 quently considered. The person for whom it was originally in- 
 tended has been dead some time. If the Doctor be in possession 
 of Crellius's works, I must ask his pardon for this impertinence, 
 as I am sensible he understands the language much better than 
 the translator. ; Tis proper to add that I did not translate the 
 whole chapter. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Cuckfield, April 29, 1784. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Last week your extraordinary favour came to hand, and I think 
 myself obliged to take an early opportunity to acknowledge with 
 gratitude the kind and friendly manner with which you treat me. 
 I thought it not improper to take notice of some names omitted 
 in your very useful work, and am really surprised that the learned 
 Mr. Peirce should escape my observation, of whom I had conceived 
 an high opinion, and some of whose excellent works I have in my 
 possession. With respect to Mr. Gilbert Clerke, I can communi- 
 cate no other particulars than what you may find in Mr. Nelson's 
 Life of Bishop Bull (pag. 497, 499, 502, 508—513). He seems 
 to have given an impartial account of the Life and Character of 
 Mr. Gilbert Clerke j but what was naturally to be expected, he 
 speaks slightingly of his performances, in part of which he pre- 
 sumed to differ from the celebrated Defender of the Nicene Faith. 
 The Bishop, as you rightly observe, treats poor Mr. Clerke in an 
 indecent manner, more especially as Mr. Nelson himself has given 
 him a good character; I call him poor, for in one part of his life 
 he ran the hazard, for the sake of conscience, of wanting the 
 common necessaries of life. As I have the tract of Mr. Clerke, 
 upon which Bishop Bull made animadversions, I compared them 
 together many years ago, and I find this observation in a vacant 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 space before the title page, " The famous Bull wrote animadversions 
 upon this treatise, but he has left many arguments without the 
 least appearance of an answer, which strongly support the Unit- 
 arian cause; this cause indeed is founded upon such powerful 
 evidence as cannot be overthrown by the wit of man." I am 
 inclined to judge that Bull saw something which he could not 
 answer, and this raised his indignation. I entirely agree with 
 Mr. Clerke, that Bull, in the last section of his Defence, relative 
 to the subordination, had yielded great part of the question up to 
 the Unitarians, or, rather, had given it quite up. Subordination, 
 in any sense, absolutely demolishes the Athanasian system. All 
 that appears of Mr. Philip Gibbs is, that as he had been bred up 
 in the Calvinistic plan, upon a more exact examination of Scripture, 
 and the study of the best authors, he became an Unitarian, and 
 gave up predestination, original sin, &c. In consequence of his 
 conviction, he addressed a letter to his congregation, wherein he 
 openly and fairly delivered his sentiments : upon which they 
 desired him to withdraw peaceably from their communion. He 
 was afterward taken into partnership with a considerable trades- 
 man, and died within a few years in that station. 
 
 Be pleased to return my best respects to Dr. Price, for taking 
 in good part what I thought might prove useful to his design. 
 But I find a disinclination in many learned persons to give up 
 the divine prescience. Crellius, I really think, has argued the 
 point with sagacity and deep penetration, and has stated the case 
 in such a guarded manner as not to break in upon omniscience 
 itself, when understood in a perfectly rational sense ; and has 
 likewise made it consistent with prophecies delivered in the Old 
 and New Testament. I did not translate the whole chapter, but 
 am of opinion that the whole deserves the careful perusal of curious 
 Berseans. I perused several years ago with peculiar satisfaction 
 Dr. Price's Review of the principal Questions and Difficulties of 
 Morals, and likewise his four Dissertations. I objected only to 
 one sentence in his dissertation on Providence, which it is not 
 necessary to mention, as it has been taken notice of by others ; 
 and the Doctor, I dare say, can guess at my meaning. I gave 
 my hearty assent to his Political Treatise, published at a season- 
 able time, well calculated to answer those purposes the worthy 
 author had in view, and which, I believe, have been eventually 
 answered. 1 sincerely wish him joy of his success. Upon the 
 whole J ought to acknowledge with gratitude that I have received 
 
352 APPENDIX. 
 
 considerable improvement and much rational pleasure from the 
 excellent writings of Dr. Price, which have engaged my attention, 
 but am not qualified to form a proper judgment of that part of 
 them which are taken up in curious and nice calculations, as being 
 deficient in that branch of science. I must beg the favour of you 
 to express my particular satisfaction to Dr. Priestley for the very 
 candid observations he has made on our difference of sentiments, 
 which shews a disposition to promote peace and harmony among 
 Christians, and possibly an uniform agreement in some grand and 
 essential points through the whole Christian world. If Dr. 
 Priestley judges that there is no real difference betwixt him and 
 Dr. Price, the same thing may be said of myself, as, unless I am 
 mistaken, we are very nearly of the same sentiments. I certainly 
 have expressed myself in a way different from that of Dr. Priestley, 
 with regard to some opinions he has published, and at the same 
 time have esteemed him for several of his practical treatises, which 
 have fallen in my way. I sincerely believe that he is well disposed 
 to promote the cause of natural and revealed religion, which plainly 
 appears from his tracts on that subject, and which I had an op- 
 portunity of reading some time ago with satisfaction. I am a 
 stronger to his philosophical discoveries and disquisitions, as 
 having never acquired anything farther than a superficial know- 
 ledge of that science, which he has so happily cultivated and 
 improved. 1 heartily wish him success in all his commendable 
 undertakings : philosophy, when in the hands of a truly religious 
 and ingenious person, has a natural tendency to display the glory 
 of the One Supreme God and Father of all. You guess right 
 about the book relative to the controversy of necessity betwixt 
 Dr. Price and Dr. Priestley, it not being in my possession, and so 
 should be glad to accept of your kind offer. With respect to 
 Dr. Priestley's present undertaking, by that little acquaintance I 
 had formerly with the primitive fathers, I am induced to believe 
 that the Doctor will be able to prove his point to the satisfaction 
 of unprejudiced inquirers. 
 
 It gives me peculiar satisfaction, that anything I have done relat- 
 ing to the book of Exodus has your approbation ; only 1 would 
 observe that your candid opinion of the author has prevailed upon 
 you to pass a too favourable sentence. I thought it right to speak 
 my mind freely of Dr. Kcnnicott's short attempt to please the re- 
 puted orthodox, and presume he could not have taken it amiss, if 
 he had been alive. You are so very obliging as to think of men- 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 tioning my name among the worthies, if your very useful work 
 should come to a second edition, which I heartily wish it may for 
 the public good ; but I make this request, that, if upon a review 
 you should judge it improper in any respect to mention my name, 
 you would suppress it I am very much concerned to hear of Dr. 
 Jebb's precarious state of health ; but you express some hopes that 
 he may get the better of it, which I sincerely wish may prove the 
 case. You tell me great news concerning the Bishops : surely a 
 review will be attempted at last, and possibly I may have the 
 pleasure of seeing something actually done in the glorious cause 
 before I die, though far advanced in years. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, with my kind respects to Mrs. Lindsey, Dr. and 
 Mrs. Disney, Dr. and Mrs. Jebb, 
 
 Your very affectionate friend, and deeply obliged humble servant, 
 
 W. Hopkins. 
 
 FROM THE SAME, AND MARKED BY MR. LINDSEY, " THE EXCEL- 
 LENT MR. HOPKINS'S LAST LETTER." 
 
 Cuckfield, December 17, 1785. 
 
 Dear good Sir, 
 
 T hope to be able to send you some sort of answer to your very 
 kind and Christian letter, which I received the last post. 
 
 "With respect to my scruples relating to church matters, they are 
 entirely removed by your determination. Your solicitous concern 
 for my welfare is very engaging, and which you have plainly shown 
 by procuring for me a very handsome present from a worthy 
 member of the Society. I accept of it with grateful thanks, as my 
 imprudent son has very much wasted my substance by his vicious 
 extravagance ; but still I am provided with a decent support by 
 proper management. I will take care to employ a person some 
 day next week to call at your house for the generous gift. And as 
 you think my name may be something in the Society book, though 
 a poor something, I revoke my design of having it struck out, and 
 refer the time of my little payment to you and the Society. 
 
 I cannot conclude without taking notice that your charity in- 
 duces you to entertain a more favourable opinion than I really 
 deserve ; neither ought I to put myself upon a footing with such 
 worthy persons as yourself, who have maintained an unblemished 
 
 A A 
 
854 APPENDIX. 
 
 character all their lives j that of a poor humble penitent is all that 
 I can justly claim. 
 
 May the One Supreme God and Father of all give a blessing 
 and success to all your sincere endeavours to promote the cause of 
 his true religion, and likewise those of your worthy associates ! 
 and may all possible success attend the Christian Society which 
 you have formed for the same excellent purpose ! which is the 
 earnest prayer of, good Sir, 
 
 Your highly obliged friend, and humble servant, 
 
 W. Hopkins. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 P. Courayer to the Rev. T. Lindsey. 
 
 A Percy Lodge, ce 29 Septembre, 1875. 
 
 Dear Mr. Lindsev* 
 
 Je suis charme que votre progres dans la langue Francoise 
 vous rende ma recommandation inutile. Car par vous meme 
 vous saurez assez vous recommander a ceux avec qui vous ferez 
 connoissance. La science et la bonne conduite sont un excellent 
 pa^e-par-tout aupres de tous les honnetes gens. 
 
 Quoi que je ne puisse convenir avec Mr. de St. Perne que ma 
 retraite ait ete une perte pour personne, je suis persuade, comme 
 lui, que si j'etois reste en France je n/y aurois pu demeurer sans 
 m'exposer a de grandes difficultez et a quelques dangers ; et 
 quclque mortification que j'aye eu a souffrir en quittant une 
 societie et un pais ou je vivois avec agrement et satisfaction, je 
 ne me repens point de cette demarche, qui m'a dedommage de 
 ce que j'ai perdu par les avantages que j'ai rctrouvcz iei, et qui 
 a mis ma conscience a cotrvcrt des troubles et des tentations aux 
 quel les elle auroit ete exposee en demeurant dans ma patrie. 
 
 Rien n'est plus triste, comme vous Pobservcz, que de voir 
 lea homines se persecuter pour des opinions sur des points ob- 
 Bcurs, dont la decision est aussi ineertaine que le sont les points 
 i!.eu,e> en question, et qui d'ailleurs n'ont que trea peu d'influ- 
 enee sur les mceurs et la conduite des homines. Mais on vent 
 
 ■ i in the original. 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 dominer sur la foi des autres ; et la meme ambition qui porte les 
 princes a etendre leurs domaines, engage les theologiens a vou- 
 loir faire regner leurs opinions. C'est un mal aussi ancien que 
 le monde, et il y a long terns que, comme Fa dit un ancien, 
 Phomme se comporte en bete feroce a Pegard des autres : homo 
 homini lupus. Que faire pour rernedier a ce mal ? En gemir 
 devant Dieu lui demander la grace de changer le ceeur des hom- 
 mes, et de les ramener a des seritimens plus eclairez, censurer 
 cet esprit de domination quand Poccasion se presente de le faire 
 avec utilite, et si on ne peut reformer les autres, s'eloigner soi 
 meme d'une pareille disposition, et laisser la liberte a chacun de 
 suivre ses propres lumieres en conservant Pesprit d'union et de 
 charite qui fait proprement Pessence de la religion. 
 
 La demande que vous me faites est si vague que je ne saurois 
 pour cette fois y repondre. Vous me priez de vous faire con- 
 noitre quelques petits traitez que vous puissiez vous procurer. 
 Je ne sais ce que vous entendez par la. Sont-ce des traites de 
 piete, ou de controverse, ou de belles lettres ? Sont-ce ou des 
 ouvrages de morale ou des sermons, ou simplement des ouvrages 
 d'esprit ? Pardonnez moi de ne lien repondre a une demande 
 qui est trop generale pour que je puisse y satisfaire. 
 
 J'ai pris part comme toute la France a la naissance du Due 
 de Bourgogne. Je crois meme que e'est un bien pour toute 
 FEurope, qu'un defaut de succession pourroit rengager dans une 
 guerre generale. Mon exil ne me rend point insensible aux 
 avantages de ma patrie. Mais comme ce n'est pas tout d'avoir 
 un prince a moins qu ; il ne soit bon, mes vceux presentement se 
 bornent a en souhaiter un qui fasse le bonheur de son royaume, 
 et qui rende ses peuples aussi heureux que sa naissance leur 
 donne de satisfaction. 
 
 Apres quatre mois de sejour a Percy Lodge, je m'en retourne 
 cette semaine a Londres. J'ai la satisfaction de laisser la Du- 
 chesse en assez bonne sante. Je lui en soubaite la continuation, 
 d'autant plus que d'elle, depend le support et la subsistance de 
 bien des pauvres aux besoins desquels sa charite fournit. 
 
 Je ne sais si je dois vous faire mes complimens sur les benefices 
 que My Lord Northumberland vous offre. Le plus considerable 
 n'est qu'un depot, que je ne rcgarde pas trop comme legitime, 
 et que nous regardons en France comme une sorte de siinonie. 
 L'autre ne vous donne qu^une simple subsistance, et vous m'avez 
 souvent avoue que vous ne vous contenteiiez pas d'une cure qui 
 
 a a :l 
 
35G APPENDIX. 
 
 ne vous donnat pas de quoi fournir anx pauvres dont vous series 
 charge. Ainsi j'attens que vous ayez pris votres resolution pour 
 savoir si je dois vous en feliciter. 
 
 Mr. Cowslad vous fait ses complimens, quoi qu'il soit en 
 colere que vous ne lui ayez pas envoye la recette de la creine 
 de Blois qu'il vous avoit demandee. Mes tendres amities a Mr. 
 de St. Peine, et mes complimens a My Lord Warkworth, a qui je 
 souhaite la continuation de sa sante. 
 
 Comme je suppose que la Duchesse vous mande les nouvelles 
 courantes, je ne me charge point de ce detail. II n'est question 
 pour moi que de m'entretenir dans votre souvenir, et de vous 
 demander la continuation de votre amitie. Personne ne la 
 merite mieux, s'il suffit pour la meriter d'avoir pour vous autant 
 d'estime et d'attachement que j'en ai. II ne tiendra qu'a vous 
 de me fournir quelque occasion de vous en donner pes preuves, 
 et de vous convaincre que personne n'est plus sincerement, 
 Mon cher ami, 
 
 Votre tres humble et tres obeissant serviteur, 
 
 P. fr. Le Courayer. 
 
 A Monsieur Lindsey. 
 
 No. X. 
 
 From William AVells, Esq., of Boston, in New England, to 
 
 the Author. 
 
 Boston, March 21, 1812. 
 My dear Sir, 
 I am glad to hear you received the sermons safe. About six 
 weeks ago I forwarded to Mr. Freme a parcel for you, containing 
 the first No. of " The General Repository and Review/' For this 
 you are indebted to Mr. B. I think a letter from him accom- 
 panied the Review, but am not sure, as I took no memorandum 
 of the contents of the parcel. A second number will shortly 
 appear, which shall be forwarded by the earliest opportunity. I 
 believe I mentioned in my last the name of the editor, Mr. Norton, 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 an excellent young man. Of his abilities you will be able to 
 judge. I think the first article, and the review of the Horsleian 
 and Priestleian controversy display a soundness of judgment which 
 at his age is rare. A number of young men who have taken their 
 bachelor's degree now reside at Cambridge as theological students. 
 Several of them are the sons of men of fortune, some, as far as 1 
 can judge, of superior talents; and all are pursuing their pro- 
 fessional studies with a zeal which is well directed by the very 
 worthy and learned Dr. Ware, professor of divinity, and Dr. 
 Kirkland, the president, and an honesty which is entirely un- 
 fettered and unbiassed by any system whatever. We have to 
 contend here, as you in England, for the first principles of Pro- 
 testantism, but I see no reason to fear that the ensuing generation 
 will be destitute of able champions for the right of private 
 judgment. 
 
 With regard to the progress of Unitarianism, I have but little 
 to say. Its tenets have spread very extensively in New England, 
 but 1 believe there is only one church professedly Unitarian. The 
 churches at Portland and Saco, of which you speak, hardly ever 
 saw the light, and exist no longer. The Mr. Thacher who was 
 formerly a member of Congress, and the Judge T. whom Mr. 
 Merrick mentions, are the same. He is one of the Judges of our 
 Supreme Court, an excellent man and most zealous Unitarian. 
 He is now on the circuit in this town, and tells me he is obliged 
 on Sunday to stay at home or to hear a Calvinistic minister. He 
 is no relation to our friend. 
 
 Most of our Boston clergy and respectable laymen (of whom we 
 have many enlightened theologians) are Unitarian. Nor do they 
 think it at all necessary to conceal their sentiments upon these 
 subjects, but express them without the least hesitation when they 
 judge it proper. I may safely say, the general habit of thinking 
 and speaking upon this question in Boston is Unitarian. At the 
 same time the controversy is seldom or never introduced into the 
 pulpit. I except the Chapel church. If publications make their 
 appearance attacking Unitarian sentiments, they are commonly 
 answered with spirit and ability ; but the majority of those who 
 are Unitarian are perhaps of these sentiments, without any distinct 
 consciousness of being so. Like the first Christians, rinding no 
 sentiments but those in the N.T., and not accustomed to hear the 
 language of the N. T. strained and warped by theological system- 
 makers, they adopt naturally a just mode of thinking. 
 
358 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 This state of things appears to me so favourable to the dis- 
 semination of correct sentiments, that I should perhaps regret a 
 great degree of excitement in the public mind upon these subjects. 
 The majority would eventually be against us. The ignorant, the 
 violent, the ambitious, and the cunning, would carry the multitude 
 with them in religion as they do in politics. One Dr. M., in a 
 contest for spreading his own sentiments among the great body of 
 the people, would, at least for a time, beat ten Friestleys. Not to 
 dwell upon the consideration that Unitarianism consists rather in 
 not believing; and that it is more easy to gain proselytes to absurd 
 opinions, than to make men zealous in refusing to believe. With 
 what arms, when the o\ noXXot are the judges, can virtue and learn- 
 ing contend with craft and cunning and equivocation and false- 
 hood and intolerant zeal ? Learning is worse than useless, virtue 
 is often diffident of her own conclusions, and, at any rate, more 
 anxious to render men good Christians than to make them 
 Christians of her own denomination ; and that self-respect, which 
 is the companion of virtue, disdains to meet the low cunning of 
 her adversaries, or to flatter the low prejudices of her judges. I 
 think then it must be assumed as an axiom, that a persevering 
 controversy upon this question would render the multitude bigoted 
 and persecuting Calvinists. Then come systems and catechisms 
 in abundance. Every conceited deacon, every parishioner who 
 has, or thinks he has, a smattering in theology, becomes the 
 inquisitor of his pastor. In such circumstances learning and good 
 sense have no chance. They cannot even be heard. 
 
 The violent party here have chosen to meet their opponents 
 upon very unfavourable ground. Instead of making it a cause of 
 orthodoxy against heresy, they have very unwisely preferred to 
 insist upon a subscription to articles of faith. This has given great 
 offence to many who are disposed to be in favour of their creed, 
 and thrown them into the opposite scale. Dr. Osgood is really 
 orthodox in sentiment, but a noble and determined supporter of the 
 right of private judgement, and on the best possible terms with 
 our Boston friends. This is also the case with the venerable Dr. 
 Lathrop, of West Springfield, Mr. Palmer's friend, and many 
 others. In short, we are now contending for the liberty of being 
 Protestants. If we can persuade the people (and we stand upon 
 advantageous ground) that we have a right to think upon religious 
 subjects as our consciences and the Scriptures direct, things will 
 go on very well. Learning, good sense, and virtue will then 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 produce their natural effects; and just modes of thinking upon 
 subjects of this nature, as upon all others, will necessarily prevail. 
 Will you, ray dear Sir, excuse my unintentional prolixity ? I 
 do not know that you will approve my sentiments, nor am I vcrv 
 confident of their justness ; but I have seen the contest between 
 truth and falsi hood, before the multitude; between everything 
 which is respectable and everything which is detestable, so unequal 
 in politics, that I dread the event in matters of religion. Still I 
 would be no advocate for timidity, much less for anything like 
 equivocation or evasion ; and it must be confessed that prudence 
 often degenerates into these vices. 
 
 I remain, dear Sir, with the greatest esteem, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 To the Rev. Thomas Belsham. 
 
 W. Wells, Jun. 
 
 No. XI. 
 
 From the Rev. Thomas Fyshe Palmer to Mr. Lindsey, giving 
 some account of his treatment on board the Surprise transport. 
 
 N. S. Wales, Sydney, Sept. 15,1795. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 It was w r ith inexpressible pleasure that I again saw your hand- 
 writing ; receiving your letter and parcel of books safe, for which 
 I am much obliged to you. I long to read with attention the 
 Commentary on the Revelation, which I believe will nearly (from 
 a hasty glimpse of it) meet my own ideas. I am happy to find 
 that my edition of Elwall is in the hands of a person who will 
 give them away; it was printed for that very purpose, nor must 
 I allow your kind partiality to frustrate it. 
 
 I must begin with telling you that we have all enjoyed unin- 
 terrupted health, excepting that, landing with weak eves and using 
 them very much at the time, the common malady of the climate 
 has ever since grievously affected them, so that I have been 
 obliged to give over reading and writing. But they are now con- 
 siderably better. 
 
 By this time you will, I imagine, have received the dismal nar- 
 
360 APPENDIX. 
 
 rative of my sufferings on board the Surprise ; the master of which 
 accused me and Mr. Skirving of hiring people to murder him and 
 the principal officers. He pitched on some unhappy people as 
 our associates, and what he made them and us endure is hardly 
 to be credited. It must have been more than human help which 
 supported me. One week of it at any other time would have des- 
 patched me. In the torrid zone when I could not bear the cover- 
 ing of my shirt, Mr. Skirving and T were shut up in a box six 
 feet square, and not suffered to pass the threshold. At night, as 
 a vast indulgence, we were separated, and I laid in a bed not merely 
 wet but soaked through with salt water and rain, which my tyrant 
 would not permit me or my friends to dry. The pretended asso- 
 ciates were much worse treated ; every cruelty and every artifice 
 were employed to make them accuse us. They were flogged, and 
 illegally reduced to half allowance. They were loaded with sixty 
 pounds' weight of irons, and all chained to an iron bar and exposed 
 on the poop all weather, in that dreadful temperature. When I 
 landed, six or seven people went voluntarily to a magistrate, and 
 swore that C. offered them great rewards if they would swear that 
 I and Mr. Skirving hired them to murder him and the principal 
 officers, that he held a pistol in his hand and threatened to shoot 
 some if they did not, and to treat them as we traitors were. The 
 whole of this I have entrusted to Mr. White, principal surgeon of 
 the settlement, who went home in the Daedalus in December last. 
 I believe I should have fallen before my inhuman tyrant, had it 
 not been for the courageous and active friendship of James Ellis 
 and Mr. Boston, the young man I wrote to you about, and his 
 wife. They were threatened with irons, even Mrs. Boston ; and 
 when Mr. Boston landed, C. blasted all his prospects by accusing 
 
 him of Jacobinism and drinking destruction to the K . This 
 
 last was proved to be an infamous falsehood. They gave another 
 signal proof of their friendship. Somehow or other their know- 
 ledge of the arts was spread abroad at Kio de Janeiro, and the 
 Viceroy paid them every attention, kept a splendid table for them, 
 had a man of rank to attend them, set them to work, and, when 
 convinced of their ability, offered them any sum to set up in busi- 
 ness, and c£3()0 per annum each to settle at Kio. They firmly 
 rejected the offer (though both were without a shilling), and every 
 solicitation made use of for their compliance, as it was their firm 
 belief that C. would have murdered me in their absence. After 
 such kindness it followed of course that we lived together, and 
 
APPENDIX. 3G1 
 
 that they shared what I had. It was fortunate for them that I 
 had something left from the plunder of C. and his crew. Tiie 
 destructive and oppressive monopoly of the military officers forbad 
 everyone to purchase of the ships that came to this harbour. The 
 military officers alone bought, and resold to all the colony at 1,000 
 per cent, profit, and often more. They firmly, but in guarded 
 language, insisted on the rights of British subjects to carry on 
 any trade, not prohibited, in one of His Majesty's harbours. 
 This irritated the whole governing despotic power of the settle- 
 ment against them. They were refused a grant, servants, and 
 never emploved, though, by making salt and curing fish, they could 
 have saved the colony from a famine. Where everything is so 
 immensely dear, you may guess that it has laid heavy on me ; but 
 my money could not have been so well employed. The worst is 
 over. They manufacture beer, vinegar, salt, soap, &c, for sale. 
 I have a farm. But, above all, Governor Hunter, who is, I hear 
 from all hands, a good man, and their friend, has arrived, and 
 the despotism and infamous monopolies of the last government are 
 no more. 
 
 The clergyman here, Mr. Johnson, is a most dutiful son of the 
 Church of England, thinking it to be the best constituted church 
 in the world. He is a Moravian Methodist, and was bred, 1 believe, 
 at Magdalen, Cambridge. I believe him to be a very good, pious, 
 inoffensive man. None of our household ever have heard him, 
 though I confess I could have heard him yesterday with pleasure. 
 It was the first Sunday after Governor Hunter's arrival. He ex- 
 posed the last government, their extortion, their despotism, their 
 debauchery and ruin of the colony, driving it almost to famine by 
 the sale of liquors at 1,200 per cent, profit. He congratulated the 
 colony at the abolition of a military government, and the restora- 
 tion of a civil one, and of the laws. Orders are this day, Tuesday, 
 given out that no officer shall sell any more liquor. 
 
 I rejoice to hear of the safety, the care, and the reception of Dr. 
 Priestley, and the door of usefulness opened to him in America. 
 
 I have sealed up my letter to Mr. Rutt. I must therefore desire 
 vou to get our mutual friend Dver to tell him that I have re- 
 ceived his letter of June 23rd, and the parcel of newspapers and 
 pamphlets, and especially the highly interesting (to us) Reports of 
 the Secret Committee, sent to the care of Mr. Johnson. He must 
 tell him that I am overwhelmed with his goodness, and only fear 
 that I shall not show myself sufficiently deserving of it. He must 
 
362 
 
 A IT i:\dix. 
 
 know that Mr. Muir lives with me, and that he, Skirving, and I 
 live in great cordiality ; our houses at Sydney are contiguous, as 
 also our farms in the country. 
 
 I have written by every conveyance, and by the last to Dr. 
 Disney, to whom and Mrs. Disney I must beg to be particularly 
 remembered. Mrs. Lindsey will accept of my best regard ; her 
 spectacles often recall her to my mind. 
 
 Farewell, dear Sir. I hope it is reserved for me to see you again 
 in this state ; and I earnestly pray never to be separated from you 
 in the next. 
 
 I am your affectionate and obliged 
 
 Thos. Fyshe Palmer. 
 
 To the Rev. Mr. Lindsey, 
 
 Essex Street, London. 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 Select Extracts from the Letters of Dr. Priestley to Mr. Lindsey, 
 and from Thomas Jefferson, Esq., President of the United 
 States, to Dr. Priestley. 
 
 FROM DR. PRIESTLEY. 
 
 Birmingham, Aug. 26, 17S9. 
 
 The Archdeacon had indeed an euthanasia, and I find his friend 
 the Bishop of Carlisle died about the same time, and at about the 
 same age. They have been useful men in their day, and you justly 
 observe none are without their failings, and least of all ^reat minds. 
 This I see confirmed, and I am sorry to see it so much so, in 
 Beausobre's History of the Reformation, which I have read through 
 with peculiar satisfaction. Luther had great defects indeed, and 
 of a very disagreeable kind ; especially envy, and dislike of other 
 reformers. He wished all to follow him, and was angry if they 
 went one step farther. His behaviour to Carlostadt and Zuinglius, 
 &c, is inexcusable. But he had great and good qualities notwith- 
 standing, and would, I doubt not, have been an intrepid martyr. 
 Beausobre is far more satisfactory than Sleidan, but I am sorry that 
 
APPENDIX, 31Y.J 
 
 he goes no farther than the year 1530. He certainly meant to 
 have written more. The last volume is particularly interesting 
 
 o* 
 
 In a letter from Mr. Palmer in Scotland, you will see that he 
 corresponds with Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, as an avowed 
 Unitarian. But he ought to make a public declaration after what 
 he has written 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, Oct. 3, 1789. 
 
 At my return I found a letter from Mr. Tayleur, with a bill of 
 150 pounds 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. I send you the letter and bill, 
 which I wish you would put into the hands of Mr. Chambers, who, 
 as usual, will give a receipt, and allow interest for it. How un- 
 boundedly generous Mr. Tayleur is ! I may well afford to give 
 my books, when they are paid for beforehand. Before I took 
 my journey, I ordered 25 copies of my History of Early Opinions 
 to be sent to you. I am told they were immediately sent by a 
 waggon that goes to the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate Street. 
 You say nothing about the parcel, and therefore it has not been 
 delivered. I am really desirous of giving a great part of the im- 
 pression. 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 tw r o Unitarian street-preachers, men of good sense and great 
 zeal, who had read hardly anything besides the Bible, nothing of 
 mine or yours. They are Baptists, and 14 in number; not more 
 than two months' standing. One of them had been in Mr. Wesley's 
 connection. As they had hired a building for their meetings in 
 the winter, and were at expense 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 60 
 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 was John Laycock, and the other Burton. Two others 
 
 of their friends were also preachers. They spake with great fluency 
 and propriety 
 
364 APPENDIX. 
 
 PROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, May 24, 1790. 
 
 I greatly admire Mr. 's spirit and zeal, but I cannot 
 
 approve of his plan. Neither Christianity nor the Reformation 
 was carried on in that way, but more silently and naturally, like 
 the growth of corn, to which our Saviour compared the former. So 
 ostentatious a method of proceeding would engage our opponents 
 in similar measures, and excite a spirit of party, which is hostile 
 to free inquiry. Besides, the relief of sufferers, publicly held out, 
 would draw endless claimants, to whom no satisfaction could be 
 given. Assistance in particular and well-known cases may still be 
 given, books may be distributed, and lay preachers, who want but 
 little money, may be encouraged, without making much noise. 
 The very apparatus and correspondence necessary for such a scheme 
 
 as Mr. 's would alone be very expensive, and the same money 
 
 may be much better employed 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, June 11, 1790. 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 We have had a melancholy scene here since I wrote last. Mr 
 Robinson, who preached our charity sermon on Sunday last, was 
 found dead in his bed on Wednesday morning at Mr. Russell's. 
 He was much enfeebled in body and mind, but had been bent on 
 taking the journey, and exerting himself to the utmost. His dis- 
 order the physicians call angina pectoris. Two nights he was with 
 me, and on Monday evening he had a fit, from which I thought 
 he would hardly have recovered. However, he was much better 
 the next day, when he dined with Mr. Hawkes, and after dinner 
 was in remarkably good spirits, and entertained us with many 
 stories and anecdotes. He ate a hearty supper, and went to bed 
 seemingly in good health ; but it was evident that he had another 
 fit soon after he went to bed, and that he expired in it, for he was 
 almost cold at nine o'clock the next morning. 
 
 He was by no means fit to preach; and though he was not at 
 a loss for words, he rambled into many things quite foreign to the 
 subject, dwelling much on Unitarianism at both meetings, though 
 they were different sermons. He used no notes. I have composed 
 a sermon on the occasion of his death, which I shall preach next 
 
APPENDIX. 3Tj5 
 
 Sunday. We expect letters or messengers from Cambridge, but 
 expect to bury him here. 
 
 I am very glad that you propose to omit the Creed, and to make 
 a discourse on the occasion. Your example will give a sanction to 
 the measure everywhere else. Mr. Robinson said he never felt so 
 sensible a relief to his mind as when he read what I published on 
 the Miraculous Conception. He had always doubted the story, 
 but never ventured to mention his suspicion to anybody. 
 
 He was correcting some of the last sheets of his History of Bap- 
 tism, which I dare say will be a curious and valuable work. 
 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, June 24, 1790. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 You will see by the enclosed that I will not publish the Sermon 
 till I hear from the family. I beg therefore that you would take 
 back those I sent you, or take the trouble to deliver the altera- 
 tions I may have occasion to make in it. 
 
 It is evident that Mr. Robinson, though an Unitarian, did not 
 wish to incur the odium of it with all his old friends. 
 
 I want to know how Mr. Dodson goes on with his translation 
 of the Prophets. I stick close to my part, and hope to have 
 finished all that is essential before you come, at the end of the next 
 month, or the middle of it. I do a certain quantity per day. We 
 must make a point of despatching the whole this year. I shall see 
 Mr. B., and talk to him about his part. I shall also write to Mr. F., 
 and give him any help that he may want. My method is to paste 
 paper to the margin of a quarto Bible, and make the alterations 
 there. This I think better, on every account, than to write the 
 whole, and especially much easier to those who examine it. 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, June 26, 1790. 
 I send you with this a few copies of my Sermon for 
 Mr. Robinson, to be disposed of as presents to whom you please. 
 Do not forget Mr. Radcliffe. None will be sold in London or 
 
366 APPENDIX. 
 
 Cambridge till it has been seen by the family, and they allow the 
 account given of Mr. Robinson. There can be no doubt of his 
 change of sentiment, whether it should appear in his writings or 
 not. He had been a cautious man, and forbore to announce his 
 change of opinion to his congregation ; but I hope he never 
 deceived them. The letter in the preface is Mr. C.'s, his son-in- 
 l.iw, the same that called upon you. There was, however, some- 
 thing I cannot account for with respect to his former opinion of 
 the divinity of Christ, unless he held the indwelling scheme. For 
 he said in my hearing, he always thought the doctrine of the 
 Trinity an absurdity. On this supposition, however, I cannot 
 vindicate his writing that book. I hear he was uncommonly 
 eager to read your reply. It was brought by Mr. C. before your 
 present of it arrived, and he sat up all night to read it, and was 
 much agitated by it. He was also more affected than he ought 
 to have been by the reception he met with among his old friends 
 after his change of opinion was known. When Mr. Hobson, who 
 was an old acquaintance of his, first saw him, he said, " They have 
 killed me;" and he complained to me, that among all his former 
 friends in London he had only two subscribers to his book. He 
 had no doubt been too fond of popularity, which is too often the 
 case with those who have the power of being so. However, his 
 well-known change of sentiment cannot fail to have a considerable 
 effect. 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, July 6, 1790. 
 
 Mr. Robinson certainly died a natural death, but not so I 
 believe Mr. Silas Deane. Mr. W. Wilkinson says he always 
 talked of taking laudanum in extremity, and doubts not but he 
 did it. He had the greatest aversion to going to America with 
 less honour than he left it; and though he had nothing to fear, he 
 
 :s poor, and would have been overlooked. He had lived a very 
 licentious life at Paris : but Mr. Wilkinson says he spent almost 
 all Ik; was worth to purchase arms for the Americans, and was 
 never repaid. 
 
APPENDIX. 367 
 
 FROM THE SAME. 
 
 Birmingham, July 22, 1790. 
 
 If you see Mr. Dodson, tell him it will by no means do to 
 reprint either Blayney or Bishop Newcome, as we must keep much 
 nearer to the phraseology of the present version than they do. \Ye 
 must content ourselves with departing from it only for the sake of 
 some real improvement. I have now gone once through the 
 Psalms and Proverbs, and I will undertake Daniel and the Minor 
 Prophets, if he will do Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Or, as I have more 
 than six months before me, and I am determined to make this my 
 principal business, I can very well do the whole; and if you think 
 so, you need not say anything to him ; or tell him that I shall 
 undertake it if he has not leisure, or that he may take what he 
 pleases, and leave me the rest. I fear some quaintness in his style, 
 and we must avoid everything of the kind, as we shall be 
 laughed at. 
 
 LETTERS FROM DR. PRIESTLEY TO MR. LINDSEY SOON AFTER HIS 
 
 ARRIVAL IN AMERICA. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 New York, June 15, 1794. 
 Dear Friend, 
 We have now been here near a fortnight, and I begin to expect 
 to hear from you, which is the greatest satisfaction that I expect 
 in this country. But I sometimes think that everything here is 
 so promising, and everything with you so threatening, that perhaps 
 even you and Mrs. Lindsey may be induced to end your days with 
 us. To accomplish this, I should at any time come over and fetch 
 you. Indeed, the difference between the aspect of things here 
 and with you is not to be expressed. I feel as if J were in another 
 world. I never before could conceive how satisfactory it is to have 
 the feeling I now have from a sense of perfect security and liberty, 
 all men having equal rights and privileges, and speaking and acting 
 as if they were sensible of it. Here are no beggars to be seen, 
 and families are easily maintained by any kind of labour; and 
 whether it be the effect of general liberty, or some other cause, I 
 find many more clever men, men capable of conversing with 
 
3f>8 APPENDIX. 
 
 propriety and fluency on all subjects relating to government, than 
 I have met with anywhere in England. I have seen many of the 
 members of Congress on their return from it, and, without 
 exception, they seem to be men of first-rate ability, though some 
 of them plain in their manners. With respect to myself, the 
 difference is great indeed. In England I was an object of the 
 greatest aversion to every person connected with government ; 
 whereas here they are those who show me the most respect. With 
 you the Episcopal Church is above everything. In this city it 
 makes a decent figure, but the Presbyterians are much above them, 
 and the Governor (Clinton), who is particularly attentive to me, 
 goes to the meeting-house. 
 
 But the preachers, though all civil to me, look upon me with 
 dread, and none of them have asked me to preach in their pulpits. 
 This, however, does them no good. Several persons express a 
 wish to hear me, and are ashamed of the illiberal ity of the 
 preachers, and some are avowed Unitarians ; so that I am fully 
 persuaded an Unitarian minister, of prudence and good sense, 
 might do very well here. If I were here a Sunday or two more I 
 would make a beginning, and I intend to return for this purpose. 
 The greatest difficulty arises from the indifference of liberal- 
 minded men as to religion in general j they are so much occupied 
 with commerce and politics. One man of proper spirit would be 
 sufficient to establish a solid Unitarian interest ; and I am 
 persuaded it will soon be done. As I am much attended to, and 
 my writings, which are in a manner unknown here, begin to be 
 inquired after, I will get my small pamphlets immediately printed 
 here ; and wherever I can get an invitation to preach I will go. 
 With this view I shall carefully avoid all the party politics of the 
 country, and have no other object besides religion and philosophy. 
 Philadelphia will be a more favourable situation than this, and 
 there I shall make a beginning. It will be better, however, to 
 wait a little time, and not show much zeal at the first ; and as my 
 coming here is much talked of, I shall reprint my Fast and 
 Farewell Sermons. 
 
 As it may serve to amuse you and Mrs. Lindsey, I will enclose 
 copies of some Addresses, and my answers ; and also some letters 
 from persons who are of a party opposite to the addressers, but 
 equally friendly to me ; and I find I have given as much satisfac- 
 tion to them by the caution I have observed in my answers, as 
 to the addressers, who, however, I believe, arc now well satisfied 
 
APPENDIX. 3G9 
 
 that I do not openly join any of their societies, though at first I 
 am informed they were very desirous of it. The parties are the 
 Federalists and Anti-federalists : the former meaning the friends 
 of the present system, with a leaning to that of England, and 
 friendship with her ; the latter wishing for some improvements, 
 leaning to the French system, and rather wishing for war. With 
 a little more irritation the latter will certainly prevail. They are 
 now, I believe, by far the most numerous, especially in the coun- 
 try, though the other prevail in the towns, especially here. The 
 people of Vermont on the one hand, and those of Kentucky 
 on the other, can hardly be restrained from falling on the 
 English and Spanish settlements, and the latter particularly seem 
 disposed to break off from the Union rather than not have their 
 way. 
 
 The exchange is so greatly in favour of the drawer (near nine 
 per cent.) that I am drawing for most of my money in England. 
 On Mr. Chambers I have drawn for £300, which is very nearly 
 what I have in his hands, and I have told him that the small 
 difference on either side he may settle with you. On Mr. John- 
 son I have drawn for £50. I wish you would mention this to 
 them, lest the letters miscarry. 
 
 As Dr. Disney desired me to write to him, and I had a parcel 
 to deliver for him to Bishop Prevost, I inclose the letter for him 
 in this packet to you. I have also written to Mr. Belsham, whom 
 I hope, some time or other, to draw hither. He will tell you my 
 scheme. But as I am going to Philadelphia, I shall soon know 
 more on the subject. 
 
 I was never more mortified than 1 now am at not having with 
 me any of my small tracts in defence of the divine unity, as my 
 being here leads many persons to wish to read what I have 
 written on the subject. If Mr. Johnson has not sent the box of 
 books (chiefly my own publications) that he was to forward to 
 Philadelphia, desire him to do it the first opportunity. I shall 
 reprint them, and I flatter myself they will produce a considerable 
 effect. Indeed my coming hither promises to be of much more 
 service to our cause than I had imagined. But time is necessary, 
 and I am apt to be too precipitate. I want your cool judgment. 
 You waited patiently a long time in London ; but what an 
 abundant harvest have you had there ! 
 
 Nothing can be more delightful than the weather is here at 
 present, and I do not think the climate will be at all too hot for 
 
 B B 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 me. T have only two days more to stay here : to-day I dine with 
 Mr. Bridges, a friend of Mr. Kemble's, and to-morrow w r ith 
 General Gates, whom I have seen often, and like very much. I 
 have met him frequently, and he is particularly attentive to me, 
 and was so to my son before I came. 
 
 With my best respects to Mrs. Rayner and all friends, in 
 which my wife joins, 
 
 I am, dear friend, 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 P.S. When you have done with the Addresses, &c. please to 
 forward them to Mr. J. Wilkinson by his banker, Sir B. Hammet. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Philadelphia, June 24, 1794. 
 Dear Friend, 
 This is my third letter to you. The last w r as by the Hope, 
 from New York. On Thursday last I arrived at this place. Our 
 journey was very pleasant, and the aspect of the country better 
 than I expected. This city is by no means so agreeable as New 
 York ; but, upon the whole, more eligible than any other for my 
 residence till our settlement be ready for me. With respect to 
 religion, things are exactly in the same state here as in New York. 
 Nobody asks me to preach, and I hear there is much jealousy and 
 dread of me ; and on the whole I am not sorry for the circum- 
 stance, as it offends many who have, on this account, the greater 
 desire to hear me ; so that I have little doubt but that I shall 
 form a respectable Unitarian society in this place. The alarm of 
 the danger of Unitarianism has been sounded so long that it has 
 ceased to be terrific to many; and I stand so well with the country 
 in other respects that I dare say I shall have a fair and candid 
 hearing; and at my return from the Susquchannah, w T here I pro- 
 pose to go the next week, I believe some place will be prepared for 
 me. In the meantime I am printing an edition of my Appeal 
 and Trial of Elwall, which will be ready, I am told, by the next 
 Monday. Part of the impression will be sent to New York, where 
 tilings are in as great forwardness as here. If I do not greatly 
 deceive myself, I see a great harvest opening upon me; and there 
 is room for many labourers, but it will require great prudence and 
 judgment at first. Also, those that come must not be discouraged 
 
APPENDIX. 371 
 
 at first appearances, and be able to support themselves, and at a 
 greater expense than would be necessary in England ; and in New 
 York or here, greater than in London itself. This unexpected 
 expense makes a great proportion of the emigrants repent of their 
 coming, the women especially, who do not easily find any society. 
 Notwithstanding the flattering attention that is paid to me, I 
 cannot help sometimes regretting the society I had in England. 
 But I am fully satisfied that I did right to leave it, and I firmly 
 believe that much good will be done here by my removal, and in 
 this I rejoice. 
 
 My wife will find much more difficulty than myself. All people 
 complain of the difficulty of getting tolerable servants, and we find 
 we acted unwisely in bringing - any. The woman, for whose passage 
 we paid twelve guineas, behaved in such a manner that my w r ife 
 dismissed her the first week ; and the boy, for whose passage we 
 paid the same, and at least ten pounds in fitting out, is run away, 
 and for anything that we yet know, may have carried many things 
 with him. We shall know more before night, when we shall 
 examine the things that came from New York. 
 
 The boy is since found ; he had taken nothing ; but as he was 
 bent on going to sea we have let him go. 
 
 I have seen Mr. P., who made a genteel appearance, and gave 
 good reasons for his wife not having heard from him. He had 
 written : his passage was uncommonly long and unfortunate ; and 
 then an embargo was laid here on all shipping for England. 
 
 I fear, too, that when this was heard of with you, an embargo 
 would also be laid on ships going from England to America, and 
 that this may be the reason why we have not yet heard from any 
 body, and indeed have had no news of any kind from England. 
 "We must have patience; but we are very anxious to hear what 
 passes on the continent of Europe. Here, both the Indians and 
 the English are making encroachments; and if orders from England 
 do not stop these proceedings, a war will be inevitable; and people 
 in the back settlements are so eager for it that they can hardly be 
 restrained even now. 
 
 Since I wrote the former part of this letter I have almost deter- 
 mined to make my residence in Northumberland, and spend a few 
 months of the winter in this city. This will on many accounts be 
 better than living chiefly here. The expense will be prodigiously 
 less ; I shall have more leisure for all my pursuits, and I shall be, 
 on the whole, of as much use in propagating Unitarianism as if I 
 
 b b 2 
 
372 APPENDIX. 
 
 resided constantly in the town. I see so great a certainty of 
 planting Unitarianism on this continent, that I wish you and Mr. 
 Belsham would be looking out for proper persons to establish in 
 New York and Philadelphia, and also to supply the College, which 
 you may take for granted will be established at the place of my 
 residence. A place of worship is building here by a society who 
 call themselves Universal ists : they propose to leave it open to any 
 sect of Christians three days in the week, but they want money to 
 finish it. My friends think to furnish them with money, and 
 engage the use of it for Sunday mornings. The society itself, I 
 hear, intend to apply to me to open it ; which I shall gladly do. 
 A person with a proper spirit and prudence may do great things 
 here. Mr. H. was the most imprudent of men, and did apparently 
 much harm here ; but eventually even that may be for the best. 
 I find I have great advantages, and I hope to make a good use of 
 them. 
 
 I shall enclose an address to me from the Philosophical Society 
 in this place, which is the only one that I have received ; and also 
 the Preface to the American edition of my Appeal. Thompson is 
 here, and superintends the office where it is printed. He will soon 
 set up for himself. 
 
 With all our respects, 
 Yours and Mr. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 A LETTER FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES, TO DR. PRIESTLEY, SOON AFTER HIS ELEC- 
 TION TO THAT HIGH OFFICE. 
 
 Washington, March 21, 1801. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I learnt some time ago that you were in Philadelphia, but 
 that it was only for a fortnight, and supposed you were gone. It 
 was not till yesterday I received information that you were still 
 there ; had been very ill, but were on the recovery. I sincerely 
 rejoice that you are so. Yours is one of the few lives precious to 
 mankind, and for the continuance of which every thinking man 
 must be solicitous; bigots may be an exception. What an effort, 
 my dear sir, of bigotry in politics and religion have we gone 
 through ! The barbarians really nattered themselves they should 
 be able to bring back the times of Vandalism, when ignorance 
 
APPENDIX. 373 
 
 put everything into the hands of power and priestcraft. All 
 advances in science were proscribed as innovations; they pre- 
 tended to praise and encourage education, but it was to be the 
 education of our ancestors ; we were to look backwards, not for- 
 wards, for improvement ; the President himself declaring in one 
 of his answers to addresses, that we were never to expect to go 
 beyond them in real science. This was the real ground of all 
 the attacks upon you; those who live by mystery and charlatanerie, 
 fearing you would render them useless by simplifying the Chris- 
 tian philosophy, the most sublime and benevolent, but the most 
 perverted system that ever shone on man, endeavoured to crush 
 your well-earned and well-deserved fame; but it was the Lillipu- 
 tians upon Gulliver. Our countrymen have recovered from the 
 alarm into which art and industry had thrown them ; science and 
 honesty are replaced on their high ground ; and you, my dear sir, 
 as their great apostle, are on its pinnacle. It is with heartfelt 
 satisfaction, that in the first moments of my public action I can 
 hail you with welcome to our land, tender you the homage of its 
 respect and esteem, cover you under the protection of those laws 
 which were made for the wise and the good, like you, and dis- 
 claim the legitimacy of that libel on legislation, which, under the 
 form of a law, was for some time placed among them. As the 
 storm is now subsiding, and the horizon becoming serene, it is 
 pleasant to consider the phenomenon with attention. We can 
 no longer say there is nothing new under the sun ; for this whole 
 chapter in the history of man is new ; the great extent of our 
 Republic is new ; its sparse habitation is new ; the mighty wave 
 of public opinion, which has rolled over it, is new ; but the most 
 pleasing novelty is its so quickly subsiding, over such an extent 
 of surface, to its true level again. The order and good sense 
 displayed in this recovery from delusion, and in the momentous 
 crisis which lately arose, really bespeak a strength of character 
 in our nation which augurs well for the duration of our Republic. 
 And I am much better satisfied now of its stability, than I was 
 before it was tried. I have been, above all things, solaced by 
 the prospect which opened on us in the event of a non-election 
 of a President ; * in which case the federal government would 
 have been in the situation of a clock or watch run down : there 
 was no idea of force, nor of any occasion for it. A Convention, 
 
 * The votes of the Senate were for some time equally divided between Mr. 
 Jefferson and Mr. Burr. 
 
374 APPENDIX. 
 
 invited by the Republican members of Congress, with the virtual 
 President and Vice-President, would have been on the ground in 
 eight weeks, would have repaired the constitution where it was 
 defective, and wound it up again. This peaceable and legitimate 
 resource to which we are in the habit of implicit obedience, super- 
 seding all appeal to force, and being always within our reach, 
 shews a precious principle of self-preservation in our composition, 
 till a change of circumstances shall take place, which is not 
 within prospect at any definite period. But 1 have got into a 
 long disquisition on politics, when I only meant to express my 
 sympathy in the state of your health, and to tender you all the 
 affections of public and private hospitality. I should be very 
 happy indeed to see you here. I leave this about the 30th in- 
 stant, to return about the 25th of April ; if you do not leave 
 Philadelphia before that, a little excursion hither would help your 
 health. I should be much gratified with the possession of a 
 guest I so much esteem, and should claim a right to lodge you, 
 should you make such an excursion. Accept the homage of my 
 high consideration and respect, and assurances of affectionate 
 attachment. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 FROM DR. PRIESTLEY TO MR. LINDSEY. 
 
 Northumberland, April 15, 1803. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 I am happy to hear by Mr. B. that your health is still good; 
 and as his letter is dated the 1st of February, I hope you have 
 got well over the winter. There is hardly anything that 1 wish 
 for, or think of, more than the continuance of your life and 
 health, that you may see the last of my labours, and I may hear 
 your opinion of them. On this I have always laid more stress 
 than on that of all the world besides; and if you die before me, 
 I shall lose one of my most powerful stimuluses to exertion. As 
 to philosophy, I do not now give much attention to it, though 1 
 do not wholly neglect it. With the good Dr. Heberden, Sir 
 John Pringle, and many others, who in early lite engaged in phi- 
 losophical pursuits, but were real Christians, 1 think it natural as 
 we draw nearer to a future and better world to think more of it, 
 and to have our reading and pursuits directed more than ever 
 towards it. 
 
APPENDIX. 375 
 
 For the same reason I think more of my departed friends, Mrs. 
 Rayner, Dr. Price, Dr. Jebb, and others who have been my chief 
 friends and benefactors, than before ; forming conjectures (wild 
 ones no doubt) concerning our meeting and employment hereafter. 
 Such speculations as these have at least the effect to make the 
 thoughts of leaving the world, and our friends in it, less un- 
 pleasant, indeed sometimes almost desirable. If the disciples of 
 Jesus rejoiced so much at his resurrection, what will they do at his 
 second coming, in his proper kingdom, and when all their friends 
 will rise again, never to be separated any more ? And the firm 
 faith that you and I have that even the wicked, after a state of 
 wholesome discipline (and that not more severe than will be neces- 
 sary) will be raised, in due time, to a state of happiness, greatly 
 diminishes our concern on their account. 
 
 Such reflections as these occnr to me more particularly when I 
 am not well, and my thoughts are less occupied with my pursuits. 
 But though I had a pretty long relapse of bad health after my 
 last to you, when I thought myself quite well, and to have re- 
 covered my usual good state of health, I am now again, I thank 
 God, pretty well, and nearly as busy as formerly. 
 
 Since I wrote the above I have received a letter from Mr. 
 Jefferson, on the subject of my pamphlet about Socrates, which I 
 will copy, and send it you the next post. I wish I could send you 
 all his letters ; but they are rather too long to copy, and a specimen 
 or two may be sufficient. 
 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 STATES, TO DR. PRIESTLEY, UPON HIS " COMPARATIVE VIEW 
 OF SOCRATES AND JESUS. " 
 
 Washington, April 9, 1S03. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 \Vhile on a short visit lately to Monticello, I received from you 
 
 a copy of your Comparative View of Socrates and Jesus, and I 
 
 avail myself of the first moment of leisure after my return to 
 
 acknowledge the pleasure I had in the perusal, and the desire it 
 
 excited to see you take up the subject on a more extensive scale. 
 
 In consequence of some conversations with Dr. Rush in the years 
 
370 APPENDIX. 
 
 1798-99, I had promised some day to write him a letter, giving 
 him my view of the Christian system. I have reflected often on 
 it since, and even sketched the outlines in my own mind. I 
 should first take a general view of the moral doctrines of the most 
 remarkable of the ancient philosophers, of whose ethics we have 
 sufficient information to make an estimate : say, of Pythagoras, 
 Epicurus, Epictetus, Socrates, Cicero, Seneca, Antoninus. I should 
 do justice to the branches of morality they have treated well, but 
 point out the importance of those in which they are deficient. T 
 should then take a view of the Deism and ethics of the Jews, and 
 show in what a degraded state they were, and the necessity they 
 presented of a reformation. I should proceed to a view of the 
 life, character, and doctrines of Jesus, who, sensible of the in- 
 correctness of their ideas of the Deity, and of morality, endea- 
 voured to bring them to the principles of a pure Deism, and juster 
 notions of the attributes of God ; to reform their moral doctrines 
 to the standard of reason, justice, and philanthropy, and to incul- 
 cate the belief of a future state. This view would purposely omit 
 the question of his divinity, and even of his inspiration. To do 
 him justice, it would be necessary to remark the disadvantages his 
 doctrines have to encounter, not having been committed to writing 
 by himself, but by the most unlettered of men, by memory, long 
 after they had heard them from him, when much was forgotten, 
 much misunderstood, and presented in very paradoxical shapes. 
 Yet such are the fragments remaining, as to show a master-work- 
 man, and that his system of morality was the most benevolent and 
 sublime probably that has been ever taught, and more perfect 
 than those of any of the ancient philosophers. His character and 
 doctrines have received still greater injury from those who pretend 
 to be his special disciples, and who have disfigured and sophisti- 
 cated his actions and precepts from views of personal interest, so as 
 to induce the unthinking part of mankind to throw off the whole 
 system in disgust, and to pass sentence as an impostor on the 
 most innocent, the most benevolent, the most eloquent and 
 sublime character that has ever been exhibited to man. This is 
 the outline ; but I have not the time, and still less the information, 
 which the subject needs. It will therefore rest with me in con- 
 templation only. You are the person who of all others would do 
 it best, and most promptly : you have all the materials at hand ; 
 and you put together with ease. I wish you could be induced 
 to extend your late work to the whole subject. I have not heard 
 
APPENDIX. 377 
 
 particularly what is the state of your health ; but as it has been 
 equal to the journey to Philadelphia, perhaps it might encourage 
 the curiosity you must feel to see, for once, this place, which 
 nature has formed on a beautiful scale, and circumstances destined 
 for a great one : as yet we are but a cluster of villages. We cannot 
 offer you the learned society of Philadelphia, but you will have 
 that of a few characters whom you esteem, and a bed and hearty 
 welcome with one who will rejoice in every opportunity of testify- 
 ing to you his high veneration and affectionate attachment. 
 
 Th. Jefferson. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Priestley. 
 
 from dr. priestley to mr. lindsey, containing remarks 
 upon mr. jefferson's letter. 
 
 Northumberland, April 23, 1803. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 In my last I promised to send you a copy of Mr. Jefferson's 
 letter on reading my pamphlet entitled " Socrates and Jesus com- 
 pared/' The above is that copy. He is generally considered as 
 an unbeliever : if so, however, he cannot be far from us, and I 
 hope in the way to be not only almost, but altogether what we are. 
 He now attends public worship very regularly, and his moral 
 conduct was never impeached. I should, on several accounts, be 
 glad to make the visit he proposes, but my business will not admit 
 of it. If I leave this place, either the printing of my works must 
 be intermitted, or I must request the aid of Mr. C, which I am 
 not fond of doing; and though he does his best, I find he has not 
 been sufficiently used to the work. 
 
 dr. priestley's last letters to mr. lindsey, written a few 
 weeks before his decease. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Northumberland, Nov. 4, 1803. 
 Dear Friend, 
 I cannot now expect to hear often from you, but I shall write as 
 usual, as long as you or Mrs. Lindsey are living, provided I be 
 living myself. But my health is such that I really do not expect 
 
378 APPENDIX. 
 
 to survive you. I have now, of several months, the same feelings 
 that I had when I formerly had gall-stones ; but at the same time 
 T had a difficulty in swallowing, which, as it varied, and sometimes 
 disappeared, I hoped was nothing but a spasm in the oesophagus, 
 near the entrance into the stomach ; but it is now constant, and it 
 is painful to me to swallow anything ; and if I do not eat very 
 slow, all that is in the oesophagus comes up; and not only that, 
 but it tills again from the stomach, and this operation continues 
 until the stomach is entirely empty. My guard against this is 
 eating very slowly. For the last three months I have not been 
 able to eat any flesh meat. I live on broth and vegetables, besides 
 milk and mild cheese ; but I take even these with difficulty. I 
 am thankful, however, that excepting while I eat, I have but little 
 pain, though while I had gall-stones I had a good deal of pain, and 
 sometimes very acute. The first symptom of this disorder I had 
 about a year ago, but sometimes I had nothing of it. Of late, 
 however, it has increased very much. But I have abundant 
 reasons to be satisfied with life, and the goodness of God in it. 
 Few have had so happy a lot as I have had, and I now see reason 
 to be thankful for events which at the time were the most 
 afflicting. 
 
 As to my daughter, I cannot grieve on her account. She had 
 nothing before her in this life but a prospect of increasing trouble, 
 and I hope soon to meet her in more favourable circumstances. 
 I am only concerned about the children, aud I do not know what 
 can be done for them. My only source of satisfaction, and it is a 
 never-failing one, is my firm persuasion that every thing, and our 
 oversights and mistakes among the rest, are parts of the great 
 plan, in which every thing in time will appear to have been 
 ordered and conducted in the best manner. When I hear my 
 son's children crying, I consider that we who are advanced in life 
 are but children ourselves, and as little judges of what is good for 
 ourselves or others. 
 
 As you were pleased with my comparison of Socrates and Jesus, 
 I have begun to carry the same comparison to all the heathen 
 moralists, and I have all the books that I want for the purpose, 
 except Simplicius and Arrian on Epictetus, and them I hope 
 to get from a library in Philadelphia : lest, however, I should 
 fail there, I wish you or Mr. Belsham would procure and send 
 them from London. While I am capable of any thing I cannot 
 
APPENDIX. 379 
 
 be idle, and I do not know that I can do anything better. This, 
 too, is an undertaking that Mr. Jefferson recommends to me. 
 
 With every good wish, I am 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 Northumberland, Dec. 19, 1803. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I am once more made happy by the receipt of yours of the 9th 
 of September. I value your letters more than gold, but I am 
 sensible it is unreasonable to expect them from you, difficult as it 
 must now be to you to write. But a single line will suffice. 
 
 I thank God I begin to recover from an illness which has been 
 very near carrying me off. It was ill understood by our physi- 
 cians at first, and their prescriptions did me harm ; but now I 
 hope I am in a good way, though exceedingly weak, and my feet 
 and ancles much swelled from that cause. I live now almost 
 altogether on animal food, which I was used to think would never 
 agree with me ; but still I cannot eat any fibrous flesh meat, only 
 the gelatinous parts, such as calves' feet; and for some days past 
 I have eat nothing but oysters, which agree with me better than 
 anything else. On this, or soup or broth, with a dish of tea, I 
 live altogether. But by this means I am so much recovered, that 
 I hope soon to be able to eat as I used to do. I should not, how- 
 ever tire you with my complaints; but this encourages me to hope 
 that I may live a few years longer, so as to finish the work I am 
 printing and composing, which is my utmost wish. 
 
 With the work that I am now composing I go on much faster 
 and better than I expected; so that in two or three months, if my 
 health continue as it now is, I hope to have it ready for the press ; 
 though I shall hardly proceed to print it till we have dispatched 
 the Notes. It is upon the same plan with that of " Socrates and 
 Jesus compared," considering all the more distinguished of the 
 Grecian sects of philosophy, till the establishment of Christianity 
 in the Roman empire. If you liked that pamphlet, I flatter my- 
 self you will like this. I hope it is calculated to show, in a pecu- 
 liarly striking light, the great advantage of revelation, and that it 
 will make an impression on candid unbelievers, if they will read. 
 
380 APPENDIX. 
 
 But I find tew that will trouble themselves to read anything on 
 the subject; which, considering the great magnitude and interest- 
 ing nature of the subject, is a proof of a very improper state of 
 mind, unworthy of a rational being. 
 
 The next thing I wish to do is to assist in the publication of a 
 whole Bible from the several new translations of particular books, 
 smoothing and correcting them where I can. I shall propose it to 
 some of our booksellers, cheerfully giving my own labour to so use- 
 ful a work. If anything remain of the subscription to my present 
 publication, I shall spend it on others, particularly on the Alpha- 
 betical Index to the Bible, which has been some time completely 
 ready for the press. 
 
 I wish this may come safely to your hands ; but I dread the ap- 
 proaching contest, which may throw every thing into confusion. It 
 has probably taken place before this time. But there is a sove- 
 reign ruler, and he, we cannot doubt, will bring good out of all 
 evil. 
 
 The excellent character and behaviour of my daughter is a great 
 consolation to me in the thoughts of her death. 
 
 Hoping still to have the great satisfaction of hearing from you 
 a few times more, I am 
 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 Northumberland, Jan. 16, 1S04. 
 
 Dear Friend, 
 
 Having just received a box of books from Mr. Johnson, after 
 I had given up all expectation of them, I beg you would make an 
 apology for the impatience I expressed about them, and my dis- 
 satisfaction with respect to his conduct. In my situation such 
 books are invaluable, especially as my deafness confines me in a 
 manner at home, and my extreme weakness prevents my making 
 any excursions. Winter also keeps me from my laboratory, so 
 that reading and composing are my sole occupation and amuse- 
 ment. Here, too, I have not the convenience of borrowing books. 
 
 This situation, however, is not without its advantages. I have 
 abundant leisure, and I have endeavoured to make the most of it. 
 I have now finished and transcribed for the press my Comparison 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 of the Principles of the Grecian Philosophers with those of Reve- 
 lation, and with more case, and more to my own satisfaction, than 
 I expected. They who liked my pamphlet entitled " Socrates and 
 Jesus compared" will not, I flatter myself, dislike this work. It 
 has the same object, and completes the scheme. It has increased 
 my own sense of the unspeakable value of revelation, and must, I 
 think, that of every person who will give due attention to the 
 subject. 
 
 AVeare all anxious to hear the result of the threatened invasion. 
 I have some faint hopes that it will not be undertaken, at least 
 upon England. What confusion and distress would it not occa- 
 sion in the most favourable issue ! God preserve you, my friend, 
 from the general calamity ! How enviable is our situation com- 
 pared to yours ! Our only consolation must arise from regarding 
 the hand of God in all events, confident that the final issue will be 
 right and good. 
 
 Yours and Mrs. Lindsey's most affectionately, 
 
 J. Priestley. 
 
 N.B. This is the last letter which Dr. Priestlev wrote to his 
 venerated and beloved friend. That truly great and excellent 
 man, whose active spirit was incessantly engaged in devising or 
 performing something for the interest of truth and virtue, was re- 
 leased from his labours and sufferings on the 4th of February fol- 
 lowing, a little more than a fortnight after writing this letter. 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 The following is a Catalogue of Mr. Lindsey's Publications : — 
 
 1. A Farewell Address to the Parishioners of Catterick. 
 
 2. An Apology on resigning the Vicarage of Catterick. 
 
 3. A Sequel to the Apology. 
 
 4. A Sermon preached at the Opening of the Chapel in Essex 
 Street, April 17, 1774. 
 
 5. The Book of Common Prayer Reformed for the Use of the 
 Chapel in Essex Street, with Hymns. 
 
 6. A Sermon preached in Essex Street on Opening the New 
 Chapel, March 29, 1778. 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 7. Two Dissertations. First, On the Preface to St. John's 
 Gospel : — Secondly, On Praying to Christ. 
 
 8. The Catechist, or An Inquiry concerning the only true God, 
 and Object of Worship. 
 
 9. An Historical View of the State of the Unitarian Doctrine 
 and Worship. 
 
 10. Vindicice Priestleiaruz. An Address to the Students of 
 Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 11. A Second Address to the same. 
 
 12. An Examination of Mr. Robinson's Plea for the Divinity of 
 Christ. 
 
 13. A List of false Headings and Mistranslations of the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 14. Conversations on Christian Idolatry. 
 
 15. A Sermon on Forms of Prayer. 
 
 16. A Sermon addressed to the Congregation in Essex Street on 
 resigning the Pastoral Office among them. 
 
 17. Conversations on the Divine Government, showing that 
 every thing is from God and for Good to all. 1802. 
 
 18. Sermons with appropriate Prayers annexed, 2 vols. Printed 
 for J. Johnson and Co., St. Paul's Churchvard. 
 
 Woodfall and Kinder, Printers, Milford Lfine, Strand, Loudou, W.C