1'HE
OF T HE
REV. ROBERT HALL, A.M.
WITH
A MEMOIR OF HIS LIFE, BY DR. GREGORY; REMINISCENCES, BY
JOIIN GREENE, ESQ.; AND HIS CHARACTER AS A
PREACHER, BY THE REV. JOHN FOSTER.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE S.UPERINTENDENCE OF
OLINTIHUS  GREGORY, LL.D., F.R.A.S.,
PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE ROYAL MILITARY ACALEMY'
AND
JOSEPH  BELCHE R, D.D
IN  FO J R VOLUME S
VOL. II.
NEW YORK:
HAR PER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
329 & 33t PEARL STREET,
F'RANKLIN SQUARE
1858.




Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and forty-four, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the Southern
District of New York.




ADVERTISEM ENT
IN this Volume, Mr. Hall's Political Tracts are arranged in the
order of their publication. To them succeeds various Tracts, which,
though not strictly political, bear an obvious relation to the subjects of
politics and political economy; employing the latter term, not in its
restricted sense, which regards merely the wealth of nations, but in the
more extended acceptation, which embraces the momentous topics of
general security, freedom, comfort, and happiness. Some of these
pieces, though very extensively circulated to promote the purposes for
which they were respectively written, were never issued by sale, and
it is now exceedingly difficult to procure a single copy of them.  Others,
which were regularly published, have been long out of print.
The origin of the Fragments on Village Preaching and general
Toleration I have briefly described in a prefatory note,'p. 171.
The Summary of the arguments on Christian Communion could not
be included in the first volume without unduly augmenting its bulk; it
is, therefore, inserted in this.
The Miscellaneous Pieces appeared originally in Felix Farley's
Bristol Journal, and have not since been published with their author's
permission. They serve, however, to show with what taste and elegance he could, in early life, indulge in the lighter species of composition; and what eminence he might have attained in that department
of literature, had not his inclinations as well as his profession led himn
to devote his rich endowments to infinitely higher purposes.
OLINTHUS GREGORY.








CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
TRACTS, POLITICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS.
Page
CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH A LOVE OF FREEDOM..          9
Preface..                                         11
Note by the Editor.......                          12
SECTION I.
On the Duty of common Christians in relation to Civil
Polity................   14
SECTION II.
On the Duty of Ministers in respect to Civil Polity...   19
SECTION III.
On the Pretences Mr.      - advances in favour of his
Principles...............                          26
SECTION IV.
On the Test Act.. 32
AN APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.                   39
Advertisement to the Third Edition........  41
Original Preface............             43
Advertisement to the New edition.                49
SECTION I.
On the Right of Public Discussion.                   51
SECTION II.
On Associations........       56
SECTION III.
On a Reform of Parliament.......   61
SECTION IV.
On Theories and the Rights of Man..... 




vi                       CONTENTS.
SECTION V.
Page
On Dissenters...... 76
SECTION VI.
On the Causes of the Present Discontents......  84
REVIEW OF THE APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS    93
MR. HALL'S REPLY...............    98
Note by the Editor............. 106
ON THE RENEWAL OF THE CHARTER OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.................    107
AN APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC, ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.........   121
Advertiselent............... 123
A REPLY TO THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS ADVANCED BY COBBETT AND OTHERS AGAINST THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS'
FR1ENDLY RELIEF SOCIETY......... 135
AN ADDRESS ON THE STATE OF SLAVERY IN THE WEST INDIA
ISLANDS.............   155
FRAGMENTS...    169
Note by the Editor.........                          171
Defence of Village Preaching.......... 173
The Impolicy of Intolerance.......... 184
On Toleration............... 185
On the Right of Worship........... 196
A SHORT STATEMENT OF THE REASONS FOR CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO PARTY COMMUNION........ 207
Preface... 209
ARTICLES FROM THE ECLECTIC REVIEW.
Foster's Essays...............   233
Custance on the Constitution.......... 249
Zeal without Innovation......                    254
Gisborne's Sermons..                             290
Gregory's Letters............... 298
Belsham's Memoirs of Lindsey....       318
Birt on Popery............. 335




CONTENTS.                          n
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
Pagv
Character of Cleander...... 341
A Revery.................. 34C
Essay on Poetry and Philosophy.......... 354
Fragment on Popery......... 35P
Character of the Rev. R. Ilall, of Arnsby.                36
Funeral Oration delivered at the Interment of the Rev. H. Crabb  372
Sketch of the Character of Mrs. M. Carryer...... 378
Character of the late Rev. T. Robinson, Vicar of St. Mary's,
Leicester.....                          380
Fragment.-Character of the Rev. John Sutcliff..... 388
Memoir of the Rev. Thomas Toller..                 390
Preface to the Memoirs of the Rev. Joseph Freeston         410
Extract from Mr. Hall's rough Notes of the Funeral Sermon for
Dr. Ryland........... 416
Address circulated at the Formation of the Leicester Auxiliary
Bible Society.............. 418
Speech delivered at the Second Anniversary of ditto.     421
Speech delivered at the Seventh Anniversary of ditto.... 428
Fragment.-Speech delivered at a Meeting of ditto.        436
Address in Behalf of the Stepney Baptist Academy.        440
Letter to the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society.. 444
Preface to Hall's Help to Zion's Travellers....... 447
Preface to Janeway's Life............ 454
Recommendatory Preface to Beddome's Hymns..... 456
Preface to Chase's 1" Antinomianism Unmasked".....   458
Letter to the Rev. W. Bennett............   465
Extract from Dr. Johnson's Preface to Cowper's Correspondence  467
Spiritual Condition and Prospects of the Jews..       468
Substance of a Charge delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. J.
K. Hall, at Kettering.......                  475
Fragment.-On the Art of Healing.......            484








CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH A LOVE OF FREEDOM k
BEING
AN ANSWER
TO
A SERMON,
LATELY PUBLISHED, BY THE REV.
[PUBLISHED IN 1791.1








PREFACE.
IT may be proper just to remark, that the animadversions I have
made on Mr. -—'s sermon did not arise from my conviction of
there being any thing even of plausibility in his reasonings, but from
an apprehension that certain accidental and occasional prejudices
might give some degree of weight to one of the weakest defences of a
bad cause that was ever undertaken. I have taken up more time in
showing that there is no proper connexion between the Unitarian doctrine
and the principles of liberty than the subject may seem to require;
but this will not be thought superfluous by those who recollect that
that idea seems to be the great hinge of Mr.'s discourse, and
that it appears among the orthodox part of the dissenters to have been
productive already of unhappy effects. I shall only add, that these
remarks would have appeared much sooner but for severe indisposition,
and that I was induced to write them chiefly from a persuasion that
they might perhaps, in the present instance, have somewhat of additiona
weight as coming from one who is not a Unitarian.,AMlBRIDGE, &SeOt. 17, 1791.




NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
Go CHRISTIANITY consistent with a Love of Freedom," was written
when Mr. Hall was twenty-seven years of age: and he never would
consent to its republication. He continued to think the main principles
correct and important; but he regarded the tone of animadversion as
severe, sarcastic, and unbecoming. Two or three editions have, how
ever, been printed surreptitiously; and one of them, which now lies
before me, is so complete an imitation of the original edition of 1791
as usually to escape detection. It is printed with an old-fashioned
type and on dingy-coloured paper, to suit its assumed age. But on
comparing it closely with the genuine edition, I find that three of the
capital letters, on different pages, have too modern and broad a face;
and on holding up the paper on which it is printed to a strong light,
I perceive a water-mark which gives the date 1818 to the paper of a
pamphlet which purports to be printed in 1791! If the lower class
of booksellers will have recourse to such contemptible forgeries as
this, an author is evidently no longer master of his intellectual property,
nor can he when he pleases withdraw it from the public eye.
This, though one of the earliest productions laid by Mr. Hall before
the public, is, with the exception already adverted to, by no means
calculated to deteriorate his reputation. It contains some splendid
passages, and the concluding four or five pages exhibit a fine specimen
of that union of severe taste, and lofty genius, and nobl sentiment,
which is evinced, I think, more frequently in his compositions than in
those of any other modern author.
I have no fear of incurring blame for having cancelled throughout
the name of the individual against whom Mr. Hall's strictures were
levelled. Venerable for his age, and esteemed for his piety, who would
now voluntarily cause him, or those who love him. a pang?
ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, June 1, 1831.




CHRISTIANITY
CONSISTENT WITH A LOVE OF FREEDOM, &c.
THis is a period distinguished for extraordinary occurrences, whether
~ve contemplate the world under its larger divisions, or in respect to
those smaller communities and parties into which it is broken and
divided. We have lately witnessed with astonishment and regret the
attempts of a celebrated orator to overthrow the principles of freedom,
which he had rendered himself illustrious by defending; as well as to
cover with reproach the characters of those by whom, in the earlier
part of life, he was most caressed and distinguished. The success
of these efforts is pretty generally known, and is such as it might have
been expected would have been sufficient to deter from similar attempts. But we now behold a dissenting minister coming forth to the
public under the character of a flatterer of power and an accuser of
his brethren. If the splendid eloquence that adorns every part of Mr.
BURKE'S celebrated book cannot shelter the author from confutation,
and his system from contempt, Mr.   --, with talents far inferior,
has but little to expect in the same cause. It is not easy to conceive
the motives which could impel him to publish his sermon. From
his own account it should seem he was anxious to disabuse the legislature, and to convince them there are many among the dissenters who
highly disapprove the sentiments and conduct of the more patriotic part
of their brethren. How far he may be qualified from his talents or
connexions, as a mouth, to declare the sentiments of any considerable
portion of the dissenters I shall not pretend to decide, but shall candidly confess, there are not wanting among us persons who are ready
upon all occasions to oppose those principles on which the very existence of our dissent is founded. Every party will have its apostates
of this kind; it is our consolation, however, that their numbers are
comparatively small, that they are generally considered as our reproach,
and that their conduct is in a great measure the effect of necessity, as
they consist almost entirely of persons who can only make themselves
heard by confusion and discord. If our author wishes to persuade the
legislature the friends of arbitrary power are conspicuous for their
number or their rank in the dissenting interest, he has most effectually
defeated his own intentions, as scarce any thing could give them a
meaner opinion of that party, in both these respects, than this publica




I           CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITh
tion of its champion. The sermon he has obtruded upon the public is
filled with paradoxes of so singular a complexion, and so feebly supported, that I find it difficult to lay hold of any thing in'the form of argument with sufficient steadiness for the purpose of discussion.
I shall endeavour, however, with as much distinctness as I am able,
to select the fundamental principles on which the discourse rests, and
shall attempt, as I proceed, to demonstrate their falsehood and danger.
Our author's favourite maxim is the inconsistency of the Christian
profession with political science, and the certain injury its spirit and
temper must sustain from every kind of interference with the affairs
of government. Political subjects he considers as falling within the
peculiar province of the irreligious; ministers in particular, he maintains,
should ever observe, amid the concussions of party, all entire neutrality; or if at any time they depart from their natural line of conduct,
it should only be in defence of the measures of government, in allaying
dissensions, and in convincing the people they are incompetent judges
of their rights. These are the servile maxims that run through the
whole of this extraordinary discourse; and that I may give a kind of
method to the following observations upon them, I shall show, in the
first place, the relation Christianity bears to civil government, and its
consistency with political discussion, as conducted either by ordinary*
Christians or ministers; in the next place, I shall examine some of the
pretences on which the author founds his principles.
SECTION I.
On the Duty of common Christians in Relation to Civil Polity.
THF, momentous errors Mr.         has committed appear to me to
have arisen from an inattention to the proper design of Christianity,
and the place and station it was intended to occupy. On this subject
I beg the reader's attention to the following remarks:1st. Christianity was subsequent to the existence and creation of
man. It is an institution intended to improve and ennoble our nature,
not by subverting its constitution or its powers, but by giving us a more
enlarged view of the designs of Providence, and opening a prospect into
eternity. As the existence of man is not to be dated from the publication of Christianity, so neither is that order of things that flows from
his relation to the present world altered or impaired by that divine
system of religion.  Man under the Christian dispensation is not a
new structure erected on the ruin of the former; he may rather be
compared to an ancient fabric restored, when it had fallen into decay,
and beautified afresh by the hand of its original founder.  Since
Christianity has made its appearance in the world, he has continued
the same kind of being he was before, fills the same scale in the order
of existence, and is distinguished by the same propensities and powers.
In short, Christianity is not a reorganization of the principles of man,
but an institution for his improvement.  Hence it follows, that wLac.




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                        5
ever rights are founded on the constitution of human nature cannot be
diminished or impaired by the introduction of revealed religion, which
occupies itself entirely on the interests of a future world, and takes
no share in the concerns of the present in any other light than as it is
a state of preparation and trial. Christianity is a discovery of *a
future life, and acquaints us with the means by which its happiness
may be secured; civil government is altogether an affair of the present
state, and is no more than a provision of human skill, designed to
ensure freedom and tranquillity during our continuance on this temporary stage of existence.  Between institutions so different in their
nature and their object it is plain no real opposition can subsist; and
if ever they are represented in this light, or held inconsistent with each
other, it must proceed from an ignorance of their respective genius
and functions. Our relation to this world demands the existence of
civil government; our relation to a future renders us dependent on the
aid of the Christian institution; so that in reality there is no kind of
contrariety between them, but each may continue without interference
in its full operation.  Mr. -, however, in support of his absurd
and pernicious tenets, always takes care to place civil government and
Christianity in opposition, while he represents the former as carrying
in it somewhat antichristian and profane. Thus he informs us, that
civil government is a stage erected on which man acts out his character,
and shows great depravity of heart.  All interference in political parties he styles an alliance with the world, a neglecting to maintain our
separation, and to stand upon our own hallowed ground.  There is one
way, says he, by which he means to insinuate there is only one, in
which you may all interfere in the government of your country, and that
is by prayer to God, by whom kings reign.  These passages imply
that the principles of civil polity and religion must be at perpetual
variance, as without this supposition, unsupported as it is in fact, they
can have no force or meaning.
2d. Mr.        misleads his reader by not distinguishing the inno~.
cent entertainments or social duties of our nature from those acts of
piety which fall within the immediate province of Christianity.
The employments of our particular calling, the social ties and
endearments of life, the improvement of the mind by liberal inquiry,
and the cultivation of science and of art, form, it is true, no part of
the Christian system, for they flourished before it was known; but they
are intimately connected with the happiness and dignity of the human
race. A Christian should act ever consistent with his profession, but
he need not always be attending to the peculiar duties of it.  The
profession of religion does not oblige us to relinquish any undertaking
on account of its being worldly, for we must then go out of the world;
it is sufficient that every thing in which we engage is of such a nature
as will not violate the principles of virtue, or occupy so much of our
time or attention as may interfere with more sacred and important
duties.
Mr. --- observes, Jesus Christ uniformly waived interesting himself in temporal affairs, especially in the concerns of the then existing




16            CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
government; and hence he draws a precedent to regulate the conduct
of his followers. That our Saviour did not intermeddle with the policy
of nations I am as willing as our author to admit; for the improvement of this, any more than any other science which might be ex
tremely short and defective, formed no part of his mission, and was
besides rendered quite unnecessary, by that energy of mind which,
prompted by curiosity, by our passions and our wants, will ever be
abundantly sufficient to perpetuate and refine every civil or human
institution   He never intended that his followers, on becoming Christians, should forget they were men, or consider themselves as idle or
uninterested spectators on the great theatre of life.  The author's
selection of proofs is almost always unhappy, but in no instance more
than the present, when he attempts to establish his doctrine of the
unlawfulness of a Christian interfering in the administration of govern.
ment on our Saviour's silencfe respecting it,-a circumstance of itself
sufficient to support a quite contrary conclusion; for if it had been his
Intention to discountenance the study of political subjects, he would
have furnished us without doubt with some general regulations, some
stated form of policy, which should for ever preclude the necessity of
such discussion; or, if that were impracticable, have let us into the
great secret of living without government; or, lastly, have supplied its
place by. a theocracy similar to that of the Jews. Nothing of this
has he accomplished, and we may therefore rest assured the political
affairs of nations are suffered to remain in their ancient channels, and
to be conducted as occasions may arise by Christians or by others,
without distinction.
3d. The principles of freedom ought, in a more peculiar manner,
to be cherished by Christians, because they alone can secure that
liberty of conscience and freedom  of inquiry which is essential to
the proper discharge of the duties of their profession.  A full toleration of religious opinions, and the protection of all parties in their
respective modes of worship, are the natural operations of a free government; and every thing that tends to check or restrain them materially affects the interests of religion. Aware of the force of religious
belief over the mind of man, of the generous independence it inspires,
and of the eagerness with which it is cherished and maintained, it is
towards this quarter the arm of despotism first directs its attacks,
while through every period the imaginary right of ruling the conscience has been the earliest assumed, and the latest relinquished.
Under this conviction, an enlightened Christian, when he turns his
attention to political occurrences, will rejoice in beholding every adance towards freedom in the government of nations, as it forms, not
only a barrier to the encroachments of tyranny, but a security, to the
diffusion and establishment of truth. A considerable portion of personal freedom may be enjoyed, it is true, under a despotic government,
or, in other words, a great part of human actions may be left uncon
trolled; but with this an enlightened mind will never rest satisfied,
because it is at best but an indulgence flowing from motives of policy,
or the lenity of the prince, which may be at any time withdraw-'




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                        17
the hand that bestowed it. Upon the same principles, religious toleration may have an accidental and precarious existence, in states whose
policy is the most arbitrary; but, in such a situation, it seldom  lasts
long, and can never rest upon a secure and permanent basis, disappearing for the most part along with those temporary views of interest
or policy on which it was founded. The history of every age will
attest the truth of this observation.
Mr. -, in order to prepare us to digest his principles, tells us,
in the first page of his discourse, that the gospel dispensation is spiritual, the worship it enjoins simple and easy, and if liberty of conscience
be granted, all its exterior order may be regarded under every kind of
human government. This is very true, but it is saying no more than
that the Christian worship may be always carried on if it is not interrupted, a point, I presume, no one will contend with him.  The question is, can every form of government furnish a security for liberty of
conscience; or, which is the same thing, can the rights of private
judgment be safe under a government whose professed principle is,
that the subject has no rights at all, but is a vassal dependent upon his
superior lord? Nor is this a futile or chimerical question; it is founded
upon fact. The state to which it alludes is the condition at present
of more than half the nations of Europe; and if there were no better
patriots than this author, it would soon be the condition of them all
The blessings which we estimate highly we are naturally eager to
perpetuate, and whoever is acquainted with the value of religious freedom will not be content to suspend it on the clemency of a prince,
the indulgence of ministers, or the liberality of bishops, if ever such a
thing existed; he will never think it secure, till it has a constitutional
basis; nor even then, till by the general spread of its principles every
individual becomes its guarantee, and every arm ready to be lifted up.n its defence. Forms of policy may change, or they may survive the
spirit that produced them; but when the seeds of knowledge have been
once sown, and have taken root in the human mind, they will advance
with a steady growth, and even flourish in those alarming scenes of
anarchy and confusion in which the settled order and regular machinery
of government are wrecked and disappear.
Christianity, we see then, instead of weakening our attachment to
the principles of freedom, or withdrawing them from our attention,
renders them doubly dear to us, by giving us an interest in them, proportioned to the value of those religious privileges they secure and protect.
Our author endeavours to cast reproach on the advocates for liberty
by attempting to discredit their piety, for which purpose he assures us,
to be active in this cause is disreputable, and brings the reality of our
religion into just suspicion.  " Who are the persons," he asks, 1" that
embark?  Are they the spiritual, humble, and useful teachers, who
travel in birth, till Christ be formed in the hearts of their hearers? No.
They are philosophical opposers of the grand peculiarities of Christianity." It is of little consequence of what descriptions of persons
the friends of freedom consist, provided their principles are just, and
their arguments well founded; but here, as in other places, the author
VOL. II. -B




Is           UICHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
displays an utter ignorance of facts.  Men who know no age but their
own must draw their precedents from it; or, if M/Ir. --     had glanced
only towards the history of England, he must have remembered, that
in the reigns of Charles the First and Second, the chief friends of freedom were the puritans, of whom many were republicans, and the remainder zealously attached to a limited monarchy. It is to the distinguished
exertions of this party we are in a great measure indebted for the preservation of our free and happy constitution.  In those distracted and
turbulent times which preceded the restoration of Charles the Second,
the puritans, who to a devotion the most fervent united an eager
attachment to the doctrines of grace, as they are commonly called,
displayed on every occasion a love of freedom, pushed almost to excess; while the cavaliers, their opponents, who ridiculed all that was
serious, and, if they had any religion at all, held sentiments directly
repugnant to the tenets of Calvin, were the firm supporters of arbitrary
power.  If the Unitarians then are at present distinguished for their
zeal in the cause of freedom, it cannot be imputed to any alliance
between their religious and political opinions, but to the conduct natural to a minority, who, attempting bold innovations, and maintaining
sentiments very different from those which are generally held, are
sensible they can only shelter themselves from persecution and
reproach, and gain an impartial hearing from the public, by throwing
down the barriers of prejudice, and claiming an unlimited freedom of
thought.
4th. Though Christianity does not assume any immediate direction
in the affairs of government, it inculcates those duties and recommends
that spirit which will ever prompt us to cherish the principles of
freedom. It teaches us to check every selfish passion, to consider
ourselves as parts of a great community, and to abound in all the fruits
of an active benevolence.  The particular operation of this principle
will be regulated by circumstances as they arise, but our obligation to
cultivate it is clear and indubitable. As this author does not pretend
that the nature of a government has no connexion with the felicity of
those who are the subjects of it, he cannot without the utmost incon.
sistency deny, that to watch over the interests of our fellow-creatures
in this respect is a branch of the great duty of social benevolence.
If we are bound to protect a neighbour, or even an enemy, from
violence, to give him raiment when he is naked, or food when he is
hungry, much more ought we to do our part towards the preservation
of a free government; the only basis on which the enjoyment of these
blessings can securely rest.  He who breaks the fetters of slavery,
and delivers a nation from thraldom, forms, in my opinion, the noblest
comment on the great law of love, while he distributes the greatest
blessing which man can receive from man; but next to that is the'
merit of him who, in times like the present, watches over the edifice
of public liberty, repairs its foundations, and strengthens its cement,
when he beholds it hastening to decay.
It is not in the power of every one, it is true, to benefit his age or
country in this d"stinguished manner, and accordingly it is nowhere




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                      19
expressly commanded; but where this ability exists it is not dimin
ished by our embracing Christianity, which consecrates every talent to
the public good.  On whomsoever distinguished endowments are
bestowed, as Christians we ought to rejoice when, instead of being
wasted in vain or frivolous pursuits, we behold them employed on
objects of the greatest general concern; among which those principles
of freedom will ever be reckoned which determine the destiny of
nations and the collective felicity of the human race.
5th. Our author expresses an ardent desire for the approach of that
period when all men will be Christians. I have no doubt that this
event will take place, and rejoice in the prospect of it; but whenever
it arrives it will be fatal to Mr. -'s favourite principles; for the
professors of Christianity must then become politicians, as the wicked,
on whom he at present very politely devolves the business of government, will be no more: or perhaps he indulges a hope that even then
there will be a sufficient number of sinners left to conduct political
affairs, especially as wars will then cease, and social life be less frequently disturbed by rapine and injustice. It will still, however, be a
great hardship that a handful of the wicked should rule innumerable
multitudes of the just, and cannot fail, according to our present conceptions, to operate as a kind of check on piety and virtue. How
Mr.        will settle this point I cannot pretend to say, except he
imagines men will be able to subsist without any laws or civil regulations, or intends to revive the long-exploded tradition of Papias,
respecting the personal reign.
Had Christianity been intended only for the benefit of a few, or as
the distinction of a small fraternity, there might have been some pretence for setting its profession in opposition to human policy, since it
might then have been conducted without their interference; but a
religion which is formed for the whole world, and will finally be embraced by all its inhabitants, can never be clogged with any such impediment as would render it repugnant to the social existence of mankind.
SECTION II.
On the Duty of Ministers in Respect to Civil Polity.
MR.        is extremely severe upon those of his brethren who,
forsaking the quiet duties of their profession, as he styles them, have
dared to interfere in public affairs.  This he considers a most flagrant
offence, an alarming departure from their proper province; and in the
fulness of his rage, he heaps upon them every epithet which contempt
or indignation can suggest; calls them meddling, convivial, political
ministers, devoid of all seriousness and dignity.  It is rather extraordinajxy this severe correction should be administered by a man who is at
that moment guilty of the offence he is chastising; reproaches political
preachers in a political sermon; ridicules theories of government, and
at the same time advances one of his own, a most wretched one
B2




20           CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
indeed, but delivered in a tone the most arrogant and decisive. It is not
political discussion then, it seems, that has ruffled the gentle serenity
of our author's temper; f6r lie too, we see, can bend, when it pleases
him, from his spiritual elevation, and let fall his oracular responses on
the duty of subjects and of kings. But the persons on whom he
denounces his anathemas have presumed to adopt a system of politics
inconsistent with his own, and it is less his piety than his pride that is
shocked and offended.  Instead of submitting to be moulded by any
adept in cringes and posture-master of servility, they have dared to
assume the bold and natural port of freemen.
It will be unnecessary to say much on the duty of ministers in
respect to political affairs, as many of the renections which this sub
ject would suggest have been already advanced under a former head.
A few considerations, however, present themselves here, to which I
shall beg the reader's attention.
The duties of the ministerial character, it will on all hands be con
fessed, are of a nature the most sacred and important.'Yo them
should be directed the first and chief attention of every person who
sustains it, and whatever is found to interfere with these momentous
engagements should be relinquished as criminal and imptvper.  But
there is no profession which occupies the mind so tufly as not to
leave many intervals of leisure, in which objects that lie out of its
immediate province will have a share of our attention; and I see not
why these periods of recess may not be employed with as much dignity and advantage in acquiring an acquaintance with the principle of
government, as wasted in frivolous amusements or an inactive indolence.
Mr., with his usual confidence, lays it down as a maxim, that
the science of politics cannot be cultivated without a neglect of ministerial duties; and one would almost be tempted to suppose he had
published his sermon as a confirmation of this remark, as a more
striking example of political ignorance in a teacher of religion has
scarcely ever been exhibited.  As far, therefore, as the preacher himself is concerned, the observation will be admitted in its full force;
but he has surely no right to make his own weakness the standard of
another's strength.
Political science, as far as it falls under our present contemplation,
may be considered in two points of view. It may either intend a discussion of the great objects for which governments are formed, or it
may intend a consideration of the means which may be employed, and
the particular contrivances that may be fallen upon to accomplish
those objects.  For example, in vindicating the revolution in France,
two distinct methods may be pursued with equal propriety and success
It may be defended upon its principles against the friends of arbitrary
power, by displaying the value of freedom, the equal rights of mankind,
the folly and injustice of those regal or aristocratic pretensions by which
those rights were invaded; accordingly, in this light it has been justified with the utmost success.  Or it may be defended upon its expedients, by exhibiting the elements of government which it has composed,
the laws it has enacted, and the tendency of both to extend and per




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                       21
petuate that liberty which is its ultimate object.  But thoaigh each of
these modes of discussion falls within the province of politics, it is
obvious the degree of inquiry, of knowledge, and of labour they require
differs widely. The first is a path which has been often and successfully trod, turns upon principles which are common to all times and
places, and which demand little else to enforce conviction than calm
and dispassionate attention. The latter method, involving a question
of expediency, not of right, would lead into a vast field of detail, would
require a thorough acquaintance with the situation of persons and of'
things, as well as long and intimate acquaintance with human affairs.
There are but few ministers who have capacity or leisure to become
great practical politicians.  To explore the intricacies of commercial
science, to penetrate the refinements of negotiation, to determine with
certainty and precision the balance of power, are undertakings, it
will be confessed, which lie very remote from the ministerial department; but the principles of government, as it is a contrivance for
securing the freedom and happiness of men, may be acquired with
great ease.
These principles our ancestors understood well, and it would be no
small shame if, in an age which boasts so much light and improvement
as the present, they were less familiar to us.  There is no class of
men to whom this species of knowledge is so requisite, on several
accounts, as dissenting ministers.  The jealous policy of the establishment forbids our youth admission into the celebrated seats of learning;
our own seminaries, at least till lately, were almost entirely confined
to candidates for the ministry; and as on both these accounts, among
us the intellectual improvement of our religious teachers rises superior
to that of private Christians, in a greater degree than in the national
church, the influence of their opinions is wider in proportion.  Disclaiming, as they do, all pretensions to dominion, their public character,
their professional leisure, the habits of study and composition which
they acquire, concur to point them out as the natural guardians, in
some measure, of our liberties and rights. Besides, as they are appointed to teach the whole compass of social duty, the mutual obligations of rulers and subjects will of necessity fall under their notice,
and they cannot explain or enforce the reasons of submission without
displaying the proper end of government and the expectations we may
naturally form from it; which, when accurately done, will lead into the
very depths of political science.
There is another reason, however, distinct from any I have yet
mentioned, flowing from the nature of an established religion, why
dissenting ministers, above all men, should be well skilled in the principles of freedom.  Wherever, as in England, religion is established
by law, with splendid emoluments and dignities annexed to its profession, the clergy, who are candidates for these distinctions, will ever
be prone to exalt the prerogative, not only in order to strengthen the
arm on which they lean, but that they may the more successfully
ingratiate themselves in the favour of the prince, by flattering those
R.mbitious views and passions whic;h are too readily entertained by




22S          CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
persons possessed of supreme power. The boasted alliance between
church and state, on which so many encomiums have been lavished,
seems to have been little more than a compact between the priest and
the magistrate to betray the liberties of mankind, both civil and religious. To this the clergy on their part at least have continued
steady, shunning inquiry, fearful of change, blind to the corruptions
of government, skilful to discern the signs of the times, and eager to
improve every opportunity, and to employ all their art and eloquence
to extend the prerogative and smooth the approaches of arbitrary
power.  Individuals are illustrious exceptions to this censure; it however applies to the body, to none more than to those whose exalted
rank and extensive influence determine its complexion and spirit. In
this situation, the leaders of that church, in their fatal attempt to
recommend and embellish a slavish system of principles, will, I trust,
be ever carefully watched and opposed by those who hold a similar
station among the dissenters; that at all events there may remain one
asylum to which insulted freedom may retire unmolested.  These
considerations are sufficient to justify every dissenting minister in
well-timed exertions for the public cause, and from them we may
learn what opinion to entertain of Mr. -'s weak and malignant
invectives.
From the general strain of his discourse, it would be natural to conclude he was an enemy to every interference of ministers on political
occasions; but this is not the case.  Ministers, says he, may interfere
as peace-makers, and by proper methods should counteract the spirit of
faction raised by persons who seem born to vex the state. After having
taught them to remain in a quiet neutrality, he invests them all at once
with the high character of arbiters between the contending parties,
without considering that an office of so much delicacy would demand
a most intimate acquaintance with the pretensions of both. Ministers,
it should seem, instead of declining political interference, are to become such adepts in the science of government, as to distinguish with
precision the complaints of an oppressed party from the clamours of
a faction, to hold the balance between the ruler and the subject with a
steady hand, and to point out, on every occasion, and counteract the
persons who are born to vex the state. If any should demand by what
means they are to furnish themselves for such extraordinary undertakings, he will learn it is not by political investigation or inquiry this
profound skill is to be attained, but by a studied inattention and neglect,
of which this author, it must be confessed, has given his disciples a
most edifying example in his first essay. There is something mi.
raculous in these endowments. This battle is not to the strong, nor
these riches to men of understanding.  Our author goes a step further,
for when he is in the humour for concessions no man can be more liberal.  So far as resolutions, says he, are parts of God's plan of' government, a Christian is not to hinder such changes in states as promise
an increase of happiness to mankind.  But nowhere in the New Testament can a Christian find countenance in becoming a forward active
man in regeneratizg Io/e civil constitutions of nations.  A Christian is




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                        23
not to oppose revolutions, as far as they are parts of God's plan of
government. The direction which oracles afford has ever been complained of for its obscurity; and this of Mr., though no doubt it
is fraught with the profoundest wisdom, would have been more useful
had it furnished some criterion to distinguish those transactions which
are parts of God's plan of government. We have hitherto imagined
the elements of nature and the whole agency of man are comprehended within the system of Divine Providence; but as in this sense
every thing becomes a part of the divine plan, it cannot be his meaning. Perhaps he means to confine the phrase of God's plan of government to that portion of human agency which is consistent with the
divine will and promises, as he says, an increase of happiness to mankind. If this should be his intention, the sentiment is just, but utterly
subversive of the purpose for which it is introduced, as it concurs with
the principle of all reformers in leaving us no other direction in these
cases than reason and experience, determined in their exertions by a
regard to the general happiness of mankind. On this basis the wildest
projectors profess to erect their improvements.  On this principle too
do the dissenters proceed, when they call for a repeal of the Test Act,
when they lament the unequal representation of parliament, when they
wish to see a period to ministerial corruption, and to the encroachments of a hierarchy equally servile and oppressive; and thus by one
unlucky concession this author has admitted the groundwork of reform
in its fullest extent, and has demolished the whole fabric he was so
eager to rear. He must not be offended if principles thus corrupt and
thus feebly supported should meet with the contempt they deserve,
but must seek his consolation in his own adage, as the correction of
folly is certainly a part of God's plan of government. The reader
can be at no loss to determine whom the author intends by a busy
active man in regenerating the civil constitutions of nations.  The
occasion of the sermon and complexion of its sentiments concur in
directing us to Dr. Priestley,-a person whom the author seems to
regard with a more than odium theologicum, with a rancour exceeding
the measure even of his profession. The religious tenets of Dr.
Priestley appear to me erroneous in the extreme; but I should be sorry
to suffer any difference of sentiment to diminish my sensibility to
virtue or my admiration of genius. From him the poisoned arrow
will fall pointless. His enlightened and active mind, his unwearied
assiduity, the extent of his researches, the light he has poured into
almost every department of science, will be the admiration of that
period when the greater part of those who have favoured, or those
who have opposed him, will be alike forgotten. Distinguished merit
will ever rise superior to oppression, and will draw lustre from reproach.
The vapours which gather round the rising sun, and follow it in its
course, seldom fail at the close of it to form a magnificent theatre for
its reception, and to invest with variegated tints, and with a softened
effulgence, the luminary which they cannot hide.*
* Whether or not the beautiful passage in the text was suggested by a floating vague recollection
of the fbliox\ ill: liiie of P)PE, or were an avowed imitation of them, ces.not now be determined. BrI




24             CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
It is a pity, however, our author in reproaching characters so illustrious was not a little more attentive to facts; for unfortunately for
him Dr. Priestley has not in any instance displayed that disaffection to
government with which he has been charged so wantonly.  In his
Lectures on History and his Essay on Civil Government, which of all
his publications fall most properly within the sphere of politics, he
has delineated the British constitution with great accuracy, and has
expressed his warm  admiration of it as the best system  of policy the
sagacity of man has been able to contrive. In his Familiar Letters to
the Inhabitants of Birmingham, a much later work, where the seeds
of that implacable dislike were scattered which produced the late
riots, he has renewed that declaration, and has informed us that he
has been pleasantly ridiculed by his friends as being a unitarian in
religion and a trinitarian in politics.   He has lamented, indeed, in
common with every enlightened citizen, the existence of certain corruptions, which, being gradually introduced into the constitution, have
greatly impaired its vigour; but in this he has had the honour of being
followed by the prime minister himself, who began his career by proposing a reform in parliament-merely to court popularity it is true, at
a time when it would not have been so safe for him to insult the friends
of freedom after having betrayed their interest, as he has since
found it.
Dr. Priestley has, moreover, defended with great ability and success the principles of our dissent, exposing, as the very nature of the
undertaking demands, the folly and injustice of all clerical usurpations; and on this account, if on no other, he is entitled to the gratitude of his brethren.  In addition to this catalogue of crimes, he has
ventured to express his satisfaction on the liberation of France; an
event which, promising a firmer establishment to liberty than any recorded in the annals of the world, is contemplated by the friends of
arbitrary power throughout every kingdom of Europe with the utmost
concern.  These are the demerits of Dr. Priestley, for which this
political astrologist and sacred calculator of nativities pronounces upon
him that he is born to vex the state.  The best apology candour call
suggest will be to hope Mr.             has never read Dr. Priestley's
political works; a conjecture somewhat confirmed from his disclaiming all attention to political theories, and from the extreme ignorance
he displays through the whole of his discourse on political topics.
Still it is to be wished he would have condescended to understand
what he means to confute, if it had been only to save himself the
trouble and disgrace of this publication.
be this as it may, I think it will be readily admitted, that the rhythm and harmony of the passage
in prose are decidedly superior to those in the lines of the poet:"Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue,
But, like a shadow, prove the substance true:
For envied wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known
Th' opposing body's grossness, not its own.
When first that sun too powerful beams displays,
It draws up vapoturs which obscure its rays;
But e'en those clouds at last adorn its way,
Reflect new glories and augment the day."'-ED




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                       25
The manner in which he speaks of the Birmingham riots, and
the cause to which he traces them, are too remarkable to pass
unnoticed.
When led, says he, speaking of the sufferers, by officious zeal, from
the quiet duties of their profession into the senator's province: unhallowed boisterous passions in others; like their own, God may permit
to chastise them.  For my own part I was some time before I could
develop this extraordinary passage; but I now find the darkness in
which it is veiled is no more than that mystic sublimity which has
always tinctured the language of those who are appointed to interpret
the counsels of Heaven.
I would not have Mr.    - deal too freely in these visions, lest the
fire and illumination of the prophet should put out the reason of the
man; a caution the more necessary in the present instance, as it glimmers so feebly already in several parts of his discourse that its extinction would not be at all extraordinary. We are, no doubt, much
obliged to him for letting us into a secret we could never have learned
any other way.  We thank him heartily for informing us that the
Birmingham riots were a judgment, and as we would wish to be grateful for such an important communication, we would whisper in his ear
in return, that he should be particularly careful not to suffer this itch
of prophesying to grow upon him, men being extremely apt in this
degenerate age to mistake a prophet for a madman, and to lodge them
in the same place of confinement. The best use he could make of his
mantle would be to bequeath it to the use of posterity, as for the want
of it I am afraid they will be in danger of falling into some very unhappy mistakes.  To their unenlightened eyes it will appear a reproach, that in the eighteenth century, an age that boasts its science
and improvement, the first philosopher in Europe, of a character unblemished, and of manners the most mild and gentle, should be torn
from his family, and obliged to flee an outcast and a fugitive from the
murderous hands of a frantic rabble; but when they learn that there
were not wanting teachers of religion who secretly triumphed in these
barbarities, they will pause for a moment, and imagine they are reading the history of Goths or of Vandals.  Erroneous as such a judgment must appear in the eyes of Mr. -, nothing but a ray of
his supernatural light could enable us to form a juster decision. Dr.
Priestley and his friends are not the first that have suffered in a public
cause; and when we recollect that those who have sustained similar
disasters have been generally conspicuous for a superior sanctity of
character, what but an acquaintance with the counsels of Heaven can
enable us to distinguish between these two classes of sufferers, and while
one are the favourites of God, to discern in the other the objects of his
vengeance. When we contemplate this extraordinary endowment, we
are no longer surprised at the superiority he assumes through the
whole of his discourse, nor at that air of confusion and disorder which
appears in it, both of which we impute to his dwelling so much in the.nlsufferable light, and amid the coruscations and flashes of the divine




2'd6           CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
glory; a sublime but perilous situation, described with gteat force and
beauty by Mr. Gray:"He passed the flaming bounds of place and tine,
The living throne, the sapphire blaze,
Where angels tremble while they gaze,
He saw; but blasted with excess of light,
Closed his eyes in endless night.'
SECTION III.
On the Pretences Mr.    ~  advances in Favour of his Principles.
HAVING endeavoured to justify the well-timed exertions of Christians and of ministers in the cause of freedom, it may not be improper
to examine a little more particularly under what pretences Mr.
presumes to condemn this conduct.
1st. The first that naturally presents itself is drawn from those
passages of Scripture, in which the design of civil government is
explained, and the duty of submission to civil authority is enforced.
That on which the greatest stress is laid is found in the thirteenth
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. "d Let every soul be subject to
the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: the powers
which be are ordained of God.   Whoever therefore resisteth the
power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive unto themselves damnation. The ruler is the minister of God
to thee for good. But if thou doest that which is evil, be afraid, for
he beareth not the sword in vain.  Wherefore ye must be subject, not
only for wrath, but conscience' sake." This passage, which, from the
time of Sir Robert Filmer to the present day, has been the stronghold
of the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, will admit of an
easy solution, by attending to the nature of Christianity, and the circumstances of its professors during the period it was written. The
extraordinary privileges and dignity conferred by the gospel on believers,
must have affected the minds of the first Christians, just emerging
from the shades of ignorance, and awakened to new hopes, with singular
force. Feeling an elevation to which they were strangers before, and
looking down upon the world around them as the vassals of sin and
Satan, they might be easily tempted to imagine the restraint of laws
could not extend to persons so highly privileged, and that it was ignominious in the free men of Jesus Christ to submit to the yoke of
idolatrous rulers.  Natural to their situation as these sentiments might
be, none could be conceived of more detrimental to the credit and
propagation of a rising religion, or more likely to draw down upon its
professors the whole weight of the Roman Empire, with which they
were in no condition to contend.  In this situation, it was proper for
the apostle to remind Christians their religion did not interfere with
the rights of princes, or diminish their obligation to attend to those
salutary regulations which are established for the protection of inno-,ence and the punishment of the guilty.  That this only was the




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                         27
intention of the writer may be inferred from the considerations he
adduces to strengthen his advice. He does not draw his arguments
for submission from any thing peculiar to the Christian system, as he
must have done had he intended to oppose that religion to the natural
rights of mankind, but from the utility and necessity of civil restraints.
" The ruler is the minister of God to thee for good," is the reason he
urges for submission. Civil government, as if he had said, is a salutary
institution, appointed to restrain and punish outrage and injustice, but
exhibiting to the quiet and inoffensive nothing of which they need to
be afraid.  " If thou doest that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth
not the sword in vain." He is an avenger to execute wrath upon him
that doeth evil. Christians were not to consider themselves privileged
above their fellow-citizens, as their religion conferred upon them no
-livil immunities, but left them subject to all the ties and restraints,
whatever they were, which could be justly imposed by the civil power
on any other part of mankind.
The limits of every duty must be determined by its reasons, and the
only ones assigned here, or that can be assigned for submission to civil
authority, are its tendency to do good; wherever, therefore, this shall
cease to be the case, submission becomes absurd, having no longer any
rational view. But at what time this evil shall be judged to have
arrived, or what remedy it may be proper to apply, Christianity does
not decide, but leaves to be determined by an appeal to natural reason
and right. By one of the strongest misconceptions in the world, when
we are taught that Christianity does not bestow upon us any new rights,
it has been thought to strip us of our old; which is just the same as
i.t would be to conclude, because it did not first furnish us with hands
or feet, it obliges us to cut them off.
Under every form of government, that civil order which affords
protection to property and tranquillity to individuals must be obeyed;
and I have no doubt that before the revolution in France, they who are
now its warmest admirers, had they lived there, would have yielded a
quiet submission to its laws, as being conscious the social compact
can only be considered as dissolved by an expression of the general
will. In the mean time, they would have continued firm in avowing
the principles of freedom, and by the spread of political knowledge
have endeavoured to train and prepare the minds of their fellow-citizens
for accomplishing a change so desirable.
It is not necessary to enter into a particular examination of the other
texts adduced by Mr.        in support of his sentiments, as this in
Romans is by much the most to his purpose, and the remarks that have
been made upon it may, with very little alteration, be applied to the
rest. He refers us to the second chapter of the first Epistle of Peter.
1" Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake;
whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them
that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the
praise of them that do well." Here it is sufficient to remark, all that
can be inferred from this passage is, that Christians are not to hold
themselves exempt from the obligation of obedience on account of their




'28           CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
religion, but are to respect legislation as far as it is found productive
of benefit in social life.
With still less propriety he urges the first of Timothy, "where in
the second chapter we are exhorted to supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men, for kings, and for all that
are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all
godliness and honesty." I am unacquainted with any who refilse a
compliance with this apostolical admonition, except the nonjurors may
be reckoned of this class, whose political sentiments are of a piece
with our author's.
While he pleads with so much eagerness for the duty of passive
obedience, we are not, however, to suppose he wishes to extend it to
all mankind.  He admits, " that society, under the wisest regulations,
will degenerate, and there will be periods when associated bodies must be
resolved again into its first principles."  All resistance to authority,
every revolution, is not in his own opinion criminal; it is Christians
only who are never to have a share in these transactions, never to
assert their rights.  With what different sentiments did the'apostle
of the gentiles contemplate his character, when disdaining to accept a
clandestine dismission from  an unjust imprisonment, he felt a glow of
indignant pride burn upon his cheek, and exclaimed, with a Roman
energy, "I was free born!"
2d. Another reason which this author assigns for a blind deference
to civil authority is, that Christianity is " distinct from, and independent
of human legislation."  This principle no Protestant Dissenter will
be inclined to question, but instead of lending any support to the system
of passive obedience, it will overturn it from its foundation; for if
religion be really distinct from and independent of human legislation,
it cannot afford any standard to ascertain its limits; as the moment it
is applied to this purpose it ceases to be a thing distinct and independent.
For example, it is not doubted that a Christian may lawfully engage in
trade or commerce; but if it be asked why his profession does not
interfere with such an undertaking, the proper reply will be, religion is
a thing distinct and independent. Should it be again inquired, why
a Christian may become a trader, yet must not commit a theft, we
should answer, that this latter action is not a thing distinct, or independent of religion, but falls immediately under its cognizance, as a
violation of its laws.  Thus it appears, that whatever portion of human
conduct is really independent of religion is lawful for that very reason,
and can then only become criminal or improper, when it is suffered to
intrench upon more sacred or important duties.  The truth is, between
two institutions, such as civil government and religion, which have a
separate origin and end, no opposition can subsist but in the brain of a
distempered enthusiast.
The author's text confutes his doctrine, for had our Saviour annihi
lated our rights, he would have become a judge and divider over us,
in the worst sense, if that could be said to be divided which is taken
away.  When any two institutions are affirmed to be distinct and independent, it can only mean they do not interfere; but that must be.)




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                       29
genius of no common size who can infer from religion not interfering
with the rights of mankind, that they cease to be, or that the patrimony
over which our Lord declined to exercise any authority he has
scattered and destroyed.
3d. Similar to the last I have considered is that pretense for excluding Christians from any concern in political affairs, taken from the
conduct of our Saviour.  Mr.        tells us, that Christ uniformly
waived interesting himself in the concerns of the then existing government; and to the same purpose he afterward remarks, he always
declined the functions of a civil magistrate.
The most careless reader will remark, the whole weight of this
argument rests upon a supposition that it is unlawful for a Christian
to sustain any other character in civil life than that in which our
Saviour literally appeared; a notion as extravagant as was ever
nourished in the brain of the wildest fanatic. Upon this principle he
must have gone through such a succession of offices, and engaged in
such an endless variety of undertakings, that in place of thirty-three
years, he needed to have lived thirty-three centuries.  On this ground
the profession of physic is unlawful for a Christian, because our Lord
never set up a dispensary; and that of law, because he never pleaded
at the bar.  Next to the weakness of advancing such absurdity is that
of confuting it.
4th. The author, in proof of his political tenets, appeals to the devotional feelings of his hearers.  " I ask you," says he, " who make
conscience of entering into your closets, and shutting your doors, and
praying to your Father which seeth in secret; what subjects interest
you most then?  Are not factious passions hushed; the undue heat
you felt in political disputation remembered with sorrow?" He must
be at a great loss for argument who will have recourse to such loose
and flimsy declamation.  When engaged in devout admiration of the
Supreme Being, every other object will be lost in the comparison; but
this, though the noblest employment of the mind, was never intended
to shut out all other concerns.  The affections which unite us to the
world have a large demand upon us, and must succeed in their turn.
If every thing is to be deemed criminal that does not interest the
attention in the very moment of worship, political concerns are not the
only ones to be abandoned, but every undertaking of a temporal nature,
all labour and ingenuity must cease. Science herself must shroud
her light. These are notions rather to be laughed at than confuted, for
their extravagance will correct itself.  Every attempt that has been
made to rear religion on the ruins of nature, or to render it subversive
of the economy of life, has hitherto proved unsuccessful, while the
institutions that have flowed from it are now scarcely regarded in any
other light than as humiliating monuments of human weakness and
folly. The natural vigour of the mind, when it has once been opened
by. knowledge, and turned towards great and interesting objects, will
always overpower the illusions of fanaticism; or, could Mr.'s
principles be carried into effect, we should soon behold men returning
again to the state of a savage, and a imore than monkish barbarity and




30            CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
ignorance would overspread the earth. That abstraction from the
world it is his purpose to recommend is in truth as inconsistent with
the nature of religion as with the state and condition of man; for
Christianity does not propose to take us out of the world, but to preserve us from the pollutions which are in it.
It is easy to brand a passion for liberty with the odious epithet of
faction; no two thing~, however, can be more opposite. Faction is a
combination of a few to oppress the liberties of many; the love of free.dom is the impulse of an enlightened and presiding spirit, ever intent
upon the welfare of the community or body to which it belongs, and
ready to give the alarm when it beholds any unlawful conspiracy formed,
whether it be of rulers or of subjects, with a design to oppress it.
Every tory upholds a faction; every whig, as far as he is sincere and
well-informed, is a friend to the equal liberties of mankind. Absurd
as the preacher's appeal must appear on such an occasion to the devout
feelings of tis hearers, we have no need to decline it. In those solemn
moments factious passions cannot indeed be too much hushed, but that
warmth which animates the patriot, which glowed in the breast of a
iSlcney or a Hampden, was never chilled or diminished, we may venture to affirm, in its nearest approaches to the uncreated splendour;
and if it mingled with their devotion at all, could not fail to infuse into
tL a fresh force and vigour by drawing them into a closer assimilation
zo that great Being who appears under the character of the avenger of
bhe oppressed and the friend and protector of the human race.
5th. Lastly, the author endeavours to discredit the principles of
creedom by holding them up as intimately connected with the Unitarian
heresy.  "; We are not to be surprised," he says, " if men who vacate
the rule of faith in Jesus Christ should be defective in deference and
in obedient regards to men who are raised to offices of superior influence for the purposes of civil order and public good."  The persons
he has in view are the Unitarians, and that my reader may be in full
possession of this most curious argument, it may be proper to inform
him that a Unitarian is a person who believes Jesus Christ had no
existence till he appeared on our earth, while a trinitarian maintains
that he existed with the Father from all eternity.  What possible
connexion can he discern between these opinions and the subject of
government?
In order to determine whether the supreme power should be vested
in king, lords, and commons as in England, in an assembly of nobles
as in Venice, or in a house of representatives as in America or France,
must we first decide upon the person of Christ? I should imagine we
might as well apply to astronomy first, to learn whether the earth flat
tens at the poles.  Hie explains what he means by vacating the rule
of faith in Christ when he charges the Unitarians with a partial denial
at least of the inspiration of the Scripture, particularly the epistles of
St. Paul.  But, however clear the inspiration of the Scriptures may
be, as no one pleads for the inspiration of civil governors, the deference
which is due to the first, as coming from God, can be no reason for an
unlimited submission to the latter.  Yet this is Mr. -~'s argument,




A LOVE OF FREEDOM).                       31
and it runs thus: Every opposition to Scripture is criminal, because
it is inspired, and therefore every resistance to temporal rulers is criminal, though they are not inspired.
The number of passages in Paul's epistles which treat of civil
government is small, the principal of them have been examined, and
whether they are inspired or not has not the remotest relation to the
question before us. The inspiration of an author adds weight to his
sentiments, but makes no alteration in his meaning, and unless Mr,
can show that Paul inculcates unlimited submission, the belief
of his inspiration can yield no advantage to his cause. Among those
parties of Christians who have maintained the inspiration of the Scriptures in its utmost extent, the number of such as have inferred from
them the doctrine of passive obedience has been extremely small; it
is therefore ridiculous to impute the rejection of this tenet by Unitarians to a disbelief of plenary inspiration.  It behooves Mr.  to
point out, if he is able, any one of the Unitarians who ever imagined
that Paul means to recommend unlimited obedience; for till that is the
case it is plain their political opinions cannot have arisen from any
contempt of that apostle's authority.
As there is no foundation in the nature of things for imagining any
alliance between heretical tenets and the principles of freedom, this
notion is equally void of support from fact or history.  Were the
socinian sentiments, in particular, productive of any peculiar impatience
under the restraints of government, this effect could not fail of having
made its appearance on their first rise in Poland, while their influence
was fresh and vigorous; but nothing of this nature occurred, nor was
any such reproach cast upon them.  That sect in England which has
been always most conspicuous for the love of freedom have for the
most part held sentiments at the greatest remove from socinianism that
can be imagined. The seeds of those political principles which broke
out with such vigour in the reign of Charles the First, and have since
given rise to the denomination of whigs, were sown in the latter end
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth by the hand of the puritans, among
whom the unitarian doctrine was then utterly unknown. The dissenters, descended from those illustrious ancestors, and inheriting their
spirit, have been foremost in defence of liberty, not only or chiefly of
late, since the spread of the socinian doctrine, but before that system
had gained any footing among us.
The knowledge and study of the Scriptures, far from favouring the
pretensions of despotism, have almost ever diminished it, and been
attended with a proportional increase of freedom. The union of Prot.
estant princes preserved the liberties of the Germanic body, when they
were in danger of being overwhelmed by the victorious arm of Charles
the Fifth; yet a veneration for the Scriptures, at a time when they
had almost fallen into oblivion, and an appeal to their decisions in all
points, was the grand characteristic of the new religion. If we look
into Turkey we shall find the least of that impatience under restraints
which Mr.        laments of any place in the world, though Paul arid
his epistles are not much studied there.




32            CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
There are not wanting reasons which at first view might induLce us
to conclude unitarianism was less favourable to the love of freedom
than almost any other system of religious belief. If any party of
Christians were ever free from the least tincture of enthusiasm, it is
the Unitarian: yet that passion has by every philosopher been judged
friendly to liberty; and to its influence, though perhaps improperly,
some of its most distinguished exertions have been ascribed. Hume
and Bolingbroke, who were atheists, leaned towards arbitrary power.
Owen, Howe, Milton, Baxter, some of the most devout and venerable
characters that ever appeared, were warmly attached to liberty, and
held sentiments on the subject of government as free and unfettered as
Dr. Priestley. Thus every pretence for confounding the attachment
to freedom with the sentiments of a religious party is most abundantly
confuted both from reason and from fact. The zeal Unitarians have
displayed in defence of civil andreligious liberty is the spirit natural to
a minority who are well aware they are viewed by the ecclesiastical
powers with an unparalleled malignity and rancour. Let the dissenters at large remember they too are a minority, a great minority,
and that they must look for their security from the same quarter, not
from the compliments of bishops or presents from maids of honour.*
To abandon principles which the best and most enlightened men
have in all ages held sacred, which the dissenters in particular have
rendered themselves illustrious by defending, which have been sealed
and consecrated by the blood of our ancestors, for no other reason
than that the Unitarians chance to maintain them, would be a weakness
of which a child might be ashamed! Whoever may think fit to take
up the gauntlet in the socinian controversy will have my warmest good
wishes; but let us not employ those arms against each other which
were given us for our common defence.
SECTION IV.
On the Test Act.
AMID all the wild eccentricities which, abounding in every part ol
this extraordinary publication, naturally diminish our wonder at any
thing such a writer may advance, I confess I am surprised at his
declaring his wish for the continuance of the Test Act. This law,
enacted in the latter end of the reign of Charles the Second to secure
the nation from popery when it stood upon the brink of that precipice,
is continued, now that the danger no longer exists which first occasioned
it, for the express purpose of preserving the church from the inroads
of dissenters. That church, it must be remembered, existed for ages
before it received any such protection; yet it is now the vogue to mag* Some of my readers perhaps need to be informed that I here allude to Mr. Martin, who, for
similar services to those Mr.   is now performing, has been considerably caressed by certain
bishops, who have condescended to notice and to visit him. I thtnk we do not read that Judas had
any acquaintance with the high-priests till he came to transact business with them.




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                       33
nify its importance to that degree that one would imagine it was its
sole prop, whose removal would draw the whole fabric after it, or at
least make it totter to its base. Whether these apprehensions were
really entertained by the clergy who gave the signal for the commence.
ment of hostilities on a late occasion, or whether they were only im
pelled by that illiberal tincture and fixed antipathy to all who differ
from them which hath ever marked their character, may be doubted;
but to behold a dissenting minister joining with them in an unnatural
warfare against his brethren is a phenomenon so curious that it prompts
us to inquire into its cause. Let us hear his reasons. He and many
others were convinced, he tells us, "that some of the persons who
applied for the repeal were influenced by enmity against the doctrinal
articles of the established church, and they could not sacrifice their
pious regard to truth, though in a church they had separated from, to
the policy of men who with respect to God our Saviour only consult
how they may cast him down from his excellency." When we hear
the clergy exclaim that their church is in danger, we pretty well understand what they mean; they speak broad, as Mr. Burke says, and
intend no more than that its emoluments are endangered; but when a
serious dissenter expresses his pious regard to the doctrines of the
church, it is the truth of those articles he must be supposed to have in
view. Let us consider for a moment what advantage the Test Act is
capable of yielding them. All those who qualify for civil offices by a
submission to this law consist of two classes of people: they are either
persons who are attached to the articles of the church, from whom
therefore no danger could accrue, or they are persons who have signified their assent to doctrines which they inwardly disapprove, and who
have qualified themselves for trust by a solemn act of religious deception. It is this latter class alone, it should be remembered, whom the
Test Act can at all influence, and thus the only security this celebrated
law can afford the articles of the church is founded in a flagrant viola
tion of truth in the persons who become their guarantees. Every
attempt that has been made to uphold religion by the civil arm has
reflected disgrace upon its authors; but of all that are recorded in the
history of the world, perhaps this is the most absurd in its principle
and the least effectual in its operation. For the truth of sacred mysteries in religion, it appeals to the corruptest principles of the human
heart, and to those only; for no one can be tempted by the Test Act
to profess an attachment to the doctrines of the church till he has been
already allured by the dignity or emolument of a civil office. By compelling all who exercise any function in the state, from the person who
aspires to its highest distinctions to those who fill the meanest offices
in it, to profess that concurrence in religious opinions which is known
never to exist, it is adapted beyond any other human invention to
spread among all orders of men a contempt for sacred institutions, to
enthrone hypocrisy, and reduce deception to a system! The truth of
any set of opinions can only be perceived by evidence; but what evidence can any one derive from the mere mechanical action of receiving
cread and wine at the hands of a parish priest? He who believes them
VoL. II.-C




34           CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
already needs not to be initiated by any such ceremony; and by what
magic touch those simple elements are to convert the unbeliever, our
author, who is master of so many secrets, has not condescended to explain. He will not pretend to impute the first spread of these doctrines
in the infancy of the Christian religion or their revival at the Reformation to any such means, since he imagines he can trace them in the
New Testament. It is strange if that evidence which was powerful
enough to introduce them where they were unknown is not sufficient
to uphold them where they are already professed and believed. At
least, the Test Act, it must be confessed, has yielded them no advantage, for they have been controverted with more acrimony and admitted
by a smaller number of persons since that law was enacted, than in
any period preceding.
Were the removal of this test to overthrow the establishment itself,
a consequence at the same time in the highest degree improbable, the
articles of the church, if they are true, would remain unendangered,
their evidence would continue unimpaired, an appeal to the inspired
writings from which they profess to be derived would be open, the
liberty of discussion would be admitted in as great an extent as at
present; this difference only would occur, that an attachment to them
would no longer be suspected of flowing from corrupt and sinister
motives. They would cease to be with the clergy the ladder of promotion, the cant of the pulpit, the ridicule of the schools. The futility
of this or any other law, as a security to religious doctrines, may be
discerned from this single reflection, that in the national church its
own articles have, for a length of time, been either treated with contempt, or maintained with little sincerity and no zeal; while among
the dissenters, where they have had no such aids, they have found a
congenial soil, and continue to flourish with vigour.
On the political complexion of this test, as it does not fall so
properly within my present view, I shall content myself with remarking, that harmless as it may appear at first sight, it carries in it the
3eeds of all the persecutions and calamities which have ever been susained on a religious account. It proscribes, not an individual who
has been convicted of a crime, but a whole party, as unfit to be trusted
by the community to which they belong; and if this stigma can be
justly fixed on any set of men, it ought not to stop here, or anywhere,
short of the actual excision of those who are thus considered as rotten
and incurable members of the political body. In annexing to religious
speculation the idea of political default, the principle of this law would
justify every excess of severity and rigour. If we are the persons ii
supposes, its indulgence is weak and contemptible; if we are of a
different description, the nature of its pretensions is so extraordinary
as to occasion serious alarm, and call aloud for its repeal. Mr.,
indeed, calls this and similar laws a restraint very prudently imposed
upon those who dissent from the established religion.*
This restraint, however, is no less than a political annihilation, de.
barring them, though their talents were ever so splendid, from mingling
* Page 6




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                       35
in the counsels, or possessing any share in the administration of their
country. With that natural relish for absurdity which characterizes
this author, he imagines they have justly incurred this evil for dissenting from an erroneous religion.
He tells us in the course of his sermon,* that the grand " principle
of separation from the church lies in the unworldly nature of our
Saviour's kingdom." This reason for separation implies, that any
attempt to blend worldly interests or policy with the constitution of a
church is improper; but how could this be done more effectually than
by rendering the profession of its articles a preliminary step to every
kind of civil pre-eminence? Yet this abuse, which in his own estimation is so enormous as to form the great basis of separation, he wishes
to perpetuate; and, all things considered, hopes "that which is at
rest will not be disturbed."  In another part of his discourse,t he
asks what temporalities has the church of Christ to expect? It is the
mother of harlots which says, " I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow." Would any one imagine this was the language of a man who,
in pleading for a Test Act, has rested the support of his creed on those
very temporalities he affects so much to disdain, and has committed
his religion to the arms of that mother of harlots to be reared and
nourished! When speaking of the Test Act in the seventh page of
his discourse, he thus expresses himself: 6" Surely the cross of Christ
ought not to be insulted by persons eager to press into the temple of
Mammon." WXho could treat it with more poignant severity than is
couched in this declaration? yet this is the language of a person who
desires its continuance.  In truth, his representations on this subject
are pregnant with such contradictions, and rise above each other in so
singular a gradation of absurdity, as will not be easily conceived, and
perhaps hath scarce ever been equalled.  At the very outset of his
sermon he declares, 6" Whenever the gospel is secularized it is debased
anid misrepresented, and in proportion to the quantity of foreign infusions is the efficacy of this saving health diminished." But human
ingenuity would be at a loss to contrive a method of secularizing the
gospel more completely than by rendering it the common passport of
all who aspire to civil distinctions. I am really weary of exposing
the wild and extravagant incoherence of such a reasoner.  From a
man who, professing to be the apologist of his party, betrays its interests, and exhibits its most illustrious members to reproach; who,
himself a dissenter, applauds the penalties which the hierarchy has
inflicted a "'prudent restraint;" who with the utmost poignance censures a law which he solemnly invokes the legislature to perpetuate;
mnd proposes to secure the truths of religion by the " profanation of its
sacraments,"t by 1" debasing the gospel," and " insulting the cross;"
any thing may be expected but consistence and decency.  When such
an author assures us he was not impelled by vanity to publish,~ we
may easily give him credit; but he should remember, though it may
be a virtue to subdue vanity, it is base to extinguish shame.  The
tear which he tells us started from the eyes of his audience, we will
* Page 35.   t Page 26.    + Page 8.    Q Page 6.
C2




36           t_,HRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH
hope, for their honour, was an effusion of regret natural to his friends
on hearing him deliver sentiments which they considered as a disgrace
to himself, and a calumny on his brethren.  His affecting to pour contempt upon Dr. Price, whose talents and character were revered by all
parties, and to hold him up as the -corrupter of the dissenters, will not
fail to awaken the indignation of every generous mind.  Whether they'were greater friends to their country whose pride and oppression scattered the flames of discord across the Atlantic, poured desolation into
the colonies, dismembered the empire, and involved us in millions of
debt, or the man who with a warning voice endeavoured to avert those
calamities, posterity will decide.
He gives us a pompous enumeration* of the piety, learning, and
talents of a large body of his brethren who concur with him in a disapprobation of the theological and political tenets of the Unitarians.
The weakness of mingling them together has been shown already;
but if these great and eminent men, whom the world never heard of
before, possess that zeal for their religion they pretend, let them meet,heir opponents on the open field of controversy, where they may display their talents and prowess to somewhat more advantage than in'kulking behind a consecrated altar.
There are many particulars in the address and sermon of an extraordinary complexion which I have not noticed at all, as it was not my
intention to follow the author step by step, but rather to collect his scattered representations into some leading points of view.  For the same
reason I make no remarks on his barbarous imagery or his style, everywhere incoherent and incorrect, sometimes indecent, which cannot fail
of disgusting every reader of taste.  In a rude daubing peculiar to
himself, where in ridicule of Dr. Priestley he has grouped together a
foreigner, a ship, and cargo of drugs, he has unfortunately sketched
his own likeness, except in the circumstance of the ship, with tolerable
tecuracy; for, without the apology of having been shipped into England, he is certainly a foreigner in his native tongue, and his publication will be allowed to be a drug.
Had he known to apply the remark with which his address commences, on the utility of accommodating instruction to the exigence of
times, he would have been aware that this is not a season for drawing
off the eyes of mankind from political objects. They were in fact
never turned towards them with equal ardour, and we may venture to
affirm they will long continue to take that direction.  An attention to
the political aspect of the world is not now the fruit of an idle curiosity,
or the amusement of a dissipated and frivolous mind, but is awakened
and kept alive by occurrences as various as they are extraordinary.
There are times when the moral world seems to stand still; there are
others when it seems impelled towards its goal with an accelerated
force.  The present is a period more interesting perhaps than any
which has been known in the whole flight of time.  The scenes ofProvidence thick6n upon us. so fast, and are shifted with so stralnge
rapidity, as if the great drama of the world were drawing to a
Page 6.




A LOVE OF FREEDOM.                         37
close.* Events have taken place of late, and revolutions have been effected, which, had they been foretold a very few years ago, would have
been viewed as visionary and extravagant; and their influence is yet far
trom being spent. Europe never presented such a spectacle before,
and it is worthy of being contemplated with the profoundest attention
by all its inhabitants. The empire of darkness and of despotism has
been smitten with a stroke which has sounded through the universe.
When we see whole kingdoms, after reposing for centuries on the lap
of their rulers, start from their slumber, the dignity of man rising up
from  depression, and tyrants trembling on their thrones, who can
remain entirely indifferent, or fail to turn his eye towards a theatre so
august and extraordinary! These are a kind of throes and struggles
of nature to which it would be a sullenness to refuse our sympathy.
Old foundations are breaking up; new edifices are rearing. Institutions which have been long held in veneration as the most sublime
refinements of human wisdom and policy, which age hath cemented
and confirmed, which power hath supported, which eloquence hath
conspired to embellish and opulence to enrich, are falling fast into
decay.  New prospects are opening on every side, of such amazing
variety and extent as to stretch farther than the eye of the most
enlightened observer can reach.
Some beneficial effects appear to have taken place already, sufficient
to nourish our most sanguine hope of benefits much more extensive.
The mischief and folly of wars begin to be understood, and that mild
and liberal system of policy adopted which has ever indeed been the
object of prayer to the humane and the devout, but has hitherto remained
utterly unknown in the cabinets of princes. As the mind naturally
yields to the impression of objects which it contemplates often, we
need not wonder if, amid events so extraordinary, the human character itself should appear to be altering and improving apace. That
ibnd attachment to ancient institutions, and blind submission to opinions
already received, which has ever checked the growth of improvement,
and drawn on the greatest benefactors of mankind danger or neglect,
is giving way to a spirit of bold and fearless investigation.  AMan
seems to be becoming more erect and independent. He leans more
on himself, less on his fellow-creatures. He begins to feel a consciousness in a higher degree of personal dignity, and is less enamoured
of artificial distinctions. There is some hope of our beholding that
simplicity and energy of character which marks his natural state,
blended with the humanity; the elegance, and improvement of polished
society.
The events which have already taken place, and the further changes
they forbode, will open to the contemplative of every character innumerable sources of reflection.  To the philosopher they present many
new and extraordinary facts, where his penetration will find ample
scope in attempting to discover their cause, and to predict their effects.
Thnis glowing picture, as accurately descriptive of recent events as of those it was intended to.
portray, might tempt us almost to fancy that, after the revolution of a cycle of forty years, time had
brought us back to the same state of thingu.-ED.




3S     CHRISTIANITY CONSISTENT WITH FREEDOM.
IIe will have an opportunity of viewing mankind in an interesting
situation, and of tracing the progress of opinion through channels it
has rarely flowed in before. The politician will feel his attention
powerfully awakened, oil seeing new maxims of policy introduced,
new institutions established, and such a total alteration in the ideas of
a great part of the world, as will oblige him to study the art of government, as it were, afresh. The devout mind will behold in these
momentous changes the finger of God, and discerning in them the
dawn of that glorious period in which wars will cease and antichristian tyranny shall fall, will adore that unerring wisdom whose secret
operation never fails to conduct all human affairs to their proper issue,
and impels the great actors on that troubled theatre to fulfil, when
they least intend it, the counsels of Heaven, and the predictions of its
prophets.




AN APOLOGY
FOR THE
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS,
AND FOR
GENERAL LIBERTY:
TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED,
REMARKS ON BISHOP HORSLEY'S SERMON,
Preached on the 30th January, 1793.
[PIBLISHED IN 1793.1








ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.
SINCE this pamphlet was first published, the principles it aims te
support have received confirmation from such a train of disastrout
events, that it might have been hoped we should have learned those
lessons from misfortunes which reason had failed to impress. Uninstructed by our calamities, we still persist in an impious attack on the
liberties of France, and are eager to take our part in the great drama
of crimes which is acting on the continent of Europe.  Meantime the
violence and injustice of the internal administration keeps pace with
our iniquities abroad. Liberty and truth are silenced. An unrelenting
system of prosecution prevails. The cruel and humiliating sentence
passed upon Mr. Muir and Mr. Palmer, men of unblemished morals
and of the purest patriotism, the outrages committed on Dr. Priestley,
and his intended removal to America, are events which will mark the
latter end of the eighteenth century with indelible reproach. But what
has liberty to expect from a minister who has the audacity to assert
the king's right to land as many foreign troops as he pleases
without the previous consent of parliament? If this doctrine be true,
the boasted equilibrium of the constitution, all the barriers which the
wisdom of our ancestors have opposed to the encroachments of arbitrary power, are idle, ineffectual precautions. For we have only to
suppose for a moment an inclination in the royal breast to overturn our
liberties, and of what avail is the nicest internal arrangement against
a foreign force? Our constitution, on this principle, is the absurdest
system that was ever conceived; pretending liberty for its object, yet
providing no security against the great antagonist and destroyer of
liberty,-the employment of military power by the chief magistrate.
Let a foreign army be introduced into this or any other country, and
quartered upon the subject without his consent, and what is there
wanting, if such were the design of the prince, to complete the subjection of that country? Will armed foreigners be overawed by written
laws or unwritten customs, by the legal limitations of power, the paper
lines of demarkation? But Mr. Pitt contends, that though the sovereign
may land foreign troops at his pleasure, he cannot subsist them without
the aid of parliament. He may overrun his dominions with a mercenary
army, it seems, but after he has subdued his subjects, he is compelled
to have recourse to them for supplies. What a happy contrivance!
Unfortunately, however, it is found that princes with the unlimited
command of armies. have hit upon a nearer and more eificacious




42       APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM  OF THE PRESS.
method of raising supplies than by an act of parliament. But it is
needless any further to expose the effrontery, or detect the sophistry
of this shameless apostate. The character of Pitt is written in sunbeams. A veteran in frauds while in the bloom of youth, betraying
first, and then persecuting his earliest friends and connexions, falsifying
every promise, and violating every political engagement, ever making
the fairest professions a prelude to the darkest actions, punishing with
the utmost rigour the publisher of the identical paper he himself had
circulated,* are traits in the conduct of Pitt which entitle him to a fatal
pre-eminence in guilt. The qualities of this man balance in an extraordinary manner, and sustain each other: the influence of his station,
the extent of his enormities, invest him with a kind of splendour, and
the contempt we feel for his meanness and duplicity is lost in the dread
of his machinations, and the abhorrence of his crimes. Too long has he
insulted the patience of his countrymen; nor ought we, when we observe
the indifference with which the iniquities of Pitt's administration are
viewed, to reproach the Romans for tamely submitting to the tyranny
of Caligula or Domitian.
We had fondly hoped a mild philosophy was about to diffuse over
the globe the triumph of liberty and peace.  But alas! these hopes
are fled. The continent presents little but one wide picture of desolation, misery, and crimes: on the earth distress of nations and perplexity, men's hearts failing them for fear, andfor looking after those
things which are coming on the earth.
That the seeds of public convulsions are sown in every country of
Europe (our own not excepted) it were vain to deny, seeds which,
without the wisest precautions and the most conciliating councils, will
break out, it is to be feared, in the overthrow of all governments.
How this catastrophe may be averted, or how, should that be impossible, its evils may be mitigated and diminished, demands the deepest
consideration of every European statesman. The ordinary routine of
ministerial chicanery is quite unequal to the task. A philosophic
comprehension of mind, which, leaving the beaten road of politics,
shall adapt itself to new situations and profit by the vicissitudes of
opinion, equally removed from an attachment to antiquated forms and
useless innovations, capable of rising above the emergency of the
moment to the most remote consequences of a transaction; combining
the past, the present, and the future, and knowing how to defend with
firmness, or concede with dignity; these are the qualities which the
situation of Europe renders indispensable.  It would be a mockery of
our present ministry to ask whether they possess those qualities.
With respect to the following Apology for the Freedom of the Press,
the author begs leave to claim the reader's indulgence to its numerous imperfections, and hopes he will recollect, as an excuse for the
warmth of his expressions, it is an eulogium on a dead friend.
* Mr. Holt, a printer, at Newark, is now imprisoned in Newgate for two years, for reprinting
verbatim, An Address to the People on Reform, which was sanctioned for certain, and probably
written, by the Duke of Richmond and Mr. Pi&.




ORIGINAL PREFACE.
TnE accidental detention of the following pamphlet in the press
Longer than was expected gave me an opportunity before it was pub.
ilshed of seeing Bishop Horsley's Sermon, preached before the House
of Lords, on the 30th of January; and as its contents are relevant to
my subject, a few remarks upon it may not be improper. His lordship
sets out with a severe censure of that "freedom of dispute" on matters
of " such high importance as the origin of government, and the authority
of sovereigns," in which he laments it has been the "folly of this country for several years past" to indulge. If his lordship has not inquired
into those subjects himself, he can with little propriety pretend to decide
in so imperious and peremptory a manner; unless it be a privilege of
his office to dogmatize without examination, or he has discovered some
nearer road to truth than that of reasoning and argument. It seems a
favourite point with a certain description of men to stop the progress
of inquiry, and throw mankind back into the darkness of the middle
ages, from a persuasion that ignorance will augment their power, as
objects look largest in a mist. There is in reality no other foundation
for that alarm which the bishop expresses. Whatever is not comprehended under revelation falls under the inspection of reason; and since
from the whole course of Providence, it is evident that all political
events and all the revolutions of government are effected by the
instrumentality of men, there is no room for supposing them too sacred
to be submitted to the human faculties. The more minds there are
employed in tracing their principles and effects, the greater probability
will there be of the science of civil policy, as well as every other,
attaining to perfection.
Bishop Horsley, determined to preserve the character of an original,
presents us with a new set of political principles, and endeavours to
place the exploded doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance
upon a new foundation. By a curious distinction between the ground
of authority and of obedience, he rests the former on human compact.
the latter on divine obligation.  " It is easy to understand," he says,
" that the principle of the private citizen's submission must be quite a
distinct thing from the principle of the sovereign's public title. And
for this plain reason: The principle of submission to bind the conscience
of every individual must be something universally known."  He then
proceeds to inform us, that the kingly title in England is founded on
the act of settlement; but that as thousands and tens of thousands




44                       APOLOGY FOR
of the people have never heard of that act, the principle which compels
their allegiance must be something distinct from it, with which they
may all be acquainted. In this reasoning, he evidently confounds the
obligation of an individual to submit to the existing authority with that
of the community collectively considered. For any particular number
of persons to set themselves by force to oppose the established practice of a state is a plain violation offhe laws of morality, as it would
be productive of the utmost disorder; and no government could stand
were it permitted to individuals to counteract the general will, of
which, in ordinary cases, legal usages are the interpreter. In the worst
state of political society, if a people have not sufficient wisdom or courage
to correct its evils and assert their liberty, the attempt of individuals to
force improvements upon them is a presumption which merits the
severest punishment. Social order would be inevitably dissolved, if every
man declined a practical acquiescence in that political regulation which
he did not personally approve.  The duty of submission is, in this light,
founded on principles which hold under every government, and are
plain and obvious. But the principle which attaches a people to their
allegiance, collectively considered, must exactly coincide with the title
to authority; as must be evident from the very meaning of the term
authority, which, as distinguished from force, signifies a right to demand
obedience.  Authority and obedience are correlative terms, and consequently in all respects correspond, and are commensurate with each
other.
" The divine right," his lordship says, "of the first magistrate in
every polity to the citizen's obedience is not of that sort which it were
high-treason to claim for the sovereign of this country.  It is a right
which in no country can be denied, without the highest of all treasons.
The denial of it were treason against the paramount authority of God."
To invest any human power with these high epithets is ridiculous at
least, if not impious. The right of a prince to the obedience of his
subjects, wherever it exists, may be called divine, because we know
the Divine Being is the patron of justice and order; but in that sense,
the authority of a petty constable is equally divine; nor can the term
be applied with any greater propriety to supreme than to subordinate
magistrates.  As to "submission being among the general rules which
proceed from the will of God, and have been impressed upon the conscience of every man by the original constitution of the world," nothing
more is comprehended under this pomp of words than that submission
is, for the most part, a duty-a sublime and interesting discovery!
The minds of princes are seldom of the firmest texture; and they who
f11 their heads with the magnificent chimera of divine right prepare a;ictim, where they intend a god. Some species of government is
essential to the well-being of mankind; submission to some species of
government is consequently a duty; but what kind of government shall
be appointed, and to what limits submission shall extend, are mere
human questions, to be adjusted by mere human reason and contrivance.
As the natural consequence of divine right, his lordship proceeds to
miculcate the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance, in the




THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.                    45
Inost unqualified terms; assuming it as a principle to be acted upon
under governments the most oppressive, in which lie endeavours to
shelter himself under the authority of Paul. The apostolic exhortation, as addressed to a few individuals, and adapted to the local circumstances of Christians at that period, admits an easy solution; but
to imagine it prescribes the duty of the Roman Empire, and is intended
to subject millions to the capricious tyranny of one man, is a reflection
as well on the character of Paul as on Christianity itself.
On principles of reason, the only way to determine the agreement
of any thing with the will of God is to consider its influence on the
happiness of society; so that in this view, the question of passive
obedience is reduced to a simple issue: Is it best for the human race
that every tyrant and usurper be submitted to without check or control? It ought likewise to be remembered, that if the doctrine of passive
obedience be true, princes should be taught it, and instructed, that to
whatever excesses of cruelty and caprice they proceed, they may
expect no resistance on the part of the people. If this maxim appear
to be conducive to general good, we may fairly presume it concurs
with the will of the Deity; but if it appear pregnant with the most
mischievous consequences, it must disclaim such support. From the
known perfection of God, we conclude he wills the happiness of mankind; and that though he condescends not to interpose miraculously,
that kind of civil polity is most pleasing in his eye which is produce
tive of the greatest felicity.
On a comparison of free with arbitrary governments, we perceive
the former are distinguished from the latter by imparting a much
greater share of happiness to those who live under them; and this in
a manner too uniform to be imputed to chance or secret causes. He
who wills the end must will the means which ascertain it. His lordship endeavours to diminish the dread of despotic government, by
observing, that in its worst state it is attended with more good than
ill, and that the " end of government under all its abuses is generally
answered by it." Admitting this to be true, it is at best but a consolation proper to be applied where there is no remedy, and affords no
reason why we should not mitigate political as well as other evils, when
it lies in our power. We endeavour to correct the diseases of the eye,
or of any other organ, though the malady be not such as renders it
useless.
The doctrine of passive obedience is so repugnant to the genuine
feelings of human nature, that it can never be completely acted on;
a secret dread that popular vengeance will awake, and nature assert
her rights, imposes a restraint which the most determined despotism
is not able to shake off. The rude reason of the multitude may be
perplexed, but the sentiments of the heart are not easily perverted.
In adjusting the different parts of his theory, the learned bishop
appears a good deal embarrassed.  "It will be readily admitted," he
says (p. 9), " that of all sovereigns, none reign by so fair and just a
title as those who derive their claim from some such public act (as the
act f settlement) of the nation which they govern." That there are




146                     APOLOGY FOR
different degrees in justice, and even in divine right (which his lordship declares all sovereigns possess), is a very singular idea. Common
minds would be ready to imagine, however various the modes of injustice
may be, justice were a thing absolute and invariable, nor would they
conceive how " a divine right, a right the denial of which is high-treason
against the authority of God," can be increased by the act of a nation.
But this is not all.  It is no just inference (he tells us) that the obligation upon the private citizen to submit himself to the authority thus
raised arises wholly from the act of the people conferring it, or from
their compact with the person on whom it is conferred. But if the
sovereign derives his claim from this act of the nation, how comes it
that the obligation of the people to submit to his claim does not spring
from the same act? Because " in all these cases," he affirms, " the act
of the people is only the means which Providence employs to advance
the new sovereign to his.station." In the hand of the Supreme Being,
the whole agency of men may be considered as an instrument; but to
make it appear that the right of dominion is independent of the people,
men must be shown to be instruments in political affairs in a more
absolute sense than ordinary.  A divine interposition of a more immediate kind must be shown, or the mere consideration of God's being
the original source of all power will be a weak reason for absolute
submission.  Anarchy may have power as well as despotism, and is
equally a link in the great chain of causes and effects.
It is not a little extraordinary that Bishop Horsley, the apologist of
tyranny, the patron of passive obedience, should affect to admire the
British constitution, whose freedom was attained by a palpable violation
of the principles for which he contends. He will not say the barons
at Runnemede acted on his maxims in extorting the Magna Charta
from King John, or in demanding its confirmation from Henry the
Third.  If he approves of their conduct he gives up his cause, and is
compelled at least to confess the principles of passive obedience were
not true at that time; if he disapproves of their conduct, he must, to
be consistent, reprobate the restraints which it imposed on kingly
power. The limitations of monarchy, which his lordship pretends to
applaud, were effected by resistance; the freedom of the British constitution flowed fromn a departure from passive obedience, and was
therefore stained with high-treason " against the authority of God."
To these conclusions he must inevitably come, unless he can point out
something peculiar to the spot of Runnemede or to the reign of King
John, which confines the exception to the general doctrine of submission to that particular time and place.  With whatever colours the
advocates of passive obedieynce may varnish their theories, they must
of necessity be enemies to the British constitution. Its spirit they detest;
its corruptions they cherish; and if at present they affect a zeal for its
preservation, it is only because they despair of any form of government being erected in its stead which will give equal permanence to
abuses. Afraid to destroy it at once, they take a malignant pleasure
in seeing it waste by degrees under the pressure of internal malady.
Whatever bears the semblance of reasoning in Bishop Horsley's




THE FREEDOM  OF THE PRESS.                     47
discoulse will be found, I trust, to have received a satisfactory answer;
but to animadvert with a becoming severity on the temper it displays is
a less easy task.  To render him the justice he deserves in that respect
would demand all the fierceness of his character.
We owe him  an acknowledgment for the frankness with which he
avows his decided preference of the clergy of France to dissenters in
England,-a sentiment we have often suspected, but have seldom had
the satisfaction of seeing openly professed before.
" None," he asserts, " at this season, are more entitled to our oIces
of love than those with whom the difference is wide in points of doctrine,
discipline, and external rites; those venerable exiles, the prelates and
clergy of the fallen church of France.  Far be it from me to intercept
the compassion of the humane from the unhappy of any nation, tongue,
or people; but the extreme tenderness he professes for the fallen
church of France is well contrasted by his malignity towards dissenters.
Bishop Horsley is a man of sense: and though doctrine, discipline,
and external rites comprehend the whole of Christianity, his tender,
sympathetic heart is superior to prejudice, and never fails to recognise
in a persecutor a friend and a brother. Admirable consistency in a
Protestant bishop, to lament over the fall of that antichrist whose overthrow is represented by unerring inspiration as an event the most
splendid and happy! It is a shrewd presumption against the utility
of religious establishments that they too often become seats of intolerance, instigators to persecution, nurseries of Bonners and of Horsieys.
His lordship closes his invective against dissenters, and Dr. Priest-ley
in particular, by presenting a prayer in the spirit of an indictment.
We are happy to hear of his lordship's prayers, and are obliged to him
for remembering us in them; but should be more sanguine in our expeetation of benefit ii ive were not informed the prayers of the rig/ites'us
only avail much.  "fifiserable men," he tells us, we -" are in the.rat
of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."  With respect to the hrst,
we must have plenty of that article, since he has distilled his own;
and if the bonds of iniquity are not added, it is only because they are
not within the reach of his mighty malice.
It is time to turn from this disgusting picture of sanctimonious hypocrisy and priestly insolence to address a word to the reader on the
following pamphlet. The political sentiments of Dr. Horsley are in
truth of too little consequence in themselves to engage a moment's
curiosity, and deserve attention only as they indicate the spirit of the
times.  The freedom with which I have pointed out the abuses of
government will be little relished by the pusillanimous and the interested, but is, I am certain, of that nature which it is the duty of the
people of England never to relinquish, or suffer to be impaired by any
human force or contrivance.  In the present crisis of things, the danger
to liberty is extreme, and it is requisite to address a warning, voice to
the nation, that may disturb its slumbers, if it cannot heal its lethargy.
When we look at the distraction and misery of a neighbouring country,
we behold a scene that is enough to make the most hardy republican
tremble at the idea of a revolution. Nothing but an obstinate adhe.




48     APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.
rence to abuses can ever push the people of England to that fatal
extremity. But if the state of things continues to grow worse and
worse, if the friends of reform, the true friends of their country, continue to be overwhelmed by calumny and persecution, the confusion will
probably be dreadful, the misery extreme, and the calamities that await
us too great for human calculation.
What must be the guilt of those men who can calmly contemplate
the approach of anarchy or despotism, and rather choose to uehold the
ruin of their country than resign the smallest pittance of private emolument and advantage? To reconcile the disaffected, to remove discontents, to allay animosities, and open a prospect of increasing happiness
and freedom, is yet in our power. But if a contrary course be taken,
the sun of Great Britain is set for ever, her glory departed, and her
history added to the catalogue of the mighty empires which exhibit the
instability of all human grandeur, of empires which, after they rose
by virtue to be the admiration of the world, sunk by corruption into
obscurity and contempt.  If any thing shall then remain of her
boasted constitution, it will display magnificence in disorder, majestic
desolation, Babylon in ruins, where, in the midst of broken archtes,and ta:len columns, )posterity will trace the monuments only of our
Inc ent freedom!




ADV iRTIESR M.IiE.'NT TO THE NEW  EDITION
lt, the following pamphlet has been long out of print, the reader
will rnaturally expect some reason should be assigned for its republication. I might satisfy myself with safely affirming that I have no
alternative left but either to publish it myself, or to permit it to be done
by others, since the copyright has long since transpired; and I have
been under the necessity of claiming as a favour what I could not insist
upon as a right.
In addition to this, a most erroneous in erence has been drawn from
my suffering it to fall into neglect. It has been often insinuated that
my political principles have undergone a revolution, and that I have
renounced the opinions which it was the object of this pamphlet to
establish. I must beg leave, however, to assert, that fashionable as
such changes have been, and sanctioned by many conspicuous examples, I am not ambitious of the honour attached to this species of
conversion, from a conviction that he who has once been the advocate
of freedom and of reform, will find it much easier to change his conduct than his principles-to worship the golden image than to believe
in the divinity of the idol. A. reluctance to appear as a political writer,
an opinion, whether well or ill founded, that the Christian ministry is
in danger of losing something of its energy and sanctity by embarking
on the stormy element of political debate, were the motives that determined me, and which, had I not already engaged, would probably
have effectually deterred me from writing upon politics  These scruples have given way to feelings still stronger, to my extreme aversion
to be classed with political apostates, and to the suspicion of being
deterred from the honest avowal of my sentiments on subjects of great
moment by hopes and fears to which, through every period of my life,
i have been a total stranger. The effect of increasing years has been
to augment, if possible, my attachment to the principles of civil and
religious liberty, and to the cause of reform as inseparably combined
with their preservation; and few things would give me more uneasiness
than to have it supposed I could ever become hostile or indifferent to
these objects.
The alterations in the pres.nt edition are nearly all of minor importance; they chiefly consist of slight literary corrections, which very
rarely affect the sense. I. was not my wish or intention to impair
the identity of the performance.  There is in several parts an acrimony
and vehemence in the language, which the candid reader will put to
VAoL. II.-D




60     APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM OF THIE tt:IR.4-.
the account of juvenile ardour, and which, should it be deemed exe.s,
sive, he will perceive could not be corrected without producing a new
composition. One passage in the preface, delineating the character
of the late Bishop Horsley, is omitted. On mature reflection, it appeared to the writer not quite consistent either with the spirit of
Christianity or with the reverence due to denarted genius.  For the
severity with which he has treated the political character of Mr. Pitt
he is not disposed to apologize, because he feels the fullest conviction
that the policy, foreign and domestic, of that celebrated statesman, has
inflicted a more incurable wound on the constitution, and entailed more
permanent and irreparable calamities on the nation, than that of any
other minister in the annals of British history. A simple reflection
will be sufficient to evince the unparalleled magnitude of his apostacy,
which is, that the memory of the son of Lord Chatham, the vehement
opposer of the American war, the champion of reform, and the idol of
the people, has become the rallying point of toryism, the type and
symbol of whatever is most illiberal in principle and intolerant in
practice.
1821




AN APOLOGY.
SECTION I.
On the Right of Public Discussion.
biw -., tnm celebrated legislator of Athens, we are told, enacted a
law fix the capital punishment of every citizen who should continue
neuter when parties ran high in that republic. He considered, it
should seem, the declining to take a decided part on great and critical
occasions an indication of such a culpable indifference to the interests
of the commonwealth as could be expiated only by death. While we
blame the rigour of this law, we must confess the principle on which
it was founded is just and solid. In a political contest relating to
particular men or measures, a well-wisher to his country may be permitted to remain silent; but when the great interests of a nation are
at stake, it becomes every man to act with firmness and vigour. 1
consider the present as a season of this nature, and shall therefore
make. no apology for laying before the public the reflections it has
suggested.
The most capital advantage an enlightened people can enjoy is the
liberty of discussing every subject which can fall within the compass of
the human mind: while this remains, freedom will flourish; but should
it be lost or impaired, its principles will neither be well understood nor
long retained. To render the magistrate a judge of truth, and engage
his authority in the suppression of opinions, shows an inattention to
the nature and design of political society.  When a nation forms a
government, it is not wisdom but power which they place in the hand
of the magistrate; from whence it follows, his concern is only with
those objects which power can operate upon.  On this account the
administration of justice, the protection of property, and the defence of
every member of the community from violence and outrage fall natuIally within the provioece of the civil ruler, for these may all be accomplished by power; but an attempt to distinguish truth from error, and
to countenance one s.-. of opinions to the prejudice of another, is to
apply power in a manner mischievous and absurd.  To comprehend
the reasons on which the right of public discussion is founded, it is
ec:insite to remark the difference between sentiment and conduct. The
behi?viour of men in society will be influenced by motives drawn from
lie  rospect of good and evil: here then is the proper department of
D2




52                    ON THE RIGHT OF
government, as it is capable of' applying that good and evil by which
actions are determined. Truth, on the contrary, is quite of a different
nature, being supported only by evidence, and as when this is represented we cannot withhold our assent, so where this is wanting no
power or authority can command it.
However some may affect to dread contreversy, it can never be
of ultimate disadvantage to the interests of truth or the happiness
of mankind.  Where it is indulged in its full extent, a multitude
of ridiculous opinions will no doubt be obtruded upon the public; but
any ill influence they may produce cannot continue long, as they are
sure to be opposed with at least equal ability and that superior advantage which is ever attendant on truth.  The colours with which
wit or eloquence may have adorned a false system will gradually die
away, sophistry be detected, and every thing estimated at length
according to its true value.  Publications, besides, like every thing
else that is human, are of a mixed nature, where truth is often blended
with falsehood, and important hints suggested in the midst of much
impertinent or pernicious matter; nor is there any way of separating
the precious from the vile but by tolerating the whole.  Where the
right of unlimited inquiry is exerted, the human faculties will be upon
the advance; where it is relinquished, they will be of necessity at a
stand, and will probably decline.
If we have recourse to experience, that kind of enlarged experience
in particular which history furnishes, we shall not be apt to entertain
any violent alarm at the greatest liberty of discussion: we shall there
see that to this we are indebted for those improvements in arts and
sciences which have meliorated in so great a degree the condition of
mankind. The middle ages, as they are called, the darkest period
of which we have any particular accounts, were remarkable for
two things,-the extreme ignorance that prevailed, and an excessive
veneration for received opinions; circumstances which, having been
always united, operate on each other, it is plain, as cause and effect.
The whole compass of science was in those times subject to restraint;
every new opinion was looked upon as dangerous.  To affirm the
globe we inhabit to be round was deemed heresy, and for asserting its
motion the immortal Galileo was confined in the prisons of the inquisition. Yet it is remarkable, so little are the human faculties fitted for
restraint, that its utmost rigour was never able to effect a thorough
unanimity, or to preclude the most alarming discussions and contro
versies. For no sooner was one point settled than another was started;
and as the articles on which men professed to differ were always extremely few and subtle, they came the more easily into contact, and
their animosities were the more violent and concentrated.  The shape
of the tonsure, or manner in which a monk should shave his head, would
then throw a whole kingdom into convulsions. In proportion as the
world has become more enlightened, this unnatural policy of restraint
has retired, the sciences it has entirely abandoned, and has taken its
last stand on religion and politics. The first of these was long con
idered of a nature so peculiarly sacred, that every attempt to alter it,




PUJBLIC DISCUSSION.                      53
or to impair the reverence for its received institutions, was regarded
under the name of heresy as a crime of the first magnitude.  Yet
dangerous as free inquiry may have been looked upon when extended
to the principles of religion, there is no department where it was more
necessary, or its interference more decidedly beneficial. By nobly
daring to exert it when all the powers on earth were combined in its
suppression, (lid Luther accomplish that reformation which drew forth
primitive Christianity, long hidden and concealed under a load of'
abuses, to the view of an awakened'and astonished world.  So great
is the force of truth when it has once gained the attention, that all the
arts and policy of the court of Rome, aided throughout every part of
Europe by a veneration for antiquity, the prejudices of the vulgar, and
the cruelty of despots, were fairly baffled and confounded by the op..
position of a solitary monk. And had this principle of free inquiry
been permitted in succeeding times to have full scope, Christianity
would at this period have been much better understood, and the animosity of sects considerably abated.  Religious toleration has never
been complete even in England; but having prevailed more here than
perhaps in any other country, there is no place where the doctrines of
religion have been set in so clear a light or its truth so ably defended.
The writings of Deists have contributed much to this end. Whoever
will compare the late defences of Christianity by Locke, Butler, or
Clark with those of the ancient apologists, will discern in the former
far more precision and an abler method of reasoning than in the latter;
which must be attributed chiefly to the superior spirit of inquiry by
which modern times are distinguished.  Whatever alarm  then may
have been taken at the liberty of discussion, religion it is plain hath
been a gainer by it; its abuses corrected, and its divine authority set:tied on a firmer basis than ever.
Though I have taken the liberty of making these preliminary remarks on the influence of free inquiry in general, what I have more
i-nmedliately in view is to defend its exercise in relation to government.'T'his being an institution purely human, one would imagine it were
the proper province for freedom of discussion in its utmost extent.  It
is surely just that every one should have a right to examine those
measures by which the happiness of all may be affected.  The control
of the public mind over the conduct of ministers, exerted through the
medium of the press, has been regarded by the best writers both in
our country and on the continent as the main support of our liberties.
While this remains we cannot be enslaved; when it is impaired or
diminished we shall soon cease to be fiee.
Under pretence of its being seditious to express any disapprobation
of the form of our government, the most alarming attempts are made
to wrest the liberty of the press out of our hands.  It is far from being
my intention to set up a defence of republican principles, as I am persuaded whatever imperfections may attend the British constitution, it
is competent to all the ends of government, and the best adapted of
any to the actual situation of this kingdom.  Yet I am convinced there
is no crime in bein.g a republicans and that while he obeys the lawr




54                     ON THE RIGHT OF
every man has a right to entertain what sentiments he pleases on our
form of government, and to discuss this with the same freedom as any
other topic.  In proof of this I shall beg the reader's attention to the
following arguments.
1. We may apply to this point in particular the observation that has
oeen made on the influence of free inquiry in general, that it will issue
in the firmer establishment of truth and the overthrow of error. Every
thing that is really excellent will bear examination, it will even invite
it; and the more narrowly it is surveyed, to the more advantage it will
appear. Is our constitution a good one? it will gain in our esteem by
the severest inquiry. Is it bad? then its imperfections should be laid
open and exposed.  Is it, as is generally confessed, of a mixed nature,
excellent in theory, but defective in its practice? freedom of discussion
will be still requisite to point out the nature and source of its corruptions,
and apply suitable remedies. If our constitution be that perfect model
of excellence it is represented, it may boldly appeal to the reason of an
enlightened age, and need not rest on the support of an implicit faith.
2. Government is the creature of the people, and that which they
have created they surely have a right to examine.  The great Author
of nature, having placed the right of dominion in no particular hands,
hath left every point relating to it to be settled by the consent and
approbation of mankind. In spite of the attempts of sophistry to conceal the origin of political right, it must inevitably rest at length on the
acquiescence of the people. In the case of individuals it is extremely
plain. If one man should overwhelm another with superior force, and
after completely subduing him under the name of government, transmit
him in this condition to his heirs, every one would exclaim against such
an act of injustice.  But whether the object of his oppression be one
or a million can make no difference in its nature, the idea of equity
hlaving no relation to that of numbers.  Mr. Burke, with some other
authors, are aware that an original right of dominion can only be explained by resolving it into the will of the people, yet contend that it
becomes inalienable and independent by length of time and prescrip
tion. T his fatal mistake appears to me to have arisen from confound
ing the right of dominion with that of private property. Possession for
a certain time, it is true, vests in the latter a complete right, or there
wollid be no end to vexatious claims; not to mention that it is of no consequence to society where property lies, provided its regulations be clear
and its possession undisturbed. FIor the same reason it is of the essence
of private property to be held for the sole use of the owner, with liberty to
employ it in what way he pleases consistent with the safety of the community.  But the right of dominion has none of the qualities that distinguish private possession.  It is never indifferent to the community
in whose hands it is lodged, nor is it intended in any degree for the
benefit of those who conduct it. Being derived from the will of the
people, explicit or implied, and existing solely for their use, it can no
more become independent of that will than water can rise above its
source.  BRt if we allow the people are the true origin of political
power, it is absurd to require them to resign the right of discussing




PUBLIC DISCUSSION.                      55
any question that can arise either upon its form or its measures. as
this would put it for ever out of their power to revoke the trust which
they have placed in the hands of their rulers.
3. If it be a crime for a subject of Great Britain to express his disapprobation of that form of government under which he lives, the same
conduct must be condemned in the inhabitant of any other country.
Perhaps it will be said a distinction ought to be made on account of
the superior excellence of the British constitution. This superiority
I am not disposed to contest, yet cannot allow it to be a proper reply,
as it takes for granted that which is supposed to be a matter of debate
and inquiry. Let a government be ever so despotic, it is a chance if
those who share in the administration are not loud in proclaiming its
excellence. Go into Turkey, and the pachas of the provinces will
probably tell you that the Turkish government is the most perfect in the
world.  If the excellence of a constitution, then, is assigned as the
reason that none should be permitted to censure it, who, I ask, is to
determine on this its excellence? If you reply, every man's own
reason will determine, you concede the very point I am endeavouring
to establish, the liberty of free inquiry: if you reply, our rulers, you
admit a principle that equally applies to every government in the world,
and will lend no more support to the British constitution than to that
of Turkey or Algiers.
4. An inquiry respecting the comparative excellence of civil con3titutions can be forbidden on no other pretence than that of its tending
to sedition and anarchy. This plea, however, will have little weight
with those who reflect to how many ill purposes it has been already
applied; and that when the example has been once introduced of suppressing opinions on account of their imagined ill tendency, it has
seldom been confined within any safe or reasonable bounds. The
doctrine of tendencies is extremely subtle and complicated.  Whatever would diminish our veneration for the Christian religion, or shake
our belief in the being of a God, will be allowed to be of a very evil
tendency; yet few, I imagine, who are acquainted with history, would
wish to see the writings of skeptics or Deists suppressed by law; being
persuaded it would be lodging a very dangerous power in the hands
of the magistrate, and that truth is best supported by its own evidence.
This dread of certain opinions on account of their tendency has been
the copious spring of all those religious wars and persecutions which
are the disgrace and calamity of modern times.
Whatever danger may result from the freedom of political debate
in some countries, no apprehension from that quarter need be entertained in our own. Free inquiry will never endanger the existence of
a good government; scarcely will it be able to work the overthrow
of a bad one.  So uncertain is the issue of all revolutions, so turbu
lent and bloody the scenes that too often usher them in, the prejudice
on the side of an ancient establishment so great, and the interests involved in its support so powerful, that while it provides in any tolerable
measure for the happiness of the people, it may defy all the efforts of
its enemies.




56                    ON ASSOCIATIONS.
The real danger to every free government is less from its enemies
than from itself. Should it resist the most temperate reforms, and
maintain its abuses with obstinacy, imputing complaint to faction,
calumniating its friends, and smiling only on its flatterers; should it
encourage informers and hold out rewards to treachery, turning every
man into a spy, and every neighbourhood into the seat of an inquisition, let it not hope it can long conceal its tyranny under the mask of
freedom.  These are the avenues through which despotism  must
enter; these are the arts at which integrity sickens, and freedom turns
pale.
SECTION II.
On Associations.
I'HE associations that have been formed in various parts of the
kingdom appear to me to have trodden very nearly in the steps I
have been describing. Nothing could have justified this extraordinary
mode of combination but the actual existence of those insurrections
and plots, of which no traces have appeared, except in a speech
from the throne. They merit a patent for insurrections who have discovered the art of conducting them with so much silence and secrecy,
that in the very places where they are affirmed to have happened they
have been heard of only by rebound from the cabinet. Happy had it
been for the repose of unoffending multitudes if the associators had
been able to put their mobs in possession of this important discovery
before they set them in motion.
No sooner had the ministry spread an alarm through the kingdom
against republicans and levellers, than an assembly of court-sycophants, with a placeman at their head, entered into what they termed
an association at the Crown and Anchor tavern, whence they issued
accounts of their proceedings. This was the primitive, the metropolitan association, which, with few exceptions, gave the tone to the suceeeding, who did little more than copy its language and its spirit. As
the popular ferment has, it may be hoped, by this time in some measure subsided, it may not be improper to endeavour to estimate the
utility and develop the principles of these societies.
1. The first particular that engages the attention is their singular
and unprecedented nature. The object is altogether new. The political societies that have been hitherto formed never thought of interfering with the operations of law, but were content with giving, by
their union, greater force and publicity to their sentiments.  The diffusion of principles was their object, not the suppression; and, con
fiding in the justness of their cause, they challenged their enemies
into the field of controversy. These societies, on the other hand, are
combined with an express view to extinguish opinions, and to overwhllelm freedom of inquiry by the terrors of criminal prosecution.
T"hey pretend not to enlighten the people by the spread of political




ON ASSOCIATIONS.                        57
knowledge, or to confute the errors of the system they wish to discountenance: they breathe only the language of menace; their element is indictment and prosecution, and their criminal justice formed
on the model of Rhadamanthus, the poetic judge of Hell.
Castigatque, auditque, dolos subigitque fateri.
2. They are not only new in their nature and complexion, but are
unsupported by any just pretence of expedience or necessity.  The
British constitution hath provided ample securities for its stability and
permanence. The prerogatives of the crown in all matters touching
its dignity are of a nature so high and weighty as may rather occa
sion alarm than need corroboration. The office of attorney-general
is created for the very purpose of prosecuting sedition; and he has
the peculiar privilege of filing a bill against offenders in the king's
name, without the intervention of a grand jury.  If the public tranquillity be threatened, the king can imbody the militia as well as station the military in the suspected places; and when to this is added
the immense patronage and influence which flows from  the disposal
of seventeen millions a year, it must be evident the stability of the
British government can never be shaken by the efforts of any minority
whatever. It comprehends within itself all the resources of defence
which the best civil polity ought to possess.  The permanence of every
government must depend, however, after all, upon opinion, a general
persuasion of its excellence, which can never be increased by its
assuming a vindictive and sanguinary aspect.  While it is the object
of the people's approbation it will be continued, and to support it much
beyond that period by mere force and terror would be impossible were
it just, and unjust were it possible. The law hath amply provided
against overt acts of sedition and disorder, and to suppress mere
opinions by any other method than reason and argument is the height
of tyranny.  Freedom of thought, being intimately connected with the
happiness and dignity of man in every stage of his being, is of so
much more importance than the preservation of any constitution, that
to infringe the former under pretence of supporting the latter is to
sacrifice the means to the end.
3. In attempting to define the boundary which separates the liberty
of the press from its licentiousness, these societies have undertaken a
task which they are utterly unable to execute.  The line that divides
them is too nice and delicate to be perceived by every eye, or to be
drawn by every rude and unskilful hand.,When a public outrage
against the laws is committed, the criir- is felt in a moment; but to
ascertain the qualities which compose a libel, and to apply with exactness the general idea to every instance and example which may
occur, demand an effort of thought and reflection little likely to be
exerted by the great mass of mankind. Bewildered in a pursuit which
they are incapable of conducting with propriety, taught to suspect
treason and sedition in every page they read and in every conversation they hear, the necessary effect of such an employment must be
to perplex the understanding and degrade the heart. An admirable




nON ASSOCIATIONS.
expedient for transforming a great and gene-ous pet pie into a con
temptible race of spies and informers!
For private individuals to combine together at all with a view to
quicken the vigour of criminal prosecution is suspicious at least, if not
illegal; in a case wh.ere the liberty of the press is concerned, all such
combinations are utterly improper. The faults and the excellences
of a book are often so blended, the motives of a writer so difficult to
ascertain, and the mischiefs of servile restraint so alarming, that the
criminality of a book should always be left to be determined by the
particular circumstances of the case. As one would rather see many
criminals escape than the punishment of one innocent person, so it is
nfinitely better a multitude of errors should be propagated than one
ruth be suppressed.
If the suppression of Mr. Paine's pamphlet be the object of these
societies, they are ridiculous in the extreme; for the circulation of his
works ceased the moment they were declared a libel: if any other
publication be intended, they are premature and impertinent, in pre.
suming to anticipate the decision of the courts.
4. Admitting, however, the principle on which they are founded to
be ever so just and proper, they are highly impolitic.  All violence
exerted towards opinions which falls short of extermination serves no
other purpose than to render them more known, and ultimately to increase the zeal and number of their abetters.  Opinions that are false
may be dissipated by the force of argument; when they are true their
punishment draws towards them infallibly more of the public attention,
and enables them to dwell with more lasting weight and pressure on
the mind.  The progress of reason is aided, in this case, by the passions, and finds in curiosity, compassion, and resentment powerful
auxiliaries.
When public discontents are allowed to vent themselves in reasoning and discourse, they subside into a calm; but their confinement in
the bosom is apt to give them a fierce and deadly tincture.  The reason
of this is obvious: as men are seldom disposed to complain till they at
least imagine themselves injured, so there is no injury which they will
remember so long, or resent so deeply, as that of being threatened
into silence.  This seems like adding triumph to oppression, and insult
to injury.'he apparent tranquillity which may ensue is delusive and
ominous; it is that awful stillness which nature feels while she is
awaiting the discharge of the gathered tempest.
The professed object of these associations is to strengthen the hands
of government: but there is one way in which it may strengthen its
own hands most effectually; recommended by a very venerable authority, though one from which it hath taken but few lessons.  "He
that hath clean hands," saith a sace adviser, " shall grow stronger and
stronger."  If the government wishes to become more vigorous, let
it first become more pure, lest an addition to its strength should only
increase its capacity for mischief.
There is a characteristic feature attending these associations, which
is sufficient to acquaint us with their real origin and spirit, that is the




ON ASSOCIATIONS.                               59
silence, almost total, which they maintain respecting political abuses.
Had they been intended, as their title imports, merely to furnish an
antidote to the spread of republican schemes and doctrines, they would
have loudly asserted the necessity of reform, as a conciliatory princi.
ple, a centre of union, in which the virtuous of all descriptions might
have concurred. But this, however conducive to the good of the people,
would have defeated their whole project, which consisted in availing
themselves of an alarm which they had artfully prepared, in order to
withdraw the public attention from real grievances to imaginary dangers
The Hercules of reform had penetrated the Augean stable of abuses;
the fabric of corruption, hitherto deemed sacred, began to totter, and
its upholders were apprehensive their iniquity was almost full..In this
perplexity they embraced an occasion afforded them by the spread of
certain bold  speculations (speculations which owed their success to
the corruptions of government) to diffuse a panic, and to drown the
justest complaints in unmeaning clamour.  The plan of associating,
thus commencing in corruption, and propagated by imitation and by
fear, had for its pretext the fear of republicanism; for its object the
perpetuity of abuses. Associations in this light may be considered as
mirrors placed to advantage for reflecting the finesses and tricks of
the ministry. At present they are playing into each other's hands,
and no doubt find great entertainment in deceiving the nation.  But let
them be aware lest it should be found, after all, none are so much
duped as themselves.  Wisdom and truth, the offspring of the sky, are
immortal; but cunning and deception, the meteors of the earth, after
glittering for a moment, must pass away.'The candour and sincerity of these associators is of a piece with
their other virtues: for while they profess to be combined in order to
prevent riots and insurrections, attempted to be raised by republicans
and levellers, they can neither point out the persons to whom that
description applies, nor mention a single riot that was not fomented by
their principles, and engaged on their side. There have been three
riots in England of late on a political account; one at Birmingham,
one at Manchester, and one at Cambridge; each of which has beeD
levelled against dissenters and friends of reform.*
The Crown and Anchor association, as it was first in order of time,
seems also determined, by pushing to a greater length the maxims of
arbitrary power, to maintain its pre-eminence in every other respect.
The divine right of monarchy, the sacred anointing of kings, passive
obedience and non-resistance, are the hemlock and night shade which
these physicians have prescribed for the health of the nation; and are
yet but a specimen of a more fertile crop which they have promised out
of the hotbed of their depravity.   The opinions which  they have
* The conduct of an honourable member of the House of Commons, respecting the last of these,
was extremely illiberal. lie informed the house, that the riot at Cambridge was nothing more
than that the mob compelled Mr. Musgrave, one of his constituents, who had been heard to speak
seditious words, to sing God save the King —a statement in which he was utterly rnistakrn. Mr.
Musgrave, wvith whom I have the pleasure of being well acquainted, was neither guilty of uttering
seditious discourse, nor did he, I am certain, comply with the requisition His whole c atlte consists
in the love of his country, and a zeal for parliamentary reform  It would be happy for this nation,
if a portion only of the integrity and disinterested virtue which adorn his character could be infused'
unto our great men.




60                      ON ASSOCIATIONS
associated to suppress are contained, they tell us, in the terms liberty
and equality; after which they proceed to a dull harangue on the mischiefs that must flow from equalizing property. All mankind, they
gravely tell us, are not equal in virtue, as if that were not sufficiently
evident from  the existence of their society.'rhe notion of equality
in property was never seriously cherished in the mind of any man,
unless for the purpose of calumny: and the term transplanted from a
neighbouring country never intended there any thing more than equality
of rights - as opposed to feudial oppression and hereditary distinctions.
An equallt~  of'ghts may consist with the greatest inequality between
the thing to which those rights extend.  It belongs to the very nature
of property for the owner to have a full and complete right to that
which he possesses, and consequently for all properties to have equal
rights; but who is so ridiculous as to infer from thence that the possessions themselves are equal? A more alarming idea cannot be spread
among the people, than that there is a large party ready to abet them
iii any enterprise of depredation and plunder.  As all men do not know
that the element of the associators is calumny, they are really in danger for a while of being believed, and must thank themselves if they
should realize the plan of equality their own malice has invented.
I am happy to find that Mr. Law, a very respectable gentleman,
who had joined the Crown and Anchor society, has publicly withdrawn
his name, disgusted with their conduct; by whom we are informed
they receive anonymous letters, vilifying the characters of persons
of the first eminence, and that they are in avowed alliance with the
ministry for prosecutions, whom  they entreat to order the solicitorgeneral to proceed on their suggestions.  When such a society declares
"itself to be unconnected with any political party," our respect for
human nature impels us to believe it, and to hope their appearance
may be considered as an era in the annals of corruption which will
transmit their names to posterity with thie encomiums they deserve.
WVith sycophants so base and venal, no argument or remonstrance can
be expected to have any success.  It is in vain to apply to reason when.t is perverted and abused, to shame when it iv extinguished, to a conscience which has ceased to admonish: I si t'l therefore leave them
in the undisturbed possession of that true philosophical indifference
which steels them against the reproaches of their own hearts and the
contempt of all honest men.
All the associations, it is true, do not breathe the spirit which disgraces that of the Crown and Anchor.  But they al concur in establishing a political test, on the first appearance of which the friends of
liberty should make a stand.  The opinions proposed may be innocent;
but the precedent is fatal, and the moment subscription becomes the
price of security, the Rubicon is passed.  Emboldened by the success
of this expedient, its authors will venture on more vigorous measures;
test will steal upon test, and the bounds of tolerated opinion will be
continually narrowed, till we awake under the fangs of a relentless
despotism.




(N A REFORM OF PARLIAMENT.                    61
SECTION III.
On a Reform of Parliament.
WHA'rEVER difference of opinion may take place in points of less
Importance, there is one in which the friends of freedom are entirely
agreed, that is, the necessity of reform in the representation.  The
theory of the English constitution presents three independent powers:
the king, as executive head, with a negative in the legislature, an
hereditary House of Peers, and an assembly of Commons, who are appointed to represent the nation at large.  From this enumeration it is
plain that the people of England can have no liberty, that is, no share
in forming the la-ws but what they exert through the medium of the
last of those bodies; nor then, but in proportion to its independence of
the other.  The independence, therefore, of the House of Commons
is the column on which the whole fabric of our liberty rests. RIepresentation may be considered as complete when it collects to a sufficient
extent and transmits with perfect fidelity the real sentiments of the
people; but this it may fail of accomplishing through various causes.
If its electors are but a handful of people, and of a peculiar order and
description; if its duration is sufficient to enable it to imbibe the spirit
of a corporation; if its integrity be corrupted by treasury influence, or
warped by the prospect of places and pensions; it may by these'means
not only fail of the end of its appointment, but fall into such an entire
dependence on the executive branch as to become a most dangerous
instrument of arbitrary power.  The usurpation of the emperors at
Rome would not have been safe unless it had concealed itself behind
the formalities of a senate.
The confused and inadequate state of our representation at present
is too obvious to escape the attention of the most careless observer.
While, through the fluctuation of human affairs, many towns of ancient
note have fallen into decay, and the increase of commerce has raised
obscure hamlets to splendour and distinction, the state of representation
standing still amid these vast changes, points back to an order of things
which no longer subsists.  The opulent towns of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds send no members to parliament; the decayed
boroughs of Cornwall appoint a multitude of representatives.  Old
Sarum sends two members, though there are not more than one or two
families that reside in it. The disproportion between those who vote
for representatives and the people at large is so great, that the majority
of our House of Commons is chosen by less than eight thousand in a
kingdom consisting of as many millions. Mr. Burgh, in his excellent
political disquisitions, has made a very laborious calculation on this
head, from which it appears that the affairs of this great empire are
decided by the suffrages of between five and six thousand electors; so
that our representation, instead of being co-extended with the people,'ails of this in a proportion that is truly enormous. The qualifications,




52                      ON A REFORM
moreover, that confer the right of election are capricious and irregular.
[n some places it belongs to the corporation, or to those whom they
think proper to make free; in some to every housekeeper; in others it
is attached to a particular estate, whose proprietor is absolute lord of the
borough, of which he makes his advantage by representing it himself
or disposing of it to the best bidder. In counties the right of election
is annexed only to one kind of property, that of freehold; the proprietor
of copyhold land being entirely deprived of it, though his political
situation is precisely the same.
The consequence of this perplexity in the qualifications of electors
is often a tedious scrutiny and examination before a committee of the
House of Commons, prolonged to such a length that there is no time
when there are not some boroughs entirely unrepresented.  These
gross defects in our representation have struck all sensible men very
forcibly; even Mr. Paley, a courtly writer in the main, declares the
bulk of the inhabitants of this country have little more concern in the
appointment of parliament than the subjects of the grand seignior. at
Constantinople.
On the propriety of the several plans which have been proposed to
remedy these evils it is not for me to decide; I shall choose rather to
point out two general principles which ought, in my opinion, to pervade every plan of parliamentary reform; the first of which respects
the mode of election, the second the independence of the elected. In
order to give the people a true representation, let its basis be enlarged
and the duration of parliaments shortened.  The first of these improvements would diminish bribery and corruption, lessen the violence
and tumult of elections, and secure to the people a real and unequivocal
organ for the expression of their sentiments.
Were every householder in town and country permitted to vote,
the number of electors would be so great, that as no art or industry
would be able to bias their minds, so no sums of money would be
sufficient to win their suffrages. The plan which the Duke of Richmond recommended was, if I mistake not, still more comprehensive,
including all that were of age, except menial servants. By this means,
the different passions and prejudices of men would check each other,
the predominance of any particular or local interest be kept down,
and from the whole there would result that general impression, which
would convey with precision the unbiassed sense of the people.
But besides this, another great improvement, in my opinion, would
be, to shorten the duration of parliament, by bringing it back to one
year.  The Michel Gemote, or great council of the kingdom, was appointed to meet under Alfred twice a year, and by divers ancient
statutes after the conquest, the king was bound to summon a parliament ev 3ry year or oftener, if need be; when, to remedy the looseness
of this latter phrase, by the 16th of Charles the Second it was enacted,
the holding of parliaments should not be intermitted above three years
at most; and in the 1st of King William, it is declared as one of the
rights of the people, that for redress of all grievances, and preserving
the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently; which was again




OF PARLIAMENT.                          63
reduced    a certainty by another statute, which enacts that a new
parliame;t shall be called within three years after the termination of
he formi:-. To this term  did they continue limited till the reign of
George tl.e First; when, after the rebellion of 1715, the septennial act
was passed, under the pretence of diminishing the expense of elections, and preserving the kingdom against the designs of the pretender.
A. noble lord' observed, on that occasion, he was at an utter loss to
describe the nature of this prolonged parliament, unless he were allowed
to borrow a phrase from the Athanasian Creed; for it was, "neither
created, nor begotten, but proceeding." Without disputing the upright
intentions of the authors of this act, it is plain they might on the same
principle have voted themselves perpetual, and their conduct will ever
remain a monument of that short-sightedness in politics which in providing for the pressure of the moment puts to hazard the liberty and
happiness of future times. It is intolerable, that in so large a spatd,
of a man's life as seven years he should never be able to correct the
error he may have committed in the choice of a representative, but be
compelled to see him every year dipping deeper into corruption; a
helpless spectator of the contempt of his interests and the ruin of his
country. During the present period of parliaments a nation may
sustain the greatest possible changes; may descend by a succession
of ill counsels from the highest pinnacle of its fortunes to the lowest
point of depression; its treasure exhausted, its -credit sunk, and its
weight almost completely annihilated in the scale of empire.  Ruin
and felicity are seldom dispensed by the same hand, nor is it likely
any succour in calamity should flow from the wisdom and virtue of
those by whose folly and wickedness it was inflicted.
The union between a representative and his constituents ought to
be strict and entire; but the septennial act has rendered it little more
than nominal.  The duration of parliament sets its members at a distance from the people, begets a notion of independence, and gives the
minister so much leisure to insinuate himself into their graces, that
before the period is expired they become very mild and complying.
Sir Robert Walpole used to say, that " every man had his price:" a
maxim on which he relied with so much security, that he declared he
seldom  troubled himself with the election of members, but rather
chose to stay and buy them up when they came to market.  A very
interesting work, lately published, entitled, " Anecdotes of Lord Chatham," unfolds some parts of this mystery of iniquity, which the
reader will probably think equally new and surprising,  There is a
regular office, it seems, —that of manager of the House of Commons,which generally devolves on one of the secretaries of state, and consists in securing, at all events, a majority in parliament by a judicious
application of promises and bribes. The sums disbursed by this
honomr7able:ffice are involved under the head of Secret Service Money;
and se deli:.ate is this employment of manager of the House of Common4 glnl vored, that we have an account in the above-mentioned
* The Earl of Peterborough.




84                           ON A REFORM
treatise of a new arrangement of ministry, wnich failed for no other
reason than that the different parties could not agree on the proper
person to fill it.'
This secret influence which prevails must be allowed to be extremely disgraceful; nor can it ever be effectually remedied but by
contracting the duration of parliaments.
If it be objected to annual parliaments that by this means the
tumult and  riot attendant on elections will be oftener repeated, it
ought to be remembered that their duration is the chief source of
these disorders. Render a seat in the House of Commons of less
value, and you diminish at once the violence of the struggle. In
America, the election of representatives takes place throughout that
vast continent in one day, with the greatest tranquillity.
In a mixed constitution like ours it is impossible to estimate the
importance of an independent parliament; for as it is here our freedom
consists, if this barrier to the encroachments of arbitrary power once
fails, we can oppose no other. Should the king attempt to govern
without a parliament, or should the upper house pretend to legislate
independently of the lower, we should immediately take the alarm,
but if the House of Commons falls insensibly under the control of the
other two branches of the legislature, our danger is greater, because
our apprehensions are less.  The forms of a free constitution surviving
when its spirit is e'xtinct would perpetuate slavery by rendering it
more concealed and secure.  On this account, I apprehend, did Montesquieu predict the loss of our ifreedom, from  the legislative power
becoming more corrupt than the executive; a crisis to which, if it has
not arrived already, it is hastening apace.  The immortal Locke, far
from  looking with the indifference too common on the abuses in our
representation, considered all improper influence exerted in that quarter
as threatening the very dissolution of government.  " Thus," says he,
" to regulate candidates and electors, aynd new-model the ways of election,
what is it but to cut up the government by the roots, and poison the
very fountain of public security?"
No enormity can subsist long without meeting with advocates; on
which account we need not wonder that the corruption of parliament
has been justified under the mild denomination of influence, though it
must pain every virtuous mind to see the enlightened Paley engaged
in its defence. If a member votes consistently with his convictions,
his conduct in that instance has not been determined by influence;
but if he votes otherwise, give it what gentle name you please, he
forfeits his integrity; nor is it possible to mark the boundaries which
should limit his compliance; for if he may deviate a little to attain
* As I have taken my information on this head entirely on the authority of the work called
" Anecdotes of Lord Chatham," the reader may not be displeased with the following extract. vol. ii.
page 121:-"The nanagement of the House of Commons, as it is called, is a confidential departrent unknown to the constitution. In the public accounts it is immersed under the head of Secret
Service Moncy. It is usually given to the secretary of state when that post is filled by a commoner.
The business of the department is to distribute with art and policy among the members who
have no ostensible places sums of money for their support during the session; besides contracts,
-.tcerv-tickets, and other douceurs. It is no uncommon circumstance, at the end of a session, for a
g.<ntleman to receive five hundred or a thousand pounds for his services."




nFR PARLIAMENT.                         65
tme see of Winchester, he may certainly step a little farther Lo reach
the dignity of primate.  How familiar must the practice of corruption
have become when a philosophical moralist, a minister of religion, of
great talents and virtue, in the calm retirement of his study, does not
hesitate to become its public apologist!
The necessity of a reform in the constitution of parliament is In
nothing more obvious than in the ascendency of the aristocracy. This
colossus bestrides both houses of parliament; legislates in one, and
exerts a domineering influence over the other.  It is humiliating, at
the approach of an election, to see a whole county send a deputation
to an earl or duke, and beg a representative as you would beg an
alms. A multitude of laws have been framed, it is true, to prevent all
interference of peers in elections; but they neither are nor can be
effectual while the House of Commons opens its doors to their sons
and brothers. If our liberty depends on the balance and control of
the respective orders in the state, it must be extremely absurd to blend
them together by placing the father in one department of the legisl].ture and his family in the other.
Freedom is supposed by some lo derive great security from the
existence of a regular opposition; an expedient which is in my opinion
both the offspring and the cherisher of faction.  That a minister
should be opposed when his measures are destructive to his country
can admit of no doubt; that a systematic opposition should be main
tained against any man merely as a minister, without regard to the
principles he may profess, or the measures he may propose, which is
intended by a regular opposition, appears to me a most corrupt and
unprincipled maxim.  When a legislative assembly is thus thrown int.
parties, distinguished by no leading principle, however warm and animated their debates, it is plain they display only a struggle for the
emoluments of office.  This the people discern, and in consequence
listen with very little attention to the representations of the minister
on the one hand, or the minority on the other; being persuaded the
only real difference between them is, that the one is anxious to gain
what the other is anxious to keep.  If a measure be good, it is of no
importance to the nation from whom it proceeds; yet will it be esteemed
by the opposition a point of honour not to let it pass without throwing
every obstruction in its way. If we listen to the minister for the time
being, the nation is always flourishing and happy; if we hearken to
the opposition, it is a chance if it be not on the brink of destruction.
In an assembly convened to deliberate on the affairs of a nation, how
disgusting to hear the members perpetually talk of their connexions,
and their resolution to act with a particular set of men, when, if they
have happened by chance to vote according to their convictions rather
than their party, half their speeches are made up of apologies for a
conduct so new and unexpected! When they see men united who
agree in nothing but their hostility to the minister, the people fall at
first into amazement and irresolution; till perceiving political debate
is a mere scramble for profit and power, they endeavour to become as
corrupt as their betters.  It is not in that roar of faction which deafels
VOL. II.-E




66                       ON A REFORM
the ear and sickens the heart the still voice of Liberty is heard.  She
turns from the disgusting scene, and regards these struggles as the
pangs and convulsions in which she is doomed to expire.
The era of parties, flowing from the animation of freedom, is ever
followed by an era of faction, which marks its feebleness and decay.
Parties are founded on principle, factions on men; under the first, the
people are contending respecting the system that shall be pursued;
under the second, they are candidates for servitude, and are only debating whose livery they shall wear.  The purest times of the Roman
republic were distinguished by violent dissensions; but they consisted
in the jealousy of the several orders of the state among each other;
on the ascendence of the patricians on the one side and the plebeians
on the other; a useful struggle, which maintained the balance and
equipoise of the constitution.  In the progress of corruption things
took a turn; the permanent parties which sprang from the fixed principles of government were lost, and the citizens arranged themselves
under the standard of particular leaders, being bandied into factions,
under Marius or Sylla, Cawsar or Pompey; while the republic stood
by without any interest in the dispute, a passive and helpless victim.
The crisis of the fall of freedom in different nations, with respect to
the causes that produce it, is extremely uniform.  After the manner
of the ancient factions, we hear much in England of the Bedford party,
the Rockingham party, the Portland party,-when it would puzzle the
wisest man to point out their political distinction.  The useful jealousy
of the separate orders is extinct, being all melted down and blended
into one mass of corruption. The House of Commons looks with no
jealousy on the House of Lords, nor the House of Lords on the House
of Commons; the struggle in both is maintained by the ambition of
powerful individuals and families, between whom the kingdom is thrown
as the prize, and the moment they unite they perpetuate its subjection
and divide its spoils.
From a late instance we see they quarrel only about the partition
of the prey, but are unanimous in defending it. To the honour of Mr.
Fox and the band of illustrious patriots of which he is the leader, it
will however be remembered that they stood firm against a host of
opponents when, assailed by every species of calumny and invective,
they had nothing to expect but the reproaches of the present and the
admiration of all future times.  If any thing can rekindle the sparks of
freedom, it will be the flame of their eloquence; if any thing can re
animate her faded form, it will be the vigour of such minds.
The disordered state of our representation, it is acknowledged on all
hands, must be remedied some time or other; but it is contended that
it would be improper at present, on account of the political ferment
that occupies the minds of men and the progress of republican principles; a plausible objection, if delay can restore public tranquillity:
but unless I am greatly mistaken, it will have just a contrary effect.
It is hard to conceive how the discontent that flows from the abuses of
government can be allayed by their being perpetuated. If they are of
such a nature that they can neither be palliated nor denied, and arg




OF PARLIAMENT.                          67
made the ground of;nvective against the whole of our constitution, are
not they its best friends who wish to cut off this occasion of scandal
and complaint?  The theory of our constitution, we say, and justly,
has been the admiration of the world; the cavils of its enemies, then,
derive their force entirely from the disagreement between that theory
and its practice: nothing therefore remains but to bring them as near
as human affairs will admit to a perfect correspondence. This will
cut up faction by the roots, and immediately distinguish those who
wish to reform the constitution from those who wish its subversion.
Since the abuses are real, the longer they are continued the more they
will be known; the discontented will be always gaining ground, and,
[hough repulsed, will return to the charge with redoubled vigour and
advantage.  Let reform be considered as a chirurgical operation, if you
please; but since the constitution must undergo it or die, it is best to
submit before the remedy becomes as dangerous as the disease. The
example drawn from a neighbouring kingdom as an argument for delay
ought to teach us a contrary lesson.  Had the encroachments of arbitrary power been steadily resisted, and remedies been applied as evils
appeared, instead of piling them up as precedents, the disorders of
government could never have arisen to that enormous height, nor would
the people have been impelled to the dire necessity of building the
whole fabric of political society afresh.  It seems an infatuation in
governments that in tranquil times they treat the people with contempt,
and turn a deaf ear to their complaints; till, public resentment kindling,
they find when it is too late that in their eagerness to retain every
thing they have lost all.
The pretences of Mr. Pitt and his friends for delaying this great
business are so utterly inconsistent that it is too plain they are averse
in reality to its ever taking place.   When Mr. Pitt is reminded that he
himself at the beginning of his ministry recommended parliamentary
reform, he replies, It was necessary then on account of the calamitous
state of the nation, just emerged from an unsuccessful war and filled
with gloom and disquiet.  But, unless the people are libelled, they now
are still more discontented,-with this difference, that their uneasiness
formerly arose from events but remotely connected with unequal representation, but that this is now the chief ground of complaint.  It is
absurd, however, to rest the propriety of reform on any turn of public
affairs. If it be not requisite to secure our freedom, it is vain and useless; but if it be a proper means of preserving that blessing, the nation
will need it as much in peace as in war.  When we wish to retain
those habits which we know it were best to relinquish, we are extremely ready to be soothed with momentary pretences for delay,
though they appear on reflection to be drawn from quite opposite topics,
and therefore to be equally applicable to all times and seasons.
A similar delusion is practised in the conduct of public affairs. If
the people be tranquil and composed, and have not caught the passion
of reform, it is impolitic, say the ministry, to disturb their minds by
agitating a question that lies at rest; if they are awakened, and touched
with a conviction of the abuse, we must wait, say they, till the ferment
E 2




ON THEOR ES, AND
subsides, and not lessen our dignity by seeming to yield to popular
clamour: if we are at peace, and commerce flourishes, it is concluded
we cannot need any improvement in circumstances so prosperous and
happy; if, on the other hand, we are at war, and our affairs unfortunate, an amendment in the representation is dreaded, as it would seem
an acknowledgment that our calamities flowed from the ill conduct
of parliament. Now, as the nation must always be in one or other
of these situations, the conclusion is, the period of reform can never
arrive at all.
This pretence for delay will appear the more extraordinary in the
British ministry from a comparison of the exploits they have performed
with the task they decline.  They have found time for involving us in
mrillions of debt-for cementing a system of corruption that reaches
fiom the cabinet to the cottage —for carrying havoc and devastation to
the remotest extremities of the globe-for accumulating taxes which
fnamish the peasant and reward the parasite-for bandying the whole
kingdom into factions, to the ruin of all virtue and public spirit-for
the completion of these achievements they have suffered no opportunity
to escape them.  Elementary treatises on time mention various arrangemlents and divisions, but. none have ever touched on the chronology
of statesmen.  These are a generation who measure their time not
so much by the revolutions of the sun as by the revolutions of power.
There are two eras particularly marked in their calendar,-the one the
period they are in the ministry, and the other when they are out,-which
have a very different effect on their sentiments and reasoning.  Their
outirse commences in the character of friends to the! people, whose
grievances they display in all the colours of variegated diction.  But
the moment they step over the threshold of St. James's, they behold
every thing in a new light; the taxes seem lessened, the people rise
fiom their depression, the nation flourishes in peace and plenty, and
every attempt at improvement is like heightening the beauties of Paradise or mending the air of Elysium.
SECTION IV.
On Theories, and the Rights of Mflan.
AMONG the many alarming symptoms of the present time, it is not
the least that there is a prevailing disposition to hold in contempt the
theory of liberty as false and visionary.  For my own part, it is my
determination never to be deterred by an obnoxious name from an open
avowal of any principles that appear useful and important.  Were the
ridicule now cast on the Rights of Man confined to a mere phrase, as
the title of a book, it were of little consequence; but when that is
made the pretence for deriding the doctrine itself, it is matter of serious alarm.
To place the rights of man as the basis of lawful government is not
$eculiar to Mr. Paine; but was done more than a century ago by men




THE RIGHTS OF MAN.                      69
of no less eminence than Sidney and Locke. It is therefore extremely
disingenuous to impute the system to Mr. Paine as its author.  His
structure may be false and erroneous, but the foundation was laid by
other hands.  That there are natural rights, or, in other words, a cer
tain liberty which men may exercise, independent of permission from
society, can scarcely be doubted by those who comprehend the meaning of the terms. Every man must have a natural right to use his limbs
in what manner he pleases that is not injurious to another. In like
manner he must have a right to worship God after the mode he thinks
acceptable; or, in other words, he ought not to be compelled to consult
any thing but his own conscience. These are a specimen of those
rights which may properly be termed natural; for, as philosophers
speak of the primary qualities of matter, they cannot be increased or
diminished. We cannot conceive the right of using our limbs to be
created by society, or to be rendered more complete by any human
agreement or compact.
But there still remains a question whether this natural liberty must
not be considered as entirely relinquished when we become members
of society.  It is pretended that the moment we quit a state of nature,
as we have given up the control of our actions in return for the superior
advantages of law and governiment, we can never appeal again to any
original principles, but must rest content with the advantages that are
secured by the terms of the society.  These are the views which distinguish the political writings of Mr. Burke, an author whose splendid
and unequalled powers have given a vogue and fashion to certain tenets
which, from any other pen, would have appeared abject and contemptible.  In the field of reason the encounter would not be difficult, but
who can withstand the fascination and magic of his eloquence? The
excursions of his genius are immense.  His imperial fancy has laid all
nature under tribute, and has collected riches from every scene of the
creation and every walk of art. His eulogium on the Queen of France
is a masterpiece of pathetic composition; so select are its images, so
fraught with tenderness, and so rich with colours " dipped in heaven,"
that he who can read it without rapture may have merit as a reasoner,
but must resign all pretensions to taste and sensibility. His imagination
is, in truth, only too prolific: a world of itself, where he dwells in the
midst of chimerical alarms, is the dupe of his own enchantments, and
starts, like Prospero, at the spectres of his own creation.
His intellectual views in general, however, are wide and variegated,
ather than distinct; and the light he has let in on the British constitution in particular resembles the coloured effulgence of a painted
medium, a kind of mimic twilight, solemn and soothing to the senses,
but better fitted for ornament than use.
A book has lately been published under the title of " Happiness and
Rights," written by Mr. Hey, a respectable member of the university
of Cambridge, whose professed object is, with Mr. Burke, to overturn
the doctrine of natural rights.  The few remarks I may make upon it
are less on account of any merit in the work itself than on account of its
author, who, being a member of considerable standing in the most liberal




70                      ON THEORIES, AND
of our universities, may be presumed to speak the sentiments of that
learned body.  Trhe chief difference between his theory and Mr
Burke's seems to be the denial of the existence of any rights that call
be denominated natural, which Mr. Burke only supposes resigned on
the formation of political society.  " The rights," says Mr. Hey, "1
can conjecture (for it is but a conjecture) to belong to me as a mere man.
are so uncertain and comparatively so unimportant, while the rights I
feel m.yself possessed of in civil society are so great, so numerous, and
many of them so well defined, that I am strongly inclined to consider
society as creating or ging g my rights, rather than recognising and
securino what I could have claimed if I had lived in an unconnected
state."-(p. 137.)
As government implies restraint, it is plain a portion of our freedom
is given up by entering into it; the orply question can then be, how far
this resignation extends, whether to a part, or to the whole? This
point may perhaps be determined by the following reflections:1. The advantages that civil power can procure to a community are
partial.  A small part in comparison with the condition of man can
fall within its influence.  Allowing it to be a rational institution, it
must have that end in view which a reasonable man would propose by
appointing it; nor can it imply any greater sacrifice than is strictly
necessary to its attainment.  But on what account is it requisite to
unite in political society? Plainly to guard against the injury of others;
for were there no injustice among mankind no protection would be
needed, no public force necessary: every man might be left without
restraint or control. The attainment of all possible good, then, is not
the purpose of laws, but to secure us from external injury and violence;
and as the means must be proportioned to the end, it is absurd to suppose that by submitting to civil power, with a view to some particular
benefits, we should be understood to hold all our advantages dependent
upon that authority.  Civil restraints imply nothing more than a surrender of our liberty in some points in order to maintain it undisturbed
in others of more importance.  Tlhus we give up the liberty by repelling force by force, in return for a more equal administration of
justice than private resentment would permit. But there are some
rights which cannot with any propriety be yielded up to human authority, because they are perfectly consistent with every benefit its
appointment can procure.  The free use of our faculties in distinguishing truth from falsehood, the exertion of corporeal powers without
injury to others, the choice of a religion and worship, are branches
of natural freedom which no government can justly alter or diminish,
because their restraint cannot conduce to that security which is its
proper object.  Government, like every other contrivance, has a specific
end; it implies the resignation of just as much liberty as is needful to
attain it; whatever is demanded more is superfluous, a species of
tyranny, which ought to be corrected by withdrawing it. The relation
of master and servant, of pupil and instructer, of the respective members of a family to their head, all include some restraint, some abridg.
ment of natural liberty.  But in these cases it is not pretended that




THE RIGHTS OF MAN.                       71
the surrender is total; and why should this be supposed to take place
in political society, which is one of the relations of human life? this
would be to render the foundation infinitely broader than the superstructure.
2. From the notion that political society preclu'des an appeal to
natural rights, the greatest absurdities must ensue.  If that idea be
just, it is improper to say of any administration that it is despotic or
oppressive unless it has receded from its first form and model. Civil
power can never exceed its limits until it deviates into a new track.
For if every portion of natural freedom be given up by yielding to civil
authority, we can never claim  any other liberties than those precise
ones which were ascertained in its first formation.'rhe vassals of
despotism may complain perhaps of the hardships which they suffer;
but unless it appear they are of a new kind no injury is done them, for
no right is violated.  Rights are either natural or artificial; the first
cannot be pleaded after they are relinquished, and the second cannot
be impaired but by a departure from ancient precedents.  If a man
should be unfortunate enough to live under the dominion of a prince
who, like tile monarchs of Persia, could murder his subjects at will,
he may be unhappy, but cannot complain; for on Mr. Hey's theory he
never had any rights but what were created by society, and on Mr.
Burke's he has for ever relinquished them. The claims of nature
being set aside, and the constitution of the government despotic from
the beginning, his misery involves no injustice and admits of no
remedy.  It requires little discernment to see that this theory rivets
the chains of despotism, and shuts out from the political world the
smallest glimpse of emancipation or improvement. Its language is,
he that is a slave let him be a slave still.
3. It is incumbent on Mr. Burke and his followers to ascertain the
time when natural rights are relinquished.  Mr. Hey is content with
tracing their existence to society, while Mr. Burke, the more moderate
of the two, admitting their foundation in nature, only contends that
regular government absorbs and swallows them up, bestowing artificial
advantages in exchange. But at what period, it may be inquired, shall
we date this wonderful revolution in the social condition of man? If
we say it was as early as the first dawn of society, natural liberty had
never any existence at all, since there are no traces even in tradition
of a period when men were utterly unconnected with each other. If
we say this complete surrender took place with the first rudiments
of law and government in every particular community, on what principle were subsequent improvements introduced? Mr. Burke is fond
of resting our liberties on Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights; but
he ought to remember, that as they do not carry us to the commencement of our government, which was established a,;es before, our forefathers had long ago resigned their natural liberty.  If those famous
stipulations only recognised such privileges as were in force before,
they have no claim to be considered as the foundations of our constitu
tion; but if they formed an era in the annals of freedom, they must
have been erected on the basis of those natural rights which Mr. Burke




72                    ON THEORIES, AND
ridicules and explodes. When our ancestors made those demands, It
is evident they did not suppose an appeal to the rights of nature preAluded. Every step a civilized nation call take towards a more equal
administration is either an assertion of its natural liberty or a criminal
encroachment on' just authority.  Tlie influence of government on the
stock of natural rights may be compared to that of a manufactory on
the rude produce; it adds nothing to its quantity, but only qualifies
and fits it for use.  Political arrangement is more or less perfect in
proportion as it enables us to exert our natural liberty to the greatest
advantage; if it is diverted to any other purpose, it is made the instrument of gratifying the passions of a few, or imposes greater restraint
than its object prescribes; it degenerates into tyranny and oppression.
The greatest objection to these principles is their perspicuity, which
makes them ill relished by those whose interest it is to hide the nature
of government from vulgar eyes, and induce a persuasion that it is a
secret which can only be unfolded to the initiated under the conduct
of Mr. Burke, the great hierophant and revealer of the mysteries.  A
mystery and a trick are generally two sides of the same object according as it is turned to the view of the beholder.
The doctrine of Mr. Locke and his followers is founded on the
natural equality of mankind; for as no man can have any natural or
inherent right to rule any more than another, it necessarily follows
that a claim to dominion; wherever it. is lodged, must be ultimately
referred back to the explicit or implied consent of the people. Whatever source of civil authority is assigned different from this will be
found to resolve itself into mere force.  But as the natural equality of
one generation is the same with that of another, the people have
always the same right to new-model their government, and set aside
their rulers. This right, like every other, may be exerted capriciously
and absurdly; but no human power can have any pretensions to intercept its exercise.  For civil rulers cannot be considered as having any
claims that are coextended with those of the people, nor as forming a
party separate from the nation.  They are appointed by the community
to execute its will, not to oppose it; to manage the public, not to pursue
any private or particular interests.  Are all the existing authorities in
state to lie then, it may be said, at the mercy of the populace, liable
to be dissipated by the first breath of public discontent? By no
means; they are to be respected and obeyed as interpreters of the
public will. Till they are set aside by the unequivocal voice of the
Ieople, they are a law to every member of the community.  To resist
them  is rebellion; and for any particular set of men to attempt their
subversion by force is a heinous crime, as they represent and imbody
the collective majesty of the state.  They are the exponents, to use the
language of algebra, of the precise quantity of liberty the people have
thought fit to legalize and secure.  But though they are a law to every
member of the society separately considered, they cannot bind the
society itself, or prevent it, when it shall think proper, from forming
an entire new arrangement; a right that no compact can alienate or
diminish, and which has been exerted as often as a free government




THE RIGHTS OF liANl.                   73
has been formed. On this account, in resolving the right of dominion
into compact, Mr. Locke appears to me somewhat inconsistent, or he
has expressed himself with less clearness and accuracy than was
usual with that great philosopher. There must have been a previous
right to insist on stipulations in those who formed them; nor is there
any reason why one race of men is not as competent to that purpose
as another.
With the enemies of freedom it is a usual artifice to represent the
sovereignty of the people as a license to anarchy and disorder.  But
the tracing up civil power to that source will not diminish our obligation to obey; it only explains its reasons, and settles it on clear deter
minate principles. It turns blind submission into rational obedience,
tempers the passion for liberty with the love of order, and places mankind in a happy medium between the extremes of' anarchy on the one
side and oppression on the other.  It is the polar star that will conduct us safe over the ocean of political debate and speculation, the law
of laws, the legislator of legislators.
To reply to all the objections that have been advanced against this
doctrine would be a useless task, and exhaust the patience of the
reader; but there is one drawn from the idea of a majority much insisted on by Mr. Burke and Mr. Hey, of which the latter gentleman is
so enamoured that he has spread it out into a multitude of pages.
They assert that the theory of natural rights can never be realized,
because every member of the community cannot concur in the choice
of a government, and the minority, being compelled to yield to the decisions of the majority, are under tyrannical restraint.  To this reasoning it is a sufficient answer, that if a number of men act together
at all, the necessity of being determined by the sense of the majority
in the last resort is so obvious that it is always implied. An exact
concurrence of many particular wills is impossible; and therefore
when each taken separately has precisely the same influence, there
can be no hardship in suffering the result to remain at issue till it is
determined by the coincidence of the greater number. The idea of
natural liberty, at least, is so little violated by this method of proceeding, that it is no more than what takes place every day in the smallest
society, where the necessity of being determined by the voice of the
majority is so plain that it is scarcely ever reflected upon.  The defenders of the rights of man mean not to contend for impossibilities.
We never hear of a right to fly, or to make two and two five.  If the
majority of a nation approve its government, it is in this respect as
free as the smallest association or club; any thing beyond which must
be visionary and romantic.
The next objection Mr. Hey insists upon is, if possible, still more
frivolous, turning on the case of young persons during minority. He
contends, that as some of these have more sense than may be found
among common mechanics and the lowest of the people, natural right
demands their inclinations to be consulted in political arrangements.
Were there any method of ascertaining exactly the degree of under
standing possessed by young persons during their minority, so as to




74                    ON THEORIES, AND
distinguish early intellects from the less mature, there would be some
force in the objection; in the present case, the whole supposition is
no more than one of those chimeras which this gentleman is ever fond
of combating, with the same gravity and to as little purpose as Don
Quixote his windmill.
The period of minority, it is true, varies in different countries, and
is perhaps best determined everywhere by ancient custom and habit.
An early maturity may confer on sixteen more sagacity than is sometimes found at sixty; but what then? A wise government, having for
its object human nature at large, will be adapted, not to its accidental
deviations, but to its usual aspects and appearances. For an answer
to his argument against natural rights, drawn from  the exclusion of
women from political power, I beg leave to refer the author to the
ingenious Miss Wolstonecraft, the eloquent patroness of female claims;
unless, perhaps, every other empire may appear mean in the estimation of those who possess with an uncontrolled authority the empire
of the heart.
"The situation" says Mr. Hey (p. 137), " in which any man finds
himself placed when he arrives at the power of reflecting appears to
be the consequence of a vast train of events, extending backwards
hundreds or thousands of years for aught he can tell, and totally baffling all the attempts at comprehension by human faculties."
From hence he concludes all inquiry into the rights of man should
be forborne. s" What rights this being (God) may have possibly intended that I might claim from  beings like myself, if he had thought
proper that I had lived among them in an unconnected state, that is to
say, what are the rights of a mere man, appears a question involved
in such obscurity that I cannot trace even any indication of that Being
having intended me to inquire into it."
If any thing be intended by these observations, it is that we ought
never to attempt to ameliorate our condition till we are perfectly acquainted with its causes.  But as the subjects of the worst government are probably as ignorant of the train of events for some thousands of years back as those who enjoy the best, they are to rest
contented, it seems, until they can clear up that obscurity, and inquire
no farther.
It would seem strange to presume an inference good from not
knowing how we arrived at it.  Yet this seems as reasonable as to
suppose the political circumstances of a people fit and proper on account of our inability to trace the causes that produced them.  To
know the source of an evil is only of consequence as it may chance
to conduct us to the remedy. But the whole paragraph I have quoted
betrays the utmost perplexity of thought; confounding the civil condition of individuals with the political institution of a society.  The
former will be infinitely various in the same community, arisino from
the different character, temper, and success of its members; the. latter
unites and pervades the whole, nor can any abuses attach to it but
what may be displayed and remedied.
It is perfectly disingenuous in this author to represent his adver
"'~  r""""~'    "'""'~~~~~~~~'3




THE RIGHTS OF MAN.                             75
saries as desirous of committing the business of legislation indiscriminately to the meanest of mankind.* He well knows the wildest
democratical writer contends for nothing more than popular government by representation. If the labouring part of the people are not
competent to choose legislators, the English constitution is essentially
wrong; especially in its present state, where the importance of each
vote is enhanced by the paucity of the electors.
After the many examples of misrepresentation which this author has
furnished, his declamations on the levelling system cannot be matter
of surprise. An equality of rights is perfectly consistent with the
utmost disproportion between the objects to which they extend. A
peasant may have the same right to the exertion of his faculties with
a Newton; but this will not fill up the vast chasm that separates them.
The ministry will feel great obligations to Mr. Hey for putting off
the evil day of reform  to a far distant period,-a period so remote,
that they may hope before it is completed their names and their actions
will be buried in friendly oblivion.  He indulges a faint expectation,
he tells us, that the practice of governments may be improved in two
or three thousand years.
A smaller edition of this work has lately been published, considerably abridged, for the use of the poor, who, it may be feared, will be
very little benefited by its elerusal. Genius may dazzle, eloquence may
persuade, reason may convince; but to render popular cold and comfortless sophistry, unaided by those powers, is a hopeless attempt.
I have trespassed, I am afraid, too far on the patience of my readers,
in attempting to expose the fallacies by which the followers of Mr.
Burke perplex the understanding, and endeavour to hide in obscurity
the true sources of political power.  Were there indeed any impropriety in laying them open, the blame would not fall on the friends of
freedom, but on the provocation afforded by the extravagance and absurditv of its enemies.  If princely power had never been raised to a
level with the attributes of the Divinity by Filmer, it had probably never
been sunk as low as popular acquiescence by Locke.  The confused
mixture of liberty and oppression which ran through the feudal system
prevented the theory of government from being closely inspected; particular rights were secured, but the relation of the people to their rulers
was never explained on its just principles till the transfer of superstition
to civil power shocked the common sense of mankind, and awakened
their inquiries.   They drew  aside the veil, and where they were
taught to expect a mystery they discerned a fraud.   There is however no room to apprehend any evil from political investigation that
will not be greatly overbalanced by its advantages.  For besides that
truth is always beneficial, tame submission to usurped power has
* " A man whose hands and ideas have been usefully confined for thirty or forty years to the labour
Ind management of a farm, or the construction of a wall or piece of cloth, does indeed, in one
respect. appear superior to an infant three months old. The man could make a law of some sort or
other; the infant could not. The trant could, in any particular circumstances of a nation, say
these words, We will go to war, or we will not go to war; the infant could not. But the difference
between them is more in appearance than in any useful reality. The man is totally unqualified to
judge what ought to be enacted for laws." —IHev,  31




76                      ON DISSENTERS.
hitherto been the malady of human nature. The dispersed situation
of mankind, their indolence and inattention, and the opposition of their
passions and interests are circumstances which render it extremely
difficult for them to combine in resisting tyranny with success. In
the field of government, as in that of the world, the tares tf despotism
were sown while men slept!  The necessity of regular government,
under some form or other, is so pressing, that the evil of anarchy is
of short duration.  Rapid, violent, destructive in its course, it is an
inundation which, fed by no constant spring, soon dries up and disappears.  The misfortune on these occasions is, that the people, for want
of understanding the principles of liberty, seldom reach the true source
of their misery; but after committing a thousand barbarities, only
change their masters, when they should change their system
SECTION V.
On Dissenters.
OF that foul torrent of insult and abuse which it has lately been the
lot of the fiiends of liberty to sustain, a larger portion hath fallen to
the share of dissenters than any other description of men.  Their
sentiments have been misrepresented, their loyalty suspected, and
their most illustrious characters held up to derision and contempt.
The ashes of the dead have been as little spared as the merit of the
living; and the same breath that has attempted to depreciate the
talents and virtues of a Priestley is employed to blacken the memory
of a Price.  The effusions of a distempered loyalty are mingled with
execrations on that unfortunate sect; as if the attachment to the king
were to be measured by the hatred to dissenters.  Without any shadow
of criminality, they are (loomed to sustain perpetual insult and reproach; their repose disturbed, and their lives threatened and endangere(l. If dissent be in truth a crime of such magnitude that it must
not be tolerated, let there be at least a punishment prescribed by law,
that they may know what they have to expect, and not lie at the mercy
of an enraged and deluded populace. It is natural to inquire into the
cause of this extreme virulence against a particular class of the community, who are distinguished from others only by embracing a different form and system of worship.
In the practice of the moral virtues it will hardly be denied that they
are at least as exemplary as their neighbours; while in the more immediate duties of religion, if there be any distinction, it lies in their
carrying to a greater height sentiments of seriousness and devotion.
The nature of their public conduct will best appear from a rapid survey
of some of those great political events in which it has had room to display itself; where, though our history has been ransacked to supply
invective, it will be seen their merits more than compensate for any
errors they may have committed. Their zeal in opposing Charles I.
has been awl eternal theme of reproach; but it should be remembered




ON DISSENTERS.                        77
that when that resistance first took place the parliament consisted for
the most part of churchmen, and was fully justified in its opposition
by the arbitrary measures of the court.  Had the pretensions of
Charles been patiently acquiesced in, our government had long ago
been despotic.
What medium might have been found between tame submission and
open hostility, and whether matters were not afterward pushed to an
extremity against the unfortunate monarch, it is not for me to determine, nor does it concern the vindication of dissenters. For, long before
the final catastrophe which issued in the king's death, the favourable
intentions of parliament were overruled by the ascendency of Cromwell, the parliament itself. oppressed by his arms, and the influence
both of churchmen and dissenters bent under military usurpation. The
execution of Charles was the deed of a faction, condemned by the great
body of the puritans as a criminal severity. But whatever blame they
may be supposed to have incurred on account of their conduct to
Charles, the merit of restoring monarchy in his son was all their own.
The entire force of the empire was in their hands; Monk himself of
their party; the parliament, the army, all puritans; yet were they disinterested enough to call the heir to the throne, and yield the reins into
his hands, with no other stipulation than that of liberty of conscience,
which he violated with a baseness and ingratitude peculiar to his char-,
acter. All the return he made them for the recovery of his power
consisted in depriving two thousand of their ministers, and involving
the whole body in a persecution by which not less than ten thousand
are supposed to have perished in imprisonment and want. But their
patriotism was not to be shaken by these injuries.  When, towards the
latter end of Charles the Second's reign, the character of his successor
inspired a dread of the establishment of popery, to avert that evil they
cheerfully acquiesced in an exclusion from all places of emolument
and trust,-an extraordinary instance of magnanimity.  When James
the Second began to display arbitrary views, dissenters were among
the first to take the alarm, regarding with jealousy even an indulgence
when it flowed from a dispensing power. The zeal with which they
co-operated in bringing about the revolution, the ardour with which
they have always espoused its principles, are too well known to need
any proof, and can only be rendered more striking by a contrast with
the conduct of the high church party.  The latter maintained in its
utmost extent the doctrine of passive obedience and non-resistance;
were incessantly engaged in intrigues to overturn the revolution, and
affirmed the doctrine of divine right to be an ancient an(d indisputable
tenet of the English church.  Whoever wishes to ascertain the existence of those arts by which they embroiled the reign of King
William may see them displayed at large in Burnet's History of his
own Times.
The attachment of dissenters to the house of Hanover was signalized
in a manner too remarkable to be soon forgotten. In the rebellions of
15 and'45 they ventured on a breach of the law by raising and
officering regiments out of their own body, for which the parliament




I79                    ON DISSENTERS.
were reduced to tile awkward expedient of passing an act of indemnity
This short sketch of their political conduct, as it is sufficient to estab.
lish their loyalty beyond suspicion, so may it well augment our surprise
at the extreme obloquy and reproach with which they are treated
Mr. Hume, a competent judge, if ever there was one, of political prin
ciples, and who was far from being partial to dissenters, candidly
confesses that to them  we are indebted for the preservation of
liberty.
The religious opinions of dissenters are so various, that there is
perhaps no point in which they are agreed, except in asserting the rights
of conscience against all human control and authority. From the time
of Queen Elizabeth, under whom they began to make their appearance,
their views of religious liberty have gradually extended, commencing
at first with a disapprobation of certain rites and ceremonies, the re
mains of papal superstition.  Their total separation from the church
did not take place for more than a century after; till despairing of
seeing it erected on a comprehensive plan, and being moreover persecuted for their difference of sentiment, they were compelled at last
reluctantly to withdraw. Having been thus directed by a train of
events into the right path, they pushed their principles to their legitimate consequences, and began to discern the impropriety of all religious
establishments whatever,-a sentiment in which they are now nearly
united.  On this very account, however, of all men they are least likely
to disturb the peace of society; for they claim no other liberty than
what they wish the whole human race to possess, that of deciding
on every question where conscience is concerned.  It is sufferance
they plead for, not establishment; protection, not splendour.  A disposition to impose their religion on others cannot be suspected in
men whose distinguishing religious tenet is the disavowal of all human
authority.
Their opinion respecting establishments is founded upon reasons
which appear to them weighty and solid. They have remarked, that.
in the three first and purest ages of religion, the church was a stranger
to any alliance with temporal powers; that far from needing their aid,
Christianity never flourished so much as while they were combined to
suppress it; and that the protection of Constantine, though well intended,
diminished its purity more than it added to its splendour.
The only pretence for uniting Christianity with civil government is
the support it yields to the peace and good order of society.  But this
benefit will be derived from it, at least in as great a degree, without an
establishnment as with it.  Religion, if it has any power, operates on
Ihe conscience of men.  Resting solely on the belief of invisible realities, and having for its object the good and evil of eternity, it can derive
no additional weight or solemnity from human sanctions; but will appear to the most advantage upon hallowed ground, remote from the
noise and tumults of worldly policy.  Can it be imagined that a dis.
senter, who believes in divine revelation, does not feel the same moral
restraints as if he had received his religion from the hands of parliament?  Human laws may debase Christianity, but can never improve




ON DISSENTERS.                        79
it; and being able to add nothing to its evidence, they can add nothing
to its force.
Happy had it been, however, had civil establishments of religion
been useless only, instead of being productive of the greatest evils. But
when Christianity is established by law, it is requisite to give the pre
ference to some particular system; and as the magistrate is no better
judge of religion than others, the chances are as great of his lending
his sanction to the false as to the true. Splendour and emolument
must likewise be ill some degree attached to the national church;
which are a strong inducement to its ministers to defend it, be it ever
so remote from the truth.  Thus error becomes permanent, and that
set of opinions which happens to prevail when the establishment is
formed continues, in spite of superior light and improvement, to be
handed down without alteration from age to age. Hence the disagreement between the public creed of the church and the private sentiments
of its ministers; an evil growing out of the very nature of a hierarchy,
and not likely to be remedied before it brings the clerical character
into the utmost contempt. Hence the rapid spread of infidelity in various parts of Europe; a natural and never-failing consequence of the
corrupt alliance between church and state.  Wherever we turn our
eyes, we shall perceive the depression of religion is in proportion to
the elevation of the hierarchy.  In France, where the establishment had
attained the utmost splendour, piety had utterly decayed; in England,
where the hierarchy is less splendid, more remains of the latter; and in
Scotland, whose national church is one of the poorest in the world, a
greater sense of religion appears among the inhabitants than in either
of the former.  It must likewise be plain to every observer that piety
flourishes much more among dissenters than among the members of
any establishment whatever. This progress of things is so natural,
that nothing seems wanting in any country to render the thinking
part of the people infidels but a splendid establishment.  It will always
ultimately debase the clerical character, and perpetuate, both in discipline and doctrine, every error and abuse.
Turn a Christian society into an established church, and it is no
longer a voluntary assembly for the worship of God; it is a powerful
corporation, full of such sentiments and passions as usually distinguish
those bodies; a dread of innovation, an attachment to abuses, a propensity to tyranny and oppression. Hence the convulsions that accompany religious reform, where the truth of the opinions in question is
little regarded amid the alarm that is felt for the splendour, opulence,
and power which they are the means of supporting.  To this alliance
of Christianity with civil power it is owing that ecclesiastical history
presents a chaos of crimes; and that the progress of religious opinions, which, left to itself, had been calm and silent, may be traced
in blood.
Among the evils attending the alliance of church and state, it is not
the least that it begets a notion of their interests having some kind of
inseparable, though mysterious connexion; so that they who are dis.
satisfied with the one, must be enemies to the other. Our very language




80                     ON DISSENTTERS.
is tinctured with this delusion, in which church and king are blended
together with an arrogance that seems copied from Cardinal Wolsey's
Ego et rex meus, I and my king; as if the establishment were of more
consequence than the sovereign who represents the collective majesty
of the state. Let the interference of civil power be withdrawn, and
the animosity of sects will subside for want of materials to inflame it;
nor will any man suspect his neighbour for being of a different religion
more than for being of a different complexion from himself. The
practice of toleration, it is true, has much abated the violence of those
convulsions which, for more than a century from the beginning of the
Reformation, shook Europe to its base; but the source and spring of
intolerance is by no means exhausted.  The steam from that infernal
pit will issue through the crevices until they are filled up with the ruins
of all human establishments.
The alliance between church and state is, in a political point of view,
extremely suspicious, and much better fitted to the genius of an arbitrary than a free government.  To the former it may yield a powerful
support; to the latter it must ever prove dangerous.  The spiritual
submission it exacts is unfavourable to mental vigour, and prepares
the way for a servile acquiescence in the encroachments of civil authority.  This is so correspondent with facts, that the epithet high
church, when applied to politics, is familiarly used in our language to
convey the notion of arbitrary maxims of government.
As far as submission to civil magistrates is a branch of moral virtue,
Christianity will, under every form, be sure to enforce it; for among
the various sects and parties into which its profession is divided, there
subsists an entire agreement respecting the moral duties it prescribes.
T'o select, therefore, and endow a particular order of clergy to teach
the duties of submission is useless as a means to secure the peace of
a society, though well fitted to produce a slavish subjection.  Ministers
of that description, considering themselves as allies of the state, yet
having no civil department, will be disposed, on all occasions, to strike
in with the current of the court; nor are they likely to confine the
obligation to obedience within any just and reasonable bounds.  They
will insensibly become an army of spiritual janizaries. Depending, as
they everywhere must, upon the sovereign, his prerogative can never
be exalted too high for their emolument, nor can any better instruments
be contrived for the accomplishment of arbitrary designs.  Their com.
pact and united form, composing a chain of various links which hangs
suspended from the throne, admirably fits them  for conveying the impression that may sooth, inflame, or mislead the people.
These are the evils which, in my opinion, attach to civil establishrnents of Christianity.  They are, indeed, often mitigated by the virtue
of their members; and among the English clergy in particular, as
splendid examples of virtue and talents might be produced as any
which the annals of human nature can afford; but in all our reasonings
concerning men, we must lay it down as a maxim that the greater part
are moulded by circumstances.  If we wish to see the true spirit of




ON DISSENTERS.                            81
a hierarchy, we have only to attend to the conduct of what is usually
termed the high church party.
While they had sufficient influenice with the legislature, they impelled it to persecute; and now that a more enlightened spirit has
brought that expedient into disgrace, they turn to the people and en
deavour to inflame their minds by the arts of calumny and detraction.
When the dissenters applied for the repeal of the corporation awnd test
acts, an alarm was spread of the church being in danger, and their
claim was defeated. From the late opposition of the bishops to the
repeal of the penal statutes, we learn that they have lost the power
rather than the inclination to persecute, or they would be happy to
abolish the monuments of a spirit they ceased to approve. The
nonsense and absurdity comprised in that part of our laws would
move laughter in a company of peasants; but nothing is thought mean
or contemptible which is capable of being forged into a weapon of
hostility against dissenters. To perpetuate laws which there is no
intention to execute is certainly the way to bring law into contempt;
but the truth is, that, unwilling to relinquish the right of persecution,
though they have no immediate opportunity of exerting it, they retain
these statutes as a body in reserve, ready to be brought into the field
on the first occasion that shall ofhtr.*
The prejudice entertained against us is not the work of a day, but
the accumulation of ages, flowing from the fixed antipathy of a numerous and powerful order of mren, distributed through all the classes
of society; nor is it easy to corn eive to what a pitch popular resentment may be inflamed by artful management and contrivance.  Our
situation in this respect bears a near resemblance to that of the primitive Christians, against whonl, though in themselves the most inoffensive of mankind, the malice of the populace was directed to a still
greater degree by similar arts, and upon similar principles. The
clamour of the fanatic rabble, the devout execration of dissenters, will
remind the reader of ecclesiastical history of the excesses of pagan
ferocity, when the people, instigated by their priests, were wvont to
exclaim, Christianos ad leones.  Thertc is the less hope of this animosity being allayed from  its having arisen from  permanent causes.
That Christianity is a simple institution, unallied to worldly power;
that a church is a voluntary society, invested with a right to choose its
own officers, and acknowledging no head but Jesus Christ; that ministers are brethren whose emolument should be confined to the voluntary contributions of the people, are maxims drawn from so high an
authority, that it may well be apprehended that the church is doomed
to vanish before them.  Under these circumstances, whatever portion
of talents or of worth dissenters may possess serves only to render
them more hated, because more formidable. Had they merely revelled
with the wanton, and drunk with the drunken, —had they been clothed
with curses, they might have been honoured and esteemed notwith* This disgrace to the legislation of a great and free country has, at length, but not till more
than a third part of a century had elapsed after the above reproach was penned, been finally removed
by an enactment for which the dissenters are especially indebted to the able and zealous exertions
of that noble example and advocate of all liberal principles, LORD Joan RUSSELL.-ED
VOL. II. -F




82'N DISSENTERS.
standing, as true sons of the church; but their dissent is a crime too
indelible in the eyes of their enemies for any virtue s, alleviate, or
any merit to efface.
Till the test business was agitated, nowever, we were not aware of
our labouring under such a weight of prejudice. Confiding in the
mildness of the times, and conscious that every trace of resentment
was vanished from our own breasts, we fondly imagined that those of
churchmen were equally replete with sentiments of generosity and
candour.  We accordingly ventured on a renewal of our claim  as
men and as citizens; but had not proceeded far before we were assailed
with the bitterest reproaches. The innocent design of relieving ourselves from a disgraceful proscription was construed by our enemies
into an attack on the church and state. Their opposition was both
more violent and more formidable than was expected. They let us see,
that however languidly the flame of their devotion may burn, that of
resentment and party spirit, like vestal fire, must never be extinguished
in their temples. Calumnies continued to be propagated, till they
produced the riots at Birmingham, that ever memorable era in the annals of bigotry and fanaticism, when Europe beheld with astonishment and regret the outrage sustained by philosophy in the most
eniightened of countries, and in the first of her sons! When we hear
such excesses as these justified and applauded, we seem to be falling
back apace into the darkness of the middle ages.
The connexion between civil and religious liberty is too intimate to
make it surprising that they who are attached to the one should be
friendly to the other. The dissenters have accordingly seldom failed
to lend their support to men who seemed likely to restore the vigour
of a sinking constitution. Parliamentary reform has been cherished
by them with an ardour equal to its importance.  This part of their
character inflames opposition still further; and affords a pretext to
their enemies for overwhelming the cause of liberty under an obnoxious
name. The reproach on this head, however, is felt as an honour
when it appears by their conduct that they despair of attacking liberty
with success while the reputation of dissenters remains undiminished
The enmity of the vicious is the test of virtue.
Dissenters are reproached with the appellation of republicans, but
the truth of the charge has neither appeared from facts nor been supported by any reasonable evidence.  Among them, as among other
classes (and in no greater proportion), there are persons to be found,
no doubt, who, without any hostility to the present government, prefer
in theory a republican to a monarchical form; a point on which the
most enlightened men in all ages have entertained very different opinions. In a government like ours, consisting of three simple elements,
as this variety of sentiment may naturally be expected to take place,
so if any predilection be felt towards one more than another, that partiality seems most commendable which inclines to the republican part.
At most it is only the love of liberty to excess. The mixture of monarchy and nobility is chiefly of use as it gives regularity, order, and
stability to popular freedom. Were we, however, without any proof,




ON DISSENTERS.                         d3
to admit that dissenters are more tinctured with republican principles
than others, it might be considered as the natural effect of the absurd
conduct of the legislature. Exposed to pains and penalties, excluded
from all offices of trust, proscribed by the spirit of the present reign,
menaced and insulted wherever they appear, they must be more than
men if they felt no resentment, or were passionately devoted to the
ruling powers. To expect affection in return for injury is to gather
where they have not scattered, and reap where they have not sown.'The superstition of dissenters is not so abject as to prompt them to
worship the constitution through fear.  Yet as they have not forgotten
the benefits it imparted, and the protection it afforded till of late, they
are too much its friends to flatter its defects or defend its abuses.
T'heir only wish is to see it reformed, and reduced to its original principles.
In recent displays of loyalty they must acknowledge themselves
extremely defective. They have never plundered their neighbours to
show their attachment to their king; nor has their zeal for religion
ever broke out into oaths and execrations. They have not proclaimed
their respect for regular government by a breach of the laws; or
attempted to maintain tranquillity byriots.  These beautiful spebcmens
of loyalty belong to the virtue and moderation of the high church
party alone, with whose character they perfectly correspond.
In a scurrilous paper which has been lately circulated with malignant industry, the dissenters at large, and Dr. Price in. particular, are
accused, with strange effrontery, of having involved us in the American
war; when it is well known they ever stood aloof from that scene of
auilt and blood.
Had their remonstrances been regarded, the calamities of that war
had never been incurred; but, what is of more consequence in the
estimation of anonymous scribblers, there would have remained one lie
less to swell the catalogue of their falsehoods.
From the joy which dissenters have expressed at the French revolution, it has been most absurdly inferred that they wish for a similar
event in England; without considering that such a conclusion is a
libel on the British constitution, as it must proceed on a supposition
that our government is as despotic as the ancient monarchy of France.
To imagine the feelings must be the same when the objects are so
different shows a most lamentable degree of malignity and folly.
Encompassed as dissenters are by calumny and reproach, they have
still the satisfaction to reflect, that these have usually been the lot of
distinguished virtue; and that in the corrupt state of men's interests
mnd passions, the unpopularity of a cause is rather a presumption of
its excellence.
They will be still more happy if the frowns of the world should be
he means of reviving that spirit of evangelical piety which once disanguished them so highly. Content if they can gain protection, withjut being so romantic as to aspire to praise, they will continue firm,
loubt not, in those principles which they have hitherto acted on, unse
luced by rewards, and unshaken by dangers.  From  the passions c
F2




84                     ON DISSENTERS.
their enemies, they will appeal to the judgment of posterity;-a more
impartial tribunal. Above all, they will calmly await the decision of
tile Great Judge, before whom both they and their enemies must appear, and the springs and sources of their mutual animosity be laid
open; when the clouds of misrepresentation being scattered, it will be
seen they are a virtuous and oppressed people, who are treading,
though with unequal steps, in the path of those illustrious prophets,
apostles, and martyrs of whom the world was not worthy. In the
mean time they are far from envying the popularity and applause which
may be acquired in a contrary course; esteeming the reproaches of
freedom above the splendours of servitude.
SECTION VI.
On the Causes of the Present Dzscontents.
WE have arrived, it is a melancholy truth which can no longer be
concealed,-we have at length arrived at that crisis when nothing but
speedy and effectual reform can save us from ruin. An amendment
in the representation is wanted, as well to secure the liberty we already
possess as to open the way for the removal of those abuses which
pervade every branch of the administration. The accumulation of debt
and taxes to a degree unexampled ill any other age or country, has so
augmented the influence of the crown as to destroy the equipoise and
balance of the constitution. The original design of the funding systern, which commenced in the reign of King William, was to give
stability to the revolution by engaging the moneyed interest to embark
on its bottom. It immediately advanced the influence of the crown,
which the whigs then exalted as much as possible as a countervail to
the interests of the pretender.
The mischief of this short-sighted policy cannot be better described
than in the language of Bolingbroke.  "Few men," says he, " at that
time looked forward enough to foresee the consequences of the new
constitution of the revenue that was soon afterward formed, nor of the
method of the funding system that immediately took place; which,
absurd as they are, have continued since, till it has become scarce
possible to alter them. Few people, I say, foresaw how the multiplication of taxes and the creation of funds would increase yearly the
power of the crown, and bring our liberties, by a natural and necessary
progression, into a more real though less apparent danger than they
were in before the revolution; a due reflection on the experience of
other ages and countries would have pointed out national corruption
as the natural and necessary consequence of investing the crown with
the management of so vast a revenue; and also the loss of liberty as
the natural and necessary consequence of national corruption."*
If there be any truth in these reflections, how much must our apprehensions be heightened by the prodigious augmentation of revenue and
* Letter II. on the Study of History.




rIxE PRESENT DISCONTENTS.                    8b
debt since the time of George the First! What a harvest has been
reaped from the seeds of corruption then sown! —The revenue is now
upwards of seventeen millions, and though nine are employed to pay
the interest of the national debt, this is small consolation when we
reflect that that debt is the remnant of wasteful, destructive wars, and
that till there is a change in the system we are continually liable to
similar calamities. The multiplied channels through which seventeen millions of money must flow into the treasury, the legion of officers
it creates, the patronage its expenditure on the several branches of the
administration supplies, have rendered the influence of the crown
nearly absolute and decisive. The control of parliament sinks under
this pressure into formality: the balance of the different orders becomes
a mere theory, which serves to impose upon ignorance and varnish
corruption. There is no power in the state that can act as a sufficient
antagonist to the silent irresistible force of royal patronage.
The influence of the crown, by means of its revenue, is more dangerous than prerogative, in proportion as corruption operates after a
more concealed manner than force. A violent act of prerogative is
sensibly felt and creates an alarm; but it is the nature of corruption
to lay apprehension asleep, and to effect its purposes while the forms
of liberty remain undisturbed. The first employs force to enslave the
people; the second employs the people to enslave themselves. The
most determined enemy to freedom can wish for nothing more than
the continuance of present abuses. While the semblance of representation can be maintained, while popular delusion can be kept
up, he will spare the extremities of liberty. He aims at a higher
object, that of striking at the heart.
A fatal lethargy has long been spreading among us, attended, as is
natural, with a prevailing disposition both in and out of parliament to
treat plans of reform with contempt. After the accession, place and
pension bills were frequently passed by the commons though rejected
by the lords; nothing of that nature is now ever attempted. A standing army in time of peace was a subject of frequent complaint, and is
expressly provided against by the Bill of Rights: it is now become a
part of the constitution; for though the nominal direction be placed in
parliament, the mutiny bill passes as a matter of course, the forces are
never disbanded; the more completely to detach them from the community, barracks are erected; and martial law is established in its
utmost severity. If freedom can survive this expedient, copied from
the practice of foreign despots, it will be an instance of unexampled
good fortune. Mr. Hume terms it a mortal distemper in the British
constitution, of which it must inevitably perish.
To whatever cause it be owing, it is certain the measures of administration have, during the present reign, leaned strongly towards arbitrary
power.  The decision on the Middlesex election was a blow aimed at
the vitals of the constitution. Before the people had time to recover
from their panic they were plunged into the American war-a war of
pride and ambition, and ending in humiliation and disgrace. The spirit
of'the government is so well understood, that the most violent even




86                   ON THE CAUSES OF
of the clergy are content to drop their animosity, to turn their affectionb
into anew channel, and to devote to the house of Hanover the flattery
and the zeal by which they ruined the race of Stuart.  There cannot
be a clearer symptom of the decay of liberty than the dread of speculative opinions, which is at present carried to a length in this nation
that can scarcely be exceeded. Englishmen were accustomed till of
late to make political speculation the amusement of leisure and the
employment of genius;-they are now taught to fear it more than
death. Under the torpid touch of despotism the patriotic spirit has
shrunk into a narrow compass; confined to gaze with admiration on
the proceedings of parliament, and listen to the oracles of the minister
with silent acquiescence and pious awe. Abuses are sacred, and the
pool of corruption must putrify in peace. Persons who a few years
back were clamorous for reform are making atonement for having been
betrayed into any appearance of virtue by a quick return to their
natural character. Is not the kingdom peopled with spies and informers'? Are not inquisitorial tribunals erected in every corner of
the land? A stranger who, beholding a whole nation filled with alarm,
should inquire the cause of the commotion, would be a little surprised
on being informed, that instead of any appearance of insurrection or
plots, a pamphlet had only been published. In a government upheld
by so immense a revenue, and boasting a constitution declared to be
the envy of the world, this abject distrust of its own power is more
than a million lectures on corruptions and abuses. The wisdom of
ages, the masterpiece of human policy, complete in all its parts, and that
needs no reformation, can hardly support itself against a sixpenny pamphlet, devoid, it is said, of truth or ab;lity! To require sycophants to blush
is exacting too great a departure from the decorum of their character
but common sense might be expected to remain after shame is extinguished.
Whoever seriously contemplates the present infatuation of the people
and the character of the leaders will be tempted to predict the speedy
downfall of liberty. They cherish the forms while they repress the
spirit of the constitution; they persecute freedom and adorn its sepulchre. When corruption has struck its roots so deep, it maybe doubted
vhlether even the liberty of the press be not of more detriment than
advantage.  The prints which are the common sources of information
are replete with falsehood; virtue is calumniated; and scarcely are
any characters safe from their blast, except the advocates of corruption.
The greater part no doubt are in the pay of ministry or their adherents.  Thus delusion spreads, and the people are instructed to confound anarchy with reform, their friends with their oppressors.
Who can hear without indignant contempt the ministers' annual
eulogium on the English constitution! Is the parliament so ignorant,
then, that it needs to go to school every session to learn those elements
of political knowledge which every Briton understands? Or is the
nature of the British constitution a secret in the breast of the ministry,
to be opened with the budget? Indisputable excellence wants no encomium; but this flattery is intended to bury in an admiration of its




THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS.                    87
merit all remembrance of its defects. Whatever remains of beauty or
vigour it possesses are held in no estimation but as they produce an
acquiescence in abuses. It is its imperfections only ministers admire,
its corruptions that solace them. The topics of their encomium are
as absurd as the purpose is infamous. The flourishing state of trade
and manufactures is displayed in proof of the unequalled excellence
of the British constitution, without reflecting that a temporary decay
will support with equal force an opposite conclusion. For if we owe
our present prosperity to the nature of the government, our recent
calamities must be traced to the same source, and that constitution
which is now affirmed to be the best, must be allowed during the
American war to have been the worst.  That there is a connexion
between commercial prosperity and the nature of a government must
be admitted; but its operation is gradual and slow, not felt from year
to year, but to be traced by the comparison of one age and country
with another. But allowing that our wealth may increase along with
the increase of abuses, the nation we hope is not so sordid as to look
upon wealth as the supreme good; however well that idea may correspond with the views of a ministry who seem determined to leave us
no other.  Freedom, as it animates industry by securing its rewards,
opens a path to wealth; but if that wealth be suffered to debase a
people and render them venal and dependent, it will silently conduct
them back again to misery and depression.  Rome was never more
opirlent than on the eve of departing liberty. Her vast wealth was a
sediment that remained on the reflux of the tide. It is quite unnecessary to remind the reader how all this at present is reversed, and that
the unbounded prodigality of Mr. Pitt and his successors in the conduct of the war, which the corruption of parliament enabled them to
maintain, has plunged the nation into the deepest abyss of poverty and
distress.
It is singular enough, but I hope not ominous, that the flattery bestowed by the poets of antiquity on the ruling powers resembles, in
every thing but its elegance, the adulation of modern sycophants. The
extent of empire, the improvement of arts, the diffusion of opulence
and splendour, are the topics with which Horace adorned the praises
)f Augustus: but the penetration of Tacitus developes, amid these
flattering appearances, the seeds of ruin. The florid bloom but ill
concealed that fatal malady which preyed upon the vitals.
Between the period of national honour and complete degeneracy
there is usually an interval of national vanity, during which examples
of virtue are recounted and admired without being imitated. The
Romans were never more proud of their ancestors. than when they
ceased to resemble them. From being the freest and most high-spirited
people in the world, they suddenly fell into the tamest and most abject
submission. Let not the name of Britons, my countrymen, too much
elate you; nor ever think yourselves safe while you abate one jot of that
holy jealousy by which your liberties have been hitherto secured. The
richer the inheritance bequeathed you, the more it merits your care for
its preservation   The possession must be continued by that spirit with




ON THE CAUSES OF
which it was at first acquired; and as it was gained by vigilance, it
will be lost by supineness.  A degenerate race repose on the merit of
their forefathers; the virtuous create a fund of their own.  The former
look back upon their ancestors to hide their shame; the latter look
forward to posterity to levy a tribute of admiration. In vain will you
confide in the forms of a free constitution. Unless you reanimate those
forms with fresh vigour, they will be melancholy memorials of what
you once were, and haunt you with the shade of departed liberty. A
silent stream of corruption poured over the whole land has tainted
every branch of the administration with decay.  On your temperate
but manly exertions depend the happiness and freedom of the latest
posterity. That assembly which sits by right of representation will
be little inclined to oppose your will expressed in a firm decisive
manner. You may be deafened by clamour, misled by sophistry, or
weakened by division, but you cannot be despised with impunity. A
vindictive ministry may hang the terrors of criminal prosecution over
the heads of a few with success; but at their peril will they attempt'to intimidate a nation. The trick of associations, of pretended plots,
and silent insurrections, will oppose a feeble barrier to the impression
of the popular mind.
The theory of the constitution in the most important particulars is
a satire on the practice.  The theory provides the responsibility of
ministers as a check to the execution of ill designs; but in reality we
behold the basest of the tribe retreat from the ruin of their country,
loaded with honours and with spoils. Theory tells us the parlianient is free and independent; experience will correct the mistake by
showing its subservience to the crown. We learn from the first that
the legislature is chosen by the unbiased voice of all who can be
supposed to have a will of their own; we learn from  the last the
pretended electors are but a handful of the people, who are never
less at their own disposal than in the business of election. The theory
holds out equal benefits to all, and equal liberty, without any other
discrimination than that of a good and bad subject: its practice brands
with proscription and disgrace a numerous class of inhabitants on
account of their religion. In theory the several orders of the state
are a check on each other; but corruption has oiled the wheels of
that machinery, harmonized its motions, and enabled it to bear, with
united pressure, on the happiness of the people.
The principal remedy for the diseases of the state is undoubtedly a
reform in parliament; from which, as a central point, inferior improvements may issue; but as I have already treated on that subject at large,
I shall not insist on it here.  I cannot close this pamphlet, however,
without adverting for a moment to a few of the principal objects which
well merit the attention of the legislature.
On the abuses in the church it is to little purpose to expatiate, as
they are too numerous to be detailed, and too inveterate to be corrected.
Unless it be a maxim that honesty will endanger her existence, her
creeds ought in all reason to correspond with the sentiments of her members.  The world, it is to be feared, will be little edified by the example




THE PRESENT DISCONTENTS.                         89
ot a church which, in compelling its ministers to subscribe opinions
that few of them believe, is a discipline of fraud. Nor is the collection
of tithes calculated to soften the odium. As a mode of union with
the parishioners, they are fruitful of contention; as a restraint on the
improvement of land, impolitic and oppressive; as a remnant of the
Jewish law, superstitious and absurd. True magnanimity would instruct
the clergy to recede from a claim which they will probably be compelled shortly to relinquish. But no reform, it seems, must take place
in the church any more than in the state, that its corruptions may keep
pace with the progress of its ally.
The condition of the poor in this country calls for compassion and
redress. Many of them, through the want of mental improvement,
are sunk almost beneath the level of humanity;* and their hard-earned
pittance is so diminished by taxes, that it is with the utmost difficulty
they can nourish their children, and utterly impossible to afford them
education. The poor laws enacted for their relief, by confining their
industry to a particular spot, and denying them the privilege of residing
where they may exert it to the greatest advantage, are an accumulated
oppression. Were industry allowed to find its level, were the poorlaws abolished, and a small portion of that expense which swells the
tide of corruption, the splendours of the great, and.the miseries of
war, bestowed on the instruction of the common people, the happy
effects would descend to the remotest posterity, and open a prospect
which humanity might delight to anticipate. In England, we have
been adding wheel to wheel, and spring to spring, till we have rendered
the machine of government far too complicated; forgetting, in the
midst of wars, negotiations, and factious disputes, that the true end of
civil polity is the happiness of the people. We have listened to every
breeze that moves along the surface of Europe, and descried danger
from afar; while, deaf to the complaints of the poor, we have beheld
ignorance, wretchedness, and barbarity multiply at home, without the
smallest regard.  Is it possible to behold with patience the numberless tribe of placemen, pensioners, and sycophants who are enriched
at the public expense; a noxious spawn engendered by the corruptions
of government, and nourished by its diseases.  Were our immense
revenue conducive to the maintenance of royal dignity, or proportioned
to the exigences of the state, it would be borne with pleasure; but at
present it bids fair to be the purchase of our servitude.
Our laws, in order to become a proper rule of civil life, much want
revision and amendment. They are moreover never promulgated.
For this omission Judge Blackstone assigns a very curious reason:
" That being enacted by our representatives, every man is supposed,
in the eye of the law, to be present in the legislature." It would be
an improvement on this delegated knowledge of the law, if the penalty
were also delegated, and criminals punished by representation. The
* The change in this respect since the first publication of the " Apology" is of the most gratifying
Kind. All ranks of society, and all persuasions of Christians, have vied with each other in their
efforts to give religious and other useful instruction to the children of the poor.. Still there remains
much to be done, and we are in this point of the general education of the lower classes very far
behind the Americans, especially those in the state Jf New-York.-ED.




90                      ON THE CAUSES OF
laws in their present state are so piled into volumes, encumbered with
precedents, and perplexed with intricacies, that they are often rather a
snare than a guide, and are a fruitful source of the injustice they are
intended to prevent.  The expense is as formidable as the penalty;
nor is it to any purpose to say they are the same to the poor as to the
rich, while by their delay, expense, and perplexity they are placed on
an eminence which opulence only can ascend. The commendation
bestowed so liberally by foreigners on English jurisprudence was
never meant to be extended to our municipal code, which is confused,
perplexed, and sanguinary in the extreme; but to the trial by jury,
and the dignified impartiality which marks the conduct of judges. For
want of gradual improvements, to enable it to keep pace with the
progress of society, the most useful operations of law are clouded by
fictions.*
These are a few only of the maladies which indicate a bad habit of the
political body: nor can a true estimate be made of our situation so
much by adverting to particular evils as by an attention to the general
aspect of affairs. The present crisis is, in my apprehension, the fullest
of terror and of danger we have ever experienced. In the extension of
excise laws, in the erection of barracks, in the determined adherence
to abuses displayed by parliament, in the desertion of pretended patriots,
the spread of arbitrary principles, the tame subdued spirit of the
nation, we behold the seeds of political ruin quickening into life. The
securities of liberty, as was long since remarked by Dr. Price, have
given way; and what remains is little more than an indulgence, which
cannot continue long when it ceases to be cherished in the affections
of the people.  The little of public virtue that still subsists is no
match for disciplined armies of corruption. The people are perishing
for lack of knowledge.  Disquieted by imaginary alarms, insensible
to real danger that awaits them, they are taught to court that servitude
which will be a source of misery to themselves and to posterity.
Deplorable as the prospect is, a precarious hope may be founded,
perhaps, on the magnitude of abuses. There is, it has often been
remarked, an ultimate point both of elevation and depression in the
affairs of kingdoms, to which when they arrive they begin to turn of
their own accord and to fall back into their ancient channels. We
are certainly entitled to all the comfort that consideration is capable
of affording.  Taxation can hardly be more oppressive, representation
more venal and inadequate, the influence of the people more extinguished, or falsehood and deception more triumphant than they are at
present.
There is also another circumstance attending the present crisis which,
if we are wise enough to improve it, may be of the utmost advantage.
Of the numberless political parties which have hitherto distracted our
attention and divided our attachment there now remain but two,-the
patrons of corruption and the friends of liberty; they who are waiting
for the disorders of government to ripen into arbitrary power, and
they who are. anxious to bring back the constitution to its original' See an excellent publication on this subject, entitled " Juridical Essays," by Mr. Randall,




THE PRESEnT1 DISCONTENTS.                     91
principles.  The colours by which they are distinguished are too bold
and strong to be ever confounded; or if there could be any possible
embarrassment in the choice, the ministry have condescended to remove
that obscurity, by pursuing an interest, not only distinct from, but
directly opposed to, that of the people. The clamour of whigs and
tories hath happily subsided; and pretended patriots are at length so
kind as to unmask before the people, and stand forth in their native
character, the objects of just detestation.  We cannot wish for better
lessons of public virtue than is furnished by the contrast of their
vices.
On the present war, until the views of the ministry are more
unfolded, it behooves me to speak with tenderness and reserve.  It
nothing more be intended than the maintenance of national honour
and the faith of treaties, it will merit the warmest support of every
well-wisher to his country. But if the re-establishment of the ancient
government of France be any part of the object; if it be a war with
freedom, a confederacy of kings against the rights of man; it will be
the last humiliation and disgrace that can be inflicted on Great Britain;
and were there any truth in tales of incantation, to behold us engaged
n such a cause were enough to disturb the repose of our ancestors
mnd move the ashes of the dead! The steps preparatory to the war,
iie inflamed passions and the character of our allies, afford an ill
omen of the temper with which it will be conducted. The pretence
respecting the Netherlands certainly entitles the ministry to the praise
of consistence. It is quite of a piece with the candour and sincerity
which affirmed the balance of Europe to be destroyed by the seizure
of Oczakow, but denied it was endangered by the conquest of Poland
and the invasion of France.
T'he French revolution, we cannot but remember, was from the first
an object of jealousy to ministers. There needed not the late unhappy
excesses, the massacres of September, and the execution of Louis, to
excite or display their hostility. It appeared in the insult and derision
of their retainers, from the highest to the lowest.  If they meant fairly
to the interests of general liberty, why that uneasiness at the fall of
despotism in a neighbouring country? Why render parliament a theatre of abuse on a revolution whose commencement was distinguished
by unexampled mildness and tranquillity? But this part of their conduct was likewise consistent. Intent on the destruction of liberty in
one country, they were disconcerted at. seeing it revive in another; and
before they ventured to extinguish the dying taper, waited for the surrounding scene to be shut up in darkness. I. am perfectly aware that
to speak in terms of decency and respect of the French revolution is
to incur, in the prevailing disposition of the times, the last of infamies.
If we dare to rejoice at the emancipation of a great people from thraldom, it must be at the peril of the foulest imputations that imagination
can invent or malignity apply. In contempt, however, of these calum.
nies, I am free to confess the French revolution has always appeared
to me, and does still appear, the most splendid event recorded in the
annals of history.  The friends of liberty contemplate the crimes and




92  ON THE CAUSES OF THE PRESI 1 r DISCONTENTS
disorders with which it has been stained* with the deepest regret, but
they still hope that they will in the result be more than   onipensated
by the grandeur of its principles and the beneficence of its effects.
Instead of wishing for a similar event in England, they are intent on
reform chiefly to avoid that necessity. Under every form of government they know how to recognise the divine aspect of freedom, and
without it can be satisfied with none. The evils of anarchy and of
despotism  are two extremes which they equally dread; and between
which no middle path can be found but that of effectual reform. To
avert the calamities that await us on either side, the streams of corruption must be drained off, the independence of parliament restored, the
ambition of aristocracy repressed, and the majesty of the people lift itself
up. It is possible to retreat from the brink of a precipice, but wo to that
nation which sleeps upon it!
* The execution of the king was certainly a most cruel and unjustifiable transaction, alike repugnant to law, order, and humanity. Without being conducive to any views of policy whatever, it
seems to have been merely a gratification of the most detestable passions. The treatment of the
Deautiful and unfortunate queen and of the royal family is barbarous and unmanly in the extreme
When we look at their sufferings, humanity weeps, and pity forgets their crimes.




R E VIE W
OF THE
APOLOGY FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS,
PUBLISHED IN
THE CHRISTIAN GUARDIAN:
A"
MR. HALL'S REPLY,
[PUBLISHED IN 41822.








REVIEW
OF
MR. HALL'S FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.*
Extracted from the Christian Guardian for Jan. 1822.
" THE political principles of the Bible are simple, distinct, and plain. The sacred
writers enter into no niceties, draw no lines of exact demarkation, meet no involved
cases of civil casuistry; but, speaking of mankind generally as alike depraved and
unruly, and of governments as the creations of God's providence, they inculcate,
without qualification, reservation, or restriction, the obvious and indispensable
duties of submission, honour, and obedience.
" It has been, however, very much the fashion of late to get rid of these unpleasant and' degrtding' injunctions by pleading the change of time and circumstances,
and the difference between the laws and system of government under which we
are privileged to live and those of the apostolic days. Now, as to the general duty
of obedience, it is obvious that it must apply rather more than less strongly to those
who live under a paternal government than to those who live under a tyrannical
one. At the same time we are ready to allow, that the system of freedom which,
in this country, gives to the people a share in the legislature and an influence over
the government, renders the submission due from them less implicit and uninquiring,
at the same time that it increases the obligation to its cheerful payment.
" But although it be conceded that under a constitution which renders the people
a party to their own government, it is lawful and proper for laymen to interest
themselves intimately in political concerns, and even to a certain extent to participate in political contests, there is one body of men whom we could ever wish to
see taking no other part in these matters than as moderators, instructers, and
peacemakers.
"The ministers of the gospel must, in the discharge of their duty,-they must,
if they will' declare the whole counsel of God,' sometimes touch upon those passages
of Scripture which inculcate the duties of subjects. While St. Paul, in the days
of Nero himself, was led by the Holy Spirit to write,' Submit to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake;' and to pronounce, without hesitation,'He that resisteth the power,' tyrannical as it was in the extreme,' resisteth the ordinance of
God;' and while similar passages abound in the inspired volume, it cannot be
thought consistent with the character of a preacher of the gospel to maintain an
absolute silence on these topics. But there is one rule which, in our opinion,
ministers would do well to follow, and that is, to go no further than the Bible will
carry them. The war of parties and factions, the continual struggle of political
leaders, the various questions of constitutional casuistry, are subjects which lie
beyond this boundary, and with which they would do well not to embroil themselves. The servant of the Lord is exhorted' not to strive,' but'to cut off occasion
* In order that the propriety of Mr. Hall's reply may be fairly estimated, it has been thought rigly
to reprint the original article that called it forth.-ED.




96                REVIEW OF THE APOLOGY FOR
from them whicbl desire occasion:' and, assuredly, he will find that the bare dilcharge of his plain duty in these things will expose him to sufficient obloquy and
reproach.
" Entertaining this view of the subject, it is with sorrow that we observe the
republication, under his own immediate sanction, of Mr. Hall's'Apology for the
Freedom of the Press.' This work was first given to the world about thirty years
ago, and has been long since forgotten, or remembered only as one of the sins of
its author's youth.  Since its disappearance Mr. H. has so much better employed
his time and his great talents, that he may now be considered as standing in the
very first rank among the non-conformists of the present day. And is it not a
lamentable thing to see such a man stepping forward, in the ripeness of his years
and at the height of his well-earned reputation, to obtrude himself on the public in
the degraded character of a violent party-scribe:-and yet, in what other light can
we consider the man who, in so uncalled-for and gratuitous a manner, and at so
comparatively peaceful a period, sends into the world, with the sanction of his
name, and of his latest corrections, a new edition of such a pamphlet as this?
" He indeed states, as an excuse for the republication, that the term of copyright
being expired, it was no longer in his power to prevent the reprinting of this work.
The law, however, is not so; the power of perpetuating its oblivion lay still in his
hands. But had he even been correct on this point, where was the necessity for his
being an active agent in this reappearance?
" To characterize the tract before us appropriately we need only observe, that
the principal topics discussed by this' minister of the gospel' are, the right of public
discussion, the propriety of political associations, parliamentary reform, the rights
of men, the character of dissenters, the present discontents. The work is extremely personal, and great bitterness is shown towards the late Bishop Horsley,
Mr. Burke, and Mr. Pitt. We shall not imitate Mr. Hall's example by entering
into a discussion on the subject of Mr. Pitt's political character; but we should
have hoped that the reflection of his undoubted integrity and of that perfect devotion
to his country which led him to sacrifice even life itself, in its service, might have
spared him, at the distance of sixteen years from his death, a new volley of bitter
reproach from one whose vocation is' the gospel of peace.'
"' As to the character of Bishop Horsley, it is now placed far beyond the reach
of his adversaries; and the Christian world will know how to appreciate invectives
against such a man from one who is at the same time the eulogist of Priestley and
Price, the Socinians, and of Mary Wolstonecraft, the female libertine and Deist.
" Looking, then, upon this work as one of which a critical analysis would be ill
placed in the pages of the Christian Guardian, we shall conclude with a specimen
or two of the political creed of Mr. Hall, and of the manner in which he supports it.
" He is, then, as far as professed doctrine can make him, plainly and clearly a
radical reformer. He pleads for'annual parliaments,' for universal suffrage, for
the unfettered publication of every kind of blasphemy, for the exclusion of the relatives of noblemen from the House of Commons, for the overthrow of all ecclesiastical
establishments, and for' the sovereignty of the people.' In what part of the sacred
volume he has discovered the least sanction for any one of these notions we are at
a loss to imagine.
"In fact, the whole pamphlet is an argument in favour of the supremacy and
infallibility of the people, and of the necessity of paying the most implicit obedience
to the least expression of their will. Now, could these notions have been carried
into practice at the time they were written (soon after the Birmingham  riots),
and could a legislature have been formed upon Mr. H.'s universal suffrage plan,
the necessary and inevitable consequence would have been, that as the feeling of
the multitude ran violently against all the friends of the French revolution, Mr. H.
and most of his fellow-labourers and admirers would have been silenced, banished,
or hanged. So much for the effects which might be expected to follow Mr. Hall's
plan. And as for the principles upon which that plan is founded, we find him
broadly stating in the latter end of this work, with admirable consistency, that' calumny and reproach are usually the lot of distinguished virtue,' and that' the
unpopularity of a cause is rqther a presum ption of its excellence.' Now, if the fact




THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS.                            97
De so, it cannot be for the good of the people that this perpetually erroneous criterion should govern the affairs of the state.
"' Mr. Hall concludes his prefixed advertisement with the hope' that the reader
~will recollect, as an excuse for the warmth of his expression, that the work is an
eulogium on a dead friend;' which is asserting, in other words, that the press is
enslaved and its liberty departed. And, having written this some years since, he
now coolly republishes it, after witnessing the acquittals of Hone and Wooller, and
while the wretched Carlile is braving every effort that can be made to stop the
torrent of blasphemy which- has so long issued from his warehouse.
"Again, Mr. H. assured us, thirty years since, that we had then'at length
arrived at that crisis when nothing but speedy and effectual reform could save us
from ruin.' Now, since the first publication of this prediction we have maintained
a contest of long duration with the greatest conqueror of modern times, and have
fairly subdued him. We have immensely augmented the extent of our empire, and
increased its ratio of population. We have tripled our commerce and our revenue.
We have improved, it is to be hoped, the state of our internal population by the
establishment of schools and the increase of places of worship; and we have made
some progress in the commencement at least of the great work of evangelizing the
whole world.
"And after all this, Mr. Hall comes forward with much admirable simplicity to
tell us of this wonderful prophecy of his, delivered only the third part of a century
since, that without immediate reform in parliament, ruin was then inevitable. Now,
it is certain that this same immediate reform has not yet taken place, although one
whole generation has passed away since the promulgation of this prediction. Has
the dreadful alternative then fallen upon us! Have we been crushed by this
inevitable ruin?
" The present comparatively prosperous and improving circumstances of the
kingdom answers No! to this question. The general state of the country, the
average condition of the great mass of the people, is better, and not worse, than at
the time when Mr. Hall first published this direful presage.
"If there be any exception to this state of general improvement, it is to be found
in the depression of the agricultural interest of the country. But we are told by
those who ought to be judges that the evils which threaten these classes have arisen
from the want of sufficient legislative protection. And do we not know from the
conduct of the mobs of 1815 that a reformed parliament, a universal suffrage parliament, according to Mr. Hall's plan, would have withheld even the partial
protection which has hitherto been granted, and would have thereby made what is
now distress and perplexity, absolute ruin and destruction? So much for the
necessity and the effects of reform.
"c It is with the most painful feelings that we are thus compelled to animadvert
on this uncalled-for and altogether unnecessary republication. We repeat, that
the general principle upon which we disapprove of it is, that a minister of the gospel
will always best consult the interests of his flock and the dignity of his own character
by abstaining from any political discussion which transgresses the bounds prescribed
n the Holy Scriptures. Mr. Hall has overstepped these limits, and has plunged
into the thickest of the war of party politics. He has also chosen, we apprehend,
the side which is generally found in most direct opposition to the Scripture injunctions of peace, quietness, and obedience. And as the weight of his character and
the authority of his name render error from his pen trebly dangerous, we have felt
only the more imperatively called upon to enter our protest against the principles
which he has endeavoured to lay down, and to unmask the sophistry of the arguments by which he bas attempted to support them."
VOL. II.-G




MR. HALL'S REPLY,
To the Editor of the Leicester Journal.
SIR,
A VIOLENT attack on my character having appeared in your paper
a few weeks since, contained in an extract from  a periodical work
entitled the Christian Guardian, I rely on your impartiality for permitting me to repel the accusation through the same medium. If the
misrepresentations which I have to complain of had been confined
within the bounds of decency, I should have consulted my ease by
remaining silent: but the writer, whoever he is, has availed himself
of the impunity attached to anonymous communications so unsparingly
that I might be justly charged, not only with a criminal indifference to
character, but with being accessary to the delusion of the public, were
I to make no reply.'i'he amount of my offence consists in uttering a new edition of
political pamphlet, which made its first appearance many years since
and passed through several editions.  This writer says I might have
suppressed it; but the contrary is the fact. The term of copyright is
well known to extend to fourteen years, after which any one is at
liberty to republish a work without the consent of the author.  More
than that time had elapsed since the last edition, and as it was at the
option of any bookseller to reprint it, so I was assured from various
quarters that whether I consented or not it would certainly be repub
lished.  The only alternative that remained was, either to suffer it to
come forth in a form perhaps most incorrect and mingled with foreign
infusions, or to publish it under my own eye, and with such alterations
and corrections as the author might deem proper. The latter was
preferred, and for this a torrent of invective has issued from the
Christian Guardian.
It certainly is very unusual for a writer to suppress his own publications, unless he has recanted the principles they contain. To persevere in doing so naturally exposes him to the suspicion either that he
has renounced his former opinions or that he is afraid to avow them:
but neither of these situations is mine. I have changed no principle
and I feel no fear.  Why then should I act in such a manner as must
render me perpetually liable to either of these imputations? For a
considerable time, indeed, after loud and repeated importunities, I




MR. HALL'S REPLY TO THE REVIEW.                   99
declined a compliance with the wishes expressed for republication,
from a sincere reluctance to engage in political controversy. By one
party, in the mean while, it was my fortune to be so unequivocally
claimed as a convert, and by the other so assailed with reproaches as
an apostate, that I was convinced by experience there was no other
way of putting an end to the misrepresentations of both but to republish the original pamphlet.  Had I never written it, the same motives
which made me reluctant to reprint might probably have prevented
my writing it; but since there is not a principle in it which I can conscientiously retract, and my silence has occasioned numerous misrepresenfations and mistakes, the fair and manly part was doubtless
to republish it. An ingenuous mind is not less ashamed of receiving
praises it is conscious it has not deserved, than indignant at reproaches which are not merited.
But a minister of the gospel, it seems, is on no occasion to meddle
with party politics.  How exactly this maxim was adhered to at the
commencement of the late war, when military banners were consecrated, and the people everywhere summoned to arms
"By pulpit, drun ecclesiastic,
Beat with fist instead of a stick,"
must be fresh in the recollection of my readers.
The men who in the garb of clergymen bustle at electioneering
meetings, forsooth, are not really such, but merely assume the disguise of that holy order, since it would be uncandid to suppose they
can so universally lose sight of what is befitting ministers of the
gospel. The venerable bench of bishops whvlo sit in the House of
Lords either attend in silent pomp without taking any part in the
deliberations, or they violate the character of ministers of the gospel.'We must have been grossly imposed upon by the public prints, which
informed us of the clergy of a whole arch(leaconry, or dio(ess, meeting to petition parliament against the Catholic claims, since they could
never, with one consent, depart so far from the decorum of ministers
of the gospel!
The plain state of the case is, not that the writer is offended at
my meddling with politics, but that I have meddled on the wrong side.
Had the same mediocrity of talent been exerted in eulogizing the
measures of ministers, his greetings would have been as loud as his
Invective is bitter.  But it was exerted to expose public abuses, to
urge the necessity of reform, and lay open the tergiversation of the
heaven-born minister anci Sunday duellist, who, after devoting the day
of rest to deeds of blood, has by a strange fatality obtained a sort of
political beatification.  Hinc illse lachrync!
Another head of accusation is, that I have censured the character
of Bishop Horslcy, whose character, the reviewer tells us, "is far
removed beyond my attack, while I have eulogized Dr. Price and Dr.
Priestley, Socinians."  To this it is sufficient to reply that Dr. Price
was not a Socinian, but an Arian; he wrote professedly in confutaticn
of socinianism; and though I disapprove of his religions principles. I
G2




100                   MR. HALL'S REPLI
feel no hesitation in affirming, in spite of the frantic and unprinuipled
abuse of Burke, that a more ardent and enlightened friend of his
country never lived than that venerable patriarch of freedom. Such
were the sentiments of the worshipful corporation of London, who in
token of their esteem presented him with the freedom of the city in a
golden box; such was the judgment of Mr. Pitt, who long professed
himself his admirer, and condescended to seek his advice on questions
of finance. Dr. Priestley, it is acknowledged, was a Socinian; but it
was not under the character that he was eulogized.  It was as the
friend of liberty, the victim of intolerance, and the author of some of
the most brilliant philosophical discoveries of modern times, for which
he was celebrated throughout Europe, and his name enrolled as a
member of the most illustrious institutions; so that my eulogy was but
a mere feeble echo of the applause which resounded from every
civilized portion of the globe. And are we suddenly fallen back into
the darkness and ignorance of the middle ages, during which the spell
of a stupid and unfeeling uniformity bound the nations in iron slumbers,
that it has become a crime to praise a man for talents which the whole
world admired, and for virtues which his enemies confessed, merely
because his religious creed was erroneous? If any thing could sink
orthodoxy into contempt, it would be its association with such gothic
barbarity of sentiment, such reptile meanness. What renders the
wretched bigotry of the reviewer the more conspicuous is, that the
eulogy in question was written almost immediately after the Birmingham riots, that disgraceful ebullition of popular phrensy, during which
a ferocious mob tracked his steps like bloodhounds, demolished his
house, destroyed his library and apparatus, and advancing from thence
to the destruction of private and public buildings, filled the whole
town and vicinity with terror and dismay. What sort of a Christian
Guardian the reviewer would have proved on that occasion may be
easily inferred from his passing over these atrocities in silence, while
he discharges his malice on their unoffending victim.
The maxim De mortuis nil nisi bonulm admits of exceptions; and
as I am vilified for censuring Bishop Horsley, whose character, it is
affirmed, "is far removed beyond my attack," while I praised Priestley,
the Socinian, justice compels me to remark (what the reviewer probably knows well enough), that in the virtues of private life Dr. Priestley
was as much superior to his antagonist as he was inferior in the correctness of his speculative theology.
From the principles avowed in the Apology, this writer asserts that
it is evident I am to be classed to all intents and purposes with radical
reformers.  This charge is grounded on my recommendation of annual
parliaments and universal suffrage. Now he either knows that Mr.
Pitt, in conjunction with the Duke of Richmond, presided at public
meetings in which annual parliaments and the extension of the right
of suffrage to all householders were recommended, or he does not.
If he pleads ignorance of the fact, what presumption is it for a man so
uninformed to write upon the subject! If he knows it, let me ask,
uwas Mr. Pitt a radical reformer at the time he recommended those




TO THE REVIEW.                        101
measures?  If he was, I plead guilty to the charge; but if he was not,
the recommendation of a similar plan is no evidence of my being a
radical. For my own part, I feel the utmost contempt of the charge
of radicalism. A radical reformer, if we attend to the Import of words,
is one that goes to the root of the evil, that proposes not merely to
palliate, but to extirpate it. And what is that reform worth that proposes less?  He who labours under an inveterate malady wishes for
radical cure: he would Dut little value on a remedy that should mitigate the pain without reaching the source of the disorder.  If the
appellation of radical reformer is intended to denote a revolutionist, it
is most absurdly applied to the advocate of annual parliaments and
universal suffrage, because the first of these measures is merely a
revival of the ancient practice, and the latter most consonant to the
genius of a free constitution, which presupposes the -extension of the
elective franchise to all who can be presumed to have a will of their
own: the exercise of this right, coupled with the practice of voting by
ballot, would in my humble opinion be the best expedient for securing
the freedom and tranquillity of elections.  Be this as it may, a sincere
proposal of reform must differ essentially from the proposal of a revolution. If by styling me a radical reformer this writer intends to impute revolutionary views, I say it is a calumny and a falsehood; and
I challenge him to produce a single sentence in my publications which
sustains such a charge, or which convicts me of hostility to the existing order of things, as consisting of king, lords, and commons. But
if he means that I am for such a reform as will cut up corruption by
the roots, I feel no inclination to disavow it. He wishes, it is evident,
to fix the impression that I am hostile to the regal branch of the constitution, but shrinks from making the assertion, and endeavours to
convey the venom of his accusations through the subtle vehicle of a
dark and ambiguous phraseology.
For what purpose but that of exciting hatred and horror he has
thought fit to couple my name with the mention of Hone and Carfile
it is not easy to conjecture.  The blasphemy of their publications is
quite as disgusting to me as to himself; but I am at a loss to conceive
the justness of that reasoning which would infer that no political corruption however enormous, no maladministration however flagrant,
must be exposed to animadversion until these men have ceased to
exhale their impieties. Let this principle once be admitted, and we
shall never want Hones and Carliles in abundance; to remove a shield
so easily purchased and so effectual in the protection of every abuse
might be deemed an infatuation.
" He (the author of the Apology) pleads," says the reviewer, " fol
annual parliaments, for universal suffrage, for the unfettered publication
of every kind of blasphemy, for the exclusion of the relatives of noblemen from the House of Commons, for the overthrow of all ecclesiastical
establishments, and for the sovereignty of the people. In what part
of the sacred volume," he adds, "he has discovered the least sanction
for any one of these notions we are at a loss to imagine."  The fatuity
of this remark baffles all description.  For why may I not retort his




102                   IMR. HALL'S REPLY
own language, and say, This author pleads for septennial parliaments.
for limited suffrage, for the admission of the relatives of noblemen inr
the House of Commons, and for the support of ecclesiastical establishments; but in what part of the sacred volume he finds the least sanction
for them I am at a loss to imagine? But when did I plead for the
publication of blasphemy, fettered or unfettered?  To plead for the
liberty of divulging speculative opinions is one thing, and to assert the
right of uttering blasphem-y is another.  For blasphemy, which is the
speaking contumeliousiy of God, is not a speculative error; it is an
overt act; a crime which no state should tolerate.  In relation to the
question of ecclesiastical establishments, since I am challenged to produce any passage from Scripture which sanctions my opposition to them,
I beg leave to refer him to our Lord's declaration, Every plant which
nmy heavenly F ather has not planted shall be rooted up.  That national
Thurches, or exclusive establishments of religion by the civil magistrate,
are one of these plants will not be denied; since nothing of that kind,
it is t.liversally allowed, existed during the three first and purest ages
of Christianity, and not being authorized by the great Head of the
church, it must, if we believe him, be rooted up. I have used the term
great Head of the church, by way of distinction from that little head*
which the Churclt of England has invented, and on which, whether it
be a beauty or a deformity in the body of Christ, the Scriptures are
certainly as silent as on universal suffrage and annual parliaments.
It may not be improper in this place to notice a curious argument
which the reviewer adduces in support of his darling tenet of passive
obedience and non-resistance, from the prevailing and inherent depravity
of human nature.  He reminds us that mankind are represented in
Scripture as " alike depraved and unruly," and from these premises,
attempts to enforce that interpretation of Scripture which would annihilate the liberties of mankind, and reduce them, without "restriction or
reservation," to a passive submission to their political superiors.  On
another occasion I have sufficiently rescued the sentiments of the
inspired writers from such a detestable imputation, by showing that
their design is merely to inculcate the general duty of obedience to
government, as the ordinance of God, while they leave the just bounds
of authority, and the limits of obedience, to the regulation and adjustment of reason and experience; a task to which they are perfectly
adequate. But how does the depravity of human nature evince the
necessity of passive obedience and non-resistance, unless it is contended
that the ruling part of mankind are not depraved?  That mankind are
naturally  "depraved and unruly" affords a good argument for the
existence of government itself; but since they are " alike depraved and
unruly," since governors partake of the same corruption as the people,
aggravated too often by the possession of power, which inflames the
passions and corrupts the heart, to allege the depravity of human nature
as a reason for submission to arbitrary power, involves the absurdity
of supposing that the cure of one degree of wickedness is to be obtained
* I know of no passage in the works of our author which presents, In my Judgment, so gross a
violation of good taste as is here exhibited.-ED.




TO THE REVIEW.                         103
by affording unlimited license to a greater  Retrace the annals of all
times and nations, and you will find in the triumph of despotism the
triumph of wickedness; you will find that men have been virtuous,
noble, and disinterested, just in proportion as they have been free.
The reviewer affects to triumph over me, on account r' the supposed
failure of the prediction, that ruin would speedily ei.nue unless prevented by reform.  "L Has this dreadful alternative," he asks, "fallen
upon us? The present comparatively prosperous and improving
circumstances of the kingdom, answers No. The general state of the
country, the average condition of the great mass of the people, is better
and not worse than at the time when Mr. Hall first published this
direful presage."
I am at a loss to reply in suitable terms to a writer who seems to
glory in setting truth at defiance.  Let me ask the reader, whether he
thinks there is a single person to be found in the nation who really
believes our condition as a people is improved within the last thirty
years? Where is this improvement to be found? Is it in the augmentation of the national debt to three times its former amount: in the
accumulated weight of taxes; in the increase of the poor-rates; in
the depression of land to less than one-half of its former value; in the
ruin of the agricultural interest; in the thousands and tens of thousands
of farmers who are distrained for reht, and they and their families
reduced to beggary?  Has this writer already forgotten the recent
distress of the manufacturing class, who, from failure of employment
and the depression of wages, were plunged into despair, while numbers
of them quitted their homes, and sought a precarious and scanty relief,
by dragging through the country loaded wagons and carts, like beasts
of burden? Is it in the rapid and portentous multiplication of crimes,
by wh!ich our prisons are glutted with malefactors?  If these are
indications of increasing prosperity, we may justly adopt the language
of the liturgy, from such prosperity, " Good Lord, deliver us."
To do the writer justice, he has the grace to admit something like
an exception respecting the agricultural interest, though he expresses
himself with the diffidence becoming the solution of so difficult a
problem.  "If any exception," he says, " can be found, it is in the
agricultural interest;" but he adds, "If those are to be believed who
ought to be judges, this is to be ascribed to the want of legal protection."
Now, two corn-bills have been passed of late years for the express
protection of the agriculturist; the last of these in open contempt of
the sentiments and wishes of the people. Previously to the passing
of these bills, agriculture was in a comparatively flourishing state;
since these laws were enacted it has experienced a depression beyond
all example; and in the face of these facts, this writer has the assur
ance to inform us, that in the opinion of those who ought to be judges,
the evil is wholly to be ascribed to the want of legal protection.  But
who are these highly-privileged mortals, who are to be implicitly
believed because 1" they ought to be judges?" If there is any class
of persons whose opinion on these questions is entitled to deference
tud respect, they are undoubtedly political economists, men who have




104                  MR. HALL'S REPLY.nmade the sources of national wealth the principal.rli-.ct of their
-nquiry: and where will he find one, from Adam Smitt to the present:rne, who has not reprobated the interference of legislature with the
orice of corn?  To say nothing of the reasoning of that great philosopher, which is unanswerable, common sense will teach us, that laws.o raise the price of produce are unjust and oppressive taxes upon the
whole community, for the exclusive benefit of a part. There is a
description of men who are accustomed systematically to yield up
their understandings to others, who in their view " ought to be judges:"
it is needless to add, that the present writer is evidently of this servum
pecus, this tame and passive herd; and that his knowledge of the
subject is just what might be expected from one who thinks by proxy.
These men, forgetting, or affecting to forget, that the exercise of power,
in whatever hands it is placed, will infallibly degenerate into tyranny
unless it is carefully watched, make it their whole business to screen
its abuses; to suppress inquiry, stifle complaint, and inculcate on the
people as their duty a quiet and implicit submission to the direction
of those who, to speak in the vocabulary of slaves, " ought to be judges."
These are the men by whom the constitution is endangered; these the
maxims by which free states are enslaved. If that freedom which is
the birthright of Britons is destined to go down to succeeding generaions, it must result from the prevalence of an opposite spirit; a lofty
enthusiasm, an ardent attachment to liberty, and an incessant jealousy
of the tendency of power to enlarge its pretensions and extend its
encroachments.
The reviewer asserts, that " my whole pamphlet is an argument in
favour of the supremacy and infallibility of the people, and of the
necessity of paying an implicit obedience to the least expression of
their will."
This, I must assure the reader, is a gross and wilful misrepresentation. In no part of the pamphlet have I pleaded for any such doctrine.
All that I have asserted is, that in proportion as the House of Commons
is in unison with the people, animated by the same sympathies, and
affected by the same interests, in the same proportion will it accomplish the design of its functions as a representative assembly; and that
a reform is absolutely necessary, in order to restore it to that conjunction of interests and of feelings on which its utility, as the popular
branch of the legislature, depends. The necessity of such a union
between the people and their representatives is manifest from the very
meaning of the terms, for it were quite needless for them to be at the
pains of choosing men who, in consequence of a foreign bias, are
prepared to contradict their sentiments and neglect their interests. A
House of Commons which should chiefly consist of court sycophants
and tyrants would exhibit nothing more than the mockery of repre.
sentation. By artfully transferring what I have said of one branch
of the legislature to the whole, and presenting even that in an exaggerated form, he has represented me as reducing the government to such
an immediate and incessant dependence on the popular will as never




TO THE REVIEW.                      105
entered my thoughts, and would be utterly incompatible with the genius
of a limited monarchy.
Having already trespassed on the patience of my readers, [ shall
close with one remark on the eulogium pronounced by the reviewer
on the character of the late Mr. Pitt. He appears to be extremely
shocked with the freedom and severity of my strictures on his conduct,
as implying a forgetfulness of his singular disinterestedness, and his
"perfect devotion to his country."  As this has become a favourite
topic with the admirers of that celebrated minister, it is necessary to
remind them that there are other vices besides the love of money, and
other virtues besides that of dying poor. It may be easily admitted,
that the ambition which grasps at the direction of an empire, and the
pitiful passion for accumulation, were not the inmates of the same
bosom. In minds of a superior order, ambition, like Aaron's rod, is
quite sufficient to swallow up the whole fry of petty propensities. Far
be it from me to wish to withhold an atom of the praise justly due to
him. That he devoted much time and a considerable portion of talent
to the affairs of his country is undeniable. The evils which he has
brought upon us were not the production of an ordinary mind, nor the
work of a day, nor done in sport; but what I contend for is, that, to
say nothing of his unparalleled apostacy, his devotion to his country,
and, what was worse, its devotion to him, have been the source of more
calamity to this nation than any other event that has befallen it; and
that the memory of Pitt will be identified in the recollection of posterity
with accumulated taxes, augmented debt, extended pauperism, a debasement and prostration of the public mind, and a system of policy,
not only hostile to the cause of liberty at home, but prompt and eager
to detect and tread out every spark of liberty in Europe; in a word,
with all those images of terror and destruction which the name imports.
The enthusiasm with which his character is regarded by a numerous
class of his countrymen will be ascribed, by a distant age, to that
mysterious infatuation which, in the inscrutable counsels of Heaven, is
the usual, the destined precursor of the fall of states.
I am, Sir,
Your humble servant,
ROBERT HALL.
LEICESTER, Feb. 5, 1822.




NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
SoME excellent persons who did not know Mr. HALL often express great.oncern that so good a man should have suffered his thoughts to be so mucr.
engrossed in politics as they suppose must have been the case. The truth,
however, is, that few men gave themselves less to political matters than Mr. Hall.
At the deeply-interesting period in which he wrote his political tracts, the whole
world was absorbed in the contemplation of political events and the discussion of
political principles. Among the disputants of the two great parties into which this
c Auntry was divided, clergymen and other ministers took a most active part, and
the class denominated evangelical weie by no means the least active. Some of
the most eminent of them, indeed, engaged in that sad and then frequent profanation of holy places and things, the consecration of the colours of a volunteer corps
in a parish church; and one even put on a military cockade in order to incite his
parishioners to come forward in the public cause. The genuine principles of our
admirable constitution were thought by many to be in imminent peril; yet all who
wrote in their defence were exposed to obloquy. A learned prelate asserted in
the House of Lords that " the people had nothing to do with the laws but to obey
them," and his sentiment was loudly applauded. In a kindred spirit, during the
trials of Muir and Palmer for " leasing-making," or sedition, in Scotland, one of the
lords of justiciary declared that "no man had a right to speak of the constitution
unless he possessed landed property;" and another affirmed, that " since the abolition
Of TORTURE there was no adequate punishment for sedition."  In such a season of
violent excitement, when upright men of every shade of opinion thought the most
valuable principles at stake, no wonder that heats and animosities prevailed, and
that all expressed themselves with vehemence,-often with acerbity. Mr. Hall,
then under thirty years of age, was of too ardent and generous a spirit to be
quiescent in that signal crisis of public affairs. He discharged what, in the
exigency, appeared to him an imperious duty, and then remained silent, until
after an interval of many years, at the entreaty of his friends, he broke the silence
in a brief effort of self-defence against anonymous misrepresentation. For some
years, indeed, so great was his indifforence to political concerns that he scarcely
ever read a newspaper, or did more in conversation than advert for a moment,
if at all, to public measures. His political principles, however, remained the
same through life, with those simple modifications which the lapse of time and
the occurrence of new events were calculated to produce in the breast of a
considerate man. Though he thought them important, he uniformly regarded
them as subordinate to others. He cherished with delight the anticipations of a
aew and better order of things among mankind; but he looked mainly for the
realizing of his hopes to the operation of a higher class of principles than the
politics of this world can supply,-principles of heavenly origin, which, flowing
from religious truth, and acting at once upon the spiritual part of ouz nature,
change and improve the mass of society by transforming the characters of the
men who compose it.
Some of the following pieces yield ample proofs of the prevalence of these
sentiments.
That there are occasions on which pious men not only may, but must, if they
act fully on scriptural principles, censure public men and public measures, has
been clearly shown by one of the gentlest as well as most excellent of menGRANm'ILLE SixHARP-in his essay on " The Law of Passive Obedience."




AkN ADDRESS
TO THE PUBLIC,
ON AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT, CONNECTED WITH
THE RENEWAL OF THE CHARTER
OF THE
EAST INDIA  COMPANY.
[PUBLISHED IN 18134]








AN A) D RES S.
As the subject of the renewal of the charter of the East India
Company is shortly to come before parliament with a view to a final
decision, it is presumed that it will not be deemed impertinent to
invite  the  attention  of the  legislature  to  a  particular connected with
that subject which is judged of high importance. The point to which
we refer respects the propriety of inserting a clause in the new charter
authorizing the peaceable dissemination of Christian principles in
India.* For want of such a provision, the missionaries who have
lately visited that country have been under the necessity of going
there by the circuitous route of America, besides meeting with considerable obstructions in their attempts to settle, and being exposed to
much vexation and interruption in their quiet efforts to plant the
Christian faith. It must surely be considered as an extraordinary
fact, that in a country under the government of a people professing
Christianity, that religion should be the only one that is discounteaanced and suppressed.
That the most complete toleration should be extended to the various
modes of belief prevailing in those remote dependencies of our empire,
and  that none  of the  inhabitants  should  be subjected  to  the slightest
inconvenience on account pf their adherence to the religious system
of their forefathers, is readily admitted; nor would any event give
more serious concern to the writer of this address, than an interference
with that right of private judgment which he deems an inalienable
prerogative of human nature. But for a Christian nation to give a
* The object for which Mr. Hall and many other pious men so earnestly pleaded, was accom
plished, at least as to its practical results; though there is still room to interpose obstructions if men
in power should be inclined to present them. The act which passed in 1813, " fbr continuing in
the East India Company for a farther term the possession of the British territories in India," contains
four clauses (viz. 33, 34, 35, 36) which relate to " persons desirous of going to India for the purposec
of promoting the religious and moral improvement of the natives." The nature of this part of the
enactment will be understood from the subjoined brief official abstract:" If the court of directors think fit to refuse the applications for permission made in behalf of such
persons, they are to transmit the applications to the board of commissioners, who, if they see no
valid objection to granting the permission, may authorize the said persons to proceed to any of the
company's principal settlements, provided with a certificate of sanction from the directors. The
court of directors, however, may make representations concerning such persons to the board of commissioners: and those persons on arriving in the East Indies are to be subject to the regulations
of the local governments. Further, the governments in India may declare the certificates and
licenses of such persons to be void, if they shall appear by their conduct to have forfeited their
claims to protection."
Besides these clauses there are others, from 49 to 54 inclusive, which relate to a " church estab
lishment in India. A bishop and three archdeacons to be appointed; their salaries are specified ~
the episcopal jurisdiction is to be limited by letters-patent from the king; pensions to be allowed
after fifteen years' service." Of the bishops who have been appointed since the passing of this act,
three, viz. Middleton, Heber, and James, have been already brought by the climate of India to 9."remature grave.-ED.




110              ADDRESS IN REFERENCE TO
decided preference to polytheism and idolatry by prohibiting the dissemination of a purer faith, and thus employ its powers in suppressing
the truth, and prolonging the existence of the most degrading and
deplorable superstitions, is a line of conduct equally repugnant to the
dictates of religion and the maxims of sound policy.  To oppose by
force the propagation of revealed truth from any worldly considerations
whatever is such a sacrifice of right to expediency as can be justified
on no principles but what will lead to the subversion of all morality
and religion.
If Christianity be a communication from heaven, to.oppose its extension is to fight against God; an impiety which, under every possible comibination of circumstances, must expect a severe rebuke; but
the guilt of which is inconceivably aggravated when the opposition
proceeds from the professors of that very religion.  We have no example in the history of the world of such a conduct; we have no precedent of a people prohibiting the propagation of their own faith; a
species of intolerance exposed, not only to the objections which lie
in common against all restraints upon conscience, but to a train of
absurdities peculiar to itself, at the same time that it imposes a character of meanness on the ruling powers, by the virtual confession it
includes that they have either no religion or a religion of which they
are ashamed. As the equality of all religions, the distinguishing tenet
of deism, is alike repugnant to the dictates of reason and the oracles
of truth, so it is ill calculated to conciliate the esteem  of eastern
nations, on whom it can have no other effect than to desecrate the
British namne by depriving it of the veneration which nature, unsophisticated by impiety, has inseparably connected with sentiments of
religious belief.  Powerfully impressed as they are with religious
principles and prejudices, however erroneous, we can scarcely adopt
a more effectual expedient for securing their contempt and abhorrence
than an avowed indifference to whatever% concerns that momentous
subject.
It is an undeniable fact that no persons have been so popular in
India as the men who have exerted themselves with the most steady
and persevering zeal in the dissemination of Christian principles; of
which we have a striking example in the excellent Schwartz, for
many years a missionary on the coast of Coromandel, who by his wise
and benevolent conduct rendered on various occasions the most essen
tial service to the British interests, and became the object of the enthusiastic attachment of the natives.*
The attempt to propagate Christianity in India is not a new experiinent; it has been now tried for more than a century: it received the
warmest support of George the First, of illustrious memory, as well as
of the theni archbishop of Canterbury; and in the hands of Ziegenbalgius and his successors was crowned with distinguished success.t
Similar attempts have been more recently made in Bengal and the
* See the Reports of the Society at Bartlett's Buildings, for promoting Christian Knowledge.' See the excellent letters from his majesty and the archbishop, addressed to Ziegenbalgius, ii
Buchanlan's Ecclesiastical Researches




CHRISTIAN MISSIONS TO INDIA.                   111
adjacent provinces; and several Christian societies have been planted
by the labours of missionaries in those parts of India. It deserves
particular attention, that no inconvenience, not even the slightest, has
arisen from these enterprises; and that whatever agitation has been
witnessed among the natives at different times, the propagation of
Christianity has never been the cause or even the pretext. When
intelligence of the insurrection of Vallore reached England, there
were not wanting persons who endeavoured to ascribe it to the
jealousy and uneasiness excited by the efforts of missionaries; but
no attempt could be more unsuccessful, since, in the course of a most
accurate investigation of the circumstances connected with that event,
we have it on the authority of Lord Teignmouth that not even the
name of a missionary was mentioned. It arose from causes totally
distinct. Thus have we the experience of more than a century to
justify the conclusion that nothing is to be feared for the tranquillity
of India from the operations of missionaries, subject as they must ever
be to the control of the constituted authorities.
The number of natives who profess Christianity is not small nor
inconsiderable. The disciples of Schwartz and his successors on the
eastern side of the peninsula amount to fifty thousand, and the Syrian
Christians on the coast of Malabar to several hundred thousands;
the greater part of them converted from the Brahmins and the higher
classes.  They have subsisted there from the fifth century, are in
possession of one hundred and nineteen churches, some of them
sumptuous and splendid edifices; and their superior elevation of
character and purity of manners are attested on the most respectable
authority to be such as the possession of the Christian faith might be
expected to inspire.` In addition to this, translations of the New Testament in almost all the vernacular dialects of India have been recently
circuilated, and a considerable number of the natives are assiduously
and constantly employed in preaching the gospel; so that it is too
late to think of checking its career: the possession it has taken of
the public mind will necessarily render all such attempts impracticable.
The only question which remains to be decided is, whether its further
propagation shall be left solely in the hands of natives, or whether
intelligent and respectable Europeans, who come more immediately
into contact with the British government, and in whose prudence and
experience greater confidence may be reposed, shall be allowed to
superintend its movements. The good seed having struck its root too
deep ever to be extirpated, the only alternative is either to leave it to
its spontaneous growth, aided by the labour of Hindoos, or to place it
under a more skilful and enlightened cultivation.
Though strangers to the theory, the inhabitants of Hindostan have
been long familiarized to the practice of toleration.  In no part of the
world is there a greater variety of sects, or more. contrariety in the
modes of religious belief, subsisting without the slightest disturbance;
* See the interesting narrative of Dr. Buchanan's visit to the Syrian Christians, in his Ecclesias.
tical Researches.




112              ADDRESS IN REFERENCE TO
even the grand division of the natives into Hindoos and Mahometans
tas continued for ages, without interruption to the public harmony.
But if nothing is to be feared from the dissemination of Christian
principles in India, the advantages resulting from it, whether we consalt the interest of the natives or our own, are too obvious to require
eo be enumerated, and too important to be overlooked. With respect
to its aspect on the natives, will it be contended that a more powerful
Instrument can be devised for meliorating and raising their character,
than grafting upon it the principles of our holy religion, which, wherever
it prevails, never fails to perfect whatever is good, and to correct whatever is evil, in the human constitution, and to which Europe is chiefly
indebted for those enlightened views and that high sense of probity
and honour which distinguish it so advantageously in a comparison
with Asiatic nations? The prevalence of Christianity everywhere
marks the boundary which separates the civilized from the barbarous
or semi-barbarous parts of the world; let but this boundary be extended, and the country included within its limits may be considered
as redeemed from the waste, and prepared to receive the precious seeds
of civilization and improvement. Independently of eternal prospects,
it may be safely affirmed that polytheism and idolatry draw after them
such a train of absurd and dismal consequences as to be quite incompatible with the due expansion of the human intellect, and necessarily
to prevent the operations of reason from reaching their maturity and
perfection.  Wherever Christianity prevails mankind are uniformly
progressive; it communicates that just manner of thinking upon the
most important subjects which, extending its influence thence to every
department of speculative and moral truth, inspires a freedom of inquiry and an elevation of sentiment which raise the disciples of revelation immeasurably above the level of unassisted nature.
The Hindoo superstition is characterized by a puerile extravagance
of conception, as hostile to the cultivation of reason as the enormity
of its practices is revolting to humanity. It oppresses the former by
its gigantic absurdities; it extinguishes the latter by the cruelty of its
rites.  The annual destruction of female infants in Guzerat and Kutch
is estimated at fifteen or twenty thousand.* Till lately, it had been
the custom, from time immemorial, to immolate, at the island of Saugor,
and at other places esteemed holy, on the banks of the Ganges, human victims, or to destroy them by sharks.  From a late investigation,
it appears that the number of women who sacrifice themselves on the
funeral pile of their husbands, within thirty miles of Calcutta; is on an
average upwards of two hundred annually.t  A multitude of courtesans are uniformly attached to the principal temples, and the most
obscene symbols exhibited to inflame the passions of their votaries.4
While the history of all times and nations evinces the inseparable
alliance of impurity and cruelty with the worship of idols, is it conFs;tent with the dictates of humanity, not merely to witness these enorSee Moore's Ifindoo Infanticide.
t See Buchanan's Memoir, p. 96, Appendix. In a letter lately received from Dr. Carey, he egti
mates the whole number of women annually sacrificed throughout India at ten thousand.
t See Sonnerat's Voyage aux Indes et A la Chine, p. 219.




CHRISTIAN MISSIONS TO INDIA.                    113
mities without attempting to correct them, but to oppose the commarication of the only remedy which is capable of effecting a cure?
The base venality, together with the spirit of artifice and intmagee,
which distinguish the natives of Hindostan, have rendered it the
theatre of perpetual revolutions, robbed its native governments of
every principle of stability, and rendered poisonings, assassinations,
and treachery expedients so constantly resorted to by the parties in
conflict, that it is impossible to peruse its history without shuddering.
To affirm that there is nothing in their superstitions calculated to correct these vices is saying little, when in fact they derive a powerful
sanction from the maxims of their religion, and from the character of
their gods.  There is not one of their deities portrayed in their Shasters whose moral character is tolerably correct. How much Christianity is wanted to exalt the sentiments and purify the principles of
this corrupt and effeminate race is too obvious to need to be insisted on.
That their conversion is practicable is ascertained beyond contro.
versy by the success which has already attended the experiment; that
no apprehensions are to be entertained for the permanence of British
power in consequence of the attempt is manifest from experience;
that to consult the welfare of the subject is the first duty of the sovereign, and the chief distinction between the exercise of legitimate
authority and the operation of lawless tyranny, will not be disputed in
an enlightened age; and that the Christian religion is the greatest
blessing we have received, the most precious boon we can bestow,
none but infidels will deny. It surely will not be asserted that we
are under less obligation to communicate a good because that good
may be traced to the immediate interposition of Heaven, or because it
contains the seed and germ of eternal felicity. He who believes the
Bible must know that the heathen are to be given to Christ tb. iJo.
inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, and
that therefore to fo bid his being preached to the gentiles that they
may be saved is an attempt to contravene the purposes of the Most
High, equally impotent and presumptuous. Let the potsherds strive
against the potsherds of the earth, but wo unto him who striveth against
his Maker.  Such conduct, persevered in, must infallibly draw down
the judgments of God on the people to whose infatuated counsels it
is to be ascribed.  Whoever considers the aspect of the times must
be invincibly prejudiced not to discern the symptoms of a peculiar
crisis, the distinguishing features of which are, the rapid subversion
of human institutions and the advancement of the kingdom of God.
The stone cut out without hands has already fallen upon the image, and
made it like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor: the next event
we are'to look for in the order of Providence is its enlarging itself,
till it becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth.  If there
ever was a period when the propagation of the true religion might be
resisted with impunity, that period is past; and the Master of the
universe is now addressing the greatest potentates in the language of
an ancient oracle:-Be wise now, ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of
the earth.  Encompassed as we are with the awful tokens of a pre
VoL. II. —H




114               ADDRESS IN REFERENCE TO
siding and avenging Providence, dissolving the fabrics of human wlso
dom, extinguishing the most ancient dynasties, and tearing up kingdoms by their roots, it would be the height of infatuation any longer
to oppose the reign of God, whose purposes will pursue their career
in spite of the efforts of human policy, which must either yield their
co-operation, or be broken by its force.
All that is desired on this occasion is simply that the word of God
may be permitted to have free course.  Whether it be consistent with
sound policy for the British government to employ any part of its
resources in aid of the cause of Christianity in India is a question
which it is not necessary to discuss, while its friends confine their
views to a simple toleration, and request merely that its teachers may
not be harassed or impeded in their attempts to communicate instruction to the natives.  Before such a liberty can be withheld, the principles of toleration must be abandoned; nor will it be practicable to
withhold it without exciting a sanguinary persecution, where men are
to be found who will eagerly embrace the crown of martyrdom rather
than relinquish the performance of what appears to them a high and
awful duty.  And what a spectacle will it exhibit, for a Christian government to employ force in the support of idolatry and the suppressZioz
of truth!
Instead of dwelling on the necessary effects of such a measure, let
us consider for a moment the beneficial consequences likely to result
from an opposite mode of conduct.  On that improvement of character
which the cordial reception of revealed truth cannot fail to operate, it
will be easy to graft some of the best habits and institutions of European nations, advancing gradually through an interminable series of
social order and happiness. Under the fostering hand of religion,
reason will develop her resources, and philosophy mature her firuits.
Nor will the advantages accruing to the British interests from a change
so salutary be less certain or less important.  The possession of
the same faith will occasion such an approximation of the habits and
sentiments of the natives to our own, as will render the union firm, by
rendering it cordial.  While a total opposition in their views on the
most important points subsists between the sovereign and the subjects,
-while objects adored by the one are held in contempt and abhor
rence by the other, they may be.rtificially connected, but it is im
possible they should be united: it is rather a juxtaposition of inanimate
parts, than a union of minds.  In such a situation the social tie wants
that cementing principle which is requisite to give it strength and
stability; it is a strained and unnatural position, in which things are
held contrary to their native bent; in which authority is upheld merely
by force, without deriving support from that sympathy of congenial
sentiment which forms its truest basis.  Hence the precarious tenure
by which European states have successively held dominion in India,
where all has been submitted to the arbitration of the sword; where
the moment force has been withdrawn or relaxed authority has ceased,
and each in its turn has gained a transient ascendency, none a firm
and tranquil possession.




CHRISTIAN MISSIONS TO INDIA.                  115
Inr order to obviate the mischiefs arising from such a state of things,
it is extremely desirable, providing it be practicable, to impart to our
subjects in the East some principle which shall draw them into closer
contact with the ruling power; and what principle equally operative
and efficient with the possession of a common religion? Though the
universal diffusion of Christianity over India will probably be a work
of time, its influence in strengthening the social compact, by augmenting
the attachment of the natives, will be uniformly progressive; and
while external tranquillity is secured by the superiority of our policy
and our arms, we shall every year be making our way into their hearts'
we shall be establishing an interior dominion, and may confidently
reckon on the unshaken fidelity of every Christian convert. This is
not mere conjecture: for in all the trying vicissitudes experienced by
the British interests in India, the Hindoo Christians have invariably
approved themselves our firmest friends and abetters.
Though the writer of this address is afraid of being tedious, there
Is another consideration connected with the present subject which he
deems of too much importance not to be mentioned.  The possession of India, it is well known, is an object to which our enemies are
looking with eager desire, accompanied with jealousy at that splendour which the vastness of our oriental empire confers on the British
name and character.  No efforts will they deem too great, no sacrifices
too expensive, to rob us of so bright a jewel.  What events may arise
hereafter to facilitate the accomplishment of their wishes it is beyond
the power of human sagacity to conjecture: one thing is certain, that
nothing will oppose a more formidable obstacle to their designs than
the diffusion of Christianity.  They who have received that inestimable blessing will infallibly cling with ardour to the people to whom
they are indebted for it.  They will feel more than a natural affection
to the country which has opened to them the prospect of immortality,
and nourished them with the bread of life.  In all the struggles to
retain or to acquire dominion in the East, the Christian portion of the
population will, to a man, be the zealous partisans of Great Britain;
a firm and immoveable band, whose devoted attachment will in some
measure compensate for their inferiority of number. In this species
of policy too, in this most unexceptionable mode of conciliating esteem,
we shall have nothing to apprehend from the intrigues of our rivals,
who are equally indisposed and disqualified to engage in such an
enterprise.
If we consider what may be the probable intention of Providence in
opening so extensive a communication between Europe and the most
ancient seats of idolatry, and more especially of subjecting suchll immense territories in the East to the British arms, we can conceive no
end more worthy of the Deity in these momentous changes than to
facilitate the propagation of true religion.
Our acquisition of power there has been so rapid, so extensive, and
so disproportioned to the limits of our native empire, that there are
exw events in which the interposition of Providence may be more distinctly traced.  From tlxa  I esession of a few forts in different parts
H 2




116             ADDRESS IN REFERENCE TO
of the coast, which we were permitted to erect for the protection of
our commerce, we have risen, in the course of less than half a cen
tury, to a summit of power whence we exert a direct dominion over
fifty millions, and a paramount influence over a hundred millions of
men.  By an astonishing train of events, a large portion of the popu
lation of the oriental world has been subjected to the control of an
island placed in the extremities of the west of Europe. Kingdoms
have fallen after kingdoms, and provinces after provinces, with a rapidity which resembles the incidents of a romance, rather than the
accustomed order of political events.  It is remarkable, too, that this
career of conquest has uniformly directed its steps towards those parts
of the earth, and to those only, which are the primeval seats of pagan
idolatry; forming an intimate connexion between the most enlightened
of Christian nations and the victims of the most inveterate and deplorable system  of superstition mankind have ever witnessed.  As we
must be blind not to discern the finger of God in these transactions, it
behooves us to consider for what purposes we are lifted to so high a
pre-eminence.
It is certainly not to be ascribed to a blind predilection, which aims
at no other object than to gratify ambition, by extending the power
and augmenting the grandeur of Great Britain; a motive too puerile
to satisfy the requisitions of human reason, much more to limit the
views of an eternal mind.
The possession of sovereignty over extensive kingdoms is a sacred
trust, for which nations are not less responsible than individuals, a
delegation from the supreme Fountain of power; and as the unalterable laws of nature forbid us to confound men with things, or to forget
the reciprocal obligations subsisting between the sovereign and the subject, we can scarcely be guilty of a greater crime than to consider the
latter as merely subservient to the interests of the former.  Every
individual of the immense population subjected to our sway has claims
on our justice and benevolence which we cannot with impunity neglect: the wants and sufferings of every individual utter a voice which
goes to the heart of humanity. In return for their allegiance we owe
them protection and instruction, together with every effort to meliorate
their condition and improve their character.  It is but fair to acknowledge that we have not been wholly insensible to these claims, and
that the extension of our power has been hitherto highly beneficial.
But why, in the series of improvements, has Christianity been neglected? Why has the communication of the greatest good we have
to bestow been hitherto fettered and restrained; and while every
modification of idolatry, not excepting the bloody and obscene orgies of
Juggernaut, has received support, has every attempt to instruct the
natives in the things which belong to their peace been suppressed? It
will surely appear surprising to posterity, that a nation, glorying in tlue
purity of its faith as its highest distinction, should suffer its transactions in the East to be characterized by a spirit of infidelity, as though
it were imagined the foundations of empire could be laid only in apos.
tacy and impiety; at a moment, too, when Europe, convulsed to its




CHRISTIAN MisSIONS TO INDIA.                 117
centre, beholds these frantic erections swept with the besom of destruction. Their astonishment will be the more excited when they
compare our conduct in this instance with the unprecedented exertions
we are making for the diffusion of religious knowledge in other directions; with the operations of the Bible Society, which, formed for the
sole purpose of conveying the oracles of God to all quarters, has risen
to an importance that entitles it to be regarded as a national concern;
in which statesmen, nobles, and prelates have enrolled their names,
emulous of the honour of advancing to the utmost the noble design of'
the institution; with the Bartlett's Buildings Society, employed for upwards of a century in attempts to convert the natives of Hindostan,
which includes in the list of its members every bishop and every dignified ecclesiastic in the realm  with the numerous translations going
on in all the dialects of the East, to which the learned, both in Europe
and in Asia, are looking with eager expectation. When posterity
shall compare the conduct we are reprobating with these facts, how
great their astonishment to find the piety of the nation has suffered'tself to lie prostrate at the feet of a few individuals, the. open or disguised enemies of the faith of Jesus!
It is impossible, in connexion with the circumstances to which we
have adverted, to mistake the real sentiments of the British people, or
not to perceive that the illustrious associations already mentioned are
entitled, on a question of this nature, to be considered as its genuine
and legitimate organ.
It ought never to be forgotten, in the consideration of this subject,
that it is inseparably connected with liberty of conscience. Religious
toleration implies not merely the freedom of thought, which no human
power can restrain, and which equally subsists under the most tyrannical and the most enlightened governments; it comprehends also the
freedom of communication and the right of discussion, within the
limits of sober and dispassionate argument.  He who is impressed
with a conviction of the importance of the Christian verities, it is reasonable to suppose, will be anxious to communicate them: he will
probably feel as St. Paul did in a similar situation, whose spirit was
stirred within him when he beheld Athens wholly given up to idolatry:
he may be touched with so strong a commiseration for the victims of
religious imposture, and so powerful a sense of the duty of attempting
to correct it, as to be ready to adopt the language employed on another
occasion —" We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and
heard."
None but the determined enemy of truth and decency will deny
that such a state of mind is possible, or that it is more allied to virtue
than to vice.  If at this juncture a superior power interposes, and
says, You shall not impart your conviction, however strong; you shall
not attempt to dispel delusions the most gross, or correct enormities
the most flagrant, though no other means are thought of but calm
expostulation and argument; in what, I would ask, does such an interference differ from persecution?  Here is conscience on one side, an
enlightened conscience, as all Christians must confess, and force on




18              ADDRESS IN REFERENCE X'O
the other; which is precisely the position in which things are placed
by every instance of persecution.  If Christianity was ever persecuted,
if the martyrologies of all times and nations are not to be exploded
as mere fiction and romance, this is persecution, and persecution of a
most portentous character, being directed, in support of a system wf
detest, against the religion by which we expect to be saved. Here are.
a people, indignant posterity will exclaim, who profess subjection tc
the Saviour of the world, and hold in their hands the oracles which
foretell the universal extension of his dominion, who yet make it a
crime to breathe his name in pagan lands, and employ their power to
fence out the scene of his fiture triumphs, and render it, as far as possible, inaccessible to his religion. With what efficacious sincerity
and edifying fervour must this people have prayed, "'Thy kingdom
come!"  Admirable successors of the Constantines and the Charlemagnes of a former age'! Faithful stewards of the manifold gifts
of God!
When the parallel between the conduct of modern missionaries and
the first preachers of the gospel is insisted on, it is usual to attempt to
annul the conclusion deduced from the comparison, by remarking that
the latter were possessed of miraculous powers, to which the former
make no pretensions. That this circumstance occasions a real disparity in the means of ensuring success will be readily acknowledged;
but that it makes any difference whatever in tile right of imparting
instruction will not hastily be conceded.   Had such supernatural
interpositions never accompanied the publication of the gospel, it had
wanted its credentials, and been essentially defective in the proof of its
divine origination. It was necessary for a new dispensation, when
first ushered into the world, to be accompanied with a direct appeal to
the senses, with the visible signatures of a Divine hand; and it is the
glory of our holy religion to have possessed them in a variety and
splendour that astonished mankind, and laid a foundation for the faith
and obedience of all succeeding ages.  At its entrance, such an
economy was requisite to prepare the way.  But when these miraculous occurrences, after enduring the severest scrutiny, under circumstances the most favourable to investigation, were committed to writing,
and formed a compact body of external evidences,-when the supernatural origin of the Christian faith had taken its place among the most
indubitable of recorded facts, it was no longer necessary to be continually
repeating the same proofs, nor consistent with the majesty (f Heaven
to be ever laying the foundation afresh. It was time to assume the
truth of religion as a thing proved.
As we were none of us eyewitnesses of the miracles wrought in the
primitive ages, but rest our belief on historical documents, it is not
impossible, as far as the truth of Christianity is concerned, to lay open
to pagans the sources of our conviction, and by that means to place
them in nearly the same situation with ourselves; to say nothing of
that internal evidence which commends itself to every man's conscience
in the sight of God. This is actually the mode in which the light of
Revelation has been chiefly diffused since the cessation of miraculous




CHRISTIAN MISSIONS ro INDIA.                  119
grits; which in the opinion of some terminated with the apostles, in
the judgment of others were continued through the first three centuries,
but are universally allowed to have ceased long before the conversion
of the northern and western parts of Europe. Did the disciples of St.
Columba, who spread Christianity through the German provinces on
the Baltic, through the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark,
owe their success to miraculous powers? Did St. Auistin and his
associates, who laid the foundations of the religious establishments in
England, make such pretensions?
To demand miracles in order to justify the propagation of Christianity in pagan countries is to attribute to it a state of perpetual weakness and pupilage: it is to cancel all that is past, to accuse the most
illustrious missionaries of enthusiasm, and the faith of our forefathers
of folly and credulity. The principle we are attempting to expose,
not content with inflicting a stigma on a particular sect or party, involves
the whole Christian community established in these realms in the foul
reproach of being the illegitimate offspring of fanaticism or imposture.
It is only necessary for us to place ourselves in imagination at that
period when the foundation of the church was laid in this and in other
Europ.ean countries, to perceive that the same objections which are
made to the present efforts of missionaries apply with equal force to
those that are past. They who first exhibited the mystery of the Cross
to the view of our rude ancestors were equally destitute of miraculous
powers with ourselves. But they felt the power of the world to come:
they were deeply impressed with the dignity and excellence of the
Christian dispensation, and touched with a passionate regard for the
honour of God and the salvation of souls. These were the motives
which impelled them forward; these the weapons of their warfare.
The ridicule attempted to be poured on men of the same principles
and character, engaged in the same object, is, in fact, reflected on these
their predecessors, and is precisely a repetition of the conduct of the
impenitent Jews, who honoured the memory and built the sepulchres
of departed, while they were imbuing their hands in the blood of living,
prophets. We collect, with eager veneration, the names and achievements of the first heralds of the gospel; we dwell with exultation on
the heroic fortitude they displayed in encountering the opposition of
fierce barbarians, amid their efforts to reclaim them from a sanguinary
superstition, and to imbue their minds with the principles of an enlightened piety. We look up to them as to a superior order of beings,
and in the character of the instructers of mankind in the sublimest
lessons, entitled to a distinction above all Greek, above all Roman
fame; yet,'vith ineffable absurdity, and a most contemptible littleness
of mind, if it please Providence at distant intervals to raise up a few
congenial spirits, we are prepared to treat them with levity and scorn.
It is the misfortune of some men to labour under an incapacity of disc
cerning living worth;-a sort of moral virtuosi, who form their estimate
of characters, as the antiquarian of coins, by the rust of antiquity.
Urit enim fu!gore suo, qui preegravat artes
Infra se pos tas: extinctus amabitur idem9.'-Horace.




120           CHRISTIAN MISSIONS TO INDIA.
I would not be understood, in the remarks made on this part of the
subject, to explode the expectation of the renewal of miraculous agency;
which some of the most able divines have unquestionably formed, from
a perusal of the prophetic oracles. The inference I would wish to
establish is simply this, that we are not justified in neglecting the
means of propagating the truth we already possess by the absence of
higher succour; and that it would ill become the Christian world to
abandon the attempts to convert the inhabitants of pagan countries, in
deference ro the clamours of men, who demand miracles merely becanse
they believe they will not be vouchsafed, and decry the ordinary
methods of procedure, because they are within our reach, and have
already been crowned with success. To such the language of the
prophet Amos may be addressed with propriety:-Wo unto you that
desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you?  The day of
the Lord is darkness, and not light. Chap. v. 18.




AN
APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC,
ON THE SUBJECT OF
THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND
[PUBLISHED IN s1819,








ADVERTISEMENT.,APRESSED as the writer of these pages has long been with.ie
critical state of the stocking manufactory, and the intolerable evils
resulting from a progressive depression of wages, he could not refran
xrom communicating his sentiments on this most interesting subject.
He is aware of his inability to discuss it with that precision and force
which superior talents might command. His only apology is, that he
has done what he could. His reason for suppressing his name is sim.
ply, that while it might possibly create prejudice in some quarters hE
is not aware ths+ it would bestow additional weight in any








AN APPEAL.
IT is with the highest satisfaction I perceive that the wretched state
of the labouring mechanics in Leicestershire has at length arrested the
attention and drawn forth the liberality of a discerning public. But
while we rejoice to see such a feeling awakened, we must be permitted
to express our surprise and concern at the very scanty and penurious
contribution it has hitherto produced. After witnessing such an unexampled depression in the remuneration of labour as to place the means
of subsistence totally out of the reach of the industrious poor, when
the only alternative presented is that of effective aid afforded by the
more opulent or the total ruin and extinction of the labouring classes,
it was natural to expect that the extent and magnitude of the exertion
would bear some proportion to the greatness of the object and the exigence of the case. That this expectation is as yet far from being
realized requires no proof, nor will it be possible to prevent the recurrence of that intolerable state of suffering which we have recently
witnessed, without more extensive and vigorous efforts.
It is frequently asserted, we are aware, that the rate of wages, like
every other article, should be left to find its own level, and that all
attempts at artificial regulation, either by voluntary association or legal
enactment, is repugnant to the true principles of political economy
That commerce ought to be left to its native operation to a much
greater extent than it is, we have learned from the highest authority;
nor is it proposed to implore the interference of legislature in aid of
our present object. But there is a peculiarity in the case of manual
labour to which we suspect the persons who urge this objection have
not attended.
When the price of a particular commodity sinks so low as not to
produce the ordinary profits of stock, a part or the whole of the capital
is withdrawn; a less quantity is produced in proportion to the diminu
tion of the demand, in consequence of which the price rises to its
former level.  Thus the irregularity corrects itself, and little or no
permanent mischief ensues. But the situation of the labourer is widely
different; he has no other article to dispose of besides his personal
industry and skill, on which he depends for his subsistence from day
to day, nor can he, without being reduced to immediate distress, withhold them from the market, or even diminish their exertion to any
considerable degree. The only commodity he has to part with is of
such a nature that it will not permit him to adjust the supply to the




126             APPEAL ON THE SUBJECT OF
demand. He must instantly offer it to sale at whatever price it will
fetch, or suffer all the agonies of want. Hence this is the kind of
property of all others the most defenceless and which most needs protection. The-at the rate of wages has a tendency to keep pace with the
price of the necessaries of life is undeniable, but, from  the cause we
have now mentioned, it is long before that tendency becomes effective;
the labourer and the mechanic are the last who experience the beneficial effect of an elevation in prices.
But admitting the objection to which we have adverted to be more
weighty than it is, where is the equity of urging it in opposition to the
claims of the labouring classes, while it is treated with the utmost
neglect on other occasions? What is the object, let me ask, of the
laws for the regulation of trade, wthich form so large a part of our acts
of parliament, but to secure to certain descriptions of the community a
higher price for the respective commodities which they produce, and
thus to direct the application of capital to a specific object? What is
the design, the avowed object at least, of the corn bill but to encourage
agriculture by securing a higher price for its productions than they
could command were they exposed to the effects of foreign competition? What is the design of the additional duty lately imposed on
foreign wool but to bestow an artificial elevation on the price of that
article as a means of promoting its domestic growth? and why so
extensive a list of prohibitory statutes, except they are intended to
encourage our home manufactures by securing to them a higher price?
Not to multiply words on so plain a subject, suffice it to remark, that
all laws and regulations of the legislature respecting trade and agriculture, with the exception of such as immediately relate to revenue, have
for their immediate object the modification of price; it is by that means,
and that alone, that they furnish encouragement to that species of productive industry which it is deemed expedient to favour.  Hence it is
evident that the vaunted maxim of leaving every kind of production and
labour to find its own level is not adhered to; that it has always been
violated in this country from the remotest times. An adherence to it
would create a total revolution in our mercantile system, and while it
is trampled under foot every day, it just commands a sufficient degree
of theoretic assent to render it, in the hands of the artful and designing,
a bugbear to deter the humane from rendering effectual assistance to
the distressed and laborious part of the community. But what, let me
once more ask, what reason can be assigned for leaving this class
unprotected, the most helpless in society, from the cause already
specified; while the agricultural, the manufacturing, and the mercan.
tile interests are shielded with jealous attention by a multitude of legal
provisions?
Why a philosophical theory, which is violated with impunity every
moment, should then only be deemed sacred when it stands opposed
to the claims of a starving and industrious population, we are at a loss
to conjecture. Let it be remembered, however, that an application to
thIe legislature forms no part of the present plan: although, if every
other expedient should fail, we see no reason why its aid should not




THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                    127
be exerted in favour of the Leicestershire framework knitters as well
as of the Spitalfields weavers, who were a few years ago effectually
relieved by the establishment of a minimum,* with the entire approbation of the principal manufacturers. The excellent Mr. Wilberforce
had a principal share in procuring that regulation; nor is it to be
doubted that, in conjunction with other humane and enlightened
senators, he would be ready to exert, if necessary, the same efforts
for the mitigation of similar distress.
The measure now intended is of a less bold and hazardous character. It is proposed simply by means of voluntary contribution to
afford a subsistence, scanty it will probably be at the best, to that portion of the labouring class who are destitute of employment, that they
may not be compelled to offer their labour for next to nothing, and thus
reduce the general rate of wages to that scale of depression which has
been already productive of such calamitous effects.  On the present
system, those who are thrown out of employment are tempted to offer
their service for a remuneration totally inadequate to their wants.  But
a material inequality of wages for the same quantity of work is unnatural, and therefore cannot be permanent; the consequence is, that
the wages of all the workmen are soon reduced to the rate at which
the first hands are engaged. Thus a small surplus of labour beyond
what the state of the demanctrequires becomes an engine for effecting
a deep and universal depression; and the misery of a few, instead of
exciting an effort for their relief, becomes the signal for a more extended infliction of the same calamity. To this evil no conceivable
remedy short of legislative interference can be applied, except the
creation of a fund capable of supplying the more pressing necessities
of those whom the vicissitudes of trade may deprive of employment.
This is the only expedient that furnishes the faintest prospect of giving
permanence and stability to the statement to which the principal manu
facturers have agreed; and on the vigour with which it is carried into
effect depends our only chance of obviating the recurrence, with fresh
aggravations, of the distress wve have lately witnessed.
The benefits resulting ~rom the successful operation of the measure
we are recommending will not be confined to its immediate objects, it
will extend its influence to every class of the community; and the
alleviation which it will afford to the almost insupportable burthen of the
poor-rates will be of eminent advantages to the parishes.  Suppose in a
particular parish a hundred frames at work, and each of the framework
knitters earns, clear of all deductions, ten shillings a week instead of
six, that parish is benefited to the amount of a thousand pounds; and
considering the utter inadequacy of the former wages to procure the
necessaries of life, the alteration will be nearly equivalent to an annual
donation of a thousand pounds to the parochial treasure. That it is
the interest of the manufacturing villages to exert themselves to the
utmost in perpetuating the present statement is an inference which
must force itself on the attention of the most careless observer; and
nothing but the most infatuated preference of the present to the future
* The lowest rate at which labour should be paid for.




128             APPEAL ON THE SUBJECT OF
can prevent them from giving to the fun(d a liberal support  Trades
men of every description are deeply interested in the success of the
present measure, since the permanent rise of wages will increase the
power of purchase, and give a new impulse to every species of trade.
Supposing the number engaged in all the various departments of the
stocking manufactory to amount to thirty thousand, no extravagant
computation, and little less than three hundred thousand pounds, in
addition to the present sum, will annually find its way into the market;
the agriculturist will find his account in the increased demand for raw
produce, the manufacturer and the dealer, both wholesale and retail, in
a more extended purchase of wrought goods. The landed proprietor
will also be essentially benefited; for who does not know that the
value of land must always bear a certain proportion to the demand for
manufactures, and to the general diffusion of prosperity? Thus all
orders will reap the advantage of a change of system.
On a subject so immediately connected with the claims of humanity
it is surely not too much to expect, that nothing more will be necessary to inspire an aversion to the system recently adopted than a
recollection of its actual effect in the ruin and prostration of the industrious mechanic. That man is little to be envied whose enjoyments
are not essentially imbittered by the prospect of surrounding misery,
who daily beholds with untroubled composure innumerable countenances clouded with dejection and despair.  WTere the state of suffering
with which we have long been familiar removed from immediate observation, we could scarcely hear of it without agitation; —how much
more afflicting to be placed in the midst of it, to feel it pressing on our
senses in all directions, without the power of contributing any thing to
its mitigation and relief, beyond a barren and impotent commiseration!
Is there no hazard of contracting a fatal induration by a daily familiarity
with indigence which we cannot alleviate, with scenes of wo we can
neither remove nor diminish? To go into the house of mourning is
good, since it is adapted to impress salutary lessons; but to dwell in a
situation where every house is become such is a state to which nothing
but utter insensibility can be reconciled.
There are, however, higher if not more affecting considerations connected with the present subject. If the evil which we have now the
means of escaping should return, it will be in vain for us to flatter our.
selves with a long duration of tranquillity; a starving must not be
expected to be a contented population, nor will any change be deprecated by those to whom existence itself has become a burthen. The
instinctive feelings of nature will urge to some desperate effort, and
they will cease to be restrained by legal coercion who already suffer
more than the utmost rigour of the law can inflict. The heart that is
withered with despair obtains an awful emancipation from the ordinary
restraints of human action; and when a considerable portion of the
people is reduced to that extremity, what is to be expected but that
the physical energies which are found inadequate to the subsistence of
their possessors by the exercise of honest industry will take an unnatural and destructive direction?




THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                    129
The manufacture of this county is so fortunately circumstanced
in being exempted from foreign interference and competition, that
nothing can materially injure it except its internal mismanagement.
In the article of hosiery we possess a monopoly. While cotton thread
is allowed to be exported, and to give birth to numerous foreign establishments, the kinds of wool necessary for our manufacture are prohibited from going abroad. We have the exclusive command of the
market, and are under no necessity of having recourse to a reduction
of price in order to defeat the competition of foreign manufacturers.
All is in our own power; and if a spirit of miserable and short-sighted
rivalry is suffered to depress the hire and extinguish the comforts of
the labouring mechanic, it is the odious spectacle of a family quarrelling among themselves. Secured from external injury, and less
affected by the vicissitudes of war and peace than perhaps any other
branch of commerce, because it is concerned in an article of the first
necessity, those who are employed in it have only to remain true to
themselves, and they may bid defiance to every effort of hostility. " If
ye bite and devour," says holy writ, " see that ye are not consumed
one of another."  What can be more detestable than to see a system
pursued which can have no other possible termination or object than
the sacrifice of the happiness of the many to a few, an inconceivable
few, whose prosperity is cemented by the tears of a distressed and
ruined population!
In order to give employment to those who are thrown out of work,
and to lighten the poor-rates, some parishes have established manufactories of their own. While the system of depression continued, it was
natural to have recourse to an expedient which accomplished its immediate object. But if it is proposed to give perpetuity to the present
statement, that practice must be abandoned. The parishes can afford
to dispose of their goods at little or no profit; but the regular manufacturers, it is natural to expect, will not submit to be undersold by a
class of persons whom they cannot but regard as intruders: hence
arises a new source of competition, and a consequent depression of
wages. It is in vain to expect that the manufacturer will adhere to a
liberal statement of wages while he is exposed to a rivalry conducted
upon unequal terms.
It is surely not too much to hope, that the good sense of parishes
will prompt them to put a speedy end to this practice, and that no
selfish calculation of local or immediate advantage will tempt them to
support a system pregnant with extensive mischief.
It gives the writer sincere concern to hear that there are even some
framework knitters themselves so blind to their own interest as to
refuse to contribute to the general fund. With men who are resolved
to shut their eyes on consequences, and are unwilling to sacrifice the
smallest immediate to the greatest future advantage, it is in vain to
reason, since they have renounced the prerogative of thinking beings.
As the framework knitters are the description of persons immediately
interested, it is they who must give the first impulse. It is in vain for
bose to look for help who are unw!)ling to help themselves; and
VOL. II.-I




130             APPEAL ON THE SUBJECT OF
when so small a portion of their earnings is sufficient, with the
assistance of a generous public, to secure them from the recurrence
of recent sufferings, it is not in the power of words to express the
folly which hesitates to make the necessary sacrifice. The whole
system of life is a series of compromises with unavoidable evil, in
which material inconveniences are endured for the acquisition of
future good; and he who aspires to enjoyments unaccompanied by the
necessity of self-denial and sacrifice will not retain them long. Such,
also, is the power of combination, that small as is the sum which
each individual is called to disburse, the amount of numerous contributions will lay a solid foundation for future prosperity, by protecting
them from the encroachments of unfeeling rapacity.
It is asserted there are some manufacturers who have absolutely
prohibited their workmen from contributing their quota to the fund.
For the honour of human nature, we hope the report is unfounded.
We are reluctant to suppose there can be found in a Christian country
men so callous to the sentiments of humanity as to interdict the means
of self-preservation, or of temper so despotic as to attempt to infringe
on the essential right of every reasonable being to consult his interest
by providing for future contingencies. Let it suffice to have refused
their aid to their fellow-creatures while struggling in the waves, without
driving them back when they have gained the shore. We earnestly
recommend the periodical publication of a correct list of the contributors and the non-contributors, together with the reasons assigned for
the conduct of the latter, that blame may be imputed only where it.is
due, and the patrons of oppression (if such there be) may be made
amenable to the tribunal of public opinion.
From a partial view of the magnitude of the object before us, and
of the extent of the mischief which requires to be remedied, those
districts which are not the seat of manufacture have manifested a reluctance to contribute; a narrow and mistaken policy, which deserves
the severest reprobation.  Whether the workmen in the principal
manufacture of a populous county sink into wretchedness and beggary, or are maintained in a state of comfort, can never be an uninteresting circumstance to any part of its inhabitants.  Humanity apart,
it requires but little attention to perceive that as the ability to purchase,
and consequently the extent of purchases, is regulated, not by the
wants, but by the pecuniary resources of the buyer, to those who have
any thing to dispose of, the poverty of their customers must necessarily be injurious. But the framework knitters and their families
constitute the most numerous class of consumers in the county, and
the quantity of their consumption must be proportioned to the extent
of their earnings. The circulation of money depends as much on the
wages of labour as on the profits of stock; and if thirty thousand
persons rise from abject poverty to a capacity of commanding a larger
share of the necessaries and many of the comforts of life, the money
which procures them will flow into every channel, so as to benefit
alike the tradesman, the agriculturist, and the landed proprietor. The
infusion of a new pabulum of life into the extremities will strengthen
and invigorate the whole body.




THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                     131
Let not the inhabitants of those towns and villages where no manu
facture is carried on suffer themselves to be deluded into false secu
rity, and because they hear not the sound of the knitting-frame, not
behold its productions spread before their eyes, flatter themselves with
the hope of impunity in the midst of surrounding distress. The ties
of civil society are too close and intricate, the reciprocal action of its
respective parts too great, to admit of a local circumscription of calamity. The natural effect of a remarkable depression in the staple
manufacture of a county is to spread commercial embarrassment and
distress throughout the whole, of which we have already had sufficient
experience in the difficulties under which trade of every description
has laboured, in consequence of the paucity of money and the diminution of demand.  The tradesman, it is true, feels the effect in its first
stage of operation, the agriculturist in the next, in a diminished consumption of his raw produce.
In the moral system, it is a part of the wise arrangements of Proviceunce that no member shall suffer alone; that if the lower classes
are involved in wretchedness and beggary, the more elevated shall not
enjoy their prosperity unimpaired.  That constitution of society is
radically unsound of which the inferior order is vicious and miserable:
a wretched and degraded populace is a rent in the foundation; or, if
we may be allowed to change the figure, a taint of rottenness at the
root of society, which will infallibly wither and decay its remotest
branches. Alarming as the present aspect of affairs unquestionably
is, the most appalling feature of the times is the prevailing discontent
of the lower orders; discontent, arising not so much from the infusion
of speculative principles as from the impression of actual distress.
Alleviate their distress, convince them at least of your solicitude to do
it, and you extirpate the seeds of disaffection far more effectually than
by all the arts of intimidation. But if an insensibility to their sufferings in the higher ranks goads them to despair, nourishes an appetite
for change, and prepares them to lend themselves to the sophistry of
artful demagogues and unprincipled empirics, what will be the consequence but a divided and distracted empire, where instead of uniting
to consolidate the resources of general prosperity, the necessity of
employing one part of the nation in the coercion or punishment of the
other dissipates its efforts, and cripples its energy? We have the
highest authority for asserting that a "kingdom divided against itself
cannot stand;" and surely no schism  in the body politic can be more
fatal than that which alienates the hands from the head,-the physical
strength of society from its presiding intellect.
It may be objected to these observations, that, however just, they
are irrelevant to the subject in hand, which relates, not to a national, but
to a provincial object. To which the reply is obvious, that every
manufacturing county constitutes an important part of the nation, and
that there is no absurdity in supposing that the arrangement which is
adapted to the situation of one may be applied with equal advantage
to another.  Be this as it may, if the tranquillity of a central departlment of the empire can be maintained by a measure which, xvwhile it
12




132             APPEAL ON THE SUBJECT OF
rescues a numerous description of persons from the deepest misery,
is beneficial to all and burthensome to none, much is contributed to
the fund of national prosperity, composed, as it is, of separate portions
of individual enjoyment and security.
Waiving, for the present, the consideration of the tendency of the
measure in question to promote the welfare of the nation, the writer
oft these lines must be permitted to avow his attachment to his natale:~olum, to the soil that gave him birth, which recalls the image of his
youth, with those affecting recollections which nature longest retains,
and reluctantly quits.  The philanthropy which affects to feel alike
for every part of mankind is false and spurious; that alone is genuine
7.iwhich glows with a warmth proportioned to the nearness of its
objects. But who that is not utterly devoid of such sentiments, can
compare the present condition of.this county with the past without
deep emotion? The writer well remembers it when it was the abode
of health and competence; a temperate and unstrained industry diffused
plenty through its towns and villages; the harsh and dissonant sound
of the loom was not unpleasant to the ear, mingled with the evidence
of the activity which it indicated, and the comfort it produced; the
advance of summer invited the peasant to a grateful change of labour,
while the village poured forth its cheerful population to assist in preparing the tedded grass, and reap the golden harvest; content resided in
its valleys, joy echoed from its hills; the distresses of poverty were
almost unknown, except by the idle and the profligate, its natural
victims; and even the transition from peace was rather heard at a distance than felt as a positive calamity.  Some provinces, it is confessed,
abounded with more splendid objects, with more curious specimens of
art, and grander scenes of nature; but it was surpassed by none in
the general diffusion of prosperity. But what a contrast is now presented, in the languid and emaciated forms and dejected looks of our
industrious mechanics, who with difficulty drag their trembling limbs
over scenes where their fathers gazed with rapture, "pleased with
each rural sight, each rural sound!" A rapid depression of wages,
like a gangrene, preys upon their vitals, and exhausts their strength.
The crisis is arrived which is to decide the destiny of this part of the
kingdom; its fate for the present generation, to say the least, depends,
under Providence, entirely on the success of the measure now in agitation; and how, let me ask, can its hereditary nobility exert themselves
more laudably than by stretching forth the hand to save from ruin the
county which gave them birth, and includes the fund of their wealth,
the scene of their magnificence, and the sepulchre of their fathers'
Though this appeal is, with the utmost propriety, made to them in
the first instance, it is not confined to that elevated order; there is not
a description of persons within the limits of the county who ought to
contemplate the crisis with indifference; and so essential is the success of the present expedient to every hope of deliverance, that, whatever be his station, he who withholds his quota from  the general
contribution may justly consider himself as accessary to its ruin.
If there be any motive wanting, in addition to those which have




THE FRAMEWrORK KNITTERS' FUND.                 133
been already urged, to excite us to exertion, it is found in the exem
plary conduct of the principal sufferers. Never were privations so
distressing endured with more manly fortitude; and, for my own part,
I cannot look back on the patience and the constancy displayed through
such a protracted~ scene of suffering, without ascribing it to a calm
confidence in that Providence which, sooner or later, never fails to
interpose in behalf of such as trust in it, and which, at length, has
inspired wisdom to discover, and resolution to apply, the only remedy.
They have deplored their misery, they have exhibited their grievances
to the view of the public, in the language of nature and of truth, but
rarely, if ever, have they forgotten their duties. Far from shrinking
from the necessity of making the first sacrifice, they have cheerfully
come forward to establish the present fund, to which they have engaged
to contribute sixpence a week out of their scanty earnings. We
will not suppose for a moment a reluctance on the part of the public
to assist and encourage a description of persons whose welfare is
inseparably combined with their own, and who, to the praise of patient
endurance under the severest of trials, have added that of united and
manly exertion to prevent their recurrence








A REPLY
TO THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTIONS ADVANCED BY
COBBETT AND OTHERS
AGAINST THE
FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FRIENDLY RELIEF SOCIETY.
[PUBLISHED IN 1821.]








A REPLY.
THE virulent opposition made to the Framework Knitters' Friendly
Relief Society-a protective policy to secure themselves from the pressure of poverty and the pains of hunger-may well excite the surprise
of the reflecting and humane part of the public. This violence with
which it is assailed forms, indeed, the most remarkable feature of the
business, and is alone sufficient to awaken suspicion of a design not
distinctly avowed. Its opponents are loud in proclaiming their conviction that it cannot possibly endure, that it must shortly come to an
end.  Why then not leave it to its fate? Why display this anxiety to
accelerate its overthrow, these violent and persevering efforts to crush
the feeble and precipitate the falling? If, as they contend, it contains
within itself the seeds of speedy dissolution, no evil can result from
abandoning it to the operation of its native tendencies, and suffering it
to die a natural death. Is it not apparent that all this commotion
and effort indicate a suspicion that it is not so fraught with the elements of self-destruction as they pretend, and that it requires to be
powerfully assailed.
Its opponents confidently assert that it has no tendency to keep up
the rate of wages, that these are regulated by causes over which it
has no control, and that, in defiance of every possible arrangement,
they will infallibly find their level. If such is really their conviction,
their zeal is still more preposterous. For where is the policy or the
prudence of exposing themselves to the suspicion of insensibility to the
distresses of the working classes by opposing a scheme which can
have no effects, produce no consequences while it continues, and the
futility of which will be shortly apparent to all? The list of prices
agreed upon between the employers and their men, they assert, is
higher than the state of the trade will allow; and that, could it be
maintained, it would be detrimental to the manufacturing interest by
preventing the sale of the article. Admitting this, it would afford a
sufficient reason for opposing a measure which had a tendency to pro,
duce that effect, namely, the continuance of the statement.  But as it
is loudly affirmed that the Framework Knitters' Union has no such
tendency, but will leave the rate of wages just as it was, why this
superfluity of zeal in opposing what can produce no mischief? If such
is their real opinion, they are fighting with a shadow-combating a
phantom.  This, however, will hardly be supposed.  Men are not
accustomed to exert themselves with vehemence against ar object ol




138          iREPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
which they entertain no apprehension: they usually proportion their
efforts to their alarms.
It is impossible not to discern, in the wanton and virulent attack of
Cobbett and others on the Framework Knitters' Society, that more is
meant than meets the ear-that a purpose is aimed which is not yet
ripe for disclosure. Of this we may be assured, that there lurks at
the bottom of this opposition a secret persuasion that the permanence
of the Union will effect a permanent elevation of wages, above that
extreme point of depression to which they had before subsided.
Here the first question which arises is, whether the recompense of
labour previous to tile establishment of a fund was such on an average
as to enable a workman to procure for himself and his family the ordinary necessaries of life. For the answer to this we might refer the
reader to our opponents, who, with some variation in their statements,
unanimously acknowledge they were not sufficient for that purpose.
The anonymous writer who styles himself "An Observer" feebly attempts, it is true, to palliate the wretched condition of the workmen by
referring us to the price of provisions, not in Leicestershire, be it remembered, but in Taunton,* and by informing us that a man working
a frame of thirty-two or finer gauge twelve hours a day can earn eight
shillings a week.t As in this very passage he is declaiming against
"6 extreme statements as suspicious," who would suspect that the very
passage which censures contains an example of it? But so it is; for
the writer is informed by the most experienced manufacturers that the
kind of work adduced is of a superior order, on which very few, in
comparison, are employed; and that the average earnings previous to
the Union were from five shillings and sixpence to six shillings a week,
not a moiety of the sum  adequate to the decent support of an industrious family. The enormous pressure on the parishes which are the
principal seats of manufacture place the matter of fact for which we
are contending beyond all controversy.  But that the "labourer is
worthy of his hire" is as much the dictate of reason as of Scripture:
and if there be any spectacle which shocks the natural feeling of justice,
it is the sight of industry rewarded with famine —of a life devoted
to severe and incessant toil, without the power of procuring the means
-of its own support. This is a state of things from which humanity
recoils, but such was the condition of the greater part of the workmen
previous to the Union.
The next question is, whether the sufferers have not a natural right
to attempt the melioration of their condition, and by any means consistent with the peace of society, and the inviolable security of property, endeavour to rescue themselves from a state in which death is
preferable to life. For what purpose, let me ask, is reason bestowed,
if not to assist its possessor in contriving the means of alleviating his
calamities and of improving his situation? The skill and labour of
the poor man constitute his whole possession, and he has a right to
place it to the best advantage, for precisely the same reason that the
rich capitaiist is entitled to make the most advantageous disposal of his
* Observer, p. 5.               t Ibid p. 6.




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                135
wealth. He has consequently, if he pleases, a right to set aside a
portion of his earnings towards securing the means of a just and
natural remuneration of his industry. I call that a just and natural
remuneration which enables him to procure the necessaries of life
for himself and his family. If, by the exercise of foresight and selfdenial, he can evade the fatal necessity of lying entirely at the mercy
of his master, where is the impropriety of his conduct, or of what have
the public to complain? But such is precisely the principle of the
Framework Knitters' Union. It is merely the policy of self-defence;
an instrument invented by themselves, and supported principally from
their own resources, for securing that recompense of labour which their
employers with much unanimity affirmed to be reasonable, and which
they voluntarily consented to give. It is not to be confounded for a
moment with a combination to raise wages; it is merely a provision
for securing the terms mutually stipulated between their employers and
themselves. The necessity of some such measure was demonstrated
by experience; a statement had been promised on a former occasion,
but it was found that while there was a surplus of labour in the market,
however inconsiderable, it was converted into a means of effeuting a
universal depression, far below the scale to which it would have natu
rally descended, in consequence of the decreased demand. That
wages should decline to a certain extent along with the demand is the
natural consequence of the vicissitudes of trade; still it is but equitable
that they should bear some proportion to each other. We will suppose
out of ten thousand hands engaged in this manufacture that one thousand are out of employ; here, supposing the remainder to labour with
only their usual degree of assiduity, there are nine-tenths of the manu-.
facture produced which was made when they were all at work.  The
probable demand has diminished one-tenth. But if the effect of this is
to reduce the wages nearly one-half, so as to place the necessaries of
life out of the reach of the workmen, is not this a result to be deplored?
and if any means consistent with the peace of society can be contrived
to prevent it, ought they not to be adopted? In this case it is in vain
to allege that the depression in question is rendered necessary in consequence of the decreased demand, because they bear no proportion
one to the other. The demand is by the supposition diminished onetenth-the wages are reduced nearly one-third. Such was the exact
state of things at the late turn-out in Leicestershire. A proportion of
about one in ten were unemployed, and this surplus of labour was
converted, by a process not very creditable to the humanity of its authors, into an instrument of universal depression to the extent already
stated. The method by which it was accomplished is extremely simple. Those who were out of employ were driven by the distress of
their situation to offer their services on terms the most disadvantageous;
the offer was accepted; and this afforded a pretext for gradually lowering the wages of the rest, who had no alternative but to submit to
the abatement proposed or quit their employ. Further reductions were
imposed, which for the same reason were for the most part submitted
to; till, through a few successive stages, the wages of all were brought




140          REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
to the same level.  Thus the wretched workmen were reduced to tle
necessity of acquiescing, not in that abatement of wages which was
proportioned to the diminished demand, but in the terms which a small
minority were induced to accept; and the destitution and despair of a
few became the gauge by which the miseries of all were measured out.
If there is a man to be found who is perfectly reconciled to such a
procedure, who sees nothing in it inconsistent with the dictates of the
most refined and enlightened humanity, his mental structure is such as
I shall never envy.
Since in the case before us it is the surplus of labour alone which
affords the facility of effecting a depression so destructive by obliging
those iho are unemployed to engage themselves at a price by which
they could not live, the object of the Union is simply to take away that
necessity, by withdrawing that portion of redundant labour which produced it,-a mode of proceeding perfectly analogous to that which
takes place in every branch of trade and manufacture. He who is
engaged in -these endeavours invariably to adjust the extent of the
supply to the demand: if his capital enables him, he withholds his
commodities from the market when it is glutted, and reproduces them
when they are more eagerly called for. Is there any principle of political economy conceived to be violated by this discretionary power of
the manufacturer to adjust his productions to his demand-to withdraw
them from the market at his pleasure, when he foresees their sale will
fetch no adequate returns? But this, mutatis mutandis, or with a slight
change of names, is exactly the case under present discussion. The
labour and skill of the mechanic or the artist constitute the article he
has to dispose of; and the Framework Knitters' Fund, against which
such a clamour has been raised by interested and designing men, is
nothing more or less than a provision for withholding such a portion
of that article as he perceives cannot be employed without ruinous
consequences. If the principles of political economy are those of justice and common sense, they will authorize no more interference with
the labouring mechanic than with the tradesman or manufacturer; and
if the manufacturer is not compelled to dispose of his productions on
destructive terms, why should the mechanic be obliged thus to dispose
of his labour?  It will be acknowledged, it is more diicult for the
mechanic to adjust his labour to the demand, than it is for the manufacturer to regulate his supply by the state of the market; but this
is a distinct consideration; the Framework Knitters' Fund is contrived
with a view to obviate this difficulty-it has already done it to a great
degree, and nothing but a more general co-operation of the workmen,
and of parishes, is wanted to enable them to surmount it altogether.
The principles of political economy exclude the exercise of compulsion only, and by consequence all sort of legislative interference in
commercial transactions: they were never understood by a single
writer to control the exercise of free agency in any class of the community, and consequently not in the Leicestershire framework knitters.
The science of political economy assumes for its basis that every person best understands his own business; that the desire of improving




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                  141t
his condition is inherent in man; and that when every one is left to
pursue his individual interest in his own way, without injuring others,
the combined successes arising from the unfettered endeavours of each
to advance his particular interest will produce a greater aggregate of
wealth than it is possible to realize under a pervading system of legislative control. This is the master-principle of that science, and on
this principle the makers of stockings must be supposed to understand
their own interest best; they have had a long and severe training in
the school of adversity; and they are unanimously of opinion that the
establishment of a fund out of their own earnings, in aid of such as
are out of employ, is the most efficient expedient for maintaining an
adequate rate of wages.  Having learned from  experience that no
agreement with their masters will stand unless it is protected by such
a provision, they have made it chiefly from their own resources,
assisted by those parishes whose interest is deeply implicated in their
support.
As far as the fund is supported by the voluntary contributions of the
men and of the parishes, both actuated solely by a view to their own
interest, the whole proceeding is perfectly consonant to the principles
of political economy, correctly interpreted; and for the voluntary contributions of the public, they are to be considered as entirely provisionary, to be continued no longer than is necessary to give stability
to an infant institution; in which light they are abundantly justified
by the principles of humanity, which are paramount to every other.
The total want of candour or of information in Mr. Cobbett is
apparent in his neglecting to advert to the voluntary contributions of the
framework knitters.  The reader of his coarse invectives would be
led to conclude that the men contributed nothing, that it was merely a
project of the public to aid the operative class in a particular manufacture; when in fact the whole affair originated with themselves, by
whom it has all along been chiefly supported, and on whose exertions,
aided by the parishes which are deeply interested in its preservation,
its permanence entirely depends. As our opponents, there is little
doubt, " hissed for this fly," it is probable he was not put in possession
of a circumstance which forms the nerves and sinews of the Union,
but supplied with that information only which best suited their purpose.
A. serious alarm must have been felt to prompt them to have recourse
to such an ally.
"Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo."
The omission of this fact enables him to invest the whole business
with an air of ridicule for which a just statement of the case would
have furnished no pretence. An extensive combination of the public
to assist the framework knitters may, considered by itself, appear
somewhat romantic; but when it is viewed in the light of a temporary
support to an institution which has to struggle with difficulties arising
from the ignorance of some and the self-interested perverseness and
prejudice of others, it assumes a different character.  The public have,
in m) humble opinion, displayed both humanity and wisdom in lending




142          REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
their aid to a plan which has already effected much good, and promises
in its fuller development to accomplish much more; but their assistance,
however meritorious, must be considered as provisionary, while the
permanence of the plan wholly depends on the exertions of the workmen and the parishes. It is on the principle of an appropriation of a
part of their earnings to their mutual assistance, and as a means of
enabling parishes to alleviate a numerous class at the least possible
expense, that its merits must be tried and its advantages estimated.
The " Observer" asserts that it has done little or nothing towards
alleviating the general distress. The truth of this assertion, however,
may be safely left to the discernment of the public. Let them say
whether the situation of the workmen has not been materially improved during the two years that the Union has subsisted.  When its
effect has been to raise wages at least one-third, is it possible to doubt
whether such an augmentation has been productive of a proportionable
increase of comfort; or what but an experience of its advantages
could have prompted men not remarkably gifted with self-denying
habits, to persist so long in making such a sacrifice?
Cobbett loudly and repeatedly asserts that the manufacturers cannot
afford to give higher wages, referring to the conduct of those Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire houses which continue to stand out, as a
decisive proof of his position.  " If the price," he says, " can be
afforded, why do not those hosiers in most extensive business give it?
If they aver that they can afford it, why do they not give it? Mind,
it is the hosiers in most extensive business that aver this, and yet they
do not give the price."* It is a sufficient reply to these triumphant
interrogations, that the most respectable hosiers do give it, and that
they who do not find by experience that they can procure their work
to be done on lower terms; the reason of which is a surplus of labour
in the market, w.hose operation in causing a universal depression has
been already described.
It is the opinion of the most judicious manufacturers the writer has
had the opportunity of consulting, that the demand for hosiery was
little, if at all, diminished at the period immediately preceding the
greatest depression of wages, nor was the number out of employ previously to its taking place more than ordinary.  The system of depression in this county, it is a matter of public notoriety, did not originate in a
decreased demand, nor did it proceed in any assignable proportion to that
supposed diminution; it originated entirely in a vicious competition among
a few individuals for the monopoly of the London market. It was the
eagerness of certain individuals to undersell each other in that market
which gave birth to the system, and to all the unspeakable calamities
which have resulted from it. The process by which it was effected
has been already explained so often that I am afraid to repeat it: it
was brought about through the medium of such as were out of employ,
who by offering themselves on inferior terms afforded an opportunity
eagerly embraced of gradually reducing the rest to the same level.
The hosiers must surely be allowed to be the best judges what wages' Cobbett, p.  0O.




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                143
hey can afford, a great majority of whom have recorded their judg
ment on this subject by a voluntary agreement to give the statement
price signed and attested by their own hand. Ask any one of them
who may have departed from it why he did so? and if the reason he
assigns is founded on a decreased demand, and the consequent necessity of depressing wages, I would almost consent to yield to our opponents the whole question at issue. No: this is not the answer, the
writer of this can aver from his own knowledge it is not: it is always
a reference to some other person, who is affirmed (whether truly or
not signifies nothing) to get his work performed at a cheaper rate. In
answer then to the question urged with so much exultation by Cobbett,
"If the manufacturers can afford to give higher wages, why are they
not given?" suffice it to say, that men are often little disposed to give
what it is in their power to withhold; and that what is abated in
wages is either added to profits or goes to enable them to undersell
their competitors, and by that means command a more extensive trade.
Could it be proved that the statement had produced a glut in the
market by exceeding the demand, there would be some plausibility
in Mr. Cobbett's representation; as it is, nothing can be more futile.
With a rudeness congenial with his habits, he grossly insults the
anonymous writer who styles himself " Humanus," for asserting that
men of little or no capital have compelled the superior manufacturers.
to depress the wages of their workmen in order to prevent themselves
from being excluded from the market. This he represents as the
greatest of all absurdities; telling him that he ought to have styled
himself fbol or hypocrite for hazarding such a statement. If insolence
were the proper corrective of folly, Mr. Cobbett would of all men be
best qualified to administer the cure, though on that supposition his
interference would be impertinent in the present instance. His confident
assertion of the impossibility of a fact which is known to exist by all
intelligent men in the county is a specimen of his ignorance of' the
trade on which he so dogmatically decides. Men of little or no capital
are incapable of' bearing stock; they must dispose of their article at
whatever price they can get, without waiting for a more favourable
season. Hence they are the first to make sacrifices, to diminish the
extent of which, and to enable them to sell immediately without absolute loss, they are under peculiar temptations to beat down the wages
of their workmen, temptations from which the more opulent manufacturer is exempt; and when there is any considerable number out of
employ they easily find the means of effecting their object. A system,
it is well known to all who reside in this county, is established by
which an extensive trade in hosiery is conducted by persons of little
or no capital. Their bills, weekly drawn on London, are accepted,
which is equivalent to a weekly supply of capital; and the inducement
to afford this accommodation is the extremely low price of the goods
which are manufactured under the statement.  Is there a hosier in
Leicestershire who will venture to deny the justice of this statement?
In fact, this system has been carried to such an extent that the most.pulent hosiers have of late succeeded worst, old-established houses




144          REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
have quitted the business in disgust, and the trade has been gradually
transferred to those who have profited by the gradual depression of wages.
If the Framework Knitters' Union is dissolved, it is universally
allowed they will sink and lower, nor can any limits be assigned to
which they may not descend. Before its formation nearly half the
subsistence of the workmen was drawn from the parishes, or in other
words from the public. But what can be conceived more monstrous
than a manufacture carried on at the public expense, but not for the
public benefit, where all the profits are appropriated to one description
of persons, while the public are taxed to an enormous amount to
enable a few individuals to secure to themselves those advantages?
Is there an anomaly in the social system more prodigious than this, or
more pregnant with the most alarming consequences? Is it a greater
enormity, let me ask, to be compelled to support a numerous herd of
sinecurists, pensioners, and "eaters of taxes," to use the elegant
phraseology of Mr. Cobbett, than to pay half the wages of an extensive manufacture, without deriving from it one farthing of profit, while
it swells out a putrid stream of pauperism which overflows the land?
Mr. Cobbett perhaps sees nothing in such a state repugnant to his
feelings: in the despair of the poor, and the utter incapacity of the
parishes to relieve their wants, he seems to exult, as the infallible
prognostic of some great convulsion; but there are those, and I hope
tnot a few, who will contemplate such a prospect with horror.
He is anxious to impress the belief that the distress of the framework knitters is to be ascribed to the accumulation of taxes, and to no
other cause.  This, from beginning to end, is his darling theme.  It
is far from my intention to deny that the general decay of trade and
commerce is intimately connected with the enormous weight of taxation:
or that it is in vain to expect a return to national prosperity, unless
some efficient means are devised to lighten their pressure. It is equally
certain, however, though the exhausting effect of excessive taxation
may have prepared a way for the evils we deplore, that a system has
been adopted in the hosiery trade which has aggravated the calamity
of the working class far beyond the necessary operation of that general
cause. The taxes are the same in the west of England as in the
midland counties; but the wages in the clothing districts have not been
reduced: the manufacture of cloth has been all along adjusted to the
demand. The weight of taxes is as heavy in the Staffordshire potteries
as here; but the remuneration of labour has remained steady and
uniform. Less work is given out in proportion as the demand slackens;
and I have it from the best authority, that the earnings of the workmen
are at this moment abundantly adequate to their means of subsistence.
They are three times as high as those of the stocking-makers were
before the formation of the Union.  By the system pursued in these
branches, the evils resulting from a decreased demand are kept within
their natural limits; no adventitious ingredient is infused into the cup,
no artificial aggravation added to their sufferings.  But in the hosiery
manufacture it is just the reverse: the calamity indirectly inflicted on
the industrious poor by means of such as are out of employ is incalcu



ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                145
lably greater than that which results from the failure of employment;
and the destitution of a part becomes, in skilful hands, a mighty engine
for the destruction of the whole.
What is the remedy proposed by our opponents? "The only
effectual relief," Humanus says, " for the distresses of the framework
knitters, is for a great part of the present hands to leave the trade, and
that not for a season, but entirely and for ever." We needed not the
information of this sagacious adviser, that the root of the mischief lies
in a redundancy of hands, that it is devoutly to be wished that parents
would cease as much as possible to train up their children to this calling,
that masters would take fewer apprentices, and some method could be
discovered to lessen the number engaged in this branch of manufacture.
This is all very desirable. But what is to become of the existing
generation? To what employ can they turn with advantage who have
acquired no other craft, and whose habits totally disqualify them for
agricultural labour, were it to be procured? Under these circumstances,
to advise them to "retire entirely and for ever," is to recommend
suicide and death. Is not the general decay of trade and manufacture
the topic of universal complaint, and must not the greatest difficulty
be encountered where all the ranks of employment are dense with
population and crowded to excess, in attempting to open a fresh
career for their industry? Unless something more practicable and
definite is suggested, to bid them retire because they are not wanted,
is not to advise, but to mock them.
The formation of a fund towards the support of such as are incapable
of procuring work but upon such terms as are ruinous to every description of their brethren, presents a specific remedy for the existing disorder,
and the only one which is equivalent to a cruel mockery of their woes.
The principal sophism which pervades the strictures of Mr. Cobbett
and others on this subject, is a vicious generalization, in consequence
of which he imagines he has sufficiently accounted for the wretched
state of the workmen in a particular manufacture, by referring it to the
cause which has produced a declension in the state of trade and manufacture in general; whence he infers that he is entitled to pour ridicule
and contempt upon every expedient which is distinct from the removal
of that cause. But along with the general source of a decline in
commerce there are a number of particular circumstances which must
be noticed, in order to account for that state of depression in which
some branches are found, in comparison with others. As far as our
political embarrassments alone are concerned, their operation must be
equally disadvantageous to every species of productive labour, to every
kind of trade and manufacture whatever. But these are not all equally
dlepressed, which they must have been if the political statb of the
nation was alone sufficient to account for all the phenomena. The
fact is, that while every department of manufacture is probably injured
by our pecuniary embarrassments, the working classes in some are
found to be in a much more favourable situation than in others. The
remuneration of labour, for example, in the western clothing districts,
in the Staffordshire potteries, I might add in no part of the kingdom,
VOL. II.- K




146          RFPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
has been depressed as it has been here. The reason of this has been
again and again explained; it has arisen from the illiberal advantage
which has been taken of a surplus of labour; while in the districts just
referred to, that practice has not been adopted, less work is given out
when less is demanded, and the earnings are sufficient to procure all
the necessaries, and some of the comforts of life. As the distemper
is local and specific, the remedy must be of the same description.
The list of prices agreed upon is considerably less than is sufficient
to maintain the condition which honest industry ought ever to occupy,
decidedly less than might be afforded in a more prosperous state of the
country. It is such, however, as the great body of the masters have
declared themselves able to give, while they affirm they can do no more.
Since their conviction of their ability to do this is a deliberate recorded
opinion, let the reader judge of the audacity of Mr. Cobbett in the
following assertion: "He, Humanus," says Mr. Cobbett, "affirms
that the hosiers in the most extensive business aver they can afford
the statement prices.  We might treat this as nothing, we might call
it a falsehood, because it is against reason, and because the averment
is not produced and attested; we have the bare word of an anonymous
writer for it; that is all, and that is nothing." "We might call it a
falsehood;" Certainly Mr. Cobbett might, who displays throughout
such an infinite familiarity with the " father of lies;" but let us hope
no other man could be found who would stigmatize as a falsehood the
assertion that such is the averment of the manufacturers, after they
had signed and attested it with their own hand. This recorded opinion
is an unanswerable confutation of the assertion so often repeated by
our opponents, that the hosiers cannot afford the statement price; for
surely they will not be so absurd as to impute to them a formal resolution of giving wages Which they were conscious at the time they
could not well afford. It may therefore be assumed as a fact, placed
beyond all dispute, that the statement proposed is such as will leave a
reasonable rate of profits to the hosiers,-from whence we adduce two
conclusions; first, that the assertion of those who maintain that the
statement, were it adhered to, would be ruinous to the trade, is a falsehood, because it is formally contradicted by the persons who must be
allowed, in what immediately concerns their own interest, to be the
best judges: secondly, that besides the operation of taxes in deteriorating wages, other causes, of a more specific nature, have contributed
to produce that effect, and that consequently the whole argumentation of
MIr. Cobbett, which proceeds upon the denial of this, falls to the ground.
It is repeatedly objected by the "Observer," that the proposed
statement can never. become permanent, because it is impossible to
induce the masters to adhere unanimously to their agreement. To
this I answer, that such unanimity is not contemplated, nor is it necessary. The principal, perhaps the only benefit of the agreement is,
that it stamps a legal character on the proceedings of the men, which
might otherwise expose them to the penalties of combination. If they
become sufficiently enlightened to their own interests, to afford an
adequate support to the fund, the surplus labour will be disposed of,
mnd it will no longer be in the power of those who may be disposed to




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                  1l4o
convert it into an instrument of universal depression. The list of prices
agreed upon at Nottingham, in the year 1819, to which the "' Observer
refers, produced no permanent effect in Nottinghamshire nor in Derby
shire, because no fund was established in those counties to support it
in Leicestershire the same agreement was followed by the most efficient
consequences, because it received that support.  And this is the
reason, and the only reason, that every thing reverted so soon to its
former state; not, as this writer affirms, in consequence of a diminution of demand produced by the statement; for had this been the cause,
the effect would have been felt in Leicestershire equally, but it was
not, solely because the surplus of labour was removed by the provisions of the fund.
The " Observer" further remarks, that "it borders on the ludicrous
to talk of men plunged in the very depths of despair, from their scanty
earnings raising a fund for their unemployed associates; and unless
they can do this, their project must fail." This writer forgets that he
had before represented these very men in a tolerably comfortable state,
referring us for proof to the price of provisions in the Taunton market.
It suited the scope of his argument then to elevate their condition,
whom he now, for a similar purpose, "plunges into the very depths
of despair."' The reader will, in a moment, perceive what credit is
due to a writer who is entangled in such contradictions, who attributes
to the same persons comfort and despair, just as it suits his convenience. But passing these inconsistencies, the reply is obvious, that if the
manufacturers in the neighbouring counties imitate the example of this,
their men, no longer plunged into the very depths of despair, will be
incomparably more able to subscribe sixpence a week to the ftund, than
to procure subsistence in their present circumstances. The " Observer"
must be aware that their competence to contribute their quota is assumed only on the supposition of the statement being given; and he
must not be permitted to change suppositions backwards and forwards,
with the same dexterity that lie converts comfort into despair.  Since
it is allowed by our opponents, that where no fund exists, the workmen
are " in the depths of despair," thile only question is, what must be
done'?  How is the intolerable load under which they are groaning to
be alleviated or removed?  Mr. Cobbett's grand panacea is, recourse
to the parishes; not that he is so ignorant as to suppose it possible
they shollld afford effectual relief, but that he foresees other effects
resulting from it, which he is evidently much more anxious to realize.
"6 But," says he, " are you to have no redress? Are you to starve, in
short? No: no man, woman, or child is to starve; the law says so,
and rely upon the law   A man works constantly; he is sober, he
wastes nothing. His master can or will give him no more; and with
what he gets he is starving, with his family. Now what says the law?
Why, that he shall be relieved, that he shall share out of the common
stock, out of that which was originally one man's as well as another's;
out of that which God gave for all-out of the land."*  But is he nc
aware that the pressure of parish rates is already almost intolerablt
* Cobbett, p. 97.
K2




148          REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
that they are levied on thousands who are themselves on the brink
of pauperism; and that in many parts of the country, they have reduced the value of land to such a state, that even were they occupied
free of rent, the farmer could hardly subsist by the produce? It is,rue they may not have reached the point which Mr. Cobbett triumphantly contemplates, the utter ruin and extinction of landed proprietors;
but they have already attained a portentous magnitude, which no lover
of his country can contemplate without dismay.
This seems to be the proper place for noticing a monstrous position
advanced by this writer, with a confidence which can only be surpassed
by its falsehood.  "Viewing the thing in its true light," he says,
" what is the nation, and particularly the landed proprietor, to gain by an
additional sum being given to you in wages?  What is he to gain by
a million of money paid to stocking weavers more than is now paid
to them? Is there not a million less to be laid out by somebody else?
If the labourer pays a crown a year more for stockings, has he not a
crown less to lay out in bread and beer? If indeed, the additional million
paid to you were to be expended by you, or flung into the sea; or if
the additional million were to drop down into your hands from the clouds,
in either of these cases there might be some sense in Humanus's argument: as the thing is, it is nonsense."* This is the reasoning, be it
remembered, of the man who in the same pamphlet ascribes all our
calamities " to so large a portion being taken from those who labour, to
be given to those who do not labour."t If the above reasoning is correct,
it will follow that the value of land would not be diminished, though the
stocking weavers earned nothing at all, but were entirely supported by
the parish. On this supposition, it is true they would have no wages,
but some other persons possess them, or, which is the same thing,
their amount, which if they had not, they would be less able to purchase the produce of the soil, in exact proportion to that amount.
More error and absurdity, I will venture to assert, were never penned
within the same compass than are contained in the paragraph just
quoted.  It proceeds on the following extraordinary assumptions;
First, That all the purchasers of hosiery are also purchasers of the
other parts of the produce of the British soil, and that in the same
proportion.  For if this is not the case; if they either do not
purchase the other parts of our produce at all, or not in the same
proportion, how will it follow that they must necessarily'buy just so
much less of our corn, and of every other article which the land
produces, because they buy more of our hosiery! Look at foreign
nations: our stockings make their way into a large proportion of the
habitable world; but are all the inhabitants of the regions into which
they penetrate accustomed to purchase equal proportions of the other
branches of our rude produce? The far greater part, it is well known,
purchase none of these, and few if any in the same proportion.
Secondly, It assumes for granted that all who purchase hosiery
expend to the utmost extent of their income, so that if they give five
shillings a year more for hosiery, they must necessarily lay out five
shillings less in other articles of consumption.  "They have, it seems
* c',hbett, p. 91.                    t Ibid. A. 117




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                149
just so much that they can lay out upon stockings."*  It must be
evident to the intelligent reader that this mode of reasoning presupposes an exact equality of expenditure and of income, and that consequently it is applicable only to such whose circumstances oblige them
*o practise in every instance the strictest and most rigid economy.
But the chief purchases of manufacture are made by consumers of a
very different description; by persons whose situation enables them to
sustain a much greater advance of price than is here mentioned, without the necessity of abridging themselves in other modes of indulgence.
If Mr. Cobbett's reasoning were just, the demand for every article, at
distinct periods, would be exactly proportioned to its price; but
experience shows the contrary, that the demand is not regulated solely
by the price, but by many other concurrent causes, which it is needless at present to specify.  He forgets the " eaters of taxes," the
nobility, the gentry, the landed proprietors, the opulent merchants, the
thriving tradesmen, together with the myriads of others, who are in
easy circumstances and live within their income, all of whom wear
stockings, and can well afford an advance of a few shillings on that
head, without a proportional diminution in every other branch of
expenditure. Though this class of the community may not be the
most numerous, it cannot be doubted that they are the chief purchasers
of manufacture.
Thirdly, His argument goes upon the supposition, that it is of no
consequence to the public where wealth is deposited, provided it is not
" thrown into the sea." Admitting the truth of this, how can the taxes
be the cause of our calamities, as he asserts, " by taking from those
who labour, and giving to those who do not labour?"t and how unreasonable and absurd his violent outcry against the landholders, pensioners, and sinecurists!  To the accumulation of wealth in their
hands he attributes all our distresses, who yet are as little disposed,
we presume, as any men 1" to throw it into the sea."
May they not retort upon him and say, "You ascribe the ruin
of the nation to the transfer of its wealth into the hands of those who
do not labour from those who do. But our money is employed either
in loans or in consumption. The capital we lend is employed by
merchants and manufacturers in maintaining productive labour, while
the money we consume tends immediately, by taking off the produce,
to keep up the value of land; and it is certain, considered under either
mode of operation, that were it transferred to others, we, its present
possessors, should have so much less to employ or to spend?" I am
far from supposing this reasoning would be correct; but I have no
hesitation in affirming it is the legitimate consequence of his principle,
which is, that the landed proprietor would not be benefited by the
improved condition of the working classes, nor injured even by
the extinction of wages, unless "they were thrown into the sea."
The operative part of the people, those we mean who are immediately
employed in productive labour, probably compose much less than a
moiety of the whole nation: the remaining part of the population must,
as far as the present argument is concerned, be classed with those who
* Cobbett, p. 90.            t Cobhett:.  92.




1 50         REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
do not labour. Suppose the wages of the stocking weavers were
universally depressed so as to be totally inadequate to their support,
which was actually the case before the late regulations; in consequence
of the competition among the manufacturers, a correspondent abatement of the price of the article would be the necessary consequence;
hosiery would be just so much the cheaper, and the deduction from the
wages being subtracted from the price would be in fact given to the
purchasers. A very large proportion of these however, consist of
such as do not labour. Here then we have an example of the transfer
of property from " those who do, to those who do not labour," which
Mr. Cobbett represents as the root and origin of all our evils; yet,
strange to tell, this same writer affirms that the process by which this
is effected is productive of no injury to the public.  A portion of the
wages withheld would, in consequence of the abatement of price, pass
into the hands even of the placemen, pensioners, and sinecurists themselves. Let me ask whether this would not, on his own principles,
be a direct transfer of so much money from those " who labour to
those who do not?" yet is he guilty of the absurdity of saying that an
arrangement which he asserts to be so destructive to the whole nation
in every other instance, would in this produce no inconvenience whatever, either to the public or to the landed proprietor.
The reader is probably by this time weary of attending to the palpable contradictions of this arrogant and superficial declaimer: suffice
it to remark that it requires little or no penetration to perceive that the
extinction of wages, and the consequent absolute pauperism of the
working classes, would effect the deepest depression of the value of
land in every manufacturing district; and that no remedy would be
found in the decreased price of the article, since the saving arising
from it would be reaped, not by the landholder, but by the public, in
minute and almost invisible portions through all its diversity of ranks,
and by foreign nations.
Mr. Cobbett, with much confidence and equal exultation, predicts
the destruction of the landed interest as the certain, the inevitable
consequence of the present crisis. Whatever probability may attach to
these dismal forebodings arises chiefly, if not wholly, from the alarming
increase of poor-rates, and this latter from the inadequate remuneration of labour. For what is it else, except in time of sickness, which
drives a poor man to have recourse to parish relief? Were the rates
of wages sufficient to procure with facility the means of human
subsistence, is it possible to doubt that the parochial burdens would
be most essentially alleviated, that the farmer and the householder
would find it much easier to pay the ordinary rent? The ingenuity
of Mr. Cobbett, however, has enabled him to discover that were a
million a year added to the wages of labour, the landed proprietor
would not derive the advantage of a farthing.
These and such like extravagances will be quite sufficient to satisfy
the reader that he is a popular declaimer, not a philosopher; a firebrand
not a luminary.  He emits fire and smoke in abundance, like a volcano,
but the whole effect is to desolate, not to enlighten. His principal
artifice consists in the exhibition of a few specious and bold generali




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                 151
ties, which he illustrates and confirms by a few prominent facts culled
for his purpose, without the slightest attempt at that patient induction
and inquiry which alone lead to solid and useful results.  Shrewd.
intemperate, presumptuous, careless of the truth of his representations
and indifferent to their consequences, provided they make an impression,
he is well qualified, it must be confessed, by his faults no less than
his talents, by his inflammatory style and incendiary spirit, for the
office he assumes, to scatter delusion, to excite insurrection, the Polyphemus of the mob, "the one-eyed monarch of the blind."  His
strictures, however, on the topic under consideration are pregnant with
instruction it was not his design to communicate.  Whatever the
inhabitants of this county may think of the Framework Knitters' Union,
hle plainly foresees in the consequences of its failure, the materials of
ferocious delight; he sees without the aid of inspiration an inundation
of miseries to follow, paupers crowding by thousands to the doors of
overseers, parishes dismayed and perplexed, the poor clainouring for
bread which cannot be given them, and rushing upon the point of the
bayonet to avoid a more cruel and lingering death; the commencement
of'that tempest, in a word, which he boasts having crossed the Atlantic
to witness, which is to shake all that is stable, to prostrate all that is
great, and to accumulate a pile for the elevation of fiuture demagogues.
Rome trembled when Cataline rejoiced. Let the friends of peace
and order then, let the landed proprietor especially, take warning; they
stand upon the brink of a precipice, from which, if they suffer themselves to be precipitated, it will be no small aggravation of. their
calamity to perceive the ease with which it might have been prevented; together with the contemptible agency, and the flimsy sophistrr
which accelerated their overthrow. If it is some consolation to the
fallen to have perished by a noble hand, the indignity of being baffled
and deluded by the author of the Political Register must be more
humiliating than words can express.
Having extended these strictures beyond my original design, and
exhausted, it is to be feared, the patience of my readers, it is my
intention to detain them no longer than while I notice an objection to
the Union, more plausible than any of the preceding, though, for the
reasons which follow, entirely destitute of solidity.
It is alleged by its opponents, that the provision of a filnd for the
support of such as are out of employ affords a direct encouragement
to idleness, the most baleful habit q poor man can contract.'.his ob
jection, could it be sustained, would undoubtedly be weighty; whether
it can or not, must depend upon the previous question, Will the number out of employ be permanently greater if the statement continues,
than on the contrary supposition? That it may have that effect for a
short time, we are not disposed to deny: the manufacturers having
suspended their operations to a considerable degree, some hoping for
the dissolution of the society, others from an apprehension of that
event, it is probable the moment it were announced, all hands would
be set to work. A spirit of vigour and activity would seem for a
moment to pervade the trade.  But look a step or two further.  The
nunr'-cr e.rarlored in manufacturing, the strained exertions they would




152           REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS
be necessitated to make to compensate for the lowness of their wagbs,
and the deteriorated state of the article would combine to produce a
glut, which reacting both in the wages and the price, would eventually, and at no great distance neither, produce a greater surplus of
labour than exists at present. As my opinion on such a subject may
be deemed of little value, I must be allowed to add, that it perfectly
coincides with that of the most intelligent men in the trade, and is
strongly corroborated by the fact, that there were as many out of work
at the time when wages were the most depressed, as at other seasons.
Many of them wrought sixteen instead of twelve hours a day; the
fabric produced was also of a deteriorated quality, incapable of being
vended in foreign markets, insomuch, that I am credibly informed, that
in different parts of Europe, in Germany particularly, its being known
to be British is a sufficient reason for refusing it. The demand for
labour then, there is every reason to believe, would not be permanently
augmented by returning to the former system, and consequently the
number out of employ not diminished. For reasons already specified,
it is almost certain the reverse would be the case, and the surplus
labour keep pace with the redundant superfluity of manufacture.
The project of raising it by lowering wages has been tried, and
found unavailing; and whatever attempts are made to renew it, will
resemble the labour of Sisyphus; it will be rolling a stone which will
for ever fall back.
* The sum proposed to be paid from the fund to such as are out of
work, is, at the most, six shillings and sixpence a week, sufficient
indeed to preserve them from lying utterly at the mercy of their masters, but certainly not such as to render their situation attractive, nor
greater than the parishes would be under the necessity of paying
shortly to a much greater number, were the society abolished. While
it provides a remedy for the existing evils, it leaves sufficient inducement to seek out other channels for their industry, whenever the state
of society shall afford them.
We are far from contending that the system which it is our object to
recommend is one of unmingled perfection, productive of good only,
without the least alloy; for such is not the condition of human institu.
tions, or of human affairs. The possibility of perversion and abuse
inseparably adheres to every conceivable plan for ameliorating the condition of mankind; and he who refuses his approbation to every thing
short of perfection, must stand still in hopeless inactivity and despair.
If it has been shown that the plan adopted in Leicestershire provides
the only remedy for an evil which is progressive and intolerable, that
the inconveniences attending it bear no proportion to its advantages,
and above all, that the principal objections urged by its opponents will
apply with equal force to every other mode of proceeding, and most
of all to that which they recommend, every reasonable demand is satisfied. Whether this has been accomplished or not, must be left to
the decision of an enlightened public; nor let it be deemed presumptuous to say, that if such had not been the firm. persuasion of the author,
these pages had not appeared.
If he should be thought to have treated Mr. Cobbett with too much




ON THE FRAMEWORK KNITTERS' FUND.                 153
severity, he wishes it to be clearly understood that his censure is in no
degree founded on the professed attachment of that writer to the cause
of reform.  Educated in the principles of Mr. Fox, and in those of the
earliest and best days of Mr. Pitt, to which advancing years and experience have increased his attachment, it is impossible he should entertain a doubt that an important reform in our representation is essentially
connected with the freedom, the glory, and the happiness of the British
empire. But he sees in Mr. Cobbett what the intelligent part of the
public will at once discern, a design to push the industrious classes of
the community to despair, and to aggravate their distresses, in order
to accelerate the catastrophe he contemplates; whether it involves the
preservation of the constitution, or a total subversion of the existing
order of things, must be left to the judgment of the reader. On the
most favourable supposition, "to do evil that good may come," to
wish to see the industrious part of the population couched under a
supernumerary weight, that they may become instrumental in effecting
some great and undefined revolution in public affairs, is a policy which
he shall ever detest; nor can he sufficiently deprecate the infusion
of political venom into the discussions which the present Union has
produced.
Let those who, from interested motives, or from motives of a still
worse description, concur with Mr. Cobbett in vilifying and exploding
the present plan, propose something better, unless they are determined
to exemplify that malignant potency of evil by which " one sinner destroys much good." It is surely not too much to demand, before they
proceed to dilapidate the only asylum offered to the industrious mechanic, that instead of exposing him houseless and shivering to the
inclement blast, they should provide some better accommodation in its
room. Other expedients have been devised; a large subscription was
raised, and many thousands advanced in Nottinghamshire, with a view
to employ the indigent framnework knitters in public works. But the
scheme, as might have been foreseen, proved abortive. The exertion
could not be continued, a succession of public works is not easily
found; and after alleviating the distress of a single winter, every thing
returned back to its former channel. A similar plan, the writer is
informed, is in contemplation for this county, and as far as it is adopted
to relieve the pressure of the fund, we shall rejoice in its success;
but if it is intended to supersede it, or to withdraw that support which
the difficulties attending an infant institution may demand, it will, in
my humble opinion, be unspeakably injurious. That it will produce
no permanent relief to the existing distress, is evident from the example of Nottingham; and however praiseworthy the motives of its
projectors, it is but the part of candour to warn the workmen and the
parishes, that if their dependence upon it tempts them to relax their
present exertions, they will discover, when it is too late, that they have
lost the substance by grasping at a shadow. The evil required to be
remedied originates in permanent causes, such as will mock the operation of all temporary expedients.
With respect to the apprehension which some have professed to en.
tertain, of the removal of the manufacture to the neighbouring counties.




154           REPLY TO COBBETT AND OTHERS.
or to some distant part of the kingdom, little requires to be said. Man
is the same in every county, and the energy which has been displayed
by the Leicestershire weavers will, there is no doubt, be successfully
imitated elsewhere, and produce the same results. In Nottinghamshire we are happy to find, from the latest intelligence, that the most
numerous and respectable part of the hosiers have already acceded to
the statement, and little doubt is entertained of the speedy concurrence
of the rest.  This apprehension, therefore, if there ever was any
ground for it, the event has dispelled.  Had it been otherwise, are the
operative classes in this department to starve or reduce to ruin every
other description, by ineffectual efforts to support them, in the contemplation of a remote contingency, and for the sake of securing a manufacture, which, upon such terms, can only be considered as an epidemic
disease, an imposthume, a source of misery to all who are employed
in it, and of embarrassment and distress to the whole community?
The competition for such a manufacture is a competition for ruin.
Before I conclude, let me be permitted to remind the reader that
there is such a sin as oppression; that it consists not in that gross violation of justice which is cognizable by law, and against which the
wisdom of all civilized nations has provided; but in taking such an
advantage of the weakness and necessity of the poor as converts them
into mere instruments of a superior power, the victims of selfish
emolument, with no other consideration than- how far their physical
exertions may be rendered subservient to the gratification of an unfeeling rapacity.  He is the oppressor who is not restrained by the
dictates of humanity from pushing, to its utmost extent, the natural
superiority which riches everywhere possess over poverty; and the
stratagems by which this may be effected are too numerous and too
subtle to fall within the cognizance of any earthly tribunal.  When the
Scripture denounces, with such awful severity, the doom of such as
"withhold their hire from those who reaped the field,"* we must not
suppose it refers so much to a violation of compact, an offence which
the laws of no civilized country would permit, as to the inadequacy of
the recompense itself.  In the eye of Heaven, wages may justly be
said to be withheld from the labourer, when they are totally inadequate
o his subsistence, and such as nothing but helpless indigence could
induce him to accept. Instead of inquiring how much of this species
of guilt may be justly chargeable on a certain class of manufacturers
in this town and county, which would only suggest matter for irritating
reflection and fiuitless recriminations, let us rather rejoice that a new
scene has opened, and a plan been adopted, which, we trust, will cut
off the opportunity from the bad, and the temptation from the good,
of renewing a system which should be consigned to eternal oblivion.t
In this view, we have no hesitation in asserting that the perpetuity of
the Friendly Society is intimately connected with the interest of both
worlds, since it is no less the dictate of humanity and of justice, than
of sound policy.
a James v. 4.
r See " Letters to Buxton," published by Longman and Co. which breathe throughout the eloquence of the heart, and in which the cause of humanity is pleaded, and the sufferings of the industrious ciasses painted with a pathos it is impossible to resist.




A O  I a   3 a  E d








PROCEEDING S.
AT a meeting of persons, inhabitants of the town of Leicester and its vicinity,
neld the 17th of December, 1823,
THOMAS BABINGTON, EsQ. IN THE CHAIR;
RESOLVED,
1. That the individuals composing the present meeting are deeply impressed
with the conviction that the state of slavery is repugnant to justice, humanity, and
sound policy, to the principles of the British constitution, and to the spirit of the
Christian religion; and that they cannot consider the legal perpetuation of slavery,
in principle, more defensive than the slave-trade itself.
2. That they call to mind, with sorrow and shame, that there are eight hundred
thousand persons in a state of personal slavery in the colonies of Great Britain,
deprived of those civil privileges and religious advantages to which, as our fellowsubjects, they are entitled.
3. That although a hope was long indulged that the abolition of the slave-trade
would have produced most beneficial consequences to the slave population in the
colonies, no effectual steps have been taken, during the sixteen years which have
elapsed since that event, for mitigating in any material degree the evils of negra
bondage, or for putting an end to a system which outrages every feeling of humanity
4. That the House of Commons having, during the last session of parliament,
unanimously passed the following resolutions, viz.
L6 i, That it is expedient to adopt effectual and decisive measures for melio
rating the condition of the slave population in his majesty's colonies;
"2. That, through a determined and persevering, but judicious and temperate
enforcement of such measures, this House looks forward to a progressive improvement in the character of the slave population; such as
may prepare them for a participation in those civil rights and privileges
which are enjoyed by other classes of his majesty's subjects;
3'. That this House is anxious for the accomplishment of this purpose at
the earliest period that may be compatible with the well-being of the
slaves, the safety of the colonies, and with a fair and equitable con
sideration of the state of property therein;"
the individuals present feel themselves called upon to promote these objects to the
utmost of their power by all prudent and lawful means.
5. That for this purpose a society be now formed in Leicester and its vicinity, as
an auxiliary to the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery
throughout the British Dominions.
6. That subscriptions be received by the treasurer, at the bank of Messrs.
Mansfield & Co., and by the secretary; and that all persons subscribing annually




158           LEICESTER ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
to the society be members of it, and be entitled to attend and vote at all general
meetings.
7. That all persons subscribing ten shillings or upwards yearly, or five pounds
at one time, be governors of the society.
S. That the business of the society be conducted by a president, a treasurer, a
secretary, and a committee, consisting of not less than fifteen governors, and that
five constitute a quorum; and that the president, treasurer, and secretary be,
ex-officio, members of the committee.
9. That the committee meet once every two months, and at such other times as
they may fix, and call general meetings of the subscribers when they shall judge
it requisite; and that any five members of it be authorized to direct the secretary
to summon a special meeting of the committee, giving three days' notice thereof,




ADDRESS.
THAT slavery is the most deplorable condition to which human
nature can be reduced is too evident to require the labour of proof.  By
subjecting one human creature to the absolute control of another, it
annihilates the most essential prerogative of a reasonable being, which
consists in the power of determining his own actions in every instance
in which they are not injurious to others. The right improvement of
this prerogative is the source of all the virtue and happiness of which
the human race is susceptible.  Slavery introduces the most horrible
confusion, since it degrades human beings from the denomination of
persons to that of things; and by merging the interests of the slave
in those of the master, he becomes a mere appendage to the existence
of another, instead of preserving the dignity which belongs to a reasonable and accountable nature. Knowledge and virtue are foreign
to his state; ignorance the most gross and dispositions the most depraved are requisite to reduce him to a level with his condition.
But degrading as slavery is in its mildest form, that species of it
which prevails in our West India colonies* is of the very worst description, far less tolerable than that which subsisted in Greece and
Rome during the reign of paganism. It would be difficult to find a
parallel to it in any age or nation, with the exception of those unhappy
persons who are carried captive by the piratical states of Barbary.
Scourged, branded, and sold at the discretion of their masters, the
slaves in our West India islands are doomed to a life of incessant toil
for the benefit of those from whom they receive no recompense whatever: they are indebted for their principal subsistence to the cultivation of small portions of land allotted them under the name of
provision grounds: and the only time ordinarily allowed for thae purpose is the day which the laws of all Christian states have devoted to
rest.  On that day, instead of being assembled to listen to the oracles
of God, and to imbibe the consolations of piety, they are necessitated
to work for their living, and to dispose of the produce of their labour
at the public market; the natural consequence is, that the far greater
* The following authorized summary of the number of slaves in the British colonies, in June,
1830, may be interesting to some readers.
Antigua, 29,839. Bahama Isles, 10,841. Barbadoes, 81,902. Berbice, 21,319. Bermuda, 4,608.
Cape of Good Hope, 35,509. Demerara and Essequibo, 69,467. Dominica, 15,392. Grenada.
24,342. Jamaica, 331,119. Mauritius, 76,774. Montserrat, 6,262. Nevis, 9,259. St. Christopher's,
19,310. St. Lucia, 13,661. St. Vincent, 23,589. Tobago, 12,723. Trinidad, 24.452. Virgin Islands
5,436.
Total number of slaves in the British colonies, 825,804.
Free blacks in the British colonies, about 51,000.
The slave population of the United States of America, in 1828, amounted to 1,838,155.-ED




?60              ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.
part of them are as ignorant of the first principles of Christianity as
though they had remained in the land of their forefathers.
They are driven to the field by the cart-whip.* They are followed
* Since this address was written, the persevering efforts of the Anti-Slavery Society, and other
associations formed for the attainment of the same admirable object, have led to some diminution ot
the evils under which the slaves in the West Indian isles have so long groaned.
In the year 1823, the House of Commons passed the following resolutions:" 1. That it is ex pedient to adopt effectual and decisive measures for meliorating the condition of
the slave population in his majesty's colonies.
" 2. That, through a determined and persevering, but at the same time judicious and temperate
enforcement of such measures, this House looks forward to a progressive improvement in the character of the slave population, such as may prepare them for a participation in those civil rights and
privileges which are enjoyed by other classes of his majesty's subjects.
" 3. That this House is anxious for the accomplishment of this purpose at the earliest period that
shall be compatible with the well-bezng of the slaves themselves, with the safety of the colonies,
and with a fair and equitable consideration of. the interests of private property."
In consequence of these resolutions, several of the colonial legislatures have made enactments
enforcing a more humane treatment of the slave population. Thus, in )Dominica, St. Christopher's,
Nevis, and Demerara, the "cart-whip" is absolutely prohibited as an instrument of punishment,
and in some of themrn "as an emblem of authority." In Jamaica, and a few other islands, it is enacted, " that no slave shall receive more than ten lashes, except in presence of owner or overseer,
&c.; nor, in such presence, more than thirty-nine in any one day, nor until recovered from former
punishment, under penalty of 201." It is further enacted, that "r no collar or chains shall be put on
slaves, but by order of a magistrate, on penalty of 501. Justices of peace to cause such collar, &c.
to be removed, under a penalty of 1001."
Such, we are told, has been the law ever since the year 1826. But how is it administered? The
following narrative, published in the Kingston " Watchman" of the 10th of July, 1830, may suffice
as an answer to the question. It exhibits a case of outrageous cruelty, combined with a gross violation of the sanctity of the Sabbath.
"Yesterday morning, William Henry Hall, Esq., a magistrate of this city, preferred a complaint
to the sitting magistrates, J. Smith and J. Nethersole, Esqrs., against Mr. W. J. Harvey, a white
person, employed on the wharf of Messrs. John Wilson and Co., for cruelty towards two negro
men slaves, belonging to the drogging (coasting) schooner Judith Farmer, lying along-side that
wharf.
" Mr. Hall stated, that about six o'clock on Monday afternoon, he received information that two
negroes had been flogged in the workhouse early that morning, by order of Mr. Harvey, their owner,
and on their return to the vessel, that they were chained down tothe deck by the wrist, where they
remained the whole day, with the lacerated parts exposed to the heat of the sun. He then proceeded to the wharf with two constables, and on going on board found the negroes still chained on the
deck. They had on only their shirts. He ordered a pair of pantaloons to be given to each of them,
and desired the constables to release them from the chain, and to take them to the cage; at the
same time warning Mr. Harvey, the owner of the slaves, and Captain Bacon, the commander of
the schooner, to appear on the following morning before the sitting magistrates.
" Captain Bacon, the commander of the vessel, stated, that on Sunday morning the two men
present, Bush and Bull, left the vessel with two other negroes, named John Uter and William: that
they returned on board early on Monday morning, and resumed their work. Shortly after, Mr
Harvey came on board, and on demanding their reasons for not loading the vessel on Sunday, they
answered that they thought it very hard they were not to be allowed even one Sunday; they were
not insolent. Mr. Harvey then seized them, and placed them in a boat, for the purpose of giving
them a flogging in the workhouse, to which place he tool them. When he returned on board with
the negroes (about seven o'clock the same morning), he ordered witness to chain them, which he did.
Mir. Harvey came on board several times during the day, and saw where the negroes were lying,
and the naked state in which they were, but gave no orders that they should be removed out of the
heat of the sun, or that pantaloons be put on them. Bush and Bull remained in that exposed situation from about seven o'clock in the morning till six in the evening, when the magistrate and constables released them. He had no fault to find with the negroes; they certainly were not the very
best of negroes; Bush was a little trickified, but generally he had no fault to find with them.
They were flogged and chained for no other offence than for not loading the vessel on a Sunday.
"[During the examination, Mr. Harvey whispered something twice or thrice to Captain Bacon,
who answered,' I must speak the truth, Mr. Harvey;' for doing which he has since been dis
charged.]
"There were several other witnesses present, ready to corroborate the statement of Mr. Hall and
the captain, as well as to prove Mr. Harvey's general cruel treatment of the negroes under his
control, but the magistrates refused to examine them.
" Mr. Smith (one of the magistrates) said, he conceived that Mr. Harvey acted very properly in
correcting his negroes as he did. He was of opinion that it was highly necessary that they should
have been on board on Sunday; and with regard to their being exposed to the sun all day, he knew
that they preferred being in the sun than to be in the shade. In fact, he knew it, and therefore dismissed the complaint'
The proceeding ir. this case was vindicated by other newspapers, and particularly by the" Courant' In reply to them the editor of the " Watchman" puts the following questions:" st. By what law was Mr. Harvey authorized to punish, by the infliction of thirty-nine lashes
each, two men, merely because they would not work on the Sabbath-day?
" 2d Was it necessary to ensure obedience, after they had been flogged, to handcuff them to a
chain cable, on the deck of a vessel, from seven o'clock in the morning till half-past six o'clock in
the evening?




ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.                                   161
by a driver, with this dreadful instrument constantly in his hand, with
which he is empowered to inflict, at his own discretion, a certain number of lashes on their backs, with no exception whatever in favour of
the softer sex. During the four or five months of their harvest they
are compelled to protract their labour through half the night, or through
the whole of each alternate night. They are every moment liable tc
be removed, at the will of their masters, to the remotest parts of the
island, or to be transported into other islands. The ties of kindred
are violently torn asunder, and the mother and children often assigned
to different purchasers, and separated to distant parts. The ordinance
of marriage is scarcely known among them; while the most unrestrained licentiousness and profligacy of manners, as well in their
intercourse with each other as with the whites, is indulged and encouraged.
The practice of emancipation, which has long  prevailed to a great
extent, and been followed by the happiest effects, in the old Spanish
colonies, is discountenanced by the laws of our colonies, and loaded
with such heavy fines in some of them as almost to amount to a prohibition. The design of such regulations is unquestionably to confei
perpetuity on the present system, and extinguish in the breast of the
negroes the faintest hope of the enjoyment of freedom.
Nothing was wanting to complete the misery of such a state, except
to attach absolute impunity to the atrocities which the unlimited subjection of the weak to the strong is sure to produce; and this is amply
provided for by that regulation universally adopted in our colonies,
which  excludes the  testimony of a negro  against a white inhabitant.
In consequence of this law, the vilest miscreant may inflict whatever
cruelties he pleases on the wretched blacks, provided he takes care
that no white person be present. There are laws, it is true, which constitute the murder of a negro a capital offence, and which limit the Weasure of his punishment; but, as if for the very purpose of rendering
them. nugatory and ridiculous, conviction is made to depend on a circumstance attending the perpetration of crimes, which it is most easy
to exclude.   Thus, in opposition to the genius of all enlightened legislation, the greatest facilities are presented to oppression-the greatest
impediments thrown-in the way of detection-and, in  all that relates
to the treatment of slaves, the voice of truth is silenced, evidence sup" 3d. Was it, or was it not, cruelty to confine them, in the manner described, during the whole
day, in a hot sun, in a state of partial nudity, at the risk of their lives?
"4th. What would have been the consequence, had it come on suddenly to blow (as it is said
to have done on the day previous) half a gale of wind? And whether such an event might not have
been attended with the loss of those unfortunate individuals' lives?
"If Mr. Harvey, or the magistrates, will reply satisfactorily to these questions, we will then
acquit the former of the charge of cruelty, and the latter of having outraged common sense, by
declaring that he' acted very properly in correcting his negroes as he did!'
" Mr. Harvey wenlt round, on the Saturday, to the different wharfs from which hlis vessel, the Judith
Farmer, had to take goods, and requested those goods to be left on the bridge of the wharf, so as to
enable him to employ his negroes on Sunday in taking them off, and therewith loading his vessel!
In order to avoid what they very properly considered a hardship, namely, loading the vessel on Sunday, the negroes went away, and did not return until six o'clock the following morning. For this
heinous crime two of these men received thirty-nine lashes each, and were handcuffed to the chain
cable of a vessel in Kingston harbour, until liberated by a magistrate; and yet this is the kind of
Conduct that Mr. James Smith and Mr. John Nethersole attempt to justify, and to examine and de
lide upon which they, as magistrates, meet and award JUSTICE by dismissing the complaint."-ED
VOL. II. —L




162          ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.
pressed, the claims of justice studiously defeated, and the redress of
the most atrocious injuries rendered next to impossible.
There is another particular in the state of the laws respecting
negroes too remarkable to be passed over in silence. It is the obvious
dictate of justice, and the practice of all civilized states, that, till guilt
is proved, innocence shall be presumed; and that the onus probandi,.he obligation of adducing evidence, shall rest with the accuser in the
first instance.  In the West India islands the reverse of this is established, and every negro, or man of colour, though free, is presumed to
be a slave, and liable to be treated as such, unless he can furnish documentary evidence of his freedom. It is enacted that the presumption
shall always be taken against him: so that if he loses his certificate
of freedom, or it is stolen from him, it is at the option of any person
to claim him, and replunge him into the horrors of slavery. By this
means many are daily deprived of their freedom; and the danger ot
incurring that calamity is constantly suspended over the heads of the
innocent.
It is no small aggravation of the cruelty of this system that its
unhappy victims have not been exposed to it as the punishment of
crime, but by the violence of ruffians, who, having traversed the ocean
in quest of human prey, forcibly tore them  from their native shores
and the embraces of their dearest relatives, in order to expose them to
sale in a distant quarter of the globe. The forms of judicial inquiry,
the examination of witnesses, the proof of guilt, and the sentence of a
judge were not the precursors of this most dire calamity; it was the
assault of brutal violence on helpless weakness and unsuspecting
innocence-it was the grasp of the marauder and the assassin hurrying away his victims amid shrieks of horror and the piercing accents
of despair which prepared these scenes of wo. These and the
descendants of these are the persons who compose the black population of our islands. Their number is computed at present at 800,000;
and if we direct our view to that portion of the British dominions, we
behold the shocking spectacle of nearly a million of our fellow-subjects,
with no other imputation than that of a darker skin, doomed to a condition which, were it assigned as the punishment of the greatest guilt,
would be accused of immoderate severity. We behold these children
of nature, for the purpose chiefly of supplying us with the ingredient
which sweetens our repasts, compelled by men who call themselves
Christians to exhaust to its dlegs a more bitter cup than is usually
allotted to the greatest adepts in crime.
It is confidently asserted by advocates of slavery that the situation
of the negroes in our islands is preferable to that of the labouring
classes in England. But the falsehood of this assertion is sufficientlyproved by the numerous elopements which take place there: on referring to a very recent Jamaica paper, we observe a list of more than
a hundred runaway slaves; so that admitting this to be a fair specimen of what usually occurs, the number of slaves who attempt to
escape from their masters in one island only amounts annually to five
or six thousand.  It appears that the far greater part were brandedl




ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.                 163
many of them in different parts of the body, and not a few are desig
nated by their wounds and sores, the effects of immoderate punishment.
A moment's reflection must convince us that the condition must be
intolerable from which such numbers daily attempt their escape at the
hazard of tortures and of death.
We are in possession of a religion the communication of which
would afford some compensation for the injuries we have inflicted, and
let in a ray of hope on the benighted mind. To say that no effectual
provision has been made for this purpose is to assert the smallest part
of the truth.  The religious instruction of the negroes has not only
been neglected, but such regulations introduced as renders it nearly
impracticable.  The attempts of this sort.which have been made have
not resulted from any legislative enactment, but merely from the zeal
of private individuals exposed for the most part to the utmost opposition and obloquy; nor will it admit of a doubt that but for the seasonable interference of the government at home all such proceedings would
long since have been suppressed. The colonial legislatures have
displayed nearly as much aversion to the religious instruction of the
slaves as to the extension of their civil immunities; and, judging from
their collduct, we should be tempted to infer they were no less careful
to exclude them from the hope of heaven than from happiness on earth.
It would be natural to suppose such a system could have few charms
for the spectator, that the presence of such a mass of degradation and
misery would be a source of continual annoyance, and that no exertion
would be spared by those who have it most in their power to diminish its
pressure and lighten its horrors.  On the contrary, the West India
planters view it with the utmost complacency; in their eyes it seems
to be a most finished and exquisite specimen of social order, a masterpiece of policy, the most precious legacy bequeathed them by their
ancestors, which they are bound to maintain inviolate in every part, to
defend at the greatest risk, and to transmit unimpaired to future generations.  They anticipate-with the utmost confidence the perpetual
duration of the system, and reprobate every measure which has the
remotest tendency to endanger its existence as the offspring of indescribable folly and wickedness.  To such a degree are their moral
perceptions vitiated, that they really believe they have a prescriptive
right to be guilty of inljustice, to trample on the image of their Maker,
to erase his superscription, and to treat that portion of their species
which fortune has subjected to their power as mere beasts of burden,
divested of the essential characteristics of humanity.  In this instance
Impious speculations have been resorted to in palliation of practical
enormities; nor have there been wanting those who avow their persuasion that the negro is more nearly allied to the orang-outang than
to the human kind.
Hence it appears that a state of slavery is in its operation as mischievous to the master as to the slave. If its effects on the latter are
more visible in his corporeal structure, in his debased physiognomy,
his dejected countenance, his lacerated skin, and not unfrequently in
his "wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores," its effects on:the aii nd
L2




iU4 ~91ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY
of the former are not less perceivable in the most inveterate prejudice,
a pride which spurns the restraints of justice, a violence which is deaf
to the dictates of compassion-in a word, in a capricious and uncontrollable self-will, which lays waste all the finer sensibilities of the
soul, and renders its possessor too often a rebel to his God, a torment
to himself, and a terror to his fellow-creatures.
Sixteen years have now elapsed since the abolition of the slavetrade,* and during this period few or none of those improvements have
taken place in the treatment of slaves which were expected to result
from that measure.  At that time it was generally contended that as
the planters would be necessitated thenceforth to keep up the number
of their slaves without the aid of fresh importations, this itself would
draw after it such an amelioration in the management of them as would
ensure the happiest results without legislative interference.  The interest of the proprietors, it was supposed, would so obviously coincide
with the dictates of humanity as to give these the force of law. It is
too manifest, however, from the event, that in forming this conclusion
we did not take sufficiently  into account the short-sightedness of rapacity, the force of habit, the contagion of example, and the incurable
propensity of human nature to abuse absolute power, in whatever hands
it is placed.  The enormities which formerly characterized the slave
system have suffered little or no abatement; all its most odious peculiarities are retained, while by tile just retribution of Providence the
planters are reduced to the utmost embarrassment and distress.
After witnessing such an obstinate adherence to a system equally
injurious to the negroes and to themselves-after every suggestion of
improvement has been indignantly rejected, and not a single effort
made in behalf of the slave population, if we except a few verbal
enactments passed with no other view, it is evident from the event,
thi.n to elude inquiry and silence complaint —it would be more than
vain, it would be foolish and preposterous, to look for any substantial
redress from colonial legislators.  They are the aggressors, they are
the authors of the evils we complain of; and how can it be expected
they should legislate against themselves?  To leave the slaves in
their hands, what is it less than to recommend the lamb to the protection of the wolf?
Slavery, considered as a perpetual state, is as incapable of vindication as the trade in slaves: they are integral parts of the same system,
andc in point of moral estimate must stand or fall together. If it be
unjust to sell men into slavery who are guilty of no crime, it must be
equally so to retain them in that state; the last act of injustice is but
the sequel and completion of the first.  If the natives of Africa were
originally despoiled of their freedom by rapine and violence, no man is
entitled to avail himself of the condition to which they are reduced, by
compelling them to labour for his benefit; nor is it less evident that
they could not possibly transmit the forfeiture to their children of those
rights which they never forfeited for themselves.  Thus it appears
* The resolution of the House of Commons for the abolition of the slave-trade passed in June
Q&6.-ED, o




ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.                 165
that the claims of the planters to hold their negroes in perpetual
bondage is vitiated in its origin; and having commenced in an act of
injustice, can never acquire the sanction of right.
But here we are most anxious to guard against the misrepresentation of our sentiments. Convinced as we are that negro slavery is
most iniquitous in its origin, most mischievous in its effects, and diametrically opposite to the genius of Christianity and of the British
constitution, we are yet far from proposing a sudden revolution. Universal experience shows, that in the body politic, no less than in the
natural, inveterate diseases admit only of a slow and gradual cure:;
and we should deprecate an immediate emancipation almost as much
as the planters themselves, from a full conviction that the debasing
operation of slavery long continued disqualifies its subjects for performing the functions and enjoying the immunities of a free citizen.
Our object is, in the first place, to produce such an amelioration of
their treatment as shall soften the rigour of their bondage; and in the
next, that provision for their moral and religious instruction, which by
developing their faculties and improving their character may ultimately
qualify them for the possession of the freedom of which they have
been cruelly deprived. With this view we wish to see the competency
of negro evidence established as the only efficient check to wanton
barbarity; the employment of rewards as well as punishments; the
instruction of the slaves in the principles of the Christian religion; the
uninterrupted enjoyment of the Sabbath; the institution of marriage
and the inviolability of its rights firmly established; the exclusion of
the cart-whip from the field of labour; together with the repeal of that
abominable law which renders them liable to be sold in executioh for
the payment of their master's debts. If in addition to these most
wholesome regulations facilities were afforded for the purchase of their
freedom similar to those which have been adopted in the old Spanish
colonies with the happiest effect, freedoms would be gradually obtained in such proportion and in such numbers only as would perfectly
consist with the security and tranquillity of the colonies. Thus a race
of freemen fitted by their constitution and their habits for the employments of a tropical climate, united with us by civil and religious ties,
would rise up in the room of the present wretched victims of oppression,-a race that, having a country to preserve and rights to defend,
would be a source of national strength instead of inspiring terror and
distrust.
The superiority of free labour, in point of emolument, to the labour
of slaves, having been demonstrated by such an ample induction of
facts that it may be safely classed with the most established maxims
of political economy, the practice of gradual emancipation would be of
essential benefit to the planters, and greatly augment the value of our
West India possessions. Indeed, there cannot be a more cogent proof
of the folly of. pertinaciously adhering to the present system, than the
acknowledged inability to sustain a competition with the growers of
sugar in the East Indies.  In order to raise the price of East India
produce so as to enable the planter in the west to keep the market, an




l66         ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.
extra duty is imposed to a large amount, and the people of England
are obliged to pay upwards of two millions a year more for that article
than would be necessary if a fair competition were allowed; in other
words, the inhabitants of Great Britain are assessed to the amount of
more than two millions annually, for no.other purpose than to maintain
the slave system in the West Indies; and in opposition to the dictates
of humanity, the precepts of religion, and the principles of political
economy and impartial justice, we contribute more to perpetuate our
own disgrace, than it would be deemed prudent to bestow in the purchase of the greatest blessing.  All our plans of domestic improvement.
joined to all the efforts which we make for the diffusion of religion and
virtue in foreign nations, our schools, our Bible societies, and our
missions, justly considered as the peculiar glory of the age, cost us a
mere scantling compared to what is annually devoted to that very pious
and benevolent object the perpetuation of slavery in the West Indies;
we throw mites into the treasury of the sanctuary, and heap ingots on
the altar of Moloch.
And why, it is natural to ask, why is it necessary to load the importation of sugar from the East Indies with such heavy duties, in order
to enable the growers of the same article in an opposite quarter of the
globe, at not one-third the distance, to sustain a competition?  Purely
because the East In(lia sugar is produced by the labour of freemen,
the West India by the labour of slaves.  The industry of the former
is animated by hope, that of the latter depressed by despair; one is
sustained by the energies of nature, the other extorted by the mechanical
operation of the lash; the former labour for themselves, the latter for
their masters; and such is the distinction between these two species
of industry, that it more than annihilates the local difference between
three or four, and twelve thousand miles.  Surely the good sense oi
the nation will at last awake to a perception of this flagrant enormity
and express its impatience at the ignominy and injustice of such ail
assessment, in that firm and constitutional tone which the legislature
will not despise.
Let us not be discouraged if in this great enterprise our attempts
are not immediately crowned with success. The slave-trade, be iv
remembered, was long upheld by a combination of private interests, in
opposition to the remonstrances of reason, humanity, and religion; but
it fell at last.  Such unquestionably will be the fate of slavery.  It
may, like its twin-brother, be supported for a time by that grand
obstruction to all enlightened legislation, the opposition of interested
individuals, who may obscure truth by sophistry, and intimidate justice
by a formidable array of influence; but it is one of the felicities of a
free country that nothing can be permanent which will not sustain the
ordeal of inquiry and the shock of discussion.
We indulge a hope, though the measures of administration during the
last session of parliament fell far short of our wishes, that it was from a
want of resolution more than of good intention; that they have formed on
the whole a correct view of the subject, and that they are not unwilling tc
receive that support from the expression of the public mind which a com




ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.                 167
bination of private interests renders necessary. Be this as it may, as we
are always answerable for the evils which it is in our power to prevent,
and some of the greatest disorders in society have been corrected by
the interference of the public through its constitutional organs, we
cannot continue passive spectators of a system which inflicts interminable
degradation and misery on eight hundred thousand of our fellow
subjects, without deeply partaking of its guilt.
The scene of their suffering is distant indeed, butt not so remote as
to exempt them from the operation of our laws: they form an integral
part of the British dominions, and wo to that nation which extends its
power to those from whom it withholds its justice! That distance
which did not secure them from spoliation and captivity while in Africa
should not be allowed for a moment to intercept our attention to their
welfare and commiseration of their sufferings, now that they are transported to the West Indies. Through the aid of the public voice, the
government of the day carried triumphantly in 1807 the great question
of the abolition of the slave-trade. Let us endeavour by a simultaneous movement to strengthen the hands of the present administration
if, as we hope, they are well disposed, to stimulate them if they are
sluggish, and to propel them at all events in the right direction, by
such a firm and unanimous display of the public sentiment and feeling
on this great occasion as no free government will think it proper to
neglect; that we may, though late, make some reparation for the
accumulated injuries of ages that are past, and signalize our connexion
with Africa by other characters than those of rapine, violence, and
blood.
We cannot suppose for a moment that government will suffer the
extraordinary conduct recently displayed by the local authorities of
Jamaica to have any influence in preventing its adoption of such
measures for the amelioration of the present system as justice and
humanity may dictate. To be bearded and insulted by persons in
their situation would be mortifying enough, if the ridicule attached to
their proceedings did not interfere with more serious emotions. To
say that government has nothing to fear from the'West India islands
would be scarcely correct, for we have much to fear; but it is not from
their strength, but their weakness, which is such, that were we to
withdraw our support they would fall like ripe fruit into the lap of the
first invader. They are so much accustomed, it seems, to proceed by
the method of intimidation, as to forget their absolute dependence on
Great Britain for protection, as well from domestic as from foreign
dangers; nor could we wish them a more cruel revenge than to leave
them to their own resources. If, by adopting such regulations as the
humanity and wisdom of parliament shall prescribe, they can make it
clearly appear that their pecuniary interests are affected (which in our
opinion will be impossible) let them by all means receive a suitable
compensation; but let us be permitted at the same time to express our
hope that government will not be diverted from its course by the growl
ing of a tiger which refuses to quit its prey.
The interference, then, of an enlightened public to circulate informa



168         ADDRESS ON WEST INDIA SLAVERY.
tion, to strengthen the hands and second the movements of govern
ment in this most just enterprise, is imperiously demanded. We
cannot sit still, year after year, silent spectators of the most enormous
oppression exercised within the limits of the British dominions, without
partaking of its guilt. We cannot remain silent and inactive, without
forgetting who we are, and what we have done; that we are the country which, after a tedious struggle with a host of prejudices arrayed
in support of opulent oppression, have overthrown the slave-trade,
torn it up by the roots, and branded in the eyes of all nations the sale
of human flesh, as the most atrocious of social crimes. We must
forget that we are the countrymen of Granville Sharp, who, by incredible exertions, succeeded at length in purifying the British soil from
this its foulest pollution, and rendered it for ever impossible for a slave
to breathe its air. We must sever ourselves from all alliance of spirit
with a Wilberforce and a Clarkson, who looked forward to the final
emancipation of the negro race as the consummation of their labours,
and were sustained in their arduous contest by the joy which that
prospect inspired. We must lose sight of still more awful considerations, and forget our great Original, " who hath formed of ona blood
all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth."




FRAGMENTS.
DEFENCE OF VILLAGE PREACHING
HINTS ON TOLERATION,
rH E RIGHT OF WORSHIP, &e
[WRITTEN IN 1801, 1802, AND 1811.








NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
I tiE disquisition of which the interesting Fragments now  presented to the
publie are alone preserved was commenced in 1801. About that time the late
Bishop Horsley advanced the opinion in various charges and sermons (extracts
from one of which are subjoined in a note)* that the dissenters and Methodists, in
their attempts to introduce the preaching of the gospel in villages where the evangelical doctrines were not taught in the established church, were actuated by what
were then termed "jacobinical" motives, and by a desire to overthrow the episcopalian form of church government. This opinion, repeatedly announced in the
oracular tone too often assumed by that learned prelate, obtained an extraordinary
* Extracts from Bishop Horsley's Charge, published in 1800.
After observing that the laity of England have as little relish for socinianism as for atheism, anr
that they think much alike of him who openly disowns the Son and of him who denies the Father,
insomuch that the advocates of this blasphemy have preached themselves out of all credit with the
people, he proceeds as follows:" Still the operations of the enemy are going on-still going on by stratagem. The stratagem still
a pretence of reformation. But the reformation the very reverse of what was before attempted.
Instead of divesting religion of its mysteries, and reducing it to a mere philosophy in speculation and
a mere morality in practice, the plan is now to affect a great zeal for orthodoxy-to make great
pretensions to an extraordinary measure of the Holy Spirit's influence-to alienate the minds of the
people from the established clergy by representing them as sordid worldlings, without any concern
about the souls of men, indifferent to the religion which they ought to teach, and to which the laity
are attached, and destitute of the Spirit of God. In many parts of the kingdom conventicles have
been opened in great numbers, and congregations formed of one knows not what denomination. The
pastor is often, in appearance at least, an illiterate peasant or mechanic. The congregation is visited
occasionally by preachers from a distance. Sunday-schools are opened ill connexion with these
conventicles. There is much reason to suspect that the expenses of these schools and conventicles
are defrayed by associations formed in different places: for the preachers and schoolmasters are
observed to engage in expenses for the support and advancement of their institutions to which, if
we may judge from appearances, their own means must be altogether inadequate. The poor are even
bribed, by small pecuniary gifts from time to time, to send their children to these schools of they
know not what, rather than to those connected with the established church,in which they would be
bred in the principles of true religion and loyalty. It is very rernarlkable that these new congregations of nondescripts have been mostly formed since the jacobins have been laid under the restraints
of those two most salutary statutes commonly known by the names of the Sedition and Treason
bills,-a circumstance which gives much ground for suspicion that sedition and atheism are the real
objects of these institutions rather than religion. Indeed, in some places this is known to be the
case. In one topic the teachers of all these congregations agree,-abuse of the established clergy,
as negligent of their flocks, cold in their preaching, and destitute of the Spirit. In this they are
joined by persons of a very different cast, whom a candour of which they on their part set but a poor
example is unwilling to suspect of any ill design, though it is difficult to acquit them of the imputation of an indiscretion in their zeal, which in its consequences may be productive of mischief very
remote, I believe, fromt their intention. It is a dreadful aggravation of the dangers of the present
crisis in this country, that persons of real piety should, without knowing it, be lending their aid to
the common enemy, and making themselves in effect accomplices in a conspiracy against the Lord
and against his Christ. Thejacobins of this country, I very much fear, are at this moment making
a tool of Methodism, just as the illumindes of Bavaria made a tool of freemasonry; while the real
Mechodist, like the real freemason. is kept in utter ignorance of the wicked enterprise the counterfeit
has in hand."-P. 18-20.
In page 25, &c. the bishop corrects a misrepresentation of a speech delivered by him in the House
of Lords, and gives the following as a faithful statement of it. "I said," says he, " that schools of
jacobinical religion and jacobinical politics, that is to say, schools of atheism and disloyalty, abound
in this country-schools in the shape and disguise of charity-schools and Sunday-schools in which
the minds of the children of the very lowest orders are enlightened, that is to say, taught to despise
religion, and the laws, and all subordination. This I know to be the fact. But the proper antidote
for the poison of the jacobinical schools will be schools for children of the same class, under the
management of the parochial clergy:-Sunday-schools therefore under your own inspection I'would
advise you to encourage."-P. 26.




172                   NOTE BY THE EDITOR.
currency; and there was every reason to fear that some strong legislative measures
for the prevention of these encroachments (as they were regarded) upon the functions of a parish minister would be adopted. The necessity of such measures was
urged again and again with the utmost violence and intolerance in several of the
daily and other periodical publications; so that considerable apprehensions were
naturally entertained that these exertions of Christian benevolence would be altogether checked or greatly restricted.
In such a state of things Mr. Hall commenced this essay, but the public ebullition subsiding, he relinquished his design of publication, and indeed destroyed a
portion of what he had written.
In the years 1810 and 1811 the friends of village preaching by dissenters, and of
Sunday-schools under their superintendence, were again alarmed by a fresh attempt
to restrain their operations, though not undertaken in a hostile spirit, in an act
brought into parliament by Lord Sidmouth. His lordship proposed some new
restrictions upon persons who wished to qualify as dissenting teachers and others,
either by separate license or by some other method thought to be appropriate, on
itinerant preaching. He also proposed to deprive lay-preachers of certain exemptions which had hitherto been granted. Against these measures petitions were
sent to parliament from all parts of the kingdom; and the bill, being opposed by
Lords Grey, Holland, Erskine, Liverpool, Moira, Stanhope, by Dr. Manners Sutton,
then Archbishop of Canterbury, and by Lord Chancellor Eldon, was lost May 21st,
1811, on the motion of Lord Erskine, which was agreed to without a division.
The minds of those classes of the public that were interested in the diffusion of
evangelical knowledge among the poor were, however, agitated by this question
for several months. In such a state of things, Mr. Hall determined to revise ant
complete what he had formerly begun; but the failure of Lord Sidmouth's plar.
induced him again to lay aside his pen, and again to destroy great part of the
manuscript. The portions which escaped destruction have been found since Mr.
Hall's death. They want the advantage of entire continuity, as well as of the
author's finishing touch; and being composed at distant periods, and in part evidently rewritten to suit the modification of the general purpose occasioned by the
later attempts at restriction, they exhibit a slight repetition of sentiment. It has,
however, been thought right to preserve the whole of them, as they unfold and place
in different lights some valuable principles of general application.
For a full account of the proceedings on Lord Sidmouth's bill, the reader may
advantageously consult "A Sketch of the History and Proceedings of the Deputies
appointed to protect the Civil Rights of the Protestant Dissenters."




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
*  *  * WHERE they beheld the papal power overturned, they were
ready to imagine the season was approaching, so clearly foretold, when
true religion should emerge from the clouds of superstition which
environed her, and enlighten the world. Who will say that these
hopes indicated depravity in the minds of those who cherished them
too fondly? It was surely not very criminal to rejoice at the prospect
of the extinction of evil, and the universal prevalence of justice, peace,
and happiness; or to mistake "the times and seasons which the
Father has put into his own power." Good men were, of all others,
least likely to suspect that their hopes would be blasted by a wickedness of which the world afforded no example. Whatever of this
delusion, however, might have prevailed heretofore, the virtuous part
of the public are completely recovered. from it; nor has it had the
smallest influence in stimulating the exertions which it is the purpose
)f this publication to defend.
The only shadow of argument on which Bishop Horsley founds his
accusation that village preaching has a political object is, that it has
been chiefly prevalent since the Pitt and Grenville bills, as they are
styled, were passed; which put a stop to political meetings. Hence
he infers that it is only a new channel into which the old stream is
directed.  Here, however, he is entirely mistaken.  The true source
of this increased activity is to be found in the missions, the first of which
was established some years before the Grenville bills were passed.
The attention of the religious public was strongly excited on that
occasion to the indispensable necessity of "preaching the gospel to
every creature," and the result was, a resolution to exert more zealous
and extensive efforts to diffuse the knowledge of saving truth at home
than had before been employed. Agreeable to this it will be found,
on inquiry, that those who most distinguished themselves in political
debates have had the least share (if they have had any) in promoting
these measures; and that the invariable effect of engaging in these
plans has been to diminish the attention bestowed on political objects.
This indeed could not fail to be the consequence: for as the mind is
too limited to be very deeply impressed with more than one object at
a time, a solicitude to promote the interests of piety must insensibly
diminish the ardour for every thing that is not necessarily involved in
it; not to say, that the spirit of devotion which such designs imply
and promote is peculiarly incompatible with the violence and acrimony
of political passions. He who is truly intent on promoting the eternal




i74         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
happiness of mankind must look on futurity with so steady an eye,
that he is in more danger of falling into indifference to the spectacle;hat is passing before him than of suffering himself to be too much
inflamed by it. He is under more temptation to desert his proper rank
ill society, to undervalue the importance of worldly activity, and to let
opportunities of exertion slide through his hands, than to indulge turbulent and ambitious views.
Hence we find in the first ages of the church, heathens made frequent
complaints of the inactivity of Christians, but never accused them of
turbulence; and that while many fled into deserts, from austerity and
devotion, not one, during the prevalence of paganism, endured the
chastisement of the laws for sedition or treason.  The pious of every
age have been among the quiet of the land.
If our legislators are aware (as I hope they are) of the inconceivable benefits which are derived, in a political view, from the diffusion
of pure and undefiled religion, no fascination of great talents or of
high rank, no fear of misrepresentation or calumny, will tempt them
to be guilty of a legislative suicide, by exerting their authority to
suppress it; since nothing call ever give equal efficacy to the laws or
stability to the government.  The law of itself can only address fears;
religion speaks to the conscience, and commands it to respect that
justice on which the law is founded. HIuman law can only arm itself
with penalties which may be averted, despised,. or endured; religion
presents, in the displeasure of our Maker, an evil that can have no
bounds.  Human laws can only take cognizance of disorders in their
last stage, proposing only the punishment of the delinquent, without
attempting to prevent the crime: religion establishes a tribunal in our
own breast, where that which is concealed from every other eye is
arraigned, and the very embryo of crime detected and destroyed.
If we examine the sources of crimes, we shall perceive the chief
temptation to violate the principles of justice and humanity arises from
a discontent with the allotments of Providence: men are apt to attach
an importance to what they see another possesses.  But what can be
so sovereign a cure for this discontent as religion, which teaches that
all things are under the disposal of infinite Wisdom; that life is but a
passage to an eternal condition of being; that every thing the world
admires is passing away, and that he only who " doeth the will of God
abideth for ever?"
Religion must infallibly promote obedience to the laws, by subduing
those violent passions which give birth to crimes. As our hopes and
fears must all turn on the present scene, or on futurity, it is plain that
a principle which throws an infinite weight into the latter scale must
greatly diminish the influence of the former. On this account, real
piety must ever be an enemy to intemperate enjoyments and to extravagant hopes. In addition to this, Christianity enforces obedience
to civil rulers with the utmost clearness and under the most solemn
sanction, adopting the duties of a citizen into the family of religion, and
commanding its disciples to revere civil government as the ordinance
of God; and to be " subject, not chiefly for wrath, but for conscience




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.                 175
sake."  Who are so likely to be loyal subjects as those who consider
lawful princes, in the exercise of their functions, as the representatives
of the Supreme Ruler, and judges as the dispensers of the portion
confided to them of eternal justice? The public may be assured, that
as nothing is more remote from the views of those who are most
active in promoting village preaching than an intention to promote
political discontent, so nothing is more removed from the practice of
the preachers.  That there may be an imprudent or an unprincipled
individual who profanes the function of a preacher by introducing
political remarks (a practice too common with those who are loudest
in the condemnation of dissenters) is possible, though it has nevei
been my lot to hear of any among our village preachers; but that sulch
instances are extremely rare, and when they occur never fail to be
discountenanced in the strongest manner, both by dissenters and
Methodists, may be affirmed with the utmost confidence. There is no
maxim more constantly inculcated by all who have any influence in
these measures, than that of scrupulously abstaining from every, even
the remotest, allusion to politics. They have preached liberty indeed,
but it is that liberty which Jesus Christ proclaimed at Nazareth, that
holy and divine liberty with which the Son makes his followers free;
not that liberty whose thrilling accents awake nations to arms, but
that which is enjoyed in the highest perfection in the quiet of the
sanctuary, where all is still; as in the temple of Solomon the sound
of the lifted hammer was not heard.  They propose a revolution, but
it is that by which men are translated from the kingdom of Satan to
the kingdom of God and his Christ.  They propose great.innovations,
but such as consist in exhorting men to newness of heart.
His lordship expresses his approbation of Sunday-schools, provided
they are placed under the inspection and control of the clergy. If the
clergy will take the trouble of forming and inspecting Sunday-schools,
they may confer a great benefit on the public, and gain much honour
to themselves: whether the nation will tamely submit to have the
business of education exclusively in the hands of any one set of men
remains to be tried. The attempt to support an ecclesiastical establishment, by invading the freedom of education, resembles more the policy
of a Julian than the gentleness of Christ. To invade the freedom of
charity is a stretch of tyranny still more odious.  To control the
movements of benevolence, and construe the impulse of compassion
into a crime, is such an outrage as can only be paralleled in the darkest ages, and in the most barbarous minds.  Of what crimes have the
dissenters been convicted we will boldly ask; of such infamy that
even the exercise of benevolence in them must wear the aspect of guilt;
and that they must be degraded, not only beneath the rights of citizens,
but the possibilities of virtue? What have these helots of England
done to deserve this mnore than Spartan cruelty? In the name of eternal
justice, I invoke the injured majesty of our common nature to repel
an attack so injurious, founded on aspersions so foul and detestable.
It is asserted that these revolutionary designs are carried on under
oretences of superior piety.  It is matter of accusation that the




176        FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
dissenters make these pretences. If the dissenters, however, profess
to have more piety than the members of the established church, it will
be shrewdly suspected to arise from a very plain reason, namely, that
they have more. Hypocrisy is the vice of individuals, not of numerous
bodies of men, who can have no motive sufficiently extensive in its
operation to engage them to submit to its restraints.  The same conelusion results from another consideration. Nothing but a conscientious
preference can, generally speaking, incline a man to a mode of religious
profession which in the mildest times is unpopular, and at some seasons
not exempt from danger and disgrace. Without contending for any
superiority in the principles of dissent, the very circumstance of
becoming a dissenter, or of continuing such, at some expense of worldly
reputation and advantage, indicates a mind over which religious con
siderations have great influence. They who never scarcely think of
religion at all, or who abandon themselves to the tide of opinion and
fashion, are safely conducted into the haven of the established church.
To be content with merely being tolerated, instead of sharing the
honours and emoluments of an opulent establishment, to have all the
avenues which lead to greatness shut against them, is a sacrifice which
nothing but conscientious piety, however mistaken, can prompt them
to make  In addition to which, it may be remarked, that a religious
minority, from a conviction that their conduct will be exposed to a
severe scrutiny, and that nothing can sustain them against the contempt
of the world but superior correctness of morals, have a motive for
cherishing the spirit of their institution which others want.
On these accounts it will not, we hope, be deemed presumptuous
if we take it for granted that the dissenters, and especially that class
of them who have signalized their zeal for the religious instruction
of the poor, have really more piety than falls to the share of the great
body of the people of England.  But how is it possible for pious men
to enter into a conspiracy to overturn the constitution of their country,
and to overwhelm every thing in anarchy? For this purpose they
must unite themselves intimately with the infidel faction: they must
make common cause with those detestable monsters whose pestilential
breath has blasted, in other countries, every thing cheering to the eye
or refreshing to the heart. They must forget the infinite contrariety
of principle which divides them; they must forget the daggers of these
assassins, which, after destroying their enemies, they never fail to turn
against their associates, impelled by an insatiable eagerness for destruction. They must put their fortune, their character, their life, in
the hands of men with whom it would not be safe to trust themselves
in a room. There is nothing more opposite than the spirit of piety
and the spirit of faction. There enters into the composition of faction
a meddlesome and mischievous activity, blended with a callousness
of heart. Devotion softens the temper; faction knows no delicacy in
the choice of its society. It wants no other qualities in its associates
than turbulence and discontent, a conscience which no crimes can
startle, and an impudence which no detection can confrc nt. Devotion,
alarmed at wickedness, and disgusted with folly, is apt to carry the




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING                   L77
principle of selection too far. Faction delights in scenes of tumult
and noise; devotion in solitude and retirement.  Faction busies itself
with forming external movements, and values itself only on the change
it produces in the situation of external objects; the treasures and
conquests of religion are internal.  Faction draws its nourishment
from an overweening conceit of superior wisdom, accompanied with
a proportionable contempt of the understanding and virtue of other
men; the solid foundation of piety is laid in humility, or a deep
conviction of our sinfulness and fallibility. I will not say that men
of real piety have never been betrayed into factious enterprises, or
have not on some occasions pushed their opposition to government
too far; but it may be safely affirmed, that whenever they have done
so it must have arisen from an extraordinary concurrence of circumstances; generally from the oppression which makes a wise man mad *
that it is most foreign to their general character, and that nothing is a
more effectual antidote to political turbulence than the prevalence of
piety.
Before we proceed further, I must be permitted to lament that pro
pensity to credit and propagate the most hideous calumnies which
seems to have arisen to an unprecedented height in this age. It may
answer a temporary purpose, but it is well if it does not recoil on
those who employ it. It resembles the policy of insurrections and
riots, which, though they may occasionally punish or crush an obnoxious sect, no wise government will adopt, for fear of a reaction.
To fill the minds of the public with hatred, jealousies, and suspicions
is to poison the fountains of public security.  When this spirit is once
awakened among a people, the character and conduct of its rulers
seldom  fail, in the long run, to be injured by it. Under disasters
which the utmost wisdom  cannot prevent, under burdens which the
strictest economy may impose, government presents a plain, a palpable, and permanent pretext of discontent and suspicion. Misery
finds a sort of relief in attributing its sufferings to the conduct of
others, and while it soothes its anguish by resentment and clamour, it
fastens on the object that first presents itself. This object will naturally be the rulers of the nation.  Nor is there any thing with respect
to which men are more liable to be mistaken than the share which
the imprudence or misconduct of civil government has in the production of public calamities.  So various, so subtle, so complicated in
their operation are the causes which conduct to prosperity or decline
in the affairs of nations, that it is a matter of the utmost delicacy to
determine what share is to be assigned to human agency, and what to
contingencies and events.  This obscurity furnishes infinite scope for
the exercise of candour in the well disposed, and for the indulgence of
suspicion and discontent in the factious.  In scenes so complicated,
and when the steps are so numerous and so untraceable between the
first movement and the last, it is equally difficult to form a right estimate of events when we are very remote or when we are very near
them. If we attempt to survey a remote era, we are lost in naked
generalities; when we turn our eyes on the scene before us, our atten.
VOL. II.-M




178        FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING
tion is apt to be limited to detached parts; we are apt to confound
proximate with remote causes, to mistake casual coincidence for
natural connexion, and to give a disproportionate importance to whatever we immediately feel. Let them who have any doubt of the
dreadful effects of calumny look at what took place in France, where
they will find it was the principal engine employed by the Brissotines
to overturn the monarchy, and afterward by Robespierre to deluge that
devoted country with blood. By inspiring everlasting jealousies and
unbounded fears, he contrived to extirpate every remain of tenderness
and pity, and to preserve the minds of the people in constant agitation, like the sea in a storm. It was this that whetted the daggers of
assassins. It was the withering blast of this spirit that destroyed
every thing amiable and noble in that unhappy kingdom, resigned to
the desolating sway of selfishness and revenge. Nothing can be more
fatal to public repose; nothing can tend more immediately to quicken
the seeds of convulsion. That this malignant leaven should be infused
into the public mind by any hands must be matter of deep regret;
that it should be mingled and prepared by those hands from which the
world is wont to look for benedictions and blessings seems awful and
portentous.
Let not this, however, be understood to intimate that there is any
room to apprehend the dissenters may be provoked to verify the suspicions and calumnies to which they are incessantly exposed. The
writer would be understood to speak merely of the tendency of such
infusions on the nation at large; not at all of their influence on the
dissenters or Methodists. Their loyalty is of too fine a texture to be
affected by the efflux or influx of public opinion. While they enjoyed
the countenance of the public their loyalty was sustained by a higher
motive than popularity, nor will any discouragement tempt them to
forfeit it. In the mean time they place a firm reliance, first on the
protection of Heaven, the judge of their innocence, next on the impartial justice and parental kindness of their gracious sovereign, to prevent them from being overwhelmed and swallowed up by the reproaches
of their enemies.
Enough has been said on this head, I trust, to satisfy every unprejudiced person that nothing is more remote from the design of these
institutions than the promotion of seditious or revolutionary plans.
It is time to proceed to a distinct charge, which is that of hostility
to the Church of England. It is confidently asserted by the prelate
to whom we have so often had occasion to allude, that it is the constant practice of itinerant preachers to calumniate the clergy, by representing them as a set of hirelings, destitute of the spirit of piety, and
utterly indifferent to the welfare of their flocks; by which artifices
they alienate the affections of the people from the established pastors,
and prepare them for becoming dissenters; or what, in the dialect of
the learned prelate, is the same thing, schismatics.
Although it is extremely disagreeable to be obliged to contradict a
positive assertion in a manner equally positive, yet truth compels us
on this occasion to declare, that the statement here made is without




FRAGMENr   ON VILLAGE PREACHING.                179
any sort of foundation in truth.  The practice of vilifying the established clergy is so far from being commonly adopted in the discourses
either of dissenters or Methodists, that it may be safely affirmed, if
there are any instances of conduct so highly improper, they are extremely rare, and that where the dissenters offend in this particular
once, the established clergy are guilty of it ten times. It is a practice which the late Mr. Wesley discouraged, in his connexion, to the
utmost; nor are the dissenters, as a body, less scrupulous and delicate on that head. Still, however, it will be said, a principle of hostility to the established church seems inseparable from these exertions;
the tendency of preaching in the parishes of authorized ministers must
be to alienate the people from the established mode of worship, and,
in the issue, to endanger the existence of the national church.
As this objection wears a more plausible appearance than any other,
and has been urged in a great variety of forms, the author must beg
the patience, of the reader, while he gives it a full and distinct examination.
1. The objection we are considering seems to imply, on the part
of those who urge it, an inattention to the true genius and design ot a
religious establishment.  We must distinguish between the design of
religion itself and the design of that support which is given to it by
human laws. The design of religion itself is to discipline the mind
and prepare the heart for the happiness of heaven. The design of
supporting a particular form of religion by law is much less extensive; it is to derive from it that security which it never fails to confer
on the interests of civil society.  This may be termed the indirect
benefit of religion; with a view to which the policy of legislation has
thought it right to incorporate it with human laws. The establishment of a religion is not to be considered as a final end.  In respect
to importance it is never to be confounded with religion, or even to be
placed on a level with the peace and good order of society, to which
it ought ever to be in perfect subordination. It aims at nothing filrther
than to secure such a prevalence of religion as shall make men conscientious and upright. By whatever means this is accomplished, the
true design of every religious establishment is answered.  From the
indisposition of mankind to direct their thoughts to a futurity; from
their proneness to immerse themselves in present and sensible objects,
and the ignorance which follows of course, it has been thought necessary to set apart a particular order of men to inculcate its truths and
to exemplify its duties. Laws will not be obeyed, harmony in society
sannot be maintained, without virtue; virtue cannot subsist without
religion. The sentiments of religion, it is thought, will be effaced
from the mind by the influence of worldly passions and pursuits, unless it is recognised by the sovereign, and public teachers appointed
by the state.
Whoever attends to this must perceive that the establishment was
intended, not to correct an excess, but to supply a defect; not to prevent men from becoming too devout, but to preserve them from falling
into irreligion and vice. It was not because men are too much disM2




180         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
posed to be religious, but because they are too apt to forget it, that
our forefathers thought proper to give it a legal establishment.  On a
similar principle universities were established and colleges endowed,
to stimulate literary ardour and facilitate the means of acquiring
knowledge; and not that it might be made a crime to receive instruction in any other place.  If peculiar privileges and honours were conferred on these seminaries, it was not with a view to limit, confine,
and discourage, but to animate the exertions of literary talent.  If
they seemed to narrow the stream, it was only with a view to deepen
the current.
To attempt to restrain the prevalence of religion, to suppress the
efforts of good men for the promotion of piety, under pretence of
guarding the established church, is to lose sight of the des;i,n of all religion, and to counteract the purpose for which the esta'.shment of it
in particular was made.  It would be to found the  jcurity of the
church on the ruins of religion.
2. They who urge the objection seem not to have reflected sufficiently on the prodigious advantages which the Church of England
possesses for securing its existence and prosperity.  The large portion of property it holds gives it a great national weight and import.
ance.  The regular gradations of authority and rank cement its
several parts closely together, and prepare it on all occasions to act
with the utmost promptitude and unanimity.  Its ministers, vested
with legal authority and character, are the natural objects of a veneration of which nothing but personal misbehaviour can deprive them.
Mankind are apt to be strongly prejudiced in favour of whatever is
countenanced by antiquity, enforced by authority, and recommended by
custom.  The pleasure of acquiescing in the decision of others is by
most men so much preferred to the toil and hazard of inquiry, and so
few are either able or disposed to examine for themselves, that the
voice of law will generally be taken for the dictates of justice.
Nor is it the weakness only of mankind that inclines them to look
with a favourable eye on what is established; some of the most
amiable propensities of the heart lean the same way,-deference to
superior wisdom and to great names; the love of quiet, and the dread
of confusion and disorder.  These considerations will prevail over
minds which are too virtuous to be moved by a gross self-interest.
Further, the religion of the state will ever be the religion of the vain
and aspiring.  A degree of ridicule never fails to be attached to a
religious minority. In all the efforts of churchmen, their movements
are facilitated by the current of public opinion, while dissenters are
on every occasion obstructed by public prejudice. Thus churchmen
set out with a partiality on their side which nothing but neglect and
misconduct can destroy; dissenters, with a weight of suspicion and
dislike which nothing but discreet and exemplary behaviour can
remove.
If we contemplate, in connexion with the subject we are upon, the
manners and institutions of the British nation, we shall perceive that
the established church in these kingdoms possesses such pledges ot




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.                    181
its safety as are not to be found in any Protestant community besides.
A finished English education is, in all its stages, clerical; the public
seminaries of instruction, together with the two universities, being
almost entirely under the conduct of ecclesiastics; by which means a
reverence for the church is imbibed with the first elements of knowledge. Its splendid literary establishments, its magnificent libraries
the accumulation of ages, and, above all, the great and illustriouls
names it has produced in every department of genius and of learning,
the glory of the world; who have conferred dignity, not so much on
their profession as on their species; gives it, in a literary view, a decided superiority, and in popular opinion an exclusive esteem.  The
policy of modern times has, in addition to this, confided to its ministers more and more of the administration of laws, in which they are
become the immediate organs of justice to the people; and the claims
of spiritual authority are hence enforced by the habits of civil submission.
Freed from the fetters of celibacy, which, if they augment its zeal,
must narrow its influence in popisih countries, it strikes its roots deep
into the social soil, and forms numerous alliances, so that there is
scarcely a considerable family in the nation which is not immediately
interested in its support. A popish clergy, secluded from the enjoyments of domestic life, may be expected indeed to have a more eager
ambitionr for the advancement of their order in consequence of their
passions being all directed to one point; but as their manners must
be less amiable, so from this insulated condition they are liable to fall
without a struggle and without pity.  They are a loose appendage of
the state, not a part of its growth and substance.  With respect to the
English clergy it is quite otherwise. As they are continually receiving
supplies from the mass of the community, so they are continually
restoring to it in the persons of their sons and daughters what it has
lost. By these means a continual communication is maintained with
the body of the people, manners are assimilated, and the ties of tenderness and attachment extended.  The gradations of rank also which
are established in it contribute to the same purpose, and exhibit an
image of the political constitution planted in every corner of the kingdom
and mingled with every order of the state; while its inferior members
propagate its influence among the commonalty, it allies itself on the
side of its dignitaries with all that is august, basks in the smile of
monarchs, and shares in the splendour of courts.
A society which has such numerous pledges for its security, which
so many motives concur to favour, so many passions to support, must
be guilty of some extraordinary misconduct before it can forfeit the
attachment of the people.  It is evident it can only fall under the
weight of its own abuses.
3. It is possible indeed to conceive a degree of secularity and dis
sipation which may first greatly impair its influence and finally en~danger its existence. In an age not remarkable for credulity or
superstition, as the conduct of ecclesiastics will have more weight than
their pretensions, nothing can long secure them fritm popular contempt
but exemplary morals and diligence.




182         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
To invest idleness and dissipation with the privileges of laborious
piety is an impracticable attempt. For by a constitution more ancient
than that of any priesthood, superior degrees of sanctity and of exer,
tion will gain superior esteem as their natural reward.  We must not
wonder to find the public forget the reverence due to the sacred profession when its members forget the spirit and neglect the duties on
which that reverence was founded.  The natural equity of mankind
will not suffer the monopoly of contradictory goods. If the people are
expected to reverence an order, it must be from the consciousness of
benefits received.  If' the clergy claim  authority, it must be accom
panied with a solicitude for the spiritual interest of their flocks, and
labour sustained.  To enjoy at once both honour and ease never fell to
the share of any profession.  If the clergy neglect their charge, if they
conform to the spirit of the world, and engage with eagerness in the
pursuits of ambition or of pleasure, it will be impossible for any human
policy to preserve them from sinking in the public esteem.
4. As far as the attachment of the people to their established ministers is diminished in consequence of misconduct on their part, it will
not be remedied by excluding other instructers. To deprive them
of every other means of information may make them heathens, but
will not make them churchmen.  The established ministers are eithel
equal to others in zeal and diligence, or inferior.  If they are, equally
laborious and exemplary, what have they to fear, while they have
every advantage in their possession which superior learning, a legal
character, and the countenance of their superiors can confer?  To
assert that the same degree of diligence and piety in a clergyman will
not produce an equal effect as when they are exerted by a dissenter
is to yield the cause of the establishment at once; for it is to affirm
that there is a source of weakness in the very nature of an establish
ment which prevents equal means in other respects from being equally
influential; an extraordinary assertion, which the friends of the established church would be, we should suppose, the last to make. The
policy of an establishment is founded on a supposition that it is the
most effectual mode of inculcating some degree of religion. and of
impressing sentiments of piety on the minds of men.  But if, on the
contrary, it be found that exertions merely equal made in any other
Corm produce more powerfill effects, that supposition is invalidated, and
the structure raised upon it falls to the ground.  To give religion a
legal subsistence, it seems by this reasoning, is so far from arming it
with superior energy, that it is of all the modes under which it can
appear the most disadvantageous, and ignorance and fanaticism gain
an easy triumph over it.
If the other supposition be taken, that the established ministers are
inferior to others in diligence and exertion, and that on this account
their popularity is endangered, to give them the monopoly of religious
instruction is to violate every principle of reason and equity.  It is
punishing the innocent for the faults of the guilty. It is to reward a
breach of trust with an enlargement of power. Instead of quickening
indolence or correcting abuse it is conferring impunity on both. The




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.                   183
natural remedy for whatever inconveniences are experienced or apprehended from established abuses is the institution of discipline and the
exercise of wholesome correction by the rulers of the church, who are
invested with adequate power for that purpose. To look out and ask
for an external force to repel the consequences of an inward disease,to demand the interposition of the legislature to protect them from the
effects of their own abuses while they refuse the proper remedy, is
repugnant to every maxim of justice. They ought at least to wait
until the abuses they complain of are remedied-until the internal
resources of reformation are employed.  With little propriety or grace
can they complain of impertinent intruders who are inattentive to the
duties of their allotted station. In the report of the Lincolnshire
clergy* it is frankly acknowledged that much of the decline of religion
is to be imputed to the neglect of the clergy; and yet almost in the
same breath they express a desire that the legislature would give them
power to expel intruders from their parishes.  It has usually been expected that superior claims should be founded at least on the pretence
of superior merits. But here the order of things is reversed. At the
very moment they are asking for an increase of power, they confess
themselves unworthy of it, by having abused or neglected to employ the
power already intrusted into their hands.  Not content to escape without punishment, they ask to be rewarded for a breach of ecclesiastical
trust and the want of clerical virtues. Whatever we may think of
their delicacy, we cannot but commend their prudence in not putting
their names to such a paper.
5. It deserves to be considered what effect the prohibition of other
instruction is likely to have on the conduct of the clergy themselves.
Is it likely to diminish or increase the frequency of non-residence, or
the extent of secular and dissipated habits?  Will it tend to augment
their professional diligence and zeal, the surest support of an ecclesiastical order? Will the monopoly of religious instruction fail to produce the effect of all other monopolies?  While men are accustomed
to compare rival pretensions, while emulation continues to be classed
among human passions, these questions will admit of but one answer.
A generous competition is the animating spirit of every profession,
without which it droops and languishes. If we look around us we
shall perceive that all the discoveries which have enriched science,
and the improvements which have embellished life, are to be ascribed
to the competition of nations with nations, of cities with cities, and of
men with men.  From causes too obvious to need explanation, there is
less of this spirit in the clerical profession than in any other, which is
the principal reason of the talent of preaching having been so little
cultivated.
It is easy to see, then, what will be the consequence of extinguishing
the small remains of emulation or jealousy, call it by what name you
please, which springs from the complete toleration of a diversity of sects.
If the dread of intrusion (as it is called) into their parishes is not
sufficient to prevent some from neglecting their pastoral duties, this
* Circulated in 1801 or 1802. —ED.




184         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
neglect will be much more profound when there is nothing to disturb
their repose.  When the minister fears no rival, and the people
despair of any remedy, the inattention of the one and the ignorance ot
the other will increase in equal proportion.
THE IMPOLICY OF INTOLERANCE.
There is another objection frequently urged against village preachIng which will deserve our attention. It is alleged that the gross
fanaticism which distinguishes the self-appointed teachers of religion
tends to bring Christianity into contempt, and threatens the most
serious mischief to the cause of enlightened piety. That fanaticism is
an evil, and that a considerable portion of it may frequently be blended
with those efforts to revive religion for which we are pleading, will
not be denied. A little reflection, however, may convince us that the
danger from this quarter is not so alarming as might be apprehended
at first sight.
Fanaticism, as far as we are at present concerned with it, may be
defined, such an overwhelming impression of the ideas relating to
the future world as disqualifies for the duties of life.
1. From the very nature of fanaticism, it is an evil of short duration.
As it implies an irregular movement or an inflamed state of the passions, when these return to their natural state it subsides. Nothing
that is violent will last long. The vicissitudes of the world and the
business of life are admirably adapted to abate the excesses of
religious enthusiasm. In a state where there are such incessant calls
to activity, where want presses, desire allures, and ambition inflames,
there is little room to dread an excessive attention to the objects of an
invisible ftlturity.
A few rare examples of this kind might perhaps be found by diligent
inquiry, over which infidelity would triumph and piety drop a tear.  It
is not uncommon, however, to find those who at the commencement
of their religious course have betrayed symptoms of enthusiasm
become in the issue the most amiable characters.  With the increase
of knowledge the intemperate ardour of their zeal has subsided into a
steady faith and fervent charity, so as to exemplify the promise of
Scripture, that " the path of the just" shall be " as the shining light,
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." As the energy
of the religious principle is exerted in overcoming the world, so that
variety of action and enlarged experience which the business of life
supplies serves to correct its excesses and restrain its aberrations.
There are some who, proscribing the exercise of the affections entirely in religion, would reduce Christianity to a mere rule of life; but
as such persons betray an extreme ignorance of human nature as well
as of the Scriptures, I shall content myself with remarking, that the
apostles, had they lived in the days of these men, would have been as
little exempt from their ridicule as any other itinerants. If the supreme
love of God, a solicitude to advance his honour. ardent desires after




ON TOLERATION.                            185
happiness, together with a comparative deadness to the present state,
be enthusiasm, it is that enthusiasm which animated the Saviour and
breathes throughout the Scriptures.
2. In admitting that a portion of enthusiasm may possibly be blended
with the efforts to revive serious religion alluded to, we are far from
meaning to insinuate that that is their distinguishing character; or that
those who exert themselves in that way can, as a body, be justly
classed with fanatics.  The far greater part are men of good natural
sense united to fervent piety. If not possessed of the advantages of a
learned education, they are by no means ignorant. They have living
knowledge. Familiarly conversant with the Bible, they are men of
devotional habits and of exemplary conduct.  The insulting epithets
applied to such men might naturally provoke retaliation, and lead to
an inquiry how far the learning so ostentatiously displayed is connected
with religious knowledge; when it would perhaps be found that some
of their revilers are better able to solve a geometrical problem than a
theological, difficulty, and are better acquainted with the epistles of
Horace than those of St. Paul. But as it is my wish strenuously to
avoid whatever might awaken angry passions, I forbear to press these
inquiries.
Enthusiasm is an evil much less to be dreaded than superstition.
The latter is a disease of opinion, which may be transmitted with
fresh accumulation of error from age to age.  It is the spirit of slumber in which whole nations are immersed. Placing religion, which is
most foreign to its nature, in depending for acceptance with God on
absurd penances or unmeaning ceremonies, it resigns the understanding
to ignorance and the heart to insensibility. No generous sentiments,
no active virtues ever issue from superstition.
Superstition is the disease of nations, enthusiasm that of individuals;
the former grows more inveterate by time, the latter is cured by it.
We hope the remembrance of popish cruelties is not so far effaced
from the minds of our countrymen as to permit them to see the forge
of the giant without terror.
ON TOLERATION.
We have arrived at the last part of our subject, which relates to the
expediency and justice of legal interference in the suppression of these
attempts. And here I feel a solicitude lest I should give a wrong
touch to the ark of religious liberty, and injure the cause which I wish
to promote.
1. Toleration of a diversity of worship has now been legally estab
lished and uninterruptedly practised for more than a century; during
which we have enjoyed a degree of internal peace aid prosperity
unexampled in any former age.  This, which was the thing most
Iw"anlted to perfect the constitution,  has softened and harmonized the




186         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
spirits of men, has mitigated the fierceness of religious factions, and
has made them of one heart and mind in the love of their country and
attachment to its sovereign. The national wealth has been augmented,
commerce extended, arts invented or improved, and society embellished
with an additional portion of elegance and humanity.  The resources
of public strength have been enlarged, and the nation has become more
formidable in war and more respected in peace. The struggles of party
produce no other effects than clamorous invective and intrigue; and
public rumour, instead of being occupied with the horrors of civil commotion, announces the intelligence of the fall of the ministry, or some new
arrangement in the cabinet. This toleration has materially advanced
the interest of the established church itself, by abating the acrimony
of its adversaries, and affording room for the display of talent in other
communities, the surest prevention of indolence in its own.
The principles of toleration also harmonize with that refinement of
thinking and spirit of research which has distinguished the last century; in consequence of which this important advantage has been
reaped, that the opinions of the speculative, which always have ultimately great effect, coincide with the practice of the constitution.
Hence it is that England may be considered as the native soil of bold
original minds; nor is there any danger of our being reasoned into a
dislike of the constitution.
And shall we endanger the loss of all these advantages by adopting
a new course of policy?  What security will they afford us who
invite us to tread in new and perilous paths? What security will they
afford us, that the same tranquillity and the same prosperity will
accompany us in so great a change; when the very essence of the
constitution shall have been altered, and the very words which Englishmen were proud to pronounce expunged from the vocabulary?
A dread of innovation has hitherto prevented the correction of some
qagrant abuses; yet it is rather extraordinary that some of those who
Irofess to have most of that dread are among the most clamorous for
an innovation in the toleration act.
But is not this a most serious innovation? Must we then understand
these men to mean that they are only enemies to such innovations as
are on the side of liberty, and that they are prepared to trample on the
most fundamental laws, to promote persecution and tyranny? With
such men it is to little purpose to expostulate; we leave them to the
enjoyment of that calm sunshine which must fill the hearts of men
of so much purity and benevolence.
To others it may be proper to suggest, that if innovations are dangerous, they are not equally so, and that there is a great difference
between innovations which favour the spirit of a constitution and those
that contradict it. The former may be compared to the natural growth
of the human body, the latter to the violent dismemberment of its
parts. The former completes an imperfect analogy; the latter destroys just proportions.  The former is the removal of an obstruction
which prevents the equable motion of the machine; the latter occasions the collision -f interfering principles. When oppressive laws




ON TOLERATION.                         187
are ingrafted on a free constitution, the contrast of liberty and tyranny
will make the oppression to be doubly felt.  In such a situation, the
free and undaunted spirit which the constitution has cherished suffers
violence. The precedents of past times, the examples of their ancestors, the fundamental principles of the constitution, have taught them
to consider themselves as free. By the proposed laws they are ins
structed to look upon themselves in a new light.  They are commanded
to unlearn all that they have learned, to descend from the dignity of
freemen to the abject condition of a slave. Slavery may exist where
freedom is unknown, without endangering the public tranquillity; in
some countries perhaps without destruction of public happiness. But
the slightest invasion of the liberties of a free country awakens a
jealousy and resentment which are not easily appeased. Let those
then who are alarmed at the danger of innovation seriously reflect on
the possible consequences of an innovation so momentous. A free
and a despotic state may both be compatible with liberty; but who
ever would voluntarily make the transition from one to the other?
2. The liberty of worshipping God in that manner which the cpnscience of every individual dictates, provided nothing be introduced
into worship incompatible with good morals, may be justly claimed as
an inalienable right. The relation which subsists between man and
his Maker, and the consequent obligation to worship him, is prior to
the civil relation between magistrates and subjects. It is a more important relation, since all the good a creature can enjoy is derived from
it, and all his reasonable hopes of happiness on the goodness of the
Almighty. It differs, too, from every other in that it is invisible,
perpetual, and eternal. A man may or may not- be the member of a
civil community, but he is always the creature of God. For these
reasons, political duties, or those which result from the relation of the
subject to the prince, must, in their nature, be subordinate to religious.
When the commands of a civil superior interfere with those which we
conscientiously believe to be the laws of God, submission to the former
must be criminal; for the two obligations are not equipollent, but the
former is essential, invariable, and paramount to every other: " Whether
it be right," said the apostles, 6" to obey God or marn, judge ye." But
if an active obedience in such circumstances be criminal, to prescribe
it cannot be innocent, since it would be absurd to affliml hat exercise of
authority to be right to which it is wrong to submit.  i.ights and duties
are correlatives.  A right to command necessarily implies the enforcing that which is right with respect to those to whom the duty of
submission belongs.  Nor is it to any purpose to allege that the
worship prescribed is rational and scriptural, and far more excellent
than that which is prohibited. For if we remember that worship is
no other than the outward expression of the love and fear of God,
we must perceive, that to become acceptable it is above all things
necessary that i'; be such as approves itself to the mind of the worshipper; such as he sincerely believes will be pleasing to God. It is
impossible to please God without a sincere intention to please him
We may hope, from him who knows our frame, for a merciful indul




188          FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
gencc to the imperfections which spring from involuntary ignorance
or latent prejudice. It agrees with his benignity to suppose he will
graciously accept that worship which is not the best in itself, providing it be the best we know how to present. But to worship with
those rites and ceremonies which our conscience does not approve,
however excellent in themselves, is an insult to the Deity. A Jew,
for example, who joined in the worship of a Christian church, while he
retained the incredulity which distinguishes his nation, would be guilty
of the highest impiety; nor would it'be any extenuation of his fault to
allege that the worship in which he assisted was founded on Scripture,
and commanded by God, while his conviction was contrary.  He who
is utterly careless of the favour of God, and without any solicitude
respecting a future world, will naturally follow the stream of authority
or fashion, and adopt any mode of religion which happens to have the
ascendency.  But the sincere worshipper of God will find it impossible to comply with any religious injunctions which appear to him to
interfere with the will of God.
Besides, as is urged with great force by Mr. Locke, if the magis
trate of one country has a right to impose his religion under pains and
penalties, the magistrates of all other countries must have an equal
right.  Religious truth will vary with the boundaries of nations; and
with equal justice the pope will be revered ill Spain, Mahomet in
Turkey, and Brahma in India.  It is easy to see to what those principles tend which imply that there is nothing determinate, nothing sacred
in religion, and that all modes of worship are equally pleasing to God,
and equally useful.  The principles of persecution, pushed to their
just consequence, terminate in Hobbism.*
It is worth while to consider what is likely to be the effect of enacting coercive laws in religion. If the men at whom they are aimed
are conscientious, they will still persevere. They will reply to the
injunction of silence what the apostles did to the chief priest, " whether
it be right to obey God or man, judge ye." They will still persist in
their attempts to evangelize the poor. This will necessitate the exercise of greater severities, the failure of which will be considered as a
demand for punishments still heavier, until the magistrate has proceeded to banishment, confiscation, and death.  For it is the inconvenience attending persecution that it is necessarily progressive.  Small
punishments only irritate. It commences with an intention of suppressing error; baffled in its first attempt, and stung with disappointment, it soon loses sight of its original design; it soon degenerates
into a settled resolution to subdue contumacy, and strike terror.  It
becomes a fearful struggle between power and fortitude; the power of
inflicting suffering, and that of enduring, which shall wear the other
out. Let those, then, who are advocates for coercive measures, not content themselves with contemplating those mild expedients which may
first present themselves to thein lminds, but prepare for the consequences,
* It is curious that Mr. Hall and his distinguished friend Sir James Macintosh should, unknown
to each other, at different times and by a different course, arrive at a coincident result not likely tV;
oceur to ordinary minds. Sir James, in his valuable " Preliminary Dissertation," E.NcY. B n,:v9. 319, says, " A Hobbist is the only consistent persecutor "-ErD.




ON TOLERATION.                         189
and lay their accounts with being impelled to the exercise of the last
severities. Let them expect to see dungeons crammed with prisoners,
and scaffolds streaming with blood. Will any thing but the most unremitting vigilance, the most unrelenting system of espionage, prevent
every class of dissenters and Methodists from fleeing from such a
country, and seeking an asylum in a foreign land?
It is not easy to conceive the wound which this will inflict on the
population and prosperity of the empire. That the dissenters are, as
a body, an industrious and sober people, their enemies will not deny;
and that the commercial prosperity of a country is closely involved
in the preservation of such a class of people is equally undeniable
The loss sustained by France in the exile of a million of Protestants,
by the repeal of the edict of Nantes, has never yet been repaired.
Nor was there ever a period when the hazarding such a loss would
be more impolitic than the present; when the flourishing state of trade
and commerce is essential to the stability of the government, and in a
manner to the national existence. For the diminution of revenue, and
the disorganization which a considerable failure in the produce of the
taxes would occasion, we shall meet with a miserable compensation
in a forced and hypocritical uniformity in worship.
"Non tali auxilio nec defensioribus istis
Tempus eget"
Virgil.
Will they whose pride and violence have, produced this be able to
remedy the mischief?  Will lofty pretensions to unity, will tragic
declamations on the sin of schism, and abandoning dissenters to the
uncovenanted mercies of God?
The consequences of such an event deserve also to be considered
in another point of view.  It surely requires but little candour to
acknowledge that the deprivations and discredit to which dissenters
are exposed make it probable that, however in the judgment of their
opponents they are erroneous, they are at least conscientious. Whatever may be imagined of the caprice, the levity, or obstinacy of individuals, nothing but a sense of duty, it may be fairly presumed, could
prevail on numerous bodies of men to place themselves in that situation. In every country, it is no impeachment of the national establishment to suppose that many of those who continue out of its pale,
and decline its emoluments, are men of serious piety. If we may
form any conjecture of the dissenters of the present day from those
of former times, it is obvious that my last remark will apply to them
with peculiar force.  As the loss of virtue is the greatest loss a nation
can sustain, so the expulsion of those who have been distinguished by
possessing a superior degree of piety is an ill omen, an alarming advance towards a general corruption of morals.  Men of true piety, in
whatever communities they are found, " are- the salt of the earth."
Their example corroborates the sentiments of virtue, and preserves
from degradation the standard of morals.  Vice, naturally mean and
cowardly, is abashed and confounded before the majesty of virtue.




l90        FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
The efficacy of good examples in the formation of public opinion is
incalculable. Though men justify their conduct by reasons, and sometimes bring the very rules of virtue to the touchstone of abstraction,
yet they principally act from example. Metaphysical reasons have,
in reality, had as little to do in the formation of the principles of
morals, as rules of grammar in the original structure of language, or
those of criticism in the formation of orators and poets.
But if the influence of example is so extensive, and if it be admitted
that the dissenters, as a body, are exemplary for industry, sobriety,
and a serious sense of religion, the sacrifice of so large a portion of
national virtue must be confessed to be an evil of the first magnitude;
to say nothing of the justice of the Divine administration, which is
wont to make the departure of the pious from among a people the
signal for pouring out its vials upon guilty cities and nations. Though
such an event is alarming at all times, yet the peculiar complexion of
the present renders it more so than ever.  To every impartial observer
it must be obvious that the present times are distinguished by an unexampled relaxation of manners; or such levity and indifference to
every thing serious as threatens an open revolt from Christianity
That rapacity and luxury, a love of pleasure, together with an open
disdain for the duties of religion, have rapidly advanced within the
last twenty years, can as little be denied.
And is this a season in which we can safely sacrifice a large portion
of publit virtue and piety? I am aware that the dissenters are con
sidered (s a precise and narrow-minded people, whose minds have not
expanded with the growing improvements of the age, and that not a
little ridicule has attached to them on that account: but may not this
unyielding austerity, and these recluse manners, be a useful corrective
to the dissipation of the age?  While the polished manners of one
class of society contribute to its embellishment, may not the severer
virtues of another be equally beneficial in affording it stability and
strength? Refinement mnay point the spire, but it is the plain principles of virtue which alone form the basis of the social fabric.
It will not be thought a digression from the present subject to
remark the consequences which followed in France from the repeal of
the edict of Nantes; to which the measures in question bear a strong
resemblance. By that event France deprived herself of a million
of her most industrious subjects, who carried their industry, their
arts, and their riches into other countries. The loss which her trade
and manufactures sustained by this event was no doubt prodigious.
But it is not in that view my subject leads me to consider the ill conse.
quences of that step. She lost a people whose simple, frugal manners,
and whose conscientious piety, were well adapted to stem the growing
corruption of the times, while the zeal and piety of their pastors were
a continual stimulus to awaken the exertions of the national clergy.
if France had never had her Saurins, her Claudes, her De Plessis
Mornavs, her national church had never boasted the genius of Bossuet




ON TOLERATION.                        191
and the virtues of Fenelon.  From that fatal moment she put a period
to the toleration of the Protestants, the corruptions of the clergy, the
abuses of the church, the impiety of the people, met with no check, till
infidelity of the worst sort pervaded and ruined the nation. When the
remote as well as immediate effects of that edict which suppressed the
Protestants are taken into the account,-when we consider the careless
security and growing corruption which hung over the Gallican church
in consequence of it; it will not be thought too much to affirm, that to
that measure may be traced the destruction of the monarchy and the
ruin of the nation.
He who considers what it is that constitutes the force of penal
laws will find it is their agreement with the moral feelings which
nature has planted in the breast. When the actions they punish ate
such, and only such, as the tribunal of conscience has already condemned, they are the constant object of respect and reverence. They
enforce and corroborate the principles of moral order, by publishing
its decisions and executing its sanctions. They present to the view
of mankind an august image of a moral administration,-a representation in miniature of the eternal justice which presides in the dispensations of the Almighty. We behold nothing of the passions of men:
we forget their agency, and seem to see nothing but justice and order
appearing for a moment on the earth, to restore the tranquillity and
correct the disorders of society.  The sentiments of morality and the
sanctions of law maintain, in such a situation, a reciprocal influence
over each other. The former derive additional authority from public
opinion, and the latter appear sacred and venerable in consequence of
their coincidence with the dictates of conscience.  When criminal
law thus concurs with the maxims of private morality, by corroborating
the. dictates of conscience and inspiring the love of justice, tranquillity,
and order, and the advancement of the public good, every innocent
person becomes interested in maintaining their authority and promoting
their execution.  Every sentiment of the mind, the sense of security,
the love of the public, the sentiment of justice, the abhorrence of crime,
are leagued on the side of the laws, and are so many securities for
their due execution. It has been found by experience, as the result
of these principles, that laws become feeble and relaxed, not only
when they punish innocent objects, but when the punishments they
assign are disproportionate to the offence.  The want of harmony
between the decision of the public and the private tribunal interposes
an invariable obstruction to their observance; for crimes must be detected and punishments inflicted by men who will not lend their aid to
enforce what they secretly condemn.  Hence laws which are enacted
with precipitance and passion, or under the influence of party motives,
when they come to be executed will have to encounter a perpetual
friction, arising from their repugnance to the manners and sentiments
of the public. By these means public opinion, which is nothing but
the aggregate of the sentiments of individuals, often limits, happily for
mankind, the assumed omnipotence of legislation. They are framed
in one element, they are executed in another; they must live in a different atmosphere from that in which they are born.




192         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
But admitting that the efforts of zeal and the vigilance of goveinment
supply this defect, and secure the punishment of those who transgress
these laws, it deserves to be considered inll what manner their punishment will impress the public. With what feelings will they contemolate the ruin or imprisonment of virtuous men for the exercise of what
they esteem the rights of conscience! Will the condign punishment
of their countrymen, not for disturbing the public peace or for the violation of property, but for a well-meant endeavour to diffuse the principles of piety and the blessings of religion, augment their reverence
for the laws? or rather will it not produce in some an indignation
against such flagrant injustice, in others confuse the distinction of right
and wrong?  When they see atrocious crimes and eminent virtues
pursued and punished with the same severity, it must tend to destroy
all respect for legislation. They will be no longer solicitous to manifest their innocence, but to secure their impunity; and to the honour of
obeying will succeed that of evading the laws.  Nor is this all. In
the detection of these artificial crimes the assistance of the profligate
and abandoned alone can be expected, which will complete the triumph
of wickedness over piety and innocence. To the alliance between
church and state we are already familiarized; but an alliance, under
pretence of securing the church, between the ministers of religion and
a detestable spawn of spies and informers will appear surprising; nor
is it difficult to foresee what ideas it will impress of that religion which
stands in need of such aid, or of those ministers who stoop to employ
it. Until by some strange revolution all the traces of genuine Christianity and all the history of its propagation are effaced from the mind,
it will be impossible for men to mistake this for the religion of Jesus,a religion which grew up in the midst of sufferings, and whose only
weapon is love. In such proceedings they will look for the marks
and signs of the true church, and instead of the successors of the
apostles, they will imagine they behold a Jewish sanhedrim solemnly
commanding the illiterate disciples of Jesus to "teach no more in
that name."
It is more than probable that a similar reply will be made to that of
the apostles on a similar occasion, "Whether it be right to obey God
or man, judge ye."  Under a full conviction that they are in the path
of duty, and promoting the eternal happiness of mankind, it is not easy
to see how they can desist. Whatever political superiors may imagine,
he who conceives himself implicated in the command to " preach the
gospel to every creature" will find it morally impossible to yield active
obedience to any contrary. command.  "We cannot," saith the apostle,
but speak the things which we have heard and seen."
To nominal Christians, who may rather be said to comply with the
religion of their country than to believe it, on such a subject it is in
vain to appeal; but they who are impressed with the importance of
eternal things, and know "the gospel to be the power of God unto
salvation," will feel no hesitation how to determine in this case.
In perfect consistency with a cheerful submission to the civil au
thority of their superiors, they will consider it a duty resulting from




ON TOLERATION.                        193
their allegiance to Jesus Christ to persist in their endeavours to convert
mankind.
That coercive measures will tend to ferment a spirit of division in
the kingdom can admit of little doubt. Many, it may be reasonably
expected, will feel a generous concern for the oppressed, though they
may ridicule the cause in which they 3uffer; while men of enlarged
minds, and who are thoroughly imbued with the love of liberty, will
perceive in any one act of oppression, however insulated, a precedent
most dangerous to freedom. The mischief in itself may appear little,
and the merit of the sufferers inconsiderable in their eyes; but they
will consider it as an experiment on the public mind, calculated to prepare them for other acts of oppression; they will consider every thing
as alarming that impairs the integrity of freedom, from a conviction
that a vessel may be sunk by the smallest leak.
Thus two formidable parties will probably be produced in the king
dom, inflamed with mutual animosity and suspicion. Of the parliament
which assembled in the year 1640, on the eve of those commotions
which afterward broke out into a civil war and issued in such fatal
extremities, the puritans formed but a small part. The majority of the
number consisted of persons attached to the established church, but
who felt indignant at the oppression* of the puritans and the cruelties
of Laud. Their attachment to liberty taught them to identify themselves with the sufferers, and to discover in the severities of the Starchamber and the High-commission Court an exertion of an arbitrary
power utterly incompatible with the security of a free people.
Although many causes, it must be confessed, contributed to the ruin
of the unfortunate Charles, no single one had so much influence as that
religious intolerance which was so unhappy a feature in his character;
as, on the other hand, nothing contributed so much to support the pre
carious authority of Cromwell, and to produce an artificial calm in the
midst of so many raging factions, so many stormy elements, as a general
liberty of conscience. This, as is remarked by the celebrated Bishop.f Meaux, was the great secret of his policy.
The policy of Charles, instead of making him regarded as the common father of his subjects and the guardian of their welfare, providing
for the happiness of every part with parental care and impartial solici-:ude, made him to become the head of a party while he lent himself
as the instrument of gratifying its mean and sanguinary passions; by
which means he became the idol of a faction, but lost the hearts of his
people. The policy of Cromwell mitigated resentment, conciliated
prejudice, and made those acquiesce in his pretensions and concur to
maintain his authority who agreed in nothing else.  How precious must
that liberty of conscience be, and how fearful the resentment of its
loss, which could prompt a great people to suffer theirtnative prince to
wander in exile and subsist on the alms of rival courts; and reconcile
them to the yoke of a master whose power was not supported by the
smallest shadowV of justice! If such effects followed from invading
liberty of conscience at a time when its right had never been ascer
* Clarendon, vol. i. p. 184
VOL. II.-N




194         FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.
tained, what may we not apprehend from its violation after an uninter
rupted possession of it for a hundred years?-when it has become
familiar to our laws, habits, and manners, and the apprehension of its
danger has been succeeded by an experience of its advantages. What
will be the ultimate issue, should Providence in its infinite wisdom suffer
our adversaries to prevail and the cruelties of persecution to be renewed,
it belongs not to me to conjecture: but it may be granted me to express
my h mble hope we shall stand firm in the day of trial,-not forgetting
that persecution and sufferings have been the lot of the most eminent
of God's servants; that in walking in this path we are encompassed
with " a cloud of witnesses;" with apostles, prophets, and evangelists,
whose words will teach, whose examples will encourage us to adorn
that cause by our sufferings which we are no longer permitted to aid
by our exertions.
Having executed to the best of my ability the plan I proposed, my
freedom, I trust, will be pardoned if I suggest a few hints of advice to
those who are employed in disseminating the knowledge of Christianity
in villages.
1. To abstain from political reflection and from censuring either the
constitution of the church or the clergy, is a part of prudence on which
I ever would hope it is needless to insist.
2. Though I am convinced that those who attempt to evangelize the
poor do not fail to inculcate the morality of the gospel, it may yet be
doubted whether this is done with sufficient distinctness and detail.
A notion prevails among some that to preach the gospel includes nothing
more than a recital or recapitulation of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. If these are firmly believed and zealously embraced, they are
ready to suppose the work is done, and that all the virtues of the
Christian character will follow by necessary consequence. Hence
they satisfy themselves with recommending holiness in gcnemai terms,
without entering into its particular duties; and this in such a manner
as rather to predict it as the result of certain opinions than to enforce
it on the ground of moral obligation, which tends to 6disjoin faith and
virtue by turning all the solicitude of men to the former, while the
latter is left to provide for itself, and to make tlem substitute the
agitation of the passions and the adoption of a speculative creed in
the room of that renovation of heart and life which the Scriptures
render necessary.
Some apology, it is true, ought to be made for those who have leaned
to this extreme from the circumstances in whichr they have been-placed.
Having been called to preach to people who were ignorant of the very
first truths of religion, they have supposed it necessary to employ themselves in laying the foundation.  On the supposition we were to address
an audience that was not acquainted with the primary doctrines, it
would be necessary to begin with relating the facts and teaching the
doctrines which are the basis of the Christian dispensation. The
credenda, or things to be believed, must necessarily precede thefacienda,
or things to be done.  But though things must proceed in this order




FRAGMENT ON VILLAGE PREACHING.                    195
no durable separation should be made of the doctrines from the duties
of Christianity, lest the people should acquire a corrupt taste, and,
satisfied with their first attainments and impressions, neglect to cultivate that " holiness without which no man shall see the Lord." *When
they have been long detained in the elementary doctrines, they are not
unfrequently found to acquire a distaste for the practical parts of Scripture,-an impatience of reproof, —a dislike, in short, of every thing
but what flatters them with a favourable opinion of their character and
their state. Proud, bigoted, disputatious, careless of virtue, tenacious
of subtleties, their religion evaporates in opinion, and their supposed
conversion is nothing more than an exchange of the vices of the brute
for those of the speculator in theological difficulties.
The best method of preventing this fatal abuse of evangelical doctrine
is to inculcate in immediate connexion with it those virtues of the Christian character by which faith must be tried, frequently, distinctly, and
fully. Instead of recommending practical religion only in general terms,
under the phrase of holiness or any other, let us, in imitation of inspired
preachers, explain in what that holiness consists. When John came
preaching "repentance because the kingdom of heaven was at hand,"
he did not satisfy himself with barren and general abstractions: in
reply to the inquiries of those who asked him what they must do, he
entered into details, he imparted specific advice, and enjoined specific
duties corresponding to the different conditions of men and their relation'to each other in society. Had he contented himself with merely
reiterating the command to repent in general terms, as, it is to be feared,
is too often the case, his hearers might have mistaken a transient compunction, a vague sensation of uneasiness, for the duty demanded: but
by that particularity of application he adopted, the conscience was
informed and the necessity perceived of " bringing forth fruits meet for
repentance."
The conscience is not likely to be touched by general declamations
on the evil of sin and the beauty of holiness without delineation of
character: they may alarm at first, but after a while, if they be often
asserted merely as general truths which involve the whole human race,
they will supply no materials for self-examination or painful retrospect.
They will in process of time be regarded as doctrinal points, and pass
from the conscience into the creed.  He must know little of human
nature who perceives not the callousness of the human heart, and the
perfect indifference with which it can contemplate the most alarming
truths when they are presented in a general abstract form. It is not
in this way that religious instruction can be made permanently interesting. It is when particular vices are displayed as they appear in
real life, when the arts of self-deception are detected, and the vain
excuses by which the sinner palliates his guilt, evades the conviction
of conscience, and secures a delusive tranquillity-in a word, it is when
the heart is forced to see in itself the original of what is described by
the apostle, and, perceiving that "the secrets of his heart are made
manifest, he falls down and confesses that God is among us of a truth."
rThe Teproof which awakened David from his guilty slumber, and made
N 2




196       VtRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.
him weep and tremble, turned, not on the general evil of sill, but, n the
peculiar circumstances of aggravation attending that which he had
committed.  The sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost, which produced such decisive effects, was not a general declamation on the evil
of sin, but it contained a specific charge against his hearers of having
rejected and crucified their Messiah. When Paul was called before
Felix, being well acquainted with his character he adapted his discourse
accordingly, and "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," until " Felix trembled."  Tilhe delineations of character
and the injunctions of Scripture on practical points are not couched in
general terms; they are diversified and particular; nor can it justly be
doubted that the more of individuality, if I may be allowed the expression, our pictures of human nature possess, the more impressive will
they become. It is in this department of public instruction there is scope
for endless variety-for the highest exertions of intellect, and the richest
stores of knowledge.
The doctrines of Christianity, though of infinite importance, are yet
few and simple, capable of few combinations, and of little variety of
illustration; too precise to leave any thing for the understanding to
invent; too awful to permit the imagination to embellish.  It is not in
the statement of Christian doctrines, considered in themselves, that
experience, talents, and knowledge find scope for their exertion.
ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.*
Worship consists in the performance of all those external acts,
and the observance of all those rites and ceremonies, in which men
engage with the professed and sole view of honouring God. It is
consequently in a pre-eminent manner the concern of conscience; for,
as God is the supreme master and legislator, it is impossible for a
conscientious man, in compliance with human injunctions, either to
omit any part of that worship which he apprehends God to require, or
to perform any which he has forbidden.  In worship the creature has
to do only with his Creator.  There are, unquestionably, some regards
due to God, some expressions of our reverence to him and our depend-.
ence upon him, which it is our duty to render; and the duties which
have God immediately for their object must be in their obligation
paramount to every other; that is, such that the commands of no
human superior can discharge us from it. It remains only to be considered by what criterion these duties are to be ascertained.
Among the different modes of worship which prevail in different
countries, and in the same country, to what standard are we to appeal?
by what principle is the solution to be made?  Either the mere will
of the magistrate or the conscience of the individual must decide in
* This appears to have been written in 1811; the preceding twenty-three pages in 1801 ana 1802




FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.                  197
tins case. I say the mere will, because if the promulgation of his
will be enforced by arguments' and reasons, these arguments are
necessarily submitted to the judgment of the subject; and consequently,
as far as they are concerned, he is still left to his conscience.  But
if such a power as this be vested in the magistrate, it is highly necessary to examine the consequences to which it will lead. It will
legitimate all the persecutions which the heathen emperors inflicted on
the primitive Christians, as well as the more recent popish cruelties.
For from what principle did those persecutions flow, but that the
magistrate possessed a right to determine and prescribe the religion
of his subjects, and that a refusal to comply with his authority involved
political guilt?  The just pretensions of magistracy in this respect
are surely equal; nor can any reason be assigned for denying that
authority to heathen or popish princes within their dominions which
will not equally apply to Protestant princes.
The dominion of God over his creatures is original, inalienable, and
supreme; so that men must be contemplated as the subjects of God,
before we consider them  as members of a civil community.  The
formation of states and the enaction of laws are operations which
regard man in his transient and local situation as the inhabitant of the
present world. There is, on the principles of Theism, above and beyond
these, an original and fundamental moral law which unites him to his
Maker, and obliges him to fear, serve, and obey him  as his superior
Lord.  That this law is more original and comprehensive than any
other is evident from this consideration, that it comprehends sovereign
as well as subjects; that it regards men in those invariable, essential
qualities in which they all agree; and that it can never be suspended
by time or change.
As men are the creatures of God originally and essentially, and
continually accountable to him, whatever laws are established for the
government of particular societies are in the nature of by-laws, with
relation to the duties which intelligent creatures owe to God; and
whenever civil magistrates interfere with these, they are guilty of the
same absurdity as a particular corporation would be who formed
municipal regulations inconsistent with the law  of the land.  No
particular society has a right to make rules for its regulation which
interfere with the general laws of that kingdom of which it is a part;
for this would be to introduce an imperium  in imperio, a multitude
of legislatures, and a confusion and uncertainty in the principles of
justice.
In like manner, no human power can justly make laws which shall
interfere with those duties which are previously due to God. As a
necessary consequence of this, it follows, that whatever right men
possess to worship God after the dictates of conscience, in a state of
nature, is not diminished or impaired by entering into society. If
seditious purposes be concealed under the pretext of assembling for
religious worship, let the severest laws be enacted for their punish
ment.  Let the claims of liberty of conscience be permitted as a cover
for nothing which does not belong to it.




198.      FT~FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.
There is less reason, however, for entertaining any alarm on this
head in tolerating worshipping assemblies than any other; for they
are always public. They invite inspection. Who would be so in
fatuated as to attempt to connect treasonable or seditious designs with
assemblies which are open to every one, and whose time and place
of meeting are universally known? Besides, the very business of
worship is at the greatest distance possible from every thing tending
to inflame political passions.  Directed to a spiritual and invisible
Being, it withdraws the mind from the world, and turns the thoughts
into a channel the most remote from those affections which disturb the
repose of society.
It would be strange indeed if those exercises which have the most
direct influence in tranquillizing the heart, and reducing all earthly
things to comparative insignificance, must be forbidden, from an
apprehension of their becoming engines of insurrection and tumult.
T'hey cannot be perverted in the smallest degree to this purpose
without their danger being perceived; and it will then be soon enough
-tc, apply remedies.
This reasoning does not apply against the magistrate selecting some
o,.e particular sect, or some one set of religious opinions, and bringing
them under his exclusive patronage and encouragement; in other
wrords, the erection of a religious  establishment.   Whatever the
advantages or inconveniences may be which result from  religious
establishlnents is foreign to the subject in hand, which regards only
the free and full toleration of different sects, as long as they contain
themselves within the limits of civil submission.
It will be alleged, that on these principles a multitude of ignorant
enthusiasts and wild fanatics will start up, and under the pretence of
preaching the gospel, bring religion into contempt, and thence eventu-.ally open a door for profaneness and impiety. That this may in some
instances be the consequence of unlimited toleration of Christian,
worship cannot perhaps be denied; as little can it be denied that this
is a great evil.  It is much to be lamented that any should engage in
the functions of a Christian minister who, in addition to an unblemished
character, is not possessed of a competent measure of ability.  But
this inconvenience may be only one instance, among an infinity of
others, of a partial evil connected with a principle productive of the
greatest good.
Pure and unmixed good is not the portion of earth.  We cannot
specify a single law in the natural or moral world, which falls within
the sphere of our observation, which is not productive (along with
permanent good) of occasional evils.  This mixture of partial evil
with the source of general happiness seems to be an essential part
of the imperfections of the present state. If the magistrate is invested
wvrth the power of suppressing all whom he thinks incompetent to the
office of a preacher, there can be no liberty and no tranquillity.  But
it is surely of more consequence to a state to preserve the most
valuable portion of its liberty, than to preserve a perfect exemption firom
fanaticismnz.  The care of the former falls within the proper province




FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.                 199
ot a magistrate. The latter is consistent with a high degree of national
prosperity. Religious enthusiasm becomes dangerous to a state only
when it is the subject of oppression. There is in it an elastic quality
which repels rigorous coercion. The vivid impressions of religious
objects which it includes rather tend to sink the value of all earthly
interests, to annihilate the world and all its concerns, and to produce
a conduct which, though it may be wild and incoherent, yet if left to
itself will be mild, inoffensive, and benevolent. Besides, enthusiasm,
consisting in a preternatural state of exaltation, has a strong tendency
to subside in a short time, and with the increase of knowledge to
purify itself until it settles into calm enlightened piety. It is not, like
superstition, a permanent evil.  The enthusiast is impatient of control
in his religious concerns, but does not aspire after dominion. In proportion as the passions are strongly possessed by invisible objects, the
interests of the present state lose their ascendency, and the enraptured
enthusiast is more in danger of becoming indolent than factious. The
most effectual way of transporting such characters into political excesses is to inflame them  by. oppression,-when they naturally learn
to consider their enemies as the enemies of God, and throw the whole
weight of their religious prejudices and passions into the scale of
political opposition; while, on the other hand, a complete toleration
is the most effectual remedy for their intemperance; leaving them
leisure to reflect, and affording room for the ordinary motives and
principles of life to resume their ascendency.
In the history of those sects which have been the most justly
branded with enthusiasm, we shall uniformly find that while they were
exasperated by persecution they were fierce and wild, and their
fanaticism continued unsubdued; but no sooner were they left unmolested than those features in their character which excited alarm
gradually wore off, and they ceased to be formidable.
The history of the Baptists who rose, in the sixteenth century, in
Germany, and of the Quakers in England, confirm the truth of this
remark.
Though the tyrannical measures pursued by Charles the First, at
the beginning of his reign, naturally excited alarm and awoke opposition, it seems evident the civil war could never have been kindled but
for the intolerable cruelties inflicted by Laud on nonconformists, which
cemented the various sects, and made them unite in a vehement opposition to the government of Charles, while their tenets were too discordant to permit them to unite in any thing else. The magnitude of
eternal interests and the mighty force of religious passions were
superadded to the causes already existing of political contention, and
by their union kindled those flames of war which consumed the land.
Cromwell, on the other hand, whose usurpation was supported by no
law, and who had to contend with the whole weight of virtuous prejudice in favour of the constitution he had overturned, and the family
he had expelled, practised an opposite policy, and contrived to retain
in subjection three kingdoms, by granting to the rival sects a general
toleration, and balancing their Power against each other.  The impor



200       FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.
tance of this expedient in the preservation of his power has been ac.
knowledged, both in England and on the continent, by the most invete
rate enemies of that extraordinary man.  The eloquent Bishop of
Meaux, in his funeral oration for Henrietta of France, ascribes his
success principally to this measure of his administration. Since the
revolution, at which a universal religious toleration took place, amid
all our calamities and reverses, an unexampled duration of domestic
peace has been enjoyed, with two very short interruptions from occasions foreign from the topic under present consideration; and during
this protracted period, the mild spirit of legislation has communicated
itself to all sects, and in a very eminent degree mitigated the acrimony
of religious zeal.
A species of religious fanaticism, it is confessed, made its appearance in the sixteenth century in Germany, and in the next century in
England, which was of a highly political complexion, and struck
immediately at the root of civil power, the distinctions of rank, and
the offices of magistracy; but even the history of the Baptists in
Germany, and of the Fifth-monarchy men, supply reasons for toleration, since we see that the obnoxious tenets which distinguished them
soon disappeared, and that under milder treatment their successors
have retained only some peculiarities of the most harmless kind. The
extravagant flights of fanaticism, its visionary spirit, which might
tempt its possessors to trample upon the rules of society, can never
last long or extend far; for the principles of self-preservation, the
physical wants of the lower orders especially, who are most obnoxious
to such impressions, the spirit of imitation, the habit of submission
to superiors, together with the ordinary occupations of life, are prin
ciples of perpetual operation, the influence of which will soon surmount the strongest feelings, which operate only occasionally and by
starts, and will consequently force the mind back into its proper element. For the same reasons it can never extend far. Minds only of
a peculiar texture will feel its impression.  A vast majority of every
community will be too wise, too busy, too sensual, or too phlegmatic, to
be transported into dangerous excesses by causes which operate on the
imagination, and which have no relation to the more ordinary sources
of pain and pleasure. No fanaticism of this kind has made its appearance at present, nor is there any room to presume it will. Some
degree of enthusiasm, perhaps, generally accompanies religious impressions in uncultivated minds, at their commencement. Enthusiasm
may be defined, that religious state of mind in which the imagination
is unduly heated, and the passions outrun the understanding.  But
when persons are first deeply impressed with the infinitely momentous
concerns of a future life, and are thereby introduced, as it were, into a
new world, it is too much to expect their religious affections shall be
perfectly regulated, or their conduct, under circumstances so novel, be
consistent with the exactest rules of propriety   New  situations,
whether resulting from a moral and internal change, or from outward
circumstances, make it necessary for some time to pass before those
who are led into them know perfectly how to adjust their behaviour to




FRA GMEiT ON THL RIGHT OF WORSHIP                      20O1
themo  But if the profession of piety be sincere (and of hypocrisy we
are not at present speaking), it will eventually secure, together with
the essential moral virtues, a regard to decorum and to all the minutes
properties of social intercourse.  In the mean time, where the love of
God and man predominates, it will ill become the governor of a Christian country, and still less the governor of a Christian church, to suffer
himself to be so much offended at the intemperate effusions of honest,
zeal as to disregard the substance of religion because it may be deficient in some of its more amiable appendages.
If we adopt the maxims of a profane and careless world, we shall
be taught to look upon all zealous Christians as enthusiasts or hypocrites; for when have they not, by a majority of mLankind, been represented in that light?  To men of the world it appears so strange
that men should be affected by the consideration of invisible realities
in any degree proportioned to the influence of present objects, it is so
utterly remote firom  all their practical estimates, that they have no
means of accounting for it without imputing it to a partial insanity or
deliberate hypocrisy.  But this is only one among numberless glaring
inconsistencies of human conduct.  For' these very persons, it is probable, have never formally renounced the authority of Jesus Christ, who
commands us to 66 seek first the kingdom  of God," nor the certainty
of an eternal state, in comparison of which the interests and prospects
of the present are annihilated; and yet they are surprised to find that
good and evil should be estimated with regard to their respective magnitude, and that any should be weak enough to credit the dleclarations
and obey the precepts of our common Lord.  Such is the fascination
of the world, and so complete its triumph in effecting a total dclioroe:f the speculations from the practical belief of professed Christians. Yf
the truths which religion reveals, and the hopes it inspires, respect an
infinite good, and the present life be, as we know by experience, short
and transitory, it must be the truest wisdom to be deeply solicitous to
attain that good, and to be disposed to make any sacrifice of present
pleasure and convenience with a view to it; and when this is the
habitual state of the mind, it wvill imprint some traces of itself in the
external deportment, which the irreligious part of mankind will be sure
to brand with the name of hypocrisy or fanaticism.
The primitive Christians encountered this reproach, and their suce
cessors nmust expect it i in proportion as they tread in their steps. That
world to which we are hastening will determine who  are justly
chargeable with folly,-they  who treat eternal things according te
their true nature, who, making the service of God their supreme concern, pass the tine of their sojourning here in fear; or they, the lan.
guage of whose conduct is, 66let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
we die."
To suppose that that religious state of mind in which devout affiections are highly [raised]* is enthusiastic, is a most pernicious mistake,
and would in its consequences utterly- extirpate religion, and expunge
Whenever a word is placed thus between brackets, it is supplied conjecturaiiy, the manulecnti
being illegible.-ED.




'FRAGMiIENT   ON THlE Ri!GMIT OF  WGiRSHiJP
a great pa-t of the Scriptures.  The smallest acquaintance with tl 
New Testament must convince every one that the apostles and primitive Christians were no strangers to the strongest religious emotions.
We read of a 66joy unspeakable and full of glory," of a "peace that
passeth all understanding," with innumerable other expressions of a
similar kind, which indicate strong and vehement emotions of mind.
That the great objects of Christianity, called eternity, heaven, and
hell, are of sufficient magnitude to justify vivid emlotions of joy, fear,
and love, is indisputable, if it be allowed we have any relation to
theml; nor is it less certain that religion could never have any powerful influence if it did not influence through the medium of the affece
dons.  All objects which have any permanent influence influence the
conduct in this way.  ~We may possibly be first set in motion by their
supposed connexion with our interest; but unless they draw to themo
selves particular affections, the pursuit soon terminates,
The cool calculation of interest operates only at times; we are
habitually borne forward in all parts of our career by specific affections and passions; some more simple and original, others complicated
and acquired.  In men of a vulgar cast, the grosser appetites,-in minds
more elevated, the passions of sympathy, taste, ambition, the pleasures
of inmagination,-are the springs of motion.  The world triumphs over
its votaries by approaching them on the side of their passions; and
it does not so much deceive their reason as captivate their heart.
It is in this way the love of the world must be repelled.  As it is
not chiefly by imposing on the understanding, or misleading the rational
assent, tllat the world triuhinphs over its votaries, so the mere inculcation of religious truth on the intellect, without forming deep and lasth
ing impressions on the heart, will never be stufficient to emancipate us
from its control~  The difficulties which accrue in a religious career,
especiall>y at its outset, are so mainy and formidable, that unless we
are deeply iztcrcsted as well as convinced, perseverance is impractiCable.  ein that victory over the world which is promised to faith, it is
necessary to oppose feeling to feeling, and pleasure to pleasure.  The
intenerate e attaclmthrent to sensual pleasure must be subdued by the
fear of lniishmlielt;   the vain and extravagant hopes which present
scenes insoire must be effaced by hopes more solid and more animating'; r:rl d to wea.n us frlom the breasts of earthly, we must be led to
tnh  breasts of spiritual consolation.
ihe,orld  iru1ses, enchants, transports us; how  shall religion
teacush ous  tO tliumph over it, if it present nothing but speculative conclusions, a;nd if the views of a rational self-interest which it displays
were not intimately associated with objects adapted to engage and fill
the heart?  VWould the primitive Christians have taken joyflly the
spoiling of their goods, because they  had in heaven a more enduring
substance?  Wotuld they not only have felt calm  and resolute, but
accounted 6t it all joy when they suffered divers persecutions," if the
objects of eternity had not occupied a large share of their affections.
A-he familiar acknowledgment, -Video meliorac, probogzle deteriora
SeUqor, —-t.e friequency with which men act contrary to the nmost mature




FRAGMENT OIN THE RIGHT OF WORSHIIP~                     203
ren.victions of reason and conseience, shows how inefficacious is a
nilcre speculative conviction when opposed to inveterate habits and
passions.  Whati;  is the defect here experienced, but a want of the
correspondent feelings and impressions from which that state of desire
results which impels to virtuous action?
As the objects of religion. are infinite and eternal, if the mind is
duly affected by them  at all, they have a tendency to enlarge and
propagate their correspondent affections more and more; and will
probably tend ultimately to absorb and extinguish all other hopes and
fears.
Thouhll good men are continually approaching nearer and nearer
to this state, it is neither possible nor desirable they should reach it
in this life. The multitude of pains, difficulties, and perplexities with
which they have to encounter are continually drawing their attention
to present objects; and the duties of the present state could not be
performed in that exalted state of spirituality.  Aln eminent degree and
vigour of the religious affections, then, ought not to be denominated
fanaticismn  unless they arise from wrong views of religion, or are so
much indulged as to disqualify for the duties of societyc Within these
limits, the nore elevated devotional sentiments are, the more perfect is
the character, and the more suited to the destination of a being, who
has, indeed, an important part to act here, but who stands on the confines of eternity~ He may justly be styled a fanatic, wvlO, under a
pretenese of spirituality, neglects the proper business of life, or who,
from  mistaken views of religion, elevates himself to an imaginary
superiority to the rules of virtue and morality.  Whatever other kind
of fanatic.im,  real or pretended, [exists,] seems not to fall, in the
Emsallest deoree, under the conduct of the civil magistrate; nor is there
an;y danoger of immorality being inculcated'under any corruption of
the Christian doctrine.  AM any religious systems, considered in their
theory, rmay seem to tend to the encouragement of vice; they may,
in their speculative consequences, set aside the obligations of virtue 
but the uncorrupted dictates of conscience, the general sentiments of
mankind respecting  right and wrong, and the close alliance between
de-votion and virtu-e Nwill always counteract this tendency, so far that
the same persons uwill'be more moral with very erroneous religious
opinions than without religion.  A practical disregard to piety is the
prolific source of vice.  We shall find the minds of every sect of
Christians who are zealous in religion  superior to those who are
careless and profane~  Whatever tends to draw the attention to God
and eternity tends to destroy the dominion of sin.  Under the varied
forms of religious belief which have prevailed aniong the different
parties  of Christians, little variation has taken place iia the rule of
life.  In the first age of Christianity, the church was accused, by the
mlalice of its enemllies, of the most shameful and unnatural practices;
wvhich it disclaimned, but, at the same time, very injudiciously insinus
ated that the Gnostics -were guilty of the crimes which were alleged:
but the result of the more calm and dispassionate investigation of latei
times has been a growing conviction that these  surmises lad nu




204         FilA.GMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORS1HIP.
foundation in faect   The doctrines of our holy religion lmay be wofully
eurt'ailed and corrupted, and its profession sink into formality; but its
moral precepts are so plain and striking, and guarded by such clear and
awuful sanctions, as to render it impossible it can ever be converted into aln
active instrument of vice.  Let the appeal be made to facts.  Look
through all the clifferent sects and parties into which professed Christians are unhappily divided.  WNhere is there one to be found who has
innovated in the rule of life, by substituting   vice in place of virtue?
The fears entertained from  this quarter must be considered as chimerical and unfounded, until they are confirmed by the evidence of
facts.  In those districts in which the dissenters and bMethodists have
been most zealous and successfiul in village preaching, are the morals
of the people nmore corrupted than in other places?.Are they distinguished  by a greater degree of profligacy, intemperance, and debauclhery than tihe inhabitants of other parts of the country?  The
advocates of rigorous mneasures will scarcely have the temerity to put
the questioMn upon this issue; and until they do, all their pretended
dread of the growth of licentiousness from village preacnhing will be
considered as nothing but artifice.
T'o contend for the legal monopoly of religious instruction, under
pretence of securing the morals of the people, is a similar kind of
policy with that of the papists, who withhold the lcriptures from the
common people lest they should be betrayed into heresy.   We all perceive, the design of the papist in this restriction is to prevent the diffusion
of knowledge,  which would be fatal to ghostly dominion.  Is it not
equally evident that the prohibition to instruct the populace in the
principles of Christianity originates in this jealousy of power?
5W~e must at least be permitted to express our surprise at the profound sagacity of those wvho can discover a design to destroy nmorality
by inculcating religion, and a purlpose of making men vicious by
making themn serious.  Plain men must be excused if they are startled
by such refined and intricate paradoxes.
It highly becomes those who are the advocates for the interference
of government to restrain the efforts of Methodists and dissenters to
diffuse the principles of knowledge and piety, to advert to the consequences vwhich must result.
Those who are conscientious will feel it their duty, in opposition to
the mandates of authority, to proceed patiently, enduring whatever
punishment the legislature may think proper to inflict~  The government, irritated at their supposed criminal obstinacy, will be tempted to
enact severer laws accompanied -with severer penalties, which the
truly conscientious will still think it their duty to brave, imitating the
example of the primitive teachers of' Christianity, who departed from
the presence of the council " rejoicing that they wIere thought worthy
to suffer for the name of Christ."  Thus will commence a struggle
between the ruling powers and the most upright part of the subjects,
which shall first wvear each other out,-the one by infliction, the other
by endurance; prisons will be crowded, cruel punishments will become
familiar, and blood probably will be spiltL  The nation will be afflicted




FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.                  20b
with the frightful spectacle of innocent and exemplary characters suffering the utmost vengeance of the law for crimes which the sufferers
glory in having committed.
It is an inherent and inseparable inconvenience in persecution that it
knows not where to stop. It only aims at first to crush the obnoxious
sect; it meets with a sturdy resistance; it then punishes the supposed
crime of obstinacy, till at length the original magnitude of the error is
little thought of in the solicitude to maintain the rights of authority.
This is illustrated in the letter of Pliny to Trajan,* treating of the
persecution of Christians.  Their obstinacy in refusing to comply with
the mandates of supreme authority [constituted the crime.]  In other
penal laws a proportion is usually observed between the crime and the
punishment, the evil and the remedy; but here the pride of dictating
and imposing mingles itself and draws [reasons] for severity even from
the insignificance of the error and of the persecuted sect, which should
be its protection.
As the power of the community is delegated to the magistrate to
enable him to punish such delinquencies and to avenge such injuries
as it would be unsafe to leave to the resentment of the individual to
punish, the voice of law should ever be in harmony with the voice of
conscience and of reason. It should punish only those actions which
are previously condemned in the tribunal of every man's own breast.
The majesty of law, considered as an authoritative rule of action, can
only be maintained by its agreement with the simple and unsophisticated decisions of the mind respecting right and wrong. On
these principles law is entitled to profound veneration as a sort of
secondary morality, or an application of the principles of virtue and
social order to the real situation and actual circumstances of mankind.
As the civil magistrate is invested with a portion of divine authority
for the government of men, so wise legislation is a reservoir of moral
regulation and principles, drawn from the springs and fountains of
eternal justice. When government is thus conducted it leagues all
the virtues on its side; whatever is venerable, whatever is good rallies
round the standard of authority; and to support the dignity of the
laws is to support virtue itself.  In persecution it is directly the
opposite.  When innocent persons [suffer] for a resolute adherence
to the dictates of conscience, the sentiments of moral approbation are
necessarily disjoined from the operation of the laws.
The fear of civil punishment is a motive which the wisdom of mankind has superadded to the other motives which operate to restrain
men from criminal conduct. The contempt and hatred of our fellowcreatures and the dread of punishment from an invisible Judge are not
always found in fact to be of sufficient force to control the unruly
passions of bad men. In addition to this, men have contrived so to
organize society that the disturbers of other men's peace and the
invaders of their rights shall have to dread an adequate punishment
from the arm of a public person who represents the community. As
* Lib. x. Epis. 97 -ED




206          FRAGMENT ON THE RIGHT OF WORSHIP.
the fears with which human laws inspire offenders are superadded
motives, they presuppose the existence of an original one. They are
a superstructure which can only stand on the foundation of those
distinctions of right and wrong which the simplest dictates of the
understanding recognise.  To disjoin the fear of human [laws] from
its natural associates, the forfeiture of public esteem and the dread of
Divine wrath, is a solecism of the most glaring nature.
Again, the terror of punishment is designed to operate on the community at large, not on a small number of people of a peculiar manner
of thinking. But the great body of a people are affected only by what
is palpable; they are unable to comprehend subtle and refined reasoning. It is only what is plain and evident that is tangible by their gross
conceptions. Admitting, therefore, that the criminality of persisting to
follow the dictates of conscience in matters of religion were capable
of demonstration, it would remain a very improper object of punishment, because the evidence of its criminality could never be generally
understood. The guilt of the sufferer would always be considered as
very equivocal, and the sentiments of the community [divided] between
the condemnation of the persecuted party and the government. From
this will naturally follow two parties in the state, influenced with the
most vehement mutual resentment and antipathy, and all the combustible materials already collected are liable to be kindled by the
sparks of religious contention. Have not religious persecutions been
almost invariably the harbinger of civil wars, alarming commotions,
and awful calamities? Persecution in matters of religion raises up
the very hydra it is meant to destroy.  The only plausible ground on
which it can be defended is the danger to the state accruing from a
diversity of opinion on matters of the first importance, and the necessity,
in order to secure public tranquillity,'to establish uniformity of opinion
But when persecutions are adopted, the lawfulness of those very
measures becomes a subject of contention as interesting as the dissensions it is designed to terminate.
The question of the claim to liberty of conscience is surely a ques.
tion of this kind.
*fi          k *k *      k *k *    O    o 




SHORT STATEMENT
OF THE
R E A EASONS
FOR
CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO PARTY COMMUNIOI.
[PUBLISHED IN 1826.]








PREFACE.
AFTER having discussed so largely in some former publications the
question of strict communion, that is, the prevailing practice in the
Baptist denomination of confining their fellowship to members of their
own community, it was not my intention to trouble the public with the
subject any further, not having the least ambition for the last word in
controversy. But it has been suggested to me that it would not be
difficult to condense the substance of the argument within a smaller
compass, so as to render it accessible to such as have neither the
leisure nor the inclination to peruse a large performance. It has been
my endeavour to cut off every thing superfluous, and without doing
injury to the merits of the cause, to present the reasoning which sustains it in a concise and popular form: how far I have succeeded must
be left to the judgment of the reader.
I would only remark here, that all I have seen and heard concurs to
convince me that the practice of strict communion rests almost entirely
on authority, and that were the influence of a few great names withdrawn it would sink under its own weight. Among those of recent
date none has been more regarded than that of the late venerable
Fuller; and as he left a manuscript on this subject to be published
after his death, he is considered as having deposed his dying testimony
in its favour. That he felt some predilection to a practice to which he
had been so long accustomed, and whose propriety was very rarely
questioned in his early days, is freely admitted; but that he all along
felt some hesitation on the subject, and that his mind was not completely made up, I am induced to believe from several circumstances.
First, from the fact of his proposing himself to commune at Cambridge
with the full knowledge of there being Pedobaptists present. Secondly,
from a conversation which passed many years ago between him and
the writer of these lines. In reply to his observation, that we act
precisely on the same principle with our Pedobaptist brethren, since
they also insist on baptism as an essential prerequisite to communion,
it was remarked that this was a mere argumentum ad hominem, it
might serve to silence the clamours of those Pedobaptists who while
they adhered to that principle charged us with bigotry; but that still
it did not touch the merits of the question, since a previous inquiry
occurs, whether any thing more is requisite to communion on scriptural
grounds tha;l a vital union with Christ; his answer was, When mixed
VOL. IS.-O




210        REASONS FOR CHRISTIAN COMMUNION.
communion is placed on that footing, I never yet ventured to attack it.
Hence I am compelled to consider his posthumous tract rather as a
trial of what might be adduced on that side of the controversy with a
view to provoke further inquiry, than the result of deliberate and settled
conviction. Be this as it may, great as his merits were, he was but a
man, and as such liable to err even on subjects of much greater importance. All I wish is, that without regard to human names or
authorities, the matter in debate may be entirely determined by an
unprejudiced appeal to reason and Scripture.
The prevalence of this disposition to bow to authority and to receive
opinions upon trust is strikingly illustrated by the following anecdote.
A highly respected friend of mine, on asking one of his deacons, a man
of primitive piety and integrity, what objections he had to mixed communion, he replied with great simplicity that he had two-in the first
place, Mr. Fuller did not approve of it; and in the next, the Scripture
declares that "he who pulls down a hedge a serpent shall bite him."
The good man very properly placed that reason first which carried the
greatest weight with it.
In short, there is a certain false refinement and subtlety in the argument for strict communion which would never occur to a plain man
who was left solely to the guidance of Scripture. In common with
almost every other error, it derived its origin from the public teachers
of religion, and with a change of sentiment in them it will gradually
disappear; nor will it be long ere our churches will be surprised that
they suffered themselves to be betrayed by specious but hollow sophistry into a practice so repulsive and so impolitic.
Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, sed magis amica veritas.
OCTOBER 7 1826.




, SHORT STATEMENtTo
IT is admitted by all denominations of Christians, with the exception
of' one, that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper is of perpetual obligation, and that it was designed by its Founder for one of the principai
indications and expressions of that fraternal affection which ought to
distinguish his followers.  Though the communion of saints is of largel
extent, comprehending all those sentiments and actions by which Chris.
tians are especially united, the joint participation of this right is universally acknowledged to constitute an important branch of that communion.,
So important a part has it been considered, that it has usurped the nacme
of the whole; and when any dispute arises respecting the terms of cornmunion, it is generally understood to relate to the terms of admission
to the Lord's table.
VlWhether all real Christians are entitled to share in this privilegge,
whether it forms a part of tllat spiritual provision which belongs to the
whole family of' the faithfitl, or whether it is the exclusive patrimony
of a sect, w7ho: (on the ground of their supposed imperfection) ae
authorized to repel the rest, is the question which it is my purpose i
the following pages briefly and calmly to discuss.
The first conclusion to which we should naturally arrive woud 
probably favour the more liberal system; we should be ready to suppose that he vho is accepted of Christ ought also to be accepted of his
brethren, and that he whose right to the thing signified was not ques-.
tioned possessed an undoubted right to the outward sign.  There a:e
some truths which are so self-evident that a formal attempt to prove
them lhas the appearance of trifling, where the premises and the coa-n
clusion so nearly coincide that it is not easy to point out the intermediate linls that at once separate and connect them.  Whether the
assertion that all sincere Christians are entitled to a place at the Lord1"s
table is of that description will more clearly appear as -we advance:,
but I must be permnitted to say, that a feeling of the kind just men..
tioned has occasioned the greatest difficulty I have experienced in this
discussion.
It is well known that a diversity of sentiment has long subsisted in
this country in relation to the proper subjects of baptism, together wi'h
the mode of administering that rite.  While the great body of the
Christian world administer baptism to infants, and adopt the practice
of sprinkling or pouring the sacramental water, there are some who
contend that baptismn should be confined to those who are capable of
02




CHRISTIAN IT OPPOSITION TO
understandinog the articles of the Christian religion, or, in other wo7-.,,to adults, and that the proper mocde is the immersion of the whole body.
T'hey who maintain the last of these opinions were formally designated
by the appellation of Anabacltists; but as that term implied that they
assumled a riglht of re2peatingo baptism, when in reality their only reason
for baptizinll  such as had been sprinkled in their infancy was, that they
looked upon the baptism of infants as a mere human invention, the can-,
dour of mnodern times has changed the invidious appellation of Anabaptist to the more simple one of Baptist.
it is not mny intention to attempt the defence of that class of Christians, though their views are entirely in accordance with -my own; one
consequence, however, necessarily results.  We are compelled by
virtue of them to lool upon the great mass of our fellow-christians as
vunlbcptized.  On no other grountd can we nmaintain our principles or
justify o-ur conduct.  Hence it has been inferred, too hastily in myopinion, that Awe are bound to abstain from their communion, whatever
judgment we may form  of their sincerity and piety.  Baptism, it is
alleged, is, under all possible circumstances, an indispensable term of
communi on; and how ever hiohly we may esteem many of our Pedobtptist brethren, yet, as we cannot but deem them iinbaptized, we mnust
of necessity consider them as disqualified for an approach to the Lord's
table.  It is evident that this reasoning rests entirely on the assumption
ihat baptism  is invariably a necessary condition of comnmunion-an
opinion'which it is not surprising the Baptists should have embraced,
since it -lhas lonlg passed current in the Christian Aworld, and been
receivedl by nearly all denonminations of Christians.  The truth is, it
eIi"s never till of late become a practical question, nor cbuld it while all
pairties acklnowledged each other's baptism.  It was only when a religious den-omination arose whose principles compelled them to deny the
valid(ity of any other baptism besides that which they themselves practisec, that the question respecting the relation which that ordinance
bears to the Lord's Supper could have any influence on practice.  But
a doctrine which can have no possible influence on practice is received
w-ith little or no examination; and to this must be imputed the facility
uwith w hich it has been so generally admitted that baptism must nececs'sIrily and i-variably precede an admission to the Lord's table.  The
w i ie ircul-ltion, however, of this doctrine ought undoubtedly to have
t}le effect of softening the severity of censure on that conduct (however
singohlar it. may appear) w;hich is its necessary result: such is that of
the great maljoritv of the Baptists in confinig their communion to those
wI hom they deemll baptized; wherein they act precisely on the same
principle wvith all other Christians, who assume it for granted that baptism  is an essential preliminary to the reception of the sacramento
_~ he point on which they difelr is the nature of that institution, which
we pllace in ilnmersion, and of' which we suppose rational and accountt
able agoents the only fit subjects; this opinion, combined with the other
generally received one. that none are entitled to receive the Eucharist
but such as have been baptized, leads inevitably to the practice which
s-;eemls so singular and gives so much offence —the restricting of com



PARTY COMMUNION.                        213
miunion to our own denomination.  Let it be admitted that baptism is
under all circumstances a necessary condition of church-fellowship,
and it is impossible for the Baptists to act otherwise. That their
practice in this particular is harsh and illiberal is freely admitted, but
it is the infallible consequence of the opinion generally entertained
respecting communion, conjoined with their peculiar views of the baptismal rite. The recollection of this may suffice to rebut the ridicule
and silence the clamour of those who loudly condemn the Baptists for
a proceeding which, were they but to change their opinion on the subject of baptism, their own principles would compel them to adopt.
They both concur in a common principle, from which the practice
deemed so offensive is the necessary result.
Considered as an argumentum  ad hominem, or an appeal to the
avowed principles of our opponents, this reasoning may be sufficient
to shield us from that severity of reproach to which we are often exposed, nor ought we to be censured for acting upon a system which is
sanctioned by our accusers.  Still it leaves the real merits of the question untouched; for the inquiry remains open, whether baptism is an
indispensable prerequisite to communion; in other words, whether they
stand in such a relation to each other that the involuntary neglect of
the first incurs a forfeiture of the title to the last.'The chief, I might say the only, argument for the restricted plan of
communion is derived from the example of the apostles and the practice of the primitive church.  It is alleged, with some appearance of
plausibility, that the first duty enjoined on the primitive converts to
Christianity was to be baptized, that no repeal of the law has taken
place since, that the apostles uniformly baptized their converts before
they admitted them to the Sacrament, and that during the first and
purest ages the church knew of no members who had not submitted tc
that rite; and that consequently in declining a union with those who,
however estimable in other respects, we are obliged to consider as
unbaptized, we are following the highest precedents, and treading in
the hallowed steps of the inspired teachers of religion.  Such in a few
words is the sum and silbstance of their reasoning who are the advocates of strict cormlm'tion;  and as it approaches with a lofty and
imposing air, and ha- prevailed with'thousands to embrace what appears
to me a most serious error, we must bespeak the reader's patience
while we endeavour to silt it to the bottom, in order to expose its
fallacy.
Precedent derived from the practice of inspired men is entitled to
be regarded as law in exact proportion as the spirit of it is copied and
the principle on which it proceeds is actaed upon.  If, neglectful of
these, we attend to the letter c:-,ly, v'e sA:.ul bIe -,trayed into the most
serious mistakes, since there are a thousand actions recorded of the
apostles in the government of the church which it would be the height
of folly and presumption to imitate. Above all things, it is necessary
before we proceed to found a rule of action on precedent, carefully to
investigate the circumstances under which it occurred and the reasons
on which it was founded. The apostles, it is acknowledged, admitted




214             CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
none to the Lord's Supper but such as were previously baptized; but
under what circumstances did they maintain this course? It was at a
time when a mistake respecting the will of the Supreme Legislator on
the subject of baptism was impossible; it was while a diversity of
opinion relating to it could not possibly subsist, because inspired men
were at hand, ready to remove every doubt and satisfy the mind of
every honest inquirer. It was under circumstances that must have
convicted him who declined compliance with that ordinance of wilful
prevarication, and stubborn resistance to the delegates and representatives of Christ, who commissioned them to promulgate his laws, with
an express assurance that " whoever rejected them rejected him, and
whoever received them received him," and that to refuse to obey their
word exposed the offender to a severer doom than was allotted to
Sodom arid Gomorrah.*  Their instructions were too plain to be mistaken, their authority too sacred to be contemned by a professor of
Christianity without being guilty of daring impiety. In such a state
of things, it may be asked, How could they have acted differently from
what they did? To have received into the church men who disputed
their inspiration and despised their injunctions would have been to
betray their trust, and to renounce their pretensions as the living depositaries of the mind of Christ: to have admitted those who, believing
their inspiration, yet refused a compliance with their orders, would
have let into the church the most unheard-of licentiousness, and polluted it by incorporating with its members the worst of men. Neither
of these could be thought of, and no other alternative remained but to
insist as a test of sincerity on a punctual compliance with what was
known and acknowledged as the apostolic doctrine.  "We are of
God," says St. John: "he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is
not of God heareth not us; hereby we know the spirit of truth and the
spirit of error."t In short, the apostles refused to impart the external
privileges of the church to such as impugned their authority or contemned their injunctions, which whoever persisted in' the neglect of
baptism  at that time and in those circumstances must necessarily
have done.
But in declining the communion of modern Pedobaptists, however eminent their piety, there is really nothing analogous to their method of proceeding. The resemblance fails in its most essential features. In repelling an unbaptized person from their communion, supposing such a one
to have presented himself, they would have rejected the violator of a
known precept; he whom we refuse is at most chargeable only with
mistaking it. The former must either have neglected an acknowledged
precept, and thus evinced a mind destitute of principle, or he must have
set the authority of the apostles at defiance, and thus have classed
with parties of the worst description.  Our Pedobaptist brethren are
exposed to neither of these charges: convince them that it is their
duty to be baptized in the method which we approve, and they stand
ready, many of them at least we cannot doubt stand ready, to perform
it; convince them that it is a necessary inference from the correc'
* Matt. x. 14, 15         t 1 John iv. 6.




PAR'TY COMMUNION.                       215
interpretation of the apostolic commission, and they will without hesitation bow to that authority.
The most rigid Baptist will probably admit, that however clear and
irresistible the evidence of his sentiments may appear to himself, there
are those whom it fails to convince, and some of them at least illustrious
examples of piety; men who would tremble at the thought of deliberately violating the least of the commands of Christ or of his apostles;
men whose character and principles consequently form a striking
contrast with those of the persons whom it is allowed the apostles
would have repelled. But to separate ourselves from the best of men
because the apostles would have withdrawn from the worst, to confound
the broadest moral distinctions by awarding the same treatment to
involuntary and conscientious error which they were prepared to inflict
on stubborn and wilful disobedience, is certainly a very curious method
of following apostolic precedent.  "The letter killeth," says St. Paul,
"the spirit maketh alive."  Whether the contrariety of these was ever
more strongly marked than by such a method of imitating the apostles,
let the reader judge.
For the clearer illustration of this point let us suppose a case. A
person proposes himself as a candidate for admission to a Baptist
church.  The minister inquires into his views of the ordinance of
baptism, and respectfully asks whether he is convinced of the divine
authority of the rite which was administered to him in his infancy.
He confesses he is not; that on mature deliberation and inquiry he
considers it as a human invention. On his thus avowing his conviction,
he is urged to confess Christ before men, by a prompt compliance with
what he is satisfied is a part of his revealed will: he hesitates, he
refuses, alleging that it is not essential to salvation, that it is a mere
external rite, and that some of the holiest of men have died in the
neglect of it. Here is a parallel case to that of a person who should
have declined the ordinance of baptism in primitive times; and in entire
consistence with the principles which we are maintaining, we have no
hesitation in affirming that the individual in question is disqualified for
Christian communion.  To receive him under such circumstances
would be sanctioning the want of principle, and pouring contempt on
the Christian precepts. Yet the conduct we have now supposed would
be less criminal than to have shrunk from baptism in the apostolic age,
because the evidence by which our views are supported, though sufficient for every practical purpose, is decidedly inferior to that which
accompanied their first promulgation: the utmost that we can pretend
is a very high probability; the primitive converts possessed an absolute
certainty. Now since we are prepared to visit an inferior degrec of
delinquency to that which would have ensured the rejection of a candidate by the apostles with the same severity, how preposterous is it
to charge us with departing from apostolical precedent! In the same
circumstances, or in circumstances nearly the same, we are ready
instantly to act the same part: let the circumstances be essentially
varied, and our proceeding is proportionably different. The apostles
refused the communion of such, and such only, as were insincere, " who




216            CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
held the truth in unrighteousness," avowing their conviction of one
system and acting upon another: and wherever similar indications
display themselves we do precisely the same. They admitted the
weak and erroneous, providing their errors were not of a nature subversive of Christianity; and so do we. They tolerated men whose
sentiments differed from their own, providing they did not rear the
standard of revolt by a deliberate resistance to the only infallible
authority; and such precisely is the course we pursue. We bear with
those who mistake the dictates of inspiration in points which are not
essential; but with none who wilfully contradict or neglect them. In
the government of the church, as far as our means of information
reach, the immediate ambassadors of Christ appear to have set us an
example of much gentleness and mildness, to have exercised a tender
consideration of human imperfection, and to have reserved all their
severity for a contumacious rejection of their guidance and disdain of
their instructions. And wherever these features appear, we humbly
tread in their steps; being as little disposed as they to countenance or
receive those who impugn their inspiration or censure their decisions.
They were certainly strangers to that scheme of ecclesiastical polity
which proposes to divide the mystical body of Christ into two parts"
one consisting of such as enjoy communion with him, the other of
such as are entitled to commune with each other. In no part of their
writings is the faintest vestige to be discerned of that state of things
of which our opponents are enamoured, where a vast majority of sincere
Christians are deemed disqualified for Christian fellowship, and while
their pretensions to acceptance with God and a title to eternal life are
undisputed, are yet to be kept in a state of seclusion from the visible church. Had they in any part of their epistles appeared to broach
such a doctrine,-had they lavished high encomiums on the faith and
piety of those with whom they refused to associate at the Lord's Supper,
our astonishment at sentiments so singular and so eccentric would have
been such, that scarcely any conceivable uniformity of manuscripts or of
versions could have accredited the passages that contained them. That
the primitive church was composed of professed believers, and none
debarred from its privileges but such whose faith was essentially
3rroneous or their character doubtful, is a matter of fact which appears
on the very surface of the inspired records, and was probably never
called in question, in any age or country, until an opposite principle
was avowed and acted upon by the modern Baptists, who appropriate
its title and its immunities to themselves, while with strange inconsistency they proclaim their conviction that the persons whom they
exclude are indisputably in possession of its interior and spiritual
privileges.  For this portentous separation of the internal from the
outward and visible privileges of Christianity,-for confining the latter
to a mere handful of such as have "obtained like precious faith with
themselves," in vain will they seek for support in the example of the
apostles. They repeatedly and earnestly warn us against resting in
external advantages, and of the danger of substituting the outward
sign for the inward and spiritual grace: but never give the slightest




PARTY COMMUNION.                      217
intimation of the possibility of possessing the first, without being
entitled to the last.  The assertion of such an opinion, and the practice
founded upon it, the reader will at once perceive, is a departure from
the precedent and example of the earliest age which it would be difficult
to parallel.
In opposition, however, to all that has been urged to show the obvious
disparity between the two cases, our opponents still reiterate the cry,
The apostles did not tolerate the omission of baptism, and therefore
we are not justified in tolerating it! But is the omission of a duty to
be judged of in relation to its moral quality, without any regard to
circumstances, without any consideration whether it be voluntary or
involuntary, whether it proceed from perversity of will or error of
judgment, from an erroneous interpretation of our Lord's precepts or
a contempt of his injunctions; and supposing our Pedobaptist brethren
to be sincere and conscientious, is there any resemblance between
them and those whom the apostles, it is allowed, would have repelled,
except in the mere circumstance of their being both unbaptized, the
one because they despised the apostolic injunctions, the other because
they mistake them? The former (supposing them to have existed at
all) must have been men over whose conscience the word of God had
no power; the latter tremble at his word, and are restrained from
following our example by deference to his will. If such opposite
characters are the natural objects of a contrary state of feeling, they
must be equally so of a contrary treatment; nor can any thing be more
preposterous than to confound them together, under the pretence of a
regard to apostolic precedent. Our treatment of mankind should
undoubtedly be the expression of our feelings, and regulated by our
estimate of their character.  Strict communion prescribes the contrary;
it sets the conduct and the feelings at variance, and erects into a duty
the mortification of our best and holiest propensities.
The discipline of the church, as prescribed by Christ and his apostles,
is founded on principles applicable to every age and to every combination of events to which it is liable, in a world replete with change,
where new forms of error, new modes of aberration from the paths of
rectitude and truth, are destined to follow in rapid and unceasing succession. Among these we are compelled to enumerate the prevailing
notions of the Christian world on the subject of baptism-an error
which, it is obvious, could have no subsistence during the age of the
-postles. Here then arises a new case, and it becomes a matter of
serious inquiry how it is to be treated.  It plainly cannot be decided
by a reference to apostolic precedent, because nothing of this kind
then existed, or could exist.  The precept which enjoined the baptism
of new converts might be resisted, but it could not be mistaken, and
therefore no inference can be drawn from the treatment which it is
admitted the apostles would have assigned to wilfill disobedience, that
is applicable to the case of involuntary error. The only method of
arriving at a satisfactory conclusion is, to consider how they conducted
themselves towards sincere though erring Christians, together with
the temper they recommend us to cultivate towards such as labour




218               CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
under mistakes and misconceptions not inconsistent with piety. Without expecting a specific direction for the regulation of our conduct in
this identical particular, which would be to suppose the error in question
not new, it is quite sufficient if the general principle of toleration
which the New Testament enjoins is found to comprehend the present
instance.
If action be founded on conviction, as it undoubtedly is in all wellregulated minds, we are as much obliged to mould our sentiments into
an agreement with those of the apostles as our conduct: inspired
precedents of thought are as authoritative as those of action. The
advocates of strict communion are clamorous in their demand that, in
relation to church-fellowship, we should treat all Pedobaptists exactly
in the same manner as the apostles would have treated unbaptized
persons in their day. But must we not for the same reason think the
same of them? This, however, they disclaim as much as we do:
they are perfectly sensible, nor have they the hardihood to deny, that
the difference is immense between a conscientious mistake of the
mind of Christ on a particular subject, and a deliberate contempt or
neglect of it. Who can doubt that the apostles would be the first to
feel this distinction; and as they would undoubtedly, in common with
all conscientious persons, regulate their conduct by their sentiments,
that, could they be personally consulted, they would recommend a
correspondent difference of treatment? To sum up the argument in a
few words: Nothing can be more hollow and fallacious than the pretension of our opponents that they are guided by inspired precedent,
for we have no precedent in the case; in other words, we have no
example of the manner in which they conducted themselves towards
such as fell into an error on the subject of baptism; the Scriptures
make no allusion to such an error which attaches at present to many
most tenacious of its authority, humbly submissive to its dictates, and
deeply imbued with its spirit; to men, in a word, of the most opposite
character to those who may be supposed, in consequence of setting
light by the authority of inspired teachers, to have neglected baptism
in the first ages.
Thus much may suffice for apostolic precedent. There is still one
more view of the subject to which the attention of the reader is requested for a moment. It remains to be considered whether there is
any peculiar connexion between the two ordinances of baptism and
the lord's Supper, either in the nature of things or by divine appointment, so as to render it improper to administer the one without the
other.  That there is no natural connexion is obvious.  They were
instituted at different times and for different purposes; baptism is a
mode of professing our faith in the blessed Trinity, the Lord's Supper
as a commemoration of the dying love of the Redeemer: the former
is the act of an individual, the latter of a society. The words which
contain our warrant for the celebration of the Eucharist convey no
allusion to baptism whatever: those which prescribe baptism carry
no anticipative reference to the Eucharist. And as it is demonstrable
thlat John's baptism was a separate institution from that which was




PARTY COMMUNION.                       219
enacted after our Lord's resurrection, the Lord's Supper is evidently
anterior to baptism, and the original communicants consisted entirely
of such as had not received that ordinance.  To all appearance, the
rites in question rest on independent grounds.  But perhaps there is a
special connexion between the two, arising from divine appointment.
If this be the case, it will be easy to point it out. Rarely, if ever, are
they mentioned together, and on no occasion is it asserted, or insinuated, that the validity of the sacrament depends on the previous observation of the baptismal ceremony. That there was such a connexion
between circumcision and the passover we learn from the explicit
declaration of Moses, who asserts that " no uncircumcised person shall
eat thereof."  Let a similar prohibition be produced in the present
instance, and the controversy is at an end.
The late excellent Mr. Fuller, in a posthumous pamphlet on this
subject, laboured hard to prove an instituted connexion between the
two ordinances; but his conclusion from the premises is so feeble and
precarious, that we strongly suspect his own mind was not fully made
up on the subject.  His reasoning is certainly very little adapted to
satisfy an impartial inquirer.  The whole performance appears more
like an experiment of what might be advanced in favour of a prevailing hypothesis, than the result of deep and deliberate conviction.
On this point our opponents are at variance with each other; Mr.
Kinghorn roundly asserts that baptism has no more connexion with
the Lord's Supper than with every other part of Christianity. Thus
what Mr. Fuller attempts to demonstrate as the main pillar of his
cause, Mr. Kinghorn abandons without scruple.  What a fortunate
position is that to which men may arrive who proceed in the most
opposite directions-a sort of mental antipodes, which you will reach
with equal certainty whether you advance by the east or by the west.
From the title of Mr. Kinghorn's book, which is, " Baptism a Term of
Communion," we should be led to expect that it was his principal
object to trace some specific relation which these rites bear to each
other.  No such thing: he denies there is any such relation: baptism,
he declares, is no otherwise connected with the Lord's Supper than it
is with every other part of Christianity. But on his hypothesis it is
essential to the Eucharist, and consequently it is essential to every
part of Christianity; so that the omission of it, from whatever cause,
is such an error in the first concoction, that it vitiates every branch of
religion, disqualifies for all its duties, and incurs the forfeiture of all
its privileges. This is the statement of a man who makes loud professions of attachment to our Pedobaptist brethren; nor can he escape
%om this strange dilemma but by retracing his steps, and taking his
stand with Mr. Fuller on a supposed instituted relation between the
two ordinances.  Meanwhile, it is instructive to observe in what inextricable labyrinths the acutest minds are entangled which desert the
high road of common sense in pursuit of fanciful theories.
Having cleared the way, by showing that Scripture precedent,
properly interpreted, affords no countenance or support to strict communlion, the remaining task is very easy. For nothing can be more




2o20            CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
evident than that the whole genius of Christianity is favourable to the
most cordial and affectionate treatment of our fellow-christians.  To
love them fervently, to bear with their imperfections, and cast the
mantle of forgiveness over their infirmities is to fulfil the law of Christ.
A schism in his mystical body is deprecated as she greatest evil, and
whatever tends to promote it is subjected to the severest reprobation.
" Now I beseech you, by the name of the Lord Jesus," is the language
of St. Paul, " that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared unto
me, by them who are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am
of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.  Is
Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in
the name of Paul?"  In applying these and innumerable other passages of similar import to the point under discussion, two questions
occur.  First, Are our Pedobaptist brethren a part of the mystical
body of Christ? or, in other words, Do they form a portion of that
church which he has purchased by his precious blood? If they are
not, they are not in a state of salvation, since none can be in that state
who are not vitally united to Christ. The Bible acknowledges but
two classes into which the whole human race is distributed, the church
and the world; there is no intermediate condition; whoever is not of
the first necessarily belongs to the last.  But the advocates for strict
communion are loud in their professions of esteem for pious Pedobaptists, nor is there any thing they would more resent than a doubt of
their sincerity in that particular. The persons whom they exclude
from their communion are then, by their own confession, a part of the
flock of Christ, a portion of his mystical body, and of that church
which he has bought with his blood.
The next question is, Whether a formal separation from them on
the account of their imputed error amounts to what the Scripture styles
schism? Supposing one part of the church at Corinth had formally
severed themselves from the other, and established a separate cam
munion, allowing those whom  they had forsaken, at the same time,
the title of sincere Christians, would this have been considered as a
schism?  That it would is demonstrable from  the language of St.
Paul, who accuses the Corinthians of having schisms* among them,
though they never dreamed of forming a distinct and separate communion.  If they are charged with schism  on account of that spirit
of contention and that alienation of their affections from each other
which merely tended to an open rupture, how much more would they
have incurred that censure had they actually proceeded to that extremity?  Schism, in its primitive and literal sense, signifies the breaking of a substance into two or more parts, and when figuratively appli d
to a body of men it denotes the division of it into parties; and thoe  h
it may be applied to such a state of contention as consists with t:,.e
e The original word rendered divisions is aXLtacara, schisms




PARTY COMMUN ION.            2.!
preservation of external union, it is most eminently applicable to
society whose bond of union is dissolved, and where one part rejects
the other from its feilowship. If there is any meaning in terms, thik
is schism  in its highest sense.  The great apostle of the gentiles
illustrates the union c(f the faithful by that which subsists between thet
members of the natural body.  "i fow ye are the body of Christ, and
members in particullar."  He shows, in a beautiful and impressive
manner, that th, saver-:i mlembers have each his distinct tihnction, and
are pervaded by a common sympathy, with the expressive design "' that
there be no schism in the body." But when one part of the Christian
church avowedly excludes another from their communion, when they
refuse to unite in the most distinguishing branch of social worship,
and hold themselves in a state of seclusion, they virtually say to the
party'thus repelled, "We have no need of thee;" they cut themselves off
from the body, and are guilty of a schism so open and conspicuous
that none can fail to perceive it.  How is it possible for them to evade
the conclusion to which this reasoning conducts us, unless they are
prepared to deny the claim of the Pedobaptists to be regarded as the
members of Christ, or place them in some intermediate station between
the world and the church?  But the language of the New Testament,
which uniformly identifies the objects of the Divine favour with the
members of Christ's church, is directly opposed to such a fiction.
" He loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it, by the washing of water through the Word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing."
It deserves the serious consideration of our opponents, that they are
contending for that schism in the body of Christ against which he so
fervently prayed, so anxiously guarded, and which his apostles represent as its greatest calamity and reproach.  "- The glory," said our
Lord, " which thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be
one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; that the world may know that thou bast sent
me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." Here it cannot be
doubted that our Pedobaptist brethren are comprehended in this prayer
because our Lord declares it was preferred, not merely for the disciples,hen existing, but for those also who should hereafter believe through
1heir word, adding, "that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me."  In these words we find him praying
for a visible union among his disciples-such a union as the world
might easily perceive; and this he entreats in behalf of them all, that
they all may be one.  The advocates of strict communion plead for a
visible disunion; nor will it avail them to reply that they cultivate a
fraternal affection towards Christians of other denominations, while
they insist on such a visible separation as must make it apparent to
the world that they are not one. Internal sentiments of esteem are
cognizable only by the Searcher of hearts; external indications are
all that the world has to judge by; and so far are the) from exhibiting




222             CHIRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
these, that,they value themselves in maintaining such a position towards
*heir fellow-christians as confounds them, in a very important point,
with infidels and heathens.  If a rent and division in the body is preg.
nant with so much scandal and offence as the Scriptures represent it,
if the spirit of love and concord is the distinguishing badge of the
Christian profession, it is surprising it has never occurred to them,
that by insisting on such a separation as was unheard of in the primitive times, every approach to which is denounced in Scripture as a
most serious evil, they are acting in direct opposition to the genius of
the gospel and the solemn injunctions of its inspired teachers. What
degree of criminality may attach to such a procedure it is not for us
to determine; but we have no hesitation in affirming, that it is most
abhorrent from the intention of the Head of the church, and miserably
compensated by that more correct view of the ordinance of baptism
which is alleged in its support.  " Charity is the end of the commandment," "the fulfilling of the law;" and since the religion of Christ
is not ceremonial, but vital, and consists less in correct opinions and
ritual observances than in those graces of the Spirit which are the
"hidden man of the heart," it deserves serious consideration whether
so palpable a violation of the unity of the church is not more offensive
in the eyes of Him who "tries the hearts and the reins," than an
involuntary mistake of a ceremonial precept.
Here we must be allowed once more to recur to the vain boast of a
scrupulous adherence to the example of the apostles (the futility of
which has, I trust, been sufficiently demonstrated), and request our
opponents to reflect for a moment on their essential deviation in this
particular. Say, did the apostles refuse the communion of good men?
Did they set the example of dividing them into two classes, a qualified
and a disqualified class; and while they acknowledged the latter were
objects of the Divine favour equally with themselves, enjoin on their
converts the duty of disowning them  at the Lords table?  Are any
traces to be discovered in the NeW Testament of a society of Purists,
who, under the pretence of superior illumination on one subject, kept
themselves aloof from the Cnristian world, excluding from their communion myriads of those whom they believed to be heirs of salvation!
Did they narrow their views of church-fellowship, as Mr. Kinghorn
avows is the case of the modern Baptists, to the purpose of holding
up to view one neglected truth?  On this plan, as many separate communions will be witnessed as there are varieties of religious taste and
predilection, while each fancies it perceives some neglected duty or
some truth not rendered sufficiently prominent, till almost every inquiry
will give birth to some solitary and antisocial sect. The direct tendency
of such a principle is not merely to annihilate the unity of the church,
but to contract the heart, to narrow the understanding, and, in the room
of' holding forth the word of life," to invest every petty speculation
and minute opinion with the dignity of a fundamental truth.
The revival or propagation of some one particular truth being the
avowed object of their union, the members of such a society will
anmost inevitably attach to it an undue importance; and as their Ratentior




PARTY COMMUNION.                       223
will be chiefly directed towards that in which they differ from others,
and in which they are conceived to excel, it will be a miracle if they
escape a censorious, conceited, disputatious spirit. While their con.
stitution is founded not so much on a separation from the world as
from the church, they will be almost irresistibly tempted to transfer to
the latter a large portion of the associations and feelings of which the
former is the proper object.
How refreshing is it to turn from these rigid and repulsive principles
to the contemplation of the generous maxims of the New Testament!
"Him  that is weak in the faith," says St. Paul, "receive ye, not to
doubtful disputations;"~ and after illustrating his meaning by adducing
examples of various diversities of sentiment among his converts, he
proceeds to inculcate the most perfect mutual toleration. It is observable that the differences of opinion which he specifies related to
the obligation of certain positive institutes, to which, though abrogated
by the new dispensation, part of the church adhered, while its more
enlightened members understood and embraced the liberty with which
Christ had made them  free.  "We that are strong ought to bear
the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."  A moment's attention to the connexion will convince the reader that the
term weak in both these passages denotes persons whose conceptions
are erroneous; for the inspired writer is not adverting to the different
degrees of conviction with which the same truths are embraced, but to
a palpable difference of judgment. Thus far the case here decided is
precisely similar to that under present discussion: our difference from
the Pedobaptists turns on the nature and obligation of a positive institute. The error of which St. Paul enjoined the toleration consisted in
adhering to certain ceremonies which had been abrogated; the error with
which we are concerned consists in mistaking a ceremony which is
still in force. Neither of the ancient nor of the modern error is it pretended that they are fundamental, or that they endanger the salvation
of those who hold them. Thus far they stand on the same footing,
and the presumption is that they ought to be treated in the same
manner. Before we come to this conclusion, however, it behooves us
to examine the principle on which the apostle enjoins toleration, and
if this is applicable in its full extent to the case of our Pedobaptist
brethren, no room is left for doubt.  The principle plainly is, that the
error in question was not of such magnitude as to preclude him who
maintained it from  the favour of God.  "Let not him who eateth
despise him who eateth not; and let not him who eateth not judge
him who eateth; for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest
another man's servant?  To his own master he standeth or falleth.
Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand." In
the same manner, in the next chapter of the same epistle, after reminding the strong that it is their duty to bear the infirmities of the weak,
he adds, "Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also hath
received us, to the glory of the Father." If such is the reason assigned
for mutual toleration, and it is acknowledged to be a sufficient one,
* Rom. xiv. 1.




224            CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
which none can deny without impeaching the inspiration of the writer,
it is as conclusive respecting the obligation of tolerating every error
which is consistent with a state of salvation as if that error had been
mentioned by name; and as few, if any, are to be met with who doubt
the piety of many Pedobaptists, it not only justifies their reception, but
renders it an indispensable duty. Nothing can be more futile than the
attempt to turn aside the edge of this reasoning by remarking that
there is no mention of baptism, and that this is not the subject of which
St. Paul is treating, as though the Bible contained no general principles, no maxims of universal application, but that precise directions
must be found for every possible emergence that in the lapse of ages
may occur. Were it constructed upon this plan, the Bible must be
infinitely more voluminous than the statutes at large. It is composed
on one widely different; it gives general rules of action, broad principles, leaving them to be applied under the guidance of sound discretion; and wherever it has decided a doubtful question, accompanied
with an express statement of the principle on which the decision is
founded, such explanation has all the force of an apostolic canon, by
which we are bound to regulate our conduct in all the variety of cases
to which it applies. Hence we have only one alternative, either to
deny that those who differ from us on the subject of baptism are
accepted of God, or to receive them into fellowship on exactly the
same ground and on the same principle that Paul enjoined the tolera
tion of sincere Christians.
Before I dismiss this part of the subject, on which the patience ot
the reader has been severely tasked, I must beg leave to notice a
striking inconsistence in the advocates of strict communion. Nothing
is more certain than that the communion of saints is by no means confined to one particular occasion, or limited to one transaction, such as
that of assembling around the Lord's table; it extends to all the modes
by which believers recognise each other as the members of a common
head.  Every expression of fraternal regard, every participation in
the enjoyments of social worship, every instance of the unity of the
Spirit exerted in prayer and supplication or in acts of Christian sympathy and friendship, as truly belongs to the communion of saints as
the celebration of the Eucharist. In truth, if we are strangers to
communion with our fellow-christians on other occasions, it is impossible for us to enjoy it there; for the mind is not a piece of mechanism
which can be set a-going at pleasure, whose movements are obedient
to the call of time and place, Nothing short of an habitual sympathy
of spirit, sp:ingirng from the cultivation of benevolent feeling and the
interchange of kind offices, will secure that reciprocal delight, that
social pleasLre, which is ite soLi of Christian communon.  Its richiest
fruits are frequently reserved ior private conference, ii`ke that in which
the two disciples were. engaged in their way to Lnmmaus, wher' their
hearts burned within them, while the Lord opened to them the Scrip.
tures.  When they take sweet counsel together as they go to the
house of God in company, when they bear each other's burthens, weep
with those that weep, anid rejoice with them that rejoice; say, have




PARTY COMMUNION.                       225
Christians no mutual fellowship?  Is it not surprising that, losing
sight of such 4bvious facts, our opponents always reason on the subject of communion as though it related merely to the sacrament? In
every other particular they act just as we do.
However our opponents may deviate from Scripture, let them at
least be consistent with themselves, and either follow out their own
principles to their just consequence by withholding from the members
of other denominations every token of fraternal regard, or freely admit
them to the Lord's table. As the case stands at present, their mode
of proceeding is utterly untenable. In a variety of instances they
indulge themselves in those acts of communion with Pedobaptists
which are peculiar to Christians: they frequently make them their
mouth in addressing the Deity; they exchange pulpits; and even
engage their assistance in exercises intended as a preparation for the
Eucharist; and after lighting the flame of devotion at their torch, they
most preposterously turn round to inform them that they are not
worthy to participate. It would be difficult to convince a stranger to
our practice that it were possible to be guilty of such an absurdity. Is
the observance of an external rite, let me ask, a more solemn part of
religion than addressing the Majesty of heaven and of earth? And
shall we depute him to present our prayers at His footstool who would
defile a sacrament by his presence? Suppose them to relax from their
rigour, and to admit pious Pedobaptists to their fellowship, to what
would it amount? To nothing more than a public acknowledgment
of their union to Christ and their interest in his benefits; and as they
fully acknowledge both, why scruple to do it at the table of their coinmon Lord. Why select an ordinance designed for the commemoration of
the dying love of the Redeemer as the signal for displaying the banners
of party; and by reviving the remembrance of differences elsewhere
consigned to oblivion, give the utmost publicity to dissensions which
are the reproach of the church and the triumph of the world?
The only colour invented to disguise this glaring inconsistency is
so pure a logomachy, that it is difficult to speak of it with becoming
gravity. They remind us, forsooth, that the expressions of Christian
affection in praying and preaching for each other are not church acts,
as though there were some magic in the word church that could change
the nature of truth, or the obligations of duty. If it is our duty to
recognise those as fellow-christians who are really such, what is there
in the idea of a church that should render it improper there? If the
church is " the pillar and ground of truth," it is the proper place for
the fullest disclosure of its secrets; and if Christians are under an
obligation to love each other with a pure heart, fervently, its organiza.
tion can never have been designed to contract the heart, by confining
the movements and expressions of charity within narrower limits.
The duty of churches originates in that of the individuals of which they
consist, so that when we have ascertained the sentiments and principles
which ought to actuate the Christian in his private capacity, we pos.
sess the standard to which the practice of churches should be uniformll'
adjusted.
VOL. II.-P




226             CHRISTIAN IN OPPOSITION TO
Nor is it ill this particular only that the persons whose opinions
we are controverting are betrayed into lamentable inconsistency.
Their concessions on another branch of the subject lay them open to
the same imputation. They acknowledge that many Pedobaptists
stand high in the favour of God; enjoy intimate communion with the
Redeemer; and would, on their removal hence, be instantaneously
admitted to glory. Now, it seems the suggestion of common sense
that the greater includes the less, that they who have a title to the
Lost sublime privileges of Christianity, the favour of God, the fellow.
ship of Christ, and the hope of glory, must be unquestionably entitled
to that ordinance whose sole design is to prepare us for the perfect
fruition of these blessings.  To suppose it possible to have an interest
in the great redemption without being allowed to commemorate it,
that he may possess the substance who is denied the shadow, and
though qualified for the worship of heaven, be justly debarred from
earthly ordinances, is such an anomaly as cannot fail to draw reprobation on the system of which it is the necessary consequence.  Men
will, ere long, tremble at the thought of being more strict than Christ,
more fastidious ill the selection of the members of the church militant
than he is in choosing the members of the church triumphant.
Hitherto our attention has been occupied in stating the arguments in
favour of mixed communion, and replying to the objections to that
practice. It is but justice to the subject and to the reader, before we
close the discussion, to touch on another topic.
In every inquiry relating to Christian duty, our first concern should
undoubtedly be to ascertain the will of the Supreme Legislator; but
when this has been done to our satisfaction, we may be allowed to
examine the practical tendency of different systems, the effect of which
will be to confirm our preference of that course of action which we
have found most consonant with the oracles of truth. We are far
from resting the merits of our cause on the basis of expedience; we
are aware that whoever attempts to set the useful in opposition to
the true is misled by false appearances, and that it behooves us, on all
occasions, fearless of consequences, to yield to the force of evidence.
But having, in the preceding pages, proved (we would hope to the
satisfaction of the reader) that the practice of strict communion has no
support from Scripture or reason, it cannot be deemed improper briefly
to inquire into its tendency.
The first effect necessarily resulting from it is a powerful prejudice
against the party which adopts it. When all other denominations find
themselves lying under an interdict, and treated as though they were
heathens or p)ublicans, they must be more than men not to resent it;
or if they regard it with a considerable degree of apathy, it can only
be ascribed to that contempt which impotent violence is so apt to
inspire.  We are incompetent judges of the light in which our conduct
appears to those against whom it is directed, but the more frequently
we place ourselves in their situation the less will be our surprise at
the indications of alienation and disgust which they may evince. The
very appellation of Baptist, together with the tenets by which it is




PARTY COAM4UNION.                      227
designated, become associated with the idea of bigotry; nor will it
permit the mind which entertains that prejudice to give an impartial
attention to the evidence by which our sentiments are supported. With
mingled surprise and indignation they behold us making pretensions
which no other denomination of Protestants assumes, placing ourselves
in an attitude of hostility towards the whole Christian world, and
virtually claiming to be the only church of Christ upon earth.
Fortified as it is by its claims to antiquity and universality, and combining in its exterior whatever is adapted to dazzle the imagination
and captivate the senses, there is yet nothing in the Church of Rome
that has excited more indignation and disgust than this very pretension.
What then must be the sensation produced, when, in the absence of all
these advantages, a sect comparatively small and insignificant erects
itself on a solitary eminence, from whence it repels the approach of
all other Christians! The power of prejudice to arrest the progress
of inquiry is indeed to be lamented; nothing could be more desirable
than that every opinion should, in the first instance, be judged of by
its intrinsic evidence, without regard to the conduct of the persons
who embrace it; but the strength and independence of mind requisite
to such an effort is rather to be admired than expected.  There are
few who enter on the investigation of theological questions in that
elevated state; secret antipathies or predilections will be sure to instil
their venom, and obscure the perception of truth and the suggestions
of reason.
By the stern rejection of the members of all other denominations
until they have embraced our distinguishing tenets, what do we propose to effect —to intimidate or to convince? We can do neither. To
intimidate is impossible, while there are others far more numerous
than ourselves ready to receive them with open arms. The hope of
producing conviction by such an expedient is equally groundless and
chimerical, since conviction is the result of evidence, and no light
whatever can be pretended to be conveyed by interdicting their communion, unless it be that it manifests our intolerance.  We propose to
extirpate an error, and we plant a prejudice; and instead of attempting
to soften and conciliate the minds of our opponents, we inflict a stigma.
Professing serious concern that the ordinance of baptism, as it was
practised in the first ages, is fallen into neglect, we attempt to revive
an unpopular rite,-by a mode of procedure which, without the remotest
tendency towards the removal of error or the elucidation of truth,
answers no other purpose than to make ourselves unpopular.
By this preposterous conduct, we do all in our power to place our
Pedobaptist brethren beyond the reach of conviction. Since it is
unreasonable to expect, however attractive the ministry, that a pious
Pedobaptist will statedly attend where he must despair of ever becoming
a member, and of enjoying the privileges to which every serious person is supposed to aspire; he attaches himself, as a necessary consequence, to a connexion in which there is no such impediment, but
where he is certain of hearing nothing but what will foster his prejudices and confirm his error. Thus he is excluded from the only
P2




228            CHRISTIAN IN 01 POSITION TO
connexion where the arguments for adult baptism are stated, and is
exposed to the constant operation of an opposite species of instruction.
The practice which we are reprobating is nearly equivalent to an
inscription over the door, Let none but Baptists enter within these
walls-an admirable expedient, truly, for diffusing the Baptist sentiments; about as rational as to send a man firom London to Constantinople to study the evidences of Christianity!
Mr. Kinghorn is delighted with this separation of the Baptists from
other denominations in the offices of devotion, avowing it as his opinion that no Pedobaptist can without great impropriety statedly attend
the ministry of one of our denomination. If we may judge from what
he has written on this subject, he appears less anxious to promote and
extend the peculiar tenets of the Baptists, than to preserve inviolate
their sacred seclusion and solitude. His sentiments on this subject
will probably remind the poetical reader of Gray's beautiful description
of the bird of night, which
----- ~" does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bowers,.~ Molest her ancient, solitary reign."
Whatever his intention may be, it must be obvious that by the policy
he recommends, of keeping the Baptists and Pedobaptists entirely
separated from each other, even as hearers of the word, he is strengthening the barriers of party, building up a middle wall. of partition, and
by cutting off the channels of communication and the means of conviction, resigning both to the entire and unmitigated operation of their
respective systems. Is it possible to imagine any thing more calculated to stifle inquiry, to render the public mind stationary, and to perpetuate our divisions to the end of the world?  From him who was
really solicitous to extend the triumphs of truth we should expect
nothing would be more abhorrent than such a system; he surely would
leave nothing unattempted to break down the rampart of prejudice;
and by making the nearest approaches to his opponents consistent
with truth, avail himself of all the advantages which a generous confidence seldom fails to bestow, for insinuating his sentiments and
promoting his views.
Of the tendency of mixed communion to promote a more candid
inquiry into our principles, it is scarcely possible to doubt; whether it
would have the effect of rapidly extending the Baptist denomination
as such is less certain.  For were that practice universally to prevail,
the mixture of Baptists and Pedobaptists in Christian societies would
probably ere long be such, that the appellation of Baptist might be
found not so properly applicable to churches as to individuals, while
some more comprehensive term might possibly be employed to discriminate the views of collective bodies. But what then? Are we
contending for names, or for things? If the effect of a more liberal
system shall be found to increase the number of those who return to
the primitive practice of baptism, and thus follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, he must be possessed of a deplorable imbecility and




PARTY COMMUNION.                          229
narrowness of minrd who will lament the disappearance of a name,
especially when it is remembered that whenever just views on this
subject shall becomnle universal, the name by which we are at present
distinguished will necessarily cease. An honest solicitude for the
restoration of a divine ordinance to its primitive simplicity and purity
is not merely innocent, but meritorious; but if the ultimate consequence
of such an improvement should be to merge the appellation of a party
in that which is derived from the divine Founder of our religion, it is
an event whtich none but a bigot will regret.
It were well, hoxwever, if' the evil resulting from the practice of strict
communion were confined to its effect on other denominations. If I
am not much mistaken, it exerts a pernicious influence on our own.
Were it consistent with propriety, it would be easy to adduce except
tions; individuals have come within the narrow  range of my own
observation whose temperament has Leen so happy, that they have
completely  surmounted tile  natural tendency of their principles,
combining the greatest candour towards Pedobaptists with a conscientious refusal of their conmmUrnion.  Such instances however must,
in the nature of things, be rare.  Generally speaking, Jhe adoption of a
narrow and contracted theory will issue in a narrow  and contracted
mind.  It is too much to expect that a habit of treating all other
Christians as aliens fromn  the fold of Christ, and unworthy of a
participation of the privileges of his church, can be generally unaccompanied with an asperity of temper, a proneness to doubt the
sincerity, to censure the motives, and depreciate the virtues of those
whom they are accustomed to treat with so much rigourn  Conceiving
themselves to be a highly privileged class, as the only legitimate members of his church, they are almost inevitably exposed to think more
highly of themselves than they ought to think; and founding their
separation, not on that which distinguishes the followers of Christ
from the world, but on a point in which Christians dissent from each
other, they are naturally tempted to attach superlative importance -to
the grounds of difference.
The history of the present controversy affords a melancholy confirmation of these r:emarks; for the few who have ventured to appear
on the liberal side of the question have, for thie most part, been assailed
by ungenerous insinuations and odious personalities.  Their claim to
be considered as Baptists is very reluctantly conceded, and the -part
they have taken has beeni imputed to the love of popularity, or to
some still more unworthy motive.  Some churches,in their zeal for
strict communion, have even lost sight of their own principles, and
substituted the doctrine opposed in these pages as a term of admission,
instead of the ordinance of baptism.   Others have refused the privilege
of occasional connmmunion to such as have been known to sit down
with Peldobaptists at the Lord's table.
Leaving, however, to those to whom it may be more grateful the unwelcome office of exposing the infirmities of their brethren, let me
close this subject by one more remark.  In addition to all the other
reasons for retracing our steps, we may with great propriety allege




138S                GBCHRISTIAN COMMUNIODN.
the spirit of the times, the genius of the age, distinguished as it is,
beyond all former example, by the union of Christians in the promotion
of a comim-on cause, and their merging their minor differences in the
cultivation of great principles and the pursuit of great objects. Instead
of confininog themselves, each to the defence of his own citadel, they are
sallving forth in all directions, in order to make a powertful and cornbined attack on the kingdom of darkness.  The church of Christ, no
longer the scene of intestine warfare among the several denominations:lnto which it is Cantoned and divided, presents the image of a great
empire, composed of distant but not hostile provinces, prepared to send
forth its combatants, at the command of its invisible sovereign, to
in vade the dominions of Satan and subdue the nations of the earth.
The weapons of its warfare have already made themselves felt in the
East and in the West; and wherever its banner is unfurled, it gathers..aiund. it, without distinction of name or sect, 6" the called, the chosen
tile faithful," who, at the heart-thrilling voice of baim whose "6 vesture is
dipped in blood,"' and who goes forth'6 conquering and to conquer,"
rush to the field, unmindful of every distinction but that of his friends
and foes, and too eager for the combat to ask any other question than
66 Who is on the Lord's side? Who?" And is it possible, after mingling
thus their counsels, their efforts, their prayers, and standing side by.ide in the thickest of the conflict, in coming up 66 to the help of the
Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty," for them to turn
their backs on each other, and refuse to unite at that table which is
covered with the memorials of his love and the fruits of his victory?
NPo.  As we hope when the warfare of time is accomplished, and these
mortal tabernacles inl which it is performed shall be dissolved, to
celebrate a never-endinog feast with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and the whole army of the faithful of every age, from every clime, and
from every tongue, let us begin by feasting together here, to present a
specimen of that harmony and love which are at once the element and
the ca.rnest cf eternal felici tyy




ARTICLES
PUBLISHED IN
THE ECLECTIC  REVIEW.








REVIEW
OF
FOSTER'S ESSAYS.
Essay s, in a Series of Letters, on the following Subjects:-On a Man's
writin~  Memoirs of Himself; On Decision of Character; On the
Application of the Epithet Romantic; On some of the Causes by
which Evangelical Religion has been rendered less acceptable to Persons of cultivated Ta.cte. By JOHN FOSTER. 2 vols. 12mo. 1805.
I vol. 8vo. pp. 458. Seventh Edition, 1823.
THE authors who have written on human nature may be properly
distinguished into two classes, the metaphysical and the popular. The
former contemplate man in the abstract; and, neglecting the different
shades of character and peculiarities of temper by which mankind are
diversified, confine their attention to those fundamental principles which
pervade the whole species. In attempting to explore the secrets of
mental organization, they assume nothing more for a basis than a mere
susceptibility of impression, whence they labour to deduce the multi.
plied powers of the human mind. The light in which they choose to
consider man in their researches is not that of a being possessed
already of the exercise of reason and agitated by various sentiments
and passions, but simply as capable of acquiring them; and their
object is, by an accurate investigation of the laws which regulate the
connexion of the mind with the external universe, to discover in what
manner they are actually acquired. They endeavour to trace back every
mental appearance to its source. Considering the powers and principles
of the mind as a complicated piece of machinery, they attempt to discover
the primum mobile, or, in other words, that primary law, that ultimate
fact which is sufficiently comprehensive to account for every other movement. This attention to the internal operations of the mind, with a
view to analyze its principles, is one of the distinctions of modern
times. Among the ancients scarcely any thing of this sort was known.
Comprehensive theories and subtile disquisitions are not unfrequent in
their writings; but they are chiefly employed for the illustration of
different modes of virtue and the establishment of different ideas of the
supreme good. Their most abstracted speculations had almost always
a practical tendency.  The schoolmen, indeed, were deeply immersed




234                      REVIEW  OF
in metaphysical speculations. They fatigued their readers in the pur
suit of endless abstractions and distinctions; but the design, even of
these writers, seems rather to have been accurately to arrange and
define the objects of thought than to explore the mental faculties themselves. The nature of particular and universal ideas, time, space,
infinity, together with the mode of existence to be ascribed to the Supreme Being, chiefly engaged the attention of the mightiest minds in
the middle ages.  Acute in the highest degree, and endued with a wonderful patience of thinking, they yet, by a mistaken direction of their
powers, wasted themselves in endless logomachies, and displayed more
of a teasing subtlety than of philosophical depth.  They chose rather
to strike into the dark and intricate by-paths of metaphysical science
than to pursue a career of useful discovery: and as their disquisitions
were neither adorned by taste nor reared on a basis of extensive knowledge, they gradually fell into neglect when juster views in philosophy
made their appearance. Still they will remain a mighty monument of
the utmost which the mind of man can accomplish in the field of
abstraction. If the metaphysician does not find in the schoolmen the.
materials of his work, he will perceive the study of their writings to be
of excellent benefit in sharpening his tools. They will aid his acuteness, though they may fail to enlarge his knowledge.
When the inductive and experimental philosophy recommended by
Bacon had, in the hands of Boyle and Newton, led to such brilliant
discoveries in the investigation of matter, an attempt was soon made
to transfer the same method of proceeding to the mind. Hobbes, a
man justly infamous for his impiety, but of extraordinary penetration,
first set the example; which was not long after followed by Locke,
who was more indebted to his predecessor than he had the candour to
acknowledge. His celebrated Essay has been generally considered
as the established code of metaphysics. The opinions and discoveries
of this great man have since been enriched by large accessions, and,
on some points corrected and amended by the labours of Berkeley,
HIume, Reid, and a multitude of other writers.  Still there seems to be
a principle of mortality inherent in metaphysical science, which sooner
or later impairs the reputation of its most distinguished adepts.  It is
a circumstance worthy of remark, that there has never been a reputation of this kind which has continued with undiminished lustre through
the revolutions of a century. The fame of Locke is visibly on the
decline; the speculations of Malebranche are scarcely heard of in
France; and Kant, the greatest metaphysical name on the continent.
sways a doubtful sceptre amid a host of opponents.  It is not our
intention to inquire at large into the reason of the transitory fame acquired by this class of writers.  Whether it be that the science itself
rests on a precarious foundation; that its discoveries can never be
brought to a decisive test; that it is too remote from the business of
life to be generally interesting; that it does not compensate by its use
for its defects in the fascinations of pleasure; and that it is not, like the
intricacies of law, interwoven with the institutions of society: the fact
itself is unquestionable.  He who aspires to a reputation that shall




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                       235
survive the vicissitudes of opinion and of time, must think of some othei
character than that of a metaphysician.
Grand and imposing in its appearance, it seems to lay claim to uni
versal empire, and to supply the measures and the criteria of all othei
knowledge; but it resembles in its progress the conquests of a Sesostris
and a Bacchus, who overran kingdoms and provinces with ease, bul
made no permanent settlements, and soon left no trace of their
achievements.
The case is very different with the popular writers, who, without
attempting to form a theory or to trace their first elements, the vast
assemblage of passions and principles which enter into the composition
of man, are satisfied with describing him as he is. These writers
exhibit characters, paint manners, and display human nature in those
natural and affecting lights under which it will always appear to the
eye of an acute and feeling observer.  Without staying to inquire why
it is that men think, feel, reason, remember, —are attracted by some
objects or repelled by others, —they take them as they are, and delineate the infinitely various modifications and appearances assumed by
our essential nature.  From the general mass of human passions and
manners they detach such portions as they suppose will admit of the
most beautiful illustrations, or afford the most instructive lessons. Next
to a habit of self-reflection, accompanied with an attentive survey of
real life, writers of this kind are the best guides in the acquisition of
that most important branch of knowledge, an acquaintance with mankind.  As they profess to consider human nature under some particular
aspect, their views are necessarily more limited than those of metaphysical writers; but if they are less extensive, they are more certain;
if they occupy less ground, they cultivate it better.  In the language
of Bacon, " they come home to men's business and bosom."  As they
aim at the delineation of living nature, they can never deviate far from
truth and reality without becoming ridiculous; while for the fidelity of
their representations they appeal to the common sense of mankind, the
dictates of which they do little more than imbody and adorn. The
system of Locke or of Hartley, it is possible to conceive, may be
exploded by the prevalence of a different theory; but it is absurd to
suppose that the remarks on life and manners contained in the writings
of Addison or of Johnson can ever be discredited by a future moralist.
In the formation of a theory, more especially in matters so subtile and
complicated as those which relate to the mind, the sources of error are
various.  When a chain of reasoning consists of many links, a failure
of connexion in any part will produce a mass of error in the result,
proportioned to the length to which it is extended. In a complicated
combination, if the enumeration of particulars in the outset is not complete, the mistake is progressive and incurable. In the ideal philosophy
of Locke, for example, if the sources of sensation are not sufficiently
explored, or if there be, as some of the profoundest thinkers have suspected, other sources of ideas than those of sensation, the greater part
of his system falls to the ground. The popular writers of whom we
have been speaking are not exposed to such dangers. It is possible,




236                      REVIEW  OF
indeed, that many particular views may be erroneous; but as their
attention is continually turned to living nature, provided they be possessed of competent talents, their general delineations cannot fail of
being distinguished by fidelity and truth. While a few speculative men
amuse themselves with discussing the comparative merits of different
metaphysical systems, these are the writers whose sentiments, conveyed through innumerable channels, form the spirit of the age; nor is
it to be doubted that the Spectator and the Rambler have imparted a
stronger impulse to the public mind than all the metaphysical systems
in the world. On this account we are highly gratified when we meet
with a writer who, to a vein of profound and original thought, together
with just views of religion and of morals, joins the talent of recom.
mending his ideas by the graces of imagination and the powers of
eloquence. Such a writer we have the happiness of reviewing at
present. Mr. Foster's name is probably new to most of our readers;
but if we may judge from the production before us, he cannot long be
concealed from the notice and applause of the literary world. In an
age of mediocrity, when the writing of books has become almost a
mechanical art, and a familiar acquaintance with the best models has
diffused taste and diminished genius, it is impossible to peruse an author
who displays so great original powers without a degree of surprise.
We are ready to inquire by what peculiar felicity he was enabled to
desert the trammels of custom, to break the spell by which others feel
themselves bound, and to maintain a career so perfectly uncontrolled
and independent. A cast of thought original and sublime, an unlimited
command of imagery, a style varied, vigorous, and bold, are some of
the distinguishing features of these very singular essays. We add
with peculiar satisfaction, that they breathe the spirit of piety and benevolence, and bear the most evident indications of a heart deeply attached
to scriptural truths. Though Mr. F. has thought fit to give to his work
the title of " Essays, in a Series of Letters," the reader must not expect
any thing in the epistolary style.  They were written, the author
informs us, in letters to a friend, but with a view to publication; and in
their distinct development of a subject and fulness of illustration, they
resemble regular dissertations rather than familiar epistles. We could
have wished, indeed, that he had suppressed the title of Letters, as it
may excite in the reader an expectation of colloquial ease and grace,
which will not be gratified in the perusal. A little attention to this
circumstance, though it might have impaired the regularity of their
method, would have rendered them more fascinating. The subjects
appear to us well chosen, sufficiently uncommon to afford scope for
original remarks, and important enough to call forth the exertions of
the strongest powers. They are the following: 1. On a Man's writing
Memoirs of himself; 2. On Decision of Character; 3. On the Application of the Epithet Romantic; 4. On some of the Causes by which
Evangelical Religion has been rendered less acceptable to Persons of
cultivated Taste.
We shall endeavour to give our readers an idea of the general design
of each of these essays; and to enable them, by a few extracts, to
judge of the marnner in which that design is executed




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                     237
In the first essay, the author expatiates at large on the influence
of external events in the formation of character. This influence he
traces to four sources:-instruction, companionship, reading, and
attention to the state and manners of mankind.
Among the many objects calculated to form the character and
impress the heart, Mr. F. enumerates natural scenery; at the same
time deploring that want of fancy and sensibility which often renders
it productive of so little effect. The passage in which he adverts to
this subject is so beautiful, that we cannot prevail on ourselves to
withhold it from the reader. He will see at once that the writer has
viewed nature with the eye of a poet, and has deeply imbibed the
delicious enchantment which he so eloquently describes.
"I It might be supposed that the scenes of nature, an amazing assem
blage of phenomena, if their effect were not lost through familiarity,
would have a powerful influence on all opening minds, and transfuse
into the internal economy of ideas and sentiment something of a
character and a colour correspondent to the beauty, vicissitude, and
grandeur which continually press on the senses. On minds of genius
they often have this effect; and Beattie's MIinstrel may. be as just as
it is a fascinating description of such a spirit.  But on the greatest
number this influence operates feebly; you will not see the process in
children, nor the result in mature persons. The charms of nature are
objects only of sight and hearing, not of sensibility and imagination;
and even the sight and hearing do not receive impressions sufficiently
distinct or forcible for clear recollection; it is not, therefore, strange
that these impressions seldom go so much deeper than the senses as
to awaken pensiveness or enthusiasm, and fill the mind with an interior
permanent scenery of beautiful images at its own command. This
defect of fancy and sensibility is unfortunate amid a creation infinitely
rich with grand and beautiful objects, which, imparting something more
than images to a mind adapted and habituated to converse with nature,
inspire an exquisite sentiment that seems like the emanation of a
spirit residing in them.  It is unfortunate, I have thought within these
few minutes, while looking out on one of the most enchanting nights
of the most interesting season of the year, and hearing the voices of a
company of persons, to whom I can perceive that this soft and solemn
shade over the earth, the calm sky, the beautiful stripes of cloud, the
stars, and waning moon just risen, are things not in the least more
interesting than the walls, ceiling, and casdlelight of a room." —Vol.
I. pp. 26, 27. Pp. 22, 23, Seventh Edition.
Towards the close of the essay, in tracing the steps by which some
have arrived at the last stage of daring impiety, the denial of a God,
the author evinces, in a masterly manner, the presumption of the
atheist, and places the extreme absurdity of pretending to demonstrate
the non-existence of a Deity in a light in which we do not remember
to have seen it exhibited. Speaking of a pretended heroism attached
to atheistic impiety, he adds:," But, indeed, it is heroism no longer, if he knows that there is no
GCod.  The wonder then turns on the great process by which a man




238                      REVIEW  OF
could grow to the immense intelligence that can know that there is
no God. What ages and what lights are requisite for THIS attainment! This intelligence involves the very attributes of divinity, while
a God is denied. For, unless this man is omnipresent, unless he is
at this moment in every place in the universe, he cannot know but
there may be in some place manifestations of a Deity by which even
he would be overpowered. If he does not know absolutely every
agent in the universe, the one that he does not know may be God.
If he is inot himself the chief agent in the universe, and does not know
what is so, that which is so may be God. If he is not in absolute
possession of all the propositions that constitute universal truth, the one
which he wants may be that there is a God. If he cannot with
certainty assign the cause of all that exists, that cause may be a God.
If he does not know every thing that has been done in the immeasurable ages that are past, some things may have been done by a
God.  Thus, unless he knows all things, that is, precludes another
Deity, by being one himself, he cannot know that the Being whose
existence he rejects does not exist.  But he must know that he does
not exist, else he deserves equal contempt and compassion for the
temerity with which he firmly avows his rejection, and acts accordingly."
-Vol. I. pp. 60-62. Pp. 48, 49, Seventh Edition.
The next essay, On Decision of Character, appears to us superior
to the former.  The subject is pursued with greater regularity, the
conceptions are more profound, and the style is more chaste and
classical. After placing in strong contrast the features of a decisive
and of an irresolute character, he proceeds to analyze the elements
of which the former is composed. Among these, he assigns the first
place to a firm confidence in our own judgment; which, he justly
observes, notwithstanding the general disposition of mankind to
overrate their powers, is no common attainment.  With those who
are most disposed to think highly of their own abilities, it is common,
when they arrive at the moment of action, to distrust their judgment;
and, as the author beautifully expresses it, " their mind seems all at
once placed in a misty vacuity, where it reaches round on all sides,
and finds nothing to lay hold of." The next ingredient essential to
decision of character is a state of cogent feeling, an intense ardour
of mind, precluding indifference and delay.
In addition to these qualities, courage is required, without which, it
is obvious that resolutions the most maturely formed, are liable to
vanish at the first breath of opposition.  In the remaining part of the
essay, Mr. F. illustrates the influence of several circumstances of an
external nature, which tend to form or to augment the quality of which
he has been treating. The principal of these are opposition, desertion,
and success. It would prolong this article too much to attempt to
follow the author in these particulars: suffice it to remark, that under
each of them will be found many just and important observations.
He concludes with briefly recommending a discipline conducive to the
attainment of a decisive character. He particularly insists on the
propriety of inuring the mind to a habit of reasoning; and that not in




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                       239
a superficial and desultory manner, but by steadily following the train
till we reach a legitimate conclusion.
We cannot dismiss this part of the work without presenting out
readers with an extract from the character of Howard, whose virtues
have been emblazoned by the gorgeous eloquence of Burke; but we
are mistaken if they have ever been painted in a more masterly manner
than in the following portrait: —
" Ill this distinction (decision) no man ever exceeded, for instance, or
ever will exceed, the late illustrious Howard. The energy of his determination was so great, that if, instead of being habitual, it had been
shown only for a short time on particular occasions, it would have
appeared a vehement impetuosity; but by being unintermitted it had
an equability of manner, which scarcely appeared to exceed the tone
of a calm constancy, it was so totally the reverse of any thing like
turbulence or agitation.  It was the calmness of all intensity, kept
uniform by the nature of the human mind forbidding it to be more, and
by the character of the individual forbidding it to be less.  The habitual
passion of his mind was a measure of feeling almost equal to the
temporary extremes and paroxysms of common minds: as a great
river in its customary state is equal to a small or moderate one when
swollen toga torrent.  The moment of finishing his plans in deliberation, and commencing them in action, was the same. I wonder what
qnust have been the amount of that bribe, in emolument or pleasure,
that would have detained him a week inactive after their final adjustment.  The law which carries water down a declivity was not more
unconquerable and invariable than the determination of his feelings
towards the main object.  The importance of this object held his
faculties in a state of excitement which was too rigid to be affected
by lighter interests, and on which, therefore, the beauties of nature
and of art had no power. He had no leisure feeling which he could
spare, to be diverted among the innumerable varieties of the extensive
scene which he traversed; all his subordinate feelings lost their separate
existence and operation, by falling into the grand one. There have
not been wanting trivial minds to mark this as a fault in his character
But the mere men of taste ought to be silent respecting such a man
as Howard; he is above their sphere of judgment. The invisible
spirits who fulfil their commission of philanthropy among mortals
do not care about pictures, statues, and sumptuous buildings; and no
more did he, when the time in which he must have inspected and
admired them Would have been taken from the work to which he had
consecrated his life.*  The curiosity which he might feel was reduced
to wait till the hour should arrive when its gratification should be presented by conscience, which kept a scrupulous charge of all his time,
as the most sacred duty of that hour.  If he was still at every hour,
when it came, fated to feel the at ractions of the fine arts but the
second claim, they might be sure of their revenge; for no other man
* Mr. Howard, however, was not destitute of taste for the fine arts. His house at Cardington
was better filled with paintings and drawings than any other, on a smallt scale, that we ever saw
— Rev.




240                      REVIEW  OF
will ever visit Rome under such a despotic consciousness of duty, as.o retuse himself time for surveying the magnificence of its ruins. Such
a sin against taste is very far beyond the reach of common saintship to
ommit.  It implied an inconceivable severity of conviction that he
had one thing to do; and that he who would do some great thing in
this short life must apply himself to the work with such a concentration of his forces, as, to idle spectators, who live only to amuse themselves, looks like insanity.  His attention was so strongly and tenaciously fixed on his object, that, even at the greatest distance, as the
Egyptian Pyramids to travellers, it appeared to him with a luminous
distinctness as if it were nigh, and beguiled the toilsome length of labout
and enterprise by which he was to reach it. It was so conspicuous
before him, that not a step deviated from the direction, and every
movement and every day was an approximation. As his method referred every thing he did and thought to the end, and as his exertion
did not relax for a moment, he made the trial, so seldom made-what
is the utmost effect which may be granted to the last possible efforts
of a human agent; and, therefore, what he did not accomplish, he
might conclude to be placed beyond the sphere of mortal activity, and
calmvy leave to the immediate disposal of Providence."-Pp. 156tCO0. Pp. 125-128, Seventh Edition.
We have one remark to make before we conclude our review of this
essay.  We are a little apprehensive that the glowing colours in which
the imagination of Mr. F. has painted-an unyielding constancy of mind,
may tend to seduce some of his readers into an intemperate admiration of that quality, without duly distinguishing the object to which it
is directed, and the motives by which it is sustained. We give oui
author full credit for the purity of his principles; we are firmly persuaded that he is not to be classed among the impious idolaters of
mental energy.  But we could wish that he had more fully admonished
his readers to regard resolution of character not as a virtue so much
as the means of virtue-a mere instrument, that owes its value entirely
to the purpose to which it is employed; and that wherever nature has
conferred it, an additional obligation is imposed of purifying the principles and regulating the heart. It might at first view be thought
impossible, as Mr. F. intimates, that men should be found who are as
resolute in the prosecution of criminal enterprises as they could be
supposed to be in the pursuit of the most virtuous objects.  It is surely
a melancholy proof of something wrong in the constitution of human
nature, that a quality so important as that of energetic decision is so
little under the regulation of principle; that constancy is so much more
frequently to be seen in what is wrong than in what is right; and,
in fine, that the world can boast so many more heroes than the
church.
In the third essay, On the Application of the Epithet Romantic, Mr.
Foster takes occasion to expose the eagerness with which terms of
censure are adopted by men who, instead of calmly weighing the
merits of an undertaking or a character, think it sufficient to express
their antipathy by some opprobrious appellation.  The epithet romante




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                     241
nolds a distinguished place in the vocabulary of contempt. If a scheme
of action which it requires much benevolence to conceive and much
vigour to execute be proposed, by many it will be thought completely
exploded when they have branded it with the appellation of romantic.
Thus selfishness and indolence, arraying themselves in the garb of
wisdom, assume the pride of superiority when they ought to feel the
humiliation of guilt. To imitate the highest examples, to do good in
ways not usual to the same rank of life, to make great exertions and
sacrifices in the cause of religion and with a view to eternal happiness,
to determine without delay to reduce to practice whatever we applaud
in theory, are modes of conduct which the world will generally condemn as romantic, but which this author shows to be founded on the
highest reason. In unfolding the true idea of the romantic, as applicable to a train of sentiments or course of conduct, he ascribes
whatever may be justly so denominated to the predominance of the
imagination over the other powers. He points out the symptoms of
this disease as apparent-in the expectation of a peculiar destiny,
while the fancy paints to itself scenes of unexampled felicity,-in overlooking the relation which subsists between ends and means,-in
counting upon casualties instead of contemplating the stated order of
events,-and in hoping to realize the most momentous projects without
any means at all, or by means totally inadequate to the effect. Some
of the illustrations which the author introduces on this part of his
subject are peculiarly happy. We are delighted to find him treating
with poignant ridicule those superficial pretenders who, without disavowing any dependence on divine *agency, hope to reform the world
and to bring back a paradisiacal state by the mere force of moral
instruction. For the prospect of the general prevalence of virtue and,
happiness we are indebted to revelation. We have no reason to suppose the minds of our modern infidels sufficiently elevated to have
thought of the cessation of wars and the universal diffusion of peace
and love, but for the information which they have obtained from the
Scriptures. From these they derive the doctrine of a Millennium; and
they have received it as they have done every thing else, only to corrupt
it: for, exploding all the means by which the Scriptures have taught
us to expect the completion of this event, they rely merely on the
resources of reason and philosophy.  They impiously deck themselves
with the spoils of revelation, and take occasion from the hopes and
prospects which she alone supplies, to deride her assistance and to
idolize the powers of human nature.  That Being who planted Christianity by miraculous interposition, and by the effusion of his Spirit
produced such effects in the hearts of millions as afford a specimen
and a pledge of an entire renovation, has also assured us that violence
and injustice shall cease, and that none shall hurt or destroy in all his
holy mountain, because the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God.
But it seems revelation is to have no concern in this work; philosophy is to effect every thing; and we are to look to the Political Justice
of Godwin and the Moral Code of Volney for that which Christians
were so weak as to expect at the hand of Deity.
VoL. II.-Q




242                       REVIEW  OF
The conclusion which our author draws from the insufficiency of
mere human agency to effect that great renovation in the character and
condition of men which revelation teaches us to expect, is most just
and consolatory. We should have been happy to transcribe the passage; but lest we should exceed our limits, we refer our readers to
vol. II. pp. 87, 88. Pp. 244-247, Seventh Edition.
The last essay in these volumes attempts to assign some of the causes
that have rendered evangelical religion less acceptable to persons of cul
irvated taste. This essay is the most elaborate. Aware of the delicacy and difficulty of his subject, the author seems to have summoned
all the powers of his mind, to enable him to grasp it in all its extent,
and to present it in all its force and beauty.  This essay is itself
sufficient, in our opinion, to procure the author a brilliant and lasting
reputation.
It is proper to remind our readers, that in tracing the causes which
have tended to produce in men of taste an aversion to evangelical
religion, Mr. F. avowedly confines himself to those which are of a
subordinate class, while he fully admits the primary cause to be that
inherent corruption of nature which renders men strongly indisposed to
any communication from heaven.  We could, lowever, have wished
that he had insisted on this more largely. The Scriptures ascribe the
rejection of the gospel to one general principle: the natural man
receiveth not the things of God, neither can he know titem, because they
are spiritually discerned.  The peculiar doctrines of Christianity are
distinguished by a spirit irreconcilably at variance with that of the
world.  The deep repentance it enjoins strikes at the pride and levity
of the human heartm The mystery of an incarnate and crucified Saviouz
must necessarily confound the reason and shock the prejudices of a
mind which will admit nothing that it cannot perfectly reduce to the
principles of philosophy. The whole tenor of the life of Christ, the
objects he pursued, and the profound humiliation he exhibited, must
convict of madness and folly the favourite pursuits of mankind. The
virtues usually practised in society, and the models of excellence most
admired there, are so remote from that holiness which is enjoined in
the New Testament, that it is impossible for a taste which is formed
on the one to perceive the charms of the other.  The happiness which
it proposes in a union with God and a participation of the image of
Christ, is so far from being congenial to the inclinations of worldly
men, that it can scarcely be mentioned without exciting their ridicule
and scorn. General speculations on the Deity have much to amuse
the mind and to gratify that appetite for the wonderful which thoughtful
and speculative men are delighted to indulge.  Religion, viewed in this
light, appears more in the form. of an exercise to the understanding
than a law to the heart.  Here the soul expatiates at. large. without
feeling itself controlled or alarmed.  But when evangelical truths are
presented, they bring God so near, if we may be allowed the expression,
and speak with so commanding a voice to the conscience, that they
leave no alternative but that of submissive acquiescence or proud
revolt.  As men of taste are for the most part men of the world, not




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                      243
at all distinguished from others by a. greater familiarity with religious
ideas, these observations are applicable to them in their utmost extent.
Though we thought it fight to suggest these hints, we wish not to
be understood to convey any censure on Mr. F. for confining his attention principally to other topics. In discussing more fully and profoundly some of the subordinate causes which have come in aid of the
primary one, to render men of cultivated taste averse to evangelical
piety, we think he has rendered an important service to the public.
The first cause he assigns is that of its being the religion of many
weak and uncultivated minds; in consequence of which it becomes
inseparably associated in the conceptions of many with the intellectual
poverty of its disciples, so as to wear a mean and degraded aspect.
We regret that we cannot follow the author in his illustration of this
topic. We must be content with observing, that he has exposed the
weakness of this prejudice in a most masterly and triumphant manner.
The second cause which the author assigns as having had, in his
opinion, a considerable influence in prejudicing elegant and cultivated
minds against evangelical piety, is the peculiarity of language adopted
in the discourses and books of its teachers, the want of a more
classical form of diction, and the profusion of words and phrases which
are of a technical and systematical cast.
We are inclined to think, with Mr. F., that the cause of religion has
suffered considerably from the circumstance here mentioned. The
superabundance of phrases appropriated by some pious authors to the
subject of religion, and never applied to any other purpose, has not
only the effect of disgusting persons of taste, but of obscuring religion
itself. As they are seldom defined, and never exchanged for equivalent words, they pass current without being understood. They are
not the vehicle, they are the substitute of thought.  A.mong a certain
description of Christians, they become by degrees to be regarded with a
mystic awe, insomuch that if a writer expressed the very same ideas
in different phrases he would be condemlned as a heretic.  To quit the
magical circle of words, in which many Christians suffer themselves to
be confined, excites as great a clamour as the boldest innovation in
sentiment.  Controversies which have been agitated with much warmth
might often have been amicably adjusted, or even finally decided, could
the respective partisans have been prevailed on to lay aside their
predilection for phrases, and honestly resolve to examine their real
import.  In defiance of the dictates of candour and good sense, these
have been obstinately retained, and have usually been the refuge of
ignorance, the apple of discord, and the watchwords of religious
hostility.  In some instances the evil which we lament has sprung
from a more amiable cause.  The force and solemnity of devotional
feelings are such, that they seem to consecrate every thing with which
they have been connected; and as the bulk of pious people have
received their religious impressions from teachers more distinguished
for their simplicity and zeal than for comprehension of mind and
copiousness of language, they learn to annex an idea of sanctity to
that set of phrases with which they have been most familiar.  These
Q2




244                      REVIEW  OF
become the current language of religion, to which subsequent writers
conform, partly perhaps from indolence, and partly from the fear of
offending their brethren.
To these causes we may add the contentious and sectarian spirit o;
modern times, which has taught the different parties of Christians to
look on one another with an unnatural horror, to apprehend contamination from the very phrases employed by each other, and to invent,
each for itself, a dialect as narrow and exclusive as their whimsical
singularities. But while we concur in the main with Mr. F. on this
subject, we are disposed to think that he has carried his representations
too far, both with respect to the magnitude of the abuse itself, and the
probable advantages which would ensue on its removal. The repugnance of the human mind in its unenlightened state to the peculiarities
of the Christian doctrine is such, that we have little hope of its yielding
to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. Till it is
touched and humbled by grace, we are apprehensive that it will retain
its aversion, and not suffer itself to be cheated into an approbation
of the gospel by any artifice of words. Exhibit'evangelical religion
in what colours you will, the worldly-minded and the careless will
shrink from the obtrusion of unwelcome ideas. Cowper has become,
in spite of his religion, a popular poet, but his success has not been
such as to make religion popular; nor have the gigantic genius and
fame of Milton shielded from the ridicule and contempt of his admirers
that system of religion which he beheld with awful adoration.
In treating subjects properly theological, we apprehend great caution
should be used not to deviate wantonly and unnecessarily from the
phraseology of Scripture. The apostle tells us, that in preaching the
gospel he did not use the enticing words of man's wisdom, but such words
as the Holy Ghost taught him. Wre do not, indeed, contend that in the
choice of every particular word or phrase he was immediately inspired;
but we think it reasonable to believe that the unction which was on his
heart, and the perfect illumination that he possessed, led him to employ
such terms in the statement of the mysteries of Christianity as were
better adapted than any other to convey their real import, which we
are the more inclined to conclude, from observing the sameness of
phraseology which pervades the writings of the apostles when they
are treating on the same subject. As the truths which the revelation
of the New Testament unfolds are perfectly original and transcendently
important, it might naturally be expected that the communication of
them would give birth to an original cast of phraseology, or, in other
words, a steady adherence to certain terms, in order to render the ideas
which they conveyed fixed, precise, and unchangeable.
In teaching the principles of every science, it is found necessary to
select or invent terms which, though originally of a more lax signification.
are afterward restricted and confined to one peculiar modification oJ
thought, and constitute the technical language of that science.  Such
terms are always capable of being defined (for mere words convey
nothing to the mind); but to substitute a definition in their place would
be tedious circumlocution, and to exchange the term itself for a different
one would frequently lead to dangerous mistakes.




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                     245
In the original elementary parts of a language there are, in truth,
few or no synonymes; for what should prompt men, in the early period
of literature, to invent a word that neither conveyed any new idea, nor
enabled them to present an old one with more force and precision? In
the progress of refinement, indeed, regard to copiousness and harmony
has enriched language with many exotics, which are merely those
words in a foreign language that perfectly correspond to terms in out
own; as Celicity for happiness, celestial for heavenly, and a multitude
of others. Since, then, the nature of language is such that no two
terms are exactly of the same force and import (except in the case last
mentioned), we cannot but apprehend that dangerous consequences
would result from a studied attempt to vary from the standard phraseology where the statement of doctrines is concerned, and that by changing the terms the ideas themselves might be changed or mutilated.
In teaching a religion designed for the use and benefit of all mankind,
it is certainly desirable that the technical words, the words employed
in a peculiar and appropriate sense, should be few: but to fix and
perpetuate the ideas, and to preserve the faith once delivered to the
saints from the caprices of fancy and the dangers of innovation, it
seems necessary that there should be some.  We are inclined to think,
that in inculcating Christian morality, and in appeals and addresses to
the heart, a much greater latitude may be safely indulged than in the
statement of peculiar doctrines; and that a more bold and varied
diction, with a wider range of illustration and allusion than is usually
employed, would often be attended with the happiest effect. Mr. Foster
has given, in many parts of these volumes, beautiful specimens of what
we intend.
With respect to the copious use of Scripture language, which Mr.
F. condemns (in our opinion with too much severity) as giving an
uncouth and barbarous air to theological books, we prefer a middle
course; without applauding the excess to which it is carried by many
pious writers, on the one hand, or wishing it to be kept so entirely
apart as Mr. F. contends, on the other. To say nothing of the inimitable beauties of the Bible, considered in a literary view, which are
universally acknowledged, it is the book which every devout man is
accustomed to consult as the oracle of God; it is the companion of
his best moments, and the vehicle of his strongest consolations.
Intimately associated in his mind with every thing dear and valuable,
its diction more powerfully excites devotional feelings than any other;
and when temperately and soberly used, imparts an unction to a religious discourse which nothing else can supply. Besides, is there not
room to apprehend that a studied avoidance of the Scripture phraseology,
and a care to express all that it is supposed to contain in the forms of
classical diction, might ultimately lead to a neglect of the Scriptures
themselves, and a habit of substituting flashy and superficial declamation, in the room of the saving truths of the gospel? Such an
apprehension is but too much verified by the most celebrated sermons
of the French; and still more by some modern compositions in our
own lanrtmage, which usurp that title. For devotional impression, we




246                        REVIEW  OF
conceive that a very considerable tincture of the language of Scripture,
or at least such a colouring as shall discover an intimate acquaintance
with those inimitable models, will generally succeed best.
It is impossible to establish a universal rule, since different methods
are equally adapted to different purposes; and therefore we are willing
to allowr, with Mr. F., that where the fashionable and the gay are
addressed, and the prejudices arising from a false refinement are to be
conciliated, whatever in the diction might repel by an appearance of
singularity should be carefully shunned.  Accordingly, we equally
admire, in The Rise and Proress of Religion, by Dr. Doddridge, and
in The Rural Ph/ilosophy of Mr. Bates, the dexterity with which these
excellent writers have suited their composition to their respective
classes of readers.  On the whole, let it once for all be remembered,
that men of taste form a very small part of the community, of no
greater consequence in the eyes of their Creator than others; that the
end of all religious discourse is the salvation of souls; and that to a
mind which justly estimates the weight of eternal things, it will appear
a greater honour to have converted a sinner from the error of his way,
than to have wielded the thunder of a Demosthenes, or to have kindled
the flame of a Cicero.
We hasten to close this article, by making a few observations
on the last cause which  our author has assigned for the general distaste that persons of polite and elegant attainments usually discover
towards evangelical religion.  This is, the neglect and contempt with
which it has been almost constantly treated by our fine writers; of
whose delinquency, in this respect, the author takes a wide and extensive survey, exposing their criminality with a force of eloquence that
has perhaps never before been exerted on this subject.  Though his
attention is chiefly directed to the influence of modern literature, yet, as
the writings of the ancients, and especially of the poets, have had a powerful operation in forming the taste and sentiments of succeeding generations, he has extended his notice to these, and has made some most
striking animadversions on the ancient authors of the epopmia, and
particularly on Homer.
We must do justice to his intrepidity in venturing to attack the idol
of all classical scholars; nor can he have failed to foresee the
manner in which it will be attempted to be repelled.  They will
remind him, that the lawfulness of defensive war has seldom been called
in question; that the one in iwhich Homer's heroes were engaged was
not only just, but meritorious, being undertaken to avenge a most signal
affront and injury; that no subject could be more suited to the epic
muse, either on account of its magnitude or the deep interest it excited;
that having chosen it, the poet is to be commended for throwing into it all
the fire of which it was susceptible; that to cherish in the breasts of
youth a gallant and warlike spirit is the surest defence of nations;
and that this spirit, under proper regulations, constitutes that OUv,.EolIS
which Plato extols so highly in his republic, as the basis of a manly,
heroic character. This, and much more than this, will be said: but
when our Grecians have spent all their arrows, it will still remain an




FOSTER'S ESSAYS.                      247
incontestable fact, that an enthusiastic admiration of the Iliad of Homer
is but a bad preparation for relishing the beauties of the New Testament.  What then is to be done? Shall we abandon the classics, and
devote ourselves solely to the perusal of modern writers, where the
maxims inculcated and the principles taught are little, if at all, more
in unison with those of Christianity?-a fact which Mr. F. acknowledges and deplores.  While things continue as they are, we are
apprehensive, therefore, that we should gain nothing by neglecting the
unrivalled productions of genius left us by the ancients, but a deterioration of taste, without any improvement in religion. The evil is not
to be corrected by any partial innovation of this kind.  Until a more
Christian spirit pervades the world, we are inclined to think that the
study of the classics is, on the whole, advantageous to public morals,
by inspiring an elegance of sentiment and an elevation of soul which
we should in vain seek for elsewhere.
The total inattention of the great majority of our fine writers to all
the distinguishing features of the religion they profess, affords a most
melancholy reflection. It has no doubt excited the notice of many,
and has been deeply lamented; but it has never been placed in a light
so serious and affecting as in the volumes before us. In the observations which our author makes on the Essay on Man, we are delighted
and surprised to find at once so much philosophical truth and poetical
beauty.  His critique on the writings of Addison and Johnson evinces
deep penetration; and as respects the former, is uncommonly impres
sive and important.
We take our leave of this work with sincere reluctance.  For the
length to which we have extended our review, the subject must be our
apology. It has fared with us as with a traveller who passes through
an enchanting co retry, where he meets with so many beautiful views
and so many strikhi'g objects which he is loath to quit, that he loiters
till the shades of.he evening insensibly fall upon him. We are far,
however, from recommending these volumes as faultless.  Mr. F.'s
work is rather an example of the power of genius than a specimen of
finished composition: it lies open in many points to the censure of those
minor critics.who, by the observation of a few technical rules, may
easily avoid its faults without reaching one of its beauties. The author
has paid too little attention to the construction of his sentences. They
are for the most part too long, sometimes involved in perplexity, and
often loaded with redundances.  They have too much of the looseness
of an harangue and too little of the compact elegance of regular cornposition. An occasional obscurity pervades some parts of the work.
The mind of the writer seems at times to struggle with conceptions too
mighty for his grasp, and to present confused masses, rather than distinct delineations of thought. This, however, is to be imputed to the
originality, not the weakness of his powers. The scale on which he
thinks is so vast, and the excursions of his imagination are so extended,
that they frequently carry him into the most unbeaten track, and among
objects where a ray of light glances in an angle only, without diffusing
tself over the whole. On ordinary topics his conceptions are luminous




248            REVIEW  OF FOSTER'S ESSAYS.
in the highest degree. He places the idea which he wishes to present
in such a flood of light, that it is not merely visible itself, but it seems
to illumine all around it. He paints metaphysics, and has the happy
art of arraying what in other hands would appear cold and comfortless
abstractions, in the warmest colours of fancy. Without the least affectation of frivolous ornaments, without quitting his argument in pursuit
of imagery, his imagination becomes the perfect handmaid of his reason,
ready at every moment to spread her canvass and present her pencil.
But what pleases us most, and affords us the highest satisfaction, is to
find such talents enlisted on the side of true Christianity; nor can we
help indulging a benevolent triumph at the accession of powers to the
cause of evangelical piety, which its most distinguished opponents
would be proud to possess




REVIEW
OF
CUSTANCE ON THE CONSTITUTION.
A concise View of the Constitution of England. By GEORGE CUs.
TANCE. Dedicated by permission to William Wilberforce, Esq. M. P.
for the County of York.  12mo. pp. 474. Price 6s. bds. Kidder.
minster- Gower. London: Longman & Co. Hatchard. 1808
IT were surely to be wished that every man had a competent acquaintance with the laws and constitution of the country to which he
belongs.  Patriotism is a blind and irrational impulse, unless it is
founded on a knowledge of the blessings we are called to secure, and
the' privileges we propose to defend. In a tyrannical state it is natural
for the  ruling power to cherish political ignorance, which can alone
reconcile men to the tame surrender of their natural rights. The diffusion of light and knowledge is very unfavourable to ill-founded pretensions
of every sort, but to none more than the encroachments of arbitrary
power and lawless violence. The more we explore the recesses of a
dungeon the less likely are we to be reconciled to take up our residence in it. Blut the venerable fabric of the British constitution, our
hereditary mansion, whether it be tried by the criterion of convenience
or of beauty ef ancient prescription or of practical utility, will bear the
most rigid exanunation; and the more it is contemplated, will be the
more admired.
The Romans were so conscious of the importance of imparting to
the rising generation an early knowledge of their laws and constitution,
that the contents of the twelve tables were committed to memory, and
formed one of the first elements of public instruction. They were
sensible that what lays hold of the mind at so early a period is net
only likely to be long remembered, but is almost sure to command
veneration and respect. We are not aware that similar attempts have
been made to render the British youth acquainted with the principles
of our admirable constitution, not inferior surely to that of the Roman
republic; a defect in the system of education which the circumstances
of the present crisis loudly call upon us to supply. When our existence as an independent nation is threatened, when unexampled sacritices must be made, and perhaps the utmost efforts of patience and of




250                       REVIEW  OF
persevering courage exerted for our preservation, an attachment to
that constitution which is the basis of all our prosperity cannot be too
zealously promoted, or too deeply felt.  It is a just and enlightened
estimate of the invaluable blessings that constitution secures, which
alone can make us sustain our present burdens without repining, as
well as prepare us for greater privations and severer struggles.  For
this reason we cannot but look upon the performance before us as a
most seasonable publication.  One cause of the attention of youth being
so little directed to our national laws and constitution, in schools, is
probably the want of suitable books.  We have an abundance of learned
and able writers on these subjects, but few, if any, that are quite
adapted to the purpose we are now speaking of. Maillar's is a very
profound and original work; but it supposes a great deal of previous
knowledge, without which it can be scarcely understood, and is in
every view better adapted to aid the researches of an antiquary or the
speculations of a philosopher than to answer the end of an elementary
treatise. De Lolme's performance may be deemed more suitable; yet,
able and ingenious as it is, it labours uhder some essential deficiencies,
considered in the light of an elementary work.  There is in it a spirit
of refined speculation, an eagerness to detect and display latent, unthought-of excellences in the frame of government, which is very remote
from the simplicity requisite in the'lessons of youth.  Of Blackstone's
Commentaries it would be presumptuous in us to attempt an eulogium,
after Sir William Jones has pronounced it to be the most beautiful outline that was ever given of any science. Nothing can exceed the
luminous arrangement, the vast comprehension, and, we may venture
to add from the best authorities, the legal accuracy of this wonderful
performance, which in style and composition is distinguished by an
unaffected grace,:a majestic simplicity, which can only be eclipsed by
the splendour of ItS higher qualities.  Admirable, however, as these
commentaries are, it is obvious that they are much too voluminous and
elaborate to answer the purpose of an introduction to the study of the
English constitution.  We do, therefore, most sincerely congratulate
the public on the appearance of a work which we can safely recommend as well fitted to supply a chasm in our system of public instruction. The book before us is, in every view, well adapted for the
instruction of youth: the clear and accurate information it conveys
upon a most important subject, and the truly Christian tincture of its
maxims and principles, are well calculated to enlarge the understanding and improve the heart.  We beg leave particularly to recommuend
it to the attention of schools, in which we conceive a general acquaintance with the laws and constitution of the country might be cultivate-&
with much advantage, as forming a proper preparation for the active
scenes of life.  Legal provisions for the security of the best temporal
interests of mankind are the result of so much collective wisdom and
experience, and are so continually conversant with human affairs, that
we know no study more adapted to invigorate the understanding, and
at the same time to give a practical turn to its speculations.  The close
cohesion of its Darts tends to make the mind severely argumentative,




CUST'ANCE ON THE CONSTITUTION.                   251
while its continual relation to the state of society and its su cessive
revolutions fences it on the side of metaphysical abstraction and useless
theories.  What we look upon (for the reasons already mentioned) to
be a most useful and interesting study at all times, we would earnestly
recommend as an indispensable duty at the present crisis.
Of the merits of the work before us the public may form  some
judgment, when we inform them that it contains whatever is most
interesting to the general reader in Blackstone, together with much
useful information derived firom Professor Christian, De Lolme, and
various other eminent authors.  Some will be ready to accuse the
writer of having carried his partiality towards whatever is established
too far; nor dare we say the charge is entirely unfounded.  We are
not disposed, however, to be severe upon him on this account. We
wish to see the minds of our youth preoccupied with a strong bias in'avour of our national institutions.  We would wish to see them animated by a warm and generous enthusiasm, and to defer the business
of detecting faults and exposing imperfections to a future period.
Let us only be allowed to remark, that this policy should be temperately employed; lest the mind should suffer a revulsion, and pass,.
perhaps rather abruptly, from implicit admiration to the contrary extreme; lest, indignant at having been misled, it substitute general censure for undistinguishing applause.
We wish our author had, in common with Blackstone, expressed his
disapprobation of the severity of the criminal code.  The multiplicity
of capital punishments we shall always consider as a reproach to the
English nation; though, numerous as they are, they bear no proportion to what they would be, were the law permitted to take its course.
The offences deemed capital by the common law are few; the sanguinary complexion of the cr:minal law, as it now stands, has arisen
from the iniudiciis tampering of the legislature.  To us it appears
evident, that th6,;:rtainty of punishment will restrain offenders more
than its severity; an(l that when men are tempted to transgress, they
do not weigh the emolument they had in view against the penalty
awarded by law, but simply the probability of detection and punishment against that of impunity.  Let the punishments be moderate,
and this will be the most effectual means of rendering them  certain.
While nothing can exceed the trial by jury, and the dignified impartiality with which justice is administered, we are compelled to look
upon the criminal code with very different emotions, and earnestly to
wish it were carefully revised, and made more humane, simple, and
precise.
As little can we concur with the author before us in the defence he
sets up of the donation of pensions and sinecures, where there are no
pretensions of personal merit or honourable services.  Standing quite
aloof from party politics, we must affirm, that to whatever extent such
a practice exists, exactly in the same proportion is it a source of public
calamity and disgrace. To look at it, as our author does, only in
a pecuniary view, is to neglect the principal consideration.  It is
not merely or chiefly as a waste of public money that the granting




252                       REVIEW  OFs
of sinecures and pensions to the undeserving ought to be condemned;
the venality and corruption it indicates and produces is its worst feature, and an infallible symptom of a declining state.  With these exceptions, we have accompanied the author with almost uninterrupted
pleasure, and have been highly gratified with the good sense, the
extensive information, and the unaffected piety he displays throughout
the work. Though a firm and steady churchman himself, he manifests
a truly Christian spirit towards the Protestant dissenters; and so fal
from looking with an evil eye on the large toleration they enjoy, that
he contemplates with evident satisfaction the laws on which that toleration is founded.
Of the style of this work it is but justice to say, that, without
aspiring to any high degree of ornament, it is pure, perspicuous, and
correct, well suited to the subject on which it is employed.
As a fair specimen of Mr. C's manner of thinking, we beg leave to
lay before our readers the following just and appropriate remarks on
duelling:"Deliberate duelling falls under the head of express malice; and
the law of England has justly fixed the crime and punishment of murder upon both the principal and accessaries of this most unchristian
practice.  Nothing more is necessary with us to check this daring
violation of all law, than the same firmness and integrity in the trial
of duellists which so eminently distinguish an English jury on all
other occasions.
"Perhaps it will be asked, What are men of honour to do, if they
must not appeal to the pistol and the sword? The answer is obvious:
if one gentleman has offended another, he cannot give a more indisputable proof of genuine courage, than by making a frank acknowledgment of his fault, and asking forgiveness of the injured party.  On the
other hand, if he have received an affront, he ought freely to forgive,
as he hopes to be forgiven of God. And if either of the parties
aggravate the matter by sending a challenge to fight, the other must not
be a partaker of sin, if he would obey God rather than man.
" Still it will be said, that a military or naval man, at least, must
not decline a challenge, if he would maintain the character of a man
of courage. But is it not insulting the loyalty and good sense of the
brave defenders of our laws, to imagine that they of all men must
violate them to preserve their honour; since the king has expressly
forbidden any military man to send a challenge to fight a duel, upon
pain of being cashiered, if an officer; and of suffering corporal punishment, if a non-commissioned officer, or private soldier? Nor ought
any officer or soldier to upbraid another for refusing a challenge, whom
his majesty positively declares he considers as having only acted in
obedience to his royal orders; and fully acquits of any disgrace that
may be attached to his conduct.* Besides, what necessary connexion
is there between the foolhardiness of one who risks the eternal perdi.
tion of his neighbour and of himself in an unlawfill combat, and the
"' See Articles of War, sec 7."




CUSTANCE ON THE CONSTITUTION.                         253
patriotic bravery of him who, when duty calls, boldly engages the
enemy of his king and country? None will dispute the courage of
the excellent Colonel Gardiner, who was slain at the battle of Preston
Pans, in the rebellion in 1745. Yet he once refused a challenge,
with this dignified remark:' I fear sinning, though I do not fear fighting.'* The fact is, that fighting a duel is so far from being a proof of
a man's possessing true courage, that it is an infallible mark of his
cowardice. For he is influenced by' the fear of man,' whose praise
lie loveth more than the praise of God."
* " See Doddridge's Life of Colonel Gardiner, an interesting piece of biography, worthy the
terusa! of every officer in the army and navy."




REVIEW
oF
ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.
PREFACE TO THE SLCOND EDITION.
IT was the opinion of some sincere friends of religion, that a repulbllcation of the following strictures might have its use in certain quarters,
where the literary journal in which they first appeared may possibly not
have extended.  The writer of these remarks has nothing in view but
the promotion of Christian charity, the vindication of calumniated innocence, and the counteraction of those insidious arts by which designing
men are seeking to advance their personal interest, or those of a party,
at the expense of truth and justice.  How far the author here animadverted upon falls under this description, must be left to the decision of
Pn impartial public.  If it be thought that more commendation ought
to have. been given in the following strictures to those parts of the
work which are confessedly unexceptionable, the writer must be allowed to remark, that the effect of what is good in the performance is
entirely defeated by the large infusion of what is of an opposite quality.
In appreciating the merits of a writer, the general tendency of his
work should be principally regarded, without suffering the edge of
censure to be abated by such a mixture of truth as only serves to give
a safer and wider circulation to misrepresentation and falsehood.
It has been deemed a capital omission in the following critique, that
~'no notice is taken of the author's illiberal treatment of the puritans.
This omission arose partly from a wish to avoid prolixity,.and partly
from an apprehension it would lead to a discussion not perfectly relevant to the matter in hand.  It would be no difficult matter to construct
such a defence of the puritans as would leave this or any other author
very little to reply; but to do justice to the subject would require a
deduction of facts, and a series of arguments, quite inconsistent with
the limits to which we are confined.  To oppose assertion to assertion,
and invective to invective, could answer no end but the reviving animosities which we should be happy to see for ever extinguished. The
controversy between the puritans and their opponents turns entirely on
these two questions: —Has any religious society, assuming the name
of a church, a right to establish new terms of communion, distinct
from those enjoyed by Christ and his apostles?  Admitting they have




ZEAL WITHOUTJ INNOVATIOL.                     255
such a right, ought these terms to consist in things which the imposers
acknowledge to be indifferent, and the party on whom thev are enjoined look upon as sinful?  Is not this a palpable violation of the
apostolical injunction, "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but
not to doubtful disputations?"  We are persuaded we speak the sentiments of some of the best men in the Church of England, when we
assert that the basis of communion was made narrower at the Reformation than is consistent with' the dictates of Christian charity oi
sound policy, and that the puritans were treated with a severity altogether unjustifiable. The author of Zeal without Innovation declares
himself "dissatisfied with the trite remark that there were faults on
both sides, when the guilt of aggression rests so clearly on the heads
of the nonconformists." To infer their guilt as aggressors because
they were the first to complain, is begging the question at issue.  Before we are entitled to criminate them on this head, it is requisite to
inquire into the justice of their complaints.  They who first discovei
a truth, are naturally the first to impugn the opposite error.  They
who find themselves aggrieved are necessarily the first to complain.
So that to attach culpability to the party which betrays the first symptoms of dissatisfaction, without further inquiry, is to confer on speculative error, and on practical tyranny, a claim to unalterable perpetuity —,.
doctrine well suited to the mean and slavish maxims inculcated by this
writer. The learned Warburton was as little satisfied as himself nwit}h
the trite remark of there being faults on both sides, but for an opposite
reason.  "It would be hard," he affirms, "to say who are most to
blame; those who oppose established authority for things indifferent.
or that authority which rigidly insists on them, and will abate nothin.
for the sake of tenier, misinformed consciences: I say it would be hlard
to solve this, had not the apostle done it for us, where he says,'IWe
that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not t,
please ourselves.''I myself,' says he,'do so, and all for the gos
pel's sake.' This is the man who tells us he had fought a good figh,
and overcome.  Ahd we may believe him; for in this contention, hI
is always the conqueror who submits."
When the question is fairly put, whether a tender conscience, admit.
ting it to be erroneous, shall be forced, or the imposition of thing,
confessedly indifferent be dropped, it can surely require but little saga.
city to return a decisive answer. T'he arguments which induced Locke
to give his suffrage in favour of the nonconformists, the reasons which
prevailed on Baxter and on Howe to quit stations of usefulness in the
church, and doom themselves to an unprofitable inactivity, will not easily
be deemed light or frivolous. The English nation has produced no
nen more exempt from the suspicion of weakness or caprice than
these.
Desirous of composing rather than inflaming the dissensions which
unhappily subsist among Christians, we decline entering further on this
topic, heartily praying, with the apostle, that " grace may be with all
them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."




REVIEW.
Zeal wzthout Innovation: or, the Present State of Religion and MAorals
considered, with a View to the Dispositions anid Measur es required
for its Improvement.  To which is subjoined an Address to young
Clergymen, intended to guard them against some prevalent Errors.
1808.
THERE are some works which require to be viewed only in a literary
light. No important principles are discussed, nor any momentous
interests at stake. When this is the case, nothing more is necessary
than for a reviewer to exhibit the author's plan, and to give an impartial
judgment on the ability with which it is executed. If the merit of the
performance be very conspicuous, it is the less necessary to multiply
words in order to show it; and if it have little or none, it need not be
conducted to the land of forgetfulness with the pomp of criticism. For
this reason the utility of periodical criticism may, in a literary view, be
fairly questioned; as it seems like an attempt to anticipate the decision
of the public, and prematurely to adjust those pretensions which, if left
to itself, it will be sure to adjust in time wiih the most perfect impar
tiality. A reviewer may give a momentary popularity to what deserves
to be forgotten, but he can neither withhold nor bestow a lasting fame.
Cowper, we will venture to say, is not the less admired because the
Critical Review, with its usual good taste and discernment, could
discover in him no traces of poetic genius.
There are other works, which owe their impoftance more to the
subjects on which they treat, and their tendency to inflame the prejudices and strike in with the humour of the public, than to any extraordinary ability. Their infection renders them formidable. They are
calculated to increase the violence of an epidemic disease. The mattei
of contagion ought not to be slighted on account of the meanness of the
vehicle by which it is transmitted.  We are sorry to be under the
necessity of classing the performance before us with works of that
nature; but our conviction of its deserving that character must be our
apology for bestowing a degree of attention upon it to which it is not
otherwise entitled.  The author's professed design is to present a view
of the state of religion and morals, and to suggest such remedies as are
best adapted to correct the disorder under which they languish. A
more noble and important undertaking cannot be conceived.  We have
only to lament that in the pursuit of it he betrays so many mean partialities and ungenerous prejudices as utterly disqualify him from doing




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATI~ N.                    257
Justice to the subject.  While we would wish to give him credit fox
some portion of good intention, we are firmly convinced that had his eye
been single, his whole body had been more full o! light. In an attemp'
to trace the causes of degeneracy in religion and morals, and to point
out the proper correctives, nothing is more requisite than a large and
catholic spirit, totally emancipated from the shackles of party, joined
with extensive knowledge and a discriminating judgment.. In the first
of these qualities the author is lamentably deficient. He looks at
every thing so entirely through the medium of party, that though he
cannot be said to be absolutely blind, he is quite incapable of seeing
afar off. His remarks are often shrewd,-such as indicate a mind
awake and attentive to the scenes which have passed before him. He
is sometimes acute, never comprehensive; accurate in details, with
little capacity for tracing the consequences and unfolding the energy
of general principles. While the title of the work leads us to expect
his attention would be entirely directed to the best means of promoting
the moral improvement of mankind, the watchful reader will perceive
there are subordinate objects which he is at least equally solicitous to
advance. There is a complication in his views, a wheel within a wheel,
quite incompatible with simplicity of mind and perfect purity of intention.  There appears too much reason to regard him as an artful,
bigoted partisan, acting under the disguise of a philanthropist and a
reformer. Severe as this censure may seem, we are persuaded our
readers will acknowledge its justice when they are apprized of the
leading statements and positions contained in this singular work.
The author sets out with descanting on the state of religion in this
country, which he represents as very deplorable: in proof of this. he
adduces, among other facts, the violation of the Christian Sabbath
and the prevailing neglect of public worship. As these symptoms of
degeneracy are not found in an equal degree among dissenters and.
Methodists, he is led by the course of his subject to notice the state
of religion among them, where he acknowledges there is no room to
complain of a deficiency of zeal. He does not affect to deny that
their teachers exhibit the great truths of Christianity with energy and
effect, and that much good has resulted from their labours. We should
naturally suppose a pious man would here find ground for satisfaction,
and that, however he might regret the mixture of error with useful
efforts, he would rejoice to perceive that real and important good was
done anywhere. It is but justice to him to let him convey his feelings
on this subject in his own words.
" From the sad state of things represented in the preceding section,
many turn with pleasure to what is passing among our separatists,
whose places of worship generally exhibit a very different scene to our
parish churches. Here there appears to be some life and effect. The
officiating minister has not half-empty pews to harangue, but a crowded
auditory "hanging on his lips.' Whether, however, in what is now
before us we shall find no cause of uneasiness, when all its circumstances are considered, admits of great doubt.
" It cannot be denied, that with all the fanaticism charged on
VOL. II.-R




458                      REVIEW  OF
separatists (and it is to be feared with great truth in some instances),
many a profligate has been reclaimed, and much good in other ways
has been done among the lower orders by the labours of their ministers.
From these circumstances, and the known ignorance and dissoluteness
of the times, many, without the least degree of adverse intention to our
established church, have in the simplicity of their hearts concurred in
forwarding the endeavours of the separatists. And hence it is that in
all the more populous parts of the country, we see that multitude of
dissenting chapels, which of late years has increased and is still
increasing.
"To some good men, free from all prejudice against the Church
of England, it is matter of no regret that the number of separatists
increases, provided there be with this circumstance an increasing
regard to Christianity. With such persons all consideration of forms
and modes of worship is sunk in the greater importance of genuine
faith and piety.  But it enters not in the thoughts of such persons;hat' tares may spring up with the wheat,' and that what at present
has a good effect may operate to the production of something hereafter
of a very different nature. Now such we conceive to be the nature
of the case before us. WVe have reason to apprehend ill consequences
5rom increasing separatism, with whatever zeal for important truths,
and with whatever success in propagating them it be at present
accompanied.
"And first, it may be observed that it goes to the annihilation
of the established church as a national institution.  The bulk of
every newly-raised congregation of separatists is composed of persons educated within the pale of the Church of England.  Of
these many are heads of families, or likely to become so. By commencing dissenters, they and their posterity, however multiplied, are
broken off from the national church. These detachments from the
establishment, going on as they have done of late years, must consequently increase the number of those who prefer a differently constituted church; and these may in time amount to such a majority as to
render it again a question with those in power, whether the Church
of England shall any longer have the support of the state."-Pp. 14-17.'fhat the increase of dissenters, in itself considered, cannot be a
pleasing circumstance to a conscientious churchman is certain; and
if this is all the author means to say, he talks very idly. The true
question evidently is, whether the good accruing from the labours
of dissenters is a proper subject of congratulation, although it may be
attended with this incidental consequence, an increased separation from
the established church. In a word, is the promotion of genuine Christianity, or the advancement of an external communion, the object primarily to be pursued? Whatever excellence may be ascribed to our national
establishment by its warmest admirers, still it is a human institutionan institution to which the first ages of the church were strangers, to
whi(h Christianity was in no degree indebted for its original success,
mund the merit of which must be brought to the test of utility. It is in
the order of means. As an expedient devised by the wisdom of our




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                    259
ancestors for promoting true religion, it is entitled to support just as
far as it accomplishes its end. This end, however, is found in some
instances to be accomplished by means which are of a different
description. A fire which threatens immediate destruction is happily
extinguished before it has had time to extend its ravages; but it is
extinguished by persons who have volunteered their services, without
waiting for the engineers who act under the direction of the police.
Here is zeal, but unfortunately accompanied with innovation, at which
our author is greatly chagrined. How closely has he copied the
example of St. Paul, who rejoiced that Christ was preached, though
from envy and contention!  With him the promulgation of Divine
truth was an object so much at heart, that he was glad to see it
accomplished even from the most criminal motives and by the most
uniTworthy instruments.  With our author, the dissemination of the
same truth, by some of the best of men, and from the purest motives,
is matter of lamentation and regret.  It requires little attention to
perceive he has been taught in a different school from the apostle, and
studied under a different master.
The eternal interests of mankind are either mere chimeras, or they
are matters of infinite importance; compared with which, the success
of any party, the increase of any external communion whatever, is
mere dust in the balance; and for this plain reasonf, that the promotion of
these interests is the very end of Christianity itself.  However divided
good men may have been with respect to the propriety of legislative
interference in the affairs of religion, the arguments by which they
hlave supported their respective opinions have been uniformly drawn
from the supposed tendency of such interference, or the contrary, to
advance the moral improvement of mankind; and, supposing this to
be ascertained, the superior merit of the system to which that tendency
belotngs was considered as decided.  Viewed in this light, the problem
is extensive, affording scope for much investigation; while the authority
of religion remains unimpaired, and the disputants on each side are
left at liberty to indulge the most enlarged sentiments of candour
towards each other.  Such were the principles on which Hooker and
the ablest of his successors rested their defence of the established
church. The high church party, of which Mr. Daubeny may be
looked upon as the present leader, have taken different grounds.
Their system is neither more nor less than popery, faintly disguised,
and adapted to the meridian of England.  The writer before us,
without avowing the sentiments of Daubeny, displays nearly the samint;
intolerance and bigotry, under this peculiar disadvantage, that his
views want the cohesion of system, his bigotry the support of principle. This formal separation of the interests of the church from those
of true religion must inevitably produce the most deplorable consequences.  Will the serious and conscientious part of the public be led
to form a favourable opinion of a religious community, by hearing it
avowed by her champions that men had better be suffered eternally to
perish than to find salvation out of her pale? Will they not naturally
ask what those higher ends can be, in comparison of which the etern J1
R2




260                      REVIEW  OF
welfare of a large portion of our fellow-creatures is deemed a trifle 
Could such a spirit be supposed generally prevalent in the clergy of
the established church, it would at once lose all that is sacred in their
eyes, and be looked upon as a mere combination to gain possessionr
of power and emolument under pretence of religion. We are mistaken
if much mischief has not already accrued from the indulgence of this
spirit. It has envenomed the ill qualities naturally generated by the
domination of a party. It has produced serious injury to the church,
by imboldening men to appear in her defence who bring nothing into
the controversy but overweening pride, ceremonial hypocrisy, and
priestly insolence.  Haughty, contemptuous airs, a visible disdain of
the scruples of tender consciences, and frequently of piety itself, except
under one garb and fashion, have been too generally assumed by her
champions. These features have given inexpressible disgust to pious
and candid minds; hurt, as they well may be, to see a religious community, however numerous or respectable, continually vaunting itself,
laying exclusive claims to purity and orthodoxy, and seeming to consider it as a piece of condescension to suffer any other denomination
to subsist. They cannot dismiss it from their minds that humility is a
virtue proper to a church as well as to an individual, and that ecclesiastical pride may happen to be as offensive to Heaven as pride of any
other kind.  In the Church of Rome these qualities have been ever
conspicuous; but finding nothing of this sort, in an equal degree, in any
other Protestant communion, and recollecting that " the lofty looks of
men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men be made low," one
naturally feels some apprehension that they may not pass unpunished,
though they are found in the precincts of a cathedral.
Our author derives no satisfaction from the acknowledged success
of dissenters in "turning sinners from the error of their way," from
an apprehension that their success may eventually prove injurious to
the establishment.  He pretends to foresee, from this cause, a continual transfer of hearers from the church to the conventicle.  We
beg leave to ask the writer, how such a consequence can ensue, but
from the superior zeal and piety of sectaries? To suppose that with
only an equal share of these qualities they will be able to make
successful inroads on the' church, is to abandon the defence of the
hierarchy altogether; since this is acknowledging a radical defect in
the system, which operates as a dead weight on its exertions, and disqualifies it for maintaining its ground against rivals; that, in short,
instead of being the most efficacious mode of exhibiting and impressing
revealed truth, it is intrinsically weak and ineffectual.  For that
system must surely be acknowledged to be so which is incapable of
interesting the people, and which, by rendering public worship less
attractive, produces a general preference of a different mode. To
suppose this to be the case is to suppose something essentially wrong,
which should be immnediately examined and corrected.  On this
supposition the men are acquitted, the system is arraigned.  As this,
however, is far from being the opinion of the author, the conclusion
turns with irresistible force, that a permanent increase of dissenters




ZEAL WITHUIJT INNOVATION.                    261
can only arise from their superior piety and zeal. Now, these are
really, in our opinion, qualities too valuable to be dispensed with,
whatever interests they may obstruct. Regretting, deeply as we may,
in common with our author, that they should have formed an alliance
so unfortunate, we must still think it better, not only for their possessors, but for the world at large, for them to be found even here than
to have no existence at all; and it is upon this point we are at issue
with this conscientious reformer. For our parts, we are really so oldfashioned and puritanical, that we had rather behold men awakened
and converted among dissenters and Methodists, than see them sleep
the sleep of death in the arms of an establishment.
But our author, it seems, is filled with pious alarm for the cause
of orthodoxy, from  the increasing separation from the church.  "By
the sound doctrine its instituted forms express, it will," he tells us,
"' as long as it stands, be a witness to the truth, in periods the most
barren of ministerial qualification; a rallying point to all truly Christian pastors; and an accredited voucher for thepurity of their instruction."-P. 17.  How much were the primitive Christians to be pitied,
who were unhappily destitute of any such " voucher;" and had nothing
to secure the permanence of truth but the promised presence of Christ,
the illumination of the Spirit, and the light of the Scriptures-poor
substitutes, undoubtedly, for the solid basis of creeds and formularies!
We should readily concur with the author in his views of the security
derived from the subscription of articles, if we could forget a few
stubborn facts, which we beg leave humbly to recall to his recollection.
Is it not a fact, that the nature and extent of the assent and consent
signified by subscription have been the subject of a very thorny controversy, in which more ill faith and chicane have been displayed than
were ever known out of the school of the Jesuits; and that the issue
of this controversy has been to establish very generally the doctrine
of Paley, that none are excluded by it but Quakers, Papists, and
Baptists? Is it not a fact, that the press is teeming every week with
publications of the most acrimonious description, written by professed
churchmen against persons who have incurred this acrimony merely
by their attachment to these articles? Is it not a fact, that the doctrines
they exhibit are so scorned and detested in this country, that whoever
seriously maintains them is stigmatized with the name of " Methodist?"
and that that part of the clergy who preach them are, for that reason
alone, more insulted and despised by their brethren than even the
dissenters themselves? It is with peculiar effrontery that this author
insists on subscription to articles as a sufficient security for the purity
of religious instruction, when it is the professed object of his work to
recall his contemporaries to that purity.  If he means that the
"voucher" he speaks of answers its purpose because it is credited,
fie is plainly laughing at the simplicity of the people: if he means to
assert it is entitled to credit, we must request him  to reflect how he
can vindicat.e himself from the charge of " speaking lies in hypocrisy."
A long course of experience has clearly demonstrated the inefficacy
of creeds and confessions to perpetuate religious belief.  Of this the




262                       REVIEW  OF
only faithful depository is, not that which is " written with ink," buL
on the "fleshly tables of the heart."  The spirit of error is too subtile
and volatile to be held by such chains.  Whoever is acquainted with
ecclesiastical history must know, that public creeds and confessions
have occasioned more controversies than they have composed; and
that when they ceased to be the subject of dispute they have become
antiquated and obsolete.  A vast majority of the dissenters of the
present (lay hold precisely the same religious tenets which the puritans
did two centuries ago, because it is the instruction they have uniformly
received from their pastors; and for the same reason the articles of the
national church are almost effaced from the minds of its members,
because they have long been neglected or denied by the majority
of those who occupy its pulpits.  We have never heard of the church
of Geneva altering its confession, but we know that Voltaire boasted
there was not in his time a Calvinist in the city; nor have we heard
of any proposed amendment in the creed of the Scotch, yet it is certain
the doctrines of that creed are preached by a rapidly decreasing
minority of the Scottish clergy.  Fromn these and similar facts we
may fairly conclude, that the doctrines oi the church, with or without
subscription, are sure to perpetuate themselves where they are faithfully
preached; but that the mere circumstance of their being subscribed
will neither secure their being preached nor believed.
" Separatism," says the author, " has no fixed or perpetual character:
what it is at present we may by attentive observation be able to
pronounce; but no human foresight can ascertain what it will be
hereafter.  Though now, in its numerous chapels, the soundest
doctrine should be heard, we have no security that they will not become
the schools of heresy.  Here, if the licentious teacher get a footing,
he moulds the whole system  of ministration to his views; not a
prayer, not a psalm, not a formulary of any kind but in this case will
become the vehicle of error."-Pp. 17, 18.
How far, in creatures so liable to mistake, a fixed and perpetual
character is an enviable attribute, we shall not stay to inquire; with
what right it is claimed on this occasion it is not very difficult to
determine.  The Thirty-nine Articles will unquestionably always
remain the same; that is, they will always be the Thirty-nine Articles:
but it is not quite so certain that they are universally believed; muchi
less that they will always continue to be so; and least of' all, that
after having ceased to be believed, they will receive the sanction of
every successive legislature.  For our parts, such is our simplicity,
that when we read of a fixed and perpetual character, our attention is
always wandering to men, to some mode of thinking or feeling to
which such perpetuity belongs; instead of resting in the useful contemlnplation. of pen, ink, and paper.  With every disposition, however, to
do the author justice, we have some fear for the success of his argument; suspecting the dissenters will be ready to reply, "Our pastors
cor(lially embrace the doctrine contained in your article.; and as this
cannot be affirmed of the majority of yours, the questiotn of perpetuity
is reduced to this amusing theorem, —In which of two given situations




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                     263
will a doctrine last the longest-where it is believed without being
subscribed, or where it is subscribed without being believed?"
" Every addition separatism makes to its supporters alters the propor
tion existing in this country between the monarchical and the democratic
spirit; either of which preponderating to a considerable degree, might
be productive of the most serious consequences. For it is certain, that
as our church-establishment is favourable to monarchy, so is the!
constitution of our dissenting congregations to democracy. The latter
principle is cherished in all communities, where the power resides not
in one, or a few, but is shared, in certain proportions, among all the
members; which is the case in most of the religious societies under
consideration. Let it be remembered, then, that if religion increase in
this way, there is that increasing with it which is not religion; there
is something springing up which is of a different nature, and which
will be sure to stand, whether that better thing with which it may grow
do or not."-P. 20.
The equal justice it is our duty to maintain obliges us tO( notice
another aspersion which the author casts upon dissenters.
In this statement the author has exhibited his usual inattention to
facts.'That the people had, in the first ages, a large share in ecclesiastical proceedings, and that their officers were chosen by themselves,
is incontrovertibly evident, as well from Scripture as from the authentic
monuments of antiquity.  The Epistles of St. Cyprian, to go no
further, are as full in proof of this point as if they had been written on
purpose to establish it. The transfer of power, first from the people
to their ministers, and afterward from them to the Bishop of Rome,
was a gradual work, not fully accomplished till many centuries had
elapsed from the Christian era. Until the conversion of Constantine,
the Christian church was an imperium. in inmperio, a spiritual republic.
subsisting in the midst of the Roman empire, on which it was completely
independent; and its most momentous affairs were directed by popular
suffrage. Nor did it, in this state, either excite the jealousy or endanger
the repose of the civil magistrate; since the distinction between the
(concerns of this world and those of another, so ably illustrated by
Locke, taught the Christians of that time to render to Cesar the things
which are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.  Instructed
to yield obedience to princes for conscience' sake, they were not the
les~ orderly or submissive because they declined their interference in
the suppression of error, or the punishment of ecclesiastical delinquency.
If there be that inseparable connexion between political disaffection
and the exercise of popular rights in religion which this writer contends,
the primitive Christians must have been in a deplorable state: since
it would have been impossible for them to quiet the just apprehensions
of government without placing a heathen emperor at the head of the
church.  What must we think of the knowledge of a writer who was
ignorant of these falcts; of the candour which suppressed thenm; or
of the humanity whlich finds an occasion of aspersing his fellow-christians
in what escaped the malignity of heathen persecutors!'lThe dissenters swill not fail to remind the writer that the British i.




264                      REVIEW  OF
a mixed, not an absolute monarchy; that the habit of considering the
people as nothing is as repugnant to its spirit as that of making them
every thing; and that to vest the whole power in the hands of one
person, without check or control, is more suited to the genius of the
Turkish than the British government.  And to this retort, it must be
confessed, the conduct of the high church party, who have seldom scrupled to promulgate maxims utterly subversive of liberty, would lend a
very colourable support.  The whole topic, however, is invidious,
absurd, and merely calculated to mislead; since the constitution of the
Christian church is fixed by the will of its Founder, the dictates of
which we are not at liberty to accommodate or bend to the views o
human policy.  The dispute respecting ecclesiastical government must
like every other on religion, be determined, if it ever be determined at
all, by an appeal to Scripture, illustrated perhaps occasionally by the
approved usages of the earliest antiquity. To connect political consequences with it, and to make it the instrument of exciting popular
odium, is the indication of a bad cause and of a worse heart.  After
the specimens our readers have already had of the author's spirit, they
will not be surprised to find he is not quite satisfied with the Toleration
Act, which he complains has been perverted from its purpose of affording relief to tender consciences to that of making dissenters. We are
not acute enough to comprehend this distinction.  We have always
supposed that it was the intention of the legislature by that act to
enable Protestant dissenters to worship where they pleased, after giving
proper notice to the magistrate: how their availing themselves of this
liberty can be construed into an abuse of the act we are at a loss to
conceive. This writer would tolerate dissenters, but not allow them
to propagate their sentiments; that is, he would permit them that liberty
of thinking which none can restrain, but not of speaking and acting,
which are alone subject to the operation of law.
It is quite of a piece with the narrow prejudices of such a man to
complain of it as an intolerable hardship, that a minister of the establishment is sometimes in danger, through the undistinguishing spirit of
hospitality, of being invited to sit down with religionists of different
descriptions; and he avows his manly resolution of going without his
dinner rather than expose himself to such an indignity. It is certainly
a most lamentable thing to reflect, that a regular clergyman may possibly lose caste by mixing at the hospitable board with some of those
who will be invited to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. When Burke
was informed that Mr. Godwin held gratitude to be a crime, he replied,
"I will take care not to be accessory to his committing that crime."
We hope the lovers of hospitality will take the hint, and never insult
the author of " Zeal without Innovation" by exposing him to the touch
of the ceremonially unclean.
Although we have already trespassed on the patience of our readers,
we cannot dismiss this part of the subject without craving their indulgence a little longer. We are much concerned to witness the spirit of
intolerance that pervades many recent publications. If the uniform
course of experience can prove any thing, it is that the extension of




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                   265
any particular frame of church government will of itself contribute
little to the interests of vital Christianity. Suppose every inhabitant
of the kingdom were to return to the bosom of the establishment
to-morrow, what real accession would be gained to the kingdom of
Christ? Is there any magic in the change of a name which can convert careless, profane, irreligious dissenters into devout and pious
churchmen? The virtuous part of them do honour to the Christian
profession in the situation they occupy at present; and for the vicious,
they could only infect and disgrace the community with which they
proposed to associate. What means this incessant struggle to raise
one party on the ruins of another? this assumption of infallibility, and
the clamorous demand for the interposition of the legislature, which we
so often witness? If the writers to whom we allude will honestly tell
us they are apprehensive of their " craft" being in danger, we will give
them credit for sincerity; but to attempt to cover their bigotry under
the mask of piety is too gross a deception. Were the measures adopted
for which these men are so violent, they would scarcely prove more
injurious to religion than to the interests of the established church; to
which the accession of numbers would be no compensation for the loss
of that activity and spirit which are kept alive, by the neighbourhood
of rival sects. She would suffer rapid encroachments from infidelity;
and the indolence and secularity too incident to opulent establishments
would hasten her downfall. Amid the increasing degeneracy of the
clergy, which must be the inevitable effect of destroying the necessity
of vigilance and exertion, the people that now crowd the conventicle
would not repair to the church: they would be scattered and dissipated, like water no longer confined within its banks. In a very short
time, we have not the smallest doubt, the attendance at church would
be much less than it is now. A religion which, by leaving no choice,
can produce no attachment,-a religion invested with the stern rigour
of law, and associated in the public mind and in public practice with
prisons, and pillories, and gibbets,-would be a noble match, to be sure,
for the subtle spirit of impiety, and the enormous and increasing corruption of the times. It is amusing to reflect what ample elbow-room
the worthy rector would possess; how freely he might expatiate in his
wide domain; and how much the effect of his denunciations against
schism would be heightened by echoing through so large a void
"Hic vasto rex Eolus antro
Luctantes ventos tempestatesque sonoras
Imperio premit.'
The Gallican church no doubt looked upon it as a signal triumph
when she prevailed on Louis the Fourteenth to repeal the edict of
Nantes, and to suppress the Protestant religion. But what was the
consequence? Where shall we look, after this period, for her Feneions and her Pascals-where for the distinguished monuments of piety
and learning which were the glory of her better days? As for piety,
she perceived she had no occasion for it when there was no lustre of
Christian holiness surrounding her; nor for learning, when st e had no




266                       REVIEW  OF
longer any opponents to confute or any controversies to maintain.
Slhe felt herself at liberty to become as ignorant, as secular, as irreligious as she pleased; and, amid the silence and darkness she had
created around her, she drew the curtains and retired to rest.  The
accession of numbers she gained by suppressing her opponents was
like the small extension of length a body acquires by death: the feeble
remains of life were extinguished, and she lay a putrid corpse, a public
nuisance, filling the air with pestilential exhalations.  Such, there is
every reason to believe, would be the effect of similar measures in
England.  That union among Christians which it is so desirable to
recover must, we are persuaded, be the result of something more
heavenly and divine than legal restraints or angry controversies.  Uness an angel were to descend for that purpose, the spirit of division
is a disease which will never be healed by troubling the waters.  We
must expect the cure from the increasing prevalence of religion, and
from a copious communication of the Spirit to produce that event.  A
more extensive diffusion of piety among all sects and parties will be
the best and only preparation for a cordial union.  Christians will then
be disposed to appreciate their differences more equitably; to turn their
chief attention to points on which they agree; and, in consequence of
loving each other more, to make every concession consistent with a
good conscience. Instead of wishing to vanquish others, every one
will be desirous of being vanquished by the truth. An awful fear of
God and an exclusive desire of discovering his mind will hold a torch
before them in their inquiries, which will strangely illuminate the path
in which they are to tread.  In the room of being repelled by mutual
antipathy, they will be insensibly drawn nearer to each other by the
ties of mutual attachment.  A larger measure of the spirit of Christ
would prevent them from converting every incidental variation into an
impassable boundary; or from condemning the most innocent and laudable usages for fear of symbolizing with another class of Christiansan odious spirit, with which the writer under consideration is strongly
impregnated.  The general prevalence of piety in different communities would inspire that mutual respect, that heartfelt homsage for the
virtues conspicuous in the character of their respective members which
would urge us to ask with astonishment and regret, Why cannot we
be one?  What is it that obstructs our union?  Instead of maintaining
the barrier which separates us from each other, and employing ourselves in fortifying the frontiers of hostile communities, we should be
anxiously devising the means of narrowing the grounds of dispute, by
drawing the attention of all parties to those fundamental and catholic
principles in which they concur.
To this we may add, that a more perfect subjection to the authority
of the great Head of the church would restrain men from inventing new
terms of communion, from lording it over conscience, or from exacting
a scrupulous compliance with things which the word of God has left
indifferent.  That sense of imperfection we ought ever to cherish would
incline us to be looking up for superior light, and make us think it not
inprobable, that in the long night which has befallen us, we have all




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                    267,tlore or less mistaken our way, and have much to learn and rrnah to
correct.  The very idea of identifying a particular party with the church
would be exploded; the foolish clamour about schism hushed; and no
one, however mean and inconsiderable, be expected to surrender his
conscience to the claims of ecclesiastical dominion.  The New Testa.
ment is surely not so obscure a book that were its contents to fall into
the hands of' a hundred serious, impartial men, it would produce such
opposite conclusions as must necessarily issue in their forming two or
more separate communions. It is remarkable, indeed, that the chief
points about which real Christians are divided are points on which that
volume is silent-mere human fabrications, which the presumption of
men has attached to the Christian system. A larger communication
of the Spirit of truth would insensibly lead Christians into a similar
train of thinking; and being more under the guidance of that infallible
Teacher, they would gradually tend to the same point, and settle in
the same conclusions. Without such an influence as this, the coalescing
into one communion would probably be productive of much mischief:
it certainly would do no sort of good, since it would be the mere result
of intolerance and pride acting upon indolence and fear.
During the present disjointed state of things, then, nothing remains
but for every one to whom the care of any part of the church of Christ
is intrusted, to exert himself to the utmost in the promotion of vital
religion, in cementing the friendship of the good, and repressing with
a firm and steady hand the heats and eruptions of party spirit.  He
will find sufficient employment for his time and his talents in inculcating
the great truths of the gospel, and endeavouring to "form  Christ" in
his hearers, without blowing the flames of contention, or widening that
breach which is already the disgrace and calamity of the Christian
name.  Were our efforts uniformly to take this direction, there would
be an identity in the impression made by religious instruction; the
distortion of party features would gradually disappear; and Christians
would everywhere approach towards that ideal beauty spoken of by
painters, which is combined of the finest lines and traits conspicuous
in individual forms.  Since they have all drunk into the same spirit,
it is manifest nothing is wanting but a larger portion of that spirit to
lay the foundation of a solid, cordial union. It is to the immoderate
attachment to secular interest, the love of power, and the want of reverence for truth, not to the obscurities of revelation, we must impute the
unhappy contentions among Christians-maladies which nothing can
correct but deep and genuine piety.  The true schismatic is not so
properly the person who declines a compliance with what he judges to
be wrong, though he may be mistaken in that judgment, as the man
who, like the author before us, sedulously employs every artifice to
alienate the affections of good men from each other.
Having animadverted on the illiberality of this writer towards persons
of different persuasions, we now proceed to notice his representations
of the state of religion, together with his treatment of that description
of the clergy with whom he has been accustomed to associate.
The cause of religion he represents as in a very declining state.




268                       RPVIEEW  OF
" Some persons now living," he says, " can remember the time when
absence from church was far from being so common as it is now become. Then, the more considerable heads of families were generally
seen in the house of God, with their servants as well as children.
This visible acknowledgment of the importance of religion had a good
effect on families of inferior condition: the presence of the merchant
and his household brought the tradesman and his family; and the
example of the latter induced his journeymen and out-door servants to
come to church. But this is not a description of modern habits. In
many pews, once regularly filled by the entire household to which they
belonged, it is now common to see only a small portion of the family,
and often not an individual. Two or three of the younger branches,
from the female side of the house, occasionally attend, with perhaps
the mother, but without the father and the sons: the father, wearied
with business, wants a little relaxation; and to the young men, not
suspecting their want of instruction, a rural excursion offers something
interesting, while the tranquil service of a church is too tame an occupation for their unexhausted spirits. Nor among the few who attend
public worship are they always the same individuals that we see in
the house of God. So that it does not appear to be from steady principle, and still less from the influence of parental authority, that some
of the family are occasionally there. The children are left to themselves; they may go to church if they choose to do so; they incur no
displeasure from the father, they excite no grief in his bosom if they
stay away.  There is no disreputation attaching to absence.  It falls
rather upon the contrary conduct; any uniform attendance on divine
worship being frequently considered a mark of imbecility or demureness.
"To account for the thinness of our parochial congregations, some
allege that there is not a sufficient quantity of naturally attractive circumstances in the ordinary service of the church.  But it is observable, that where our liturgy is used in its grandest form, the attendance
is as far from being numerous as it is elsewhere. It might be expected, and especially in an age in which a taste for music so generally
prevails, that in a metropolis containing near a million of inhabitants,
there might be more persons drawn by the grandeur of cathedral worship to the place where it is performed, than could well be accommodated in one church. The cathedral of London, however, presents no
such scene.  With a numerous attendance of ministers, the finest
specimens of church-music, and these performed with that effect which
professional qualification gives to such compositions, the seats of St.
Paul's cathedral are seldom half-filled." Pp. 2-4.
Though we acknowledge the truth of his statement in a great measure, we are far from drawing from it the inference he wishes to impress. Whenever places of worship are thinly attended, at least in
the established church, we have uniformly found it to proceed from a
ca se very distinct from  the general decay of piety: it results fiom
the absence of that sort of instruction which naturally engages th}e!
attention and fixes the heart. In one view, we are fully aware a g'rt:<il




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                     269
alteration has taken place: an attachment to the mere forms of religion
has much subsided; the superstitious reverence formerly paid to consecrated places and a pompous ceremonial has waxed old; so that
nothing will now command a full attendance at places set apart for
Divine worship, but the preaching of the gospel, or of something, at
least, that may be mistaken for it. Instead of concurring with the
author in considering this as evincing the low state of Christianity
among us, we are disposed to look upon it in a contrary light, being
fully convinced that a readiness to acquiesce in the mere forms and
ceremonies of religion, to the neglect of that truth which sanctifies the
church, is one of the most dangerous errors to which men can be exposed. There is something in the constitution of human nature so
abhorrent from the absence of all religion, that we are inclined to believe more are ruined by embracing some counterfeit instead of the
true, than by the rejection of true and false altogether. WVe are not
sorry, therefore, to learn that the music at St. Paul's is not found a
sufficient substitute for " the joyful sound," nor a numerous show of
ministers accepted by the people in the room of " Christ crucified set
forth before them."  Let the truths which concern men's eternal salvation be faithfully taught in that noble edifice, and the complaint of
slender attendance will soon cease. In the mean time, of that part
of the citizens who might be expected to frequent the cathedral, some
are too gay and fashionable not to prefer the music of the theatre and
the opera; and some are serious Christians, whose hunger for the
bread of life will not be satisfied or diverted by the symphonies of an
organ, or the splendour of canonical dresses.
He who is resolved to see nothing but what grows in his own enclosure, may report that " all is barren," thoughl the fields around him
bloomed like the garden of Eden; and such is the strength of this
writer's prejudices, that it is morally impossible for him to give a just
representation of facts. In forming his estimate of the state of religion,
he is resolved to look only where he knows nothing is to be seen;
and absurdly complains of the want of a crop where he is conscious
the soil has never been cultivated.  Effects must be looked for from
their natural causes: men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of
thistles; nor are the fruits of Christianity to be expected in the'absence of the gospel. Notwithstanding this writer's gloomy prognostications, we have no doubt of the kingdom of Christ making sensible
advances; and in support of this opinion, we adduce the wider extension of religious truth, the multitude of places where the gospel is
preached in its purity, the general disposition to attend it, the estab
lishment of Sunday-schools, the circulation, with happy effect, of
innumerable tracts, the translation of the Scriptures into foreign lan
guages, and their more extensive communication to all nations, the
formation of missionary societies, the growing unanimity among Christians, and the prodigious increase of faithful ministers in the established
church. We presume these facts may be allowed a degree of weight
sufficient to overbalance the thin attendance at St. Paul's.  It is
not a little surprising that a writer who professes to exhibit a correct




270)                      REVIEW  OF
idea of the religious state of the nation, should pay no attention to
these circumstances, or content himself with alluding to them in terms
expressive of chagrin and vexation.  Regarding the extensive institutions and the diffusive benefits which the efforts of serious Christians
in different connexions have produced, as a contraband article, not
entitled to be mentioned in the estimate of our moral wealth, he represents us as generally sunk in spiritual sloth and poverty.  We should
iot learn from this writer that attempts were making for the universal propagation of Christianity; that translations of the Scriptures
wvere going on in different languages; or that a zeal for the conversion of pagans had occasioned a powerful reaction at home, by producing efforts hitherto unexampled towards carrying the gospel into
the darkest corners of the kingdom.  We should never suspect firom
reading his work, that any material alteration had taken place within
the last fifty years, or that new life had been infused into the professing
world beyond what we might conjecture, perhaps, from certain indirect
references and dark insinuations.  Without noticing these facts, he
calls upon us to join in pathetic lamentations over the prostrate state
of religion, upon no better ground than the neglect of places of worship where the gospel is not preached, and where there is little to
attract attention besides the privilege of hearing fine music and seeing
fine rministers for nothing.  It is a consolation to us to be convinced
that the state of things is much otherwise than he represents; that
more persons are brought acquainted with the glad tidings of the gospel, and more minds penetrated with the concerns of eternity, than at
any period since the Reformation.
Thus far we dispute the. justice of this author's statement, and are
lisposed to question the truth of the inference he has drawn from
some insulated facts.  But this is not the only fault we have to find
with this part of his work.  He has not only, in our opinion, been betrayed into erroneous conclusions, but has utterly failed in catching the
distinguishing features in the aspect of the times; so that his picture
bears no sort of resemblance to the original.  He has painted nothing;
he has only given an account of a particular distortion or two; so
that a foreigner would no more be able, by reading his work, to form
an idea of the state of religion in England, than of a countenance he
had never seen by being told its chin was too long, or its nostrils were too
wide.  It must be evident to every one that the most striking characteristic of the present times is the violent, the outrageous opposition
that is made to religion by multitudes, and the general disposition in
the members of the community to take a decided part.  To this circumstance the writer has never adverted.  It is impossible to suppose
it could escape his attention: we must therefore impute his silence to
the well-weighed dictates of prudence, which admonished him of the
possibility of betraying himself into inconveniences by such a discussion: nor need we be surprised, notwithstanding his bcasted magnanimnity, at his yielding to these suggestions; since his magnanimity is.f that sort which makes a man very ready to insult his brethren, but
erv careful not to disgust his superiors.  As we are happily exempt




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.'271
from these scruples, we shall endeavour, in as few words as possible,
to put the reader in possession of our ideas on this subject.
The leading truths of revelation were all along retained in the Church
of Rome, but buried under such a mass of absurd opinions and superstitious observances, that they drew but little attention, and exerted a
very inconsiderable influence in the practical application of the system.
At the Reformation, they were effectually extricated and disengaged
from errors with which they had been mingled, were presented in a blaze
of light, and formed the basis of our national creed.  As it was by
pushing them to their legitimate consequences that the Reformers were
enabled to achieve the conquest of popery, they were for a while retained in their purity, and every deviation from them denounced as
menacing a revolt to the enemy. The Articles of the church were a
real transcript of the principles the Reformers were most solicitous to
inculcate; and being supported by the mighty impulse which produced
the Reformation, while that remained fresh and unbroken they constituted the real faith of the people.  Afterward they underwent an
eclipse in the Protestant Church of England, as they had done in the
Church of Rome, though from causes somewhat different.. The low
arminianism and intolerant bigotry of Laud paved the way for a change,
which was not a little aided and advanced by the unbounded licen
tiousness and profligacy which overspread the kingdom after the Restoration: for it must be remembered that there is an intimate connexion
between the perception and relish of truth and a right disposition of
mind; that they have a reciprocal influence on each other; and that the
mystery of faith can only be placed with safety in a pure conscience.
When lewdness, profaneness, and indecency reigned without control,
and were practised without a blush, nothing, we may be certain, could
be more repugnant to the prevailing taste than the unadulterated word
of God.'There arose also, at this time, a set of divines who, partly
in compliance with the popular humour, partly to keep at a distance
from the puritans, and partly to gain the infidels who then began to
make their appearance, introduced a new sort of: preaching, in which
the doctrines of the Reformation, as they are usually styled, were supplanted by copious and elaborate disquisitions on points of morality.
Their fame and ability imboldened their successors to improve upon
their pattern, by consigning the Articles of the church to a still more
perfect oblivion, by losing sight still more entirely of the peculiarities
of the gospel, guarding more anxiously against every sentiment or
expression that could agitate or alarm, and by shortening the length,
and adding as much as possible to the dryness, of their moral lucubrations. From that time, the idea commonly entertained in England of
a perfect sermon was that of a discourse upon some moral topic, clear,
correct, and argumentative, in the delivery of which the preacher mus.
be free from all suspicion of being moved himself, or of intending to
produce emotions in his hearers; in a word, as remote as poss;51le
from such a method of reasoning on righteousness, temperance, and
judgment as should make a Felix tremble. This idea was very successfully realized, this singular model of pulpit eloquence carried to




272                      REVIEW  OF
the utmost perfection; so that, while the bar, the parliament, and the
theatre frequently agitated and inflamed their respective auditories,
the church was the only place where the most feverish sensibility was
sure of being laid to rest.  This inimitable apathy in the mode of imparting religious instruction, combined with the utter neglect of whatever is most touching or alarming in the discoveries of the gospel,
produced their natural effect of extinguishing devotion in the established church, and of leaving it to be possessed by the dissenters; of
whom it was considered as the distinguishing badge, and from that
circumstance derived an additional degree of' unpopularity.  From
these causes the people gradually became utterly alienated from the
Articles of the church, eternal concerns dropped out of the mind, and
what remained of religion was confined to an attention to a few forms
and ceremonies. If any exception can be made to the justice of these
observations, it respects the doctrines of the Trinity and the atonement, which were often defended with ability, though in a dry and
scholastic manner, and the discussion of which served to mark the
return of the principal festivals of the church; while other points not
less important,-such as the corruption of human nature, the necessity
of the new birth, and justification by faith,-were either abandoned to
oblivion, or held up to ridicule and contempt. The consequence was,
that the creed established by law had no sort of influence in forming
the sentiments of the people; the pulpit completely vanquished the
desk; piety and puritanism were confounded in one common reproach;
an almost pagan darkness in the concerns of salvation prevailed; and
the English became the most irreligious people upon earth.
Such was the situation of things when Whitfield and Wesley made
their appearance; who, whatever feelings the severest criticism can
discover in their character, will be hailed by posterity as the second
reformers of England. Nothing was farther from the views of these
excellent men than to innovate in the established religion of their
country; their sole aim was to recall the people to the good old way,
and to imprint the doctrine of the Articles and Homilies on the spirits
of men. But this doctrine had been confined so long to a dead letter,
and so completely obliterated from the mind by contrary instruction,
that the attempt to revive it met with all the opposition which innovation is sure to encounter, in addition to what naturally results from the
nature of the doctrine itself, which has to contend with the whole force
of human corruption. The revival of the old appeared like the introduction of a new religion; and the hostility it excited was less sanguinary, but scarcely less virulent, than that which signalized the first
publication of Christianity.  The gospel of Christ, or that system of
truth which was laid as the foundation of the Reformation, has since
made rapid advances; and in every step of its progress has sustained
the most furious assault.  Great Britain exhibits the singular spectacle
of two parties contending, not whether Christianity shall be received
or rejected, but whether it shall be allowed to retain any thing spiritual:
not whether the Articles and Homilies shall be repealed, but whether
they shall be laid as the basis of public instruction.  Infidelity being




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                    273
tuo much discredited by the atrocities in France to hope for public
countenance, the enemies of religion, instead of attacking the outworks
of Christianity, are obliged to content themselves with vilifying and
misrepresenting its distinguishing doctrines.  They are willing to retain the Christian religion, providing it continue inefficient; and are
wont to boast of their attachment to the established church, when it is
manifest there is little in it they admire, except its splendour and its
emoluments. The clerical order, we are sorry to say, first set the
example; and, since evangelical principles have been more widely
diffused, have generally appeared in the foremost ranks of opposition.
This is nothing more than might be naturally looked for.  With all the
respect we feel for the clergy on account of their learning and talents,
it is impossible not to know that many of them are mere men of the
world, who have consequently the same objections to the gospel as
others, together with some peculiar to themselves.  As the very attempt of reviving doctrines which have been obliterated through their
neglect, implies a tacit censure of their measures, so, wherever that
attempt succeeds, it diminishes the weight of their ecclesiastical character. Deserted by the people, and eclipsed in the public esteem
by many much their inferiors in literary attainments, they feel indignant: and if, as we will suppose, they sometimes suspect their being
neglected has arisen from their inattention to important truths and indispensable duties, this increases their uneasiness, which, if it fails to
reform, will inevitably exasperate them still more against those who
are the innocent occasions of it.  It is but fair to acknowledge, that
in conducting the controversy, they have generally kept within decent
bounds, have often reasoned where others have railed, and have usually
abstained from topics hackneyed by infidels and scoffers.  But they
cannot be vindicated from the charge of having, by a formal opposition to
the gospel, inflamed the irreligious prejudices of the age, obstructed
the work they were appointed to promote, and imboldened others, who
had none of their scruples or restraints, to outrage piety itself. The
dragon has cast from his mouth such a flood of heresy and mischief,
that Egypt, in the worst of her plagues, was not covered with more
loathsome abominations.  Creatures which we did not suspect to have
existed have come forth from  their retreats, some soaring into the
regions of impiety on vigorous pinions, others crawling on the earth
with a slow and sluggish motion, only to be tracked through the filthy
slime of their impurities.  We have seen writers of every order, from
the Polyphemuses of the north to the contemptible dwarfs of the Crit
ical Review; men of every party, infidels, churchmen, and dissenters
-a motley crew, who have not one thing in common, except their an.
tipathy to religion,-join hands and heart on this occasion: a deadly
taint of impiety has blended them in one mass; as things the mos;
discordant, while they are living substances, will do perfectly well tc
p ltrefy together.
We are not at all alarmed at this extensive combination; we doubt
not of its producing the most happy effects.  It has arisen from the
alarm the great enemy has felt at the extension of the gospel; and
V L. II- -S




274                        REVIEW  OF
by drawing the attention of the world more powerfully to it, will
ultimately aid the cause it is intended to subvert.  The public will not
long be at a loss to determine where the truth lies, when they see in
one party a visible fear of God, a constant appeal to his oracles, a
solicitude to promote the salvation of mankind; in the other, an indecent
levity, an unbridled insolence, an unblushing falsehood, a hard unfeeling
pride, a readiness to adopt any principles and assume any mask that
will answer their purpose, together with a manifest aim to render the
Scriptures of no authority and religion of lno effect.
Having so often alluded to the " evangelical clergy," we shall close
this division of our remarks with exhibiting a slight outline of the
doctrine by which the clergy of this. class are distinguished. The
term evangelical was first given them simply on account of their
preaching the gospel, or, in other words, their exhibiting with clearness
and precision the peculiar truths of Christianity. In every system
there are some principles which serve to identify it, and in which its
distinguishing essence consists.  In the system  of Christianity, the
rules of moral duty are not entitled to be considered in this light,
partly because thley are not peculiar to it, and partly because they are
retained by professed infidels, who avow without scruple their admiration of the morality of the gospel. We must look then elsewhere,
for the distinguishing character of Christianity.  It must be sought
for in its doctrines, and (as its professed design is to conduct men to
eternal happiness) in those doctrines which relate to the way of salvation, or the method of a sinner's reconciliation with God.  There
are some, we are aware, who would reduce the whole faith of a Christian to a belief of the messiahship of Christ, without reflecting, that
until we have fixed some specific ideas to the term Messiah, the
proposition which affirms him to be such contains no information.
The most discordant apprehensions are entertained by persons who
equally profess that belief; some affirming him  to be a mere man,
others a being of the angelic order, and a third party essentially partaker of the divine nature. The first of these look upon his sufferings
as merely exemplary; the last, as propitiatory and vicarious. It must
be evident, then, from these views being at the utmost distance from
each other, that the proposition that Christ is the Messiah conveys
little information, while the import of its principal term is left vague
and undetermined,  The Socinian and Trinitarian, notwithstanding
their verbal agreement, having a different object of worship, and a
different, ground of confidence, must be allowed to be of different
religions. It requires but a very cursory perusal of the Articles of the
established church to determine to which of these systems they lend
their support; or to perceive that the deity of Christ, the doctrine of
atonement fbr sin, the guilt and apostacy of man, and the necessity of
the agency of the Spirit to restore the divine image, are asserted by
them in terms the most clear and unequivocal. This question stands
quite independent of the Calvinistic controversy. Are the clergy, styled
~evangelical, to be blamed for preaching these doctrines?  Before this
san be allowed, the Articles must be cancelled by the same authority




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                    275
by which they were established; or it must be shown how it consists
with integrity to gain an introduction to the church, by signifying an
unfeigned assent and consent to certain articles of religion, with the
intention of inimediatelv banishing them from notice.  The clamour
against the clergy in question cannot, without an utter contempt of
decency, be excited by the mere fact of their being known to hold and
inculcate these doctrines; but by the manner of their teaching them,
or the exclusive attention they are supposed to pay them, to the neglect
of other parts of the system.  The measure of zeal they display for
them, they conceive to be justified, as well by a view of the actual
state of human nature, as by the express declaration of the inspired
)racles.  Conceiving, with the compilers of the Articles, that the state
of man is that of a fallen and apostate creature, they justly conclude
that a mere code of morals is inadequate to his relief; that, having lost
the favour of God by his transgression, he requires, not merely to be
instructed in the rules of duty, but in the method of regaining the happiness he has forfeited; that the pardon of sin, or some compensation to
divine justice for the injury he has done to the majesty of the supreme
Iawgtver, are the objects which ought in the first place to occupy his
attention. An acquaintance with the rules of duty may be sufficient
to teach an innocent creature how to secure the felicity he possesses,
but can afford no relief to a guilty conscience, nor instruct the sinner
how to recover the happiness he has lost. Let it be remermbered, that
Christianity is essentially a restorative dispensation; it bears a continual respect to a state from which man is fallen, and is a provision
for repairing that ruin which the introduction of moral evil has brought
upon him. Exposed to the displeasure of God and the curse of his
law, he stands in need of a Redeemer; disordered in his powers, and
criminally averse to his duty, he equally needs a Sanctifier.  As
adapted to such a situation, much of the New Testament is employed
in displaying the character and unfolding the offices of both, with a
view of engaging him to embrace that scheme of mercy which the
Divine benignity has thought fit to exhibit in the gospel. The intention
of St. John in composing the evangelical history coincides with the
entire purpose and scope of revelation: "These thin'gs are written,",sail he, "that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that,
believing, ye might have life through his name." XWhoever considers,
that upon every hypothesis except the socinian, Christianity is a provision of mercy for an apostate and sinful world, through a Divine
Mediator, will acknowledge that something more is included in the
idea of preaching the gospel than the inculcation of moral duties.;
and that he who confines his attentio n to these exchanges the character
of a Christian pastor for that of a Fashionable declaimer, or a philosoi)hical moralist.  If we turn our eyes to the ministry of the apostles,
we perceive it to have consisted in " testifying repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ:" repentance, which is natural
religion modified by the circumstances of a fallen creature, including
a return to the path of duty; and faith, which is a practical compliance
with the Christian dispensation, by receiving the Saviour as the way,
S2




24,76                     REVIEW  Or0
the truth, and the life.  Faith and repentance being the primary duttes
enjoined under the gospel, and the production of these the professed
end of the inspired writers, we need not wonder that those who are
ambitious to tread in their steps insist much, in the course of their
ministry, on the topics which supply the principal motives to these
Juties;-the evil of sin, the extent of human corruption, together with
the dignity, power, and grace of the Redeemer. Remembering that
Jhe object of repentance is God, they do not, in treating of sin, satisfy.Demselves with displaying its mischievous effects in society: they
expatiate on its contrariety to the Divine nature; they speak of it
chiefly as an affront offered to the authority of the Supreme Ruler;
and represent no repentance as genuine which springs not from godly
sorrow, or a concern for having displeased God.  In this part of their
office they make use of the moral law, which requires the devotion
of the whole heart and unfailing obedience, as the sword of the Spirit,
to pierce the conscience, and to convince men that " by the deeds of it
no flesh living can be justified, but that every mouth must be stopped,
and the whole world become guilty before God."  The uniform course
of experience serves to convince them, that till a deep impression of
this truth be made on the heart, the character of the Saviour, and the
promise of pardon through his blood, will produce no gratitude, and
excite no interest.  In inculcating faith in Christ, they cannot satisfy
themselves with merely exhibiting the evidences of Christianity: a
mere assent to which, upon historical grounds, undeniably fails, in
innumerable instances, of producing those effects which are uniformly
ascribed to that principle in the New Testament; neither overcoming
the world, nor purifying the heart, nor inducing newness of life. They
are of opinion that the external evidences of the Christian religion are
chiefly of importance on account of their tendency to fix the attention
on Christ, the principal object exhibited in that dispensation; and the
faith on which the Scriptures lay so much stress, and connect with
such ineffable benefits, they conceive essentially to involve a personal
reliance on Christ for salvation, accompanied with a cordial submission
to his authority.  Attempting to produce this Scriptural faith, in a
dependence upon the Divine blessing (without which the best means
will be unsuccessful), they dwell much on the dignity of his character
as the Son of God, the admirable constitution of his person as
1"Immanuel, God with us," the efficacy of his atonement, and the
gracious tenor of his invitations, together with the agency of that
Spirit which is intrusted to him as the Mediator, to be imparted to the
members of his mystical body.  In their view, to preach the gospel is
to preach Christ; they perceive the New Testament to be full of him:
and while they imbibe that spirit with which it is replete, they feel a
sacred ambition to diffuse " the savour of his name in every place."
Let it not be inferred from hence, that they are inattentive to the
interests of practical religion, or that their ministry is merely occupied
in explaining and enforcing a doctrinal system.  None lay more stress
on the duties of a holy life, or urge with more constancy the necessity
of their hearers showing their faith by their works; and they are




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                     277
incessantly affirming, with St. James, that the former without the latter
is dead, being alone.  Though, in common with the inspired writers,
they ascribe their transition from a state of death to a state of justification solely to faith in Christ previous to good works actually performed,
yet they equally insist upon a performance of those works as the
evidence of justifying faith; and, supposing life to be spared, as the
indispensable condition of final happiness.  The law, not altered in
its requirements (for what was once duty they conceive to be duty
still), but attempered in its sanctions to the circumstances of a fallen
creature, they exhibit as the perpetual standard of rectitude, as the
sceptre of majesty by which the Saviour rules his disciples.  They
conceive it to demand the same things, though not with the same
rigour, under the gospel dispensation as before.  The matter of duty
they look upon as unalterable, and the only difference to be this; that
whereas under the covenant of works the condition of life was sinless
obedience, under the new covenant an obedience sincere and affectionate9
though imperfect, is accepted for the sake of the Redeemer. At the
same time they do, not cease to maintain, that the faith which they
hold to be justifying comprehends in it the seminal principle of every
virtue; that if genuine it will not fail to be fruitful; and that a Christian has it in bis power to show his faith " by hAis works," and by no
other means.  Under a full conviction of the fallen state of man,
together with his moral incapacity to do what is pleasing to God, they
copiously insist on the agency of the Spirit, and affectionately urge
their hearers to implore his gracious assistance.  From  no class of
men will you hear more solemn warnings against sin, more earnest
calls to repentance, or more full and distinct delineations of the duties
resulting from  every relation in life, accompanied with a peculiar
advantage of drawing fiomn the mysteries of the gospel the strongest
motives to strengthen the abhorrence of the one, and enforce the
practice of the other.  In their hands, morality loses nothing but the
pagan air with which it is too often invested.  The morality which
they enjoin is of heavenly origin, the pure emanation of truth and
love, sprinkled with atoning blood, and baptized into an element of
Christian sanctity.  That they are not indifferent to the interests of
virtue is sufficiently apparent, from  the warm  approbation they uniformly express of the excellent work of Mr. Wilberforce, which is
not more conspicuous for the orthodoxy of its tenets than for the purity
and energy of its moral instruction.  If we look at the effects produced
from the ministry of these men, they are such as might be expected
to result from a faithful exhibition of the truth of God.  Wherever
they labour, careless sinners are awakened, profligate transgressors
are reclaimed, the mere form of religion is succeeded by the power,
and fruits of genuine piety appear in the holy and exemplary lives
of their adherents.  A visible reformation in society at large, and in
many instances unequivocal proofs of solid conversion, attest the
purity of their doctrines and the utility of their labours; effects which
we challenge their enemies to produce where a different sort of teaching
prevails.




'278                      REVIEW  OF
The controversy between them  and their opponents, to say the
truth, turns on a point of the greatest magnitude: the question at
issue respects the choice of a supreme end, and whether we will take
"the Lord to be our God."  Their opponents are for confining religion
to an acknowledgment of the being of a God and the truth of the
Christian revelation, accompanied with some external rites of devotion,
while the world is allowed the exclusive dominion of the heart; they
are for carrying into effect the apostolic mission by summoning men
to repenltance, and engaging them to an entire surrender of themselves
to the service of God, through a Mediator.  In the system of human
life, their opponents assign to devotion a very narrow and limited
agency: they contend for its having the supreme control.  The former
expect nothing from religion but the restraint of outward enormities by
the fear of future punishment; in the views of the latter it is productive
of positive excellence, a perennial spring of peace, purity, and joy.
Instead of regarding it as a matter of occasional reference, they consider it as a principle of constant operation.  While their opponents
always overlook, and frequently deny, the specific difference between
the church and the wrorld, in their views the Christian is a pilgrim
and stranger in the earth, one whose heart is in heaven, and who is
supremely engaged in the pursuit of eternal realities.  Their fiercest,pposers, it is true, give to Jesus Christ the title of the Saviour of the
world.: but it requires very little attention to perceive that. their hope
of future happiness is placed on the supposed preponderancy of the
virtues over the vices, and the claims which they then conceive to result
on the justice of God; while the opposite party consider themselves
as mere pensioners on mercy, flee for refuge to the Cross, and ascribe
their hopes of salvation entirely to the grace of the Redeemer.
For our parts, supposing the being and perfections of God once
ascertained, we can conceive of no point at which we can be invited to
stop, short of that serious piety and habitual devotion which the evangelical clergy enforce.  To live without religion, to be devoid of
habitual devotion, is natural and necessary in him who disbelieves the
existence of its object; but upon what principles he can justify his
conduct who professes to believe in a Deity without aiming to please
him in all things, without placing his happiness in his favour, we are
utterly at a loss to comprehend.
We cannot dismiss this part of the subject without remarking the
exemplary moderation of the clergy of this class on those intricate
points which unhappily divide the Christian church; the questions, we
mean, that relate to predestination and free-will, on which, equally
remote from pelagian heresy and antinomian licentiousness, they freely
tolerate and indulge a diversity of opinion, embracing Calvinists and
Arminians with little distinction, provided the Calvinism of the former
be practical and moderate, anct the Arminianism of the latter evangelical and devout.  The greater part of them lean, we believe, to the
doctrine of general redemption) and love to represent the gospel as
bearing a friendly aspect towards the eternal happiness of all to whom
it is addressed; but they are much less anxious to establish a polemical
accuracy than to " win souls to Christ."




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                   279
The opposition they encounter from various quarters will not surprise those who reflect that they are not of the world, that the world
loves only its own, and naturally feels a dislike to such as testify
that its works are evil. The Christianity of the greater part of the
community is merely nominal; and it necessarily follows, that wherever
the truths of religion are faithfully exhibited and practically exemplified
they will be sure to meet with the same friends and the same enemies
as at their first promulgation; they will be still exposed to assault
from the prejudices of unrenewed minds, they will be upheld by the
same almighty Power, and will continue to insinuate themselves into
the hearts of the simple and sincere with the same irresistible force.
We hope our readers will excuse the length to which we have
extended our delineation of the principles of the clergy styled " evangelical," reflecting how grossly they have been misrepresented, and
that, until the subject is placed fairly and fully in view, it is impossible to form an equitable judgment of the treatment they have
met with from the writer under consideration.
The first charge he adduces against the evangelical clergy is that
of enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm, according to Mr. Locke, is that state
of mind which disposes a person to give a stronger assent to a religious
proposition than the evidence will justify. According to the more
common and popular notion, it implies a pretence to supernatural
communications, on which is founded a belief in certain doctrines, and
the performance of certain actions, which the Scriptures have not
authorized or revealed-a dangerous delusion, as it tends to disannul
the-standard of religion, and, by the extravagances and follies it produces, to bring piety into disgrace.  We hold enthusiasm in as much
abhorrence as our author does; but we ask, what is the proportion
of the evangelical clergy who are guilty of it? and for every individual
among them to whom it attaches, we will engage to produce ten among
their opponents who are deficient in the essential branches of morality.
Yet we should esteem it extreme illiberality in a writer to brand the
clergy in general with immorality. There may be some few among
the many hundreds whom the author has undertaken to describe who
are real enthusiasts; but where is the candour or justice of mingling
this feature in the delineation of the body? We appeal to the religious
public, whether they are not, on the contrary, eminently conspicuous
for their close adherence " to the law and to the testimony," and for
their care to enjoin nothing on their hearers without direct warrant
from the Bible? If every one is to be charged with enthusiasm whose
piety is of a more fervid complexion than the accuser is disposed to
sympathize with, or can readily account for, we must indeed despair
of convincing this writer of the futility of his allegation. They have
the zeal which, to him who makes what is most prevalent in the church
his model, must look like innovation.
He frequently insinuates that there is a disposition in them to sym
bolize with the dissenters, though he had allowed, at the very outset
of his work, that they most strictly conform to the prescribed ritual,
have no scruples against canonical obedience, and are most firmly




280                        REVIEW  OF
attached to the ecclesiastical constitution.  Speaking of the establishe'
church, he says,
"They (the evangelical clergy) approve, they admire the church irt
which they serve.  They rejoice in being ministers of such a church
Instead of being indifferent to its continuance, their devoutest wish is
that it may stand firm on its basis.  They consider it as the greatest
of blessings to their country.  They observe, with no little anxiety,
separatism gaining ground upon it. And this, not from an invidious
principle, but because hereby an alienation, in perpetuity, is produced
in many minds, from a constitution which they consider as best providing for the universal conveyance and permanent publication of
Christian truth.  Its continuance they likewise consider as the surest
pledge of religious liberty to all who wish for that blessing. And in
this view they pity the shortsightedness of those religious persons who
forward any measures which make against the stability of the national
church.  They view them as men undermining the strongest bulwark
of their own security and comfort, and conceive that Protestant sects,
of every name, however they imight prefer their own modes of
religion, would devoutly pray for the support and prosperity of the
Church of England as it now stands:' Sua si bona norint.' In short,
the ecclesiastical establishment of this country is in their views what'the ark of God' was in the estimation of the pious Israelite; and'their hearts tremble' more for that than for any thing else, the
stability of which may seem to be endangered in these eventful times.
They would consider its fall as one of the heaviest judgments that
could befall the nation."-Pp. 128, 129.
Any such approach to the dissenters as is inconsistent with their
professional engagements is incompatible with the truth of this testimony.  But let us go on to notice another imputation.
"I am constantly," says the author, "ready to admit that there is a great
deal of truth in what is often alleged by their opponents; namely, that
under their preaching there has arisen an unfavourable opinion of the
body of the clergy.  To excite a hatred of what is evil is undoubtedly
one purpose of Christian instruction.  But while the preacher is
attempting this, he must take care that he do not call forth the
malignant passions.  This he is almost sure to do if he point out a
certain set of men as persons to whom his reprehensions particularly
apply.  The hearers, too generally apt to forget themselves, are drawn
still further from the consideration of their own faults, when they can
find a (lefined class of men on whom they can fasten the guilt of any
alleged error; on them they will discharge their gall, and mistake their
rancour for righteousness.';-Pp. 154, 155, Second Edition.
Two questions arise on this poinit: first, how far an unfavourable
opinion of the body of the clergy is just; and, secondly, what sort of
influence the evangelical party have had in producing it.  "The clergy,
as a body," the author complains, "are considered by them  and their
adherents as men who do not preach the gospel." If we understand
him, he means to assert that the clergy, as a body, do preach the gospel; for we cannot suspect him of being so ridiculous (is to complain




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                      281
of their being considered in their just and true light. Here we have
the very singular spectacle of gospel ministers exclaiming with bitterness against some of their brethren for preaching the doctrines of the
new birth, justification by faith, the internal operations of the Spirit,
and whatever else characterized the faith of the Reformers, which we
have the satisfaction of learning, from this most liberal writer, are no
parts of the gospel.  Or, if he demur in assenting to such a proposition, it is incumbent on him to explain what are the doctrines distinct
firom those we have mentioned, the inculcation of which has excited
the opposition of the clergy. We, in our great simplicity, supposed
that the ministers styled evangelical had been opposed for insisting on
points intimately related to the gospel; but we are now taught, from
high authority, that the controversy is entirely of another kind, and
relates to subjects with respect to which the preachers of the gospel
nay indifferently arrange themselves on either side.  We are under
great obligations to our author for clearing up this perplexing affair,
and so satisfactorily showing both parties they were fighting in the
dark.  Poor George Whitfield! how much to be pitied, who exhausted
hIimself with incredible labours, and endured a storm of persecution,
in communicating religious instruction to people who were already
furnished with more than ten thousand preachers of the gospel! To
be serious, however, on a subject which, if there be one in the world,
demands seriousness,-it is an incontrovertible fact, that the doctrines
o, the Reformation are no longer heard in the greater part of the establishedl pulpits, and that there has been a general departure from the
truths of the gospel, which are exhibited in the ministry of a small
though increasing minority of the clergy.  The author knows this to
be a fact, although he has the meanness to express himself in a manner
that would imply his being of a contrary opinion.  We wish him
all the consolation he can derive from  this trait of godly simplicity,
as well as from his reflection on the effect which his flattery is likely
to produce, in awakening the vigilance and improving the character
of his newly-discovered race of gospel ministers.  With respect to
the degree in which an unfavourable opinion of the clergy is to be
ascribed to the representations of the evangelical party, we have to
remark, that they possess too much attachment to their order to delight
in depreciating it; and that they are under no temptation to attempt it
with a view to secure the preference of their hearers; who, supposing
them to have derived benefit from their labours, will be sufficiently
aware of the difference between light and darkness, between famine
and plenty.  Were they to insinuate, with this author, that all their
clerical brethren are actually engaged in the same cause, and are promoting the same object with themselves, they would at once be
charged with a violation of truth, and be considered as insulting the
common sense of the public.
The author is extremely offended at Dr. Haweis, on account of the
following passage in his History of the Church of Christ.  "Different
itinerant societies have been established in order to send instruction to
the poor, in the villages where the gospel is not preached.  Probably




282                        REVIEW  OF
not less than five hundred places of divine worship I ave been opened
within the last three years."  Dr. Haweis, in making this representation, undoubtedly conceived himself to be stating a simple fact, without
suspecting any lover of the gospel would call it in question.  The
author's comlment upon it is curious enough.  "It would be scarcely
credible," he says, " were not the time and place marked with sufficient precision, that a clergyman beneficed in the Church of England
was describing, in the foregoing passage, something which had lately
been taking place in this country!" It is surely very credible that
there are five hundred places in England where the gospel is not
preached; the incredible part of the business, then, consists in a " beneficed clergyman" daring to assert it, who, according to the author, is
a sort of personage who is bound never to utter a truth that will offend
the delicate ears of the clergy, especially on so trivial an occasion as
that of describing the state of religion in England.  What a magnanimitv of spirit, and how far is this author from the suspicion of being
a man-pleaser!
After acknowledging that the ministers he is characterizing have
been unjustly charged with infringing on canonical regularity, he adds,
"Would it were as easy to defend them universally,* against those
who accuse them of vanity, of courting popularity, of effrontery, of
coarseness, of the want of that affectionate spirit which should breathe
through all the ministrations of a Christian teacher, of their commonly
appearing before a congregation with an objurgatory aspect, as if their
minds were always brooding over some matter of accusation against
their charge, instead of their feeling towards them as a father does
towards his children."-F. 157.
The reader has in this passage a tolerable specimen of the " vanity"
and "6 effrontery" of this writer, as well as of that " objurgatory aspect"
he has thought fit to assume towards his brethren, not without strong
suspicion of assuming it from a desire to " court popularity."  It would
be a mere waste of words to attempt to reply to such an accusation,
which merits attention on no other account than its exhibiting a true
picture of his mind.
"As for the matter," he proceeds to observe, " of which the sermons
delivered by some of them are composed, it is contemptible in the extreme.  Though truths of great importance are brought forward, yet,
as if those who delivered themn were born to ruin the cause in which
they are engaged, they are presented to the auditory associated with
such meanness, imbecility, or absurdity, as to afford a complete
triumph to those who are adverse to their propagation.  We are disgusted by the violation of all the rules which the common sense of
mankind teaches them to expect the observance of on the occasion.
It is true, indeed, that something is heard about Christ, about faith and
repentance, about sin and grace; but in vain we look for argument, or
persuasion, or suavity, or reverential demeanour; qualities which ought
* The word universally, marked in italics, was inserted qfter the first edition.




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                     283
never to be absent, wlhere it is of the utmiost importance that the judgment be convinced, and the affections gaintd." — P. 158.
Unfair and illiberal in the extreme as this representation is, it contains an important concession, —that the lowest preachers among them
hax e the wisdom to make a right selection of topics, and to bring forwaid truths of great importance; a circumstance sufficient of itself
to give them an infinite superiority over the " apes of Epictetus."*  A
great diversity of talents must he expected to be found among them;
but it has not been our lot to hear of any whose labours a good man
would think it right to treat with indiscriminate contempt. As they
are called, for the most part, to address the middle and lower classes
of' society, their language is plain and simple; speaking in the presence of God, their address is solemn; and as becomes "the ambassadors of Christ," their appeals to the conscience are close and cogent.
Few, if any, among them aspire to the praise of consummate oratorsa character which we despair of ever seeing associated in high perfection with that of a Christian teacher. The minister of the gospel
is called to declare the testimony of God, which is always weakened
by a profuse employment of the ornaments of secular eloquence.
Those exquisite paintings and nice touches of art in which the sermons of the Frenchpreachers excel so much, excite a kind of attention,
and produce a species of pleasure, not in perfect accordance with devotional feeling. The imagination is too much excited and employed,
not to interfere with the more awful functions of conscience; the hearer
is absorbed in admiration; and the exercise which ought to be an instrument of conviction, becomes a feast of taste.  In the hand of a
Massillon, the subject of death. itself is blended with so many associations of the most delicate kind, and calls up so many sentiments of
natural tenderness, as to become a source of theatrical amusement
rather than of religious sensibility.  Without being insensible to the
charms of eloquence, it is our decided opinion that a sermon of Mr.
Gisborne's is more calculated to 1" convert a sinner from the error of
his vway," than one of Massillon's.  It is a strong objection to a studied
attempt at oratory in the pulpit, that it usually induces a neglect of the
peculiar doctrines of Christian verity, where the preacher feels himself
restrained, and is under the necessity of explaining texts, of obviating
objections, and elucidating difficulties, which limits the excursions of'
imagination, and confines it within narrow bounds.  He is therefore
eager to escape from these fetters; and, instead of "reasoning out of
the Scriptures," expatiates in the flowery fields of declamation.  It
would be strange, however, if the evangelical clergy did not excel
their contemporaries in the art of preaching, to which they devote so
much more of their attention. While others are accustomed to describe
it under the very appropriate phrase of "doing duty,".it is their business and their delight. They engage in it under many advantages.
Possessed of the same education with their brethren, they usually
speak to crowded auditories; the truths they deliver command attention
a Hiorsley.




284                        REVIEW  OF
and they are accustomed to ascend the pulpit under an awful sense of
the weight and importance of their charge.  Under such circumstances,
it is next to impossible for them not to become powerful and impres.
sive.  Were it not indelicate to mention names, we could easily confirm our observations by numerous living examples. Suffice it to say,
that perhaps no denomination of Christians ever produced so many
excellent preachers; and that it is entirely owing to them  that the
ordinance of preaching has not fallen, in the established church, into
utter contempt.
With respect to the remarks the author makes on the "hypochondriacal cast of preaching heard among them," of their "holding
their hearers by details of conflicts and experiences," and of their
"prosings on the hidings of God's face,"' we need not detain our
leaders.  To good men it will be matter of serious regret to find a
writer from whom different things were to be expected treat the concerns of the spiritual warfare in so light and ludicrous a manner;
while the irreligious will heartily join in the laugh.  It should be remembered that he is performing quarantine, purging himself from the
suspicions of Methodism, and that nothing can answer this purpose so
well as a spice of profaneness.
After expressing his contempt of the evangelical clergy as preachers,
he proceeds to characterize them in the following manner as writers:" Here," says he, " I can with great truth affirm, that many included
in that description of clergymen now under consideration are sorely
grieved by much of what comes out as the produce of authorship on
their side. And well they mlay be; to see, as is frequently the case,
the blessed truths of the gospel degraded, by being associated with
newspaper bombast, with impudence, with invective, with dotage, with
drivelling cant, with buffoonery, and scurrility! Who can read these
despicable publications without thinking contemptuously of all who
abet them? But let not every one in whom an occasional coincidence
of opinion may be recognised be included in this number.  For it is
a certain truth, that the writings. of avowed infidels are not more offensive to several of the clergy in question than are some of the publications here alludled to.  Let them  not, therefore, be judged of by
that which they condemn; by productions which they consider as an
abuse of the liberty of the press, and a disgrace to the cause which
their authors profess to serve."-P. 179.
Whoever remembers that the most learned interpreter of prophecy
now living ranks with the evangelical clergy, whoever recalls to his
recollection the names of Scott, Robinson, Gisborne, and a multitude
of others of the same description, will not easily be induced to form a
contemptuous opinion of their literary talents, or to suspect them of
being a whit behind the rest of the clergy in mental cultivation or intellectual vigour. In a subsequent edition the author has explained
his meaning, by restricting the censure to all who have ranged them.
selves on the side of the clergy under consideration.  But as far as
* In the seuond edition, the author has changed the term "Frosings" into "' disco'u rin,,s "




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                     285
the most explicit avowal of the same tenets can;ndicate any thing
have not each of the respectable persons before mentioned ranged
themselves on their side? Or if he will insist upon limiting the phrase
to such as have defended them in controversy, what will he say of Over
ton, whose work, for a luminous statement of facts, an accurate ar
rangement of multifarious articles, and a close deduction of proofs,
would do honour to the first polemic of the age? In affecting a con.
tempt of this most able writer, he has contradicted himself, having, in
another part of this work, borne a reluctant testimony to his talents.
He closes his animadversions on the clergy usually styled evangelical
wvith the following important concessions:"We are ready to own, though there have been a few instances to
the contrary, that the moral conduct of the men in question is consistent with their calling; and that., though the faults above detailed are
found among them, yet, as a body, they are more than free from immoralities."-P. 162.
The men to whom their accusers ascribe an assemblage of virtues
so rare and so important, must unquestionably be " the excellent of the
earth," and deserve a very different treatment from what they have
received at his hands.
Before we put a final period to this article, we must beg the reader's
patience to a few remarks on the general tendency of the work under
examination.
For the freedom of censure the author has assumed he cannot plead
the privilege of reproof. He has violated every law by which it is
regulated. In administering reproof, we are not wont to call in a third
party, least of all the party to whom the persons reproved are directly
opposed. Besides, if reproof is intended to have any effect, it must be
accompanied with the indications of a friendly mind; since none ever
succeeded in reclaiming the person he did not appear to love. The
spirit this writer displays towards the objects of his censure is decidedly hostile; no expressione  of esteem, no attempt to conciliate; all is
rudeness, asperity, and contrmpt.  He tells us in his preface, "It is
difficult to find an apology for disrespectful language under any circumstances: if it can be at all excused, it is when he who utters lets
us know from whence it comes; but he who dares to use it, and yet
dares not to put his name to the abuse, gives us reason to conclude
that his cowardice is equal to his insolence."-(Pref. p. iv.)  In violation of his own canon, he seems to have assumed a disguise for the
very purpose of giving an unbridled indulgence to the insolence he,ondemns.
If we consider him in the light of a public censor, he will appeal
to have equally neglected the proprieties of that character.  He who
undertakes that office ought, in all reason, to direct his'chief attention
to vice and impiety; which, as the common fbes of human nature, give
every one the privilege of attack.  Though his subject naturally led
him to it, we find little or nothing of the kind. In his eagerness tc
expose the aberrations of goodness, the most deadly sins and the most
destructive errors are scarcely noticed, In surveying the state of




286                       REVIEW  OF
morals, the eccentricities of a pious zeal, a hairbreadth deviation front
ecclesiastical etiquette, a momentary feeling of tenderness towards dis.
senters, are the things which excite his indignation; while the secularity, the indolence, the ambition, and dissipation too prevalent in the
church almost escape his observation.  We do not mean to assert
that it is alwvays improper to animadvert on the errors and mistakes of
good men; we are convinced of the contrary.  But whenever it is
attempted, it ought to be accompanied with such expressions of tenderness and esteem, as shall mark our sense of their superiority to persons of an opposite description.  In the moral delineations with which
the New Testament abounds, when the imperfections of Christians
are faithfully reprehended, we are never tempted to lose sight of the
infinite disparity between the friends and the enemies of the gospel.
Our reverence for good men is not impaired by contemplating their
infirmities: while those who are strangers to vital religion, with whatever amiable qualities they may be invested, appear objects of pity.
The impression made by the present performance is just the reverse.
The character of the unquestionably good is placed in so invidious a
light on the one hand, and the bad qualities of their opponents so artfully disguised and extenuated on the other, that the reader feels himself at a loss which to prefer.  Its obvious tendency is to obliterate
every mark and characteristic by which genuine religion is ascertained.
The writer of this work cannot have intended the reformation of the
party on which he has animadverted; for, independently of his having
by the rudeness of his attack forfeited every claim to their esteem, he
has so conducted it, that there is not one in fifty guilty of the faults he
has laid to their charge.  Instead of being induced to alter their conduct, they can only feel for him those sentiments which unfounded
calumny is apt to inspire.  The very persons to whom his censures
apply \vill be more likely to feel their resentment rise at the bitterness
ani rancour which accompany them, than to profit by his admonitions.
A.s we are fully convinced that the controversy agitated between the
evangelical party and their opponents involves the essential interests
of' the gospel, and whatever renders Christianity worth contending for,
we cannot but look with jealousy on the person who offers himself as
an umpire; especially when we perceive a leaning towards the party
which we consider in the wrong.  This partiality may be traced
almost through every page of the present work.  Were we to look
only to speculative points, we might be tempted to think otherwise
It is not, however, in the cool, argumentative parts of a work that the
bias of an author is so much to be perceived, as in the declamatory
parts, when he gives a freer scope to his feelings.  It is in the choice
of the epithets applied to the respective parties, in the expression of
contemptuous or respectful feeling, in the solicitude apparent to please
the one, combined with his carelessness of offending the'other, that
he betiays the state of his heart.  Judged by this criterion, this author
must be pronounced an enemy to the evangelical party.  We hope this
unnatural alienation fromh the servants of Chrlst will not prove contaQgious, or it will soon' completely overthrow that reformation which the.
established church has experienced within the last fifty vears.




ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                    287
When Saulson was brought into the house of Dagon to make sport
for the Philistines, it was by the Philistines themselves: had it been
done by an Israelite, it would have betrayed a blindness much more
deplorable than that of Samson.  Great as were the irregularities and
disorders which deformed the church at Corinth, and severely as they
were reprehended, it is easy to conceive, but impossible to express, the
indignation Paul would have felt, had a Christian held up those disorders to the view and the derision of the heathen world.  It is well
IKnown that the conduct of Luther, of Carlostadt, and of many other
reformers, furnished matter of merited censure, and even of plausible
invective; but he who had employed himself in emblazoning and magnifying their faults would have been deemed a foe to the Reformation.
Aware that it will be replied to this, the cases are different, and neither
the truth of Christianity nor the doctrines of the Reformation are
involved in the issue of the present controversy; wve answer without
hesitation, that the controversy now on foot does involve nearly all that
renders it important for Christianity to be true, and most precisely the
doctrines of the Reformation, to which the papists are not more inimical (in some points they are less so) than the opponents of the evangelical clergy.  It is the old enmity to the gospel, under a new form;
an enmity as deadly and inveterate as that which animated the breast
of Porphyry or of Julian.
The imlpression of character on the public mind is closely connected
with that of principles; so that, in the mixed questions more especially which regard religion and morals, it is vain to expect men will
condescend to be instructed by those whom they are taught to despise.
Let it be generally supposed that the patrons of orthodox piety are
weak, ignorant, and enthusiastic, despicable as a body, with the exception of a few individuals; after being inured to such representations
from their enemies, let the public be told this by one who was formerly
their friend and associate,-and is it possible to conceive a circumstance more calculated to obstruct the efficacy of their principles?
Will the prejudices of an irreligious world against the gospel be mitigated by being inspired with contempt for its abetters?  Will it be
won to the love of piety by being schooled in the scorn and derision
of its most serious professors?
We can readily suppose, that, stung with the reproaches cast upon
his party, he is weary of bearing the Cross: if this be the case, let
him at once renounce his principles, and not attempt, by mean concessions and a temporizing policy, to form an impracticable coalition be.
tween the world and the church.  We apprehend the ground he has
taken is untenable, and that he will be likely to please neither party.
By the friends of the gospel he will be in danger of being shunned as
an " accuser of the brethren;" while his new associates regard him
with the contempt due to a sycophant.
It must give the enlightened friends of religion concern, to witness
a spirit gaining ground among us, which, to speak of it in the most
favourable terms, is calculated to sow the seeds of discord.  The vivid
attention to moral discrimination, the vigilance which seizes on what
is deemed reprehensible, is unhappily turned to the supposed failings




288                        REVIEW  OF
of good men, much to the satisfaction, no doubt, of an ungodly world.
The practice of caricaturing the most illustrious men has grown fashionable among us. With grief and indignation we lately witnessed
an attempt of this kind on the character of Mr. Whitfield, made, if
our information be correct, by the present author; in which every
shade of imperfection which tradition can supply, or ingenuity surmise, is industriously brought forward for the purpose of sinking him
in public estimation. Did it accomplish the object intended by it? It
certainly did not.  While the prejudice entertained against Whitfield
by the enemies of religion was already too violent to admit of increase,
its friends were perfectly astonished at the littleness of soul, and the
callousness to every kind feeling, which could delight in mangling
such a character. It was his misfortune to mingle freely with different denominations, to preach in unconsecrated places, and convert
souls at uncanonical hours: whether he acted right or wrong in these
particulars, it is not our province to inquire.  That he approved him
self to his own conscience, there is not the least room to doubt.  Admitting his conduct, in the instances alluded toi to have been inconsistent with his clerical engagements, let it be temperately censured; but
let it not efface from our recollection the patient self-denial, the inextinguishable ardour, the incredible labours, and the unexampled success
of that extraordinary man. The most zealous votaries of the church
need be under no apprehension of her being often disgraced by producing' such a man as Mr. Whitfield.  Nil admirari is an excellent
maxim when applied, as Horace intended it, to the goods of fortune:
when extended to a character, nothing can be more injurious.  A.
sensibility to the impression of great virtues bordering on enthusiasm, accompanied with a generous oblivion of the little impcifections with which they are joined, is one of the surest prognostics of
excellence.
"Verum, ubi plura nitent-non ego pancis
Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
Aut humana parurn cavit natura-"
The modern restorers of the piety of the Church of England were
eminent for their godly simplicity and fidelity.  Sincerely attached,
is it became them, to the establishment of which they were ministers,
their spirit was too enlarged, too ardent, too disinterested to suffer
them  to become the tools of a party, or to confound the interests of
Christianity with those of any external communion. From their being
looked upon as innovators, as well as from the paucity of their numbers, they were called to endure a much severer trial than falls to the
lot of their successors.  They bore the burden and heat of the day:
they laboured, and others have entered into their labours.  We feel,
with respect to the greater part of those who succeed them, a confidence that they will continue to tread in their steps.  But wne cannot
dissemble our col cern at perceiving a set of men rising up among
them, ambitious of new-modelling the party, cwho, if they have too much
virtue openly to renounce their principles, yet have too little firmness
to endure the consequences; timid, temporizing spirits, who would refine
into insipidity, polish into weakness, and. under we know not what pre



ZEAL WITHOUT INNOVATION.                      289
tences of regularity, moderation, and a care not to offend, rob it utterly
of that energy of character to which it owes its success. If they learn,
from this anti other writers of a similar description, to insult their
brethren, fawn upon the;r enemies, and abuse their defenders, they
will soon be frittered to pieces; they will become, "like other men,"
feeble, enervated, and shorn of their strength.  We would adjure them
to be on their guard against the machinations of this new sect. We
cannot suspect them of the meanness of submitting to be drilled by
their enemies, whom they are invited to approach in the attitude of
culprits, beseeching them (in our author's phrase) to " inquire whether
there may not be some found among them of unexceptionable character!"  We trust they will treat such a suggestion with ineffable
contempt.
After the taste our readers have had of this writer's spirit, they will
not be surprised at his entire disapprobation of Mr. Overton's work.
The discordance of sentiment must be great between him who wishes
to betray, and him whose aim is to defend.  Mr. Overton, in behalf of
his brethren, boldly appeals from their accusers to the public.  I'llis
writer crouches to those very accusers, approaches them in a supplicating tone, and, as the price of peace, offers the heads of his brethren
in a charger.  Overton, by a copious detail of facts, and by a series
of irrefragable arguments, establishes their innocence: this writer
assents to their condemnation, entreating only that execution may be
respited till an inquiry is made into the degrees of delinquency.  The
author of "The True Churchman ascertained" clothes himself with the
light of truth: the author of " Zeal without Innovation" hides himself
in the thickest gloom of equivocation.
Before swe close this article, we must entreat our Ieader's patience
while we make one observation relating to the permanence of the
ecclesiastical establishment.  It is possible the dignitaries:;f the church
may be at a loss to decide whether the services of the evangelical
class shall be accepted or rejected; but we are persuaded the people
will feel no difficulty in determining whether or not to continue their
attendance at the places from whence they are banished.'Teachers
of the opposite description have already lost their hold on the public
mind; and they will lose it more and more.  Should the secession
from the established church become so general as that-its services are
no longer the objects of popular suffrage, it will be deprived of its
firmest support.  For the author of the Alliance acknowledges that
the compact between church and state, which he allows to be a virtua.
rather than a formal one, rests mainly upon the circumstance of the
established religion being that of the majority, without which it becomes
incapable of rendering those services to the state for the sake of which
its privileges and emoluments were conferred. Nothing but an extrerre
infatuation can accelerate such an event.  But if pious and orthodox
Yen be prevented from entering into the church, or compelled to retire
from it, the people will retire with them; and the apprehension of the
church being in danger, which has so often been the watchword of
party, will become, for once, well founded.'VOL. II.'T




REVIEW
01F
GISBORNE'S SERMONS.
Sermons, principally designed to illustrate and to enforce Christian
MVtrality. By the Rev. T. GISBORNE, A. M. 8vo. pp. 430.  1809.
WE have read these sermons with so much satisfaction, that, were
it in our power to aid their circulation by any testimony of our approbation, we should be almost at a loss for terms sufficiently strong and
emphatic. Though the excellent author is possessed already of a
large share of the public esteem, we are persuaded these discourses
will make a great accession to his celebrity. Less distinguished by
any predominant quality than by an assemblage of the chief excellences in pulpit composition, they turn on subjects not very commonly
handled, and discuss them with a copiousness, delicacy, and force
which evince the powers of a master.  They are almost entirely upon
moral subjects, yet equally remote fromin the superficiality and dryness
with which these subjects are toQ often treated. The morality of Mr.
Gisborne is arrayed in all the majesty of truth and all the beauties
of holiness. In perusing these sermons, the reader is continually
reminded of real life, and beholds human nature under its most unsophisticated aspect, without ever being tempted to suppose himself in
the schools of pagan philosophy. We cannot better explain the professed scope and object of the author than by copying a few sentences
from his preface.
"Of late years it has been loudly asserted, that among clergymen
who have showed themselves very earnest in doctrinal points, adequate
regard has not been evinced to moral instruction.  The charge has
perhaps been urged with the greatest vehemence by persons who have
employed little trouble in examining into its truth. In many cases it
has been groundless, in many exaggerated. In some instances there
has been reason, I fear, for a degree of complaint; and in more, a
colourable pretext for the imputation. I believe that some preachers,
shocked on beholding examples, real or supposed, of congregations
starving on mere morality, substituted for the bread of life, eager to
lay broad and deep the foundations of the gospel, and ultimately appre



REVIEW  OF GISBORNE'S SERMONS.                 291
hensive lest their own hearers should suspect them of reverting towards
legality, have not given to morals, as fruits of faith, the station and the
amplitude to which they have a scriptural claim. Anxious lest others
should mistake, or lest they should themselves be deemed to mistake,
the branch for the root; not satisfied with proclaiming to the branch,
as they were bound habitually to proclaim, Thou bearest not the root,
but the root thee, they have shrunk from the needful office of tracing
the ramifications. They have not left morality out of their discourses,
but they have kept it too much in the background.  They have
noticed it shortly, generally, incidentally; in a manner which, while
perhaps they were eminent as private patterns of moral duties, might
not sufficiently guard an unwary hearer against a reduced estimate
of practical holiness, nor exempt themselves from the suspicion of
undervaluing moral obedience."-Pref. pp. vii. viii.
To the truth of these remarks we cordially assent, as they point to
a defect in the ministration of some excellent men, which the judicious
part of the public have long lamented, and which Mr. Gisborne, in his
present work, has taught his contemporaries how to remedy. Extremes
naturally lead to each other.  The peculiar doctrines of the gospel had
been so long neglected by the most celebrated preachers, and the pernicious consequences of that neglect, in wearing out every trace of
genuine religion, had been so deeply felt, that it is not to be wondered at if the first attempts to correct the evil were accompanied
with a tendency to the contrary extreme.  In many situations, those
who attempted to revive doctrines which had long been considered as
obsolete, found themselves much in the same circumstances as missionaries, having intelligence to impart before unknown, and exposed
to all the contempt and obloquy which assailed the first preachers of
Christianity.  While they were engaged in such an undertaking, it is
not at all surprising that they confined their attention almost entirely to
the doctrines peculiar to the Christian religion, with less care to inculcate and display the moral precepts which it includes in common with
other systems than their intrinsic importance demanded.  They were
too much occupied in removing the rubbish and laying the foundations,
to permit them to carry their superstructure very high.  They insisted,
in general terms, on the performance of moral duties; urged the
necessity of that holiness without,which "none shall see the Lord;,
and, by a forcible application of truth to the conscience, produced
in many instances the most surprising as well as the most happy
effects.  But still, in consequence of limiting their ministry too much
to the first elements of the gospel, and dwelling chiefly on topics calceilated to alarm the careless and console the faithful, a wrong taste
began to prevail among their hearers-a disrelish of moral discussions,
a propensity to contemplate Christianity under one aspect alone,-that
of a system of relief for the guilty, instead of a continual discipline of the
heart.  Those wished for stimulants and cordials whose situation
required alteratives and correctives.  Preachers and hearers have a
reciprocal influence on each other; and the fear of being reproached
as "legal," deterred some good men from insisting so muich on mora.
T2




292                       REVIEW  3F
and practical subjects as their own good sense would have dictated.
By this means the malady became more inveterate, till the inherent
corruption of human nature converted the doctrine of the gospel, in a
greater or less degree, into the leaven of antinomianism. An error
which at first appeared trivial at length proved serious; and thus it
came to pass that the fabric of sacred truth was almost universally
reared in such a manner as to deviate sensibly from the primitive model.
When we look at Christianity in the New Testament, we see a set
of discoveries, promises, and precepts, adapted to influence the whole
character: it presents an object of incessant solicitude, in the pursuit
of which new efforts are to be exerted and new victories accomplished,
in a continued course of well-doing, till we reach the heavenly mansions. There is scarce a spring in the human frame and constitution
it is not calculated to touch, nor any portion of human agency which is
exempted from its control.  Its resources are inexhaustible; and the
considerations by which it challenges attention embrace whatever is
most awful or alluring in the whole range of possible existence.
Instead of being allowed to repose on his past attainments, or to flatter
himself with the hope of success without the exercise of diligence and
watchfiulness, the Christian is commanded to work out his salvation
with fear and trembling.  In the actual exhibition of religion the solicitude of serious minds has been made to turn too much on a particular
crisis, which has been presented in a manner so insulated that nothing
in the order of means seemed instrumental to its production.  In short,
things have been represented in such a manner as was too apt to produce despondency before conversion, and presumption after it.,
It must be allowed, the judicious management of practical subjects is
more difficult than the discussion of doctrinal points, which may also
account in part for the prevalence of the evil we are now speaking of.
in treating a point of doctrine, the habit of belief almost supersedes the
necessity of proof: the mind of the hearer is usually preoccupied in
favour of the conclusions to be established; nor is much address or
ingenuity necessary to conduct him in a path in;which he has, long
been accustomed to tread. The materials are prepared to the preacher's
hands; a set of texts, with their received interpretations, stand ready
for his use; the compass of thought which is required is very:limited;
and this little circle has been beaten so often that an ordinary understanding moves through it with mechanical facility.  To discuss a
doctrinal position to the satisfaction of a common audience requires the
smallest possible exertion of intellect.  The tritest arguments are in
fact the best: the most powerful considerations to enforce assent are
rendered by that very quality the most conspicuous, as the sun announces himself by his superior splendour. In delineating the duties
of life the task is very different.  To render these topics interesting, it
is necessary to look abroad, to contemplate the principles of human
nature, and the diversified modes of human feeling and action. The
preacher has not to do with a few rigid and unbending propositions:
he is to contemplate and portray a real state of things-a state which
is continually changing its aspect while it preserves its essential char.




GISBORNE'S SERMONS.                     293
deter, and the particulars of which mock the powers of enumeration.
If he does not think with great originality, he must at least think for
himself: he must use his own eyes, though he may report nothing but
what has been observed before. As there lies an appeal on these
occasions to the unbiassed good sense and observation of unlettered
minds, the deficiencies of an injudicious instructer are sure to be defected.  His principles will fail of interesting for want of exemplification, or his details will be devoid of dignity, and his delineations of
human life disgust by their deviation from nature and from truth.
In points of casuistry, difficulties will occur which can only be solved
and disentangled by nice discrimination, combined with extensive knowledge.  The general precepts, for example, of justice and humanity
may be faithfully inculcated and earnestly insisted on without affording a
ray of useful direction to a doubting conscience. While all men acknowledge the indispensable obligation of these precepts, it is not always
easy to discover what is the precise line of action they enforce.  In
the application of general rules to particular cases of conduct, many
relations must be surveyed, opposing claims must be reconciled and
adjusted, and the comparative value of different species of virtue established upon just and solid principles.
These difficulties have been evaded, rather than overcome, by the
greater part of moralizing preachers; who have contented themselves
with retailing extracts firom the works of their celebrated predecessors,
or with throwing together a few loose and undigested thoughts on a
moral duty, without order and arrangeinent, or the smallest effort to
impress its obligation upon the conscience, or to deduce it from its
proper sources.  To the total want of unction, to the cold, pagan, anti
christian cast of these compositions, joined to their extreme super
ficiality, must be ascribed in a great measure the disgust which many
serious minds have contracted against the introduction of moral topics
into the pulpit. Our readers will not suspect we mean to apply this
censure indiscriminately, or that we are insensible to the extraordinary
merits of a Barrow or of a Tillotson, who have cultivated Christian
morals with so universal an applause of the English public.  We
admire, as much as it is possible for our readers to admire, the rich
invention, the masculine sense, the exuberantly copious, yet precise
and energetic diction, which distinguish the first of these writers, who,
Dy a rare felicity of genius, united in himself the most distinguishing
qualities of the mathematician and of the orator. We are astonished at
perceiving in the same person and fn the same composition the close
logic of Aristotle combined with the amplifying powers of Plato. The
candour, the good sense, the natural arrangement, the unpremeditated
graces of Tillotson, if they excite less admiration, give us almost equal
pleasure. It is indeed the peculiar boast of the English nation to have
produced a set of divines who, being equally acquainted with classical
antiquity and inspired writ, and capable of joining, to the deepest results
of unassisted reason, the advantages of a superior illumination, have
delivered down to posterity a body of moral instruction more pure,
copious, and exact than subsists among any other people; and had




294                        REVIEW  OF
they appealed more frequently to the peculiar principles of the gospel,
had they infused a more evangelical spirit into their discourses, instead
of representing Christianity too much as a mere code of morals, they
would have left us nothing to wish or to regret.  Their decision of
moral questions was for the most part unquestionably just; but they
contemplated moral duties too much apart, neglecting to blend them
sufficiently with the motives and principles of pure revelation. after the
manner of the inspired writers; and, supposing them to believe, they
forgot to inculcate the fundamental truth-that " by the deeds of the
law no flesh living shall be justified."  Those internal dispositions
whence right conduct can alone flow were too little insisted on; the
agency of the Spirit was not sufficiently honoured or acknowledged;
and the subordination of the duties of the second to those of the first
table not enough kept in view. The virtues they recommended and
enforced were too often considered as the native growth of the human
heart, instead of being represented as "fruits of the Spirit."  Jesus
Christ was not laid as the foundation of morality; and a very sparing
use was made of the motives to its practice deduced from his promises,
his example, and his sacrifice. Add to this, that the labours of these
great men were employed almost entirely in illustrating and enforcing
the obligation of particular duties, while the doctrine of the Cross
engaged little of their attention, except so far as it was impugned by
the objections of infidels or mutilated by the sophistry of papists.
From the perusal of their writings the impression naturally results,
that a belief of the evidences of revealed religion, joined to a correct
deportment in social life, is adequate to all the demands of Christianity.  For these reasons, much as we admire, we cannot recommend them in an unqualified manner, nor consider them as safe guides
in religion.
By these remarks we intend no offence to any class of Christians.
That the celebrated authors we have mentioned, with others of a similar
stamp, have refined the style and improved the taste of the English
pulpit, while they have poured a copious stream of knowledge on the
public mind, we are as ready to acknowledge as their warmest admirers;
but we will not disguise our conviction, that for the just delineation of
the " truth as it is in Jesus," we must look to the Baxters, the Howes,
and the Ushers of an earlier period. He who wishes to catch the flame
of devotion by listening to the words " which are spirit and are life,"
will have recourse to the writings of the latter, notwithstanding their
intricacy of method and prolixity 6f style.
It is with peculiar satisfaction we call the attention of our readers to
a work which unites in a considerable degree the excellences of each
class of divines alluded to, without their defects.  The discourses are
on the following subjects: Our Lord Jesus Christ the Foundation of
Morality; on the Evils resulting from false Principles of Morality; on
the Changes produced by the Coming of Christ in the Situation of
Men as to the Divine Law; Justification not attainable by Acts of Morality; on Living after the Flesh or after the Spirit; the Love of God
an Inducement to strict Morality; on Brotherly Love; on the Love of




GISBORNE'S SERMONS                      295
Money; on the Sacrifice of Worldly Interest to Duty; on Christian
Bounty; on Discontent; on Worldly Anxiety; on Christian Obedience
to Civil Rulers; Christian Patriotism illustrated by the Character of
Nehemiah; on quiet Diligence in our Proper Concerns; on Partiality;
on Suspicion; on doing Evil to produce Good'; on the Superiority of
Moral Conduct required of Christians. The reader will perceive it
was not the author's design to make a systematic arrangement of Christian dities, and that there are many vices and virtues not comprehended
within the plan of his present work. In the discussion of the subjects
which he has selected, he has evinced much observation of human life,
a deep insight into the true principles of morals, and an intimate
acquaintance with the genius of the Christian religion. He has erected
his edifice upon a solid basis; in the choice of his materials he has
carefully excluded the wood, hay, and stubble, and admitted no ornaments but such as are fitted to grace the temple of God.
The intelligent reader will discover in these discourses the advantage
resulting from studying morality as a science. It will yield him great
satisfaction to find the writer ascending on all occasions to first principles, forming his decision on comprehensive views, separating what
is specious from what is solid, and enforcing morality by no motives
which are suspicious or equivocal.  He will not see vanity or ambition
pressed into the service of virtue, or any approach to the adoption of
that dangerous policy which proposes to expel one vice by encouraging
another.  He will meet with no flattering encomiums on the purity
and dignity of our nature, none of those appeals to the innate goodness
of the humali heart, which are either utterly ineffectual, or, if they
restrain from open profligacy, diffuse at the same time the more subtle
poison of pride and self-righteousness. Mr. Gisborne never confounds
the functions of morality with the offices of the Saviour, nor ascribes
to human virtue, polluted and imperfect at best, any part of those
transcendent effects which the New Testament teaches us to impute
to the mediation of Christ.  He considers the whole compass of moral
duties as branches of religion, as prescribed by the will of God, and
no farther acceptable to him than as they proceed from religious motives.
The disposition in mankind to seek justification by the works of the
law has been so much flattered and encouraged by the light in which
moral duties have been usually placed, that Mr. Gisborne has shown
his judgment by counteracting this error at the outset. We recommend
to the serious attention of our readers, with this view, the fourth
sermon, on Justification not attainable by Acts of Morality.  We have
never seen a publication in which that important argument is set in a
more clear and convincing light.
Though Mr. Gisborne for a series of years has distinguished
himself as the able opponent of the doctrine of expediency, yet on no
occasion has he exerted more ability in this cause than in his present
work. We recommend it to the thinking part of the public to forget
for a moment that they are reading a sermon, and conceive themselves
attending to the arguments of a sober and enlightened philosopher
To purify the sources of morals, and to detect the principles of a theory
which enables us to err byi system and be depraved by rule, is to do




296                      REVIEW  OF
good of the highest sort; as he who diminishes the mass of human
calamity by striking one from the list of diseases, is a greater benefactor
to mankind than the physician who performs the greatest number of
cures. It is in this light we look upon the labours of the present
author; to whom we are more indebted than to any other individual for:liscrediting a doctrine which threatens to annihilate religion, to loosen
the foundation of morals, and to debase the character of the nation.
We recommend to universal perusal the admirable discourse, on the
Evils resulting from false Principles of Morality.
The two discourses which propose to illustrate the Character of
Nehemiah contain the most valuable instruction, adapted in particular
to the use of those who occupy the higher ranks, or who possess
stations of commanding influence and authority. They evince just
and enlarged views of the duties attached to elevated situations, and
breathe the purest spirit of Christian benevolence.  The sermon on
the Love of Money displays, perhaps, most of the powers of the orator,
and demonstrates in how masterly a manner the author is capable,
when he pleases, of enforcing "the terrors of the Lord."  It contains
some awful passages, in which, by a kind of repeated asseveration
of the same truth, and the happy reiteration of the same words, an
effect is produced resembling that of repeated claps of thunder. We
shall present our readers with the following specimen.
"Fourthly.  Meditate on the final condition to which the lover
of money is hastening.  The covetous, the man who is under the
dominion of the love of money,' shall not inherit the kingdom of God.'
in the present life he has a foretaste of the fruits of his sin.  He is
restless, anxious, dissatisfied: at one time harassed by uncertainty as
to the probable result of his projects; at another, soured by the
failure of them; at another, disappointed in the midst of success, by
discerning, too late, that the same exertions employed in some other
tine of advantage would have been more productive. But suppose
him to have been, through life, as free from the effects of these sources
of vexation as the most favourable picture could represent him,'he
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' He may not have been a
miser; but he was a lover of money. He may not have been an
extortioner; but he was a lover of money. He may not have been
fraudulent; but he was a lover of money.'He shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.' He has had his day and his object. He has
sought, and he may have accumulated, earthly possessions. By their
instrumentality he may have gratified many other appetites and desires.
But he did not seek first the kingdom of God; therefore he shall not
obtain it. He' loved the world;' therefore he'shall perish with the
world.' He has wilfully bartered his soul for money. In vain is he
now aghast at his former madness. In vain does he now detest the
idol which he worshipped. The gate of salvation is closed against
him.  tie inherits the bitterness of unavailing remorse, the horrors
of eternal death."-Pp. 145, 146.
If we were called to specify the discourse in the present volume
that appeared to us the most ingenious and original, we should be
inclined to point to the eighteenth, on Suspicion




GISBORNE'S SERMONS.                      297
Having expressed our warm approbation of this performance, justice
compels us to notice what appear to us its principal blemishes: which,
however, are so overbalanced by the merit of the whole, that we
should scarcely deem them worthy of remark, were it not requisite
to vindicate our claim to impartiality. Against the sentiments or the
arrangement of these discourses we have nothing to object: the former
are almost invariably just and important, often striking and original;
the latter is natural and easy, preserving the spirit of method even
where it may seem to neglect the form; equally remote from the
looseness of an harangue and the ostentation of logical exactness.
With the style of this work we cannot say that we are quite so much
satisfied. Perspicuous, dignified, and correct, it yet wants something
more of amenity, variety, and ease. Instead of that flexibility which
bends to accommodate itself to the different conceptions which occur,
it preserves a sort of uniform stateliness.  The art of transposition,
carried, in our opinion to excess, together with the preference of learned
to plain Saxon words, give it an air of Latinity, which must necessarily
render it less intelligible and acceptable to unlettered minds.  It is
indeed but fair to remark, that the discourses appear to have been
chiefly designed for the use of the higher classes.  But while we allow
this apology its just weight, we are still of opinion that the composition might have assumed a more easy and natural air, without losing
any thing of its force or beauty. Addresses from the pulpit should,
in our apprehension, always make some approach to the character
of plain and popular.
Another blemish which strikes us in this work, is the frequent use
of interrogations, introduced, not only in the warm and impassioned
parts, where they are graceful, but in the midst of argumentative
discussion.  We have been struck with the prevalence of this practice
in the more recent works of clergymen, beyond those of any other
order of men.  With Demosthenes we know interrogation was a very
favourite figure; but we recollect, at the same time, it was chiefly
confined to the more vehement parts of his speeches, in which, like
the eruptions of a furnace, he broke out upon and consumed his opponents. In him it was the natural expression of triumphant indignation:
after he had subdued and laid them prostrate by the force of his arguments, by his abrupt and terrible interrogations he trampled them in
the mire. In calm and dispassionate discussion, the frequent use of
questions appears to us unnatural; it discomposes the attention by a
sort of starting and irregular motion, and is a violation of dignity, by
affecting to be lively where it is sufficient praise to be cogent and
convincing. In a word, when, instead of being used to give additional
vehemence to a discourse, they are interspersed in a series of arguments,
as an expedient for enlivening the attention and varying the style, they
have an air of undignified flippancy.  We should scarcely have
noticed these little circumstances in an inferior work; but we could
not satisfy ourselves to let them pass without observation in an author
who, to merits of a more substantial nature, joins so many and such
just pretensions to the character of a fine writer.




REVIEW
OF
GREGORY'S LETTERS.
Letters to a Friend on the Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties oJ the
Christian Religion.  By OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL.D., of the Royal
Military Academy, Woolwich.  1812.
As this is a workl of no ordinary merit, and written upon a subject
which all must confess to be of the last importance, we shall endeavour,
after being indulged with a few preliminary remarks, to give a pretty
copious analysis of its contents; not doubting the greater part of our
readers will be solicitous to avail themselves of the rich entertainment
and instruction which its perusal will unquestionably afford. The
first volume is employed in the discussion of a subject which has
engaged the powers of the wisest of men through a series of ages;
and minds of every size, and of every diversity of acquisition, having
contributed their quota towards its elucidation, the accumulation of
materials is such, that it has become more necessary, perhaps more
difficult, to arrange than to invent. In the conduct of so extensive an
argument, the talents of the writer will chiefly appear in giving the
due degree of relief and prominence to the different branches of the
subject,-in determining what should be placed in a strong and brilliant
light, and what should be. more slightly sketched,-and disposing the
whole in such a manner as shall give it the most impressive effect.
If there is little room for the display of invention, other powers are
requisite, not less rare or less useful; a nice and discriminating judgment, a true logical taste, and a talent of extensive combination. An
ordinary thinker feels himself lost in so wide a field; is incapable
of classifying the objects it presents; and wastes his attention on such
as are trite and common, instead of directing it to those which are
great and interesting.  If there are subjects which it is difficult to
discuss for want of' data to proceed upon,-and, while they allure by
their appearance of abstract grandeur, are soon found to lose themselves
in fruitless logomachies and unmeaning subtleties, such as the greater
part of the discussions on time, space, and necessary existence,there are others whose difficulty springs from an opposite cause, from
the immense variety of distinct topics and considerations involved in




REVIEW  OF GREGORY'S LETTERS.                  299
their discussion, of which the divine origination of Christianity is a
striking specimen; which it has become difficult to treat as it ought to
be treated, merely in consequence of the variety and superabundance
of its proofs.
On this account we suspect that this great cause has been not a little
injured by the injudicious conduct of a certain class of preachers and
writers, who, in just despair of being able to handle a single topic of
religion to advantage, for waet of having paid a devout attention to the
Scriptures, fly like harpies to the evidences of Christianity, on which
they are certain of meeting with something prepared to their hands
which they can tear, and soil, and mangle at their pleasure.
Diripiuntque dapes, contactuque omnia fcedant.
The famine, also, with which their prototypes in Virgil threatened the
followers of AEneas, is not more dismal than that which prevails
among their hearers. The folly we are adverting to did not escape
the observation nor the ridicule of Swift, who remarked in his days
that the practice of mooting on every occasion the question of the origin
of Christianity was much more likely to unsettle the faith of the simple
than to counteract the progress of infidelity.  It is dangerous to famil
iarize every promiscuous audience to look upon religion as a thing
which yet remains to be proved, to acquaint them with every sophism
and cavil which a perverse and petulant ingenuity has found out, unaccompanied, as is too often the case, with a satisfactory answer; thus
leaving the poison to operate, without the antidote, in minds which
ought to be strongly imbued with the principles and awed by the
sanctions of the gospel.  It is degrading to the dignity of a revelation
established through a succession of ages by indubitable proofs, to be
adverting every moment to the hypothesis of its being an imposture,
and to be inviting every insolent sophist to wrangle with us about the
title, when we should be cultivating the possession.  The practice we
are now censuring is productive of another inconvenience.  The argument of the truth of Christianity being an argument of accumulation,
or, in other words, of that nature that the force of it results less from
any separate consideration than from an almost infinite variety of
circumstances, conspiring towards one point and terminating'in one
conclusion; this concentration of evidence is broken to pieces when
an attempt is made to present it in superficial descants; than which
nothing can be conceived better calculated to make what is great
appear little, and what is ponderous, light.  The trite observation that
a cause is injured by the adoption of feeble arguments, rests on a
basis not often considered perhaps by those who most readily assent
to its truth.  We never think of estimating the powers of the imagination on a given subject by the actual performance of the poet; but
if he disappoint us, we immediately ascribe his failure to the poverty
of his genius, without accusing his subject or his art.  The regions
of fiction we naturally conceive to be boundless; but when an attempt
is made to convince us of the truth of a proposition respecting a matter
of fact or a branch of morals, we take it for granted that he who pro



300                       REVIEW  OF
poses it has made himself perfectly master of his argument; and that,
as no consideration has been neglected that would favour his opinion,
we shall not err in taking our impression of the cause from the defence
of its advocate.  If that cause happen to be such as involves the dearest
interests of mankind, we need not remark how much injury it is capable
of sustaining from this quarter.
Let us not be supposed by these remarks to comprehend within
our censure the writer who, amid the multifarious proofs of revelation,
selects a single topic with a view to its more elaborate discussion, provided it be of such a nature that it will support an independent train
of thought; such, for example, as Paley has pursued in his Hore
Paulina, to which a peculiar value ought to be attached as a clear
addition to the body of Christian evidences. All we mean to assert
is, that it is incomparably better to be silent on the evidences of Christianity than to be perpetually adverting to them in a slight and superficial manner; and that a question so awful and momentous as that
relating to the origin of the Christian religion ought not to be debased
into a trivial commonplace. Let it be formally discussed, at proper
intervals, by such men, and such only, as are capable of bringing to it
the time, talents, and information requisite to place it in a commanding
attitude. That the author of the present performance is possessed of
these qualifications to a very great degree will sufficiently appear
from the analysis we propose to give of the work, and the specimens
wve shall occasionally exhibit of its execution.
It is ushered in by a modest and dignified dedication to Colonel
Mudge, lieutenant-governor of that royal military institution of which
the author is so distinguished an ornament. The whole is cast into
the form of Letters to a Friend; and the first volume, we are given to
understand, formed the subject of an actual correspondence.  As much
of the epistolary style is preserved as is consistent with the nature of a
serious and protracted argument, without ill-judged attempts at refreshing the attention of the reader by strokes of gayety and humour.  The
mind of the writer appears to have been too deeply impressed with his
theme to admit of such excursions, the absence of which will not, we
are persuaded, be felt or regretted.
Before he proceeds to state the direct proofs of the divinity of
the Christian religion, he shows, in a very striking manner, the
absurdities which must of necessity be embraced by those who deny
all pretences to revelation; enumerating, in the form of a creed, the
various strange and untenable positions which form  the subject of
skeptical belief. In this part of the work, that disease in the intellectual temperament of infidels is placed in a stronger and juster light
than we remember to have seen it, which may not improperly be
denominated the credulity of unbelievers. This representation forms
the contents of the first letter.
The necessity of revelation is still more indisputably evinced by an
appeal to facts, and a survey of the opinions which prevailed among
the most enlightened heathens respecting God, moral duty, and a
future state. Under each of these heads, our author has selectted-l




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                      301
with great judgment, numerous instances of the flagrant and pernicious
errors entertained by the most celebrated pagan legislators, poets, and
philosophers, sufficient to demonstrate, beyond all contradiction, the
inability of unassisted reason, in its most improved and perfect state,
to conduct man to virtue and happiness, and the necessity, thence
resulting, of superior aid.  Much diligence of research and much
felicity of arrangement are displayed in the management of this complicated topic, where the reader will find exhibited, in a condensed
form, the most material facts adduced in Leland's voluminous work
on this subject. All along he holds the balance with a firm and steady
hand, without betraying a disposition either to depreciate the value of
those discoveries and improvements to which reason really attained,
or charging the picture of its aberrations and defects with deeper
shades than justly belong to it.  The most eminent among the
pagans themselves, it ought to be remembered, who, having no other
resource, were best acquainted with its weakness and its power, never
dreamed of denying the necessity of revelation: this they asserted in
the most explicit terms, and on some occasions seem to have expected
and anticipated the communication of such a benefit. We make no
apology for citing, from the present work, the following remarkable
passage out of Plato, tending both to confirm the fact of a revelation
being anticipated, and to evince, supposing nothing supernatural in the
case, the divine sagacity of that great author.  He says, "This just
person (the inspired teacher of whom he had been speaking) must be
poor, and void of all qualifications but those of virtue alone; that a
wicked world would not bear his instructions and reproofs; and therefore, within three or four years after he began to preach, he should be
persecuted, imprisoned, scourged, and at last be put to death."* In
whatever light we consider it, this must be allowed to be a most
remarkable passage, whether we regard it as merely the conjecture
of a highly enlightened mind, or as the fruit of prophetic suggestion:
nor are we aware of any absurdity in supposing that the prolific Spirit
scattered on certain occasions some seeds of truth amid that mass of
corruption and darkness which oppressed the pagan world.  The
opinion we have ventured to advance is asserted in the most positive
terms in several parts of Justin Martyr's Second Apology. Without
pursuing this inquiry further, we shall content ourselves with remarking, that, as the sufficiency of mere re-:,,l as the guide to truth never
entered into the conception of pagans, so it could never have arisen at
all but in consequence of confounding its results with the dictates
of revelation, which, since its publication, has never ceased to modify
the speculations and aid the inquiries of those who are least disposed
to bow to its authority. On all questions of morality and religion, the
streams of thought have flowed through channels enriched with a
celestial ore, whence they have derived the tincture to which they are
indebted for their rarest and most salutary qualities.
Before we dismiss the subject we would just observe, that the ineffiracy of unassisted reason in religious concerns appears undeniably in' De Republica, Lib. ii..




302                       REVIEW  OF
two points: the doubtful manner in which the wisest paga;ns were
accustomed to express themselves respecting a future state, the existence of which Warburton is confident none of the philosophers believed;
and their proud reliance on their own virtue, which was such as left no
room for repentance.  Of a future state Socrates, in the near prospect
of death, is represented by Plato as expressing a hope, accompanied
with the greatest uncertainty; and, with respect to the second point,
the lofty confidence in their own virtue, which we have imputed
to them, the language of Cicero, in one of his familiar letters, is
awfully decisive: "Nec enim dum ero, angor ulla re, cum omni caieam
culpa; et si non ero, sensu omni carebo."-" While I exist, I shall be
troubled at nothing, since I have no fault whatever; and if I shall not
exist, I shall be devoid of all feeling."*  So true is it that life and
immortality were brought to light by the Saviour; and that until he
appeared, the greatest of men were equally unacquainted with their
present condition and their future prospects.
The next letter, which is the fourth in the series, is on mysteries in
religion. Aware that, while the prejudice against whatever is mysterious subsists, the saving truths of the gospel can find no entrance, the
author has taken great,and, as far as the force of argument can operate,
successful pains to point out the weakness of the foundations on which
that prejudice rests. He has shown, by a large induction of particulars in natural religion, natural philosophy, and in pure and mixed
mathematics, that with respect to each of these sciences, we arrive, by
infallible steps, to conclusions of which we can form no clear, deterrinate conceptions; and that the higher parts of mathematics especially, the science which glories in its superior light and demonstration,
teem with mysteries as incomprehensible to the fiill as those which
demand our assent in revelation. His skill as a mathematician, for
which he has long been distinguished, serves him on this occasion to
excellent purpose, by enabling him to illustrate his subject by wellselected examples from his favourite science; and by that means to
prove, in the most satisfactory manner, that the mysterious parts of
Christianity are exactly analogous to the difficulties inseparable from
other branches of knowledge, not excepting those which make the
justest pretensions to demonstration.  We run no hazard in affirming,
that rarely, if ever, have superior philosophical attainments been turned
to a better account, or a richer offering brought from the fields of science
into the temple of God. Somne of his illustrations, being drawn from
the sublimer speculations of mathematics, must necessarily be unintelligible to ordinary readers: but many of them are plain and popular;
and he has succeeded in making the principle on which he reasons
throughout perfectly plain and perspicuous, which is this-that we are
able, in a multitude of instances, to ascertain the relations of things,
while we know little or nothing of the nature of the things themselves.
if the distinction itself is not entirely new, the force of argument with
which it is supported, and the extent to which its illustration is carried,
are such as evince much original thinking.  We should seriously
* Vol. I. p. 51




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                     303
recommend this part of the work to the perusal of the barrister, if he
were capable of understanding it; and to all, without exception, who
have been perverted by the shallow and ambiguous sophism, first
broached, we believe, by Dr. Foster, that where mystery begins
religion ends; when the fact is, that religion and mystery both begin
and end together, a portion of what is inscrutable to our faculties being
intimately and inseparably blended with its most vital and operative
truths. A religion without its mysteries is a temple without its God.
Having thus marked out the ground, removed the rubbish, and made
room for the foundation, our author proceeds, with the skill of a master,
to erect a firm and noble structure, conducting the argument for the
truth of Christianity through all its stages, and commencing his labours
in this part of his subject with establishing the genuineness and authenticity of the sacred volume. As he manifestly aims at utility, not at
display, we are glad to find he has availed himself of the profound
and original reasoning of Hartley, which he has fortified all along
with ingenious reflections of his own, and crowned by an appeal to
the principal testimonies of Christian and pagan antiquity. The letter
devoted to this subject is long, but not more so than the occasion
demanded, and is replete with varied and extensive infbrmation. To
the whole he has annexed a very accurate and particular account of
the researches and discoveries of Dr. Buchanan, made during his visit
to the Svrian churches in India; nor are we aware that there is a
single consideration of moment, tending to confirm the genuineness
and integrity of the Scriptures in their present state, which, in the
course of our author's extended investigation, has escaped his notice.
By some he will be blamed for placing the proofs of the authenticity
of the sacred records before the argument from prophecy and miracles;
but we think he is right in adopting such an arrangement; since the
reasoning on this part not only stands independent of the sequel, but
greatly abridges his subsequent labour, by enabling him to appeal on
every occasion to the testimony of Scripture, not indeed as inspired, but
as an authentic document, that point having been previously established;
while it is in perfect unison with that solicitude he everywhere evinces
to imbue the mind of his readers with a serious-and devotional spirit.
Here is a book of a singular character and of high antiquity, from
which Christians profess to derive the whole of their information on
religion; and it comes down to us under such circumstances that
every thing relating to it is capable of being investigated apart from
the consideration of prophecies and miracles, except its claim to inspiration. Why, then, should not the pretensions of this book be examined at
the very outset, as far as they are susceptible of an independent examination; since the proof of its being genuine and authentic will extend its
consequences so far into the subsequent matter of discussion, as well
as exert a great and salutary influence on the mind of the inquirer?
T'he next letter is devoted to the subject of prophecy; in which,
after noticing a few of the more remarkable predictions relating to the
revolutions of power and empire, he descends to a more particular
investigation of the prophecies relating to the Messiah, which he




304                      REVIEW  OF
arranges under three heads: such as respect the t.me and place of his
appearance; his character, doctrine, rejection, and final triumph; and
the exact correspondence between his contemptuous treatment and
sufferings, and the representations of the ancient oracles. Under the
last he embraces the opportunity of rescuing the proof from the fiftythird chapter of Isaiah from the cavils of the Jews, as well as from
the insinuation of certain infidels that the prophecy was written after
the event; which he triumphantly refutes by an appeal to a remarkable
passage in the books of Origen against Celsus. In confirming the
inference from prophecy, we again meet with a judicious application
of the author's mathematical skill, by which he demonstrates, from the
doctrine of chances, the almost infinite improbability of the occurrence
of even a small number of contingent events predicted of any one
individual; and the absolute impossibility, consequently, of accounting
for the accomplishment of such numerous predictions as were accomplished in the person of the Messiah, without ascribing it to the power
and wisdom of the Deity.
From the consideration'of prophecy, he proceeds to the evidence
of miracles, and the credibility of human testimony. He begins with
stating, in few and simple terms, but with much precision, the just
idea of a miracle, which, he remarks, has oftener been obscured than
elucidated by definition; while the sentiments entertained by good
men upon the subject have been almost uniformly correct when they
have not been entangled or heated by controversy.  This branch
of the evidences of revelation is certainly very little indebted to the
introduction of subtle refinements.  In resting the evidence of the
Jewish and Christian revelations on the ground of miracles, the author
restricts his proposition to uncontrolled miracles; on the propriety of
which, different judgments will probably be formed by his readers.
We believe him to be right: since, admitting the limitation to be unnecessary, it is but an extreme of caution, a leaning to the safe side;
for who will deny that it is much easier to prove it to be inconsistent
with the wisdom and goodness of the Deity, to permit an uncontrolled
miracle to be performed in support of error, than to demonstrate, from
a metaphysical consideration of the powers and capacities of spiritual
agents of a high order, their incapacity of accomplishing what, to our
apprehensions, must appear supernatural?  The writer of this at least
must confess for himself he could never find any satisfaction in such
speculations, not even in those of Farmer, ingenious as they are; which
always appeared to him to be like advancing to an object by a circuitous
and intricate path, rather than taking the nearest road.  But to return
to the present performance. After exhibiting the most approved answers to the flimsy sophistry of Hume, intended to evince the incredi.
bility of miracles,-and corroborating them by a copious illustration
of the four criteria of miraculous facts suggested by Leslie, in his
admirable work entitled A Short Method with the Deists,-he reduces
the only suppositions which can be formed respecting the miracles
recorded in the New Testament to the four following, which we shall
give in the words of the author: —




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                     305
~' Either, first, the recorded accounts of those miracles were absolute
fictions, wickedly invented by some who had a wish to impose upon
mankind.
" Or, secondly, Jesus did not work any true miracles; but the senses
of the people were, in some way or other, deluded, so that they believed he really did perfo: in miracles, when in fact he did not.
" Or, thirdly, that the spectators were not in any way deluded, but
inew very well he wrought no miracles; yet were all (both enemies
and friends, the Jews themselves not excepted, though they daily'sought occasion against him') united in a close confederacy, to persuade the world he wrought the most surprising things. So that, while
some actively circulated reports of those amazing occurrences, the
rest kept their counsel, never offering to unmask the fraud, but managing
the matter with so much dexterity and cunning, and such an exact
harmony and correspondence, that the story of Jesus Christ's performing miracles should become current, should obtain almost universal
credit, and not a single person be able to disprove it.
" Or, fourthly, that he did actually perform those astonishing works;
and that the accounts given of them by the Christian writers in the
New Testament are authentic and correct.
" He that does not adopt the last of these conclusions will find it a
matter of very small consequence which of the other three he chooses;
1br that the stories cannot be fictions is evident from the reasonings
)f Leslie, already adduced; and it will be seen further, from a moment's
-onsideration, that the denial of the miracles of Jesus Christ, in any
caiy, leads necessarily to the admission of a series of real miracles
X another kind."
rde closes this part of his disquisition with an elaborate confutation.pn the notion too generally admitted by the advocates of revelation,
lat the evidence of miraculous facts necessarily grows weaker in
proportion to tile distance of the time at which they were performed;
and in no part does tihe vigour of his understanding appear to more
advantage than in his ieasonings on this point, where, among many
excellent, we meet witr the following profound remark:"' It is onry, he ooserves, "with regard to the facts recorded in the
Bible, that men ever talk ot the daily diminution of credibility. Who
complains of a decay oi evidence in relation to the actions of Alexander, Hannibal, Pompey, or Caesar? How many fewer of the events
recorded by Plutarch, or Potybius, or Livy, are believed now (on
account of a diminution ot evidence) than were believed by Mr.
Addison, or Lord Clarendon, or Geoffrey Chaucer? We never hear
persons wishing they had lived ages earlier, that they might have had
better proofs that Cyrus was the conqueror of Babylon, that Darius
was beaten in several battles by AIexander, that Titus destroyed Jerusalem, that Hannibal was entirely routed by Scipio, or Pompey by
Julius Cesar; though we sometimes find men of ardent and enterprising
minds exclaiming,'0 that I had lived and been present when such
splendid events occurred, how lively an interest should I have taken
in such scenes, how much concern in their termination!' And, indeed,
VOL. II.-U




.306                      REVIEW  OF
it is the frequent hearing of such exclamations that csuses men te
eonfound weight of evidence with warmth or depth of feeling; and te
lose sight of the essential difference between real evidence, or the true
basis of belief in history, and the sensible impression or influence which
such history may make upon the mind."
We have only to remark, before we dismiss this subject, that, whereas
the evidence of facts which occurred at a distant period is usually
placed under the head of successive evidence, this distinction, as
applicable to the miracles of the gospel, must either be rejected
altogether, or admitted with a caution against being misled by the ambiguous use of words. The evidence, in this case, is not to be
confounded for a moment with that of a report transmitted through
successive ages to the present time, since the record which contains
the miraculous facts carries us back to the apostolic age; so that,
admitting its antiquity to be what it pretends, of which there is the
most satisfactory evidence, the only link in the succession is that which
separates the performers or spectators of the miracles from their
narrators, who in the case before us, however, are frequently the same
persons.
In order to give that conspicuous place which is due to the greatest
and most momentous of these miracles, as well as to do justice to the
independent train of proofs by which it is supported, Dr. G. has assigned
a separate letter to the Resurrection of Christ, in which he has placed
this great fact in the clearest light; and, to remove every shadow
of hesitation arising from the minute variations in the account given
of it by the evangelists, has taken the pains to digest from their separate narratives a distinct statement of the whole transaction, which, as
far as we have had time to examine it, appears very satisfactory.
To this succeeds an ample illustration of the argument for the
truth of Christianity, drawn from its early and extensive propagation;
where the fact is placed beyond all contradiction, by numerous and
decisive testimonies, adduced from the ancient apologists and pagan
writers.  The dates of the ten successive persecutions are accurately
assigned; and the most striking circumstances attending the last, in
particular, are distinctly and forcibly exhibited. This forms the subject
of the ninth letter, which closes with some admirable observations
on the intrinsic excellence of the religion of Jesus, tending to show
that it corresponds to all the characters, and fulfils all the indications,
which a revelation from heaven might be expected to possess.
The remaining letters which compose this volume are employed in
proving the inspiration of the Scriptures, and answering various
miscellaneous objections and cavils advanced against the Bible.
Although we have already adduced some specimens of the author's
style and composition, and sha.l have occasion to produce more in the
course of our strictures on the second volume, yet we cannot deny
ourselves the pleasure of laying before our readers the following
highly beautiful and eloquent passage.  Speaking of the analogy
between the difficulties offered in the sciences and the mysteries of
religion, he observes,



GREGORY'S LETTERS.                      307
"Philosophers, notwithstanding all these difficulties, recommend the
cultivation and diffusion of the sciences, because of their tendency to
sharpen the intellectual faculties of man, and meliorate his condition
in society.  With how much greater reason and earnestness, then,
should Christians recommend the dissemination and adoption of'pure
and undefiled religion,' considering its direct tendency to enlarge the
understanding, and yet fill it with the contemplation of Deity; to
purify and harmonize the passions, to refine the moral sense, to qualify
and strengthen for every function in life; to sustain under the pressure
of affliction, to afford consolation in sickness, and enable us to triumph
in death!
" What other science can even make a pretension to dethrone oppression, to abolish slavery, to exclude war, to extirpate fraud, to,anish violence, to revive the withered blossoms of paradise? Such
ire the pretensions and blessings of genuine Christianity; and wherever genuine Christianity prevails, they are experienced.  Thus it
icccomplishes its promises cn earth, where alone it has enemies; it
will, therefore, accomplish themn in heaven, where its friends reign.
Here, indeed, its advocate must be reduced to silence; for how shall
he display the meaning of its celestial promises! How describe
dignity so vast, or picture glory so brilliant! How shall language
delineate what mind cannot imagine! And where is that mind, among
puny and ephemeral creatures, that can penetrate the thick obscure;
that can describe the light of perfect knowledge, that can feel the glow
of perfect love, that can breathe the air of perfect happiness?"-Vol.
1. pp. 75, 76.
We proceed to notice the most important positions and reasonings
contained in the second volume, which the author has devoted to a
display of the doctrines and duties of Christianity.  We are aware
that many will suspect him of a partial and bigoted attachment to his
own opinions, in consequence of the anxiety he manifests to communicate and support those views of Christianity which in his estimation
form its most striking peculiarity.  It is plain our author considers the
evidences of Christianity as entirely subservient to its, doctrines; and
that he is consequently far from supposing, with some modern divines,
that he has accomplished his work by proving that Christianity is a
true and a genuine revelation from God.  He judges it necessary to
spend some time and some labour in considering what it is that is true,
what it is that is revealed.  Were we not familiar with the fact, we
should not be a little surprised at the prevalence of a contrary persuasion: we should probably think it strange that such an anxiety should
be evinced to rest the truth of Christianity on the firmest possible basis,
along with such a profound indifference to every attempt to investigate
its import.  Some wonderful charm, it seems, is contained in a bare
avowal that Christianity is a revelation from God, apart from any distinct perceptions of its truths, or any solemn advertence to its genuine
scope and tendency.  Embalmed and preserved like some Egyptian
monarch, in the form of a venerable and antiquated document, it is to
be carefully kept, and always approached with respect, but nevei
U 2




3O08                      REVIEW  OF
allowed to take its place among the living, nor supposed to be useful to
mankind according to any Known law of operation.  The most magnificent appellations are applied to it: it is the light of the world, the
true riches, the treasure hid in the field, and the pearl of great price.
All these, and a thousand other encomiums, are lavished on the Scriptures by men who at the same time feel no scruple in insinuating that
this boasted communication from heaven contains no truths beyond the
limits of reason, and that what the bulk of Christians in our ages have
deemed such are the distempered visions of enthusiasm, if they are
not in some instances to be ascribed to the erroneous conceptions entertained by the apostles of the religion they were appointed to propagate.  It is the possession of a revelation, not the use, which these
men are accustomed to contemplate and to value. As the miser conceives himself rich by the treasure which he never employs, so the
persons to whom we allude suppose themselves enlightened by a book
from which they profess to derive no information, and saved by a
religion which is allowed to engage little or none of their attention.
This is one of the most distinguished features in the character of those
who, with exemplary modesty, style themselves rational Christians.
In this spirit, a distinguished prelate of the present age* has published
a collection of tracts for the benefit of the junior clergy, in which not
a single treatise is admitted which professes to exhibit a view of
Christian doctrine; and has introduced it with a preface, ingeniously
calculated, under pretence of decrying dogmas, to bring all such inquiries into contempt.  It certainly is not difficult to perceive whence
this manner of thinking proceeds, nor whither it tends.  It proceeds
from a rooted aversion to the genuine truths of revelation; and had it
not received a timely check, would have terminated in the general
prevalence of skepticism. It presents a neutral ground, on which
professed Christians and infidels may meet, and proceed to assail with
their joint force the substantial truth of our religion.  There is nothing
in such views of Christianity to appal the infidel; nothing to mortify
the pride, nothing to check or control the exorbitances of that " carnal
mind" which is. enmity against God."  In stripping the religion of
Christ of all that is spiritual, it renders it weak and inefficacious as an
instrument-of renovating the mind; and, by fostering its pride and
sparing its corruption, prepares it for shaking off the restraints of religion altogether. It gives us, however, unfeigned satisfaction to perceive, that the evil we so much deprecate appears to have met with a
fatal check; and that the present times are distinguished by two things,
which we cannot but consider as most favourable prognostics,-an in
creased attention to the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, and a growing
unanimity with respect to the modes in which those doctrines are en.
tertained. There is less disposition on the one hand to receive for
Christianity a system of pagan ethics, and on the other to confound
points of doubtful speculation with its fundamental doctrines. The
religious zeal of the present day is more open and catholic than in
* Bishop Watson




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                     309
former times, partaking less of the acrimony of party, and more of
the inspiration of truth and charity. The line of demarkation between
sound doctrines and heresy is better ascertained than it has ever been
before; and the Christian world are equally averse to whatever approaches to Socinian impiety, and to the mooting of interminable
questions.
In the statements of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity, there are
two extremes to be avoided.  The one is, that of pusillanimously
shrinking from their bold originality, and attempting to recommend
them to the acceptance of proud and worldly-minded men by the artifices of palliation and disguise; of which, in our opinion, the Bishop
of Lincoln has given an egregious specimen in his late work.* The
other extreme is that of stating them in a metaphysical form, mixing
doubtful deductions with plain assertions, and thereby encumbering
them with needless subtleties and refinements. We should neither be
ashamed of the dictates of the Spirit, nor " add to his words, lest we
be reproved." They will always appear with the most advantage, and
carry the most conviction, when they are exhibited in their native simplicity, without being mixed with heterogeneous matter, or with positions of doubtful authority. In our apprehension, the true way of,-ontemplating the peculiar doctrines of Christianity is to consider
them as facts believed on the authority of the Supreme Being, not to
be'proved by reason; since their truth does not result from any perceptible relations in our ideas, but they owe their existence entirely to the
wtill and counsel of the Almighty Potentate. On this account, we
never consider it safe to rest their truth on a philosophical basis, nor
imagine it is possible to add to their evidence by an elaborate train of
reasoning. Let the fair grammatical import of Scripture language be
investigated; and whatever propositions are, by an easy and natural
interpretation, deducible from thence, let them be received as the dictates of infinite Wisdom, whatever aspect they bear, or whatever difficulties they present. Repugnant to reason they never can be, because
they spring from the Author of it; but superior to reason, whose limits
they will infinitely surpass, we must expect to find them, since they
are a communication of such matters of fact, respecting the spiritual
and eternal world, as need not have been communicated, if the knowledge of them could have been acquired from any other quarter. The
facts with which we have become acquainted in the natural world
would appear stupendous, were they communicated merely on the evidence of testimony; they fail to astonish us, chiefly because they have
been arrived at step by step, by means of their analogy to some preceding one. We have climbed the eminence by a slow progression,
and our prospect has insensibly widened as we advanced, instead of
being transported thither instantaneously by a superior power. Revelation conducts us to the truth at once, without previous training, without any intellectual process preceding, without condescending to afford
other proof than what results from the veracity and wisdom of the
* Entitled' A Refutation of Calvinism 




310                      iREVIEW  OF
Creator: and when we consider that this truth respects much sublimei
relations and concerns than those which subsist in the material world,
— that it regards the ways and counsels of God respecting man's
eternal destiny,-is it surprising it should embrace what greatly surpassed our previous conjectures, and even transcends our perfect corn
prehension?  To a serious and upright mind, however, its discoveries
are no sooner made than they become supremely acceptable: the interposition of the Deity in the great moral drama is seen to be absolutely necessary; since none but infinite wisdom  could clear up the
intricacies, nor any power short of omnipotence relieve the distress it
produced. These very truths, which some ridicule as mysteries, and
others despise as dogmas, are, to the enlightened, " sweeter than honey
or the honeycomb;" apart from which, whatever else is contained in
the Bible would be perfectly tasteless and insipid.  Though he receives
every communication from God with devout and grateful emotions, he
feels no hesitation in confessing, that it is in these parts of revelation
he especially exults and triumphs; it is these which, in his estimation,
entitle it to the appellation of " marvellous lighlt."
If it is no small gratification to find so perfect a concurrence in
these sentiments on the part of our author, to find them stated and
illustrated in so able a manner as they are throughout this work is a
still greater.  The first letter in this volume is devoted to a general
view of the Christian doctrines, designed to obviate certain prejudices,
and to prepare the mind for that serious inquiry into their nature and
import which cannot fail, under the blessing of God, of conducting it
to the most satisfactory conclusions.
Our author never loses sight of the gospel as a restorative dispen.
sation: this is its primary and most essential feature; and the most
dangerous and numerous aberrations from it may be traced to the
neglect of considering it in this light.  It is not a proscription of a
rule of life to the innocent, but the annunciation of a stupendous
method of relief for the sinner.  Overlooking all petty varieties an(
subordinate distinctions, it places the whole human race on one level
abases them all in the dust before the Infinite Majesty; and offers, indiscriminately, a provision of sanctification to the polluted, and of pardon
to the guilty.  These are the glad tidings; this is the jubilee of the
whole earth, proclaimed in the songs of angels, celebrated in the
praises of the church, alike in her militant and her triumphant statewhether toiling in the vale of mortality, or rejoicing before the throne.
The second letter in the series which composes *this volume is on
the Depravity of Human Nature, where the reader will find the evidence of that melancholy but fundamental truth exhibited with much
conciseness, perspicuity, and force. The third is employed in stating
the arguments for the atonement of Christ, under the four divisions of
typical, prophetical, historical, and declaratory proofs; and the whole
is closed by a very luminous and satisfactory answer to the- most
specious objections against that momentous truth.  In adverting to the
objection to a vicarious sacrifice, founded on the notion of its being
unjust that the innocent should be appointed to suffer in the romn of




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                       3il
the guilty, we meet with the following admirable passage of Archbishop
Tillotson, remarkable for that perfect good sense, simplicity, and perspicuity which distinguish the writings of that excellent prelate.
"'If the matter,' says he,'were searched to the bottom, all this
perverse contention about our Saviour's suffering for our benefit, but
not in our stead, will signify just nothing. For if Christ died for out
benefit, so as, some way or other, by virtue of his death and sufferings,
to save us from the wrath of God, and to procure our escape from
eternal death; this, for aught I know, is all that anybody means by
his dying in our stead. For he that dies with an intention to do that
benefit for another, or to save him from death, doth certainly, to all
intents and purposes, die in his place and stead. And if they will
grant this to be their meaning, the controversy is at an end, and both
sides are agreed in the thing, and do only differ in the phrase an(d
manner of expression; which is to seek a quarrel, and an occasion of
difference, when there is no real ground for it-a thing which ought to
be very far from reasonable and peaceable minds. For many of the
Socinians say, that our Saviour's voluntary death and sufferings procured his exaltation at the right-hand of God, and power and authority
to forgive sins, and to give eternal life to as many as he pleased: so
that they grant that his obedience and sufferings, in the meritorious
consequence of them, redound to our benefit and advantage as much
as we pretend to say they do; only they are loath, in express terms, to
acknowledge that Christ died in our stead; and this for no other reason
that I can imagine but because they have denied it so often and so
long.' — Vol. II. p.. 64.
We have only to say, on this part of the subject, that we heartily
commiserate the state of that man's mind, who, whatever Socinian
prejudices he may have felt against the most glorious of all doctrines,
that of the atonement, does not feel them shaken at least, if not removed,
by the arguments adduced in this letter.
Thle next is devoted to the defence of the Divinity of Jesus Christ,
which our author evinces in a masterly manner, from the predictions
of the ancient prophets, compared with their application in the New
Testament; fromn the conduct, the miracles, and the discourses of our
Lord; from the declarations of his apostles; and from the concurrent
testimony of the early Christian writers and martyrs, before the council
of Nice.  Under the last head the reader will meet with a copious
induction of passages attesting this grand doctrine, selected with much
judgment, and applied with great force.  The author all along contends
for the divinity of Christ as afundamental tenet; and, of course, will
forfeit all pretensions to candour with rational Christians, on whose
approbation, indeed, he appears to set very little value.
In the next letter, which is on Conversion, he has treated of the
nature and necessity of that new birth on which our Lord insisted so
strenuously in his discourse with Nicodemus, in a manner which will
be as offensive to mere nominal Christians as it will be instructive and
satisfactory to serious and humble inquirers after truth.  He shows,
from well-known and indubitable facts, the reality of such a change;




312                       REVIEW  OF
and evinces its indispensable necessity from the express declarations
of Scripture, the corruption of human nature, the exalted character of
the Deity, and the nature of that pure and perfect felicity to which
good men aspire after death. In illustrating this subject, he has made
a happy use of Bishop Burnet's Narrative of the Conversion of the
Earl of Rochester,-has carefully guarded his readers against the
pernicious error of confounding regeneration with baptism,-and has
closed the discussion with solving certain difficulties arising out of the
subject, which have often perplexed serious minds.
As every effect naturally invites us to contemplate the cause, he
passes from conversion to the consideration of Divine influence, which
is the subject of the succeeding letter: and were we to give our
opinion of the comparative merit of the different parts of this volume,
we should be inclined to assign the palm to the disquisition on this
confessedly mysterious subject. In no part, certainly, is the vigour
of the author's very powerful understanding more eminently exerted;
in none are the prejudices founded on a pretended philosophy more
triumphantly dispelled. He has shown, in the most satisfactory
manner, that the belief of an immediate divine influence on the mind,
not only accords with the sentiments of the wisest men in pagan times,
but that it is rendered highly reasonable by the close analogy it bears
to the best-established laws of the material world. Though there are
many admirable passages in this portion of the work, which it would
gratify us to lay before our readers, we must content ourselves with
the following.
"No person can look into the world with the eye of a philosopher,
and not soon ascertain that the grand theatre of phenomena which
lies before him is naturally subdivided into two great classes of scenery: the one exhibiting constrained, the other voluntary motion; the
former characteristic of matter, the latter as clearly indicating something perfectly distinct from matter, and possessing totally opposite
qualities.'Pulverize matter,' says Saurin,'give it all the different
forms of which it is susceptible, elevate it to its highest degree of
attainment, make it vast and immense, moderate or small, luminous or
obscure, opaque or transparent, there will never result any thing but
figures; and never will you be able, by all these combinations or
divisions, to produce one single sentiment, one single thought.' The
reason is obvious: a substance compounded of innumerable parts,
which every one acknowledges matter to be, cannot be the subject of
an individual consciousness; the seat of which must be a simple and
undivided substance; as the great Dr. Clarke has long ago irrefragably
shown. Intellect and volition are quite of a different nature from
corporeal figure or motion, and must reside in, or emanate from, a
lifferent kind of being, a kind which, to distinguish it from matter, is:alled spirit, or mind.  Of these, the one is necessarily inert, the other
essentially active. The one is characterized by want of animation,
life, and even motion, except as it is urged by something ab extra;
the other is living, energetic, self-moving, and possessed of power to
move other things.  We often fancy, it is true, that matter moves mat



GRIhGORY'S LETTERS.                     313
ter; but this, strictly speaking, is not correct. When one wheel, or
lever, in a system of machinery, communicates motion to matter, it
can, at most, only communicate what it has received; and if you trace
the connexion of the mechanism, you will at length arrive at a first
mover, which first mover is, in fact, spiritual. If, for example, it be
an animal, it is evidently the spiritual part of that animal from whence
the motion originally springs. If, otherwise, it be the descent of a
weight, or the fall of water, or the force of a current of air, or the
expansive power of steam, the action must be ultimately referred to
what are styled powers of nature, that is, to gravitation or elasticity;
and these, it is now well known, cannot be explained by any allusion
to material principles, but to the indesinent operation of the Great
Spirit in whom we live, and move, and have our being-the finger of
God touching and urging the various subordinate springs, which, in
their turn, move the several parts of the universe. Thus God acts in
all places, in all times, and upon all persons. The whole material
world, were it not for his Spirit, would be inanimate and inactive: all
motion is derived either from his energy or from a spirit which he animates; and it is next to certain, that the only primary action is that
of spirit, and the most direct and immediate that of spirit upon spirit."
-P. 154.
We doubt not the intelligent reader will be of opinion, that the
author has gone to the very bottom of this subject, and will feel him.
self highly gratified in seeing it placed in so clear and convincing a
light; the more so, as he has taken care to guard against its most
obvious abuse, by showing that the influence for which he contends is
not to be expected independent of means,-among which he considers
prayer, and a conscientious regard to known duty as the principal.
We earnestly recommend this part of the performance to such of our
readers as have, upon too light grounds, imbibed philosophical prejudices against the doctrine contended for; a doctrine which lies at the
foundation of all spiritual religion, though treated by many with an
excess of insolence and scorn, which can hardly be accounted for
without adverting to the injudicious conduct of its advocates.
The important doctrine of Justification by Faith forms the subject
of the next letter in the series. Here, after confirming the position he
means to defend by the authority of the Homilies, he proceeds to a
more particular discussion of the subject, under three heads of inquiry:
What is meant by justification?-what by faith — and what is the
genuine import of "justification by faith?"  Under each of these the
reader will meet with much instruction, arising from a very luminous
statement of truth, accompanied with happy illustrations. The charge
against the doctrine pleaded for, of its tending to licentiousness, is
very successfully combated and refuted.
The exhibition.of the leading doctrines of Christianity is completed
in the three following letters,-on Providence, the Resurrection, and
the Eternal Existence of Man after Death.  We perused with much
satisfaction the author's masterly defence of a particular providence,
the denial of whichl is, to all practical purposes, equivalent to the




314                       REVIEW  OF
denial of a providence altogether. Trust in God is the act of an indi
vidual, as all the exercises of piety must necessarily be; so that if
the providence of God embraces not the concerns of individuals, no
rational foundation can be conceived for expecting protection from
danger, or relief under distress, in answer to prayer. The denial of
a particular providence is, it must be confessed, the best possible expedient for keeping God at a distance-and on that account so vehemently insisted on by certain periodical writers, the poison of whose
impiety, prepared, it is generally understood, by hallowed hands, and
distributed through the nation in a popular and seducing vehicle, has
met with a powerful antidote and rebuke from Dr. Gregory, who, himself a' layman, will be honoured as the champion of that religion which
a clergyman has insulted and betrayed.*  How is it that the con
ductors of the publication alluded to allot to this clerical associate the
province of libelling religion?  Is it that its alliance with nominal
sanctity gives rank impiety a new zest, at the same time that its total
dereliction of principle more perfectly incorporates the specific design
of the article with the general character of the work?
In treating of the Resurrection of the Dead, the author has happily
availed himself of the striking analogies which the system of nature
presents, as if designed on purpose, as Tertullian more than insinuates,
to excite the expectation of such an event. Among others highly deserving attention, we shall present our readers with the following, in
the words of Dr. Gregory:
" Nearly allied to these are the examples of peculiar transformations undergone by various insects, and the state of rest and insensibility which precede those transformations: such as the chrysalis or
aurelia state of butterflies, moths, and silkworms.  The myrmeleon
formicaleo, of whose larva, and its extraordinary history, Reaumur and
Roesel have given accurate descriptions, continues in its insensible or
chrysalis state about four weeks.  The libellula, or dragon-fly, continues still longer in its state of inaction.  Naturalists tell us that the
worm repairs to the margin of its pond, in quest of a convenient place
of abode during its insensible state.  It attaches itself to a plant, or
piece of dry wood, and the skin, which gradually becomes parched
and brittle, at last splits opposite to the upper part of the thorax:
through this aperture the insect, now become winged, quickly pushes
its way; and, being thus extricated from confinement, begins to expand
its wings, to flutter, and finally to launch into the air with that gracefulness and ease which are peculiar to this majestic tribe.  Now, who
that saw for the first time the little pendant coffin in which the insect
lay entombed, and was ignorant of the transformation of which we are
now speaking, would ever predict that in a few weeks, perhaps in a
few days or hours, it would become one of the most elegant and ac.
tive of winged insects? Arnd who that contemplates with thle mind of a
philosopher this curious transformation, and knows that two years before the insect mounts into air, even while it is living in water, it has
thei rudiments of wings, can deny that the uody of a dead man may
* See the Article on Methodism, in the Edinburgh ireview




GREGORY'S LETTERS.                      315
at some future period be again invested with vigour and activity, and
soar to regions for which some latent organization may have peculiarly'itted it?"-P. 225.
In descanting on the change that will be effected by the resurrec
tion, when we shall be invested with a glorified body, the language of
the author rises to a high pitch of elevation, and exhibits a scene which
surpasses the brightest visions of poetry; while the exactness of the
delineation in its most essential lineaments is attested by the'" true
sayings of God." The science with which the mind of the author is
so richly imbued enables him to mingle a refined spirit of philosophy
with the colours of imagination, which, without diminishing their brightness, compels the assent of the understanding, while it captivates
the heart.
In the letter on the Eternal Existence after Death, the author strenuously opposes the sleep of the soul, and urges formidable, and, we
apprehend, irrefragable arguments for interpreting the passages of Scripture which speak of the everlasting misery of the impenitent, in their
obvious and literal sense: nor have we met with a discussion of this
awful subject so calculated to carry conviction to a philosophical mind,
provided it be disposed to bow to the authority of revelation.  His
confutation of the reasoning of his opponents, founded on the supposed
ambiguity of the terms employed to denote an eternal duration, is
particularly masterly.
On the third branch of his subject, which relates to the Duties of
Christianity, he is comparatively brief,-not, it is evident, from his
undervaluing their importance, but partly, we conceive, on account of
the length of his former discussions, and partly because in this part
there is little room for controversy. He has contented himself with
arranging the duties of Christianity under three heads-those which
relate to God, to our fellow-creatures, and to ourselves; and with
illustrating and enforcing them by a direct appeal to the language of
Scripture.
Having endeavoured to put our readers in possession of the general
plan and design of this work, we shall close this article with a few
general observations on it.
Dr. Gregory, throughout, denominates the abetters of the simple
humanity of Christ, Socinians, instead of employing their favourite
appellation of Unitarians.  We rejoice that he has done so, and hope his
example will be generally followed.  To accede to the appellation of
Unitarians is to yield up the very point in debate; for, ask them what
they mean by Unitarian, and they will feel no scruple in replying that
it denotes a believer in one God, in opposition to a tritheist.  That this
is not asserted at random is evident, as well from many other facts, as
from the following very remarkable one,-that when a noted academic
was some years since expelled from the university of Cambridge, amid
various points which he insisted on in his defence, one was this, that
it was quite absurd to censure him for avowing Unitarian principles,
since he never heard but of one person who publicly declared himself
nor a Unitarian.  Now what did he mean by this singular assertion?




316                      REVIEW  OF
Did he mean to say that he never heard of more than one person who
publicly affirmed his belief in a plurality of persons in the Godhead'?
This is impossible. What could he mean, then, but that he never knew
but of one person who affirmed himself not to be a believer in one God?which is neither more nor less than to identify the term Unitarian with
a believer in one God, and the term Trinitarian with a believer in three.
Let the intelligent public judge whether it is not high time to withhold
from these men an appellation which assumes the question at issue,
and which cannot be bestowed without being converted into an occasion of insult and triumph over their opponents. There was a time
when the learning and moderation of Lardner, and the fame and science
of Priestley, combined to throw a transitory splendour over their system,
and to procure from the Christian world a forbearance and complaisance to which they were ill entitled. That time is past. Such ratzonal
Christians as they are should have discernment to perceive that it
is not with them as in months past, when the candle of their leader
shone around them: it becomes them to bow their spirit to the humbled
state of their fortunes. They should learn at last to know themselves.:A'e world is perfectly aware, whether they perceive it or not, that
Socinianism is now a headless trunk, bleeding at every vein, and exhibiting no other symptom of life but its frightful convulsions.
But why should they be offended at being styled Socinians, when it
is undeniable that they agree with Socinus in his fundamental position
(the simple humanity of Christ), which is all the agreement that subsists between the followers of Calvin or Arminius and those eminent
persons? The Calvinists are far from concurring in every particular
with Calvin,-the Arminians with Arminius; yet neither of them have
violently disclaimed these appellations, or considered them as terms of
reproach. Why are the Socinians only offended at being denominated
after Socinus? Is it because they differ in the nature of Christ's person from that celebrated heresiarch? This they will not pretend.  But
they differ from him in many respects! In what respects? Is it in
those respects in which his sentiments gave most offence to the Christian world? Is it that they have receded from him in that direction
which brings them nearer to the generally received doctrine of the
church? Just the reverse.  In the esteem of all,but themselves they
have descended many degrees lower in the scale of error, have plunged
many fathoms deeper in the gulf of impiety; yet, with an assurance
of which they have furnished the only example, they affect to consider
themselves injured by being styled Socinians, when they know in their
own consciences that they differ from Socinus only in pushing the
degradation of the Saviour to a much greater length-and that in the
views of the Christian world their religious delinquencies differ from his
only as treason differs from sedition, or sacrilege from theft. The appellation of Socinian, as applied to them, is a term of forbearance, calculated, if they would suffer it, not to expose, but to hide a part of their
shame. Let them assume any denomination they please, provided it
be such as will fairly represent their sentiments.  Let them be styled
antiscripturalists, humanitarians, semideists, Priestleians, or Socinians.




GREGORY'S IETTERS.                    317
But let them not be designated by a term which is merely coveted by
them for the purpose of chicane and imposture.
Our readers will perceive that the system which Dr. Gregory strenu.
ously abets is orthodoxy; but it is moderate and catholic; it is the
orthodoxy of the first three centuries; it is that system which, communicated by Christ and his apostles, pervaded the church long before
the confusion of modern sects arose, or even the distinction between
Protestants and Catholics was heard of: it is the orthodoxy which has
nourished the root of piety in every age, warmed the breasts of saints
and martyrs, and will continue to subsist in the church till the heavens
and the earth are no more.
We congratulate the public on the accession of Dr. G. to such a
cause; and sincerely rejoice, that amid his multifarious scientific
pursuits he has found time and inclination to meditate so deeply, and
to exhibit so successfully, " the truth as it is in Jesus."  We hope his
example will stimulate other men of science and genius to pursue so
noble a career. We will venture to assure them that upon a dying
bed, it will occasion no regret to reflect upon their having enrolled
their names with such illustrious laymen as Boyle, Newton, and Locke
in the defence of Christianity.
In a beautiful passage of Euripides, Medea is introduced, expressing her surprise that amid such a multitude of inventions and inquiries, the art of persuasion, the mistress of human volition, should alone
have been neglected. This neglect cannot be imputed to Dr. Gregory.
He has united with extraordinary attainments in the severer sciences,
the art of recommending his sentiments with the most impressive
effect; and though he is above a solicitude respecting the minuter
graces of finished composition, he exhibits in an eminent degree the
most important ingredients of good writing. He is correct and luminous, and often rises to the tone of the most impassioned feeling. His
language is eminently easy, flowing, and idiomatic.  The abstractions
of science have not in him exerted the influence often imputed to them,
of chilling the heart, and impairing the vigour of the imagination.
While he reasons with the comprehension and depth which distinguish
the philosopher, he feels with ardour, and paints with force. He is
often inspired and transported with his theme.  In the midst of
pursuits which are not always found to have a propitious effect on the
religious character of their votaries, he has found the means of preserving his devotion in its warmth, his faith in its purity, and his
sensibility in its infantine freshness and vigour.
We must conclude with earnestly recommending this work to the
attentive perusal of young persons whose minds have been cultivated
by science and letters; and must be permitted to add, that we are
acquainted with no book, in the circle of English literature, which
s equally calculated to give persons of that description just views
)f the evidence, the nature, and the importance of revealed religion.




REVIEW
OF
BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.
Memoirs of the late Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, A. M., 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.  8vo.
Pp. xxiv. 544. 1812.
As the Life of Mr. Lindsey is evidently adopted as a vehicle for the
propagation of Socinian sentiments, we shall be excused for being more
copious in our remarks upon it than the biography of a man of such
extreme mediocrity of talents could otherwise possibly justify. If a
zealous attachment to any system of opinions can be supposed to be
aided by its association with personal reputation, we cannot wonder at
finding Mr. Lindsey's fondness for socinianism so ardent and so persevering, inasmuch as the annals of religion scarcely furnish an instance
of a celebrity acquired so entirely by the adoption of a particular creed.
Luther and Calvin would have risen to distinction, in all probability, if
the Reformation had never been heard of; while the existence of such
a man as Mr. Lindsey would not have been known beyond the precincts
of his parish, had he not, under a peculiar combination of circumstances,
embraced the tenets of Socinus.
His reputation is altogether accidental and factitious. Though the
leading events of his life, with one exception, are marked by no striking
peculiarities, yet, by the help of a great deal of adventitious matter,
Mr. B. has contrived to make it the groundwork of a bulky and not
unentertaining volume-disfigured, however, throughout by that languid
and inelegant verbosity which characterizes all his compositions. It
must be confessed Mr. Belsham has taken care in this work to exhibit
himself as no ascetic, no religious enthusiast, but quite a man of the
world; not by a lively delineation of its manners and foibles, still less
by a development of the principles by which mankind are actuated,
but by such a profusion of compliments bestowed on men of rank and
title, and so perfect a prostration before secular grandeur, as has nevel
been paralleled we suspect, in a Christian divine. At the "pomp and




BESLSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF IINDSEY.               319
circumstance" of human life, this philosopher appears awed and planet.
struck, and utterly incapable of exercising that small portion of discrimination with which nature has endowed him. Every nobleman or
statesman he has occasion to introduce is uniformly ushered in with a
splendid retinue of gorgeous epithets, in which there are as little taste
and variety as if they had been copied verbatim from the rolls at the
herald's office, Orators of pre-eminent powers, together with virtuous
and enlightened noblemen, meet us at every turn; and we are not a
little surprised at finding so much of the decoration and splendour of
this mortal scene in so close contact with the historical details of unitarianism. We have long remarked the eagerness of Socinians to emblazon their system by associations with learning, rank, and fashion;
but on no other occasion have we seen this humour carried so far as in
hese Memoirs.
The leading events of Mr. Lindsey's life are the following. He was
born June 20, 1723, at Middlewich in Cheshire, where his father was
a mercer in respectable circumstances, but was afterward reduced by
misfortunes.  His mother, whose maiden name was Spencer, was
distantly related to the Marlborough family; and previously to her
marriage lived twenty years in the family of Frances, Countess of
Huntingdon, —a circumstance which led to considerable intimacy, that
continued for some years, with the celebrated Selina, Countess of
Huntingdon, who married the son of that lady. Under the patronage
of Lady Betty and Lady Ann Hastings, Mr. Lindsey was educated,
first at a school in the neighbourhood of Middlewich, whence he was
removed, and placed under the care of the Rev. Mr. Barnard, master
of the free grammar-school in that town, who is represented as a genttleman of distinguished learning and piety. 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.  In the eighteenth year of his age, May
21, 1741, he was admitted a student at St. John's, Cambridge, where
he acquitted himself with credit in his academical exercises, and behaved with such exemplary propriety as to attract the attention of Dr.
Reynolds, Bishop of Lincoln, who thought fit to intrust him with the
care of his grandson, a youth of fifteen. He was elected fellow of St.
John's College in April, 1747.  Having been ordained by Bishop
Gibson, he was, at the recommendation of Lady Ann Hastings, presented to a chapel in Spital Square by Sir George Wheeler. In a
short time after his settlement in London, the Duke of Somerset
received him into his house in the capacity of domestic chaplain. He
continued, after the decease of that nobleman, to reside some time with
the duchess-dowager, better known by the title of Countess of Hertford; and at her request he accompanied her grandson, the present
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 time he brought back his noble pupil, improved both in his health and learning. From this distinguished per



320                      REVIEW  OF
sonage he continued to receive attentions and favours as long as he
lived. Immediately after his 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 should come of
age; but this young man dying a short time afterward, it was given
to Mr. Lindsey unconditionally, in the usual form.  In this very retired
situation Mr. Lindsey continued about three years; and, during his
residence in Yorkshire, he became acquainted with the celebrated
Archdeacon Blackburne, at Richmnond,-a circumstance which led to
Important consequences, and to which he was indebted, under ProviJence, for the most important blessing of his life.
In the year 1756, at the request of the Huntingdon family, he resigned
the living of Kirkby Whiske for the living of Piddletown, in Dorsetshire, which was in the gift of the Earl of Huntingdon. In this place
he lived seven years; and in 1760 married Miss Elsworth, the stepdaughter of Archdeacon Blackburne,-a lady whose principles were
congenial with his own, and who is represented as possessed of a
superior understanding and of exalted virtue. It was during his residence in that situation that he first began to entertain scruples concerning the lawfulness of Trinitarian worship, and of his continuing to
officiate in the established church. It appears he had, from his early
youth, disapproved of some things in the rhirty-nine Articles.  Some
years afterward, these doubts were matured into a full conviction that
the divinity of Christ was an erroneous tenet, and that the Father was
the sole object of worship; in consequence of which, while in Dorset
shire, he took some previous steps with a view to quitting his preferment in the church. In the year 1762, upon the appointment of the
late Duke of Northumberland to be lord-lieutenant of Ireland, he was
strongly urged to accept the place of chaplain to his grace; which,
from the preference he gave to a retired situation, he declined.  An
opportunity occurring the year following of exchanging his living fol
that of Catterick in Yorkshire, he made the exchange, for the sake of
enjoying the society of Archdeacon Blackburne and his family, who
lived] in that neighbourhood. On this occasion, Mr. Belsham justly
remarks, "' It may appear singular that Mr. Lindsey could submit te
that renewed subscription which was requisite in order to his induction
to a new living.
"And the case," he adds, " appears the more extraordinary, as many
clergymen who, in consequence of a revolution in their opinions, had
become dissatisfied with the Articles, would never, for the sake of ob.
taining 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." —P. 17.
The extreme want of candour and sincerity evinced by such conduct
is very unsatisfactorily apologized for by Mr. Lindsey, and is very
gently reproved by Mr. Belsham. The principal plea alleged by Mr
L, in defence of himself is, that as he continued to officiate in the forms
of the liturgy, his renewed subscription gave him little concern, since




BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.                 321
he considered himself every time he used the liturgy as virtually
repeating his subscription.  At length, he brought himself, he says, 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
nis Holy Spirit."-P. 23.
Htow far he was.influenced by mercenary considerations in retaining
nrs station under such circumstances it is impossible to' say; but that
he was guilty of much collusion and impious prevarication in this affair
cannot be reasonably doubted.  Nor is there any species of simulation
or dissimulation in religion which might not be justified on pretences
equally plausible: and when we recollect that Mr. L. persisted in that
conduct for a series of years, we shall find it difficult to conceive of
him as that prodigy of virtue which Mr. Belsham represents him. " He
must be a severe moralist," says Mr. B., " whom such a concession
does not satisfy." And what is this concession that is to stop every
mouth, and to convert censure into praise? We will give it in Mr. L.'s
own words-it is this:
" Not," says he, "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."-P. 24.
It is impossible to conceive a confession of conduct extremely
criminal in terms of lighter reprehension; but, agreeably to the theory
of Mr. B.. the merit of repentance so much exceeds the moral turpitude of transgression, that the faintest indications of it transport him
with admiration.  For our parts, were we not aware of the tendency
of Socinianism to produce a most attenuated conception of the evil
of sin, we should have expected to find such insincerity and impiety
deplored in the strongest language of penitential sorrow. As we wish,
however, to do ample justice to the real virtues of Mr. L., we feel a
pleasure in quoting the following account of the manner in which he
conducted himself while he was rector of Catterick.
"No sooner was he settled," says his biographer, " in his ne,'
situation, than hlie 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 catechised young people.  He
visited the sick, he relieved the poor, he established and supported
charity schools for the children, he spent considerable 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."-P. 26.
This is unquestionably a pleasing picture of the character of an
VOL. I.- X




322                      REVIEW  OF
exemplary Christian pastor. It does not appear that any considerable
success attended his labours. On this head he contents himself with
expressing a faint hope that some of the seed he had sowed might not
be lost.
In this situation he continued ten years, till a dangerous fit of sickness
roused his conscience, and rendered his continuance in the discharge
of his ecclesiastical functions insupportable. We are far from wishing
to depreciate the value of that sacrifice which Mr. Lindsey tardily and
reluctantly made to the claims of conscience; but we cannot conceal
out surprise, that a measure to which he was forced in order to quell
the apprehensions he most justly entertained of the displeasure of the
Almighty, after a system of prevarication persisted in for upwards
of ten years, should be extolled in terms which can only be applied
with propriety to instances of heroic virtue.  To prefer the surrender
of certain worldly advantages to a perseverance in conduct highly
criminal evinces a mind not utterly insensible to the force of moral
obligation, and nothing more. Our admiration must be reserved for a
higher species of excellence; for an adherence to the side of delicacy
and honour, where many plausibilities might be urged to the contrary;
or a resolute pursuit of the path of virtue, when it is obstructed by
the last extremities of evil.  Mr. Lindsey renounced, it is true, a
respectable and lucrative situation in the church, rather than continue
any longer in the practice of what he considered as idolatry. But he
was unencumbered with a family; he possessed some personal property;
and enjoyed the friendship of several great and noble personages, whc
were never likely to suffer him to sink into absolute poverty.  He
merely descended to the level where many of the best, and some of the
greatest, of men have chosen to place themselves, and where his friend
Dr. Priestley, whose talents would have commanded any preferment in
the church, chose, from an attachment to the same principles, to remain
for life. We approve his resignation of his living; but we confess we
are more disposed to wonder that he could reconcile himself to continue
in his situation so long, than that he should feel himself compelled to
quit it at last.
This event took place in the year 1773; after wvhich he came to
London, and a plan was set on foot for opening a chapel for him in
the metropolis, where, retaining the use of a liturgy modified agreeably
to his views, he might promulgate the tenets of Socinus. Many persons,
Mr. B. informs us, both of the establishment and among the dissenters,
aided the undertaking, among whom  are particularly enumerated Dr.
Priestley and Dr. Price, Samuel Shore, Esq., of Norton Hall, in Yorkshire, and Robert Newton, Esq. of Norton House, in the same village.
These gentlemen, in conjunction with others, entered into a subscription, to indemnify him for the necessary expenses incurred in
procuring and fitting up his chapel.  The place fixed upon for this
grand experiment was a room in Essex House, Essex-street, which,
having before been used as an auction-room, was capable, at a moderate expense, of being turned into a convenient place of worship.
Here Mr. L. introduced his improved liturgy, formed very much UDon




BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.                  323
the plan of Dr. Clarke's, but with such variations as corresponded to
the difference of his views from those of that celebrated divine. From
this period, the life of Mr. L. proceeds in a very equable and uniform
course, with little worthy of remark besides the various publications
to which the system he had adopted gave birth: and over the congregation formed in Essex-street he continued to preside till his seventieth
year, when he thought fit to retire from a public station: after which
he lived sixteen years, when he was attacked with a disease which
was judged to be a pressure of the brain, and expired in the eightysixth year of his age. Such are the outlines of a narrative which
Mr. Belsham  has contrived to extend to upwards of five hundred
octavo pages. It is by no means our intention to follow the biographer
through his boundless excursions, or to criticise every remark which
appears to us justly obnoxious to censure. We shall content ourselves
with selecting a few passages, and making a few observations, which
may serve to illustrate the genius and progress of Socinianism, the
promotion of which evidently appears to be the sole object of the
writer of these Memoirs.
The secession of Mr. Lindsey from the established church produced
much less impression than might have been expected; nor does it
appear that his example was followed by one individual among the
clergy, until Mr. Disney, his brother-in-law, after the lapse of some
years, adopted the same measure, and afterward became his colleague
in the ministry.  The establishment of a Socinian chapel with a
reformed liturgy in the metropolis is narrated by our biographer with
the utmost pomp, as forming a distinguished epoch in the annals of
religion; and, undoubtedly, great hopes were entertained of its producing
a memorable revolution among the Episcopalians: but these expectations were frustrated.  The attendance, composed chiefly of persons
of opulence (among whom the Duke of Grafton made the principal
figure), was at no time very numerous; and no similar society was
formed from among the members of the established church in any
part of the United Kingdom.  The utmost that the efforts of Lindsey,
Priestley, and others effected was to convert the teachers of Arianism
among the dissenters into Socinians, who exerted themselves with
tolerable success to disseminate their principles in their respective
congregations: so that the boasted triumphs of Socinianism consisted
in sinking that section  of the dissenting body who had already
departed from the faith a few degrees lower in the gulf of error.
From these very Memoirs under consideration we derive the most
convincing evidence that the tenets of Socinus, with respect to the
nation at large, have lost ground, and that the people of England are
much less favourably disposed to them  than formerly.  They also
present us a very full and particular account of the association of a
part of the clergy at the Feathers Tavern, to procure relief in the
matter of subscription; for which purpose, agreeably to a resolution
of the general body, on the 6th of February, 1772, a petition was
presented to the House of Commons.  The number of the petitioners
amounted to nearly two hundred and fifty, among whom'be names
X2




i2d4                      REVIrEW  OF
ot the celebrated Archdeacon Blackburne, and Law, bishop of Carlisle,
were the most distinguished.  Of the state of the public mind in:he metropolis we have a striking picture inll a letter from John Lee,
afterward solicitor-general, a zealous friend of the discontented clergy.
"It will surprise you who live in the country," says he, " and consequently have not been informed of the discoveries of the metropolis,
that the Christian religion is not thought to be an object worthy of the
least regard; 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 frivolous subjects with all the dexterity that can be.  This is ne
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!" Allowing for some slight exaggeration arising from the
chagrin and vexation of the writer, it is still impossible not to perceive,
if any credit is due to his statement, that the parliament were not in a
disposition to feel any conscientious objections to the repeal of the
Articles, and that if they opposed such a measure, that opposition
originated simply from the fear of innovation, common to politicians.
The manner in which the debate was conducted when the affair came
actually under the consideration of the House confirms this conclusion.
There was not one member who expressed his belief in the Articles:
it was treated entirely as a political question, without once adverting
to its intrinsic merits as involving a religious controversy; and Mr.
Hans Stanley opposed the bringing up of the petition, as it tended te
disturb the peace of the country, which, in his opinion, ought to be
the subject of a fortieth Article, which would be well worth all the
thirty-nine.*  With such levity and contempt was the national creed
treated at that time.  Will the sturdiest champion of Socinianism
affirm that a similar discussion in the House of Commons, or ill the
upper House, would be conducted in a similar manner at present? or
that there would not be one member who would contend for the continuance of the Articles on the ground of their intrinsic excellence and
verity?  The fact is, that through the secularity and irreligion of the
clergy, evangelical truth was nearly effaced from the minds of the
members of the establishment in the higher ranks, and that an indolent
acquiescence in established formularies had succeeded to the ardour
with which the great principles of religion were embraced at the
Reformation.  Such was the state of the public mind, that in a contest
between orthodoxy and heresy, the former proved triumphant merely
because it was already established, and had the plea of antiquity and
prescription in its favour.  Since that period, vital religion has revived
in the national church; the flame of controversy has been widely
spread; the inconsistency of Socinianism with the Scriptures, together
with its genuine tendency and character, has been fully developed;
it has lost the attraction of novelty; it has revolted the minds of men
by its impiety; and, having been weighed in the balance, has been
found wanting. If among the clergy there still subsists a small rem.
nant who are attached to those unscriptural tenets, they are content
* See pages 54, 55, of tLese Memoirs.




BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.                 32b
with being connived at, and nothing could how urge them to the inprudence of presenting their claims for legal security to the legislature.
We hear nothing of an intention to renew the scenes which took place
at the Feathers Tavern in 1772.
We consider this as a decisive proof that Socinianism has lost ground
in the nation, notwithstanding its prevalence in societies of a certain
description among the dissenters. Those who never formally renounced
the orthodox doctrine have, in consequence of recent discussions, become
more than ever attached to it: while that class of dissenters who were
already moving in an heretical direction, have reposed in Socinianism
as their natural centre of gravity. From several other circumstances
recorded in these Memoirs, the same inference may be drawn with
respect to the discredit under which this system lies at present, compared with the countenance and indulgence with which it was received
thirty or forty years back. While Mr. Lindsey was deliberating on
the propriety of quitting his living, it was suggested to him by Dr.
Priestley, that he might continue to officiate, by making such alterations in the public offices of devotion as correspond to his peculiar
views.  " Nor was there any ground to suspect," says Mr. B., "that
he would have met with any molestation from his superiors." Mr.
Chambers, who held the living of Oundle, in Northamptonshire, Mr.
Disney, for many years, and others, did so without being called to
account for their conduct.  We should be sorry to express ourselves
with an improper degree of confidence; but we may venture to express
a firm persuasion, that such a silent repeal of the doctrine of the church
by the mere authority of a parochial minister would not now be permitted to pass unnoticed or uncensured in any part of the kingdom.
The dignitaries of the church are alive to the importance of the distinguishing truths of Christianity, and would show themselves prompt
and eager, as appears from recent instances, to discourage the open
disavowal of them. We have no hesitation in asserting that the hope
of rendering the tenets of the Polish heresiarch popular and prevalent
throug'hout this nation was at no period so completely extinguished as
at the present; and from a certain air of despondency which the
memorialist of Lindsey betrays amid all his gasconades, we are convinced he is of the same opinion. The disposition on all occasions to
vaunt of their success, and lo predict with great confidence the speedy
triumph of their principles, is a peculiar feature in the character of
modern Socinians; and the absurd and exaggerated statements of
matters of fact into which this propensity betrays them, are truly
ludicrous.  All other sorts of enthusiasts of whom we have either
heard or read are in this respect cold and phlegmatic compared with
them.  In various extracts from the letters of Mr. Lindsey's correspondents, and of' others, representations are made of numerous and
rapid conversions to Socinianism, which Mr. B., from a regard to truth
and decency, finds it necessary to correct and apologize for as the
effusion of well-intended but intemperate zeal. The boast of success
is almost invariably the precursor of a statement on the part of Mr. B.,
in which it is either repealed or qualified; and it is but doing him




326                      REVIEW  OF
justice to say, that his judgment and experience have exempted hikm
from those illusions and deceptions of which his party have become
the easy dupes. We had been confidently informed, for instance, that
almost all the people of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts,
were becoming Socinians, and that the ministers, with the exception
of one or two, had already declared themselves; when it appears,
from  the unimpeachable authority of Mr. Wells, himself a Socinian,
and an inhabitant of that city, that there is but one professedly Unitarian
chapel throughout New-England: and so little sangline is he with
respect to the spread of that doctrine, that he strongly deprecates its
discussion, from a conviction that it will issue in producing among the
body of the people a more confirmed attachment to orthodoxy.* It is
also worthy of remark, that these extravagant boasts of success are
not accompanied with the slightest advertence to the moral or spiritual
effects which the Socinian doctrine produces on the character: this is
a consideration which rarely, if ever, enters into the mind of its most
zealous abetters, who appear to be perfectly satisfied if they can but
accomplish a change of sentiment, however inefficacious to all practical purposes.  Their converts are merely proselyted to an opinion,
without pretending to be converted to God; and if they are not as
much injured by the change as the proselytes made by the Pharisees
of old, it must be ascribed to causes totally distinct from the superior
excellence of the tenets they have embraced.  They have been taught
to discard the worship of Christ, and to abjure all dependence upon
him as a Saviour-an admirable preparation, it must be confessed, for
a devout and holy life.  Let the abetters of those doctrines produce,
if they can, a single instance of a person who, in consequence of
embracing them, was reclaimed from a vicious to a virtuous life, from
a neglect of serious piety to an exemplary discharge of its obligations
and duties; and their success, to whatever extent it has been realized,
would suggest an argument in their favour deserving some attention.
But who is ignorant that among the endless fluctuations of fashions
and opinions recorded in the annals of religion, the most absurd and
pernicious systems have flourished for a while; and that Arianism, for
instance. which these men profess to abhor almost as much as orthodoxy, prevailed to such a degree for years as to threaten to become
the prevalent religion of Christendom!t Socinianism can boast but
few converts compared with infidelity; in England, at least, they have
gone hand in hand, and their progress has been simultaneous, derived
from the same causes and productive of the same effects. Shall we
therefore affirm that infidelity is to be rejected with less confidence
because it possesses in reality that to which Socinianism only pretends?
When we reflect on the inert and torpid character of Socinianism, it is
surprising any serious expectation should be entertained of its final
triumph.  From  innumerable passages in these Memoirs it appears
that the far greater part of those who have embraced it in the established
* See his letter in the Appendix of the Memoirs.' See the second book of Sulpicius Severus, chap. 35. "Tum heresis Arii prorupit totumtue
orbem invecto errore turbaverat."




BELSHAM'S ME,  AXLS OF LINDSEY.               327
church h-ve been content to retain their situation; and it is certain
that of the two hundred and fifty who joined in the petition for relief in
the matter of subscription, Mr. Lindsey was the only person who made
any sacrifice of emolument to principle.  We find both Mr. Lindsey
and Mr. Belsham incessantly reproaching Unitarians with timidity in
declining the avowal of their sentiments, and the former remarking
with just indignation that amid the multitudes that concurred in his
views, there was but one member of the established church that
afforded him  any pecuniary aid towards defraying the necessary
expenses attendant on the opening of his chapel.  The avowal of
Socinianism among dissenters has rarely been followed by worldly
privations; and in the Church of England, where such consequences
must have ensued, it has not been made.  Except in the instances of
Lindsey, Jebb, and a very few others, the converts to Socinianism have
stooped to the meanest prevarication and the most sacrilegious hypocrisy rather than sacrifice their worldly emolument and honours. Compare this with the conduct of the puritans in the reign of Charles the
Second, who, though the points at issue were comparatively trifling
and insignificant, chose to the number of two thousand to encounter
every species of obloquy and distress rather than do violence to their
conscience, and' learn the difference between the heroism inspired by
Christian principle and the base and pusillanimous spirit of heresy.
What an infatuation to expect that a system which inspires its votaries
with no better sentiments and feelings than are evinced by these
decisive facts will ever become the prevailing belief, —a system which,
while it militates against every page of revelation, is betrayed by the
selfish timidity of its followers! The system of Socinus is a cold
negation: the whole secret of it consists in thinking meanly of Christ;
and what tendency such a mode of thinking can have to inspire elevation or ardour it is not easy to comprehend.  If it is calculated to
relieve the conscience of a weight which the principles of orthodoxy
render it difficult to shake off, without complying with the conditions
of the gospel, infidelity answers the same purpose still better, and
possesses a still higher degree of simplicity,-meaning by that term
what Socinians generally mean-the total absence of mystery.
Great part of these Memoirs are occupied in giving a copious
analysis of Mr. L.'s publications, which, possessing no intrinsic merit,
nor having excited more than a temporary interest, it would be trifling
with the patience of our readers to suppose they could derive either
entertainment or instruction from  seeing them  abridged.  Of Mr.
Lindsey, considered as a writer, it is sufficient to observe, that the
measure of intellect he displays is the most ordinary, and that he was
not possessed of the power, in its lowest degree, of either inventing
* what was rare or' embellishing what was common.  He was perspicuous, because he contented himself on all occasions with the most
commonplace thoughts; he was simple, because he aspired to nothing
more than to convey his meaning in intelligible terms, without the least
ronception of force, elegance, or harmony. Though his writings are
veplete with professions of unbounded liberality and candour, it is




?328                     REVIEW  OF
evident from his treatment of Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, that he
was indulgent only towards those who approached nearer to infidelity
than himself. Nothing can be conceived more splenetic and acrimonious than his examination of that ingenious author's Plea for the
Divinity of Christ, who, in return for compliments and condescensions
which, however unworthy of the cause he was defending, were sufficient to soften a Cerberus, met with nothing but rudeness and insolence.
It was truly amusing to see the imbecility of a Lindsey assuming the
airs of a Warburton. Throughout the whole of that publication hr
affects to consider Mr. Robinson as a mere superficial declaimer,
although his friend Archdeacon Blackburne, Mr. B. informs us, always
spoke of the Plea as a most able and unanswerable performance.  So
much for the modesty of this heretical confessor!
But it is time to leave. Mr. L. to that oblivion which is the infallible
destiny of him and of his works, and to proceed to make a few remarks
on the narrative and the miscellaneous strictures of his biographer.  In
the first place, we congratulate him on his abatement of that tone of
arrogance which so strikingly characterized his former publications.
Not that we ever expect him to exhibit himself in the light of an
amiable or unassuming writer, which would be for the Ethiopian to
change his skin; but it is with pleasure we remark less insolence
and dogmatism than he has displayed on other occasions. He writes
like a person who is conscious he is supporting a sinking cause; an
air of despondency may be detected amid his efforts to appear gay
and cheerful.  He knows perfectly-well that he is celebrating the
obsequies, not the triumph, of Socinianisrn: and from the little advantage it has derived from its former efforts, his vanity will not prevent
him from suspecting that he is giving dust to dust, and ashes to ashes.
In this as in all his former publications, he evinces a total ignorance
of human nature, together with that propensity to overrate the practical effect of metaphysical theories which almost invariably attaches to
metaphysicians of an inferior order.  He who invents a metaphysical
system  which possesses the least claims to public regard must have
paid a profound attention to the actual constitution of human nature.
He must have explored the most delicate and intricate processes of
the mind, and kept a vigilant eye on the various phenomena which it
presents. He is necessarily above his theory, having been conducted
to it by an independent effort of thought. He has not adjusted his
observations to his hypothesis, but his hypothesis to his observations.
The humble disciple, the implicit admirer proceeds too often in a directly
opposite manner. All he knows of the mental constitution in its more
intricate movements he derives from the system prepared to his hand,
which he adopts with all its crudities, and confidently employs as the
key which is to unlock all the recesses of nature.  Having been
accustomed to contemplate the human mind with a constant view to
the technical arrangements to which he has devoted himself, he esti
mates the practical importance of metaphysical theories by what has
passed in his own mind. We are fully convinced that the bulk of
mankind are very little influenced by metaphysical theories: and thai




BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY                    329
even inr minds which are more prone to speculation, metaphysical
dogmas are seldom so firmly embraced, or so deeply realized, as to be
productive of important practical effects. The advocate of necessity
and the champion of liberty will, in the same state of moral proficiency,
act precisely the same part in similar circumstances.  Mr. Belsham,
however, in the plenitude of his enthusiasm for the doctrine of philosophical necessity, ascribes without hesitation the ruin of multitudes of
young persons to their embracing the opposite tenet. It is truly surprising that he who was so quick-sighted as to perceive the tendency of
the notion of liberty to promote immoral conduct, should entertain no
suspicion of a similar tendency in the doctrine of God's being the author
of sin, which Mr. B. repeatedly asserts.
" Thle true solution of the first difficulty," says Mr. B., " 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 nevei
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. With
respect to 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 malady, 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 benevolence of the Divine Being will be made known,
adored, and celebrated through the whole created universe."-Pp.
323, 324.
The malignant tendency of such representations as the foregoing
is so obvious, that it is quite unnecessary to point it out to our readers.
How vain are all precautions against sin, if in all cases it is produced
by the omnipotent power of the Deity! and what motive can remain
for avoiding it, if it is certain of being ultimately crowned with happiness and glory!  The distinction between producing it and approving
of it for its own sake, with which the doctrine is attempted to be
palliated, is perfectly futile; for this is ascribing no more to the Deity
than mlust, injustice, be ascribed to the most profligate of mankind, who
never commit sin for its own sake, but purely with a view to certain
advantages with which it is connected: and the difference between the
two cases arises, not from any distinction in the moral character or
the proceeding, but simply from the superior comprehension of view
with which the conduct of the Deity is accompanied. As the perpetration of vice is, upon this system, a calamity, not a crime, it is bui
fitting and necessary it should receive a compensation; and for this




330                       REVIEW  OF
Mr. B. has provided, by representing the ultimate happiness of such
as have been the means of purifying the virtue of others by their vices,
as the effect of the impartial justice of the Deity. Persons of this
description are, it seems, a species of benefactors; and it is but right
they should, in due time, be rewarded. They are the scavengers of
the universe; and, having done a great deal of necessary though
dirty work, they are entitled to commiseration at present, and to
proportionable compensation in another state of being.  How admirably
are these views adapted to promote a horror of sin! What tenderness of conscience, fear of offending, deep humility, and penitence
may we expect to find in Mr. Belsham and in his admirers! Doubtless, their eves are a fountain of tears, which, like Jeremiah, they are
incessantly pouring out for those vices and impieties which are the
sure and certain pledges of endless felicity!
To expect Mr. B. to write a bulky volume without intermingling a
large portion of infidelity would be to expect grapes of thorns, and
figs of thistles. In the work under consideration, he fully maintains
the consistency of his character.  He more than insinuates his disbelief
of a great, if not the greater, part of the Mosaic history. Mr. Lindsey
having expressed himself in terms of just reprehension with respect to
the conduct of those who reject the books of Moses, Mr. B. takes upon
him to censure the severity of his friend.
" But surely, if the venerable writer," says he, " had reconsidered the
case with his usual calmness and impartiality, he would have seen
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 attributed to Moses
were really written throughout by him, and whether either the narrative or the institute exist at present exactly in the form in which he
delivered them."-P. 408.
But, supposing the narrative to be in certain points false, the insti-.
tution misrepresented and disguised, and the books which we term the
Pentateuch the production of some unknown author,-who does not
see the impossibility of separating the truth from the falsehood, and of
attaching, on any consistent'principles, to any part of it the credit due
to a divine communication? The spirit of infidelity evinced in these
passages is little different from that which pervades the pages of Boling.
broke and Voltaire.  But such is the genuine progress of Socinianism:
it begins with denying some of the clearest propositions in the New
Testament, in order to which its claims to inspiration must be weak.
ened or annulled; whence it proceeds to dispute the authority of the
Old, till the whole Bible be virtually set aside as the umpire of contro.
versy. Among the other sublime discoveries to which Mr. B. has
been led by a critical investigation of the writings of the New Testa
ment, one is, that the Lord Jesus Christ possesses no authority what.
ever; or, to use a term of his own invention, no external authority.
Speaking of the Duke of Grafton, he says —
"In a paper dated January 1, 1792, the duke expresses a belief




BELSH..AM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.                 331,hat 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' nust consequently be ranked among those articles the belief of which
cannot be necessary to salvation.' "-P. 327.
Though the apostles have affirmed the exaltation of the Saviour to
the government of the universe in every variety of form  which
language can supply,-though he himself declared that all power was
given to him in heaven and in earth,-his possession of external
authority is unblushingly asserted to be an unscriptural tenet. We
challenge Mr. B. to invent terms more strongly expressive of the highest
dominion and authority than those which the inspired writers have
employed in describing the exaltation of the Saviour.  We can regard
this assertion of Mr. Belsham's in no other light than as a specimen
of that theological audacity which forms the principal feature in that
gentleman's character, and which happily can have no other effect
than to inspire a complete abhorrence of the system which renders
such a procedure necessary. We cheerfully accept, however, the
concession implied in these daring positions, that the doctrine of the
meritorious sufferings of Christ is inseparably connected with his
exaltation; and as the latter cannot, without the utmost indecency, be
denied, the former follows of course.  We can annex no other
meaning to the epithet external,' as applied to authority, than what
might be more clearly expressed by the term personal; or, in other
words, Mr. B.'s intention is to assert that our Lord possesses no
authority whatever apart from the credit due to his mission and to
his doctrine, and that the Christian church is in no other sense governed
by Christ, than the Jews might be affirmed to be governed byr Moses
after his decease. It must be obvious, however, to every one, that this
is not to explain, but boldly and unequivocally to contradict, the
writings of the apostles on this important subject.
We shall close these strictures on Mr. Belsham by quoting one
passage more, which illustrates at once his insufferable arrogance
and his servile deference to authority.
" What childish simplicity and ignorance," says he, " 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 substantial 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




332                       REVIEWV  O
of the young and inexperienced especially are daily falling victims.'
-P. 394.
The arrogance, folly, and absurdity of this passage are scarcely to
be paralleled, even in the writings of its inimitable author. The most
celebrated metaphysicians and reasoners, in every age and in every
country-Malebranche, Cudworth, Clarke, Butler, Chillingworth, Reid,
and innumerable others, who have avowed the strongest apprehensions
of the immoral tendency of the doctrine of fatalism, or, as it has
been styled, of philosophical necessity, are consigned by a writer who
has not capacity sufficient to appreciate their powers, much less to
rival their productions, to the reproach of childish simplicity and
ignorance; and this for no other reason than their presuming to differ
in opinion from Lindsey, Priestley, Hartley, and Jebb! What is this
but to enjoin implicit faith? and why might not a Roman Catholic,
with equal propriety, accuse of childish simplicity and ignorance
those who should suspect the pernicious tendency of sentiments held
by Pascal, Fenelon, and Bossuet? We must be permitted to remind
Mr. B. that we hold his pretensions to a liberal and independent turn
of thought extremely cheap; that, possessing nothing original even
in his opinions, to say nothing of his genius, his most vigorous efforts
have terminated in his becoming a mere train-bearer, in a very insignificant procession.
Having already detained our readers longer on this article than we
ought, we should now put a period to our remarks, but that there is
one particular connected with the history of Mr. Lindsey which we
conceive has been too often set in such a light as is calculated to produce
erroneous impressions. We refer to the resignation of his living in
deference to his religious scruples.  He is on this account everywhere
designated by Mr. Belsham by the title of " the venerable confessor;"
and what is more to be wondered at, the late excellent Job Orton, in a
letter to his friend the late Rev. Mr. Palmer, of Hackney, speaks of:him in the following terms:
"'Were I to publish an account of silenced and ejected ministers,
I should be strongly tempted to insert Mr. Lindsey in the list he mentions in his Apology with so much veneration.  He certainly deserves
as much respect and honour as any 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.' "
We have no scruple in asserting that this unqualified encomium is
repugnant to reason, to Scripture, and to the sentiments of the best and
purest ages of the Christian church. To pass over the absurdity of
denominating Mr. L. a silenced and ejected minister, merely on ac
count of his voluntary withdrawment from a community whose dis.
tinguishing tenets he had abandoned, we are far from conceiving that
%he merit attached to his conduct on this occasion was of such an




BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.                 333
order as to entitle him for a moment to rank with confessors and
martyrs. To the praise of manly integrity for quitting a situation he
could no longer conscientiously retain, we are ready to acknowledge
Mr. L. fully entitled.  We are cordially disposed to admire integrity
wherever we perceive it; and we admire it the more in the present
instance, because such examples of it among beneficed ecclesiastics
have been rare. But we cannot permit ourselves to place sacrifices
to error on the same footing as sacrifices to truth, without annihilating
their distinction.  If revealed truth possess any thing of sanctity and
importance, the profession of it must be more meritorious than the
profession of its opposite; and, by consequence, sacrifices made to
that profession must be more estimable. He who suffers in the cause
of truth is entitled to admiration; he who suffers in the defence of
error and delusion to our commiseration: which are unquestionably
very different sentiments.  If truth is calculated to elevate and sanctify
the character, he who cheerfully sacrifices his worldly emolument to
its pursuit must be supposed to have participated in no common degree
of its salutary operation.  He who suffers equal privations in the propagetion of eiror evinces, it is confessed, his possession of moral
honesty; but unless persuasion could convert error into truth, it is
impossible it should impart to error the effects of truth. Previous to
the profession of any tenets whatever, there lies an obligation on all
to whom the light of the gospel extends, to believe the truth. We are
bound to confess Christ before men, only because we are bound to
believe on him.  But if, instead of believing on him, we deny him in
his essential characters, which is the case with Socinians, the sincerity
of that denial will indeed rescue us from the guilt of prevarication,
but not from that of unbelief.  It is possible, at least, since some
sort of faith in Christ is positively asserted to be essential to salvation,
that the tenets of the Socinians may be such as to exclude that faith:
that it does exclude it no orthodox man can consistently deny; and
how absurd it were to suppose a man should be entitled to the reward.
of a Christian confessor merely for denying, bona fide, the doctrine
which is essential to salvation! The sincerity which accompanies
his profession entitles him to the reward of a confessor: the error of
the doctrine which he professes exposes him at the same time to the
sentence of condemnation as an unbeliever! If we lose sight of
Socinianism for a moment, and suppose an unbeliever in Christianity,
in toto, to suffer for the voluntary and sincere promulgation of his
tenets, we would ask Mr. Orton in what rank he would be inclined to
place his infidel confessor.  Is he entitled to rank with any of the confessors?  If he is, our Saviour's terms of salvation are essentially
altered; and though he pronounces an anathema on him  who shall
deny him before men, the sturdy and unshaken denial of him in the
face of worldly discouragement would answer, it seems, as well as a
similar confession   Men are left at their liberty in this respect; and
they are equally secure of eternal happiness, whether they deny or
whether they confess the Saviour, providing they do it. firmly and
sincerely.  If these consequences appear shocking, and he be forced




334    REVIEW  OF BELSHAM'S MEMOIRS OF LINDSEY.
to assert the negative, then it is admitted that the truth of the doctrine
confessed enters essentially into the inquiry, whether he who suffers
for his opinions is to be, ipso facto, classed with Christian confessors.
Let it be remembered that we are not denying that he who hazards
his worldly interest rather th'an conceal or dissemble his tenets, how
false or dangerous soever they may be, is an honest man, and, quoad
hoc, acts a virtuous part,-but that he is entitled to the same kind of
approbation with the champion of truth. That the view we have
taken of the subject is consonant to the Scriptures will not be doubted
by those who recollect that St. John rests his attachment to Gaius and
to the elect Lady, on the truth which dwelt in them; that he professed
no Christian attachment but for the truth's sake; and that he forbade
Christians to exercise hospitality, or to show the least indication of
friendship, to those who taught any other doctrine than that which he
and his fellow-apostles had taught. The source of the confusion and ab.
surdity which necessarily attach to the opinions of Mr. Orton and others,
here expressed on this subject, consists in their confounding together
moral sincerity and Christian piety. We are perfectly willing to admit
that the latter cannot subsist without the former; but we are equally
certain that the former is by no means so comprehensive as necessarily
to include the latter.  We should have imagined it unnecessary to
enter into an elaborate defence of so plain a position as this, that it is
one thing to be what the world styles an honest man, and another to
be a Christian —a distinction, obvious as it is sufficient to solve the
whole mystery, and to account for the conduct of Mr. L., without
adopting the unmeaning jargon of his biographer, who styles him, in
innumerable places, the venerable confessor.  How repugnant the language we have been endeavouring to expose is to that which was
held in the purest and best ages of the church, must be obvious to all
who are competently acquainted with ecclesiastical history.  The
WMarcionites, we are informed by Eusebius, boasted of their having
furnished a multitude of martyrs; but they were not the less on that
account considered as deniers of Christ.  Hence, when orthodox
Christians happened occasionally to meet at the places of martyrdom
with Montanists and Manichaeans, they refused to hold the least communion with them, lest they should be supposed to consent to their
errors.* It. a word, the nature of the doctrine professed must be taken
into consideration before we can determine that profession to be a
Christian profession; nor is martyrdom entitled to the high veneration
justlv bestowed on acts of heroic piety, on any other ground than its
being, what the term imports, an attestation of the truth.  It is the
saint which makes the martyr, not the martyr the saint.
* Euseb. lib. 5, c. 14.




REVIEW
OF
BIRT ON POPERY.
A Summary of the Principles and History of Popery, in Five Lectures,
on the Pretensions and Abuses of the Church of Rome. By JOHN
BIRT. 8vo. pp. 176. 1823.
AT a time when popery is making rapid strides, and Protestants in
general have lost the zeal which once animated them, we consider the
publication we have just announced as peculiarly seasonable. What.
may be the ultimate effect of the efforts made by the adherents of the
Church of Rome to propagate its tenets, aided by the apathy of the
opposite party, it is not for us to conjecture.  Certain it is, there nevei
was a period when the members of the papal community were so active
and enterprising, or Protestants so torpid and indifferent. Innumerable
symptoms appear of a prevailing disposition to contemplate the doctrines
of popery with less disgust, and to witness their progress with less
alarm, than has ever been known since the Reformation. All the zeal
and activity are on one side; and while every absurdity is retained,
and every pretension defended, which formerly drew upon popery the
indignation and abhorrence of all enlightened Christians, we should be
ready to conclude from the altered state of public feeling, that a system
once so obnoxious had undergone some momentous revolution. We
seem on this occasion to have interpreted in its most literal sense the
injunction of "hoping all things and believing all things."  We persist
in maintaining that the adherents to popery are materially changed, in
contradiction to their express disavowal; and while they make a boast
of the infallibility of their creed, and the unalterable nature of their
religion, we persist in the belief of its having experienced we know not
what melioration and improvement. In most instances, when men are
deceived, it is the effect of art and contrivance on the part of those
who delude them: in this, the deception originates with ourselves; and
instead of bearing false witness against our neighbour, such is the
excess of our candour, that we refuse to credit the unfavourable testimony which he bears of himself.
There is, in the mean time, nothing reciprocal in this strange method
of proceeding: we pipe to them, but they will not dance. Our con




336                       REVIEW  OF
cessions, instead of softening and mollifying, seem to have no othe.
effect upon them than to elate their pride and augment their arrogance
An equal change in the state of feeling towards an object which has
itself undergone no alteration whatever, and where the party by which
it is displayed profess to adhere to their ancient tenets, it would be
difficult to specify.  To inquire into the causes of this singular phenoinenon would lead to discussion foreign to our present purpose.
Let it suffice to remark, that it may partly be ascribed to the length
of time which has elapsed since we have had actual experience
of the enormous cruelties of the papal system, and to the fancied
security we possess against their recurrence; —partly to the agitation of a great political question, which seems to have had the
effect of identifying the cause of popery with that of Protestant dissenters. The impression of the past has in a manner spent itself;
and in many its place is occupied by an eagerness to grasp at present
advantages, and to lay hold of every expedient for shaking off the
restraints which a narrow and timid policy has imposed.  The influence
of these circumstances has been much aided by that indifference to
religious truth which too often shelters itself under the mask of candour: and to such an extent has this humour been carried, that distinguished leaders in parliament have not scrupled to represent the
controversy between the papists and the Protestants as turning on
obscure and unintelligible points of doctrine, scarcely worth the attention of enlightened minds; while a beneficed clergyman of some distinction has treated the whole subject as of no more importance than the
idle disputes agitated by the schoolmen.  It was but a few years since
that a celebrated nobleman, in the House of Peers, vehemently condemned the oath of abjuration for applying the term superstitious to
the doctrine of transubstantiation.  In exactly the same spirit the
appellation of papist is exchanged for Catholic,-a concession which
the adherents of the Church of Rome well know how to improve, as
amounting to little short of a formal surrender of the point at issue.
For if the papists are really entitled to the name of Catlolics, Protestants of every denomination are involved in the guilt of schism.
This revolution in the feelings of a great portion of the public has
probably been not a little promoted by another cause. The present
times are eminently distinguished by the efforts employed for the
extension of vital religion: each denomination of Christians has taken
its station, and contributed its part towards the diffusion of evangelical
sentiments.  The consequence has been, that the professors of serious
piety are multiplied, and form at present a very conspicuous branch of
the community. The space which they occupy in the minds of the
public is not merely proportioned to their numerical importance, still
less to their rank in society: it is in a great measure derived from the
publicity of their proceedings, and the numerous associations for the
promotion of pious and benevolent objects which they have originated
and supported. By these means, their discriminating doctrines, essential to vital piety, have become better known, and more fully discussed
than heretofore. However beneficial as to its general effects such a




I3IRT ON POPERY.                      S37
state of things may have been, one consequence which might be expected has been the result.  The opposition of the enemies of religion
has become more virulent, their hatred more heated and inflamed, and
they have turned with no small complacency to the contemplation of
a system which forms a striking contrast to the object of their detestation. Popery, in the ordinary state of its profession, combines the
form of godliness" with a total denial of its power.  A heap of unmeaning ceremonies, adapted to fascinate the imagination and engage
the senses,-implicit faith in human authority, combined with an utter
neglect of Divine teaching,-ignorance the most profound, joined to
dogmatism the most presumptuous,-a vigilant exclusion of biblical
knowledge, together with a total extinction of free inquiry,-present
the spectacle of religion lying in state, surrounded with the silent pomp
of death.  The very absurdities of such a religion render it less unacceptable to men whose decided hostility to truth inclines them to view
with complacency whatever obscures its beauty or impedes its operation.  Of all the corruptions of Christianity which have prevailed to
any considerable extent, popery presents the nlost numerous points of
contrast to the simple doctrines of the gospel; and just in proportion
as it gains ground the religion of Christ must decline.
On these accounts, though we are far from supposing that popery,
were it triumphant, would allow toleration to any denomination of
Protestants, we have the utmost confidence that the professors of evangelical piety would be its first victims.  The party most opposed to
them look to papists as their natural ally, on whose assistance, in the
suppression of what they are pleased to denominate fanaticism and
enthusiasm, they may always depend: they.may, therefore, without
presumption, promise themselves the distinction conferred on Ulysses,
-that of being last devoured.
Whether popery will ever be permitted, in the inscruttable counsel.
of Heaven, again to darken and overspread the land, is an inquiry in
which it is foreign from our province to engage.  It is certain that the
members of the Romish community are at this moment on the tip-toe
of expectation, indulging the most sanguine hopes, suggested by the
temper of the times, of soon recovering all that they have lost, and of
seeing the pretended rights of their church restored irl their fillm splendour.  If any thing can realize such an expectation, it is undoubtedly
the torpor and indifference of Protestants, combined with the incredible
zeal and activity of papists; and universal observation shows what
these are capable of effecting,-how often they compensate the disadvantages arising from paucity of number, as well as almost every kind
o inequality.
From a settled persuasion that popery still is what it always wasa detestable system  of impiety, cruelty, and imposture, fabricated by
the father of lies-we feel thankful at witnessing any judicious attempt
to expose its enormities and retard its progress.  The Lectures published some years since by Mr. Fletcher are well adapted for this
purpose, and entitle their excellent author to the esteem and gratitude
of the public. The Protestant, a series of periodical papers, composed
VOL. II. — Y




338                       REVIEW olby Mr. M'Gavin, of Glasgow, contains the fullest delineation of the
popish system, and the most powerful confutation of its principles, in a
popular style, of any work we have seen. Whoever wishes to see
popery drawn to the life, in its hideous wickedness and deformity, will
find abundant satisfaction in the pages of that writer.
The author before us has been studious of conciseness, and has
contented himself with exhibiting a brief, but a very correct and impressive, outline of that copious subject.  As these lectures were
delivered at Manchester, it is probable the author's attention was more
immediately directed to it by witnessing the alarming progress which
the tenets of the Romish church are making in that quarter.  There
is nothing in them, however, of a local nature, or which is calculated
to limit their usefulness to any particular part of the kingdom. They
are adapted for universal perusal, and entitled to an extensive
circulation.
The first lecture is on the claim of the Church of Rome to the
appellation of Catholic, the futility and absurdity of which the author
has exposed in a concise but highly satisfactory manner. On this
part of the argument, he very acutely remarks, that " no church which
is not coeval with Christianity itself ought to pretend to be the universal Christian church.
" The contrary sentiment is evidently unreasonable and absurd; fbr
it supposes that something which has already a distinct and complete
existence may be a part of something else which is not to come into
being until a future period; or, which is equivalent to this, that what
is entirely the creation of to-day may include that which was created
yesterday. This would be in opposition to all analogy; and, therefore, if the Church of Rome had not an earlier commencement than all
other Christian churches-if the origin of that church be not coincident
and simultaneous with the first moment of Christianity —then the pretension of the Church of Rome to be the' catholic church' is altogether
vain. Now it is clear from the Acts of the Apostles, that many Christian
churches flourished in the East before the gospel was even preached
at Rome. It was enjoined on the apostles that their ministry should
begin at Jerusalem; and in that city the first Christian church was
actually constituted.  Until the persecution which arose about tke
stoning of Stephen, Christ was not preached beyond the borders of
Palestine, and even then, with a scrupulous discrimination,'to the
Jews only.' In fact, churches were formed in Jerusalem  and Judea,
at Damascus and Antioch, and the gospel was sent even into Ethiopia,
before there is any evidence of its being known at Rome."-Pp. 10, 11.
The second lecture is an historical exposition of the principal events
which led to the elevation of the Church of Rome to supremacy: in
tracing these much acumen is evinced, as well as an intimate acquaintance with ecclesiastical history.
The third lecture consists of a masterly delineation of the genius
anld characteristics of the papal ascendency. In this part of the work,
the judicious author enters deeply into the interior spirit of popery.
After setting in a striking light the seeming impossibilities it had to




BIRT ON POPERY.                       339
encounter ere it could accomplish its object, he enumerates the expedients employed for this purpose under the following heads. The
votaries of the papal see succeeded, 1. By enslaving the mental
faculties to human authority; 2. By giving to superstition the semblance and sanction of religion; 3. By administering the affairs of
their government on the corruptest principles of worldly policy. Each
of these topics is illustrated with great judgment, and a copious
induction of facts. On the last of these heads we beg leave to present
to our readers the following extract, as a specimen of the style and
spirit of this writer.
"'My kingdom is not of this world,' saith our Lord;' My kingdom
is of this world,' is truly the sentiment of the pope; and here lies the
difference. The only consistent view of this church is that of a political establishment, employing, indeed, religious terms and denominations,
but only as the pretext and colour of an inordinate pursuit of secular
and temporal objects.  Read its history as that of a Christian church;
you stumble at every step, and every period shocks you with the
grossest incongruities: read the same history as one of the kingdoms
of this world; all is natural and easy, and the various proceedings
and events are just what you are prepared to expect.  The papal
supremacy was conceded by an earthly monarch; all its interests have
varied with the fluctuations of human affairs; and when the princes of
this world shall withdraw their support, it will fall, and'great will be
the fall thereof.' The bishops of Rome have ever pursued, under the
guise of religion, some earthly advantage; and thus Pope Leo the
Tenth exclaimed most appropriately,' 0, how profitable has this fable
of Jesus been unto us!'
" The first object of these subtle politicians was to provide a revenue,
ample and permanent.  Kings and nations were accordingly laid under
tribute; and to the utmost extent of papal influence, the treasures of
Christendom flowed into the exchequer of Rome. On every hand, art.
fraud, and intimidation were equally and successfully employed in
transferring the wealth of the world to the coffers of the church.
" This was effected partly by regular ecclesiastical taxes, but principally by selling every thing the Church of Rome had to bestow, and
by perpetually inventing new articles of bargain and sale. Hence the
multiplying of sacraments; hence the sale of pardons, indulgences,
benefices, dignities, and of prayers for the living and the dead. Every
thing was prostituted; and under the pretence of being the' bride, the
Lamb's wife,' this church became the' mother of harlots.' In the same
spirit the death-beds of the rich were besieged, that they might
bequeath their property to the clergy; and the consciences of opulent
c:riminals were appeased, in return for liberal donations to ecclesiastical
funds. Thus an amount of riches almost incredible accrued to the
papal treasury."-Pp. 94-96.
The fourth lecture is occupied by giving a rapid sketch of the most
interesting events in the past history of the Romish community. We
have seldom, if ever, seen so large a body of facts exhibited with perfect perspicuity within so small a compass: the author's complete
Y2




340             REVIEW OF BIRT ON POPERY.
mastery of the subject appears from the ease with which he has
condensed an immense mass of historical matter, without the least
indication of disorder or confusion.
The last of these lectures presents an animated and instructive view
of the prospects which are opening on the Christian church, and the
probable issue of the causes and events which are in present operation.
The notice we have taken of this publication will, we trust, induce
our readers to avail themselves of the instruction and the pleasure
which an attentive perusal cannot fail to bestow. It is distinguished
for precision and comprehension of thought, energy of diction, and the
most enlarged and enlightened principles of civil and religious freedom
nor should we find it easy to name a publication which contains within
the same compass so much information on the subject which it professes
to treat. A little redundance of ornament, and excess in the employment
of figurative language, are excrescences very pardonable in a young
writer, and which more mature years and experience may be safely
left to correct. On the whole, we cannot dismiss the work before us
without sincerely congratulating the author on that happy combination
of philosophical discrimination with Christian piety which it throughout displays.




MISCELLANEOUS PIECES,
COLLECTED FROM
DIFFERENT SOURCES.








CHARACTER OF CLEANDER.
[ Written rn 1786.]
"NEC ASPERA TERRENT."
WHOEVER contemplates the various calamities that fill the world,
and the still more numerous avenues by which we are exposed to
distress, will be affected with a sense of the misery of man. In this
survey, we need not search for remote and distant evils; we need not
crowd our imagination with the horrors of war, the progress of armies,
or the desolation of states.  In the most familiar walks of life we
meet with scenes at which humanity must bleed: scenes of distress
lie open on every side: every quarter is filled with the groans of the
dying, and lamentations for the dead. In the mass of mankind we
can scarcely select an individual in whose bosom there does not rankle
unpublished griefs; and, could we look into the hearts of the most
tranquil, we should often find them  a prey to unpitied regrets, torn
with anxiety, and bleeding with disappointments.
Retiring from this melancholy spectacle, without looking any further,
we might be ready to consider the world as a great nursery of disease,
a vast receptacle of miseries, filled with beings whom Providence has
endowed with sensibility to suffer, rather than capacities to enjoy; but
to him who views the moral influence of afflictions, the evils they are
intended to correct, and the benefits they impart, they will appear in a
very different light; he will consider them as at once the punishments
of vice, and the cure of it.  Sorrow is, indeed, the offspring of guilt,
but the parent of wisdom.  Stern in her aspect, and severe in her
deportment, she is, however, sent on a message of mercy. She is
destined to follow in the footsteps of intemperance, to break her enchantments, to expose her delusions, and to deliver from thraldom such
as are entangled in her snares, or are sleeping in her arms. Whoever
surveys the course of his past life, with a view to remark the false
steps he has taken in iti will find that as they have been preceded by
indiscretion, they have been recalled by distress. To every object
our attachment is proportioned to the pleasures we have received or
expect to receive from it, and the passion will continue to be cherished
as long as the recollection of it calls up ideas of pleasure rather than
of pain. Now, every vicious pursuit is founded on indulgence, and




344              MISCELLArNEOUS PIECES.
disguised by inclination. To the licentious and abandoned, therefore,
there is no prospect of the termination of their vices, till, by actual
experience of the miseries they inflict, they convey to the mind more
sentiments of aversion than of love.
From the moment that the enchantment is dispelled, the false colours
stripped off, they will be regarded as specious deformities and real
dangers.  Multitudes who could never be persuaded by the calls of
interest, or the voice of conviction, to restrain the~ license of their pas
sions, and abandon their criminal pursuits, have been reclaimed by the
lash of adversity.  The decay of health, the desertion of friends, and
the neglect of the world have not unfrequently softened those hardier
spirits to whom the charms of virtue have been displayed in vain.
Nor is sorrow less effectual in the correction of foibles than in the
extinction of vice.  Cleander, in other respects a man of virtue and
honour, had, from his infancy, accustomed himself to the unbounded
indulgence of his tongue. Upon all occasions he trod on the very
brink of decorum, a total stranger to the delicacies of friendship, which
generously hides the faults it cannot correct.  His ridicule was turned
on the imperfections of his friends and his enemies, with indiscriminate
severity. The splendour of distinguished virtue, which sets at a distance the reproaches of the world, and almost sanctifies the blemishes
of an illustrious character, exempted nq foibles from the scourge of Cleander; but rather quickened his acuteness to remark and his asperity
to expose them, as it furnished a display of his penetration in discovering imperfections where there appeared to the world nothing but
unmingled excellence.  It was, indeed, his delight to remark the
shades of a brilliant character, and to portray with exactness the
secret gradations of excellence by which it fell short of perfection.
Yet in Cleander this conduct by no means sprang from envy of superior worth, or the malignant desire of degrading every one to his own
level. He possessed the magnanimity of a virtuous mind, and disdained to lessen his own inferiority by any other means than that of
honest emulation.  It had its basis in a taste for ridicule and the pride
of wit. IHis deportment could not fail to issue in perplexity and dis.
tress. His enemies considered him as a kind of beast of prey, a
savage of the desert, whom they were authorized to wound by every
weapon of offence, some by open defamation, and some by poisoned
arrows in the dark.  His friends began to look upon him with alienation and distrust, esteeming their character too sacred to be suspended,
for the sport of an individual, on the breezy point of levity and wit.
His appearance was a signal for general complaint; and lie could
scarcely enter into company hoping to enjoy the unmingled pleasures
of social converse, but he had innumerable jealousies to allay, and
misunderstandings to set right.  He was everywhere received with
marks of disgust; met with resentment for which he could not account; and was obliquely insulted for careless strokes of satire, of
which he retained no recollection.  Wherever he turned himself, he
found his path was strewed with thorns; and that even they who admair ed his wit secretly vilified his character, and shrunk from  his




CHARACTER OF CLEANDER.                    345
acquaintance.  His peace began to bleed on every side; his reputation
was tarnished; his fairest prospects blasted; and Cleander, at length
awakened from his delusions, was convinced, when it was too late, of
a lesson he had often been taught in vain, that the attachments of
friendship and the tranquillity of life are too valuable to be sacrificed
to a blaze of momentary admiration.
A consideration of the benefit of afflictions should teach us to bear
them patiently when they fall to our lot; and to be thankful to Heaven
for having planted such barriers around us, to restrain the exuberance
of our follies and our crimes.
Let these sacred fences be removed; exempt the ambitious from
disappointment, and the guilty from remorse; let luxury go unattended
with disease, and indiscretion lead into no embarrassments or distresses;
our vices would range without control, and the. impetuosity of our passions have no bounds; every family would be filled with strife, every
nation with carnage, and a deluge of calamities would break in upon
us which would produce more misery in a year than is.inflicted by th
hand of Providence in a lapse of ages.




A REVERY.
[Written in 1786.]
-'Aux pTupliers qui bornent mon skjour,
J'avois jure de suspendre ma lyre;
De respirer, d'Vtre heureux sans dllire,
D'oser sur tout, 6tre heureux sans l'amour
J'avois jure; mais je l'ai vu sourire,
Et sur son alle il emporte aujourd'hui
Tous les sermens que j'ai faits contre lui."
Dorat.
ENGLISHED THUS:
"On the tall poplars which surround my cot,
And mark the bound'ries of my humble lot,
Where I so oft of Cupid's power have sang
I fiercely swore my unstrung lyre to hang:
To breathe in peace-to taste the quiet joy
Of calm contentment, which can never cloy:
But, more than all, to banish from my heart
Tormenting love, and its too pleasing smart:
Thus did I swear —but listening Cupid smiled,
And, while with his enchantments he beguiled,
He wafted on his pinions far away
My fruitless oaths, rebellious to his sway."
Ineptus.
AFTER reading some passages in the fourth book of Virgil, in which
he paints the distress of Dido upon her being deserted by ZEneas, I
could not help revolving in my mind, with a good deal of uneasiness,
the miseries of love.  My reflections threw  me into a REVERY, which
lresented to my mind an imaginary train of circumstances, which I
shall now relate, hoping they may tend to cherish that virtuous sensibility which is the ornament of our nature. My fancy naturally carried
me into the times of heathenish superstition, which I hope will be my
apology for mentioning gods and goddesses. I imagined that the power
of Love had occasioned general discontent, and that the different
orders of men had entered into an agreement to petition Jupiter for
her removal.
I thought that at the head of these complainers stood the men of
learning and science; they lamented with vehemence the inroads
of love, and that it often betrayed them from the paths of knowledge
into perplexity and intrigue.  They alleged that it extinguished in the
bosom of the young all thirst after laudable improvement, and planted
in its stead frivolous and tormenting desires. That the pursuit of truth
called for a tranquil and serene state of mind; while love was coun




A REVERY.                        347
stantly attended with tumult and alarm. Whatever turn she takes,
said they, she will ever be an enemy to labour; her smiles are too
gay, and her disappointments too melancholy, for any serious applica.
tion. They were grieved to see that so trifling a passion should
occupy so much time and attention, and that man, who was formed to
contemplate the heavens and the earth, should spend half his life in
gaining the good graces of the weaker and more inconsiderable part of
his species. I thought I perceived that this turn for love and gallantry
gave particular offence to the whole tribe of astronomers and profound
philosophers. They saw, with indignation, that many of our youth
were more anxious to explain a look than to solve a problem, and that
they would often be playing with a fan when they should be handling.
a quadrant. It infatuates every one, said they, who is so unhappy as
to be touched with it. He is often more attentive to every change of
countenance in a celebrated beauty than to the phases of the moon;
and is more anxious to be acquainted with all her manceuvres than
with the motion of the whole planetary system. One in particular
affirmed, upon his knowledge, that he had been acquainted with students
in anatomy who looked with more curiosity into the countenance of a
young beauty than upon the dissection of a bullock's eye. Some, who
pretend to see much farther than the vulgar, considered every thing
relating to love as capricious and visionary. Since we are all formed
of the same materials, it seemed to them very unreasonable that a little
difference in form and colour should raise such violent commotions.
Beauty, they said, was but a superficial covering, and every thing at the
bottom was alike. Upon this principle, they looked upon it as the height
of philosophy to view with indifference what has always given mankind
the greatest pleasure.  This humour they carried so far, that they
lamented they could not strip nature herself of her delusions, as they
termed them, by taking off those agreeable colourings of light and shade
which lie upon objects around us, and give them all their richness and
beauty. They would have been glad to have turned the creation into
a colourless and dreary waste, that they might have wandered up and
down, and taken a closer survey of it.
The next class of petitioners, I observed, were the men of business.
They set out with remarking that they did not join in the complaints
that were made against love upon their own account; for though they
had been weak enough, in the younger part of their lives, to fall under
its influence, it was many years since they had felt the slightest impression of it. They had in view the welfare of their children, and
this being neither more nor less than their affluence, they were led to
consider love chiefly in the light of an expensive passion. Its little
tendernesses and endearments appeared to them inexpressibly ridiculous,
and they wondered how anybody could be foolish enough to spend
hours in tattling to women, without thinking to gain a farthing by it.
They gave a long list of young men, who had been frugal and industrious, till they were enticed by love to prefer pleasure to profit. They
declared that when we take an account of balls and treats, and trinkets
of various kinds, with the loss of time inseparably attendant upon




348               MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
them, it was at the peril of a fortune to attempt the heart of a beloveo
object. I was a good deal amused with the manner in which they
treated of love; they considered it as they would any other commodity,
setting a price upon every part of it. They reckoned a sigh at a shilling,
and if it chance to be observed by the person for whom it is intended,
it was well even if half a guinea cleared the expense of it. A side
glance was rated at half as much as a full view; they portioned out
all the parts of a beautiful person, and made a valuation of each of them.
The same scale was applied to their very attitudes; for the sight of a
beautiful woman dancing was accounted a matter of enormous expense;
and if she chanced to smile with any degree of complacency upon
any one, it was well if he was not ruined; under these impressions,
they considered love as the certain forerunner of poverty.
There was one complaint raised against this passion which I thought
had something in it more plausible than any I have yet mentioned; it
turned upon the ease with which it makes its approaches upon us, and
the impossibility of guarding against its first advances. We have been
able, said they, by art to manage the elements, so as in general to
prevent any dangerous overflowings of them. We brave the storm in
ships, and dive into the sea in bells; but the ingenuity of man has hit
upon no contrivance to save us from the influence of love. Could we
call it in to amuse a leisure hour, or to relieve the languor of a few
tedious moments, and then dismiss it again, it might be esteemed a
blessing in a life so barren of enjoyment. But it is an influence that
is shed all around us, and pours itself upon us from every corner. It
often lies hid between the keys of a harpsichord, and is shaken out
with a few touches of the fingers. It flounces in an apron, and is
trailed along with a petticoat.  No circumspection can preserve us
from it; for it will often steal upon us when we are least upon our
guard. It hides itself in a lock, and waves in ringlets of the hair. It
will enter by an eye, an ear, a hand, or a foot. A glance and a gaze
are sometimes equally fatal.
1 was next presented with a scene which I thought as interesting
and solemn as can enter into the imagination of man. This was no
other than a view of the whole train of disappointed lovers. At the
sight of them my heart insensibly melted into the most tender compassion. There was an extreme dejection, mingled with a piercing
wildness, in their looks, that was very affecting. Cheerfulness and
serenity, I could easily perceive, they had long been strangers to.
Their countenances were overspread with a gloom which appeared to
be of long standing, and to be collected there from dark and dismal
imaginations. There was at the same time all that kind of animation
in their features which betokens troubled thoughts. Their air and
manner was altogether singular, and such as marks a spirit at once
eager and irresolute. Their step was irregular, and they ever and
anon started and looked around them, as though they were alarmed by
some secret terror. I was somewhat surprised, in looking through the
whole assembly, not to see any one that wept. When they were
arrived at the place where they had determined to present their united




A REVERY.                        349
petitions, I was particularly attentive to observe every thing that passed.
Though I listened, I could not learn any thing distinctly. After an
interval of profound silence, a murmur only of broken sighs and
piercing exclamations was heard through the assembly. I should have
mentioned that some of them fell off before they had got to the place
of rendezvous. They halted for some time, and continued in a melancholy suspense, whether they should turn back or go forward. They
knew not which to prefer, the tranquillity of indifference or the tender
distresses of love; at length they inclined to the latter, not ]laving
resolution even to wish for the extinction of a passion which mingled
itself with the very elements of their existence.  "Why," said they,
"should we banish from our minds the image of all that is pleasing
and delightful, and which if we could once forget, there would be
nothing left in the world worth remembering?" The agitation and
anxiety felt upon this occasion, could I lay it fully open to the reader,
would form a much more interesting picture than the deliberations of
Caesar, whether he should pass the Rubicon.
I imagined there were several other distinct bodies of men who
complained to the heavenly powers of the tyranny of love, but the
particulars having in a great measure faded from my memory, the
reader must excuse my passing them over in silence. I must not,
however, forget to observe, that the number and unanimity of those who
presented their petitions on the occasion were such, that they might.airly be considered as representing the sentiments of far the greater
part of mankind.
Perhaps Providence never chastises the folly of men more justly
than by granting the indulgence of their requests. Upon this occasion
[ observed their wishes were accomplished, and they were relieved
from a tyranny of which they had so heavily complained. Upon an
appointed day the goddess of love took her flight to the higher regions,
from which she had descended; her influence was at once withdrawn,
and all her enchantments were broken up. I thought nothing could
equal the joy that was expressed upon this occasion. The air rung
with acclamations, and every man was in haste to congratulate his
neighbour on their deliverance from a thraldom which had sunk the
spirit and degraded the dignity of the human race.  They seemed all
to be lightened of a load, and to break forth with fresh vivacity and
spirit. Every one imagined he was entering upon quite a new career,
and that the world was laid fresh open before him.
I could not help feeling an inward delight in seeing my fellowcreatures made at once so happy. At the same time I was anxious
to know what would follow upon this new revolution, and particularly
whether it would answer the high expectations that were formed from
it. Upon my looking around I was a witness to appearances which
filled me with melancholy and regret. A total change had taken place
in the whole train of human affairs, and I observed to my sorrow the
change was everywhere for the worse. It was melancholy now to
enter into company; for instead of conversation enlivened by vivacity
and wit, the-e was nothing heard of but a drowsy humming, to the last




3,50              MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
degree tiresome and insipid. In the social intercourse of men the
heart had no place; pleasure and the desire of pleasing were equally
unknown.
Those whom I had an opportunity of observing I thought very much
resembled the loungers and coxcombs of our day, who, without any
view of receiving pleasure, mingle in a crowd and engage in conversation, not to enjoy time, but to kill it. I now sought in vain for those
friendly meetings at which I had often been present, where every one,
desirous of adding something to the pleasure of the whole, drew forth
the fairest ideas of his mind, and by the display of tender sentiments
melted the heart and soothed the imagination. With what regret did
I recollect those conversation parties in which my heart was wont to
be full, and to pour itself forth as we talked ourselves alternately into
sadness and into joy!
I had an opportunity of correcting a mistake into which I had fallen,
in imagining that love reached only to courtship and marriage; I saw
that it insensibly mingles with our most trifling actions, refining our
thoughts and polishing our manners when we are least aware of it.
The men had now entirely thrown aside that tenderness and gallantry
which are the great ornaments of human nature, and are so peculiarly
needful to temper and soften the rudeness of masculine strength.  Men
and women were now placed quite upon a level, so that the harmo.
nious softness of the female voice was drowned in turbulence and
noise.  The ear was filled, but the heart was left empty. Politeness
was exchanged for a tame civility, wit for merriment, and serenity for
dulness.  I began to think more highly than ever of the fair sex, and
regarded them in a new light, as a beautiful mirror lying in the fancy
of a lover for him to dress his thoughts by. People were everywhere
falling a prey to dejection, and complaining of the faintness of human
enjoyments, as might well be expected when the influence of love was
withdrawn from them, which, by inspiring romantic hopes and romantic
fears, keeps the mind always in motion, and makes it run clear and
bright.  You may be sure nothing could make a more ridiculous
appearance than courtship, at a time when women retained their vanity
after they had lost their charms.  Such is the force of habit that you
might often see a pretty creature twirling her fall and playing off her
little enchanting airs before her lover, who perhaps sat all that time
perfectly insensible, fingering his buttons or picking his teeth. Vanity,
I perceived, was a kind of instinct in women, that made them employ
the whole artillery of their charms when they knew they could do
no execution. Indeed, their airs appeared so ridiculous now in the
eyes of the men that they had often much ado to refrain from laughter.,The coquettes particularly, in their flutterings to and fro, made as odd
a figure as fish which should be frozen around in the very act of
swimming. Out of respect to the ladies, however, I would compare
them to the Grecian chiefs, who, according to the representation of
the poets, carried with them so lively an impression of their former
employments, that they would be marshalling their troops and bran.
dishing their swords even in the shades below. However, the fait




A REVERY.                          351
sex were soon relieved from this sort of ridicule.  They no longer
took any pains to smooth their brow, to soften their features into a
smile, or to light up the beam of brightness in their eye.  Careles.
of offending where they knew they could not please, they became
negligent in their persons and vulgar in their air.  I cannot express
the regret I felt upon beholding the fairest and most beautiful part of
the creation thus thrown into shade.
I thought I perceived that the fine arts began to languish, the paint.
ings that made their appearance at the time were neither boldly
sketched nor so brightly coloured as those I was wont to survey;
they were chiefly confined to still-life.  I observed, however, that the
extinction of love affected poetry still more than painting.  It no longer
regaled the mind with descriptions of beauty, or softened it with tender
distress.  Its enchantment was entirely dissolved,-that enchantment
that will carry us from world to world without moving from our seat,
will raise a visionary creation around us, will male us to rejoice when
there is nothing to rejoice in, and tremble when there is nothing to
alarm  us.  These interesting situations, which awaken the attention
and enchain the mind in solemn suspense till it breaks forth into agony
or rapture, now no longer existed in nature, and were no longer described
by the poet; he wrote rather from memory than feeling, for the breath
of inspiration had ceased.
Upon this occasion I was not at all surprised at the decline of
eloquence.  I have often thought love the nurse of sensibility, and
that, if it were not cherished by this passion, it would grow cold, and
give way to a selfish indifference.  My conjecture was now abundantly
confirmed; for though I saw many discourses composed at this time
that were well-argued,  elegant, and correct, they all wanted those
essential touches that give language its power of persuading.
One thing a good deal surprised me, and that was to observe that
even the profound parts of learning were less attended to than ever.  I
was well aware that few apply themselves closely to study but with
the hope of sometimes displaying their acquisitions to the public; and
I had imagined fame was a sufficient recompense for any toil human
nature could sustain; but I was surprised to find that, in all great and
noble undertakings, the desire of appearing respectable in the eyes of
a beloved object was of more consequence than the general admiration
of mankind.
These I thought were not the only melancholy consequences that
flowed from the departure of love.  It may be sufficient, however,
to observe in general that human nature was becalmed, and all its
finest emotions frozen into a torpid insensibility.  The situation of
mankind was truly pitiable.  Strangers to the delicate pleasures of
the heart, every thing around them  looked cheerless and barren.
Calamity left them nothing to hope, and prosperity gave them nothing
to enjoy.
I observed that they were now as desirous of bringing baelk the
agency of love as they had been before to exclude it.  At length I
imagined that Jupiter was touched with compassion at their unhappy




352                MISCELLANEOUS PIECES,
situation, and appointed a day in which Love was to revisit the abodes
of men. An immense number of people, of all orders and ranks, and
of every age and condition, assembled themselves, as you may suppose,
to behold the descent of the goddess, and to hail her approach.  The
heavens, I thought, glowed as she descended, and so many beautiful
streaks of light glanced along thile surface of the sky, that they divided
it into separate tracts, brightened up every cloud within it, and turned
the whole into an aerial landscape.'The birds at the salne time
leaping among the branches, and warbling their sprightliest notes
filled the air with a confused melody of sounds that was inexpressibly
delightful. Every thing looked brighter than before, every thing smelled
sweeter, and seemed to offer up fresh incense to the goddess.  The
face of nature was changed, and the creation seemed to grow new
again.  My heart glowed with delight.  I rejoiced in the renovation
of nature, and was revived through my inmost powers.  There thrilled
through me a delightful sensation of freshness and novelty, similar to
what a happy spirit may be supposed to feel when he first enters a
new state of existence, and opens his eyes on immortality.
I thought I had but a very confused idea of the person of the goddess
herself; for her raiment was so ffill of light and lustre that I could
scarcely take a steady view of her.  I observed, however, that her
complexion was rather too glowing, and the motions of her eye too
piercing and fiery for perfect feminine beauty.  Her beauty, I thought,
was too raised, and had too much glory in it to be entirely attractive.
I was very much astonished to observe that whoever she glanced her
eye upon immediately fell under the influence of the passion over whilch
she presided. It was a very singular sight to see a vwhole assembly,
one after another, falling into love; and I was much entertained in
observing the change it occasioned in the looks of each of them,
according to their different temper and constitution; some appeared
wild and piercing, others dejected and melancholy.  The features of
several glowed with admiration, while others looked down with a
timid and bashful respect.  A trait of affectation was plainly to be
discerned in all of them, as might well be expected from a passion the
very first effect of which is to make one lose the possession of one's
selfl  Several ladies in particular, seemingly careless and gay, were
whispering to those who stood next them, and assuming airs of particular vivacity, while you might easily see their countenance was
checkered with anxiety lest they should chance not to please those
upon whoin they had fixed their affections.  The greater part of the
fair sex, however, I observed, smiled with an ineffable sweetness, nor
could any thing appear more lovely than their features, upon which
there was imprinted a tender reserve, mingled with modest. complacency
and desire.  I imagined that after the goddess had thoroughly surveyed
the assembly, and they had seated themselves into some degree of
composure, she thus addressed them:66Ye children of men, ye abound in the gifts of Providence, and
many are the favours Heaven has bestowed upon you.'The earth
teems with bounty, pouring forth the necessaries of life andt the refine



A REVERY.                        353
ments of luxury. The sea refreshes you with its breeze. and carries
you to distant shores upon its bosom; it links nation to nation in the
bonds of mutual advantage, and transfers to every climate the blessings
of all. To the sun you are indebted for the splendour of the day, and
the grateful return of season; it is he who guides You as you wander
through the trackless wilderness of space, lights up the beauties of
nature around you, and makes her break forth into fruitfulness and
joy.  But know that these, though delightful, are not the pleasures of
the heart.  They.will not heal the wounds of fortune; they will not
enchant solitude, or suspend the feeling of pain. Know that I only am
mistress of the soul. To me it belongs to impart agony and rapture.
Hope and despair, terror and delight, walk in my train.  My power
extends over time itself, as well as over all sublunary beings. It can
turn ages into moments, and moments into ages. Lament not the
dispensations of Providence, among which the bestowment of my
influence is one. He who feels it may not be happy; but he who is
a stranger to it must be miserable."
VOL. ILI.-Z




AN
ESSAY ON POETRY AND PHILOSOPH)
[Written in 1787.]
IT has been observed that it seldom falls to the share of one man to
be both a philosopher and a poet. These two characters, in their
full extent, may be said to divide between them the whole empire of
genius; for all the productions of the human mind fall naturally under
two heads-works of imagination, and works of reason. There are
indeed several kinds of composition which, to be perfect, must partake
of both. In our most celebrated historians, for instance, we meet with
a just mixture of the penetration that distinguishes the philosopher and
the ardour of the poet; still their departments are very wide of each
other, and a small degree of attention will be sufficient to show why it
is so extremely difficult to unite in any high degree the excellence of
each. The end of the poet is to give delight to his reader, which he
attempts by addressing his fancy and moving his sensibility; the philosopher purposes merely to instruct, and therefore thinks it enough
if he presents his thoughts in that order which will render them the
most perspicuous, and seems best adapted to gain the attention. Their
views demand, therefore, a very different procedure. All that passes
under the eye of the poet he surveys in one particular view; every
form and image under which he presents it to the fancy are descriptive
of its effects.  He delights to paint every object in motion, that he
may raise a similar agitation in the bosom of the reader. But the
calm, deliberate thinker, on the contrary, makes it his chief endeavour
to seek out the remoter causes and principles which give birth to these
appearances.
It is the highest exertion of a philosopher to strip off the false
colours that serve to disguise, to remove every particular which fancy
or folly have combined, and present to view the simple and naked
truth. But the poet, who addresses the imagination and the heart,
neglects no circumstance, however fanciful, which may serve to attach
his descriptions more closely to the human mind. In describing the
awful appearances of nature, he gladly avails himself of those magic
terrors with which ignorance and superstition have surrounded them;
for though the light of reason dispels these shades, they answer the
highest purpose of the poet, in awakening the passions. It is the delight




ON POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY.                   355
of poetry to combine and associate; of philosophy to separate and
distinguish. The one resembles a skilful anatomist, who lays open
every thing that occurs, and examines the smallest particulars of its
make; the other a judicious painter, who conceals what would offend
the eye, and embgellishes every subject he undertakes to represent:
the same object, therefore, which' has engaged the investigating powers
of the philosopher, takes a very different appearance from the forming
hand of the poet, who adds every grace of colouring, and artfully hides
the nakedness of the inward structure under all the agreeable foldings
of elegance and beauty. In philosophical discussions, the end of which
is to explain, every part ought to be unfolded with the most lucid perspicuity.  But works of imagination never exert a more powerful influence than when the author has contrived to throw over them a shade
of darkness and doubt.  The reason of this is obvious: the evils we
but imperfectly discern seem to bid defiance to caution; they affect
the mind with a fearful anxiety, and by presenting no limits the imagination easily conceives them boundless. These species of composition differ still further with respect to the situation of mind requisite
to produce them.  Poetry is the offspring of a mind heated to an uncommon degree; it is a kind of spirit thrown off in the effervescence
of the agitated feeling.  But the utmost calmness and composure is
essential to philosophical inquiry: novelty, surprise, and astonishment
kindle in the bosom the fire of poetry; while philosophy is reared up
by cool and long-continued eff-orts.  There is one circumstance relating
to this kind of composition too material to be omitted.  In every nation
it has been found that poetry is of much earlier date than any other
production of the human mind.  As in the individual, the imagination
and passions are more vigorous in youth, which in mature age subside.,
and give way to thought and reflection.
Something similar to this seems to characterize that genius which
distinguishes the different periods of society. The most admired poems
have been the offspring of uncultivated ages.  Pure poetry consists of
the descriptions of nature and the display of the passions; to each of
which a rude state of society is better adapted than one more polished.
They who live in that early period in which art has not alleviated the
calamities of life are forced to feel their dependence upon nature. Her
appearances are ever open to their view, and therefore strongly imprinted on their fancy.  They shrink at the approach of a storm, and
mark with anxious attention every variation of the sky.  The change
of seasons, cloud or sunshine, serenity and tempest, are to them real
sources of sorrow and of joy; and we need not, therefore, wonder
they should describe with energy what they feel with so much force.
But it is one chief advantage of civilization, that by enabling us in some
measure to control nature, we become less subject to its influence. t1
opens many new sources of enjoyment.  In this situation the gay and
the cheerful can always mingle in company, while the diffusion of
knowledge opens to the studious a new world, over which the whirlwind and the blast can exert no influence.  The face of nature gradually
retires from view, and those who attempt to describe it often content
Z2




356                 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
themselves with copying from books, whereby their descriptions want
the freshness and glow of original observation: like the image of an
object reflected through various mediums, each of which varies somewhat of its form, and lessens its splendour.  The poetry of uncivilized
nations has, therefore, often excelled the productions of a more refined
people in elevation and pathos.  Accustomed to survey nature only in
her general form and grander movements, their descriptions cannot fail
of carrying with them an air of greatness and sublimity.  They paint
scenes which every one has felt, and which therefore need only to be
presented to awaken a similar feeling again. For a while they delight
us with the vastness of their conceptions; but the want of various embellishments, and the frequent recurrence of the same images, soon
fatigues the attention, and their poetry may be compared to the world
of waters, which fills us with amazement, but upon which we gaze for
a momeht,:and then turn away our eyes.  It is the advantage of enlightened nations that their superior knowledge enables them to supply
greater variety, and to render poetry more copious.  They allure with
an agreeable succession of images.  They do not weary with uniformity, or overpower us with the continuance of any one exertion;
but by perpetually shifting the scene they keep us in a constant hurrv
of delight.
"The poet's eye, in a fine phrensy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,
And, as imagination bodies fobrth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."
Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.
cannot help observing that poetical genius seems capable of much
greater variety than talents for philosophizing.  The power of thinking
and reasoning is a simple energy, which exerts itself in all men nearly
in the same manner; indeed, the chief varieties that have been observed
in it may be traced to two-a capacity of abstract and mathematical
reasoning, and a talent for collecting facts and making observations;
these qualities of mind, blended in various proportions, will for the
most part account for any peculiarities attending men's modes of thinking. But the ingredients that constitute a poet are far more various
and complicated. A poet is in a high degree under the influence of
the imagination and passions, principles of mind very various and extensive. Whatever is complicated is capable of much greater variety,
and will be extremely more diversified in its form, than that which is
more simple.  In this case every ingredient is a source of variety; and
by being mingled in the composition in a greater or less degree, may
give an original cast to the whole.
To explain the particular causes which vary the direction of the
fancy in different men would perhaps be no easy task.  We are led,
tt may be at first through accident, to the survey of one class of objects; this calls up a particular train of thinking, which we afterward
freely indulge; it easily finds access to the mind upon all occasions;:he slightest accident serves to suggest it.  It is nursed by habit, and




ON POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY.                   357
reared up with attention, till it gradually swells to a torrent, which
bears away every obstacle, and awakens in the mind the consciousness of peculiar powers.  Such sensations eagerly impel to a particular
purpose, and are sufficient to give to composition a distinct and determinate character.
Poetical genius is likewise much under the influence of the passions.
The pleased and the splenetic, the serious and the gay, survey nature
with very different eyes. That elevation of fancy which, with a melan.choly turn, will produce scenes of gloomy grandeur and awful solemnity,
will lead another, of a cheerful complexion, to delight, by presenting imaoes ofsplendour and gayety, and by inspiring gladness and joy. To these
and other similar causes may be traced that boundless variety which
diversifies the works of imagination, and which is so great, that I have
thought the perusal of fine authors is like traversing the different regions
of the earth; some glow with a pleasant and refreshing warmth, while
others kindle with a fierce and fiery heat; in one we meet with scenes
of elegance and art, all is correct and regular, and a thousand beautiful
objects spread their colours to the eye, and regale the senses; in
another we behold nature in an unadorned majestic simplicity, scouring
the plain with: the tempest, sitting upon a rock, or walking upon the
wings of the wind.  Here we meet with a Sterne, who fans us with
the softest delicacies; and there with a Rousseau, who hurries us along
in whirlwind and tempest.  Hence that delightful succession of emotions which are felt inl the bosom of sensibility.  We feel the empire
of genius, we imbibe the impression, and the mind resembles an enchanted mansion which, at the touch of some superior hand, at one
time brightens into beauty, and at another darkens into horror.  Even
where the talents of mnen approach most' nearly, an attentive eye will
ever remark some small shades of difference, sufficient to distinguish
them.  Perhaps few authors, have been distinguished by more similar
features of character than Homer and Milton. That vastness of thought
which fills the imagination, and that sensibility of spirit which renders
every circumstance interesting, are the qualities of both: but Milton is
the most sublime, and Homer the most picturesque.  Homer lived in
an early age, before knowledge was much advanced; he would derive
little from any acquired abilities, and therefore may be styled the poet
of nature.  To this source perhaps we may trace the principal difference between Homer and Milton.  The Grecian poet was left to the
movements of his own mind, and to the full influence: of that variety of
passions which are common to all: his conceptions are therefore distinguished by their simplicity and force. In Milton, who was skilled
in almost every department of science, learning seems sometimes to
have shaded the splendour of genius.
No epic poet excites emotions so fervid as Homer, or possesses so
much fire; but in point of sublimity he cannot be compared to Milton.
I rather think the Greek poet has been thought to excel in this quality
more than he really does, for want of a proper conception of its
effects. When the perusal of an author raises us above our usual
tone of mind, we immediately ascribe those sensations to the sublime,




3858              IMISCELLANEOUS PIECES.
without considering whether they light on the imagination or the fP i.
ings; whether they elevate the fancy or only fire the passions.
The sublime has for its object the imagination only, and its influence
is not so much to occasion any fervour of feeling, as the calmness of
fixed astonishment. If we consider the sublime as thus distinguished
from every other quality, Milton will appear to possess it in an unrivalled degree; and here indeed lies the secret of his power. The
perusal of Homer inspires us with an ardent sensibility; Milton with
the stillness of surprise. The one fills and delights the mind with the
confluence of various emotions; the other amazes with the vastness
of his ideas. The movements of Milton's mind are steady and progressive: he carries the fancy through E uccessive stages of elevation,
and gradually increases the heat by addi lg fuel to the fire.
The flights of Homer are more sud& en and transitory.  Milton,
whose mind was enlightened by science, t ppears the most comprehensive; he shows more acuteness in his reflictions, and more sublimity
of thought.  Homer, who lived more with men, and had perhaps a
deeper tincture of the human passions, is by far the most vehement
and picturesque. To the view of Milton the wide scenes of the universe seem to have been thrown open, which he regards with a cool
and comprehensive survey, little agitated, and superior to those emotions which affect inferior mortals. Homer, when he rises the highest,
goes not beyond the bounds of human nature; he still connects his
descriptions with human passions, and though his ideas have less sublimity, they have more fire. The appetite for greatness-that appetite
which always grasps at more than it can contain-is never so fully
satisfied as in the perusal of "Paradise Lost."  In following Milton
we grow familiar with new worlds, we traverse the immensities of space,
wandering in amazement, and finding no bounds.  Homer confines the
mintl to a narrower circle, but that circle he brings nearer to the eye;
lie fills it with a quicker succession of objects, and makes it tbh, scene
of more interesting action.




FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
EWritten about 1824. Not published before.]
WAHEN two parties, each formidable for their numbers and the
weight of their influence and property, are animated by an equal degree
of zeal, it is natural to anticipate the final success of that which possesses the most inherent strength. But if one be torpid and inactive,
and the other eager and enterprising,-if one reposes on its arms, while
the other is incessantly on the alert, —such a difference in their spirit
is sufficient to annihilate the greatest disparity of force, and to incline
the balance to the side on which superior vigour is exerted. This, if
I am not greatly mistaken, is pretty nearly the case at present between
the Protestants and the papists, as far, at least, as respects their situation in these kingdoms.  The papists appear to be stimulated by zeal
and elevated by hope; the Protestants content themselves with being
silent spectators of their progress, while many of them seem secretly
to rejoice at their success. New popish chapels are rising on every
side, in situations skilfully selected, with a view to attract the public
attention. The consecration is announced with ostentatious publicity,
and numerously attended by the most elegant and fashionable part of
a Protestant population, by men of opulence, merchants, and magistrates, who are seen on no other occasions beyond the precincts of the
established [church.]
Judging from the practice of a multitude in the higher classes, we
are necessitated to infer, that if the popish doctrine is not true it is
innocent and harmless; and if not entitled to an exclusive preference,
it is only inferior to that particular form of the Protestant worship
which they have adopted; and that, while they decline submission to
its claims, it possesses a majesty which entitles it to their occasional
homage and veneration. The honest fervour of indignation with
which its pretensions were repelled and its impiety resented has disappeared: popery is now viewed by the greater part of the people
with careless indifference or secret complacency.
But popery, it is alleged, is changed; its venom is exhaled; and,
however erroneous in a speculative view, it is no longer fraught with
the mischief and the danger which rendered it so formidable to our
ancestors. An infallible religion changed is nearly a contradiction in




360                 FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
terms. A religion which is founded on the assumption of a supernatural exemption from error on the part of its adherents, may libe
confuted by argument, suppressed by force, or relinquished from conviction; but it is impossible to conceive of its susceptibility of change.
If it undergoes any alteration, it can only [be] in consequence of its
professors renouncing some one or more of the doctrines which formerly characterized it. But those doctrines are neither more nor less
than the recorded decisions of the church, of a church affirmed by all
Catholics to be infallible. The supposed infallibility of the church is
the corner-stone of the whole system of' popery, the centre of union
amid all the animosities and disputes which may subsist on minor
subjects; and the proper definition of a Catholic is one who professes
to maintain the absolute infallibility of a certain community styling
itself the church.  For a person to dissent from a single decision of
the church is to confess himself not a Catholic; because it is to affirm,
not only that the church may err, but that it actually has erred, and is
therefore not infallible. An infallibility extending to some points of
religious belief and not to others is a ridiculous chimera, which, could
it be reduced to an object of conception, would subvert every rational
ground of confidence: for what assurance can we have that a community which has erred once will not fall into the same predicament
again? Positive qualities may be conceived to subsist under [all]
possible degrees of magnitude; they are susceptible, to an unlimited
extent, of more or less: but infallibility is a negative idea, which admits of no degrees. Detect the smallest error in the individual,
or the community, which makes this pretension, and you as effectually destroy it as by the discovery of a million. If a Catholic, then,
professes to have changed his opinions on any subject on which
the authority of the church has been interposed, so as to dissent from
its decisions, he has relinquished Catholicism, and renounced the only
principle'which distinguished him.
The supposed dominion over the consciences of men assumed by
the Roman pontiff, is sanctioned by the decision of general councils,
and incorporated with their most solemn and public acts, and must consequently be allowed to constitute one of the fundamental tenets of the
papal system; and though that usurpation, considered in itself, would
be a mere annunciation of a doctrine which might be rejected with
impunity, the interference of the civil magistrate to enforce the papal
claims was countenanced and demanded by the same authority. Beyond the narrow precincts of their temporal domain the bishops of
Rome were incapable of personally carrying their persecuting edicts
into force; but princes and magistrates were diligently instructed that
it was their indispensable.duty to, suppress and punish the heretics
against whom the church had denounced its anathemas.  Ecclesias.
tics, affecting a peculiar horror of, blood, declined the office of executioners, which they devolved on the temporal authorities in each state;
but it is equally certain, that in the violences which [civil magistrates],:,mmitted in the suppression of heresy and the support of the'authority
of the church, they acted not merely agreeably to her wishes, but in obe



FRAGMENT ON POPERY.                                         361
dience to her dictates. If there was any difference in this respect between
the ecclesiastical and temporal powers, it was that princes could with
great difficulty, on many occasions, be induced to keep [pace] with the
prompt and  unrelenting  fury of their spiritual directors.   The  grand
lesson in which they [were] indoctrinated, with infinitely more care than
any other, was the implicit obedience which they vowed to the pontiff and
the church in the enactment and execution of penal laws against the
abetters of heretical opinions,-an epithet bestowed upon all opinions
not in accordance  with  the  tenets of the  papal community.   When
John Huss, the Bohemian reformer, was arrested, cast into prison, and
publicly burnt alive at Constance, in spite of a " safe-conduct" given
him by the Emperor Sigismund, merely because he refused to belie
his conscience by abjuring his pretended heresy, all was executed
under the eyes and by the express authority of the council, who solemnly decreed  that the safe-conduct of the  emperor ought to  be considered as no impediment to the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction;
but,  notwithstanding  this,  that  it was  perfectly  competent for  the
ecelesiastical judge  to  take  cognizance  of his errors, and  to  punisA
them agreeable to the dictates of justice, although he presented himself before-them  in dependence upon that protection, but for which he
would have declined appearing. Nor were they satisfied with this
impious decision  [alone.]   Because murmurs were heard, on  account
of the violation'of a legal protection, they had the audacity to add,
that since the  said John Huss  had, by impugning  the orthodox  faith,
forfeited  every privilege, and  since  no  promise  or faith was binding.
either by human or'divisne right, in  prejudice of the Catholic faith, the
said emperor had done as became his royal majesty in violating his
6" safe-conduct;" and that whoever, of any rank or sex, dares to impugn
the justice of the  holy council, or of his  majesty, in  relation  to  their
proceedings with John Huss, shall be punished, without hope of pardon, as a favourer of heretical pravity, and guilty of the crime of hightreason.*'
* Though I have nearly translated the language of the holy council, as given by L'Enfant in his
History of the Council of Constance, the reader will probably not be displeased to see the original.
"Praesens sancta synodus ex quovis salvo-conductu per imperatorem, reges, et alios seculi
principes haereticis vel de haeresi diffamatis, putantes eosdem sic a suis erroribus revocare, quo.
cunque vinculo se adstrinxerint, concesso, nullum' fidei catholicle  vel jurisdictioni ecclesiasticte
pr ajudicium generari, vel impedimentum preestari'posse seu debere, declarat;: quominus salvo dicto
conductu nornobstante, liceat judici competenti ecclesiastico de ejusmodi personarum  erroribus
mnquirere, et alias contra eas debite procedere, easdemque punire, quantum justitia suadebit, si suos
pertinaciter recusaverint revocare errores, etiamsi de salvo-conductu confisi ad locum venerint
judicii, alias non venturi.'
"-Quo statuto, sive ordinatione lecto, idem statutum fuit approbatum per dictos dominos, episcopos
nomine quatuor nationum, ac Reverendissimum Patrem Doiminum Cardinalem Vivariensem, nomine
C611egii Cardinalium, per verbum, Placet.
"' IDE SALVO-CONDUCTU HUSSONIS.
"Sacrosancta, &c. Quia nonnulli nimis intelligentes aut sinistrme intentionis, vel forsan solentes
sapere plus quAm oportet, nedum regihe majestati, sed etiam sacro, ut fertur, concilio, linguis maledictis
detfahunt public8 et occiilte dicentes, vel innruentes, quod salvus-conductus per invictissimum
principem  JDoniturn Sigismundum Romanorum  et Ungariae, &c., Regem quondam:Johanni Hus,
heresiarchae damnatae mernoriae datus, fuit contra justitiam a pt honestatem' indebitd violatus:
cumtamen dictus Johannes Hus fidem orthodoxam pertinaciter impunans se ab omni conductu et
privilegio reddiderit alienum; nec aiiqua sibi'fides aut promissio, de jure naturali, divine, vel -humano,
fuerit in prejildiciumn Catholicae fidei obseryanda: ideirco dicta sancta synodus prmsentium tenore
declarat: dictum in victissimnum  princlpem.circa preedictum quondam Johannem  Hus, nonobstante
inemorato salvo-cor.ductu, ex juris debito fecisse quod licuit, et quod decuit regiam majestatem:
statuens et ordinans omnibus et singulis Christi fidelibus, cujuselnquo dignitatis, gradus, pra



362                    FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
Here, then, we have the decision of a general council, that a dissent
from the Catholic faith, persisted in, exposes the offender to the for.
feiture of all his rights, not excepting such as he may claim from
express solemn stipulations.  If there ever was an assembly fairly
entitled to the epithet of ecumenical, or universal, it was certainly the
Council of Constance; composed of delegates from every kingdom
and country of Europe; held in the presence of an emperor, and
many other sovereign princes; called by the order of a pope, and
signalized by the absolute deposition of two pontiffs, a forced abdication of a third, and the creation of a fourth; which extinguished a
schism of forty years, and reunited the obedience of Christendom
under one head. If the boasted infallibility of the church is to be
found anywhere, it is undoubtedly in the acts and decrees of such an
assembly.
Nor is it easy to conceive of any thing more absurd than the supposition that it was guided by inspiration in respect to some of its
decisions, and not of others.  Such a partial and capricious inspiration
would completely frustrate the purpose for which it was introduced,
and expose us to all the perplexity and uncertainty which it was designed to prevent; since, on this supposition, nothing short of another
inspiration could enable us to distinguish and select the suggestions of
the first.
I am aware, that when Catholics are pressed with the consequences
resulting from the pretended infallibility of general councils, summoned
by the authority of the pope, they take refuge in the subtile and slippery distinction between the doctrines which are, and those which are
not, points of faith.  Thus, in the present instance, to serve a turn,
they will probably assert, or insinuate, that although the most cruel
intolerance has obtained the sanction anid support of general councils,
their proper infallibility is not impaired, because the principle which
authorizes persecution is not a point of faith.
Without entering into the mazes of a frivolous and unintelligible
dispute about words, it is sufficient to remark, that the supernatural
and infallible guidance of a church which leaves it to stumble on the
threshold of morality, to confound the essential distinctions of right and
wrong, to recommend the violation of the most solemn compacts, and
the murder of men against whom not a shadow of criminality is alleged,
except a dissent from its dogmas, is nothing worth; but must ever
ensure ihe ridicule and abhorrence of those who judge the tree by its
fruits, and who will not be easily persuaded that the eternal fountain
of love and purity inhabits the breast which " breathes out cruelty and
slaughter."  If persecution for conscience' sake is contrary to the
principles of justice and the genius of Christianity, then I say, this holy
and infallible church was so abandoned of God as to be permitted to
legitimate the foulest crimes,-to substitute murders for sacrifice, and
eminentire, conditionis, status, aut sexus existant, quod nullus deinceps sacro concilio aut regiam
rnajestati de gestis circa praedictum quondam Johannerm Hus detrahat sive quomodolibet obloquatur,.
Qll ver6 contrarium feclrit, tamquam fautor hereticte pravitatis et reus criminis latste majestatis
irremissibiliter puniatur."-L'En mnt's History of the Council of Constance, vol. ii. p. 491, Englia
edit. 1730.




FRAGMENT ON POPERY.                         363
to betray a total ignorance of the precepts and spirit of the religiot
which she professed to support; and whether the Holy Ghlost condescended at the same moment to illuminate one hemisphere of minds so
hardened, and hearts so darkened, may be safely left to the judgment
of common sense.*
It would give us unfeigned pleasure to find that the Catholics have'
in good earnest renounced the intolerant principles of their predecessors;
but when we look around for some proof of this, we see nothing that
is satisfactory. In the midst of much courtesy, much urbanity and
address, we meet with nothing that partakes of the nature of solid
concession;-no steps retraced, no errors revoked, no protest opposed
to the persecuting maxims of former times. Whatever breathes an air
of liberality issues from the unofficial communications of private individuals.  We anxiously wish for some important concessions at the
fountain-head,-some exposition of the Catholic faith from the supreme
pontiff, or his accredited agents, calculated to satisfy us that intolerance
is at last expunged from the papal creed. We wish, but we wish in
vain.  On the contrary, we perceive in the restoration of the Jesuits,in the total suppression (as far as his [the pope's] influence extends)
of Bible societies,-in his opposition to the toleration established in
Belgium —in the exclusion of the Protestant religion from  Spain and
Portugal, at the very moment they were indebted for their existence to
the arms of Protestants,-decisive evidence of a determination to maintain tile ancient system with inflexible rigour.  We are at a loss to
discover a single concession in favour of the claims of conscience,
proceeding from an authority which Catholics are bound to respect.''he renunciation of the rights of the pope to interfere in temporal
matters, and the inviolable obligation of oaths taken to heretics, will be
considered perhaps, by some, as important concessions; but they are
far from settling the question.  What security have we that the persecuting maxims of popery are revoked, or that the consciences of its
adherents are not still instructed in the indispensable duty of demanding
the interference of the mnagistrate in the suppression and punishment
of heresy?
The fundamental principle of the Catholic system  is the supposed
infallibility of the Church of Rome. Until this point is determined, it
is to little purpose to engage in particular controversies, or attempt to
expose the erroneousness of her doctrines, or the idolatry of her wor.
ship.  These are merely a superstructure erected without foundation.
As it is the design of the following pages to furnish a popular antidote
to the seductions of her priests and advocates, it becomes indispensably
necessary to examine the pleas by which her pretension to infallibility
is attempted to be supported.  This is the more requisite, because
there is reason to fear that multitudes of Protestants are in a great
measure ignorant of the true grounds of popery; and that while they
* Shortly after the execution of Huss, a letter written to the council, in the name of the Hole
Ghost, was found at the gates of some of the churches at Constance, to this effect: "Ttle Holt
Spirit to the Council of Constance, greeting. Take care of your own affairs as vell as yr  catn
Yor our part we cannot be with you; for we are busy about other affairs: farewell."-ED.




364                 FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
strongly reprobate in detail its errors and absurdities, having little oz
no acquaintance with the principle which forms the keystone of the
whole system, they are easily liable to be baffled and confobunded when
they encounter a subtle disputant. It will be in vain for you to urge,
in debating with a Catholic, the absurdity of transubstantiation, or the
idolatry of the mass.  You begin the controversy at the wrong end;
and, though you accumulate ever so large a pile of invincible argument, or Scriptural proof, you make no progress. He will [seldomn,
if ever,]'descend' to meet you on that ground; he professes to prostrate
both his reason and his faith before the majesty of the church.  In the
mysteries of faith the dictates of reason are fallacious, the interpretation
of the Scriptures is precarious and uncertain, and no basis of a divine
and supernatural faith can be laid, but in submission to an authorized
infallible guide,-which guide is the Roman Catholic Church!  You
will be reminded of the innumerable sects and schisms, convulsions
and disorders, which have sprung from the exercise of a pretended
free inquiry; whence he will infer the necessity of some visible standard of appeal, some aclnowledged infallible judge: and the promise
of the-Spirit to the apostles to lead them into all truth,-together with
the pre-eminence of Peter above his colleagues, to whom, as an
immoveable rock and foundation of the church, " the keys of the kingdom
of heaven" were exclusively. assigned, —will be. triumphantly, urged to
support the claims of the bishop.of Rome, his legitimate representative
and successor.  Thus, by a mixture of specious probabilities, with the
assumption of innumerable facts, a web of sophistry will be weaved
sufficient often to entangle the'" unlearned and unstable."  That it is
nothing:more, however, than unfouhded and presumptuous sophistry, a
little attention will enable us to perceive.
That the church is infallible is not a self-evident proposition; it is
not one of those truths-which are acknowledged the moment they are
announced, like the assertion that two and two are four.  It must
therefore be proved: nor can it be proved by her own assertion;
because it is just as easy for any other community to declare itself
infallible as for the Church of Rome.  To allow her a prerogative so
extraordinary merely because she claims it would legitimate the boldest
imposture. As little can it be.proved by any appeal to the principles
of reason: the possession of infallibility by an individual, or:by a:number of in(lividuals, is a riatter of fact whose truth must be:evinced in
the same manner as other facts.  Hence it necessarily follows, that
the pretensions to; infallibility assumed by the Catholic church must
solely rest on the testimony of Scripture. For this purpose it is alleged
that St. Peter was constituted the prince of the! apostles, the foundation
on which the church was to be built; that.to him were. primarily. and
chiefly given the keys of the kingdom of heaven; that as Jesus Christ
prayed for him that his faith should not fail, he possessed a guarantee
for the truth of his doctrines and the infallibility of his decisions;
and that, having established his episcopal throne at Rome, he transmitted his immunities and prerogatives uinimpaired to his successors in
that see.




FRAGMENT ON POPERY.                       366
Such, for substance, is the argument deduced frorm Scripture in support
of this extraordinary pretension.  To this are added other considerations of the:nature of probabilities, in favour of this assumed infallibility:
such as the pretended necessity of some living standard of appeal, some
visible judge of controversies, together with the error, confusion, and
uncertainty to which it is asserted the church must be. for ever abandoned, in the absence of some such living oracle.  If Christians are
left to interpret the Scriptures for themselves withotit an infallible
guidan e, their interpretations will necessarily vary in proportion to
the different degrees of their capacity or attention.  Their interpretation
can at best be but probable; and a probable conclusion can never be
admitted as the ground. of a divine faith.  It will not be at all necessary to (liscuss accurately at large the arguments founded on the
passages of Scripture before adduced.  Suffice it to observe, that the
links which compose the chain of the argument are numerous, and that
it would not be easy to prove any one of them to the satisfaction of an
unprejudiced inquirer.  In that argument it is assumed for granted
that St. Peter was invested with a supremacy over the rest of the
apostles; that the keys were exclusively given to him; that his faith
was more indefectible than that of his brethren; that he exercised the
episcopal office at Rome; and that he devolved his peculiar power and
prerogatives on his successors in that sacred office. Every one of
these arbitrary assumptions is destitute of a shadow of truth, either
from Scripture or antiquity.  That Peter was ever at Rome we have
no evidence but vague and uncertain tradition; that he exercised the
episcopal functions there is still more uncertain, or rather extremely
improbable, as it is neither insinuated in Scripture nor very consistent
with his higher character and functions. But supposing both these
points were conceded, what evidence have we of that devolution of his
power and prerogatives on his successors on which the authority
assumed by the bishop of Rome entirely rests?  From the language
of Scripture and the [testimony] of antiquity, there is much more reason
for affirming that James the Less was bishop of the Church of Jerusalem, than that Peter sustained that office at Rome; and by a parity of
reason, his successors must be supposed to have inherited his powers
and his infallibility; and the rather, since the church at Jerusalem
was the mother of all other churches, planted, not by one, but by all
the apostles, often dignified by their united presence,-a church on
which the redundance of spiritual gifts was first poured, and consecrated
by. the blood of the first martyr.  If, in opposition to this, we are
reminded that the succeeding bishops of Jerusalem  derived from  St.
James the rights attached to the episcopal function, but not his personal
prerogatives and immunities as an apostle, —this very distinction applies
precisely to the successors of St. Peter.
This may suffice to show the extreme frivolity and levity of the
proofs adduced from Scripture in support of the claim of papal oi
Catholic infallibility.  But, admitting the arguments derived from this
quarter were much more cogent than they are, it is evident that they
are entirely deduced from the interpretation of certain pa?.r.ages ot




366                 FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
Scripture, and consequently depend on the correctness of that inter
pretation. Is this interpretation, I would ask, to be taken for granted,
or is it to be proved and sustained by the principles of sound criticism.
Are we to take the mere affirmation of the Church of Rome on this
subject, and at once admit that the inference she deduces from these
passages is just because she asserts it to be so? This is impossible,
because this would [be to] acknowledge her infallibility, which is the
very point to be proved.  We are inquiring after the proofs of her
infallibility: she refers us for satisfaction to the passages of Scripture
before adduced.  Her supposed infallibility can afford no sort of
security for her correct interpretation of these passages, because her
object in urging these passages is to prove her infallibility.  To say
that she has put a right construction on these texts because she is
infallible, and at the same time attempt to prove her infallibility by that
construction, would be an insult to common sense. Her right to be
acknowledged as the infallible guide and director of our faith, must
either be blindly submitted to without proof or inquiry, or it must be
left to be determined by the private judgment of every individual; and
if the votaries of the Church of Rome are not willing to confess they
admit the validity of her claims without any reasons whatever, they
must have exercised the right of free inquiry as well as Protestants,
not indeed in respect to particular controversies, but in relation to this
great controversy. What is the standard of truth, and who is the judge
of controversy? The Church of Rome boldly affirms, that if individuals
are left to judge for themselves, such is the obscurity of Scripture, that
tno certainty could be obtained, no conclusion deduced, in which the
conscience may safely rest. Yet, with egregious inconsistency, she
refers us to that very Scripture in proof of the justice of her claims.
Here I would ask, can we without an infallible guide attain the real
meaning of the texts which she quotes in her favour?  If not, it is
impossible for them to prove her infallibility. If we can, then it follows
that there are some parts of Scripture whose meaning may be certainly
ascertained without her infallible guidance. And what then becomes
of her complaint of the hopeless obscurity of Scripture, which is affirmed
to render her aid so indispensable? And what must we think of hei
outcries against the supposed arrogance of pretending to the exercise
of free inquiry, and of judging of the Scriptures for ourselves, when, without such an exercise and such a power of judging, it is found impossible
to obtain the least proof or presumption of her boasted infallibility?
Some  parts of Scripture, then, the Church of Rome herself must
allow, are capable of being understood without her aid. Those declarations of Scripture on which she rests her claim to implicit submission
and obedience, she must allow to be sufficiently plain and intelligible,
to bind the conscience of every member of her community who is
prepared to assign a reason for his being a Catholic: and as an entire
agreement with the dogmas of the church is all the faith which she
requires in order to the salvation of her members, she must acknowledge,
as well as ourselves, that the Scriptures contain a rule of faith sufficient
for the purpose of salvation; the only difference is, that in our opinion




FRAGMENT ON POPERY.                       367
the Scripture clearly unfolds a system of saving truth, while in [that
of the Roman Catholics] they are obscure in every point, except in the
few passages which direct us to the church, the only authentic and
immediate source of saving knowledge.
We ascribe some efficacy to the word of God itself; while they
contend that the principal or only benefit it affords consists in conducting us to the church. The Scriptures themselves indeed affirm,
that they are "able to make us wise unto salvation," and by them
we must be judged at the last day." The church asserts, on the
contrary, that they are covered with an impenetrable obscurity, [not to
be removed] without her interference, and that we shall be judged at
the last day, not by our submission to the Scriptures, but our obedience
to her. In her system the principal use of the Scriptures was to give
birth to the church, whose place she now occupies, whose prerogatives
she assumes as the sole directory of conscience, and the living oracle
of God. Her treatment of the Scripture almost reminds us of the
fabulous history of Jupiter, who ascended to supreme [power] by the
mutilation and banishment of his father.
The portentous doctrine of infallibility, as it is employed in the
Catholic church, stamps an entirely new character on the Christian
religion, substitutes a new object of faith and dependence, deifies what
is human, hides and cancels what is divine, and transfers our allegiance
from God to mortals.
But to return to the argument. On all systems, the preference of
one religion to another must either be founded on caprice, custom, or
some other principle equally unworthy of determining the choice of a
reasonable being, or upon examination.  If the Catholics wish to
convert us to their persuasion, they must assign their reasons for
affirming that there is in existence an infallible community, styling
itself the church; that that community is their church, in preference
to the Greek church, the Armenian, or the Nestorian.  Here they
must admit the exercise of private judgment in examining these reasons;
unless they have the effrontery to assert that their bare affirmation
supersedes the necessity of any further proof: and, admitting the
Scriptures to be the word of God, which is the easiest task for ordinary
Christians-to learn from them what is necessary for salvation, or to
judge of the claims of the church to supremacy and infallibility?  For
the former, if you believe the Scriptures themselves, nothing more is
requisite than a candid and honest mind; for the latter, a deep acquaintance with history and antiquity, and, particularly, a clear comprehension of the meaning of a portion of Scripture by no means the most
plain and perspicuous.  Involved as those passages are which are
urged from the New Testament in support of the papal claims, in
language highly figurative and metaphorical, is it easier for a plain
unlettered Christian to judge of the precise meaning of the term "' keys,"
and "the kingdom  If heaven opening and shutting," than to learn the
import of that declaration, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
hou shalt be saved?"  There is so much room for variation in the
Interpretation of the passages [on which the papists lay such great




368                 FRAGMENT ON POPERY.
stress,] that it would not be easy to find two commentators, in any
community, whose expositions perfectly coincide; with respect to the
latt-er, he:that runs may read.  St. John distinctly informs us with what
purpose he wrote his gospel, in the following words: "And man)
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are
not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, and that, believing, ye might have life through
his name." Is there sufficient evidence in what St. John wrote to
convince us that Jesus is the Christ; and: is it within the power of
ordinary men to judge of this evidence?  If this question be answered
in the affirmative, then what occasion is. there for the interposition
of an infallible interpreter, since he who:is- convinced by this record
that Jesus is the Christ is already in a state of salvation?  If it be
replied in the negative, that the writing of St. John is not sufficient to
prove to an impartial reader that Jesus is the Christ, it must be confessed,
however reluctantly, that the beloved apostle was a most impertinent
and fallacious writer, in representing his performance as a fit instrument
for the accomplishment of an object to which it is not adequate.
*~~t *w * *k *c *  **




THE CHARACTER OF THE REV. R. HALL,
OF ARNSBY.
[Written in 1791.*]
THE distinguished talents of our deceased friend will long live in
the remembrance of all who knew him. His advantages of education
were extremely small; but possessing from his infancy a contemplative
cast of mind, and a habit of patient thinking, he laid in a large stock
of useful knowledge. In the character of a minister of the gospel,
there have been but few more generally esteemed. Attentive only to
the improvement of his hearers, he forgot himself, and appeared entirely absorbed in his subject. Though he was unacquainted with the
graces of oratory and the embellishments of language, scarcely any
man spoke with a more striking and visible effect. From nature he
derived a large share of sensibility; and as he excelled at the same
time in taking a profbund and comprehensive view of a subject, the
understanding and affections of his hearers were equally interested in
his discourses, which generally flowed in a stream of argument and
pathos. From a natural diffidence of temper, heightened by a consciousness of his want of education, he often ascended the pulpit with tremor;
but as soon as this subsided, he generally led his hearers, step by step,
into a large field of serious and manly thinking, kindled as he advanced,
and expatiated with increasing energy and conviction till the subject
was exhausted.  His eminent piety lent a peculiar unction to the
sentiments he delivered, led him to seize the most interesting views
of every subject, and turned topics, which in the hands of others would
have furnished barren speculation only, into materials for devotion and
prayer. He appeared to the greatest advantage upon subjects where
the faculties of most men fail them; for the natural element of his
mind was greatness. At times he seemed to labour with conceptions
too big for his utterance; and if an obscurity ever pervaded his
discourses, it must be traced to this source-the disproportion of his
language to the vastness of his conceptions.  He had great force
without ornament, and grandeur without correctness. His ministry,
in the hands of God, was effectual to the conversion of great numbers;
and in this particular he was distinguished in a manner not very
* This sketch was published anonymously, at the end of Dr. Ryland's funeral sermon for MY
Hall, of Arnsby.-ED.
Voi.~ IIJ.-A a




370          CHARACTER OF THE REV. R. HALL.
common; for the last years of his life were the most successful. But
it was not only in the pulpit that he shone; in his private sphere of
action as a Christian, his virtues were not less distinguished than his
talents as a minister. Deep devotion and unaffected humility entered
far into this part of his character. Few men have passed through
greater vicissitudes of life than the deceased, and perhaps in each
of them no man preserved with a more inviolable consistency the
character of a Christian. He was very early introduced into the
schools of affliction, and the greater part of his subsequent life was
distinguished by an uncommon succession of trials and distresses.
On his first entrance into the ministry his fortitude was exercised in a
scene of persecution and reproaches, which lasted for many years.
His worldly prospects at the same time were gloomy and precarious
in a high degree: he had a very numerous family, and an income
extremely limited.-He united great susceptibility of heart with firmness
of mind; and, endowed with these dispositions, he met reproaches with
gentleness, sustained adversity with fortitude, and pains and sorrows
of various kinds with exemplary patience. In the habitual frame of his
spirit he " walked with God." The consolations that supported him
through life awaited him at death; for so tranquil were his last moments,
so completely was he reconciled to the prospect of both worlds, that
he declared, a little time before he expired, he would not give a straw to
live or die. From his first acquaintance with religion to the close
of life, he was never known to express the least hesitation respecting
his state, but enjoyed an uninterrupted assurance of a happy immortality. His conversation breathed so much of heaven, was so tinctured
with the very spirit of religion, that none could enjoy it without an
opportunity of being made better. It was evident to all who knew him,
that his religion was not a transient impression, but a permanent
principle; that it blended itself with all his feelings and his actions;
and that it raised his thoughts, his views, and his passions towards
heaven.
In the first years of his ministry he encountered, as has been already
remarked, much persecution and reproach; but at length his exemplary
conduct dissipated these prejudices, and gained him so completely the
esteem of all classes of mankind, that it may be doubted whether he had
an enemy in the world: certainly he had none but those whom his piety
made such. He was distinguished as alover of peace, and was as anxious
to heal breaches as he was cautious to avoid them. With some, his
extreme solicitude for the propagation of evangelical sentiments might
seem like bigotry: but those who knew him best were well convinced
that this was no part of his character, and that he regarded sentiments
in no other light, nor cherished them in any higher degree, than as he
conceived them favourable to the interests of holiness and virtue.
His brethren in the ministry will long and deeply lament him; for
to them his talents and dispositions peculiarly endeared him. How
many private circles hath he cheered and enlightened by his presence!
In how many public solemnities hath he lifted up an ensign to the
people, invited them to the standard of the Cross, and warmed and




CHARACTER OF THE REV. R. HALL.                 371
exalted their affections, while " his doctrine dropped as rain, and his
speech distilled as the dew!" Great abilities are often allied to pride,
But the character of the deceased was an illustrious exception to this
rule.  His talents and virtues were in some measure concealed from
the world, and almost entirely from himself, by a veil of the most
unaffected modesty.  He was never so happy as when he was permitted to sit in the shade, though the high opinion entertained of his
abilities seldom allowed him that indulgence. It would be difficult to
conceive a human mind more completely purged from the leaven of
pride or of envy than was that of our deceased friend. In this particular his magnanimity was so great that he seemed on all occasiondesirous of sinking the recollection of himself in the reputation ano
applause of his contemporaries. To cultivate the seeds of reflection
and improvement in the minds of his inferiors,-to behold the growing
talents and virtues of his brethren,-to draw merit from its obscurity,
and give confidence to timid worth,-formed some of the highest satisfactions of his life.
His temper was grave and contemplative, yet few men took greater
delight in Christian society; and on these occasions he seldom failed
to mix with serious converse a vein of pleasantry and humour, in which
he greatly excelled. From his integrity and knowledge, it may be
inferred he was eminently skilled for imparting advice; yet so carefully did he shun every inclination to dictate, that he scarcely ever
gave it unsolicited.  His sentiments, when required, he imparted with
tenderness and freedom; but he never made advice a disguise for
arrogance, or an engine of rule, nor ever presumed to think himself
affronted if his counsels were not followed. In his Whole deportment, prudence and humility were conspicuous; a prudence, however,
that was candid and manly, as far removed from art as his humility
was from meanness. He had failings, no doubt, (for who is free?) but
they were scarcely ever suffered to influence his conduct, or to throw
even a transient shade over the splendour of his character. Upon the
whole, if a strong and penetrating genius, simplicity of manners,
integrity of heart, fidelity in friendship-and all these virtues consecrated by piety the most ardent and sincere on the high altar of devotion
-have any claim to respect, the memory of the deceased will long be
cherished with tears of admiration and sorrow by those who knew
him.
Aa2




FUNERAL ORATION
Delivered at the Interment of the Rev. HABAKKUK CRA.B, ~f Royston,
in Hertfordshire, on the 1st of January, 1795.*
AMONG~ the many appearances which man presents to the view of a
contemplative mind, death is one of the most extraordinary. Whatever
be the station he has filled, and however he has conducted himself in
it,-whether he has adorned it by virtue or degraded it by vice,whether he has passed obscurely through the world, or filled it with
the fame of his actions,-he soon disappears, and the " place which
once knew him knows him no more." Over all: the sons of Adam
death hath reigned. The worthy and beneficent are embalmed by
the tears:of tender but transient regret. The chasm their departure
has occasioned in society is filled up by their successors, who tread
the same circle of life and death, and thus perpetuate the established
order of the universe.
But though the grave terminates the business of life, it does not
terminate the inquiries of the living.  Whether the whole of existence
is comprised within the present life, or whether it be merely a passage
into an unseen state, is a question which has engaged the attention of
men in every age; nor would it be possible (were it ever so proper)
to detail within the limits of this address the various reasonings and
conjectures to which it has given occasion. When we contemplate
death under its sensible appearances —the destruction of the external
organs, and the corruption of the whole mass-we are tempted to
regard it as the extinction of being, and to suppose its effects upon the
human race are the same as upon the inferior orders of creatures.
Whatever has been the -object of the senses in both, is reduced
to putrefaction and dust. But when again we recollect in how
many important respects we are distinguished above the brutes,
we cannot help indulging higher expectations, and looking for a
nobler destiny. Our superior comprehension of mind qualifies us
for a longer duration of being. While the brute is capable of
enjoying little more than the present moment, the remembrance of
what is past, and the anticipation of what is to come, enable us to
multiply our resources, and to diffuse our existence, if I may so
speak, over a larger surface. To compare one state of being with
another, to learn wisdom from experience, and to regulate our future
expectations by what has already occurred, are employments congenial
* This first appeared in the Introduction to a volume of Mr. Crabb's posthumous Sermons, pub
1ished in 1795.-ED




FUNERAL ORATION.                       373
with the human mind.  But it is evident that a creature possessed of
such faculties will be capable of continually making new acquisitions
of knowledge, and of advancing nearer and nearer to perfection.
Among all the tribes of creatures with which we are acquainted,
man is the only one that appears to have any dread of annihilation, or
the remotest conception of another state.  How shall we account for
the universal prevalence of these sentiments, in spite of all the sensible appearances of death, unless they are either the vestige of some
early revelation or the incorrupted dictate of nature? How is it that
we are the only beings that extend their anxieties beyond the grave;
that we are so reluctant to quit the present scene; and that, when we
are at length compelled to depart, we grasp at the very shadow of
immortality, and console ourselves with the hope of surviving in the
regrets of our friends and the reputation of our actions?
Though there seems to be much plausibility in these topics, it must
be confessed the best arguments for a future state are derived from
the moral part of our nature; or, in other words, from our capability
of good and ill desert. For since it is plain that God has made us
moral agents, and placed us under a law, we may be assured he has
not made us so in vain, but that he will call us to an account for our
actions; and, as there is no exact distribution of rewards and punishments in this life, we are entitled to. expect another suited to the
respective characters of men and the moral attributes of the Deity.
If, after all, we consider actual opinions on this head, we shall find
the wisest among the heathen were far from attaining any certainty.
When they gave scope to their feelings and their hopes, they sometimes painted the elysian abodes of the virtuous in the warmest
colouring of eloquence; in their cooler moments they subsided into
skepticism;. so that, on the whole, the idea of a future state seems to
have operated not so much as a fixed principle as a vague presentiment.
Revelation can alone boast of having " brought life and immortality
to light."  The religion of Jesus Christ places the reality of a future
state at the foundation of its truths.  It is there so constantly reverted
to, so often repeated, and so solemnly enforced, that it has never beeln
by any class of Christians disputed or denied.  Nor is the reality
only of a future state revealed in Christianity: as far as is consistent
with the present limitation of our faculties, it affords us the justest
views of its. nature; which it makes to consist, not in sensual gratifications or festive bowers —the visions of a Mahornmetan paradise,-but
in enjoyments the most suited to the rational and immortal mind; a
union with God, the knowledge of his perfections, and the eternal
fruition of his love.  The information which Christianity imparts on
these subjects is not conveyed in dark and symbolical expressions, or'
in a chain of philosophical reasoning; but in a manner the most
perspicuous,nd popular.  With what majestic simplicity does outr
Lord assure us of the resurrection of the just!-" I am the resurrection and the life.  He that believeth in me,, though he were dead, yet
shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never




374                   FUNERAL ORATION.
die."  " This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which
believeth on the Son may have everlasting life, and I will raise him
up at the last day."  When many of the disciples of our Lord went
back, and walked no more with him, being offended with the sublime
mysteries of his doctrine, he took occasion to ask his twelve apostles,
"Will ye also go away?"  To which Peter, in the name of them
all, made this reply, "Lord, to whom  shall we go?  Thou hast the
words of eternal life." In this short answer we behold the distin.
guished lustre of Christianity.  It explains at once the ground of a
rational attachment to it, and will be sufficient to justify its profession
from the reproach of folly, however mysterious its doctrines, however
arduous its duties, and however painful or costly its sacrifices.
There are two purposes connected with the present solemnity to
which the doctrine of immortality ought to be applied.  The first
regards the regulation of life; the second, the inspiring us with
fortitude in the contemplation of our own deaths, and those of our
relatives and friends.  If we consider ourselves as candidates for an
eternal state of happiness, it becomes us to regard life, with all its
vicissitudes, as a probationary state, and to look upon every thing
that is not directly or indirectly conducive to our eternal welfare as
foreign to our purpose, and undeserving our pursuit. Heavenlymindedness is, in this view, as much the dictate of reason as of
Scripture. It is nothing more than the placing our affections where
we expect our felicity; the wisdom of preferring the end to the means
-that which is permanent to that which is transitory.  Let the men
of the world, who disbelieve the declarations of the gospel respecting
eternal realities, lead a life, if they please, of dissipation and vice;
but for a professor of religion to confine his affections to the earth is
equally impious and absurd. Distracted between his inordinate attachment to the present, and his apprehension of a future world, his
religion, if it will bear that name, must be a constant source of
disquietude.  He has neither the calmness of insensibility, nor the
triumph of faith.  His prevailing regard to the interests of the present
life renders it impossible for him to set his affections on a better state;
while the carnal and reluctant glances he is compelled to take of that
state are sufficient to imbitter his enjoyments and disturb his repose.
The misery which persons of this description suffer from an inward
conflict between principle and practice, is the chief reason that has
induced superficial observers to represent Christianity as a gloomy,
melancholy system.  There is no other foundation for this charge
than that its claims are grand and extensive; that it disdains a compromise with the corrupt attachments of the heart; and that they who will
not allow it the dominion of their affections will find it the troubler of
their thoughts.
Whoever lives under the habitual influence of those tempers which
qualify us for heaven, derives from his view of the eternal world the
purest serenity and delight.  In the midst of the severest disappointments of human life, secret consolations spring up in his mind, which
sometimes swell into rapture, disarm the world of its terrors, and afford




FUNERAL ORATION.                       375
him a prelibation of unutterable bliss. In vain will ye look elsewhere
for true magnanimity and moral grandeur. It is religion alone which
both animates and softens the heart, cherishes sensibility, instils fortitude, and enables us to triumph without extravagance, and to suffer
without dejection.
If the Scripture doctrine of immortality is entitled to so much weight
in the regulation of LIFE, its influence is not less sovereign in dispelling the terrors of DEATH, and consoling us under the loss of our
dearest friends and relatives. "I would not have you be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep,. that ye sorrow not as
others who have no hope; for, if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and the.trump of God. Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; so shall we be ever with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words."  And who can fail
being penetrated with the divine consolation they afford? If ever
Christianity appears in its power, it is when it erects its trophies on
the TOMB; when it takes up its votaries where the world leaves them,
and fills the breast with immortal hope in dying moments.
Nor are the words I have quoted adapted to support the mind of a
Christian in the view of his own dissolution only; they administer the
firmest support amid the breaches which death is continually making
in the church of Christ.  A degree of sorrow, on such occasions,
nature compels us to feel, and religion does not condemn. At the
decease of Lazarus, while his sisters were lamenting his loss, " Jesus
wept." But the sorrow which a Christian feels in such situations is
mingled with hope. By the light of faith, he traces his deceased
friends into an eternal world. Instead of considering them as lost or
extinct, he beholds them still under the eye of Divine Providence.
The period of their trial is closed: they have entered into rest, where,
sheltered from the storms of life and the dangers of temptation, their
happiness is for ever fixed and unalterable.  Their separation is
neither final nor complete. The pious living and the pious dead are
still one family, under one Head; and, when he " who is their life shall
appear, they shall appear together with him in glory." The friendships
which have had virtue and religion for their basis will survive all human
ties, outlive' the habitable globe, and form, in all probability, a principal
part of the happiness of the blessed.
It is not unusual, I am aware, on occasions like these to pass high
encorniums on the character of the deceased; a mode of proceeding
the less requisite in the present instance, as the character of Mr.
Crabb was too well established, and held in too high esteem, to have
any thiing to hope from praise, or to fear from censure. His mild and
gentle spirit rendered it nearly impossible for him to have any enemies.
The innocence and sanctity of his behaviour, the sensibility of his
heart, the fidelity with which he discharged the duties of life, and the
equanimity with which he bore its rebukes and sufferings, will leave a




370                   FUNERAL ORATION.
lasting impression on the minds of all his friends and acquaintance.
You of this church and congregation have lost a friend, an instructer,
a pastor; one who was anxious, on every occasion, to promote your
spiritual and eternal welfare; who knew how to rejoice with them
fhat rejoice, and weep with them that weep.  You, my friends, will
long remember, I trust, the affectionate exhortations he addressed to
you, and make it appear on the day of solemn account that he has
not laboured in vain, nor spent his strength for naught. His relation
to you as your pastor has ceased; but its effects and consequences
will never cease; they will reach into eternity, and "become the
savour of life unto life, or of death unto death." If the duties of the
ministerial character appeared so weighty in the eyes of an apostle that
he was ready to sink under it, and exclaimed, "Who is sufficient for
these things?" you will recollect it was its connexion with the eternal
interests of his hearers which rendered his situation so arduous, and
his responsibility so awful.
You have now before you one more example of the uncertainty of
life. Your deceased friend and pastor was cut off in the midst of his
days.  His sun, instead of performing the usual circuit, set in its
meridian. He, no doubt, often endeavoured, during his continuance
among you, to convince you of the vanity of the world, and the insufficiency of all its enjoyments to render you happy; but Providence
determined he should do more; that he should instruct you from the
tomb on these topics, and bring them home to your senses.
Another year is passed away, and you have entered upon a new
portion of time.*  The division of time into distinct periods, besides
its utility in business and in science, is favourable to moral reflection.
On the entrance upon a new year, a contemplative mind will be
naturally employed in estimating its acquisitions, comparing its improvements, retracing past occurrences, and revolving future prospects.  The
giddy and thoughtless feel their attention for a moment fixed, and,
suspecting all is not right, form some indistinct resolution of repentance
anrd amendment, which they are determined to execute as soon as
some present scheme shall be finished, some prevailing passion gratified,
or some expected change in their situation shall take place. The
present moment seems always attended with insuperable difficulties;
but they still flatter themselves with the hope of some more auspicious
period, when their minds will be disengaged, their passions composed,
and religion assert its power. Thus year rolls on after year, the selfdelusion is repeated, and while they are planning new schemes of life
they sink into the grave.
If a hardened contempt of religion has slain its thousands, a feeble
and irresolute spirit has slain its ten thousands.  Are there none in
this assembly who, it is to be feared, are convinced of the importance
of religion, and are yet unwilling to pay an immediate attention, to it,
flattering themselves they shall have ample opportunities of satisfying
all its demands?
Vain, presumptuous man! hast thou penetrated the counsels of the
* This Oration was delivered on New-year's Day.




FUNERAL ORATION.                       377..Almighty, or been permitted to read thy destiny, that while thou
beholdest the ravages of death all around thee,-the multitudes which
fall at thy right hand and at thy left, the young and the old, the feeble
and the strong, hurried into eternity,-thou shouldst suppose thyself
alone firm and immoveable amid this flux and succession of being?
Wouldst thou wish to surmount the fear of death? Acquaint thyself
with him who is the resurrection and the life; with that Saviour who
is its author, its revealer, and its pattern. " Take his yoke upon you,
and learn of him."  Attend to his instructions, and yield yourself up
to his guidance. You will then be able to converse familiarly with
death. You will feel no terror in the prospect of future judgment, but
will wait for its approach, and be able to stand before the Son of God
at his coming. " Finally, let us who are of the light and of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet
the hope of salvation."  Instead of murmuring at such afflictive dispensations as separate us from those we esteem and love, let us employ
them as inducements to set our affections on a better world, where we
shall shortly join them; remembering, that whatever ties of affection
are broken by death are taken from the enjoyments of time to enrich
the prospect of eternity.




SKETCH
OF THE
CHARACTER OF MRS. M. CARRYER.
[Written in 1812.]
IT is not my intention to attempt a laboured eulogium on our departed
sister, but justice compels me briefly to notice some of the distinguish.
ing traits of her character. I regret that, partly owing to the natural
reserve of the deceased, and partly owing to my own unsocial humour,
my acquaintance with her was so limited. I knew enough of her,
however, to convince me that she was a person of no ordinary worth;
and, from the testimony of all who were favoured with her intimacy,
I am fully persuaded her piety was of the most solid kind, not evaporating in talk, nor obtruding itself in an ostentatious profession, but
operating in a constant and exemplary discharge of every private and
social duty. She was a pattern of diligence, as well in her attention
to domestic engagements as in the constancy with which she applied
herself to the means of grace, in the closet and in the sanctuary. As
a wife, a mother, and a member of a Christian church, her behaviour
was such that it is impossible to say which character she adorned
most.  Averse from every kind of display, her religion was of a
retired nature; planted by the rivers of water, and fed by a secret
spring, its leaf never withered, and it brought forth its fruit in its season.
Her faith was such as purified the heart, and manifested itself in a
series of wise and holy actions. Her hope was an anchor of the soul,
sure and steadfast, entering into that within the veil. In the former
part of her experience, she was sometimes considerably agitated by
doubts and fears; but during the progress of the malady which terminated her dissolution, her painful apprehensions gradually subsided,
and although she sowed in tears, she reaped in joy. Her dying
testimony to the excellence of religion, and to the power and grace of
the Redeemer, was most affecting; and will, it is humbly hoped,
leave a lasting impression on survivors. She often expressed her
gratitude to Providence for directing her choice to a companion in life,
from whose example, and from whose prayers, she derived important
assistance in her walk with God; so that the change of situation,
which to many females becomes a temptation and a snare, became to
her a great means of spiritual improvement. The virtues which




CHARA)TER OF MRS. M. CARRYER.                 37(
adorn a single state she exhibited, not only unimpaired, but with increase
ing lustre, in her conjugal capacity. The essential benefit she derived
from her obedience to the Scriptural injunction to " marry in the Lord,"
conveys an impressive admonition to the youth of both sexes. Let
such as attach any importance to the cultivation of piety, and whose
first solicitude it is to be prepared for eternity, avoid taking to their
bosoms a domestic enemy, with whom it will be requisite to live in a
state either of perpetual counteraction or of sinful compliance; and
from whom, without the interposition of Divine grace, they must antici.
pate an eternal separation. Our dear departed sister made a wise
choice, and determined to select as a companion for life one with
whom she could indulge a confident hope of sharing a blessed eternity.
Her rapid advancement in every Christian grace was manifest to
every one except to herself: for she often expressed the deep sense
she entertained of her manifest imperfections, while others beheld
nothing in her but what was "pure, lovely, and of good report."  As
she was clothed with humility, so she was eminently sober-minded, at
the utmost distance from indulging in the levities, follies, and vain
competitions of the age. She was chaste, a keeper at home, a lover
of her husband, a lover of her children, and one who guided her house
with discretion.  Kindness to the indigent entered deeply into her
character; she delighted "to do good to all men, especially to such
as are of the household of faith." She was perfectly superior to the
vanity of dress; her attire was suited to her station, neither mean nor
splendid, but such as became a woman professing godliness. Her conviction of the nothingness of the world was profound, and she longed,
would her modesty have permitted, to admonish her young friends from
her dying bed to be on their guard against its fascinations and its snares.
To her relations she often exclaimed, almost with her dying breath,
" The world! the world!" intending to warn them of what she con.
ceived to form their chief danger.
On the whole, among the numerous losses which this church has
recently sustained I know of none more entitled to lasting lamentation
than the present; nor has there been a member removed during the
period of my ministry whose life has been more exemplary, or whosq
memory will be more precious.




''HE CHARACTER
OF THE LATE
REV. THOMAS ROBINSON,
VICAR OF ST. MARY'S, LEICESTER;
As exhibited in a Speech delivered at the Annual Meeting of the
Leicester Auxiliary Bible Society, April, 1813.
IT is with a melancholy satisfaction I rise to express my entire ap.
probation of the sentiments contained in the resolution just read.
It would, in my opinion, have been unnatural to usher our annual
report into the world without noticing that solemn and affecting dispensation which has deprived this society, this town, and this county
of its principal ornament.  We are weakened this day by the falling
of a pious and a great man in Israel.  In the formation of this society
our incomparable friend had a principal share; and through every
stage he gave it an unremitted attention, and watched over its interests
with a parental solicitude. The idea of instituting an auxiliary society
in Leicester was no sooner suggested to him than it engaged his most
cordial good wishes; he lent to its support the vigour of his masculine
understanding, the energies of his capacious heart; and to him, beyond
any other individual, it is indebted for the patronage and the maturity
it has attained. He was indeed the father of this institution.-But of
what institution formed for the promotion of the temporal and spiritual
welfare of mankind in this place was he not the father? We can look
nowhere throughout this large and populous town without perceiving
the vestiges of his unwearied solicitude for the advancement of the
happiness of his fellow-creatures. He has inscribed his history in the
numerous charitable and religious foundations which owe their existence or their prosperity to his influence. Our jails, our hospitals, our
schools, our churches, are replete with monuments of his worth, and
with the effects of his energetic benevolence.
It is recorded of the great Hannibal, that when an infant his father
conducted him to an altar, and made him vow eternal hostility to the
Roman republic. Our venerable friend, when he first entered Leices.
ter, appears with an ardour not less intense to have devoted himself to
its interests. From the moment he entered the place he appears to
have relinquished all selfish pursuits, all idea of private gratification.




CHARACTER OF THE REV. THOMAS ROBINSON.   381
and to have formed that system of conduct from which he never de.
parted, which had the most immediate tendency to meliorate the state
of its inhabitants. He became altogether a public character; he medi.
tated, he wrote, he preached, he breathed, only for the public. Rarely,
if ever, was there a mind mole perfectly purified from every tincture
of selfishness or vanity. He made the most extensive sacrifices of his
time and of his repose, with a spontaneity and alacrity which implied
an almost total oblivion of his existence as an individual. Endowed
with a capacity for high attainments in science, and distinguished at
the university by the honours assigned to superior merit, he generously
declined the pursuit of literary eminence for the sole purpose of doing
good. It is but few who are capable of adequately appreciating the
magnitude of such a sacrifice. Dr. Paley was certainly one of those
few: and I had it from the lips of our venerable friend, that in addictmg himself to the duties of a parish-priest he had, in the opinion of
that great man, chosen the better part; a choice which it is evident
Heaven singularly sanctioned and approved. In fixing his system of
life he had unquestionably a view to a future account, and formed his
determination on the assured persuasion of his appearing before the
judgment-seat of Christ, where the salvation of one soul will cause a
more glorious distinction than the greatest literary attainments; where
all greatness of a merely intellectual nature will disappear, and nothing
endure the scrutiny but active and disinterested virtue.
In the mean time, how narrow the bounds of his influence, how
confined the ascendency of his character, had he been only the solitary
student instead of being the zealous and exemplary pastor and the
active citizen! On the former supposition, he had inscribed his memorial in books; on the present, he inscribed it on hearts; and instead of his being an object of the admiration of the few, he was the
man of the people.
In separate parts of his character it were not impossible to find some
who equalled, and others who excelled him; but in that rare combination of qualities which fitted him for such extensive usefulness he stands
unrivalled. As a pastor and public instructer it may be possible* to
meet with some who have attained the same eminence; as a public
man he may have been equalled; but where shall we look in modern
times for such an example of the union of the highest endowments as
a pastor and preacher, with the qualifications adapted to the functions
of civil life? It is this rare union which appears to me to give the
character of our venerable friend its decided pre-eminence.  It is not
necessary to recall to your recollection the talents of Mr. Robinson as
a public instructer; you have most, if not all of you, witnessed his
pulpit exertions on that spot where he was accustomed to retain a
listening throng hanging upon his lips, awed, penetrated, delighted,
and instructed by his manly, unaffected eloquence.  Who ever heard
him without feeling a persuasion that it was the man of God who ad
dressed him; or without being struck with the perspicuity of his state.
ments, the solidity of his thoughts, and the rich unction of his spirit?
It was the harp of David which, struck by his powerful hands, sent
forth more than mortal sounds, and produced an impression far more




382              CHARACTER OF THE LATE
deep and permanent than the thunder of Demosthenes or the splendid
coruscations of Cicero.
The hearers of Mr. Robinson were too much occupied by the subjects he presented to their attention to waste a thought on the speaker;
this occupied a second place in the order of their reflections; but when
it did occur, it assumed the character, not of superficial admiration, but
of profound attachment. Their feelings towards him were not those of
persons gratified, but benefited; and they listened to his instructions,
not as a source of amusement, but as a spring of living water. There
never was a settled pastor, probably, who had formed a juster conception of the true end of preaching, who pursued it more steadily, or
attained it to a greater extent. He preached immortal truth with a
most extraordinary simplicity, perspicuity, and energy, in a style adapted
to all capacities, equally removed from vulgarity and from affected
refinement: and the tribute paid to his exertions consisted not in loud
applauses; it was of a higher order; it consisted of penitential sighs,
holy resolutions, of a determination of the whole soul for God, and
such impressions on the spirits of men as will form the line of separation between the happy and the miserable to all eternity.
In a word, by " the manifestation of the truth he commended himself
to every man's conscience in the sight of God;" and the success which
followed was such as might be expected from such efforts. Through
the protracted period of his labours many thousands, who have finished
their course with joy, derived from his ministry, there is reason to believe, the principle of a new life.
His residence in Leicester forms an epoch in the religious history
of this county. From that time must be dated, and to his agency
under Providence must be ascribed. a decided improvement in the
moral and religious state of this town and its vicinity; an increase of
religious light; together with the general diffusion of a taste and relish
for the pure word of God. It is only once in an age that an individual
is permitted to confer such benefits on the place of his residence as
this ancient and respectable borough derived from the labours of Mr.
Robinson; and the change which Baxter accomplished at Kidderminster he effected at Leicester.  It was the boast of Augustus, that he
found the city of Rome composed of brick, and left it marble. /Mr.
Robins6n might say, without arrogance, that he had been the instrument of effecting a far more beneficial and momentous change. He
came to this place while it was sunk in vice and irreligion; he left it
eminently distinguished by sobriety of manners and the practice of
warm, serious, and enlightened piety. He added not aqueducts and
palaces, nor did he increase the splendour of its public edifices: but
he embellished it with undecaying ornaments; he renovated the minds
of the people, and turned a large portion of them " from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan to God." He embellished it with
living stones, and replenished it with numerous temples of the Holy
Ghost. He extended its intercourse with heaven, and prepared a
numerous class of its inhabitants for the enjoyment of celestial bliss. Of
the number of those who will devoutly acknowledge him  as their
spiritual father at the day of final audit, that day only can determine




REV. THOMAS ROBINSON.                     383
Nor was his usefulness confined to the permanent inhabitants of this
place; it was extended to the asylum of the sick, and to the cell of
the criminal: the former found in him a physician to the soul, and
returned to their homes, not only with recruited health, but with renovated minds; and the latter were, in many instances, by penitence and
prayer, prepared for their awful destiny. Of him it may be said, to
an extent seldom equalled by a mere mortal, "He went about doing
good."  "When the eye saw him, it gave witness of him; when the
ear heard him, it blessed him; for he helped the poor and the fatherless,
and delivered them that were ready to perish." In addition to his
numerous avocations, he undertook the weekly instruction of an excellent and extensive school, which was formed in his own parish under
his auspices, to which he imparted the elements of religious knowledge
with a tenderness and assiduity which will never be forgotten.
There was scarcely a charitable institution set on foot, or a scheme
of benevolence devised, of which he did not form the principal spring.
He was truly the centre about which every thing of public utility revolved: while his wisdom guided, his spirit animated, and his character
impressed itself on all useful undertakings.
Though he came to this place a stranger, without any of the means
of acquiring adventitious distinction, it is not to be wondered at that a
man endued with such moral and intellectual qualities should gradually acquire distinguished ascendency. Obstructions and difficulties,
indeed, he encountered at the outset of his career; but they gradually
gave way to the energy of his character, and at length formed a vantage-ground, on which he stood more pre-eminent. By slow degrees,
by a continual series of virtuous exertions, and a patient and unremitted
perseverance in well-doing, he acquired a degree of influence over all
classes of society which has been the lot of few individuals. Whatever was the subject of dispute, the eminence of Mr. Robinson's services was never called in question; and however discordant the sentiments and feelings of the public on other topics, they perfectly coalesced
in the homage due to his worth. To the veneration in which he
was so generally held may be ascribed the principal part of that
freedom from party animosities, of that concord and harmony, which
have for a long period so happily distinguished this town. The deference due to his opinion on all occasions of difficulty, the unbought
tribute of esteem and affection claimed by his worth, we delighted to
pay. We felt gratified on finding such a rock on which we could
repose our confidence, such a great example of what is most dignified
in human nature, on which we could fix our eyes. By a reflex act,
the virtuous part of the community felt better pleased with themselves,
in proportion as they became susceptible of love and admiration
towards an object so fitted, on every principle of reason and religion,
to command them.
Though I have had the honour of a personal acquaintance with Mr.
Robinson for upwards of thirty years, it is comparatively but of late
that I had an opportunity of contemplating him more nearly.  While
placed at a distance, I admired him as one of the remote luminaries
which adorn the hemisphere; I certainly perceived him to be a star




384               CHARACTER OF THE LATE
of the first magnitude: but no sooner was I stationed upon the spot,
than I became sensible of the lustre of his beams, felt the force of his
attraction, and recognised in him the sun and centre of the system.
His merit was not of that kind which attracts most admiration at a
distance. It was so genuine and solid, that it grew in estimation the
more closely it was inspected.  It is possible some men may have
extended their influence to a wider circle, and moved in a more extended sphere. But where influence is diffused beyond a certain limit,
it becomes attenuated in proportion to its-diffusion; it operates with
an energy less intense. Mr. Robinson completely filled as large a
sphere of personal agency as is, perhaps, possible to an individual.
He left no part of it unoccupied, no interstices unsupplied, and
spread himself through it with an energy in which there was nothing
irregular, nothing defective, nothing redundant.
Our deceased friend was eminently distinguished by a steady uniformity of conduct. While he appeared to multiply himself by the
extent and diversity of his exertions, the principles upon which they
were conducted, the objects they were destined to promote, were invariably the same. He was not active at intervals, and at other times
torpid and inert; he did not appear the public man at one time, and at
another absorbed in selfish pursuits: his efforts to do good in season
and out of season were constant, and his course knew no other variety
than that of the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the
perfect day. His goodness, founded on principle and corroborated by
habit, operated with the steadiness of a law of nature, the beneficial
results of which can never be sufficiently appreciated till they are
suspended.  They who contemplated Mr. Robinson at the distance of
forty years, viewed him with the same emotions which he excited at a
more advanced age, moderated, however, and chastised by the apprehension that it was possible some unexpected temptation might occur
to divert him from his career.  We have seen it completed, we have
witnessed his perseverance and his conquest, and have seen his virtues
and his fame placed under the safeguard and seal of death and immortality.
Though he had reached that period of life which constitutes old age,
it was a cruda viridisque senectus.  His age had impaired little or
nothing of his vigour: its chief effect was that of imparting additional
dignity to his countenance, and weight to his character. He fell like
a noble tree, after two or three strokes, with all his sap and verdure,
with extended boughs and rich foliage, while thousands were reposing
under his shadow and partaking of his fruits.  Seldom has death
gained a richer spoil than in the extinction of the earthly existence of
this admirable man.
Having expatiated so largely on the eminent benefits accruing to
mankind from the services of our departed friend, let me'request your
attention for a few moments longer, while I endeavour to portray
more distinctly the leading features of his character. The predominant property of his mind, intellectually considered, appeared to me to
be a strong and masculine understanding, copious in its resources,
versatile in its operations, and eminently prompt in its decisions.  He




REV. THOMAS ROBINSON.                   385
saw with a rapid glance the different bearings of a subject, and the
proper measures to be adopted in the most intricate concerns. He
possessed good sense in an exquisite degree, rarely, if ever, misled by
the illusions of imagination, either in himself or others.  To this was
united a warmth and vivacity of temperament which made business
his delight, action his element; accompanied with a resolution in his
pursuits not to be relaxed by fatigue, nor damped by discouragements,
nor retarded by difficulties. To resolve and to execute, or at least to
make a vigorous attempt, were with him the same thing.  He joined
in an eminent degree the fortiter in re with the sutaviter in modo; none
more inflexible in his purposes, none more conciliating in his manners.
Without losing a particle of his dignity, without meanness, artifice, or
flattery, he knew how to adapt himself to all sorts of society, and
was equally acceptable in the character of the saint, the sage, and the
cheerful, engaging companion. By his amenity of manners and benignity of mind he smoothed the asperity of contradiction, and left to
the machine of public business the least possible friction.
It is almost unnecessary to state, that he laid the foundation of public
confidence in his integrity, which was such that it was not only never
sacrificed, but, as far as my information extends, never suspected.
They who might differ from him the most on some subjects, of a religious or political nature, never called in question the honesty of his
intentions.  To this he joined, as a necessary instrument of success
in active life, an uncommon share of prudence: by which I mean, not
that timid policy which creeps along the shore, without venturing to
commit itself to the ocean,-which shuns danger, without aspiring to
conquest; his prudence was of a more generous and enlarged sort,the result, not so much of calculation at the moment, as of well-regu
lated passions and established principles. He loved mankind too well
to betray, or to speak evil of any.  Vanity never made him loquacious,
nor pride capricious.  Having purified his mind, under the influence
of religion, from vanity, pride, and resentment, the chief temptations
to imprudence were precluded. His ardent mind left him no leisure
for trifling, nor the great object he so steadily pursued the least disposition to mingle with the details of scandal, or the privacies of
domestic life.
The foundation of all these virtues was laid in Christian piety.  It
was this which formed the basis of his character, and directed and
regulated his pursuits. His piety was warm, manly, enlightened; at
an equal distance from the moroseness of bigotry, the weakness of
superstition, and the intemperate sallies of enthusiasm. His character
is a practical illustration of the efficacy of the Bible, of which he was
an humble and diligent student, whence he deduced his principles, and
formed his maxims. Religion with him was not an occasional feeling!
but an habitual element; not a sudden or transient impulse, but a permanent principle, a second nature, producing purity of intention, elevation of mind, and an uninterrupted series of useful exertions. Had he
been spared to attend this anniversary, he would undoubtedly have
delighted us by an impressive exhibition of the excellences of revealed
VOL. 11. —-B b




386               CHARACTER OF THE LATE
truth. Providence has adopted another mode of instruction; and now
invites us to learn from his life and from his death the lessons we are
no longer permitted to hear from his lips. He, being dead, yet speaketh;-he speaks in his writings, he speaks from his tomb, and points
to that volume which it is the object of this assembly to circulate, as
the source of all his virtues, and of all his greatness. After exhibiting,
for our imitation, the lives of the holy men recorded in Scripturesmen of whom the world was not worthy,-it has pleased God to present
to our attention his own, formed on the same model, and replete with
the same spirit. The reader of the " Scripture Characters" will be powerfully impelled to copy their example, by the reflection that there are
few of their excellences which their biographer did not attain; that
they were shown in his life with no less advantage than in his
writings; and that, in his most popular work, he did nothing more than
inculcate by his pen what he was incessantly enforcing by his practice.
The loss which the church of Christ has sustained by the extinction
of such a luminary is great; the loss to this populous town and
neighbourhood irreparable. Ages may revolve ere a similar calamity
occurs.  The shepherd is torn from his flock, the spiritual father
from his children; the sage counsellor, the patron of the poor and
the destitute, and the great example of the power of religion, whose
very countenance could not be beheld without tender veneration, is no
more.  The name of Robinson will long combine with the mention
of this place a train of solemn emotions, and the stranger will indulge
a pious curiosity in inspecting the spot where he dwelt, and the church
where he exercised his ministry.
We knew the precarious tenure by which we possessed him ill
common with all other blessings; we knew he was mortal; but notwithstanding we received repeated warnings by a succession of attacks,
few had sufficient fortitude steadily to realize the approaching event.
When the intelligence was circulated through the town, "Mr. Robinson
is dead!-Mr. Robinson is dead!" it was a thunderclap: it produced
a sensation of dismay and astonishment, as though we scarcely believed
to be possible what we knew to be certain; and such an air of desolation and sorrow was impressed upon the countenance of the inhabitants,
that a stranger must have perceived they had sustained no ordinary
calamity.  It was such as no event could have produced but the
removal of a saint and a prophet.  Whoever wishes to learn how
much piety dignifies a character, how  much sainted worth, in its
power over the heart, preponderates over every other species of
eminence, let him turn to this scene, and compare the tears of a
populous neighbourhood with the unmeaning decorations of funereal
grandeur. None spoke of his virtues, none was eloquent in his praise;
every heart was oppressed with a sense of its loss.
I cannot close this address without remarking that the possession
of such a man as Mr. Robinson incurs a proportionable weight of
responsibility, and that the time is approaching when it will be inquired
what improvement we have derived from the exercise of such talents
and the exhibition of such an example.
It is incumbent on his hearers especially to reflect that he who




REV. THOMAS ROBINSON.                    387
watched for souls is gone to give an account, not only of the principles
on which he conducted, but of the reception they gave to his embassy,
and that against the impenitent and unbelieving he is compelled to be
" a swift witness before God." His warning voice, his pathetic appeals
and expostulations, will be heard no more; but his record is on high,
and the ministry he so long exercised among us will infallibly be a
savour of life unto life, or of death unto death. His life was not so
properly employed as consumed in the incessant labour to bring sinners
to repentance; and awful will be the doom of those who persist in
rejecting the overtures of mercy, the word of reconciliation dispensed
with such admirable zeal, ability, and address.
To the pastoral cares, studies, and instructions of this most eminent
servant of God, death has put a final termination; but the enjoyment
of such a ministry, and even the opportunity of witnessing such an
example, will form a conspicuous feature in our probation, and be
replete with consequences which stretch into eternity.
Permit me to indulge one more reflection: the life and ministry of
this great man of God affords a demonstration of the futility of the
clamour which is raised against the doctrine of salvation by grace
through faith, as though it tended to relax the obligations to virtue and
to annul the commands of God.  Who ever insisted on this doctrine
more constantly, or urged its importance more earnestly, than he? and
where, among its opponents, shall we discover indications of similar
usefulness?  Through a period of more than forty years he employed
himself in beating down the arrogance of a self-justifying spirit, in
evincing the impossibility of being accepted on the footing of our own
works, and in directing men of every descriptien to seek for pardon in
the blood of the Cross. If there were any one topic on which he
delighied to dwell more than others, this was unquestionably the topic.
To his manly and unsophisticated understanding it was evident to a
demonstration that repentance must be grafted on humilitWy, and that
there was no room to apprehend his hearers would be tempted to contemn. the authority, in consequence of being abased before the majesty
ox God. He was also perfectly convinced that the blood of Christ,
sprinkled by faith, was the only effectual balmhn for afflicted consciences.
On these principles he conducted his ministry for near half a century,
and we may challenge his enemies (if there be any remaining) to deny
that its fruits were most salutary. If the apostolic doctrine which
affirms that we are justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
possess the tendency to licentiousness which its opponents ascribe to
it, that tendency could not have failed to operate under a course of
instruction so long continued, and of which the tenet in question
formed so distinguishing a feature.  "By their fruits ye shall know
them: men do not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles."
To conclude: The fittest improvement we can make of the melancholy event we are now deploring will be a serious attention to the
exhortation of St. Paul addressed to primitive Christians on the loss
of eminent pastors:-" Remember them which have had the rule ovel
you; and considering the end of their conversation, imitate their faith."
Bb2




FRAGMENT.
CHARACTER OF THE REV. JOHN SUTCLIFF.
[Written zn 1814. Not published befo I
A SWEET humility formed a very distinguishing feature in his chai
acter. Who ever witnessed in our deceased i:other those airs of
arrogance or that fondness for display which a&o trequently found in
persons of very inferior talents and acquiremeil4s to those which he
possessed? In truth, his aversion to ostentatio;n might alone be said
to be carried.to excess, since it prevented him in his public ministry
from availing himself of [those] ample stores,Jr knowledge by which
ne could often have delighted and instructed ikis hearers. He had far
more learning than the mere hearer of his discourses would have
conjectured; for he seemed almost as anxiouu to conceal as some are
to display.
Nor was it in this particular alone that hii humility was apparent.
It diffulsed itself over the whole of his character and deportment, and
gave it a certain beauty which [no] artifice could successfully imitate.
His humility was not displayed in depreciating his performances,
nor in speaking of himself in degrading terms: it appeared rather
in forgetting himself, and in a natural readiness to give others the
superiority. It accompanied him so incessantly, that he might truly
be said to " le clothed with humility."
As his disposition little inclined him to ecstasy and rapture, so his
piety shone with a mild and steady lustre, perfectly free from the false
fire of enthusiasm, and equally from a lukewarm  formality.  TI ere
were few men in whom it appeared more natural, or more manifestly
as a principle interwoven with the inmost texture of his mind.  His
great modesty seldom  permitted him to advert to his own experience
either in public discourse or in more private conversation; but a
savour of experimental piety pervaded his whole character.
The mild and placid cheerfulness which marked his countenance
and deportment would lead us to, suppose that he habitually walked in
the Divine light, and the evidences of his interest in the Divine favour
were rarely, if ever, impaired or eclipsed. He was one of the few
men whose cheerfulness appeared to be increased by age; verifying,




CHARACTER OF THE REV. JOHN SUTCLIFF.              389
illn this particular, the description given of " the path of the just, that is
as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect
day."  His life was truly exemplary, being filled up with an uninterrupted series of useful, benevolent, and pious actions, proceeding from
their principles, and distinguished by an eminent decorum of time and
place.  He was a pattern to believers, "in faith, in purity, and in
conversation." Though rather the opposite to loquacious, he had a
high relish for the pleasures of Christian society, in which it is difficult
to say whether he imparted or received most pleasure. "The law of
kindness was on his tongue;" and so attentive was he on every
occasion to the feelings of those with whom he conversed, that his
company was both inoffensive and delightful.
Through a long series of years- his attendance at the association
and at ministers' meetings was so constant and punctual that his
occasional absence was severely felt, and that meeting seemed
essentially defective which was not, graced with his presence.  His
appearance among us was hailed as a certain presage of harmony and
love. Multitudes can witness the deep and pungent regret experienced
at the last annual association at the melancholy tidings of that fatal
illness which prevented his attendance.
Few men took a deeper interest than our deceased brother in the
general state of the church and the propagation of the gospel abroad.
The future glory of the kingdom of Christ and the best means of
promoting it were his favourite topics, and usurped a large part of his
thoughts and his prayers; nor was he ever more in his element than
when he was exerting his powers in devising plans for its extension.
The Baptist mission in Indlia is under incalculable obligations to his
sagacity and prudence.




MEMOIR
OF
THE REV. THOMAS TOLLER,
[ Written in 1821.]
THE subject of the following Memoir was born at South Petherton,
a populous village in Somersetshire, A. D. 1756. His parents were
John and Mary Toller, whose maiden name was Northcote. His
father was an attorney of eminence, two of whose sons were educated
for that profession.  Of the early years of Thomas, the subject of the
following narrative, I have little information, further than that both his
parents were eminently pious, and that he always considered himself
indebted, under God, for his first religious impressions to the tender
solicitude of his mother for the promotion of his eternal welfare.
Whether those impressions issued at that period in genuine conversion
is not known: nor are we possessed of any authentic information of the
circumstances connected with that event.  The extreme diffidence
and modesty which distinguished Mr. Toller probably prevented his
relating to his nearest friends the early exercises of his mind on
religious subjects: the consequence is, that in this instance, as in
many others, we are left to infer the reality of the change from its
effects.  The light and insinuations of the Divine Spirit so often
accompany the conduct of a strictly religious education, that some
of the most eminent Christians have acknowledged themselves at a
loss to assign the precise era of their conversion; but whether this
was the case with our excellent friend it is impossible to say.
At the early age of fifteen, his parents sent him to the'academy at
Daventry in Northamptonshire, over which Dr. Ashworth, the worthy
successor of the celebrated Dr. Doddridge, presided: his assistant in
the academy was the Rev. Mr. Robins, who afterward occupied the
same station with distinguished ability. Of both his tutors he was
wont to speak in terms of high respect: of Mr. Robins he was often
heard to say, that he considered him as the wisest and the best man
he ever knew. Among many other mental endowments, he was remarkable for delicacy of taste and elegance of diction; and, perhaps,
my reader will excuse my observing, that the first perception of these
qualities which the writer of these lines remembers to have possessed,




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                  39
arose from hearing him preach at Northampton on a public occasion.
It is to be lamented that he has left none of those productions behind
him, which a correct and beautiful imagination, imbodied in language
of the most classic purity, rendered so impressive and delightful. The
qualities of his heart corresponded to those of his genius; and though
long before his death his bodily infirmities obliged him to relinquish a
commanding station and retire into obscurity, he retained to the last
such an ascendency over the minds of his former pupils, and such an
interest in their affections, as nothing but worth of the highest order
can command.
To return from this digression.  At the time of Mr. Toller's
admission into the Daventry academy, the literary reputation of that
seminary was higher than that of any among the dissenters; but
partly owing to a laxness in the terms of admission, and partly to the
admixture of lay and divinity students, combined with the mode in
which theology was taught, erroneous principles prevailed much; and
the majority of such as were educated there became more distinguished
for their learning than for the fervour of their piety, or the purity of their
doctrine. The celebrated Priestley speaks of the state of the academy,
while he resided there, with great complacency: nothing, he assures
us, could be more favourable to the progress of free inquiry; since
both the tutors and students were about equally divided between the
orthodox and Arian systems. The arguments by which every possible
modification of error is attempted to be supported were carefully
marshalled in hostile array against the principles generally embraced;
while the theological professor prided himself on the steady impartiality
with which he held the balance between the contending systems, seldom
or never interposing his own opinion, and still less betraying the
slightest emotion of antipathy to error, or predilection to truth.  Thus
a spirit of indifference to all religious principles was generated in the
first instance, which naturally paved the way for the prompt reception
of doctrines indulgent to the corruption and flattering to the pride of a
depraved and fallen nature.
To affirm that Mr. Toller derived no injury from being exposed at
so tender an age to this vortex of unsanctified speculation and debate,
would be affirming too much, since it probably gave rise to a certain
general manner of stating the peculiar doctrines of the gospel which
attached chiefly to the earlier part of his ministry; though it is equally
certain that his mind, even when he left the academy, was so far imbued
with the grand peculiarities of the gospel that he never allowed himself
to lose sight of the doctrine of the Cross as the only basis of human
hope.
Of the conduct of his academical studies nothing memorable is
recorded.  From  a very accomplished man, who I believe was his
fellow-student, I have merely heard that he had no relish for the
mathematics, a circumstance which has been often recorded in the
biography of men of indisputable intellectual pre-eminence.
After a residence at Daventry of four years, he was appointed to
supply a destitute congregation at Kettering, where he preached for




392           MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
the first time October 1, 1775; and his services proved so acceptable,
that, after repeated visits, he was invited to take up his permanent
residence with them, with which he complied in June of the ensuing
year, and was ordained pastor May 28, 1778. On his first coming
to Kettering, the church was in a divided and unsettled state.  His
immediate predecessor was a gentleman of the name of Fuller, who,
at the end of two years, in consequence of much dissension in the
church, resigned the pastoral charge. Mr. Fuller was preceded by
the Rev. Mr. Boyce, who sustained the pastoral office for a long series
of years with the highest reputation and success, and whose death
was deplored as an irreparable calamity, leaving it very improbable
that a successor could be speedily found capable of uniting the
suffrages of a people whose confidence and esteem he had so long
exclusively enjoyed.  Such is the imperfection of the present state,
that the possession of a more than ordinary portion of felicity is the
usual forerunner of a correspondent degree of privation and distress;
and the removal of a pastor who has long been the object of veneration
generally places a church in a critical situation, exposed to feuds and
dissensions, arising out of the necessity of a new choice. That of Mr.
Toller, notwithstanding his extreme youth, was nearly unanimous.
When he first supplied the congregation, nothing was more remote
from his expectation than being invited to a permanent residence: his
highest ambition was to be tolerated as a transient supply; and when,
to his no small surprise, they made choice of him as their stated
minister, he entered on that office with that heartfelt conviction of its
importance, and unfeigned distrust of his own sufficiency, which are
the surest omen of success.  He commenced his career with fear
and trembling; and instead of being elated by the preference shown
him by a large and respectable society, he trembled, and was ready
to sink under the weight of his responsibility.
Few men probably have been more indebted for the formation of their
character to the fervent piety of their audience.  Such was the state
of his mind at that period, that had he been connected with a people
of an opposite character, his subsequent history would have exhibited,'n all probability, features very dissimilar from those which eventually
belonged to it. If, in a lengthened ministerial course, the people are
usually formed by their pastor, in the first stage it is the reverse; it
is the people who form the minister. Mr. Toller often expressed his
gratitude for that merciful providence which united him at so early a
period with a people adapted to invigorate his piety, and confirm his
attachment to the vital, fundamental truths of Christianity.  The
reciprocal influence of a minister and a congregation on each other is
so incessant and so powerful, that I would earnestly dissuade an
inexperienced youth from connecting himself with a people whose
doctrine is erroneous, or whose piety is doubtful, lest he should be
tempted to consult his ease by choosing to yield to a current he would
find it difficult to resist. To root up error, and reclaim a people from
inveterate habits of vice and irreligion, is "-questionably a splendid




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                 393
achievement; but it requires a hardihood of character and decision
of principle not often found in young persons.
Little variety must be looked for in the subsequent sketch of Mr.
Toller's life. As he travelled little, and seldom mingled in the scenes
of public business,-as his habits were domestic and his disposition
retired,-years glided away, without presenting an occurrence of sufficient magnitude to entitle it to a permanent record. Through a long
series of years, he persevered in the exemplary discharge of his
spiritual functions, among a people who, in proportion as his talents
unfolded themselves, regarded him with increasing love and veneration, as well on account of his ministerial qualifications, as his amiable,
prudent, and consistent deportment.  He was the centre of union to a
large and an extensive circle of ministers and of people, who, however
they might differ in other particulars, unanimously concurred in their
admiration of his talents, and their esteem of his virtues.  He was
surrounded by friends who vied with each other in demonstrations
of respect, and by an audience who looked forward to each succeeding
Sabbath as to a mental feast, and who hung upon his lips with an
attention which might have tempted a stranger to suppose they were
hearing him for the first time or the last. From the commencement
of his residence at Kettering, the attachment of his people went on
still increasing, till it arrived at a point beyond which it would have
been idolatry. This extraordinary attachment must be ascribed partly
to the impression produced by his public services, and partly to the
gentleness and amenity of his private manners. It may be possible
to find other preachers equally impressive, and other men equally
amiable; but such a combination of the qualities calculated to give the
ascendant to a public speaker with those which inspire the tenderness
of private friendship, is of rare occurrence. The leisure which the
retired and tranquil tenor of his life secured he employed in the perusal
of the best authors in our language, which, by continually adding to
his mental stores, imparted to his ministry an ample and-endless variety.
Although he almost invariably preached from notes composed in shorthand, his immediate preparations for the pulpit, there is reason to
believe, were neither long nor laborious.  His discourses were not the
painful productions of a barren mind, straining itself to meet the exigences of the moment; but, gathered from a rich and cultivated soil,
they were a mere scantling of the abundance which was left behind.
He considered every new accession to the stock of his ideas, every
effort of reflection, as a preparation for the pulpit; and looked upon
those who are necessitated to afford a portion of periodical instruction
every week without having accumulated mental stores, as in much
the same situation with the Israelites who were doomed to produce
their tale of bricks without straw. Preachers of this description may
indeed amass a heap of glittering and misplaced ornaments, or beat
the air with the flourishes of a tumid, unmeaning rhetoric; but the
deficiency of real matter, of solid information, cannot fail eventually
to consign them to contempt. Whether Mr. Toller was ever a severe
student, or ever was engaged in a regular and systematic pursuit of the




394          MEMOIR rF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
different branches of literature or of science, I cannot ascertain; but
that he was much devoted to reading is matter of notoriety. By the
incessant accumulation of fresh materials, he became " a scribe well
instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom of God," and, " like a wise
householder," was enabled "to bring out of his treasure things new
and old." The settlement of Mr. Fuller, the venerable secretary of the
Baptist Mission, in the same place, by giving scope to a virtuous
emulation, was probably equally beneficial to both parties. From the
absence of competition, and the abundance of leisure attending a country
retirement, the mental faculties are in danger of slumbering; the rust
of sloth too often blunts their edge, and impairs their brightness;
which nothing could be more fitted to counteract than the presence
of such a man as Mr. Fuller, distinguished for constitutional ardour
and industry.
In the year 1793 he entered into the married state with Miss Elizabeth Gale, the eldest daughter of Mr. William Gale, who then resided
at Cranford, in the neighbourhood of Kettering. By this lady he had
two children,-John, who died in his infancy, and Thomas, who still
survives him, and under the most pleasing auspices succeeds his father
in the pastoral office. During the short period of this union he appears
to have enjoyed the highest degree of connubial felicity; but not long
after the birth of her second child Mrs.'roller betrayed symptoms of
consumption, and after languishing a considerable time under the
attack of that incurable malady, through the whole of which her
ardent attachment to her husband and profound submission to the will
of God were most conspicuous, she expired on the 15th of September, 1796.
It was about this period of his life that my acquaintance with him
commenced.  I had known him previously, and occasionally heard
him; but it was at a season when I was not qualified to form a correct
estimate of his talents. At the time referred to we were engaged to
preach a double lecture at Thrapstone, nine miles from Kettering; and
never shall I forget the pleasure and surprise with which I listened
to an expository discourse from 1 Peter ii. 1-3.  The richness, the
unction, the simple majesty which pervaded his address produced a
sensation which I never felt before: it gave me a new view of the
Christian ministry.  But the effect, powerful as it was, was not to be
compared with that which I experienced a few days after, 6n hearing
him at the half-yearly association at Bedford.  The, text which he
selected was peculiarly solemn and impressive: his discourse was
founded on 2 Peter i. 12-15, —" Yea, I think it meet as long as I am
in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our
Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me," &c.  The effect of this discourse
on the audience was such as I have never witnessed before or since.
It was undoubtedly very much aided by the peculiar circumstances of
the speaker, who was judged to be far advanced in a declilie, and who
seemed to speak under a strong impression of its being the last time
he should address his brethren on such an occasion. The aspect of




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER                    395
the preacher, pale, emaciated, standing apparently on the verge of eter.
nity, the simplicity and majesty of his sentiments, the sepulchral
solemnity of a voice which seemed to issue from the shades, combined with the intrinsic dignity of the subject, perfectly quelled the
audience with tenderness and terror, and produced such a scene of
audible weeping as was perhaps never surpassed. All other emotions
were absorbed in devotional feeling: it seemed to us as though we
were permitted for a short space to look into eternity, and every sublunary object vanished before " the powers of the world to come." Yet
there was no considerable exertion, no vehemence displayed by the
sl)ealker. no splendid imagery, no magnificent description: it was the
simple domination of truth, of truth indeed of infinite moment, borne in
upon the heart by a mind intensely alive to its reality and grandeur
Criticism was disarmed; the hearer felt himself elevated to a region
which it could not penetrate; all was powerless submission to the
master-spirit of the scene.  It will be always considered by those who
witnessed it as affording as high a specimen as can be easily conceived
of the power of a preacher over his audience, the habitual or even frequent recurrence of which would create an epoch in the religious
history of the world.
During this interview he was invited by the writer of these lines to
pay a visit to his friends at Cambridge: with that invitation he shortly
after complied.  His health had long been much impaired, and serious
apprehensions had been entertained, by others as well as by himself,
of his being far advanced in a decline.  By his excursion to Cambridge,
ihowever, in the course of which he met with the most flattering attentions from all quarters, his spirits were revived, his health improved,
and from that tinme the symptoms of disease gradually subsided. During
his visit he afforded the people' of Cambridge and its vicinity several
opportunities of hearing him; and on no occasion was he heard without admiration and delight: for, though no single discourse was equally
impressive with that which was delivered- at Bedford, he sustained to
the full the high reputation he had acquired; nor will the numerous
and respectable congregations he addressed ever cease to consider this
as one of the most favoured seasons of their 1;ves.  From that time his
celebrity as a preacher was diffused through a much wider circle than
before: he began universally to be esteemed one of the most distinguished ministers of the age, —a character which he maintained with
undiminished lustre to the end of his life.
He continued a widower till the year 1803, when he took for his
second wife Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Mr. William Wilkinson,
of Northampton, by whom he had five children, Richard, William, Joseph, Henry, and George, all of whom, together with their mother,
survive him.  To what degree this union contributed.to the happiness
of the latter stages of his life the delicacy due to a most amiable woman, whose humility renders her as averse to receive praises as she is
careful to deserve them, forbids me to say.  Suffice it to observe, that
notwithlstanding the disparity of years, there never was a connexion
which more completely realized the highest anticipations of the friends
of both parties.




396           MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
In the year 1799 the congregation assembling in Carter-lane, Low
don, under the pastoral care of' the excellent Mr. Taylor, wanting a
supply for one part of the day, applied to Mr. Toller, and offered him
for one service on.y a salary considerably beyond what he then enjoyed.
To this invitation he gave a decided negative. In the eginning of the
following year the congregation at Clapham gave him a similar invita.
tion, which he also declined.  The two congregations then united
their invitations, offering a large salary on condition of his undertaking
a single service at each place. This joint application he refused.
The people of Kettering, hearing of these repeated attempts to remove
him, became justly alarmed: a few of them waited upon him, informing
him of the uneasiness they felt at the repeated attempts which had
been made and were still making to effect a separation. They assured
him of his entire possession of the hearts of his people, and that though
their situation did not permit their making such proposals as the other
parties, they would do all in their power, and most gladly rectify any
circumstances which gave him uneasiness. His reply was, that if he
found his services still acceptable, no pecuniary advantages should ever
tempt him to relinquish his charge. At the same time he intimated,
that as the two congregations still persisted in their application, he
wished his people publicly to express their sentiments on the subject,
that he might be armed with conclusive reasons for declining invitations so earnestly and-repeatedly urged. This gave occasion to three
separate addresses-from the young people, from the members of the
Benevolent Society, and from the congregation at large; each expressive of the high esteem they entertained for his character, their sense
of the benefit derived from his ministry, and their extreme reluctance
to resign advantages which they so highly prized. To these addresses
a most affectionate and appropriate reply was made by their pastor, in
which he assured them of his unalterable attachment, together with his
anal determination to accede to their wishes; and thus ended the last
attempt to remove Mr. Toller from his station.
The reader will naturally be surprised to find that on this occasion
no address was presented by the church.  As this omission cannot with
a shadow of probability be ascribed to indifference on their part, it must
be imputed to the church not occupying that rank in the esteem of the
auditory to which it is justly entitled. In every Christian congregation
the church ought to be regarded as the principal object, to which the
auditory are but an appendage, and for a union with which it should
be their highest ambition to become qualified. Congregations are the
creatures of circumstances; churches the institution of God: and if we
adhere to the maxims and examples of Scripture, and of primitive antiquity, in all religious proceedings their judgment will first be consulted,
and their official character recognised. But here we meet with a trans
action of great moment, in which three classes of persons, to which no
function is assigned in the New Testament, act a conspicuous part,
while the church is wholly overlooked. My reason for animadverting
on this procedure is, that in the economy of modern dissenters a growing tendency may be perceived to merge the church in the congrega



MEMOIR OF MR. TIHOMAS TOLLER.                  397
tion, tland to commit the management of the most weighty matters to a
body of subscribers in-preference to the members; an innovation. should
it generally prevail, productive of incalculable evils. Many of those
who compose the auditors, in distinction from the church, may possess
genuine piety; but while they persist in declining to make a public
profession of Christ, it is scarcely possible for them to give proof of it:
the greater part, it is no breach of candour to suppose, are men of the
world; and surely it requires little penetration to perceive the danger
which religion must sustain by transferring the management of its concerns from persons decidedly religious to those whose pretensions to
interfere are founded solely on pecuniary considerations.  The presumptuous intermeddling of worldly, unsanctified spirits with ecclesiastical' concerns has been the source of almost every error in doctrine,
and enormity in practice, that has deformed the profession of Chris.
tianity from the time of Constantine to the present day; nor is dissent
of much importance, except as far as it affords an antidote to this evil.
The system which confounds the distinction between the church and the
congregation has long since been carried to perfection in the Presbyterian denomination; and we all know what preceded and what has followed that innovation,-the decay of piety, the destruction of discipline,
a most melancholy departure, in a word, both in principle and in practice, from genuine Christianity.
No event contributed more to make Mr. Toller extensively known
beyond the limits of the dissenting connexion than the active part
which he took in promoting the objects of the Bible Society.  Strongly
impressed with the truth of our Lord's declaration, that " the kingdom of
God cometh not with observation," and constitutionally averse to every
thing noisy and ostentatious, it was rarely that he could be prevailed
upon to engage in those popular religious societies, the existence of
which may be said to constitute an era in the history of religion. Of
societies even formed for the propagation of Christianity in foreign
parts lie was more disposed to admire the zeal that animated the
exertions than to anticipate the success, having formed an opinion that
the final triumph of the gospel over paganism was destined to be
effected by the renewal of those miraculous gifts which attended its
first promulgation.
But the Bible Society, by the simplicity of its object, and the comprehensive catholicism of its constitution, so consonant to the un.
bounded liberality of his views, commanded his unqualified approbation;
and'having been chosen one of the secretaries for the Northern Auxiliary Branch, in the county of Northampton, from its first formation,
he directed the entire force of his mind to it; attending regularly, as
long as his health would permit, the various meetings held in the
vicinity. The sensation produced by his speech at the first meeting
at Northampton, where his grace the Duke of Grafton presided, will
never be forgotten.  Departing from the usual practice on such occasiots1, he addressed a considerable part of it to the noble chairman,
contrasting his then situation with that which he occupied in the House
of Lords; a task which, difficult as it was, he performed with a dignity;




3958          MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLEIL
pathos, and decorum that astonished and delighted the audience.  Its
effect on the duke himself was to draw tears from his eyes, and
induce him to double his original donation. In strokes of sudden
pathos and unpolished grandeur Mr. Toller was almost unequalled;
and as his whole soul was engaged in promoting the Bible Society,
on no occasion were his peculiar powers displayed to more advantage.
It has been already remarked, that missionary efforts excited at
their commencement but little of his attention; not because he was
indifferent to their object, but from a settled conviction that the conversion of the heathen was not to be effected by ordinary means, but by
miraculous interposition.  Whether he entirely relinquished that expectation I am not prepared to say; it is certain his views underwent
some modification upon that subject. The astonishing progress of the
Bible Society in circulating the Scriptures throughout the world, —the
unparalleled exertions of Dr. Carey and of others in translating them
into the principal languages of the East, and of the success of the
London Missionary Society in Africa and the South Sea, where whole
tribes and nations have been led by a simultaneous impulse to abandon their idols, and to worship the one living and true God, opened a
new prospect, and convinced him that the general emancipation of the
pagan world from the power of darkness might be accomplished without that supernatural agency which he formerly deemed indispensable.
A pertinacious adherence to one mode of thinking, in spite of superior
evidence, was no part of his character; and though not very apt to
change his opinion on subjects on which he had long exercised his
minds his firmness was untinctured with obstinacy.
During the greater portion of his life he was occasionally liable to
great depression of spirits; but about seven years previous to its close,
in consequence of a sudden interruption of the profuse perspiration
which had constantly attended his public exercises, and which was
thrown back upon the system, he sunk into such a state of despondency as disqualified him, for some time, for the discharge of his
ministerial functions. His mind, during this season, was harassed
with the most distressing apprehensions of a future state, and possessed with such a view of his pollution in the sight of a holy God,
that he was tempted to suppose all his past experience in religion was:delusive. Of his state of mind during this melancholy period, I know
not whether he has. left any written account; but I recollect, when
adverting to it in familiar conversation, he described it as a year of
almost incessant weeping and prayer. Though none who were acquainted with him will entertain a doubt of the sincerity of his piety
previous to that afflictive visitation, as little can it be doubted that it
was a source of great spiritual improvement, that he "c did business in
the mighty waters," and that he was brought to a more profound
knowledge of himself, and a more deep and humble reliance on the
power and grace of the Redeemer, than he had before experienced.
From that time his discourses were more thoroughly imbued with the
peculiarities of the gospel, his doctrinal views more clear and precise,
and his whole conversation and deportment such as announced a rapid




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                  399
a.vance in spirituality.  That generality in his statements of revealed
truth which was the consequence of his education at Daventry, and
which almost invariably characterized the pupils of that seminary,
totally disappeared, and he attained "to all the riches of the full
assurance of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ." Though
he survived that affliction several years, it probably shortened his life,
by giving that concussion to his nervous system from which he never
perfectly recovered; and from that time the circulation of his blood
appears to have been less regular, and the depression of his spirits
more frequent than before.
In the year 1813, the friends of Mr. Toller determined to carry into
effect an idea which had before been suggested, that of raising a sum
of money to be presented as a testimony of their esteem, as well as
with a view to lay the basis of a permanent provision for his family
As soon as he had intelligence of the design, he, in a letter to a gentleman who had taken an active part in the affair, communicated very
freely his sentiments on the occasion, in which, without positively declining it, he suggested some objections to the measure, intimating his
fear that, by occasioning a diversity of sentiment on its propriety, it
might destroy that harmony and cordiality of feeling which had so
long prevailed in his connexions.  It breathes such a spirit of tenderness, humility, and modesty, that I cannot doubt the reader will be
gratified by its insertion.* It is almost unnecessary to add, that the
apprehensions and scruples which arose from his extreme delicacy
were overruled, and a sum amounting to nearly a thousand pounds
was contributed, with a promptitude and alacrity which did equal
honour to those who conferred and to him who received the favour.
When it is recollected that he had repeatedly resisted the most earnest
solicitations to remove to a superior situation, and was charged with
the care of a numerous and increasing family, the whole transaction
cannot fail to impress the reader with admiration of the liberality in
which the donation originated, and of the delicate reluctance with
which it was accepted. The desire of wealth never took possession
of his mind. Contented and thankful for that decent competence
which he was at no time suffered to want, he was frugal without
being parsimonious, and generous without profusion.
The system of his life was eminently uniform and tranquil, distinguished by few of the events and vicissitudes which are adapted in
the recital to amuse or to agitate the reader. In the summer months
he frequently rose at a very early hour, and was often met in his
solitary walks in the neighbouring woods, by peasants who were
"going forth to their work and to their labour till the evening." In
these silent and retired scenes he took great delight; and from his
observation of the beauties of nature, and the operations of husbandry,
he frequently derived those images and illustrations which ftrnished a
rich repast for his audience. Possessed of great sensibility, and a
rich and lively imagination, he was accustomed more than almost any
*See p. 409.




400           MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
other man to clothe the abstractions of religion in the garb of sensible
images, to illustrate his conceptions by frequent allusions to the most
striking scenes in nature and in life.  What is said of our I ord may
almost be affirmed of him, that he taught the people in parables, and
without a parable he spake not unto them. Truth compels me te
confess that he sometimes carried this peculiarity to excess; but along
with this concession it is but justice to observe, that the habit of
appealing to the imagination was not only admirably adapted to a
numerous class of subjects, but greatly conitributed to that power of
delectation which so eminently distinguished his ministry.  His discourses were never vapid, tedious, or uninteresting. A certain intensity
of devotional feeling, a deep and solemn pathos, accompanied with
tones expressive of the greatest sensibility, sustained the attention of
the audience in full vigour.
It was his custom, during the greater part of his ministry, to devote
the morning service to exposition, in the course of which lhe went very
much at large through the life of Moses and of Christ, each of which
occupied him several years. A great part of both Testaments was
thus brought before the minds of his hearers.  He was strongly impressed with a conviction of the advantages resulting from that mode
of instruction, by its affording a more ample variety of topics, imparting a more profound and extensive acquaintance with the Scriptures,
and enabling the teacher of religion to introduce many practical
remarks, many minute points and details, which, however useful in the
conduct of life, would with difficulty find a place in a regular discourse.
It is evident from the writings of the fathers, that this was the primitive mode of preaching, handed down to the Christian Church from the
Jewish synagogue; and wherever a people are more desirous of
acquiring real knowledge than of a momentary excitement, it will b 
decidedly preferred.  Unhappily, the taste of most hearers is the
reverse: they are a sort of spiritual epicures, who prefer a poignant
and stimulating to a simple and nourishing diet, and would infinitely
rather have their passions awakened than their conscience directed,
or their understanding enlarged.
For this reason, expositions will generally be preferred by the intelligent part of an audience, and sermons by a promi.sP,'ous multitude.
The peculiar talents of Mr. Toller qualified him, above most men, for
combining the advantages of both methods, by infusing th'at degree of
pathos and animation into his expository lectures which rendered them
little less affecting than his sermons.  Though he possessed, there is
reason to believe, a competent knowledge of the Scriptures in their
original tongues, from condescension to his audience, and his extreme
abhorrence of whatever savours of pedantry, he was yet sparing of
critical remarks, and availed himself less of the advantages of a
liberal education and of incessant reading, for exact interpretations of
the sacred volume, than he might with unexceptionable propriety have
done.  His expositions were practical and popular, not critical or
elaborate. In order to preserve a unity of design, and to perpetuate
an identity of impression, it was his usual practice to select some




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                401
portion of the paragraph which he had been expounding in the former
part of the day as the basis of the afternoon discourse.
It would be great injustice to the memory of my invaluable friend,
while speaking of his ministerial qualifications, not to mention his
striking superiority in the discharge of the devotional part of his
public functions, his almost unrivalled eminence in prayer. His
addresses to the Supreme Being united every excellence of which
they are susceptible: they were copious without being redundant, fer
vent without extravagance, elevated without the least appearance of
turgidity or pomp. He poured out his whole soul in an easy,
unaffected flow of devotional sentiment; adoration seemed to be his
natural element; and, as he appeared to lose all consciousness of
any other presence but that of the Deity, lie seldom failed to raise his
audience to the same elevation, to make them realize the feelings of
Jacob, when he exclaimed, "How awful is this place!" If this
encomium admits of any abatement, it must be on the ground of their
length, which was not unfrequently equal to that of his sermons. Nor
was he less admirable in family devotion: many a time have I been
surprised at the promptitude, ease, and grace with which he would,advert to the peculiar circumstances of the family, or of its principal
members, with an allusion sometimes to minute incidents, without
once impairing the solemnity, or detracting from the dignity, which
ought ever to accompany a religious exercise. His petitions in behalf
of each individual were stamped with something exclusively proper to
his situation or character, so that while he was concurring in an act
of social worship, he felt, ere he was aware, as if he were left alone
wvith God.
In his public discourses he was apt to limit himself too much for
time, either to dlo full justice to his subject, or to prolong the impression until it had completely incorporated itself with the mind of the
hearer: the curtain was let fall at the moment the scene was most
~interesting, and the current of emotion suddenly checked and inter.
rupted when it was just rising to its height. The mind is so constituted,
that in order to produce a permanent effect, a train of thought, however
interesting, must occupy the attention for a considerable space: the
soul kindles by degrees, and must pass through successive gradations
of feeling before it reaches the utmost elevation of sublime and
pathetic emotion. Hence it is that the most powerful speakers, in every
age, have had recourse to a frequent repetition of the same arguments
and topics, quite useless on any other account than its tendency to prolong
the impression, and to render it by that means more durable and
intense. Had Mr. Toller paid more attention to this principle of our
constitution, I will not say he would have been a more interesting and
delightful preacher,-for it is not easy to conceive how his sermons
could have been much more impressive than they frequently were,
during their delivery,-but their power over the audience would probably
have been more lasting and more salutary. The defect which we
have taken the liberty of noticing may perhaps be ascribed to the
habit of writing his sermons, a practice more favourable to accuracy
VOL. II.-C e




402             MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
of language and condensation of thought than to copiousness and
expansion.
But it is time to return to our narrative, which a few words will
despatch.  During several of the last years of his life, our excellent
friend exhibited symptoms of a tendency to apoplexy; and in the
year 1819, as he was going to his study, he was seized with a fit,
which appeared instantly to deprive him of all sensation, to the inexpressible alarm of his family.  But before medical aid could be procured,
his bodily strength and the possession of his mental powers were
restored, and in two hours he displayed no indications of the awful
event, except a degree of lassitude, and a slight contortion in the muscles
about the mouth, both of which shortly disappeared.  This circumstance, it is remarked by one of his friends, afforded a melancholy
confirmation of their fears. They had long apprehended the seeds of
apoplexy were lurking in his constitution, so that they looked upon
this visitation as a voice from  God, preparing them, by no doubtful
warning, for the speedy dissolution of a connexion which had long
been the source of so much improvement and delight.
The circumstances attending the last scene of his life, I cannot give
better than in the words of a respectable friend from whom I received
the account.  " He had," says the writer of the following narrative,
" for many years supposed it probable he should be subject to apoplexy
or palsy.  His fears fixed on the latter: and to his nearest friends he
has often said, in allusion to these apprehensions,'I do not fear,
on the whole, to die; nor do I fear, I hope, to suffer, if I may but have
the needful support from God; but if I am doomed to a long scene of
suffering, and to become a burden to myself and friends, I do fear that
faith and patience may fail, and that I may at last dishonour the cause
I have preached, and the Master whom I serve and love.' The attack
which has been mentioned removed the fear of palsy almost entirely: he
was convinced the disorder was apoplexy; and the consequent convictiori that.such probably would be his end,-that, without pain or long
affliction, he should, when his great Master had done with his services, be thus kindly dismissed,-had an immediate and an exhilarating
effect upon his mind. After this, he had frequent seizures of the same
kind, which lasted for a very short time, seldom more than five minutes
in the whole; but they left evident traces on his bodily frame, though
they had no other effect upon his Dmind than to confirm his hope of
immediate dismission'when his work was done.'  Near the:close
of the year 1820, one of these attacks left him so weak and shattered
in constitution as to convince him he should never be able to resume
his full pastoral duties again; and he, in a very affectionate manner
communicated this conviction to his people. They immediately sought
an assistant, and most naturally turned their attention to the son of
their beloved pastor, who had been preaching at Wem, in Shropshire,
for some time, but at that moment was visiting his father; to whom
he had hurried in dreadful doubt, from the account that he had received,
whether he should see his face any more. — From this attack he
gradually recovered, and continued for some weeks to gain strength.




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                     403
On Sunday the 25th of February, he preached in the morning with
all his usual animation, from Isa. lxiii. 7-13, and remarked, at the
close of the discourse, what encouragement this passage affords the
widow and the fatherless to put their trust in God, finishing his last
public discourse with these words:-'To thee our infant race we leave -;
Them may their fathers' God receive,
That ages yet un born may raise
Successive hymns of humble praise.'
He spent the evening surrounded by his family, and conversing with
his children in a strain of cheerful piety; and after a night of sound
repose, arose as well as usual the next morning. About noon leaving
the parlour, he was found a few minutes after in an apoplectic fit, or a
seizure resembling apoplexy.  Several medical men repaired to the
spot, but life was extinct."
His remains were interred in the burying-ground belonging to the
meeting-house, on Thursday the 8th of March.  On that occasion the
Rev. Mr. Horsey, of Northampton, engaged in prayer; the Rev. Mr.
Edwards, of the same place, delivered the funeral oration; and the
writer of these lines endeavoured to improve the providence by a
suitable discourse. A considerable number of the clergy in the vicinity,
and nearly all the dissenting ministers of the county, attended the
procession, which was rendered deeply affecting by the tears of a vast
assembly, consisting of all the respectable inhabitants of the town,
who felt on this occasion that they had lost a father and a friend.
Having already glanced at the most distinguishing features in the
character of Mr. Toller, an elaborate delineation of it will neither be
necessary nor expected.
It is remarkable, that though he invariably delivered his sermons
from notes, to which he strictly adhered, his style of composition was
eminently colloquial; it had all the careless ease, negligence, and
occasional inaccuracy which might be looked for in an extemporaneous
address.  He appears never to have turned his attention to composition as an art; and the force and beauty with which he sometimes
expressed himself was the spontaneous effect of a vivid imagination,
accompanying the truest sensibility.  His most affecting illustrations
(and the power of illustrating a subject was his distinguishing faculty)
were drawn from the most familiar scenes of life; and, after he became
a father, not unfrequently from the incidents which attach to that relation.
An example of this (supplied by the friend whose words have been
already quoted) will afford the reader some idea of the manner in
which he availed himself of images drawn from the domestic circle.
His text was Isaiah xxvii. 5: "' Let him take hold of my strength,
that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.'"I think," said he, " I can convey- the meaning of this passage so
that every one may understand it, by what took place in my own
fiamily within these few days. One of my little children had committed
a fault for which I thought it my duty to chastise him.  I called him
to me, explained to him the evil of what he had done, and told hinm
Cc2




404          MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
how grieved I was that I must punish him for it. Ile heard me in
silence, and then rushed into my arms, and burst into tears.  I could
sooner have cut off my arm than have then struck him for his faulthe had taken hold of my strength, and he had made peace with me."
IHe possessed great originality, not so much, however, in the stamina,If his thoughts, as in the cast of his imagination.  He seldom reminded
you of any other speaker to whom he bore the slightest resemblance;
his excellences and his defects rendered it equally evident that he had
formed himself on no preceding model,-that he yielded without
restraint to the native bias of his character and genius.  The effect
of imitation would, undoubtedly, have been the acquisition of more
elegance and correctness, probably at the expense of higher qualities
-of that noble simplicity and careless grandeur which were the
distinguishing features of his eloquence. In the power of awakening
pathetic emotions he far excelled any speaker it has been my lot to
hear.  Often have I seen a whole congregation melted under him like
wax before the sun: my own feelings, on more than one occasion,
have approached to an overpowering agitation.  The effect was
produced apparently with perfect ease.  No elaborate preparation, no
peculiar vehemence or intensity of tones, no artful accumulation of
pathetic images led the way: the mind was captivated and subdued,
it scarcely knew how.  Though it will not be Imagined that this
triumph of popular eloquence could be habitual, much less constant, it
may be safely affirmed that a large proportion of Mr. Toller's discourses
afforded some indication of these powers.
Of the personal character of the subject of these memoirs it may
be observed, in general, that it was marked by none of the eccentricities which are supposed to be the appendages of genius, and that it
consisted of a combination of amiable and pleasing, rather than of
striking qualities. Candour, in all the modes of its operation, was a
conspicuous feature. As his affection was extended to all, without
exception, who " love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," so he was
particularly ingenious in putting the best construction on unfavourable
appearances, in extenuating what he could not justify, and in discovering
reasons for hoping well of those whom  the honest but untempered
zeal of. many good men would prompt them to condemn. It was his
delight to narrow the grounds of debate among sincere Christians, to
multiply the points of contact, and to detect the indications of spiritual
consanguinity and of common origin, amid the discrepances which
arise from real diversity of sentiment in some instances, and a diversity
of language in more. Whether this benevolent solicitude to comprehend within the pale of salvation as many as possible may not sometimes have led him to extenuate the danger of speculative error too
much, nay be fairly questioned.  Since the charity which the Scriptures
so earnestly inculcate consists in a real solicitude for the welfare of
others. not in thinking well of their state, he cannot be justly accused
of a violation of its dictates who contends that those doctrines are
essential to salvation on which his own hopes of it are exclusively
founded.




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.                 405
There is another branch of candour which was eminently exemplified
in the subject of the preceding Memoir.  His tenderness in whatever
concerned individual reputation was remarkable.  He felt as much
solicitude about the character of the absent as the feelings of the
present: the wanton depreciation of their intellect or their virtue gave
him visible pain, and where he could not speak favourably of either he
was silent.  Having no passion for display, he was never tempted to
sacrifice his friend to his jest; his gayest sallies never inflicted a pang
nor occasioned a blush. His humour was a gentle and lambent flame,
which cheered and exhilarated, but never scorched. Hence few men
possessed more friends or fewer enemies: it may be doubted whether,
among the numerous lists of the former, he lost the esteem of one.
The friends of his youth who did not descend into the grave before
him were the delight and solace of his age; and ill proportion as their
ranks were thinned, he wisely consulted his happiness by cultivating
the affection of a succeeding generation, by which he escaped that
solitude and desertion which is the lot of those who shut their hearts
against new attachments, neglect the good within their reach in a
hopeless attempt to grasp a phantom, and perversely refuse to attach
a value to any other pleasures than those which have withered under
the blast of death.
It was not his practice to devote much of his time to ministerial
visits.  In justification of this part of his conduct he was accustomed
to quote the apostolic injunction: " Is any sick among you? let him
call for the elders of the church," &c. He possessed, or fancied he
possessed, little talent for the ordinary topics of religious conversation;
and his extreme aversion to the ostentation of spirituality rendered him
somewhat reluctant to engage in those recitals of Christian experience
in which many professors so much delight. There adhered to his
natural disposition a delicacy and reserve which rendered it impossible
for himn to disclose, except in the most confidential intercourse, the
secret movements and aspirations of his heart towards the Best of beings.
He possessed, notwithstanding this, a high relish for the pleasures
of society.  An inexhaustible fund of anecdote, which he was wont
to relate with a dry and comic humour, rendered him in his livelier
moments a most fascinating companion. A great versatility of features
combined with tnuch power of imitation to give a peculiar poignance
to the different incidents of his story. His imitations, how'ever, were
specific, not individual, seldom if ever descending to personal mimicry —
an illiberal art, more befitting the buffoon than the Christian or the
gentleman.  Mr. Toller's indulgence of these sallies was occasional,
not habitual; they formed at times the seasoning of his conversation,
not the staple commodity; and never were they carried so far as to
impair the dignity of his character or the reverence inspired by his
virtues. They were invariably such as a virgin might listen to without
a blush, and a saint without a sigh.
Mr. Toller was much of a practical philosopher.  Deeply convinced
of the vanity and imperfection of the present state, which he considered
less as a scene of enjoyment than as a perpetual conflict with un



406          MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER.
avoidable evils, he was always disposed to make the best of passing
events: to yield where resistance was unavailing, to beguile the
sorrows which he could not remove, and by setting the good against
the evil, to blunt the arrows of adversity and disarm disappointment
of its sting. Possessing a genuine but not a sickly sensibility, he
[showed it rather] in enduring the vicissitudes of life with equanimity.
than in any excessive delicacy or refinement of feeling.
"Speak evil of no man," is an injunction of which he never lost
sight; and without assuming the severity of reproof, he well knew
how, by an expressive silence, to mark his aversion to scandal. He
showed a constant solicitude to give no offence to Jew or gentile, or
the household of God.  Hence the efficacy of his ministry was never
obstructed or impaired by the personal prejudice of his hearers, who
regarded him, not only with the deference due to a zealous and enlightened teacher, but with the affection of a friend.  He was an
ardent lover of peace. On no occasion did he offend by haughtiness,
negligence, the indulgence of a capricious humour, or the sallies of
intemrperate anger.  It has been asserted by some that knew him in
early life, that his original disposition was hasty and irritable.  If this
was the case, he affords a striking example of the conquest of religion
and philosophy over the early tendencies of nature, since few men
were equally distinguished by an unaffected sweetness and serenity
of temper.
During every period of my acquaintance with him, he exhibited the
most decided indications of piety; but in the latter stages of his life
this part of his character shone with distinguished lustre: devotion
appeared to be his habitual element.  Seldom has religion presented
more of the lovely and attractive than in the character of Mr. Toller:
if it did not inflame him with the zeal which distinguished more active
and enterprising spirits, it melted him  into love, clothed him with
humility, and decked him, in an eminent degree, with the "ornaments
of a meek and quiet spirit."
It has rarely been the privilege of one town, and that not of considerable extent, to possess at the same time, and for so long a period,
two such eminent men as Mr. Toller and Mr. Fuller.  Their merits
as Christian ministers were so equal, and yet so different, that the
exercise of their religious functions in the same place was as little
adapted to produce jealousy as if they had moved in distant spheres.
The predominant feature in the intellectual character of Mr. Fuller
was the power of discrimination, by which he detected the minutest
shades of difference among objects which most minds would confound:
Mr. Toller excelled in exhibiting the common sense of mankind in a
new and impressive form. Mr. Fuller never appeared to so much
advantage as when occupied in detecting sophistry, repelling objections,
and ascertaining with a microscopic accuracy the exact boundaries of
truth an(l error: Mr. Toller attached his attention chiefly to those
parts of Christianity which come most into contact with the imagination and the feelings, over which he exerted a sovereign ascendency.
Mr. Fuller convinced by his arguments; Mr. Toller subdued by his




MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER                        407
pathos. The former made his hearers feel the grasp of his intellect;
the latter the contagion of his sensibility. Mr. Fuller's discourses
identified themselves, after they were heard, with trains of thought;
Mr. Toller's with trains of emotion. The illustrations employed by
Mr. Fuller (for he also excelled in illustration) were generally made
to subserve the clearer comprehension of his subject; those of Mr.
Toller consisted chiefly of appeals to the imagination and the heart.
Mr. Fuller's ministry was peculiarly adapted to detect hypocrites, to
expose fallacious pretensions to religion, and to separate the precious
from the vile; he sat as c" the refiner's fire and the fuller's soap:" Mr.
Troller was most in his element when exhibiting the consolations of
Christ, dispelling the fears of death, and painting the prospects of
eternity.  Both were original: but the originality of Mr. Fuller
appeared chiefly in his doctrinal statements; that of Mr. Toller in his
practical remarks. The former was unquestionably most conversant
with speculative truth; the latter perhaps possessed the deeper insight
into the human heart.
Nor were the characters of these eminent men, within the limits of
that moral excellence which was the attribute of both, less diversified
than their mental endowments. Mr. Fuller was chiefly distinguished
by the qualities which command veneration; Mr. Toller by those
which excite love.  Laborious, zealous, intrepid, Mr. Fuller passed
through a thousand obstacles in the pursuit of objects of public interest
and utility; Mr. Toller loved to repose, delighting and delighted, in
the shade of domestic privacy. The one lived for the world; the other
for the promotion of the good of his congregation, his family, and
friends.  An intense zeal for the advancement of the kingdom  of
Christ, sustained by industry that never tired, a resolution not to be
shaken, and integrity incapable of being warped, conjoined to a certain
austerity of manner, were the leading characteristics of Mr. Fuller:
gentleness, humility, and modesty, those of Mr. Toller.  The secretary
of the Baptist Mission attached, in my opinion, too much importance
to a speculative accuracy of sentiment; while the subject of this
Memoir leaned to the contrary extreme. Mr. Fuller was too prone to
infer the character of men from their creed; Mr. Toller to lose sight
of their creed in their character. Between persons so dissimilar, it
was next to impossible a very close and confidential intimacy should
subsist: a sincere admiration of each other's talents, and esteem for
the virtues which equally adorned them both, secured without interruption, for more than thirty years, those habits of kind and respectful
intercourse which had the happiest effect in promoting the harmony
of their connexions and the credit of religion..
Much as Mr. Fuller was lamented by the religious public in general,
and especially in his own denomination, I have reason to believe there
was not a single individual out of the circle of his immediate relatives
who was more deeply affected by his death than Mr. Toller. From
that moment he felt himself nearer to eternity; he accepted the event
as a most impressive warning of his own dissolution; and while a
thousand solemn and affecting recollections accompanied the retrospect




o08          MEMOIR OF MR. THOMAS TOLLER
Jf a connexion which had so long and so happily subsisted, one of his
favourite occupations was to revive a mental intercourse by the frequent
perusal of the sermons of his deceased friend. It is thus that the
friendship of high and sanctified spirits loses nothing by death but its
alloy: failings disappear, and the virtues of those whose "faces we
shall behold no more" appear greater and more sacred when beheld
through the shades of the sepulchre. Their spirits are now united
before the Throne; and if any eyvent in this sublunary scene may be
supposed to engage the attention of the subject of this Memoir, in his
present mysterious elevation, it is probably the desire that the child of
his prayers who now succeeds him in his office may surpass his
example, and be the honoured instrument of turning more sinners to
righteousness, and of conducting more sons to glory, than himself.




MR. TOLLER'S LETTER,
Referred to in page 399.
MY DEAR SIR,
It would be idle in me to affect ignorance of the business which has principally
occasioned your visit to Kettering just now; and though it may seem indelicate
to interfere during the discussion of that business, yet I cannot with an easy mind
suffer the intended meeting to take place on Monday, without offering a few
observations on what may be called, in parliamentary language, " the previous
question."
Considering the proposed measure as originating with you and some other
friends, I can view it in no other light than as a noble instance of the most unquestionably disinterested friendship and affection; and let the result be what it
may, I shall retain a deep and lasting sense of i' as such: but at the same time I
cannot but feel a painful apprehension, that what you mean for nothing but good
should be the incidental occasion of real harm: that is, the probable means of dis
turbing the harmony and peace which at present exist in my congregation.
There are some among us whose inclination would prompt them to support any
measure for the benefit of me or my family, but whose general circumstances are,
like my own, comfortable and competent; indeed, just sufficient to fill up the annual
supply, with a little besides to assist the poor and needy, but who could not advance any thing like a round sum, which would tell on an occasion like this. Some
such, I am afraid, would be grieved to contribute nothing; and yet more than a trifle
would be a real inconvenience. There are others in superior circumstances, and
by no means backward to do good in the abstract; but who, from education, economical habits, and other causes, have never been accustomed to do so on a large
scale; and who, from an apprehension of there being no direct and immediate
necessity in the case, would be hurt and perhaps disgusted at the suggestion that
a handsome sum was expected from them. Now, any instance of this sort would
grate more upon my mind than the friendship of others would gratify it; nor could
I prevail upon myself to receive a single shilling from a reluctant hand if I knew it,
or as the result of solicitation and admonition: and if any thing of the kind goes
forward in a way satisfactory to me, it must be on a ground which is hardly attainable perhaps in any similar case, namely, that every subscriber be, in the fullest
sense, a volunteer; for I can most truly say, that I had a thousand times rather
matters should rest as they are, than that the plan should advance a single step at
the risk of exciting sensations or producing effects similar to those alluded to above:
and therefore, on this ground, if it shall appear to you and other friends prudent to
adjourn the further consideration of the business to a future day, be assured that
such a resolution will not give me the slightest pain.
I have now told you all my heart, and shall leave the event with Providence and
your discretion,-only repeating, that I shall never cease to admire the principles
by which you and others have been actuated, and shall retain a lasting sense of
obligation for the kindness of your intention.
I am. with best wishes and prayers,
Yours most affectionately,
THOS. N. TOLLER.
P.S. —You are at full liberty to show this letter to whomsoever you think propQr
indeed, with that view I write it.




PREFACE TO THE MEMOIRS
OF THE
AEV. JOSEPH FREESTON.
[Written in 1821.]
OF all the species of literary composition, perhaps biography is the
most delightful.  The attention concentrated on one individual gives a
unity to the materials of which it is compose(l, which is wanting in
general history. The train of incidents through which it conducts the
reader suggests to his imagination a multitude of analogies and comoarisons; and, while he is following the course of events which mark
the life of him who is the subject of the narrative, he is insensibly compelled to take a retrospect of his own. In no other species of writing
are we permitted to scrutinize the character so exactly, or to form
so just and accurate an estimate of the excellences and defects, the
lights and shades, the blemishes and beauties, of an individual mind.
The progress of a human being in his passage through time to eternity only requires to be exhibited with fidelity in order to become an
interesting object to a contemplative mind; whatever may have been
the moral or intellectual qualities of the individual, and however degraded by vice, or exalted by piety and virtue. Conquests achieved
or objects attained,-conscience cowering under the tyranny of the
passions, or asserting her dignity by subjecting them to her sway,are equally instructive,-providing the reader is informed by what
steps virtuous or vicious habits were superinduced, by what stratagems
temptation prevailed, or by what efforts and expedients it was repelled.
The moral warfare which every rational and accountable creature has
to sustain, pregnant with consequences which reach to eternity, possesses an intrinsic and essential importance, totally independent of the
magnitude of the events, or the publicity and splendour of the scenes
to which it is attached. The moral history of a beggar, which faithfully revealed the interior movements of his mind, and laid open the
secret causes which contributed to form and determine his character,
might enlarge and enlighten the views of a philosopher. Whatever
tends to render our acquaintance with any portion of our species more
accurate and profound is an accession to the most valuable part of our
knowledge; and. though to know ourselves has ever been deemed of




PREFACE TO THE MEMOIRS OF REV. J. FREESTON.  411
the most consequence, it may be doubtful whether the power of selfexamination is ever exerted with so much vigour as when it is called
into action by the exhibition of individual character.  The improvement derived from narrative in this view will be proportional to the
degree in which the objects described and the incidents related bear a
resemblance to those with which the reader is conversant; and for this
reason the biography of private persons, though less dazzling, is more
instructive to the majority of readers than that of such as are distinguished by the elevation of their rank and the splendour of their
achievements. Few require to be taught the arts by which the favour
of princes is conciliated, or the machinations of rival candidates for
power defeated; few need to be warned against the errors and mistakes which have produced the loss of battles or the failure of negotiations.  Events of this order may fill the imagination, and diffuse
their dignity and pathos over the page of history, but they afford little
useful instruction to the bulk of mankind. But when a character.selected from the ordinary ranks of life is faithfully and minutely delineated, no effort is requisite to enable us to place ourselves in the
same situation: we accompany the subject of the narrative with an
interest undiminished by distance, unimpaired by dissimilarity of circumstances; and from the efforts by which he surmounted difficulties
and vanquished temptations we derive the most useful practical lessons.
He who desires to strengthen his virtue and purify his principles
will always prefer the solid to the specious; will be more disposed to
contemplate an example of the unostentatious piety and goodness which
all men may obtain, than of those extraordinary achievements to which
few can aspire: nor is it the mark of a superior, but rather of a vulgar
and superficial taste, to consider nothing as great or excellent but that
which glitters with titles or is elevated by rank.
The biography of such as have been eiminent for piety has ever been
a favourite species of reading with those who possess a devotional
spirit. " As face answers to face in a glass, so does the heart of man
to man."  To trace the steps by which a piety feeble in its rudiments
has attained to maturity,-to observe the holy arts by which devout
habits were strengthened and temptations defeated,-to discern the
power of truth in purifying and transforming the minds of such as have
attained to high degrees of sanctity,-is equally delightful and edifying.
To the real Christian experimental religion opens a new world, replete
with objects, emotions, and prospects of which none but those who
are taught of God can form any just or adequate conception; and the
joys and sorrows, the elevations and depressions, the dangers and
escapes, incident to the spiritual warfare, produce in congenial breasts
a lively sympathy.
Publications of this nature have accordingly met for the most part
with a welcome reception, and have become one of the most popular
and powerful instruments of piety.  The religious public: have long
learned to form a just estimate of the Diary of Mr. Williams, of Kidderminster, an industrious and opulent manufacturer, who demonstrated
the possibility of combining a prudent attention to commercial pursuits




4i2            PREFACE'TO THE MEMOIRS OF
with a splendid exhibition of the Christian graces. The masculine
sense, the fervent piety, the active benevolence of that most excellent
man, will long contribute to enlighten and to animate Christians in a
private rank, and to shed a lustre on the religious profession. A more
perfect example perhaps was never exhibited to the imitation of active
tradesmen. A devotion fervent but rational, zeal tempered by the exactest discretion, and a benevolence invariably regulated by the dictates
of prudence and justice,-a transparent candour without Weakness, and
a wisdom without art,-combine to form a living picture of exalted yet
attainable excellence.
The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, missionary to the American
Indians, exhibits a perfect pattern of the qualities which should distinguish the instructer of rude and barbarous tribes; the most invincible
patience and self-denial, the profoundest humility, exquisite prudence,
indefatigable industry, and such a devotedness to God, or rather, such
an absorption of the whole soul in zeal for the Divine glory and the
salvation of men, as is scarcely to be paralleled since the age of the
apostles.  Such was the intense ardour of his mind, that it seems to
have diffused the spirit of a martyr over the most common incidents
of his life. His constitutional melancholy, though it must be regarded
as a physical imperfection, imparts an additional interest and pathos
to the narrative; since we more easily sympathize with the emotions
of sorrow than of joy. There is a monotony in his feelings, it nlust be
acknowledged, and consequently a frequent repetition of the same ideas,
which will disgust a fastidious or superficial reader; but it is the monotony of sublimity.
The Life of Fletcher, of Madeley, affords in some respects a parallel,
in others a contrast, to that of Brainerd: and it is curious to observe
how the influence of natural temperament varies the exhibition of the
same principles. With a considerable difference in their religious
views, the same zeal, the same spirituality of mind, the same contempt
of the world, is conspicuous in the character of each. But the lively
imagination,":the sanguine complexion of Fletcher permits him to
triumph and exult in the consolatory truths and prospects of religion.
He is a seraph who burns with the ardours of divine love; and spurning the ietters of mortality, he almost habitually seems to have anticipated the rapture of the beatific vision.  Brainerd, oppressed with a
constitutional melancholy, is chiefly occupied with the thoughts of his
pollutions and defects in the eyes of Infinite Purity. His is a mourning
and conflicting piety, imbued with the spirit of self-abasement, breathing
itself forth in " groanings which cannot be uttered;" always dissatisfied with itself, always toiling in pursuit of a purity and perfection un
attainable by mortals. The mind of Fletcher was habitually brightened with gratitude and joy for what he had attained; Brainerd was
actuated with a restless solicitude for further acquisitions.  If Fletcher
soared to all the heights, it may be affirmed with equal truth that
Brainerd sounded all the depths of Christian piety; and while the former
was regaling himself with fruit from the tree of life, the latter, on thcwaves of an impetuous sea, was " doing business in the mighty wavt"er."




THE REV. JOSEPH FREESTON.                     413
Both equally delighted and accustomed to lose themse ves in the
contemplation of the Deity, they seemed to have surveyed that Infinite
Object under different aspects; and while Fletcher was absorbed in
the contemplation of infinite benignity and love, Brainerd shrunk into
nothing in the presence of immaculate purity and holiness.
The different situations in which they were placed had probably
considerable effect in producing or heightening their respective peculiarities. Fletcher exercised his ministry in the calm of domestic life,
surrounded with the beauties of nature; Brainerd pursued his mission
in a remote and howling wilderness, where, in the midst of uncultivated
savages, he was exposed to intolerable hardships and fatigues.
The religious public have lately been favoured with a rich accession
to the recorded monuments of exalted piety, in the Life and Religious
Experience of the lamented Henry Martyn. It is delightful to behold,
in the history of that extraordinary man, talents which attracted the
admiration of one of the most celebrated seats of learning consecrated
to the honour of the Cross; an enterprising genius, in the ardour of
youth, relinquishing the pursuit of science and of fame, in order to
travel in the steps of a Brainerd and a Schwartz. Crowned with the
highest honours a university could bestow, we see him quit the luxurious shades of -academic bowers, for a tempestuous ocean and a
burning clime,-for a life of peril and fatigue, from which he could
expect no other reward than the heroic pleasureof communicating to
perishing millions the word of eternal life.  He appears to have formed
his religious character chiefly on the model of Brainerd: and as he
equalled him in his patience, fortitude, humility, and love, so he strictly
resembled him in his end. Both nearly at the same age fell victims
to a series of intolerable privations and fatigues, voluntarily incurred
in the course of their exertions for the propagation of the faith of Jesus.
And though their death was not a violent one, the sacrifices they made
and the sufferings they endured entitle them to the honours and rewards
of a protracted martyrdom. Their memory will be cherished by th6veneration of all succeeding ages; and he who reads their lives will
be ready to exclaim, "Here is the faith and patience of the saints."
If the biography of men sur h as these fails to produce all the benefit
we might expect. some will ne ready to impute it to that hopeless
superiority of character which seems to place them almost above the
reach of imitation. The justice of the inference, however, may be
fairly questioned, since he who proposes for his imitation a model approaching to perfection, though he may not equal, will, probably, in the
fervour of his exertions to copy it, take a higher flight than if he had
contented himself with the contemplation of an inferior standard. He
who forms his taste on the inimitable productions of a Raphael will
reach nearer to perfection than he could arrive by the study of an inferior artist: and, for the purpose of restoring man to the image of his
Maker, the wisdom of God has thought fit to exhibit a faultless model
in the character of the incarnate Redeemer.
Before I dismiss the reader to the perusal of the following narrative,
it may not be improper to apprize him of what he is to expect.  If he




414           PREFACE TO THE MEMOIRS OF
hopes to be amused by the recital of striking occurrences and eventful
passages, he will find himself disappointed. The following is not the
history of a man bustling on the busy stage of life, and exposed to
great vicissitudes of good or evil fortune: it is the simple unpretending
narrative of a dissenting minister, who passed his days in the retirement of the country, in tranquil meditation, in the exercise of unosten
tatious piety, and an assiduous attention to the spiritual improvement
of his flock.  Tbhough he did not enjoy the benefit of a liberal education, my revered friend was possessed of an active inquisitive mind,
which prompted him to devote much of his time to reading, and enabled him to acquire a large fund of general, but especially of theological knowledge. Few men, in similar circumstances, have availed
themselves to an equal extent of the information which the best books
in our language, on moral and religious subjects, supply. Reading
with him was not merely a habit, but a passion.  His curiosity was
not limited within the circle of his profession: he was delighted with
works on general literature, and purchased and perused some of the
valuable elementary treatises on science.  But as devotion was his
peculiar element, it is not to be wondered at that theology in its
various branches was his favourite study.  Though he was far from
neglecting the antiquities and the criticism of theology, as far as they
are accessible to a mere English scholar, he placed his principal
delight in the perusal of works immediately devoted to the inculcation
of doctrinal and experimental religion: and in this pursuit his attention
was forcibly drawn to the writings of the puritan divines, who, with
all their imperfections of style and method, are unquestionably the
safest of all uninspired guides.  The masculine sense, the profound
learning, the rich and unequalled unction of these fathers of the moderln
church, exerted a powerful influence on his mind, and.greatly contributed to form and mature his character.
Of the great Mr. Howe, who shines in the firmament with a preeminent and unrivalled lustre, he always spoke in terms of just admiration, assigning him that preference among the nonconformist divines
which it is surprising any one should dispute.  The reader of the
succeeding narrative will perceive, that for many years it was his
constant practice to devote a considerable portion of each day to the
perusal of the best practical writers; to which, under God, he was
undoubtedly indebted for that habitual spirituality of mind which so
remarkably distinguished him, and in which very few whom I have
had the happiness of knowing appeared to equal, none to surpass him.
His sense of the Divine presence, his relish for devout meditation and
intercourse, his advertence to the great realities of a future life, seemed
scarcely ever to forsake him; and the least that can be affirmed is,
that " he walked with God."
Though he exercised his ministry, through the whole of his, life,
among the General Baptists, his sentiments approached nearer to
hose of Mr. Baxter than to the system of Arminius, nor would his
statements of Christian doctrine have given the slightest offence:to a congregation of moderate Calvinists.  But to polemical theology




THE REV. JOSEPH FREESTON.                      415
he was not attached; his religion was entirely of a practical and experimental character: nor did he attach the smallest importance to
correct views of Christian doctrine, any further than as they tended
to influence the heart. To Socinianism, in all its modifications, he
entertained a most hearty and decided aversion, and few circumstances
gave him more poignant uneasiness than to see some of the most
conspicuous members of his church embrace and patronise that de.
structive heresy. In the latter years of his life he devoted a consider
able portion of his time to composition; and his tract on Socinianism,
his Directions and Encouragements for Travellers to Sion, his Advice
to a young Minister, with other publications of a similar tendency,the result of long experience, of much well-digested reading, and of
patient thought,-will perpetuate and enrol his name among the most
useful practical writers of the present day.  Fond as he was of retirement, he retained a keen relish for the pleasures of society, for which
he was eminently fitted by the gentleness of his manners, the amenity
of his temper, and the variety of his knowledge. His conversation
expressed and inspired serenity and cheerfulness rather than mirth;
and he possessed, to a very extraordinary degree, the happy art of
mingling a seasoning of piety with his hours of the greatest relaxation.
The natural temperament of my revered friend inclined in some degree,
I have been informed, to the irascible; but who ever beheld him betrayed for a moment into language or deportment incompatible with
the meekness of the gospel?  His exquisite sensibility is abundantly
conspicuous in the following narrative, nor could it escape the observation, of any person who enjoyed much of his intimacy; but it was
so directed and refined, by a higher principle, as to become one of the
most attractive qualities in his character.
The extreme depression of the manufacture in the place of his residence was a source of much uneasiness, both by the intense sympathy
he felt for the sufferers, and the degree in which it affected his
personal resources.  It is painful to reflect, that a man "of whom tile
world was not worthy," perhaps never received from his people more
than a moiety of the means of his subsistence; and that, after sinking
the greater part of his scanty property, he must often have been involved
in irretrievable difficulties, but for the casual liberality of friends
whom his superior merit had attached. That, in a situation so full of
embarrassment and perplexity, he retained a curiosity so eager, a
passion for study and inquiry so unabated, as to induce him to spend
a-large sum of money in the purchase of books, is a decisive proof of,his possessing a mind of no ordinary vigour. But I check myself.
It was not my intention to write an encomium on the excellent person
who is the subject of the following Memoir, but merely to introduce it
to the reader's attention by a few prefatory remarks; and having
already trespassed too long on his patience, I must be permitted to
close, by expressing my earnest prayer that the effect of its perusal
on as many as read it may be to assimilate their minds, in some degree
at least, to the character of its excellent and lamented author.




EXTRACT
FROM MR. HALL'S ROUGH NOTES
OF THE
FUNERAL SERMON FOR DR. RYLAND.
EARLY in life he formed an intimacy with a set of writers who,,however they may push some theoretical views to excess, are eminent
for their elevated ideas of the moral character of the Deity, and for
the zeal with which they contend for its influence on doctrinal and
practical religion. Firm champions of disinterested love, they set
themselves, with the greatest ardour, to expose those religious affections which are founded on mere selfishness, and which are excited
merely by the conviction their possessors entertain of their having
been the object of the Divine predilection, without any perception of
the excellence and moral beauty of the Divine nature.  They laid as
the foundation of all vital religion a perception of moral beauty, a
complacency in the Deity on account of his own intrinsic excellence,
which, they contend, is a separate principle from mere gratitude for
benefits expected or received, however it may enlarge and extend it.
The originality displayed by these writers, at the head of whom the
celebrated Edwards is placed by universal consent, —the acumen of
their logic, and the fervour of their piety,-seized powerfully on the
mind of D)r. Ryland in his early years, and gave a decisive turn to his
subsequent studies and pursuits. From that time to the close of his
life, the relation which Christianity bears to the display of the Divine
character was ever present to his thoughts: he delighted in whatever
tended to deepen and enlarge his conceptions of that ineffable original;
he delighted especially to contemplate him under the character in
which John presents him, when he affirms that "God is love,"-as a
being possessing an infinite propensity to impart his " fulness," by
diffusing the greatest possible sum of happiness throughout his vast
dominions.  These lofty musings were, with him, not the object of
speculation only, or the discriminating features of a creed.  He formed
the interior of his character upon them; they were his mental ai.ment,




ON THE DISINTERESTED LOVE OF GOD.              417
and intimately incorporated with his thoughts. Nor can it be doubted
that, in a mind so prepared by divine grace as was his, they exercised
a most [beneficial] influence, and produced a luxuriant crop of Christian virtues. He appeared to be penetrated with a perpetual sense of
the Divine presence; not as a source of terror or dismay, but of habitual peace, confidence, and joy. "He endured as seeing him that is
invisible." His love to the Great Supreme was equally exempt from
slavish timidity and presumptuous familiarity. It was an awful love,
such as, in a very inferior degree, the beatific vision must be supposed
to inspire, trembling with ecstasy, while prostrate with awe.
[Compare the above with pp. 220, and 215, Vol. I.]
VOL. II. —D d




AN ADDRESS,
CIRCULATED AT THE FORMATION OF THE LEICESTER AUXILIARY BIBLE
SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 19, 1810.
WE feel peculiar satisfaction in announcing to the public the
formation of an Auxiliary Bible Society at Leicester, the object of
which is, to co-operate with the parent society in London in giving
as extensive a circulation as possible to the Holy Scriptures. Notwithstanding the diversity of sentiment which unhappily prevails among
Christians, we may fairly presume on the concurrence of all parties
and denominations in promoting a design so disinterested as that of
diffusing the light of revelation. In the prosecution of this design our
party is the world; the only distinction we contemplate is between
the disciples of revelation and the unhappy victims of superstition and
idolatry; and as we propose to circulate the Bible without notes or
comments, truth only can be a gainer by the measure. To those who
confine their views to this country, the want of Bibles may not appear
very urgent; but, without insisting on the many thousands even here
who are destitute of them, it is certain that in pagan, Mahometan, and
popish countries they are extremely rare, and their number totally
inadequate, not merely to supply the immense population in those parts,
but even the increasing demand which a variety of circumstances have
combined to produce. To supply this demand, to whatever extent it
may be carried, is the aim of the society in London with which this is
designed to co-operate. Their ambition, as far as it may please God
to smile upon their efforts, is, by imparting the Holy Scriptures, to
open the fountain of revelation to all nations. It was natural and
necessary for the first movement in so great an enterprise to commence
at the heart of the empire; nor is it less so, that, having commenced
there, it should propagate itself through the larger vessels and arteries
to the remotest extremities of the body. We have the pleasure of
perceiving that the example of the metropolis has already been followed
in several of our principal towns and cities; and there is room to hope
that similar institutions will, ere long, be formed in every part of the
kingdom. Nor has the emulation excited been confined to this nation
and its dependencies; societies of the same description have been
formed at Philadelphia, at Berlin, and at Basle, each of which derives
support and assistance from the original one established in the




ADDRESS, ETC.                       419
metropolis of Great Britain. While so general an alacrity has been
evinced on this occasion, it had ill become the character of the town
of Leicester to stand neuter, highly distinguished as it is for its great
and ancient respectability, as well as for the extent of its establishments,
and exertions in the cause of religion and charity.  We have the
pleasure of reflecting that the meeting so obligingly called by the
mayor was numerously and respectably attended, that the utmost harmony prevailed in its proceedings, and that there appeared throughout
an utter oblivion of party distinctions, with an emulation in each
individual to promote to the utmost the purposes for which we were
convened.
Ill whatever light we consider the British and Foreign Bible Society,
it appears to us replete with utility.  Its formation will, we trust,
constitute a new era in the history of religion, which may be styled
the era of unanimity. It affords a rallying point for the piety of the
age, an unsuspicious medium of communication between the good of
all parties and nations, a centre of union and co-operation in the
advancement of a common cause, which cannot fail to allay the heats
and smooth the asperities of discordant sentiment. By giving the most
effectual aid to means already set on foot for the conversion of pagan
nations, it also promises to accelerate the period when truth shall
become victorious in the earth. When the pure light of revelation
once shines amid the darkness of polytheism, we may venture to hope
that the latter will be gradually expelled, that the contrast of truth and
error, of sacred mysteries and preposterous fictions, they respectively
display, will be deeply and extensively felt. What the Bible Society
proposes, let it be remembered, is not to circulate such a number of
copies of the New Testament in foreign parts as shall merely suffice
to gratify the curiosity of the learned, to adorn a museum, or to enrich
a library; but to lay them open, if possible, to all classes of society in
every nation. What incalculable benefits may be expected to result
from the completion of such a plan!  Wherever the Scriptures are
generally read, the standard of morals is raised, the public mind is
expanded, a spirit of inquiry excited, and the sphere of intellectual
vision inconceivably enlarged. While they contribute most essentially
to the improvement of reason, by presenting to its contemplation the
noblest objects, they aid its weakness and supply its deficiencies by
information beyond its reach.  If "to know the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom he has sent," be, as our Saviour assures us,
" eternal life," to adopt effectual measures for imparting that knowledge
must be allowed to be the most genuine exercise of benevolence. It
is to be lamented that Protestant nations have been too long inattentive
to this object: we rejoice to find that they are now convinced of their
error; and that, touched with commiseration for the unhappy condition
of mankind, they are anxious to impart those riches which may be
shared without being diminished, and communicated without being lost
to the possessor.  Such is the felicity of religion, —such the unbounded
liberality of its principles. Though we should be sorry to administer
fiel to national vanity, we cannot conceal the satisfaction it gives us
Dd2




42C                     ADDRESS, ETC.
to reflect, that while the fairest portion of the globe has fallen a prey
to that guilty and restless ambition which, by the inscrutable wisdom
of Providence, is permitted for a time to take peace from the earth,
this favoured country is employed in spreading the triumphs of truth,
multiplying the means of instruction, and opening sources of consolation to an afflicted world.  In these eventful times, so pregnant with
difficulty and danger, we consider this as affording a most favourable
omen of the ultimate intentions of Providence respecting this nation.
Having briefly explained our object and motives, we beg leave to
recommend the Leicester Auxiliary Bible Society to the patronage of
an enlightened public, not doubting they will feel the propriety of lend.
ing their support to an institution which, besides the circulation of the
Scriptures abroad, promises to provide for our domestic wants, by
enabling the poorest person to possess himself of that invaluable
treasure.




A SPEECH,
D~w-t-~tRED AT THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE IEICESTER
AUXILIARY BIBLE SOCIETY, APRIL 13, 1812.
PERMIT me to say that I heartily concur in the sentiments so forcibly
expressed by the respectable speakers who have preceded me. The
more I reflect upon the constitution, operation, and genius of the Bible
Society, the more is my conviction confirmed of its excellence and
utility. It is matter of surprise to me, that an institution so admirable,
and so beneficial, should meet with the least opposition from the professors of our common Christianity, when the propriety of making the
Scriptures as extensively known as possible might be supposed to pass
among Protestants for an incontrovertible maxim. To imagine such
a measure can be carried into effect without being productive of much
good, and still more to augur mischievous consequences as the probable
result, approaches so near to an impeachment of the perfection and
sufficiency of the divine oracles, that to my poor judgment it appears
difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish them.  For my part, I am at
an utter loss to conceive of a revelation from heaven that must not be
trusted alone; of a rule of life and manners which in the same breath
is declared to be perfect, and yet so obscure and incompetent that its
tendency to mislead shall be greater than its tendency to conduct in
the right path; of a fountain of truth (and the only original fountain
as our opponents themselves allow) more calculated, when left to its
silent operation, to send forth bitter waters than sweet. If these must
appear to a candid and impartial mind untenable and contradictory
propositions, then must the chief objections of our opponents fall to the
ground, and their prognostics of danger, from the operations of the
Bible Society, be pronounced chimerical and unfounded. Whoever
weighs the arguments of our opponents must be convinced that they
all turn upon the following supposition-that the Scriptures are so
azmbiguous and obscure, that when left to themselves they are more
likely to generate error than truth, to foment division than to produce
unanimity and agreement. If this implies no reflection on the excellence of the Bible, and the wisdom of its Divine Author, what, I will
ask, can imply such a reflection? And if this be not admitted, how is
it possible for a moment to entertain a scruple respecting the pi Dprietof giving them the most extensive circulation?




422     SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF
To dread the indiscriminate perusal of the Scriptures, and, under
pretence of tender consideration for the weakness of the common people, prohibit their circulation, has always been regarded as one of the
most detestable features of popery. From the very dawn of the
Reformation it has been stigmatized by Protestants of every description,
as constituting a principal branch of the mystery of iniquity.  But
wherein does the maxim of our opponents differ from that of the papists
on this subject? If any difference can be perceived, it is certainly not
in the nature but in the extension of the principle.  The papists contend that the common people are not to be intrusted with the Bible at
all; while our oppone:-ts assert that they are not to be trusted with it
alone.  The former instruct their votaries to shut their ears against
the voice of God altogether; the latter insist that it is dangerous to
hear it except in immediate conjunction with their own interpretation.
Surely this must be considered as strange language in a Protestant
country, and most offensive to Protestant ears.
What is the reason that'the Scriptures may not be trusted alone?
6 "Why," say our opponents, "they are liable to be misinterpreted, and
wrested to countenance the respective opinions and practices of different
sects and parties." Be it so: we admit this to be possible; but what
remedy can be devised to obviate this evil? Is their use to be entirely
proscribed?  " No," say our opponents, "but they must be invariably
accompanied by another book, which may be considered in the light
of an authorized commentary." - But we would ask again, are we to
judge of this commentary; or are we to receive it simply on the ground
of authority, and upon the principle of implicit faith; or is any exercise
of private judgment permitted to us?  If it be replied that it is not,
this is neither more nor less than open and barefaced popery. If the
judgment is to be exerted at all, and every thing is not to be taken
upon trust, their commentary must be judged of by some criterion, and
what can that be but the Scriptures?  The Scriptures must then, after
all, be appealed to, before it is possible to determine on the correctness
of the commentary; and thus we are led back to the precise point
from which we set out, that is, the examination of the Scriptures.
According to the views of our opponents, we are either to admit the
principle of implicit faith to its utmost extent, which is open and avowed
popery; or we are first to interpret the Scriptures by the commentary,
and then judge of the commentary by the Scriptures. This is the
circle out of which it is impossible for our opponents to escape, and.
they may be lashed round it to all eternity! Let it once be admitted
that the sacred volume is the only standard of truth, and the only
infallible directory in practice, and it will necessarily follow that all
other modes of instruction must be tried by it; and consequently, that
every idea of giving it a corrective, or a companion, call it which you
please, must be futile and absurd. I am persuaded I am speaking the
sentiments, on this occasion, of every individual present at this
meeting, and not abetting the views of any particular party.  I trust
none in the present assembly will do me the injustice of supposing that
any reflection is intended upon the liturgy: though a Protestant dis




THE  LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.                 423
senter, I am by no means insensible to its merits.  I believe that the
evangelical purity of its sentiments, the chastised fervour of its devotion
and the majestic simplicity of its language, have combined to place it
in the very first rank of uninspired compositions. The maxim we
wish to establish, as amply sufficient to overrule the objections of ou'
opponents, is simply that which in the hands of the immortal Chillingworth was found capable of demolishing the whole fabric of popery.
"The Bible," said he, " the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants."
The conduct of those who have distinguished themselves by their
opposition to the Bible Society is also inconsistent in another point.
While they deprecate the operations of the Bible Society in circulating
the Bible alone in this country, they applaud this very identical
measure in its application to foreign parts. This appears to me a
very extraordinary conduct. Their proceeding can only be justified
on the admission, that notwithstanding the possible perversion, of the
Scripture to ill purposes, it is calculated, when left to itself, to do good
on the whole.  In this instance, it is conceded that its use more than
counterbalances the possible inconveniences arising from its abuse;
a clear surplus of good is contemplated as the probable result, for,
without such an expectation, how can the measure in question be
entitled to commendation for a moment? I would ask, then, what
principle of reasoning is that which will justify an opposition to the
scheme of action which, it is admitted, is likely on the whole to do
good, although it may possibly be accompanied with a portion of evil
allowedly inferior. Are not all the calculations of prudence founded
on a comparison of advantages and disadvantages? Have not all the
plans of benevolence which have ever been devised proceeded on a
necessary compromise with contingent evils, where, if it can be
demonstrated that these bear no proportion to the good likely to result,
every requisition is satisfied, and every reasonable suffrage secured?
Are we to sit still, and attempt nothing for the improvement of our
species, until we are mathematically certain that nothing can possibly
spring from our efforts but pure, unmingled, defecated good; and this
in a world abounding with imperfections of all sorts, where evil is so
widely diffused as to insinuate. itself into every mode of action, and
every element of' enjoyment? If this is not pretended, why should it
be deemed necessary for the operations of the Bible Society to furnish
an exception; or that it should be perfectly free from that portion of
inconvenience and evil which cleaves to all the works of men? When
our enemies object to the distribution of the Scriptures alone in this
country, and at the same time applaud the same measures with respect
to foreign parts, they surely forget that the same objections apply,
and with equal force, to the latter as to the former proceeding. The
obscurity of which they complain, which exposes them to the danger
of being misinterpreted, their liability to be wrested to countenance
error, heresy, and schism, are properties which, I presume, we shall
not be very ready to ascribe to them. But, admitting them to possess
these qualities, will they lose them by being conveyed to distan
countries?  Is their tendency to be pronounced pernicious or salutary




424       SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY  MEETING OF
according to the degrees of latitude and longitude? Are there not a
variety of sects and parties on the Continent, as well as in Great
Britain, to whose views the perversion of them may be rendered
subservi;nt?  Is the information they afford in this country doubtful
and obscure, and does it become at once clear and decisive when it
is communicated in foreign parts?  As our opponents seem to suppose
they possess a valetudinarian habit, and require a very delicate manage
ment in this country, perhaps they imagine their constitution may be
improved by a sea-voyage, and change of air!
Let it be carefully remembered, tiat the topics insisted upon by the
objectors to the Bible Society are precisely those on which the papists
have been wont to insist in their controversy with Protestants, —the
obscurity of the Scriptures, the danger of misinterpretation, and the
facility with which they may be wrested to the support of heresy and
schism.  It is surely little to the credit of our opponents, that they
have no other weapons to attack us with but what have been undeniably forged in the camp of the Philistines.  It would, unquestionably,
be an ill omen to this country, if pleas drawn from  the supposed
insufficiency of Scripture should be again received, and become popular,
which have been the principal means, in former ages, of involving
the world in the darkness of superstition and idolatry. The perversion
of the Bible can proceed only from the corruption of its readers:now, what is the remedy for this corruption but the Scriptures themselves?  Have they who oppose our proceeding discovered, in the
plenitude of their wisdom, any better corrective of the ill propensities
of the heart, tle attachment to vice, a conceit of superior understanding,
and the love of change, which are the prolific sources of error, than
those lively oracles which God himself has declared are able to make
us wise unto salvation?  "The heavens and the earth," it is true,
"declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." This effect, however, they must be understood to produce
only in minds rightly disposed; for, in point of fact, they have been
the innocent means of enticing millions to idolatry, while they never,
ais far as we know, reclaimed a single individual from that impiety.
Hence the Psalmist, after celebrating these works of the Most High,
directs our attention to a superior source of illumination, adding,
" The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."  St. Paul
congratulates Timothy upon his having known, from a child,-the Holy
Scriptures, which were able to make him, with faith in Christ, wise
unto salvation.  "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, for instruction in
righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto every good word and work."  When I reflect on these
passages, and others of the same import, I feel no difficulty in acceding
to the declaration of Lord Francis Osborne, that a child might answer
the ablest of our opponents, provided that child were a Christian.
It is asserted that we have no reason to expect the conversion of
foreign nations in consequence of the sole perusal of the sacred
volume  and in support of this opinion our adversaries urge a passage




THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.                   425
m the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans:-m" How shall they call on
him on whom they have not believed; and how shall they believe on
him of whom they have not heard; and how shall they hear without
a preacher?" This inference appears to me to be founded upon an
entire misconstruction of the passage: the apostle means to distinguish
between the situation of those who are necessarily unacquainted with
the character of the Saviour, and that of the persons to whom this
information was conveyed; without intending to determine, or at least
to lay any stress on, the precise mode of communication by which
they obtained it.'Phis is the more manifest from the extension of
meaning in which the term preach is used by the same writer:-" For
Moses," saith the same St. Paul, "6 hath in every city them that preacht
him, being read in the synagogue every Sabbath-day." But such Is
the want of candour on the part of our adversaries, and such the
unworthy artifices by which they pervert the language of Scripture
from the simplicity and majesty of its meaning.
It might be naturally concluded, from this species of objection to
the Bible Society, that our opponents were distinguished by a more
than ordinary portion of zeal for the propagation of Christianity in
foreign parts, by the aid of missionaries: I sincerely wish the result
of an attention to facts were such as would justify this inference.
The friends of the Bible Society, it is well known, are the warmest
supporters of foreign missions; and the holy flame by which they are
animated expands in all directions, stimulating them  at once to the
most active exertions in the distribution of the Scriptures at home,
and for the support of the ministry of the gospel in pagan countries.
When we compare with their conduct the coldness and indifference
of our adversaries to this object, we are compelled to perceive that
the invidious preference they give to one mode of doing good is not
so much to be ascribed to their peculiar attachment to it, as to a desire
of depreciating and depressing the importance of another.
Permit me to close these observations (for the length of which I
ought already to apologize to the respectable audience I am addressing)
with briefly noticing some of the indirect, though important, advantages
likely to result from the establishment and progress of the Bible
Society.  The direct benefit we contemplate as the fruit of this institution will undoubtedly be reaped by that innumerable multitude,
among all nations, who by means of it will be furnished with an
opportunity of perusing the sacred volume; but there are other collateral
advantages of the most important kind which have already been experienced in part, and may be expected to accrue still more hereafter,
from the admirable society of which this is an auxiliary branch.
Among these we cannot pass over its tendency to promote a good
understanding among Christians of different denominations. It pretends
not, indeed, to cast any light on the questions which have unhappily
divided the Christian world; but as far as the objects of it are
concerned, it consigns them to oblivion;-it presents a common ground
of co-operation, and a centre of union, without a sacrifice of principle,
0or te':'re.i:(dler of the small st atom of the respective opinions and




426      SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF
practices by which we are distinguished.  Who but the Author and
Giver of all concord could have put into the hearts of the children of
men a design so beneficial and godlike, so adapted to allay the heats
and animosities which have so often disturbed the peace of society,
and disfigured our common Christianity?  It is like the "precious
ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments." It is, indeed,
a most sacred perfume; and while it is so abundantly poured out in
the view of all nations, I cannot but imagine I see it ascending in
clouds of incense to heaven, grateful to God, to his saints, and to
the holy angels, consecrating this happy soil, and drawing down upon
it a copious shower of benedictions and blessings. How much unanimity strengthens, and discord enfeebles, the sinews of empire, is too
obvious to need to be insisted on; nor was there ever a period ill the
history of Great Britain when the former was more to be desired or ine
latter more to be deprecated. The Bible Society is a solemn and public
recognition, calculated beyond any event that has yet transpired to
confound infidelity, and to expel from the nation the last relies of that
detestable impiety, to shut up every crevice of the infernal pit, and
disperse every atom  of the pestilential stream.  The sophistry of
infidels had been successfully confuted by a succession of able writers;
they have retired, baffled, from the field, their arrows spent, their
ammunition exhausted; and nothing remained but to signalize the
victory by a public monument, and to imbody the national sentiment
by erecting a public trophy out of the spoils of the enemy. This
idea the Bible Society has nobly realized, by taking pledges from the
statesmen, the senators, the nobles of the land, of their devoted attachment to the Word of God: they have publicly lifted up their voice,
and declared, in the face of all Europe, that the Bible is the religion
of Great Britain. What lustre does this shed upon our country! It
appears the grand seminary of Christian principle: perhaps there is
no single moment, night or day, in which some voice does not rise up
to heaven in its behalf: and prayer is the grand key that unlocks the
celestial treasury.
It is not too much to hope that the attachment to the gospel avowed
by those who have co-operated in the measures of this society, will be
followed by an increased attention on their part to explore its contents,
to imbibe its spirit, and to regulate their lives by its precepts; and that
thus the interests of vital Christianity may keep pace with the more
extensive promulgation of revealed truth. Let our activity in the
cause be followed up by an increased spirit of attachment and investigation; let us earnestly desire to taste that bread of life which it is the
property of this society to communicate: then shall we be a happy
because a holy people, and this will throw around us a greater splendour
than Roman or Grecian genius could bestow.  Should the sentiments
of that divine book take possession of the heart, and mould the character
of the inhabitants of this country, it would secure to the nation a higher
protection than all its military and naval preparations; and even the
rocks with which our isle is girt would in comparison be a feeble




THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETli                427
rampart against the assaults of our enemy. With perfect composure
we leave the decision of this great controversy-and a greater never
engaged the attention of mankind-to the arbitration of the Supreme
Judge, without the smallest apprehension that we shall be called to an
account-in that day when the earth and the works thereof shall be
burnt up, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat —for having
unrolled too widely that volume which discloses to the eye of faith the
realities and prospects of eternity. Nor will it be deemed presumption
if I affirm, that in a dying hour, when the interests and passions which
now agitate us shall shrink to their due dimensions, it will afford us
more satisfaction in the retrospect to have been the friends than the
enemies of the Bible Society




A SPEECH,
DELIVERED AT
THE GUILDHALL, LEICESTER,
Tuesday, July 15, 1817.
AT THE SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF TIlE AUXILIARY BIBLE SOCIETY.
IT has been usual on these occasions to eulogize the Bible Society,
I will not say beyond its merits, for they are more than equal to the
powers of the most exalted panegyric; but the frequency of these
encomiums must be my apology for saying but little on that topic at
present.  The stores of rhetoric appear to me to be exhausted; while
every department of nature and of art has been summoned and made
to contribute its share to the illustration of the divine simplicity of its
principle, the sanctity of its object, and the extent and grandeur of its
operations   Never was there an institution which at once went so far
forward in the distribution of its benefits, and exerted such a reflex
energy on its members and patrons, producing a generous enthusiasm,
which kindles at every step, and is raised to a more intense degree by
every fresh achievement.
I consider this society as a new moral power, which, combining the
energies of Christendom in one great effort, promises to change the
face of the universe; while, in imitation of Hinm in whose cause it is
enlisted, it travels in the greatness of its strength, " mighty to save."
It possesses every characteristic of the work of God, in which the
simplest means are made to produce the -greatest effects; where there
is the utmost economy in the contrivance, and the greatest splendour
and magnificence in the design.  The imbecility of man appears in
the littleness of his ends, which he accomplishes, for the most part, by
complicated and laborious operations.  Omnipotence, on the contrary,
places opulence in the end, and parsimony in the means.  While our
pride is mortified by perceiving how little we can effect by the greatest
efforts, the Almighty touches a secret spring known only to himself,
and impresses a single motion, which propagates itself in circles
continually extending, till it reaches the extremity of the universe,
and diffuses order and happiness through regions most remote fiom its
origin, and most unconscious of its cause.




SPEECIT TO THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.    429
Of -so similar a character is the Bible Society, and so analogous to
the movements of Divine power, that it appears to me it would be
impious not to acknowledge the agency of the Spirit in its first conception, as much as the superintendence-of Providence in its support.
To fix upon a course of action which gives scope to every virtuous
energy, while it stands perfectly aloof from the spirit of party,-which
draws towards itself the best propensities of our common nature, and
unites the pious of every nation and profession in one harmonious
family,-is not the work of a mortal; it bespeaks the finger of God.
Its direct benefits are too obvious to escape the most careless observation; but the indirect influence it exerts in harmonizing the spirits and
conciliating the affections of such as had long been alienated from each
other, is so remarkable as to make it doubtful whether its instruments
or its objects,-whether those who share or those who dispense its
munificence, —are the greatest gainers.
The utility of this admirable institution, however, has been called in
question, its constitution censured, and its operations arraigned.  To
give the Bible to all classes and descriptions, without note or comment,
is represented by some as a dangerous experiment, adapted to perplex
and mislead uncultivated minds.  Excellent as the Scriptures are
allowed to be, some preparation, it is asserted, is necessary ere they
are communicated in their full extent, and that the best use that can
be immediately made of them is to compose and distribute such
seleCItons and abridgments as seem  best calculated for popular
instruction.
That some portioms of the sacred volume are of more universal
interest than others,-that the New Testament, for example, has a
more immediate relation to our prospects and to our duties than the
Ol(1,-is freely conceded: just as one star differs from another star in
glory, though they are all placed in the same firmament, and are the
work of the same hand.  But to this restrictive system, this jealous
policy, which would exclude a part of the word of God from universal
inspection and perusal, we feel insuperable objections; nor are we
disposed to ascribe to any description of men whatever that control
over Divine communications which such a measure implies.  We are
persuaded that no man possesses a right to curtail the gifts of God,
or to deal out with a sparing hand what was intended for universal
patrimony.  If the manner in which revelation was imparted be such
as makes it manifest that it was originally designed for the benefit of
all, we are at a loss to conceive how any man can have a right, by
his interference, to render it inaccessible.
The question itself, whether it was designed to be communicated to
mankind at large without distinction, or to a particular class, with a
discretionary power of communicating it at. such times and in such
proportions as they might deem fit, can only be determined by itself.
If it bear decisive indications of its being intended for private custody, —if
it be found to affirm or even to insinuate that it is not meant for universal
circulation, —we must submit to hold it at the discretion of its legitimate
guardians, and to accept with becoming gratitude such portions as they




430     SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF
are pleased to bestow. From the word of God there can be no appeal:
it must decide its own character, and determine its own pretensions.
Thus much we must be allowed to assume: that if it was originally
given to mankind indiscriminately, no power upon earth is entitled to
restrict it; because, on the supposition which we are now making,
since every man's original right in it was equal, that right can be
cancelled by no authority but that which bestowed it. If it was at
first promulgated under the character of a universal standard of faith
and practice, we are bound to recognise it in that character; and every
attempt to alter it, to convert into private what was originally public
property, or to make a monopoly of a universal grant, is an act of
extreme presumption and impiety. It is to assume a superiority over
revelation itself.
Let us see then how the matter stands. Let us ascend to its
original, and examine in what shape it was first communicated.
Though we are accustomed to speak of the Bible as one book, it is
in truth a collection of many, composed at different periods and by
different writers, as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost.
To speak first of the Old Testament. The Old Testament was
distributed by the Jews into three parts:-the Pentateuch; the earlier
and later Prophets, including some historical compositions; and the
Hagiographs, or Holy Writings, consisting chiefly of the Book of Job,
the Proverbs, and the Psalms.
With respect to the Pentateuch, it is a matter of notoriety that it
was delivered with the utmost publicity, and was neither more nor less
than the public and municipal law of the Jewish commonwealth, which
every king, on his ascending the throne, was commanded to copy with
his own hand, as the perpetual rule of his government; and every head
of a family to teach and inculcate on his children, when he sat in his
house, and when he walked by the way. It was first proclaimed from
the top of Mount Sinai, with ineffable splendour, in the hearing of the
whole nation, prefaced with the remarkable words, " Hear, 0 Israel."
There is surely no pretence for representing it as a deposite committed
to a particular class, when an accurate acquaintance with it was requisite in order to regulate the private as well as public life of every
Israelite. Though, in process of time, its interpretation gave birth to
a particular profession, whose followers are styled scribes in the New
Testament, nothing was further from their thoughts than the assumption if a right to withhold it from public perusal: their employment
was, partly by an accurate transcription to preserve the purity of the
copies, and partly to elucidate its obscurities.
If we descend to the Prophets, we shall find them addressing their
instructions, and announcing their predictions, in the most public
manner, to all descriptions of persons-to princes, to nobles, to the
populace, in crowded assemblies, in places of the most public resort.
Such was the manner in which Jeremiah prophesied:-" I am full,"
saith he, "of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in; I will
pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young
men together." (Jer. vi. 11.) When strong political reasons seemed




THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.                 431
to dictate a different proceeding, when he was violently importuned by
nis sovereign to conceal his predictions, lest he should weaken the
hands of the people and encourage their enemies, he remained inflexible,
and continued to divulge the suggestions of inspiration with the same
publicity as before. Yet it is the prophetic part of Scripture which
is the most obscure, and most liable to be perverted to the purposes
of popular delusion.
Of the'Hagiographs little need be said. As they consist chiefly
of maxims of civil prudence, sentiments of devotion, and sublime
descriptions of the Deity and his works, it is probable none will contend
for their restricted circulation.
Let us take a rapid glance at the New Testament.  Here the
Gospels will claim our first attention: and with respect to these, if we
are to credit the earliest ecclesiastical writers, they are a mere abstract
of the preaching of the respective apostles and evangelists whose
names they bear. We are informed, that when they were about to
leave certain countries, where they had been employed for a considerable time in disseminating the gospel, the inhabitants of those
districts were anxious to possess a permainent record of the principal
facts in which they had been instructed, that by reading them at their
leisure they might in the absence of their teachers impress them on
their memory.  The Gospels of Mark and Luke are affirmed, by the
earliest historians, to have been composed from the preaching of St.
Peter and St. Paul, and not to have been published until they had
received the entire approbation of those apostles. This part of Scripture, then, supplies no pretence or apology for the practice of restricted
distribution.
The Epistles next come in order: and these, as is evident from
heir inscriptions, were addressed to whole assemblies of the faithful;
in which rich and poor, learned and unlearned, Jew and gentile, were
incorporated on terms of religious equality. They were also read
publicly every Lord's-day; in the devotional exercises of which the
recitation of the Scriptures, after the manner of the ancient synagogue,
occupied a conspicuous place. We find St. Paul strongly adjuring
one of the societies to which he wrote to take care that his epistle
was read to " all the holy brethren."
There is one extraordinary book, of a character totally distinct from
the rest, which closes the canon of inspiration. The book to which I
refer, you are aware, is the Revelation of St. John;-a composition
distinguished, above all others, by a profusion of obscure, figurative
diction; delineating, by a sort of hieroglyphics, the principal revolutions destined to befall the Christian church, from the earliest times
till the consummation of all things. This portion of Scripture is a
fertile mine of erroneous, extravagant conjecture, and supplies, by its
injudicious interpretation, more gratification to a heated imagination
to a taste for the marvellous and incredible, than the whole of the
New Testament besides; insomuch, that few have been found capable
of preserving a perfect sobriety and composure in the midst of its
stupendous scenery, where the curtain rises and falls so often, where




432      SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF1
new creations so rapidly succeed each other, accompanied by myriads
of the angelic order, and the sound of trumpets, and of voices, and
thunderings, and lightnings.  Yet it is sufficiently remarkable, that
this is the only book to the perusal of which an express benediction
is attached: 1" Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy."  Its integrity is also guarded and secured by a
fearful measure denounced against such as shall presume to alter it
in the minutest tittle, by adding to or taking away from' its words.
T'he Holy Spirit, foreseeing, what actually ensued, that the peculiar
features of this prophecy would excite the prejudices of some, and in
others its obscurity induce neglect, judged it necessary to employ a
special precaution against its falling into contempt or oblivion.
Thus it appears, from a rapid induction of particulars, that the Bible
is a common property, over which there is no human control; that, as
"' all Scripture is given by inspiration of God," so it is all " profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for every good
word and work."
In addition to what has been said, it is also proper to remark, that
translations of the sacred book were early made, for the benefit of the
unlearned, in the vernacular language of the countries into which
Christianity had spread; that various versions in the Latin were
published in the West, and the Syriac in the East, either during the
lives of the apostles or in the period immediately succeeding: nor
was it, ever made a question during the first centuries, whether the
inspired writings should be laid open to universal inspection. The
Christian fathers were well known to have inculcated their perusal on
all sorts of men; ifor are the most celebrated of them, St. Austin and
St. Chrysostom, ever more eloquent than when engaged in unfolding
their excellence, and expatiating on their utility, to persons of every
description.
It was not till "the man of sin" had placed himself in the temple
of God, and exalted himself " above all that is called God, and that is
worshipped," that a different policy prevailed, and the, people were
told that they must be content to derive their religious information only
through the medium of priests.
Is it possible to conceive a greater insult? If we should resent the
attempt to disturb an ancient possession, and to remove the landmarks
which bound and ascertain the inheritance of our fathers, what ought
we to feel when a scheme is set on foot to deprive us of the record
of our salvation, of the charter of our immortality?  Who are they
who pretend a right to sit in judgment on the contents of revelation,to determine what is proper to be communicated and what withheld,
as though they were sifting the chaff fromn the wheat? Is it come to
this, that the medicine of life is to be dealt out with a sparing and
cautious hand, and mixed with foreign ingredients, like arsenic or
hemlock, which are only safe when administered in a diluted form,
and in small quantities? What is it which has lifted these pretenders
to such an envied superiority over their fellow-creatures, while the




THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.                  433
whole species, sick and infirm, are consigned to the skill of the same
great Physician, and are either in a state of spiritual death, or under
one and the same process of cure?
Apprehensive as I am of exhausting your patience, there are yet
two considerations to which I would direct vour attention, sufficient to
demonstrate the importance of not relinquishing that right with which
God and nature have invested you.
First, The great mass of mankind have no possible motives to tempt
them to pervert the dictates of inspiration.  The Bible is safest in the
custody of those who have no temptation to abuse it, by forcing upon
it a language foreign from its original intention.  Such is the precise
situation of the great body of the people.  Their concern in religion
is of the purest and most unsuspicious nature, since the only advantage
which it is conceivable they can derive from it is assistance towards
holy living and dying. If it fail to put them in possession of a share
in the common salvation, there is no subordinate end to be answered,
no private emolument attainable by its means to compensate for their
loss. If it be ineffectual to enlighten and to save them, there is no
other benefit which they can flatter themselves with the hope of deriving
fiom it.  You in this assembly who sustain no clerical character
possess this advantage, at least, over the ministers of religion, that
)rTou have no temptations to make a gain of godliness. Your religion
either promotes your eternal welfare, or it is nothing to you. How
far this is from being the case with the Romish hierarchy, through all
its ranks and gradations, from his holiness to the meanest ecclesiastic,
few of you need to be informed. The loftiest pretensions to universal
empire, the prostration of Christendom at their feet, a plenary power
of absolution, of opening the gates of purgatory and of paradise;this gigantic dominion, extending to the living and the dead, founds
itself entirely on a perverted interpretation of the Scriptures: and
were they laid open to the people in their true intent and meaning,
the whole fabric would melt and disappear like a cloud.  When we
remember tiis, we cease to be surprised at the extreme animosity
which his holiness has evinced to the free circulation of the Scriptures.
Their circulation is the sure presage of his destruction; and the roar
of his bull (if I may be allowed a pun on so serious a subject) is but
the instinctive cry of a beast which feels itself goaded to madness by
the operations of the Bible Society.  To commit the custody of the
Bible to men who have so deep and vital an interest in its suppression,
would be to commit the lamb to the care of the wolf. No, my
countrymen! the situation of his holiness possesses nothing in common
with ours; and our feelings accord to our situations.  He calls for
darkness (and well he may), to prevent the detection of his errors;
we, for light, to conduct us in the pursuit of truth.  Hie courts the
shade, to conceal his enormities; we ask for illumination, to enable us
to perform our duties. The book which we are employed in circulating
sutflciently solves the problem:-6  He that doeth evil hatethi the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved: he
that doetlh truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
VOL. IL.-E e




434      SPEECH AT AN ANNIVERSARY  IMEETING OF
manifest that they are wrought in God."  When the R.omish church
found she had deviated too far from, the religion of the New Testament
to render a reconciliation practicable, she proceeded to take away the
key of knowledge, by opposing every possible obstacle to its progress;
and having availed herself of the ignorance of the age and the apathy
of the people to establish her claims to infallibility, she became a
standard to herself.  Thus she rendered detection impossible: nor
did she ever feel herself safe till the stage was completely darkened,
till every chink and crevice was closed through which a ray could
penetrate.  Thus was the reign of superstition established: but were
we to attempt a recital of a thousandth part of the fearful impieties she
was guilty of, and the bloody tragedies she acted in the dark,-her
impostures, oppressions, cruelties, and murders, —we should detain you
till midnight, and leave the tale half-told.  Suffice it to observe, that
this mystery of iniquity was founded on a prevailing ignorance of the
Scriptures, and was completed by reducing them to a monopoly.
Secondly, The next remark to which I would request your attention
is, that heresies have seldom or never taken their rise from the mass
of the people. Look at the history, trace the origin of the principal
corruptions of Christianity which have prevailed at different periods,
and you will uniformly find that they commenced in the higher classes,
among men of leisure and speculation; that they were the product of
perverted ingenuity and of unsanctified talent.  Adapted to subserve
the purposes of avarice and ambition, they were the invention of
spiritual wickedness in high places.  The commonalty, tenacious of
the habits of thinking and acting to which they have been trained, are
slow in adopting novelties, and the last to be misled by the illusions of
hypothesis, or the false refinements of theory. The progress of opinion
is from the higher to the lower orders; and it is as unnatural for it to
begin at the bottom as for water to ascend from the valleys to the
hills.  The doctrine of transubstantiation is too much at war with
common sense to have originated with the common people, any more
than the doctrines of purgatory, auricular confession, the worship of
the host, or the infallibility of the pope; all of wvhich were gradually
obtruded on the laity by the artifices of a designing priesthood, whose
interest and ambition they promoted. Far from running into these
absurdities of their own accord, the people, harassed, confounded, and
dismayed, were hunted into the toils by men who made merchandise
of souls. Let but the great body of the people be enlightened by the
word of God, let them comprehend its truths, and imbibe its maxims,
and they will form the firmest bulwarks against the encroachments of
popery, as well as every other erroneous and delusive system.  It is
in a virtuous and an enlightened population, and especially in a
yeomanry and peasantry informed and actuated by the true spirit of
religion, we look for the security and preservation of its best interests.
It was among them that Christianity commenced its earliest triumphs;
among them the Reformation begun by Luther found its first and fastest
friends: and as it was in this department of society our holy religion




THE LEICESIER BIBLE SOCIETY.                  43.
first penetrated, should the time arrive for its disappearance in other
quarters, it is here that it will find its last and safe retreat.
An ingenious allusion was made, in your report, to Catholic emancipation-a subject on which the public mind is much divided. To
agitate the question of the expediency of that measure on the present
occasion would be highly improper; but I may be permitted to remark,
that however our sentiments may vary on the subject of emancipation,
considered in a political light, we are unanimous in desiring to bestow
that moral emancipation which is of infinitely greater value, and which
will best ensure the wise improvement of the liberty Catholics possess,
as well as of the power they aspire to. We are most solicitous to
emancipate them from that intolerable yoke of superstition and priestcraft, under which reason is crippled and made dwarfish, conscience
is oppressed, and religion expires. We are perfectly convinced, that
nothing will so essentially contribute to raise our fellow-subjects in
Ireland to their just intellectual and moral elevation, as the wide and
unimpeded circulation of the sacred Scriptures.
Let us then proceed with unabated ardour in this glorious career.
Let us endeavour to give as wide an extension as possible to the waters
of life. Let them flow freely, in opposition to the narrow and mischievous policy which would confine them in artificial pools and reservoirs, where they become stagnant and putrid. Let us join our prayers
with our efforts, that the word of God may have "free course and be
glorified," whatever opposing force it may sweep away in its progress:
and should his holiness the pope, while he is buffeting with the waves,
and attempting to arrest the current, be thrown down, and his triple
crown totter and tumble from his head, instead of feeling the smallest
concern, let us rejoice and exult in the sure presage it will afford of the
speedy arrival of that long-looked-for moment, when at the decree of
the'Eternal, at the oath of the archangel, Babylon the Great shall sink
like lead in the mighty waters.
Ee2.




FR qGME NT.
SPEECH
DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF THE LEICESTER AUXILIARY BIBLI
SOCIETY.
[Not published before. ]
Ir the Scriptures are in reality what they profess to be, we can be
at no loss to perceive the obligation we are under to make them  as
extensively known as possible.  On this subject we must allow thesm
to speak for themselves; they assert their claim to be received as at
immediate revelation from God, an inspired guide in the conduct of life
and in the pursuit of immortality, " a light shining in a dark place" t(
direct us in the paths of salvation.  They affirm themselves to be the
voice of God addressing his creatures on a subject of the last import
ance.  Whether their claim to this character is valid or not, is a
question to be discussed with infidels, not among Christians, and is
therefore to be put. out of view in discussing the merits of this society.
It is a Christian institution, set on foot by professed Christians in a
Christian land.  It is strange, that among men professing Christianity
a doubt should arise for a moment on the propriety of circulating as
widely as possible tile records of our common faith, the charter of the
common salvation.
But we are not agreed among ourselves on various articles of belief,
on the diverse modes of discipline and of worship.  True; nor do we
profess such agreement: but that the Scriptures are the standard to
which we must all appeal, that they contain the infallible rule of the
faith and practice of Christians, we are agreed; and what possible
objection, then, can a diversity of opinions on other subjects create to
the universal distribution of the oracles of God? Are your peculiar
views, we would ask the objector, sanctioned, in your apprehension,
by these oracles?-then, instead of acting a hostile part, we are your
allies;-for we are circulating the very book on which your views are
founded; we are diffusing that light, [and] that only, by which you
profess to have been conducted to the conclusions at which you have
arrived.  What greater advantage could you wish for the propagation
of your doctrines, than that mankind should have free and [universal]




SPEECH TO THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.    437
access to the sources of your own conviction? It must be assumed
for granted that in consequence of faithfully consulting its dictates you
have been guided aright. Why anticipate, in regard to others, an
opposite result? why suppose it will bewilder them in the paths of
error and heresy, when your own experience attests it has led you
into those of rectitude and truth?  Is it agreeable to reason to expect
that the same tree shall bring forth good fruit and evil fruit; or that
the same fountain will send forth sweet water and bitter?
In the midst of that unhappy diversity of sentiment which divides
plofessing Christians, what can be conceived more unexceptionably
proper than the circulation of that book, in the belief of whose inspiration we all concur, and may therefore act in perfect concert and harmony
without the smallest sacrifice of principle? If our professions are
sincere, we are in such a course of proceeding, at once promoting our
respective views, our discriminating tenets, and exhibiting an edifying
example of unanimity and concord, combining in one and the same
effort the interests of charity and of truth.
We are aware that destructive errors may be, and have been, deduced
from  an erroneous interpretation of the Bible; there is nothing so
absurd and extravagant in the defence of which it has not been quoted;
but as this is far from implying any reflection on that sacred hook, so
it has uniformly arisen from partial and defective views of its contents,
where single passages have been violently torn from their connexion,
and made to speak a language most remote from the scope and design
of the writer.  The proper antidote to this evil is [a] diligent and
serious perusal of the whole; which will seldom fail, to all practical
purposes, to ascertain that which is ambiguous, to elucidate what is
obscure, and explain what is figurative and metaphorical.  From a full
conviction that a comprlehensive view of the Scriptures is the most
effectual corrective of the mistakes into which we may be betrayed
by the cursory perusal of detached portions, it is the invariable plan
of this society [to] distribute the whole of the Scriptures: nor can we
sufficiently admire the inconsistency of those who, deprecating the
danger of this, propose a partial distribution of the sacred volume, when
it is obvious that the most alarming deviations from truth have arisen
from this very cause, an exclusive attention to particular parts, without
adverting to the relations they bear to the whole, and the reciprocal
light which one portion of Revelation derives from the other.  If" all
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," we are at
a loss to conceive how any part can have an opposite tendency, or
how the withholding a portion of the instruction it affords can be pro
ductive of more illumination than giving it in all its extent.  "The
foolishness of God is wiser than man," and the conduct of his providence
in putting his revelation into our hands, without the smallest, limitation or
restriction, affords a presumption, or rather a proof, of its tendency to
good. and good only; [while of the contrary] it is difficult to conceive
the possibility without contradicting the decisions of infinite Wisdom.
If a part only would have been more beneficial than the whole, only




4.38       SPEECH DELIVERED AT A MEETING OF
a part would have been given; or if the benefit to be derived firom the
whole is restricted to some privileged class or order, without extending
to mankind at large, we should undoubtedly have been furnished with
some intimation of this, some mark or criterion by which to distinguish
those favoured individuals who are allowed access to the whole counsel
of God.'We certainly are at a loss to discern in the adversaries of
this institution that transcendent piety, that lofty superiority to worldly
passions, or that resplendent exhibition of the Christian character
which might induce a suspicion of their being, it, some peculiar
manner, the confidential depositaries of the Divine secrets. Whatever
pretensions of this sort they may really possess, we can only lament
that extreme modesty and reserve which has so effectually concealed
[them] from the public view.
Gentlemen, on casting a survey over the different orders into which
society, is distributed, I am at an utter loss to fix on any description' of
persons who are likely to be injured by the most extensive perusal of
the word of God.  The poor, we may be certain, will sustain no injury
from their attention to a book which, while [it] inculcates, under the
most awful sanctions, the practice of honesty, industry, frugality, subordination to lawful authority, contentment, and resignation to the
allotments of Providence, elevates them to the hope of " an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" a book, which at
once secures the observation of the duties which attach to an inferior
condition, and almost annihilates its evils, by opening their prospects
into a state where all the inequalities of fortune will vanish, and the
obscurest and most neglected piety shall be crowned with eternal glory.
"The poor man rejoices that he is exalted;" and while he views himself as the member of Christ, and the heir of a blessed immortality,
he can look with undissembled pity on the frivolous distinctions, the
fruitless agitations, and the fugitive enjoyments of the most eminent
and the most prosperous of those who have theirportion in this world.
The poor man will sustain no injury by exchanging the vexations of
envy for the quiet of a good conscience, and fruitless repinings for the
consolations of religious hope.  The less is his portion in this life,
the more ardently will he cherish and embrace the promise of a better,
while the hope of that better exerts a reciprocal influence, in prompting
him to discharge the duties, and reconciling him to the evils, which
are inseparable from the present. The Bible is the treasure of the
poor, the solace of the sick, and the support of the dying; and while
other books may amuse and instruct in a leisure hour, it is the peculiar
triumnph of that book to create light in the midst of darkness, to alleviate the sorrow which admits of no other alleviation, to direct a beam
of hope to the heart which no [other] topic of consolation can reach;
while guilt, despair, and death vanish at the touch of its holy inspiration. There is something in the spirit and diction of the Bible which
is found peculiarly adapted to arrest the attention of the plainest and
most uncultivated minds. The simple structure of its sentences, combined walt a lofty spirit of poetry,-its familiar allusions to the scenes
of nature, and the transactions of common life,-the delightful inter



THE LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.                 439
mixture of narration with the doctrinal and preceptive parts,-and the
profusion of miraculous facts, which convert it into a sort of enchanted
ground,-its constant advertence to the Deity, whose perfections it
renders almost visible and palpable,-unite in bestowing upon it an
interest which attaches to no other performance, and which, after assiduous and repeated perusal, invests it with much of the charm  of
novelty: like the great orb of day, at which we are wont to gaze with
unabated astonishment from infancy to old age.  What other book
besides the Bible could be heard in public assemblies from year to
year, with an attention that never tires, and an interest that never cloys?
With few exceptions, let a portion of the sacred volume be recited
in a mixed multitude, and though it has been heard a thousand times,
a universal stillness ensues, every eye is fixed, and every ear is awake
and attentive.  Select, if you can, any other composition, and let it be
rendered equally familiar to the mind, and see whether it will produce
this effect.
The importance of attaching a distinct sanction to the rules of moral
conduct is imnmediately obvious; and whatever eloquence may be employed in painting the beauty of virtue, and the odious deformity of
vice, will have little influence in the moment of temptation, and in the
conflicts of passion, upon the most cultivated minds, and on those of
an inferior description none at all.  These topics appeal to feelings
which are feeble and evanescent, while the passions to which they are
opposed are violent and intense.  Nothing short of a " Thus saith the
Lord," accompanied and enforced with the prospect of eternal happiness or misery, will be sufficient to secure the practice of what is right,
when vice and crime are recommended by the allurements of pleasure,
or the promise of immediate advantage. But it is the word of God
only to which the sanction of his authority is attached, and which
incessantly reminds us that the lessons which it teaches are not merely
the dictates of reason, but the voice of God.  In human instructions,
however excellent, there must of necessity be a separation; the
instruction is [in] one place, the sanction in another; in the Scriptures,
and in the Scriptures alone, they are combined and incorporated.
Here, it is not a man addressing his exhortations to a fellow-creature;
it is the Father of our spirits, the Judge of the universe, speaking from
heaven, and grappling with the conscience of the moral and accountable being which he has formed. Let this persuasion be really and
deeply felt, and the word of the Lord is " quick and powerful, sharper
than a two-edged sword." There is no room for evasion, no pretext
for [inattention,] and no possibility of escape, except [by] immediate
compliance and submission.




ADDRE S S
IN BEHALF OF THE
BAPTIST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION
AT STEPNEY.
[Written in 1811 or 1812.]
IN calling the attention of the public to a new seminary, intended to
be established near London, for the education of candidates for the
Christian ministry, we are desirous of presenting a short account of
the motives by which we are actuated, and the objects we have in view.
We beg leave to premise, that nothing is further from our intention
than to interfere with the respectable seminaries already subsisting,
fiom which the church of Christ has derived essential benefit. We
congratulate the public on their institution, rejoice in their prosperity,
and feel a cordial concurrence with the views of their generous patrons
and supporters. We are persuaded, however, that the ground is not
yet so fully occupied as to leave no room for a further extension of
the means of instruction to students in theology; and that, among the
churches of the Baptist denomination at least, a difficulty is frequently
experienced in procuring young men possessed of those qualifications
which the state of society renders desirable.  Having been supplied, by
the noble munificence of a worthy individual, with a house and premises
at Stepney well fitted for an academy, we are desirous of realizing
the liberal intentions of the donor, by carrying into execution the plan
of public utility he has meditated.
At this period, no apology can be necessary for attempting to assist
young men designed for the ministry in the acquisition of such branches
of knowledge as may qualify them more completely for the successful
discharge of that sacred function; since, whatever prejudices unfavourable to learning may have formerly prevailed in serious minds,
they appear to have subsided, and Christians in general admit the
propriety of enlisting literature in the service of religion.  From  the
recent multiplication of theological seminaries among Protestant dissenters, such an inference may be fairly deduced. While we assert
the absolute sufficiency of the Scriptures for every saving purpose, it
is impossible to deny the usefulness of the knowledge derived from
books, in unfolding many of its obscurities, explaining many of H




ADDRESS, ETC.                          441
allusions, and producing more fully to the view the inestimable treasure
it contains.  The primary truths of revelation, it is acknowledged,
offer themselves at first view in the sacred volume; but there are
latent riches and gemls of inesimable value, which can be brought to
light only by a deeper and more laborious research. There are numberless exquisite harmonies and retired beauties in the scheme of
revelation, which are rarely discovered without the union of great
industry with cultivated talent.  A collection of writings, composed on
various occasions, and at remote intervals of time, including detached
portions of history the most ancient, and of poetry awfully sublime,
but often obscure,-a book containing continual allusions to manners
unknown in this part of the world, and to institutions which have long
ceased to exist,-must demand all the aid that ingenuity and learning
can bring towards its elucidation.
The light of revelation, it should be remembered, is not opposite to
the light of reason; the former presupposes the latter; they are both
emanations from the same source; and the discoveries of the Bible,
however supernatural, are addressed to the understanding, the only
medium of information, whether human or divine.  Revealed religion
is not a cloud which overshadows reason; it is a superior illumination
designed to perfect its exercise and supply its deficiencies.  Since
truth is always consistent with itself, it can never suffer from the most
enlarged exertion of the intellectual powers, provided those powers be
regulated by a spirit of dutiful submission to the oracles of God.  The
evidences of Christianity challenge the most rigid examination; the
more a;ccurate and extensive the inquiry, the more convincing will they
appear.  Ulnexpected coincidences between inspired history and the
most undisputed remains of antiquity will present themselves, and
striking analogies be perceived between the course of Providence and
the supreme economy of grace.  The gradual development of the plan
of revelation, together with the dependence of its several parts on each
other, and the perfect consistency of the whole, will employ and reward
the deepest investigation.  In proof of the assistance religion may
derive from learning, rightly directed, we appeal to the writings of an
Usher, a Newton, and a Bryant; to the ancient apologists of Christianity, who by means of it unmasked the deformities of polytheism;
to the Reformers, whom it taught to remove the sacred volume from the
dust and obscurity of cloisters, and exhibit it in the dialects of Europe,
and to the victorious impugners of infidelity in modern times.  Suw:h
are the spoils which sanctified learning has won from superstition and
impietv, the common enemies of God and man.  Nor must we forget
to notice, among the most precious fruits of cultivated reason, that consciousness of its own deficiencies, and sense of its own weakness,
which prompts it to bow to the authority of revelation, and depose its
honours at the cross; since its incapacity to solve the most important
questions, and to satisfy the most distressing doubts, will be felt with
the truest conviction, and attested with the best grace, by such as have
made the largest essay of' its powers.
i An unconverted ministry we look upon as the greatest calamity that




442             ADDRESS IN BEHALF OF THE
can befall the church; nor would we be supposed to insinuate by the
preceding observations that education can ever be a proper substitute
for native talent, much less for real piety: all we mean to assert is,
that the union of both will much enlarge the capacity of doing good.
Without descending to particulars, we must be allowed to remark, for
example, that the art of' arranging ideas in their proper order, and of
investigating the nature of different sorts of evidence, as well as an
acquaintance with the fundamental rules of composition and rhetoric,
are of essential service to a public speaker.
The existing state of society supplies additional reasons for extenu;:.
the advantages of academical education.  If former periods have given
birth to more renowned scholars, none ever produced so many men
of reading and reflection as the present; never was there a time when
books were so multiplied, knowledge so diffused,-and when, consequently, the exercise of cultivated talents in all departments was in
such demand.  When the general level of mental improvement is so
much raised, it becomes necessary for the teachers of religion to possess their full share of these advantages, if they would secure from
neglect the exercise of a function the most important to the interests
of mankind. If in the days of inspiration there were schools of the
prophets, and miraculous infusions of wisdom did not supersede human
means of instruction, much less are they to be neglected in the present
times, when no such communications are expected.  To this we must
add, that perverted literature is one of the most powerful weapons in
the hands of the enemies of divine truth, who leave no effort untried
to recommend their cause by the lustre of superior acquisitions, and to
form in the public mind the dangerous association between irreligion
and talents, weakness and piety.
In insisting so strongly on the advantages of a regular education, we
mean no disrespect to those excellent persons who have exercised their
ministry, much to the benefit of the church, without those advantages;
many of whom are men of vigorous minds, who have surmounted great
obstacles in the pursuit of knowledge; and others by their piety and
good sense well fitted for the stations which they occupy. We trust
that such ministers will always be highly esteemed in our churches:
there are situations, it is probable, which they are better qualified to fill
than persons of a higher education.  To the improvement of the higher
classes, however, it will scarcely be denied, men of the latter character
are best suited; and as their salvation is not in itself less important
than that of the lower orders, so their superior weight in society
attaches to their character and conduct peculiar consideration.  It is
also manifest, from the examples of a Brainerd, an Elliot, and a
Schwartz, that where piety in a candidate for the ministry is once secured, a course of academical studies is no impediment to the growth
and development of qualities the most conducive to success,-deep
humility, eminent spirituality, unshaken perseverance, and patient selfdenial.
With respect to the principles we wish to see prevail in our future
seminary, it may be sufficient to observe, they are in general the prinm




[iAPTIST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION.                   443
eiples of the,eformation; and were we to descend to a more minute
specification'we should add, they are the principles which distinguish
the body of Christians denoiminated Particular or Calvinistic Baptists.
Thile we feel a cordial esteem for all who love the Lord Jesus Christ
in sincerity, —disclaiming all pretensions to that vaunted liberality
which masks an indifference to revealed truth, we feel no hesitation in
declaring, that nothing would give us more concern than to see the
seminary we lave in contemplation become the organ of infidel or
he. etical pravityo
We conceive some advantages may accrue from fixing the proposed
seminary in the vicinity of the metropolis~  It may be hoped that its
pecuniary resources rill be benefited by being placed in the centre of
commercial opulence; that a residence of a few years near the capital
of a great empire may give an expansion to the youthfil mind; and
that the means which it affords of obtaining the assistance of teachers
in various departments of science, nowhere else to be found, may improve the taste and direct the exertions of the students~
We conclude with recommending our undertaking to the patronage
of the public and to the blessing' of God, and with expressing our hope,
that through the influence of the Divine Spirit, in a copious eflusion on
the future patrons, tutors, and students of this seminary, however small
in its beginning, it will become respectable for learning and piety, be a
nursery of faithfll and able ministers, and a blessing to the church  of.0 h is to




L E T T E R
TO THE COMMITTEE OF
THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
To the Committee of the Baptist Missionary Society, convened in London on the 15th instant.
Bristol, March 12, 1827.
GENTLEMEN,
IT is with much diffidence that I presume to address vou on the
present occasion, nor am I certain whether I am perfectly in order in
so doing; but conceiving this to be a crisis in the mission, and not being
able to be present at the meeting, I could not satisfy myself without
communicating the result of my reflections on the important business
which has called you together.
Dr. Marshman, it seems, as the representative of the brethren at
Serampore, has instituted a demand of one-sixth of all the money collected or subscribed towards the society, to be paid annually in aid of
the missionary operations going on there. It must strike every one as
strange that this demand should almost immediately follow a preceding
one which was acceded to, which he then professed to consider as
perfectly satisfactory, and as putting a final termination to all dispute
or discussion on the subject of pecuniary claims-that notwithstanding
this, he should now bring forward a fresh requisition of one-sixth of
the same amount, accompanied, as I am informed, by an intimation
that it is possible this may not be his ultimatum. This proceeding has
all the appearance of a tentative process, designed to ascertain how
far our anxiety to avoid a breach will prompt us to submit to his encroachments. What security have we against future requisitions if we
yield to the present?  What reason to suppose our ready compliance
in this instance will not encourage him to embrace an early opportunity of making further demands? It has all the appearance of the
commencement of a series of unfounded pretensions and endless
exactions.
That a set of men, in the character of missionaries, after disclaiming
the authority of the society which sent them out, and asserting an entire
independence-after claiming an absolute control (whether rightfully
or not) over a large property which that society had always considered




LETTER TO THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.  445
as its own, should demand an annual payment from those from whom
they had severed themselves, and thus attempt to make their constituents their tributaries, is a proceeding scarcely paralleled in the history
of human affairs.
I am utterly at a loss to understand on what principles the Seram
pore brethren, in the position in which they have placed themselves,
have any claim whatever on the funds of the society whose authority
they have renounced, after appropriating to themselves the manage
ment of an extensive revenue, in the disposal of which they will not
brook the smallest interference or control.  Without reverting to former
grounds of controversy, it will surely be admitted that the independence we have, for the sake of peace, conceded to them is reciprocalthat our right to it is not less than theirs-and that we are consequently
at liberty to dispose of our income in the way which we conceive
most conducive to the purposes of our institution.
It may be very proper, under certain circumstances, for us to aid the
brethren  at Serainpore by occasional donations, regulated by the state
of our funds, and the attention necessary to other objects; but this is
essentially different from absolutely engaging to pay an annual sum.
which would, in my humble opinion, be equally inconsistent with the
interests and the honour of this society. As our brethren of Serampore
have chiefly exerted themselves in translations, and are confessedly in
possession of great pecuniary resources, there seems no imperious
necessity for regularly diverting those funds to their aid which are
unequal to the demand which Bengal alone would create, were our
mission (a most desirable event) concentrated within that province.
Calcutta, to say nothing of other stations, cries aloud for more labourers, but cries in vain.
It has been said that we are indebted for our success to the celebrity
attached to the names of Carey, Marshman, and Ward; and that but
for the unbounded confidence of the religious public in these men, our
funds would never have been realized.  Supposing this to be the case,
to take advantage of such a circumstance in order to bring the society
into subjection, would not be to make a very generous use of their
influence.  But I believe it is a mistake; it is my firm conviction that
the Baptist mission, like other kindred institutions, rests on the basis
of its own merits, and that it will not fail to secure the confidence of
the public, in proportion to the purity of its motives, the wisdom of its
counsels, and the utility of its objects.  If it cannot sustain the ordeal
of public opinion on these principles, let it sink, rather than owe its
support to the illusion of a name.
To contemplate the possibility of being compelled to an open rup
ture with our brethren of Serampore is unquestionably painfill; it is,heir knowledge alone of our extreme reluctance to hazard that consequenee which imbollens them to advance these exorbitant claims.  If
we can avoid it by a consistent and dignified mode of procedure, let it
be avoided; but if peace can only be purchased by an ignominious
surrender of our rights as a society,-by a tame submission to unreasonable dematlds.-and by subjecting it to a scrt of feudal dependence,




446   LETTER TO THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
in all time to come, on persons we know not whom, whose characters
we cannot ascertain, and whose actions we cannot control,-the pur
chase is, in my humble opinion, too dear. The treatment of the Serampore brethren has not been such that we need shrink from its most
ample exposure to the public; nor have we any other censure to fear
on that head, except it be for lavishing upon them a too overweening
confidence. We have no such secrets to conceal, that it should cost
us a large annual payment to secure their suppression.
Of the three brethren with whom we were lately in treaty, one is
already gone into eternity, and the remaining two are advancing to that
period of life which ought to make us pause ere we enter into engagements which will give to persons of whom we know little or nothing a
permanent right of interference with our funds.
The crisis is most solemn; and a hasty compliance with the present
requisition may, when it is too late, make matter for bitter and unavailing repentance. That you may be indulged on this, and on every other
occasion, with "the wisdom which is from above," is the sincere
prayer of,            Gentlemen,
Your obedient humble servant,
ROBERT HALL.




PREFACE
TO
HALL'S HELP TO ZION'S TRAVELLERS
[ Written in 1814.]
AN aversion to religious controversy may arise from one of two
causes, in their nature the most opposite,-a contempt of religion itself,
or a high degree of devotional feeling. They who consider the objects
of religion as visionary and uncertain, or who, rejecting revelation, feel
their inability to find a place where they may fix their footing, will
naturally feel an emotion of contempt for theological contests, similar
to that which we should experience towards men who were fighting for
possessions in the air.
There are not a few who would engage with the utmost seriousness
and ardour in a dispute on the nature and effects of paper currency,
who would be ashamed of being suspected of directing their attention
for a moment to the most weighty question in theology. Attentive to
all the aspects and combinations of the material and of the political
world, they are accustomed to regard religion as a sort of Utopia, a
land of shadow and of fiction, where, wrapt in pleasing vision, credulity
reposes on the lap of imposture. Persons of this sort are so completely overcome by the enchantments of the present state, so entirely
devoted to the wisdom which St. James denominates earthly and sensual, that they are incapable of being impressed with a conviction of
the possibility of a higher order of objects, or a more elevated and
refined condition of being, than that with which they are conversant;
and though they may possess a subtle and penetrating genius, they are
not less disqualified for religious inquiries than an idiot or an infant.
"They mind earthly things."
How far the indisposition to religious controversy which prevails at
present may be justly ascribed to the Sadducean temper, I shall not
pretend to determine.  It is certain, however, that in some this indisposition proceeds from a better cause. While the former class of persons think religion not worth disputing about, there are others who
conceive it to be a subject too sacred for dispute. They wish to confine it to silent meditation, to sweeten solitude, to inspire devotion, to
guide the practice and purify the heart, and never to appear in public




148                       PREFACE TO
but in the character of the authentic interpreter of the will of Heaven
They conceive it degraded when it is brought forward to combat on the
arena.  We are fully convinced that a disputatious humour is unfa
vourable to piety, and that controversies in religion have often been
unnecessarily multiplied and extended; but how they can be dispensed
with altogether we are at a loss to discover, until some other method
is discovered of confuting error than sound and solid argument.  As
we no longer live in times (God be thanked!) when coercion can be
employed, or when any individual or any body of men is invested with
that authority which could silence disputes by an oracular decision,
there appears no possibility of maintaining the interests of truth, without having recourse to temperate and candid controversy.  Perhaps the
sober use of this weapon may not be without its advantages even at the
present season.  Prone as we are to extremes, may there riot be some
reason to apprehend we have passed from  that propensity to magnify
every difference subsisting anionog Christians to a neglect of just discrimination; to a habit of contemplating the Christian system as one in
which there is little or nothing that remains to be explored?  Let us
cultivate the most cordial esteem for all that love the Lord Jesus Christ
in sincerity. Let us anxiously guard against that asperity and contempt which have too often mingled with theological debates; but let
us aiin at the same time to acquire and retain the most accurate conceptions of religious truth.  Every improvement in the knowledge of
Christ and the mysteries of his gospel will abundantly compensate for
the labour and attention necessary to its attainment.
However unhappily controversies have too often been conducted, the
assistan(e they have afforded in the discovery of truth is not light or
inconsiderable.  Not to mention the Reformation, which wvas principally effected by controversy, how  many truths have by this Ineans
been set in a clearer view! and while the unhappy passions it has
awakened have subsided, the light struck out in the collision has been
retained and perpetuated.
As the physical powers are scarcely ever exerted to their utmost
extent but in the ardour of combat, so intellectual acumen hlas been
displayed to the most advantage and to the most effect in the contests
of argument.  The mind of a controversialist, warmed and agitated, is
turned to all quarters, and leaves none of its resources unemployed in
the invention of arguments, tries every weapon, and explores tile hidden
recesses of a subject with an intense vigilance, and an ardour which it
is next to impossible in a calmer state of mind to command.  Disingenuous arts are often resorted to, personalities are mingled, and much
irritative matter is introduced; but it is the business of the attentive
observer to separate these from  -he question at issue, and to form
an impartial judgment of the whole.  In a word, it may be truly affirmed
that the evils of controversy are transient, the good it produces is
permalnenut.
These observations I beg leave to submit to the readler as an
apology for the republication of a treatise which is professedily controversial.  Coinciding with the venerable author in the general aim




HALL'S HELP TO ZION'S TRAVELLERS.               449
and drift of the following sheets, I am far from pledging myself to the
approbation and support of every position contained in them; nor would
I be understood to attach all the importance to some of the points of
discussion which they appear in his estimation to have possessed.
If there be any impression in the following treatise which implies
that the questions at issue between the Calvinists and Arminians are
of the nature of fundamentals (of which, however, I am not aware),
I beg leave, as far as they are concerned, to express my explicit
dissent; being fully satisfied that upon either system the foundations
of human hope remain unshaken, and that there is nothing in the
contrariety of views entertained on these subjects which ought 30
obstruct the most cordial affection and harmony among Christians.
Having, no pecuniary interest in this work, I may perhaps be allowed
with more freedom to communicate my opinion of its merit. I am
much mistaken if the candid reader will not perceive in the author an
impartial love of truth, together with a degree of ingenuity and acuteness
in its illustration and defence not always to be met with in theological
discussions.
The sentiments of my honoured father were decidedly Calvinistic.
His object, however, in the following treatise was not so much to
recommend that system in general as to disengage it from certain
excrescences, which he considered as weakening its evidence and
impairing its beauty. On reviewing his religious tenets during the
latter years of his life, and impartially comparing them with the
Scriptures, he was led to discard some opinions which he had formerly
embraced, and which he afterward came to consider as having a
pernicious tendency.
From the moral impotence which the oracles of truth -ascribe to man
in his fallen state, a certain class of divines were induced to divide
moral and religious duties into two classes, natural and spiritual; cornprehending under the latter those which require spiritual or supernatural
assistance to their performance, and under the former those which demand-no such assistance. Agreeable to this distinction, they conceived it
to be the duty of all men to abstain from the outward acts of sin, to read
the Scriptures, to frequent the worship of God, and to attend with serious
assiduity to the means of grace; but they supposed that repentance, faith
in Christ, and the exercise of genuine internal devotion were obligatory
only to the regenerate.  Hence their ministry consisted almost entirely
of an exhibition of the peculiar mysteries of the gospel, with few or no
addresses to the unconverted. They conceived themselves not warranted to urge them to repent and believe the gospel,-those being
the spiritual duties, from whose obligatiot they were released by the
inability contracted by the fall.
These conclusions were evidently founded upon two assumptions:
first, that the impotence which the Scriptures ascribe to the, unregenerate is free from blame,.so as to excuse them 2rom all the duties
to which it extends.  In opposition to this, the author of the following
treatise has proved, in a very satisfactory manner, that the inability
under which the unconverted labour is altogether of a moral nature,
VOL. II.-F f




450                      PREFACE TO
consisting of the corruption of the will, or an aversion to things of a
spiritual and divine nature that is in itself criminal; and that, so far
from affording an excuse for what would otherwise be a duty, it stamps
with its own character all its issues and productions.
In considering the moral character of an action, we are naturally
led to inquire into its motive; and according as that is criminal, laudable, or indifferent, to characterize the action whence it proceeds
The motive, however, appears no otherwise entitled to commendation
than as it indicates the disposition of the agent; so that, in analyzing
the elements of moral character, we can ascend no higher than to the
consideration of the disposition, or the state of the will and of the
affections, as constituting the essence of that portion of virtue or of
vice which we respectively ascribe to it.  To proceed further will only
involve us in a circle; since to whatever we might trace the disposition
in question, should we be induced, for example, to asc:ribe it to the
free exercise of the will, that exercise would fall under the same
predicament, and be considered either as virtuous cir vicious, according
to the disposition whence it proceeds. When s'e Scriptures have
placed the inability of mankind to yield holy and acceptable obedience
in an evil disposition, or in blindness or hardness of heart,'they have
conducted us to the ultimate point on this subject, and have established
the'doctrine of human criminality upon a basis which cannot be shaken
or disturbed without confounding the first principles of moral dis
crimination.  Though this is manifest, this impotence is entirely of a
moral nature, totally distinct from the want of natural faculties.  It
is equally evident, that to whatever extent it -exists, while it actually
subsists, it is as effectual an impediment to the performance of holy
actions as any physical privation whatever: and on that account, and
on that alone, may without absurdity be styled an inability.  This
important distinction was not wholly unknown to our earlier divines,
though they neglected to avail themselves of it as fully as they ought:
it is clearly stated by the great Mr. Howe, in his Blessedness of the
Righteous, as well as adverted to by Mr. Baxter in several of his
practical works. But the earliest regular treatise on this subject it
has been my lot to meet with was the production of Mr. Truman, an
eminent nonconformist divine. In his Dissertation on Moral Impotence,
as he styles it, he has anticipated the most important arguments of
succeeding, writers, and has evinced throughout a most masterly,
acquaintance with his subject.  This work is mentioned in terms
of high respect by Nelson, in his Life of Bishop Bull, who remarks
that his thoughts were original, and that he had hit upon a method of
defending Calvinism, against the objections of Bull and others, peculiar
to himself. His claim to perfect originality, however, was not so
well-founded as Nelson supposed. Since his time the subject has been
fully discussed by the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, in his Treatise
on the Will, and the distinction defended with all the depth and precision
peculiar to that amazing genius.
Another principle assumed as a basis by the high Calvinists is, that
the same things cannot be the duty of man and the gift of God; or, in




HALL'S HELP TO ZION'S TRAVELLERS.              451
other words, that what is matter of promise can on no occasion be
the matter of obligation.  The Scriptures frequently affirm faith and
repentance to be the gift of God; hence it is concluded that they
cannot be obligatory on the unregenerate,-a conclusion diametrically
opposed to innumerable passages in the Old and New Testaments,
which insist in the most peremptory style on true conversion and a lively
faith as the most essential duties, which other passages are equally
express in exhibiting as matter of promise. "A new heart will I give
them," says the Lord, by Ezekiel, " and a new spirit will I put within
them, and I will take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart
of flesh." The same prophet cries, " Make yourselves a new heart;
for why will ye die, ye house of Israel?"-in exact accordance with
the language of St. James, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and
purify your hearts, ye double-minded." The burthen of our Saviour's
ministry, as well as that of his forerunner, was, "Repent, for the
kingdom of God is at hand;" while St. Peter, who perfectly knew the
genius of Christianity, affirms that Christ is "exalted, to give repentance
and the remission of sins."  "Circumcise your hearts," said Moses,;and be no longer stiff-necked." The same Moses had been previously
commissioned to declare, "The Lord thy God will circumcise thy
heart, and the heart of thy seed."  Now the circumcision of the heart,
we are taught by St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, to regard as
the distinguishing feature of the truly regenerate-of him " who is a
Jew inwardly, whose praise is not of man, but of God." Whoever
impartially weighs the import of these scriptures must be convinced
that the same things are in fact matter of command and the subject of
promise, and must consequently be prepared to acquiesce in the
decision of Infinite Wisdom on this subject, however much he may be
at a loss to explain or account for it.  The consistency of the promises
and of the commands in question arises from the matter of each being
of a moral nature. If we will allow ourselves to reflect, we shall
perceive that the will, and the will only, is the proper object of command, and that an agent is no otherwise accountable, or susceptible
of moral government, than as he is the subject of voluntary powers:
we shall also perceive that the disordered state of the will, or the
radical indisposition of an agent to comply with legitimate commands,
which is the same thing, by no means exempts him from their obligation, nor tends in the least degree to render the addressing such
commands to him absurd or improper. That they will not be complied
with while that disordered state subsists is true: but legitimate commands, enforced by proper sanctions, are among the strongest motives;
that is, they tend in their own nature to incline the will, and therefore they
cannot be withheld without virtually relinquishing the claim of authority
and dominion. This may suffice to evince the propriety of issuing
commands, notwithstanding the known and radical indisposition to
comply; or, which comes to the same thing, whatever be the state of
the will.
With respect to the other side of the supposed contradiction, what
can be plainer than that the will, as well as every other faculty of the
Ff2




452                      PREFACE TO
mind, is under Divine control, and that God can, with infinite ease, in
what instances and in what manner he please, so change and modify
it as to induce a prompt and cheerful compliance with his requisition?
What should prevent Him, at whose disposal are the hearts of the
mightiest of men, " to make his people willing in the day of his power?"
It is instructive as well as amusing to trace the coincidence which
is often found between systems which appear at first view at the
utmost variance from each other.  The grosser Arminians and Pelagians contend, that it is the duty of all men to repent and believe,
because all possess an inherent power of so doing without special and
Divine assistance. The high Calvinists, on the contrary, deny that
men in a state of unregeneracy are under an obligation to perform
those duties, because they are not possessed of the requisite ability.
Thus both concur in making moral ability the measure of obligation;
a position which, when the terms are accurately defined and cleared
of their ambiguity, conducts us to this very extraordinary conclusion,
that men are obliged to just as much of duty as they are inclined to.
On these and other points connected with them the reader, if we are
not mistaken. will find much solid instruction in the following treatise,
accompanied with such a constant attention to the great end of theological discussion-the promotion of practical piety-as can scarcely
fail of affording high satisfaction to serious minds. To this treatise,
and to another on a similar subject by my excellent and judicious
friend Mr. Fuller, the dissenters in general, and the Baptists in particular, are under great obligation for emancipating them from the
fetters of prejudice, and giving free scope to the publication of the
gospel. By these means a considerable revolution has been effected
in the sentiments of the denomination to which I have the honour to
belong: the excrescences of Calvinism have been cut off;-the points
of defence have been diminished in number and better fortified;-truth
has shone forth with brighter lustre; —and the ministry of the gospel
has been rendered more simple, more practical, and more efficacious.
In reply to such as may object to the metaphysical subtlety which
pervades some parts of the following treatise, I would avail myself of
the distinction admirably illustrated by the author of the Light of Nature
Pursued.* lie observes, that although metaphysical reason rarely,
if ever, conduces to the discovery of truth, it is of great advantage in
the detection of sophistry; and that the mist and confusion in which
moral subjects have been involved, by crude and undigested metaphy.
sics, can only be exploded by the temperate use of that which is true
and genuine: so that the chief praise of metaphysics is the cure of its
own ills, the repair of the mischief which itself has wrought.  The
rtader will observe that the author employs metaphysics, not to rear
the fabric of truth, which can only be effected by a profound deference
to inspiration, but to demolish a rotten superstructure which conceals
its beauty., For the want of elegance or polish, discernible in the
following sheets, it will be sufficient apology to inform the reader, that
the author, destitute of the advantages of early education, had no other
* Abraham Tucker.




HALL'S HELP TO ZION'S TRAVELLERS.               453
resources to depend upon, in his religious inquiries, than what were
derived from the vigour of his understanding, and his unbiassed integrity
of heart. Had he enjoyed the benefit -of literary culture, he would
have undoubtedly written in a style and manner more adapted to gain
the attention of the superior classes: whether his reasoning would
have been more cogent, or his method of handling his subject better
fitted for the instruction of plain serious Christians, for whose benefit
>e principally laboured, is more questionable.
Gratitude and veneration compel me to add, that with all the imperfections of the work, and the disadvantages under which the author
of it laboured, I shall ever esteem it one of the greatest favours an
indulgent Providence has bestowed upon me, to have possessed such
a father, whom, in all the essential features of character, it will be
imy humble ambition to imitate, though conscious it must ever be
--' Haud patsibus Squis."
ROBERT HALL.




PREFACE TO JANEWAY'S LIFE.
L Written in 1816.]
AT the request of a highly esteemed friend, I feel no hesitation in
recommending the remarkable narrative now republished, to the serious
attention of the reader. It exhibits a life eminently formed on the
example of Christ, and a death-bed scene of extraordinary elevation
and triumph. It is next to impossible to contemplate either, as they
are exhibited in the following memorial, without feeling an increasing
conviction of the reality and dignity of true religion. I am aware that
some will object to the strain of devout ecstasy which characterizes
the sentiments and language of Mr. Janeway in his dying moments;
but I am persuaded they will meet with nothing, however ecstatic and
elevated, but what corresponds to the dictates of Scripture and the
analogy of the faith. He who recollects that the Scriptures speak
of a " peace which passeth all understanding, and a joy unspeakable
and full of glory," will not be offended at the lively expressions of those
contained ill this narrative: he will be more disposed to lament the
low state of his own religious feeling than to suspect the propriety of
sentiments the most rational and scriptural, merely because they rise
to a pitch that he has never reached.  The sacred oracles afford no
countenance to the supposition that devotional feelings are to be
condemned as visionary and enthusiastic, merely on account of their
intenseness and elevation; provided they be of a right kind, and spring
from legitimate sources, they never teach us to suspect they can be
carried too far. David " danced before the Lord with all his might;"
and when he was reproached for degrading himself in the eyes of the
people by indulging these transports, he replied, If this be to be vile,
" I will yet make myself more vile." That the objects which interest
the heart in religion are infinitely more durable and important than all
others will not be disputed: and why should it be deemed irrational
to be affected by them in a degree somewhat suitable to their value,
especially in the near prospect of their full and perfect possession?
Why should it be deemed strange or irrational for a dying saint, who
has spent his life in the pursuit of immortal good, to feel an unspeakable ecstasy at finding he has just touched the goal, finished his course,
and in a few moments is to be crowned with life everlasting? While
he dwells on the inconceivably glorious prospect before him, and feels




PREFACE TO JANEWAY'S LIFE.                  455
himself lost in wonder and gratitude, and almost oppressed with a
sense of his unutterable obligations to the love of his Creator and
Redeemer, nothing can be more natural and proper than his sentiments
and conduct. While the Scriptures retain their rank as the only rule
of faith and practice,-while there are those who feel the power of
true religion,-such death-bed scenes as Mr. Janeway's will be contemplated with veneration and delight. It affords no inconsiderable
confirmation of the truth of Christianity that the most celebrated sages
of pagan antiquity, whose last moments have been exhibited with
inimitable propriety and beauty, present nothing equal nor similar;
nothing of that singular combination of humility and elevation, that
self-renouncing greatness, in which the creature appears annihilated,
and God all in all. I am much mistaken if the serious reader will not
find in the closing scenes of Mr. Janeway's life the most perfect form
of Christianity: he will find it, not, as it is too often, clouded with
doubts and oppressed with sorrows; he will behold it ascend the
mount, transfigured, glorified, and encircled with the beams of celestial
majesty.
Let me be permitted, however, to observe, that the experience of Mr.
Janeway in his last moments, while it developes the native tendency
of Christianity, is not to be considered as a standard to ordinary
Christians. He affords a great example of what is attainable in religion,
and not of what is indispensably necessary to salvation. Thousands
die in the Lord who are not indulged with the privilege of dying in
triumph. His extraordinary diligence in the whole of his Christian
career, his tenderness of conscience, his constant vigilance, his vehement
hunger and thirst after righteousness, met with a signal reward, intended, probably, not more for his own personal advantage, than as a
persuasive to others to walk in his steps. As he was incessantly
solicitous to improve his graces, purify his principles, and perfect
holiness in the fear of the Lord, no wonder he was favoured with an
abundant entrance into the joy of his Lord.  "He which soweth
sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully"
ROBERT [TALTT




RECOMMENDATORY PREFACE
TO A
VOLUME OF HYMNS,
Composed by the late Rev. B. Beddome, M. A
[Written in 1818.)
FAR be it from me to indulge the presumptuous idea of adding to
the merited reputation of Mr. Beddome by my feeble suffrage. But
having had the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with that eminent
man, and cherishing a high esteem for his memory, I am induced to
comply the more cheerfully with the wishes of the editor, by prefixing
a few words to the present publication. Mr. Beddome was on many
accounts an extraordinary person. His mind was cast in an original
mould; his conceptions on every subject were eminently his own;
and where the stamina of his thoughts were the same as other men's
(as must often be the case with the most original thinkers), a peculiarity marked the mode of their exhibition.  Favoured with the
advantages of a learned education, he continued to the last to cultivate
an acquaintance with the best writers of antiquity, to which he was
much indebted for the chaste, terse, and nervous diction, which distinguished his compositions both in prose and verse. Though he spent
the principal part of a long life in a village retirement, he was eminent
for his colloquial powers, in which he displayed the urbanity of the
gentleman and the erudition of the scholar, combined with a more copious
vein of attic salt than any person it has been my lot to know.  As a
preacher, he was universally admired for the piety and unction of his
sentiments, the felicity of his arrangement, and the purity, force, and
simplicity of his language, all of which were recommended by a
delivery perfectly natural and graceful. His printed discourses, taken
from the manuscripts which he left behind him at his decease, are fair
specimens of his usual performances in the pulpit. They are eminent
for the qualities already mentioned; and their merits, which the modesty
of the author concealed from himself, have been justly appreciated by
the religious public. As a religious poet, his excellence has long been
known and acknowledged in dissenting congregations, in consequence
of several admirable compositions inserted in some popular compilations. The variety of the subjects treated of, the poetical beauty and




PREFACE TO BEDDOME'S HYMNS.                 45y
elevation of some, the simple pathos of others, and, the piety and
justness of thought which pervade all the compositions in the succeeding volume, will,, we trust, be deemed a valuable accession to the
treasures of sacred poetry, equally adapted to the closet and to the
sanctuary. The man of taste will be gratified with the beautiful and
original turns of thought which many of them  exhibit; while the
experimental Christian will often perceive the most secret movements
of his soul strikingly delineated, and sentiments portrayed' which will
find their echo in every heart. Considerable pains have been taken
to arrange the hymns in such a manner as is best adapted to selection,
from a persuasion, which we trust the event will justify, that they will
be'found the properest supplement to Dr. Watts that has yet appeared.




A PREFACE
TO
ANTINOMIANISM UNMASKED,
BY THE REV. SAMUEL CHASE.
[Written in 1819.]
IT IS with considerable reluctance that I have complied with the
request of the highly esteemed author of the following work, by prefixing a short preface; not from the slightest hesitation respecting the
excellence of the work itself, but from an aversion to the seeming
arrogance of pretending to recommend what might rest so securely on
its own merits. The reader, if I am not greatly mistaken, will find in
this treatise a train of close and cogent reasoning from the oracles of
God sufficient to overturn from their foundation the principles which
compose the antinomian heresy; which, he will be at no loss to perceive, are as much opposed to the grace as to the authority of the
great Head of the church.
The fundamental tenet of the system to which this treatise is opposed
consists in the denial of the obligation of believers to obey the precepts
of Christ, in supposing that their interest in the merits of the Redeemer
releases them from all subjection to his authority; and as it is
acknowledged on all hands thai he is the sole Lord of the Christian
dispensation, the immediate consequence is, that as far as they are
concerned, the moral government of the Deity is annihilated-that they
have ceased to be accountable creatures.  But this involves the total
subversion of religion: for what idea can we form of a religion in
which all the obligations of piety and morality are done away; in
which nothing is binding or imperative on the conscience? We may
conceive of a religious code under all the possible gradations of laxness
or severity-of its demanding more or less, or of its enforcing its
injunctions by penalties more or less formidable;-but to form a conception of a system deserving the name of religion, which prescribes
no duties whatever, and is enforced by no sanctions, seems an
impossibility. On this account it appears to me improper to speak of
antinoniianism as a religious error; religion, whether true or false, has
nothing to do with it: it is rather to be considered as an attempt to




PREFACE TO ANTINOMIANISM UNMASKED.                459
substitute a system of subtle and specious impiety in the room of
Christianity. In their own estimation, its disciples are a privileged
class, who dwell in a secluded region of unshaken security and lawless
liberty, while the rest of the Christian world are the vassals of legal
bondage, toiling in darkness and in chains. Hence, whatever diversity
of character they may display in other respects, a haughty and bitter
disdain of every other class of professors is a universal feature.  Con.
tempt or hatred of the most devout and enlightened Christians out of
their own pale seems one of the most essential elements of their being;
nor were the ancient Pharisees ever more notorious for "trusting
in themselves that they were righteous, and despising others."
Of the force of legitimate argument they seem to have little or no
perception, having contracted an inveterate and pernicious habit of
shutting their eyes against the plainest and most pointed declarations
of the word of God. The only attempt they make to support their
miserable system  is to adduce a number of detached and insulated
passages of Scripture, forcibly torn from their context, and interpreted
with more regard to their sound than to their meaning,- as ascertained
by the laws of sober criticism.  Could they be prevailed upon to
engage in serious dispassionate controversy, some hope might be
indulged of reclaiming them; their errors would admit of an easy confutation: but the misfortune is, they seem to feel themselves as much
released from the restraints of reason as of moral obligation; and the
intoxication of spiritual pride has incomparably more influence in forming their persuasions than the light of evidence.
As far as they are concerned, my expectation of benefit from the
following treatise is far from being sanguine. To others, however,
who may be in danger of iklling a prey to their seduction, it may prove
an important preservative; to the young and inexperienced it will
hold out a faithful warning, by unmasking the deformity, and revealing
the danger of that pretended doctrine of grace which is employed to
annul the obligation of obedience.  They will learn from this treatise,
that the authority of Christ as Legislator is perfectly compatible with
his office as the Redeemer of his people; that the renewal of the soul
in true holiness forms a principal part of the salvation he came
to bestow; that the privileges of the'evangelical dispensation are
inseparably combined with its duties; and that every hope of eternal
life is necessarily presumptuous and unfounded, which is not connected
with "keeping the commandments of God."  They will perceive the
beautiful analogy subsisting between the Mosaic and Christian dispensations; and that the redemption wrought out upon the cross is just as
subservient to the spiritual dominion of Christ over his people, as was
the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt to the erection of a theocracy in the Holy Land: in a word, they will plainly see that the
regal authority of Christ over his church belongs to the very essence
of the evangelical economy, considered as an annunciation of the kingdom or reign of God.
To trace the progress of antinomianism, and investigate the steps
by which it has gradually attained its fearful ascendency, though an




460                     PREFACE TO
interesting inquiry would lead me far beyond the limits of this preface.
Suffice it to suggest a few. circumstances which appear to me to have
contributed not a little to that result.  When religious parties have
been long formed, a certain technical phraseology, invented to designate
more exactly the peculiarities of the respective systems, naturally
grows up. What custom has sanctioned in process of time becomes
law; and the slightest deviation from the consecrated diction comes to
be viewed with suspicion and alarm. Now the technical language
appropriated to the expression of the Calvinistic system  in its nicer
shades, however justifiable in itself, has, by its perpetual recurrence,
narrowed the vocabulary of religion, and rendered obsolete many modes
of expression which the sacred writers indulge without scruple. The
latitude with which they express themselves on various subjects has
been gradually relinquished; a scrupulous and systematic cast of diction has succeeded to the manly freedom and noble negligence they
were accustomed to display; and many expressions, employed without
hesitation in Scripture, are rarely found, except in the direct form of
quotation, in the mouth of a modern Calvinist.
In addition to this, nothing is more usual than for the zealous'abetters of a system, with the best intentions, to magnify the importance
of its peculiar tenets by hyperbolical exaggerations, calculated to
identify them with the fundamental articles of faith. Thus, the Calvinistic doctrines have often been denominated by divines of deservedly
high reputation, the doctrines of grace; implying, not merely their
truth, but that they constitute the very essence and marrow of the
gospel.  Hence persons of little reflection have been tempted to conclude that the zealous inculcation of these comprehends nearly the
whole system of revealed truth, or as much of it, at least, as is of vital
importance; and that no danger whatever can result from giving them
the greatest possible prominence.  But the transition from a partial
exhibition of truth to the adoption of positive error is a most natural
one: and he who commences with consigning certain important doc-.rines to oblivion will generally end in perverting or denying them.
The authority of the laws of Christ, his proper dominion over his
people, and the absolute necessity of evangelical obedience in order to
eternal life, though perfectly consistent in my apprehension with
Calvinism, form no part of it, considered as a separate system. In the
systematic mode of instruction they are consequently omitted, or so
slightly and sparingly adverted to, that they are gradually lost sight
of; and when they are presented to the attention, being supported by
no habitual mental associations, they wear the features of a strange
and exotic character. They are repelled with disgust. and suspicion,
not because they are perceived to be at variance with the dictates of
inspiration (their agreement with which may be immediately obvious),
but simply because they deviate from the trains of thought which the
hearer is accustomed to pursue with complacency. It is purely an
affair of taste; it is neither the opposition of reason nor of conscience
which is concerned, but the mere operation of antipathy.
Tlihe paucity of practical instruction, —the practice of dwelling




ANTINOMIANISM UN MASKED.                  461
almost exclusively in the exercise of the ministry on doctrinal and ex
perimental topics, with a sparing inculcation of the precepts of Christ
and the duties of morality, —is abundantly sufficient, without the
slightest admixture of error, to produce the effect of which we are
speaking: nor is it to be doubted that even holy and exemplary
inmn have by these means paved the way for antinomianism.  When
they have found it necessary to advert to points of morality, and to
urge them on Scriptural motives, the difference between these and
their usual strain of instruction has produced a sort of mental revulsion. Conscious, meanwhile, that they have taught nothing but the
pure and uncorrupted word of God,-have inculcated no doctrine but
what appears to be sustained by the fair interpretation of the word,they are astonished at perceiving the eager impetuosity with which a
part of their hearers run into antinomian excesses: when a thorough
investigation might convince them, that though they have inculcated
truth, it has not been altogether " as it is inJesus;" that many awakening and alarming considerations familiar to the Scriptures have been
neglected, much of their pungent and practical appeal to the conscience
suppressed, and a profusion of cordials and stimulants administered,
where cathartics were required.
In the New Testament, the absolute subserviency of doctrinal state
ments to the formation of the principles and habits of.practical piety
is never lost sight of; we are continually reminded that obedience is
the end of all knowledge, and of all religious impressions. But the
tendency, it is to be feared, of much popular and orthodox instruction
is, to bestow on the belief of certain doctrines, combined with strong
religious emotion, the importance of an ultimate object, to the neglect
of that great principle that " circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision
nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God."  While it is but
candid to suppose that some are beguiled through the "good words and
fair speeches" by which the apostles of antinomianism recommend themselves to the unlearned and unstable, it can scarcely be doubted that they
are chiefly indebted for their success to the aversion which many feel to
Christianity as a practical system. Divest it of its precepts and its sanctions,-represent it as a mere charter of privileges,-a provision for
investing a certain class with a title to eternal life, independent of
every moral discrimination,-and it will be eagerly embraced: but it
will not be the religion of the New Testament; it will not be the
religion of him who closed his Sermon on the Mount by reminding his
hearers- that he who "h' eareth his sayings, and doeth them not, shall
be likened to a man who built his house upon the sand, and the storm
came, and the rains descended, and the winds ble.w, and beat on that
house, and it fell, because it was founded upon the sand."
The most effectual antidote to the leaven of antinomianism will
probably be found in the frequent and earnest inculcation of the- practical precepts of the gospel;. in an accurate delineation of the Christian temper; in.a specific and minute exposition of the personal, social,
and relative duties, enforced at one time by the endearing, at another
by the alarming' motives which revelation abundantly suggests.  To




462                         PREFACE TO
overlook the distinguishing doctrines of the gospel, under the pretence
of advancing the interests of morality, is one extreme; to inculcate
those doctrines without habitually adverting to their purifying and
transforming influence, is another, not less dangerous.  If the former
involves the folly of attempting to rear a structure without a foundation,
the latter leaves it naked and useless.
A large infusion of practical instruction may be expected to operate
as an alterative in the moral constitution. Without displacing a
single article from the established creed-without modifying or changing
the minutest particle of speculative belief,-it will generate a habit
of contemplating religion in its true character, as a system of moral
government, as a wise and gracious provision for re-establishing the
dominion of God in the heart of an apostate creature.  Though there
must unquestionably be a perfect agreement between all revealed
truths, because truth is ever consistent with itself, yet they are not all
adapted to produce the same immediate impression. They contribute
to the same ultimate object, " the perfecting the man of God," by opposite
tendencies; and while some are immediately adapted to inspire confidence and joy, others are fitted to produce vigilance and fear; like
different species of diet, which may, in their turn, be equally conducive
to health, though their action on the system  be dissimilar.  Hence it
is of great importance, not merely that the doctrine that is taught be
sound and scriptural, but that the proportion maintained amid the
various articles of religious instruction coincide as far as possible
with the inspired model; that each doctrine occupy its proper place in
the scale; that the whole counsel of God be unfolded, and no one
part of revealed truth be presented with a frequency and prominence
which shall cast the others into shade. The progress of antinomianism, if I am not greatly mistaken, may be ascribed, in a great
measure, to the neglect of these precautions,-to an intemperate and
almost exclusive inculcation of doctrinal points.
Even when the necessity of an exemplary conduct is enforced upon
Christians, an attentive and intelligent hearer will frequently perceive
a manifest difference between the motives by which it is urged, and
those which are presented by the inspired writers.  The latter are not
afraid of reminding every description of professors, without exception,
that " if they live after the flesh they shall die;" and that they will
then only " be partakers of Christ, if they hold fast the-beginning of
their confidence, and rejoicing of their hope, firm unto the end;"
while too many content themselves with insisting on considerations
which, whatever weight they may possess on a devout and tender spirit,
it is the first effect of sinful indulgence to impair.  Of this nature is
the menace of spiritual desertion, darkness, absence of religious consolation, andclother spiritual evils, which will always be found to be less
alarming just in proportion to the degree of religious declension. To
combat the moral distempers to which the professors of religion are
liable by such antidotes as these, is appealing to a certain refinement
of feeling, which the disease has extinguished or diminished, instead
of alarming them with the prospect of death. It was not by senti



ANTINOMIANISM  UNMASKED.                     463
mental addresses, nor by an appeal to the delicacies and sensibilities
of a soul diseased, that the apostles proposed to. alarm the fears or
revive the vigilance of disorderly walkers: they drew aside the veil
of eternity; they presented the thought, in all its terror, of the coming
of Christ, "as a thief in the night."  I would not be understood to
insinuate that the more refined topics of appeal may not occasionally
be resorted to with great propriety; all I would be supposed to regret
is, the exclusive employment of. a class of considerations, of one order
of motives, derived from religious sensibility, to the neglect of those
which are founded on eternal prospects and interests. As it is seldom
safe for an accountable creature to lose sight of these in his most
elevated moments; so least of all can they be dispensed with in the
season of successful temptation.  It is then especially, if I am  not
greatly mistaken, whatever may have been our past profession or
attainments, that we need to be reminded of the awful certainty of future
retribution, to recall to our remembrance that "whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap." If, in the scheme of doctrine we
have embraced, we suspect there is something incompatible with the
use of such admonitions, we may be assured, either that the doctrine
itself is false, or that our inference from it is erroneous, since no speculative tenets in religion can be so indubitably certain as the universality
of the moral government of God.
Before I close this preface, I must be permitted to add, that the
prevailing practice of representing the promises of the gospel as unconditional, or, at least of carefully avoiding the obvious phraseology
which the contrary supposition would suggest, appears to me directly
to pave the way to antinomianism.  The idea of meritorious conditions
is, indeed, utterly incompatible with the gospel, considered as a system
of grace.  But if there be no conditions of salvation whatever, how it
is possible to confute the pretensions or confound the confidence of the
most licentious professor, I am at an utter loss to discover.  It will be
in vain to allege the entire absence of internal holiness, together with
all the fruits of the Spirit, as defeating his hope of eternal life; since,
upon the supposition we are combating, the answer is ready, that the
enjoyment of future felicity is suspended on no conditions. The absurdity of this notion is not less palpable than its presumption. All
promises must either be made to individuals by name, or indefinitely
to persons of a specific character. A moment's attention will be sufficient to satisfy us that the promise of pardon in the New Testament
isof.the. latter description; in no one instance is it addressed to the
individual by name, but to the penitent, the believing, the obedient, or
to Eo.m.e, similar specification of character.  Before any person, therefore, can justly appropriate the promise to himself, he must ascertain
his possession of that character; or, which is precisely the same thing,
he must perceive that he comes within the prescribed condition. When
it is affirmed that " except we repent we shall perish," is it not manifest that he only is entitled to claim exemption from that doom who is
conscious of the feelings of a penitent? For the same reason, if he
only who believes shall be saved, our assurance of salvation, as far as




464        PREFACE TO ANTINOMIANISM  UNMASKED.
it depends upon evidence, must be exactly proportioned to the certainty
we feel of our actual believing. To abandon these principles is to
involve ourselves in an -inextricable labyrinth, to lie open to'ihe grossest
delusions, to build conclusions of infinite moment on phantoms light as
air.  He who flatters himself with the hope of salvation, without per.
ceiving inll himself a specific difference of character from " the world
that lieth in wickedness," either founds his persuasion absolutely on
nothing, or on an immediate revelation,-on a preternatural discovery of a
matter of fact on which the Scriptures are totally silent. This absurd
notion of unconditional promises, by severing the assurance of salvation
from all the fruits of the Spirit, from every trace and feature of a
renovated nature and a regenerate state, opens the widest possible
door to licentiousness.
As far as it is sustained by the least shadow of reasoning, it may be
traced to the practice of confounding the secret purposes of the Supreme
Being with his revealed promises. That in the breast of the Deity an
eternal purpose has been formed respecting the salvation of a certain
portion of the human race, is a doctrine which it appears to me is
clearly revealed. But this secret purpose is so far from being incom-`
patible with the necessary conditions of salvation, that they form a
part of it; their existence is an inseparable link in the execution of
the divine decree: for the same wisdom which has appointed the end
has also infallibly determined the means by which it shall be accomplished; and as the personal direction of the decree remains a secret
until it is developed in the event, it cannot possibly, considered in itself,
lay a foundation for confidence. That a certain number of the human
race are ordained to eternal life may be inferred from many passages
of Scripture; but if any person infers from  these general premises
that he is of that number, he advances a proposition without the slightest
colour of evidence. An assurance of salvation can, consequently, in
no instance, be deduced from the'doctrine of absolute decrees, until
they manifest themselves in their actual effects; that is, in that renewal
of the heart.which the Bible affirms to be. essential to future felicity.
But I am detaining the reader too long from the pleasure and advantage he may-promise himself from the perusal of the following treatise,
where he will meet with no illiberal insinuations, no personal invective,
-the too frequent-seasoning of controversy, and the ordinary gratification of vulgar minds,-but a series of calm and dispassionate reasonings out of the Scriptures.  That they may produce all the beneficial
results -which "the excellent author has.so much at heart, is the fervent
prayer of the writer of these lines.
ROBERT HALL.
Lezcester, July 2, 1819




A LETTER
TO
THE REV. W. BENNETT,
Author of an Essay on the Gospel Constitution.
January 18, 1810.
DEAR SIR,
I OUGHT sooner to have acknowledged to you the great pleasure I
derived from the performance you were so kind as to give me at North
ampton. I have read it with as much attention as I am able; and
though the subject is involved in so much difficulty, I admired the perspicuity with which it was treated, so as to be within the limits of an
ordinary capacity. There is a precision and comprehension in the
choice of terms, and a luminous track of thought pervading the whole,
which, according to my apprehension, has scarcely been equalled,
and never exceeded, in the discussion of such points. I do think you
have steered a happy medium, between the rigidity of Calvinism and
the laxness of Arminianism, and have succeeded in the solution of the
grand difficulty-the consistency between general offers and invitations,
and the speciality of divine grace. This interesting question is handled
with masterly ability. I am particularly delighted with your explicit
statement and vindication of the established connexion between the
use of instituted means and the attainment of divine blessings, and the
consequent hypothetical possibility of the salvation of all men where
the gospel comes.  On this point the representations of Calvinists
have long appeared to me very defective; and that, fettered by their
system, they have by no means gone so far in encouraging and urging
sinners to the use of prayer, reading the Scriptures, self-examination,
&c., as the Scriptures justify. They have contented themselves too
much with enjoining and inculcating the duty of faith, which, however
important and indispensable, is not, I apprehend, usually imparted till
men have been earnestly led to seek and strive. Here the Arminians,
such of them as are evangelical, have had greatly the advantage of
the Calvinists in pleading with sinners. Your great principle of the
design of religion, in every dispensation of it, being intended as the
pursuit of the plan of divine government for exercising the moral
powers.and faculties of creatures, is grand and noble, and gives conti
VOL. JI.-G g




466            LETTER TO THE REV. W. BENNETT.
nuity and harmony to the whole scheme. I lent your book to Mr. Bwho is much pleased with it, and only wishes you had expressed your.
self more fully in favour of the general extent of Christ's death. I
think you have asserted it by implication, though I wish you had
asserted it unequivocally, because I am fully persuaded it is a doctrine
of Scripture, and that it forms the only consistent basis of unlimited
invitations. I think the most enlightened Calvinists are too reserved
on this head; and that their refusal to declare, with the concurrent
testimony of Scripture, that Christ died for all men, tends to confirm
the prejudices of Methodists, and others, against election and special
grace. With this small exception, if it be an exception, your work
appears to me to be entitled to the highest approbation and applause;
and I cannot but hope it will have an important effect in bringing good
men nearer together; than which I know nothing more desirable.
Wishing you much success in every labour of your hands,
I remain, dear Sir,
With high esteem,
Your affectionate brother,
ROBERT HALL




AN EXTRACT
FROM
DR. JOHNSON'S PREFACE TO COWPER'S CORRESPONDENCE,
I ACCOUNT myself particularly fortunate in being favoured with
the opinion of confessedly one of the best judges of composition that
this country has to boast-the Rev. Robert Hall, of Leicester. In a
letter addressed to me, on the 19th of August of the present year,
1823, he writes thus:"' It is quite unnecessary to say that I perused the letters with great
admiration and delight. I have always considered the letters of Mr.
Cowper as the finest specimen of the epistolary style in our language;
and these appear to me of a superior description to the former, possessing as much beauty with more piety and pathos. To an air of
inimitable ease and carelessness, they unite a higher degree of correctness, such as could result only from the clearest intellect, combined
with the most finished taste. I have scarcely found a single word
which is capable of being exchanged for a better.
"'Literary errors I can discern none. The selection of words and
the structure of the periods are inimitable; they present as striking a
contrast as can well be conceived to the turgid verbosity which passes
at present for fine writing, and which bears a great resemblance to
the degeneracy which marks the style of Ammianus Marcellinus, as
compared to that of Cicero or of Livy. A perpetual effort and struggle
is'made to supply the place of vigour, garish and dazzling colours are
substituted for chaste ornament, and the hideous distortions of weakness
for native strength. In my humble opinion, the study of Cowper's
prose may, on this account, be as useful in forming the taste of young
people as his poetry.
"' That the letters will afford great delight to all persons of true taste,
and that you will confer a most acceptable present on the reading
world by publishing them, will not admit of a doubt."'
Gg2




THE
SPIRITUAL CONDITION AND PROSPECTS
OF
THE JEW S
[Written in 1826.]
FEw perhaps are to be found who have made religion the object oi
their serious attention, who have not bestowed some thought on the
spiritual condition and prospects of the Jews,-a people on many
accounts the most remarkable of any that have appeared on the stage
of time. Intermingled with all nations, but uniting with none,-distinguished by their attachment to one portion of revelation, and their
aversion to another, equally removed from the errors of polytheism,
and the belief of Christianity, they occupy a station peculiar to themselves:' they dwell alone, and are not reckoned among the people."
In this state of seclusion, it seems generally taken for granted that
they are not only the frown of Providence, but that they are universally
under the Divine malediction, exposed to the doom of the impenitent
and unbelieving. Their disbelief of the gospel is supposed, without any
exception, to render them liable to the, penalties of eternal death.  I
have sometimes been tempted to doubt of this; and the design of my
addressing you on the present occasion is briefly to state the grounds
on which my doubts are founded, not with a view to provoke controversy, but solely to elicit the inquiry of superior minds.
1. An essential difference exists between the Jews and other unbelievers, in a particular of great moment; which is, that they are already
in the possession of the oracles of God, and, in these, of all that is
absolutely necessary to salvation. That the Old Testament is sufficient to conduct men to eternal life is evident, from the testimony it
bears of itself, as well as from the acknowledged scope and design of
a revelation; for it would be a reflection on infinite Wisdom to suppose
it capable of communicating a revelation which necessarily failed in
its principal object, that of " making men wise unto salvation." Nor
is it less certain that some of the eminent saints and favourites of the
Most High flourished under the Jewish dispensation.  The doctrines
taught by Moses and the prophets, it must be confessed, are in themselves an adequate instrument of sanctification, so that, if he who
conscientiously avails himself of it falls short of eternal life, it must




THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE IEWS.               469
be ascribed to the intervention of a subsequent and more perfect
revelation.
2. As a subsequent dispensation, however, has been given, enforced
by the penalty of eternal death, it may be thought this is sufficient at
once to determine the future condition of those who reject it, and
consequently to preclude the unconverted part of the Jews from all
hope of salvation.  It is agreed that the deliberate rejection of the
gospel involves a sentence or condemnation: but that only can be
said to be rejected which is adequately proposed. By the ancient
Jews, Christianity was rejected.  Our Lord "came to his own, and
his own received him not." They heard his discourses; they witnessed
his miracles, or at least had the same evidence of them as they had of
other matters of public notoriety; they beheld the spotless innocence
of htis life, and the perfect correspondence of the leading events of his
history to the predictions of their prophets; nor was there any preju.
dice existing against Christianity, but what was of recent growth, the
pure effect of carnality, impenitence, and hardness of heart.  They
knew  enough of the Christian religion to discern its sanctifying
tendency, and to hate it on that account: their rejection of it betrayed
an enmity to the true character of God, and therefore incurred all the
guilt included in that solemn assertion of our Lord, "But now they
have both seen and hated both me and my Father."  Their opposition
to Christ was not the resistance made to the encroachments of a
foreign dominion; it was domestic rebellion.  The evidence of Christianity was presented in all its force and splendour; it came into actual
contact with the mind, and on that very account produced a feeling of
hostility to its spirit and its claims, which would not have been felt
towards an object more remote.
3. But the position in which Christianity stands towards modern
Jews is very different. Their knowledge of it must be derived almost
entirely from the New Testament, and the causes which may in many
instances be supposed to divert their attention from it, are very dissimilar to those which originated the incredulity of their ancestors.
The prohibition of the New Testament is a primary element in Jewish
education.  The absolute sufficiency of the writings of Moses and the
prophets, and the impropriety of presuming to add to these lively
oracles, and to abrogate an everlasting law, are among the first principles instilled into the infant mind.  They are taught to repose with
the utmost confidence on a religion which even Christians confess to
be of divine origin; while the system  which has superseded it is
comparatively of recent origin, and little accredited by its efficacy in
correcting the vices and forming the manners of its followers. They
are told, indeed, that Christianity is the sequel and completion of the
ancient religion, —that it substantiates its types and accomplishes its
prophecies; but they are told so by those whom they have few
inducements to regard.  Respect for paternal authority, veneration
for an illustrious ancestry, deference to age and rank, combine
with the fear of innovation, and an attachment, though too exelusive, to Moses and the prophets, to keep them ignorant of the




470           THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION AND
New Testament, and consequently estranged from the principal
means of conviction. But the principles which we have alluded to
are usually the strongest in the most virtuous and susceptible minds;
nor is it difficult to conceive what an effectual bar they may prove to
the perusal of the Christian records, apart from those criminal prejudices which occasioned the rejection of Christianity by their ancestors.
The disbelief of Christianity on the part of such as have been trained
on Christian principles can seldom, if ever, be imputed to ignorance —
convictions must be stifled, and the force of evidence evaded; but the
unbelief of modern Jews is the natural consequence of their want of
acquaintance with an inspired record.
The portion of revelation which the Jew possesses already contains
whatever is absolutely necessary to be known in order to obtain eternal
life. Jews and Christians, at variance about every thing else, unite
their suffrages in its favour, affirming unanimously that it was for
upwards of two thousand years the authentic revelation of the will of
Heaven. A Jew, therefore, cannot doubt of its competence to make
him wise unto salvation. On the other hand, he is taught, from a
quarter which God and nature enjoin him to revere, to look upon the
New Testament as an imposture. In this instance, it is but candid to
suppose that the records of our religion are neglected, not always
from the love of vice, or the predominance of worldly interests, but
from a conscientious fear of innovation and dread of impiety. He is
necessarily ignorant of a book which never engaged his attention;
and that it failed to engage it is the effect of an exclusive, and, in that
respect only, an erroneous attachment to an inspiration of an earlier date.
4. Supposing him, from these and similar causes, to remain all his
life unacquainted with the Christian system, and consequently uninfluenced by its doctrines, have we any authority for asserting that he
cannot possibly be the subject of divine grace, possessed as he is of
an instrument of sanctification, which the Holy Ghost, for ages, condescended to employ? A new revelation can make no alteration in the
intrinsic nature of that which precedes it; and if the Old Testament
ever was sufficient to make men wise unto salvation, why should we
doubt of its being still competent for that purpose? Had it been the
only companion of one that was shipwrecked on a desert island, shall
we hesitate to believe that its serious perusal might be instrumental to
his salvation? Here indeed the absence of other means of instruction
would be the unavoidable consequence of providential arrangements,
which cannot with equal propriety be affirmed in the case of our Jew.
But though his ignorance of the New Testament cannot be said to be
the necessary consequence of the circumstances attending his birth
and education, the obstacles which they may be supposed to present
are very powerful, and not at all necessarily complicated with deep
moral pravity.  The utmost tenderness of conscience, the greatest
solicitude for salvation, could not be supposed to prevent a youth
strictly educated in the principles of Judaism from contracting preju
dices against Christianity, the natural operation of which would be to
indispose him to the perusal of its inspired records. The agency of




PROSPECTS OF THE JEWS.                    471
the Spirit is of a moral, not a physical nature; nor is it his manner to
interfere with the action of natural causes.
5. Admitting, however, that as much criminality attaches to the prejudice which keeps a conscientious Jew ignorant of the New Testament as the most zealous will contend for, it appears to be of the
same order with that which operates in other instances, without our
suspecting for a moment that it is incompatible with salvation. What
shall we say of the prejudice which prompted such men as Pascal and
Fenelon to reject the Protestant doctrine with which they were far better
acquainted than a modern Jew can be supposed to be with the Christian
Scriptures? The opportunities which they enjoyed for satisfying themselves of the truth of the reformed religion were at least equal to those
which a Jew possesses for becoming an enlightened convert to the
Christian faith; and the circumstances, whatever they were, that indisposed those illustrious men to the impartial examination of the Lutheran
or Calvinistic tenets, were neither more numerous nor more powerful
than those which produce a similar indisposition in Jews to investigate
the evidence of our holy religion. Nor ought it to be forgotten that
it is impossible to continue in the papal communion without committing
idolatry, a sin against which the most fearful maledictions of Scripture
are pointed. Notwithstanding this, however, all candid Protestants
acknowledge the possibility of salvation within the Romish pale.
With all their prejudices and imperfections, it is contended that they
maintained a body of saving truth, which, under the agency of the
divine Spirit, was, it is charitably hoped, rendered effectual to their
sanctification. But this is precisely the mode of reasoning we adopt
in relation to a pious Jew. He also possesses a system of saving
truth. He possesses, in the law and the prophets, what our Lord
himself has affirmed to contain sufficient motives to repentance,
together with that expectation of a future Messiah, and of the spiritual
benefits he is appointed to confer, by which saints under the ancient
economy were justified. Let it be carefully kept in mind that it is the
bare possibility that a Jew, without becoming a convert to Christianity,
may obtain salvation, for which we contend; or, in other words, that
we are not warranted to conclude that the Holy Spirit, on no occasion
-whatever, deigns to employ the ancient oracles for saving purposes.
Of the extreme danger to which the great majority both of Jews and
papists are exposed, and of the strict propriety of speaking of them
in the mass as in a state of alienation from God, we entertain no
doubt; while we would indulge a hope, for similar reasons in both
cases, that there will be found among both some with the "mark of
God on their foreheads." The denunciations of diVine vengeance on
the patrons and supporters of the Roman hierarchy in the Apocalypse
are as awful as words can express, and conceived in very general
terms: "The smoke of their torment ascendeth," says John, " for ever
and ever; and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast
and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name," yet,
notwithstanding these fearful menaces, we venture a charitable opinion
of many who have been entangled in the errors of the papacy. We




472            THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION AND
presume to hope that the merciful God will distinguish between the
impious inventor of a system, and those who, without imbibing its
spirit, have in different degrees been duped by its sophistry. And
why should not a similar judgment be formed respecting a serious and
conscientious Jew?
6. The question beforf us is, properly speaking, a question de jure
rather than de facto: it does not so properly relate to the fact whether
there are any Jews in a state of salvation who are not converts to
Christianity, as to the possibility of the thing.' We know so little of
the real character of modern Jews, insulated as they are from general
society, that it is difficult to speak with any degree of positivity on
that subject.  A general and superficial view. of that people would
tempt us to form the most melancholy conclusion.  But I have been
informed by a learned Jew, extensively acquainted with his:own nation,
that there are to be found among them men of a very different stamp
from what is generally prevalent. He solemnly assured me that he
knew one Jew in particular, a foreigner, who was accustomed to spend
the night preceding their great fast in the synagogue, prostrate in tears
and supplications; and, on my asking what he was praying for, he
replied, with some quickness, " For the pardon of his sins and the sins
of his people, and for the speedy arrival of the promised Messiah;"
he declared, at the same time, that this was not a solitary instance.
Admitting this representation to be correct (and there is nothing in it
which exceeds the bounds of credibility), I should feel little hesitation
in believing that "H' e who delighteth in mercy" would not despise the
prayer of such a penitent, because he wanted that explicit knowledge
of. Christ which was for ages withheld. from the Jewish church.
Prevented from attending to the evidences of Christianity, by the
influence of: prejudices which it was extremely difficult for him to surmount, and at all events not more criminal than those which kep
Fenelon within the trammels of popery, what should induce us te
form such an opposite judgment, in two cases, as to place the latter
in the list of eminent saints, while we consign the former to destruction? Dark as popery is, we must allow that the respective degrees
of illumination enjoyed in the two cases were very unequal, but the
fainter of the two we must either confess is in itself saving, or give
up the patriarchs and prophets for lost.
Perhaps it is unnecessary to remind your readers, that while I plead
for the possibility of a Jew's obtaining salvation without that clear and,
explicit knowledge of Christ which Christians possess, I am far from
supposing two distinct methods of salvation: whoever are justified,
whether under the Jewish or Christian economies, are alike justified
by faith in the Messiah. But I am at a loss to perceive why that more
vague and imperfect knowledge of his character supplied by Moses and
the prophets, which formerly availed for that purpose, should necessarily be ineffectual now.
7. These views are, in my humble opinion, considerably confirmed
by the tenor of the prophetic writings, which seem on various occa
sions to recognise a relation as all along subsisting between the Su.




PROSPECTS OF THE JEWS.                    473
preme Being and the Jews previously to the period of their accession
to the Christian church. It appears to me evident from ancient prophecy, that the scene of the future conversion of the Jews is their own
land, where it is probable, from Zechariah, that a supernatural interposition of the Messiah will take place in their favour, that he will
suddenly reveal himself to them as a nation, and thus effect the accomplishment of the remarkable prediction recorded in the twelfth and
thirteenth chapters of that prophecy.  Before their final deliverance,
however, we read of a severe purgation which they are destined to undergo, during which two parts shall be cut off, and a third only left,
and that the third part is to be brought through the fire, and to be refined
as silver is refined, and to be tried as gold is tried.  " They shall call
on my name, and I will hear them; I will say, It is my people, and
they shall say, The Lord is my God."  To the same purpose the prophet Ezekiel, where predicting, as I conceive, the final restoration of
the Jews to their own landI, tells us that previously to that event the
Lord " will plead with them in the wilderness of the people, as he
pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt; that he will
bring them into the bond of the covenant, purge out from them the
rebels and those that transgress, so that they shall not enter into the
land of Israel:" and he adds, " Ye' shall know that I am the Lord."
The latter chapters of Ezekiel,' describing the erection of a certain
temple, are involved in so much obscurity, that it seems difficult to
arrive at any determinate conclusion respecting the import of that
mysterious prophecy.  It is certain that the attempt to spiritualize it
produces little besides perplexity and confusion; nor have we any
example in Scripture of an allegory so perfectly dark and enigmatic
as it must be confessed to be on that supposition.  The third chapter
of IIosea seems to present us with a just and striking picture of the
present condition of the Jews; they have remained " many days
without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and
without an image, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim."
Separated alike from Christians and from heathens, they still retain
their conjugal relation to the Lord; they are under his frown, but not
severed from his covenant, and occupy a peculiar and intermediate
station between the members of the Christian church and the worshippers of idols.
The preceding remarks, let it be remembered, are designed to apply,
not to the great mass of the Jewish people, who appear to be in a state
of deep alienation from God, but solely to such among them (if such
there be) as are conscientious disciples of Moses and the prophets,
and who, though they are destitute of the superior illumination of the
gospel, faithfully improve the light which they enjoy.
The chief practical use to be derived from the hypothesis which I
have ventured to suggest is, to inspire us with an increased tenderness
and respect for the seed of Abraham, as containing, notwithstanding
its occupying a distinct fold, a portion of the true church of God. If
we can be induced to hope that he has still a people among them, we
shall be ready to look upon them with something like fraternal affection,




474       THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE JEWS.
and to embrace every opportunity of reprobating and removing the
cruel privations and restrictions imposed by Christian nations, who,
absurdly imagining that they do an acceptable service to God by their
persecution and depression, are in reality treasuring up wrath by
aggravating the affliction of those whom he has smitten. It is surprising that any man can read the ancient prophecies with attention
without perceiving that he surveys the treatment of his ancient people
with a jealous eye; and that while he signalizes his displeasure against
them by the course of his providence, he will enter into a severe
reckoning with those who shall be found "to help on the affliction."
A large arrear of guilt has been contracted by the nations of Christendom on this account; and in this age of liberality, when such mighty
efforts are made to procure the removal of political disabilities on the
score of religion, it is surely high time their attention was turned to
the relief of the oppressed and persecuted children of Abraham.  Their
political emancipation and restoration to the equal rights of citizenship
might be reasonably expected to soften their prejudices, and dispose
them to a more favourable hearing of the Christian cause; nor could
any thing be more becoming the character and pretensions of the
Jewish Society than to take the lead in that noble enterprise. As the
basis of all social virtue is laid in justice, so by none should its
obligations be deemed more sacred than by those who make loud
professions of Christian zeal and exalted charity.
Having thus freely stated my present opinions upon a subject which
I think has not often been discussed, simply with a view to excite
inquiry, I have no intention to enter into controversy by defending
them, but shall cheerfully leave them to the consideration of your
readers.




THE
SUBSTANCE OF A CHARGE,
DELIVERED AT THE ORDINATION OF THE REV. J. K. HALL, AT KETTERINOX
NOVEMBER 8, 1815.
[From the Notes of the Rev. S. Hillyard, of Bedford.]
I SHALL not select any particular passage of Scripture, as it is not
my intention to confine myself to any one subject, but to communicate
such miscellaneous hints of advice as may be suitable to the present
occasion.
If, however, I refer to one passage more than another, it will be the
exhortation of Paul to Timothy:-" Preach the word; be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering
and doctrine."
The solemn transactions of this day will not be done with when the
service is closed; they will undergo a review at the tribunal of the
great Judge, in whose name we are now assembled. Nothing in this
state is final: every thing in time is connected with eternity. The
church of Christ here, who have chosen you for their pastor, and you,
my brother, who have accepted this office, will have your determinations, your motives, and your ends adjudged by "Him who seeth not
as man seeth," and will meet with a reward according to their sincerity and purity.
You now stand as a watchman situated on an eminence; if you see
danger you must "blow the trumpet," and warn the people, that " he
that taketh warning may deliver his soul;" and "if any man take not
warning, his blood shall be upon his own head;" if the people be not
warned, they may be taken away in their iniquity; but " their blood,"
saith the Lord, " will I require at the watchman's hands."
You are a steward of the manifold mysteries of God, to bring out
of the treasury "things new and old, that every one may have a
portion."  "Moreover, it is required of a steward that he be found
faithful."
The principal duty of this office consists in your engagement to
preach the gospel:-" Preach the word."
You will recollect that your work is not to dispense the principles
inculcated by any human authority or supported by any human society




476           CHARGE AT THE ORDINATION OF
Though the treasure of the gospel be communicated to " earthen
vessels," its origin is celestial.
There is then little scope for the exercise of invention or the flights
of imagination in the discharge of this duty: these faculties are employed to find out new principles or to discover new associations; but
their exercise here will only tend to mix truth with error, to " darken
counsel by words without knowledge," and to impair that system of
truth which God hath furnished and communicated to man.  You are
not required to make new discoveries; you need only to inquire and
ascertain what is revealed in the word of God: find out what is " the
mind of the Spirit," and submit yourself to his instructions. The best
method of doing this, in connexion with reading and meditation, is to
pray for spiritual illumination, like David, when he said, " Open thou
mine eyes, that I may behold wonderful things out of thy law."  There
are many wonderful things in the law; but we need the Spirit to give
us understanding, and still more to cause us to feel the influence of
truth in our own hearts, and to communicate it to the hearts of others.
There are three things to which you must attend in preaching; the
matter, the mode, and the motives: the matter must be pure, the mode
" with all gravity," the motives such as are presented in the word of God,
and furnished by your office and your particular Station in the church.
In preaching the word, incorruptness or purity in your matter is of
the first importance: in order to this, adhere to the dictates of the
holy Scriptures. I mean not by this:that you should confine yourself
to the words, but to the sentiments: the sentiments may be lost where
the words are retained; but the sentiments may be retained and communicated in different expressions.
Preach the word purely and fully; mix nothing with it that does
not belong to it, or may not evidently be inferred from its language.
State every doctrine and opinion as near to the mind of the Spirit as
you can ascertain.
The doctrines of the word you will bring forth in their full import,
without concealing them, or eildeavouring to melt them  down and
mould them so as to suit the prejudiced and indolent depravity of the
human heart.
The gospel is not suited, and cannot be made to suit, the corrupt
dispositions and inclinations of the carnal "mind;" but the faithful
preaching of it is calculated to oppose and to overcome those evil
prejudices so far as to excite men to attend to the doctrines it contains
and the blessings it proposes.  It is ycur duty, not to bring down the
gospel into a conformity with them, but to change them into a con
formity with the gospel.
Read the Scriptures frequently, with close attention and fervent
prayer.  Endeavour to collect as much knowledge relative to revealed
truth as you call possibly acquire. Out of the Scriptures you may
continually draw  new treasures; and if you are "a scribe well
instructed in the mysteries of the kingdom," you will not find it
difficult to present a variety of interesting matter from hence that
shall not only be profitable but delightful to your hearers.




THE REV. J. K. HALL.                  477
There are two opposite extremes to be avoided in the manner of
your preaching the word: the one, a manner vague and indistinct; the
other, a manner too narrow, subtle, and systematical.
Some have preached the gospel rather by implication than by plain
direct statements: they have treated it as if there were something in
its doctrines that would not bear the exhibition.  Such men have made
moral instructions the main points of their ministry; the doctrines of
the atonement, regeneration, the divinity of the Saviour, and the riches
of his grace, if they have not been entirely suppressed, have not
occupied that prominent situation which their importance demands for
them; and their hearers have consequently been altogether unacquainted with them, or, having but slight hold of them, these things
have gradually slidden out of their minds, and left them prepared for
heretical instructers. Be not ashamed of the gospel; though it may
contradict many of the fashionable and favourite notions of mankind,
and though you may find mysteries connected with the subjects of it
which you cannot comprehend, yet, as we know but little of the world,
and of ourselves less, we must receive with simplicity what God has
taught.  He must " be true, though every man be a liar."-You have
taken upon you the solemn charge of "feeding the flock of God," you
must keep back no part of what he has provided for them; let it be
your concern that at the end of your ministry you may be able to
speak as St. Paul,-" I kept back nothing that was profitable to
you: I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood
of all men; for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counse
of God."
Opposed to the vague and indistinct manner of preaching is the
narrow and systematical method, according to which, doctrines, sometimes not the most important, have been made the themes of remark
and discussion to the neglect of every other subject.
The gospel is not revealed in a systematic form; it is not confined
to any particular set of doctrines; nor does it ever advance any doctrine
as merely a subject of speculation.
Be upon your guard against confining your administrations; point
out the practical consequences of the doctrines you preach, without
which they will not produce that good which they are calculated to yield
as they are revealed in the Scriptures. It is of great importance to
observe the proportion which truths bear to each other, that we may
not dwell upon subjects of comparatively small moment, to the neglect
of others that are really weighty. We should not give too much of
our attention to any favourite topics, however important: the effect
of such a course will be to leave a wrong impression on the minds
of the hearers. It will be likely to produce a disproportionate regard
to some doctrines, ordinances, and moral duties, which is a similar
deformity in the new man to the disproportionate enlargement of any
particular member in the human body; and it may be that such regard
to any doctrine, out of its connexion with other revealed truths, will
only serve to exhibit it as a subject of speculation, and not of vital and
practical utility.




478          CHARGE AT THE ORDINATION OF
An excellent man was so impressed with the doctrine of the divinity
of Christ, that he made it the constant topic of his ministry; every
sermon he preached was crowded with proofs, or answers to objections,
relating to this important topic; and the result was, that most of his
hearers became Arians and Socinians! This effect was not such as
he expected, or as might be thought of at the time by others; but the
consequence was natural.  Such discussions produced, first, a dry
speculative attention to the subject, then a fiery and contentious spirit
in discussion; in this state the spirit of the doctrine was lost, and the
people sunk into such a frame of mind as is suited to the reception
of these or any other heresies that might be sophistically presented to
them. A serious, spiritual state of mind is that which you must be
concerned to promote in your hearers as the best preservative against
error; and in order to this you must proclaim both the doctrinal truth
and the practical exhortations of religion.
There has been long laid down a rule which is often repeated, is
most excellent, and worthy of constant recollection: it is, that we
must " preach the doctrines practically, and preach practice doctrinally." Preach the doctrines so as to show their influence on our
practice, and recommend religious and virtuous conduct by evangelical
motives. This happy combination will form a complete course of
religious instruction. It is impossible to say which of these two,
doctrinal or practical preaching, is most necessary; or which extreme
is most dangerous-to preach doctrine without practice, or practice
without doctrine. Read, then, the Scriptures of the New Testament,
in order to observe how these are blended together by our Lord and
his inspired apostles. You will observe there that the enforcement
of duties by evangelical motives is the very end of the gospel; and all
preaching is good and estimable only as it secures the same end by
the same motives.
Be not afraid of devoting whole sermons to particular parts of moral
conduct and religious duties. It is impossible to give right views of
them unless you dissect characters and describe particular virtues and
vices. The "fruits of the flesh" and the "fruits of the Spirit" must
be distinctly pointed out. To preach against sin in general, without
descending to particulars, may lead many to complain of the evil of
their hearts, while at the same time they are awfully inattentive to the
evil of their conduct.
You are aware that to inculcate the necessity of regeneration is a
large part of your work, and must not on any account be neglected;
but it must not be so taught as to lead men to suppose that if they are
once regenerated they may be careless and indifferent, for then they
are sure of heaven. If you do not often preach in an alarming, urgent
manner, to guard them against sin and to animate them to holiness,
you will be chargeable with neglect. You must warn the righteous
man that he turn not from his righteousness, as well as assure the
wicked man that he will perish if he persevere in his wickedness. If
serious admonitions are neglected, the preaching of regeneration itselh
may be very hurtful, by leading numbers to suppose, that having passed




THE REV. J K HALL.                    479
the ordeal, nothing now remains but for them to wait their entrance
into heaven, for which they will think they are already prepared.
There is a sort of evangelical ministry which produces no effect but
to awaken to a sudden apprehension of danger, and then to consign,
by means of opiates, to the delusive and destructive stupidity of
spiritual death.
When no pains are taken to warn the awakened of the necessity
of deep repentance, of living faith, of persevering obedience, of
unceasing vigilance, and of renewed conflicts, even unto the end, they
are in danger of fancying they are "rich, and increased in goods, and
have need of nothing," though they are "miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked."
Remind them, that when they enter on a Christian profession they
only put on the armour; admonish them of the obligations they are
under to be holy and active: they have entered as soldiers of the
Cross, they have taken the military oath; but to take that is not to
perform the duty of a soldier; the display of bravery is to be made in
the day of conflict, in their watching, standing, striving, and putting to
flight the enemies of their salvation.
Exhort them, therefore, incessantly that they " walk worthy of their
high calling;" that they walk "as becometh the gospel of Christ;"
that they "draw not back unto perdition;" that they be faithful unto
death, that they may obtain "the crown of life."
I will now proceed to notice briefly those parts of your work which
are not immediately connected with preaching the word: " Be instant
in season, out of season," said the apostle. While engaged in ministering the word, you are instant in season; but you should also attend
to your duties out of season, when it is not a time for preaching.
Remember, this people is your charge. When they are absent from
you, bear them in your mind; let them  have an interest in your
prayers when you have retired to your closet: though they are your
charge, you cannot be always speaking to them; but they must
be engraved on your heart, as the high-priest bore the names of
the tribes of Israel, and the good shepherd is acquainted with all
his sheep.
The excellent Booth has said, " He that does not pray oftener for
his people than with them, neglects an important part of his duty." It
will endear them to you, and draw out your affections to them, if you
pray much for them, and it will secure, through the Divine blessing,
your usefulness among them. You are, as an intercessor, to "stand
in the breach;" and whatever difficulty or danger may oppose, you
must be, like another Moses, between God and the people.
Not only is secret prayer for them a great duty, but an habitual
remembrance and affectionate respect for them must be cultivated
when you are not, as well as when you are, ministering to them the
word of life.
"%Watch for them as one that must give an account:" take every
favourable opportunity of speaking to them on the great concerns of
eternity and the weighty subjects of revealed truth. If you see any




480           CHARGE AT THE ORDINATION OF
of them departing into sin, remember it is said, "Thou shalt not hate
thy brother, but shalt reprove him." A neglect of reproof in such
circumstances would have all the bad consequences of hatred; f0o
thus he would be left to lie under the greatest evil from which you
might deliver him. No fear of giving offence should prevent you from
reproving, with meekness and faithfulness, the most opulent or even
the most valued friends of the society, if it be needful. If their
misconduct does not require to be brought before the church, yet do
not neglect to speak to them in private, and administer what counsel
or reproof the circumstances may demand.
Your people will look to you, as a minister, for consolation when
they are in distress, when overwhelmed with personal, domestic, or
other relative calamities: manifest towards them the tenderest sympathy, a disposition "to weep with them that weep, as well as to
rejoice with them that rejoice."
It will be especially your duty to attend to those who are beginning
to seek and inquire after salvation.  No part of your office is more
delicate than the giving instruction to awakened consciences, who
desire rest, but know not where or how to obtain it.  The impressions
they have received are in danger of wearing off; sometimes they seem
pressing forward, sometimes they seem drawing backward; sometimes
they are the pupils of conscience, at others the pupils of appetite and
custom.
-Such will require attention; and not to take opportunities of advising
and directing would be to neglect a duty in which you ought to abound.
It is not for me to instruct you how you should do this; but be not
afraid to inculcate repentance.  Teach them to expect salvation, not
for their works, but in a course of attention to all the dictates of the
Divine will respecting faith and obedience.  Cherish in them tenderness of conscience, guard them against " easily besetting sins," and,
at the same time, warn them not to stop at outward information, but to
seek after an inward change, and the application of the blood of Jesus.
Admonish them not to consider themselves as having already attained,
or being already perfect; not to mistake what is preparatory for what
is final, or to rest short of that connexion with Christ and conformity
to him which is the pledge and commencement of life eternal.
Here we need Divine assistance: it is best to learn these things in
answer to prayer, and by habitual practice. As nothing but much
practice and an exact knowledge of the anatomy of the human frame
will make a skilful physician, so nothing but a knowledge of the
human heart: and the efficacy of the gospel in healing the diseases of
the soul, can teach us to bring men health and cure.
It will be useful to " exhort with much long-suffering, from house to
house:" much is to be accomplished by those who have a talent for
interesting and familiar religious conversation; a talent which all
should cultivate. Some ministers, by an exhibition of " the mind of
Christ," and a recommendation of the truth, in private, have advanced
religion even more than by their public ministry: as an auxiliary, every
one will find it beneficial, and it is impossible to overvalue it.




THE REV. J. K. HALL.                  481
See that your social visits are conducted in the spirit of the gospel.
Guard against levity. Whatever is innocent mirth, if it be allowed,
should only hold a subordinate place; and the dignity of the minister
should always appear.
Do not seek to cultivate the good opinion and favour merely of
those who are rich, or even of those who are endowed with intellectual
treasures; nor seek the gratifications of the table, nor the indulgence
of sensual appetites. Despise not the meanest of the flock; look not
on them with eyes of the flesh, but with eyes of the Spirit. You will
then perceive the distinctions of wealth, or education, or intellect are
but little, compared with the state of all as responsible and immortal
beings.  The points of difference in men are nothing, compared with
the common capacity for knowing and enjoying God. They are to
be regarded principally as vessels capable of experiencing the wrath,
or receiving the mercy of the Almighty.
Look upon them now as you will look upon them on a dying bed:
you will not think of them then as rich or poor, as learned or unlearned;
but as sanctified or unsanctified, as " sheep or goats," as the righteous
or the wicked, as persons with whom you are to rejoice for every or
whose final ruin you must witness at the last day. Let nothing render
you negligent of the improvement and comfort of any one. Remember
who hath said, "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones, which
believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck, and that he were cast into the depth of the sea."
There is not one whose soul is not precious in the estimation of the
Lord, not one for whom he has not shed his blood, not one for whom
he would not have been ready to shed his blood, had no other soul
existed.  Let the dignity of human nature, viewed in this light, arm
you agail.st being imposed upon by any adventitious circumstance.
In order that you may attend to these duties aright, cultivate a devotional spirit. The more you have of the mind of Christ, the more you
walk in holiness and humility, the more " will your profiting appear."
Watch against spiritual as well as intellectual pride. Prostrate yourself in deep abasement before God. Remember, if you are saved, it
is by an exercise of Divine mercy, by an act of grace, which is the
subject of admiration among the angels of God; and nothing is more
incongruous than for " such an one" to be proud of any qualities he
has received. Let it be evident that you are a good man, and one that
makes progress in the things of God. This will produce a great effect.
There is a silent eloquence in character, by which the best sermons
are most powerfully recommended. Lot them, however, be delivered
with all sincerity, gravity, and affection: never speak with lightness
or indifference; beware of all levity of spirit and of manner; avoid
all canting and hypocritical terms and phrases; consider the weight
of the subject before you; never study theatrical effect; all gestures
and manceuvres, and display of self, by which some divines obtain so
great admiration, are unworthy of your subject and your office. A
sound preacher of the gospel will produce, not admiration of himself,
but of the truth, and adoration of that God and Saviour from whom all
VOL. II.-H h




482           CHARGE AT THE ORDINATION OF
truths proceed; remembering that awful account which ministers and
people will all have to give, when they meet before his judgment-seat.
Sincerely aim to do good, and the Lord will be with you. Mr. Baxter
said he never knew a minister who was sincerely desirous of benefiting
souls that was not blessed with considerable success.  The more you
can go out of self, and lose all recollection of your own importance,the more you are impressed with the love of souls, the more will you
be likely to manifest that truth which recommends itself "to every
man's conscience in the sight of God."
Let the consciences of your hearers be the subjects of your concern.
Address their understanding and affections for the purpose of getting
at their consciences.
I am aware of the difficulty of your situation, in consequence of
your succeeding our most invaluable and -incomparable brother, Mr.
Fuller.  It is not possible that you should, at present, attain to that
profundity of mind, those extensive views, and that pointed statement
of truth which were possessed and evinced by him; but even this
difficulty may be of use to you, as a stimulus to excite you to greater
exertions. Should you be tempted to indolence (which I have no
reason to suspect you will indulge), the recollection of serving a people
who have been blessed with such a minister, the consideration of what
they will expect, may serve to rouse and animate you in your work.
Another circumstance I may refer to, as a motive peculiar to your
present situation; and that is, the respectable minority which have
been opposed to you. This may also be overruled to your advantage,
if you are more watchful over your temper and conduct (I do not say
than you have been, but) than you might have been if you had been
carried down the' stream of universal applause; and if it excite you
to conciliation and kindness towards those who oppose themselves, it
may have the happiest effect on their minds, and will certainly raise
and establish your character as a minister of the meek and lowly
Saviour.
I need not warn you, because you llave always guarded, against any
thing personal in your ministry towards those who have not fixed their
choice on you. You will be ready to treat them with the same kindness which you manifest to others. It is not to be wondered at (considering whom you follow, and some particular circumstances which
are well known, but need not be mentioned) that there should be a
part of the church who could lnot act with the rest in their choice;
but it will be well if you can manage these circumstances for your
advantage and the furtherance'of the gospel.
I shall not detain you longer than to remind you whence it is that
you are to derive the strength and wisdom necessary to prepare you
for your work; and I cannot do this better than in the language of
Paul' to Timothy, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus!"
Be strong! How strangely does this exhortation sound! To tell a
man that is weak to be strong would be absurd; but what would be
absurd in philosophy is true and consistent with the gospel. Be strong
in the grace of Christ, for his grace is communicable; and the )oower




THE REV. J. K  HALL.                           483
ot Christ rests on those who seek it with a sense of their own weakness.
We are directed to seek it by prayer, and thus to be strong. Look
to the Lord for all the assistance you need. Remember how dependent
you are. Look to the Father and the Son: be not afraid of praying
to the Son of God as Paul did; and it is often more consolatory than
prayer in any other form.
You are a sinner redeemed; but you are a preacher of the word
placed over this people, not to tyrannize, but to walk before them  in
the Lord: in hearing your voice, they should hear him; in following
your footsteps, they should follow him.  Your employment is that of
the Son of God: it makes no appearance before the eyes of worldly
men; but it will arise in a form of majesty to overshadow  all created
glory. Its effects will be known and felt in souls that shall enjoy
Christ in his kingdom for ever, or in spirits in whom  the work of death
shall be finished.
Keep the commandments of Christ committed to you, without reproach.  Endeavour to "present every man faultless before God."'
Your happiness will be diminished if one be wanting. Be concerned
to " give up your account with joy, and not with grief."
Labour, that not one of those that hear you,.not one that has sat
down at the table, not one to whom you have "given the right hand
of fellowship," should be excluded when the Lord cometh.
See to it, that you are not excluded yourself.  So preach  as to
"save yourself, and them  that hear you."  It is possible for a man to
bring others to Christ for salvation, and yet not be saved himself. You
may preach to others, and yet be a castaway. You need grace, but
do not despair.  The grace of the Saviour is sufficient for you: "His
strength shall be. made perfect in your weakness."*
* Mr. John Keen Hall, to whom this charge was addressed, was Mr. Hall's nephew; a circumstance which, while it may serve to account for the minuteness of some of the exhortations, in my
judgment, adds to their interest. Mr. J. K. Hall,who had been Mr. Fuller's colleague, survived him
only fifteen years: he died in 1829.
Mr. Hillyard, to whose kindness I am indebted for the notes here published, is anxious it should
be understood that his main object was to preserve the substance of the charge. It was seldom,
indeed, that he succeeded in-catching the precise language; and, towards the end, several sublime
and most impressive sentences were entirely lost, from his yielding himself to the stream of feeling
excited by the preacher.-E D.
Hh2




ON THE ART OF HEALING.
[From Mr. Hall's own Notes. Not published before. ]
MATT. ix. 12.-But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, The
whole need not a Physician, but they that are sick.
THAT the sick need a physician* is an assertion which appeals to
the dictates of common sense.  Among the innumerable benefactions
issuing from a wise and gracious Providence, the art of healing is not'to be considered as the least.  For though it is far from having reached
the perfection which we naturally desire, or which may be attainable,
its efficiency is such as ought to inspire the most unfeigned gratitude
to the Author of every good and perfect gift. By the cure of many,
and the mitigation of most of the diseases to which the human frame
is incident, the total amount of ease, comfort, and refreshment which
it confers is incalculable. Inl judicious hands it is the handmaid of
nature, while it obeys her indications and assists her efforts.  It never
acts apart, but always in a vigilant and judicious subserviency to her
fundamental laws and her salutary tendencies. It is well known that
there is in all living substances a certain vis medicatrix, a certain effort
at self-provision, an inherent and powerful tendency to recover itself
from the injury it may have sustained, a principle of active resistance
to the progress of disease and decay. A property of this kind seems
to be inseparable from life in all its diversified modes and appearances;
and nothing, surely, can afford a plainer demonstration of the benign
character of the Deity.
When a bone is fractured, nothing more is necessary than to place
the parts which accident has separated in their original juxtaposition,
and they will very soon adhere: an exudation from the bones takes
place, which forms a collar of so firm a texture that the parts often
become more perfectly united than before: it is scarcely ever known
that a bone is fractured twice in the same place. When the fleshy
parts are separated by a wound, and a considerable chasm ensues, the
self-restorative power of nature forms new flesh, produces a new set
of vessels for the circulation of the blood; the interstice is filled up,
and the continuity of the parts is by degrees perfectly restored. The
indication of design in such a process is just as evident as in irestoring
communication between two places by repairing the broken arches of
a bridge.
* This constituted part of a sermon that was preached for the Leicester Infirmary, from the
above text, on Sunday, May 29, 1825. —ED




ON THE ART OF HEALING.                     485
In constant subserviency to this mysterious law, the skilful physician
explores the secret affinities subsisting between the living substance
which composes the body and the material elements which surround it.
By a sublime process of experiment and induction, he has ascertained,
to a great extent, the relation which the corporeal frame sustains to the
various objects, both natural and artificial, with which the stores of
nature are fraught. He has extorted her secrets, and has summoned
her powers in aid of human distress and infirmity. He has fetched
from the bowels of the [earth,] from the caverns of the ocean, and
from the boundless fields of air, the most powerful antidotes to disease.
He has levied a contribution from all the departments and provinces
of nature, and compelled them to yield their service to man, in all
the varieties of physical disorder to which he is exposed; and, whether
it be requisite to brace or to relax the [fibres] of the breathing frame, to
retard or to accelerate its motion, to stimulate or to depress, to quicken its
energies or to allay its agitations, he makes them minister to his
purpose, and become the agents of his will. He has discovered the
art of converting into useful ingredients substances deemed essentially noxious, and of extracting antidotes from  poisons.  Thus he
vindicates from rash and presumptuous imputations the beneficence of
nature or of its great Author, by showing that all which "he has
made is very good."
A. large portion of the ingenuity and industry of mankind is incessantly exerted. in multiplying the pleasures of the opulent, giving a
higher zest to the fruitions of luxury, and gratifying the caprices of
vanity and pride; and such is the mechanism  of society, that even
from these the poor are fed and the indigent relieved. With the
physician, however, it is far otherwise.  He interposes in the moment
of exigence, and. obeys the call of distress.  He administers the cordial
to the fainting spirit, rekindles the expiring lamp of hope, and [often]
decks the countenance with smiles, which death, under the ravages of
disease, had marked for his victim and covered with his shade. He
leaves it to others to accompany the human race in their revelry and
their triumphs: while they bask on the bosom of the ocean, or spread
their sails to the wind, he presents himself on the shore, and rescues
the shipwrecked mariner from the waves.  With a silent and invisible
energy he contends with the powers of destruction, and often rescues
from the grave him that [seemed] " appointed to death."
If he conducts the objects of his care sometimes through painful
processes, his proceeding resembles in that respect the conduct of the
gracious Author of our being, who afflicts with paternal reluctance,
and smites but to heal. From the practice of an enlightened professor'of the healing art nothing is more remote than the infliction of unnecessary suffering, or wanton and unfeeling experiments on the powers
of human ehdurance.  His hand never administers an uneasy sensation,
but with a view to the future comfort of his patient; nor is he the.author of a single privation or restraint but what is designed for his good
Considered in their leading features, its ministrations are a beautiful;,mitation of those of Divine Providence.  Both are designed to restore




486               ON THE ART OF HEALING.
what is lost, and to repair what is disordered: both have the production
of ease and happiness for their ultimate object; both frequently make
use of pains and privations as the means of procuring it, but neither
of them  [employ]'an atom more of these than is deemed requisite for
that purpose.
Hence it will probably be found that the medical profession has
furnished more examples of active and enlightened humanity than any
other walk or profession.   Being daily and hourly conversant with
scenes of misery,. the contrary, it would seem at first, might have been
expected.  It might have been thought that habit would render [medical
men] callous and indifferent to those varieties of suffering that so
frequently offer themselves to their -view. That the effect of such
familiarity is to impair the force of pity, considered merely as an
emotion, may be very probable. It is well it is so: for if their nerves
were unstrung, and their hand to tremble at the witnessing of pain
and agony, like those who were unused to such spectacles, they would
be totally disabled from executing their functions. But humanity,
considered as an active propensity to alleviate human distress, is
improved and maintained in wholesome exercise by the benevolence
of the end, notwithstanding the occasional severity of the means.
The mind of a physician is continually pregnant with expedients for
the mitigation of pain, the extinction of disease, and tile prolongation
of life; a course of thinking which cannot fail to cultivate and mature
the seeds of benevolence.  His success is in exact proportion to the
benefits he imparts: his triumphs are signalized by the tears of gratitude, the gratulations of friendship, and the raptures of returning health.
How striking is the contrast between the art of medicine and the
art of war!  The last has for its object the destruction, the first the
preservation of the species.  The mind of the warrior teems with
machinations of ruin, and anxiously revolves, among different schemes
that present themselves, which shall scatter destruction to the widest
extent and with the surest aim: his progress is marked by devastation
and blood, by depopulated fields and smoking villages, and the laurels
which he wears are bedewed with the tears of widows and orphans.
The acclamations which he wins from one portion of his species are
answered by the curses and execrations of another; and the delusive
splendour, the proud and imposing array with which he contrives to
gild the horrors of his profession are but the pomp' and retinue of
the king of terrors.* The art of healing proceeds with a silence and
secrecy, like the great processes of nature, to scatter blessings on all
within its reach; and the couch of sickness, the silent retreat of sorrow
and despair, are the scene of its triumphs.
The little applause which is bestowed on physicians, compared
with what is so lavishly heaped on conquerors, conveys a bitter reflection on human nature; by showing how much we suffer burselves to
be the dupes of our senses, to extol the brilliant rather than the useful:
whereas, a just and impartial: estimate would compel us to assign to
* The author seems hero to have borrowed a little, perhaps unconsciously, from himself. See
Vol. I. p. 64, &c.-ED.




ON THE ART  rF HEALING.                  487
skilful practitioners of medicine the very first rank among merely
human professions. For when we consider the variety of ills to which
we are exposed, and how large a portion is derived from bodily infirmities, it will appear that we are more indebted to their assistance
than to. [that of] any other class of persons whatever.
Nor are the reflections in which we have indulged, and the train of
thought we have pursued, foreign to the immediate purpose of the
present discourse, which is, to invite your assistance in repairing the
funds of the Leicester Infirmary,-an institution which you are aware
has been productive of incalculable good.  Open to the sick of all
denominations, it assembles within its walls the victims of poverty and
disease of every description, and provides for them the most suitable
diet, skilful advice, and assiduous attentions; of each of which the
greater part of its patients must necessarily have remained destitute,
but for this excellent charity.  If we are convinced of the utility and
dignity of the medical and chirurgical arts,-if we are satisfied how
much they contribute to the comfort and the preservation of life, we
are prepared to appreciate the value of that charity which proposes
for its object the extension of these advantages to the poor; nor is it
possible to extend them so far by any other provision as by the support
of a public asylum.
To administer equal medical assistance and attendance to an equal
number at their own abodes, would be accompanied by an augmentation
of expense which would render it insupportable.  By collecting the
victims of disease in our asylum, and placing them under one system
of administration, not only is economy consulted by an immense
saving of expense, but the improvement of science is promoted by
presenting a wide field of observation on the great varieties of malady
which fall under the notice of the practitioners.
By this system, also, a course of wholesome religious instruction is
secured, under circumstances the most favourable to its reception.
The chymical lectures, delivered by the ablest professors in our
public hospitals, furnish the most important branch of medical instruction, and are adapted to benefit generations yet unborn.
Tlhe erection of hospitals and infirmaries for the poor is one of the
distinguishing ornaments and fruits of Christianity, unknown to the
wisdom and humanity of pagan times.  Compassionate consideration
of the poor formed no part of the lessons of pagan philosophy; its
genius was too arrogant and lofty to stoop to the children of want and
obscurity. It soared in sublime speculation, wasted its strength in
endless subtleties and debates; but, among the rewards to which it
aspired, it never thought of " the blessedness of him that considereth
the poor."  You might have traversed the Roman empire, in the
zenith of its power, from the Euphrates to the Atlantic, without meeting
with -a single charitable asylum for the sick. Monuments of pride, of
ambition, of vindictive wrath, were to be found in abundance; but not
one legible record of commiseration for the poor. It was reserved for




488                OCN THE ART OF HEALING.
the religion whose basis is humility, and whose element is devotion,
to proclaim with authority, " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy."
There are few of us, I trust, who are prepared to regard the privations of poverty alone with indifference; much less when, combined
with sickness, its victim is reduced to the last stage of helplessness.
When the hands which ministered, not only to their own necessities,
but to those of a numerous family, are debilitated with disease, and
unnerved with sickness, the most complicated distress must necessarily,
ensue.  Were it not for the ministration of piety, the calamity would
be insupportable. In many situations, the earnings of labour are but
barely sufficient for the sustenance of life on its lowest terms; no
savings can be made; no superfluity be retrenched; and what must be
the state of such a family when that labour is suspended by the invasion
of disease? But for such asylums as these, the consequences would
be too dreadful for human contemplation.
(Sickness is incident to all, and therefore a proper object of corn
miseration.)
BND OF VOL. IL